Red Maria

Hey Iron Bess! So you can make it to Ojai! We have got to get together and cross words so we can execute our fight for all and sundry at the Faire. I know the weather is hotter than Hades but I know a place we might try on the weekends that air-conditioned. Let me know.

I have not read it (can't find a copy!) but I have had people recommend to me Blackbeard "Blackbeard the Pirate: A Reappraisal of His Life & Times" by Robert E. Lee (not the general) Also recommended but not read yet (need to get a copy) "The Pirate Trial of Anne Bonney & Mary Read" by Tamara Eastman & Constance Bond. Although it focuses mostly on Bonney & Read there is some info on Rackham. I can't think of anything other than GHP for Low but I'll ask someone here at work if they know of anything.

Although I'd take the information in it with a grain of salt, if you haven't read "A General History of Pirates.." by Capt. Chas. Johnson is a good read. So is "Badits at Sea: A Pirate Reader" C.R. Pennel editor "Expedition WHYDAH The Story of the World's First Excavation of a ... " by Barry Clifford (I got it as a gift under the title of the Black Ship...") For a non-flattering book on Morgan try "Buccaneers of America" by Alexander O. Exquemelin (Morgan sued for libel on this book and won) "Cup of Gold..." by John Stienbeck (a fictional story of Morgan but a good read) That should get you started!

So far I've read: Harry Potter & the Order of the Pheonix by J.K Rowling Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins The Sweet Trade by Eilzabeth Garrett I still have a pile I haven't gone through yet! I'll make a list of the ones I *will* read before the summer's gone

Hi Corsair! Glad to see you've come aboard! Look forward to you posting on the Captain Twill section.:) Nice site

Missed two. Fun little quiz.

I don't know when I'd make it up to the Bay area but if you're coming down for the Dana Point Tall Ship Festival in September well then...

I wish that were true. I have been afflicted with Mal de Mer as long as I can remember. When I was about 14 my grandmother rented a yacht and took the whole family for fishing trip down to Ensenada. I tried to go without medication the first day and was so ill I could even look at dinner (NY steak. bake potato) For the next fews days I took medication and was fine. I thought maybe I finally got over it and stopped taking medication. I was fine for about 1 hour then I was so sick that I laid on the deck for the rest of the trip home. I know what Iron Bess is talking about. I've not stop taking medication before boarding a ship to this day I also bring along ginger beer. As long as I do I'm OK. That way I can enjoy something I really love to do sail! If wish there was an permanent solution but, I haven't found one yet. I am fine and alert still able to fire a gun captain.

Black Pearl This seems like a nice practical flag for a beginner like meself. I had considered painting the design on since me background is in fine art (BFA art school in painting), rather that sewing (considering stretching flag over stretcher bars like a canvas and painting with marine paint.). I have no sewing machine (OTOH a costuming teacher once said I shouldn't be let near one, as they tend to break down whenever I get close. said I was a jinx ;-) )and that much hand sewing I admit filled me with dread! I had forgot about stitch witchery if that's what you meant. I would like to keep it as period as possible but I will take your advice into consideration. One questions Did you edge the design in black? Thanks

While surfing on the web for flag making info I came acsross this chart on flag vs polr size: EXPOSED POLE HEIGHT FLAG SIZE 20 FEET 3' x 5' 25 FEET 4' x 6' 30 FEET 5' x 8' 35 FEET 6' x 10' 40 FEET 8' x 12' EXPOSED POLE HEIGHT FLAG SIZE 45 FEET 8' x 12' 50 FEET 10' x 15' 60 FEET 12' x 18' 70 FEET 15' x 25' 80 FEET 20' x 30' I guess size does matter when it comes to hanging one's pole!

When I went online to find out more info on flag making I found this chart on flag size vs pole size EXPOSED POLE HEIGHT FLAG SIZE 20 FEET 3' x 5' 25 FEET 4' x 6' 30 FEET 5' x 8' 35 FEET 6' x 10' 40 FEET 8' x 12' EXPOSED POLE HEIGHT FLAG SIZE 45 FEET 8' x 12' 50 FEET 10' x 15' 60 FEET 12' x 18' 70 FEET 15' x 25' 80 FEET 20' x 30' I guess size dose matter for a pole!

