Name the Captain

[madPete]

Richard Southard, pronounced "south-erd" as opposed to "suth-erd". Called by his crew, "Cap'n Richard." I think that the title with the first name connects the crew, while Cap'n Southard might be a bit too formal for a pyrate crew. Of course if we are a privateer crew in good standing, then the address would have been more formal. If a privateer crew with "slipped" papers or a couple of sketchy captures it could go either way.

Well, I've been doing some work on the background of Capn' Richard Southard (pronounced South-erd) for the upcoming paperwork and materials to be used at trial. I'm currently making 'bills of lading' and 'letters of marque' for our good captain. Nothing overtly dramatic, but detailed papers that can be used as props for education and dramatic demonstrations. I think Capn' Richard should be a simple man of the sea, firmly set with roots in the working class.

BTW, is our captain elected or appointed by Letter?

I imagine he's elected. The letters I'm making up for him do contain some 'commissions' as the captain of a 'sloop of war', but they are primarily to be used at times of legal consequence like any such letters of marque or privateering that lend an individual or crew the right to take ships. Some of this stuff merely lends the crew of the Mercury right of passage or the limited formality that walks that fine line between pirating and privateering. Of course with the Captain always absent...it's mostly just fun and academic.

So shall we take it that our ship is a pyrate ship what uses letters of marque when it is convenient, as opposed to a private venture that has crossed the line and gone a'pyratin' by common consent of the crew? Or was there a mutiny and the original captain of a legal privateer deposed, our good Captain elected to command and a'pyratin' they went? If mutiny by common consent and Southard was the original captain, elected to retain the post by the crew, then his name could be on the original documents and he could be an all-out pyrate at the same time, still passing as a legal privateer when it suits their needs and conditions.

Aye!

[Capt. Sterling]

The Archangel Crew will be serving as King's Men and trying members of the Mercury at FTPI next week, so I'm also compiling lists of 'ships taken' by the Mercury. To make matters easy I've been drawing on the names list we originally drew from when coming up for a name for the brig-sloop. This is a list of some of the Spanish Galleons (and names of crew) we've taken over the years...

Spanish Galleon - Centurión

Bortolo Abascal, Capitán

Philip Lantigua, Maestre

Antonio Martinez, Contramestre

Gabriel Adame, Dispensero

Spanish Galleon - Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo (Our Lady of Good Counsel)

Agustín Martinez, Guardian

Alonso Trujillo, Armero

Spanish Galleon - Delfín (Dolphin)

Giulio Guartem, Capitán

Juan Garcia, Piloto

Juan Olivares, Dispensero

Spanish Argosy - Cuatro Hermanas (Four Sisters)

Alonso Cardona, Capitán

Rocco Bonito, Maestre

Spanish Galleon - Peregrino (Peregrine)

Alessandro Gaspar, Capitán

Pedro el Cano, Escribano

Giraldo Sena, Marienero

Blas Valdez, Page

Spanish Galleon - Galeon Próspero (Prosperous)

Marco do Soto, Capitán

Juan Ballesteros, Companero de Pilot

Hernán Fuentes, Codestable

Luis Vicini, Capellan

Hernán Rosario, Marienero

Carlos Mejia, Marienero

Francisco Brugal, Marienero

Benito Hache, Marienero

Bernadino Ramos, Marienero

There are many more, but I'm still compiling. It's given me a rare opportunity to research given names and surnames of Spain for the period. I'm also going to throw in a few daring escapes and stalemates, so that our history has some variety, such as being run off by a third rate English warship 'Adamant' while taking an English Cutter that was just taken by the Spanish two days before that. I'll also include being attacked by pirates, since pirates attacked other pirates. I'll add some stalemated battle with pirates out of the Isthmus of Panama.

Ah the English cutter, now that would get my attention ...I could not give a damn over how many Spanish ships ye have harassed

[Captain Jim]

Aye, but we didn't take the cutter from the English, but from the Spanish so, in effect, we redeemed the cutter, yer Lordship...

[William Brand]

Aye, but we didn't take the cutter from the English, but from the Spanish so, in effect, we redeemed the cutter, yer Lordship...

See, and that's just the kind of trouble you can get into without the right papers. Damn governments. See we took the cutter Waterhound from the Spanish (under a Capitán Andrés Sosa) who had taken it from the English just days before, but just tryyyyyy to tell that to the English while they're shooting at you.

Wow, the Adamant had a lot of guns.

[Capt. Sterling]

It does not matter who ye take her from, what matters is what ye do with her after ye have her...

ye could have taken her from the queen of Sheba...if ye do not take the necessary steps to return her to her owners, yer actions could still be judged as pyracy....and just for the record, the proper address fer the time from would be ' your honour', not necessarily a lord presiding over the court session ..

[William Brand]

Try as you might, you probably won't get many of the 'proper addresses' from members of the Mercury.

You'll get some improper ones. Some fine, well chosen and memorable addresses. I still remember some from years back. The improper ones stand the test of time like a good scar gifted with a good knife intimately.

[Tartan Jack]

Just offering an idea. I'll shut up now and depart . . .

The name was for documentation, figuring it could be a snickering joke as another name was substituted. Not interested, fine by me.

Oh, and I WANTED to partake, but life and work (got a job in retail soon after I met Mission- the related requirement destroys my weekends) prevented it. Not by choice . . .

Edited November 21, 2012 by Tartan Jack

[William Brand]

Oh, and I WANTED to partake, but life and work (got a job in retail soon after I met Mission- the related requirement destroys my weekends) prevented it. Not by choice . . .

