Cuttin' the Mustard

[PyratePhil]

Not meanin' to gather me any replies hereabouts, but iffin' ye have a few odd moments, ye might be wantin' to think about...

Do ye REALLY think ye would have been able to survive as a pyrate in the Golden Age? Without the auto-mobiles, the air-conditionin', the cable-Tee-Vee and such...

With the infestations...the rats...the mutinies...the loneliness...

With the REAL fights, not the ones that be foisted up'n us by them Holly-wude peoples...

Ye'd be livin' large, an' no mistake, but ye'd also be livin' hard.

Could ye cut the mustard?

[Rumba Rue]

Nope. I like my air conditioning in the summer. I like being able to use soft toilet paper.

I like my rum smooth and sweet. I like being Pagan.

I wouldn't be able to go to Disneyland and ride the Pirates of the Carribean ride! oh for shame!

Rumba Rue

**Just give me a nice, ice frosted cold beer!**

[Capt. Morgan]

To be honest, I don't know... I'd like to think so, BUT...

Without the auto-mobiles, the air-conditionin', the cable-Tee-Vee and such...

With the infestations...the rats...the mutinies...the loneliness...

With the REAL fights, not the ones that be foisted up'n us by them Holly-wude peoples...

. . . I'll let you know in about a year if I could make it!

[PyratePhil]

I like being Pagan.

I wouldn't be able to go to Disneyland and ride the Pirates of the Carribean ride! oh for shame!

Lass-

Tweren't true there were pagan pyrates??? I be no historian-type, but still and all...

As fer the Disnee-Land - o'kay, ye gots me there!

Cap't-

Bein' a newbie and recluse and such on this here board, fergive me ignorance, but it be soundin' like a fearsome adventure a'comin' yer way...

[piratelassie]

Hmmm good question.

Rats don't bother me...much. As ta loneliness, I likes me own company.

I've survived a modern day ocean passage on a sailboat, but I honestly don't know about the golden age. Methinks twould be quite a challenge fer us softy modern day pirates. 'Specially the food. I likes food. Nowadays ya can cook quite good meals in a galley on a gimballed stove with an oven and an icebox at yer disposal, but back then... I dunno about weevilly hardtack an' salt pork. I'd probably be fishin' on my watches. Good stuff, fish.

[Merrydeath]

Cap't-

Bein' a newbie and recluse and such on this here board, fergive me ignorance, but it be soundin' like a fearsome adventure a'comin' yer way...

Our sweet and sassy Morgan is tranporting soon to the sunny vacation spot of Iraq.. There are a few pics of us with a flag we gave him in Chicago in the pirate gallery

Us pirates will miss him, and me especially! He's been a true matey..

[Thadius Drake]

It would depend. In my favor: no critters bug me; used to all sorts of bad weather; and have eaten some sick stuff (hey, I work in retail). On the other hand, ask me to sail the bloody thing and you might as well give me a rope to hang myself with. So, as long as I have a job title that has nothing to do with the actual sailing of the ship (say...lookout, or better yet, captive) I should be okay.

Drake

[Red Bess]

Could I have survived during the 18th century? Probably. I was a healthy child, would probably have lived to adulthood, married and bore my husband many fine sons. I'm no stranger to hard work. And I wouldn't have missed what I didn't know about.

Would I have made it as a pirate? Not a chance!

So every day, I thank my lucky stars I'm a modern pirate lass with on-line resources. It's the best of both worlds. :)

[Rosalinda]

I think I would have lasted about six months before I lost it. My skin is too delicate to survive constant exposure to the elements, I enjoy the feeling of good mattress and clean, DRY sheets, I bathe far to frequently to be considered a pirate, and I have an unrelenting need to feel the ground beneath my feet and the wind on my face when I run each morning.

No, I'd bail out at the first opportunity. Rum and gold ain't everything. Gunpowder? I've got some in the garage. Cannon? I have several small, hand-held cannons of various calibre. Bucket boots and a tricorn? Don't really need them. Piratical attitute? Probably not. Sword? I have one, thanks. It looks nice on the wall of my humble abode.

