Fox

Pity... I was thinking of a charity auction, but I'm not sure that the Red Cross accepts lead slugs.

I'll bid on having you apply one of those to your forehead and posting a photo here. How much?

Having a clearout, there are some bits on ebay that might be of interest. Baroque style fiddle: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-4-Baroque-Violin-/260819770510?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item3cba11dc8e Hammer hatchet: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/18th-century-hammer-hatchet-axe-/260819783540?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item3cba120f74 Gunter quadrant: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gunter-quadrant-astrolabe-17th-century-navigation-/260819882973?pt=UK_Antiques_Marine_RL&hash=item3cba1393dd PotC transfer tattoos (I know, I know...): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10-x-Pirates-Caribbean-transfer-tattoos-/260819914943?pt=Adult_Fancy_Dress_UK&hash=item3cba1410bf OOP 18thC coat: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/18th-century-coat-/260819964402?pt=UK_Men_s_Vintage_Clothing&hash=item3cba14d1f2 7 pirate history books: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lot-7-pirate-history-books-inc-Blackbeard-and-Whydah-/260820023767?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item3cba15b9d7 Flute: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Traditional-3-piece-keyless-wooden-D-flute-/260820005083?pt=UK_Woodwind_Instruments&hash=item3cba1570db To be honest, I suspect that the postage cost to the US for most of them would be prohibitive, but if anyone is interested PM me and I'll try and figure out the cost of shipping over the pond.

It just so happens that I have some powder and a couple of uncut quills in the office here. Now to convince Mrs F. that it's ok... it's 'research'. I wonder what they used for a fuse.

In Essays of the strange subtilty … of effluviums. To which are annext New experiments to make fire and flame ponderable (1673), Robert Boyle wrote of "the irregular and wrigling motion of those fired Squibs that Boys are wont to make by ramming Gunpowder into Quills."

In the case of, say, the repeated hanging that I mentioned above, for example, it's doubtful whether anyone would have used the actual word 'torture', but they were certainly cognisant of its deeply unpleasant nature. However, I would add that you have here a bit of a classic triangle: your protagonists can be pirates, they can be good guys, and they can be historically accurate, but only two of the above at once.

I'm positive that the waist-sash arrangement was originally written about in French. (I'm sure, because I translated it). That suggests that it either comes from Labat or Raveneau de Lussan. Probably Labat because I have a copy of de Lussan's book in English and so wouldn't have translated it. (Or possibly from some third French source which I've forgotten about).

There are a couple of incidents of pirates hanging a victim, then cutting them down just before they died, only to string them up two or three more times. Physically unpleasant though that must have been, I suspect the psychological side of it must have been hideous. There are also a remarkable number of accounts of pirates pointing their pistols at victims and pulling the trigger, only to misfire. I've often wondered if a few of those weren't deliberate misfires to inflict the same kind of fear as the hanging.

And a somewhat less flattering (and probably more realistic) portrait of the same man: (And whenever I look at that first picture I can't help wondering if it's a young David Niven, or Vivien Leigh in drag)

"The Coulston and Society, both of this port [bristol], were plunder'd by two pirates of thirty Guns each, at Sera Lione. They took thirty seven slaves out of the Coulston, and a considerable Quantity of Gold. They did but little Damage to the Society. It is thought they design to range the Coast, and then go to Brasil with their Negroes" The Post Boy, 31/7/1718

I'm 99% certain that the Moody who appeared off Charleston is somewhere referred to as William, or that his ship is called the Rising Sun. I can look the reference up if necessary, but I don't think there's any doubt. There is (or has been) a general assumption that 'Captain' Moody was Christopher, but I suspect this is because Christopher Moody's name is familiar from the GHP, whereas one actually has to go to an archive to read the name of William Moody (or, indeed, Samuel or James Moody, who were also Golden Age pirates).

