Zaknesbitt

Benerson Little in Buccaneer's Realm says they covered their hulls with different combinations of pitch, tar, lime and tallow.

Brain Lavery in his extensively researched book "the arming and fitting of english ships of war 1660-1815" explains that vessels of the period used 'black stuff' which was a mixture of tar and pitch, which is consistent with what Little says, however he specifies that vessels going on foreign service favoured 'white stuff' a mixture of train oil, rosin, brimstone or sulphur, because it was believed to prevent the shipworm from eating through hulls. Conversely he says that by the turn of the 18th century white stuff had all but fallen into disuse simply due to it costing twice to three times as much as black stuff, and that tripling still when supplies for rosin were cut off from the Baltic by war.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=djwmMDm48uwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=brian+lavery+arming+and+fitting+of+english+ships+of+war&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UV_OVJLSA8LHsQTAj4HgBA&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=white%20stuff&f=false

HOWEVER, the two period references I have found to what sloops bottoms were coated with, the first being the description of Bellamy's sloop Marieanne in late 1717 and the second a visual reference, the painting of the sloop Devonshire from 1720, both depict each vessel as having white underbellies, with Bellamy's sloop specifically being defined as being coated with "White lead".

SO my question is - do we have any specific references as to what was the preferred material for coating vessel's hulls during careening by West Indian privateers/pirates/sea-rovers during the Golden Age? White stuff? Black stuff? Tallowing, or a different combination of materials?

Keep in mind also that our modern idea of calico being a thin plain cotton was at this time called muslin, and that the 'calico' Johnson is likely referencing is what we today would call chintz or 'printed calicoes', which was then simply known as calico, very vibrant and colourful fabrics (albeit still made from cotton): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chintz

I think you missed something in that quote - "tied around their Head, AND A HAT ABOVE." The practice of wearing a cloth around the head under the hat has been documented before for this period. It's a practice that helps with issues such as preventing the oils of the body (via the head) soiling a hat, making a hat fit better, or (the most relevant in this case) to help with the rub/fit of a hat against a bare scalp or short-haired scalp. If we are talking about gentlemen, gentlemen wore wigs during this period. Wearing a wig usually required cutting of the hair or keeping very short hair. Unfortunately for the wearer, the rubbing and regrown of hair also caused itching.

I never missed that, I just thought the whole notion of the handkerchief on the head (incl. under a hat) was an historical anathema - aside from that Cry from Laroon of course. Fascinating. Well, glad to be informed. Thank you Brit Privateer :) Now was this practice strictly applied to landsmen or would it also apply to sailors with their round caps and monmouth caps? I see no reason for it not to be from your reasons above listed… seems to be more a method of practicality than anything else, one that could be used anywhere.

Indeed, I always find more often than not descriptions of drawers listed among period clothing inventories, where there is no mention of breeches, my take on this is that they're saying that these men wore breeches with no underclothes (beyond their shirts) hence their coverings would be known as drawers as they were the lowest layer down, regardless if they were breeches or drawers (most likely the former), just worn without anything underneath them (which makes sense considering the climate).

The common Dress here is none of the most becoming, the Heat makes many clothes intolerable, and therefore the Men generally wear only Thread Stockings, Linen Drawers, and Vest, a Handkerchief tied around their Head, and a hat above.

Now, I know we've put to bed the idea of head-rags for sailors and seamen… BUT, this seems to be direct evidence that (at least common) colonists wore them. And these are from Jamaica to boot!!

Should we have any reason to believe that 40-20 years earlier it would have been any different, fashion changes accepted (which didn't change all that fast for commoners)??

I have read of soldiers/ cavelry wearing leather buff coats. I have considered doing this for my character when going into battle, though i did have a friend say it would not have held up well in the salt and the elements, then again, the boucaniers were supposed to have worn leather pants etc. so idk... I would like to be able to wear a leather buff coat, for battle demonstrations, seeing as my character has a sort of thing....

