Zorg

Indeed, the server seems ta be playin tricks on us today. Red Maria just gave a yell and cant find the pub atall. hmmm. But, boyo, I got black jack's picture just fine in his previous post. poltergeist, Im thinkin or mayhaps, teetotalers in the riggin.....

Agreed, Bloody Jack I've in me possession a cutlass from around 1800, an its a crude piece o work, bone hilt and hammered iron, but still sharp as blazes and quicker'n any of the reproductions Ive seen. Too much of our reenactment gear comes from sketches of the rich and unlikely-to-ever-do-a-freakin-day's-work, as opposed to the slogs that actually DID the stuff we reenact. My cutlass is badly worn, rusted, cracked, and was never very pretty to begin with. Pretty wasnt the point. Affordable and functional was the point. I suspect that's one reason why so few boarding axes actually survive. Who would save one? I don't save used lawnmower blades either. :) On o the things about costumes is that LOCAL meant more until pretty recently. How the town seamstress made bodices was how bodicies in these parts looked until she retires and we gets another one. We never see drawings of this stuff, no nice paintings, few descriptions, but common sense and the development of things says it mustve been. Mightve been. maybe both.

:) Me pleasure.

Im notin there be a fair number o Ozzy's among this scurvy lot. Nobody strike a flint around this crew. Z

So, no tree, eh? Howzabout puttin up a mast an desicratin that? The wee kitties kin hone their boardinspikes on it.

I especially likes yr powder monkey. :)

Dried skulls of former enemies? :) Treasure chests are nice, and can make a cool space ta puts the refreshments an party favors. I of a sudden has this image of Martha Steward wit an eyepatch, so I thinks Im gonna go have a bit of a lie down now. Z

Me favorite always was "To Anachreaon in Heaven" afer they stuck some nancy-boy military poem ta tha tune....... ++ To Anachreaon in Heaven Where he sat in full glee A few sons of harmony sent a petition 'That he their inspirer and patron might be Then came this reply from that jolly old Grecian Fife, Fiddle, and Lute, no longer be mute Ill lend ya my name and inspire ya ta boot An Besides, I'll Instruct you like me to entwine The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' Vine ++ Gos on like that for a few dozen verses, mostly about drinking and women, me two favorite passtimes.

Me Father swore by Bourbon, an lived to his eighties. Afer he died, they went ta cremate him, and the concussion took out two city blocks, a florists, and half of a perfectly good bawdy house. Me, I never drinks anything ya can run a car on.......

o course, tripwirin a full lock, stock, and barrel on the blighter would make a more lastin impression. Seriall, tho, anyone with a reference on the "Pocket lucifer"? I do know flint and wick alcohol eternal matches existed by 1810, but Ive nothin earlier than that. Z

Point taken, Capt William. Actually, as early a character as I portray, the point of transition betwixt the petronel and pistol is a bit blurry as tis. Its somewheres in that transition Im shootin (so ta speak ) for.

Wimps, WIMPS wit yer new fangled flintlockie things Gimmee a good match, sword, and buckler A few hogheads o dry sack an twin teenage Albino cheerleaders with a taste fer the bizarre......... ..........but I digress

I does thank ye, goodmaster Hawkins. I shall endeavour to put one of these questionable and unquestionably risky beasts together over the next few months or so, and see what I comes up with or if I wind up hoist by me own petard. Z

Anyone run across an alternate universe novel, I thinks, by the above name? The most striking feature is a pyrate republic consisting of a miles-wide raft of ships, some of them hundreds of years old. Cant find the thing, nor the author. off to the tippling house Z

Master Hawkins, as a history geek meself, I also can get into the recital mode, but as a theatre geek as well, I gets ta perform it. I think th point is, if no one is havin a good time, our revels are like ta be short lived. Just wish the re-enactors and the street theatre types could all get together an on the same page of the log. T'would make weekends slogging about in frock coate or doublet a good deal more sportin. :) :) :) :) oh, yass

I thank ye, Coastie. I snagged it. Z :)

Ambitious? Ooooh, I yam indeed. Good master Hawkins, have ye any suggestions as a source for a barrel and stock for such a beastie? I can do the smithwork, but I find boring out a...well...bore a bit on the dauntin side.

I don't know what this crap runnin around is, but most of thems I work with and nearly ALL of the bothersome student types are soundin like they've treed somethin. Me Father swore by Bourbon. Bout ta follow his example

I finds it fascinatin.... There be a host of deadly toys aboard the Mary Rose that we never see in the literature. There were longbows, gunshields (targets with matchlocks built inta them...no idea how widely used they were), and cannon with removable breech boxes, looooooong before the 1800's breechloading cannon. The main trouble with a longbow be, if ye be not pullin the ting by about the age o nine, you'll never get the strenghth to pull it with the accuracy and 12 shafts a minute required of archers (that be some 450 pounds of force across the shoulders, kiddies). I can train any swain in firin a handcannon in two weeks. Not pretty, but it'll go bang an hit somethin. There were apparently some longbows used in the revolutionary war as well, on the colonials side. root hog or die. Zorg the horribly befuddled

Mayhaps a good dry sack? I'd stay away from mead though, there be viking skulls lyin on the sea floor that STILL have a hangover from that bile. Z

There were also chemical matches, "pocket lucifers", of several various compositions, though I confess I don't know when they first came into use. Suspect the technology is early renaissance, but common use probably weren't til the 18th C. Mad Zorg

Arr. THe poor saps plyin the china straits and indonesia in small powerboats with kalashinkovs are probably as stuck as the buccanier, put between poverty, corporations, and their own beastly governments. Don't excuse behavior without a code, but it makes it understandable. I wonders if, among them, there are a few who have read of the Pyrate utopias or the salle rovers, and are quietly, violently, seekin to replicate that life? The golden age boys and girls were looking for an escape from a world dominated by privilage and inherited wealth and power. Lemmessee, WHO is President, and who was his dad. Naught changes but the size of the deck guns.

Awright lads, Ive a bit of a project, an if any of you have any expertise in this, I'd love ta hear it. In reenactin, I play an early character, one from the mid 1500's, and am desirous of makin a pistol (functional) to wear on me baldrick. I'm thinking, given the early date, that a matchlock would be appropros. So what Im cogitatin on be this: Could I invade, say, Dixie Gun Works or such what for a barrel and flashpan for a flintlock, and then fabricate the lock and match for a period bangstick. Thoughts? The beloved Zorg the unsnottered and yes, red mawia, tis me

The "Swashbuckler's Favorite" really is a nice piece. Ive seen it on some sites for as little as $49. The blade is well made, obviously hammered, and end heavy like some of the grossemesser or falshion type swords. Its a vicious piece, not as fast as some of the later cuttoes, but it would make short work of a rapier or one o them nancy boy court swords. The hilt is apparently teak or rosewood, and it has a nice, workmanlike feel to it. The only drawbacks are the guard, which as our shipmate stated afore, comes to a right vicious point above the thumb. I also did some creative metalbending, working th' point inta a spiral ta keeps from gouging meself. During a recent faire, I had a leathersmith craft me a monsterous sheath fer the thing, and am werking on a baldrick. Serious piece o metal this, and grand for the price. Unlike a lot of the cutlass Ive seen in the price range, it WILL take an edge, and one you can shave with.

I come across this inexpensive monster in the Yahoo online shopping sites from A-squared armoury. Heavy beast, almost more a falshion than cutlass, but not unlike the early cuttoes. Surprisingly well made to boot. Check out: http://store4.yimg.com/I/a2armory_1764_125142