Mission

Simple. We get leather ties and make people wear them as sisphuls. Nobody will miss that. (The shooters may miss when the coaster sags and covers their eyes, however.)

My hat's off to ye, Mr. Hand... tis so nice of ye to volunteer to go first where the doctor be concerned... Have I mentioned that I decided what I am going to demonstrate after the battle at PiP in '09....?

Lots of people were sick after PiP. It was the style at the time. Actually, I've found that after any large project I've been involved in and spent loads of time doing, I've often gotten sick. You stave it off for the duration of the event (like Haunted House for example) and then it knocks you flat once the adrenalin resumes normal speeds.

Everyone publishing informative journals during period seems to have a say about the coconut and it's brethren. "The Coco-nut-Trees are from 50 to 60 70, 80 and 100 Foot in height, mostly slender and streight. They have Leaves, some four fathom, and four fathom and a half long, and produce a Nut call'd a Co-co-nut; which, with the outer Rind on, is bigger than any Man's Head. the outer Rind being taken off, there appears a Shall, some of which will hold near a Quart. Within the Shell is the Nut; and within the Nut is about a Pint and a half of pure clear Water, which is very cool, brisk, pleasant and sweet. The Kernel of the Nut is also very good; which if it be pretty old, we scrape all to pieces; the scrapings we set to soak in about a quart of fresh Water for three or four hours, and then strain the Water; which when strain'd hath both the colour and taste of Milk: And if it stand a while, it will have a thick scum on it, not unlike Cream. This Milk being boiled with Rice, is accounted by our Doctors to be very nourishing; for which reason we often give of it to our sick Men. The Leaves of the Tree, serve to thatch Houses; the outer Rind of the Nut, to make Linnen-Cloth; of it they also make Ropes for Ships, as __ Rigging, Cables, &c. which are a good Commodity in most places of the East-Indies. The Shell of the Nut will make very pretty Drinking-cups: It will also burn very well, and make a very fierce and hot Fire. The Kernel serves instead of Meat, and the Water therein contained instead of Drink: And if the Nut be very old, the Kernel will of it self turn to Oyl, which is often made use of to fry with, but most commonly to burn in Lamps. So that from this Tree, as I may say, they [the Indians who live in the river feeding the Bay of St. Matthews] have Meat, Drink, Clothing, houses, Firing and Rigging for their Ships. These Trees may be known by any Ships passing by; for they are void of Leaves, except just at the top. At the bottom of the Leaves the Coco-nuts grow, 10, 15 or 20 in a cluster; and they hang by a small string, which is full of joynts. The Plantain-tree, is about 13 or 14 foot in heighth, and about four foot round: The Leaves of the Tree are about eight or nine foot long, and two foot broad, and end in a round Point. the Fruit grows at the bottom of the Leaf, upon a great Stalk, in a Cod of about eight Inches long, and the bigness of a Black-pudding. The Cod iis of a fine yellow colour, often speckled with red. The Cod being taken off, the inside of it is white; but the Plantain it __ self is yellow like Butter, and as soft as a ripe Pear. There will grow 50 or 60 sometimes, upon a Stalk; and five or six Stalks upon a Tree. They are an extraordinary good Fruit; and in most parts of the East and West-Indies there is great plenty of them. The Bonanoe-Tree is much the same; only the Fruit is not so long as the Plantin, being, as I said before, about eight or nine Inches long, and the Bonanoe not above six. It grows in the same manner as the Plantain; 50 or 60 in a cluster, upon one Stalk. The Fruit is very mellow and extraordinary sweet and good." (Funnell, William, A Voyage Round the World, p. 60-2)

I'm afraid there's no more to tell. Funnell has a very abbreviated style and does not illustrate things very colorfully or go into details like Dampier's version of the voyage does.

For your edutainment: January 14th [1703], one of our Men being dead, his things were sold as follows. A Chest, value five shillings, was sold for three pounds: A pair of Shooes, value four Shillings and six Pence, sold for thirty one Shillings: Half a pound of Thread, value two Shillings, sold for seventeen Shillings and six Pence." (Funnell, William, A Voyage Round the World, p. 15)

It amazes me that this topic is still alive. It was meant (in some admittedly weird way) to be a parody of the Random Topics thread. (Don't ask me how. This is why I am studying psychology - to see if I can figure out how my mind works.)

No...actually you look sort of stoned. "Wow, man, I can see the color of the universe...dude! It's freaking red like my eyes!"

That's cool! You found the original reference. The attitude about medicine in the 17th & early 18th centuries was breaking away from the classic authors like Hippocrates, Galen and Celsus along with some of the more recent (comparatively) authors that relied upon them like Vesalius and John de Vigo. They wouldn't be fully divorced from these authors until the late 18th and even mid 19th centuries, however. Part of this reliance on old Roman surgeons is because the church had made it basically illegal and even immoral to perform autopsies in the "dark" ages. This loosened up beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries with the advent of the Renaissance. In fact, corpses of unclaimed felons were being donated for dissection about the time of the GAoP. So information about the makeup of the body was directly available at this time, while it hadn't been in the recent past. This may be why I haven't come across anything about the theory of "wandering womb" in contemporary works of Woodall, Parè or Wiseman. This doesn't mean the theory wouldn't have still been kicking around amongst the uniformed, however. Good find.

