Mission

PoD and I were just talking about corks - I thought they had them in the GAoP, but this suggests they didn't. Interesting. (I will still use cork myself, but it is interesting.)

We should always be cautious of viewing period behavior using a modern lens. A lot of this stuff about the pirates being non-religious or socialist or egalitarian or whatever other modern group behavior people want to assign to pirates seems to come from those who haven't researched the period very well but want to prove modern paradigms using pirates as an historical example. Pirates were men of their times and religion was still a central feature of life during the GAoP.

While this is a little OT, it is related so I'm going to put it in here. It's from the book The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1928 reprint, first published in 1726). Uring is talking here about Santiago [which he refers to as St. Jago], the largest island of Cape Verde islands off the coast of West Africa which he visited in September of 1710. "They have a small Manufactory of Cotton Cloth, which the Inhabitants imploy themselves in, and is generally white and blew striped, and very well liked by the Negroes on the Coast of Guinea for a Crown."

From the book The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1928 reprint, first published in 1726): This part of the book takes place in 1709. "Boston is the chief Town in the Province of Massechusets Bay, it stands upon a Peninsula, at the Bottom of a __ Bay, which runs in about eight miles, and is fenced with Islands, Rocks, and Sands, which makes it a very secure Harbour; the Entrace into it is narrow, and some Shoals lie on the South Side: Some small rocky Islands, which are called the Brewsters, makes the North Side of it, on one of which Islands stands a Light-House, to give Notice to Ships who may arrive on that Coast in the Night, and be a Guide to them..." (Uring, p. 76-7)

Nathaniel Uring also talks about a "Woman Fish" in The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1928 reprint, first published in 1726), identifying it as a manatee, which is closely related to the dewgong. "Throughout all the River of Zair [the Congo], he [Father Francis de Pava] says, the Mermaid is found, which from the Middle upwards has some Resemblance of a Woman; it has Breasts, Nipples, Hands and Arms, but downwards it is altogether Fish; its Head is round, and the Face like that of a Calf, a large ugly Mouth, little Ears, and round full Eyes; that he has eat of them divers Times, and it tastes not unlike Swine's Flesh, and the Entrails resemble that of a Hog, for which Reason the Natives Name it Ngullin a-Masa (the Water Sow but the Portugueze call it Peixe Molker (the Woman Fish although it feeds on __ Herbs which grow on the River Side, yet it does not go out of the Water, but only holds its Head out when it feeds: they are taken for the most Part in the rainy Times, when the Waters are disturbed and muddy, and cannot discern the Approach of Fishermen; they are caught by striking. This creature that the good Father speaks of as the Mermaid, can be no other than the Manatee, it answering exactly to that Description, only he has made the Finns to be Hands and Arms. (See the Description of the Manatee or Sea-Cow, in the Voyage to Campeachey.)" (Uring, p. 45-6)

Here is some brief info on cooking items from the book The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1928 reprint, first published in 1726). He is describing items in a house in Virginia where he stayed for a few months in 1697 or 8. Note the lack of forks.] ] "The Closet was made use of for their Kitchen Furniture, which consisted of an Iron Pot, a Frying-Pan, Two or Three earthen Dishes, Three or Four Pewter Plates, and as many Spoons. I lived with these poor People very agreeably..." (Uring, p. 12)

Interesting. I had always heard that the reason there were glass bottoms was so the drinker could check and make sure there were no coins in the bottom. If the King's recruiting sergeant was buying drinks, a ploy to get recruits to "take the king's shilling", thus essentially signing on to military service, was to put the coin in the tankard. When they got to the bottom they'd pick it up out of the tankard ( lookit this! there's money in me grog!), thus "taking the King's shilling". I'd also heard they were a 19C invention. Worth doing some research again, I guess, to make sure what I remember isn't another reenactorism or museum myth perpetuated from docent to docent. I have heard repeatedly that these are not correct to the Golden Age of Pyracy. In fact, if you go back to the first page, you'll find Chole makes a comment on this.

