Daniel

So I arrived at Hampton at noon Saturday with absolutely no clue about the tornado, and by that time there were surprisingly few signs of the destruction left. I actually didn't learn what happened until some of the performers explained why some of the presentations weren't happening on schedule.

I brought my six-year-old son Brandon with me (I was so proud of him for how well he tolerated the three-hour drive). He had a blast; the festival was well provided with inflatables for him to jump around in, a merry-go-round, and he loved playing with the sand that the engineers dumped to cover the ponds in the Pirate Cove, and roughhousing with the other children in front of the Bunch of Grapes. Once Brandon found the play area in front of the Bunch of Grapes, that took up most of the rest of the evening, with me sitting and singing along with the Brigands and Clan MacCool while I watched him. And, of course, Brandon loved the fireworks.

I wore my home-made pirate shirt, and a pair of khaki shorts that might have looked like slops in a dim light. Since I don't have anything remotely resembling period shoes, I just walked the whole festival barefoot (and let me tell you, those pebblestone sidewalks hurt after a while!).

I was sorry to miss several of the people I saw last year: Calico Jenny had the misfortune to be scheduled at the same time as the Battle of Ocracoke re-enactment; Callenish Gunner couldn't make it; Jolly Jack Tar has moved across the country, and I only got to see Bos'n Cross and Cap'n Sterling for a couple of minutes. But I did meet several Pub members for the first time; most of all, Rory Scott and his lovely wife Kate, who were most friendly and helpful. Scott and Kate showed me where I could by slops at the Black Bear, and I splurged on a $35 pair in plain linen (yes, sad to say, that's splurging by my standards). I put them on and felt a little silly, but a lot more piratical. I also got to meet Diosa de Cancion fo the first time, and she taught my son and some other younkers how to haul on a rope and sing Haul Away Joe, a shanty I had never heard before and which I have now been singing nonstop for days. Then I met Josephine Lamaze (sp?), who told me all about doing marine archaeology on the wreck of the Quedah Merchant - yes, that Quedah Merchant - off Catalina near the Dominican Republic.

Getting to see the Pride of Baltimore was a treat too, although I was sorry that the Meka II could not take part in the battle re-enactment this year; the river was too full of storm debris for her to risk setting sail. I wish I'd had the chance to go on board, but they had it roped off during the battle re-enactment.

Everybody did a super job bearing up and making Hampton a real success in spite of the storm. I look forward to going again next year. Also, I hope to make it to a few other East Coast pirate events this year; at least Rockall, but perhaps Lockhouse also.

Who called you a nincompoop, Daniel? As I have stated in the past, I think wiki is right more often than wrong. However, I also think that if they want to be the internet's encyclopedia they ought to maintain consistency throughout a given article. It confuses the issue when they say one thing in one place and another later on. (Which is one of the problematic facets of any group exercise.)

I was speaking tongue in cheek about the "nincompoop" (probably should have used a smiley). But I'm quite sincere about suggestions for how to improve it. No false modesty - I've read a hell of a lot about pirates, enough where I feel qualified to edit Wikipedia. But you and many other Pub members may well be able to improve it more than I could.

You're right about the problems with a group exercise: if I'm going to go in and remove something somebody else wrote on WIkipedia, I like to have very strong proof in hand that what they wrote was wrong, and with a concept as shifting and controversial as the boundaries of the "Golden Age of Piracy," strong proof of anything is hard to come by.

Also of note would be the Yamasee War in the Carolinas...

I'd like to see you expand on this. What was the influence of the Yamasee War on the Golden Age? I've only found a very little bit about the Yamasee War, and it seemed to me that it helped weaken Charleston to the point where Blackbeard saw it as a good target, but I'd be curious to know if that war has any further connection to the Golden Age.

And incidentally, while the Wikipedia entry on "Golden Age of Piracy" is certainly not the work of one person, the nincompoop who wrote the "three outbursts of piracy" part, as well as the historiography section which that summary is based on . . . that was me. So if y'all have any suggestions about how to make it better, I'll see if I can do something.

When I talked about parasitism, I meant on humanity in general. The benefit pirates provided to merchants was necessarily less than the detriment they inflicted on their victims, with the pirates themselves swallowing the difference. Their plundering remained a net drain on humanity. On the other hand, logwood trees that were just standing there, cattle and pigs that were running wild, and manatees swimming freely in the sea were no benefit to any human being until the pirates harvested them, so the pirates actually produced something of value, whether for themselves or for others, when they harvested them.

Foxe, I agree that buccaneers and post-Spanish-Succession pirates were different kinds of pirates with different kinds of operating styles, and it does appear to me that the post-Spanish-Succession pirates were more parasitic than the buccaneers were. But did the later pirates abandon all the buccaneer hunting methods and logwood cutting? Was there not a considerable carryover from buccaneers to Roundsmen and from Roundsmen to post-Spanish Succession pirates? If so, why would they abandon their previous methods of subsistence? (One possible answer; Roundsmen and post-Spanish-Succession pirate crews were a lot smaller and needed a lot less food than the huge buccaneer crews).

