William Brand

I'm happy to report that my mom found a whole mess of my grandpa's shaving brushes, so I get my pick. Also, as morbid as it sound, she also found my grandma's false teeth. I like weird stuff.

Well, if you still want changes made at anytime, just let me know.

Welcome aboard. There's a slim chance that I'll be at Skye before the year is over. If so, we'll talk.

August 6, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog William, Durand and Jim all made their way forward together. They did this for no particular reason, but as William went forward, so did they. Once at the bow they watched the Navarra turning upon the wind a little as the Lucy had done not long before. William took out his glass and it was passed between the three, each watching the Spanish merchantmen in turn. "They've a decent bosun." Jim remarked, squinting through the glass. "Or good, honest seamen." William returned. Durand said nothing. They all watched the Navarra make good use of a prevailing wind, and as she had done, the Watch Dog was soon turned in her course. William told Jacob to be mindful, as the Spanish might be watching back. William felt that they should not be shown less able than their neighbors. Jacob simply made a derisive snorting sound as if to say 'we're better by half'.

My Uncle Gary died on Sunday of liver failure combined with complications from pancreatic cancer. My dad wasn't contacted until Gary was gone, and like his mom, he did not get a chance to say goodbye. Today we went to the funeral. It was strange to see so many smiling images of an Uncle I only ever really knew as a recluse and later a bitter, angry man, but the funeral itself was pleasant and well attended. Many humorous and complimentary things were said on his behalf and everyone was glad to see one another. Afterwards, we went to my grandmother's house, which was so absolutely unchanged, that I felt as though I had stepped back in time twenty years. It was like a strange time capsule, with not one picture or piece of furniture out of place with any memory I could recall. It was almost sad how unchanged and unliving the place felt. It was hard to imagine my grandmother imprisoned in that dusty, unvisited tomb of a house. Sometimes we laughed and sometimes we sighed with regret at the state of the place, completely unchanged but for a heavy dust over everything. Then we were invited to take anything of meaning for ourselves. I took a small wind-up clock from my grandmother's dresser and was glad to hear it still click away time once wound up. I doubt that anyone has turned the mainspring on that clock for years. I also found an old suitcase that just seemed to speak to me. Later I found the necklace and tie tack with the boy scout emblem that were given to my grandma and grandpa when my dad became an eagle scout. I rushed it over to my dad who looked outwardly touched that I had found it for him. He tucked them away in his pocket with a smile. I also found numerous pictures of us when we were young that I have never seen, some reel-to-reel tapes of my aunts and uncles when they were young and some old collectible cars for Liam. Then we were invited to go through Gary's things, and this was revealing to say the least. Every room in the basement was filled with boxes and drawers of dvd, cds, LPs, videos, sound equipment, and everything else you can imagine. None of them were opened. Just thousands of discs and videos still in their original wrapping. Cupboards loaded with packs of playing cards, unopened boxes of dice, and more varieties of cologne than anyone could use in three lifetimes. Dozens of old shirts that he had never worn or thrown away. A lazerdisc movie player with a stack of unopened discs, never viewed. Unopened packages of socks, t-shirts, and home appliances. were found in every closet of the house. It seems that Gary was so depressed over the years that he purchased item after item to fill the hole in his life. It was sad to think of him endlessly buying things to give himself the comfort he had daily denied himself by shutting out others. He lived and died almost completely alone, surrounded by a landslide of material goods that he never used. Never enjoyed. Each and every one of these found their way into the waiting hands of someone who sometimes smiled to find a little treasure or an item almost forgotten. Me...I found an old pocket knife, an antique pair of round rimmed glasses and a mint condition GTO collectible that I gave to my nephew. My sister Michele took the wooden stool that my grandmother always sat on when she was cooking and singing in the kitchen. That stool is over seventy years old and has been sat upon by more relatives of mine than any other piece of furniture in the house. My search for things from my grandfather yielded nothing. All traces of my grandfather were gone, and but for the clock, there was little or no evidence that he had ever existed at all. What I would have given to have found a watch, tool, or personal item of my grandfather. Still, I was grateful to have seen my cousins, aunts and uncles, and to have found items important to my dad. I was also nice to say, that once in their lives my children stood in their great-grandmother's house.

We need this... One of the boats from the Shtandart project.

The historical discussion of great gunns and small arms can be discussed in both Twill and the Ship's Armory, but purchasing questions should be limited to the Thieve's Market or the Ship's Armory. If you search the Ship's Armory you'll find a great many discussion about cannon and the people who build and sell them.

I recall Harry calling the Fort by another name than Fort Zachary Taylor during the festival. Does anyone remember what that was?

Well, well. The Viceroy. Welcome aboard, sah.

"Come, Hollis." Alan took Robert by the shoulder and backed away slowly. "Dark skies. Threatening seas." He was grinning as he turned the man away.

They've done land to ship and ship to land assaults with a small boat in the past. Someone posted pictures of it years ago.

