sirhenrymorgan

It is good to have a man of medicine afoot. We have been short on these of late. Welcome to town and I'm sure your business will be a success, sir. -- Admiral Morgan Admiral of the Jamaican Fleet

Admiral Morgan emerges from the tavern, well quenched with fine Port from Spain. The sun is shining brightly overhead. The townfolk greet the Admiral and he doffs his hat to one to Lord Mordyford's lovely wife, who has been shopping along Lime Street. He then heads off to greet the incoming ship. Arriving there, he meets the customs officer, who is also awaiting the ship to dock. Good day and salutations to you on this day. I see we have yet another new visitor in our port. Soon we will need to put off more into the harbor until we can free up a few of these wharves. "Aye, sir. That certainly is the case. We've had many new arrivals in the last week, filled with cargoes from far and wide. I just cleared a large shipment of fine silks that are being offloaded as we speak at Waterman's Wharf. I suggest that you show yourself there and pick out something nice for your dear wife." A fine idea, sir. She has been locked away on the plantation so long tending to the daily tasks there that she deserves that she never makes it to town. Of course, she's never really liked Port Royal... it's simply not to her tastes - a bit rough. Who makes port here today? Do you know the nature or origin of this ship? "Nay sir. I've sent out a small launch to call out to the ship's master to ensure that she is not in quarantine. I have not heard of The Resurrection before as she has never made port here before. Of course, as you know Admiral, sir, ships hardly keep their original names for long in these waters." So true, sir. I dare say a few of my own have had an identity crisis or two in recent years. I, I am just lucky to be in one piece after the Oxford exploded. I was blown clear of the blast and knocked into the water. An act of God to be sure. I am fortunate to be alive. "We are all fortunate to have you alive, Admiral." Thank you kind sir. Ah, I see Simon Benning yonder. I have an order in process with him - some new pewter for the misses. Excuse me while I speak with him directly. Mister Benning, sir. May I have a word with you for a moment? Henry walks across Thames to speak with Mister Benning, the finest pewterer in town. The customs officer returns to his paperwork dockside, while The Resurrection stands to and lowers sail. -- Admiral Morgan Admiral of the Fleet, Jamaica

Commander of the Fort, A ship is making passage into the harbor. Please fire a salutory cannon round in her honor. Perhaps she brings news from England or better, some more goods to trade... she is indeed a fine looking ship, stout and with good draft. She sails well into the wind. I will alert the harbor master and the customs agent that they should meet the ship at the docks near the King's Warehouse. Henry makes his way from Fort Charles and up Lime Street to meet the incoming ship and her master. As he does so, he stops in at the Three Crownes tavern for a quick taste of Port to cool the summer's blistering heat. -- Admiral Morgan

An update from the Admiral of the Fleet... As you well know, The Oxford was destroyed in the harbor last night. More than 250 brave and hearty souls lost their lives aboard her, including Captains Aylett and Bigford. I, five other men and four boys were the only survivors, being fortunate to have been seated on the same side of the table during our Council of War relating to our planned attack on Cartegena to disrupt Spanish supply lines. We have lost our only warship to protect these waters against the Spanish dawgs. I am relying on the many loyal privateers here to protect our great country. As I am not yet sure of the cause, I am doubling the guards at the forts as insurance against further acts of sabotage, is such was the case. I have asked his Excellency, Governor Modyford, to extend a curfew tonight to all parts of Port Royal. A service will be held at ChristChurch tomorrow on the morn and I encourage all of townfolk to turn out to mourn the loss of my fellow comrades in arms. Your humble servant, Admiral Henry Morgan Admiral of the Fleet, Jamaica

