[Perh. a local Sc. pronunciation of whale.] Whale-fishing, a. The cry given when a whale is sighted, or seen to blow, or harpooned. b. The chase of a whale or school of whales. Loose fall (see quots. 1820 and 1867).
a. 1694. Acc. Sev. Late Voy., II. (1711), 156. When they see Whales, or when they hear them blow or spout, they call in to the Ship, Fall, fall; then every Body must be ready to get into the Long boat that he doth belong to.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk. Fall! a Fall! the cry to denote that the harpoon has been effectively delivered into the body of a whale.
b. 1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 237. When the whole of the boats are sent out, the ship is said to have ‘a loose fall.’ Ibid., II. 534. Sometimes 10 or 12 fish are killed ‘at a fall’; but though many are occasionally wounded by the people in the fast boats, yet they rarely capture any that have not been harpooned.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk. Loose fall, the losing of a whale after an apparently good opportunity for striking it.
