Captain Twill
Academic Fight Circle, Research, Share, Discuss & Debate Maritime History.
1,565 topics in this forum
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Took a look at a book entitled "Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs" by Jerry Webber. In the book Mr. Webber notes that people in the 1700's drank 3 times as much alcoholas we do today. He also mentions Marihuana Tax act of 1937 and says that the use of Marijuana stretches back thousands of years (page 18). Made me think? Did Pirates enjoy something other than rum, wine, ale and beer from time to time?
Last reply by jendobyns, -
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The AskHistorians Podcast - Golden Age of Pirate - Featuring ME, and the other expert from r/AskHistorians on pirate history. (This is a 2-part episode, the other part will come out 2 weeks from now - for now, I have posted part 1 here, I'll put the link to part 2 when it comes out in 2 weeks). Here is the discussion thread on reddit for this podcast: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2cbyjk/the_askhistorians_podcast_episode_16_discussion/ To listen, eithert go here: http://askhistorians.libsyn.com/askhistorians-podcast-016-golden-age-of-pirates and click "Pod" that is next to the title and on the page it brings you to right click and select "save as" to do…
Last reply by Mission, -
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From 6 October 2014 the University of Exeter is running a 12-week online course on pirate history: The Real and Imagined World of Pirates, tuition by Dr E. T. Fox. http://education.exeter.ac.uk/dll/details.php?code=DLH20
Last reply by Fox, -
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Jib made a point that a bible might be "worth a good amount of silver" in the Religion on Pirate Ships? thread. Given that it has been the most widely published book in history, I have my doubts about this, but it got me to thinking...were books of value during the GAoP? For whatever reason, I was under the impression that a lot of material was being published at this time. From my research, I can tell you that there are certainly an awful lot of medical manuals being printed. Extrapolating a bit, I would guess that medical literature would have a very small niche market, suggesting that there was no lack of printing going on, but I really don't know. Certainly printed …
Last reply by RoyalJames, -
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Bartholomew Roberts' article VIII provides for pirates to duel, but only on shore. These rules are quite a bit less bloodlthirsty than the later "Irish"1 code duello of 1777. The requirement that both the pirates fire immediately is presumably meant to keep them from aiming carefully. The Irish code, on the other hand, says that the parties may fire "at their leisure," so they could aim, so long as they didn't rest their pistols on anything. The Irish code also forbade "second presents," which I think means that if you raised your pistol and then lowered it without shooting, you couldn't raise it again. The pirates' code provides for only one shot each, and then us…
Last reply by Fox, -
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Just a note, HMS London that was mentioned in the 'this day in history thread' sank March 7, 1665. I posted information on it's artifacts being recovered over in the Shipyard section. One of the links shows a recovered shoe, for those of you with a shoe fixation. ;-)
Last reply by Littleneckhalfshell, -
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Were plug bayonets still in use by the time of the GAOP or had they been abandoned in favor of the socket bayonets? I seem to recall socket bayonets in use during the Spanish War of Succession.
Last reply by Jib, -
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I just finished watching a documentary on History 2 channel called Pirate Island. It was about Madagascar shipwrecks. Good viewing...made me wonder what other pirate documentaries people have seen. I saw the Whydah exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota when it was in town, and the same guy who discovered that shipwreck is the person this Pirate Island documentary follows.
Last reply by ozgurksahin, -
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Has anybody found any reference to hand hooks? I have always assumed that these were myth (unlike wooden legs and missing eyes and other injuries which were at least reality among pirates). I have read that some 17th century english Privateer had indeed hand hook but is it just a myth?
Last reply by Swashbuckler 1700, -
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I just reseved a very cool looking frensh 1656 map. (from PoD) Now my qustion is: If I where a 1700 persona, then where in would I keep my maps (save and dry)?
Last reply by Captain Jim, -
- 4 replies
- 448 views
So I was entering Raymund Minderer's fascating suggestions from his book Treatise of diseases that for the most part attend camps and fleets into my notes and it occured to me that they would make wonderful internet memes for my FB Fan page. (Albeit a bit longer than most such memes, but what the heck.) Then I thought they'd be the perfect companion piece to William's excellent thread/Pyracy Pub FB Fan page piece "On this day in history..." So here you go.
Last reply by Mission, -
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I'm reading a book called Daily Life of Pirates by David F. Marley. So far I don't see where it adds a lot of 'new' info to the topic, but the author does a nice job of sifting and organizing and draws some interesting conclusions at times. (I wish he supported some of them with period references a little better, but it is an engaging book nonetheless.) He has a whole chapter on food which focuses primarily on meat (particularly as it relates to the buccaneers) and I thought you all might find this interesting. "Like wild cattle, the earliest boucaniers had also hunted wild pigs on French Hispaniola, and pork was to remain a favorite meat among Antilliean residents and…
Last reply by Mission, -
Which were the sailors' duties when at anchor? Usually I can find on the net only the part for at sea. Besides scrubbing the deck... what else was to do when in port? I know that the warrant officers and their mates were busy with inventory, resupplying (each one on his line of work), repairing what needed repairs. But what were the sailors to do?
