MarkG

I don't know about tattoos being common on pirates. These came in and out of style. In the 18th century sailors got their tattoos in Polynesia which is also where the word comes from. It was a way of showing that you had been to such an exotic port. A lot of "ancient" sailor lore came from the 19th century, especially whalers and I suspect that the association between tattoos and sailors comes from this period. Does anyone have any research to show that tattooing was common around 1700?

We are thinking of making a few changes in the way visitors are handled. Last time the weekend was so popular that the tours were too large. With PoTC coming out a few days after our event, I expect this to be a big weekend. We will probably let visitors wonder around the ship at their own pace instead of being part of a big groups. This gives the reenactors more chances to interact with the public a few at a time (too bad pirates are notoriously shy). I assume that we can coax Mission to set up his surgeon display. If anyone else would like to set up a display, let me know and we can reserve some space for you. Mark

I got some sand glasses - just the glass part - that I need to put a wooden frame around. I plan on doing one for the Santa Maria and one for my personal navigation collection. I need some warmer weather first since my workshop isn't heated. Mark

The current (January 2011) issue of Wooden Boats has plans for a viking-inspired chest. Mark

Happy birthday Rod

What is it about people in the coastal states that they can't go west? Sometimes I think that there is some sort of space warp - the east coast is closer to Ohio than Ohio is to the east coast.

I think that the primary casting choice had to be someone who could hold his own against Depp and Rush. Most actors would disappear into the background when in a scene with these two scenery-chewers. Beard, height, and age (the real Blackbeard died around the age of 38) are secondary considerations. Getting an actor with enough stage presence was a make-or-break decision. Mark

Correct. He used a crutch most of the time. When on the ship he used hand-holds and carried is crutch hung from a loop around his neck. BTW, it was common for a sailor who had lost a limb to take a job as a ship's cook which is what Silver signed up as. Mark

The one on the right looks like a measure to me. Probably a full pint. Mark

Actually it is "waistcoat" but spell it anyway you want. Spelling was not standardized in the early 18th century. Regional accents have be reconstructed using the phonetic spellings of the time. Mark

He only says a few words in the newest trailer but I think he is playing it with a Spanish accent (to go with his daughter?). Mark

The pirate was inspired by Blackbeard. He had the burning slow match on the hat (and the black beard). The best part was when the knight kept coming and the pirate rolled his eyes. You knew he was thinking, "Him again?" That was about as much personality as any of the warriors showed in either season. A lit match could be carried in a match case which was a metal tube with holes in it to let air in. Mark

What this show does is evaluate an equal number of weapons for each side. They then run simulations of how well each combination of weapon works. The side that gets the most kills is the winner. After that their fight choreographer comes up with a battle in which each combatant uses every weapon. There are always problems with this final fight. Warriors shake off major injuries and weapons don't always work the way they would in real life. If these two ever actually met I would expect the pirate to take cover until the knight was in range and then blast him with a blunderbuss and that would be that. Mark

I've done this with thin plywood - about the same thickness as the sword. I sandwich three pieces and cut a band saw or jigsaw to cut away where the sword will be from the middle piece. Then I glue the pieces together, shape it., and cover it with leather. Mark

The Pirates of Paynetown is in Indiana, just one state over. It is held on the second weekend of August at a state park overlooking a good-sized lake. It attracts around 150 pirates and 18th century reenactors and features an attack on the camp from boats. Someone already mentioned the Santa Maria which is in downtown Columbus, OH. We have two events there on the second weekend of May and the weekend closest to Talk Like A Pirate Day. You get to live on board a real ship. This also has an attack from boats. There is a pirate festival at Put-in-Bay in June which is attended by several members of the Mercury. Mark

Watch out for the overseas postage. It is being offered from the UK.

Thank you, all.

Then there is Tom Smith's Pirate Christmas. Here is the free MP3. Mark

I was going to suggest this one, so let me just second Michael. It's got the best of both worlds: people who are genuinely interested in the educational/living history stuff and a fun party scene after hours. The folks on the island went out of their way to make sure we had what we needed. I had a seriously good time last year - it was one of my favorite events of 2010. (If you're curious about my perspective of it, check out the Surgeon's Journal for it.) Lots of reasons to come. Put-In-Bay bills itself as the Key West of the Great Lakes. Lots of bars with good bands at night. The organizers went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Mark

In the spring of 1621, an Indian walked into the Pilgrims' settlement. To their amazement he said, "Welcome Englishmen," and asked for beer. They had drunk all of their beer over the winter so they gave him some aqua vitae which seemed to satisfy him. Mark

I remember watching Hook and thinking "If I was in this movie I'd be one of the pirates."

Obviously you needed a good cleansing enema and a course of leeches.

Philip had good reason to worry. The colony at Roanoke was meant to be a base for privateering. Many of its sponsors were sea dogs including Sir Francis Drake. When Drake raided St. Augustine he took a number of casement windows that he planed on donating to the colony. King James was a pacifist and had no intention of allowing provocation against Spain. With privateering no longer allowed, some of the sea dogs invested in the new colony, hoping for quick returns. They lost their money. Jamestown didn't make any money until after the crown took it over. Regardless, Spain kept a close eye on it. The only period map showing the location of the fort came from the Spanish archives. We also know from Spanish intelligence reports that the fort wall was not kept in very good condition and that the gun loops were at ground level which would allow an attacker to fire in. Spain actually sent two expeditions to wipe out the colony. One was turned back by a storm. The other was manned with troops that had not been paid. They mutinied on route. As it turned out, Jamestown was not a threat to the Spanish holdings. Instead the English colonies in the Caribbean were the base for piracy and privateering. Mark

That's right, Many instruments were tuned with A somewhere between 395 and 415 instead of the modern 440. Some solo instruments were tuned higher. The clavichord is too quiet to play with other instruments and some of these were tuned higher than modern scale. That gave them a brighter sound and coxed a bit more sound out of the brass strings. The scale was also subtly different. Modern scales are mathematically precise and instruments are able to play multiple keys. Previously instruments were optimized for common keys and the sharps/flats were adjusted to sound better. In these scales, a C sharp was slightly different from a D flat. Bach's "well tempered" was a different tuning. Mark

I'm currently doing a fairly large research project on pirate articles, so I seriously hope we have been missing plenty more, or it's going to be a short project! I was sort of hoping that some light discussion here would stimulate my brain cells... In terms of how realistic they are, do you mean whether or not the commonly quoted sets were actually employed by the pirates they were purported to have been written by? I have reason to believe that they probably were: Roberts', Lowther's and Phillips', although they all come from Johnson, do at least come from some of the more reliable parts of Johnson. Low's set can actually be found in two independent sources, which seems like a reasonable measure of reasonable accuracy. Here's something to think about - the reason why articles were so important. You have a bunch of violent men and potentially large sums of money. If you don't agree ahead of time on how the booty will be divided then there is going to be arguments and probably blood shed. You cannot sue over disputes since the whole thing is illegal, anyway. So you all agree ahead of time. Mark