What lured you to pyracy?

[Shipwreck John]

Well it seems as if I had a fascinatiation for a while when I was a child, somewhere around the third grade and then it kind of went away. Being an advid fisherman and being a Navy Reservist, I have always had a love for the sea and other bodies of water. recently I have had the the chance to visit the Constitution in Boston and The Bounty in Jacksonville, which has kind of stirred those romance feelings for the wooden ship age and it was like being in third grade all over again. I did a search for pirates out curiosity and found the pub as well as 100's of other sites. I haven't had the privalage to attend a faire as of yet, but hopefully soon.....

[Patrick Hand]

I am Trying to put together a trip to the once proud Port Royal and Tortuga.

Yah..... I realy want to go to both of them.... (not sure what the political climate is like in Hati right now.......?)

[Silent]

So we come here, everyday and we talk about piracy and 1600 - 1700's and our favorite pirate things to do. Well what brought you to all this anyway, why the love of this life? Was it the movies you saw as a kid or the history alone? Does the thought of robbing ships at sea and drinking rum sound fun or what? Well then let everyone know why ye be here.

[Swifty Morgan]

Aye Silent,

Fer me it is both some of the history as well as the movies.

All the way into Events that I attend here in my home state

of washington. Tis fun to dress in garb and go to all the dif events. Including the Wenching I mean the Wenchs As Well

Would like to go down to cali and attend a couple of events there some time. Anyway Mate you asked us about why the pirate life but ye forgotten to say why you got in valved in Pirates.

Swifty

[Silent]

I guess you could say it all started for me when I was younger watching the movies. I always loved the idea of being on the ocean pretty much doing whatever you wanted. I didn't really start out liking the renaissance era, I was more into medieval, king arthur, brave heart that sort of thing, don't get me wrong I still love it but If I could live in an era I'd love to live in the 1700's (cough or 1950's ) anyway I mean what person doesn't like pirates, robbing ships and drinking rum come on you've seen the movies. I've always loved the ocean and I like being out on a boat in the water. I guess you could say I also like the fact that pirates were feared and outcasts. Someone different, someone who didn't play by the rules, and not to forget badasses you could cut'em and shoot'em and they'ed still come fighten after yea.

[kass]

Hi Silent and Swifty.

For me, I think it was just the natural progression of things. I've always loved dressing up and pretending to be people in the old movies -- whether the movies were about Elizabeth I or Fred and Ginger, it didn't matter. So that's the start of the phenomenon with me.

But I'd been reenacting the English Civil War era (1640s) for about ten years when I started doing the American Revolutionary era. Women's clothes were alot prettier certainly. But the late 18th century in America wasn't as decadent as the mid-17th century in England and on the Continent.

Then a couple Rev War friends of mine (with whom I also do WWII -- the period sluts!) got sick of all the drill and discipline that comes with Rev War reenacting and decided to shift their time period a little earlier and incorporate their love of sailing. And The Pirate Brethren were born!

Didn't hurt that the women's clothing in 1680-1725 frickin' ROCKS!

[capnwilliam]

A lot of things for me.

As a kid, "Treasure Island" was my favorite book. I especially loved to read it when we visited the (New) Jersey shore!

I like the weapons and clothes of the GAOP; much freer than the armor of earlier periods, much more interesting than modern weapons.

In the SCA, I had a renegade nautical (though not pirate) persona. A more-modern pirate was a logical progression.

Pirate wenches are pretty!

My wife Jan worked a summer as a period docent at Roanoke, NS, and loves old ships and deafaring things.

Mundanely I'm a civilian employee of the Navy. My father and an uncle were Naval veterans of WWII.

I consider myself basically a well-meaning and law abiding person in real life, but have always also had a rebel streak in me; causes me to "spite on me hands, and hoist the Jolly Roger" on occasion! :)

Capt. William

[Fox]

I was born and grew up in Portsmouth (UK), and you can't move in this city without falling over something historical and naval: apart from the obvious stuff like the historic ships and dockyard the whole place is littered with plaques to famous captains and admirals, monuments, relics, graves of said admirals and captains, streets named after ships, officers and battles - Portsmouth is known as "The Flagship of Maritime Britain", and there's no argument about the truth of that.

When I was a kid I spent a lot of time with my grandfather who was an amazing amateur historian. Instead of fairy stories he'd tell me ripping yarns of real events and people. In junior school I knew stuff the teacher didn't, and by senior school I was arguing with my history teacher (some things don't change - and he WAS wrong). It was always impossible that I wouldn't have a deep love for maritime history.

