MarkG

That helps. Last time Jennie and I brought our own tent plus a wedge tent for people to sleep in plus a wedge tent and a fly for the display. I think that we had one other fly. We could have used more canvas for display. I'll probably be arriving with Michael so we will need another vehicle to ferry belongings over to the island.

I think that the need for swabbing would depend partly on how it was loaded. With a cannon you put in the cartridge and prick it. There is a chance that pieces of the casing are left behind and that is what you are swabbing and worming for. Smaller pieces are loaded with loose powder and any wadding is on top of the charge. This piece was probably loaded the same way as a shoulder-fired piece so there would be no powder casing to worry about. That touch hole does not look like it is meant to have a vent prick run through it. Mark

You can probably find a pre-turned chair leg to make one very similar to the bottom one. All you have to do is slot the end. I would recommend a more V-shaped opening than shown here so that it grips the match properly.

There was a lot of overlap with these. Bandoleers were used by foot soldiers from at least the early 16th century past the middle of the 17th century. Cartridge boxes were used by hunters and cavalry. In addition to the leather ones, there are many surviving metal ones in non-sparking metals (copper, brass, silver). These were often half-round. I've seen speculation that they might have held a drilled block for a half dozen charges. I have seen surviving hunter's cartridge boxes from the 16th century. For any event later than Searle's Raid, cartridge boxes or pouches are more appropriate. From personal experience, loading from a bandoleer is very fast but you are limited to the number of chargers hanging from your bandoleer. If you run out you have to retire from the battle and use a flask to reload. It takes longer to load from paper charges but large quantities can be made ahead of time and it is easy to hand out cartridges. Cartridge boxes are much quieter than bandoleers (the charges rattle). BTW, the term "apostle" seems to be a 20th century invention. The Sealed Knot in England has been offering a bounty for years to anyone who can document the term to the 17th century and no one has been able to claim it.

The question was what sorts of cargo was valuable. Tea was a valuable cargo. Tea was being made into bricks at the time. So the debate is where this particular form was used during the GAoP. I was quoting someone from a group that claims to be the most accurate pirate group anywhere. Apparently I made a mistake. That said, I am really offended by all of the "Look what he said! Isn't he an idiot!" on what is at best an obscure subject. My minions will be waylaying you in a dark alley. My seconds will be calling on you.

While it seems strange, it only takes a minute to find references from multiple periods of people saying that most sailors didn't swim. Swimming seems like a useful skill but swimming for pleasure was not something people did very often in the 17th or 18th centuries. People worried about losing the natural oils in the skin and air so they didn't swim and washed seldom. I'm relying on Plimoth Plantation's researchers for this. A sailor could not swim under normal circumstances. A moving ship would leave a swimmer behind. Swimming would not be possible for much of the year in many latitudes. The water is too cold.

Bricks of tea and spices were very valuable. These were often worth more than their weight in gold (keeping in mind that gold is very dense so these would take up more room). Tobacco was also a valuable commodity, especially if sold in Europe instead of the Americas. Then there were slaves. Pirates who took slave ships often sold off the slaves.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make. There's evidence of sailors who couldn't swim, but also evidence of sailors who could. I don't believe the inability to swim was a deliberate decision based on the desire to drown more quickly. But a surprising number of sailors did not know how to swim. By some accounts, it was the majority. Being able to swim is handy around water, if only for when you drop something overboard while at anchor so this seems like a conscious decision. Why? Swimming as a recreation was not popular during the GAoP and because of fears that the skin and hair would lose natural oils. Is that all there is to it? Why did this tradition survive into the 20th century?

The same can also be said of HMS Stirling Castle. The main point I want to make though is that I'm not convinced that during the GAoP there was anything much to tell between the appearance of seafarers on a warship and seafarers on a priate ship. And THAT is pretty much the main argument for pirates not wearing 'em. They weren't practical, they weren't fashionable, so why would they? I suspect that the folding down had more to do with ease of walking than with the cut of one's breeches, but yes. I'd like to see a period source for that. I suspect it may be a bit of reverse thinking myth. There is certainly evidence of sailors who could swim, and I don't believe many of them gave too much time over to thinking about the practicalities of being washed overboard. This is not to say that the ability to swim was universal, or even that widespread, but I don't think that that was the reason. Here's a stub of an article from the New York Times talking about sailors who cannot swim. The full article failed to open for me. When John White returned to Roanoke Island to pick up the lost colonists after two years, their long boat was overturned by heavy swells. This book on Roanoke describes the sailors as having to cling to the boat because they could not swim. The captain of the relief ship drowned in that mishap. It isn't period but here is a quote from 1933 about most sailors not knowing how to swim. So why don't sailors learn to swim? It is probably modern speculation that it prolongs the time needed to drown but it seems like there must be some reason. I can think of several good reasons for sailors to know how to swim.

