AllByMeOnesies

Thanks for the info. In particular I'm thinking of a merchant ship sailing from England to the Carolinas. It appears from the clockwise dominant winds that they would sail south and west before sailing north up toward the Carolinas. That's what I had suspected, and those maps seem to bear that out.

I'm looking for information regarding the Atlantic shipping routes, specifically England to the east coast of America in summer, including prevailing winds (if possible). Thanks for any help.

That melon shot picture is certainly sobering. Melon mash, anyone?

Great stuff, guys! Thanks so much for the info. Very enlightening. I toast you all.

This is going to sound like a very strange question, but...I'm wondering what type of result would be had if a pistol was fired pointblank at another person's head. I know it would most likely be fatal, but what I'm wondering is the type of damage caused. Pistols nowadays on TV leave seemingly neat little holes. I'm wondering with the type of ball used in a 17th century pistol pointblank if it would be...um...messy or not. And how on earth does one find this out (short of shooting someone pointblank with said pistol )?

Thankee. I was worried that having bottles in what I'm writing was historically inaccurate. Now I can sleep tonight.

Thanks, gents, good info. However, I'm still wondering about what sealed the bottles. Some of the pictures show cork but the Restoration book says "cork stoppers had not yet been developed." So what was used as a cap or stopper for bottles of the late 17th century? Were cork stoppers developed by, say, 1690?

An internet search and a library search have yielded little for me regarding when bottles and corks, etc. were manufactured and used. The Restoration London book says at that time liquor was not stored in bottles because there was no way to seal the bottles. I'm wondering in particular about the late 1600's for what I'm writing. Anyone know of any good resources?

Very interesting! Could you cite some sources? If so, thankee. I thought there was a big debate here or somewhere about tattoes, and the majority said tattoes were NOT that common back then??

I'm also wondering about those in mourning during their private time. For example, I'm working on something that takes place (besides on the high seas) on a plantation in the late 1690's. I'm wondering if what they wore during the mourning period just while at home was different than in public. I would think so. Capt. Sterling, I've heard of that book on here before and will check it out. Thankee. Interesting rings. I would think those would be for the aristocracy?? And one wouldn't think something like that could be knocked out in a day or so, so that makes me think mourning was indeed a lengthy deal then (at least for some classes).

Anyone know of any good sources for this type of info? I've found very little. I've read about the wearing of black arm bands but was that in lieu of black mourning dress? Did men in the family of the deceased wear black? What about the servants of the house of the deceased? How long was the period of mourning? Dang.

Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for the response.

Kass: If I'm writing [historial fiction] about a woman's attire, it would be rather cumbersome (and perhaps confusing to the modern reader) to describe "her petticoat and stays". Is using the word "dress" when describing the entire picture too inaccurate? (Can you tell I'm concerned with readers such as yourself sending poison pen emails after the book is published? )

Thanks to all for your help. The Wikipedia page was particularly interesting/informative.

I'm talking a typical pistol around 1690. What would be the loading procedure for such? Also, in movies you see men walking about with the pistol on their person then whipping it out and firing it. This, of course, makes me wonder about the logistics of such a thing, considering loose gunpowder, etc. Am I making any sense?