Story

And exactly *how* would you do that to a $300 pistol or $600 blunderbuss?

These idiots actually took on our Navy! Should've sunk the lot of them. Mar 18, 2:59 PM EST Navy Exchanges Fire With Suspected Pirates By JIM KRANE Associated Press Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Two U.S. Navy warships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates Saturday off the coast of Somalia, and one suspect was killed and five others were wounded, the navy said. Seven other suspects were taken into custody after the early-morning shootout, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. No sailors were wounded in the battle, which occurred at about 5:40 a.m. local time, approximately 25 nautical miles off the Somali coast in international waters. The battle started after the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez, which were patrolling as part of a Dutch-led task force, spotted a 30-foot fishing boat towing smaller skiffs and prepared to board and inspect the vessels. The suspected pirates were holding what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the navy said. When the suspects began shooting, naval gunners returned fire with mounted machine guns, killing one man and igniting a fire on the vessel. Three suspects were seriously wounded and being treated on one of the Navy ships, Brown told The Associated Press. A Dutch Navy medical team was en route. The suspects' nationalities were unknown. The Navy boarding teams confiscated an RPG launcher and automatic weapons, the statement said.

I beg ten thousand pardons if this has been previously posted, although my search revealed nothing. It seems that this would have been the talk of London Town and elsewhere for quite awhile, considering how much buzz the recent Thames Whale caused. http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/misc/pr...hp?artid=690300 Remains of 17th century Thames whale discovered ONCE a famous landmark in the borough, the Redbridge whale had been lost in mists of time - until now. Moved from its prime position in Chadwell 130 years ago, the old sea creature's bones have been traced by the Guardian it to its new home in Dagenham. After the London whale made its appearance in the Thames last month, the Guardian carried a report from an official Redbridge Council guidebook about a giant pair of whalebones that stood for hundreds of years on top of a toll booth in Chadwell, a sight from which the nearby Whalebone Lane took its name. According to the book, the bones came from a whale that was stranded in the Thames during the 17th century, but they disappeared in 1870, to an unknown resting place. After we printed the story we were contacted by reader John Leicester of Redbridge Lane West who told us that the whalebones had been moved to his childhood home of Whalebone House in the High Road where they stood until the house was flattened by a bomb during the Second World War. He said: "The whalebones were about ten to 12ft high and there was one each side of the wrought-iron gates. During the war the place was hit by an aerial mine, damn great thing came down on a parachute and demolished the whole house. "Fortunately my grandmother who lived there, and had the house as a family home from the early 1920's, went to Oxfordshire during the war so it was empty when it was bombed. "One of the whalebones was recovered and it is now in the Valence House Museum in Dagenham." The Guardian contacted the museum and spoke to curator Mark Watson. He said: "The man in charge of clearing the site found the workmen dragging these things that looked like branches over to a huge bonfire, but he stopped them and contacted the then head of the museum. "The two came out under cover of darkness, because there was petrol rationing and they were using a van for illicit purposes, and took the bones to Valence House where they were hidden in the cellar until the 1950s." The bones were then brought out from their hiding place to take pride of place on either side of the museum's front door. Years of exposure had taken their toll, however, and in 1994 the bones were moved back to the cellar where they lie to this day. Mr Watson said: "They were a major part of Chadwell Heath history. In 1641 somebody put up one bone in the Chadwell Heath High Road at the intersection of Whalebone Lane North and South. After a while another whalebone turned up and it's likely that at least one of the bones is the original from the 1640s." Daniel Defoe in his 1724 book Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, says that the whale from which the bone was taken was washed up in the Thames during a ferocious storm on the night before Oliver Cromwell died in 1658. An alternative version in a 1735 book by one MJ Farmer called History of Waltham Abbey dates the bones even further back to the reign of Charles I, but whatever their origin, their presence lives on today not only in the name of Whalebone Lane but also in Whalebone Grove and Avenue, and Whalebone Library in the High Road. Mr Watson said: "The bones were a landmark and people used to stop and rest there, and the parish registers are full of things like tramp found dead at the whale bones'." The bones also played their part in a little recorded aspect of Redbridge's history, giving rise the phrase going up the whalebones'. Mr Watson said: "North of Whalebone Lane where the Rose Lane estate now stands used to be the big prostitution area for east London. It used to be popular from about the 1920s to the 1950s with lorry drivers using Eastern Avenue." Although they have not been seen by the public for more than ten years, the museum plans to restore the bones to permanent display if its application for a lottery heritage fund grant is successful. It seems that the whale may yet surface again. 6:18am Monday 20th February 2006

