MarkG

Thank you one and all. Alas, this is definitely not one for the record books. I spent my birthday first in the dentist office learning that the reason my tooth was hurting all weekend was because there is an infection under the root. So I got to stay home from work all day and basically lie in bed waiting for the pills to work. (They never really did.) I am currently coasting on 1600mg of Ibuprofen, having just finished my final exam in my HTML/XHTML/XML class.

BTW, I was basically in bed all weekend wishing someone would pull my tooth out, which is why there has been no progress on the Surgeon's Journal. (No, I didn't have my surgical stuff - it's in the mail.) Please note, I am really not looking for sympathy at all. I am just whining. (My mom told me on the phone, "It's just a day." She's right, although I usually don't get all this lovely feedback on a normal day. So thanks again!) Now I am going home and dose myself with Nyquil.

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

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has acquired documents in which King Philip III of Spain expresses his concerns about England's successful establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent European settlement in North America.

One of several European powers locked in a race to colonize the New World, England made serious headway when it established its first permanent North American settlement in 1607. Located on the banks of the James River in what is now Virginia, Jamestown barely survived its first year. But to King Philip III of Spain, it still represented a threat—not only because England had gained a stronger presence in the Americas, but also because he feared the struggling town could become a harbor for pirates.

The king's anxieties about Jamestown are apparent in two letters recently donated by the novelist Patricia Cornwell to Colonial Williamsburg's John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library. In the first, dated July 29, 1608, Philip III announces that he "has been advised that the English are attempting to procure a foothold on the Island of Virginia, with the end [in mind] of sallying forth from there to commit piracy." In the second, dated June 11, 1609, he writes, "You will do me great service in continuing [to gather] intelligence about the designs of the corsairs and any [intelligence] that shows the English having interest in continuing to populate the land called Virginia in the Indies." Both single-page missives are addressed to Alonso Perez du Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, who had commanded the Spanish Armada in 1588.

"Philip III of Spain was concerned the English would create a base in Virginia to attack Spanish ships in the Atlantic," explained Doug Mayo, associate librarian of the Rockefeller Library. "He is afraid that the English are not only going to attack the Atlantic but raid as far as the Pacific and New Spain, or Mexico, as well."

In 1609 and 1611, Philip III sent convoys to spy on the settlers in Virginia. The first of these reconnaissance missions ended when an English ship sighted the Spaniards and chased them down the coast. During the second expedition, the English took the Spanish spies hostage; one of them, Don Diego de Molina, who eventually returned to Spain, smuggled a letter to the king warning that "the advantages of this place make it very suitable for a gathering-place of all pirates of Europe, where they will be well received."

Known for her popular series of crime novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell has been a strong supporter of the ongoing excavation of Jamestown for many years, said William Kelso, the project's chief archaeologist. "She asked me where the most logical place for [the letters] to reside would be," he said. "I recommended the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library. I thought with the Foundation's collaboration with Preservation Virginia that the letters would enhance the greater Jamestown-Colonial Williamsburg story."

Colonial Williamsburg's acquisition of the letters resulted from a new collaboration with Preservation Virginia, which administers the Jamestown site along with the National Park Service. The two organizations teamed up in September 2010 to promote public archaeology and raise awareness of the Historic Triangle, which comprises the colonial communities of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.

See them here http://www.history.c...mestown-letters

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

I'll try to remember to pack my penny whistle for PiP. It's in the key of D and I can play in G also.

One thing that I find interesting is the difference in pitch from the centuries. From I what I've been able to gather during the baroque period, most of the instruments tuned about a half step lower than what we would tune to today.

Meaning our modern sounds are a bit higher in intonation. Of course there wasn't a standard then and pitch could (and most likely would)change depending on the location. Heck I would think it would depend even more so on the groups of musicians playing. Being in tune amongst themselves.

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

DECLARATION OF ULTERIOR MOTIVE

...But, seriously... Are we missing more here?