When I was about 12 I got into re-enacting (English Civil War era like Kass). At that time there was just no maritime living history of any kind going on in the UK, except for a couple of viking long boats. When I finally got fed up with the politics of ECW re-enacting I got together with a bunch of mates and we formed the second maritime group in the UK, originally specialising in Elizabethan, but gradually expanding into other periods, so that we now do up 'til about 1815. Currently we specialise in Elizabethan, GAoP era navy (about 1670-1730) and Nelsonian, but we do other stuff in between.

My real interest lies in maritime history in general, which includes not only the Navy, but also merchantmen and pirates. When I first got online and discovered email groups and bulletin boards the only ones I could find dealing with maritime history of the era I am particularly interested in (mid16th-mid18th centuries) were pirate boards. Since then pirate history has become a bit of an obsession. Nowadays, although my interest remains maritime in general (and indeed non-maritime history too) I find that at least half my work is pirate related.

[Mad Matt]

I grew up in Southern California, home of Walt Disney. As a youngster, I was fascinated by pyrate things, just didn't connect it all until I grew older. In the same Disney vein, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie kicked over something in my brain which turned pyrate stuff into the forefront of several things in my life. Peter Pan has always been one of my favorite movies due to Captain Hook and his pyrate clan.

Unlike many here, I'm not into pyrates for re-enactment purposes and have to be stuck on what is "period" and what is not. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just don't get caught up in it. It's more a childhood fantasy thing which is strange to say bein' that I'm 30 years old.

[oderlesseye]

Does the thought of robbing ships at sea and drinking rum sound fun or what?

NO.

Eyes likes the idea of dressing up and fittin the bill of rebelliousness. Meetin those of the same interest at the faires,The likes of Diego an Rummy and Petee. More so I like the history an story tellin that goes on here. I appreciate Foxe, Hurricane, and Patrick Hand, who have the ability to be detail oriented wit luv for the piratical and nautcal of the age. I am simply drawn to it. However I am not a pirate, I live in this day an age and know where to leave fantisy, When I leave a faire or shut off my computer. :)

[Blackfoot]

I too am a historical fan of the likes. I once was a civil war reenactor and I love the 1800's old west stuff. (The movie "Tombstone" ROCKS!) Now deep down inside, I am a pirate at heart and love the age of the privateers.

In all reality, I have chased off many real modern age pirates while I served in the Navy. In a heart beat, I would have no problem sending a missile into the midst of there boat. These people carry RPG's, Machine Guns, and Machetes where they will rob a boat and kill everyone aboard in just a blink of an eye. Why do they kill? They don't want witnesses nor do they want to be reported to the authorities. Really a cowardly act.

Back in the day with the pyrates of old, these guys would live in a time where money was hard to come by. They would get hired by a captain of a ship for specific duties as a privateer authorizing them to stop or attack specific ships which were enemies of the country they were representing. Now, can you imagine being on a ship for months at a time? Many of your friends have died and you are starving. The country you represent is paying you next to nothing. When you are out to sea, you come across a ship laden with food, money, and so on. However, you can't touch it because they are not on the list to attack. These ships are few and far between. These men eventually got fed up and felt they were getting a raw deal. Any ship they eventually came across was fair game. They would fire one shot over the bow ordering it to stop. If the ship fought back where your friends were killed in the attack, you will be pissed! This ship is now open for hunting season. It would have been better off to give up than fight, kill tons of men from both sides, and still lose to the pirates. These were real men fighting to survive.

Anyway, I am quite sure most of you know all of this. I apologize for the little history lesson and jumping on a soap box here. . Cheers.

[Ace of Harbor Bay]

At the age of 6 a couple of things started it.

My grandmother reading Treasure Island with me and then a trip to Disneyland and the POTC ride.

The rest was easy.

[Diego Santana de la Vega]

I have always been a pirate, I believe in the pirates ways. I live the week for the weekend to dress up and go to faire and share the excitement with kids. I think I am touched, you know, one taco short of a combination plate? I wish I had gotten into faire when I was, (lets just say thirty years ago). Johnny Depp sure brought out the need for expression in many though and Disney has always done pirates (he musta been one himself), First he did Treasure Island, then Pirates of the Caribbean the ride, then space pirates and then P O T C the movie. Disney has done well with pirates indeed.....

[Hawkyns]

My story starts similar to Foxe's. I was born in Yorkshire in a town at the head of the Dales. History was everywhere, the church I was baptised in was built in 972. We moved to Old Basing when I was about 4, and I grew up playing in the ruins of Basing House, a major ECW battle and siege. Loved history, couldn't get enough of it. Then we moved overe to the colonies, and history took a decided twist. Nothing more than a couple of hundred years old, and a school system that was more interested in dates and govenment than the real history of the people.

