DCHP-1 Online
barrelman 
n. a man stationed in the crow's-nest of a sealing ship.
- 1924 Barrelman. Man who spies for seals.
- 1944 (1956) This to my mind is the most important job aboard a sealer, as the barrel man has to watch the movements of the men on the ice and be able to tell the skipper where they are and be able to pick them up in case of a sudden storm.
- 1961 . . . the barrelman of Bellaventure, a Newfoundland sealing ship, spied a huddle of dark shapes on a waste of ice in the North Atlantic.
- 1924 Barrelman. Man who spies for seals.