Calico Jack

Ah, Venesection. It has certainly led to some "colourful" engravings across the continent, such as those in Hans von Gersdorff's Feldtbüch der Wundartzney (printed in Strassburg, by H. Schotten, in 1528). A quick free look can be found at http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2008/04/maps-of-the-hum.html 'though a look through google can find many venesection diagrams in *.pdf format, suitable for reproduction to have laying around near your surgery.... [grins]

Alas, as has been discovered since Lind, boiling much reduces any vitamin C content. That is, it destroys it. Lind never did convince the British Navy to stick with Lemon juice for the Scurvy cure. To try to lower costs and increase storage, Lind proposed boiling down the juice into a "rob," which could then be sealed, to be opened and have water added [to reconstitute it]. Of course, it turns out we know now that Lemon Rob has almost no antiscorbutic value whatever. Poor Mister Lind.

In truth, I cannot say that I agree. Yes, I can list a number of folks who crossed the line. Easton, Teach, Morgan. Each one had at one point or other a license to act as a private man of war, a privateer, but each then chose to turn instead to piracy, abandoning any protection from that letter. They stopped being privateers, started being pirates, and lost the protection of their crown. There are a couple of similar cases amongst the French, and only one I can think of [whose name I cannot recall] amongst the Spaniards, none I am familiar with amongst the Dutch, none with the Mi'kmaq, and so on. Anyhow, back to the topic at hand. Pirates are robbers. Are robbers decent? Are robbers honourless idiots? That will still depend upon who is being asked, and when.

I'm putting the large number of researchers here to use. I've had some F&I period reenactors locally bring up the debate that any depiction of vertically-striped stockings in that period are used to show the individual as unschooled and a "country bumpkin" for satirical purposes. I've attempted to demonstrate that most images showing such stockings as "country bumpkin" are 1790s, but as for finding British Navy/Merchant sailors wearing vertically striped stockings before that, most of my evidence is circumstantial. Both in images and written text, the early 1700s references to striped stockings all seem to point to them being "exclusively" Continental. Whether the references from the "Macaroni Club" of the 1770s, or the images of clothiers in the 1740s displaying their mastery of Continental fashion, the British press seem to regard vertical stripes as a purely Continental thing. That said, yes we well know that the British mariners of the period immediately following the GAoP were a rather multinational bunch. The likelihood of sailors wearing "foreign" fashion is rather good, but likelihood is not proof. It merely shows a possibility, even a probability, but by no means a certainty. What other documentation - text or image - do folks know of for the very end of the GAoP which might support [or for that matter disprove] the wearing of vertically striped stockings by British sailors [regardless of their actual nation of origin]? What stockings, as it were, might Ned Low's crew have worn? Anyone know of some off the cuff?

Oh, EVERYONE has an accent, only question is from where. True, most folk who speak with something approaching the "New England television actor" accent assumes they have none, but they do. Even the Queen has an accent, and I'm told it's still her English. Accents are fun, and I do so enjoy playing with them, and listening to those that play with them. Can't say too much that I have an actual favourite. Me? Haligonian Nova Scotian accent, a sub-set of the many Canadian accents. Despite what South Park will tell you, there are as many regional accents in Canada as in the United States. Strange, i'n'it?

I've no photos ready to hand, but we have actually used a small wedge tent built out of abused sail canvas and spars and oars. Cotton canvas, true, but it's use was sails, not tents, so it is essentially "untreated." Conventiently, it does not leak at all despite. It's built, then, in an "A-frame" style, crossed oars for the ends, the spar for the horizontal; and the canvas which has been cut and stitched into wedge-form still shows the obvious marks and lines and wear of having been a functioning boat sail. Works fine. Yes, not something "on the cheap" unless you happen to have the ingredients laying around, ready to hand. Still, it looks exceedingly makeshift, despite being a fully functional wedge tent. I suppose the point is that "PC" authentic might relate to condition and apparent source of materials, even more than to form.

If you're willing to risk being a wee bit late, there's an excellent collection of greenware from France, dated to 1758 on the nose. The original shipment was on its way to New France, when the Siege of Louisbourg prevented their arrival, with hints of the fall of Quebec coming the next year. The ship was carefully sunk to protect the cargo of earthenware [greenware]. Discovered recently, a potter here in Canada has begun crafting replicas of the verious items. The provenance is impeccable, but is after GAoP by just a bit. Still, check them out: http://www.geocities.com/greenware.geo/saintonge.html In particular the http://www.geocities.com/greenware.geo/chope.gif beer mug might suit.

