Mission

The second and third of those numbered images suggest or show fins at the waist instead of feet. Do you get the idea they didn't quite know what to draw for the transition portion of mer-creatures? That image you included at the top looks distinctly manatee-like. I wonder what images Columbus was referring to? There must be some Italian or Spanish images of mermaids from the late 15th century...

You may have a point about not knowing what was in the mind of the common sailor, but until you prove it, you're just speculating. They may have. They may not have. Right now, we don't know. (The problem with most GAoP research, really.) The few accounts I have that provide insight into the common man's mind don't say anything about mermaids. Nor did I find a lot of images of mermaids from the GAoP, which is also interesting. Mine are about as out of period as yours. (BTW, can you definitely say there isn't a leg under the water? There are hints of it in the one in the foreground. ) Either way your image definitely presents a more traditionally beautiful mermaid than those I used. And the figurehead is an uncontestable example of the traditional, non-legged form, which doesn't surprise me. I'll bet you can find more examples of this form. In fact, instead of arguing with me about my article, why not go and dig up some more period and pre-period images? You are usually very good at finding images. I'm sure folks researching the link between pirates and mermaids would really appreciate it. And if you find any golden age of piracy stories about them, you'll be one up on me and we'll both learn something.

Actually, I was most fascinated to find the mermaid images which showed two clawed feet in the middle, making them look more like monsters than the gorgeous creatures we're used to. A lot of the ghost stories and other fantastic material seems to have its origins either in the middle ages or the 19th century - there's sort of a gap of such material from the late 16th to mid-18th centuries based on the books I have. I came across this again when I was trying to substantiate a lot of the rumors about ghosts and the dead for the article I wrote this Halloween on burial. You read a more modern book on such things and you think you have something, but when you start hunting down the original source (which often isn't supplied by these peddlers of ghost stories - they leave you thinking the stories go back to ancient times), you find out most of them are from the 19th or early 20th centuries. You're sort of right about the lack of material on mermaids. I think all I had that was period were the stories from Uring and Navarette. While searching for more, I found several thumbnail summaries of mermaid stories in encyclopedias. That's where I stumbled across the Columbus bit which was too absurd not to work into my article. I think there was also some ancient backstory in there too, mostly put in because I seem to recall that it was sort of funny - something about a woman being gradually turned into a fish by the gods until nothing but her head was human. Actually the lack of stories from the time period probably says as much about their presence in the minds of GAoP sailors as anything. If there are more of them out there that date to the late 17th - early 18th centuries, I'd love to see them. Maybe then I could write a full mermaid article instead of just a small section in an article on monsters.

Stuff like this is usually buried in other topics, so it's not as easy to find as other things on my page. The last page of my most recent article (on burial at sea) talked about earrings, for example. I got into that because of the silly myth about how the earring was worn to pay for the funeral if the pirate washed up on shore somewhere.

I devoted a whole page to mermaids and their mythical relatives in the monsters section of one of my Halloween articles. The most interesting thing I found about them was how they were depicted at the time - they're not quite the glamorous creatures we think of today. You can see that page here.

I found some artwork showing period lanterns on wikimedia, so I thought I'd store then in here for those searching for images. Stilleben mit Küchenutensilien, by Martin Dichtl (before 1710): A supposed ship's lantern dating to 1720, from American home and garden magazine, July, 1913. Dentist by Candlelight, Gerrit Dou, c. 1660-65: Loss of HMS Victory, 4 October 1744, Peter Monomy, (between 1744 and 1749):

So I decided to go ahead and research death at sea so I could write my October Halloween article about burial of those who died on a ship. It includes information about autopsies, burial location, burial preparation, how the burial was performed and superstitions about death and sailors. You can read it by following this hotlink.

The practice of carrying private goods aboard a merchant ship to sell upon return home appears to have been pretty widespread at this time. Although I don't keep them in my notes, I recall seeing multiple references to it in various sea journals. Some of them are in such an offhand way that I just figured it was a standard practice either permitted by the company or treated in a 'Don't ask, don't tell' fashion.

Actually the only thing I'd say was patently wrong about period medicine was humor theory. Much of the rest of it was doing the best they could with the knowledge they had.

That's an interesting point about the slaves. While slavery was accepted, there was controversy even at that time about whether it was humane. The EICs decision to stay out of it may have been a moral decision or it may have just been a business decision, but they do appear to have stayed out of that market. Oh, and as Ed's last comment suggests, he doesn't really think they were the primary source of India's listed problems.

Hollywood has a history of not letting facts get in the way of a good story... or even a good visual.

