Mission

Do you have references? I might be able to use them. I agreed the hammocks would be stowed below after reading your first post. I can't imagine them tucking the chests in the chain plates on the sides of the ship. (Lumber, possibly.) I have seen chain plates shown on the deck in some draughts and Covel does say "by the chain plates" which suggests to me setting them on a flat surface. (I may be reading too much into it here, but we're getting too far into the picayune details for what I need. I just wanted to verify that it didn't suggest that the hammocks went on the main deck and that the orlop was cleared.)

I see what you mean. He is probably talking about stowing the chests and lumber and not necessarily the hammocks. However, he appears to be specific on these things being placed in boats (I take this to mean the small craft kept for going from ship to shore) or near the main chains. This is why I thought he must be referring to the chain plates. I've seen draughts of naval ships showing chain plates on the deck. I am really trying to find evidence of the orlop deck being cleared (since I want to say that they did so in preparation for it becoming the surgery and waiting area for wounded.) This is why I was focusing on the hammocks, which I have seen in images as being on the orlop where the surgery was usually placed. As for details of the ship, Covel was aboard the merchant ship London Merchant, captained by John Hill. It was part of a convoy of seven merchant ships headed for the Levant. I didn't find that Covel gave any more detail than that.

This is from "Extracts from the Diaries of Dr. John Covel, 1670-1679" in the book Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant, edited by J. Theodore Bent concerning clearing the ship for battle. "It was pleasure to see the great alacrity and readinesse, I may say the eagernesse, of our Seamen in preparing for the dispute. All their Hamocks were down in a trice; their chests and lumber turn'd out into the boates, or stived [Editor's footnote 1: packed away, stuffed] by the main chains or elsewhere, out of the way. We had a clear ship in a very little while..." (Covel, p. 129) I have some questions about this. 1. Wouldn't the hammocks have been below? I have images of them being hung on the orlop deck, although I understand that in a large ship they could be elsewhere. 2. Aren't the main chains on the exposed upper decks? They'd have to be to serve their purpose. So why are the hammocks being taken from below and stowed on the main deck? Or am I missing something here?

I thought this was sort of an interesting comment on religious [specifically in this case, 'Catholic'] practices vis-à-vis pirates. Its about the settlers of San Domingo [santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic] from Père Jean-Baptiste Labat's Memoires 1693-1705 (Translated from the original French by John Eaden, 1970). Before I post the quote of interest, I have to post something else to give it a bit of context. "The settlers of San Domingo, however, do not put their trust in troops, but in themselves, for nearly all of them have been either buccaneers or filibusters and know how to fight and defend their families and belongings better than most people." (Labat, p. 149) Basically that was to explain that we're talking about pirates. (Filibusters being a sort of French pirate and buccaneers being near pirates.) "I cannot help saying that I was much scandalized by the little respect shown by the people [of San Domingo] for their religion. They came to church laughing and chaffing each other as if they were about to see some show or entertainment. Especially was this the case with those on the outside of the church, who leant on the top of the fence and spoke to each other much louder than I preached, continually introducing the name of God in their conversation in a manner I could not tolerate. I warned them to stop talking three or four times as gently as I could, but as this did not good, I was obliged to complain to some officers, who compelled them to keep silent. After Mass a good man told me that I must be more tolerant with the people on the coast if I intended to liver with them." (Labat, p. 148)

This is off on a bit of a tangent as regards the topic here, but I wanted to put the info out there because I thought it was interesting that our idea of having a Pirate Dance or Ball at an event is some sort of special thing whereas this suggests that dancing was fairly constant and common. It also gives some interesting suggestions on how to dance, even if you didn't know how! It is from Père Jean-Baptiste Labat's Memoires 1693-1705 (Translated from the original French by John Eaden, 1970): "As all the crew were Provencaux [from Provence, a region in France - Labat was French] you may be sure that they had not forgotten the fife __ and tambourine. You know that one man plays both instruments at the same time. The tambourine is fastened to his left side and is beaten with the right hand, while the fife is held and played with the left hand. One does not have to ask Provencaux to dance, so as soon as the fife and tambourine were heard every one came on deck, and I believe that this music would have cured an invalid among our crew had there been one. While some danced, others leaped about, and we had apprentices and young sailors aboard who could make the most celebrated rope-walkers look to their laurels [past achievements]." (Labat, p. 259-60)

