MadMike

Great pic, Blackjohn. Looks like the figure on the viewer's right is wearing slops. Yours, &C. Mike

With any luck Corsair2K3 will read our posts and answer any inquiries... Probably someone knowledgeable on button sizes would be Kass (and undoubtably a few others who have reconstructed GAOP clothing). None of the slops contracts mention button sizes, unfortunately. Looked over the Henrietta Marie website, no buttons, but lots of neat artifacts- http://www.melfisher.org/henriettamarie/drawings.htm Perhaps Foxe can review some of those English clothing contracts and provide some input... Yours, &c. Mike

GOF, Thanks, the artifacts.org site button I've seen before (e-mailed link to you earlier via Pyracy.com). Many of the specimens were recovered close by. I've found some interesting pictures of historical clothing and buttons on the following websites- The Costumers Manifesto Victoria and Albert Museum L'Age d'Or website Artcyclopedia.com Fox's websites (of course!) I don't have the Whydah artifacts list handy, will run to library tomorrow and see if they have anything on buttons. Yours, &c. Mike

I just found a picture from a 1715 shipwreck with an archaeological line drawing of a button. It is quite fancy and is about 1 inch in diameter. Will forward it to you via e-mail. Am curious what was found on the Whydah wreck regarding buttons. Yours, Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html

I haven't been on a period trek in about two years (in part thanks to moving and a few hurricanes). Has anyone seen the lemon-eucolyptus oil mosquito repellent lately? Sorry, haven't tried bear grease but one fellow I know did... he reeked pretty bad (we were pretty much safe from mosquitos under a green elk hide though). Well, thanks to ye, I'll be motivated into gathering up my equipment for a period canoe trip this coming month! Yours, Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html PS- here's a link I found detailing a snapsack. Pretty easy project (compared to hand sewing a new invented knapsack...). http://www.southernrangers.org/snapsack.htm

Foxe, From what I gather in Johnson's "Pyrates" (vol 1), off the African coast near Cape Lopez... Yours, &c. Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html

Wooden astrolabe- http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/o....cfm?ID=AST0557 Why bother with an astrolabe when you can use a quadrant? Some examples in the site above. Yours, &c. Mike

Patrick, You may also wish to try The Coalition of Historical Trekkers. Wasn't it Pere Lebat who wrote about the nasty condition of the buccaneers? What about using a cow hide for a "ground cloth"? I haven't fully read Exquemelin's book yet (online), so who knows, there may be some info there- http://home.wanadoo.nl/m.bruyneel/archive/...boa/tboa002.htm Yours, &c. Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html

I'm waiting to pick up a Dublin Castle (iron mounted) Land pattern musket I ordered from Loyalist Arms. Will eventually post some pictures... Yours, &c. Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html

Foxe, Outstanding work! I hand sew'd a period shirt several year's ago, took about 30 hours. Anyone who is a tailor or seamstress making period garments has my admiration (whether they work by hand or machine). A country retreat sounds like a great idea, maybe we should start a foundation/retirement home for pirate reenactors. Yours, &c. Mike

Whew! Been busting my behind making some products and ordering others for our local pirate festival (and activities at the local library). Here's what I've done over the past three weeks- 1. Made a wooden quadrant loosely based on those exhibited on the Greenwich Maritime website (it's accurate to within a degree). 2. Leather covered powder flask attached to a cord, worn around the neck with a leather pouch. 3. Two replica grenades such as those found on the Whydah and suspected QAR wreck. Totally inert, used some pool balls (will have to order wrought iron fence post balls eventually). 4. Constructed a trades good box/personal camp box much like that exhibited on Foxe's Period Seaman picture website (1700's traders). 5. Made leather belt pouch much like that recovered from the Whydah and the Phipps Expedition wreck. 6. Helped local library with a public display, provided replica artifacts including gold bars (small and large as per Atocha wreck), cartridges, gold chain, replica reales and doubloons, and several pic's from Johnson's "Pyrates". 7. Ah yes, the gold bars... what a pain! Obtained data from a website picturing ENRADA gold bars and chiseled a mould from some scrap wood laying around. My electric lead smelter crapped out the second day, so built a fire on the patio to melt two pounds at a time. Made small and large bars, stamped them with doubloons to give the impression of mint marks (could only do so much). Spray painted with a metallic gold paint, the results were great. 8. Constructed a cat-o-nine tails using stout cord 24" long knotted every two inches- attached to a 1 1/2" dowel (that one got everyone's attention) . 9. Hand sew'd a roughly 3'x5' flag made on the Worley pattern. Skull and crossbones were painted on by hand both sides using oil based paint. All edges hand sewn (not whipstitched). 10. Read "Pirate Jam" to the local kid's at the library (what humiliation). Managed to avoid the "Drunken Sailor" sing-a-long. Got an activity June 9th and then that's it for several months... Will try to post pic's. Yours, &c. Mike the Exhausted

The artifacts pictured on the QAR site represent only a small portion of the thousands recovered (and hence skew the public's perceptions). It'd be unfortunate if material surfaces which shows the wreck to be of a later date (not to mention loss of revenue to the QAR project and local economy). However, that's not to say another ship was wrecked in the same vicinity with a mixed debris field, or the possibility that it's not the Concorde or Adventure- http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/QAR/project/vol2no2.htm Yours, &c. Mike