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

The differences a baroque "guitar" and a modern guitar are many. I think this article really explains it well.

http://www3.uakron.e...a/stalking.html

Cuisto alluded to many of the differences and this article does a good job or going a step or two further. As any guitar player knows, there's a huge difference in playing an instrument with 10 gut strings and tied frets and a six string fretted instrument that is tuned in a standard tuning, which previous instruments didn't have the benefit of. It's akin to the differences in playing a tenor banjo and a plectrum. Very different animals with different results.

A friend who plays the lute says that the gut frets drive her crazy.

Mark

In my readings I find that most people who hated the Catholics often did so out of rumor and fear rather than personal experience. They were told repeatedly that the Pope was the Anti-Christ and his minions sought control of the world. Of course the Catholic Church was the largest landholder in Europe at the time and corruption was quite evident. Most people could not read did not have the personal relationship that Drake had with Catholics. They hated based upon what they were told and demonized them in turn.

Of course many a Catholic could hide in plain sight. The Christmas Carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is said to be teaching device used by Catholics to educate the tenets of the faith. Of course you had to go to church for prayer services (not attending earned you a fine) but in your privacy you could pray as you wish.

Snopes says that the 12 Days as a teaching device is a myth.

On the other hand, the English worried about the Spanish and Catholics for centuries after the Spanish Armada. A few Irish regiments were recruited for the English Civil War and, when captured, they were executed on the theory that Irish Catholics were too dangerous to be imprisoned.

In the New World, the cry "No peace beyond the line!" was supposed to come from the Spanish. This referred to the Line of Demarcation which the Pope drew, dividing the world. Any Protestants found on the wrong side of the line were subject to imprisonment for heresy. The Spanish were rather lax about enforcing this but the English believed that the Spanish were enforcing it. It became an excuse for raids on Spanish territory.

Mark

Mark

wow - That list of projects is a whole camp!

I usually make a list and attack it. It's amazing how much you can get done on a weekend that way.

At this point I haven't thought much past PIP. so I'll defer to my pre-PIP list...

- Build a RedCoat uniform - Rev War or French&Indian - still deciding

- Acquire a first model Brown Bess

- Some kind of hat for my Pirate impression (besides the head scarf and Monmouth)

- An airline case for transporting weapons

- Build a longbow - to satisfy my forays into the 12th/15th century

- Build an archery target stand

- A concrete plan to make at least 3 quality pirate events in 2011 (no small task living in Arizona)

Projects leading up to PIP with last minute add-ins are occupying my time now. Then add Christmas shopping/preparations to that!

mP

Hardbody golf bags work for weapons.

Mark

I agree Hawkyns with the eye tainted by modern times. For example, that much cider would be nothing to someone in Port Royal in the late 17th Century. Even the children in town drank beer instead of the water because 1), it had to all be ferried in from the rivers across the bay and 2), it was believed that some of the maladies were caused by the water. So imagine the tolerance levels of alcohol in such an environment. Just to get a buzz would take a fairly good intake of alcohol. And, as we know, when vast amounts of alcohol are introduced, crazy things start to happen, even today. And even today (at least in the places I've been over the years), I've seen more than my share of fights, all out brawls, breasts and penises exposed, vomiting, sex in the bathrooms and several times in the bar itself, and chairs and bottles broken. Why would we think it would be any different back then? Come to think of it, man I've been to some great taverns in my time.

Yes, everyone who could drank beer or other brewed beverage but, most of it was small beer with a very low alcoholic content. In this case, heating the water to brew it killed the germs rather than the alcoholic content.

BTW, they did think that water was unhealthy. One of the complaints from the non-Separatists at the Plymouth colony was that they had to drink water. Governor Bradford's response to this was that it was the healthiest water in the world, as healthy as beer. Since they got their water from small springs, close to the source, this was probably correct.

Mark

Didn't Drake absolutely hate Catholics?

He was more anti-Spanish than anti-Catholic. He accompanied Hawkins on his 1561 voyage selling slaves and trade goods to the Spanish colonies. They ran into a large Spanish fleet and asked for a truce. Instead the Spanish attacked Hawkins' fleet and only two ships returned. After that Drake decided that the Spanish could not be trusted and swore vengeance on them.

Of course, the English were anti-Catholic in general at that point.

Mark

I wonder how the Puritans viewed such behavior in Port Royal? Did not Cromwell send his "New Model Army" to take the colony from the Spanish? Certainly Puritans imbibed in drink. I imagine more than a few were less than pious (despite the image).

