Capt Thighbiter

I agree - that silver wire inlay - very middle eastern or India. Same goes for the axe head.

For Patrons ( the pay to enter kind)

1)DO read up a bit on what pirates were all about - easy enough on-line or at library

2)DO Feel free to ask relevant questions of re-enactors or other patrons in kit.

3)DO Go with the idea of learning something

4)DO Be open to hearing different types of music that you may not be familiar with.

5)DO bring lots of $$$, these events arent free

6)DO wear pirateyest garb, it will make you feel like part of the fun.

7)DO peace tie or otherwise comply with the events weapons policy

8) DO bring a soul catcher ( camera) there will be lots of opportunities

9) DO Drink a LOT of water, keep hyrdated

10 DO bring a sense of humor - pirates and sailors have a very rough, sometimes coarse idea of fun.

DONTS

1) DON'T expect to cross the rope into the encampment unless invited by someone in charge

2) DON'T ask questions about POTC or Capt Jack - trust me, you don't want to do this

3) DON'T over imbibe if alchohol is present - no one wants a sloppy pirate!

Oddly enough, we only name the vans in our family.

My Dad had a 72 VW microbus ( w/ portholes), yellow and white. Some wig magic markered "Hello, my name is Horton" on it ( from Horton Hears A WHo) so Horton it became.

My own old blue 90 Astro van was Big Blue ( I know, how creative).

And of course there is our vessel, the Hellion.

How about 1"x1" stringers of oak on the inside and outside of your side rails, below the rope? Maybe the wrong KIND of oak? some varieties are harder then others, or perhaps maple?

Hie thee hence to greybeardoutdoors.com forums and go the the cannon forum. There are many builders there and several that make Quackers, whch are likely less $$$$ then functioning BP cannon.

Hmmmm. 29+ inches makes it a sabre or cavalry sword of some sort. Too long for a cutlass.

Maybe the Brits were mistaken? Swivels in the fighting tops, I can see. Howitzers? Dam thats a lot of recoil to be taken up, especially if under sail and you were firing to windward.

I am going to post the question over on the BP cannon website. If there were howitzers commisioned for ship board use, there should be some record of it, and those guys know the makers of cannon like the HE folks here know Admiralty slop contracts.

Thanks to all for a successful event. I got a chance to chat with Capt Sterling for a few minutes (finally after all this time). Thoroughly enjoyable chap and overlooked our status as freebooters momentarily! We did not get a chance to even venture to the LH camp or the ships, so chained were we to the main music stage, but managed to see a few old friends. The Pub Crawl - well, we ate at Berthas for muscles ( excellent) and beer, left there at 7:30 and managed to go all of 5 shops down the street to a sidewalk table at the Green Turtle, where my mutinous crew decided it were better to let the Pub Crawl parade past ( less walking, more drinking). I too shared the malady that Sterling ( and I wager the majority of crawlers shared) had complaint of. Nothing like a good drive up 95 for 5 hours in the bright sunlight to make a man regret his overindulgences!

I did not hear of any untword incidences regarding weapons and most I saw were complying with the wishes of FPMS and the city of Baltimore, so well done to all involved.

Hope to spend more time with the folks here at the Pub in Hampton, and if not there next year in Fells Point.

I says screw the casting call, what I want's is the boob checkin' job! I feel I am eminently qualified as I was a Diesel Fitter for many years.

A Diesel Fitter is the man who works in a ladies under apparel factory. When the size models try on the prototypes of new bras, it was my job to OK them, by saying..........

Diesel Fitter !

First a bit of history on the event. This started 8 years ago, by two pirates. The Crimson Corsair and the Blender Wench, both MDRF patrons, as a pre-Rennfaire season get together. It was a pub crawl of about 35 pirates. The following year, it had grown to about 100. THe first year we ( meself and Bloody Bill Marley, too young to drink legally, but that's another story) attended , it had grown to over 350 pirates trapsing around Fells Point Sat night.

It got the attention of the local Community Developement Organization ( remember that) and they inturn were willing to sponsor a Sat event, Privateer Day, in conjuction with the afore mentioned Pub Crawl. THe Fells Point Privteer Day was born, and has grown , like Topsy, each year. It is primarily an event sponsored by the local businesses to promote awareness of the fine establishments located in historic Fells Point. YEs, privateering is the theme, but make no mistake, if the local business do not see an advantage in sponsoring this event, it could wither on the vine, as many other CDO type events have of late. We ( THe Brigands) make it a point to adopt one or two sponsors and work them into our interactions with patrons during the day. And by sponsors, I don;t mean Capt Saltys ice cream cones, set up for the day on the Braodway Square. I mean the real sponsors , who front the $$$ so we can all play in thier playground. Just a thought.

Weapons. Seems a sore point with some. Baltimore has had its share of problems that large citys do. Maybe more. THe Fells Point siye is open streets, no barricade,no fences and no entry fees. We have to respect the wishes ( and laws) of the City of Baltimore, and no edged weapons or firearms is the word, then thats it. THink of it as a shi to ship action, where the Quartermaster has decreed no noise, and don't show a glim of steel. Belaying pins, trunchions and the like would be the order of the day, unless your involved with the LH camp or stage acts. Besides, the REAL fun is on Sat night, during the pub crawl, and the bars are so crowded, that swords and 'locks are just a hinderance. Better to bring your quarter deck voices, the better to sing out salty ballads with. Nothin better then takin over a pub filled with nonsusspecting 'danes and college students, and roaring out the olde songs, having a wee tip, and moving on.

