Hawkyns

Marlinspike seamanship- the fancy knotwork used by sailors as a way to both pass the time and decorate their tools, etc.- when does it first appear? There are some extant examples from the 18th century, but most are from the 19th. Is there any proof that this sort of work existed in the 17th or back to the 16th century? Did Drake's and Raleigh's seadogs pass their time doing this? Any primary source artwork or extant pieces? Thanks, All Hawkyns

I'll be doing leatherwork in the shop, either making new kit or doing repairs for them wot needs them. All period techniques, all period tools. If I can get away from the shop for a bit, I'd like to get involved with the swordplay. Sterling, what do you guys use for weapons and what are your rules/safety specs? Hawkyns

Right, so as of now, the plan is to work at Jamestown over Thanksgiving, leave first thing Monday AM and drive to KW, arriving late Tuesday. The one thing that tweeks me about this is the causeway down through the keys. Bridges and causeways give me the heebie jeebies. I've heard tell of ferries that go from the mainland to KW, but what I'm seeing seem to be passenger only. Are there any car ferries that leave from anywhere in FL? Hawkyns

Interesting. It looks sort of like their carronade, but yours doesn't have the cascabel ring, does it? Special order? Hawkyns

Nice! Who cast the tube? Hawkyns

OK, still waiting for the forms and info, but a couple of quick questions as I try and figure out if thsi is really going to work. Is there a sutlering fee? How much? Is it neccesary to set up for the entire festival? Thanks, All Hawkyns

I'd give Track a call 763-633-2500 . I just checked their website and they have a lot of listings for wedge pins. Calling them would make sure you get the right one. Hawkyns

Check out Track of the Wolf. they are generally best for parts. Hawkyns

Sorry, Ransom, I don't think there is another side to this. Dumb and dangerous is dumb and dangerous, no excuses. He was firing live cannon rounds in an at least partially inhabited area. You fire live rounds at an approved range only, not in your back yard. It is the responsibility of the range owner, in this case the cannon owner, to make sure that there is nothing that can cause a ricochet. The side of a hill can hold rocks, trees, even hard packed dirt that can cause skips and ricochets. Hell, that's part of all the manuals, knowing how to skip cannonballs off the ground. I don't care if he's a history buff, re-enactor, or redneck hick - what he is is a cannon owner and the people who don't like us don't much care why we own them. They just look for ways to get "dangerous weapons" out of the hands of the public. I've owned and fired cannon for 25 years. I don't want to stop because somebody screwed up, freak accident or not. Hawkyns

Not even vaguely funny. This is the kind of moronic move that will eventually get them to start regulating cannon and black powder. Right now, we are oeprating in a loophiole that says blackpowder weapons and cannon are 'antiques and replicas' and not really weapons. After some idiot tried to hold up a store in NYC with a cap and ball revolver, they tried to pass laws restricting black powder in New York State. We walk on very thin ice, and it's not getting thicker. The only thing we can do is cast this idiot into the outer darkness and give him no support whatever. Don't laugh at him, just condemn him as a menace. Hawkyns

Dammit, how did I miss this one?? Glad you had a good one, we'll share some rum in Key West. Hawkyns

To resurrect an older post and return to the original topic- I think the question is not so much could they as would they. I've seen any number of mismatched blades and hilts in museums all over Europe and the US. They were generally built to a purpose and were one offs. The question that I would have is would a deckhand pirate have the skill to use a thin blade with virtually no edge beyond the first few inches? The rapier is a thrusting weapon and does not have the mass to parry a cutlass in a dead stop. It relies on deflection to keep the opponent's blade away. The skills used in rapier fighting come at a cost of both time and money, neither of which is something that your average deckhand or topman is going to spend for such a purpose. Much the same can be said for the smallsword. While captains might have the skill, and one or two officers, the rank and file generally did not come from the class of people accustomed to the rapier and smallsword. The most useful cutdowns and remounts that I have seen generally fall into the 15-18 inch range, long dirks and fighting knives. At that length, the blade still has enough stiffness to be able to parry with bending, and the mass of the arm wielding it is close enough to the point of impact to still be useful. Just my two guineas based on a quarter century of rapier fighting. Hawkyns

I have a box in my seachest for blade care. It contains: A small flat file for taking out nicks. A pocket sized tri hone for sharpening A piece of green hardware cloth for touch up. A piece of 120 grit wet and dry paper for more serious rust. A bottle of honing oil. A bottle of BreakFree for general oiling. This will take care of anything that happens in the field. Obviously, for serious work I have buffing wheels and belt sanders in the shop. Hawkyns

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell. My most favourite author. Hawkyns

Well, if we want to take it back to the real beginning, I guess we could say the Treaty of Tordessillas in 1494, when Pope Alexander VI divided the new world between the Spanish and the Portugese, and left nothing for England (or France, for that matter). The English relations with the Pope were always a bit shaky. Of course, when Henry broke with the Catholics and began the Dissolution, that really brought matters to a head. The next hundred years would bring a string of battles, raids, insults and plots. Yes, the French were involved, so were the Dutch, as the Spanish consolidated their control over the Low Countries under Philip I and Charles V. They are all interconnected as the House of Habsburg tried to take over much of Europe under the HRE. England was never a major ally of the the HRE, and even under the few treaties, was never a very willing participant. I think trying to set a date for when hostilities began or who fired the first shot is a futile attempt. An uneasy truce was about the best you could say for the portions of the 16th century. Linking this back to the original question, the The English and the Dutch, and even the French, had societies that were not as rigid as the Spanish. In attempting to get rid of the HRE and it's yoke, they were much more willing to use unconventional tactics and not rely solely on a disconnected hereditary aristocracy to command the troops. Hawkyns