You are now and always will be on the muster. A little time and money and we'll see you at an event one day.

[Tartan Jack]

Thanks.

Good to know.

Am I in the fiction?

Any assigned roles or just "seaman?"

[Edit: should have mostly been a PM. Please respond that way.)

Edited November 21, 2012 by Tartan Jack

[Capt. Sterling]

Try as you might, you probably won't get many of the 'proper addresses' from members of the Mercury.

You'll get some improper ones. Some fine, well chosen and memorable addresses. I still remember some from years back. The improper ones stand the test of time like a good scar gifted with a good knife intimately.

Oh I reckoned as much...t'is always nice, though, to have someone get it right for the sake of the crowds...

[William Brand]

Am I in the fiction? Any assigned roles or just "seaman?"

You raise a good question (again) which comes up often enough that it bears repeating. Are there assigned roles? Yes and no. It's been decided often (and with strong opinion) that there are no officers of any kind in any real sense. The Mercury just works. When something needs to get done, it gets done. It's probably one of the finest working crews to be had anywhere, because no matter what people play, they all pitch in when needed. That said, we do have a surgeon and plenty of able bodied sailors. We also have a number of crew members with very real world skills from carpentry to candle making. 'Assigned' roles are more like volunteered parts, or rather, people who choose to play an aspect of daily life more than an official role.

You should revive the discussion in your original thread! https://pyracy.com/in...80-who-is-what/

[William Brand]

Try as you might, you probably won't get many of the 'proper addresses' from members of the Mercury.

You'll get some improper ones. Some fine, well chosen and memorable addresses. I still remember some from years back. The improper ones stand the test of time like a good scar gifted with a good knife intimately.

Oh I reckoned as much...t'is always nice, though, to have someone get it right for the sake of the crowds...

Aye, but it's equally and irrepressibly nice to get it eloquently wrong for the sake of the crowd.

[Capt. Sterling]

Right...we shall leave it up to the Mercury, then, to get it wrong... any way a few dates would be helpful if possible.

[Capt. Sterling]

Just post em here, much obliged

[Captain Jim]

Just for the record, "Yer Lordship" was, and is, quite often used in a sarcastic manner, to point out that someone (I won't say who) is putting on airs. Now to say that someone is a Pyrate "hunter" is one thing. To say that someone is a pyrate "catcher" is quite another.

(It seems that I am using the word "quite" quite often tonight. I have no idea why. I shall quit(e) now.)

Edited November 21, 2012 by Captain Jim

[William Brand]

It isn't about getting it wrong. It's about doing it wrong on purpose, correctly, for the sake of the moment. You can build a legacy of ulcers doing everything proper beneath the heal and standards set by proper people, or, you can live carefree under an equally carefree sun.

[Captain Jim]

Quite so...dammit, I did it again...

[Mission]

Oh, hey, TJ, I didn't realize you were part of our crew. I haven't looked at the roster in ages. No offense meant. (Hermes is still a poncey name, even though I got the joke. )

On a naval ship, I would be a warrant officer. On a pirate ship, I would be a pressed man and of less consequence to the pirates than one who had signed the articles in most matters.

So we really have no officers other than the Quartermaster and the fictional captain as I understand it. We do have a lot of people of knowledge pitching in at various events and sharing. From the events I've seen, there a several roles people regularly take. (And there are a lot of Mercury members I've never met, so this is just from my POV.) Michael has inspected weapons for firing at several events, so he might be the ship's master gunner. Mark Gist frequently does navigational equipment so he might be a navigator. (A lot of little kids at events seem to call him the captain though. ) Kate Bagley and Jennie Gist often arrange the meals, so they might be the cooks. (Whether they want to be or not. ) I often see Silas sewing at events, so I'd guess him to be on the sail repair crew. Most of the group I run with are just ABS.

Of course, none of those people are going to be in Key West. I do remember Captain Jim - way back in 2008 - saying we should rig up a mast on the beach and explain sails and how they were set and so forth. Since he vehemently denies being the captain, despite his user name, perhaps he is the sailmaster?

Naturally, when asked by the officious forces of the Royal Navy, they are all pressed men, forced to sign by the threat of the loaded weapon lying next to the articles on the table.

[Hook]

Why for me it's Captain, my Captain.

I'm talking to myself. There's no one else in the room.

[DSiemens]

So back tracking a bit since I'm new and have an in interest the goings on of ships we've taken what was to become of the english cutter? Did we sail it in to tortuga and sell it to some miserable crew that couldn't keep there ship a float? Or did we return it to the English in the guise of privateers using forged papers? Or did we say to the depths with it and burned it at sea never to be seen the likes of again?

[William Brand]

In the backstory of the Mercury crew, we sailed aboard the cutter 'Speedwell'. The Speedwell was plagued by worms and weatherworn enough that when the Bermuda Sloop (that would become the Mercury) was found, we stripped the Speedwell of all her useful guns, timbers, spars, mast and rigging for the outfitting of the 'brig-sloop', using the Speedwell as an armed barge offshore during the careening of the sloop. There was not enough of the Speedwell left to be towed or sailed without issue, and being anchored too near the Spanish during the careening of the Mercury, we burned the Speedwell's remains to the water line.

[madPete]

I just want to add that Capt Richard is a hard but caring man. He has saved my life on several occasions, and put himself between the pyrate hunters and myself on many more occasions. He is always quick to offer aid to those in need on sea or land.  I suspect our Pyrate ways have made him a bit wary, which might be the reason he is off on  "errands" much of the time. But as we all know, what he brings back serves to enrich everyone in the crew.

signed on this Sabbath, 22nd May 1718