In the past, I've often said that pirates were parasites, stealing the wealth and labor of others while contributing nothing in return. I've been especially prone to say that when arguing against Marxist types who like to see pirates as social revolutionaries, but who ignore the fact that their description of capitalists as exploiters is at least equally applicable to pirates.

But lately, I've noticed some evidence against my position, especially from the 17th-century buccaneering period. At least for food, the most basic productive need of all, pirates could be self-sufficient. Dampier mentioned that Miskito Indians who joined the pirates could feed the whole crew just by spearing manatees. And while the average pirate lacked the Miskito's skill with the harpoon, any pirate could harvest green turtles just by turning them on their backs. The book I'm reading now, Galvin's Patterns of PIllage, seems to suggest buccaneers continued at times to hunt wild cattle and swine even aftr moving to Tortuga.

Then also, pirates sometimes made their own trade goods by cutting logwood, and not just during the buccaneer period; Galvin says that Blackbeard himself may have been a logwood cutter before joining up with Hornigold.

The most basic need of pirates besides food was a ship, and obviously this was usually obtained by robbery (although even then, Exquemelin mentions that some Tortugan buccaneers actually hired their ships, and of course Bonnet bought his). I have not heard of pirates building any vessel larger than a periagua.

So what about pirates' other needs: vegetable food, rope and other ship's supplies, clothing, etc.? How much of that was stolen, and how much did they make or trade for? Can we say that, while the objective of piracy was always robbery of that which others had created, the lifestyle of piracy was often that of a hunter/scavenger rather than a mere robber?

One of Henry Every's crew definitely mentioned a number of "boys" on the Fancy.

Exquemelin mentions boys in the buccaneer crews getting half a share because it was their duty to torch the old ship when the crew moved to a new one.

John King of the Whydah was reportedly between 8 and 11 years old when he joined Bellamy's crew.

Somewhere in Botting's The Pirates there is a contemporary description of a pirate issued by the authorities, maybe in Virginia, who was under 16 years old.

Thus, I surmise that Roberts' rule against boys on board was the exception, not the rule, among pirates.

I'll see you at Hampton, God willing.

Patterns of Pillage: A Geography of Caribbean-Based Piracy in Spanish America, 1536-1718, by Peter R. Galvin, 1999. I never heard of it before I found it in Gelman Library yesterday. Semester's over, and I can read fun stuff again!

Interesting! I didn't know there was evidence that Julian might have been only a local pilot.

There is also John Gardiner's tantalizing passing reference to Captain Kidd's quartermaster, Hendrick van der Heul as "a little black man," in Jameson, Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents, p. 222. But did that mean black-haired, or black-skinned?

Are there any known examples of black officers on colonial-era European or American vessels other than amongst pirates? Certainly many of them were crewmen (Crispus Attucks comes to mind).

Geoffrey Parker once described manioc as "one of the most productive and least demanding crops ever grown by man." Assuming it doesn't poison you, I guess.

Some further data:

"A 4-pdr., the typical gun size on a small sloop or schooner, could fire a roundshot about 1,000 yards." Angus Konstam, Pirates: 1660-1730, p. 11. I think that means, when you elevated the 4-pounder as high as it would go and fired it with a normal charge, a splash appeared about 1,000 yards away; I would not count on much penetration if you hit something at that distance.

"Case shot fired from a six-pound field piece had an effective range of 250 yards." Benerson LIttle, The Sea Rover's Practice, p.137. I think that means that an average gunner firing at crew on an open deck beyond 250 yards would more likely than not fail to disable anyone because of either a) dispersing the shot too widely to hit anyone, or b ) the shot losing too much energy to disable someone who was hit.

Little also agrees with Foxe; ships' guns were normally fired point blank, making maximum range unimportant.

Hummmm... Gallows Point reminds me of Jerry 'Hangman' Jerk's gibbet at Gallow Tree Hill on Romney Marsh in Doctor Syn by Russell Thorndike.

Jas. Hook

I found a copy of Thorndike's book on the Web, but it doesn't seem to have any illustrations of Gallows Tree Hill. Thanks for the reference, though!

Here are a couple of drawings I made recently. Any tips on improvement would be great; I don't have much experience with drawing.

This one was a lot of work. I like how the lantern and the right-hand pirate turned out, but not much of anythng else. It's supposed to show Stede Bonnet and his crew drinking King James III's health on the Francis, July 31, 1718.

Not an effort at any real historical incident here, just imagining what Gallows Point might have looked like from a pirate's perspective, except that the gallows here is probably too far from the shoreline for the tide to reach. I think the high key and somber tone make a nice contrast with the previous drawing.

I've been looking for that for years. Never found one yet.

There's a specimen of a merchant ship's articles from an British 1835 statute, intended to be used as a model. I don't know if any ship ever actually sailed under these articles unmodified. Note that the OCR may have caused several misspellings.

An Agreement made, pursuant to the Directions of an Act of Parliament

passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King William tlie

Fourth, between the Master of the Ship

of the Port of and of the Burthen of Tons,

and the several Persons whose Names are subscribed hereto.