Last reply by Coastie04, -
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- 509 views
I am looking for a few period correct working songs that can be cited. I know there are a few great sources for songs, such as Henry Playford's "Wit and Mirth", but does anyone have some GAoP sources for ones used to work the vessels? Many thanks!
Last reply by William Brand, -
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This governor became particularly famous in historiography of piracy for his (interested) help to Henry Jennings and more in general to the "Flying Gang". When that scandal exploded, mostly thanks to the spanish gripes to the English crown, Hamilton was arrested and forcibly conducted to London, where, in very few time, he re-gained his status of Lord and even differents assignments from the crown. Now i'm very confused because i've found the copy of a letter of "Hamilton governor of Antigue" (without the name "Arcibald") dated 1720, but i can't find anywhere a confirm that he became again governor in the westerns colonies. His biography, that is possible to find in a ve…
Last reply by Davis, -
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How old traditions are Bosun's/ sailors whistles? I know that in Nelson's navy they were common but what about e.g. Gaop? I mean whistles like this 19th century one
Last reply by William Brand, -
Ok well with all the slashing and shooting and such, did pirates stitch thir wounds? I would imagine they could have sustained some more serious gashes with all the close fighting.. How would they treat this? It seems with not much fresh watter and no antibiotics there must have been methods, I'm trying to imagine surviving through all the elements of life at sea..
Last reply by Mission, -
Ok, since we're going for the correct look and plastic sporks won't work. (God I luv a good spork!) so what are correct eating goods? Pewter goods? clay works? Wooden tankards? Cast iron forks?? Rats
Last reply by Capt. Bo of the WTF co., -
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Have not seen this mentioned, but I miss a lot.... The February 2014 issue of Smithsonian has a ten page article on Blackbeard and the cover is black with skull and crossbones and black beard spelled out in white letters. Seemed like a good article with some new information
Last reply by GregF, -
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Now I hope not to cause problems. But seeing that many wars have been cause over such a topic, and the character I'm working toward is a bit of a nefarious doctor, I'm also wondering about religion during the GAoP Seeing that pirate crews were made of folks from many different backgrounds, you would have to think there was quite a bit of either tollerance or problems. Any ideas? Rats
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This month's Surgeon's Journal article is about drowning resuscitation, looking at the several ways a seaman could be nearly drowned, how he might be retrieved, a brief look at books that talk about drowning from around and slightly after the golden age of piracy and the various methods that were used to revive victims. You can read it by following this link.
Last reply by Daniel, -
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I'm reading the book Daily Life of Pirates by David F. Marley and I came across this statement: "Captain Stede Bonnet's boatswain Ignatius Pell, for instance, confessed to the South Carolina authorities in 1718 that the crew of the pirate sloop Revenge had chosen to linger for a month and a half in the Cape Fear River estuary, because they had wished to wait out the hurricane season before returning toward Saint Thomas in the distant Virgin Islands." (Marley, p. 79) This makes perfectly good sense, although Marley doesn't cite the source where he found that pearl of knowledge. It has been repeated on several websites including a blog where the author quotes one part of …
Last reply by Brit.Privateer, -
- 57 replies
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I know that eye glasses were invented well before the GAoP yet I don't seem to find many references to them during the period. I also can't recall seeing any images with someone wearing or even holding them. I am hoping that some of the more studious might be able to assist me in this tidbit of research.
Last reply by Mission, -
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So, I came across this on Wikipedia while researching Tortuga (which I believe is pretty well common knowledge in Buccaneering circles): "In 1645, in an attempt to bring harmony and control over the island, the acting French governor imported roughly 1,650 prostitutes, hoping to normalize the unruly pirates' lives." That got me curious where this 'fact' came from, so started looking around on Google and found sources claiming the Governor Jean Le Vasseur brought anywhere from a 100 to hundreds to this upper number of 1650 women. Some accounts claim they were swept off the streets of Paris with enticements to move to the New World, others hinted they were women tricked i…
Last reply by Mission, -
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Jus' discussin' sailor's shoes wif me pa-in-law, an ol' salt himself. And he said that since shoes were often a status symbol, a sailor/pirate wouldn't likely be wearin' 'em on a slippery deck, but only for going ashore. I mentioned how pictures show the men in shoes, and he said that was an 'artist's representation' because it would be 'disrespectful' to portray the men barefoot. He said shoes were highly valued, and would have been 'saved' for more formal occasions. He used the illustration of how kids in the south would carry their shoes to school, then put them on once there, just to prevent wearing them out. Now, running around barefoot on the deck does seem …
Last reply by Commodore Swab,
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