spotsmann.
/ˈspɒtsmən/, U.S. /ˈspɑtsmən/ British. Now historical.
A person hired by smugglers to fill any of various roles in a smuggling operation; spec. (a) a person who selects a good landing point for an incoming smuggling vessel; (b) a person who acts as a lookout, esp. one who signals whether it is safe for incoming boats to land.
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society > trade and finance > trader > [noun] > smuggler
lorendriver1649
smuggler1661
gentleman1726
contrabandist1813
fair trader1824
spotsman1827
contrabandista1832
1827 Times 23 Oct. 3/1 The agent, who is called the ‘spotsman’, from one of his important duties—that of selecting a proper spot upon which to land the ‘crop’, is the only person besides the purchaser who knows in what place the goods are to be deposited.
1869 Quiver 20 Mar. 378/1 If I could find the spotsman, Ned Dore, I would beseech him to warn the cutter off..it can never be done on a night like this.
1895 ‘Q’ et al. Story of Sea I. xxvii. 651 Our spotsman had employed a Mounts' Bay boat for his voyage; and one fine evening..he landed his cargo of kegs at the foot of the cliffs.
1923 Ld. Teignmouth & C. G. Harper Smugglers II. i. 10 The crews of the Hastings district were warned that the cutter Hope of Middelburg was about to attempt a landing on the 26th inst, and that the ‘Spotsman’ was a man named Nash.
1994 G. Morley Smuggling War iv. 53 Coming into the agreed beach at the agreed time..needed a good ‘spotsman’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1827