It is agreed by and on the Part of the said Persons, and they severally hereby

engage, to serve on board the said Ship in the several Capacities against their

respective Names expressed, on a Voyage from the Port of

to \here the intended Voyage is to be described as nearly as can be

donCj and the Places at which it is intended the Ship shall touchy or if that cannot

be dione^ the Nature of the Voyage in which she is to be emphyedi] and back to the

Port of and the said Crew further engage to conduct themselves

in an orderly, faithful, honest, careful, and sober Manner, and to be at all Times

diligent in diieir respective Duties and Stations, and to be obedient to the lawful

Commands of the Master in every thing relating to the said Ship, and the

Materials, Stores, and Cargo thereof, whether on board such Ship, in Boats, or

on Shore [here may be inserted any other Clauses which the Parties may think

proper to be introduced into the Agreement ^ provided that the same be not contrary

to or inconsistent with the Provisions and Spirit of this Act]. In consideration of

which Services, to be duly, honestly, carefully, and faithfully performed, the said

Master doth hereby promise and agree to pay to the said Crew, by way of Com-

pensation or Wages, the Amount against their Names respectively expressed.

In witness whereof the said Parties have hereto subscribed their Names on the

Days against their respective Signatures mentioned.

Place and Time of Entry.

Men-i

Amount

ofW.g«

per Calendar

■^ Month,

Share, or

Voyage.

Wimmto

Name of Ship

in which

the Seamen

lutut>ed.

Note. — Any Embezzlement or wilful or negligent Loss or Destruction of any Part of

the Ship's Cargo or Stores may be made good to the Owner out of the Wages (so far as

thej will extend) of the Seaman guilty of the same; and if any Seaman shall enter

himself as qualified for a Duty to which he shall prove to be not competent, he will be

subject to u Reduction of, the Rate of Wages hereby agreed for in proporUon to his

lncompetency.

The Wooden Horse, in New York City, was a "particular favorite of sailors," and was noted for "drunken brawls, sometimes involving knives, cutlasses, and pikes." Burrows and Wallace, Gotham, p. 54. The tavern was founded in the 1650s and stood until the great fire of 1776, spanning the whole Golden Age.

There's no specific reference to pirates there, as obviously any sailors with piratical inclinations or histories wouldn't talk about it openly. But to me it is almost inconceivable that Kidd would not have recruited at the Wooden Horse, having arrived in New York with most of his English crew lost to the press gang, and we all know how those New York City recruits turned out once they got within reach of easy booty in the Indian Ocean. Not to mention what they did when Culliford invited them to join his pirate crew.

The very best to you, old chum!

Wishing you only the best, old friend.

I've seen Pirates of Blood River and The Devil-Ship Pirates, both featuring Christopher Lee. Pirates of Blood River is kind of blah. The idea is Christopher Lee in an eyepatch, and yes, Christopher Lee in an eyepatch is an arresting sight, but it's not enough to carry the whole movie.

But The Devil-Ship Pirates is friggin' awesome! Lee sheds the accent for this one and makes a super villain, and the setup is tense as all hell, a sort of 16th century version of The Desperate Hours. Regrettably, Hammer never made any more pirate films after The Devil-Ship Pirates, because they lost their pirate ship in an accident during shooting.

OK, the shirt is as done as it's going to get before Halloween; everything is finished except the slit gussets and the stitching on the hem. For the cuffs, would buttons or hooks and eyes be more period?

By the way, I was wrong about the blue and white checked linen; it was only 51% linen and 49% rayon. So I'm going with a plain linen instead.

Just a cutting diagram. I'm going to hand sew with silk thread (couldn't find linen thread).

I found a diagram here from 1769 which looks pretty good: http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/maenner/18hemd.shtml,

So I know a place where I can get blue and white checked linen, which I know is period material for a sailor's shirt. Does anybody know where I can get a period pattern for cutting and sewing it? Showing what kind of cuffs, collar, pleats, and stuff like that to use? Anything from 1680 to 1750 would be close enough.

Law school classes start again tomorrow. I hope I can visit here a little more during the semester than I did last year, but can't make any promises. Fair winds and following seas to all.

Not only is Brett a wonderful Holmes, but I love both the guys who play Watson. It's so much better than Nigel Bruce playing Watson as a dunderhead. In the Brett version, Watson is a smart man, who knows Holmes is smarter than he is, and takes genuine pleasure in seeing Holmes out-think him. You can tell that Holmes, if the situation were reversed, would resent seeing himself surpassed, and in that one respect Watson is a greater man than Holmes.

I second the recommendation of By the Sword Divided, and would add I, Claudius. Centennial, Michener's fictionalization of Colorado's history, is superb. Masada is more of a miniseries than the type of thing you're talking about, only four episodes, but it's unmissable all the same (be sure you see the full miniseries, though; on no account should you watch the butchered feature film version of it).

That is a most awesome find, PoD! "LInes" is surely Philip Lyne, who is known to have been hanged at Curacao and to have lost an eye, but I had never heard the detailed description of his flag before! That is also the first case I have heard of a pistol figuring in an authentic Jolly Roger, although William Red Wake has made some stupendous modern pirate flags with pistols in them.