Good stuff as usual Daniel I can add a couple of bits. The commander of the Rising Sun was William Moody, not Christopher. On August 23 1720, William Bournal was tried in Bermuda. Bournal was charged that he had "in the Month of June in the year 1718 at the Bay of Honduras and within the Jurisdiction of the Adm.lty of Great Britain, and at divers other times and places after, join wth or enter yourself on board a ship called the Rising Sun, whereof one William Moody a noted Pirate was Commander". Bournal cruised with Moody "in and about the West Indies for the space of two Months", before leaving his crew to join "one Joseph Thompson another Noted Pirate" on a sloop called the Eagle. (CO 37/10, f. 170) Bournal, most inconsiderately, pleaded guilty, so there was no trial and no witnesses called. Thus, the only information comes from the indictments quoted above. Christopher Moody, to my knowledge, never had independent command. The sloop was called Boneta, of Nevis, which had been captured by La Buse the previous day, June 11. (Various sources, for example: ADM 1/1879, 'At an Admiralty Court', St. Christophers, 5/7/1718, testimonies of James Moor and Thomas Hall.) Snelgrave gives a very similar account of the meeting of La Buse, Davis, and Cocklyn, but says that when La Buse reached Sierra Leone he was alone, and there met up with Cocklyn. Later the same day Davis arrived. (Snelgrave, 198-199). Of the two writers, Snelgrave was much closer to the action. According to The Weekly Packet of 12/12/1719 the three pirate ships that came out of the Sierra Lenoe River were the King James, the Speakwell, and the Ormond. A little way down the coast it is reported that the King James parted company from the other two ships, which accords well with Johnson's account, and suggests that the Speakwell and Ormond were commanded by Cocklyn and La Buse. Cocklyn, according to Snelgrave, took command of Snelgrave's ship, which by this time appears to have been renamed Speakwell, meaning that La Buse was then in command of the Ormond, formerly the Sarah. Cocklyn and La Buse were still in consort, according to this paper, when they reached Whydah. [Edit: that La Buse commanded the Ormond and was in consort with Cocklyn at Whydah is borne out by Richard Moor's deposition (see below)] The Weekly Journal or Saturday's Post of 26/3/1720 has it that two pirates 'viz. the Merchant, Le Buck Commander, of 40 guns and 180 Men, and the King James, Davis Commander, of 56 Guns and 200 Men... designed to take the Island called the Princess [Principe]; but being discovered, they did not effect it'. This suggests that La Buse and his crew were present when Davis was killed in the attack on Principe, but this doesn't fit at all well with the other evidence about the parting with Davis. According to The Examination of Richard Moor, 31/10/1724, (HCA 1/55, ff. 94-95), Cocklyn and 'Oliver le Boos' captured the Comrade Galley on the Guinea coast on 7/6/1718 [sic: surely he must have meant 1719], and sailed in consort with their prize to Whydah, where they took further ships, and then sailed to the uninhabited island of Corisco. From Corisco, La Buse and the Ormond 'proceeded for the East Indias', where Cocklyn in the Speedwell followed about a month later, leaving the Comrade abandoned at anchor.. However, according to The Examination of John Matthews, 12/10/1722. HCA 1/55, f.20, Cocklyn seems to have transferred himself to the command of the Comrade, leaving John Taylor in command of the Speakwell. At Corisco, La Buse and Cocklyn exchanged ships and La Buse (with Matthews on board) sailed for the East Indies in the Comrade. En route to the East Indies, La Buse captured an English merchant ship called Indian Queen, which he exchanged for the Comrade. Matthews and four others escaped from La Buse at Mayotte, and he made no mention of having met England up to that point, suggesting that Johnson may have been wrong. Back to Richard Moor’s evidence: Taylor and Cocklyn appear to have left Corisco together, apparently on the Speedwell [thus, it was presumably La Buse’s Ormond that was abandoned], and about five days later took the Victory. At Madagascar Cocklyn was joined by ‘two other Pirate ships called the Fancy and the John Gally under the command of Edward England’. Shortly thereafter, Cocklyn died and was succeeded by Taylor. Captain McCrae’s account of the capture of the Cassandra begins with news of La Buse: ‘We arrived the 25th July at the Island of Johanna in company with the Greenwich. Putting in there to refresh our men we found 14 Pirates that came in their canoe from Mayotta where their ship the Indian Queen, 250 tons, 28 guns and 90 men commanded by Captain Oliver de la Bouche had been bilged and lost. They said they had left their captain and 40 of their men building a new ship in which to proceed to the East Indies…’. Captain Kirby’s report of the action makes it clear that the two pirate ships who attacked the Cassandra and Greenwich were the Victory and Fancy, ie, the ships commanded by Taylor and England. The testimony of Richard Lazenby, officer of the Cassandra and captive of the pirates, suggests that Seagar was already in command of the Fancy by the time of the battle. Richard Moor says that Seagar replaced England at around the time of the battle, but isn’t specific as to when. Johnson, relying on McCrae’s information, has England still in command, possibly as a kind of commodore. Either way, La Buse was not in command of any of the pirate ships involved, and there’s no evidence that he was present: less than a month previously he had been stranded at Mayotte without a ship. Richard Moor is fairly specific about these events, and says that at the time of the capture of the Cabo the pirate ships were ‘under the command of the sd Taylor and Seagar’. After the capture, the pirates took their prize to St. Mary’s island, ‘and there the sd Seager dyed and ye aforesaid le Boos was made Captain of the Cassandra in his room’. The Cabo was taken on Easter Sunday 1721, so presumably La Buse rose again to command in the early summer. At what point La Buse rejoined the Cocklyn/England/Taylor/Seagar gang is unclear, but there are a couple of possibilities. England may have picked up La Buse and others of his crew at Johanna: there’s not a great deal of evidence about this part of England’s cruise and his movements are hard to determine. Or, La Buse and his men may have been aboard the John Galley when it arrived at Madagascar in England’s company. The John was burned before the attack on the Cassandra, at which time its crew presumably went aboard the Fancy. Or, just possibly, after the loss of the Indian Queen La Buse and his men may have made their way to St. Mary’s, where they only joined Taylor’s company after the capture of the Cabo. This would leave a large gap in La Buse’s career, but might explain why he was so keen to stay in the Indian Ocean when Taylor wanted to leave.

