gunner Gordon

doing

aye Sotty, that lad took the king's shilling and skipped tay the nearest pubwi itand had it drunk before i could stop im. now I can't go back, well ye know most o; the rest, message in a bottle as it were. looks like Rumba Rue found the bottle though. Now I;ve had a chat wi Silkie aboot her brother but I do think she;s hidin im, I nay would have the crown catch up wi im. But I;ve got a few words.....gG

I'm shovin off within the hour for a rendevouz with a ship in the night. hard ta hide on a full moon, but quicker ta find yer star ta steer by , hold me berth I be back afore the mid week .

Faith an be jeebers Oderlesseye ! is everyone nailin me quoin to the deck ta night? I suppose ye'll be wantin another quake o' another to let me next " recruit" sign his mark ? sit ye doon and quilt some grape fer tha swivels mate.

Murtaugh ! thar ye be ! aword to the purser aboot the schillin ye took with ya last port lad.

Aye ye've caught me . Did ye not bring me tay the pub ta recruit and see who we might press inta service on the next tide? We have more guns on the dock and it will take a larger crew ta man em.I'll be on deck at me post in the morn luv. ( nobody has honey does like I do!)

portal

I've spent 15 years on the Spirit of Dana Pt ex Pilgrim of Newport ,as the gunner and deckhand. I am the master gunner of the HMS surprise along with my "gunner's mate", I've sailed on the Californian,Lady Washington, Hawaien (sp) chieften,and a few smaller craft. . I've crossed the atlantic from the east coast to Morroco, and have passed the 100toncaptain's course and test for near coastal waters. All of this, except te North Africa thing , done in pirate garb and spirit.I might add the best people I know were along the way.

Aye amost hearty welcome to ye, It be fitting to wish ye a warm welcome as I have been so welcomed in France the many times I have visited, after all much of what we have haere is due a French pirate.. again welcome mate.

Aye milady, I'm sure ye can turn me coin tay drink ,an I'll be happy for the company, but it was nay a gent that has stowed me here at the pub, as I've said elsewhere between decks, I be a stranger in paradise. I've been so long at sea (really) I've only watched tay the shore as I walked the deck on watch...gunner Gordon, aye yours

Aye eye...uh... that's not to articles Oderlesseye, ye be hoisting yer mug in friendship from the deck o' the ship I've fired upon ye from? Ye must indeed be a forginin soul. Glad be I tay ha been off o' my marksmanship . Ye should visit the armoury before we hit Big Bear mate, at any rate I look forward to jawing sittin doon wi ya .

Aye Silkie, would that be ahabit ye aquired on the Kylmar N.?

Well I guess I couldn't keep me hatch shut fer long, thank ye Gentleman Scotty fer hiding me out. My captain brought me ta yer pub to stash me from the pressgang while the crown be lookin aboot.New name an all I couldn't help but be drawn to so many souls o' the same spirit. I follow the smell o' the powder an the footsteps o' ST Barbara. You can ussually find me on the ships , musket, lanyard, or helm in hand, aye, a pirate these 16 years with no port ta call haim. alass, (literally) a good woman has brought me ashore. I be lookin forward to sharein and givin ta those what can learn or teach. So I raise me mug and set me shilling on the board, who'll drink with me?

Ok, let me try one.... hot shot, all that tar oakum and canvas being flammable , A solid iron cannon shot would be heated red hot in the ship's forge , moved very quickly to the gundeck, loaded, aimed, and fired as quickly as possible, often inaccurately. The reason being a "junk wad" of shredded cloth would be placed between the charge and the red hot cannon ball to prevent an early miss fire before the gun could be run out again, however the moment was briefand the gun had to be fired as soon as possible. A red hot shot passing through a sail or rolling around or through the wooden ship would start fires wherever it touched. Of course this would be true on yer own boat too. "Son of a gun " is an interesting one too......

A lot of police in europe use similar pouches to mimic the military nature of their jobs, Italy and Spain have similar pouches even today. The original use of this type of pouch in the military was a dispatch pouch carried by junior officers. they coudn't actually access it but anofficer issuing orders would put his written order inthe pouch and his counterpart at the other end would retrieve it. It became a symbol of rank and spread as an item of fulldress. that is why the pouch is so narrow. The police versions are wider. The practice continues even today in great britain. The pouch was not intended for ammunition but pad and pencil.

I have found some photos and an artist's rendition of a Spanishblunderbuss, volII page102 miquelet lock, a type with a pintle like an oarlock. This is in Borders away vol II. I'm sorry I can't scan it for you.On page 98 is a Spanish espingole, a blunderbuss length weapon with a large musket type barrell. You could try a search on your computer using the spanish lock descriptions under images and you might find something you could use. The later weapon is from the norm Flayderman catalogues, both weapons are dated in the 1650's or so.

Yes, as a child I remember the talking head, there were no words, and the pearson the head talked to would obey, people thought the affected person was hypnotized or something like that. you're right a dim memory. saturday night horror show thing on TV

The two volume set "borders away" does avery good job of defining that question in the volume dealing with firearms. They also have some nice pics to go along with the text. So much of whats out there is just the same weapons over and over. Antique weapons sites and dealers in europe come up with a much broader set of examples than what is generally seen here too.

The problem with an unknown core casting, gun cast with the liner in place , is many fold. The liner and the breech plug in the liner should be of a construction to fire the charge without the iron around it. In such a casting the molten material can cool off too quickly on contact with the steel liner ond become weak or porous .The vent when drilled may not be true but have spark hiding cavities. There have been attempts to solve these problems, but the best way to build a sleeved gun is to cast it solid,better trunnions too, and bore the tube then press the properly breeched liner into the tube. If you don't know the maker you don't know the construction of the gun. Then an X-ray such as used for aircraft castings is about the only positive way to be sure. Proof firing an unknown gun only tells you it's safe through the last shot. I too know two one armed gunners, one involving the use of aluminum foil, there are no small cannon accidents. Think, what would be the acceptable percentage of failures? One of the true examples of zero tolerance for accidents.

the 1966 film "Sand Pebbles" was not filmed on the Lane Victory, but was a ship the San Pablo built just for the movie. At that time the largest functioning prop ever built according to the producers. The movie was filmed in Taiwan and the ship was sold to a civilian contracter repairing bridges during the Vietnam war. The ship was there at the fall of the South Vietnam govt. and it's whereabouts unknown today. The Lane victory has the steam engine used for the scenes in the movie on display, along with a wealth of other artifacts. the seam engine was never actually on board the San Pablo.

Yes, the mafia vs yakusa is interesting due in part to the demo of the weaponry and the use of live ammunition. It will be entertaining from at least that point of view, like the difference between full auto 45's and 9mm.....

It's all in thwe hands of the editor and on the cutting room floor. There was enough good stuff to show, and they certainly spent enough money on it. Oh yeah, they had some of the best people tou could get too....