Elena

I saw mentioned in this forum and maybe somewhere else for reenactors that they should use buckled shoes and no way boots. But boots existed before the Age of Sail, as far as I know (and I have read about various people being described in books). Then... why? I really want to know...

I am inviting you "Before the Mast" and offering you my crew of the "Caribbean Siren", where you don't need any more clothes than the ones you can describe in writing We are always looking for new pirates (or privateers) ready to write a good story with us! (And not jealous if you join also another crew which asks from you more than sitting in front of your PC and writing a story with us).

Way to go! And... to many more (glasses and publications alike )

I will follow your description too, because I want later a story (ie a thread in my game) about carreening a pirate ship.

My prayers too.,.. and I'll like the facebook just now.

Thank you for the encouragement to do it. Anyway, it will take some time until we arrive to this.... But it will happen... a sort of "mocked, but somehow legally binding" ceremony (based on the principles above), actually, because the captain will be marrying his mistress to one of the sailors... only for the child not to be illegitimate (and not to have a Spanish family name - as said mistress is Spanish at wartime). He will send that sailor back to France with enough money to forget about having been wed in the West Indies...

Yes, this is what I knew too. The "principle" is based somewhere on the early Catholic rules, that if two people exchanged wows and he gave her a ring, they were married, even if not in church. (And the answer in the column is based on records after 1850, when there was a civil registry for person, there were other rules than the Middle Age/ Renaissance ones, when no unified civil registry existed.) So, I guess if there is a widespread tradition, we might as well go with it, as long as it benefits to the storyline...? (My story happens in 1719, and I am still not sure what to do).

They are with their silly announces selling no matter what.. and perhaps having viruses on their links... I know it happened last week too...

Thanks, I am definitely not leaning towards PoTC style, but towards something more historically correct (well, with some writers' license here and there, but still, more like Alexandre Dumas, Raphael Sabattini or Walter Scott, ie a considerable degree of accuracy... and something to play around it.) I will try the free trial version, thank you. Actually I like to be recommended books, but books I can find online, on google books or Project Gutemberg or something similar to be read online or downloaded for free, because the part with "most libraries have it" might be valid in US or England, not in my country.... I have read various books, but my problem was that the accounts about marriages at sea were from 1800s (I gave James Clavell's "Tai Pan" as an example). In some other place I can't remember I read about another kind of quick marriage done in London's prisons in those times... and what I had mentioned above, about marriages at the gate of the church and secret marriages only with the ring, wows and a witness were read in books from about 1500. (And got confirmation in some Catholic extracts too).

Many happy returns!

So what do you finally advise me, to use it in my story or not? It would make for an interesting sidestory and it would solve the problem of somebody who wasn't too keen to be married in church... What I was saying (that I agree with the loopholes idea) is that I know that for the period around 1500 (but not for later, when I need it) that what we think now as legal marriage and what was happening then was totally different. I read somewhere that in those times it was enough that the man gave a woman the ring and exchange wows and it was considered as binding as in church. This was why there were lots of secret marriages too, especially between people of different social origins, only that their children not to be bastards. And because the priest was seen as only a witness to the marriage, for a long time marriages weren't performed in church, but at the church's gate, with the priest witnessing and blessing the exchange of wows and the receiving of the ring, because these were considered to be the essence of marriage.

Glad to have you here...

I have a question, but I am not so sure how to ask it... You all have read in books/ seen in movies that captains were allowed to marry a couple while at sea. The most typical scene I remember about this was in James Clavell's "Tai Pan". However, this is around 1850s. Any mentions if it was valid in 1700s/ Age of Sail? If yes, in what conditions? And only on British ships, or on French too? What did it entail - writing it in the logbook was enough, or what?

One country’s privateer is another country’s pirate ;-} Well said! And one man's pirate is another man's hero... I agree with Iron Hand too.

I looked at it. (And you seem to like Willa Cather too - I loved "My Anthonia" and also "The Conquerors of the Prairie"). I might agree that the world might not be ready yet for Lola (because we have another story than Blackbeard's), but if you have a male pirate or a prostitute for Tortuga... they are welcome!

Well, "Before the Mast"'s stories happen in 1719 too, so join us with any of the minor characters from the book... or with another one!