Greetings one and all! OOC - This is a chance for anyone wishing to develop a historically driven character and see where that role takes them. If you aren't into roleplaying and simply want to pick someone up or talk in modern terms, stay out. In turn, we won't allow anyone to post your life's story here or make fun of you. Simple enough for you wouldn't exist yet. We humbly request that the moderator, Dear Rumba, monitor this to ensure that we keep to the rules. SCENARIO The years are anywhere between 1660 and 1730 in Port Royal, Jamaica. This is the two primes of Port Royal, pre-earthquake (1650 to 1692 - the age of the Buccaneers) and post earthquake (1692 to 1730), the Golden Age of Piracy. I have created a wide date range to accommodate all characters, factual as well as fictional. The town was selected for its famed accommodation of privateering and piracy and its rich history, through which we paint this scenario. Don't worry if a place or person was there or not during the time period you are portraying. The goal is to develop your own character and get in his or her mind set. The town if full of great historic haunts - famous taverns (one tavern for every 9 people at its peak), Fort Charles, Chocolata Hole, Fisher's Row and Lime Street, the Old Gaol and so much more. Depending on the time period, you could easily run into the likes of Blackbeard, Charles Vane, Calico Jack and Anne Bonney as well as many lesser known captains and crewe mates and characters, such as the German Princess. Merchants were plenty as were the usual things to be found in any booming port town: strumpets, thieves, craftsmen and opportunists. Here's some helpful information.... # TRADE – Even in the mid to late 1600s, trade was amazingly robust. Local archeology experts say that Port Royal prior to the earthquake was comparable to Boston in the 1700s. Ships from all over the world came to Port Royal to sell their wares, take on cargoes and crews and conduct commerce. We enjoyed a presentation by the acting director of the Jamaica Heritage National Trust that was very telling. As noted earlier, goods from all over the world made their way to Port Royal. As such, those who lived there enjoyed the finest goods available – silks from the Orient, porcelain from Denmark, England and China, pewter plates and drinkware (locally made and imported) and items from France, Germany, Africa and India. Ships arrived every day there with new loads of goods to be sold in the marketplaces that lined the wharves. It was surprising to see beautiful carvings from China, including jade statues, porcelain tea cups and rice bowls... the influences were far reaching. Point for re-enactors or historical enthusiasts: the director says there were definitely lots of Oriental influences in Port Royal society so one can assume that the raw materials for clothing (fine silks and brocades from China and Japan) were available as well. So you could defend colorful attire if your character is in port in Jamaica as the society there had access to Eastern influences and lots of wealth. CONSTRUCTION – The city itself resembled most English cities of the time. Buildings were constructed of brick and timbers. The closest architectural style would be Tudor. The floors were largely brick and excavations have shown finely laid herringbone brick floors that survive to this day, albeit in 7 to 25 feet of water offshore. There is not as much information about the town's construction during the so called Golden Age of Piracy, 1690 to 1730. The city had been totally destroyed in 1692, and obviously was in a rebuild stage during the Golden Age on a much, much smaller footprint (13 acres of the city were sunk within two minutes in 1692). It was also hit with major hurricanes in 1712, 1726, 1744 and 1751 as well as a great fire in 1704. Even then sailors and townfolk refused to leave the town, rebuilding each time. A map of the town at the time, which is relatively accurate... Well, enough brief history. Let the games begin....

Diosa at piratesofthecoast.com sells them. She has all the figures available. Email her at diosa@piratesofthecoast.com She doesn't carry the island, just the figures. -- Sir Henry

It was a grand adventure and me lass and her mate made a killing in the booth sales. Glad a little wind blew in to cool things down Sunday. Looking forward to next year.... -- Sir Henry

Here's a possible candidate... http://www.swordsofhonor.com/17cegewhpi.html - Sir Henry

I want to take a second to applaud all of you who want to make this festival bigger and better. I think the encampment portion will be amazing this year and it's great to see you all taking such an active role. It takes a lot of hard work to do these events and the more enthusiasm the better. Keep it up and I can't wait to meet many of you in person for the first time.... It's going to be a great event!!!! -- Sir Henry

June 7 in 1692 in Jamaica at least was a Wednesday... I double checked in a couple of my Port Royal books from the island itself. The Gregorian one that Dorian linked to said it was supposed to be a Saturday. Confused now? -- Sir Henry

I don't think you can have too much redundancy in safety. I just want to make sure that no one gets left out of the loop who knows far more than many of us about the rules of weapons at the festival as well as state laws about powder and such. Cascabel is the real "go to guy" here on those subjects. -- SH

Actually, scaling the walls was part of the 2004 Festival plan. It's just none of the pirates wanted to do it. Before you get too carried away with gun safety officer issues I'd check with Cascabel. He has been in charge of this since the festival began oh so many years ago in Marathon. Don't want to step on toes of people who've kept this thing going all these years. -- Sir Henry

I apologize for an error. It was 33 acres that were liquified which was 66% of the city at the time. Not 66 acres. -- Sir Henry

Port Royal is basically sand on top of limestone. The quake's waves bounced off the bedrock in the harbor and then back up to Port Royal. It's similar to what happened in the Marina District during the San Francisco quake in the 80s. What is most amazing visiting there is the rebuild that has gone on since the earthquake. While the harbor side never re-silted, the opposite side has added a lot of real estate to the area. If you look at the satellite shot on that page the fort was originally right up on the water. Amazing what nature can do. It's one of my favorite places to go - you can just feel the history. Since we were there two days before the quake anniversary, we came back with photos that were just filled with orbs, even though there were no lights around to cast artifacts onto the lenses. And three different cameras recorded them in the exact same places. A lot of disturbed souls there. Here's a photo: I would give anything to dive the site but the locals are very respectful of the area since it is a graveyard on the level of the World Trade Center. The photos we saw of the area underwater has to be one of the greatest unexplored cities. There has only been three major dives on the site since the 50s. One of the interesting things we learned is that when the museum opened at Fort Charles the government asked the kids to dig up artifacts. If they donated something to the museum, they got their name listed as the donor. Smart folks there! Sir Henry