We can be fairly certain that La Buse was not in the position of captain for the whole of the 1716-1721 period. In the first instance, as you note, he at some point replaced Seagar as captain, suggesting that he wasn't captain at that time. The whole bit between when Snelgrave was with Cocklyn, Davis and La Buse up until the battle with the Cassandra is a little sketchy, but from the evidence of Richard Moore, a forced surgeon, it seems that two pirate ships commanded by Cocklyn and England, but also containing La Buse, Seagar and Taylor, rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The logical progression is that at some point on the West coast of Africa La Buse and his men went aboard Cocklyn's ship. After rounding the Cape Cocklyn Died and was replaced by Taylor, and England was made commodore and replaced as captain by Seagar. Eventually La Buse replaced Seagar. Earlier than that, Snelgrave tells us that Cocklyn and La Buse were both serving under Moody. Cocklyn with 25 men was forced into the Rising Sun, but the rest of the men, 'repenting of that action', forced Moody and twelve others into 'an open boat', and 'chose one Le Bouse a Frenchman for their Commander'. And later, John Taylor's captive, Jacob du Bucquoy, recounts: "Wearied, La Bouze and several of his officers plotted in the night of 17 and 18 August 1722 to abandon Taylor and make for the West Indies. The other pirates of the Defence [La Bouze's ship], however, who did not hold the same opinion, fired a cannon and displayed the black flag, a signal of distress. The council met and, after an enquiry, degraded La Bouze who was, along with his accomplices, condemned to be flogged at the foot of the mainmast, and all that they possessed to be confiscated into the common stock." Not long after this, the pirates divided between those who wanted to carry on their piracy in the Indian Ocean and those who wanted to try and get a pardon in the West Indies. Taylor led the West Indies party away (and successfully obtained a pardon from the Spanish at Porto Bello), and La Buse was chosen to take command of the Indian Ocean party. Thus, between 1716 and 1722 La Buse held command on at least four seperate occasions. I don't know how long La Bouse and his company carried on their piracy, but he had retired well before he was captured and hanged in 1730. Even so, he was probably elected to command more times than any other pirate of the age, and a recorded career of 7 years or so certainly makes him one of the longest serving pirates.