Not all of the New Model Army were necessarily puritan, in fact, the vast majority were Presbyterian or Independent. Additionally, conscripted recruits might be of almost any denomination (barring Papists). The particular troops sent under Venables to the Caribbean were, to a great extent, the dregs of pre-existing regiments whose officers took the opportunity to get rid of them. There's a good discussion of religion in the Caribbean colonies in Christopher Hill's essay, Radical Pirates?

Here's an interesting quote I found:

One question remains, what of the radicals from the New Model after 1660, after defeat. Some clearly made accommodations with the new political climate. Cornet Joyce, the king's kidnapper, became a colonel in his son's army and a land speculator to boot. Sexby, the former Agitator involved in the debate at Putney, became a conspirator in touch with royalist circles. But these do not tell the full story. Many of the radicals fled to the New World. There are verified historical reports of Ranter meetings on Long Island as late as 1690. It appears, and the scholarship in this field is just beginning to be done, that many old soldiers found their way to Jamaica and the Caribbean. In this arena many of these men turned again to political radicalism and some found their way to privateering and piracy. In 1660 there was a mutiny in Jamaica led by an ex-officer in the New Model. At this time most of Jamaica's wealth came from privateering, which “old standers and officers of Cromwell's army” participated in and profited from. Many piratical codes of conduct also seem to derive from New Model forms; the election of the captain, the absolute equality of shares and risk, and finally the consensus required prior to pursuing a prize. In only one instance do we find a direct link, however, between the pirates and the New Model. Henry Morgan's brutal raid on Panama in 1671 was said to have been carried out by “troops [dressed] in the faded red coats of the New Model Army.”

Mark

I think there were Catholic Irishmen too...

In the New Model Army? I'd be surprised.

In Jamaica? Possibly.

There were Catholic Irishmen in the English Civil War but they fought for the King. They also scared the regular population who regarded them as a sort of boggy-man. Most of them were executed rather than captured.

Mark

Joseph Ruggiero, the founder of the SEA Rats Atlantic was killed while working on a movie in Roanoke, VA. His 93-year-old grandmother died the same day. There is a nice article on it here.

Mark

Then there's the problem with arrangements we lean towards more modern version for And one of my favs being a bit of a lefty.......http://www.youtube.c...h?v=k_ZhN-bNhtg works well as a work song too =o)

Putting aside for the moment the fact that I'm a Royalist officer and this song is treasonous.....

Is there documentation that that is the original tune? I know from the mid 18th c as 'Ye Jacobites by Name". Any idea which came first?

Never knew Chumbawumba did historic stuff. have to look up more.

Hawkyns

Robert Burns wrote the most familiar works using an older tune.

Mark

<br>There in lies part of the problem in recreating a period pub with music. Guitars wouldn't have been around, certainly not in their present form. The concertina wasn't invented until 1829. It makes me crazy to see a supposed period performance with an electric bass or guitar. Few people want to listen to a fiddle and a drum together (or even apart, in some instances :). And an exact recreation of the music wouldn't really be very audience friendly. Let's face it, a bunch of drunks singing off key isn't that interesting. You can see that at a local karaoke bar.  <img src="https://pyracy.com/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif" class="bbc_emoticon" alt=""> <br><br>Hurricane<br>

But, of course, we want to think we can come close, just as we think we're close singing chanteys from the whaling area ... How many times have we heard Rolling Down to Old Maui in a "period pub" though its origins are believed to be from around 1858 and no one is really sure of its melody.

They were brash, bold and complete, well whores. ...How many times have we heard Rolling Down to Old Maui in a "period pub" though its origins...

Agreed. Come to this side of the pond Hurricane, I'll see your Old Maui and raise you Hanging Johnny...

