Frtiz

One barrel done, four still to go.

@ William Brand

Thank you very much, mate.

This is my garb so far.

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/reenactment%20flying%20gang/Anprobe1.jpg?_subject_uid=341644189&w=AAByIVf223XNYsHJZLOfLaRhk2csfjlspJwiOiVf1lemQA

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/reenactment%20flying%20gang/Anprobe2.jpg?_subject_uid=341644189&w=AAAKIGjA7p6FkNeDxOITUoS0GoFfTSNz9EylRTW8BP7_lA

I know it is rather plain and boring compared to the fancy rags some of you guys strut in. But when it comes to reenactment I am going for a simple common style. However, there's still a lot to do. So please feel free to comment, if you would like to.

It's not sticker shock. Although I know tailors that do a whole uniform for 700 $ and not just the coat I think the prices are fair. Stunned is just what I feel comparing the fit of their clothes with the fit of my own crations. But I think a sloppy fit is okay for slops.

Thanks for the link jendobyns. After looking at their gallery I'm actually stunned.

Sorry for bumping this thread. I am eager to start completing my kit. So any help would be very much appreceated.

I was searching for something completely different when I was cross-reading through Woodards The Republic of Pirates and just stumbled over the following lines: "Within hours (of capturing the Sultana), the pirates captured a second ship, a clumsy merchant vessel under a Captain Tosor, who had been sailing for Campeche under the protection of the Sultana's guns. Tosor's vessel was plundered and, because the pirates were running increasingly short of manpower, several of his men were forced into service. Tosor himself was allowed to proceed on his way to Campeche in his ship. One of Bellamy's crewmen, Simon Van Vorst, a twenty-four-year-old Dutchman born in the former Dutch city of New York, later recalled seeing many of the forced men "cry and express their grief" at their fate."

Most likely this is the same Simon Van Vorst, but he would still be English because Nieuw Amsterdam became New York in 1664. So it was English before Simon Van Vorst was born. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Besides, you don't happen to have a cool jaeger you could borrow my piratical persona?

That is interesting. I already assumed that someone with knowledge and professional background would be able to identify a certain vessel, especially when considering that during GAOP they were handcrafted one of a kind pieces. Certainly it was not enough to rename a captured vessel and change some rigging to fool someone who knows what he is looking at.

So how could it be that pirates often misjudged ships? Was it really often? I don't think so. The usual account reads more like "they took two fishing boats here, three trading sloops there and a merchantman the next day". Considering the proportion of correct judgements and wrong ones I would not use the term often. Roberts took about 200 ships before he was taken by HMS Swallow. Even Rocky Marciano would be proud of that record. As far as I recall HMS Swallow was the attacker. So the fight was not the result of a misjudgement by Roberts and his crew.

The only written account of Lows encounter with HMS Greyhound I managed to find in my small library comes form Peter Earle (The Pirate Wars): "The hero of the hour was Captain Peter Solgard of HMS Greyhound, a "rowing 6th-rate" with 20 guns and 130 men. In the early hours of 10 June 1723, he sighted the two pirate sloops of Edward Lowe and his consort Charles Harris, each with eight or ten guns and some 175 men between them. He tacked and sailed away from the pirates to encourage them to give chase and then, when they had closed, went about and bore down on them."

So fine Mr. Solgard used some trickery to lure the pirates in by acting like a merchantman under attack would have done. Maybe Low was really fooled and did not recognize the Greyhound. But maybe he did and thought the advantage was on his side with him being two against one, having more men and roughly even firepower. Pirates did attack bigger vessels - even well armed ones - when they were desperate to trade their sloops up for something more powerful.

I don't want to argue that there weren't misjudgements. Stede Bonnets decision to slug it out with a Spanish warship made him suffer bigtime. As we know Bonnet was not the typical pirate. Bellamy and La Buse were a different calibre and they had to break off from attacking a French frigate of 40 guns wich they tried to capture. So misjudgements happened, but I dare say not often.

According to Colin Woodard (The Republic of Pyrates) the merchant captain that picked Vane up did not recognize him. It was Holford who recognized Vane, a retired buccaneer that became a merchant captain himself. Holford arrived with his vessel at the anchorage before the merchant left the island Vane was stranded on. Spotting his old friend Vane on the ship, Holford went straight to the captain and revealed his true identity.