My favourite, Nathaniel Butler, said his preferred armour at sea was a good buff jerkin. There's no reason that a buff coat would have been any less hardy in salt water than any other item of leather clothing, including shoes, which have survived in numerous shipwrecks for hundreds of years.

Bear in mid though that a buff coat is not just leather, it's LEATHER. Really thick. Really really thick. Some proper reconstructions I've seen stand up by themselves, though some period artistic representations suggest a more supple (but no thinner) leather in use.

http://www.royalarmouries.org/learning/online-learning/littlecote-house-module/explore-littlecote-house-without-flash/great-hall-in-littlecote-house/buff-coats-and-baldricks

It appears that we are talking about a few periods different periods here. Now, I mainly concentrate on the later period of the late 17th and early 18th century. The references to buff coats appear to come from the English Civil War period. Now, besides caps, breeches, shoes, and the pockets of some garments (and the possibility of turning animal skins into clothing, but the only maritime sailor reference for the later period that I have is Alexander Selkirk, and that was an exceptional case); I have yet to find references to any other leather clothes for sailors of the later period I mentioned previously. Now, I would be real interested to see if other refernces could be found to anything else (the buff coats are kind of interesting), but for now I have no reason to think that there is anything else that would be added to that list for the later period for maritime use.

See my quote ^ from Ward's London Spy published in 1703 :)

Even more likely evidence for sailors wearing leather garments, comes from Ned Ward's London Spy, overhearing an if slightly exaggerated conversation of one-upsmanship between two 'tarpaulins' in a tavern in Billingsgate, 'I once was sitting upon my chest, between decks, mending an old canvas jacket. We had found by our observations that day we were within a few minutes of being under the Tropic of Cancer; and on a sudden it began to lower[not sure what], and the larboard watch handed in our sails, for fear of a tornado or a squall. At last a beam of lightning darted through an open port, melted one of the guns, went through a pair of buckskin breeches I had on, and burned the lappets of a blue shirt to tinder.'

A little unlikely, as are many a tars' tall tails, but the fact stands he said he was wearing buskin, and under the tropic of Cancer no less.

Actually, I've been sailing in the Caribbean, and even in our modern day, hot as it is ashore during the day time, it's a different story out at sea, especially at night; it can get fairly cold, with the wind chill and damp from the sea-air around you, indeed there were some nights when I would've loved a pair of 'mittings', and a sailor's jacket would've been a necessity.

Also, perhaps not fur, but there is evidence of sailors having thrum-caps in the West Indies... I believe it was the crew of Thomas Antis while they were having a mock-trial on the Isle of Pines.

An interesting description of Sailor's Slops comes to us from Ned Ward's book 'A Frolick to Horn-Fair', published in 1699. Fascinating because, it describes in detail the sailor-tenants of Deptford in their typical dress, including round-toed shoes, showing they were in vogue among sailors well before the 1706 slop contract.

Ward describes them as wearing 'New course[coarse] Cloth-coats, Speckled Breeches, Grey Stockins, Round-Toed Shoes, Picked Heels, stitch'd round the Quarters, ty'd on with Scarlet-Tape instead of buckles, with mittings on his hands, a Fur-cap on his Head, Arm'd with an Oaken Cudgel, with a Head as big as a four Pounder.'

Apparently this fashion was rather common, as Ward goes on to say, 'I observ'd they all, Spaniard like, kept up to one fashion, so that the same descripion would serve any I saw, with a very slender variation.'

Certainly does give us insight on how sailors dressed, at least when ashore in London.

Ahh, thanks for your research, I couldn't find the date on it, which is why I said I wasn't sure it was period.

Thanks for clearing that up :)

Still some good representations.

I'll just throw in my two bits of pictures that I've discovered that I've not yet come across in this here thread.

Portrait of the infamous Corsaire Jean Bart in his waining years, perhaps wearing a similar garment to the now equally infamous 'Leather Capps faced with Red Cotton, and lined with Black Linnen'

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Jean_Bart_mg_9487.jpg

This portrait is supposedly of the infamous Flibustier Laurens De Graaf, presented in the ideal image of a pirate, dashing figure, fine clothes, plumed hat and a slight, rakish smirk on his face.

http://henry-morgan.ru/eng/graff.jpg

Here's one of a French matelot, dressed in typical attire, including red cap and sash. Also, just to stoke the fire of the horizontal stripes debate, note his voluminous breeches.