More from the book The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1928 reprint, first published in 1726), this time on buccaneers. Uring is retelling a story told to him by Luke Haughton. I'm afraid it's in run-on sentence form, but the story is interesting enough that I decided not to alter it. "My Padrone (Haughton - he offered Uring food and shelter when he was shipwrecked in Honduras, leading to Uring's calling Haughton this) had also been Prisoner at Havana, on the Island of Cuba and often told me how both that place and Levera Cruz (Vera Cruz), might be surprised by the English; and recounted to me how a Number of Bucaniers surprized, took and plunder'd the Latter: The Bucaniers having muster'd all their Strength, resolved upon sacking that Town; and being arrived within about Sixteen or Eighteen Miles of it, they anchored with their Ships, and landed their Men undiscovered; they marched that Night about Ten or Twleve Miles, and in the Mornging retired between the high Sand Hills which lies all along that coast: the men lay hid all the Day, and marched again in the Night, and so order'd it to surprize the Town in the Morning, at the Opening of the Gates, which they __ effected thus: The Bucaniers were about Six Hundred Men: when they came near the Town, they halted, and sent a small Party that could speak Spanish, habited like the Country People, in order to seize on one of the Gates, as soon as they were open'd, which was executed thus: At the opening of the Gates, one of the Party mounted a Ladder, which led up to the Bastion, or Tower that commanded the Gate, and, under Pretence to beg Fire of the Centinel to light his Pipe, with his Pistol he killed him, which was the Signal for seizing the Gate; it being immediately put in Execution, they gave Notice to their Main Body, who instantly marched into the Town, and at the same Time attacked and took another small Work , both which they guarded, and then marched into the Parade; Most of the Spaniards being in Bed, could not presently get together, but soon took the alarm, and formed a Body of Horse and Foot; they marched in good Order through one of their broad Streets to attack the Enemy in Form; the Bucaniers being drawn up upon the Parade, and seeing the Spaniards marching towards them, prepared to receive them; and Part of them drew up at the End of the Street in which the Spaniards were marching, and when they came near enough to engage, they fired upon them; the Bucaniers having disposed themselves in such Order, that as soon as their first Rank had fired, they marched beyond the Street, and the Second took Place, and so the third; so that they kept a continual Fire upon the Spaniards; and having killed many of them, and their Horses not being able to stand the Fire, they were soon put into Disorder, and fled; the Bucaniers pursued them, but the Spaniards flying out of one of the Gates into the Country, they left the Chase; the Castle of St. Juan d'Uloa taking the Alarm, fired briskly into the Town, in order to beat out the Enemy, but they being resolved to plunder it before they left it, called a Consultation, to consider what was proper to be done, and resolved to seize on the Fathers which had most Authority and Respect among them; and having beheaded some of them, obliged others to carry them in a little Boat to the Castle, and present them to the] __ Governour, and tell him, if he did not leave off firing immediately, they would use all the Fathers in the Town after the same manner. The Governour being exasperated at so inhumane and barbarous an Action redoubled the Fire, which the Bucaniers finding, they shut all the Gates of the Town, and would not suffer any more of the inhabitants to leave it, but drove them all in a Body to that Part of the Town which lay next the Fort, and most exposed to the Fire from thence; so that if they would not forbear firing they should kill their own People. When the Governour saw it, he was moved with Compassion for the Inhabitants, and ceased firing. The Buccaniers plundered the Town; and when they had so done, march'd out, carrying away with them some of the Chief of the inhabitants as Hostages for a Sum of Money, which they demanded for not burning it; and so retired to their Ships with very little loss." (Uring, p. 148-50)

At once I am elated but then, upon further thinking, I am worried. (About my hat, about my mug, about my phone messages, about my sanity...) Huzzah!

The book The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (1927 reprint, first published in 1726) is full of all sorts of interesting side comments that I'm going to be posting. He doesn't describe what he's talking about here, but I find the comment worth mention. Here, Uring is talking about Luke Haughton, who offered him food and shelter when he was shipwrecked in Honduras. Haughton wound up establishing a home in Honduras after escaping from the Spanish, who were transporting him to Spain after capturing him in Vera Cruz. This is an account from just after Haughton's escape. "He got safe to the Island; but when he found himself there, he was in a bad Condition; for his Fireworks which he had fastned with his Frock to the Nape of his Neck, were either lost or render'd useless; so that he could get nor Fire. At his first landing, he lived on Conckes and other Shell Fish, till seeing great Numbers of large Snakes, which __ they call Oulers, that are not venomous, he killed several of them; and having flead them, he split them in Pieces, dipped them in salt Water, and dried them upon the Rocks in the Sun, and found this Food much more agreeable to him than his Shell Fish, there being no fresh Water on the Island but what lodged in the Holes of the Rocks when it rained, always finding enough to satisfy his Thirst. In this manner he lived without Fire for near Six Months..." (p. 150-1)

Wow, bummer. Good wishes and luck to you both. Say, if I can help with anything regarding the organization of the event, feel free to contact me. I'm arriving the Tuesday before.