Heres to a successful event , with a good time had by all!

Note: all the above is IMHO only and does not reflect the opinion of FPMS, The Brigands or any other group.

You should look to the Island of Madagascar (St Marys I think) and the pirates of Henry Avery's ilk. They were almost successful in setting up a colony that lasted. In fact reports are that some of the pirates kin can still be traced there.

Avery just happens to be my fav pirate and one of the most, if not the most successful pirates ever. Just look up the Gunsway

Ah so, honorable gunner... 'Japanning'

We are pleased to announce the release of our latest album on CD, "Inner Buccaneer".

Contents

Blue Peter

Long Island Hornpipe

Hard Pressed

Skye Waltz

The Foc'sle Rant

One More Day

Crimson Tide

THe Trunnion Reel

The Squall

Fish Scales/ A Mans' A Man For That

Warlike Seamen

Spinning Tree

Nelsons Blood

It is now available from our website http://thebrigands.com TheBrigands.com, along with our 4 other CDs,

The Brigands

Bloody Seamen

Pirate Scum

X

We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Al, Erik, Brett and Kevin

The Brigands

Thanks Mission, I am hooked now!

Not on inter-library list here, so my local library has to buy it! My tax dollars at work finally!

I believe the day that defaulters were punished ( including those to be flogged) was at the discretion of each Captain, at least in the RN.

Flogging round the fleet, meant that the man was literally taken from ship to ship in port and given his 'just' rewards. Depending on the amount of lashes, they might well not survive it. There was a British Admiral, name escapes me, who supposedly rose thru the ranks ( came in thru the scuppers) and at some point early in his carreer suffered this punishment.

Making a wood cannon with a steel liner is just dangerous in my opinion. It leads one to believe that a charge may be fired, or , God forbid, even a ball.

The problem with cannon is that they frequently out last the maker, and several owners too. The man who makes a wood cannon with a liner may know that its for SMALL black charges and may have even designed the sleeve to be relatively safe doing that. But scroll forward 30 years and who knows who has this tube now?

Better to make Quackers all wood and leave the firing cannon to folks who cast or machine metal ones. And even metal cannon can be hazardous, if not designed correctly.

Cannon require a lot of respect, they are not just oversize flint lock pistols.

In my opinion.

" if it be found over low to do it this way, the course its to stitch or sew up a piece of a course [footnote 1: it is not clear whether he means the piece should be taken from one of the old courses, or whether he really means ‘coarse’] sail, or (which is better) some remnant of a small netting, into the form of a bag with some long and well opened rope yarns put within it, and then, sinking this bag under the keel, to bring it up as near as may be directly against the place of the leak and there let it lie, that by the indraught of the water the oakum or rope yarn that is within the bag may be sucked into the hole or crack of the leak, and so be stopped, or at the least the water somewhat restrained from so free an entrance as before.” (Boteler, p. 22-3) "

I believe that is called fothering a sail, so the course would be an actual sail, with oakum and such wrapped within.

Rumba, we are just startin to teach him things. Brotogeris are not known for extensive word vocabulary, but manage whistles quite well. Do you ever bring them to events? That seems like it will be hard to break him into. And I dont want to stress the little guy out

Thanks for the comments everyone. We are glad you enjoyed it. We always strive to get that extra bit of 'feel' into our music. If the song or tune doesn't move us in some way, we don't do it!

The tune will remain up a few more days, until we hit our 20,000 th visitor ( now at 19,641).

Look for a release notice sometime in March, right here on the Pyracy Pub.

The Brigands welcome One-eyed Max Parrot to the crew of Hellion. Aye, some say he be bird-brained, but we argh hoping that he can show us how to shape up and..... fly right!

One-eyed Max is an Amazon Yellow Wing BeeBee parrot ( Brotogeris), now 7-1/2 months old. A true pirate souled parrot, all the broto's are known for their boldness, persistence and being totally fearless. Max lives up to that, often bullying around our Jack Russels. And he is all of 8" long. Likes people too, another Broto trait, seeking peoples touch and company.

Right now, he gives a wolf whistle and we are teaching him a bit of Beethoven. And training him to perch on a microphone stand!

The Brigands will be releasing our 5th CD, "Inner Buccaneer" later this Winter, but we would like to have all our friends here on Pyracy get an early taste. The link allows you to listen to a tune we call

The Trunnion Reel. Enjoy!

The Trunnion Reel from The Brigands

Called Dog-watches because they are cur-tailed !

( Stephen Maturin/ Patrick O'Brian )

Wow - stealing a cannon, esp one like this is no joke - value likely in excess of $10K, so who ever did it is looking at Grand theft felony charges.

1-7/8" is golfball size, but they pretty much suck for accuracy - no way to put reproducable spin on them, and light compared to say a lead ball.

Certain Tomato paste cans fit our GB cannon pretty well and when filled with concrete are just right!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our newly designed website. Same address, http://thebrigands.com

thebrigands.com . More to see and hear and read, lotsa bells and whistles! New video page, a flipbook style pictures acrchive. And you can order our CDs right from the website.

We hope you all like it!

Al, Erik, Brett and Kevin

The Brigands