Fox

I never said it, it was Hiram! Bigger boys did it and then ran away - sounds like the sort of excuse Calico Jack would have used...

I say: Maybe. The rag tied round the head has other sources, most notably the trial of Bonny and Read. Mrs Dorothy Whatshername states (and I'm paraphrasing from memory here) that Bonny and Read were dressed as men, with a machete each and a kerchief tied around their heads. The intimation seems to be that the kerchief was a part of their disguise as men, ie. was common garb for seamen in that area at that time. Does anyone have the actual wording for that? The Avery flag as usually depicted does definitely seem to show a rag and an earring, BUT there is some doubt about the authenticity of the Avery flag. As I undertand it, there exists a document in the National Maritime Museum, which depicts a whole load of pirate flags. Some of the flags depicted are either depicted or described elsewhere, but some are unique to that one document (Avery's included). Now, since the flags in that document have been copied and republished in almost every illustrated work on pirates ever printed they have become "fact", but there is some doubt as to how old the document actually is, who drew it, and whether they actually knew what the pirates flags looked like or not. It is, in short, a completely unverified source, but for many flags it is also the only source. MAYBE the document is contemporary with the Golden Age of piracy, but maybe not. The woodcut of Avery prepared for Johnson's General History shows Avery with a different flag - simply 2 crossed bones, but of course, whoever made the woodcut might not have known what Avery's flag looked like, since it's not described in the text. What it shows though is that within living memory of Avery, the flag which is now associated with him was not popularly attributed to him at the time. Personally, I am torn. On the one hand I had always believed it to be Avery's flag. On the other hand, now I know that it's not certain I can't help feeling that it looks a little too like a "typical" pirate of popular imagination, especially for a guy whose career was right at the beginning of the Golden Age.

On another board (the one Steele mentioned) we once tried to compile a list of all the reasons people have put forward for pirates wearing earrings. The results were staggering, over 100 posts if I remember correctly! And you know what? Not ONE single theory had any credible evidence to support it. In the end the question was settled by Hiram V. Noodlewhacker Jr who told us all about a woodcut he's found which shows a pirate wearing an earring, from which is suspended a seed ring which the parrot on his shoulder is nibbling... mystery solved!

I wasn't going to get involved on this one, but I now admit I have a problem. Hi, my name's Ed and I'm an historian, I last posted to a thread about earrings 9 days ago... Silver Steele knows where I'm coming from... As SS says, before you can even think about WHY pirates wore earrings we must first answer the question of WHETHER they wore earrings. Evidence from either side of the Golden Age is not necessarily very useful, for example: the Lieutenant Franglee on the Roebuck can be shown to be wearing an earring, but that is at a time when earrings were generally fashionable (though on their way out of vogue) so it's not really surprising. By the late 17th/early 18th century earrings were pretty much out of fashion amongst most Europeans and Americans so proof of pirates wearing earrings at that time would be quite surprising, and would indicate a break from the normal practices of the day. As Steele says, a minority of pirates (and indeed other seafarers and landlubbers) might well have worn earrings, but they were a minority until someone produces a credible source to say otherwise. I'm afraid that no "expert's" word can be taken at face value unless they can produce sources to back up what they're saying. The gist of those articles sems to be that since modern acupuncturists have discovered an eyesight related point on the ear lobe that must be why pirates pierced their ears, but: a. They've not been able to show that pirates generally DID pierce their ears at all b. There's no evidence that pirates knew about acupuncture c. The same acupuncture expert also said that piercing ears WOULD NOT lead to significant improvement in sight, so we can rule out trial and error, and d. Acupuncture and piercing are not the same thing. Franglee, Drake, and all those other early pirates who can be shown to have worn earrings wore them because they were fashionable. By the Golden Age earrings were not fashionable and suddenly all the evidence for pirates (and other sailors) wearing earrings disappears - coincidence or conspiracy? So Corsair, I reckon that until someone comes up with actual reliable period evidence to support any idea about why pirates wore earrings we'll just have to accept that all the neat theories are mostly twaddle. Course, that's just my opinion based more or less on what I wrote above.

What ho, I was going to add this to the Boasun/Quartermaster thread, but I think it deserves its own thread. The following are extracts from a broadside ballad "The praise of Sailors heere set forth, with their hard fortunes which doe befall them on the Seas, when Land-men sleepe safe in their beds. Printed for John Wright". John Wright probably died in 1632, so the song probably dates from the early 17thC. The ballad is fairly long so I have trimmed it down to the relevant bits, but I can post the whole thing if anyone requires. ... When as the raging Seas doe fome, and loftie winds do blow, The Saylors they goe to the top, when Land-men stay below. Our Masters Mate takes Helme in hand, his Course he steeres full well, When as the loftie winds do blow, and raging Seas doe swell. The Master to his Compass goes. so well he plies his charge: He sends a Youth to the Top amaine, for to vnsling the Yeards. The Boatson he's under the Deck, a man of courage bold; To th'top toth'top, my liuely Lads, hold fast my hearts of gold. The Pilot he stands on the Claine, with Line and Lead to sound, To see how farre and neare they are from any dangerous ground. ... Our captain he is on the Poope, a man of might and power, And lookes when raging seas doe gape our bodies to devour. ... The Quarter master is a man, so well his charge plies he, He calls them to the Pumpe amaine, to keepe their leake-ship free.