Unfortunately there are a lot of wrecks on the area- http://www.qaronline.org/history/shipwrecks.htm The QAR site notes- "The mark and name of Jon Stiles appears on the bottom of another pewter charger from the QAR. IO. STILE within a sunken cartouche is located beneath a crowned Tudor rose. The LONDON is stamped nearby, as is Stiles' name again above a bird devouring a snake. Stiles produced pewterware in London from 1689 until at least 1730." There was once an archaeologist who claimed to have "found" a Lewis and Clark campsite on the upper Missouri. His "evidence" included a gunflint, pewter tack, a wooden stake, and several firepits "arranged in a military fashion". Too bad the area had been used for thousands of years by the natives previously and by trappers and natives into the fur trade era (who built hundreds of fires in the same vicinity). The L&C party did camp in the area as evidenced by their maps, but the artifacts his party recovered after 13 years or work still proves nothing. Anyway, hopefully something more conclusive is recovered. Yours, &c. Mike

Quote- " 'We knew it the first day and we still have absolutely no doubt that she's the Queen Anne's Revenge," said Phil Masters, whose Florida-based research firm located the wreckage in 1996. ' " Unfortunately from an archaeological standpoint, they have yet to prove anything conclusive that this is Teach's ship. Yours, &c. Mike

Here are the reg's- http://www.atf.treas.gov/pub/fire-explo_pu...ub/2000_ref.htm Royaliste, what did you get "busted" for? Yours, Mike

I've read that Ravenshear has passed on, sad news. Much of his research is featured on The Rifle Shoppe's website. If one get's the chance, check out "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg" for a fascinating piece of history (produced in 1969). Wallace Gusler makes a flintlock longrifle basically from scratch using 18th century technology. Yours, Mike

Depends what type of weapon it is and what era. Early English arms (William III and Queen Anne era) had the barrel and stock japaned (painted black). Wasn't always the case, however. Since you have a CVA piece, I'm assuming it's a pistol. Some pirate articles of regulation required them to keep their pieces clean and ready for action. As an aside, "The Discriminating General" is still trying to pass off their "Walker doglock musket" as a "historically accurate replica". This is not true, the replica they are selling is NOT an accurate representation of the Walker original in the possession of Parks Canada, and the actual antique depicted in George C. Neumann's "The History of the Weapons of the American Revolution", page 64. Buyer beware. Yours, Mike Added- In all fairness, a "fusil de chasse" style doglock fowler was made by Cooksen. See the link for more details- http://www.therifleshoppe.com/(553).htm Also, there were several colonial fowlers with fusil de chasse style stocks (no doglock) used in the 1730's (see Neumann, American Rifleman, May 2005, "Hunting Guns in Colonial America".

Definitely post GAoP, looks like the illustrations from "The Pirates Own Book" of 1837 (the same source I believe for the ridiculous picture of "Captain Kidd" burying his family bible). There are probably some illustrations here that may be of help to the GAoP reenactor- http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1...d%20(1700-1730) Yours, &c. Mike Pirates of Massacre Island http://www.geocities.com/flpyrate/index.html

Interesting. The QAR website features some artifacts and a pic of a ship's bell- http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/qar/artifact...s/shipparts.htm Johnson writes in "Pirates" that the vessel was a "large French Guineaman" and that - "Teach began now to think of breaking up the company and securing the money and the best of the effects for himself and some others of his companions he had most friendship for, and to cheat the rest. Accordingly in pretence of running into Topsail Inlet to clean, he grounded his ship, then, as if it had been done undesignedly and by accident, he ordered Hands sloops to come to his assistance and get him off again, which he endeavoring to do, ran the sloop on shore near the other, and so were both lost." Yours, Mike

Well, we know they at least had iron hooped buckets- "That William Kidd, on the 30th of October, on the high sea, on the coast of Malabar, did assault one William Moore, onboard a ship called the Adventure, whereof William Kidd was captain, struck him with a wooden bucket, hooped with iron, on the side of the head near the right ear, and that of this bruise he died the next day, and so that he has murdered the same person" (Clifford, p. 208, "Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd"). Yours, &c. Mike

Looks like they are toasting from a punch bowl. Dampier writes- "I have seen about 20 sail at a time in this Road come to lade Salt, and these Ships coming from some of the Caribbe Islands, are already well stored with Rum, Sugar and Lime-juice to make Punch, to hearten their Men when they are at work, getting and bringing aboard the Salt, and they commonly provide the more, in hopes to meet with Privateers, who resort hither in the aforesaid Months, purposely to keep a Christmas, as they call it; being sure to meet with Liquor enough to be merry with, and are very liberal to those that treat them." Yours, &c. Mike

Thanks das! Is that a drawing of Ronnie James Dio?!? Looks like a barbarian pic, Celt or Teutonic... Thanks for the link. I actually saw the Calderon Company's page but kept getting 404 errors on some pages. Since I'm a Florida reenactor, I'll opt for the rope sandals (actually the hemp ones caught my eye). Don't really care for the polypropelene ones but who knows, I may resort to them if I can't obtain natural fiber sandals. Just walking across the street in my colonial straight lasts convinced me of the need to preserve them. Yours, &c. Mike

Okay forum members, I'm stuck on finding a GoAP reference regarding rope sandals. Found vague references to sandals on a Spanish shipwreck off Florida, but no accompanying documentation as to the type or name of ship. So, if anyone has any period pics or other references, that would be much appreciated. About the closest I can find is the mid 1800's artwork of August Francois Biard (figure on right of pic is wearing a closed toe sandal). Yours, &c. Mike

I deleted the posts. The "Walker doglock musket" (US $608 including shipping) sold by The Discriminating General is not historically accurate. In short, the weapon has a fusil de chasse stock, not the pre-Land buttstock pictured on their website of the original Walker. Mine will be heading back to DC in the coming days... Otherwise, The Discriminating General's products look excellent and I hope to be ordering other firelocks in the future. Yours, &C. Mike