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,....

I am in N Central FL and have opened my home to friends who live in mobile homes. Figure a brick house on 12 acres with a 100ft deep Swiftmud flood canal butting up to the back yard is safer than a Trailer in Tampa/St. Pete. Have plenty of Hurricane Lamps, a large grill [with a freezer full of meat], and plenty of floor space. If the storms are bad, we are safe,...if the storms are minimal, we all had a BBQ and shared time together,....

My views on past lives and connections to specific famous people notwithstanding, the idea is a interesting one. Personally, due to a few "psychics" readings and my own personal dreams, I believe that I have had many past lives and all of them end similarly [shot, stabbed, or otherwise pierced in the back by a younger man over a woman] so the idea of past lives makes sense to me. As for what you experienced I believe it is possible that you were in fact a Pirate or a Privateer in a past life. My view is what or who we were in the past does very much affect our present. If you are drawn to the idea of the "Pirate life" and if you feel that odd "call to the mast" then it is quite possible you were a sailor in a past life. I have a friend who in his daily life has a code of honor and a chivalry about him that when he goes to RenFaire and put on his garb he is more comfortable than wearing slacks and a shirt,.... he is a "man of the court" to his very marrow and only gets to fully let that part of him out at Faire though that Code of Honor and Chivalrous attitude permeates his day to day life as well. If there is an aspect of you that is an "Anachronism" in this time,..if you are a "man out of Time",...then you may very well be touched by your past life,....

Since I am working on a list myself, I figure you all might have some ideas as well. I know some of us will have a CD with "pirate music" on it to listen to on the way to a show site or what-have-you, but taking that idea a bit further,....the question is what movies would you put on a list for something to watch before a show [like maybe the two days preceding it] to get in to that right mindset? Now this does not necessarily mean the best portrayals or costuming or anything like that,....but what movies give you the right "vibe" or "feeling" to put you mind in the right space to play a pirate?

Morgan was that "The Buccaneer" with Yul Brynner from 1958 or another movie? I truly hope not because I have to actually go buy a copy on DVD [all I have is a VHS i have had for years]. Yul Brynner did a pretty good job in that movie, admittedly the clothing was off [more the material than the pattern] and it had many stereotypes in it, but all in all it was a good movie that did show the "use" of Pirates and Privateers to an area. Plus Brynner just has that presence that makes you believe him in most any part,...lol.

While its not quite a "Pirate Movie" Mel Gibson was in a Naval Movie,...he was in "The Bounty" along with Anthony Hopkins. It was, to my recollection because its been a few years, a decent movie and had good acting in it. As for "Treasure Island" I plan on buying the DVD soon myself after seeing bits of it on SyFy. I am actually gathering some movies together for "preparation" or "mindset"movies for upcoming shows and plan on having Treasure Island [the SyFy and the Disney versions] on the list.

Just for giggle Mission I have to ask do you have the "cure for drowning" one anywhere? I used to watch this BBC show called QI [it was hosted by Steven Frye] and one of the questions involved a bellows looking instrument with a small bowl on it and the question was "what was this item used for". Turns out in London in the late 1700s these bellows were all along the Thames and the coastal areas and were used to resuscitate a drowned person by, I kid you not, filling the bowl with tobacco and blowing smoke up the persons rear end. And supposedly once when it was found to be "snake oil" the term "blowing smoke up your bum" became the term for being lied to or being told falsehoods. I did the research and it was a true "medical device". Here is the QI segment,..sadly I cannot find the other stuff,.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeEvP6QCpw8

Oh I love when people ask me about "The Code as set down by Morgan and Bartholomew", it gives me a chance to play around with how ships articles worked. Well, a least I enjoy it if they are just Disney-fied people instead of Drunken Idiots. It can be kind of fun explaining the difference between what the popular media shows of pirates and what reality probably was. I had [seems I lost them about 3 months back] the ships articles for Morgan and Black Bart so I can actually show them the Codes of both along with a few others I had. That all being said I can get behind the issue with Psedo-History,.... but I enjoy the books that show "History from another viewpoint" like the one I saw that had Jean Laffitte as someone who was trying to stabilize the Bayou area of New Orleans despite the government because he had a love for the area and its people. Did it make him a faultless patriot,..no not really it still allowed for the fact he was a pirate and a bit bloodthirsty,..... basically the book painted him as a hard and tough outlaw who had a decent plan for "his city" and handled it well whose actions also helped New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Wish I could find that book again because it was kind of an interesting read.

