Fox

Actually it's pictures like this that I think provide the best foil to people saying "re-enactors are boring" or "people who do living history have no sense of fun". Both the photos I posted were taken at re-enactment/living history events of the highest authenticity and educational calibre, it certainly wasn't a case of "dress up in costumes, get drunk, make noise". You may notice in all the photos that it's dark. This is what happens after the public have gone home, but for the people taking part it's as much a part of the re-enactment weekend as anything else we do.

That would be fantastically useful Josh! Personally I'm only particularly interested in any mention of Quelch's flag, so there'd be no need to scan or transcribe the whole thing on my account. Of course, I suspect that others are interested too and now you've offered...

Cotton Mather was a self-righteous Massachussets minister who was responsible to a great extent for the Salem witch massacre and who wrote endless monographs on a variety of topics. His extreme puritanism really set the tone for generations to come. His Wikipedia page is here. Josh, that sounds fantastic. Does he give any mention of the trial and execution of John Quelch and his men in 1704?

Certainly with fitted breeches it's not uncommon to find that the waistline is curved so that it's higher at the back. When the breeches are worn with the waist band straight the seat hangs down slightly baggy. If, as Patrick suggested, you make experimental patterns out of cotton you can always use them as an interlining if one is required.

Dunno what happened there, posted twice for some reason. Anyway, let me just add to the information: The wife of John Griffin (or Griffith), quartermaster of the Barbara of Portsmouth which set sail for Brasil in 1540 deposed that his possessions on that voyage included "a dagger withe an yelowe hafte hangyd withe a cheyne of iron."

G.E. Manwaring's excellent article "The Dress of the British Seaman; From the Earliest Times Till 1600", printed in the Mariner's Mirror, Vol. 8, (1922) was the first of four excellent articles, meticulously researched and generally well sourced. In that article he quotes from a number of original sources regarding the appearance of English seamen, and one of the quotes he gives mentions "chaynes for the mariners' knives" in the 16th century. He is clearly quoting a contemporary document (possibly Howard's letter to Burghley of August 10th 1587), but unfortunately he doesn't make it clear exactly which document. However, there's your lanyards.

I've got three different types of cheese maturing to a sufficient hardness as I type, cut into different thicknesses to see what works best. "Experimental archaeology" I calls it...

The film is "Bright Young Things" adapted and directed by Stephen Fry and starring a whole host of brilliant semi-known actors (Emily Mortimer, David Tennant, Dan Akroyd). I really recommend it. I kinda recognise yours but I can't quite place it yet...

Evelyn Waugh penned the original novel on which the film was based. A fantastic film, but it may not have been that popular in the States, the most British Brit-Flick of recent years. On the other hand it might have been just the kind of film you colonials lap up...

That's it Josh! I'm gonna make me some cheese buttons! Can we decide on the correct size before I start?

I have a handful of pictures in the collection which show seemingly large buttons, and a number which show pretty small ones. Of particular interest are these two which both show quite different sized buttons in the same picture. From the title page of "The Sea-Gunner" 1692. "The British Hercules" 1737

Sorry, been away a couple of days (since Wednesday in fact). Yup mine was Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Mission's was Tomorrow Never Dies, slated by the critics, but one of my favourite James M Bond films. Try this one: "Love. All this fuss about love and "sleeping together". For physical pleasure I'd sooner visit my dentist any day."

That's not impossible but it's a bit further than I'd like to go without decent evidence if you know what I mean. Plus, if it could be one of Roberts' consorts with some prizes in tow then it could just as easily be some independent pirate with some prizes in tow.

I'm working from an original source, so it'll be on the same calender as Johnson. The difficulty is that I don't know exact dates (hence the wide slot). All the info I've been able to find on Roberts movements at that time seem to indicate that he was off the Grain Coast and heading South, well away from the Canaries. It's possible that the pirates mentioned are actually just one crew with 4 prizes in tow I suppose, but it seems unlikely: how many pirates hung onto 4 prizes they weren't going to use?

Well, they were flying an English flag when first spotted. It might have been a classic false flags ruse, but the witness certainly believed them to be English. If anyone found record of 5 pirate ships acting together in the right time or place I think that would be good enough, how many such fleets can there have been? It was this last thought that made me think they might have been Roberts. I don't recall him havin a squadron of 5 ships, but one or two of them might have been prizes, and I couldn't think of any other pirates that powerful off the African coast at that time. However, I suspected from the start that it was to far North for him, hence this thread.

Looks like my hunch was wrong, but thanks guys. OK, the next question is: What other bands of (probably English) pirates were operating with 5 ships near the Canaries in Aug-Sept 1721?

Not really if you're planning to be accurate. The short jacket of Jas Townsend's that Hawkyns linked to is probably the best if you're looking for a seaman's coat of that period. I'm not even convinced that it would be authentic for Restoration period. I've certainly never seen anything like it in all the period pictures I've looked at.

Redd, the flappy bit (or "butterfly")isn't an integral part of the boot, it straps on by way of a three way strap, one piece over the top with the butterfly on it, the second under the arch of the foot and the third piece round the back, or replaced by your spurs. What I'm saying is that you could go without, since pirates weren't noted for their horse riding, or you could pretty easily make a pair to fit onto any boots.

Sahara! "As John Lennon said: 'I don't believe in isms, I just believe in me'."

Thanks John, alas, neither of those links had "Faithful Warnings". I did follow links from one of them to the Cotton Mather Discussion Forum, read the single post and decided it probably wasn't active enough for my taste... For the record, I'm not suggesting for a minute that I approve of the great Cotton Mather and his excellent and pious works, just that I want to read a bit of one of them.

Oh, he bought one of those kinds of muskets did he?

What a brilliant site! But they forgot "Dancing"

When I was looking at those pictures and thinking about my own kit it struck me just how similar a couple of the coats look to my mid 18th pea-jacket, with the exception that my pea-jacket has mariner's cuffs which I don't see in the illustrations. My pea-jacket has the simplest of pattern, four identical pieces make the body, rather snug but not at all fitted. The front two panels are trimmed slightly to make the neck hole lower. It's got a small standing collar and bog-standard sleeves. I figure you can just play about with the length 'til it's right.

Next year are you going to have a matchlock fire? oh, and commiserations to Rummy, my doglock's called "clickfuck" ('cos that's the noise we make between us when someone shouts "fire") so I know all about 'em...

Keep at it Patrick