TalesOfTheSevenSeas

Subject: Whatever happened to Blackbeard's head?!! After Blackbeard was decapitated by Lt. Maynard's crew, his head was hung out up at the junction of the James River and the Hampton River as a warning to potential pirates, where it stayed there for many years. Eventually, it was removed and, according to multiple sources which are deemed reputable by those at Williamsburg, The skull was covered in silver and fashioned into a the base of a drinking vessel. This was in place for many years at the Raliegh Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. The tavern still exists, but sadly, the drinking vessel disappeared. Browsing through the Sept 2002 issue of NQG, I took note that in an article titled "Reminices of Edward Rowe Snow" that the author stated that Snow had in his possession a silver covered skull (minus the drinking vessel) which he claimed was none other than Blackbeards. The author expressed considerable doubts as to the authenticity of this artifact, but if it still exists, my feeling is that it would be worthwhile to track down Snow's heirs and encourage them to have the relic lab tested and at least determine if the skull and the silver covering it are consistant to the time period. If a small sample of bone tissue could be removed... perhaps it could be compared to that of anyone claiming to be a decendent of Blackbeard? I don't recall reading if he had children, but he most certainly had multiple marriages. It seems like this could be an extremely profitable venture for the present day owners of the skull. If it could be verified as authentic... that baby would be priceless.

OK here's the info on the NQG article. In the Sept 2002 issue of NQG was an article titled "Reminices of Edward Rowe Snow" and in the article the author spoke of Snow having in his possesion a skull, covered in silver, that Snow claimed was Blackbeards. The drinking vessel portion had been removed and this was a silver coated skull. The author had his doubts as to the authenticity of this claim, however it would seem to me that if the skull could be located, a lab test could be performed to determin the age of the materials and at least determin if it is in fact from the early to mid 1700's. (gonna recopy this info over on the Captain Twill section too)

Although this coat is not 100% historically accurate, it is 100% pirate!! This coat one me prizes in two pirate event costume contests and got me photographed by a Disney casting agent last year. I t is made by Kristi Smart and it is beautifully, and sturdily made. Mine is heavy black denium-like material, but she also does them in velvet. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. I pulled it off the rack, held it up to my husband and said- "Oh yeah! SOLD!!" before I even looked at the price tag (which was reasonable and slightly less than they are now) So many people ask about the coat, that I now carry Kristi's business cards with me in my belt pouch every time I wear it! Here is a photo of it taken recently when doing some work with the Pirates of Emerson who run a pirate haunted house. I'm done up in airbrushed ghost makeup!

(thankee Cap'n Cronus!!) Seeking wide width pirate boots for me hubby!! Perhaps someone can help me with this one. I'm looking for a pair of pirate boots for my husband in a wide width. He's not only got wide feet, but some diabetes related foot problems, so they need to be comfy and that is critical. We're up for spending up to about $200ish I've looked at tons of places but the only wide with boots I can find are custom sized and cost multi-hundreds. I'm on the verge of taking a comfy pair of soles from his modern shoes and having our pirate who does leather crafting make the uppers unless someone knows a place for wide with pirate boots or reasonably priced custom made!!

I'm supposed to do some brief history presentations for the Waterfront Festival in SF this fall and was thinking it would be neat to go around and photograph the modern surface locations of each ship. It would be kinda bizarre to see the modern office buildings, restaurants etc.. and know that a ship is right underneath!!

Thanks, I found that info entirely by accident. My family had no record of it on our branch. It is in the book "The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630 -1730" by George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds. My ancestors had lived in Boston, Dorchester and Medford MA at that time, (and did right up until my grandmother) so on a whim, I looked in the index and recognized Samuel's name. I double checked the dates to make sure, and sure enough... it was cousin Sam!

Here is a link to an article which describes keelhauling, but below is a brief summary of keelhauling: Pyrates Life The person who was found guilty has their clothing removed. A rope is passed beneath the ship from the port side to the starboard. The man's hands are bound to the rope, and sometimes his legs are bound also, so that he could not swim. But you didn't want to add any weight to him, because the idea was to scrape against the bottom of the ship, which was covered with rough, nasty barnacles that would tear up the man's skin. The guilty party would be stripped of clothing anda rope would be passed under the ship from port to starboard. The man's hands would then be secured to the rope . Often his legs would also be bound together to prevent him from swimming. He was never weighted down in any way to increase the chance of him hitting the bottom of the ship. He would then be tossed overboard and a selected group of men would then attempt to the pull the man out of the water, by passing him under the boat and out the other side. If the man was pulled too slowly, he drowned and the shock of the icy water and the ship's wake (this was done while the ship is in motion, not stationary) would overwhelm even the strongest swimmers. If the man was pulled too quickly, he was ripped up on the barnacles.

