Mortar-Beds serve for the same purpose as a carriage does to a cannon: they are made of solid timber, consisting generally of 2 pieces fastened together with strong iron bolts and bars. Their sizes are according to the kind of mortar they carry.
Beds for Mortars.
| KINDS. | Weight. | Tonnage. | Len. | Br. | Ht. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cwt. | qr. | lb. | ts. | cwt. | qr. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ||||||
| Sea | 38 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 13 | - | Land Wood | 21 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Do. Iron | 50 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||
| Sea | 32 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 10 | - | Land Wood | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | |||
| Do. Iron | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ¹⁄₂ | ||||
| 8 | - | Land Wood | 6 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 7 | ¹⁄₂ | ||
| Do. Iron | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | |||||
| 5 | ¹⁄₂ | Wood | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10 | |||
| 4 | ²⁄₅ | Wood | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ¹⁄₂ | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
Stool-Beds for guns.
| Inch. | In. | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Prs. | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 11 | to | 8 | ³⁄₄ | 3 | ³⁄₄ | ||
| 32 | —— | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 5 | ¹⁄₂ | 3 | ¹⁄₄ | |||
| 24 | —— | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 10 | ¹⁄₄ | 6 | ¹⁄₂ | 4 | |||
| 18 | —— | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | ¹⁄₂ | 6 | ¹⁄₂ | 3 | ³⁄₄ | ||
| 12 | —— | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ²⁄₃ | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ¹⁄₂ | 4 | |||
| 9 | —— | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | ¹⁄₂ | 5 | ³⁄₄ | 3 | ¹⁄₂ | ||
| 6 | —— | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ³⁄₄ | 2 | 6 | 9 | 4 | ³⁄₄ | 3 | ¹⁄₂ | ||
| 4 | —— | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | ¹⁄₄ | 5 | ¹⁄₄ | ||||
Sea-Mortar-Beds, are made of solid timber, having a hole in the centre to receive the pintle or strong iron bolt, about which the bed turns. Sea-mortars are mounted on these beds, on board of the bomb-ketches.
These beds are placed upon very strong timber frames, fixed into the bomb-ketch, in which the pintle is fixed, so as the bed may turn about it, to fire any way. The fore part of these beds is an arc of a circle described from the same centre as the pintle-hole.
Stool-Bed, is a piece of wood on which the breech of a gun rests upon a truck-carriage, with another piece fixed to it at the hind end, that rests upon the body of the hind axle-tree; and the fore part is supported by an iron bolt. See [Carriage].
BEEF-Eaters, the yeomen of the guard to the king of Great Britain are so called, being kept up rather for pageantry, than for any military service. Their arms are a sabre and lance; and the dress of the 13th century.
BEETLES, in a military sense, are large wooden hammers for driving down pallisades, and for other uses, &c.