I got that once I read the whole thing! It was just my initial shock at the word "nail"

It's funny, as I was typing out my original post I kind of assumed that due to the much stricter laws involving firearms and explosives in the UK that you yanks would have an easier time of it than we do. I guess we have stricter laws but less fear of terrorism. Having said that, when I read about nails my immediate thought was "oh dear god" as I remembered the spate of nail bombings over here a few years ago...

I was enjoying this thread and it doesn't seem to be moving, so for that reason, and for the sake of completeness I thought I'd post a full list of RN officers. This list is taken from the 1686 pay scale, the numbers in brackets denote how many of that officer there were on a first rate ship, no number denotes only one. They are in descending order of pay, so presumably are also in rough order of seniority Captain Lieutenant (3) Master Boatswain Gunner Purser Carpenter (Boatswain, gunner, Purser and Carpenter all paid the same) Mates and Pilots (6) Surgeon Midshipmen (18) Captain's Clerk Yeoman of the Powder Room (2)(paid same as Midshipmen and clerk) Carpenter's Mate (2) Quartermaster (8) Boatswain's Mate (2) Corporal Gunner's Mate (2) (Paid same as Boatswain's mates, Quartermasters and corporal) Yeomen of the Sheets (4) Coxswain (paid the same as Yeomen of the sheets) Coxswain's Mate Quartermaster's Mate (4) Surgeon's Mate (2) Master Trumpeter (paid the same as Quarter Masters' and Surgeon's mates) Sailmaker Quarter Gunner (8) Ordinary Carpenter (10) Steward Cook Armourer Gunsmith (paid the same as Steward, cook and armourer) Ordinary Trumpeter (5) Able Seaman (Many) Steward's Mate Ordinary Seaman (Many) Grommets Boys There ya go.

Hi all, a few years ago we did some experiments with battlefield safe grenades for re-enactment. The obvious problem is that your cannot guarantee control over where they land, or bouce to etc. We made papier-mache balls with a hole in the middle, then pushed a crow scarer (like a big banger) into the hole, then packed it out with sawdust if I remember correctly. The result was a device that you could quite happily set off on a table in front of you without any ill effects. The whole thing was painted black, the fuse lit then hurled in the direction of your enemy. Obviously care was taken to throw them away from any audience and to make them fall somewhat short of the enemy, that way nobody was too close - just in case. The result was a bang about the volume of a musket and a small puff of "smoke" as the sawdust sprayed around. The only trouble was that they were time consuming to make, could only be used once and despite safety demonstrations still got the people on the other side scared so we only used em a couple of times. We are thinking of using them again, but since I only remember the construction vaguely we're gonna have to experiment again to get it right. If you want to have a go with them I'd also recommend doing some safety experiments first.

Aye, one for the Admiral! Next year you won't be able to move around Britain without tripping over some Nelson/Trafalgar event. For example, every year the museums and schools set an historical subject to be the theme for the year, the idea is that by varying it and encouraging everyone to do at least one thing during the year in keeping with the topic (a special museum exhibit or event, or a school trip etc) it will keep the study of our past varied. Next year is going to be National maritime history year. 2005 also sees the International Festival of the Sea (the biggest maritime festival in the world bar none) back in Portsmouth. The theme for the whole event is the departure of Nelson from England for the last time. The centrepiece to the event will obviously be HMS Victory, his flagship at Trafalgar. HMS Victory and Portsmouth historic dockyard are also holding a number of smaller events. One of the other big events I believe is that HMS Victory will finally be taken out of commission as a Royal Navy warship. The events aren't all taking place around the Victory though, I know there are going to be special events at his birthplace and all over the country. I'm even doing a living history at Ham House near London recreating the tea party held there by some of Nelson's officers after his funeral. I have heard also that there is to be a special memorial service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate his funeral. You yanks probably don't appreciate what that means, but trust me, it's a big deal over here. On the other hand I don't know if the SPanish will be holding any celebrations - I bet the French wont

It doesn't take 200 years to deceive people if you write something down on paper - only the length of time it takes to get published. Teague may well be Scottish in origin (I don't know) but that wouldn't necessarily imply that Blackbeard was Scottish (if that was his real name), or that if Blackbeard were English his name couldn't be Teague.

