Black Rinalda Kidd

Oh, aye! "Gazza" Oldman would be a treat! I hadn'a thought of putting milad in a kilt. But, never saw a paintin' of him in one, is like to be why it never occurred. There be one of him in a fashionable wig and right pretty red justaucorps with a gold sash, though. But what he wore in his earlier years are about as well recorded as what he did then (which is to say, there be bupkus....). Jean Reno could be amusing, though he's probably better known fer his soft-spoken types.... And Jeremy Irons I'd like to see in such a movie, but I see him better in th' Navy, ta be honest.

Migods, ye lads do beauty work! Most pirates I know around here know knots about as well as they know quantum mechanics, an' for them, it's doin' miracles to know th' difference between a reef an' a granny, let alone knowin' any knots beyond.... (An', it's never I'm askin' tha' lot ta toss me a lifeline!) I've had an interest in decorative marlinespike seamanship fer a number o' years, noo, an' though I haven't gotten me hands on Smith's book yet, I've had me copy of Ashley's fer quite some time. Never actually got around ta gettin' started, tho'. Too many things kept gettin' in th' way. Mostly, I've just done some lesser decorative things: lanyard knots, those worthwhile for makin' buttons, an' some o' th' more useful knots fer campin' an' such, some of which I've taught ta others locally. Or, in some cases tried ta.... Best o' luck ta ye, Capt'n MacNamara, on your venture! It's amazin' what some pieces will go fer when th' right folks are lookin'!

Thank ye Hitman, fer th' link. Fer whatever reason, me searches didn'a seem ta bring anythin' ta th' surface tha' much addressed wha' I were lookin' fer. Foun' th' "does this make me look gay" thread, nae problem, tho'! Just hadn'a hit upon th' right parameters, methinks. Occassional curse o' th' researcher in th' information age, and pruif I still thinks in me da's J-space.... An' I thank ye, Joshua Red. I'd been nursin' tha' suspicion in th' back o' me mind, e'en if I didn'a want ta admit ta th' dooubt. I'd asked me friend where he found his material when first he told me o' it, Capt'n Sterling, but regrettably, he couldn'a remember, but, I do quite honestly thank ye, naeth'less, fer th' spirit. Tha', unfortunately be th' usual state o' these things wi' him and I wonder wi' a wry shake o' me head a time or two why I persist. Ma'be hope springs infernal tha' one day he might actually hae printed somethin' oout! Faith be a funny thing. There be times he be right tho', when I eventually finds his sources on me own, and sometimes he be known ta some as somethin' o' a local blatherskite - bless his black little heart - so I knew it were equal odds. I'll ask him ta trae an' retrace his steps, in the hope somethin' might come o' it. Tha' said, th' only real reference ta any connection between pirates an' copper worn at any time (tha' weren't fiction) tha' me search fer me friend's source turned up were a cryptic one in a National Geographic article aboout the Blue Nile. Therein be a description o' a man encoountered along th' journey, wearin' wha' th' author called a "pirate's copper ring in his ear," but withoout anythin' further ta say o' why he'd make such an assertion, or precisely wha' tha' actually meant (appearance ta a modern, Western observer, or real artifact o' local cultural significance), it weren't much o' a connection. Nae history, nae cultural data, so nae help there. Could be a modern notion, fer a' I could find. Or it could be so much bilgewater.... But, again, Capt'n Sterling, Joshua Red and Hitman, I do thank ye.

Oh, aye! Workin' on it, milass! Workin' on it! It's a bit trite, I realize, but Billy Connolly still be me first choice ta play me captain in th' first one I'm workin' on. He's got aboout th' right build (an' th' right nose) fer 'im, an', most important, th' right accent, a' native-like. It be an 'istorical, bio-pic, but right excitin' it be, an' a much more intriguing plot than th' legends. Th' other movie script I'm workin' on be from th' perspective o' the' Navy, rather than pirate - but still will hae a great lot o' *boom*, fer th' fans o' explosions an' bits o' stuff flyin' everywhere. Another 'istorical, like the first, an' tha', again, more than legend. Still, I hae a confession tha' Alan Rickman would make a right lovely pirate, thoo. An' drawn enoo' he seem ta be ta th' period movies what allows 'im to wear th' long and lovely broad-skirted coats! Born ta wear 'em 'e is, an' by judgin' by th' way 'e moves in 'em, I can tell 'e loves to make 'em float an' swing an' swish, a' pretty-like!