I guess in an attempt to recapture some of the history I grew up with, I joined the SCA, the only real group around at that time. From there, I've done a lot. Spent time in a Confederate cav unit, WWII Brit Commando and SS Cav units, and then the ECW for nearly 20 years. Still do that one. I started looking for things that were a bit closer to home, and found that there was a fair bit of early to mid 18th C in the area. Started with French and Indian, but they are fairly uptight and very rigid in their military options. The swords and cannon that I love were way too restricted in their use.

By chance, I hooked up with the Free Men of the Sea. I still do things with them, but now I also operate on my own as a ships gunner of the period. Pyracy, merchant seamen, early navy, smugglers- all are part of what I'm currently involved in. I've been lucky enough to hook up with a couple of ships that let me play on board. The history, the life, the hardship, the weapons, the mindset of the people are what i want to know about.

Hawkyns

[blackjohn]

Didn't hurt that the women's clothing in 1680-1725 frickin' ROCKS! 

Same can be said for the men's!

I have no idea. For as long as I can remember I've been into history, swords, militaria, and tales of adventure. Those things just click with my psyche. All I can say is there are a couple pieces to the puzzle of why I'm currently into pirates, and those pieces just sort of fell into place.

I grew up on the water, but not the kind you'd really want to swim in, the kind you boat on. In fact, I could even go so far as to say I grew up on a shipwreck. (Those were really good days.) And as a kid I spent most of my time "playing army." Since the local history of my hometown includes repelling the British during the War of 1812, "playing army" was not limited to WWII.

While on a school fieldtrip I remember seeing a group of three grown men dressed as Civil War soliders. I can remember thinking, "what the...!?!? THAT'S COOL!"

I owned my first sword at... 14.

My sister knew a guy who was a viking re-enactor with a local historic re-enactment society. Throughout the mid/late-70s she would say to me, "I should introduce you to Donald."

Then one day she did. I dabbled in vikinging for a few years. Then while in college dabbled in generic medievalness for awhile. I can remember being at one event, and one of my buddies saying to me "what am I doing here? I should be at Yorktown right now!?!?" That's when I discovered RevWar.

I loved RevWar. I still do. Contrary to popular belief I actually like the discipline and all that military drill stuff and I miss it quite dearly, either as a grunt of an officer. However, over time faces change, and I grew less and less fond of some of the people in the unit. Especially some of the dangerous ones. (Playing with guns, we mustn't forget the dangers.)

The final piece of the puzzle, one of the annual events the medieval group did was a Pyrate Feast. (Why? I don't know.) I went to my first Pyrate Feast in 1986. Thus, my group of re-enacting friends often joked about re-enacting pirates. About 10 years later we gave it a try at Jamestown's Marching through the Ages multi-period event.

As an a footnote, due to some bad planning (thankfully not mine), our first event wasn't really the Jamestown event. We discovered they wouldn't let us in because "pirates aren't military." Merrick's Privateers formed as a separate "military" group while some others who wanted to do the pirate thing stayed with me to form what became the Pirate Brethren.

[William Brand]

I've touched to many oceans not to be one.

[Rumba Rue]

As I've said many times, I was press-ganged, it's the truth.

[Fox]

One thing I've noticed with this thread (and other previous threads) is that in general the folks who have come straight into playing pirate tend to go down the fantasy/Hollywood route, while those that have come from living history of other periods tend to direct out efforts more towards authenticity.

Is there anyone here who's come directly into authentic pirate re-enactment, or anyone who started out in an authentic group and now does fantasy piracy?

[kass]

Oh, and it's all Blackjohn's fault...

[Dread Mach Brannigan]

One thing I've noticed with this thread (and other previous threads) is that in general the folks who have come straight into playing pirate tend to go down the fantasy/Hollywood route, while those that have come from living history of other periods tend to direct out efforts more towards authenticity.

Is there anyone here who's come directly into authentic pirate re-enactment, or anyone who started out in an authentic group and now does fantasy piracy?

For me, I never got into either that much. The fantasy aspect of it is fun and exciting but the authenticity and history has always been quite interesting. Not so much re-enactments but the mystery of it that captivates to need to want to know "What's it like."

