Red Sea Trade

One of the most interesting parts of the book for me was the section that discussed regional speech. I grew up just outside New York City and spent many years working in the field of Colonial History, but I had never imagined an African-American New Yorker with a strong Dutch accent. When asked if New York was nearby, the young woman in question replied "Ja, dat are Yarkee." Melting pot indeed!

I think Hollywood increasingly relies on "shorthand" to take the place of dialog, plot and characterization. Everyone makes fun of the old Westerns trope of "white hats=good guys, black hats=bad guys", but modern Hollywood is no better. You can always tell the villain--he has his waistcoat buttoned. You can tell the hero--his shirt is unbuttoned and he almost never wears a hat. Thus it is with language--too challenging to research actual swear words, accents or turns of phrase. Just have a character use modern profanity, unbutton his shirt and we know everything we need to know. It is also important to make sure the hero only has a very slight accent (think Jack Sparrow). The heroine, of course, should have a noticeable accent, just because it is hot. The villain, of course, should have a noticeable accent. Upper-crust British works best, regardless of his status, but any accent will do.

Nowadays, it has to do with where the yeast ferments. In earlier times it was a difference of whether or not hops were added during brewing. Before hops became widespread in Europe, ale was a beer created without the use of hops, while lager (beer) combined hops with the other ingredients. As hops began to pervade breweries, however, this distinction between beer and ale no longer applied. Brewers began to differentiate between beer and ale on the basis of where the yeast fermented in the cask: ale uses yeast that gathers on the top, and lager uses yeast that ferments on the bottom

Found this in a quick online search. Cannot vouch for the accuracy, but it should be easy enough to check the sources cited. "A single citation of a common predecessor was noted in a 1736 issue of the British Gentleman’s Magazine. “… a punch seller in the Strand had devised a new punch made of strong Madeira wine and called sangre.” Whether this is strictly true is unclear, but present are the wine and the red color befitting the name. Why this English punch seller would choose this evocative Spanish word as a metaphoric title makes your Doctor wonder if it was more of a found recipe than a creation. Certainly by 1785 the strange drink, now called sangaree, was thoroughly equated with the Antilles islands and with Spain. Several dictionaries now listed the word and pointed to the West Indies as its place of residence. It had also achieved a fuller definition and one obliging it more to punch than wine. The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, published that year, wrote, “Sangaree: Rack punch was formerly so called in bagnios.” Well, a bagnio in this sense was a brothel, and the “rack” punch referred to the arrack that was the first of five elements in classic punch: arrack, citrus fruits, spices, cane sugar and water. The arrack in the dictionary was not the anise-tinged spirit of the Middle East but the father of modern rum, Batavia Arrack from the Antilles, Java specifically. Given this definition, the sangaree was a single-serving punch!" http://imbibemagazine.com/The-History-of-Sangaree-Cocktails/

Here is a potentially useful site: http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/fairs/index.html It focuses on English fairs, but seems to have much interesting information and good illustrations.

I watched an episode of "Turn" last night, set in 1776. It is probably the most bizarre approach to period speech I have ever seen. The British all speak like Englishmen, but the Americans have either Scottish brogues or weird, Lucky Charms Irish accents. I am glad to see that the creators want to show that 18th century speech would be different from our own, but why the unlikely regional accents? Why are Long Islanders of English ancestry speaking like they are from the Land O' Blarney? Why is Robert Rogers, born in Massachusetts, talking like a refugee from "Trainspotting"?

Stumbled on this image of Port Royal, Jamaica, circa 1692. Can't get a much better example of a pirate town than that!

Taverns, like everything else in Colonial America, seem to have varied tremendously by region, period and social class. Sarah Knight, travelling from Boston to New York in 1704, found a huge variety of fare and accommodations. Arriving in Rye, New York, she stopped at the Strang Tavern and recorded: “Here being very hungry, I requested a fricassee, which the Frenchman undertakeing, managed so contrary to my notion of Cookery, that I hast'ned to Bed supperless.” Now Rye was a small town, and choices were limited. Larger towns offered greater choice. Even St. Augustine, Florida, a flyspeck on the far edge of the map, managed to support 40 taverns by the start of the 18th century. Patrons in all but the smallest towns would have had a choice of watering holes. Major cities often boasted elegant taverns with elaborate menus. Another traveler from the first half of the century, Dr. Alexander Hamilton, while traveling from Annapolis to Boston satisfied himself on the road with bread, cheese, and cold apple pie for a meal but would have expected more substantial and better fare in the cities; he recorded a good dinner at Todd's Tavern in New York City, which consisted of veal, beefsteak, green peas, and raspberries. The potential liquor selection was similarly impressive. While staying in a Philadelphia tavern during negotiations with the Iroquois, a traveler named William Black's liquor bill included champagne, madeira, claret, cider, lime punch, rum, brandy, port and sherry. If you hadn't already guessed, I am pretty excited about this topic, having worked in two 18th century taverns in my younger days.

