Red_Dawn

This one's cute and timely.

The fast-paced sport of !

Thanks, guys! I know, I shouldn't get so ticked off at a show. Emphasis mine. That could explain a lot. The pirate could've won, just not the way it was choreographed? So it's possible for him to have an already-lit match on his person instead lighting it from scratch. I might've thought better of the fight results if they had used a match case instead of the hair matches. I don't know. It didn't look lit or even smouldering to me until he was using it on the grenado. I like that better, though it would've been too short a fight for TV. Nice pics. Thanks!

This isn't for research, but it's been bothering me for months. My eldest sister is helping one of our sisters out with her kids. Sometimes she'll watch Deadliest Warrior when the kids are asleep. One day she told me about a fight they simulated between a pirate and a knight. Wikipedia's explanation for what's going on. I know these may be fighting words on a pirate forum, but we both believe the knight should've won. But while sis is hung up on the pistol that still fires after being in wet sand (you'll see it near the end of the video), I'm all het up about what I call the Quik-Lite GrenadoTM. I mean, just how long does it take to light a grenado? Yeah, the pirate in the video has wicks in his hair like Blackbeard, but they're not smouldering wicks. Unless fire-lighting technologies were more advanced than I thought, it must've taken some time to light it, then the grenado. He should've had his head smashed to paste before then. Seriously, that grenado bugs me, and if you can give me a good estimate about how long it takes to light one in the real world using the technology they had back then I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

I got Lost Treasures of the Pirates of the Caribbean by James A. Owen and Jeremy Owen. My niece, nephew, and sister gave it to me, and it appears to be a children's nonfiction book. I'm afraid to read it for fear of a possible lack of accuracy.

Thank, capn'rob! This is more or less the size of business I had in mind, though the info on the salt cod industry might come in handy some other time. Would the local fishermen fish for anything specific, or would they just cast their nets and sell whatever was edible? Does that mean it was just a native thing at the time? There goes my idea in post #3. As for conches as jewelry, I've read they make some lovely pearls.

Fish can be hyper-cute, too, especially if they're tiny!

*insert forehead-slapping smilie here* Sorry about that. The time would be roughly late 17th Century to about 1710. The location is around Jamaica and Haiti. Ah, so there's conch fishing in the Bahamas. That'd be fun, having my characters capture a boatload of snails!

What were people fishing for commercially in the Caribbean? Was it just fish, or were other edibles like squids or crabs fished for, too? How did they catch them? Did the fishermen generally own their boats, or were they usually hired by the boat owner? Did they sell directly to the fishmongers or through middlemen? Anything else I might need to know? Thanks!

Rats! And it sounded so plausible.

So would a guitarist need to retie the frets every once in a while?

Am I bad for giggling at this? Once again, truth is cheesier than fiction!

So...seeing this I can't help but wonder; would it be PC for me to wear a mask like that at an event? It would be so cool and we have period evidence...sort of. (Don't even bet I wouldn't do it. You'll lose.) Maybe we could bring this back on topic by asking if it's good etiquette for a surgeon on call to enter the front door of the tavern, especially in this get-up. "Don't mind me, I'm just here to see the proprietor's younger son. Keep drinking." P.S. If you do this, Mission, you better show us the pictures!

Guess that's another case of a saint's story getting embellished as time goes on. I know, but everything I've seen about him focuses on his religious life, for obvious reasons. They don't say whether he did some piracy in that time or if the pirates just dropped him off in a port and said, "You're on your own, kid."

This could be interesting, both because I have Catholic pirate characters and because I'm Catholic myself. I remember getting excited when I learned about Blessed George Gervase, who one source said traveled with Francis Drake, and another source said was kidnapped by pirates. So I asked about him here. To my mild disappointment, he was merely a kidnapping victim and not a reformed pirate.

Finally figured out how to use the copy and paste codes at the Daily Squee.

I'm getting more information here than I know what to do with. I'll have to print this topic when it starts winding down. So the idea of a woman simply there for a drink or other fun isn't that farfetched (though I suspect the governor's wife wouldn't go to the dockside taverns). Emphasis mine. That includes fighting, right? Like catfighting, or beating up that persistant jerk who thinks that when a woman says no nine times, try a tenth? Does that mean if a sailor gets permanently banned from a dockside tavern, he has to do something epic? I could gladly work with that! (Where's an evil grin smilie when I need one?) The more things change...

Good points, Elena. Thanks! Blind eyes and fake flags. Got it. Lying about their nationality could work. I'd be sorely tempted to make them blow their cover for laughs, though.

I found a bunch of YouTube vidoes of baroque guitars. They're higher pitched than the modern guitar. Maybe it's just the tune, but this one almost sounds like a banjo. Very nice, though.And concerning the lyrics Grymm posted, I've been told that political satire and bawd songs were popular in Paris. Assuming I was told right (and understood right), it looks like this was an international phenomenon.

I think I get what your saying, though do you mean respectable women in the socio-economic sense or in the moral sense? Also, I take it from this paragraph that the non-harlot workers (serving wenches, musicians, etc.) would get hit on a lot by the patrons. Well, dang, it almost sounds like the only way to tell the workers from the working girls was by how many tankards they carried! Seems like people are focusing on the harlots a lot. Now how about a little more on the violence? Pub brawls, one-on-one fights, large cranky bouncers...that kind of thing. Or maybe some other tavern no-nos.

My infant nephew lying in the bassinette and trying to chew on his cute little Halloween socks while his feet were in them. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, so I'll link you to the 2nd cutest thing I saw today.

This thread's sure taking some interersting turns. You guys made me think of another question: did ordinary women ever go to the taverns for a drink (or a flirt, or whatever)? I heard something about the Nice Girls kept their heads covered, but I might've heard wrong.

Thanks again, guys! This definitely helps. Doesn't sound like a place you'd find Capt. Feathersword! ;) Seriously, though, would this be typical, or would other ports be the same but more subdued? I think I'd like to see that, too. Another question comes to mind. Were the taverns closed on Sundays or was that a more modern convention?