JoshuaRed

That is definitely from the mid 19th century, perhaps from an edition of The Pirates' Own Book. It could be even later I'm thinking, the more I look at it the more Victorian it looks.

Interesting! I'll have to give it a shot.

Little bit too hot for my head here in Florida! But very nice work! If I was still in New England I'd definitely take one!

Cutthroat Island was ANYTHING but real pirate action...I challenge anyone to find an actual act of piracy committed in that or nearly any Hollywood movie. The closest thing is ironically in one of the oldest movies - The Black Pirate with Doug Fairbanks from 1926 (I think). The first ten minutes of the film shows a dirty, ragged band of thieves methodically board, loot and burn a Spanish vessel, including "interrogating' the prisoners, and even loading the plunder back onto their vessel. So by god if you're gonna do a pirate movie, make it be about actual PIRACY and not about a bunch of silk-shirted adventures chasing buried treasure...or worse...each other - don't make it about "pirates who are sent out to catch other pirates"...that is such a lame way to justify their actions. The best advice I can give is to watch films like Resevoir Dogs, The Ungforgiven, Romeo Is Bleeding, Heat, Goodfellas, etc, and translate that to the 18th century. Better yet, watch 1 episode of Deadwood and you'll immediately see how a great pirate movie could and should be done!

I could be wrong Foxe, but didn't Woodes Rogers mention that in his texts? I'm pretty sure Silas Told did also...I'll double check later.

Coffee...who's got coffee? *shaking sand out of hair from the shady rock ledge he's been sleeping under for 10+ months* Where AM I?

Ah! That's it - you're right! I think your interpretation is much more plausible.

Bonny, Read and Rackham were anything but successful. Quintessential two-bit crooks of their time, really. They are only of note today because Johnson wrote of their sensational capture & trial, which is far more noteworthy than their actual crimes. The wording in this passage is a bit confusing, but I sort of took it to mean that the amorous sailor found himself wondering why the heck he was getting all hot and bothered over his messmate...and thinking that perhaps his *feelings* were telling him something that his eyes missed, he reported the matter to the surgeon who quickly discovered "hey he's a chick!" I'd like to know what happened afterwards. Obviously she was immediately dismissed, but I bet she was pretty popular thereafter.

Yeah, the nose shaped exactly like an upside-down heart was also very popular on the tombstones in the Colonies over here, and probably Europe as well. Just going by what I've seen firsthand in Salem, Boston, Virginia, etc...

Interesting! Perhaps it was memoriam jewelry to remember a loved one, or maybe was intended to be buried with a deceased person? Or maybe just a jewelers reminder of mortality?

Oh sweet!!! Thanks for posting that Foxe. Maybe women are right...bigger IS better.

Did that apply only below decks, or topside as well? I wonder if the rules of smoking were quite consistent across ships, cultures, navy, merchant, etc, or if it boiled down to individual captain's preferences?

Don't forget...s m a l l buttons!

Here we go: They're about 14" long. (or they were before I broke them. This is why I can't have nice things.) **That better Kass? Sorry they wouldn't work.

LOL while we're at it, why not a mold for a 100% to scale sloop? :) I'll dig up some pics of my pipe and post it here.

Sam, I had my pipes made by a charming woman in Devonshire by the name of Heather Coleman. Visit her site Here. She is a bona fide old world pipe expert, and both collects originals and sells her handmade repros made to exact specs of the time period. In many cases she uses the ORIGINAL molds. In my case, I had her make me two "Bristol 1721" pipes from original samples she has, so authenticity-wise, it's 100% spot on. Prices weren't bad either, only 20 bucks apiece, took her about a month to make and ship them, they arrived unbroken and very safely wrapped. She's extremely friendly and knowledgeable, I would highly recommed working with her. Just contact her thru her site and inquire about her early 18th century Bristol pipe repros. Just click on my name/profile on the left for a shot of it in action! Smokes wonderfully!

Foxe ya beat me to it! I was gonna post the Puckle gun too! It's definitely ODD...imagine Blackbeard bolting one of those to the bow of the QAR! I recently saw a 19th century engraving featuring odd guns of the early 18th century. If I can dig up a copy to scan I will.

Hi Sam! I got a nice big pile of metal coins from deadmentellnotales.com, lasted me a whole year, handing them out at various places. They only costed a smidgeon more than the junky plastic ones, and they really light up people's faces, especially kids! I got a bunch of assorted sizes, from doubloons, eight reals, shillings,etc.

Oil based paint dries as a chemical process, not with air the way water based paint does. In other words, holding a still wet watercolor under a hairdryer will speed the process of the water evaporating in the pigment, leaving only the pigment. Oil paint on the other hand, will just take X amount of time to cure FULLY, regardless of the environmental conditions, up to a year. This curing process is the gradual evaporation of the medium used to get the pigment down (turpentine, linseed oil, etc), leaving behind the pigment. So if you tar some clothing with oil-based paint, and let it cure for 6 months to a year, I'd say you are sufficently less flammable than if you tried to wear some freshly painted gear immediately.

Why thankee Greg! Sadly I recently broke that pipe by accident...AND managed to break my spare as well. D'OH!

Let's see. I've made hardtack and a myriad of punches. I haven't eaten as much "authentic" 18th C food as I'd like. I did get some pretty good fare in Williamsburg and at various places in Massachusets, but it was more lubberly and dated to more like the Revolution. Of course any ocean fish cooked over an open flame is period correct...or stewed in a pot with whatever is at hand. I'll have to dig out Dampier's books - he talks alot about the various things they scrounged up to eat on their "Expeditions".

Well I was just speaking figuratively on the relatively high cost of those Islands, but if I were to make my own, I would certainly take that advice - florist foam is pretty weak and mushy, I can see how it wouldn't hold up, and would end up full of finger holes from picking them up.

After another wonderful & successful voyage thru POTC yesterday we hit the Pirate's Bazaar to check out those new action figures based on the stars of the ride, not the movie. My 4 yr. picked out the guy with the pigs. He loves pirates and he loves piggies, so it was a no brainer, though he did go back and forth for awhile between that one and the "First Mate" with the cat. These things are REALLY nice. They have quite a wide range of figures, all of which come with lots of amusing accessories. The detail is quite nice, especially the faces, and they really capture the spirit of the ride. I'm planning to go back and pick up a few for my desk at work! Each one makes a nice little diorama scene.

Heck yeah! We're headed out the door right now to go to Disneyworld for the day - it's beautiful here, only in the 50's, breezy and sunny! Gotta see if I can pick up some of the new POTC ride figures at the Bazaar.

Get some sandpaper, a block of florist's styrofoam, some model railroad scenery and you could churn out boxloads of random islands all day. But the instant gratification of buying stuff is sometimes more fun! Here's my only gripe with the WizKids Pirates games....the flags & pennants only fit on the ships backwards, against the wind!