Captain Twill
Academic Fight Circle, Research, Share, Discuss & Debate Maritime History.
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I am looking for a few period correct working songs that can be cited. I know there are a few great sources for songs, such as Henry Playford's "Wit and Mirth", but does anyone have some GAoP sources for ones used to work the vessels? Many thanks!
Last reply by William Brand, -
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This governor became particularly famous in historiography of piracy for his (interested) help to Henry Jennings and more in general to the "Flying Gang". When that scandal exploded, mostly thanks to the spanish gripes to the English crown, Hamilton was arrested and forcibly conducted to London, where, in very few time, he re-gained his status of Lord and even differents assignments from the crown. Now i'm very confused because i've found the copy of a letter of "Hamilton governor of Antigue" (without the name "Arcibald") dated 1720, but i can't find anywhere a confirm that he became again governor in the westerns colonies. His biography, that is possible to find in a ve…
Last reply by Davis, -
Which were the sailors' duties when at anchor? Usually I can find on the net only the part for at sea. Besides scrubbing the deck... what else was to do when in port? I know that the warrant officers and their mates were busy with inventory, resupplying (each one on his line of work), repairing what needed repairs. But what were the sailors to do?
Last reply by Coastie04, -
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Have not seen this mentioned, but I miss a lot.... The February 2014 issue of Smithsonian has a ten page article on Blackbeard and the cover is black with skull and crossbones and black beard spelled out in white letters. Seemed like a good article with some new information
Last reply by GregF, -
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Bartholomew Roberts' article VIII provides for pirates to duel, but only on shore. These rules are quite a bit less bloodlthirsty than the later "Irish"1 code duello of 1777. The requirement that both the pirates fire immediately is presumably meant to keep them from aiming carefully. The Irish code, on the other hand, says that the parties may fire "at their leisure," so they could aim, so long as they didn't rest their pistols on anything. The Irish code also forbade "second presents," which I think means that if you raised your pistol and then lowered it without shooting, you couldn't raise it again. The pirates' code provides for only one shot each, and then us…
Last reply by Fox, -
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This month's Surgeon's Journal article is about drowning resuscitation, looking at the several ways a seaman could be nearly drowned, how he might be retrieved, a brief look at books that talk about drowning from around and slightly after the golden age of piracy and the various methods that were used to revive victims. You can read it by following this link.
Last reply by Daniel, -
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I'm reading the book Daily Life of Pirates by David F. Marley and I came across this statement: "Captain Stede Bonnet's boatswain Ignatius Pell, for instance, confessed to the South Carolina authorities in 1718 that the crew of the pirate sloop Revenge had chosen to linger for a month and a half in the Cape Fear River estuary, because they had wished to wait out the hurricane season before returning toward Saint Thomas in the distant Virgin Islands." (Marley, p. 79) This makes perfectly good sense, although Marley doesn't cite the source where he found that pearl of knowledge. It has been repeated on several websites including a blog where the author quotes one part of …
Last reply by Brit.Privateer, -
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So, I came across this on Wikipedia while researching Tortuga (which I believe is pretty well common knowledge in Buccaneering circles): "In 1645, in an attempt to bring harmony and control over the island, the acting French governor imported roughly 1,650 prostitutes, hoping to normalize the unruly pirates' lives." That got me curious where this 'fact' came from, so started looking around on Google and found sources claiming the Governor Jean Le Vasseur brought anywhere from a 100 to hundreds to this upper number of 1650 women. Some accounts claim they were swept off the streets of Paris with enticements to move to the New World, others hinted they were women tricked i…
Last reply by Mission, -
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I'm reading a book called Daily Life of Pirates by David F. Marley. So far I don't see where it adds a lot of 'new' info to the topic, but the author does a nice job of sifting and organizing and draws some interesting conclusions at times. (I wish he supported some of them with period references a little better, but it is an engaging book nonetheless.) He has a whole chapter on food which focuses primarily on meat (particularly as it relates to the buccaneers) and I thought you all might find this interesting. "Like wild cattle, the earliest boucaniers had also hunted wild pigs on French Hispaniola, and pork was to remain a favorite meat among Antilliean residents and…
Last reply by Mission, -
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I wonder if anyone could clear out what prime meridians were used in the GAOP? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I understand it like El Heirro / Ferro, the Canary Islands, was the most commonly used prime meridian. It was first used by the Spanish, as it was the most westerly known point. (The Portuguese used Madeira in a similar way.) Many countries had for a long time their own meridians, but in this period Holland also used El Heirro for some reason. I think even France used it, perhaps because the Dutch were the superior chart drawers? What did the British use? I know that Dutch charts were highly valued, but perhaps these were converted to an English system. I h…
Last reply by RoyalJames, -
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Hey all, I was wondering if we could get a book list going regarding the GAOP time period. I figured this would help people discover some great material that they may have missed, as well as help in knowing which ones to avoid. If a book contains good/bad, maybe a description on the pos/neg would be useful. Thanks much.
