MarkG

Gist

Is there WiFi on the beach? Without that a web cam is tough. Mark

Don't forget my wife, Jennie, and me - also of Columbus, Ohio. Mark

The Santa Maria was the largest of the three. Ships were rated in tons (according to how many tuns could fit in their hold). The Santa Maria was a bit over 105 tons. Ours was designed around this and can hold around 105 tons. The Nina and Pinta were smaller - around 65 and 70 tons or 2/3s the capacity of the Santa Maria. Also, they were caravels and the Santa Maria was a nao (ship). Caravels were often lateen-rigged and had much less superstructure. The quarterdecks were much smaller and they had no cabins. However, most pirate ships were fairly small. The Santa Maria is larger than most pirate ships. The sloop was the favorite of pirates and 100 tons was the usual upper end for sloops. Funny thing - not long after the Santa Maria was christened, a woman came on board, looked the ship up and down and announced, "My son crosses the Atlantic in boats a lot smaller than this." Mark

I stand corrected on the scope of his warrant (it's been a long time since I read a biography of him). Am I completely mis-remembering or did he exceed his authority on at least one expedition? Anyway, my main point was that the English government was not equipping him with firearms. Do you know of anything to the contrary here? Mark

Good point about the miquelet. There aren't many repros of those out right now so we tend to overlook them. I don't think that the British government was supplying small arms, just a warship that Morgan managed to blow up. Remember that he never had a warrant for invading cities. His papers were for raiding Spanish shipping and he exceeded his authority (which is why he was arrested and sent to England). Morgan's troops were not army regulars. They were volunteers who signed on for a share of the wealth. They provided their own weapons. Armies were still carring matchlocks because they were cheap but individuals were willing to get the best piece that they could afford. A musket was a major investment and, for reasons I already gave, matchlocks are poor weapons for hunting. The extra utility of flint pieces made them worth the extra cost. Undoubtedly some of the men with Morgan used whatever they could get their hands on. The lure of easy money would have inspired some people to outfit themselves and sign on but these must have been in the minority. I will admit that I am extrapolating from New England and Virginia inventories where fling pieces outnumbered matchlocks by quite a bit by the 1660s but the Caribbean was at least as wealthy as New England so they should have been able to afford similar weapons. Mark

Remember, it's a cavalry pistol. The originals were kept in holsters hung from the saddle. Mark

Probably a combination of Wheellocks, snaphaunses and doglocks. Matchlocks had a lot of disadvantages and the colonies made the switch to better weapons sooner than European armies. The biggest drawback of matchlocks was the match. This burns at around a foot and hour. That means miles of rope would be needed for a large force and it had to be imported from Europe. Spanish troops garrisoned at a major port might not think that this was a problem but Buccaneers would have difficulty getting enough rope. Even some European countries had trouble getting enough match. Sweden switched to an early form of snaphaunce in 1620 because of match shortages. Also, the Buccaneers were recruited from hunters and matchlocks are poor weapons for hunting. You have a smelly match that has to be adjusted every few minutes and, again, you have to carry a lot of match. In contrast you can carry a flint weapon cocked and ready to fire. Mark

To quote Patrick, "There is no Captain." That said, Hurricane is absolutely right. Patrick's comment about me 'getting along really well with people' not withstanding, I will not brook any sailor getting out of line. This is not to say that I'm not a patient fellow, but endanger a life or risk harm to the fort or property belonging to others and you'll hear from me nose to nose. Those awake and sober enough to hear me on my third night at PIP in 2005 will tell you that I don't mince words. For those not in the know, I discovered some attendees that year attempting to climb parts of the fort that were closed to the general public due to safety reasons. They were climbing banisters (made mostly from brittle pvc pipe) in an effort to get up the fort walls in the dark. They were not only damaging the railing, but risking their quite foolish young lives in the process. They were not part of our crew at all, but this didn't stop me from putting on my prison warden face and giving them one very sound verbal thrashing, and none too quietly. They were putting themselves in harm's way, damaging fort property and risking the very future of our attendance. Needless to say, they never came back. I didn't even see them the next day. I reported the infraction and the damages to the railings to Harry, and he agreed that we were better for seeing the back of them. Still, these infractions tend to be the exception, not the rule. I have seldom had to raise my voice, and only a few times ever to stop an act that would harm someone or weaken our good graces with the park. I have witnessed many crew members of different groups policing themselves and using the casual caution that makes PIP so pleasant year to year. Even those of us who have stubbornly disagreed at times online and in the public, tend to fall into a mutual understanding that allows the event to run smoothly. These cautionary posts creep up on the Pub every year just before and after the event. It's a good sign that we care so much about the festival to caution one another about such things as safety, rules, property and the like. It's a good sign that we're all thinking about such things before PIP and reflecting and observing aloud afterward. This sort of well intended mindset keeps us all on our toes. It also displays that we have a good share of common sense, respect and an attention to details. If there were no rules, we'd probably just make them ourselves. At PIP, as on any ship, the life and well being of any sailor is in the hands of every other sailor. Watch each other's back. Lend hands. Laugh long. -William Brand Quartermaster of the Mercury So basically we need some safety-minded people to keep an eye on the camp and keep people from being stupid. Mark

They are going back down the Ohio in a couple of weeks. Want to catch them at Gallipolis on the 21st or 22nd? Mark

