The Buccaneer Project

[Monterey Jack]

Okay, I know I'll probably get jumped fer this one, but I have to know:

How far back does leather fringe date on coats? I' asking this because the Osprey book on Buccaneers has a clor plate that clearly depicts one of the buccaneers on Hispaniola with a fringed leather shirt.

Go easy on me, Patrick...... :)

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

COO-OOL! :)

I don't know about the Carrib, but the Seminole ain't all that far away from the islands at that time. Fringe goes beyond recorded history for NA's on the main land. It isn't out of the question in this case obviously.

[Monterey Jack]

The artwork is by Angus McBride and the plate says, "Early Buccaneers in Hispaniola c. 1630. The guy is wearing what looks like a caped frock from the early 1700s. The fringe is only under the sleeves and very slightly arounfdthe caped collar. I haven't seen this anywhere else, but it did start me thinking about fringe on the next 1690's coat I make, along with antler buttons down the front and leather ties on the pockets. I saw a post waaay back at the front of this thread about croc skin knife sheaths and I happen to have both a big piece of croc and a full smoke-tanned South American boa skin that I plan to use on my gear.

Trouble is, as authentic as it may be it winds up seeiming to boarder on the theatrical again. Maybe I'll go for subtlety and just use a little fring at thge shoulder and small bits of the reptiles, I dunno......

[blackjohn]

I've seen an illustration of a Swede from Gustavus Adolphus' army wearing what appears something VERY similar to the fringed hunting frock I wore when I was doing RevWar.

[hurricane]

If the buccaneers were bear legged and footed then they are a billion times braver than I. While tromping around Port Royal last time we headed into the truly untamed brush of the tropics to find Fort Rupert. There are thickets, and cactus, sawgrass and sticker-laden bushes down there that tore our panted legs apart. I just can't imagine hunting in the Caribbean bear legged when on a hunt. Even those of us with buckled shoes and stockings were wishing they had boots (and I do know those weren't period. :)

The Palisadoes are a good testing ground as they have been relatively unchanged (from a botanical standpoint) for the last 350 years. And from visits to other islands (though not Tortuga) it seems to be fairly common down there.

Wow! Great stuff!

-- Hurricane

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Still trying to find that picture of the Bucc. with the short sword and several knives attached to the baldric above the sword. Thought it was here in this thread, but I cannot find it.

Anyone know the one I'm searching for? Any help would be greatly appreciated. i'm going to fashion my kit on this one. Thanx!

[Rumba Rue]

Foxe, great gear and picture. But it just makes me want to get some blue ribbon.....

[MadMike]

Patrick,

Thanks for creating "The Buccaneer Project", gives us a new era to focus on and to research.

I'm reading Dampier's book at the moment, great stuff.

Ye English Buccaneer,

Mike

[Monterey Jack]

Mike, if ye haven't been here yet, or aren't already a member, look into this also:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TraditionalBuccaneers/

Inspired by Mr. Hand's forum, its a yahoogroup for just this sort of thing, aiming to eventually organize muzzleloading events of a buccaneer nature.

[Patrick Hand]

I've decided to re-start working on my Buccaneer stuff again....

Finish hand sewing the linen shirt... I picked up some wool an a yard sale last Summer for new breeches and a coat....

Try to get everything done in time for the Spring rendezvous season....

I finaly got a dog lock.... now I want to change the butt plate with a fowler plate from Tenn. Mountain, and thin down and re-stain the stock. Make it a bit more "personel" so it dosen't look like a standard production gun.....

I also finaly got a grinder... did some work on a butcher knife, and may get back to working on a machetti.....

Time to dig everything out, check what needs to be fixed, what needs to be re-done....

OH yah.... and finaly got around to getting a copy of Expuemelin The Buccaneers of America... dang... if your going to re-create a Buccaneer... you gotta have a copy of his book.........

[blackjohn]

Without a doubt, you need that book.

I'm sure I've mentioned this one before, but I'll mention it again - Barry Clifford's The Lost Fleet. Very interesting read. Combination of history and "true life" archaeology adventure. Deal's more with things from the French perspective, but very interesting just the same.

[Fox]

I've just seen the question about fringing, as shown in the Osprey book, so apologies for coming late to this one.

I've not seen it anywhere else, so I shot Angus Konstam an email (I used to reenact with him many moons ago) because I thought it looked very cool. We had a lovely long email conversation, which was abruptly terminated when I asked him what the source for the fringed smock was. Draw your own conclusions.

[JoshuaRed]

The Lost Fleet is a great read. Amazing how often bad weather changes the course of history.

[Patrick Hand]

This is the Buccaneer stuff that I have right now.....

(I re-touched the background to get rid of the Renn. Tent....)

Things I still have to do....

Finish handsewing the linen shirt

Make a new Pair of breeches.... I have some lighter weight dark blue wool, maybe use that and line them with linen

Make a new jacket... I have some light brown wool... will have to order some unbleached linen to line it with... I'll add buttons this time.

I'm going to cut down my old brogans to back date them... I'll use them untill they fall off my feet.....

Finish grinding a belt knife...

I'll use the other cut-down hat....

I have to figure out something for a hat band to "dress it up" a little tho....