Aye, I'm o' an accord wi' ye on the Welsh accent matter. Makes me wonder what an accent o' Gwynedd sounds like, though, an' if it be close ta Scots....

Be there any truth ta th' idea o' a pirate in period (or earlier) designatin' himself as such by wearin' a copper ring somewhere aboout his person? Me friend locally says he found documentation ta support this, but I canna seem ta duplicate his efforts thus far. I'd heard more often o' a sailor, even in ancient days, wearin' a gold earring ta pay either fer a proper burial, or passage into th' underworld (depending on faith), but his word be th' first I've heard o' copper. Has anybody foound any such historical basis fer th' notion?

Foam rubber is like ta stick oout a bit amidst yer other bits there.... But I only knows o' where ta get them what be th' real ones, milad. Or at least, th' wooden ones. Still, often as not, they be ripped from where they be in the heat o' battle, as most other times, they're like ta be in use.

Oh, aye. Dangerous, that. That be one o' them Celtic Klingons, then? Tough ta rid yerself o' milad, and alwa's after yer Blood Mead. But, th' Triquetra, as it be called, ye be referrin' ta there be a symbol o' th' Trinity, as it were adopted by th' earlier Christians from th' older faiths, but were adopted back again more recent-like by th' Wiccans, for th' Three of tha' faith as weell. But, aye. It be a right pretty bit of work, an' sure it be ta net ye plenty o' walkin' space in a crowded area, an' many a conversation aboout all yer pointy bits aboout ye. But, if ye be so unfortunate as ta lose yer cutlass in battle (and, aye, the rest o' yer lot as weell), there may always be a spare layin' aboout for th' takin', doin' nae but restin' easy buried in some lad's belly. And ye shouldna ferget aboout the fine smackin' qualities o' a good belayin' pin aside th' pate, free fer th' takin'. Best ta ye, thoo, milad.

Noo, I knoo wha' a banjo be, an' thoo many's th' port I've been in, m'lad, but I've nae heard o' a conversion banjo. Wonderin', wha' tha' be?

Well, if you're looking for pre-recorded stuff, a reasonably good one is Michael Longcor's "Boarding Party." It's a great lot of fun to sing along to, most especially "The Grog Song," and it's not songs you generally hear you hear very many places otherwise. Some are old sea songs, some are original works, some are earlier than period, some later, and a few aren't immediately noticeable as being sea-related, but manage it through sort of a back door reference. There's an introduction before each song, but they're easily dispensed with through a little application of technology, but, they are worth listening to for at least one go 'round. I often play it as exercise music when I hit the gym.

I'm a new one in these here waters, an' thought I might weigh in a bit on the "gettin' to know ye" types o' threads. I be envyin' ye, what plays the 'pipes, Pynch. One o' me favorites! I hae merely a practice chanter as yet, but mebbe one day, I can drive my neighbors ta drink wi' the proper 'pipes. Myself, I play the bodhran (nae too well, yet, though); I've been known to twiddle about a bit on the pennywhistle, an' when my mouth works arright, the fife. Mostly, I play the autoharp, though, as far as the instruments be goin'. Aside from that, I sing. It's my friend, though, who plays the guitar.

