Buccaneer Camp at PiP 2009

[Harry]

Yeah, do we want to do a span of 100 years, 1625-1725? Or, move it back to 1650-1725?

[Patrick Hand]

1650-1725 give us a good range of time.... so we can show the Golden Age of Pyracy and the Buccaneers.

1669 is almost the "Peak" of the Buccaneer Period.... In 1669 the Buccaneers are assembling because Morgan is planning something.... and it's going to be good...( the Sack of Panama )

After the Sack of Panama, things kinda slow down...there were still Buccaneers (Dampier writes about them) but the Nationalism of the Period is changing to outright Pyracy...and into the Golden Age of Pyracy.

By the Golden Age of Pyracy, Port Royal has already sunk, (and the political climate has changed) so the Pyrates no longer went there... but in 1669, it was still the "Wickedest City on Earth".... Golden Age Pyrates weren't sacking Spanish Towns, but the Buccaneers were....

With a time range from 1650-1725, we can show the differences between the two periods.

Now about slaughtering and butchering a cow in camp........

(Just joking.......Harry... how much coffee did you spit on your monitor screen with that one? )

[hurricane]

Patrick's dead on - 1668 was the raid on Porto Bello, Morgan then was almost killed aboard the Oxford when she exploded in 1669 and the Sack of Panama was in 1670. Port Royal then was akin to a wild west town, with about 750 men, 550 women and the rest of the 2,000 residents slaves and children.

It was still small by later standards, when the population swelled to 7,000 just before the earthquake. But after the Sack of Panama, the tide began to turn once Modyford was imprisoned and Morgan was sent back for trial. Once he returned, he turned against the privateers and pirates as the planters gained a foothold on island politics and the Spanish were no longer a threat.

Anyone who wants to know what it was like during this time as a buccaneer should read up on the various resources I gave for the Morgan's Sack of Panama.

-- Hurricane

[Harry]

Then it shall be the period from 1650-1725. Didn't spit coffee, Patrick, just rhum... I'll make the changes to all promotional copy on my websites.

[Animal]

Then it shall be the period from 1650-1725. Didn't spit coffee, Patrick, just rhum... I'll make the changes to all promotional copy on my websites.

ROTDLMPAO!!!!!! ;) I was just waiting for your reply, Harry. Patrick, your timing is spot on!!!!!

Animal

[Patrick Hand]

Speaking of rum..... are we going to swill Brandy and Wine like true Buccaneers instead of rum?

They drink brandy like water, and will buy a whole cask of wine, broach it, and drink until there's not a drop left.

Exquemelin The Buccaneers of America

[RustyNell]

Speaking of rum..... are we going to swill Brandy and Wine like true Buccaneers instead of rum?

They drink brandy like water, and will buy a whole cask of wine, broach it, and drink until there's not a drop left.

Exquemelin The Buccaneers of America

if thats the case then i want to be a BUCCANEER --- oh wait I am..well a Bone Island Buccaneer anyway LOL

<---- honestly prefers wine to rum anyday! and can drink until there's not a drop-- so I qualify right??

[hurricane]

That's true. Buccaneers drank wine and brandy. The rum of the period was extremely uneven and toxic. The only way it was drunk was in Rum Punch, which was the staple of boucan dining. In our period tavern we only serve red wine and rum punch. There were some other more minor drinks, such as Lemonadoes and Flips as well.

Good news is that ale/beer was drank like water because the water wasn't good... plus it was believed that water caused some of the maladies that were rampant in town now and then.

-- Hurricane

Edited December 17, 2008 by hurricane

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Flip is an interesting drink. I have read about several ways it was made, but my favorite quote was that the hot poker used to mix the sweet ale and rum gave the drink a "burnt leather taste that not many today would care for." Ever hear of a kids book author/illustrator named Edwin Tunis? "The Tavern at the Ferry" is a kids book from 1973, but historically very accurate and the illustrations of everyday items and the WAGONS and FERRYBOATS are awesome in detail! It covers the ferry and tavern used for Washington's raid on Trenton from it's first Quaker owners in 1687. Good read even for kids my age!

