Captain Twill
Academic Fight Circle, Research, Share, Discuss & Debate Maritime History.
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In William Dampier's book New Voyage Round the World he has a great deal to say about the coconut tree. In fact, I think it would make a fascinating display if all the things he discusses could be put together. "The Coco-Nut Trees grow by the Sea, on the Western-side in great Groves, three or four Miles in length, and a Mile or two broad.... The Nut or Fruit grows at the head of the Tree, among the Branches and in Clusters, 10 or 12 to a Cluster. The Branch to which they grow is about the bigness of a Man's Arm, and as long, running small towards the end. It is of a yellow Colour, full of Knots, and very tough. The Nut is generally bigger than a Man's Head. The outer r…
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
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A warning to anyone intending to visit the non-existent "William Augustus Bowles Museum and Heritage Foundation" in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. First, the "museum" does not exist, and is a room in the local Chamber of Commerce. It is a collection of mardi-gras style outfits and memorabilia from past "Billy Bowlegs" pirate festivals; any further similarities to the actual historical figure of William Augustus Bowles, or actual pirates who operated in the Gulf of Mexico, stops there. The "museum" can be seen here- http://bowlegsmuseum.com/Photo_Albums/Pages/Open_House.html As you can see, there is no historical background at the "museum" regarding William Augustus Bowl…
Last reply by jendobyns, -
- 23 replies
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Aside from the Vikings, has anybody come across any information if fthere were any well known, or lesser known Norwegain/Swedish pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy? M. Bloodheart
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
- 2 replies
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Does anyone have any information on him outside of what can be found on wikisource? Various scurrilous pirate websites who do not bother to list their sources list him as a surgeon, but I can't seem to find any proof of this. Nor can I find where he said much about that topic, even in his book.
Last reply by Mission, -
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So I was wondering actually how many pirates/ sailors could swim. I know that navy forced recruitment and got many men who were nearly landlubbers. I was meaning mostly 17th and 18th centuries. Buccaneer Bart Bortuques was (accordingly to R. Platt's book "Pirate") a man without swimming ability and when he escaped from a ship where he was a prisoner he used empty wine jars as floats.
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
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Is there any records of pirates in gaop perod having get banknotes as booty? They were sligtly used then but coins were much more popular.... Just a random question about money....
Last reply by RIPP Tar, -
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If you thought citing sources for the GAoP was tough, check out some of those for the Sea Peoples - a mysterious confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC. (Depiction of the Shardana (Sherden) Sea People, Battle of the Delta, 1178 BC, Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, Luxor, Egypt) (Sea Peoples Warship, Battle of the Delta, 1178 BC, Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, Luxor, Egypt) (A naval battle against the sea-peoples. Soldiers cling to masts, fall into the sea, drown. Bodies drifting in the waves. From the outer facade of the Temple of Ramses III, 1198-1166 BCE. Luxor, Egypt) Sea people attack Let's see you cite THAT to make your point!
Last reply by Tartan Jack, -
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This may be the wrong place to put this but I am wondering what a GAOP courtly clothes would look like. Would they use silk? Is this picture early enough? I wanna be around 1720 .
Last reply by On Stranger Tides, -
Gold teeth? 1 2
by Jib- 26 replies
- 2.5k views
When do we start to see "gold teeth" enter the world? I would guess it might be some difficult tech to bond gold to teeth. I would also guess people might want to kill you for your choppers if you had gold teeth and perhaps other items would be used. I know Washington had false teeth which I believe were carved from cow teeth. But what about 'bonded' right on the tooth metals?
Last reply by Bright, -
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I have seen them in Napoleonic vessels I meant things like here. see the side. But how old tradition is that net in ship's sides?
Last reply by Bos'n Cross, -
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I have finally decided to import this over here so that the cognoscienti on this site can have a whack at it and perhaps help expand it. I began it on piratesinfo.com about a year ago and interest in it suddenly exploded in late 2004. You can find the original post in the Scholarly forum here, but you must be registered at that site to view it. There is a great deal more info in the posts by the other posters on many of these pirates and if you are interested I highly suggest you check it out. I left all the revision notes in to honor the additions made by the scholars and wise posters at piratesinfo.com. This list would have been literally several hundred pirates short…
Last reply by Mission, -
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That's all I can say without rambling on forever. Definitley worth the trip! I got the program book with all the exhibit stuff/info too. Kinda pricey, but it goes to help maintain and move the exhibit around, so it's worth it to me. Bo
Last reply by landlubbersanonymous, -
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In the past, I've often said that pirates were parasites, stealing the wealth and labor of others while contributing nothing in return. I've been especially prone to say that when arguing against Marxist types who like to see pirates as social revolutionaries, but who ignore the fact that their description of capitalists as exploiters is at least equally applicable to pirates. But lately, I've noticed some evidence against my position, especially from the 17th-century buccaneering period. At least for food, the most basic productive need of all, pirates could be self-sufficient. Dampier mentioned that Miskito Indians who joined the pirates could feed the whole crew ju…
Last reply by Mission, -
- 12 replies
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It crossed my mind when we were doing a black powder demo on one of the ships we work on. One of the crew opened the topic of powder monkeys on the ship. I agree they were on Man of war ships working in the orlop deck and in the fields during land and fort battles. The question is. Did pirates deliberately take youngsters to do the work of a powder monkey? Would they tolerate a child on board? Would they want another mouth to feed? They were superstitious about women being aboard. Did they feel the same way about children? François
Last reply by Fox, -
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I attended a lecture last night at the Minnesota Science Museum (currently hosting the Wydah exhibit) presented by Barry Clifford. Simply amazing to hear him spin his tales! Also incredible to think that he still has huge blocks of concretions that still have artifacts yet to be uncovered!! Who knows what secrets will be revealed in the future (Barry mentioned that his goal is to open some of these concretions before an audience)? Barry also brought the Teja Ba ring to join the collection on display! What I found most intriguing about the lecture was the work that Barry Clifford and his team are doing in Madagascar. They have discovered 3 shipwrecks near twin islan…
Last reply by Tar Bucket Bill, -
Union Jack
by Jib- 13 replies
- 2.5k views
When was the Union Jack first used by Great Britian?
