subs. (nautical).—A ship so large that, passing through the Straits of Dover, her flying jib-boom knocked down Calais steeple; while the fly of her ensign swept a flock of sheep off Dover Cliff. She was so lofty that a boy who went to her mast-head found himself a grey old man when he reached the deck again. [This yarn is founded on a story in Scandinavian mythology.]