Last reply by Mission, -
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Following on from some posts in the Jacobite Politics thread, I thought a thread about busting some pirate myths might be quite interesting. I'm not talking about the superficial myths like whether pirates wore eyepatches so they could see better below decks, or reenactor myths like whether they wore bucket boots, but deeper myths about who pirates were, and what they did. Some of these have been discussed elsewhere, so this will be more of a consolidation, but some are (I think) new. Feel free to add others. Pirates' pay scales were extremely egalitarian compared with other maritime trades and 18th century society. On the face of it the division of loot specified in pi…
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
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I have been wondering about one old folk-song. I heard it ifrom a interesting "source" (well it was Assassin's Greed 4 Black Flag but the song is real) and I found out using web sources that it is a real old Irish song. I have no real reason to know but I am curious. Here is said "This was a popular street song in the first half of the 18th century. The last verse may have been added later. There are several versions, including bawdy ones. For one alternate, but similar version, see Billy Taylor." One version of the lyrics (Youtube has some version too): William Taylor was a brisk young sailor, He who courted a lady fair; Bells were ringing, sailors singing, As to…
Last reply by Fox, -
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In this documentary there is a some interesting info about pirate William Condon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2118705/ (yes documentaries are rarely 100% accurate and this doesn't seem to be an exception) It can be, it seems at least for the time being found on YouTube when you search "pirate Island documentary" I am merely interested about one thing First of all Wiki (yes it is wiki but...) knows the man William Condon alias "Billy One Hand" who seems to be the very same man as Christoper Condent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Condon and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Condent (neither of the articles are good unfortunately. Not many sour…
Last reply by sea haugh, -
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NOVEMBER 21, 1724 On this day in 1724, the pirate ship 'Revenge' attacked the British ship 'Sarah'. Most of the crew was set adrift, though some deemed useful were given the option of joining John Gow's crew. Over the next few months, John Gow attacked several other ships. Also on this day in 1996, Intersal Inc., a private research firm, discovered the wreck believed to be the 'Queen Anne’s Revenge'. It was located by Intersal's director of operations, Mike Daniel, who used historical research provided by Intersal's president, Phil Masters and archaeologist David Moore. The vessel is in the Atlantic Ocean in shallow water offshore from Fort Macon State Park (34°41′44″N …
Last reply by William Brand, -
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Surprisingly I didn't found proper thread for this : John/ James Martel was not a particularly notable pirate (though at least accordingly to Wiki he commanded 22 gun ship which is quite large actually) At first I found an interesting section about this pirate in The history of the pyrates: containing the lives of Captain Mission. Captain Bowen. Captain Kidd ... and their several crews (1728) link http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/17002 I appears that a person who had more knowledge about Martel or actually his pirate gang under Captain Kennedy sent a Letter to Johnson since the original edition of the book contained errors. The letter was published in this 1728 Volume. Pa…
Last reply by Fox, -
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Is anyone familiar with a pirate named 'John Derdrake' ? I have only found reference to him three times. twice on a pirate website, and once in a picture of old pirate trading cards. Supposedly he was a pirate and shipwright who plundered in the baltic between Sweden, Denmark, and England and commanded a 70 gun ship called the 'Sudden Death' he settled in Stralsund but was captured when he ventured into another port and was hanged. This info came from the website I mentioned. I'm curious because my persona commands an 80 some gun ship and I'm curious because I believed this was impossible till now. Of course there is the obvious chance he was invented to feed a public ob…
Last reply by Iron Jon, -