The height issue is one which I have had to deal with a lot working with members of the public who almost all say "of course, they were much shorter in those days..." The skeletal remains recovered form various archeological sites tend to show that people in the past have not generally been much shorter than we are today (though in the last 40 years or so we have grown enormously very quickly - I am noticably taller than my father, who was noticably taller than his for example...), certainly the upper end of 5 feet seems to have been common. What is often the case though (and I'm thinking particularly of an investigation into a number of buff coats from Littlecote House in Wiltshire here) is that our forebears were often much skinnier and had narrower chests than we do. The common fallacy of people being much shorter comes I think from the Industrial Revolution period, when there was a mass migration from rural to urban areas. Thousands of people who had, for generations, worked long hours in the fields, eating very nutritious food and doing muscle building physical labour suddenly moved to an envirinment where living space was cramped and food was sub-standard producing a dramatic shrink in size. Since that time we have been steadily growing to our current heights. To prove that people in the past really were shorter people often cite the low doorways to be found in many old buildings. However, you don't often find particularly low doors in the upper storeys of these buildings. The reason: over the centuries successive layers of flooring and raised thresholds have contributed to the shortening of doorways, but in the upper storeys the level has always been determined by the floorboards and they have not been raised. I don't say that this is always the case, but frequently.

There is a guy, Peter James Martin, who reckons he has found definitive evidence of Blackbeard's early life, in Bristol. He refuses to make the information public until he has published his own book on the discovery - which is fair enough, but I wish he'd hurry up. It was about 2 years ago he told me about it and I've heard nothing since. On the other hand, his previous book was without question the worst pirate history book I have ever read - no competition. Badly written, badly concieved and so full of hideously glaring errors it's unbelievable, so I'm not holding my breath too much.

Hi All, I'm the captain of Bonaventure, and though we usually portray the Royal Navy (or other good guys) I thought I'd better post here. Apart from anything else Bonaventure are the host group of the South West Pirate Festival, an annual re-enactment event held in Devon, usually in May. the 2005 event is early May Bank holiday (Apr30-May2) and will be a Morwellham Quay near Tavistock. All are welcome, so drop me a line if you'd like to attend. Soul Stealer, where in the South East are you? Bonaventure are based in the South generally (I'm in Portsmouth for example), so if you were prepared to give up piracy and join the proper side you could come and join us. We are at www.bonaventure.org.uk You might also like to look at CHES, a Colchester based group who do pirates and occasionally RN, but also do smuggling and suchlike. We tend to do quite a few events together each year and theyare great folks. They are www.ches.me.uk In kent there are the Sheppey pirates, more Hollywood than history and hosts of the world walking the plank contest. Some of them came to the South West Pirate Festival last year and they are great guys too. They're at www.captaincutlass.com In addition, you might like to join the UK Pirate Brotherhood egroup on Yahoo, which is open to all pirate enthusiasts whether part of a group or not. Can't remember the address offhand but if you can't find it by doing a search on yahoo groups I'll root it out for you. Hope that helps.

In that case can I interest you in attending the South West Pirate Festival 2005? Early May Bank Holiday, Morwellham Quay, Devon. More the merrier.

Nomad, I quite agree, the boatswain was responsible for the rigging, and as I said, everything else above the deck. I only said he didn't oversee the carpenter's work, which was everything below the deck. Although the Boatswain was a higher ranking officer than the carpenter he did not have much if any jurisdiction over him professionally. I've just found a later scale of pay: In 1686 there were 94 officers on a first rate (including mates). This figure (and the one in my earlier post) is slightly misleading, for I have included anyone who was not able seaman, seaman or grommet; thus I have included people like the cook and yeomen of the powder room, who were paid slightly more and had specific duties but whose authority did not extend outside the galley and powder room respectively. Incidentally, in the pay scale quoted earlier (1626) a 1st rate RN ship had 4 quartermasters, 60 years later there were 8. Writing in the second quarter of the 17th century Admiral William Monson describes the boatswain's duties thus: "...to have the charge of all the cordage, tackling, sails, fids and marline spikes, needles, twine, sailcloth and rigging of the ship... As the master commands the tacking of the ship, the hoisting or striking of the yard, the taking in or putting forth the sails, upon the winding of the master's whistle the boatswain takes it with his, and sets the sailors with courage to do their work, every one of them knowing by their whistle what they are to do... In a fight he must see the yards slung, top-armours and waist cloths, the flag and pendants put forth, and call up every man to his labour and office. The boatswain serves for a provost-marshal to commit all offenders. And to conclude, his and his mates' work is never at an end, for it is impossible to repeat all the offices that are put upon them." And the quartermasters' thus: "The quartermasters are four, and every one has his mate; they have the charge of the hold for stowage, rummaging and trimming the ship in hold. they have their squadron in the watch, and see that every one do his office both by day and by night: they have a care to look to the steerage and the traverse-board." Hope that helps.

