HBlackthorne

A sand casting kit [from what I have seen] will only run like $60 and it works well for small items like buttons, pins, brooches,etc so a same piece maybe the size of a monopoly piece should work easily. You can get the lead free solder mentioned above works well for such items or you can but a softer pewter to use as well. I know a friend who made little space ships [for a ship based Warhammer style game] using a sand casting kit and they held up a full season of Faire [and are still going].

I have heard of people who put cedar or pine in their "garb bags". Further some would use incense like Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood, etc. Look at what Pirates were around wood, tar, spices,.....

Let us take this bit by bit and question by question. Question One- Who decides what makes a REAL pirate, other than the "dictionary definition" with each of the points on the "Laundry List" there is an exception to every rule. We all know not all Pirates were rapists. Some were [in their minds] good men who were "redistributing the wealth", others were slaves in their own right, and still others were sated by the willing women in the low dives they went to, so had no need to resort to Rape. Next comes the "Dictionary Definition" which you really cannot dispute. Last on the "Laundry List" is killing another person and frankly this one is the easiest to bypass as a re-enactor because most Gathers are war or fighting based [Civil War, WWII, Rev. War, etc] and "ability to kill" is assumed onto the character by the patrons. Caveat to this is while a Gather might be War based does not mean all of the re-enactors portray the soldiers, every War needs its civilians to support the troops. All of this "Laundry List " is based on the assumption that Pirates were " mean, villainous, and downright evil" but sadly that is not historically accurate. Too many people have a "Black or White" attitude when it comes to Pirates, they either believe the Disney-fied ideal or "vile, evil, rapist" ideal when in reality Pirates ran between both extremes. Most Pirates were somewhere int he middle, definitively not "upstanding law abiding citizens" but also not "Filthy McNasty the Mass Murdering Rapist". That being said most Pirate Re-enactors I meet do a pretty good job of portraying a Pirate while leaving the "downright illegal" things in the realm of innuendo and conversation as opposed to action. Question Two Having traveled the US doing Medieval and Pirate Faires I can honestly say that I have seen a squad of Nazi re-enactors at WWII Gatherings, seen a whole army of Confederate Soldiers [who would have been considered Slave Owners] at Civil War Gatherings, and a whole show focused on Conquistadors. Further, as I said above since Pirates were usually more in the middle of the extremes portraying a Pirate is not as morally wrong as some people would think. As re-enactors we portray the average pirate, the guy who for whatever reason has had to break the law to live, the guy who is being forced to break the law, the guy who is given permission by the Crown to break the law in other waters [Privateer], the guy who the local Law turns a blind eye to because he brings in goods and money to the area. Question Three There is no Moral line for all of us, just a legal one. Morals are a personal choice, if one person portrays a letch and a drunkard and feels morally that he can do this in public then by all means since he is not breaking any laws let him. If the next one portrays the "bristling with guns" pirate then let them. No matter what you do or say someone somewhere will be bothered by it, that is why you cannot place your morals on everyone. That being said a Show can choose who to hire or not hire based on their morals, but in doing so they are saying that the portrayal is contrary to what they want to represent not the portrayal makes that person less of a re-enactor.

All but three or so people in the group only have caplocks,.... I know there are at least 5 Flintlocks [A Blunderbuss, a rifle, and 3 pistols] spread throughout the Crews.

The Englewood Pirate Festival will "begin" Saturday Sept. 22nd at Englewood's on Dearborn [362 W Dearborn St. Englewood,FL] with the Governor's Masquerade Ball from 7pm to 11pm where the Pirates will sow a little mayhem and celebrate their arrival in the city while hiding from the Governor and his men. Attendees are requested to be in costume and masked to help the Pirates remain hidden. On Friday Sept. 28th the Pirates will walk the beachfront as they officially open up the Festival with the Pirate's Pub Crawl [starting around 7pm] ending at the White Elephant Pub [at some point in the night] behind which sits the Festival site Port Chadwick. Saturday Sept.29th at 10am starts the Festival itself in Chadwick Park with Live Steel Combat, Black-powder Demonstrations and Firing line, Stage Acts, Kid's Treasure Hunt, and many vendors in the Lafitte's Market. That night Governor Dumplin is having a massive party at the White Elephant Pub where he will pardon the wayward Pirates or face dire and embarrassing consequences. Sunday Sept 30th the Pirates celebrate their pardons with even more fighting, shooting, and trade as the Festival enters its final day. http://englewoodpiratefest.com/

Very nice pic above,....especially with the "painted effect". That is deserving to possibly be in a frame up on the wall of your Pirate Den....

