Gentleman of Fortune

Does anyone else know of any good pirate (or at least 1700-1720 pirate friendly) events in Europe? I am near Wurzburg Germany but travel often the UK (used to live near Cambridge and now return to visit friends a few times a year). GOF

Bump this up for all those with questions about Pirate Autheticity! Even if you think you know everything, trust me you will learn something or at least it will qestion some long held beliefs. gof

I think John has a good point here... is that a pun? Going by Neumann's Swords and Blades of the American Revolution, on page 83 there are three photos of hunting hangers that have "forward" facing shell guards. Neumann has the three dated 1720-1736, 1720-1750, and 1710-1740. Just from my causual observation (as I am no sword expert), it seems to me that a majority of hunting hangers/hangers that are pre-1720 have shell guards that are perpendicular to the blade, where as almost all of the post 1720 swords have the forward facing style. Anyone want to chime in with some thoughts on this as I would love to get smarter. I am concerned about this because a lot of new folks that are trying to be authentic pirates are running into a stumbling block for sword acquisition. Are there any AUTHENTIC swords out there for 1700-1720 that do not have to be custom made? I have seen good small swords for our period but how about hangers and baskethilts? I would like to steer clear of rapiers though. Anyone?

I would pick 1717. It looks cool when written and most of the BiG GUns in the pirate world are around at this time. Found this link to a site that lists most of the famous pirates and when they were active. http://www.privateerdragons.org/pirates_famous.html that might help you to narrow it down GOF

Once more into the fray.... Why is it that when people with unauthentic impressions are asked about the validity of their clothing they always mention something about stitch counters/nazis? In the spectrum of re-enactors, you have the ultimate farb down at number 1 and someone wearing original uniforms and equipment at number 10. Is the mentality for the unauthentic, "since I am too _____ (fill in the blank with cheap, lazy, ignorant, uniformed, apathetic etc) i will just use what I can and call myself a ______ (fill in with whatever impression they are doin) anyway"? Since I don't have enough money/skill/knowledge to be a stitch counter I will just be as unauthentic as I can? Can't they strive for 1 notch below a stitch counter? OK 2 notches???? I know there are the newbies that don't know any better and make uniformed attempts but are trying to do there best. But there are also the folks that for years have been wearing the same black jeans and east german jackboots and stand up in front of the public and calls himself (or herself) a golden age pirate. I am really working hard to let go of this and let people just do whatever, but I hate it when people (the unauthentic) use the word stitch counter like its a swear word or something. Its not the stitch counting that is bad, its a stitch counter with an un-helpful "better than everyone else" attitude that is bad. Enough....

I just found this site as well.... A lot of cool stuff (Buttons and buckles from recovered Spanish Treasure Fleets) Take a look at this 1715 Example Come on.... anyone else?

Ok maybe I should jump start this myself... Here is a button from a mid 18th Century Coat, although the ones for early 18th C can/should be similar. Ok... I showed you mine now you show me yours! GOF

and while your at it.... If you have pictures/links to paintings etc of what REAL early 18th C trim/braid looks like, post those as well. By that I mean the trimming that is seen around the button hole. Thanks G

I am surveying 1690-1720 buttons (mainly for Justaucorps) if anyone has some good photos (or links to ) period paintings or extant garments, please post em! thanks

oops

hee hee hee.... your not sewing it ?

I guy on the PirateBrehtern Yahoo group summed it up best. This is a hole in the ocean to throw money into... However.... He did have a great idea. Buy it, tow it out to sea. Have a party on it and then.... Blast it out of the water with the Kalmar Nykal.

Yes the doo rag thing Read/Bonney is also in the book "Under The Black FLag" (if i am not mistaken). The Avery Flag is a conundrum though isn't it? I would imagine that even the Hollywood-Pyle pirate depiction have some kernel of fact that they base themselves on. Who knows? I think that in this instance, the conscientious living historian should opt out of the earring thing until more concrete evidence is brought forth. Maybe we will find some when they are finnished at the Queen AR and Wydah sites. G

Historical refrence for earings? I was once... a long time ago in a discussion with someone about weather the head scarf-doo rag thing Pyle depicts was period or not. Anyway. How do you interpret Avery's flag. Google it if you can't find one. Where do find the period discription of his flag? TO me it looks like a skull wearing a doo rag AND and earing. What say you?