Some more from Labat related to this subject: "After the prize had been manned we made for St. Thomas in order to sell her. She was an old ship of 200 tons, with a cargo of rum, syrup, and sugar, a few bales of cotton and hides, and two cases of chocolate. She was bound for Virginia, where she would discharge her cargo, and then load with salt, fish, peas and lumber for the settlers in Antigua." (Labat, p. 246) "our consorts had arrived during the night and we anchored near them and another ship of fifty cannons. __ This ship had come from Cartagena and was loaded with cacao from Caracas, conchenille [Cochineal - A red dye extracted from insects. "Produced almost exclusively in Oaxaca, Mexico by indigenous producers, cochineal became Mexico's second most valued export after silver. The dyestuff was consumed throughout Europe and was so highly prized that its price was regularly quoted on the London and Amsterdam Commodity Exchanges." from "]http://cochenille.eu/EN/cochineal.htm ],vanilla,, and other produce, to say nothing of gold and silver in specie [coins] and in ingots." (Labat, p. 260-1)

For those interested in seeing what happened at Fort Taylor from my point of view, you can check out the web page version of the text journal I kept here. FTPI Pirate Surgeon's Journal 2012 It has been massively cleaned up, added to and edited to correct all those scaly errors I made originally. You can read all about the battles and the heroic Owl, the twins and their bears, the arcane pop cultural references, the Sunday Night Goat Roast, the stupid advertising thing I came up with while jogging and smoking cigars like Tuco on Sunday night. Among other things. Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed re-living the event when I wrote it.

HB, Hawkins!

Frtiz brings up several good points. From what I've read, it seems like a lot of ships mainly identified themselves (either verbally or by raising their flag) when they got near each other. In nearly every period account I've read there has been at least one incident of two ships encountering one another in the Caribbean causing one to send someone aboard the other so they could ask them who they were and where they hailed from. I've also read several times where they suspected a ship of being a pirate only to meet up with them and find this not to be the case. (And then other times when it was the case.) As for identifying particular pirates, I've seen several accounts where a sailor recognized someone he had sailed with previously. I suspect there was a lot of crossover in crews in the Caribbean. They also talked a great deal about the pirates in local newspapers when they impacted their trade. If you haven't already read it, I recommend checking out Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast by Edward Rowe Snow. It contains some interesting details some of it culled from newspapers about how pirates operated and were chased and caught.

It's the Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hat! (Almost.)

Actually my first obsession changes like tides on the sea.

Came across this in Père Jean-Baptiste Labat's Memoirs 1693-1705 (Translated from the original French by John Eaden, 1970): "They [the Spanish on the ship Sainte Trinite, a ship with 'an armament of fifty-two cannons and a total complement of 300, including passengers'] were cooking their food on deck between the main and mizzen masts, but when they are at sea, I believe that the galley is under the fo'c'sle. Each member of the crew had his own private pot, for the sailors and soldiers are called signores Marineros y los signores Soldados, and are too high and mighty to be fed a la Gamelle as our fellows. [the French]" (Labat, p. 186)

Say, what's my first obsession?

Happy birthday Skull Wench! I'll bet you don't even remember that the Pyracy Pub exists!

Hey, I happened to be looking for something else and I found some really good listings of shipments posted by Iron Jon in the Barrels, Bales and Bags Thread. Check 'em out!