The OED offers these examples of pre-GAoP Jonahs: 1612 T. Lavender Trav. Certaine Englishmen Pref. to Rdr. C j, [He] thought it best to make a Ionas of him, and so cast both him and his books into the Sea. 1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies (1665) 369 They were always presumed the Jonas's which raised all the storms in the State. 1679 Established Test 9 One of the Jonahs that was‥ heaved over the Decks to allay the Tempest. Though I must agree with Mission that I can't recall ever reading of a GAoP era outcast 'Jonah' of the kind you describe.

Kevin Duffus' Website

[blue beret] I believe you have reached an accord. Otherwise, the debate is about the meaning attached to the phrase 'politically correct', which is somewhat off topic. I'm sure that Tartan Jack was not suggesting that aspects of slavery were a good thing, or that one needs to be a raving leftie to believe otherwise. [/blue beret] It hasn't ended.

Well, as noted earlier, the evidence of Tobias Knight shows that Blackbeard's crew sold slaves in NC. The evidence of William Howard shows that they kept some of them for themselves. Is that not enough evidence? The problem with, say, dishes vs mugs is that there is a viable alternative to mugs, ie. dishes. If there is a viable alternative explanation for the disappearance of 50+ black men in the region of the Carolinas in 1718, other than them being sold into slavery, I for one would love to hear it. (I still don't buy that BB's reason for taking the QAR was slaves though, for much the reasons that you give: no real evidence and a wealth of alternative viable possibilities)

Damn! I typed out a long response full of really clever stuff and then lost my internet connection... I suspect that pirates' attitudes towards slaves and other black men was dictated more by the nature of the slaves and the location of the pirates than anything else. If a slave could speak English then he might be useful for pumping or other menial tasks and, heck, we can always sell him later if need be. If a slave could speak English and was familiar with a sailing vessel then he might be even more useful and, heck, we can always sell him later if need be. If a slave could speak English, sail, fight, and was a willing volunteer then he'd be a very welcome addition to the crew and, heck, we can always sell him later if we can get his guns off him. If he had none of those skills then he would still have been a valuable commodity, provided there was some way of getting him to a market. Sure, they've got to be fed, but ultimately they're self-propelled treasure that can load and unload themselves from the hold. In the absence of a nearby market then they might be more trouble than they're worth and might as well be burned, abandoned, turned over to their former owners, or 'freed' and left to fend for themselves. In this particular case, BB captured a ship full of slaves and was not a million miles away from a potentially very good market for them, so the idea that they were sold in NC makes a great deal of sense.

I think, if I may say so, that this is a classic example of journalistic reportage overshadowing a good historical point. The main argument here seems to be that Blackbeard was probably involved in trading slaves in North Carolina. In fact, there's no 'probably' about it. Blackbeard was involved in trading slaves - the testimony of Tobias Knight proves that - the question is the extent of the activity. North Carolina offered a good market for slaves, Blackbeard had a supply of slaves: if such a business opportunity didn't cross the old fella's mind then he wasn't the man he's credited as. Moreover, I can't think of a better hypothesis to account for the 50 or so black men who simply disappear from the record during Blackbeard's stay in North Carolina. Whether this was a deliberate policy dating back to before the time BB took the QAR, or an opportunistic carpe-ing of the diem, is a different question. The 'slave trading route' that BB positioned himself on was, in fact, the main trade artery into the Caribbean, so was a good hunting ground for a pirate anyway. Having captured a ship full of valuable slaves it makes sense for Blackbeard to have sought a market for them, whether his acquisition of human cargo was chance or design. "I've no doubt BB would and did sell slaves if the opportunity presented itself": I think the capture of a ship full of slaves counts as the opportunity presenting itself. I'm not convinced, like Mission, that it was necessarily a pre-planned operation. But, ignoring the rather sensationalist approach as to why BB took the QAR, the underlying point about him selling slaves in NC seems to be a fairly sober appraisal of the evidence. Why didn't Johnson mention it? Well, Johnson didn't mention everything that happened during the GAoP, and it may well be that he just wasn't aware of it. (In the interests of honesty, I ought to point out that I recently spent several days in the company of the author of the article, with little else to talk about once we'd exhausted my amazement at having to prevent pelicans eating my lunch.)