Diego... What attached site are you talking about? I have some links on my site to various pirate weapons. I have tried to hunt down a maker of boarding axes myself. I can't find any ready made early 18th C boarding axes (they are either non-existant or sold out). So you might have to have one specially made. Old Dominion Forge seems to have some nice pieces and claims to have made them for POTC. Good luck

Take a L@@K!

I can't believe it... a chick with her own hand grenade recipe. Where were you when I went a courtin? Your husband is a lucky man!

Thanks BlackJohn! That is just the sort of picture I was looking for. I am beginning to think that maybe Williamsburg had them made for themselves. I have googled "fence gate weight" and came up with nothing. I would think that technologically speaking, it would be an easy thing to have made.... like in India, Pakistan, or China. Obviously, the shipping charges would bite because of the weight but who knows. I will keep you posted as events warrant.... PS Were this type of Grenade shot out of the Hand Mortar?

What I think is wrong? To me the seem too round and uniform. Also, it looks like galvanized steel and not cast iron. And I don't like that "neck" either. I applaud Therions' attempts and they seem to be the only game in town. I just wanted to get some more information before I found some sweat shop in China to cast them for me... thats all

Well if anyone has pictures of originals... don't hesitate to post them. Is this correct?... A round cast iron hollow ball approximately 3 inches in diameter. Slight dimple in the bottom and maybe a quarter inch hole in the top (for the wooden dowel/fuse. The thickness is approximately 1/4 inch in the top half and gradually gets thicker to about 5/8" toward the bottom? There is no neck at the top, just a hole.

Back to the Grenades guys.... I would be interested to see an example of Grenados that were not under water for 300 years. In the Whydah picture the grenade body is very rough looking and uneven. Maybe this is due to the technology being very basic that produced it and the article says that there is no uniform thickness throughout the body. The ones available to us... look like the tops of chain link fence post (or something similar). How about the "neck" on the repro.... Has anyone seen an original example with a neck on it like that? I agree that the repros are the only game in town at this point....

The coat/justaucorps should be lined. If you look at it, its almost like two coats sewn together as the concept of a lined coat was different in the 18thC than it is now. Sailcloth is a tricky one... and the answer, i guess is that you can't get it. Traditional (or at least the sails made and used by the Royal Navy in the 18th Century), were made out of Flax. My search for reproduction Flax sailcloth has come up empty. I have seen where some sails were hemp/flax but even that might be difficult to find. Even in the extrememly heavyweight hemp, (17oz+) that would be considered lightweight sail by Admiralty Standards.... On the other hand, most ships a pirate would sail on would be smaller 4-12 gun sloops which would have lighter sails (than a 1-5th rate English Ship). Don't forget to check e-bay out for material too. I recently bought 100% silk VELVET for $20 a meter (it usually sells for over $200). Good luck, and post pics of your end result!

Awright Hawkyns... But even a ragged pyrate would TAKE the clothes of a gentleman....

Some good suggestions so far... but I will add my two cents nonetheless. With your long list of things that this coat needs to be, you are going to have to make some compromises somewhere. Somebody may have already raised the question of what is this coat going to be used for? Gentleman Pirate Captain or Able Seamen going wenching? For a Gentleman's Coat, I would recomend silk, high qualtiy wool, high quality linen, or fustian. For Able seaman, Wool, linen, fustian, hemp, sailcloth (which for the royal navy at the time, was mostly Flax) Onasburg (a coarse linen). Cotton, is a tricky subject. Cotton wasn't really commercially produce for clothing until after the flying shuttle was invented (@1733) and other machines to process the fibres. Before then, it was a really crappy coarse cloth that came from India and was used for industrial purposes more than clothing. While it did exist, it was not in the quality available to us today. It was mixed or woven with linen to make fustian for our period though so that might be a possibility. But I would reccomend that you make 2 coats. Make the first out of linen, fustian, or Osnaburg. It will be easier to sew and will let you practice with the pattern. You can use that one as your summer weight regular sailors coat. If you like what you made, do another for a "Gentleman" out of nicer material. A wool one would be nice and good for colder events. You can check out my site http://www.gentlemenoffortune.com/ where you can find LOTS of resources for clothing. Hope this helps

Well you hit the nail on the head as far as where I cut my re-enacting teeth... And I guess most of the other periods I have done had a lot of former 20th Century re-enactors as well so they must have brought "Kit" with them. Garb sounds... just.... so...... ??? And like you say, kit covers everything you pack in your car for an event. What do the "Garb" folks call the non clothing part of their..... kit?