Swashbuckler 1700

Here is perhaps well know pic I am going to analyse this circa 1730 painting of merchant captain and his look because it is fun. While this pic proves that even captain would dress practical clothing there some notes that I make. When I first saw this pic I I thought that " that is a plain looking captain but that is not the case. - note the coat it is not justakorps but it is fur edged and actully to me it seems to be bit snobby... fur is after all not very cheap - He holds an Elton quadrant and stands against a background of rocks. The prominence given to the experimental quadrant may indicate that the sitter is Elton himself or someone closely associated with him, possibly Captain Walter Hoxton. He was captain of the ship 'Baltimore' and tested Elton's quadrant on a voyage from the Thames to Maryland and back in 1730 (note that his clothing seems to be mande for cold weather and it can get cold in north atlantic where he sailed. So slaver captain in West-Indies would use bit lighther gear) - He is young and thus maybe his wealth is only accumulating so perhaps he looks a little plain. Compare him with that earlier pic of EIC captain -Hat is a fur cap with odd looking peak. While it is not perhaps good looking it is not the cheapest one and it is bit bigger than the common sailors's fur caps. - a Sahs and a sword are quite pretty looking. Some website says that that is hanger but to me it looks like small sword... - His head is bald. I believe that reason to that is that he is not using his wig on the sea. I have seen some pics of gentleman withouth wigs from this period and the look is the same. this other pic also gives you impression that even captain would not use wig while at sea. Note that both captains use a scarf/ turban type thing to cover his bald head. So perhaps that first captain is not plain after all. The latter pic is from 1740s.

Say, do you know the artist on this one? I wonder what that thing that she's holding over his head is supposed to be? A little bag of money? Another good picture for the sailors wearing earrings thread! Yep good sourse for earrings. they seems to be dutch style since there is 2 other pics of Dutch. one which makes pare with this (they are from 1695) and other from year 1720(so in the GAoP see this pic in this tread http://pyracy.com/index.php/topic/6921-an-earring-for-your-perusal/page__st__20 . But it is good to note that it seems to mainly Dutch style and there were only some Dutch pirates (but there were) but real popularity of earring seems to be quite small. Also this kind of earrings are different that those Hollywood's or Pyle's hoops. Still it really well plausible that some pirates had earrings and since there is these pics it is not completely myth. Two different artists have put earrings to sailor so it is certainly not artistic error and thus good evidence.

I don't have heard anyting about Bb's surgeon... BTW Did blackbeard reallythreatened to burn Boston to the ground if they would (authorities in Boston) hang Bellamy's men... Like this bage says http://archive.field...ydahsloss_2.asp

More pics... some of these are just sligtly later time that GAoP. Spanish captain c.1700

Ah, a most enjoyable critique by Foxe. I have a question about the above point, though. I've just been reading through one of the General History accounts and I didn't find anything about Blackbeard's "forcible conscription of surgeons." So where would that fact be found? I am reading (by a rather bizarre set of circumstances) a 1748 version of the book. Is it in another edition? I am not sure did i get what here is going but. It is likely that those surgeons or medicines were for Bb's crew and the crew had syphilis (from the Bahamas or who knows were ) but it is just a theory...

Great help for parents who have kids who are interested in pirates (to get the kids to sleep on the rigth time) "pirates too went bed early" Good points there. I think all those were reasons for that ligths out on 8 thing... after all in articles of a only dozen of rules there is no need room for useless rules.

I find it funny that often books like many gordingly's and others say someting like "classical skull and cross bones were used only by some pirates but it was not only style in Jolly Rogers"(or at least they deemphasize the classic tsyle's popularity) and in fact it was really one of the most common desings but not only one. I have done only some study over the years and really most common flags were skull and bones, just a skull or some anatomys or skeletons... That nassau story can be real but we will newver know... Oh and it was Cassandra's officers who described England's J Roger.

When I first read this article, I wondered at its purpose. It may be as is stated, but I was thinking it may also have to do with a drunken man setting fire to the ship (as is the implied purpose of Philip's article 5 and Low's article 10.) Counter to it (in a way - a rather thin way...) is Article 1, which states that each man has "equal title to the fresh provisions, or strong liquors, at any time seized, and may use them at pleasure..." It could also have to do with men being unfit for service in the morning which is related to the point being made in this comment to the article. I believe that meanig of this one is one of these possibilities 1. The fire risk in wooden ships 2. he wanted to sleep without glimmer of any light 3. He wanted that in night his ship would be hard to see e.g to hunting man of wars and thus he wanted to decrease chance of surprise attack in the midle of the night. 4. He wanted to save candles I would not say roberts to be entirely sober man. Accordingly GHoP he drank some beer.(note that aroud this time beer was not held as real boose) but he was certainly not an alcololic and did not liked that he crew caroused all the time.