A silence followed for a time. Conversations at sea were like that when coming and going from a place. People watched the sea more than speaking, without a care for filling pauses. When Alan did speak again it was only to say, "Small ship." "I don't like Owen," she said again, recognizing a whole sermon in the statement. However close she might be to Owen in feet and yards, he was never going to be one of her favorites. "Weeeeell...Owen 's made no secret that 'e wants to be a marine." Treasure scoffed at this. "Which one is Owen again?" said a man at her elbow. It was the affable, but incorrigible gossip, Hollis.

"I see the Cap'n has you working." Alan said as he leaned on the shared rail. "Work an' all work for a day or two." Treasure nodded. Nathan went past then, propelled forward by a few men of the watch. They jeered him a little and he went as a prisoner to his duty, sulky and outwardly contemptible. Alan shook his head to watch him go, then he tried to start the conversation anew. "Mister Franklin will have the choosing of new marines soon." "Oh?" she returned, genuinely interested. "Aye. I think that man, Hutchins. An'...Jones. Good shots both, to hear tell of it." Again, she agreed. "What think you of Owens?"

Covet mode engaged.

Gentlemen Scotty Kate check.

August 6, 1704 - Aboard the Lucy "I think he's a just and fair man." Bill Flint said, then nudged Robert Jameson. Robert looked up from a book he was desperately trying to understand. "What...? Yes...fair." He agreed, then added. "Beautiful really." A quiet settled in the crowded berth, shortly followed by an explosion of snorts, chortles, guffaws and not a few surprised faces. "You think so?" Flint asked, incredulous. "Well...yes." "I'm moving my hammock." "What...?" Robert said, embarrassed and confused in equal parts as the room's volume rose a second time. "He does 'ave a good turned ankle, " Nicholas said with mock gushing. This pushed the group even further. "He!? What?" Robert was now a full shade darker than before. "We 're discussing the Ship's Master, ya dolt." Flint nudged Robert hard enough a second time to upset him from the overturned bucket upon which he sat. "To what beeeauuuty were you referring." "Nevermind." Robert said, not enjoying the laugh they all had by him.

August 6, 1704 - The Watch Dog No one in the company could say what had happened to Captain Stoneburrows at the end. The Heron had been a wreck, owing to a lucky hit from the Watch Dog. Men and boys had been scattered about the deck among the splinters and the wreckage. Many dead. Many wounded. Of those men who had come from the Heron, including Blikenderfer, Cobus, Hutchins, Jones, Larke, Lazenby, O'Connor and Saltash, none could rightly say who could have done the deed. Perhaps they knew and wished not to say. Perhaps it was one of them. It could be anyone of them, even Joshua Wellings who lay in fever. Several marines of the frigate stood together talking. Then, Eric Franklin came forward. "Sah. There were marines of the 'Dog on the Heron." "Aye." William agreed. "Well, sah...O'hara was with Stoneburrows when Cap'n Lasseter accepted his sword." This revelation received mixed looks from the men formally of the Heron. "O'hara." "Aye, sah. He was holding Stoneburrows." "Thank you gentlemen." Eric returned to his place among the marines, and with this business done, William called for a Liar. Several men shouted the name Manus Hingerty at once. Manus was obviously not amused by this, which brought a wave of laughs and long 'ooooooo's' as he shot everyone an evil look. "Choose another." William said, trying not to smile a little. Even Manus smiled when Patrick gave him a little shove. Several names were called, and a few men looked about. Some eyes fell on a shrinking Murin. Others on Robert Hollis, who was ever telling tales of Brand and others that surely bordered on lies. Hollis shrugged and seemed to find this more amusing than Hingerty. "Nathan Bly!" The company turned to Owen Monahan, who was grinning wickedly at a Nathan. Nathan's face was turning a deep red and might be purple if it didn't stop soon. Nathan glared about as his name seemed to take hold in everyone's mind. Another cry of 'Nathan Bly!' went up. And then another. And then another. it crossed the deck like a wave until Nathen was indeed purple. He glared in the direction of Murin as if to say, "It should be you". William, satisfied that the crew had spoken, pronounced Nathan the Lair. Nathan took this badly.

Yourself and some random Pennsylvania pyrate?

Aye. Here's another reference. Cagg or kaggi - Old Norse for keg or cask (1452)

Hamper comes from the word hampren "to surround, imprison, confine," later "to pack in a container". As I've always understood it, a hamper is another version of a case (a receptacle for holding other things). Cases and hampers are often listed as holding bottles or tin/copper cannisters. Is cagg an alternate spelling of keg?

It's interesting to see nails listed in 'baskets' and 'boxes' as I've always seen them in casks, barrels and firkins. I've seen basket illustrations in holds and I've always assumed they would be employed for fruit or soft goods, but like the lists provided by Iron Jon, I can only find fruit shipped in barrels. I'm reminded of young Jim hiding from Silver at the bottom of an apple barrel.