Last reply by Tartan Jack, -
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We may think what ever we want about the head scarfs but the neck scarves were there in the whole age of sail. I was wondering what colors would be typical etc. Same with materials linen, lace..... I have no need for patterns since I am only wondering clothing as an historical issue. 1640s 1680s 1690s 1720s 1740s 1740s 1770s
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
- 4 replies
- 578 views
So many sources say that they were used like Joseph Haycock's slop shop. But what were sailors Frocks?
Last reply by Mission, -
- 25 replies
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When I think of a cutlass, the image that immediately springs to my mind is a curved short sword with a knuckle bow. However, cutlasses don't have to have knuckle bows, and they don't have to be curved; the National Maritime Museum has tons of straight cutlasses. I would propose that four things distinguish a cutlass from other swords 1. It must be a backsword - i.e., it must have only one sharp edge. It can have a false edge for the point, but if it's sharpened more than half its length on both edges, then I think you have a broadsword, not a cutlass. 2. It must be short. I'm not sure how short, but if you arbitrarily say a blade of less than 30 inches, that woul…
Last reply by Fox, -
- 1 reply
- 463 views
Interesting, but sadly no specific dates: http://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/05/03/the-trade-cards-of-old-london/
Last reply by Mission, -
- 16 replies
- 4.3k views
This is a spin off of the mourning practices thread - Here is a picture of Henrietta Maria, Lady Ashburnham (1686/7-1718). The original portrait was probably painted in 1710, when Henrietta Maria became a widow at the age of twenty-three. Her first husband, John, 4th Earl of Anglesey, died after only four years of marriage. As you can see, she wears the attire of ‘First Mourning’ for our time period. She wears no jewelry. The fabric is flat and dull and her head is covered. Here is another picture - this one of Lady Fenwick
Last reply by Quartermaster James, -
Morgan's men
by Jib- 2 replies
- 767 views
Henry Morgan did not consider himself a pirate. He found the term insulting. It angered him to be considered a pirate since he was a patriot of the English crown. But what about the buccaneers he rallied to his cause? Would they be considered pirates? Did not Henry have to hang a few of these lads after he was awarded the gov. of Port Royal?
Last reply by Tartan Jack, -
Hello folks! A discussion in another thread made me think of something on the car drive home today. Often we justify what we have in our kit with the words "I'm a pirate. I stole it." It occured to me that I hear this a lot in another group of people I hang around with: The Landsknechts. For those of you who don't know, the Landsknechts were mercenaries of the Holy Roman Emperor in the early 16th century (that's Germany, not Italy, for those of you not up on your 16th century place names). Anyway, these guys were fearsome mercenaries and they were allowed to keep whatever they plundered. So in Landsknecht reenactment groups, we often hear the justification: "I too…
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
- 14 replies
- 2.6k views
Hi I am not unfortunately seen whydah artifacs in reality but I know lots of stuff there has been found... Since I am not a real expert others who do know better can school me if needed I have Some interesting points about that stuff While the typical pirate image is far too flashy and I am not defending it to be accurate I wonder what that that only 100% genuine part of pirate clothing is silk stokking and what will the big number of silver buttons and decorative buckles tells us anout pirate clothing. other artifacts like small swords are also interesting but it is really well possible that some of the finest clothing and these swords were in fact loot and not all …
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
- 34 replies
- 9.9k views
You have seen them in the movies, you have seen them in paintings and woodcarvings; the short braid or tail worn on the back of the head. But how do they Wrap them in black? I have read that some sailors used eel skin as it be water proof and the purpose of wrapping the queue was to prevent the salt from the ocean spray from building in the braid then drying out and becoming abrasive on the neck. I have read that landlubbers and gents would wrap them with silk ribbon or cloth, there is even one mention of a "silk pouch" being used that would cover the whole queue including the tip. But what I can not find is just HOW the wrap would be made, sure enough to last the whole…
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700,
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