Dr Colin Martin who has been excavating the Swan is currently working on a full report for a book. A preliminary report on the wreck is easily available in a book called "Scotland's Historic Shipwrecks" or something like that, written by Dr MArtin and published by Batsford. A possible reason for the lack of other skeletons is that many of the men were ashore at the time, a contemporary report says that the ships floundered "in sight of their friends ashore". Also, many probably tried to jump ship and swim when they realised she was going down. Finally anybody still on deck when she finally went below the surface would have been washed away.

Yes that was Colchester last year. Some Highwaymen you turned out to be, getting ambushed by a bunch of smugglers...

The question of the quartermaster is one that has always vexed me. On a Royal Navy ship, and as far as records show on merchant ships generally, the quartermaster was lower ranking than the boatswain. Also, there were four of them except on the smallest ships, when there might only be two. Why then the Quartermaster (singular) should supplant the boatswain in pirates crews I have no idea. To say that the boatswain was in charge of supplies such as food is probably erroneous. On smaller ships maybe, but generally the supply of food and clothing was the province of the purser. Also, the boatswain did not generally oversee the work of the carpenter, he was not qualified to do so. The carpenter was responsible for the ship's structure below deck, and often the masts, while the boatswain was responsible for the ship above deck, ie all rope, tackle and canvas. And btw, according to a 17th century scale of pay a 1st rate RN ship had 47 officers, not including mates. There were 19 mates, so the total would be 66 officers of one form or another.

HI all, I very often work with CHES at events and they are indeed a superb group. CHES and Bonaventure regularly portray crew of HMS Antelope together, and we have a lot of fun being smugglers from time to time as well. With regards to their kit (and indeed ours) the system is very simple. We do the research, check what's right, and if it ain't right we don't use it, no ifs, no buts. On their website you can see the pictures of a smuggling encampment. The day that was taken was the hottest day on record in the UK, and we were in the hottest part of the country. 2 degrees above blood temperature. I don't know how that compares with your weather, but we were lucky: we were camped in the trees, wearing light cotton baggy sailor's gear, the vikings and romans were out in a field with no shade and all their armour...

Interesting... Most other gunners, earlier and later include the order "worm your piece" between firing and wet sponge, and "dry swab your piece" after the wet sponge. the worm is a kind of double corkscrew on a pole to pull out the bits of crud and cartridge left behind (a sponge will not do this) and the dry swab is to dry the inside of the barrel after the wet sponge has been down - one doesn't want to wet the powder of the next charge. I wonder if the ommission of these orders is an oversight on the part of Mr Morison or if they were left out of USN gun drill for some reason. Anybody know?

some alternative bits: We hove our ship to with the wind from sou'West boys We hove our ship to, deep soundings to take 'Twas forty-five fathoms with a white sandy bottom so we squared our main yard and up channel did make and the bit of land off Plymouth is Rame Head, not Ram. An interesting point about the song: Almost every version I have ever seen or heard of this song has the wind from or at South West, however, as Peter Duck explains in the novel of that name by Arthur Ransome the sailor who wrote the song must have been sailing against the wind up the channel otherwise he would have followed the wind straight up the channel and not kept putting in towards land, therefore the wind was TO south west, not from it. Now, here's the question: Does anyone have any evidence for this song being any older than late 18th century?

Actually I just managed to find a copy... s'pose I should have finished looking myself before enlisting other people to help. Actually found it by accident, I'd moved onto the next topic - a search for Purchas his Pilgrimes - and there it was...

What ho pirate people, This is only vaguely pirate related but I wonder if any of you who are more web-wise than I might be able to help with a small problem. I'm researching the English sea-dog John Davis (navigator extraordinaire) and trying to find a copy online of a book he published in 1595 entitled "The World's Hydrographical Description". I have a copy of his earlier work "Seaman's Secrets", and I know the whereabouts of an original paper copy of the "Description", but I won't be able to get to read it for some months, and I am likely to want to work from it so an e-copy would be of much more use to me in the long term anyway. So, if any of you could possibly point me in the direction of an online copy I would be eternally grateful and would be happy to name my first born child after you unless your name is Eric... Just to relate it to piracy: John Davis (or Davys) was heavily connected to the Gilberts and Raleighs, commanded a ship under the Earl of Cumberland the privateer, likewise under Thomas Cavendish and was finally killed by Japanese pirates.

Hawkyns, sorry I didn't reply sooner, I entirely missed your post. I have seen records from the 1650s which show several thousand hammocks being stored in the dockyard at Portsmouth, suggesting that they were standard issue on English warships before that date. I have seen reference to hammocks from the earlier 17th century, but not in any widespread use until the second quarter of the century.