Red Maria

Unfortunatly PRP doesn't do the Ren-fair in San Bernadino. In fact they cut out the Sea Dogs (the only group that came close to pirates) several years ago. Basically they don't want any pirate types in their ranks.

Well phooey on them! They are too politically correct - gasp you'd think it was Disneyland!

The other fair in Corona is pirate friendly, but since I only went one time, I have no idea what it's like now.

PRP has several members in the San Diego area, myself included. Hey, don't be afraid to check us out. We may be of an older generation than the youngsters out there, but we play better!

RumbaRue

**The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune**

Yeah but Rumba at least Disneyland *has* pirates! Corona has a Pirate Fest weekend May 25-26 if you remeber from your PS.

Mon Dieu! Where is this most interesting institution located, Marie Rouge?

Capt. William

It's the Huntington Library, Art Collections, & Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Ca. Here's a link to the website

www.huntington.org

If you click on the library and scroll down you'll find a link to the Library's online catalog. You can search the Library's holdings but alas! you cannot check out books or get anything on Inter-Library Loans (ILL). :-(

It's predominately a post-doctoral research library but on occasions they'll let non-PhDs' in with letters of recommendations etc. Yeah I know it seems snobby but when you see what the library holds you?ll understand a bit why they are cautious here.

OTOH If you have a question about something you can write a curator and they?ll reply with an answer. For questions on piracy I would go to Robert "Roy" Ritchie who is the head of the Research Division. We call him the "Pirate King" ;-) Also you can ask me and if I have the time I will be glad to research it for you. I think you can reach him through the website.

Also you can peruse the art collections and the gardens. There has been a great Elizabeth I exhibition going on here with attending lectures and events incluiding a Elizabethan festival with re-enactors (court & miltary) that was a great success.

Too bad you're all the way in LA (not L.A. ;-)) and can't come over to see it. I'd put a pass or two aside for you mon Capt.

Yew have some good cites there, Red Maria, and yew seem knowledgeable about the sixteenth century. Are yew in the SCA, perchance?

Capt. William

Nay, I am just a 10 year veteran of the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire who also happens to work in a non-profit research library with extensive 16th century holdings both rare and reference material (among other things). So I do quiet a bit of research . :)

You might also try "Elizabethan Sea Dogs: a Chronicle of Drake and His Companions" by William Charles Henry Wood. Also Elizabethan Privateering : English Privateering During the Spanish War, 1585-1603 by Kenneth R, Andrews.

Elizabethan period also saw the like of women pirate such as Granille N'Malley (aka Grace O'Malley) and Lady Pettigrew. I think you'll find info on them in "Bold in Her Breeches" edited by Jo Stanley. There is also information there on Medieval women pirates.

In the sixteenth century Mediterranean was a hot bed for pirates. The Barbaroosa Brothers and others.

Of course there were Swiss pirates! They were the ones with the multi-purpose folding weapon. You know the one with the cutlass, dagger, flintlock, boarding axe and corkscrew?(the deluxe model had a nail file and quill in the hilt) ;-)

I was wondering if any one had some recommendations for either good pictures to inspire garb, or knew of some very good patterns.  I had picked up some Simplicity patterns (their colonial costume patterns) and with a bit of altering I found that they worked ok, but I was wondering if there were any other suggestions?

You might try looking at period illustrations and portraiture. Hogarth tends to be later than the Golden Age of Priacy but dress in his iluatrations ("Rakes Progress", "Begger's Opera" Harlot's Progress) are great and can give you inspiration. Also try and find a copy GHP with early edition illutrations in it. you might find that rewarding. If all else fails play your favorite pirate film.