tar [OE] In the past tar was mainly distilled from wood, and the word tar may ultimately be related to *tree. Tar or Jack tar has been a name for a sailor since the late 17th century. It is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin [E17th], which was also a nickname for a sailor. As well as being the name of a waterproof cloth of tarred canvas, a tarpaulin was a kind of hat worn by sailors. The expression tar with the same brush [E19th] comes originally from the practice of shepherds using tar to cover any wounds suffered by their sheep, to prevent infection. To tar and feather someone was to smear them with tar and then cover them with feathers as a punishment. The practice was introduced into Britain in 1198, when Richard I decreed that it should be the punishment for members of the navy found guilty of theft, although the exact phrase is not recorded until the mid 18th century. Since then it has sometimes been inflicted by a mob on an unpopular individual, notably against customs officials in the War of American Independence (1775–83), and by the IRA against people suspected of collaborating with the British. The tar compound tarmac, originally tarmacadam, gets its name from the Scottish surveyor John McAdam (1756–1836).