Belladonna Bess

Now that be a challenge. Ye want a NON-fatal brew? While not entirely outside Belladonna Bess's area of expertise, she is rather unreliable when it comes to non-fatal substances. Actually I think the solution to yer problem be nothing to do with herbs. Undo a couple of the buttons on yer blouse and tighten up yer corset. It's not playin' fair, I know, but there's no point in bein' a pirate if ye have to play fair!

I find the names, and the whole persona development thing fascinating. I had my persona before my name. Among many other botanical subjects, I actually have worked on poisonous plants (this work is aimed at AVOIDING poisoning I should add). So I figured my pirate character could have a criminal history as a poisoner who mostly used poisonous plants. I worked on a few permutations of names that might be applied to a woman arrested for the poisoning of her husband (since that was a key event in the life of my character - what induced her to go to sea). I have used the name "atropa" in my email address for many years (Atropa belladonna is the botanical name for deadly nightshade), so belladonna came to mind quite easily. And Bess was just nicely alliterative. It has definitely stuck, and now "Belladonna" has become the name I use when I'm being a bellydancer. The last name, Harrow, was a suggestion of one of the other crew members. It isn't so much the meaning of the name, but the associations of the word "harrowing" that make it suit. The full name is Captain Belladonna Bess Harrow. I became captain accidentally because other crew members thought a character like Belladonna Bess would have to be at the top or she would make too much trouble. It has nothing to do with leadership of the group I belong to, it is just the character.

This looks like quite a good article on the subject. http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/19991218/a...icles/soap.html Glad it's not just me who thinks this is interesting. Although I'm not going down the practical experimentation line with this again. I tried once, as a teenager, and the results were disgusting. I decided that traditional soap manufacture would not be added to my list of hobbies.

I agree, this is all looking very interesting. Have you made gaiters before? I made a pair a couple of years back (to look like boots but I find it hard to get boots to fit my calves...). I did a lot of sewing and pinning calico around my legs until I had a shape that fit really well to use as a pattern, and I made them lace up. The lower leg changes shape a lot as you move. If they is really firm when you are standing normally, you will find your movement restricted. I haven't worked much with leather but I imagine they will stretch and will need adjusting from time to time. OK, all these comments come from a practical point of view rather than a knowledge of buccaneer clothing, but I thought they might be helpful. My practical point of view is pretty good though because I have worked in tropical savannah and scrub wearing shorts and gaiters (even if modern). By the way, I haven't got far on the Caribbean vegetation yet but some of the species lists include a good quantity of horribly spiny things - including one legume shrub that I know from person experience, having shredded my hand and leg on it collecting a botanical specimen.

I think the main reason for my comment was really that the image of the boucanier (to clarify I mean the hunters and not Morgan's group attacking Panama etc) slashing through thick tropical jungle didn't match what was in my mind. So I thought why and realised that I visualised them in more a grassland environment because of them hunting cattle. Interesting where the images in your mind come from. I'll have a quick look around for vegetation information on Carribbean islands. I'm curious now. I want to know which species they have and whether thay have any I know from other parts of the world. If I start talking Latin names you have permission to throw something at me!

OK, another case of a Belladonna Bess sidetrack I suspect, but would the hunter/buccaneers have slashed through thick tropical jungle? They hunted pigs and cattle, right? Pigs do fine in forest but I think cattle are really grassland animals. Savannah (grassland interspersed with trees) would seem more likely. Abundant wild cattle would certainly encourage a grassland ecosystem rather than forest. I'm pretty sure that both rainforest and savannah are found in the Carribean and on the mainland depending on soil and rainfall. If they were mostly in savannah, then having the lower legs covered with thick gaiters would seem to make practical sense, even if they were wearing some early equivalent of shorts or basically had bare legs, (think snakes and tropical grasses with burr-like seeds). Moret diversion, but this suggests possible clothing differences with the logwood cutters, since they were effectively working in swamp forest (cutting down spiny trees - nice job). I'm trying to imagine standing in the swamp all day with leather gaiters on. Not appealing.

Thanks Foxe. My interest is general - think I picked up an interest in washing from a childhood obsession with Roman baths. I haven't looked into it in a lot of detail, but Dampier got me interested in it in relation to pirates - I've spent a little time living, and working outdoors, in the tropics and I could certainly see his point. A more specific question based on your response would be whether you knew any more about frequency and methods of personal washing aboard ship and how it would have compared to what was usual on land in the same period. I'm assuming water conservation would have been quite important (although I guess there were often close to land or even on land so maybe less than I might think), and salt water isn't particularly satisfactory for washing. I'm not expecting you to go to any trouble but I'd be interested to hear if you have information to hand or can suggest resources. I've really only just started reading about pirates - I was basically having fun playing dressup and then my trivia-loving brain discovered the historical side (sigh - there aren't enough hours in the day to read all the books piled by my bed...).

Thanks for your responses. Diego, I've found a few things, but if you have any sites you recommend or know of some particularly good pictures, I'd be keen to see them. And since I'm not in character in this forum, it is quite safe to drink with me (and if ye be buyin', I won't complain). HarborMaster, I'm pretty sure the colour will be black with silvery metal, as most of the shiny bits in my costume are silver (although there are some small brass bottles...). My character wears lots of black and red because of the "Black Widow" theme in her life story. The arrangement you describe with the small straps for attaching the scabbard are one thing I need details of - any chance of seeing a close-up picture? Jolly O'Grog Rogers, I don't have a wooden mug, I'm afraid I drink my (usually highly dilute) grog from a plastic bottle (I have a nice glass bottle, but carrying a glass bottle at some of the events I'm at is a bit risky when there are barefooted people everywhere and you are playing a little rough at times). But before you all recoil in horror, I hand-wove a flax (NZ flax or Phormium tenax) case for the bottle so you can't see the plastic. It is the only thing in my costume that really has any serious historical accuracy. Although the idea of making a plastic bottle cover is modern, the material and form are traditional Maori weaving (a shape known as the kono, primarily used for throwaway food baskets).

