Grymm

Sorry Ed, I'm not convinced. It looks like it's blown off the head of someone on the Ramsgate-Oostende ferry and ended up on the sands like so much of the other cack that they chuck off those things. That and the fact that my 10yr old has an identical one bought from a charity shop right down to the thonged edge decoration and split stitching at the front. Then from a hatters POV, the Mem says that the oval crown is summat that doesn't appear on felt hats at least until post 1800, hats being blocked on a round block. I'd lay cash on it that if they look at it under various polarised lights 'made in spain'll show up inside.

That one was blocked (by me) over a bit of tree trunk I rescued from a mates winter woodpile which was nigh on perfect for my headsize once I'd peeled the bark off, but I do now have a couple of flat top blocks courtesy of ebay (search for hat block or hat form) and a car boot sale near Luton, one time centre of hatmaking here in the UK.

19thC tarred straws from

Did several 'tarred' hats in 2004/5 using the Bitumen paint method (It's the sort of thing they use for sealing water tanks), used a thinned version to start leaving it to cure for a couple of days 'tween each coat then shaved off any bobbley bits of felt, rolled the sides up and put several more layers of unthinned on, left that a week then gave it a coat of shellac varnish (French Polish). Before the hat was tarred I sewed a thin piece of linen inside as a hatband, stitches as near the bottom as poss and once I'd finished tarring I used this to hang the lining on. Just a precaution as in a previous job I had to paint the inside of a tank with said paint and where the stuff got on my skin, especially my face, it tanned/or cured it like having the skin on your face shrunk one size or the aftermath of a REALLY bad suntan, took two weeks to peel so I dint want anyone getting chemical burns off a hat that I made..........................................................mebbe a reason to wear a scarf under a hat, stop the AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH IT BURNS feeling?

A thinned bitumen paint like you can buy in a hardware store painted on the hat and allowed to cure, pref somewhere dry and ventilated. Hard as nails and waterproof. A few layers it still looks like felt but solid, many layers make it suede like, lots of layers it looks like a semi polished leather.

From a simple belting it out round a campfire song I do like a couple of Men They Couldn't Hang numbers both from the 1988, Waiting For Bonaparte cd. 'Smugglers' Not the best version I've seen them do but by'eck it's fun in the mosh pit.The boat rides south of Ailsa Craig in the waning of the light There's thirty men in Lendalfit to make our burden light And there's thirty horse in Hazleholm with the halters on their heads All set this night up on your life if wind and water speed Smugglers drink of the frenchmens wine and the darkest night is the smugglers time Away we ran from the excise man It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me Oh lass you have a cozy bed, and cattle you have ten Can you not live a lawful life and live with lawful men? But must I use old homely goods while there's foreign gear so fine? Must I drink at the waterside and France so full of wine Smugglers drink of the frenchmens wine and the darkest night is the smugglers time Away we ran from the excise man It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me Though well I like to see you Kate, with a baby on your knee My heart is now with gallant crew that plough through the angry sea The hitter gale, the tightest sail, and the sheltered bay or goal It's the wayward life, it's the smugglers strife, it's the joy of the smugglers soul Smugglers drink of the frenchmens wine and the darkest night is the smugglers time Away we ran from the excise man It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me And when at last the dawn comes up and the cargo safely stored Like sinless saints to church we'll go. God's mercy to afford And It's champagne fine for communion wine and the parson drinks it too With a sly wink prays "forgive these men, for they know not what they do" Smugglers, drink of the frenchmens wine and the darkest night is the smugglers time Away we ran from the excise man It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me It's a smugglers life for me And the Colours I am a member of the council of the naval mutiny And no traitor to my conscience having done my sworn duty These are my last words before the scaffold and I charge you all to hear How a wretched British sailor became a citizen mutineer Pressed into service to carry powder I was loyal to the crack of the whip It I starved on the streets of Bristol, I starved worse on a British ship Red is the colour of the new republic Blue is the colour of the sea White is the colour of my innocence Not surrender to your mercy I was woken from my misery by the words of Thomas Paine On my barren soil they fell like the sweetest drops of rain Red is the colour of the new republic Blue is the colour of the sea White is the colour of my innocence Not surrender to your mercy So in the spring of the year we took the fleet Every cask and cannon and compass sheet And we flew a Jacobin flag to give us heart While Pitt stood helpless we were waiting for Bonaparte Red is the colour of the new republic Blue is the colour of the sea White is the colour of my innocence Not surrender to your mercy All you soldiers, all you sailors, all you labourers of the land All you beggars, all you builders, all you come here to watch me hang To the masters we are the rabble, we are the 'swinish multitude' But we can re-arrange the colours of the red and the white and the blue Red is the colour of the new republic Blue is the colour of the sea White is the colour of my innocence Not surrender to your mercy Red is the colour of the new republic Blue is the colour of the sea White is the colour of my innocence Not surrender to your mercy

Ah Kaaaaarnaaaaaaaall. http://www.ukpiratebrotherhood.co.uk/forum/index.php is a UK pirate forum and there are a few piratey type groups dotted around the country as well as more general late 17thC and early-mid 18thC mobs. You just missed Lulworth pirate festival which by all accounts was a great crack, I missed it on acount of having to be tudor elsewhere....bugger! But it's all out there waiting for you to get involved, if you need any other contacts pm me. Avast behind! Grymm

Where are you? In the UK there's http://www.derbyshirearms.co.uk/pages/new_range.html and he's doing a gorgeous wheel lock too. http://www.henrykrank.com/muzzle_loading_p..._long_guns.html have been going for ages.......love the blunderbuss amoungst many others. Black powder and relevant licences (shotgun for a smoothbore musket, firearms ticket for pistols and anything shorter than 24" barrel) are needed but not that difficult to obtain so long as you've not been naughty in the past, have a responsible adult to vouch for you and have a cabinet.