I do so love the internet. I got a $127 textbook for $48 plus $4 shipping and then used Google to find a coupon at the vendor for an additional $3 off that. Plus I found a new source for gibbets. What a place, what a virtual freaking cool place!

I had read recently that because of a lack of sun spot activity we should be entering a ten or so year cooling cycle. The primary cause of variations in global temperature is due to the cycles of the sun and Earth's orbit about the sun. For the curious, among the many other (non-man made) factors that affect the earth's temp, there are several that come primarily from the sun: ¤ 11 year and 206 year cycles: Cycles of solar variability (sunspots) ¤ 21,000 year cycle: Earth's combined tilt and elliptical orbit around the Sun (Precession of the Equinoxes) ¤ 41,000 year cycle: Cycle of the wobble in the Earth's orbit (Tilt) ¤ 100,000 year cycle: Variations in the shape of Earth's elliptical orbit (Cycle of Eccentricity) There are also atmospheric causes such as heat retention and solar reflectivity as well as tectonic causes like landmass distribution and undersea ridge activity. As far as the greenhouse effect goes, over 95% of it is due to water vapor in Earth's atmosphere. The much vilified carbon dioxide greenhouse gas makes up about 0.038% of Earth's atmosphere.

I thought this looked like an interesting book on popular medicines (as opposed to "professional" medicine) during period. I haven't read it, but thought those posting in this thread might have a use for it. It appears to be another doctoral paper or some such that was turned into a book - so it has lots of references. It's called Popular Medicine in Seventeenth-century England by Doreen Evenden. It even has a whole chapter entitled "Women's Role in Stuart Medicine: A Case Study of Practical Practitioners." You will find it on Amazon here. You can also check out the Google Book Preview.

Please let me clarify. When I say ropes, I don't mean a path of ropes - that would totally suck and would be contrary to the whole PiP idea as you say, Dutch. Plus it might block people from getting to the beach which the park wouldn't like. What I mean is a rope at one end of the tent to keep people from walking through said tent. That way the tent can be open for the public viewing, but not for the public ambling though. (I may be confusing the concept here...sorry if I am.) I think it's also a good idea to close off your stuff if you're not going to be present, though. Not doing so would be as stupid as leaving all your raw steel surgical equipment out overnight... This is part of the reason I would like to make a proper surgeon's chest with a lockable front. That way I would have somewhere to stow my junk without infringing on other people's tent space, but still be able to get it all out easily and have another teaching tool to go with my gear. As for being available all the time - Dutch, you are apparently an extravert. We introverts need time away from the thronging masses. (Well, I do, anyhow.)

Would it make sense to run a rope across the entrance to let people know that they were invited to view, but not to trespass? You could run it between two stakes pounded into the ground. Or do you think that would be overkill?

We got several inches. I kind of like the stuff, to be honest. It can have an artistic touch...

Jessica Rabbit sorta' kinda' reminds me of Red Jessi. To each their own evocation, I s'pose. But since you mentioned it...

Ah yes, I found it. In truth, I was looking of the shots of MAD Dogge teaching Lily to sword fight that I surreptitiously took with Jessi's camera around the same time, but those shots appear to have been poorly considered by your photographer. (The sun washes them out so badly you can't see the gorgeous background.) Oh, well.

Only because the alcohol acts as a detoxicant.

Here's to ya! (I am posting birthday wishes to QM William in a topic entitled "Happy Natal Dday to My Beloved William Red Wake" )

Enough with the stupid llama song already! (For some reason, this picture reminds me of Duchess.)

Once again - I agree. PiP is not like other events. Nor should it be. If we try to make it like that, I don't think it will be PiP; it will be a carbon copy of the other events, except in paradise. Where's the fun in that?

I agree with all that. Cheers! (And a funny sign is better than a plain one.) I also think the guides would be good - it worked this year for you and I doing our bit. I still think after the battle would be better, though. If the vendors are going to be outside the fort (I think I read that was going to be the case. Right? Wrong? Eh? ) then getting them to the encampment will get them that much closer to the vendors as well. The more stuff that's outside the fort, the more people will want to travel to the encampment on their own. As for keeping attention, based on over 10 years of adult teaching, I've found that when you're losing an audience, it's best to use: 1. Stories (People love stories and there are plenty of them in this realm.) 2. Humor (as Sophia said) and 3. Interesting examples, intonation and/or displays. (Such as a table of vicious looking instruments.) Some people won't be interested, and so what? Others will. Others will want bits and pieces which I why I still try to stick to about 5 minutes. You have to gauge the audience, though.

People keep talking about the kids. How many kids did you all see? I saw a far more adults than kids. Key West is more of an adult playground. (And it is a playground, so playground rules seem to work better.)

Except we all had to show up early for shooting the cannons and prepare for weapon firing and so forth. That's why I think it would be better afterward. (I'll stand around and practice shooting the cannon before doing a surgical display. Shooting cannon is fun and I can explain the surgery tools any time. And despite the insistence that I do a fake operation, I have still not sold myself on that particular bit. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my stuff - inasmuch as I can be - and I won't do it until I feel comfortable with the routine and happy with the props.) It's not like the other events where there were a large group of people waiting for something particular to happen. People just seem to drift in and out. I suspect too much scheduling will ruin the appeal of the event for a lot of re-enactors. Or maybe I'm just speaking for myself.

A assemblage of lagomorphs for your edification: (That oughta keep the little squirts happy.)