Hawkyns

Had a great time at the Pirate's Salty Ball IV last night. Lots of old friends and some new ones. Much rum was consumed, many songs were sung. A hearty Well Done and Huzzah to Captain Thighbiter and the Brigands for a job damn well done. Hawkyns Captayne of the Mermayde.

Cascabel- I've been reenacting since the early 80's- 15th, 16th, 17th C, WWII, pyrate, ACW, ECW, F&I, RevWar. I can count the number of times I've been paid on two hands and have fingers left over. I've paid fees to attend a great many events, even those that charged the public to enter. I've never yet felt that they took advantage of me, for two reasons. Most of those evetns that I've paid to attend were at historic sites. The whole idea of the event was to raise money for the site for preservation or maintainance. For them to provide wood, water, and portaloos out of the gate money would be a counterproductive to the whole idea of the event. I've also attended many private events where there was no public, and we had to pay for the services that the camp needed. Second big reason is that I do this primarily for myself. I don't need the public to have a good event. I'm there to live the life, of whatever period I'm reenacting. I want the immersion experience. Not everyone does, and I'm not criticizing you for having a different mindset. But do be careful and don't think that I'm being taken advantage of, because I'm not. I'm paying for my time machine.

OK, is it me being technically stupid or is there a problem with trying to load a picture as part of my sig line? I want to take the old expired photo out and put a new one in but when I go to images on the sig line edit it just sits there.

Hmmm , much of this has been said before, but when dealing with event organisers, I don't think it can be said too often. 1) People. Yes, there are certain crews that, if I hear are going to be there, it bumps the event up my list. Our crew is living history based, so being the only crew of that type at an event can be a real downer. Especially, if the rest of the event is fantasy based, or aimed at the average 7 year old, we get bored real quick. So there definitely needs to be a mix that includes some of the hard core folks. 2)The Camp. Grass to pitch tents on, enough space to run our lines, fire pits permitted (all our cooking is done on the fire, so no fire pit means cold food for the weekend), flushies or sufficient porta-loos that are maintained, firewood (especially with all the restrictions about transporting firewood across state lines), and a clean water supply. 3)Battle. A major part of our crew activities are centered around the cannon and musket firing, and sword to sword combat. A no drawn weapons or no blackpowder policy and we are not going. 4)Private hours. We are a privateer crew. While we may be historically correct during the day, we do tone it down somewhat to make it at least PG-13. After hours, around the fire, all bets are off. We don't want to be dealing with the public during our time to be ourselves and cut loose. What I DON'T base participation on. 1) Stipends. Yes, they are nice and we get some during the year which pay for our insurance. Beyond that, we are not in this game to make money. 2)Meals. We cook our own and eat in our tavern, The Greyhound. Having a meal provided, which is most often not a period meal, is a distraction, not an asset.

Good Day t' ye All! I'm back. Been away for a bit. Life, as they say, intervened. But now back, with a crew- The Crew of the Mermayde. We're a crew from 1660-1670. Going for the very authentic, living history side of the game. One of Morgan's fleet. we're composed of survivors and exiles of the ECW, supporters of Charles II and looking to take the fight to the Spanish.

The problem is that the way the rules are set up, there is little for small arms to do. We can't close with the opposite side and can't do any sword play. Plus, the number of cannon on the field, and the large number of people needed to crew them safely, has decimated the pool of people available to turn out with SA. We wind up with a lame battle, fought by too few people on too large a ground. Hawkyns Captain of The Mermayde

I'm in. Likely just myself in a small wedge, but I'll be under my own colours as the Mermayde.

Planning on it. Hoping to bring a couple of Mermayde crew with me next year.

Good point, Cascabel. While we purists might appreciate the work put into smelling correctly, I doubt the general public would undestand or appreciate it. Personally, I'd just be happy if the pirate community would stop wearing modern perfumes, colognes, and deoderants with their kit. Nothing spoils a good looking kit like getting close and realising that the person smells like Victorias Secret or the Body Shop. Hawkyns Master Gunner.

If you've spent any time below decks in a wooden ship, you know they have a unique smell. Wet wood, tar, mold, bilgewater. Historically, you could add the scent of slush (rancid fat used to grease wood and line), and stagnant drinking water. These are smells that would permeate the clothing of anyone who spent time and stored their kit below decks. I'm not sure how you'd recreate it withjout a ship, but it would certainly mark a sailor in a crowd. Hawkyns Master Gunner

How about a live recording at FTPI?

New England is not the hotbed of serious pirate reenacting. There are a couple of good crews but they are spread very thin and far apart. We see far more of the ren fair type gatherings, similar to the one at Salem. Where in Mass are you, and what are you interested in? I'm in CT and we are a small crew interested in the living history side of pyracy. Hawkyns Master Gunner Captayne of the Mermayde

Can't see anything that would make me give up. Tornado, bad event organisers, police hassles, antipathy to authenticity- and I'm still here. I've got to say, I think New England is kind of a backwater in Pirate reenacting when compared to the mid-atlantic and south east. If anything could, I suppose it would be the lack of decent events. I travel south for the good ones, and that's becoming more of an issue, cost wise. Hawkyns Master Gunner

I've been looking for an escopeta like that for years. What are you using for a lock? Hawkyns Master Gunner

Her's one of my late 16th Century kit, taken on the Half Moon.