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=585702&imageID=1235621&total=82&num=20&parent_id=585389&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=29&snum=&e=r

Not sure if this is period, however the style represented is, and looks rather like swashbuckler's recent posts.

A second matelot, this time in rather different attire, with a curious jacket and some 'open knee'd breeches', which makes me wonder whether he is part of a boat's crew or something like that: http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=585717&imageID=1235636&total=82&num=40&parent_id=585389&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=44&snum=&e=w

Also, from the same site, a French 'Marine Royal' http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=585703&imageID=1235622&total=82&num=20&parent_id=585389&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=30&snum=&e=w

And a 'Capitaine de Vaisseau'

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=585699&imageID=1235618&total=82&num=20&parent_id=585389&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=26&snum=&e=w

Huzzah!!! And well done!

Welcome aboard Zak! Lucky you to be in Toronto for the winter. Did you know you're in the same town as La Belle Danse, a baroque (and GAoP appropriate) dance company? What a way to improve your fencing technique! Check them out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRWUqTtMR9c&list=UUhBsUfq5mXgYWRRiRM-svkQ

Thanks Jen! I do indeed know about La Belle Danse, several friends of mine are students there and have shown me a thing or two about baroque dance. I have not yet taken lessons there though, and unfortunately (for moi), the man who runs it is moving away to Montreal, so I won't be able to. :\

However, I am part of the Toronto English Country Dancers and have enjoyed attending their bi-monhtly period balls for well on 3 years now :)

And to you all you fellow Pythoners, I always enjoyed my spot in this one:

Thanks all! And thanks Mission & Cap'n Jim, thought I'd pick a 'recognizable' image

I would recommend searching the fine art collections of the Greenwich National Maritime Museum (NMM), they have wonderful etchings as well as paintings.

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;authority=subject-90258;collectionReference=subject-90258

Ahoy Mates!

My name is Zak, however many of you know me as my now infamous christening of 'Master Vanilla Shake'(courtesy of the Viceroy) from the past two years I've attended Fort Taylor Pirate Invasion at Key West.

I hail from Toronto, Canada, a little cold for comfort (I'm a tropical guy at heart) and I've grown up loving the sea and pirates.

I am currently writing a series of historical novels for teens, which teach the true history of the Golden Age to my generation through a rollicking series of high-seas adventures. I have been writing these for 5 years now and have written roughly 500,000 words on it. Right now I am working on revisions of the first novel in the series in order for it to be published.

I love all things historical, and as such, I am striving to create my books as close to actual history as possible, down to the weather per day (from logbooks in the National Maritime Museum), so naturally, research is an obsession of mine... And a healthy one at that!

I look forward to swapping historical tid-bits and great discoveries with all of ye on the pub!

Fair winds and following seas, my hearties!

~Zak

OK, "we bent our sails" appears to me to mean they took the canvas down. (Also, "we unbent our sails.") How ever did they arrive at that meaning?

My good Doctor! Bending a sail to a yard simply means to rig it up to said yard. Naturally to 'unbend' would be to take it down for repair or other need. I myself often wonder how they came to these crazy-sounding words for simple things, the origins of which probably lye back in some archaic (and thus) forgotten Elizabethan-or-older definition/pronunciation... which we may never know.

Regarding 'Ahoy' Vs. 'Hoa', phonetically they sound quite similar, i.e. 'Sail Hoa' sounds to me much like 'Sail ahoy!' when spoken, or something of the like. I always understood the origin of 'Ahoy' to be an early 18th-century portmanteau of 'Ah' and 'Hoy' a word used in this 18th century sense much like we use 'Hey!' today to attract someone's attention, which is also where the East Londoners get the exclamation 'Oy!' or 'Oi!', having evolved out of their 'H' dropping habit.