Dueller

Your music was as fun as ever which is why we came. cheers.

It's only just catching on here. Trick or treating has been hijacked by teenagers who just want to go out and throw eggs. It is starting to get more popular and the shopps are catering for costumes a lot better than they were so hopefully it will become more like America. I just needed an excuse for a party and saw the pirates were playing at the Pirate Castle, Camden which is about an hour from where i live.

Myself and Contessa are going to see these guys this evening http://pyrates.co.uk/ in Camden, London. Camden is the site of a famous market, very trendy amongst the Goth/Emo types and great place to get adaptable pirate outfits. to get an idea, use google images and type Camden market. Just looked at the pyrates gig list and they are playing Nola Pyrate week, New Orleans next year

The older tankards also had a higher lead content. Over a few years, pewter takes on a dark grey patina, THIS IS A GOOD THING. It is oxidised lead and tin and it forms a protective barrier against the lead leaching out. If you bring the inside of your tankard back to a shine you then present your favourite beverage with an usealed less protected surface with which to interact with the lead. This site has a lot of usefull information, i have linked to the repairs page but there are many others. http://www.pewterbank.com/html/repairs.html

Glass bottomed tankards started to appear in the late 18th Century. There are a lot of "myths" about the glass bottom, although the truth is not really known. The best answer for the glass bottom was to avoid being pressed into naval service (pressganged). If you accepted the kings shilling you were deemed to have accepted service in the navy. Not many people wanted to go into naval service, so naval gangs would travel the pubs and bars, find a likely soul and when he was not looking they would toss a shilling into his tankard and as soon as he lifted it to drink he had accepted the kings shilling. The glass bottom enabled the owner of the tankard to see any coin in the bottom, he would then leave it on the table untill the press gang had gone. My own tankard is a james yates QUART (ebay). Although he was a fine pewterer in the 19th century i like it's size, it's big. If a pirate owns a tankard it should be big enough to kill a man......

I have just finished a cocked hat. I tied it with cotton to form all the shapes that i wanted and then lightly sprayed it with water to dampen and then sprayed it wit a 60/40 mixture of water = 60 and PVA glue = 40, this has stiffened it nicely and when dry makes it slightly shower/rain proof. You can dilute the mixture more and apply more coates if your not sure or want to experiment.

Thanks for your welcome, I will check out the forums etc, when i get chance. Have been busy on the allotment today. Do you have allotments your side of the pond? Mission:, originally i grew up in Oxford and have recently moved to London, we are classed as being "down south" or "daan sarf" as they say in London. :-) Contessa will be mad at me taking the P*ss out of the way londoners speak, anyway we only get the bottled "newky brown" here as well, very rare to find it on tap. Northerners like a head on their beer, southerners dont (normally) so "up norf" :-) they only pour half the bottle at a time so that when the head goes they can pour in the rest of the bottle to get a head back. Hope this translates ok :-). Dueller (Lee Matthews)

Hi all, Just thought i'd be polite and introduce myself. I started Pirate re-enactment about a year ago with a couple of groups here in England and am having fun. I try to make a lot of my own equipment, so may be requesting advice as well as sharing any short cuts i come across. I have just made a felt tricorn (plain for me) and will be making a more ornate one for the Contessa (girlfriend). Will post piccies when i'm done.