Medieval maritime words

Bud Warren, on the inimitable maritime discussion list, marhst-l, posted intriguingly about a new word he had found

WRANGNAIL

As it turned out, it is a very old word indeed.

It can be roughly translated as "trunnel" or "treenail," a wooden pin or pen, a "wooden nail" used for securing ship's timbers together

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 But in fact it really means a wooden peg used to secure the planking of the floor, or decking.

The definition was found in a remarkable book, Sources of London English: Medieval Thames Vocabulary, by Laura Wright.

Hit the link and have fun hunting down other strange words that were uttered by watermen and shipwrights on the Thames many, many generations ago.