Monterey Jack

At this point I'll be down in the bay area teaching a class on boarding weapons technique; once the date is locked in and the ads go out I'll send a note out from here as well. You're right about all the same gear not working. Most equipment, weapons, travel gear and such would work, but unlike the voyageurs the buccaneers wouldn't need the heavier clothing, capotes, fur hats, longcoats, etc. However it wouldn't be unlikely that a Frenchman traveling in both circles would have plenty of crossover gear in his bag. Leggings, more common to the woodland will still work in the Haitian jungle, and seamens slops, seemingly something the buccaneer can't be without, would be just as common in Port Royal, Acadia, as they would in Port Royale, Jamaica. Looking forward to meeting with ye!

http://calicojacks.freehomepage.com/ Its a great site; I get most of my shirts and odd materials from him.

Thank ye, GoF; I've noticed yer two cents goes a long ways hereabouts!

Thank ye, Hawkyns! I hit that site a week or so ago and didn't pick on up immediately because they didn't have any pics to look at; though if I go that way it'll likely be the brick red silk. I'm assumin it's raw silk, not the flashy shiny type? The rest of my outfit is brown leather and walnut linen, so it'd add a welcome piece of period colour.

I've been the Guildmaster for three different renaissance faire groups, only one of which had a ship; nowadays I'm the Director of a more WMA oriented group, the Historical Maritime Combat Association, instructing in a variety of 17th-19th c. maritime weapons from cutlass to tomahawk, knife, sabre and even pike. We just finished a great class in Michigan this past August aboard a riverboat and are aiming for another similar class in the San Francisco bay area this May. We still have all the piratical gear and I've been working on combat styles prevelent to the buccaneer period for local presentations. Always looking for new folk to play with! maritimeCombat@yahoogroups.com

Thanks, Patrick, The linen I'm finding is cut into 35 inch squares so I figure that'll be good enough, though Calicojacks has some hand-painted stamped calico in 40 inch pieces that may be too good to resist. Trouble is, its very new-looking and I'll have to stain it to age it a bit which seems a shame after so much time was put into making it.

That seems to be the way to go; I was just hoping for somethging pre-cut in a period fabric that was a really large triangle, a bit bigger than yer average headpiece. Also, I'm the lazy-arsed sort when it comes to making anything that isn't leather (I work in a leather shop). Thank ye!

I've just about exhausted my sources looking for a headcovering that would be appropriate for late 1600's to mid 1700's. Something large and in period colour. I've been to standard piratical sites but all they have are the black ones with skulls. I've been to various longhunter, and rev war gear sites and have come up empty. Any help is geatly appreciated.

Iguanas. Big Iguanas. A good 5 footer will perch on your shoulder just fine, and since three feet of that is a really nasty tail, nobody'll mess with ye.

Not sure about "silly", but I definitely get the assinine challenges to swordfight with folk who can't tell point from pommel. The demos I've done, but choreographed and not, don't have the insurance to cover bouting with the public so we're always forced to refuse. This draws comments like, "That's cuz you know I can kick your ass", or that's because it's all fake," Right.....they never stop to think that the reason it looks real is because we learned how to do it for real. I had a kid jump the ropes with a cheap, sharp sword and come up in my face while I was in a private pub area for the actors and challange me to draw steel. I was leaning against the "bar" with an eating knife under my hand. The kid says, "you won't even come on guard with me!''.... and my partner leans over and says to the kid, "idiot; he IS on guard. Your move." The kid muttered something intended as an insult and left before security got there.

Check also with the Single Action Shooters Society (SASS); I would think they'd need coverage for much of what they do as well. Happy Blastin'!

Never got a chance to thank ye for the references; I've been doing a bit of background work on both cultures with aid of a few folk up in New Brunswick and down in Key West. Seems my instincts were pretty close to the mark regarding the similarities of Buccaneesr and longhunters / rangers. Clothing based on the climate seems to be the only variable....and food. Items worn in one area wouldn't work in the other, and natural sources for food (animals as well as vegs and fruits) would change with the region. Other than that the bucc and the LH are interchangeable. A goos source that helped cinch it for me was a book originally printed in 1952 by the New Brunswick heritage society called Acadia at the End of the 17th Century (avail. at Amazon for about $10). Its drawn from first hand accounts of the French and their struggles with the English and the Indians. When you look at the trade routes the French had set up and where their navy was being drawn to and sent from in the Caribbean, its easy to see how the cultures could develop from the same source. I also have to thank Hawkyns for suggesting the Historical Trekking website; I've learned a lot about both cultures just reading thru all the old posts! If any starts up a Historical Buccaneer group in the Pacific Northwest I'll be in line to sign up! Thanks again for the help!

Two thoughts: I find it darkly humorous that a band of pirates will get together to stop a thief like this..... And kudos to you all for doing it; it shows what a band of brethren you all really are when it comes down to it. here's to ye!