If you are into writing, maybe you will like joining one of the two Age of Sail sites in my signature... None accepts a female pirate from the start, but as a second character, or working her way until getting aboard a pirate ship, yes .

Glad to have you here among us! And today I am offering you a March amulet for your good luck too!

Glad to have you here among us! And today I am offering you a March amulet for your good luck too!

I am offering each of you a March amulet, according to the tradition in my country, to bring you good luck, happiness, love, good health and everything else you wish. And I guess this board itself needs a March amulet together with my love… HAPPY SPRINGTIME TO YOU ALL! Valentine's Day has not been celebrated in Romania until imported together with Halloween and other aspects of UK/US culture, but we have a local traditional equivalent of St. Valentine's Day, almost forgotten except some country regions. Called Dragobete (a kind of local Cupid elf), it was traditionally celebrated by the 24th of February by young people. Individuals at country would gather to pick snowdrops (first flower of Spring) if the weather was not too rainy. A feast would occur in one of their homes, complete with dancing and merriment. This was considered to be the time when single people would "pair up". The young people were convinced that they had to be happy and joking all day else love would elude them all year long. If a girl did not meet a boy that day, it was told that no one would love her all year long. But the first day of spring is the one waited with delight by all women and girls! Every year the festive day of March 1 brings back to us renewed hopes, confidence, faith in good fortune and a prosperous life. It is life, spring and the shining sun which win the battle against chilly weather, overcast skies and the nasty days of the "Old women" (the first 9 days in March). This triumph of rebirth and regeneration could not be better embodied but in the Martisor (March amulet) offered to loved ones in early spring. As in all traditional cultures, based on a dualist mentality, March was the time when the old and the new, the good and the evil confronted. For young people, it meant ritual games, gift-giving, and the well-known March amulets. These "tokens" of an old culture survived. We can find them in jewelry shops, sold by street vendors, everywhere, a sign of love, appreciation, respect, everybody is happy to receive. In ancient times it was a silver or gold coin suspended on a white-and-red braided thread with a silk tassel. Red symbolizes love and white symbolizes purity. This tradition is also considered to welcome in Spring time - by uniting Winter (red) and Summer (white). Parents customarily tied around their children's wrist, young men offered to young women, and young women used to exchange among themselves was believed to bring good luck, good health, "like pure silver, like the river stone, like the seashell". The March amulet is offered early morning on the first day of March; it used to be worn for 9-12 days, sometimes until the first tree would bloom when it was hung on a flowering branch to bring good luck to its bearer. The recipient used to wear it around his neck until he would see a blooming rose and the present was then placed on its branch; in this way Spring was poetically welcomed. This custom began as a magical gift meant for protection against evil spirits of the winter-ending. Even doors of homes and stables were knotted with white-red thread for protection! Now, family members, friends and sweethearts exchange symbolic pins - any jewelry or (more often) trinket, generally with symbols of spring (flowers, leafs, birds, ladybugs), good luck (four-leaf clover, horseshoe, chimney-sweeper), love (a couple kissing, a heart, etc.). Recipients wear the pins beginning March 1st for one to two weeks. If a person wears many March Amulets it shows they are held in very high esteem by friends and family. In this regard, the charms are also a status symbol. - a chimney sweep like I haveIn most places of Romania only females can receive amulets. (But I sent also to males abroad, when corresponding with them, to know how it is, and some liked them very much!) In Moldavia (both the one still part of Romania and the Republic of Moldavia), all persons can receive a little March amulet - and mainly boys. In Bulgaria also everybody can receive a March amulet, but they have only the threads, without any trinkets.

Many happy returns!

Thank you all, very much! I like these stories... and they help me.

Anybody knows links to good mutiny stories? Besides Bounty... And what interests me the most... I know that pirates had the articles of agreement, but as far as I have read (not remembering where) there had been mutinies on pirate ships too, with captains killed in their sleep and so on. I think this interests me more... any mutiny stories among pirates and privateers?

Thank you very much. Your help is greatly appreciated. I saw somewhere that a third rate lasted about 18-24 months.

Yes, I need to know how many months (average) building a ship lasted in the Age of Sail... I know it might depend on the ship's size, but let's say a frigate... or a sloop of war... something average.