Well, what do you consider the oepning of hostilities? I'd sya the Throckmorton plot and the Babbington plot would qualify. Long before Drake or anybody else started putting powder to barrels, there were multiple plots and attempts to free Mary, return her to the throne, and kill Elizabeth. Fortunately, thanks to Walsingham, they never came near to success. That doesn't mean that hostilites hadn't begun, though. Hawkyns

Because the French were more interested in being a world power in and of themselves, rather than being a client state of the Vatican. Cardinal Richelieu, for example, paid protestant soldiers to fight against the Catholic Emperor because it was in France's interest to see the Holy Roman Empire kept weak and at a distance. Hawkyns

Not sure there is a much more dispassionate way to look at it. The Catholic church had stated it's position to retake protestant Europe at all costs. Mary had burned heretics. The Spanish launched the Armada with the express intention of removing an anointed Queen and breaking the English monarchy. The Spanish were fighting the protestants in the Netherlands. The Pope divided the new world between the Spanish and the Portugese and declared heretic anyone who challenged that idea. In 1618, a religious war broke out that would devastate Europe as the Holy Roman Empire attempted to reinstate its sovreignty over Europe in the name of the Catholic church and the Pope. In 1688, the Catholics again tried to take over England and return it to Catholic rule. You can call it the black legend all you like, but facts are facts and the Spanish, along with other Catholic allies, were launching expeditions and wars, solely for the purpose of reestablishing the Catholic church as master of the World. In reading the numbers of "heretics" imprisoned, tortured, and burned, the promoters of the black legend idea seriously underreport the depredations of the Inquisition. It ignores the fact that the church demanded and received a position of authority on every Spanish ship. I just don't see how it can be passed off as a PR campaign on the part of Spain's enemies. And Patrick is right. No matter how un-PC, or who it may upset, there is no way to discuss this subject without the religious issue. Hawkyns

Don't know about this black legend. After doing some research on it, it seems like a PR campaign designed to excuse the Catholic church and its Spanish client state. Everything I read hailed back to trying to excuse the Inquisition, put a good light on the conversion of the indiginous peoples, and shift the blame to the rest of Protestant Europe. Hawkyns

Hey Spike, anything new? I checked the Friends page but didn't see anything. I also sent you a PM. Hawkyns

Tactics and attitude, for the most part. They were very good at subduing what ammounted to a stone age people. Their armour, firearms and horses made them appear as gods to the natives, but once the natives figured things out, the situation changed. And as far as fighting other Europeans, the Spanish were a generation behind. Their rigid hierarchy of church and nobility discouraged independant thought and initiative. The middle class, which was providing the basis for the new armies of Europe was sadly lacking in Spain. Their firearms were behind the times, and where the rest of Europe was abandoning the pike and sword for the musket, the Spaniards were slow to keep up. On ships, they preferred to use field artillery carriages lashed to the rail, instead of the ships carriages that the English used. That meant that they had one shot but were effectively unable to reload during sea battles. They just did not adapt well to the post rennaissance method of war. Some of this was still evident even in the Peninsula campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Hawkyns

Read them, Bo. They may not nown about the new world, but they knew what was expected of them in their society. They knew the skills of a 17th century yeoman, they were prepared to work hard, because that was what they did. And they understood their place in society as it existed. The people on the show didn't even have a clue how to wear the clothes. Instead, they worried about the minor things, the whole relationship issue, which would have been a given in 1628. They took people who could not survive without the trappings of 21st century tech, which would have been unknown to them and therefore not an issue. Hawkyns

There's a difference between the actual hardship of survival and trying to meet the company goals, and the crap that they showed. Like all these so called reality shows, nobody was ever in any danger, nobody was going to starve, and there were no real consequences. With that scenario, there is no hardship involved, just a bunch of whiney moderns who could not handle life outside the 21st century. Any real reenactors or trekkers could have breezed through the show and turned it into a really good documentary on the colonists life in the new world. Hawkyns

Actually, I thought it sucked. I've done some volounteer work at Plimoth Plantation, and was a regular volounteer at the Salem 1630 village for a number of years. When the idea was first floated, a bunch of us with similar experience contacted the producers. We were told 'no thanks, you know too much'. They wanted divas, people with no clue but high emotional levels that would be prone to breaking down on camera. Having people who understood the scenario and could make it succeed was not at all what they wanted, they preferred to show the bad side of the new world. I'd like to see it done again with re-eanctors to show that it was not all the hardship, drama, and general suckage that was first shown. Hawkyns

"The Queen's Slave Trader: John Hawkyns, Elizabeth I, and the Trafficking in Human Souls" A really good read about the birth of the triangle trade and how it was integral to the rise of England as a seapower and a cause of the Armada. Hawkyns