I double checked this in the OED and it gave the same date. I have been told that rule of thumb when determining when a word was first used is take the first printed reference and subtract 50 years more or less from that date. Given this the word savvy may have been in use as early as 1735 thus making it in use at the tail end of the Golden Age of Piracy.

How about cotton canvas? Any idea what weight? What other fabrics are flags made of? I'd like to avoid synthetics if I can. Something that'l flutter nicely in the wind. Also how big should it be? I want it to be seen but I have only so much storage space. Suggestions on size and how much yardage?

I think your right. Thanks!

The background will be red, the rest of desing I'll revel as I go along. Material will be what my pocket book will bear. I'd love silk! But it will proably be canvas. Time to hit the new Gold Line to downtown LA and hit the garment district! Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera for pictures.

Kool! Do you kow if there are any actual photos of this flag anywhere on the net? Or do you know of how to find out what museum it was? Sorry. The info was on the offical Cuttthroat Island site, which seems to no longer exist. :-(

Jack Rackham flag is suppose to be in a museum somewhere in the Caribbean. I heard about it When the Cutthroat Island people tried to sue the museum over displaying the flag. They said they had *trademarked* the flag design and the museum could'nt display the flag without *their* permission and the museum had to pay for that. The judge in the matter to one look at the case and threw it out of court. I think the Cutthroat Island people had to pay the museum's court costs. Can you imagine the chuztpah to try to trademark a 280 year old design?! If you look at some Cutthroat Island souvenir books they'll be a registered trademark symbol by Cailco Jack's flag. Others printed after the suit will not have it.

Nor is iot ever mentioned of a white light and lightning emerging from Blackbeard's neck and plunging into the body of Highlander. Sorry I couldn't help that! There a book by I think Henry Angelo that gives 18th c. cutlass drills it maybe "Ecole des Armes" or something like that. Just because these men were mostly common seaman dosen't mean they couldn't do well with a blade they had plenty of time and great motivation to practice. They would have also fouth with anything that came to hand. Tech definatley knew how to defend himself. When they examined his corpse it had 25 stab wounds and 5 bullets in it. Which is why it makes me wonder about that Highlander ;-)

I want to make myself a pirate flag. I have the design ready but have no idea how to make one other than starting with a large rectangular peice of cloth. Does anyone out there made their own flags? What materials did you use? How did you put symbols on the flag? Painted on? Sewn on? Does anyone know how the Golden Age pirates such as Blackbeard or Calico Jack made theirs? Thanks for any help.

The idea that Defoe wrote GHP was first promelgated by Prof. John Robert Moore in 1932. He was a DeFoe scholar at Indiana University. Moore used comparisions of the language etc. of GHP and other Defoe works such as under other psydenums such as "The Life & Adventures of the Famous Capt. Singleton" a work published a year after "Robinson Crusoe" was published as an *autobigraphy* of a pirate. He as used the fact that DeFoe was well traveled, had a journalist eye for a good story etc. as basis for his hypothosis. He published his conclusions in 1939 as "Defoe in the Pillory & Other Stuides". He was so convincing in his agrument he got many libraries around the world to catalogue the book under Defoe's name. Then in 1988 two men named P.N. Furbank & W.R Owens debunked the entire hypothosis in a book called "The Cannoization of Daniel Defoe" citing Moore for shoddy & biased schoalrship and pretty much ripping apart his evidence. If you have a copy of GHP with the intro by David Cordingly there some information about it. Libraries today catalogue the book under Johnson not Defoe, though here at the Huntignton you'll find copies under both names depending which edition was cataloged when. Often a note is added as *attributed* to Defoe. I myself think there was a man named Capt. Johnson who wrote GHP. Then again I think William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and the his other plays and not the Earl of Oxford. ;-)

While watching POTC I thought the sword Barbossa used was either a transitional rapier or early small sword. After viewing it up close, at the El Capitan exhibit, I see it has a single edge so it can't be neither of those two kinds of blades. Does anyone of what kind of blade could be a straight, single edge blade of that period? Or does anyone think it's just a made up blade for the film? Just wondering.