The opportunity to be a pirate wench? Oh, I think I'll pass.

Freedom? That would be a state of mind, not a thing or a place.

What am I doing here, then? Just hanging around to irritate the rest of you, singing all the while:

Arrgggh ! And Yo-ho! Yo-ho! A pirates life for me !!!

[privateer]

a pirate then? born and raised

aye I've a strong imunity, luck , and a lust for rum and freedom. I work very hard when i afta . and spend many a day avoiden it.

ifn i was plucked up today and thrown in the mix. I'd last a bit off of charm and smarts and the ability to re-create the modern things. twas a lot of hardship and even more luck in the day...

aah but to dream.* goes glassey eyed*

tis a great dream o'mine to travel back and have rank on a ship sailing the carib.

[Sjöröveren]

Could I have survived during the 18th century? Probably. I was a healthy child, would probably have lived to adulthood, married and bore my husband many fine sons. I'm no stranger to hard work. And I wouldn't have missed what I didn't know about.

Would I have made it as a pirate? Not a chance!

So every day, I thank my lucky stars I'm a modern pirate lass with on-line resources. It's the best of both worlds. :)

Bess, ye wouldn't aborne me our two fine sons in the 18th century though. I never would of seen me first birthday! I were a sickly baby.

Now if we pretends that I woulda lived to adulthood, then no, I couldna be a pirate. Too set in me ways, too nearsighted, too fat, too lubberly. I guess I'da been some sissy pantywaist type, readin mouldy books and never gettin any fresh air.

[Capt. Iron Faith Cutler]

If I had to, I'd do it! The nice thing about living back then is that you wouldn't know any different. If you never used a flush toilet, you couldn't miss it. Don't know if I'd go in for a life of piracy a la Bonney and Read, but privateering might have been more up my alley. Hiding your gender from the rest of the crew would be tough...but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

In the meantime, I'll settle to have my feet up, a glass of good rum and the Internet and pretend! Arr!

Iron Faith

[Captain Goodwench]

Physically I probably could handle it. My mother birthed me with no complications, and I was her first. I had no serious childhood illnesses other than chicken pox, no serious accidents, never broke a bone!

I have no allergies, a cast iron stomach, birthed all three of my babies naturally with no anaesthetic.

I've had thyroid cancer, though, but survived it. Doctor said I would probably have died of old age before the cancer got me, since it's usually a slow growing one.

Mentally, would I be able to handle it? I don't know. I'd probably die from the rampant chauvinism and misogyny that was considered normal.

I'd probably get burned at the stake as a witch for expressing my pointed and loud point of view. Not to mention that I do like my comforts!!(won't get into that here, LOL!)

[Hawkyns]

Yeah, I think. at least a positive probably.

I've lived the period life for up to a couple of weeks at a time and seen no ill effects. Lack of comfort bothers me not a bit, I'm as comfortable on a sack of straw as in the waterbed. I'm OK with my own company or in a group. When I backpacked across England last year, I was 3 or 4 days without saying a word to a soul, and only seeing them at distance or in passing.

I'm a reasonable hand with a sword, for someone who doesn't use one everyday, and I can handle a gun or a whole battery. No head for heights, though, so you wouldn't find me aloft. Reasonable health, no particular hangups about doing what's neccesary to survive.

I do get seasick, though. I've never been at sea long enough to see if it does go away, something I hope to remedy this year.

If not pirate, then definitely highwayman. I love riding.

Hawkyns

[Perkeo]

I've been camping in all kinds of weather and not gotten sick and eaten things that have made others sick. I've not been sailing for any length but I love the water and feel comfortable in and around it. I'm decent with a sword, axe, and fist. I don't like hights but I'd do what needed to be done......I think I could have survived as a pyrate in the golden age.

[La Ruisenora]

I'd like to think I could do it. I'd like to give it a try at least..

[Captain Scurvy Dog]

i've done much of the same as would've in those days in real life... but ta survive fer how long in such an enviroment... well that be the"live fast, die young" i can't see still truely pyratin' on the high seas (not going to sea, mind ye... but fightin' fer yer life n' such) after 30... but settlin' down & havin' a pyrate pub might be a consideration (not sayin' no more fightin' just slow down a bits & more "home" advantage...)