Hollywood often uses corporations as the villain because they don't have to deal with interest groups accusing them of bias against them. (Remember the big flap over the use of headhunters in the second movie?) If you take a step back and think about movies and TV shows from the past 30 or 40 years where some external force is the villain, you'll find an awful lot of 'evil' corporations. They're a safe villain for Hollywood to use because they don't usually fight back. (Particularly when they've been out of business for 150 years.)

I also found this in Silas Told's account and thought it was sort of interesting in that it was a Spanish pirate [or possibly the Guarda Costa, although Told leans towards it being a pirate] plundering an English Slaver/Merchant off Cuba. It was related by Told in 1785 near the end of his life, although the date of the event would have been 1727 or 1728. "When we were boarded, the Spanish sailors began to plunder us, stripping and taking all away, from the captain down to the cabin-boy; nor did they spare the cloaths on our backs, but in turn of them clothed us with their filthy ragged frocks and drawers. They killed all our poultry, and set us to picking [plucking] them; put on the ship's large kettle, and boiled both fowls and ducks. They likewise took away all our compasses, save two that had been spoiled with the rain on the Coast of Africa. In short, they took away every useful article, and left us totally destitute of carpenter's, cooper's, and boatswain's tools. They then informed us, that, at eight o'clock the next morning, every one of us, without distinction, partiality or reserve, should be hanged, and that without ceremony, and had also the barbarity to present to us the place and the scaffold erected for that purpose, which was on the platform under Cape Nichola; and we had every reason to fear that they would have carried their designs into execution, had not the providence of God interposed, by making me the instrument of our deliverance therefrom." (Told, 1805, p. 32) (The rest of the story is long and not relevant to my point. Basically the captain of Told's ship agreed to trade hidden gold and silver watches for the lives of the crew, which Told was sent to retrieve. A pirate crew member followed Told, knocked him out and stole the watches before he could bring them back. When the Spanish pirate captain discovered this, he turned his attention to punishing the thief and let Told's crew go.)

Here is a description of making a tent from a sail after the shipwreck of the Scipio caused by hitting rocks off an island during a storm around 1727 or 1728. This is from An account of the life: and dealings of God with Silas Told, first published by Told in 1785 near the end of his life. (1805 edition). "We speedily hoisted out our long-boat, and stowed several bags of bread therein, together with an old fore-sail, wherewith we intended to make a tent on shore; but the boat being exceedingly rotten, with many leaks in her bottom, and having no tools on board to stop them before we could reach the landing-place, to our mortification the boat sunk to the gunnel, and totally spoiled all our bread; yet, by the assistance of the Almighty, we all escaped to land with the fore-sail, with which, and the help of two long poles, we erected a small tent for the purpose of keeping off the insufferable heat, and scorching influence of the sun." (p. 35) I think it's notable that the reason given for making the tent was not as shelter while sleeping.

Well, legally, you could sell slaves and the contracts for indentured servants at this time. You couldn't legally sell pressed or forced men. Perhaps it could be done in black market fashion, although I've never heard of any such thing. They did trade surgeons between ships in Roberts' fleet. I know of no money changing hands as a result, though.

I believe surgeons and navigators on pirate ships are referred to as 'pressed' or 'forced' men in court documents. The difference is probably negligable from a 'freedom' POV, but they were there to do a particular thing, not to serve as laborers.

From my research, cork stoppers absolutely existed during the golden age of piracy. They are are discussed in a wide variety of English cookbooks dating to the early 17th century (1609 is the earliest one I have, although there may be others). Not only that, there are references to corked amphora bottles from ancient Rome! They sort of disappeared during the Middle Ages and then reappeared some time in the 15th century when glass bottles began to gain favor. They would have been straight (not tapered like those you often see in old bottles) and hand cut. You can read more about them on this page of my medical containers article. There are also a wide variety of bottle styles from this time period which include onion bottles. (I did not focus on onion bottles, but they were definitely around throughout the golden age of piracy from what I found.) Probably the most popular style of bottle found on shipwrecks from the 17th century is the case bottle, a square based, sloping side bottle packed in cases. (Thus the name.) The sloping sides made it easier to remove the bottle from the open molds they were made in. This style would have been ideal for transporting liquids that were shipped in bottles (as opposed to casks). Case bottles are usually made of green glass, which (oddly enough) can vary in hue from brown to green to blue. (I go into a lot of detail on period glass on this page of my article.) Case bottles would look like these:

I finally sat down and researched medicine containers used by the sea surgeon, an important part of making a medicine chest. You can find the article here.

Rather behind the times, I just went in search of that reference. There are other references to Bellamy flying a skull and cross bones (the trial of the survivors of the Whydah, for example), but I'm chasing down all the odd flag references at the moment. The CSPC, vol. 29, p.230 is indeed a letter from Hamilton dated Dec. 14 1716, and it does mention attacks by Bellamy in the Mary-Anne, but it does NOT mention Bellamy's flag. Good. Marley's general tone sort of annoyed me.