Ok,.... I stumbled on this trying to look into other peoples research and I know I am new to the forum but hey figure I drop my 2 shilling in on it. First off, having met Crispy at a few shows and having him save my butt after one of my stage shows [street fair we both did were I was on asphalt doing my "how to be a pirate" kid show and did not realize how dehydrated I was Crispy kindly ran off and got me a chilled drink when he realized I was real close to passing out] I think Crispy kind of falls into the same general area I do when it comes to the idea of Re-enactment. I try not to tout myself or the Crew I work with as Historical Re-Enactors,..we use Historical Entertainment,.... we strive to be as accurate as we can within the limits of comfort and weather [wool in FL summer is not good idea] and try to balance that with recognizably of "known pirate". A few examples being, like what is discussed in this thread, beads and accoutrements. Ok,..historically speaking we know that beads and such were trade items so having a few on your hat [on a thong] or a few strings wrapped around it as a hatband would be an easy way to carry barter goods. Also [and I know the time frame is off but it still makes sense] Vikings would wear hammered silver jewelry that could be easily broken off to use as coinage so it is feasible for a pirate to have a similar idea by wearing whatever jewelry they could get and using the medallions as trade items. Now like with anything this can be taken too far ofcourse, I mean someone with strands and strands of beads in their hair does "jump the shark" as it were. Its all about moderation. Personally, from what I know of Crispy [and I am not trying to speak for the man or anything this is just my view of him] he portrays a more wild man pirate that is meant for entertainment over extreme accuracy. I am similar in my portrayal,.... I look for things that fit in the general timeframe that would be possible and incorporate them into my character. I carry some beadworked items on my baldric,.... they look good and since they are cheap I can pop a bead off and give them as tokens to kids. I have a few coins on a thong on my sash as well,..I use them as a teaching tool [again for kids] as to the fact that currency was widely varied at that time [what they actually are are my screw ups trying to cast some pirate coins,... they are misshapen or have bubble holes in them so I found a use for them]. My cutalss is actually a 1876 British infantry saber that I changed the grip on meaning the biggest difference is its a thinner blade than it would have really been and is slightly longer than it would have been but it fits my hand and I can swing it for Stage Combat. So, to my mind in moderation on each person [and to that persons character] such things can work. Admittedly unless you have a back story putting you in the Pacific sea lanes a bone in the nose is a bit much but hey if you can back it up my all means do it. All this being said I really thing that as long as you have a general reason for why you have something out of the ordinary and its not a huge anachronism you should be ok,...as long as you are not at a show that is billed as True History. I always try to learn just how much of a Stitch-Dalek the promoters of a show are before going,...if they are the type who want detailed notations of the accuracy of your gear [and yes we all know these shows exist] I either fit in or do not go,...if they are more the type to say "nothing obviously modern if you are cast" then its easier on me [heck I used to carry a hidden digital watch on me sometimes sewn into a piece of leather and ties to the bottom of a clear bottomed tin mug,..you cannot see it unless you lift the mug up to your face and peer down into it]

After re-reading this I offered no documentation for any of my points other than generalizations and thereby broke the rules of the forum and for that I am sorry. I know I cannot remove the comment so I will edit it with the addendum that I see now where I messed up and again apologize.

I am so very glad I found this thread since I have been almost literally tearing my hair out [and since my hair is down to my waist that's a LOT of hair] trying to get some flags up and going. Our original flag was sewn by a friend from a very lightweight cotton [its what we had in the house when we realized that we really should have a flag for the parade in a few days] and while it was acceptable it was really low end work and promptly fell apart after a weekend of use. We then made due with a "generic pirate flag" that we found at a Goodwill which instead of being some modern material seemed to be cotton [we figure it was an old replica flag from 50s possibly used in some Parade or something]. Well now the Captain wants to get our flag back up and flying so since I am one of the few with time on my hands I said I would do it. I have on its way some cloth, what I assume is a naval signal flag for a cruise ship, that I will use as a basis for a flag. The colors are the ones I want and are already weathered. I figure this would probably have been one way they would have done it back then, re-purposing captured flags for material and sewing it all together. Imagine you are a merchant vessel and after a mutiny you go Pirate. Well you have your signal flags and your national flag,... tar the Nation flag thereby darkening it [or if anyone knows how to dye then just dye it a dark color] then use the signal flags to sew on whatever insignia you want. You have all kinds of options just with those alone. Personally I will be going that route for some of the flags and a "well made" route for others,...I plan on having both a weathered version and a newer version of our flags just in case we need them.