Copied from my facebook post 1) Of course we don't want to go to prison. Unfortunately, the world is not what it was 400 years ago, There is nowhere to sail off and hide from the authorities anymore. 2)These were men and women who were truely in charge of their own destiny, somehting that the 21st century fears and has made impossible by the huge weight of law. Where you control all in your sphere of influence, the length of your sword and the range of your pistol, the world is a different place. And yes, there are German SS reenactors and Conquistadores. 3)That's a tough qquestion and one that has a lot of variables. As a historic reenactor, I prefer to show the reality of pirates and don' care for the Hollywood/Disney/Fantasy pirates out there. Frequently, I don't get recognised as a pirate because I don't have skull and bones everywhere, don't talk with a bad Devon accent, am not constantly swilling rum, and am more frequently found doing the actual jobs that a sailor, pirate, navy, or merchant, would do. The venue sets the groundrules and we have to be aware of that, especially when they are planning that their priamry audience will be children. Beyond that, I'd say the red line is the actual limit of the law. I'm more than unhappy with the PC pirate who is half street performer, half comedian, but never shows anything of what the reality was. Hawkyns Master Gunner

Just answered this over on the Facebook side.

Can we not prime our flinters with 4F. Down the barrel I agree with, but on a humid day, the pan occasionally needs that extra kick. Hawkyns Master Gunner

What does he want to do with the lock? Hardening the frizzen should not be a big deal. Kasenit can be ordered and the frizzen hardened in a charcoal grill with a blowpipe. I would not think that a competant gunsmith would find making a new mainspring either difficult or expensive. What is the problem with cocking? It's a side acting sear, so as long as it slides through it should cock OK. Hawkyns Master Gunner

OK, No problem, just trying to help. I'm more used to the unit commanders getting together on the morning of the battle, seeing what we've got for troops and weapons, and making the battle plan from there. Fair Winds Hawkyns Master Gunner

OK, fair enough. I think it would only take one park employee if we limited the work to that one little stub casemate (the one behind where the ice machine was a couple of years ago). Then we could use the same number of people outside the fort. Just swing the action about 45 degrees. Instead of moving just across the front, bring the battle to the point of attacking that stub. Bring them as far as the moat, the pirates find they can't cross the moat and then they give up and retreat. People. Numbers. The bain of any reenactment. Always too many or too few. OK , here's my take on this, as a veteran of planning many 17th century battles. I will start by committing a grand heresy. We have too many great guns on the field. They look great, no doubt, but to crew that many pieces takes a large number of people. We can have 25 people in a relatively static role to crew them, and have a slow moving battle, or we can put small arms in 15 of those people's hands, and have a fast moving skirmish line that can advance and retreat numerous times, even come to close with steel, if we have enough trained folks, and keep the interest up. Multiple little vignettes for people to watch. 5 people advancing in the bush over there, 4 people sword fighting here, half a dozen others trapped and trying to break out of a position somewhere else. Numbers are definitely an issue, but the greater question is how you use those numbers, and I think we are committing too many people to the great guns. And I say that as a 30 year veteran artillerist. Hawkyns Master Gunner

Agreed about the fort and beiing on the rampart, Mission. Worklng with Michelle was the only thing that stopped it from being boring as hell in '10. The battle, as it was then, was so far out that you could barely see anything. Far enough that there was a lag between seeing the smoke and hearing the blast. What could be done, practically anyway, would be to bring the battle closer to the wall and put people with small arms in the casemates in the north wall. Whether that would be acceptable to the bureaucrats is another question. One thing about populating the fort with activities during the day- are we going to have more opportunities because PiP is not happening? Certainly less reason to split our forces and have people downtown. Hawkyns Master Gunner

Just as a thought, William. Obviously, the fort wants people in to get their dollars, understandable. Could it be promoted as more than just the fort, but to include the beach camps, and instead of collecting the money at the fort entrance, collect it at the chain link gate? Also, are we proposing to send groups out onto Duval and Mallory during the dayto promote the event? Hawkyns Master Gunner

Have to say, I agree with Jim. When I was in the fort sutlering, I was very jealous of the beach camps. I would love to have been out there. Much cooler, too, considering that wonderful flat black paint job in the fort :) Could you give us the fort's reasoning for disallowing that, please? Hawkyns Master Gunner

Certainly. The rammer or scouring stick is dropped down the barrel, metal end first. The idea is to hear the ring as it hits the steel of the breech plug and see the bounce of the rod. If there is a soft lead ball, or uncleaned fouling, you get a thud instead of a ring and little or no bounce. Tells you that something is in the bore that should not be there. Regimentally, we do it in formation. The command is given "Spring rammers'. Troops draw their rammers, insert the end to the barrel and drop their weapons to the trail. As the inspecting officer walks by, each soldier drops their rammer so the the officer can hear the ring. As well as determining that there is nothing in the bore, it is further incentive to clean the piece after each firing. Sadly, I've inspected too many weapons that never get cleaned from one reenactment to the next. Hawkyns Master Gunner