Kidd was a resident of New York City for at least a time, owning a house south of Wall Street near the Battery (a couple of doors down from Fraunces' Tavern Museum.) While well inland now, this would have been waterfront property in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Logwood has one interesting piratical connection that comes to my mind. Captain Robert Searles, the English privateer who raided St. Augustine, Florida, came to a bad end in the logwood trade. He was hacked to death by another logwood cutter while on the coast of South America. Not a glamorous, Hollywood ending for a pirate, but probably not atypical.

Just my cursed luck that I have to work the first weekend of each month this year! Hope that everyone has an excellent event, and I'll be there next year (God and my employer willing).

When I was about 7 and obsessed with All Things Medieval, my dad splurged and bought me a beautiful, hand-painted castle to go with my set of knights. I played with that castle daily for years. A few years ago, in cleaning out my dad's house after his death, I was absolutely thrilled to find the castle intact in the attic. It resides proudly atop the bookshelf in my den, and I get a sense of real satisfaction every time I see it. Now where did I put those knights...

Hope that I can make it! My boss has me traveling for work, but I hope that I can snag a weekend off to spend in Sunny St. Augustine.

That electric tingling in the air...the hopeful, expectant gleam in the eyes of children...it can only mean one thing: It is Talk Like A Pirate Day Eve once more! Children and adults the world over will go to bed with dreams of rum and slaughter in their heads, hoping that Santaaaaargh Claus will visit their homes with his sack full of grenados, quicksilver and severed fingers. But don't forget, right before bed, to leave out a plate of ships' biscuit and laudanum for your Late Night Visitor, or he'll trash your house and torch the car before heading back to his enchanted castle in the Lesser Antilles.

A strange quirk of fate that, here in Central Florida, it was about 15 degrees cooler than in my old hometown 1500 miles north. Who ever thought I would move to the tropics to escape the heat?

One cannot allow Adam and the Ants to be mentioned without also discussing their seminal pirate song, "Jolly Roger". "Of all the pirates on the sea The worst of them was Blackbeard, So damnable a beast from Hell He was the one they most feared. Any man who sailed with him was taking quite a chance, He'd hang him from the gallows just to see if he could dance, Ha Ha!" Show me another rock song, anywhere and from any time, that uses the term "damnable". I defy you!

I've seen original illustrations of "apostles" belts (I know the name is anachronistic, but it gets the point across) from as early as 1530. My understanding is that Elizabethan powder chargers were of a slightly different shape than later styles, but not radically so. I believe many--if not most--of the troops at Drake's Raid will be wearing bandoliers.

Make sure you know and understand the scenario, standards and regulations of the event before you go. Nothing worse than showing up and finding out that your stuff won't pass muster, or that you are uncomfortable with the way they do things.

I tried absinthe for the first time this past Christmas. My father-in-law made a great show of it, flourishing his special spoons, glasses and water carafes. Alas, I felt nothing special at all, except a terrific desire to cut off my father-in-law's ear, but that is a fairly regular thing. I had a dreadful experience with Ouzo on my 22nd birthday, so perhaps I am not well disposed towards any member of the licorice family.

I was fortunate enough, when still single and in possession of some disposable income, to be able to buy one of Leonard Day's Dutch muskets. Yes, it was a bit pricey, but there is no substitute for the satisfaction of holding a completely unique piece of art in your hands. Even when I see one like it at an event, I still know mine at a glance. Good thing I stocked up on fun reenacting stuff when I could, because I'm sure broke now!

All the best people have April birthdays! Well, okay, except for Hitler. Hope that your's is excellent, regardless!

One day, while working at an 18th century site, a knock came at the door. It was a gentleman cleaning out his mother's house, and he wondered if we wanted any of the things he had found. The curator couldn't be bothered, said no and left for lunch. I stopped the man in the parking lot and asked what he had. He gave me five 18th century English hallmarked pewter plates, a large 18th c. pewter serving dish and an 1878 Springfield rifle. Yoiks! God bless that stupid curator! My sideboard groans beneath the weight of her foolishness.

Many thanks, sir! It is an easy day to remember--the Chernobyl disaster occured on my birthday, not to mention being the Feast of Saint Cletus. Memorable indeed!

The first blade you show is the exact same one I have carried for several years at Drake's Raid. I like it, as it has a bit of heft and a handsome profile. I got it on sale, too, which never hurts!

Ivan, I have a spare jerkin I can loan you (it is usually hot enough that you won't want too many clothes anyway). I got my slops from Sykes Sutlery and my shoes from Boots by Bohemond. Both usually have at least a few items in stock. As for weapons, I am sure they can fit you with a pike if all else fails.