MarkG

I'm sure that you are correct. You can get some interesting parts from these wall-hangers. I bought a pair of pistols that had some real snaphaunce locks. After I soaked the better one in oil for a while I got the rust off and got everything loosened up. I was able to replace a few pieces and get it to fire. Of course, the rest of it was complete junk. Mark The interesting part about some of these things is that they often have decent quality European made locks, or other parts attached to them. There was a thriving market in obsolete and surplus gun parts going on in the old days, just like today. Obsolete parts were sold where ever people would buy them. Many of them wound up in the Middle East and Africa after they became totally outdated in Europe. Sometimes complete locks were available, but most often by the time they made it to the surplus market, parts were missing. Missing parts were crudely made by local craftsmen. You will sometimes encounter the long "camel rider" muskets with English or French pistol locks incorporated, along with locally made barrels. Napoleonic period French locks are commonly found on cheap smoothbore guns made for sale to native tribesmen in the African interior. Later on, the non-functional pieces for the tourist trade were being made using the same sources for some of the parts. This is where inexperienced collectors can get into trouble. >>>> Cascabel The lock that I have has a brass maker's mark inlayed in brass that looks Arabic to me. Otherwise the lock looks like a European one.

Yes they had a bandoleer of measured charges. Those go back at least to the early 16th century. They probably did not use musket rests - they were still using the arquebus which was light enough that it did not need a rest. Mark Thanks Mark. I am however finding period references with musket rests and matchlocks. lately I have been wondering what the tassel thing I have seen hanging from some musket rests is. HEre is a pic of the tassel thing on the musket http://cache2.asset-...F2CA583692F22C8 I'm going from the official position at Jamestown which is that muskets were brand new and were mainly used by land armies. De Gheyn shows both with and without rests. The link to the tassel didn't come through but there is a wrist strap just below the fork that often had a fancy tassel on it. Also, in some plates, the musketeer is holding extra match cord in the same hand as the rest. Mark

Did anyone end up with an extra haversack - one in black oilcloth containing a leather wallet with a couple of pairs of period glasses? I can't find mine. Mark

I'm sure that you are correct. You can get some interesting parts from these wall-hangers. I bought a pair of pistols that had some real snaphaunce locks. After I soaked the better one in oil for a while I got the rust off and got everything loosened up. I was able to replace a few pieces and get it to fire. Of course, the rest of it was complete junk. Mark

What was the final total?

Note the important distinction French. They used really big flags. You don't see flags that big on other nation's ships. It's always interesting looking at paintings of ships. An artist who knows ships will have the flag flying forward. Artists who are not familiar with sailing will have the flag flying back. Mark

Yes they had a bandoleer of measured charges. Those go back at least to the early 16th century. They probably did not use musket rests - they were still using the arquebus which was light enough that it did not need a rest. Mark

I'll disagree with that one. I don't peace tie my weapons and it bugs the hell out of me when I have to do it at those fairs where it is required. I think it it might be reasonable for new people or for people who only carry for show. On the other hand, weapons are what I do. I know where my sword and pistols are and who's near them. 30 years of carrying a sword on my hip, training with it, and teaching it give me the clue. And I never drink when carrying, so the "drunk in a bar' scenario doesn't apply. I think the rule should be more like "know your weapons and your weapons capabilities". If you only carry occasionally, or have never trained, or tend to drink more than one or two, then peace tie or don't carry. If you take your weapons seriously, train with them as you would any martial art, and make them part of yourself, then peace tieing is unnecessary. Hawkyns I'm glad that someone else is bugged by peace tying. I can see it for Ren Fairs where anyone can walk in with a weapon but I can't see it for registered participants - especially at events where I can carry black powder weapons. Mark

You did get ours, didn't you? The check hasn't been cashed yet. Mark

You would be surprised. During his Indian campaign the Duke of Wellington (who was still Aurthur Wellesley) took a city with only two seige ladders. Mark

The Chaloupe was also known as a shallop in English. These could be rowed or sailed. They were sometimes stored in parts for long voyages. Larger shallops were used as coastal vessels on their own. Sometime they had a half or full deck. Note - according to William Baker's The Mayflower and Other Colonial Vessels, a pinnace was a smaller ship acting as a supply ship for a larger one so a pinnace would never be carried by another ship. After examining a lot of records, he decided that a pinnace was not a specific type of ship but rather a role that a ship performed. Mark

