The Buccaneer Project

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I am looking for a piece of gator skin or some leather with a well made gator skin-type pattern on it for a special PiP auction project. Been collecting some hand-made butcher knives from flea markets, and found a really cool sharpening steel to build one of those cased knife sets that hangs over the shoulder.(from one of the buccaneer drawings) Still hoping to find an old purse, pair of old boots, or suitcase with that pattern on it. (cheap of course ) It'll have a hemp strap. You buccaneers will have to fight over it at auction, and I want photos!

Bo

[Animal]

I am looking for a piece of gator skin or some leather with a well made gator skin-type pattern on it for a special PiP auction project. Been collecting some hand-made butcher knives from flea markets, and found a really cool sharpening steel to build one of those cased knife sets that hangs over the shoulder.(from one of the buccaneer drawings) Still hoping to find an old purse, pair of old boots, or suitcase with that pattern on it. (cheap of course ) It'll have a hemp strap. You buccaneers will have to fight over it at auction, and I want photos!

Bo

And fight we will. You might shoot Diosa a pm and ask her about the hide. I'll call a friend of mine down there that hunts gators and see if he can help. Between the both of us we should be able to get ya a real hide.

Animal

[Guest]

OK... after PiP... I can figgure out a few mistakes... things that didn't work.

The vientians (breaches) didn't work... yah, you can read about me losing them in the PiP thread....(ergh) but the truth be told... my linen drawers were so much more comfortable.... (Ok never mind that most of the reports where when I was very drunk...)

Anyway... wool is to hot for PiP....and I kinda think it would be the same "back then" ....So I'm thinking that a lot of Buccaneers may have just wore their drawers..........don't know.....

But it worked...

My pattern was messed up, I didn't have enough "ease" in the breaches, so they didn't work.... but I think I have figured that out.....

Hey... wots that called.... archeology by experiment?

And more things that didn't work later (well other than the breaches ... the other stuff is easy..)

[Guest]

Michael posted a link to an original copy of Buccaneers of American, 1678 edition (in the original Dutch) in Mercury Crew at Searle's Raid.

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Well, I've been busy re-working some of my Buccaneer stuff. (It looks like I might be going to Searle's Raid... )

The new breaches came out well, I found a tailors (sorta) pattern for English Civil War breaches and kinda guessed at the leg bands, but after looking at some of the pictures in the 1678 edition of Buccaneers of America, I made the bows on the leg bands bigger than I originally intended to make them...

Unfortunately, none of the pictures in Buccaneers of America show any of the Buccaneers wearing their shirts on the outside. This might be artistic interpretation, or something that happened later... so I'll play with the shirt tucked in and out and decide which I like better... I might wear a sash with it tho.....

I'm about half way done with a new light blue coat (with cloth buttons) I still have to make the sleeves and all of the button holes.

I'm also making a new cartridge box, I still have to sew the leather trim on the other side of the flap, then sew together/on the shoulder straps.

And I re-blocked a new hat... it just needs some more feathers....

<Oh yeah... I got a new digital cammera, so I can post pictures again.... yay.... >

[Bos'n Cross]

VERY nice patrick.......im loving that hat mate.............reminds me that i need more searls raid gear...lol(whether i end up going or not).........be sure to post pic of the jacket!

[capn'rob]

Thanks t' ye, Mr. Hand for th' postin' o' that book. Most gratefull for it havin th pitures as I have little command o th ritten werd. An thenks t' me shipmate wots ritein thiz down fer me so as I ken thank ye meself. Dutch "X" his mark

[Mission]

Here's the majority of a chapter for all the buccaneers. It's from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. I saw some more material in here on my first read-through concerning buccaneers which I will reprint for you when I get to it. Geez, this book is fabulous. This is so vivid and well told that it makes me want to try doing a buccaneer impression. Enjoy!

“Fond St. Jacques, 1698. Some of our fathers who had come to inquire after the patient (a priest who was getting over he maladie de Siam) asked me to arrange a cochon boucanné in the forest. I did so with pleasure and invited my friends and all our father within reach.

A cochon boucan is held in the forest. On these occasions everyone must pretend to be buccaneers, who cook their pig and amuse themselves in much the same way when they wish to take a holiday. One of the differences between my boucan and that of the buccaneers is that they cook a sanglier (wild boar) while I have to be contented with a tame pig. So had a pig killed and cleaned the evening before, and I also had a place cleared in the woods some 1,500 paces from our house on the bank of the river. Here I had a large ajoupa built. An ajoupa is a hut made of light poles covered with balisier and cachibou leaves to keep out the rain. I sent the pig and other things I had prepared to the ajoupa at daybreak and, most important of all, the wine to be cooled in the river.