Except that Private Men of War [privateers] and Pirates were not the same thing. Sure, Johnson may try to baldly state that most pirates were privateers who turned to the "only career they knew" after the war was over, but that seem to be very much the exception rather than the rule. That's why "privateer gone bad" stories are so notable. It's the sort of thing the Admiralty Courts recorded, and there really were surprisingly few, even before and after the GAoP. Privateersmen were contracted "merchant raiders," rather than pirates given some orders, with very rare exceptions. Morgan broke his Letter of Marque and turned pirate, and Easton was declared a pirate in 1603, but even the very famous Kidd it turns out held to the Letter, and never turned pirate at all [he was politically inconvenient, and somewhat incompetent, rather than a criminal, and was hanged for it]. Privateering is a different kettle of fish. Privateering was legal, and considered an act of warfare. Piracy was illegal, and considered an act of theft. The decency of each will vary, for a given value of decency.

By-the-bye, Mister Mission/Misson, in case it does not get said often enough: Thank you. From all those of us who so rarely get to head out and check actual primary sources in the flesh, thank you. Many an author is less willing to share the research until AFTER a book is published, so your gentlemanly willingness to let us all use the bounty of your travels is VERY much appreciated. A knuckled brow to you, sir. Gentleman as well as a scholar.

Hmmm... Well, in short, pirates = criminals willing to take the possessions of others by threat of force. One's opinion of the "decency" of such behaviour may vary, I suppose. Robbers at sea, yes, but robbers none-the-less. Some 'pressed to the service [like Philip Ashton] true, but still robbers. That said, most groups of robbers rather than solitary robbers [including pirates] had rules. Some pirates actually cared what flag you sailed under [NOTE: not meaning Privateers here, that's a different kettle of fish, but some pirates hated some flags more than others]. Water not costing pirates more than most other sailors, bathing and shaving was likely done once a week as seemed the fashion in most navies and merchant marines of the time. As for getting hanged, the retirement plan sucked. Did that help?

Well, the dating of Sea Chanties as a term might hold one thing, and the dating of what are defined as sea chanties quite another. True, written records using the term come from well after the GAoP, but the term was coined to give a common terminology for work songs aboard ship. Did work chants aboard ship exist before the publication of Two Years Before the Mast? Felix Fabri, a Dominican friar, sailed from Germany to Palestine aboard a Venetian galley and he described, "mariners who sing when work is going on -- -- [There is] a concert between one who sings out orders and the laborers who sing in response" in 1493, at least according to research by Howard Hornstein for his book Favorite Sea Songs of the Ancient Mariners Chanteymen, ASIN: B000B73Y9Q. Admittedly, the book by Fabri that he is citing was published in '93, but the events supposedly took place by '83. Still, befoe the end of the GAoP, at any rate [grins].

Ahoy, folks. I've been safe running Firefox with a script wall, but folks running IE have been catching trojans off http://www.pyracy.com/forums/ - I don't know whether it's been hacked into the page script, or by way of the embedded adverts. Just something to beware and be aware. I've few details except that the problem has completely shut down the machine, has come via IE, and has made it past Avast virus security; also of course that it came straight off the main page.

Aye, with the reactions I get from the audience at the museum, I want a penile syringe for the next "big purchase" for my personal props collection. The men all wince, the women all giggle, cruelly. The actual mast splinter gets good reactions, too. Better even than the capital saw. Similarly, spent musket shot, spattered against soft wood or bone. A new and unused ball for "in" and a spent ball for "out." Good visceral reactions, and the splinter and ball at almost no cost. [edit: Added note, a turn-of-the-nineteenth-century chest, for comparison: http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/740-DOCTO...sspagenameZWDVW ]

Depending upon when in the GAoP you are representing, there are a couple of tunes that might do well for entertainment if not for work. Well, actually, there are lots, but there are a couple that I know off-hand. In 1706, George Farquhar produced the play "The Recruiting Officer," which was incredibly popular [as a Restoration Comedy] and the popularity remained straight through at least until the 19th century's close. One tune from that play was picked up and ran as a "popular" musical choice for a full century. A variation was included in John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" in 1728, and most recently, John Tams wrote a variation for use in the Sharpe's series ['though it seems various variations of the song were sung during the Napoleonic Wars, the one heard in Sharpe's is in fact wholly modern, with many elements taken from earlier versions]. Anyhow. The version from "The Recruiting Officer" was enough of a "pop tune" in 1706 and the years following, that it would well suit sailors and soldiers and merchants from the late GAoP. A number of broadsheet ballads were released on the death of William Kidd in 1701 [some several sold -at- the hanging]. Many of these are still accessible as well, and sing quite well. One - to the same tune as Sam Hall - properly Jack Hall - dates to 1701 or 1707 [Kidd hanged in 1701, Hall in 1707], and many many variations of it have arisen in the years since. Both of these [well, all three, including Jack Hall] are near the middle of the GAoP period, so may prove useful. None are, of course, chanties. Good for music, not good for wearing lines or working capstan. Problem is that most surviving sea chanties seem to date from the 19th century [and more rarely the 18th], at least in English.