Ever wonder what the pirates that roamed the Indian Ocean and Red Sea used to roll their cartridges, wipe their tushes and occassionally read? History in your hands: 17th century manuscripts to be published soon Swapna Nair http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.p...p?newsid=172219 Ahmedabad, March 3: HISTORY stares hard in your face as you turn these tattered old pages, in a bid to figure out what the pictures mean. Painted using vegetable colours and written in Devnagri script, these are testimonials of the era that witnessed some of the greatest wars, unforgettable love stories. It also treasures interesting Ayurvedic remedies, basics of Sanskrit and Prakrit grammar and also has derivations of your boring mathematics equations, explained in pictorial form! These 17th century picture manuscripts are some of the rare ones, presently in possession of Bhogilal Leherchand Institute of Indology, New Delhi. The indexing and compiling of these 20,000 manuscripts has just got over, informs Dr Jitendra Shah of L D Institute of Indology, which carried out the task. Soon, the information preserved in these 400-year-old manuscripts will be published in the form of books for scholars and laymen. There’s also an interesting story behind how these Jain manuscripts travelled from Pakistan to India, way back in 1966, 19 years after the Partition. Shah, who has researched on Shabdabhedaprakash (dictionary), part of the rare collection, says it was hidden by the Jains during the Partition at a place called Gujranwala, which is now a leading industrial city of Pakistan. ‘‘During those days, Gujranwala with a majority of Muslim population was home to 700 Jain families. The place also had two Jain temples. Both the communities lived in harmony. In fact, Muslim members would consult the Jain saints, fondly called Bhavdas, (wise men) for any problem they faced,’’ Shah informs. But during the Partition riots, he says, the temples in the vicinity were burnt by angry mobs. ‘‘At that time the saints decided to hide these 20,000 manuscripts before escaping to Amritsar, since taking it along was risky. They carefully placed it in 58 tea cartons. They then built a brick structure in a narrow, isolated lane in the area, put the cartons in and cemented it,’’ he says. Later, after the Partition, when the Property Commission was introduced for transfer of property, these Jains claimed those manuscripts. But Pakistan government could not trace the exact spot where they had hidden the boxes, he informs. The communication went on for 18 years. During the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi, a Jain delegation was sent to retrieve the manuscripts. ‘‘To their surprise they found that the whole area was transformed into a vegetable market. After lot of searching, the spot was located, and boxes finally retrieved,’’ he says.

I was thinking more along the lines of a warning sign, like 'Beware, Shoals & Cooties Be Here'.

Not unless she's Alice the Goon... And definately too big for that little Squigit 'The Artiste Formerly Known As Prince'.

Better than a Skull & Crossbones on a thong.

I find the feedback commentary an interesting milepost to the human condition. Which one of you wags was running amok over there? From http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7135675.html These boots hold up well to getting soaked - I have a pair of boots like this in size 14. I like to swim/wade/shower in them. I've been doing this in them for about a year and they are holding up well.

Err... by my count and looking at the calendar of events, it's the FOURTH Monday in March.

Since we're on about Fantasy Pirates, might I heartily recommend the following for Pirate Princesses. http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7135675.html http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7208805.html http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7240829.html http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7213547.html

Oh, and anyone curious about Flogging Molly can hit http://www.floggingmolly.com/

I saw the opening night of THE POGUES in DC last night. For those unfamiliar with THE POGUES, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pogues http://www.pogues.com/ Why is this Irish Bar Band pirate-y? Well, check out the lyrics to Turkish Song of the Damned I come old friend from Hell tonight Across the rotting sea Nor the nails of the cross Nor the blood of Christ Can bring you help this eve The dead have come to claim a debt from thee They stand outside your door Four score and three Did you keep a watch for the dead man's wind Did you see the woman with the comb in her hand Wailing away on the wall on the strand As you danced to the Turkish song of the damned You remember when the ship went down You left me on the deck The captain's corpse jumped up And threw his arms around my neck For all these years I've had him on my back This debt cannot be paid with all your jack And as I sit and talk to you I see your face go white This shadow hanging over me Is no trick of the light The spectre on my back will soon be free The dead have come to claim a debt from thee

