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September 6 - On this day in 1615, Sir Francis Verney, English adventurer, soldier of fortune, and pirate died at St. Mary of Pity pauper's hospital, in Messina. A nobleman by birth, he left England after the House of Commons sided with his stepmother in a legal dispute over his inheritance, and became a mercenary in Morocco and later a Barbary corsair. And on this day in 1622, the Spanish silver fleet disappeared off the Florida Keys. Thousands perished. Also on this day in 1628, Puritans landed at Salem, from Mass Bay Colony. And on this day in 1660, unable to defend the colony, Petrus Stuyvesant, Governor of New Netherland (New Amsterdam), handed over the Dutch colony to the English. Then on this day in 1675, Swedish admiral Stenbock sailed out with a fleet of 66 ships. And in 1716, the first lighthouse was built in North America at Boston.
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That turned out just lovely. Very nice finish on a practical and unique tool.
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Welcome back aboard!
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It's still alive! I am surprised... And happy. This is far better than Facebook. A lot more information, and a better group of people... (As far as pirates can be called better). I have missed the old look of the pub, with it's wooden effect. But I guess this less image heavy incarnation is more stream- lined I guess. Oh well. I am still living in Asia, trying to get money together.. and never a sight of a pirate crew here. Not 16th-18th century anyway. I will keep popping my head in.. Never say die!
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August 20 - On this day in 1720, Adam, a boatswain that sailed Condent, received a share of 2,000 pounds sterling after robbing an Arabian bagala bound from Jeddah to Surat. "The Pirates shared out their booty at St. Mary's [Madagascar] and then broke up the Company. After a time there came a Snow from Bristol the master of which they paid very liberally to convey a petition from them for pardon to the Governor of Mascarenhas, which he granted on condition they burnt their ship. They agreed to this, burnt the Flying Dragon and about 40 of them went to Mascarenhas."
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Progress. after a bit more sanding to shape, and then a little more finish sanding. it started looking so good I put several coats of tung oil on it. It actually looks like a hat block. I need to try it on a hat and decide whether to cut it in half and add adjuster. but so far its looking good.
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It has the virtue of being unique, period and practical. Not all period builds have to be made with rudimentary tools. We have to have time to go to work, sleep and eat. That's turning out great.
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July 22 - On this day in 1718, Rogers' expedition arrived at Nassau Harbor, surprising and trapping a ship commanded by pirate Charles Vane. Negotiations ensued, but failed, and Vane used a captured French vessel as a fireship in an attempt to ram the naval vessels. The attempt failed, but the naval vessels were forced out of the west end of Nassau harbor, giving Vane's crew an opportunity to raid the town and secure the best local pilot. Vane and his men then escaped in a small sloop via the harbor's narrow east entrance. The pirates had evaded the trap, but Nassau and New Providence Island were left in Rogers' hands. On this same day and year, a minor engagement took place between Sweden and Russia.
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After a week of 110 deg heat, I finally got the ambition to spend some time in the garage. I worked with the hand planer but it was slow and hot work. In the end I punted on that idea. I used a hand saw to take off the corners of the block to get most of excess out of the way. Then I went to town with the power sanding unit. It is rough shaped now. There is obviously some finish sanding to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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July 21 - On this day in 1721, William Kennedy was executed at Execution Dock, Wapping, along with Howell Davis. And on this day in 1823, the U. S. schooners of war Greyhound and Beagle came to anchor off Cape Cruz. "Kearney went in his boat to reconnoitre the shore, when he was fired on by a party of pirates who were concealed among the bushes. Fire was also opened from several pieces of cannon erected on a hill, a short distance off. The boat returned, and five or six others were manned from the vessels, and pushed off for the shore, but a very heavy cannonade being kept up by the pirates on the heights, as well as from the boats were compelled to retreat. The two schooners were then warped in, when they discharged several broadsides, and covered the landing of the boats. After a short time the pirates retreated to a hill that was well fortified. A small hamlet, in which the pirates resided was set fire to and destroyed. Three guns, one a four pounder, and two large swivels, with several pistols, cutlasses, and eight large boats, were captured. A cave, about 150 feet deep, was discovered, near where the houses were, and after considerable difficulty, a party of seamen got to the bottom, where was found an immense quantity of plunder, consisting of broadcloths, dry goods, female dresses, saddlery, Many human bones were also in the cave, supposed to have been unfortunate persons who were taken and put to death. A great deal of the articles were brought away and the rest destroyed. About forty pirates escaped to the heights, but many were supposed to have been killed, from the fire of the schooners, as well as from the men who landed. The bushes were so thick that it was impossible to go after them. Several other caves are in the neighborhood, in which it was conjectured they occasion ally take shelter."