Uhm, if you send them I am sure I can arrange to get some straw to fill them with... It would be a first, most folks just bring modern bedding. Heck, to see it done that hard core, I would likely buy the straw with my own money, if it can be found at this time of year (straw is easy to find in the autumn, but not so much in spring). Are you serious? Or are just putting me on? Garden stores carry bales for people to spread on newly-planted yards but it is not necessarily sweet-smelling. We need to be able to stow our bedding while the ship is open so straw-filled bedding and anything else bulky is a problem. People need to keep that in mind when planning to sleep on the ship. Mark

I'm friends with both Jamestown surgeons. I will check with them.

Few people swam for sport and many sailors felt that being able to swim would just prolong the time it took them to die if they fell overboard. It was unlikely that a sailing ship could turn back or even stop in time to recover a lost sailor.

A few things to remember about the Vasa - it was a warship, not a pirate ship. Not everyone on it was a sailor. The officers would have dressed in the height of fashion which did include bucket top boots which were in fashion at the time. They were out of fashion by the GAoP. Bucket top boots are really thigh-high boots that have been folded down and back up. When you were riding you would pull them all the way up and they acted like chaps, protecting the leg and pants. When on foot, you would fold them down to show off your fashionable breeches.

Any chance of an Android version?

La Belle Compagnie, 1380s & The Devil’s Nightmare Regiment have been coming for decades and have their presentations down pat. They are tough competition. They are also showy groups with lots of armor and weapons. I liked the previous breakdowns. It is hard for the black powder era groups to compete with the groups that have full armor. Maybe I can have a word with the organizers.

Probably the one with the poxy crew.

The Adventure at Charles Town Landing might be a good model for a GAoP ship. It is based on coastal ships being built in America in the 2nd half of the 17th century. It is 73 feet long but only needed a small crew to work it. I have the sail plan somewhere but you can get the idea from the pictures. It has five sails. Two of them are square sails that would work nicely as shelter. BTW, since the ship would be on its side, nearly everything would have to be taken off. Anything left on might damage the ship or make it difficult to re-float it.

The one your probably thinking of is "The Pirate's House" http://www.thepirateshouse.com/ There are lots of rumors and stories about the place, but all post-dates the GAoP period. I've heard MANY argue it was period, but most of those don't even know what period the GAoP most famous pirate lived, or that most of the popularly famous activity was from a 5-8 year period in the later 17-teens. Meanwhile, Oglethrope didn't establish Savannah until the 1733. The present establishment claims to have been around since 1753 as a seaside inn, tavern, and eating establishment (all of which were oft interrelated for most of history-> "taverns" had rooms upstairs and served food as well as drink. Last I checked . . . 1753 is well after 1722 (death of Bart Roberts) . . . They tell you that the Pirate House is the oldest building in Savannah and haunted by numerous pirates including Captain Flint from Treasure Island. Actually, the oldest part of the place was a brick gardener's shed and Savannah was founded well after the GAoP. It is a nice place to eat but expensive.

Yes, this is what I knew too. The "principle" is based somewhere on the early Catholic rules, that if two people exchanged wows and he gave her a ring, they were married, even if not in church. (And the answer in the column is based on records after 1850, when there was a civil registry for person, there were other rules than the Middle Age/ Renaissance ones, when no unified civil registry existed.) So, I guess if there is a widespread tradition, we might as well go with it, as long as it benefits to the storyline...? (My story happens in 1719, and I am still not sure what to do). I might add that the puritans considered marriages to be a civil ceremony. When Plimoth Plantation recreates a wedding, they do it was a doorstep ceremony officiated by the governor. You can draw your own conclusions from there.

The ship itself is fine since it floats but the shop was a mess.

You are right. Merriam-Webster only gives the one pronunciation. Wikipedia says that it is from the Dutch sloep.

The answer column The Straight Dope looked this and found that there are no records of captains being authorized to perform marriages. There have been a few marriages performed by captains that were upheld under the principle that a couple who thinks they are married is married. There is speculation that captains could perform marriages in earlier periods but they have not found any documentation, just widespread tradition. The column is here.

I have three pieces from them. I got the first (Swedish snaplock) in the mid-1990s and it took about two months from order to delivery. I forget how long the second one took (caliver). It was a long time and it just showed up one day with no notice. I got really lucky with the third one. A friend had already bought and assembled one of their snaphaunces then realized that he was never going to do anything with it. Another friend had bought a fishtail stock blank that he had sat too long. I bought a barrel to go with them and had a working musket within just a few weeks.

First you had to screw the pump into a tree then you had to pump it 1500 times. Then you had to unscrew it from the tree.

That's the first movie that came to mind when I saw the thread. The carriage chase with explosions was a little over the top but it was a fun movie with great sets and costumes. I remember thinking that Swashbuckler was ok when it came out but it didn't hold up very well.