Based on what he said on Facebook in the Authentic Pirate Living History group, Ed seems to have already figured out that it is Moody. There he explains that he found this reference in the Calender of State Papers.

The background in that last image is the most interesting part to me. (Note: This image is copyright of the Harris Museum & Art Gallery. I include this only so I don't see it in a year and use it on my website. )

Since April of this year I've been working on an article about medicines in use on a ship during the golden age of piracy: The Sea Surgeon's Dispensatory. This includes medicines that would have been listed in a Sea Surgeon's Pharmacopoeia or Dispensatory. (Books containing medicines, their recipes and uses.) The first half of this article is about the history of medicines including the two primary theories about medicinals, how medicines were used including their variety, forms and efficacy, how medicines were obtained with a special focus on sea surgeons and sailors use of medicines overseas and the ways different types of medicines were kept viable at sea. It also looks at the different types of books explaining the medicine from the golden age of piracy as well as the books written by sea and military surgeons containing prescriptions for medicines, with short biographies of their authors. The first half is completed with an examination of medicine concerns specific to sea surgeons. The second half of the article contains 450 medicines found in the three sea surgeon's manuals I felt were most relevant to the period. It includes 284 medicines from John Woodall's various editions of the surgions mate (published 1617, 1639 and 1655), 152 medicines from John Moyle's 1693 Chiurgius marinus with the addition of 29 compositions recommended by Moyle to be made as needed and 118 medicines from apothecary Dr. John Tweedy's "Bill for Medicines" for a privateering voyage undertaken in 1743. Each medicine tells which authors list it, what type of medicine it is, the humoral properties of the medicine if they are specified, the prescription for how to make the medicine if it is a compound or chemical medicine and the uses of the medicine.