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I visited the Lazaretto Nuovo ['new' lazaretto] when I was in Venice last Summer. Sadly, there was not much left of the original structures. The French destroyed it all when they dismantled the Venetian Rupublic in the late 18th century.
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Surgical Instruments, Procedures and Whatnot
William Brand replied to Mission's topic in Captain Twill
That is a fantastic amount of research and I love the details about the 'Lazarettos'. -
July 18 - On this day in 1696, Czar Peter I's fleet occupied Azov at the mouth of the Don River. And on this day in 1700, according to British Admiralty Records in the Public Records Office in the UK, the HMS Poole, commanded by Captain John Cranby, engaged pirate Emanuel Wynn's ship off the Cape Verde islands. Cranby chased Wynn into a cove at Brava Island but, assisted by Portuguese soldiers, Wynn escaped Poole. Most historians agree that Cranby's account is the first mention of a Jolly Roger, which Cranby described as "a sable ensign with cross bones, a death's head, and an hour glass." Wynne is believed to be the first (or some sources contend one of the first) pirate to fly the now familiar form of the jolly roger. His flag, showing the distinctive skull and crossbones motif, was augmented with another common pirate symbol: an hourglass (meant to signify to his prey that only by timely surrender could they evade death). Wynne began his piratical career raiding English merchantmen off the coast of the Province of Carolina near the end of the 17th century. He later moved to the more profitable waters of the Caribbean, attacking both English and Spanish ships. Also on this day in 1718, Howell Davis was given command of the Cadogan and set out for Brazil. However, his crew mutinied and sailed to Barbados instead. Davis was imprisoned there on the charge of piracy, but was eventually released and sought shelter in the pirate den of New Providence in the Bahamas. With New Providence being cleaned out by Governor Woodes Rogers, Davis left on the sloop Buck and conspired with six other crew members, who included Thomas Anstis and Walter Kennedy, to take over the vessel off Martinique. Davis was elected captain and conducted raids from his base at Coxon's Hole.
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After six months of work, much of it translating old Italian, Portuguese and French documents, I have posted an article on Maritime Quarantine for the Plague during the Golden Age of Piracy. You will find the first page here. It first briefly looks at the disease as it was understood then, the history of quarantine and the way incoming ships, the people and goods on them were quarantined in Mediterranean ports during the GAoP. It then focuses on the lazarettos -structures built for quarantining incoming ships - which were active during this period, including in Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. It finishes with a discussion of how to quarantine was performed in England up to and including this period.
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July 17 - On this day in 1596, At 10:30AM, Dutch explorer Willem Barents arrived at Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Sea. Also on this day in 1603, Sir Walter Raleigh was arrested by forces of King James. And on this day in 1690, Adam Baldridge arrived at Island of St. Marie in Madagascar where he built a fort and began trading with pirates. And also on this day in 1696, a proclamation for the arrest of Henry Every was issued by the Lords Justices. And if that weren't enough, on this day in 1696, an Irish Proclamation was put forth promising a reward for the apprehension of a pirate named Henry Every. And finally, on this day in 1726, Captain William Fly of Jamaica and the ship Elizabeth was hanged at Boston. His career as a pirate lasted just one month.
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aaah... Taxes - the death of us all!
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July 15 - The Bahamas did not come under external threat during Rogers' second term, but the reappointed governor had difficulties. Still seeking to bolster the island's defences, Rogers sought imposition of a local tax. The assembly, which had been instituted in Rogers' absence, objected, and Rogers responded by dissolving it. The governmental battle exhausted Rogers, who again went to Charleston in early 1731 in an attempt to recover his health. Though he returned in July 1731, he never truly regained his health, and died in Nassau on this day in 1732. On this day in 1741, Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska.
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July 14 - On this day in 1698, the Darien scheme began with five ships, bearing about 1,200 people, and departed Leith for the Isthmus of Panama. And on this day in 1702, Christopher Codrington, governor-general of the English Leeward Islands, lead 1,200 militiamen and privateers in a descent upon the shared island of St. Kitts, expelling its French Settlers. Also on this day in 1714, the Battle of Aland occurred wherein the Russian fleet overpowered the larger Swedish fleet. And on this day in 1769, the expedition led by Gaspar de Portola established a base in California and set out to find the Port of Monterey.