My admiration for the Sea and sailing with the mist on your skin and the wind in your sails is one thing that really got me into the whole Pirate thing. I grew up around the water and always been near it all my life. So the Ocean is one factor. Even though being on a huge wooden ship in GAoP didn't offer ideal living conditions. Which probably reeked with the stench of bilge water and rotten meat and crew members suffered from illnesses brought on my wet conditions. Hey, but they were out there living it up, survy and all! Rum all 'round!!

The other enthralling aspect is the hatred for authority (pirates' common bond). No one likes to be told what to do...well for the most part anyway. Although they lived by written articles (the code) they had alot to be sour about since most of them were mis-treated on the merchant ships they fleed from to become Pirates'. Ya know being keel-hauled or going through a gauntlet ordered by a merchant officer can really ruin a man's day. So yes, in the the words of John Cougar..."I fight authority", they may win, but I'm going down with dignity.

Also, they highly upheld democracy. In a pirate society everyone got their fair share of stolen loot. Well the Capt. got more, but that's like a finder's fee or my broker wanting his 15% off the top. However, everyone pretty much had a say so, shared equally, and had a certain sense of fairness among fellow pirates.

[the Royaliste]

Is there anyone here who's come directly into authentic pirate re-enactment, or anyone who started out in an authentic group and now does fantasy piracy?

I guess by purchasing a period privateering vessel under contract to the Canadian War Museum, I'm guilty on this count. Because of the popularity of 'fantasy pirates' for the general public, we've allowed a huge amount of the commercial stuff, but with black powder and a mainsheet in hand originally came I. Once the citizens get over the 'glimmer', we do have a credible living history and artifacts education onboard. New applicants for the next two years aboard mostly run the gammut of 'history buffs', not movie freaks......

[blackjohn]

Oh, and it's all Blackjohn's fault...

Thanks. You are, madam, a credit to the hobby.

[Silent]

One thing I've noticed with this thread (and other previous threads) is that in general the folks who have come straight into playing pirate tend to go down the fantasy/Hollywood route, while those that have come from living history of other periods tend to direct out efforts more towards authenticity.

Is there anyone here who's come directly into authentic pirate re-enactment, or anyone who started out in an authentic group and now does fantasy piracy?

When I do re-enactments yeah things should be how they were then. You should talk how they talked, wair the right period clothing (if you didn't know, Jacks frock coat in the POTC movie is wrong, not the correct period, thats hollywood to me) you can even stand the wrong way, in the 16-1700's they wouldn't even think to stand with one leg out and there arms crossed. I use a period name and so forth. I'm sure if you were to show kids today what pirates were really like they wouldn't care to much for the political parts they just want the robbing and fights I'm sure. I think if you're going to do something from a sertant time period you should first learn all you can about it so things arnt wrong. Sure I love the movies, but they don't show the whole story of pirates

[Fox]

Sure I love the movies, but they don't show the whole story of pirates

Amen to that brother.

In the early 17th century a former privateer named Salkeld found himself out of work so he took up pirating. During the course of his pirating he captured Lundy Island and declared himself king, setting up a new kingdom in defiance of James I (a Scottish twit). He captured English seamen and put them to work as slaves building the new defences of Lundy, shaving their heads and executing any who didn't acknowledge his sovereignty. One of the slaves named George Estcourt led a revolt against their pirate masters and Salkeld was forced to flee with the remnants of his crew. He met up with the arch-pirate Peter Easton, but the two men did not agree and Salkeld met his end being thrown overboard by Easton.

What pirate movie has a plot as good as that?

[King's Pyrate]

I grew up in Southern California, home of Walt Disney. As a youngster, I was fascinated by pyrate things, just didn't connect it all until I grew older. In the same Disney vein, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie kicked over something in my brain which turned pyrate stuff into the forefront of several things in my life. Peter Pan has always been one of my favorite movies due to Captain Hook and his pyrate clan.

Unlike many here, I'm not into pyrates for re-enactment purposes and have to be stuck on what is "period" and what is not. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just don't get caught up in it. It's more a childhood fantasy thing which is strange to say bein' that I'm 30 years old.

I am like you, I do it for the fun and Hollywood is just fine with me.

I have had a busy and hard life.....grew up on a shrimp boat in Key West and later St. Augustine....started heading shrimp when I was 6 yrs old for a quarter for each water bucket full...later I spent 8 yrs in the navy.....

now that I am older and get some free time, getting back in time to a life that was hard, dangerous and short lived is not nearly as appealing as just dressing up and playing the "Dandy Pirate....lol

When I play I want to get away from reality and be something I can not be in real life.

Oh Yeah, I try to squeeze in writing a book when I can.

Yours in the make believe world of Piracy.

Joe