Another point to consider is what the legal status of the European "renegades" was in these ports. Not all of the pirates/corsairs were of North African origin. Simon Dansekar and John Ward spring to mind as the famous Europeans who "turned Turk", but William Bishop, Henry Mainwaring, and a handful of others were involved there as well.

There are various references to religion in some of the printed "Dying Words" pamphlets. These were not always composed by the pirates themselves, and even if they were, were not necessarily an accurate reflection of what they thought before they were sentenced to hang. Just for kicks though, here's an example: "He was Mightily concern'd and troubl'd, that he was to leave a poor Wife and five young children without any Susistence or provision. He was told, that God who is a father to the Fatherless, and an husband to the Widow, would not suffer them to want, if they put their trust in him; But his great concern was to secure to himself a portion in that heavenly inheritence, which should never be taken from him." (William Ingram) Faced with a more natural death, some of Bellamy's men aboard the prize Mary-Anne turned to God during the storm that wrecked the Whydah: "And in their distress the [pirates] ask'd the Deponent to Read to the the Common Prayer Book, which he did about an hour" On the other hand, an un-named pirate crew the following year attacked Benjamin Gatchel's vessel and, "In ravaging the Vessel they met with two or three Bibles, at the sight whereof some started and said, They had nothing to do with them, nor with God, nor any thing Above" In John Taylor's company the articles were sworn to and "signed by the interested parties who intend to uphold them by placing, in the English fashion, two fingers on a Bible". Du Bucquoy reckoned that the pirates' singing of Psalms was more habit than conviction, but there mut have been some conviction because, "In order to preserve the peace and union necessary between members of the brotherhood, quarrels and insults are forbidden, likewise religious disputes" Perhaps the most interesting piece of evidence records that amongst the goods sent to Adam Baldridge to trade with the pirates of St Mary's Island there were "some books, Catechisms, primers and horne books, two Bibles..."

I'm not aware that Every's men took any Indian women aboard their own ship. They certainly behaved with some barbarity towards them while they were ransacking the Gunsway, but I think the idea that they kidnapped some comes from Johnson. I've been wrong before though.

Agreed. Some may stand out as being particularly religious by some action or other, but how many others fit into which box is impossible to tell.

Yes and no. I had a great deal of heartache over the strings. I wanted to put gut strings on, as they were certainly the most common, but my general playing preference is for steel, plus I expect to take the fiddle into damp fields and who-knows-where, so the inherent responsiveness of gut to climate and atmosphere put me off. I thought about synthetic strings which have a similar sound to gut without the weaknesses, but they're not right so I figured if I was going to have not-right strings then I might as well have steel. While I was pondering this problem I came across a reference in John Evelyn's diary to 'wire' viola strings (1678 I think), so steel it is. Steel strings on other instruments are recorded from the 16th century - I'm thinking primarily of citterns - but I'd never seen a reference to steel fiddle strings this early until I looked. They are, of course, 'modern' steel strings, and I must confess that I have no knowledge of what 'period' steel strings should be like (but I'm guessing probably not ball-end).

while looking for stuff on pirate funerals for the PB forum I came across this observation by Jacob du Bucquoy regarding John Taylor's crew: "When one of them dies they chant a psalm or canticle while escorting the body, but that is rather a custom left over from their earliest education than a sign of their submission to God" Bear in mind that while du Bucquoy is generally quite kind in his descriptions of the pirates, he was their captive and was writing for a European readership who may not have shared his good opinions. Whether the pirates were religious or whether it really was just habit is therefore debateable. I have a handful of other references to religion amongst pirates which I'll try to dig out later.