MadMike

Try "A General History of the Pyrates" edited by Manuel Schonhorn, and "Captured by Pirates", both available at DeadMenTellNoTales.com. Yours, Mike

From the OED, a quote from 1706- "Slops, a wide sort of Breeches worn by Seamen". Yours, Mike

I spent over two years researching period documentation for an article I wrote several years ago on a specific rifle (Jesse Melot of "The Rifle Shoppe" included portions of it in his catalog). The material was readily available in public libraries long before the advent of the internet (no one could be bothered to do the research and piece the facts together). The point is, there are many period journals, estate inventories, contracts, and dozens of period pictures yet to be examined before reaching a final conclusion. Yours, Mike

Foxe, Great stuff as usual! Is that fellow in the 1630-40 pic wearing a belt with a round buckle? Yours, Mike

Captain Midnight, Unfortunately I can't find the website where one can zoom in for details (I'll keep searching). Here is an example, but it is too dark to make out details- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vigo_Bay Yours, Mike

An indenture list from 1712 shows bandoliers and cartouch boxes issued to the Royal Navy (Gilkerson, "Boarders Away, Vol II", page 182). The list also includes snaphaunce muskets. Most armies did away with bandoliers when snaphaunce and flintlock muskets came into use. Check out "The Salacious Historian's Lair" for some great period pic's. Am trying to find a pic I can zoom in on of "The Battle of Vigo Bay" done in 1702 by Ludolf Bakhuysen. I believe some of the individuals coming ashore are wearing bandoliers. Massachusetts militia law of 1701 required (among other things) "a Coller with Twelve Bandeleers or Cortouch box". Yours, Mike

Earliest pic I can find of what we would term "slops" comes from 1762- PortCitiesLondon Anyone run across any earlier pics? Yours, Mike

Excerpts from the 1719 edition of "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe- "I had a short jacket of goat's skin, the skirts coming down to about the middle of the thighs, and a pair of open-kneed breeches of the same; the breeches were made of the skin of an old he-goat, whose hair hung down such a length on either side that, like pantaloons, it reached to the middle of my legs; stockings and shoes I had none, but had made me a pair of somethings, I scarce knew what to call them, like buskins, to flap over my legs, and lace on either side like spatterdashes, but of a most barbarous shape, as indeed were all the rest of my clothes" (Chapter XI, p. 173) "I had the Mortification to see my Coat, Shirt and Wast-coat which I had left on Shore upon the Sand, swim away; as for my Breeches which were only Linnen and open knee’d, I swam on board in them and my Stockings:" Picture on site- http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/171...son-crusoe.html Yours, Mike

Just received my copy of "Boarders Away, Volume II". What a great book! On page 172 there is a pic of a fusil boucanier dated to the early 1700's (owner is a private collector). However, there is a fusil boucanier in the Royal Armories, Tower of London circa 1773 produced at St. Etienne (as of the date of printing in 1993). Yours, Mike

The authori-tie on pirate flags is Foxe, you can visit his website here- http://www.bonaventure.org.uk/ed/flags.htm Yours, Mike

Try burning a sample of it, if it melts then it contains synthetic materials. That being said, if it passes the "natural materials" test then I don't give a hoot (I use only natural materials in my garments anyway). However, we should keep in mind that most modern replica weapons are made using five axis pantograph machines and modern electric lathes (don't forget those diesels on tall ships!). Yours, Mike

"The probate inventory of Joseph Haycock's London slop shop (1699) mentions "5 pair of open kneed breeches" twice (10 pairs in total)." I hand sewed my open knee breeches using a breeches pattern, adjusting the width at the knees for more freedom of movement (I also have a pair of breeches- keeps the mosquito's out). My "slops" aren't the wide skirt like pants, since those came into being after the period. http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html Go to the "Projects" link, then scroll down to bottom of page. Yours, Mike