I'm sidetracking Patrick's buccaneer thread, but thanks Foxe, that is really interesting. The way Dampier specifically comments on twice-a-day bathing in the tropics indicates that he thought it would be unusual and interesting to his audience (because he states at the beginning that he would leave out things that he thought would be familiar to his readers, no doubt to the great chagrin of modern historians). Of course Dampier's audience was people on land in England, not seafarers. Do you have any further information on this? For some reason I think the history of washing is a really interesting subject. (Yes, I realise I'm strange. I just don't care.)

Glad to see it has recovered then. Does it have a hangover as well? Ok, not being quite so silly here, I'm reading Dampier at the moment and I'm finding it really interesting. For me, whether a costume is authentic or pure fantasy, it is the extra effort in the details that makes the difference (even though what those details are will be different). I'm no help on authentic costume tips (my costume is along the lines of what Howard Pyle might have done if he painted female pirates, and I'm quite happy with that), but I did have a couple of thoughts on details. For Dampier an obvious accessory would be the bamboo tube with the wax-stopped ends that he used to keep his journal dry when crossing the Darien (presumably he used it elsewhere as well). Another one would be the dodgy commissions that he sailed under. Dampier states that he considered his trade to be legal at the time he was doing it (although from his wording, he later changed his mind). The commissions that the crew carried were generally a bit secondhand. He mentions a time when Captain Davis was offered a commission by Captain Gronet (Grogniet). Basically the governor of Petit Guaves gave his captains a number of blank commissions that they could give out to anyone they liked, and it was one of these that Captain Davis accepted because his commission was the one that had belong to at least 2 other captains. So to have a commission where it had obviously been passed around (several different captain's named crossed out etc) would be an interesting Dampier crew accessory. The good news is that Dampier considered washing to be a good idea so if anyone tells you that you are too clean to be a pirate you have an answer for them. I'm sure other Dampier fans will be able to think of others. Belladonna Bess

Nah, he hasn't capitalized the Nouns.

"Logwood trees" have made their appearance a couple of times in pirate books I have been reading (especially William Dampier), but without any explanation of what they actually were. So I got curious and looked them up. I then found a rather interesting article about them. Although it is probably more interesting to a botanist, there is some discussion about the dye history and the relationship between logwood cutting and piracy that may interest people here. I can't comment on the accuracy of the historical details, but the botany on this site is generally accurate. Logwood and Brazilwood Anyway, I don't know whether this is of interest to any of you, but combining piracy and botany makes me happy.

Well, unexpectedly, my local library actually has William Dampier's books (the 1906 edition with the complete books in 2 volumes). And even on the general shelves and not hidden away in some stack! So I'm reading it now. For those interested, the 2 volumes are known collectively as "Dampier's Voyages", published in 1906 by E. Grant Richards in London, edited by John Masefield. The text for most of it seems to be from the 6th edition, but it includes as footnotes some of the comments that were in Dampier's draft that never made it to publication. Also on the subject of pirate books, I've just read "The Pirate Wars" by Peter Earle (mentioned in the first post of this topic), and found it very interesting and it seemed pretty good information. I've also read "Pirates and Buccaneers" by Gilles Lapouge (ISBN 1844301192 I think), and while it is full of pretty pictures, most of them are from the 19th or 20th centuries or undated (and many of the undated ones just don't look contemporary with their subject matter). I get the impression that the factual content of the text is a little wayward as well. Not one I'd recommend.

As the costume of Belladonna Bess progresses from something that looked suspiciously like a heavily-armed bellydancer in a cocked hat, to something that is more obviously pirate, I'm slowly adding more piratical accessories. The latest thing I want to add is a baldric. I'm not game to attempt making one myself, but I have found a local craftsman who I'm told can make pretty much anything from leather (I'm not asking for too many details over exactly what that means, but I've seen enough of his "family-friendly" work to know that he is good). However I need to tell him exactly what I want. I've seen quite a few nice pictures of baldrics, but little or nothing on how they are made, how the sword fits in, how the other weapons are attached, grade of leather required etc. I'd like to supply the person who is going to make the baldric with good detailed information so it turns out right. So, anybody got any ideas? To explain what I want - my costume is totally non-authentic and likely to remain so for the forseeable future. However I'm interested in knowing accurate background information, so if anyone can point me to discussion on this I'd be really happy. I'll have to be making some arrangement to carry some small metal bottles attached to it somewhere, since while Belladonna Bess carries a sword and a dagger, her main weapon is her extensive botanical knowledge (deadly nightshade etc). And on the subject of swords, how are baldrics made adjustable for different swords? Currently I have a very nice-looking sword that I carry around and threaten my prisoners with, but this sword is very good for one purpose (balancing on yer head while you do pretty undulations and shimmies) and I don't plan to use it for piracy in the long term. Anyway, any discourse on the subject be most wlecome.

Maybe this has been discussed on other threads and I'm just an ignorant newbie, but I'm curious about the lack of facial hair that dasNdanger mentioned. I find it hard to believe they would have all been clean-shaven. Was there some artistic convention, or is this another example of the artist only ever seeing pirates all dressed up on shore? If there is another thread I haven't seen, please refer me to it and I will read it and shut up. Thanks.