This is actually not a very easy question to answer because of the limited evidence. However, Elena makes a good point, it would most likely depend on the circumstances of the ship. A ship would probably not make landfall just to bury the dead, even though the Christian ecclesiastical tradition said that burials of Christians must be in consecrated ground. (Most golden age pirates were originally from Christian nations, so despite the modern idea that they would be godless, they would most likely have a Christian background and largely Christian beliefs.) However, stopping in port caused all sorts of delays in a journey, so the tendency would be not to do so unless absolutely necessary. Since a body could not be well preserved and putrifying flesh was thought to poison the air and cause illness, it wouldn't make sense to keep the body on board if they couldn't stop. Merchant ship captain Edward Barlow expresses this tendency not to stop for the burial of dead sailors in his Journal in an entry from 1672 [emphasis mine]: "[1672] …and whilst we were in sight of that island [‘Anyam’] died on board of us a merchant, one Master Cook, which we brought from Bantam along with us, having long been sick of a consumption... And he being dead, had a coffin made for him and was thrown overboard, his honor being washed away, and all his riches affording him no better grave than the wide ocean…" (Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, Volume I, 1659-1677, 1934, p. 214), p. 223) Barlow also gave a (typical for him) rather dour account of the burial at sea of an average sailor: "[1672] And when he is dead then they did not think that he had been so bad as he was, nor so near his end. And when he is dead, he is quickly buried, saving his friends and acquaintance that trouble to go to the church and have his passing bell rung, nor to be at the charges of making his grave and his coffin, or to bid his friends and acquaintance to his burial, or to buy wine or bread for them to drink or eat before they go to the church, and none of all this trouble, but when he is dead to sew him up in an old blanket or piece of old canvas, and tie to his feet two or three cannon bullets, and so to heave him overboard, wishing his poor soul at rest, not having a minister to read over his grave, nor any other ceremonies, but praying to God for the forgiveness of his sins, and there he hath a grave many times wide and big enough, being made meat for the fishes of the sea as well as for the worms on land." (Barlow, p. 214) You might argue that rank or standing on a ship might make it more likely for a crew to want to bury an officer, but from British Royal Navy Reverend Henry Teonge's Journal we have this account: "[Mar 20, 1679] About sunsetting we went out about two leagues to sea, carrying our Captain in our barge, and there put him overboard, for we have no burying place on shore. We were accompanied with eight more boats, and all the commanders of the Hollanders, and English in the Road, and all the English merchants in Alicante. At our going off our ship fired forty guns; the Holldanders at least a hundred." (Henry Teonge, The Diary of Henry Teonge, Chaplain on Board H.M.’s Ships Assistance, Bristol, and Royal Oak, 1675-1679 Teonge, 1825, p. 246) In his Dialogues, Nathaniel Boteler suggests a bit more ceremony for rank, but not for burial: "It is a general custom also (as aforesaid) upon the death either of the Captain, Master, Master-Gunner, or any chief officer, that when the corpse is thrown overboard to its sea grave, to ring the knell and farewell with some guns; the which (as aforenoted) are always to be of an even number." (Nathaniel Boteler [butler], Boteler’s Dialogues, Edited by W. G. Perrin, Navy Records Society, 1929, p. 268) §§§§§§§§§§ I have a lot of notes from period sea journal on how the body was disposed of because it indirectly affects medicine. There's limited info on what pirates did with their dead because there are limited period sources for it. Here are some for buccaneers, pirates and privateers: "They [the buccaneers - note that these are not technically golden age pirates] spent the rest of the day [after taking el Fuerte del la Berra] demolishing the fort, burning the gun-carriages, spiking the guns, carrying their wounded on board their ships and buying their dead." (Alexander O. Exquemelin, Translated by Alexis Brown, The Buccaneers of America, 1969, p. 98) "The 28th of December, Mr. James Wase our [privateers - 'licensed' pirates, if you will, so technically not GAoP pirates] chief Surgeon died, and we buried him decently next Day, with our Naval Ceremonies as usual, being a very honest useful Man, a good Surgeon, and bred up at Leyden, in the Study of Physick as well as Surgery." (Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 2004, p. 215-6) "[April 16, 1709] About twelve we [privateers] read the Prayers for the Dead, and threw my dear Brother over-board, with one of our Sailors, another lying dangerously ill. We hoisted our Colours but half-mast up: We being first, and the rest, follow’d, firing each some Vollyes of small Arms." (Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 2004, p. 89-90) And our one golden age pirate account. This depicts a burial, but being the only account I have in my notes suggests that it is recorded because it is not typical. So make of that what you will. "Here, Captain [John] Halsey fell sick of a fever and died in 1716 and was buried with great ceremony. His sword and pistols were laid on his coffin, which was covered with a ship’s jack, and minute guns were fired. He was a brave man and died regretted by his men and the friends he had made in Madagascar. ‘His Grave was made in a garden of Water Melons and fenced in with Pallisades to prevent his being rooted up by wild Hogs, of which there are plenty in those Parts.’ [Johnson, The History of the Pirates, London, 1726]" (George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds, The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730, 1996, p. 40) Note that the buccaneer and pirate accounts recorded burial when the ship had already made landfall. This may also be true for the burial account by Rogers, although I am not certain of that. In my records of how the dead are disposed from period sea journals (the majority of which are merchant ship accounts) and of 18 recorded burials I have in my notes, 8 were on land and 10 were at sea. It should be noted that many of the burials on land occurred when the ship was already in port. §§§§§§§§§§ Pirates often operated close to land around close to land more than most merchant ships which were traveling from point A to point B. So they seem to be more likely to bury the dead on land from an opportunity perspective. They may or may not have been disciplined enough to bother with a more tedious land burial, although there is no evidence to support this either way. The one true pirate account I've found shows them more than willing to engage in the usual ceremony required to send off a dead sailor. Speaking of ceremony, here is a fairly detailed account of the ceremony accompanying the land burial of the supercargo [an individual hired to oversee the owner's rights on a merchant vessel]. Note the similarities to the burial of pirate Halsey: "[July 3, 1702] We buried our Super-Cargo here, (at) the back of the town among the Jews and Bannians’ burying place, as permitted by the Governor, with the usual ceremony of our colours and this sword and scabbard over the coffin, with 3 volleys of small shot over the grave, to the no small astonishment of the admiring Arabians [in the city of Aden]." (Francis Rogers, "The Journal of Francis Rogers", Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, Bruce S. Ingram, editor, 1936, p. 169) As I said at the beginning, it's not really that easy a question to answer. If pressed, I'd say if they were on land (or about to make land), they would bury the body there. If not, it would be buried at sea. There would be ceremony in the form of shots being fired (this is mentioned in several accounts of burial both on land and at sea) and possibly the dead's weapons being placed on their body. I had always intended to write an article about this, but there's just not that much material. It would make a good October (Halloween) article though...

There are two threads on English flags on the forum, but none that I recall about flags of other nations. (There are about a dozen on pirate flags, but since that doesn't seem to be your focus, I'll ignore them. I think one of them actually contains a list of threads on the topic of pirate flags that I created years ago.) Union Jack Size of a naval ensign? Nice job on the graphics, BTW.

I profiled Jaime in the last FTPI Surgeon's Journal. He used to live on Pigeon Key, which is where the old 7 Mile bridge goes. He's a nice guy.