Ah, Foxe, you know my pain when someone starts singing "period songs". Plus it always makes me nuts when someone is seeing a capstan chantey or other work song but aren't doing any work. Huh? I can't see a single sailor or pirate sitting in a pub, looking at his mates and saying, "hey, let's sing that song we always do when we're trying to lift a several ton anchor out of a heaving sea. That'd be fun, eh boys? We can always get a whore later." :)

Agreed on the singing. There are plenty of period tavern songs that we could be singing, The Trooper Watering His Nag comes to mind, or Back and Sides Go Bare. But we have this twitch that sailors sing chanties, even when most of them date to 19th C whaling. That's a hard one to deal with. Unfortunately, most of the pirate bands out there perpetuate the myth. If it's Irish or about sailing, it must be period, so we'll put it on our CD. Strikes me we need to do some serious reeducation in this regard.

While this is getting way off topic, I'd like to add a thought or two about shanties.

Firstly, there are some jolly good shanties that aren't necessarily whaling songs, but I certainly agree that most of them, and all of the better known ones, date from the 19th century, or, at best, possibly the very late 18th. Either way, they're out of period.

Now, I wonder about the reason for the lack of earlier shanties. It has been suggested that earlier sailors didn't really sing them, but it seems unlikely that one day in 1785 a sailor said "gee, I know we've been at this for hundreds of years, but this work would be so much easier if we did a bit of singing", and there are at least some sailors' work chants that go back to the medieval and Tudor periods, some of which may have been tuneful. I suspect the real reason for a lack of early shanties is that there was less of a distinction between working songs and social songs in the earlier periods. Three Poor Mariners, for example, is a song that turns up in collections from the early 17thC onwards, but has many characteristics of a later shanty (it's easy to bawl, has an easy to remember chorus, and can easily be accompanied by foot-stomping) so, despite its presence in popular singing books and setting to a popular dance tune, might very easily have been sung at sea as a work song. An alternative idea, given the stated importance of musicians in pirate crews, might be that sailors worked to music, but without necessarily singing: however, not every crew had a musician present, so it seems likely that singing would have taken their place.

At least some of the time they had musicians playing instead of someone singing. That's why musicians are mentioned in pirate articles. I've seen speculation that the most common instrument was the fiddle.

Mark

Here's a couple questions about Taverns and Behavior. First, would the average visitor to a port side tavern know which ladies are for sale and which just work in the establishment (or are they the same?)? Secondly, in a rough area like Port Royal how could a person run a tavern when you had no official police force/ town guard to prevent a group of pirates from simply killing the tavern owner, stealing his merchandise and drinking for free (or at least being so intimidating that the tavern owner allows them to drink for free and take a share of his profits)?

In answer to the second question, the tavern owner would have one or more bouncers on the staff to keep things quiet. Also, the locals get upset when you kill the tavern owner for no good reason. That is really short-sighted behavior. You might be able to drink for free tonight but ho is going to provide drinks tomorrow? You've shut down one tavern. The others are probably going to shoot you on sight or close until you have left port. If the taverns are closed then the locals are going to run you out of town. Then where will you sell your booty and recruit new crew members?

I think that, in general, pirates had to be on good behavior when in a friendly port if they expected it to stay friendly. Riches are useless unless you have someplace to sell them. Unless you intend on spending the rest of your life at sea or surrounded by armed guards, you will have to obey the local laws.

BTW, Wikipedia says that it was one drinking establishment for every ten residents.

Mark

I hope we see you more places than just Paynetown.

Mark

I've been trying to research what a common simple woodwind instrument would have been from 1690 to 1720 that a sailor may have carried with him aboard ship. I think this period of time is considered part of the Baroque Period.

I keep leaning toward the Flageolet [whistle flute], but I need input from those who are more knowledgable about musical instruments during this period of time. I have virtually no knowledge of music and instruments, because I have never been very musically inclined. But I wouldn't mind trying my hand at learning to play a small Flageolet-type instrument or fife, so that I could play some simple period songs at living history events some day while just sitting around relaxing.

I was thinking of either a Flageolet [whistle flute] or a side-blown fife with the embouchere --- both in the key of d. Soprano I think, not the larger D flutes. Like I say, I don't know much about this stuff, so I might be confusing you.

I am going to attempt to make a side-blown fife and a small whistle flute in the key of d out of 1/2" CPVC pipe and tune it on my friend's electronic tuner. There are plenty of instructions on the Internet for making them. And it would be something inexpensive with a decent sound that I can possibly learn on. A nice wooden one can cost $100 or so. I might get a nice wooden one at some later time if I can learn and see that I might stick with it.

