Questions Questions

[Rumba Rue]

In doing some research for a story I started writing way back before I got into pirate stuff I need some help, now that I'm older and have learned so much from here. I want to go back and start re-writing much of it, but I have some questions that I can't find answers to. Hoping someone here could help me out.

1. What type of English accent was prominet in Portsmouth?

2. How long would it take to sail from Portsmouth, England to Jamaica?

3. What was the area of the hold called where the animals were kept?

4. How many holds would a regular sailing ship have?

5. What were the usual dimensions of the Captain's cabin?

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

1)Portsmouth is a cosmopolitan shipping port, and any kind of accent might be encounterred.

2)Depends on the type ship and cargo/what they are shipping/trading and to where. Is it picking up anything along the Ivory Coast before making the crossing? The typical triangle would have been finished goods from england to points south and west, Slaves from Africa to the Carrib, then molasses and sugar from the islands to the colonies to make rum, then rum, tobacco, indigo, and other raw materials back to England.

3)The hold, as far as I know has no special designation for animals, just the location if seperated from other portions of the hold, (i.e. forward hold, mid-ship hold, etc.

4)Depends on the size/type of ship.

5) Same as above, plus who bulit it and where.

Hope this helps a little bit anyhow.

Bo

[Badger]

Hey, Rumba! I will try to shed some light, but all answers are subject to review/revision by others, and are conditional on various factors. (We could use more info)!

1) I agree with Capt. Bo.

2) Direct, it could take about 48 days, but this varies enormously by ship type (is she fast? Slow? Heavily laden?), and weather encountered. anything from 34 to 90+ days is possible.... tis your story!

3) In many ships, temporary stalls or pens would be built on deck in the 'waist' of the ship to accomodate animals. This made the necessary cleaning easier, and animals do better with fresh air and sunshine. if in the hold, it was called "the (fore/main/aft) hold".

4) It depends on the size of the ship. If a small brig or brigantine, (typical trading ships), one or two woud be all. if a larger vessel, say a barque or ship-rigged craft, it might have 2, 3, or even 4, on one or two decks. If animals were transported as cargo, most likely a single large hold would be used. Divisions would be knocked down to accomodate stalls or pens, with a wooden screen or actual bulkhead to separate them from any other cargo. If we are talking about the 'live-food' many ships carried for the crew to eat, such as fowl, pigs, or goats, a pen on deck was the standard way.

5) On a smaller ship, say the aforementioned brig, the captain's cabin would be quite small....about 8' by 9', perhaps, with about 5' or less of headspace. A skylight in the deck above might give the captain one place to stand erect, as well as light and a better sense of what was happening on deck. In a 'ship', the cabin could be fairly 'palatial'; 12' by 15' would not be unheard of, with a screened off chartroom and a tiny bunkchamber as part of it. Headroom would still be low, but 5 1/2 feet would be usual. Only in lordly east-Indiamen or two-decker ships of the line did overhead soar past 6', on a common basis!

I, too, hope this helps.

[Fox]

Some additional info:

Although Portsmouth was a fairly cosmopolitan place, the locals may have had a south Hampshire accent, which is quite distinct and impossible to describe. I was born and raised in Portsmouth, and I've done some research into the city in the 17/18th centuries, so let me know if you've got any specific background questions I might be able to help with.

Sometimes (and I have no idea how far back this extends) the animals onboard ship were kept in the 'manger'

[Rumba Rue]

Oh my what wonderful answers to my questions!

And especially you Foxe, that was great! Ah it takes an Englishman to know the country!

Badger, you gave me exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

Bo, thank you for the cargo information and route info.

This will truly help me, as I would prefer to be as accurate as possible when it comes to certain things.