Back on topic, (sorry), I was wondering if you would need some hide to work. We do braintan deer and elk here at home. I know it isn't beef hide, but we have raw dry scraped hide and finished tanned and smoked if ya'll would like to have some for demo purposes, I'll gladly send some down. I can still get an elk hide from the farm if you would be interested in scraping and working one for the public. I could get you a beef hide too, just let me know.

Bo

[Patrick Hand]

I've had flip at a Rendezvous... A bucket of beer, with a good hand full of brown sugar and a large chunk of butter.... we used a red hot chunk of re-bar because no one had a flip iron.... it fizzes all over the place... and burns off the alcohol, so you then add rum..... It make the Best hot Buttered Rum... it no longer taste like beer, but has nice thick full body ....

Flip is good, but it is more of a cool weather drink.... rum punches might be fun... I've read that almost every time a crew got together, they made a punch....

The only recipe that I know is...

One part sour.............(lime juice)

Two parts sweet..........(raw sugar taste the best)

Three parts strong.......(RUM)

Four Parts week...........(water)

[Patrick Hand]

Oh yeah.... in The Buccaneers of America I was reading about the cattle hunters, basically they were after the hides and the pig hunters were after the meat (I just can't see waisting all the meat from the cattle though...)

Also, there are a few references to tents..... I don't think we would want a whole lot of heavy "camp Furniture", but the Buccaneers using tents is documented.

[michaelsbagley]

Speaking of tents....

One part of the Buccaneers Of America that I remember fairly well, is the description of a Buccaneer having a tug of war with a crocodile(?)/alligator(?) over his "barraca" (tent) when he was trying to clean the "barraca" in the river. It's fairly early in the book, mayb chapter 2 or 3?

A quick search found me the citation... You can Read it here. if you so choose.

Edited December 17, 2008 by michaelsbagley

[Animal]

Flip is an interesting drink. I have read about several ways it was made, but my favorite quote was that the hot poker used to mix the sweet ale and rum gave the drink a "burnt leather taste that not many today would care for." Ever hear of a kids book author/illustrator named Edwin Tunis? "The Tavern at the Ferry" is a kids book from 1973, but historically very accurate and the illustrations of everyday items and the WAGONS and FERRYBOATS are awesome in detail! It covers the ferry and tavern used for Washington's raid on Trenton from it's first Quaker owners in 1687. Good read even for kids my age!

Back on topic, (sorry), I was wondering if you would need some hide to work. We do braintan deer and elk here at home. I know it isn't beef hide, but we have raw dry scraped hide and finished tanned and smoked if ya'll would like to have some for demo purposes, I'll gladly send some down. I can still get an elk hide from the farm if you would be interested in scraping and working one for the public. I could get you a beef hide too, just let me know.

Bo

Bo, I love you (yes you should be very worried ) I was trying to figure a way to do just that. I don't hunt anymore and was thinking on the same lines of having a hide to work. I think the beef hide would be more period as a show of what the buccaneers did with the hides. I'm planning on having some leather to work with to make knife and machete sheaths. Thanks for the offer and if you have a extra deer hide laying around, I'll be more than happy to take it off your hands

Animal

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Excellent. When it gets closer to time next year I will get with you to work out the logistics, shipping and all that. Ya don't want no green hide lying around smellin up the place all year!

As for deer hide, what are you lookin for? Green, dry/rawhide, hair on/off? I'm savin the best finished braintan to make a pair of breeches, so I only have small pieces and a couple that have big bore holes in the middle (hang-fire). we have several rawhides scraped that need finished though, just ain't had the time or brains to get to it. (OK, no remarks about no brains from the peanut gallery! ).

I'll be following the threads and wil keep in touch on this.

Bo

[Patrick Hand]

From what I can guess.... the hides were just scraped to take the fat and any clinging meat offa them, then left to dry..... very "Raw hides"... Now I might be mixing this up with something from Two years before the mast but I think green hides were just cleaned (scraped) hair on, dried, and bundled off for shipping back to tannerys in Europe...Now I gotta find that part from tBoA (short for) the Buccaneers of America

A bundle/stack of dried cow hides would look cool in camp... but who can get them there?..... It might work better if we focus on running a Buccan (sp )(heck I ain't looking up the proper spelling right now)... showing how meat was smoked.....that just takes some green sticks for the drying frame, some meat (from the market...or donated ) and a smoky/smudge fire......