Yeah, 'though I do wish they'd include their sources, and finish their website [which the article implies may list their sources]. Some of their points are still contentious even here [such as the long "shoes or no shoes" thread]. Some of their suggestions I know sources for, others none ["many piratical sailors cut off all their buttons," or "you would know a man was a sailor if he wore a cravat" - but everyone wore cravats; it is HOW one wears one's cravat that shows tha man...]. Particularly liked the knife piercing in the sleeved waistcoat [or was it a jacket - can't remember. Must look again].

For what use it may be, the debate on wind of the ball goes back a ways, 'though more debate on what causes it, than on whether it happens. http://books.google.com/books?id=SMaR4oNXb...esult#PPA310,M1 Just as a quick source from google books [since it it a free source][grins]. In the end, if wind of the ball was, internal bleeding and hemorrhage might have been the business. Oh, and yes, despite what Mythbusters may say, splinters can kill. No, they don't kill instantly, anymore than bullets kill instantly. Death might be quick, but would only in the rarest circumstances be immediate.

As another aside, if anyone finds [somehow] any data regarding the actual number of copies sold or used from any of these texts, it would be immensely useful. As a librarian, and not a historian [as I am the former but not the latter], I can state that in the 1600s, as today, the popularity of a book can be better measured by copies rather than by editions -- those numbers however, can be very difficult to come by. As an arbitrary example, a volume published in three printings of 75 copies each, and sold out, can be argued to be less influential than a volume published only once, in which 3000 of the 3500 copies sold. This is especially true prior to the rise of wood pulp paper; rag paper books could survive several owners easily, without "modern" paper's limited lifespan [rag paper really only found consistent substitutes in the mid-1800s]. So if anyone finds "print run" numbers for texts, do share [grins].

That, Misson, is the very best kind [grins], and the find of the variety of texts the same, is even more welcome. In your debt, with thanks. As a note, Geoffrey Keynes [in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians] also thought Woodall's text was influential beyond the confines of the EIC, and also that it influenced similar texts later [as have others]. That said, things in popular print during your chosen period are the best sources, and thank you again Misson for finding sources equally accessible.

Might trace farther - to harry Cox of Norfolk, who may have sung a similar verse in the 1950s, also calling it "traditional...".

Ahoy, folks. Tom Lewis in his song "Sailor's Prayer" includes the following chorus: Oh Lord above, send down a dove with beak as sharp as razors to cut the throats of them there blokes what sells bad beer to sailors. The credits list written by Tom Lewis, chorus (trad.). So how traditional is traditional? Lewis himself purports to have found the chorus listed in a book, which itself called the verse "traditional." The book was published in 1968, and was by Charles MacHardy, titled Send down a dove. The book does in fact include the verse, and does call it traditional [although the wings, not beak, were sharp as razors]. But there the trail seem - for me so far - to stop. So how far back does the verse go? 1968? Earlier? Can anyone find evidence of the verse from before 1968, and if so, how far back? It's a fun bit of verse, and we may use it for "Sunday Service" at some re-enactments, but must of course be able to provide attribution for the actual year of the song. Hoping some folk here might be able to help trace the verse.

Naval records from the 18th century suggest a better than 50% survival rate for amputations, which is the more remarkable when you learn about the role and importance of "laudable pus."

You lot try living in Canada, where folks need drive across the country - one end to other - to get together. We're all spread along the continent from one end to the other [and Canada is .. big]. That said, Quebec. Louisbourg. Mmm. Some nice events coming up over these next two summers...

Have done similar, and can vouch that if your lean-to is long enough [ours was a spar across - about three-and-a-bit-fathoms total], and sturdy enough, it can hang a hammock nicely. This held a hammock, and quite solidly, once she was raised [she's in a bit of disrepair in the photo, being half way to "reef sheets" thanks to a storm].

Nice hat! [grins] I have a natural wool Monmouth, with the lannalin still in which works for me brilliantly without felting. You can see some shots of it in the photos that AnnaMarie has posted in various threads here. Just don't tell the British. Apparently the pattern is still officially "controlled." In practical fact, as has been pointed out, there are any number of variations on the Monmouth Cap pattern available off the internet. Of course, that would be intellectual piracy ...