What a nice surprise! You have one of this handsome rogue... who just happens to be my son Ryan! And behind him in purple, my dear pirate wench-friend Marsha

OK I confess... I plunked down some hard-earned dubloons and bought a lot of 3 coins and 3 'golden nuggets' which were used in the treasure cave scene. I know, I know, you could buy the coins at Fern Canyon Press for sixty-nine cents each and the 'golden nuggets' are painted lava rock. But... its a little piece of something that is special to me. Doing the premiere of POTC was one of the biggest kicks I've had in ages and I liked the idea of owning a small piece of something from the film. My humble coins n' nuggets are going into a display case along with their certificates from Disney and going up on the wall in the computer closet. And on them dark n' lonely nights, I can stare up at 'em n' wonder if our handsome Johnny Depp might o' sat upon those very coins...

Yes!!!!!!!! That's me alright! :) Do you have a photo of yer self from the B-Beard festival Mister Stynky?!! I hope you enjoyed the Drenched by a Wench! skit. The big guy who I doused with the bucket of water was my own husband, Bob. Rather than pulling a volunteer from the spectators and soaking him, the folks in Hampton requested that I use one of our people or theirs in plain clothes. They let out quite a yell when I soaked him didn't they? *wicked evil snicker* I'll look forward to pirating with you next year in Hampton!!

When the 49ers (the real ones not the football team!) came to California, many of them arrived in Yerba Buena Cove on tall ships, as this was the fastest mode of transportation. Some of these ships were abandoned and left to rot in the water, as the crews and the passengers dashed for the gold fields and took up tin pans. Over the years, the wharves were extended out into Yerba Buena Cove. Buildings were erected on the wharves, then the whole thing was filled in, often, right over the hulk of a rotting ship. Today, landfill exists where there was once a thriving harbor full of more than 500 ships. Periodically, during construction projects, the remains are found of the old tall masted ships that brought our ancestors here to seek their fortunes. This Article will give you more detailed history about the history behind these ships This Map will show you the known locations of ships beneath the streets. Be sure to see the legend on the lower right hand corner for details.

WENCH WEAR - ARRRRRRRRR FAVORITE RESOURCE!! The outfit I'm wearing in the photo below was custom made by Becky Cristler. Her work is top quality and she's a pleasure to do business with. For a measly $75 you get the bodice/skirt combination and the chemise!! Becky tailors the outfit to your measurements and makes them in your choice of fabrics and colors. She also can make the extras, like upper arm guantlets seen on mine and mutton caps. Three of our wenches have purchased from her and we all look different and unique. All of us were delighted with the results and the quality of her work and the fabrics. The dresses are very flattering. You can email Becky Cristler at sunset_red7@yahoo.com Tell her I sent ye!!

Here is an ironic side note in the history of the Wydah, Black Sam Bellamy's ship- When the Wydah wrecked on the reef, booty began washing up along the shoreline. The locals gathered it up, essentially, plundering the plunder of the plunderer!! One of my ancestors (cousin relationship) was a man named Samuel Doggett. He was hired by the 'rightful owners' of the booty bounty, to sail from Boston and recover the plundered plunder. Samuel sailed in his sloop to the site of the wreck, and went 'round the town, trying to find out whom had plundered what. But the locals weren't saying a peep about it. Finally Samuel gave up, returned to his sloop and sailed towards Boston, prepared to face the 'rightful owners' empty handed. On the voyage homeward... you guessed it... Samuel's sloop was captured by pirates!!! *gasp!* The pirates quickly discovered that poor Samuel didn't have anything much worth plundering. So they took what they could, which amounted to about L200 in supplies and let Samuel go. :) Now how's that for irony? Plundered fer yer plunder, trying to recover the plundered plunder of the plunderer's plunderers!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my all time favorites is "Captured by Pirates, 22 Firsthand Accounts of Murder and Mayhem on the High Seas", Edited by John Richard Stephens. This book is amazing from cover to cover!! These are 22 selected narratives written by people who survived being captured by pirates. These are some of the most amazing stories you'll ever hear. When you read this book, you have to keep reminding yourself that this isn't fiction and that these people really lived through this stuff and survived to tell the tale. It makes you appreciate what they went through and says a lot about human nature- Both the will to survive and our capacity for inhumane behavior. This book is a MUST READ!!!!!!!!! :)

