Deacon Frye

Hitman, you might find the forums at the Wooden Boat site Royaliste recommends very helpful. The magazine itself is great for classic boats. In fact that little cat yawl on p. 67 of the current issue looks pretty interesting in terms of what you're looking for. I'm going to have to pick up this issue--those brigantines are gorgeous. I well remember reading the travels of the Johnson's in Yankee in the Geographic. They were a major influence on my young mind. The Irving and Exy look like they've captured the spirit. What sort of waters are you planning to use the boat on?

Delaware Art Museum Hitman, I envy you your ambition. I think it unlikely that a boat your size of the period would have a square sail. A lug or sprit rig is more likely, or even a gaff rig. Julius mentions canoes. I believe these would have been periauguas (pettiauger and various other spellings, i.e. pirogues. These were log boats. They were what the buccaneers (among others) used in the Caribbean. While on the continent they tend to be associated with southern riverine traffic, they were in fact used throughout the colonies well into the 19th century, and persisted in some areas (particularly the Chesapeake right into the twentieth. The are Chesapeake log canoes still racing, I believe. The last image is from the site of The Mariner's Museum in Norfolk News. If you go to the bottom of the page from which I took the image, you'll see a very interesting slide show of the construction of the hull from several logs: http://www.mariner.org/chesapeakebay/water...man/wat002.html Now, I'm not suggesting that you start cutting trees and hewing them to shape, though that would certainly be an interesting project. There are plans out there, I think, for pirogues and similar craft using the stitch and glue method which I gather is relatively easy and less time-consuming than other methods. Another type you might want to consider is something like the Maine peapod, which is basically a small shallop, and would be quite "period".

To hear Newton doing the intro to the TV series, Click Here. (From: Whirligig. If you have downloads disabled it probably won't play, but you can go to the site and play it without changing your settings. There's also a referral to another site where you can watch a couple of episodes.)

Good point, Joshua, there are two parts to this--the jargon and the accent/dialect.

And that reminds me of a BBC(?) PBS(?) show a few years back on British dialects that used subtitles. It's hard for us in the U.S. to recall now, even for those of us who are a bit older, just how diverse regional accents were. Yes, there are vestiges left, but we've become a linguistically much blander country.

I have a particular interest in Marblehead. The following is from a nineteenth-century history of Marblehead (Roads' History of Marblehead, I think): Personally, I think the Guernesy/Channel Island connection is overdone. (I think the islands were still mostly French-speaking at the time.)

Well, since we're doing this here ... I'm sorry to say I haven't read them, but my understanding is that the English author Jeffery Farnol's pirate novels, such as Black Bartlemy's Treasure (1920) set the tone, so to speak, for "pirate talk" and served as an inspiration for Newton, as well as Charles Laughton in Captain Kidd and Tyrone Power in The Black Swan. But Newton was the master. For those of you who are sword fans, BTW, Farnol was Ewart Oakeshott's uncle, and a major influence.

Hawkins, you raise an interesting topic here, albeit in a somewhat hostile manner. I may have missed it, but I don't recall seeing the origin of the stereotypical "pirate accent" being discussed here in any depth. It deserves it's own thread, and would be somewhat off-topic on this one. Since this seems to be a pet peeve of yours, perhaps you'd be so kind as to do the honours?

Well there I was, studying at Harvard on track to be a clergyman in the Massachusetts colony--a cushy job, but not one that really appealed to me by nature. But then there was that little falling out with Cotton Mather. And that little incident with the headmaster's daughter. And the rum thing ... Well, anyway it was best that I leave town quickly, and one thing Boston had was ships ...

I took this to mean that the CSN elected to go with .44 caliber revolvers such as those shown in the pictures on the page. The south did produce copies of the Colt Navy, and bought others overseas, but these were all, SFAIK, .36 caliber. The "Navy" was widely used by army officers on both sides as well as the Union (and British) Navy. Just 'cause I like it, a pic from the gunroom of the HMS warrior: HMS Warrior

But then he could have a Glock!

Not quite following you here, hitman. The link I posted shows a Colt Army .44 representing a bunch picked up by Rephael Semmes just prior to the outbreak of hostilities--some of which were used by the Confederate Navy. So far as I can recall, Confederate versions of the Colt Navy were all .36 caliber. For some reason, a number of reproductions of "Confederate" navies and even some billed as Colts come in .44 caliber. I have one given to me years ago. If you find an original "navy" in .44, I'd like to know about it.

Interesting subject, Hitman. I wish I had more insight into it. To find the inventory of a particular raider could require some in-depth research. Are you going to be a seaman or an officer? You might want to take a look around http://www.csnavy.org/ . In particular: http://www.csnavy.org/weapons.htm BTW, don't forget about Inter-Library Loan. Even though your library is small, they can probably order about any book you'd find in a big one.

The CSA cutlass is essentially the same as the US 1841 Cutlass. There's a replica of the CSA cutlass available for $144.99 at: Legendary Arms. The thing you might want to bear in mind, though, is that the Confederacy was obtaining arms from overseas, and they didn't necessarily adhere to the "official" pattern. In particular, some of the commerce raiders were purchased and outfitted overseas, and never touched the American shore. Here's a cutlass claimed to have been used on the CSS Florida: Eagle Trading.

Did you ever find out who makes them?

Never mind. (Edited, as I posted a bit too quickly.)

The Rusty Cutlass

Thanks again, Foxe. There is a Dutch painting by Andries van Eertvelt, an image of which is available at the Web Gallery of Art, that would seem to provide a few clues. You have to look at the large version to see what I mean, but I didn't want to overwhelm the thread with it. Just click on the image here: Ships in Peril

More at: From Bright Steel to Brown: Colour of Brown Bess Barrels, 1757-1815, by Robert Henderson.

Thanks for that information, Foxe. I have a couple of questions for you. It's my understanding that footropes on the yards didn't start coming into use until the 1640's. Does your replica have them? Can you give any insight into how the sails were handled without them, particularly in rough weather?

It's not worth it for free. A few years ago, I saw the tape for sale in the bargain section of my supermarket for about $7. I saw Geena on the cover, holding a rapier, and thought: "How could I possibly go wrong?". Aaarghhh. Bilgewater.

Oops, just noticed the last two posts by Lady Seahawke and Capt. William. I think we're on solid ground with the sword-knife combos being "period". I've seen them as far back as 1600 with a wheellock.

I'd thought Lady Seahawke was talking about the hunting swords with the pistol built into the grip. As far as the blunderbusses/pistols with the spring bayonets, it's rather my impression that they showed up in the second half of the eighteenth century, which would make them too late for the Golden Age. Here's a nice one c.1800: Ken Drake's Antique Arms And a cute little blunderbuss pistol, from the early nineteenth century : Bonhams & Butterfields

Very nice.

Paisley, if you search on "elegant dueling pistol" (use one "L" in dueling), you will come up with several sites that sell a Queen Anne-ish non-firing replica in the $41-49 range.