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This will be shaped using a hand planer. unfortunately I dont have any period tools, so modern equivalents will have to do. When I take on these projects, I like to look at it from how they did it. I glean a lot more about the era that way
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I look forward to more progress images on this build. We need more threads like this showing the process using classical techniques.
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July 12 - On this day in 1701, James Gilliam, also known as James Kelly, died. He was an English pirate active in the Indian Ocean during the 1690s and was a longtime associate of Captain William Kidd. One of Kidd's earliest crew members, Gilliam was a participant in the mutiny on board the Moacha and the subsequent murder of Captain Edgecomb who was killed in his sleep. After taking command of the East Indiaman, Gilliam and the crew of the Mocha captured several ships in the eastern seas until his arrest after returning to New England with Kidd in 1699. Transported to Great Britain, he was tried at the Old Bailey and found guilty of piracy. While in prison, he wrote A full and true Discovery of all the Robberies, Pyracies, and other Notorious Actions, of that Famous English Pyrate, Capt. James Kelly which included references to the as yet undiscovered Galapagos Islands before his eventual execution on July 12, 1701. And on this day in 1723, twenty-five members of the crew of the Ranger, including the ship's doctor, were tried, with Peter Solgard giving evidence and recounting the battle. Low, Harris and their ships had left the Azores for the Carolinas earlier in the Summer, and suffered a resounding defeat in a battle with the HMS Greyhound, a heavily armed man of war. The Greyhound had been dispatched under the command of Peter Solgard to hunt down Low and his fleet. Low had fled in the Fancy with a skeleton crew and £150,000 in gold on board and headed back to the Azores, leaving Harris and the Ranger behind to be captured. Also on this day in 1726, Captain Fly and other pirates captured by Walker and Benbrooke, were brought to their trial before the Honourable William Dumnier, Esq. Lieutenant Governor and commander in chief of the province of Massachusetts Bay, President of the Special Court of Admiralty, at the court-house of Boston, assisted by 18 gentlemen of the council; before whom they were found guilty of murder and piracy condemned to be executed, and accordingly were executed the 12th of July. Fly was ordered to be hanged in chains at the entrance of the harbour of Boston. Thus ended the short reign of an obdurate wretch, who only wanted skill and power to be as infamous as any who scoured the seas. The names of the three pirates, executed with him were, Samuel Cole, George Condick, and Henry Greenville. Captain William Fly was an English pirate who raided New England shipping for three months in 1726 until he was captured by the crew of a seized ship. William Fly's career as a pirate began in April 1726 when he signed on to sail with Captain John Green to West Africa on the Elizabeth. Green and Fly began to clash until one night William led a mutiny that resulted in Capt. Green being tossed overboard; Fly then took command of the Elizabeth.[1] Having captured the ship, the mutineers sewed a Jolly Roger flag, renamed the ship Fames' Revenge, elected William Fly as captain, and sailed to the coast of North Carolina and north toward New England. They captured five ships in about two months before being captured themselves. Following his capture, Cotton Mather tried, and failed, to get Fly to publicly repent. Reportedly, Fly approached the hanging with complete disdain and even reproached the hangman for doing a poor job, re-tying the noose and placing it about his neck with his own two hands. His last words were, roughly, a warning to captains to treat their sailors well and pay them on time - "Our Captain and his Mate used us Barbarously. We poor Men can’t have Justice done us. There is nothing said to our Commanders, let them never so much abuse us, and use us like Dogs." Fly urged that "all Masters of Vessels might take Warning of the Fate of the Captain that he had murder'd, and to pay Sailors their Wages when due."
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Being perfectly round is not a problem at all. A hat jack will fix that issue quite easily. The shape of the crown is the important thing.
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Since the hat block is already started, there's no point. besides, no ones head is perfect round. I can cut this hat block in half and make it adjustable as well.
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July 9 - On this day in 1722, the Boston News Letter published a list of those captured by Edward Low after he sank ships of the fleet, and abandoned the Rebecca.
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You might want to look at ordinary clay flower pots for a crown shaper. They taper quite a bit, and can give you a nice Sugar Loaf crown shape. They vary quite a bit in size and degree of taper. I have made a couple of hats using them