I watched / listened to the initial CNN report describing the assailants as pirates, then had to (thanks to my boss who loves republican radio shows) listen to Rush Limbaugh contradict everything the "liberal" media was reporting, saying these were not pirates (he kept referring to the Spanish Main, showing his limited knowledge of the subject) but Islamic Terrorists bent on destroying Democracy overseas. The guy needs to look up the official definition of Piracy, IMO. Just P****D me off that he had to try and turn this into a pro-republican platform. Doesn't matter who is crewing the ship; Muslims, Christians, or wayward Rabbi's; attacking another ship is Piracy an' that makes em pirates.

Aye, true enough, but.... I'd liken meself to a Jackson Pollack compared to Christine's Rembrandt. I mean, ther's art.. and then there's "Art" Goin back t' me rum now.........

When I began doing faires back in 87 it seemed the order of the day way teach, teach, teach. There were about 15 guilds doing various indy faires and they all had it down as far as near-accuracy. Somewhere about the mid 90s though the old teachers fell by the side and we ended up with guys in kilts, metallica shirts and katanas playing period mercs. I agree that the hecklers are an issue, but sometimes ye can't deal with them and still work the show. It ruins it for the majority of the audience who don't care. We were part of a Scots Charge one year in Fresno and the Scots were aided by the Irish. Their leader had a pistol that may or may not have been out of date and one bystander called him on it. The leader (right in the middle of the official challenge to the English) actually broke character to debate the issue, pissing off his own peaople and the rest of the performers. In those cases I think its better to ignore the idiot than to become one.

Oh sure, play the "common sense" card! I am a leatherworker by trade, and in one sense you're right about leather being used for protection dating back to probably Cain and Abel. (Abel used the wrong leather obviously). There is evidence in some cultures of leather in other forms being used to protect the neck, but the question seemed to be specific to the leather collars of the marines. Those collars (which I still don't think were there for protection) are to my knowledge limited to the late 1700s/early 1800s. Now; I also fence a lot of singlestick and while I have a mask and heavy leather padded jacket with a leather collar I've never been hit in the neck. That's not to say it wouldn't happen, but from the cut patterns that were taught, and from practical application of sabre and cutlass techniques the head, sides of the head and shoulders are more often the target. The standing collar in the case of the 1812 Marines would do little by way of protection.

After 17 years of faires in Calif and OR. I've definitely seen me share of weird ideas of Renaissance. Klingons on Elizabethan garb look pretty darn cool, though; plus you get to play off them: "My Lord, what is that curious thing upon thy head? Dids't thou fall face first into a cow pie?" The oddest thing was Vincent from TVs Beauty and the Beast dining at Henry the Eighth's table at Fair Oaks faire back in 91. I got up there with a can of cat food a second too late, though......

I agree with Foxe on all of the above; from what I've read they were designed to force the head to stay at a more "attentive" angle, looking more proper. Kind of like the cut of the officers coats of the 1700s. The one I made looked like crap til I stood at attention and said to myself, "aha!" I do that a lot these days... Haven't found any examples of the "leatherneck" prior to 1812.

GoF; Glad I could contribute something of use to the list. I just got back from a leather trade show in reno and haven't perused the forums in depth yet, so I'm sure I'll be talking with all of you soon! Good to be back!

True; the only real question comes when you are trying to match a particular hilt / guard to a specific decade or ethnic region within the realm of GaoP. You can range in generic style from the falchion bladed hangers of the 1650s to 1690s, thru the infantry hangers of France and Britain in the 1700s (or my favourites, the double discs of the American Rev cutlasses)up to the 1820s French hilt that resembles the Ames 1860, though by then you're out of the clasic period. Looking at the various hilts in Gilkerson, it appears the designs varied not only from country to country, but maker to maker, often changing in less than a decades time. Even the blades from the same maker were curved on some and straight on others. The nice thing is, that it leaves a lot open to characterizational interpretation.

I can only count one fist fight back in Jr High. All thru High School, (mind you we're talkin late 70s San Jose here) students were allowed to carry knives and only had it taken away after you misused it. I've always carried one in one form or other, which pretty much cuts down on the "fist" portion of the fight for me.

I belonged to two groups that performed at that faire for 8 years; St Gregory's guild and the Black Rose. I met me very wife at that faire back in 90. Always a good time ta be had there, but ye're right about the Hotels. We always stayed at the Hanford MoteLodge an the place always smelled like bad eggs....really bad eggs; an I don't mean the piratey kind.

Darkwood's is simply darkwoodarmory.com; the bladesmith's name is Scott Wilson. Loyalist Arms can be found with the search engines under sutlery of black powder. Wish I could find the link for you; apologies fer that. Popinjays is popinj.com Good luck!

For authentic looks and the occasional waiving about I like the ones at Loyalist Arms, tho' I can't find the bloody link at the moment. For more functional ones Darkwood armory is working on some beauties that aren't listed on the site yet, and for heavy contact Popinjay's up in bangor Maine. happy hacking!