Hawkyns

We looked at bringing the sutlery down, but decided against it. A 10x10 pop up space on a hardstand may work for modern crafters, but it is no good for a period sutlery. No indication was given that any accomodation could be made for a larger period pavillion. My suggestion would be that if they want more period sutlers, they put together a juried, period area as part of the living history camp, instead of having only the modern setups. Second, the $150 fee for the space is a quite a bit more than I am used to seeing, in terms of what we pay for fees at major 18th century market fairs. The cost for a booth at Fort Frederick Market Fair, for instance, with no size limitation, is only $50. Hawkyns

Aye, it were good to see all o' ye and I'm that grateful for the hospitality of Saturday night. Sterling, ye have a fine crew! Hawkyns

They used all kinds of finishes. Black iron oxide stain, acid burn stain, and paints. I've seen black painted and red painted (looked like redwood deck paint). I wonder if the sea service could be one that I saw that was actually painted with some kind of weak tar, for moisture protection. I know they coated barrels with tar for that purpose. What I've used for black painted stocks was sand the gloss seal off so that the wood would take the stain, and then liberally coat with black leather dye. Fiebings black oil dye works real well. Don't need to take it all the way down to bare wood, just enough so the dye will penetrate. Hawkyns

That sword has been discussed here before. It can be had for well under $100. It will not fall apart - the one hanging on my wall is close to 1/4" at the spine. It's a heavy, unwieldy beast. Is there any info on a supplier for said cutlass? Hawkyns

Pictures of period lead, not so much. How about, though, pictures of silver ingots from the Atocha? The casting procedure and molds would be similar. http://www.insideflorida.com/images/cities/mel_fisher_silverbars_thumb.jpg Hawkyns

Musket balls were shipped in kegs for military purposes. Civilian is another story. Since most civilian weapons were one of a kind, they were of varying, non standard calibres. Most weapons would come with a ball mold for casting your own shot. I have a copy of a mold that has 3 different sizes of ball, .69, .50, and .35. For a musket, this means I could cast full bore ball, buckshot, or swanshot. Smaller bars of lead were cast, small enough to go into shooting bags, as well as the ingots that could be cut up as needed. Just be sure, if you are going to melt that pipe down, that it is clean and dry on the inside. Impurities, especially liquids, can make a pot of melted lead sputter or even explode, and it will spray molten lead over quite a distance. Hawkyns

Hurricane, where were those camps and did people actually live in them? I don't remember them from the time I met you down there. Seems to me everybody was in hotels. Hawkyns

Magic!! Thank you!! A couple more questions. Were they single line of 12 holes or 2 rows of 6? What diameter holes? Can I ask where you have the luck to work that has these? Hawkyns

I have seen the type of box before, with the tabs coming from the end instead of the back. No indication of the interior, though. So little of that period remains and for some reason the documentation is just abysmal. Hawkyns

Referencing the picture of the Royal Marine posted by Grymm in the uniform colours thread. Has anyone seen an original of the cartridge box? Specifically, does it have a wooden block insert as used by the mid 18th c, or is it an open box similar to the Whydah and Phipps boxes? Hawkyns

Has anybody heard anything about this movie, either for general release or DVD? Supposedly it was released in the US last fall, but no info found. It is on gneral release in England. http://www.solomonkanethemovie.com/ Hawkyns

I've never made one but I have seen them. They were designed for use with heavy cannon, not something light. 18's and 24's as I recall. The 'rope' was a 2 1/2 inch hawser. Flexible was a relative term, but they were definitely stiff enough to seat a ball home. Hawkyns

Just about all of the bar shot I have seen is sized for 3, 4, or 6 pounders. Expanded length seems to run about18-24 inches. It doesn't take much to rip rigging away. Chain shot was originally designed for use from 3 pounders. It seems to have been developed by Gustavus Adolphus during the 30 Years War to be fired at a flat trajectory into a cavalry charge to break the horse's legs and stop the charge. Most of that was being fired from his leather cannon which were approximately 3 pdrs. 3 and 4 pd solid shot can be fairly useless against a heavy hull. Most naval ships carried heavier guns, 12-24pdrs, if they planned to sink ships. Remember, pirates did not want to sink the other ship, so light anti-personel cannon and anti rigging cannon were more useful and common. Hawkyns

[ Mattt- Is there any further information? Specifically camping and merchanting for the festival? We're interested in bringing the sutlery down. Hawkyns

Ahh, great stuff! By reenactment blade, do you mean that this is one with blunted edges and a rounded tip? Love their work. I've got 3- an irish hilt backsword, a halfbasket mortuary, and a pikeman's hanger- all combat blunts. I'm waiting for them to come up with a cutlass that I like. Hawkyns

I'll be arriving around noon on Saturday and staying through till the end Sunday. Not wearing pirate rig, I don't think. Probably my ECW officers rig. It packs smaller and I will NOT pay for checked bags. Hawkyns