[DocF225]

I grew up on a Dairy Farm so hard work isn't a problem.

I get paid to run into burning buildings now, so fear is not an opotion.

I spent most of my Young Adult life in some of the nastiest places on Earth. I even spent some time on a two way firing range. (hazards of my chosen profession).

Got used to sleeping wherever I could. I ate bugs, snakes, lizards and the like with no ill effects. Spent a bunch of time on the briny without issue.

That said , I have aged seriously in the past few years and my earlier occupations and lifestyle have taken their toll.

I like my A/C, my Satellite navigation system, Digital TV and Computer. Today, I'd rather read a book or chat online with like minded folks than cruise the deep.

[PyratePhil]

Sounds like ye paid yer dues there, Doc!

Enjoy the finer things in life, I be sayin'...

[DocF225]

Sounds like ye paid yer dues there, Doc!

Enjoy the finer things in life, I be sayin'

...

Paid my dues ( and a few others' I expect)

Ain't complainin' wouldn't change a thing 'cept maybe I'd skip moving away from San Diego and my beloved Pacific

[Captain Tito]

Kinda hard to tell. Would have to have been put at the right place at the right time and with alot of luck that my immune system could withstand what I would be dealt.

[PyratePhil]

...and with alot of luck that my immune system could withstand what I would be dealt.

Aye, but now they be havin' the penicillin fer that...

[Grendle]

Survived? As in, "still be alive"? Definitely not, mate. I canna tink o' a single pyrate from the 16th, 17th or 18th C. what is still alive today, Hawkins excepted o'course.

But then, I prolly coulda done alright fer a while, I guess. The repetitive and occasionally vile food woulda been no worries (I ate me own "cookin'" for several years before I found a woman foolish enow to wed me) and I fights well, being large and well-found and able to think more than one move ahead. I kin sail, and shoot, hand and reef and steer. I can sew and smith and tan and coop and I be a fair carpenter. If I didn't catch a splinter or a ball, receive me death from a low blow or a back stab, get bitten by some nasty land bug carrying the plaque or the mal-air, or catch cholera or dysentery from the leaky casks in the bilge, break me fool from a fall, get ruptured or crushed on deck, buy a "short drop and a sudden stop" from bein' insolent, or just fricken flat die, I prolly woulda been a pretty successful pyrate, as handin' me foes what they deserves is a pure joy, and takin' what's left behind when they've gone to join the choir invisible is no heartache, neither.

But survive? Naw, I'd be corruption and ooze with the rest o' the breed, fer sure, fer sure.

[William Brand]

To be quite honest. Yes. I certainly could.

Reasons:

I've been homeless.

I'm an excellent shot with black powder rifles. I've won awards with a musket.

I can sleep anywhere.

I've been a lifegaurd.

I can unswamp a boat.

I know most of the required knots.

I'll eat anything in a pinch.

I'm musically inclined.

I'm not afraid of heights.

I have some experience with swords.

I've lived the world over.

To name a few...ARRR!

[captscurvyscrew]

When I lived in Ocracoke, the winters there are probably the closest thing to living as a real pirate. You can't really drive your car because the roads wash out almost every day. All the shops except Howards Pub close down, and for food, well, theres the ocean. Most of the locals take care of their own. There be many a night that my next door neighbor had taken care of my hunger by throwing us a tuna, and in return I would mend clothes for his wife and kids. There is only one way in the island, and the ferry out goes to swan quarter NC, where their isn't much else. If you needed clothes, well, K-Mart is about 4 hours away via the ferry, the bonner bridge and pea island nature reserve. There's no where local to buy socks, shoes, or any necessities other than milk and bread. Meat is scarce, depending on wheither the grocery store can get a delivery truck to come down or not. It has gotten better over the years, but six years ago, it was hell int he winters. We learned to survive htough. I loved Ocracoke. ANy island founded y pirates is a great place to live, and the place was filled with history about Blackbeard