"Grog" is not a GAoP term, it came into use in the 1740's. The 1707 Royal Navy ration included a gallon of beer a day per man. Reading through first hand accounts, pirates drank whatever "spirits" they could get their hands on- rum, wine, beer, etc. "Punch" was also another favorite. According to Wikipedia- "Originally, the word punch was a loanword from Hindi. The original drink was made from five different ingredients, namely arrack, sugar, lemon, water, and tea. Because of this it was named panch which is the Hindi for five. This name was adopted by the sailors of the British East India Company and brought back to England, from where it was introduced into other European countries." Yours, Mike

"Open kneed breeches" seems to be the keyword. More than likely they referred to them as "breeches" in period documentation, adding to the confusion. Yours, Mike

Something along the lines of "The Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution" would be great. Yours, Mike

Hell, no matter how mediocre "True Pirates of the Caribbean" was, I liked it better than POTC2! Yours, Mike

WARNING! POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS!!! Just saw the midnight showing... I thought the movie started out exceptionally slow and the acting was stale. Many of the lines from the first movie rehashed, and some of the scenes (such as the water wheel) were absurd. The potential was there, however with the rehashed soundtrack and emphasis on Davey Jones and his creepy crew (and computer generated effects) the movie really didn't go anywhere for me personally. Overall, it wasn't that great. Yours, Mike

Heck, I've already noticed some discrepancies in the commercials- 1. Spanish soldiers wearing morions and armor (Exquemelin's "Buccaneers of America" has an illustration of them wearing plain clothes). 2. Anne Bonny (or was that Mary Read) wearing a dress and corset on board ship, oh really? So much for historical research. Did anyone bother to read Johnston's "Pyrates" or refer to the historical record of their court trial? Regardless, I'm still looking forward to it since it'll be the only decent pirate documentary to date (will still have pen and paper on hand). Yours, Mike

"True Caribbean Pirates"... did they even bother to contact Ken Kinkor? Yours, Mike

William Augustus Bowles was never referred to as "Billy Bowlegs" in any period documentation that I've reviewed (official U.S. government documents of the era, documents of the "Muskogee Nation", etc.). Bowles, self proclaimed "Director General" of the Muskogee Nation, (which had two schooners) basically created his own letters of marque. Yours, Mike

Patrick, Thanks for creating "The Buccaneer Project", gives us a new era to focus on and to research. I'm reading Dampier's book at the moment, great stuff. Ye English Buccaneer, Mike

According to Russel Bouchard in "The Fusil de Tulle in New France", the regiment in Canada was supplied with flintlock fusils in 1660. The matchlock "mousquet" which would remain in service until at least the early 1700's among some militia. An early contract dated 7 Nov 1696 gives the spec's for a boucanier musket with a barrel 4'4" long, caliber 18 balls to the pound, with round faced locks. Apparently it wasn't until 1712 when the boucanier muskets were cut back to four feet and to take a socket bayonet. Loyalist offers an early fusil, dated to the early 1690's which would be great for a pirate portrayal. Unfortunately, Loyalist stated in an e-mail that they have no plans yet to introduce a buccaneer musket. The Rifle Shoppe offers parts for a fusil boucanier. Also, the New England Club Butt musket nears a striking resemblance to the fusil boucanier. Yours, Mike

THE worst pirate movie ever made? SWASHBUCKLER! THE BEST- "Treasure Island" with Charlton Heston Here's an interesting note- David Bailie, who plays "Cotton", was one of Dawg's pirates in "Cutthroat Island" (according to IMDB.com). Yours, Mike

Blackjohn, Here's the notation, too bad they couldn't be more specific- "It was taboo to wear leather shoes on deck so everyone aboard ship were issued two pairs of rope sandals to wear during their voyage. This probably more of a safety issue than a superstition. A hold, filled with rope sandals on their way to Spain, was discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Florida." http://floridafrontier.com/16th%20Century%...Page%205.5.html Yours, Mike

I have one notation mentioning rope sandals that were provided to Spanish sailors in a 17th century shipwreck, however no pictures of said artifacts nor period description... Here are some that date from the Bronze Age- http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/spain/RopeS...nzAgeNatMus.jpg Yours, Mike