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So, how deep could the water be and the ship still be able to anchor? And what's the limiting factor? I think having a 100-fathom anchor cable doesn't let you anchor in 100 fathoms of water. I think that for the anchor to bite properly, the anchor cable needs to be at an acute angle to the sea floor, and pictures I've seen of ships at anchor show the ship several hundred yards away from being directly above their anchors. You would only go directly above your anchor when you were preparing to haul it up. But is the length of your anchor cable the limiting factor? Beyond some length, does the combined weight of the anchor and cable become too much for the crew to lif…
Last reply by Silver, -
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We had seen in stories a lot of times the lowly sailor/ soldier saving his officer's life... but in what circumstances it can be the opposite? A captain saving a sailor's life? I am trying to come with an idea but not sure which, this is why I need your help, as you are more accustomed with mishappenings aboard. This captain would be capable to help/ grab away the young sailor if he sees the impending accident, and I want the young sailor very grateful to him for having saved his life. ...So, please, help! What could have gone wrong aboard in this case? (1719, West Indies, if it helps... And it;s during the daily work, not in a battle.)
Last reply by Coastie04, -
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As most crews elected their captains, I came to wonder if there is any example of a captain not being an educated naval officer. Could perhaps a strong leader among the crew master the role, even if he had no nautical knowledge?
Last reply by Fox, -
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Careening: the act of beaching one's ship, turning it over on its side, cleaning the bottom and adding/replacing hull planks. WIthout careening, teredoes and barnacles and seaweed will first slow and then destroy the ship. Now, even a small vessel will have a draught of five feet or more; the brigantine St. Lawrence II, for example, has an 8.5 foot draught. So as you sail your ship toward the beach, you will run aground in five to eight feet of water. Obviously,it will be difficult or impossible to work on the bottom while standing in the middle of crashing surf. In ordinary seas, the solution is presumably to ground the ship at high tide; when the tide goes out, you…
Last reply by Coastie04, -
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In the section about Davis, Johnston describes how the Gambia castle was robbed in 1719. Reading Bucquoy a very similar story pops up, but with some differences. Does anyone know if this is the same story in different versions or if there was two very similar different events? In Johnston’s version Davis is the one leading the operation and (if I get it right) the fort is under English possession, while in Bucquoy it is Taylor and the fort is French. /James
Last reply by sea haugh, -
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Ahoy mates, I understand there are some of you here with experience in deciphering handwritten 17th century documents. I recently acquired my family bible, (another interesting story there!) which had a couple of lines written in it that I cannot decipher, even after reading a tutorial on 17th century manuscripts. I am hoping someone here can help. Here is some helpful background information: This is a Geneva bible, published in England in 1615. It definitely belonged to my ancestor Thomas Bolles (1644-1727) and he signed it clearly, "Tho Bolles his Book 1696". The line of descent runs like this: Thomas (1576-1635) English baron, born in Osberton Nottinghamshire Eng…
Last reply by Dread Pyrate Greyhound, -
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I first came across this thing in a local history magazine. Then it was the Google's turn and I was surprised to find a Wikipedia article about it. So the Norman Island was apparently a real island and still is. Also at least some parts of the treasure article is true. However does anyone know how much of the story is evidently real? The article had for example a wrong link to a person (Owen Lloyd) so I am unsure about its accuracy. I am only curious and I saw that this thing has no thread yet so in case there is a conversation to come....
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
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Coastie's thread on the Astrid started me thinking about how ships were salvaged back in GAoP. Like many landlubbers, I tend to think of a "lost" ship as sitting on the bottom of the sea without a trace remaining, forgetting that ships, like the Astrid, can be sitting on the rocks with not only their masts but substantial parts of their hulls above water. Such a ship might not be out of reach of 18th century recovery technology. We hear frequently of wrecker-pirates, who swarm out onto a wreck and strip her, or even lure a ship onto the rocks with false lights; how did they go about getting the loot? The one contemporary source I know of about 18th century salvage is …
Last reply by flagman1776,
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