I was in Port Royal on the day before the anniversary this year. Creepy! Actually, there was a series of three quakes in the space of two minutes. More than likely, it was a pre-shock, followed by the another pre-shock, then the main earthquake. Each was more powerful than the previous. The epicenter was in the Blue Mountains and the quake liquified the 66 acres almost instantly. In essence, the buildings simply sank into the water, many not even damaged by the quake itself. Think of it like quicksand. For years the buildings still stuck out of the water. Today you can still see the foundations, floors and even some artifacts there in about 7 to 20 feet of water. Three children were found in the ruins in the 80s by archeology teams and reburied at the church next to Lewis Galdy. Galdy escaped the earthquake when one of the shocks spit him back out. However, you're not allowed to dive the sunken city. Besides the tremendous death toll, some people were swallowed up by the ground, falling into fissures that opened up with the first or second quake and then closed up again. Many died buried up to their waists or necks in the ground. The best guess for the time of the earthquake was 11:43 a.m. Two watches were discovered that matched that time when they stopped. Some buildings are still in town, even after the earthquake, numerous hurricanes and fires. Fort Charles dates to that time, as does Morgan's Line and the Old Gaol. There is a good tour at http://piratesofthecoast.com/shipslog/pr-s...scrapbook1.html A pirate festival is in the works for May 2007. -- Sir Henry

What a great find! I've bookmarked this one for sure. Thanks for sharing it with us! -- Sir Henry

I will be seeing Finbar in Port Royal next week and will pass on your regards. -- Henry

The Adventure Shop is already open in the Marketplace. It's by the stage area. -- Henry

A couple notes here: 1) Pirate Soul will having nothing to do with the festival. This has been the case since it opened and continues to be so. They really don't see a need to be involved. 2) Musical groups who come to the festival won't appreciate being cajoled, threatened or informed about what you're going to want to do. They are professionals for the most part who don't consider the works of amateurs worth their attention. 3) The festival is mostly already planned. If you go to www.piratesinparadise.com and go to the Fort portion, you'll see there are already events, including Children's stage with entertainment, pirate school, the re-enactment of the tryal, pirate bands performing in the pub and on the grounds, sea battles and other activities. The festival is planned for an entire year out. Just don't want ya to waste too much time getting carried away with planning things that may interfer with the festival as it is already set. -- Henry

Vendors who do attend PiP usually have a wide range of priced items for the public, including coins, flags, necklaces, bracelets and other trinkets. For some this is usually where they make their money, not in the higher priced items. In addition to the cost of the booth space, vendors also have a large dollar amount invested in their inventory and some even make a living doing the circuit. I just don't want to see us undermining their efforts to earn a living. There are indeed many things that are not sold that are of value. Ever see a kid when you give him a piece of flint after explaining how it works in a period pistol? Or a lead ball from a flintlock? These really wow the younger set... -- Henry

Coins? Like these? replica coins from DeadMenTellNoTales At 29 cents apiece, they are maybe within range. Next trick would be to find the manufacturer or wholesaler, so that a purchase of a couple thousand of them doesn't break the bank. (Who knows, maybe the folks at DeadMenTellNoTales might be willing to work a deal?) I'm not affiliated with them, btw. I did buy a couple fistfuls of these for my son's pirate birthday party. The cheaper option is plastic coins, like these ($3.95 a gross): Plastic coins from OrientalTrading.com I've used these in the past for Halloween. (Hey, they're cheaper than candy, and they don't rot your teeth.) Please keep in mind that there are vendors who pay to be there who are selling these same items. I would be careful not to undermine them as they are a key revenue source for the festival through their booth fees. -- Henry

These are on ebay! http://cgi.ebay.com/Pirates-of-the-Caribbe...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Pirates-of-the-Caribbe...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Pirates-of-the-Caribbe...1QQcmdZViewItem

I get my belts from Jekyl the Hidesmith. Excellent quality and he guarantees his work. I have the double wrap from my sword. He does custom work as well, so anything you can imagine or know historical he can replicate. http://jekylthehidesmith.com/ - Sir H.

Things start off informally the day before (the 29th) with a few activities, but the bulk of the festival is now four intense days rather than 6 additional days with one or two evening events spread around town. Instead, the vast majority will happen at the fort, the waterfront and the harbor. -- Sir H

There will be period camping at the fort again this year. The festival dates are Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. It is a four day festival, not 10 as last year. I noticed the website was recently updated with the new information. The URL is http://www.piratesinparadise.com. - Sir H.