 |
|
|
LETTER FROM TURKEY: WHAT'S A WAGGONER?
By Robert Hale.
|
|
August 18, 2003. Although the book devotes a half-page explanation, "A History of the Waggoner," I am often asked where the term comes from. The following is the most unusual inquiry I've had, however. I don't get many letters from Turkey.
Hello,
I need your help about a term. Actually I'm Turkish and I'm translating a text about pirates and their voyages etc. I came upon this word "waggoner" and there is no direct translation of it into my language. The sentence goes like, "These charts and coastal profiles were sometimes incorparated into 'waggoners' or volumes of sea charts."
If you could give me the definition of what exactly a waggoner is, I will be able to explain it in my own language.
I'd really appreciate it if you could reply to my email tomorrow latest.
Thanks a lot.
Elif Böke from Turkey
According to my reading, the term "Waggoner" has its origins in approximately 1584, when a Dutch cartographer and ships' pilot named Lucas Janzoon Waghenaer published a volume of navigational principles, tables, charts and sailing directions for the Low Countries. One source says the book was called the "Mariner's Mirror," although other sources I've read do not confirm this title. In any case, Waghenaer's first book became a model for similar books for 200 years.
You must understand that no government hydrographic (charting) agencies existed at the time. Vessel owners and their captains relied on their own charts, often surveying and taking soundings when they were in waters they had no charts for. You can see why raiding pirates would prize a ship's Waggoner. It was the only source of new navigational information.
According to my primary source (American Practical Navigator -- "Bowditch" -- 1984 edition), within 30 years of Waghenaer's first book, editions were printed in German, Latin and English. With the success of Waghenaer's books, other publishers produced their own versions. Soon, many publishers were producing their own Waggoners for merchant and naval vessels.
While I have not read this, I think it is reasonable to assume that Waggoner is an anglicized pronunciation of the original Waghenaer. (Reference books often come to be called by the name of their author or publisher, with the actual title almost a footnote. The American Practical Navigator, for example, is commonly called Bowditch, after Nathaniel Bowditch, its original author.)
In 1795 the British Hydrographic Department was established, and began producing its own charts and sailing directions. With this development the privately produced Waggoners disappeared in short order.
I am not familiar with the Turkish language, so I don't know how the term Waggoner might be translated. I would think, however, that the term should be left as nearly as can be done to its original sound, since it is closely related to the man's name.
I hope this helps.
Robert Hale
Editor/Publisher
Waggoner Cruising Guide
P.S. The Waggoner Cruising Guide is an annual reference for pleasure boating on the Northwestern coast of North America -- specifically, Puget Sound in the U.S., and the Inside Passage waters of British Columbia, Canada. The book describes marinas that accept overnight visiting boats, anchorages, local knowledge about tides and currents in these waters, and many other navigational instructions a pleasure boat skipper and family find useful. I chose the Waggoner name because this book is a modern interpretation of what I understand the original Waggoners to be.
I have read that Waghenaer himself invested too much into the maps and production of his books. He failed to make much money from them and died impoverished. I hope the same fate does not await me.v
|
|
|
|
|
