Naut. (See quots.)
(a) 1823. Crabb, Technol. Dict., II. Spurling Line (Mar.), the line which forms the communication between the wheel and the telltale.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 646. [The] Spurling-line … went round a small barrel, abaft the barrel of the wheel, and made the pointer show the position of the tiller.
(b) 1863. A. Young, Naut. Dict. (ed. 2), 365. Spurling-line, a line extended athwartships between the two foremast shrouds of a vessel, with thimbles spliced into it to serve as fairleaders for the running-rigging.