Funny all I do is turn down the volume till I just get the sounds I want. :)

The blessed unity in one person of a pirating belly dancer! I am so glad there are others who understand. :) I've seen the jacket you're speaking of, but alas, cannot recall the name either. I've got a gawahzee coat I made from altiras pattern, with short sleeves and full length. This one I made with a very scooped neck to show a decorated bra, so it doesn't work so well for pirate looks. Who says? I mean look how low some bodices are! My coat is has a low scooped neckline that I wear with a decorated bra that looks more like a fancy decorated vest with the coat. Just because the first depictions of a low scoop neckline (below the nipple line) first shows up in 19th c. Orientists paintings doesn't mean it wasn't before that period. I really don't think odilaise and the Ghwazee were saying to themselves "Look Europeans are coming to paint us let's drop our neckline below our nipples for them!" They were wearing what they were always wearing. Remember their dress wasn't what any reputable Muslum women would wear. Dancer didn't get a good reputation in the Middle East till the 20th c. I intend to sew a second one with long sleeves and a high vee neck that should do quite well. Altiras pattern is quite nice, but essentially is only a costume (meaning things that are intended for stage only) pattern. It does not offer any instructions on finishing the jacket in a way that would stand up to constant wear or every day clothing. So I had to hunt down and ransom a more accomplished sewer to help me with those things. In the end it was worth the effort. :) My unlined coat seeems to be holding up well even under fighting conditons. I have someone who has Altira patterns and sari fabric for a more elabroate set clothing but hasn't gotten the nerve up yet to attepmt it. My sewing skills are at the occasional hand sewn level (e.g. embroidery, decorating bras, belts etc.). Thanks for the Welcome Red Maria Where are you located? I'm in Southern California, temporarily berthed in San Bernardino but looking for a permanent dock nearer into Pasadena. Back to patterns. Although many would not think that Middle Eastern dress would be appropiate for pirates I would point ouy first that many pirates operated in areas that were uder Arab and Ottman influence such as Madagascar in the Indian Ocean nd North African Coast, Atlantic coast: Tangeirs, Whydah and the Mediterranean: Algiers, Tunis. So it wouldn't be out of line to have gotten booty in the way of textiles and clothing from these areas and have them make thier way back to North America or the Caribbean. So making such garments may display your persona has been around a bit.

Great another pirate belly dancer! Altira patterns are very good. There are even patterns for men's vests etc. if you want to go the Barbary pirate route. There's a jacket pattern that screams to be made into a pirate coat! (Can't remember pattern name for the life of me the name It comes in a long and boleros style and has a high neckline, and is very tailored. Do you know which one I am talking about Duchess?) As for harem pants, I myself stuff my harem pants in my boots and allow them to billow out. It look qute graceful especially when I am sword fighting. :) I also wear a Ghazee coat (aka Turkish cote, Persian cote, alteri, & yelek) which I picked up off the rack at the Escondido Ren. Faire. It needs taking in a bit at the shoulders and waist (I am no seamstress I need to find someone who'll do it for cheap). It to looks great either just hanging around or fighting. The chemise Iwear under it is of a netted material which I will do a faux assuit embroidery on. I can't afford the real thing right now. Also the fabrics can be cool confortable and exotic. Think Indain saris, Morrocan textiles... Good to see you aboard Duchess!

I just picked-up something called The Lighted Ghost Galleon from Leemax Spooky Town Collection at Michael's (on sale 20% off no less!) The ship is called the Sea Ghost and when you plug it in it rolls and rocks with wave sounds, the cannons "fire" (they flash) with cannon sounds and you can hear the "captain" call out orders while the "crew" sings. The crew look very much as if they'd be from the Black Pearl herself! I wanted to post a link to the Leemax website to get a photo but the site seems to be down. If it comes online I'll post it. There's a tavern in the collection I may get son the crew Have a place to for when the ship is in port. ;-) Very cool stuff.