While we're on this subject, I would love to hear of an example of rice being shipped in anything other than sacks or bags. I can find no mention of any other kind of container for rice from China all the way to the Americas. Interestingly enough, the majority of ship inventories I've seen bearing rice from the period and for almost a hundred years after often list slaves and rice together, as slaves and rice were both available for export from West Africa. The availability of rice also allowed blackbirders to feed slaves cheap fare while in route to England and the colonies. So we have tobacco in hogsheads. - http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tradsamp.cfm "A barrel called a hogshead was used to ship tobacco to England. A hogshead was one type of container made by a cooper. By law, it was 48" tall and 30" across the head (either end.) It held 1,000 - 1,500 pounds of tobacco. Numbers burned into the side of the barrel indicated the weight of the barrel alone (tare weight), the weight of both the barrel and the tobacco (gross weight), and the weight of the tobacco only (net weight.)" Rice in sacks and bags. Textiles in bales.

Here's an interesting bit of information about an interesting cargo. "MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian ship which sank in 1771 off the coast of Finland is to be raised, Russia's cultural watchdog said on Friday. The Dutch ship Vrouw Maria sank in the Baltic Sea in 1771 while carrying works of art bought by the Russian empress, Catherine the Great, in Amsterdam. The ship's cargo contained around 300 works of art, including paintings by Rembrandt, as well as jewelry, silverware, etchings and porcelain. In 1999, the ship was discovered by Finnish explorers and the cargo was proclaimed the property of Finland, in line with international maritime law. Experts said the cargo, which lay at a depth of 41 meters, was undamaged as it was wrapped in buckskin and kept in lead containers filled with wax." http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080208/98764750.html

Welcome aboard, Old Horse. You'll find yourself in good company. We all have an unhealthy interest in pirates.

August 6, 1704 - The Watch Dog William watched the watches gathering on the weatherdecks, a pack of loyal and strange dogs mixed together. He wondered what they would do together in peace and war in the coming months, and seeing the Spanish wounded he was brought him to thoughts of his own. He excused himself to the surgery. Maeve O'Treasaigh looked up from the business of changing Ajayi's bandages. "Captain Brand." "Doctor." William returned, and the title so easily given gave Maeve pause. "How are our patients?" he asked, clapping a hand to the shoulder of a grinning, drowsy and partially intoxicated Luigi. "Broken, but mending, Captain." William watched her work and found it familiar. He turned a little toward the diminishing Martinique, but did not find a view of the island from his vantage point. "Is something amiss, sir?" Briar inquired. "No." William said, looking back again and smiling. He had been thinking of the doctor they had left behind, which led to thoughts of Van Zandt in prison. "It's nothing." He walked up to Joshua's bedside and was glad to see the man asleep, though his face was covered in beads of sweat. "A fever." Maeva explained, as Briar passed her a cold cloth. "It will pass." "Captain..." Briar began, and he gave her his attention. "Are all of your Spanish guests wounded?" William made a mirthless little laugh in his throat and nodded. "Aye. When you are both able I will have you see to them in turn. I imagine those who would have died, have done so, but there are a great number of dressings to be seen to." "May we have use of the rag bin, Captain?" William nodded. Then he sat awhile watching Ajayi, who was watching him with those piercing, well traveled eyes. It was strange stuff to have Ajayi fix such a long an searching look. It reminded William of another time. He returned the man's look, understanding it for something that few men aboard would understand. Maeva and Briar both watched this interaction as they mopped the brow and arms of a feverish Wellings. Then the exchange was interrupted as the cook came in at the passageway door. He bore a large bowl of soup, and it was utterly different than any other fare prepared that day. Owing to Ajayi's much abused teeth, Lazarus had taken care to make a soup of the softest meats and vegetables he could find in a soup that was more broth than substance. The two men exchanged the weathered, knowing smile that only two men left together on the open sea could understand. Ajayi was very grateful and thanked the cook in his own tongue. As Lazarus went out William said, "You're a king among cooks, Mister Gage." Lazarus smiled. "I'll be a Captain one day." "I don't doubt it." Then William went out into the day. He had kept the watches waiting. "Ahh...my apologies gentlemen...and ladies." He went up to the quarterdeck to see them better as he spoke. Then he was speaking about the matters of the past few days. He kept nothing from them as he narrated both adventures and misadventures of him and others who had seen much and known trials. He explained the parting of Tawny, the finding of Wellings, and the rescue of Ajayi. He also explained the presence of Durand, the wounded Spanish and the nearness of the Navarra. He informed them the journey they would have taken for their purposes was now a passage paid for by the Spanish. They cheered, groaned, smiled, frowned and exhibited all manner of appreciative and sympathetic sounds as he explained the goings on of the past, present and profitable future. With all of this done he called for a Liar, but before nominations could be called for that purpose, he raised a hand remembering another matter altogether. "One more piece of business first." A quiet fell and a soberness, for Captain Brand's face had clouded with the threat of something serious. "Those who served aboard the Heron, tell me faithfully..." ...who was it that struck down Stoneburrows?" The murmur that spread was palpable. Between one and two bells of the Afternoon Watch