Yeah... killing a cow... butchering it and smoking the meat would be a lot of fun...

but Harry's monitor can't take too much more rum spitted on it.....

[hurricane]

Boucan takes two different forms. For short term eating, the meat was roasted about two to three feet above the fire on a grill of green wood. For long term eating, it was smoked, usually in a hut where the fire was some distance (6 to 8 feet) below the meat and grill. I would assume you're shooting for the roasting method, which is more like modern barbecue than the smoking, which yielded jerky basically.

Also, pimento is essential to the base.

http://shop.pimentowood.com/main.sc

It gives the meat the distinctive flavoring.

-- Hurricane

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Scraping the meat/fat and goo was most likely done prior to staking it out. Taking the hair off is what happens when it is stretched. This is the dry scrape method that we use for deer and elk. The longer the hair remains attached, the more difficult it is to remove. Contrary to what many believe, salt was not used to preserve hides as it was a very valuable and hard to come by commodity, extremely labor intensive to make, and would not be wasted on hides. Also, market hunters in north America took hides in the spring and summer, not fall and winter because the hair slips easier on the green hides in the warm months. Carribean temps would most likely have made this a moot point for the Boucanier though. Ten elk hides dry scraped and rolled up are about four and a half feet long, a cylinder about six or seven inches diameter, and weigh about 15-20 pounds. An elk hide should be comparable to an island steer in size/weight. We actually have to split the elk hides when we do the tanning because they are too big for Blondie and I to handle and stretch on our own. Hope this is some help.

Bo

[Animal]

Scraping the meat/fat and goo was most likely done prior to staking it out. Taking the hair off is what happens when it is stretched. This is the dry scrape method that we use for deer and elk. The longer the hair remains attached, the more difficult it is to remove. Contrary to what many believe, salt was not used to preserve hides as it was a very valuable and hard to come by commodity, extremely labor intensive to make, and would not be wasted on hides. Also, market hunters in north America took hides in the spring and summer, not fall and winter because the hair slips easier on the green hides in the warm months. Carribean temps would most likely have made this a moot point for the Boucanier though. Ten elk hides dry scraped and rolled up are about four and a half feet long, a cylinder about six or seven inches diameter, and weigh about 15-20 pounds. An elk hide should be comparable to an island steer in size/weight. We actually have to split the elk hides when we do the tanning because they are too big for Blondie and I to handle and stretch on our own. Hope this is some help.

Bo

Once again Bo, your the man!!!! I've tanned a few deer hides in the past. It is a job that you really must want to do. Thanks for the info. I really think we must come up with a way to pressgang you to PIP. You would be such a great addition!!!

Animal

[Patrick Hand]

Bumping this....

Who else wants ter be Buccaneers at PiP next year?

I kinda want to get a list, before we start talking about how we are going to smoke some meat first......

[Sgt Johnson]

Bumping this....

Who else wants ter be Buccaneers at PiP next year?

I kinda want to get a list, before we start talking about how we are going to smoke some meat first......

Count me in. I am planning on being part of the beach buccaneer people at this years PIP. Will be down with Captain William and Doug, possibly more.

[willie wobble]

sgt Johnson , you know your not allowed to go to PIP

[Animal]

sgt Johnson , you know your not allowed to go to PIP

Willie, ye 'no whell just smuggle 'im like good Brethren we are!!!

Animal

[William Brand]

Would you all like to be listed together on the Roll Call?

[Animal]

Aye, that suits me fine, William.

Animal

[Guest]

I still have a buncha other projects that I have to finish before I can start working on my Buccaneer stuff again...... But I still have plenty of time fer that....

The biggest problem I'm trying to figure out is how to get my doglock musket to PiP.... I may be able to ship the stock and barrel separate from the lock as gun parts by UPS.... But getting it shipped back after PiP may be a hustle....