Here's an amusing bit about selling contraband to the Spanish from Père Jean-Baptiste Labat's Memoires 1693-1705 (Translated from the original French by John Eaden, 1970): "Now according to their law no nation is allowed to trade with the Spaniards under any pretext whatever. Any ship they find within a certain distance of their coasts is confiscated if they catch her, for it is taken for granted that she is only there for trading; and to condemn her [so they can legally claim and remove the contents], it is considered sufficient proof if Spanish money or articles manufactured in their countries be found on board. This is their law, but it is easily evaded. For instance, if you wish to enter one of their ports to trade, you say that you are short of water, fuel [wood], or victuals, or that you have a split mast, or a leak which cannot be plugged without removing the cargo. An officer is sent to explain all these things to the Governor, and, by giving him a good present, makes him believe what you wish him to believe. His officers can be made blind in the same way if necessary, and then permission is granted to enter the port and unload the ship in order to repair her. All formalities are carefully observed. A seal is placed on the door of the warehouse by which the cargo is brought in, but equal care is taken that there is another door left unsealed by which it is taken out __ at night, and replaced by cases of indigo, cohenille, vanilla, cacao, tobacco, etc., etc., and silver in bars and specie. As soon as this has been done one finds the mast repaired, the leak plugged, and the ship ready to sail. Means must now be found to enable the purchasers to sell their merchandise. To do this you go again to the Governor, and explain that you have not sufficient money to pay for provisions, or the repairs which have been done, and ask him to allow you to sell enough cargo to pay for these things. The Governor and his Council pull the long faces they consider necessary for the occasion, and permission is given to sell a few cases. A few cases are sold, in fact the whole cargo is sold publicly, and in all probability to the agents of the Governor and his officers. no on can complain, for each purchaser pretends that his share is the portion of the cargo which had to be sold to defray the cost of the repairs, etc. In this way the largest cargoes are disposed of. With regard, however, to the smaller cargoes which are more frequently carried by the English, French, and Dutch ships, they are generally disposed of at places some distance from the towns. A few cannons are fired to warn the Spanish settlers in the neighborhood of the arrival of the ship and they come in their canoes to buy what they require. This trade is mostly done at night, and the captain must be careful never to allow more people to come __ to the ship than his crew can tackle. The word 'Credit' is never mentioned in this business, which is called trading a la Pique, and nothing is accepted in payment but cash, or produce actually delivered on board the ship. A table and barricade are generally placed under the poop to serve as a counter on which samples of the cargo are displayed. The merchant and a few men, all well armed, stand behind the counter, and are guarded by armed members of the crew on the poop. The captain and the rest of the crew, all armed to the teeth, remain on deck to welcome the visitors, give them drinks, and see them politely into their canoes as soon as they have made their purchases. A few cannons are fired to salute people of distinction or persons who have made large purchases when they leave the ship. This compliment pleases them very much, and certainly nothing is lost by it. But above all it is necessary to be on your guard, and also to be always the stronger; for if the Spaniards see a chance of seizing the ship it is seldom that they fail to do so. They will then first pillage her, and then send her to the bottom with all the crew, so that no one can complain of their treachery; for if a case of the kind should be reported to the Governor or the King's officers they would insist on complete reparation, not as one might imagine to the owners of the ship, but to themselves. __ What I have just related is not fancy, but the common practice on the coasts of Hispaniola, Caracas and Cartagena, and has been the fate of many French, Dutch, and English sailors." (Labat, p. 170-3)

I'd have to agree with Cascabel. People usually remember short stories with a point related to what you're presenting, interesting turns of phrase and jokes; they don't remember technical details, no matter how well you you present them. I don't even really have a character backstory and I spend more time with individual groups than most reenactors as well as hours writing about what has happened at events. The only people who might be interested in your backstory are other reenactors with backstories. (And they're often just waiting for you to finish telling yours so they can tell you theirs from my experience.) The only reason I can think of for creating an elaborate backstory (or any backstory, really) is if you think you are a method actor and you want to "get into" your part by doing research. Either that or when you get involved in a multi-participant interactive story. (And even there, I've often noticed that the other writers are waiting for you to finish telling yours, so that...well, you get the point.)

They must have had lots of barrels going through a Tavern which would make for cheap furniture after the contents were removed. (See, this is why I like to see the pictures posted. A series of pictures is worth a thousand links. Well that and I initially thought the links were in Red_Dawn's signature and I ignored them. )

Good stuff! (Well, so to speak...) Thanks, Red_Dawn.

So post 'em.

Wow, the room prices aren't as outrageous as I thought they'd be. I have to think about this one...

Cheeky, your 1st link is broken and the last one says the group code for the reservation is invalid.

Whatever do you suppose it is that she is giggling at? Ha ha. Denice. (Bet she'll regret pulling that face.) Why does Deadeye remind me of Gilligan here? DB Couper, jaunty sailor, seller of cheap black market trinket knock-offs Those... damned... cigars! Love this one even better than the last one. She's either gonna kiss ya' or kill ya'. (You decide.) Iron Jon after a hard day of shooting Brits.

Good one of Scarlett Jai. Good one of Jaded Jetty (I'm gonna use that one.) Barnacle Beau sassin' the camera Roderic Hawkins, buccaneer You know, he almost looks reasonable here. (Don't be taken in.)

Happy Birthday to our Quartermaster! Many returns of the goat! (No, I don't know what that means. It just popped in there.)