But anyway, I could use some input from some of you experienced musicians who play woodwind instruments.

-Tar Bucket Bill

Recorders were popular for hundreds of years although they went out of style by the end of the 18th century. A flageolet is basically a recorder without the thumb hole. It became popular during the second half of the 17th century. These are easier to play than side-blown flutes but they lack dynamic range (you can't play louder or softer without changing pitch) which is why they went out of style.

All of these are appropriate for the GAoP. Since they were so common, they have the range for nearly all period music.

Mark

ppppeeeettttteeee get a thrum cap! TTHHHRRRRUMMM CCCAAAPPPP i dont want to be the only one......they are ssoooo period appropriate!

Just the thing for a tropical island.

I have one but I only bring it out when it is cold or wet.

Mark

On this side of the pond "Dutch Oven" is a euphemism for when ones breaks wind in bed then pulls the duvet over the wife's head. Oddly, I've never met a girl who found it funny, they keep calling me puerile!

Hehe, that's good. I'll have to remember this next time someone gives me grief for calling it a bake kettle, that being the term lots of folks over here have started using, after a bunch of digging around for references to what the thing is actually called in period. But change comes slowly. Maybe letting them in on the joke will speed things along

Wikipedia gives two possible origins for the name. The first is that they meant "Dutch-style" ovens since the first Englishman to produce them based his technique on the Dutch. The other is that they got the name because Dutch merchant ships were selling them. Either way, that is the name they have had since the English started using them 300 years ago.

Mark

The TV show Castle just had a steampunk episode. You can see it on-line here. The episoe is "Punked".

Mark

Are you talking period dagger and female attire of fantasy pirate for said dagger and thigh rig?

Do ye mean me or Piratelooksat40?

For me - I mean in reality - not fantasy - having a dagger strapped to a thigh seems like a counter-intuitive idea to me, due to not actually being able to get to it in anything but an awkward manner - rendering it pretty much useless in an actual fight.

I've been thinking about this. I doubt that women expected to use hidden daggers in a fight. A little dagger isn't going to help against someone with a sword or even a big knife. This is more like something you would pull out to stab him with when he isn't expecting it.

Or in the Victorian tradition, to stab yourself with in order to escape a fate worse than death.

Mark

This notification has been re-posted for Lady Lacey to a more appropriate forum. Jas. Hook

Dates are November 6 & 7

Well it seem that the fair city of Port Jefferson, NY has decided to take the plunge and attempt a Pirate Festival with the HMS Bounty. It is in conjunction with the shooting of a reality TV show being filmed in and around Long Island. The premise is how can so many "horrible" things go wrong for this little Ad Agency. The pirates will come off the Bounty into town and wreak Havoc and Mayhem. If you're interested in being part of this, please contact me Lucretia Lacey My e-mail is lucretia_lacey777@yahoo.com and visit the website for the event www.herestous.tv

They are looking for Pirates to come storming off the ship with guns and cannon blazing, so if you're looking for a way to end your season so to speak with a "bang" let us know.. You will get fed..

Thank ye kindly...

Lucretia

Ye Pyrate Brotherhood

Sounds like fun, especially the part with the Bounty. Too bad I'm heading in the opposite direction that weekend.

Mark

Well it seem that the fair city of Port Jefferson, NY has decided to take the plunge and attempt a Pirate Festival with the HMS Bounty. It is in conjunction with the shooting of a reality TV show being filmed in and around Long Island. The premise is how can so many "horrible" things go wrong for this little Ad Agency. The pirates will come off the Bounty into town and wreak Havoc and Mayhem. If you're interested in being part of this, please contact me Lucretia Lacey My e-mail is lucretia_lacey777@yahoo.com and visit the website for the event www.herestous.tv

They are looking for Pirates to come storming off the ship with guns and cannon blazing, so if you're looking for a way to end your season so to speak with a "bang" let us know.. You will get fed..

Thank ye kindly...

Lucretia

Ye Pyrate Brotherhood

Do you have a date?

Mark

My new fiddle.