Did not realize that those little signal cannons used 12gauge blanks,..always figured they were pre-loads [just smaller] like our BP crew use for the 3 pounder,......

It boggles my mind why someone would have a 12 gauge shell packed with their muzzle-loader gear in the first place. Personally, even when I store my ML gear here inside the house it is nowhere near any of the other firearms/gear,..I keep it totally separate. I am just glad noone was seriously injured in all of this.

No clue why but I originally pictured the skull as the sound board/base of the fiddle. Figured the "neck" would come out of the top of the skull and the bottom jaw would be elongated to have the "playing area" between the top teeth and the bottom teeth. Have to admit this looks right pretty as it were. Having the skull at the top of the neck with the inset coin and the map on the sound board gives it a certain flair.

I always kind of suspected the whole "Pirate Lord" thing, but honestly I (before any deep research) kind of figured it was more a term that stemmed from two possible ideas. One, being the idea that very successful pirates were "Lord of the Sea" or the creme of the crop compared to other pirates. Two, those Pirates who were successful enough to have large homes and/or country estates such as Blackbeard or Jean Lafitte (both of which had power and lands to a point) who were "country Lords" and Pirates therefor "Pirate Lords" would fit as a moniker. I always considered the "Pirate King" something similar to the "King of the Gypsies" , basically a story told to gullible merchants or city elders to make them believe the Pirate in front of them had power to make deals (like sparing the ship from further attack that voyage), lend weight to their claims (I am the Pirate Lord X and my ship will sink you easily,...why not give up without a fight, give up your cargo, and I will let you and your men live), or strike extra fear into the people (thats Pirate Lord X, you may only see one ship but he is bound to have more hidden around the point out there). That being said I, in my reading, have not come across the term in any other situation other than fiction,...though admittedly I have not done "deep research" into it.

The group in OH showed up to Great Lakes Medieval Faire and since I had my Traditions Caplock with me they invited me to a promo they were doing on Lake Erie, when I went to the meeting before the promo they examined my rifle and deemed the nipple too big. I did not argue I just asked why, got an answer about blowback, kindly thanked them and left,..went back to campground and had dinner. As to the NPS Certification figured it would be a basis for showing general knowledge of blackpowder,..but you make a good point about opposed fire at most shows.

Its not exactly horrible in my opinion,... but I agree its not good,......

It is interesting to me how every group has differing rules on Blackpowder, from basic safety [well working firearm clear of dings or abrasions of the muzzle] to more draconian rules [a group up in OH I visited while I was there limited nipple size due to the chance of blowback,..admittedly their "Gun Marshal" had received a near blinding injury from blowback from an overly large nipple]. Personally myself and the crew I work with will be going to St Augustine to the Fort in the near future to take the NPS Certification classes just to be able to have that "under our belt" for when we do visit other shows and offer ourselves to bolster a firing line. I would like to see a more widely accepted "General Rulset" for shows such as ours where it is easier for visiting crews to participate without having to fret over "how strict is this show compared to others I go to".

Jas. Hook, you have touched on my one issue with most past life regressions done by Psychics,..... seems we were all famous in our past lives,...lol. In the case of Blackbeard it might make a bit of sense though considering the story goes it took multiple shots and many stabs to kill him and after he was beheaded and the body tossed overboard it swam around the ship a few times,.... all those souls encapsulated in his body gave him multiple lives,...each shot took care of one soul as did each stab, then as the body was swimming around more souls slowly left till he was empty,..... In all seriousness though I truly believe we [as re-enactors or historical entertainers whichever you prefer to be called] all have had past lives,....be they butcher, baker, candlestick maker, or famous pirate,... and those lives touch on our love of our craft,....