By JENNIFER PRICE, AP LONDON (Feb. 27) - A Scottish distillery said Monday it was reviving a centuries-old recipe for whisky so strong that one 17th-century writer feared more than two spoonfuls could be lethal. The process, carried out under the watchful eye of Master Distiller Jim McEwan, produces the most alcoholic single malt ever made. The whisky has an alcohol content of 92 percent, or 184 proof, and will retail for around $695. Risk-taking whisky connoisseurs will have to wait, however - the spirit will not be ready for at least 10 years. The Bruichladdich distillery on the Isle of Islay, off Scotland's west coast, is producing the quadruple-distilled 184-proof - or 92 percent alcohol - spirit "purely for fun," managing director Mark Reynier said. Whisky usually is distilled twice and has an alcohol content of between 40 and 63.5 per cent. Bruichladdich is using a recipe for a spirit known in the Gaelic language as usquebaugh-baul, "perilous water of life." In 1695, travel writer Martin Martin described it as powerful enough to affect "all members of the body." "Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; if any man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath, and endanger his life," Martin wrote. Reynier put Martin's test to the claim and consumed three spoonfuls. "I can tell you, I had some and it indeed did take my breath away," Reynier said. Bruichladdich, a small privately owned distillery founded in 1881, plans to make about 5,000 bottles of the whisky, which Reynier estimated would sell for about 400 pounds (US$695, euro590) per case of 12 bottles. Although whisky lovers can place their orders now, the actual spirit will not be delivered for about 10 years. "You get a better drink if you wait because of the basic oxygenation through the oak barrels," Reynier said. In the meantime, customers will be able to watch the whisky's progress on the distillery's webcams. 02-27-06 15:09 EST

While this specific shipwreck is outside the time period of interest, the method of discovery is worth reading about - http://www.whoi.edu/mr/pr.do?id=8086 After lying hidden for centuries off the coast of Greece, a sunken 4th century B.C. merchant ship and its cargo have been surveyed by an international team using a robotic underwater vehicle. The team accomplished in two days what it would take divers years to do. The project, the first in a new collaboration between U.S. and Greek researchers, demonstrates the potential of new technology and imaging capabilities to rapidly advance marine archaeology.

Allby, Since the long-barreled pistols were standard with period cavalry, one standard method of attaching a retaining lanyard was to a ring screwed into the buttcap. Check out this 1742 Prussian hussar pistol http://www.antiques.se/images/items/85_3fu.jpg http://www.antiques.se/picture3/85.html#img From a reenactor's position, one of the reproduction weapons could be modified the same way. http://www.militaryheritage.com/pistol3.htm Caveat: not many period pistols with lanyard rings have survived, which might mean they were rare at that time (or conversely, the ones without lanyard rings might have seen little action and were safely stored, which would mean they were a rarity in the 17th-18th century). Either way, a ribbon could be tied to the trigger guard.

Can anyone help Scupper out and host pics of his work? Might benefit all of us. As for how pistols were carried, that might vary on the engagement. Expensive as they were and remain, we'd be inclined to think the pirates wouldn't want to lose them and yet look how these guys pissed away fortunes. So unless the particular firearms held emotional significance, the tactical situation might dictate. Follow me on this - If you're going to board a ship from your own and plan to use your empty pistols as clubs (swung or thrown, both are documented) then all you need to do is stuff them in a sash after they're loaded. Pull, shoot, throw, repeat as able. If it's important enough not to lose the pistols - say boarding from longboats and/or an extended fight, where you'll have time to fall back and reload while your mates carry on the fight - then you'd tie off the pistols from their lanyard loops or trigger guards to your sash or belt. If you're going ashore for an extended walk to your fight, a balderic would be a more comfortable way of carrying the weapons.

Found the actual link to the $275 Potsdam http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI..._Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT

I'd like to see photos of that blunderbuss holster/balderick, can you post them here?

While not exactly a "kit", refinishing and completing (by drilling the touchhole, hardening the frizzen if needed, etc) an Indian-made pistol might be what you're looking for. The Prussian Dragoon pistol was pretty typical of early 18th century flintlocks and this ebay auctioneer generally has a good deal on them (like $275 starting bid) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=6579262799

Hamburg, Germany? Why am I thinking "Dieter" from Sprockets is behind this all? Wait'll the Chinese field their own (dirt-cheap) knockoffs...

Simply because I'm a Devil's Advocate, when it comes to encouraging women into leather. http://www.aftertheride.com/tempage.htm

I think all of you are figments of my imagination...

