T A C 



wmdwaid. In order to explain the theory of tacking 

 a (hip, recourfe muft be had to the two firft laws of 

 motion, recited under Lcuis of Nature : according to 

 which, it is • eafy to conceive how a (hip is compelled 

 to turn into any direftion, by the force of the wind ailing 

 upon her fails in horizontal hnes. For the fails may be 

 fo arranged as to receive the current of air, eitht- r direftly, 

 or more or lefs obliquely : hence the motion communicated to 

 the fails muft neceffarily confpire with that of the wind upon 

 their furfaces. To make the (liip tack, or turn round with 

 her head to the windward, it is therefore neceflary, after (he 

 has received the iirft impreffion from the helm, that the head- 

 fails fliould be fo difpofed as to diminiih the effort of the 

 wind, in the firfl inilant of her motion, and that the whole 

 force of the wind fhould be exerted on the afti^r-fails, which 

 operating on the (hip's Hern, carries it rou\id like a weather- 

 cock. But iince the aftion of the after-fails to turn the 

 (hip will unavoidably ceafe, when her head points to the 

 windward, it then becomes neceffary to ufe the head-fails to 

 prevent her from falling off, and returning to her former 

 lituation. Thefe are, accordingly, laid aback on the lee- 

 fide, to pu(h the veffel's fore-part towards the oppofite fide, 

 till fhe has fallen into the line of her courfe thereon, and 

 fixed her fails to conform with that fituation. 



The firfl effort to turn the (flip in tacking, communicated 

 by the helm, which is then put to the lee -fide, being an- 

 nounced by the pilot, or commanding officer, who then 

 calls out. Helm's a-lee ! the head-fails are immediately made 

 to (hiver in the wind, by cafting loofe their (heets or bow- 

 lines. The pilot then calls. Up tiuks and flj.eti! which is 

 executed by loofening all the ropes which confine the cor- 

 ners of the lower fails, in order that they may be more 

 readily fhiftcd to the other fide. . When the (hip has turned 

 her head direftly to windward, the pilot gives the order to 

 turn about the fails on the main and mizen-mafls, by the 

 exclamation. Haul main-fail, haul! the bowlines and traces 

 are then inflantly caft off on one iide, and as expeditioufly 

 drawn in on the other fide, fo as to wheel the yards about 

 their mafts : the lower corner of the main-fail is, by means 

 of its tack, pulled down to its flation at the chefs-tree ; and 

 all the after-fails are, at the fame time, adjufted to ftand 

 upon the other board. Finally, when the fhip has fallen off 

 five or fix points, the pilot cries. Haul off all! or, let go, 

 and haul! the fails on the fore-maft are wheeled about by 

 their braces ; and as the fhip has then a tendency to fall off, 

 fhe is checked by the effort of the helm, which for that 

 purpofe is put hard-a-lee. The fore -tack, or the lower 

 corner of the fore-fail, being fixed in its place, the bow- 

 lines are hauled ; and the other fails, which have been ne- 

 glefted in the hurry of tacking, are properly arranged to 

 the wind ; which exercife is called trhnm'ing the JalU. Fal- 

 coner. 



Tack of a Flag, a line fpliced into the eye at the bottom 

 of the tabling, for fecuring the flag to the haliards. 



T ACK.-Stopptr. See Stopper. 



Tack, in Rural Economy, a term provincially made ufe 

 of in fome diftritts, as Glouccfterfiiire, to fignify a fort of 

 fhelf, within the dairy, for laying cheefe upon while they 

 are drying, and afterwards. 