Here's an interesting note about Blackbeard's head and the Raliegh Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. After Blackbeard was decapitated by Lt. Maynard's crew, his head was hung out up at the junction of the James River and the Hampton River as a warning to potential pirates. It stayed there for many years. Eventually, it was removed and, according to multiple sources which are deemed reputable by those at Williamsburg, The skull was covered in silver and fashioned into a the base of a drinking vessel. This was in place for many years at the Raliegh Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. The tavern still exists, but sadly, the drinking vessel disappeared. However, I was browsing through an older issue of NQG not long ago and saw mention of an elder gentleman, who claimed that his grandfather had owned the skull and that it had traces of silver on it... this would be interesting to research, eh?!! (if anyone is interested, I'll look up the article) So visit the Raleigh Tavern next time you're in Colonial Williamsburg and raise a tankard to one o' piracy's greatest rogues!! (we visited Jamestown, Colonial Williams and Washington DC when we were out for the Blackbeard festival)

Stynky me hearty... I cannot seem to access the URL you left, can we try again please?

I've a funny story to tell about the first time Cloudy (the triton cockatoo) met our cats. When I brought Cloud home, I put the cats away in a back room for an hour or so to allow him time to adjust to his new surroundings. When I opened the door and let the feline crewmembers back in, Jack, our large male, took one look at Cloudy, (who is about six times larger than any bird he's ever seen and topped with a bright yellow crest) ...and ran in utter terror. Peep, my petite little female cat, immediately became Mighty Huntress. She saw Cloudy, dropped into a crouch and began to slink forward... Cloudy took one look at Peep and said "MEOOOOOW!!!" (yes, he actually does understand some word/object concepts) Peep halted right in her tracks and got the most bizarre look on her face, as if she where thinking "What th' bloody hell?!!" She stopped stalking and apparently decided that Cloudy is not a bird after all, by virtue of his language skills!! Speaking of language skills and word/object concepts, Cloudy, being a true pirate parrot, even understands the concept of swearing. We've watched him painstakingly carry a toy to the top of his cage, only to drop it juuuuuuust as he was reaching out for his perch. He looks down at the toy and says "Shit!!"

Tales of the Seven Seas attended the Hampton Blackbeard Festival for the first time this year... we traveled all the way from CA and had a blast!! For those of you who were there in 2003... We were the ones doing the "Drenched by a Wench!" skit and I was laughing with several blokes in the pirate encampment when I walked by carrying an oar and said to them... "Wassamatta lads? 'aven't ye ever seen a 'OAR before?!!!" Here are our photos from Hampton: Hampton Photos Here's one to 'wet' your appetite!!!

Here are the photos from our July 7th media premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean, in San Jose, CA. Tales of the Seven Seas was there with 24 pirates, who entertained the media and invited guests as they waited in a line that wrapped around the theater parking lot, then performed a skit to introduce the movie, which included 8 pirates involved in a swashbuckling sword battle!!! POTC Media Premiere Photos

Ahoy Rumba Rue... To post a photo, you need to first be able to load it up on a server on the internet- like a web page. There are some that allow you to do this for free, but most of them don't allow you to create a link to the photo, which is what you have to do to show it here. If you would like to have me upload the photo for you on to my website, I can do that. Just email it to me at talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com Once that is done, all you have to do is cut and paste the URL (location) of the photo into the box that pops up when you click the Img button. It will look something like this: http://www.talesofthesevenseas.com/myparro...rotspicutre.jpg

I'd like to know how many of you like to take yer beasties along on your adventures? Below are a couple of photos of Cloudy, my triton cockatoo. He's wearing a "flight suit" in the picture with a skull and cross bones on it. The suit is a lycra body suit with a safety harness, that gives us a bit more security when we go out (and with it's built in diaper, it keeps my pirate coat clean!!) At the bottom are a couple of links to sound files so you can hear a few of his words. I'm counted over 100 words and phrases that he knows. Cloudy is approximately 30-something and was trained for the Baretta television series. However, due to his extreme dislike of men, he didn't make the cut. Fortunately, he is head over tailfeathers in love with me and likes to go anywhere I'm going. So he makes a great pirating companion. Click to hear polly want a cracker Click to hear him meow

Ahoy pirates!! I just thought I'd toss in my two dubloons worth! One nice thing about Tales of the Seven Seas is that you can pirate with us AND with other pirates! As a matter of fact, we quite often partner with other guilds on our events-In the past we've worked with Guild of the Four Winds, (a smaller, historically accuarate renaissance-era northern CA pirate guild) The Pirates of Emerson (who run a commerical high-tech pirate themed haunted house) and the Highlander Warriors (a group of Celtic swordsmen who like to pirate on the side) Many of our pirates do other events with other groups. We're happy when pirates can join us and we understand when they are committed to other events. We're an easy-going crew and we love to join the events of other guilds and to have other pirates join in ours. Cheers mates!! -Claire Terror of Silicon Valley