Here's an interesting bit from the 1927 reprint of The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring (first published in 1726). At this time, Uring is in Honduras, boarding an English ship bound for Jamaica after having been shipwrecked for several months or more. "But before we left Plantane River, we had provided some Ozinbrigs [pieces of unbleached fabric - related to brown linen] and a sufficient Quantity of Silk Grass, which grows in that Country, which we made Twine of; and when it proved little Winds or Calm, we lower'd the Sails and mended them, they being old, and torn in several Places; which was our constant Custom, as often as we had Opportunity, being so fortunate to have fair Weather." (p. 164)

The only way to connect to photos in the forum is if they're already on the web. Then you enter the URL into the window that pops up when you click the photo icon. So you have to upload them someplace first. You could use the photo gallery on the forum which can be accessed by clicking on the arrow by your user name in the upper right hand corner and selecting "My Gallery."

I am currently reading The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring. He stayed in Virginia for a couple of months in 1698 or 1699 where he stayed with a poor couple who owned a tobacco plantation. There may be some evidence of use of cigarettes from the (late) 1700s. There was a very interesting thread on that topic last year.

Neat. (The part with you drinking rum is a nice touch.) You know, I can't find it, but I remember being absolutely lambasted here for saying it would be cool to create an undead mermaid prop or a mermaid skeleton. I believe I was called creepy or disturbed or something like that.

Wow, I just stumbled across this old post of mine. We have so many new people I thought I'd bump it.

aoeu, The HTML mark-up codes don't work here. Just go back and edit your post and click on the little photograph-looking thing above your post (it's blue/green/orange) and then copy the URL into the pop-up window there. Then click OK.

Pictures have to be on the web somewhere before you can post them. If you already have them on the web, navigate to the website where you can see them and then you should be able to right click on the photo and you should be able to copy the URL or 'photo/image location.' Then paste that URL into the pop-up window that will appear when you press the little icon at the top of your Pyracy.com post that looks sort of like a picture of a greenish/bluish/orangish blob. If you do not have the photos on the web, you need to upload them. You can do this using free photo sites like Photobucket or flickr. You can also put them in the photos area of your Google or Facebook accounts if you have them. Or you can load them to the Pyracy pub photo gallery here on this site. You will find access to that by clicking on the down arrow next to your name (upper right hand corner) and then selecting 'My Gallery'. You can find a tutorial for doing this by clicking on this link. (I don't know if it's up-to-date any more, but it should be relatively close.) Truth be told, if you've ever uploaded photos anywhere on the web, you'll probably be able to figure it out without the tutorial.

You can follow the post , bookmark it or do a search for the topic subject if you want to find it in the future. The trouble with pinning topics is that there are a lot of good threads in here. If we flagged them all the first couple of pages would never change and you still wouldn't be able to find the one you want. (I personally love the search function. But I also like to go through the back 40 pages of this forum and dredge up old posts on occasion too.)

I actually saw that exhibit at the Smithsonian. They had a whole bunch of broken pipes they found at the bottom of as well a couple of skulls showing the tooth wear caused by pipes.

I never thought that dropsy - aka endema - would be an important topic for a pirate surgeon, but it turns out to have a rather interesting link to the sea-going folks. It also involves some tools/treatments that I never understood well until I discovered this treatment: scarification and the use of the trocar. Don't know those are? Check 'em out via this link!

It's nice that you put a warranty on your leather bottels. Ooh. I like your antique brace drill. Where'd you get that? (I have been looking for a brace trepan for over a year.)

Have you tried heating a piece of metal red hot and pressing it into the fabric? That has the added benefit of being what would actually happen to the material. You could even use metal pots and pans.

You'd probably have to search the libraries in Hawaii to find more on the event. Local libraries tend to have the most information about their area from my experience. Given that the editor of the Honolulu newspaper was involved in the incident there must have been at least one, and probably several, articles written on the incident. While the internet is great for general info and the occasional gold nugget, when you start getting into something that specific, you're likely looking for material that's on microfiche in the library, not on-line.

Not your splendid Ottoman garb, I hope. I would think larger drill bits would play hell with the machine's drum. Although when you say larger, I'm thinking of better than 1/2".