corsair2k3

The people have spoken! Selected artifacts are slated to go up at www.whydah.com. Ken is getting too old and fat to waddle to the post office carrying those blame report copies. Watch this thread and/or Captain Twill for the URL(s). The Corsair

Greetings, Good point: We used to sell plated replica coins, but gave that up precisely because of the problems you mention. We therefore took a number of precautions to prevent this recreation from being mistaken as either original or a replica. The Corsair.

Here's an article on Blacks and Pirates now on the Whydah site: You might have to cut and paste the URL into your browser. http://www.whydah.com/page.php?id=past013

from scratch... http://whydah.com/store/product_info.php?c...products_id=190

Check it out! http://whydah.com/store/product_info.php?c...products_id=189 Thanks! The Corsair

This is not always an easy title to find... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=ADME:B:LC:US:1 You'll probably have to cut and paste this address into your browser. Thanks for looking. Corsair

...an oldie, but goodie! Check it out [you might have to cut and paste the address into your browser] http://whydah.com/store/product_info.php?c...products_id=198

Nice price on this history of swordfighting! http://whydah.com/store/product_info.php?p...products_id=199

Greetings, Aside from some anomalous behavior reported during the blockade of the Virginia Capes in the early fall of 1717, the following testimony by pirate boatswain Ignatius Pell is part of the transcript of Stede Bonnet's trial: "[Thomas Nichols] "did not fight; and if one that Major Bonnet loved very well, had not been shot down by his Side, he [=Boonet] had blowed his [=Nichols'] Brains out; for he had his Pistol ready." IMO. this accounts for the "...some Discomforts he found in a married State" as reported in the GHP Regards, The Corsair

I have yet to encounter doucmented evidence for an undoubted instance of pedophilia aboard a pirate ship. Period. A number of salacious authors have pointed out the youth of some of those who "went down to the sea in ships" (actual phrase used--and with a giggle--in a lecture that was purported to be "scholarly"!) Men, in general, were considered adults at a much earlier age than is the case nowadays. It took a long time to make a sailor. The work demanded great strength and dexterity. To be an "AB" by 17 or 18, one had to begin at age 13 or 14. Even so, however, most pirates seem to have been 17 or over. I saw in a NQG some years ago an article on "child pirates" and there were only a very few under 17--and those appear to have been apprentices. While our society defines those under 18 as minors, I would argue that this should be lowered for the 18th-century to at least 13 or 14. That's coincidentally the age that most social historians use for adulthood when describing 18th-century life in general. So the simple presence of young teens aboard ships does not mean that pirate crews were were a happy hunting-ground for the 18th-century equivalent of NAMBL degenerates To demonstrate that, you need evidence--and it just aint there. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, This is a partial continuation of another topic that needs to be split--homosexuality and pedophilia being, in my opinion, separate phenomena. As to homosexuality among pirates: I've done a lot of reading in primary sources for the 18th century, and am of the opinion that homosexuality was somewhat less closeted among pirates than among the RN--or the population at large for that matter. This is not to say that I accept the thrust (pardon the pun) of either Turley or Burg's arguments. Both fall victim to the assumption that human needs are constant and must find an outlet. They presume that, given the absence of women, pirate shps must therefore have resembled certain areas of San Francisco on Saturday night. I am of the opinion that one cannot extrapolate the present era's obsession with personal physical gratification in general--and sex in particular--without a lot more evidence than has survived. And the argument that men and women of the 18th-century were simply more reticent about that area of life ain't a-gonna cut it with me. Putting forth a historical hypothesis that RELIES on absence of evidence is flummery. Having said that, there is some good evidence for homosexuality among pirates--aside from Culliford, who was mentioned in the original thread, Stede Bonnet was almost certainly gay. I have my suspicions about Roberts. As to matelotage: while this institution may or may not have included the practice of homosexuality, it is clear that it was not exclusively a homosexual institution or practice--since it is explicitly mentioned that matelots would even share a woman. Regards, The Corsair

My, My, My! How 'bout dat! The Corsair

Greetings, I should have been more specific. Yes. Fissures and "tunnels" are to be expected in limestone--and that might account for the "tunnels" in the bedrock that were picked up on the fiberoptic at the 200 ft+ level It does not account however for the evidence of the existence of the side tunnels in the gneiss *above* the level of the bed rock--at <100 ft. And what about the five stone drains on the beach? Nickell might argue that the evidence of these is tainted because the team that found the drains were masonic--and hence can't be trusted--but that still leaves the question of the cofferdam across Smith' Cove which was used for the construction of the drains. Now, awhile back, somebody cleverly accounted for the existence of the Pit, the side tunnels and the coffer dam by postulating that OI was actually intended as a very elaborate drydock. While this theory contains no explanation for why such effort was expended, or why there is no record of the existence of such a drydock in any archives, I am of the opinion that this theory cannot be discounted (although why, in such a case, the builders left the Dutch sluices that controlled the flow of water in the tunnels in the "on" position is beyond me). Good Thread! Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, Rolling Stone--of all places--had a real good piece on it in the issue of January 24. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, It would be more persuasive if Joe had done his homework on the actual geo-engineering of the site. The existence of the side-tunnels pretty well undercuts his argument. The best source info on OI in print are the books by Harris and Crooker--both have at least some familiarity with both geology and engineering. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, Actually, the scientific knowledge needed to build the main shaft and side tunnels was pretty commonplace back then--not so common now, though, and so we just THINK it was beyond the capabilities of the 18th -century. The Corsair

Might be true for most Europeans, but then sailors weren't most Europeans. As a consequence, one frequently runs across mention of tattoos in the descriptions of runaway sailors found in colonial newspapers of the early 18th century. The ones I've seen all had religious/magical themes. Don't think there were any tattoos specific to pirates, though. Seems sorta counterintuitive to me--but who's to say? As to branding with a "P"--several instances of this are recorded as an East India Company punishment during the 1680's and 1690's. When the John Company caught a batch of pirates, it would usually sentence only a few to death. The rest would be branded--so that future merchant captains would know them for what they were. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, Try a web-search for "duppy jonah" for the origins of Davy Jones. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, I'm not sure we'll ever know much more about BH. I've seen his name rendered as "Hornogold" on some primary source documents--including a Pardon, and it is my opinion that this could well have been a nickname ("Horn o' Gold"). Supposedly there's a record at the NMM of a pirate flag with a horn above a skull and crossbones. For me, it's easy to imagine that being his flag. Regards, Corsair

Greetings, I've always been in touch with him through the Whydah site. He's an untrusting sort who doesn't put his addy on the Net any more. Regards, The Corsair

Greetings, If you go to www.whydah.com and use their support email, you can reach their project historian. He is generally pretty prompt in answering students' questions about pirates. Regards, The Corsair

well, because of at least one report I've read, I strongly suspect that this bougre was manic-depressive anyway--if not borderline. Regards, Corsair

The best source on Low--bar none--is Pirates of the New England Coast by George Francis Dow and John Henry Edmonds. It's a Dover reprint and so is very reasonably priced. I know that the store at www.whydah.com has it, and I am sure that that Fern Canyon Press would carry it as well. Regards, The Corsair

It was Vol. 29 (1943) pp. 131-4. But, in looking it over, it does not mention the document box at the NMM which, as I recall, is supposed to have the undated flag renditions. This article does, however, describe a couple of flag designs not normally seen--unfortunately, the author (HG Carr) did not give a source for these (and for some other good stuff!0 Apologies for the delay, The Corsair