A big thanks to everyone who came. The event was a big success - both for the participants and for the ship. Box office was around $1,150 which will probably be the biggest weekend of the year. Mark

Here's the birthday cake cannon going off. Mark

I think that some bowing is inevitable. As long as it is not about to break, you should be ok. The only alternative it to use thicker wood for the sides. Mark

While we're on the subject, there are some other letter differences. "I" and "V" were often used instead of "J" and "U". For example, James was often spelled Iames (but pronounced the same). I have an original bible box from around 1640-1660 with the letters "I" and "P" on it. It was probably given as a wedding gift with the couple's initials. The groom's name could well have started with a "J" instead of "I". Then there is the thorn (Þ) which had a "th" sound. The type used in England came from Germany and Italy and they did not use the thorn so printers used the closest letter - the "Y". This letter dropped completely out of use by the mid-15th century but it remained in abbreviations. meant "the", meant "that", etc. "Ye boat" would be pronounced "the boat". Mark

Yes, that helps.

If you are refinishing it then you will need to sand the old finish off or use a commercial stripper. Once you get it down to bare wood, a spokeshave is good. I use an antique one with a wood handle. It works a lot better than the newer ones with cast iron handles. The blade is at a different angle and the blade is thinner. You will not put a gouge in wood with a spokeshave but it is possible to cut too deep and pull up a chip. You have to watch the grain (which is tough on a stock). Mark

I thought when we talked to Linda about the extended hours, we talked her into 11:00 AM until 6:00 PM? Great news about the Hard Tackers though! Glad to hear they are performing for us! Yes, Linda confirmed the 11:00-6:00 time. Friday evening is going to be manpower-intensive. We need people to help with the boats and at least a couple of pirates to show up at the sorority. The sorority event is miles away at the Marriot Tuttle. We need people there around 7:30. Mark

I think that Taylor Rose Outfitters can sell you a Quaker gun. http://www.taylor-rosehistorical.com/ Mark

A few reminders: We will be launching the boats Friday evening and we will need help with that. We will also need a few pirates to go entertain the sorority Friday evening. There will be a race Saturday morning. It will surround City Hall and block access to the ship. If you are arriving Saturday morning then come in from the west on Broad Street and park at Veteran's Memorial which is right across the river from the ship. The race should be over and the streets open by the time the ship opens. If you arrive after the streets have been reopened then you can park in the lot behind City Hall. If you park on the street then remember to feed the meters on Saturday. The ship will be open extended hours for the event noon-6:00 (I will verify that). The sea shanty group the Hard Tackers will be performing on Saturday at 1:00. The battle will be at 3:00 both days. We will have some soft weapons for hand-to-hand during the battle. No live weapons should be used. Between crowded, sloped decks and people climbing over the railing, there just isn't any safe way to do choreographed fighting. We will be providing some food, mainly soup, but contributions are welcome. Drinks (non-alcoholic during the day) would be good. Mark

I'm guessing that he is taking apart a firecracker and using its powder and fuse. Mark

I had a video on MySpace posted of Kate firing her canon, and it seems MySpace purges videos over a certain age, because it isn't there any more and I know I didn't delete it. While we usually don't fire anything from it, we have in the past done so (usually leather bits left over from when I do leather working with the leather hole punch)... The accuracy is terrible, but we did manage to hit the broad side of my old van from about a dozen paces once. It did make a fun cake topper (just powder, no projectile) for M.A. d'Dogge and RedJessi's B-Day cake last year. I think someone even ate the piece of cake with the black powder burn in the icing! Here's Kate's broadside from a year ago. Mark

To make it more complicated, there are a couple of forms of the long "S". There is one that looks like a stretched "S" and one that looks like an "f" except the bar is only on one side. Even worse, printers often mixed fonts. The First Folio (Shakespeare) is a mixture of four different fonts. Apparently they were all mixed together and the printer just used the first one he pulled out unless it actually needed an italic font. When a piece of type wore out the printer would touch it up as much as possible then have it recast. I will not get into spelling except to mention that phonetic spelling continued well into the 18th century. This is a boon for linguists because it gives us clues on local accents. Mark

I'll probably be in an 8x8 wedge. No ropes. Mark

Since the event is at the end of the week, I guess we will know by then. Right now the forecast looks good - highs around 70, lows around 50 (or frozen tundra weather if the Florida people were coming).