CBS News has a story on shooting anvils. Anvils Fall from Sky (No Cartoon Coyotes) Video (with ad) here. Mark

That or the measurement. No one bought the smallest of the three. We can relist if someone will buy it. Mark

This is a little off-topic but this flag reminds me of New England tombstones. Many of these featured a flying deaths-head. The book In Small Things Forgotten has great chapter on the evolution of these death's heads through multiple generations of headstone carvers. Here's a typical tombstone from 1680. Mark

We just posted some more items. We've raised over $300 for the Santa Maria so far. Mark

We already relisted it. Selling it directly would be complicated. If you wrote a check to the ship then they would have to reimburse us for postage. If you wrote the check to us then it would be hard to prove that it was for charity. This is taken care of in the auction because we have a letter from Linda authorizing us to hold an auction on the ship's behalf. However... we can probably take some small unsold items to PIP and save postage. Mark

The cap is here. It's just the thing to wear on a windy day when your tricorn keeps blowing off of on a sailboat with a boom that can knock your hat into the water. We will be adding some more items tomorrow but the best stuff is already posted and ending soon. Mark

Was it reenactors who fired the cannon? I don't think that the article said. Some historic sites have staff members fire their cannons and muskets regularly. When a reenactor does something dumb, the news coverage usually says so. As Hawkyns pointed out the official story already has unlikely details. The easy way out for the fort would be to blame a reenactor. Since they didn't, I think that a staff member was at fault. Mark

We just added more items and lowered the price on others. Mark

My wife is tired of telling people that she sprained her knee on the stairs. She's going to start saying that she was hit by a ramrod fired from a cannon. Mark

Dictionary.com gives the origin of the word as going back to 1620-30. It is used differently from a fid. A fid is useful when you are splicing. A marlinspike can do this but it is also useful for teasing tights knots open. Mark

It's a Knights of Columbus - 4th degree naval chapeau. See here. Mark

We are starting a new auction to benefit the Columbus Santa Maria. As many of you know, the ship hosts a couple of pirate events per year. Due to budget cut-backs, the City no longer contributes any operating money so the ship has to live on admission tickets and fund-raisers like this. We have some nice merchandise. There are some hand-knitted caps and three different lanterns. Mickey contributed one of his cartridge boxes. Plus other pirate and nautical goods. The items will start showing up starting Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 9 pm EST. Search on seller "MarkAndJennieG". Mark

I'm suggesting that they put it down the barrel of a musket. It looks like a hand-made version of a musket gage where the markings reflect the width of the blade instead of the length. I don't see how you could use it for weight. If you had a ring that was larger than any of your cannon balls then you could place it over the ball that you are measuring and use the blade to measure the gap. I found a comment on-line saying this: Italian Stiletto dagger, mid to late 17 C. Known as Gunners Stiletto and used to measure the amount of gun powder to be loaded on a cannon by sticking it at the top of the gunpowder pile and measuring its depth. The 10 inches blade is scaled with numbers. The grip is wood with spiral ribs set with round bone insert, steel cross guard and steel pommel. Total length 15 inches. Again, I would expect the markings to be more regular for this. Mark

I found this on ebay a while back and finally got the drive plugged back in that I saved it on: Very Rare Italian Bombardiers Stiletto / Dagger Circa 1650 Gunners Scale Complete This is a very scarce piece. It is an Italian Bombardiers or Gunners Stiletto. The Stiletto was a dual purpose piece – a dagger as a weapon, and the blade had a numbered scale which the gunner used to determine the correct size cannonball to use for that cannon. It is circa 1650. It is in fine antique condition. The hilt is iron mounted with very minor age wear, some nicks and marks, this piece was used. The grip is spirally carved dark brown wood or horn. There are nine bone inlays and more brass inlaid tacks. It has been varnished a long time ago. This was a museum practice in the late 1800's. The blade is straight of triangular section as was the style of the time. It is definitely hand-forged and in great condition with a medium gray patina. The reverse panel has the gunners scale numbered from 1 to 120. Please see photos. I have seen one other of these years ago that the scale was almost worn off. This piece the scale is in excellent condition. The tip is perfect and needle sharp. No scabbard, being of leather it is truly long gone. The overall length is 16 ¼" with an 11 ¾" blade. It's very nice but it couldn't have been used to measure cannon balls. The markings are inconsistent. My guess is that it for is measuring the bore of smaller guns. It you look at the width of the blade, it looks like a good match with the markings. Mark

I have one. It is very lightly constructed. I would not trust it against a fencing weapon. The originals were more robust. I used to know someone who made usable reproductions. In period these were part of a series of gimmicks that were meant to surprise an opponent during a brawl just long enough to get a thrust through. These were used to catch an opponent's blade. Another type of dagger had a thick blade and a series of cuts on the back. You swept the blade upwards, trying to trap your opponent's blade in one of the cuts. By twisting your dagger you could hold his blade. Some of these had a spring closure on the top. Another option was a trick rapier. I saw a picture of one that had a spring-loaded blade. At the touch of a button the blade would jump forward a few inches. For good measure, it had a hidden blade that would pop out of the pommel. None of these would be allowed in a formal duel and your seconds would inspect your opponent's weapons, checking for tricks. Mark