Ah, I mae not knoo as much as some, but as games o' tha' time be somethin' o' a passin' interest o' mine, I might be able ta gie ye a bit o' a bit or two on it. Cards be an expensive thing for an ordin'ry mortal, though not as much as they hae been i' cent'ries past, an' they dinna hae th' numbers an' pips in th' corners as they do noo. They be a simple paper, but a bit thick-like, and like as not, they be well worn, dog-earred a bit, and suchlike. Ye can find somthin' tha' may suit yer fancy o' about the right period i' such a place as Smoke an' Fire Traders for only a wee bit o' coin. I'm not as knooin' on the matters of card games offhand, mind. I'll hae ta dig oot me books and do a bit of scratchin' for ye, but the dice I can help ye with a bit more. By tha' time, dice could be made o' many a stuff, such as bone, pewter, wood, e'en brass. They'd ta'en on the form we knoo today by tha' time, an' sometimes were e'en made by hand by the folk wi' less of the bright an' shiny to line their pockets. One game ye might play is In an' Inn. It be takin' three dice, and ye be castin' 'em together, once ye made your presence knoon ta th' kitty. A pair o' any number got ye "in" an' th' rest o' yer mates would make their rolls as well. A' ye what still be "in" made another bet. Ye keep gooin' 'roond, placing' more each time, until there be only one o' ye left to claim th' pot. Any o' ye what rolled a three o' a kind, at any time, though, were "in an' inn." Th' rest o' yer mates would hae ta roll a higher three o' a kind to stay i' th' game. I've pla'ed awa' a right nasty storm ashore o' an evenin' wi' tha' one. Another be Hazard, what were a precursor ta what be knoon as "Craps" noo, an' were in play for a verra long time afore it changed. This game be takin' two dice. A' the players place various size bets, an' the caster be declarin' which o' them he fancies tryin' his luck again' and matches th' bet wi' his oon coin. If he roll anythin' between 5 an' 9, he's reached his "Main Point." If nae, he rolls again 'til he does. Then, he rolls for his "Chance Point" between 4 and 10. If when th' caster's rollin' for either Main or Chance Point, should he be rollin' a 2 or 3, both he and his fader (th' mate who's bet he took) be scuttled an' lost th' pot, an' it's on to the next poor lobster ta try an' win th' existing pot, as well as tha' which be added a' tha' point as play passes. If th' caster rolls his Main Point again, th' fader wins on th' spot. Otherwise, if the Main Point be 6 or 7, it be takin' a 12 for the caster ta win, if the Main Point is 7, it takes an 11. Rollin' the Chance Point makes th' caster a winner as well. But, if the Main is 5, 7, or 9, a 2 or a 3 loses it for the caster, as well as an 11 losin' it for th' caster if th' Main Point be a 5, 6, 8, or 9. If th' caster loses, he passes his dice on to either th' mate whose bet he took, or th' next to th' left. Shut th' Box be another dice game played, an' is knoon as one popular for shipboard play. But, th' rules were a bit different, i' those days. Th' board only went to 9, ne'er 12, an' ye could only "shut" either th' total o' th' two dice, or th' exact numbers on their faces. Otherwise, it be th' same game as t'day. I knoo there be others, but th' book what's got me dice games in be on loan ta a scallywag across toon, an' I'm nae rememberin' clear which ones still be in play by then. Hope ye might glean a bit of fun fra' it, thoo, an' I be more 'n' glad ta gie ye any addition'l pointers as ye might like.

Aye, mate, an' good luck may ye hae wi' it! The Gov'nor o' New York a' tha time, one Lord Bellomont, made himself sick - lit'rally - tryin' to find it. Poor cuss wore himself oot an' died a few months before Kidd himself was hanged.... There be a bit o' scuttlebutt amongst those historian lads and lasses, though, that Kidd had a map to the treasure of one Henry Avery (who o' a time or six called himself Henry Every), an' may e'en hae met wi' the lad afore he even left New York on his way to Madagascar. As a' we knoo, it be buried on some godforsaken spit o' sand thereabouts e'en noo. But, I wouldna be trustin' too much a map drawn by his own hand, ta be sure. Cunnin' as serpents he were. Oh, an' greetin's be ta ye. I'm a new one here meself. A' the best ta ye, milad!