Well if his intelligence was good it would have told that those sloops had no cannons and BB thought perhaps that he and his crew could win with little hangover. He was almost about to won but then there came that Maynar's surprise of hidden men. BB perhaps didn't believe that he would get captured and thus didn't destroyed E.g letter from Tobias Knight. I am not very sure how many sailors could read or write but certainly only few and thus the risk that crew would read captains books was minimum. BB was apparently well educated and because of his talents he got the captains place. Maybe that entry of GHoP is real and BB was writing that stuff just because he was bored (not new on sailing ships to get bored) and got pen and paper in his hands....

Diaries and list's of prizes and loot would open way to check which loot come from which vessel (and when but that is no important) and then ensure that no one is cheating while dividing the spoils. So if there was't need to diary there was need for somekind of accounting that in court's hands would be good evidence against pirates (so would be pirate articles and they wrote those still). I say that that kind of logic don't always apply to pirates e.g "why use pirate flag and tell others that you are pirate". but you have good point there and I do not mock anyone.

This goes under this tread: R. Platt's book "Pirate" (one of those good books and easy to read) says that there was sailmaker widow that sewed pirate flags for brandy pay. This was in nasssau. But is this just a story? If there truth in it it could explain why so many of those nassau pirates's flags were quite similar (if she sewed similar flags). At least John Taylor, Sam Bellamy, John Martel and Edward England all used classic desing with skull and bones. I am interested also which pirate flags were described by victims. I think that Wynne's flag and england's flag were both described by victims but is there much more. To give some comfort I post some real flag desings to to brighten up this thread's look. All of these should have somekind of period mention but that is the style 100% autentic it is unlikely. B. Roberts' Ed. Low's E. Wynne's Ed. England's

Gee you've become jaded. Not everything in those books is wrong. If you don't trust the General History at all, you can't really build much of an image of what it must have been like to be a pirate, which you have stated in another post is your intention in asking all your questions. There are multiple errors in other period books and documents, as the Alexander Hamilton discussion proved. If you can't accept anything that isn't completely, provably accurate no reference is going to be good enough for you. (Even Foxe makes mistakes...) No I don't mean that. I personally believe that there is much more true than false in general history. same with most other books like "Kordingly's. everybody makes mistakes including me, you, Foxe, Constam and Kordingly... maybe I used too extreme language because English is not my mother tongue... I trust in some point books and people but I just ment that people should not blindly believe everyting... fortunately all here are smart people...

I think pirate diaries would be burned by pirates if they got captured... Image in court there is dang good evidence agains you if your diary has fallen to court's hads and in the diary there reads someting like "and in 7.11 we captured this vessel" etc...

Since Blackbeard's sloop Adventure was taken largely intact, with even his letter from the deputy governor of North Carolina recovered, Johnson's statement that Blackbeard's journal was captured is plausible. But except for that one excerpt, the journal is apparently lost to history. Nowhere have I seen any portion of it reproduced except the one Johnson reports. According to an article on About.com, the Journal never existed and Johnson made that up. Where does that come from? The author lists Cordingly's Under the Black Flag and Konstam's The World Atlas of Pirates as references. Is it in one of those? (I don't own Komstam's book. I'll try to remember to check Cordingly if I can find it.) It does sort of make sense, though. I can't believe if Blackbeard left a journal with such interesting comments in it that more of it wouldn't be published somewhere. Unless it's in a private collection or something. (That would make a helluva McGuffin for a crime novel, you know...or a book about treasure hunting. The movie could star Nicholas Cage.) I personally don't give too much tribute to Johnson or even these newer writers Gordingly and Constam. Still both have lots of good stuff in their books but there is never a book which people should read without some criticism. Gordingly has been tricked with pirate flags etc. and Constam cannot even remember dates many of his books claims stuff like Tsede Bonnet died in 1719 or Bart Roberts in 1723.... Still like I said those writers are quite good....

Say, do you know the artist on this one? I wonder what that thing that she's holding over his head is supposed to be? A little bag of money? It is autentic but artist is unknown to me... That bag seems to money bag... payment for her services

more interesting pics here Following pics are dutch sailor from 1695-1730 so from Gaop

Note the simiralities of the admiral and other oficer's dress... admiral english and it is by dutch artists and other from the french one...

I think it is bit propaganda stuff. How our (french picture) brave officers defy death to serve our king....

Hi I would to share some pictures about GAoP period... you may know these but some perhaps don't Captain Robert Knox of the East India Company French naval officer circa 1700 English admiral circa 1700

Yeah that is what others should do whyyy they don't do that in books... there is plenty of differnce between buccaneers and GAoP pirates.

I mean that often buccaneers and pirates are put together in books etc. then they just say what pirates did and you cannot be sure did they mean buccaneers or pirates...

(sorry bit offtopic)This brings me mind that problem that really often book makers e.g puts buccaneers and pirates together and then says what pirates were like... often Gaop is said to period 1650-1730 and books say like that the pirates in mid 17th century were same group whith pirates of 1700s.. and it is not true since there is many differences between buccaneers and pirates...

In google search I found this forum http://www.forums.py....php?f=19&t=209