George Lowther was attacked by Walter Moore while he careened his sloop on the island Blanco or Blanquilla. A general history of the pyrates: "The Eagle Sloop of Barbadoes, belonging to the South-Sea Company, with 35 Hands, commanded by Walter Moore, coming near this Island, in her Voyage to Comena [Cumana], on the Spanish Continent, saw the said Sloop just careen'd, with her Guns out, and Sails unbent, which she supposed to be a Pyrate, because it was a Place where Traders did not commonly use, so took the Advantage of attacking her, as she was then unprepared; the Eagle having fired a Gun to oblige her to show her Colours, the Pyrate hoisted the St. George's Flag at their Top-Mast-Head, as it were to bid Defiance to her; but when they found Moore and his Crew resolved to board them in good Earnest, the Pyrates cut their Cable, and hauled their Stern on Shore, wich obliged the Eagle to come to an Anchor a-thwart their Hawse, where she engaged them till they called for Quarters and struck; at wich Time Lowther an twelve of the Crew made their Escape out of the Cabin window."

So Moore recognized the pyrates by their behavior.

A: Careening a vessel on a remote island. A merchant would use a harbour facility to careen.

B: Showing signs of panic and hostility when he tries to engage them. The captain of a legal vessel most likely would have asked Moore to come aboard for a chat.

Was the world really so small back than that pirates could be recognize so easily.

I think the answer could be yes. Otherwise the pardon of King George would not have been so appealing to the pyrates of the Flying Gang.

[The origin of the word is 'donder busch' or thunder gun in German.

Although Dutch and Deutsch (German) are closely related and were even more so in earlier times I am sure that "donderbusch" is Dutch, not German. "Donder" is Dutch for thunder (German: "Donner") and "busch" seems to be an older spelling for "bus" which is similar to the German word "Büchse". "Büchse" literally means tin or can, regarding firearms it is usually translated with hunting rifle nowadays. But the word "Büchse" clearly predates the invention of the rifle. One of the earliest firearms named "Büchse" were guns like this:

http://www.intermundus.de/site2.0/wehrundwaffen/img-wehrundwaffen/bums2.jpg

To make things even more confusing this early version of a gun was nicknamed "Donnerrohr" (thunder valve).

My two pence on Loyalist Arm's shoes - Best Around! Have had mine now since their first batch and still hanging in strong! As for buckles - I have worn through Three Pair now - shoes last longer then the buckles themselves - and Yes, just e-mail Loyalist, or give them a call and they will send ye a pair of buckles in no time at all (well, about two or three weeks to arrive on the west coast)

Thats good to know. I bought shoes from Loyalist because they are the best looking shoes for their price and have the correct buckles.

@ GoF

Thank you for the manual how to fit that kind of buckles on the latches. It helped a lot.

FWIW, having made and worn the garments mentioned in the Admiralty slop contracts, I am 99% certain that the 'waistcoats' of Welsh red or ticking were the 'sailors' jackets' that we identify in pictoral evidence (though I acknowledge that several pictures show another garment under the 'jacket'). The grey kersey jacket comes out longer (based on the 1730s measurements) than the jackets shown in the pictures and is a superb warm and waterproof overcoat rather than every day wear.

When the waistcoats looked like the sailors or working men jackets I wonder what the grey kersey jackets would have looked like. Would they resemble frockcoats or the outermost garment of "the sea gunner"?

http://pic100.pictur...55/85757518.jpg

The 15 buttons mentioned in the slop contracts do not match such a style of coat, I think.

Could anyone give me a hint were to learn more about these 1730s measurements?

I've actually just stumbled across what nickers might be refering too. It was what Marbles were called back then:

"The word "marble" was not used to represent the round toy ball made from various stones until 1694 in England. It was then that marble stone was being used for the toy and was being imported from Germany. Before this time, the English adopted the Dutch word "knikkers" for marbles. The word "knikker" was used by New York City children well into the 19th century."

Obviously this makes the reference I found to a child being given money to buy nickers make more sense. They were mainly small clay balls back then. It does however seem strange that John Chapman would have them in his belongings. Unless they were items he bought along as a keepsake or to trade. I wouldnt imagine that marbles would be a great game for sailors to play on a swaying ship.

Also they are listed under clothing in his inventory so this might be totally wrong.

We still call them Knicker today in some parts of Germany. The first k is not voicelesss. It is spoken and the Dutch surely have spoken it as well. Maybe the term was common enough to change its pronounciation to fit the English fashion. So by the usually dodgy spelling of this era the knickers became nickers.