[Patrick Hand]

I finished the butcher knife....

I ground the "waffle" pattern off the side of the blade, and tapered the handle so it isn't as "slabbish" anymore.... kinda wish I'd taken a bofor picture to show the changes.........

I'm about half way done with the machetti.... it got dark, so I had to stop for the day......

[capnwilliam]

Nice garb, Patrick. But then, I already told you that, on the Muzzleloading Forum!

Capt. William

[Patrick Hand]

I just looked-up the schedule..... There are two Rendezvouse in April.... So I now have a date to get my stuff finished, or re-done by....

Other than a few things that I will have to get... (a $15.00 buttplate,... with $10.00 shipping.....) so I can modify my Doglock, and a bunch .735 cal bullets so I can fire it.....

Most of the stuff I have plenty of time to work on..... it's the fine-tuning and final finish-up work that is most of what I have to do....

I think I'll make the jacket out of the kinda greyish wool, lined with light tan wool.... and penny butons (cloth covered butons...with a penny as the form)... I like how the canvas one turned out, so I'l use that for a pattern.... right now, I'm trying to decide if I should add pocket or not.... (they are just sooooo dang handy.......).

The blue wool is too thin for breaches, so I think I'll use the old Army blanket (one of the really thin ones...) that I over dyed with brown.... I have some linen that I got last Summer that is too thin for slops, so I'll use it to line the breaches.....

I don't know about anyone else.... but now that I have a date to work for, I think I can over come the Winter Blaas that got hold of me.......

[michaelsbagley]

Bump...

Since I had to call off my trip to PiP, I've gone looking for something a little further down the road to aim for. As of this moment I am still unsure wether I can make this or not, but I am going to try my damndest...

Searle's Raid On St. Augustine

Anyways, as the above event is Buccaneer era, I thought I would resurface this thread and share my exploits with trying to get kit ready for the event (assuming I make it ). Even if I can;t make it to the Searle's Raid event, I can always follow in Patrick Hand's footsteps and use the gear for going to some rondezvous, there seems to be a lot of those in the general vacinity of where I live.

It really seems like a great deal of research has been provided here and I will get to do the easy thing and just make my gear based on the information provided... But as is human nature, I will probably interpret some things a little differently.

Anyways, hope bumping this thread might revamp some interest in the Buccaneer impressions and possibly some interest in this event.

I'd like to start by giving those who previously copntributed to this thread a hearty THANKS for doing all the work on the research and making this an easier task for me.

[hurricane]

I highly recommend Benerson Little's new book, The Buccaneer's Realm. A lot of really good stuff in it about the life of a buccaneer as opposed to a pirate.

I particularly liked the part where the buccaneers would quarter one of the cattle, cut a hole in the center of one of the pieces and toss it over their heads and carry it like they were wearing a sarape, still dripping blood. If it got too heavy they simply lopped off a piece of the meat. It said a buccaneer could carry 300 pounds of beef back to camp that way. Wow!

-- Hurricane

[michaelsbagley]

I highly recommend Benerson Little's new book, The Buccaneer's Realm. A lot of really good stuff in it about the life of a buccaneer as opposed to a pirate.

-- Hurricane

The book was high on my X-mas gift list.... and to be honest I think Santa has already sent a digital request to the Amazon for a copy of the book for me...

[hurricane]

As usual, his stuff is extremely well documented. Gareth helped with the combat portion of the book. And I always love the appendices...

-- Hurricane

[Patrick Hand]

And of course Alexander O. Exquemelin's The Buccaneers of America is a must.....

I haven't read all of it yet, but Dampier's New Voyage Round the World 1697 Has some fun stuff in it also.....

I figure after PiP, I might start re-working my Buccaneer stuff....

Unfortunatly, because almost no one (the Public) knows anything about Buccaneers, the clothing/garb is kinda obscure.... ( I was mistaken for Robin Hood once....) When you say that your portraying a Buccaneer, most people think Pyrate.... and Jack Sparrow......

But because they were hunters, they fit in at most Rendezvous.....

[Rumba Rue]

If you can find it, "Crossroads of the Buccaneers", by H.DeLeeuw, is pretty decent. The book is out of print, but I do have the book, I got at a convention several years ago.

[Will Fiddle]

Mr. Hand,

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but try to obtain a copy of Lionel Wafer's "A New Voyage to America". It was rather tricky to find, but there seems to be a new paperback edition:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Voyage-Description-Isthmus-

America/dp/1417923253/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196129441&sr=8-2

By comparing the online copy to a 1903 edition, it seems that the paperback is an exacting facsimile of that edition. Though the maps attached to the original were not reproduced in the online sample version, they may appear in the actual text.

Wafer travelled with some of the biggest names at the end of the buccaneer era. It is a reall good read, and It only became available again in 2004, what a wonderful centennial present to our community.

Maybe we should all order copies and start a reading club discussing the book chapter by chapter.

[Will Fiddle]

If you can find it, "Crossroads of the Buccaneers", by H.DeLeeuw, is pretty decent.

There are some rather affordable copies of the book on Amazon.

Rumba Rue, could you give an idea of what the book covers and what you found engaging about it?