12 year old boys can find many things that adults would ordinarily miss. Perhaps you just didn't have a properly misspent youth? And if anyone *did* successfully find treasure over the last 200 something years, do you really think they'd tell anyone? Dead men tell no tales, eh?

A blunderbuss pistol build that ought to be inspirational http://www.americanlongrifles.com/american...s-BBS-frame.htm

- of potential period interest. The 260th Anniversary of the "Battle of Culloden" Living History Weekend This spring, the ninth annual Culloden battle reenactment and Living History encampment will take place. The date is May 19-21 '06, and the location will be Fort Loudoun State Historic Site in Fort Loudoun, Pennsylvania. Those interested in Scottish and British military history of the 18th century, Highland culture, and the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion in particular, mark your calendars and plan on attending this unique event! The '45, as it is called, represents not only a colorful period in 18th century history but also a dynamic time period in the reenactment community and living history hobby. The '45 allows for nobility, upper and lower class impressions, a wide variety of military and civilian opportunities, historic scenarios, large scale battles and intense small-party tacticals, all based on the events as they happened. It's a time period that has refreshed the interest of many seasoned re-enactors from the Civil War time period on down, through the depth of character portrayal available. Yet, it's still accessible to someone new to the hobby. Events have been held throughout the United States and Canada focusing on various elements of the 1745 campaign and also 18th century life in Scotland and England. Coinciding with the 260th anniversary of the actual battle of Culloden fought April 16, 1746, the weekend promises to be the biggest and best `45 event yet! More individuals and groups have come on board, while impressions and authenticity standards have achieved impressive levels. To highlight this year we have a great site for the event which mirrors many of the terrain features found on the original battlefield. Fort Loudoun has tremendous experience staging living history weekends, including successful F&I and Civil War events. The site, along with the exciting program planned, promises to make this a memorable weekend. Beyond the historic re-staging of the Battle of Culloden, the weekend will actually entail two exciting battle scenarios, along with numerous other activities and tacticals. Friday evening will feature the torch-lit Clan Gathering and a recreation of the raising of Bonnie Prince Charlie's standard at Glenfinnan. Saturday's program will revolve around the period leading up to and including the Jacobite capture of Edinburgh culminating in the Jacobite victory of Prestonpans. Later, Highland games will be held for all interested participants, which is always a highlight. The Government/British army's camp will enjoy a festivity which actually took place on the eve of the Culloden fight: the birthday celebration of its commander the Duke of Cumberland. Saturday evening, a ceilidh – a Gaelic term referring to a festive gathering – will take place with all event participants invited. This lively evening includes top-rate period music and a tavern. Finally, Sunday will showcase the climactic battle of Culloden Moor; of course an overwhelming victory for the forces loyal to King George and the ultimate defeat for the rebel Jacobites…. Troop requirements and contact information follow below. Family participation is of course allowed, but be advised that individual registrations will not be accepted. Participants must belong to a pre-registered military unit or clan group, and will be invited by the host in order to ensure all site, safety and authenticity concerns are met. Unaffiliated individuals and interested groups are encouraged to make contact with one of the organizers in order to get connected with an approved group since there are ones throughout North America. In addition, assistance is available to create an appropriate impression. Commanding the Crown Forces will be George Reilly, who of late led the British Army at the very successful "Braddock's Defeat" event. Needed on the Crown side is: Regular infantry (both hatmen and grenadiers), Royal Artillery, mounted dragoons and loyalist Highland clansmen of the Argyll (Campbell) Militia. For further information on the Crown Army, or to receive an invitation, contact: Malcolm MacWilliam 821 W. Siddonsburg Rd. Dillsburg, PA 17019 717-432-8911 manyflags@... Commanding the Army of King James will once again be Chris Timm, portraying Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Needed on the Jacobite/Rebel side is: Highland clansmen, Lowland militia, Royal Eccosais (Scots in the French army), and artillery. Detailed guidelines for Jacobite impressions are available at: http://www.macfarlanescompany.org/guidelin...ines/page1.html For further information on the Jacobite Army, or to receive an invitation, contact: Chris Timm 68 St. Vincent Street Kitchener Ont N2H 4R3 519-742-3882 rebellionof1745@... For more information regarding Fort Loudoun, and for Sutlers and Merchants contact: Fort Loudoun Historical Society P.O. Box 181 Ft. Loudoun, PA 17224 717-369-3318 secretary@... For additional information regarding the 1745 Rebellion, and those who reenact it, go to the "Highlanders and Hanoverians" online resource at: http://www.kezarcelts.net/jacobite