Sally Port
Tim from Traverse City asked about
sally port. A sally port is an entryway, but unlike a normal door or opening, it is
scrupulously secure and controlled. It shows up in fortifications, prisons,
police stations, courthouses, and some places of business, such as a jewelry
store.
In a fort, a barrier of some sort—often a thick
floor-to-ceiling wall or a huge latticed grill raised and lowered on chains by
a winch—is built in front of an inner door to make a direct assault by enemy
troops impossible. But there was a small, concealed door through which castle
occupants could sneak out unexpectedly to whittle away at a siege. They would
sally forth or sortie through a sally port.
In a prison, it may be an airlock—two locked doors or gates
separated by an enclosed space. The
second door won’t open until the first one is locked, thus trapping the persons
entering until they can be examined. I remember a jewelry store on the south
side of Chicago that would trap you between two bullet-proof doors until the
clerk looked you over and buzzed you in—or back out.
The word port is ultimately from the Latin porta,
a door. Sally came into English from a French word that meant to rush
forth. In turn, that came from the Latin salīre, to jump.
Tom from Cedar wrote to say that there is a naval equivalent,
and he cited The Oxford Companion to
Ships and the Sea, edited by Peter Kemp. On a warship, a sally port was
one of four openings cut into the side of a ship to allow sailors to escape
quickly in the event of a hit to the stored gunpowder. It was also applied to
the entry of a three-decker warship during the days of sail. Finally, it was a
specific landing place in Portsmouth Harbor, England, used by landing boats
transporting sailors to and from men-of-war anchored in the harbor.
Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts Dictionary, 2nd edition
Nook edition
Nook edition
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