Research Note

Ballahou Schooners

John Harland

I had sent congratulations to Kerry on his BALLAHOO model with a short comment on Ballahou schooners. Perhaps it will be of interest to some others in the forum.

BALLAHOO was the name of the lead vessel in the 'Fish Class' of schooners (1803) which were designed along the lines of a "Bermudan dispatch boat". It is clear that in naming it, the Admiralty had in mind the small baitfish of this name found in the Caribbean.

Ballahoo (ballahou) was also a generic term for schooners of Bermudan type. Although not mentioned by Falconer, Smyth (The Sailor's Word-Book) describes them as 'sharp floored, fast sailing vessels with taunt fore and aft sails' and notes the foremast might rake forward. ('Taunt' implies tall-masted). R. deKerchove (International Maritime Dictionary) says that the mainsail was sharply peaked, while the gaff of the foresail was less peaked. An engraving by Baugean shows 'Balaou' schooners, and represents them with square topsails on the foremast. Smyth, by the way, says they did not have square topsails, and of course this is the case with Kerry Jang's model. These vessels had a loose-footed foresail which brailed to the mast, and the mainsail was taken in by lowering the gaff. The word was, it seems, also used in this sense in Spanish .Balahu, Balaju, although the I couldn't find it in O'Scanlan's or in Espioza'a Spanish maritime dictionaries, which were published in the mid-19th C.

We also have the near homonym 'Ballyhoo', as in:

Come on and listen to
The lullaby of Broadway
The hip hooray and ballyhoo
The lullaby of Broadway

In the sense of hype or extravagant promotion or hoopla, this dates from around 1900, and was the term for the pitch of a circus barker, making extravagant and overblown claims for the what was to be seen in his show. Eric Partridge wondered it might have a connection with the town of Ballyhooly in County Cork, and another source say it referred to ' an ugly vessel'. This appears to be an inappropriate reference to the 18th C schooner, since there was no reason to think they were ill-looking.

The first page of a definitive article on the origins of the word is to be seen here.
{John Harland}

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