Pyracy pub towne in Crows Nest Hawkyns

I've been trying to edit my post from this morning over in the Pyracy Pub Town thread and it won't let me. It shows the edit as part of the thread, and not as a separate screen, then it will not let me end it. Hawkyns

Oh, no question about it. A tavern with attached brothel. Isn't that the dream of all old soldiers? This is actually a pub from the village next to the town where I was born. Best damn game pie and cider in the West Riding. Hawkyns

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/8464194.stm Seems a small crew for a ship that size. Hawkyns

Interesting. Does he at any point specify what he means by carbine? That is one of the most widely used terms in the 17th and 18th c, and means just about anything other than a full musket. I've seen it used to describe anything from a coaching blunderbuss with a 14 inch barrel, really a pistol with a shoulder stock, to a musket with a 42 inch barrel. Based on the date, I would guess that he is referring to the dragoon carbine, similar to the Littlecote Carbine, 30 inch barrels and about .64 calibre. Note that in in the following pictures, the dragoon sling is a clip hook that attaches to a single ring on the side of the stock opposite the breech. This allows the carbine to be reversed to allow loading on horseback without taking the weapon off. http://www.royalarmouries.org.uk/learning/online-learning/littlecote-house-module/explore-littlecote-house-without-flash/great-hall-in-littlecote-house/english-civil-wars-flintlock-carbines-blunderbusses Hawkyns

I've always been rather fond of Admiral Sir John Hawkyns, myself. Privateer, merchant adventurer, harrier of the Dons, Vice Admiral of the Fleet against the Armada, and the Queen's slave trader. Altogether an excellent fellow. Hawkyns

Interesting. I've never known Gerry to be wrong, he's my best secondary source for 15th C stuff. That said, he is in conflict with Tincey in his "British Army 1660-1704" which shows the reconstruction of the uniform from the Boyne- blue coat, oragange cuffs and facings. It is also in conflict with Barthorp in his "Marlborough's Army 1702-11" which shows a reconstruction of a gunner from 1709 in a blue coat. (space for an hour in the library) Right, I think I may have an idea on some of the confusion. There seems to have been some shifting of coat colours. Some of this seems to come from the fact that there were Dutch and German units in the army at this time. Dutch and German units frequently wore blue, so for part of the period, blue uniforms for artillery would have been period. this would have been a direct result of William of Orange assuming the Crown. There is one reference to a "shift back to red coats" in the early part of the 18th c, but this does not appear to have been universal, especially in the foriegn units. Hawkyns

My primary persona is that of Elizabethan privateer/Border Reiver. Few people know that George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, was not only Queen Elizabeth's champion, but Warden of the West March and an admiral. He equipped ships as privateers to raid Spanish holdings in Puerto rico. Some of his borderers were recruited as privateers on those ships. My basic kit for that is slops, hemp shirt, hose and latchet shoes, either a wool pullover cassack or a leather jerkin, and a grey/blue wool flat statute cap. Belt and bollock knife, and either an Irish hilt sword or a short shell guard hanger, depending on what the venue is. For armour, I have a mail shirt and a morion. Firearms are a wheelock carbine and a wheelock pistol, both functional. I'm working on the jack of plate, which will replace the mail shirt. I think when you do any festival, whether ren fair, festival, or reenactment, you should always dress to the period. It bugs the hell out of me when I go to a ren fair pirate festival and see the majority of people in GAoP kit. I don't care if it's correct to the last stitch, or a costume from the local sex shop, it's still wrong. When I went to PiP, I dressed 1700, because that is what the rules stated, even though that is not my primary impression. Piracy has variations in kit, just like the clothing of the people, and I think you should always adjust your kit to whichever date the fair is based on. Hawkyns

It all depends on country and culture. Mid calf length skirts date back to the Tudor period in the Germanies. The "bodice" that is so common at 18th C events is actually a corruption of a French fashion, the justaucorps du femme, a garment cut somewhere between a bodice and a man's waistcoat, with or without sleeves and figure hugging. Hair covering could depend on marital status or profession. One of the things I've been fighting in the 18th c has been the attitude that all the people were respectable and dressed according to the fashions of Boston and Philadelphia. Many people were not respectable. Whores were a part of society, just as were those who were on the low end of the curve and wore cast offs. Not everyone wishes to portray the respectable wife, officer's lady, or gentry. To much of this is based on the myth and pedestal that has been attached to the founding fathers. If we are talking about pirates and their ladies, I would hope we would look at Dutch genre paintings of taverns and engravers like Hogarth, rather than the portraits painted for people with money. Uncovered hair, stays worn openly, chemises off the shoulder, even clothing cut below the nipple may not be the fashion in Boston or Philly. But it would be alot more common in Port Royal. Hawkyns