Tack, or Tack of Land, in Agriculture, is a vrord ufed 

 in fome pai-ts of the nation, as thofe of the north, for the 

 term of a leafe. It, in fhort, denotes the means by which 

 land is holden by the farmer, from the proprietor or real 

 owner, in the intention of cultivation and improvement, for 

 the advantages of the produce. It was in its origin a fort 

 ©f feudal or mihtary tenure of land : accordingly it is found, 

 the writer of the correfted Agricultural Report of the 



TAG 



County of Peebles fays, that, as military tenants, at firft, 

 became tenants for life, from being tenants at will ; fo the 

 firfl notion of giving the fecnrity of independence to the cul- 

 tivator of the foil, in Scotland, as elfewhcre, was to give 

 him fecnrity of poffefTion for life. The life-rent tack feems, 

 it is faid, the firfl adopted fpecies or kind of tack-holding, 

 rendering the poffeffor independent, his fituation refpeftablc, 

 and his rights and interefls regarded. Superior privileges 

 were accordingly bellowed upon the life-rent tack ; the pro- 

 perty in this tack was, and is, confidered to be fo complete, 

 as to imply the full power of its alienation, in defiance of the 

 proprietor's fuppofed effential and inherent rigiit of the 

 deledus perfonie ; and, when granted to a woman, was not 

 confidered as forfeited upon her marriage, as implying af- 

 fignmcnt contrary to the proprietor's right of delcdus, in 

 confequence of its falling under the hnfliand's jux marili ; 

 although fuch, it is faid, is the abfurd contlruttion of Scots 

 law, in regard to the effeft of a woman's marriage, upon a. 

 tack for definite time, to which flir fhould fall heir by in- 

 heritance, or even, perhaps, acquire by perfonal contrail. 

 The period of nineteen years feems, it is faid, in Scotland, 

 to have been confidered as equivalent to the life of a perfon 

 of age to enter upon a life -rent tack ; and that, from this 

 analogy, various privileges, originally communicated to the 

 life-rent, would feem to have been extended to this fpecies 

 or kind of tack. As nineteen years may, however, be con- 

 fidered as a favourable exchange for a life-rent, this is, it is 

 thought, probably the reafon why the Scots tenant feems to 

 have generally preferred this fecnrity ; infomuch that the 

 mention of a tack, without fpecification of the term, in 

 common habit fuggefled the idea of a nineteen years' leafe. 

 The privileges granted to cultivators, by legiflating pro- 

 prietors, feem, it is faid, to have been granted fiowly, with 

 reluftance, and to no greater extent than what indifpenfable 

 utility obvioufiy and abfolutely required. A fliort-fighted 

 avarice, it is obferved, vvifhed to grafp at the fruits of the 

 cultivation effefted by the tenant's (lock, as fpeedily as pof- 

 fible ; even fo prematurely, as to allow no fufficient fecnrity 

 of time for their being efte£led at all : and the genius of 

 law feems, it is thought, to have been univerfally inimical, 

 both in modern and in ancient nations, to the long duration 

 of leafes, which feemed to keep back the proprietor from 

 reaping the benefit of the increafed value of iiis property. 

 And that, when fubfequent views of utility fuggcfted the 

 propriety of tacks of flill longer duration, they were ven- 

 tured upon with timidity, as an extenfion of a fpecies of 

 tenure, to which the genius of law was unfriendly ; which, 

 as yet, fhe had not recognized to that extent, and vvliich 

 fhe might be fcrupulous in fanftioning. Such tacks, there- 

 fore, it is faid, fought fhelter under the form of the privileged 

 tack of nineteen yeai^s, which had acquired an analogical lia- 

 bility, and whofe talifmanic influence was thought able to pro- 

 teft them : the whole term meant durll not, it is faid, be 

 .avowedly expreffed ; but the tack was granted for two nine- 

 teens, or three ninetcens of yeai-s, until the number of years 

 propofed fhould be completed in nincteens. 



The tack, though ftill fomewhat loaded and encumbered 

 by a remnant of the (hackles and tyranny of the feudal flate, 

 fo as to confiderably obftrudt and impede the credit and 

 enterprise of agricultural purfuits, yet probably, in confe- 

 quence of the different enailments and decifions fince made, 

 empower the holders by it, in the above part of tlie king- 

 dom, perhaps to enjoy more fecurity, it is liiought, tiian 

 what was ever bellowed upon the atlual cultivators of the 

 foil or land, either in ancient or in modern limes. See 

 Tenant and Tenure. 



TACKLE, in a Ship, a machine formed by the com- 

 munication 