When all the guests had arrived we walked to the boucan and arrived there at about 9 a.m. The first

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thing to be done on these occasions is for everyone to set to work. The laziest had to make two brochettes for each buccaneer. For this purpose they cut sticks as thick as one’s finger, which are then barked and smoothed. One boucan should have two prongs while the other has but a point. The other guests made the brochette. This is a grill on which the whole pig has to be cooked. To make the boucan four forked sticks, about four feet long and as thick as your arm, are driven into the ground to form an oblong structure about four feet long by three feet wide. Cross-pieces of wood are placed in the forks of these posts. On these one arranges the grill, which is also made of sticks, and all this contraption is well tied together with lianes. The pig is placed on this bed on its back, the belly wide open and kept in position with sticks to prevent it from closing up when the fire is lighted.

While everyone was hard at work doing these things the slaves set fire to a big heap of wood which they had cut the day before. When the wood was reduced to charcoal the slaves put it under the pig, against all the rules to use any metal instruments, such as shovels, or tongs, or plates, dishes, spoons or forks. Even tablecloths are forbidden as they are too much at variance with buccaneer simplicity.

I have forgotten to say that the belly of the pig must be filled with lime-juice and plenty of salt and crushed

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pimento. For though pork is excellent and more tender in America than in any other country, these additions are necessary to make it really succulent.

While the pig was cooking, those who wished to do so, ate some breakfast. They were also permitted to drink a shot (un coup) of wine, provided that they drank it in a coüi (calabash) without water, for buccaneers never pour water into their wine and drink either pure water or neat liquor.

It is lawful to eat the dishes brought from the house for breakfast, but once the pig has been tasted it is against buccaneer law to eat anything else.

Since, however, there is no rule so strict that it does not allow some exception, some of the company are allowed to mix water with their wine. This is because, being still novices of the ‘Order of Buccaneers’, it would not be wise to enforce all the rigour of the law. On which point I wish to remark, en passant, how much more justice and good sense there is in this ‘Order’, than is some I could mention in which the novices are expected to be more punctual and exact than the old members.

After breakfast everyone did his share of work. Some went shooting, others collected balisier, cachibou leaves, and ferns to make the tablecloth and napkins. Some looked after the pig to see it cooked slowly, and that the gravy penetrated the meat. This operation is effected by pricking a pig with the point of a brochette, but care must be take, however,

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not to stick the brochette through the skin and thus allow the gravy to fall in the fire.

When the boucan was judged to be sufficiently cooked, the hunters were recalled by firing a couple of shots, one after the other. This is according to the rule, for watches are not customary in buccaneer society. As the hunters arrived their game was plucked and thrown in the pig’s belly, or it was spitted and placed near the fire to roast. Hunters who brought nothing were not forgiven if they said that they had seen nothing, but were told that they must go back and shoot something or pay the last penalty. If they were old buccaneers, they were punished on the spot by having to drink as many ‘shots’, one after the other, as the most successful hunter had brought in birds. The only mercy that can be shown them, if it is proved that bad fortune and not carelessness has been the cause of their crime, is to give them the choice of the liquor that they have to drink. In the case of novices, for so those who assist in a boucan for the first time are called, their punishment depends on the master of the boucan. It is then his duty to impose a penalty with discretion and wisdom in proportion to the weakness of the sinners.

After benedicite we sat down at a table so solid that nothing but an earthquake could have shaken it, for our table was the earth itself covered with ferns and leaves. Each person laid beside him his two

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brochettes, his knife, his coüi for drinking, and a cachibou leaf. This cachibou leaf is cute into a square, the four corners of which are bent up and tied to each other with small lianes so as to make a bowl. It is in this bowl that one puts the gravy, which is made sweeter or piquant according to taste. I had provided napkins and bread though this is really contrary to the rules, for real buccaneers know not the meaning of napkins, and use but baked plantains for bread.

The master of the boucan, as head of the party and father of the family, cuts the first helping for all the company. Armed with a large fork in his left hand and a great knife in his right, he approaches the pig, which lies on its peaceful bed over a small fire. He cuts big slices of pork without damaging the skin, and puts them on balisier leaves which the waiters carry to the guests. A large coüi full of gravy and another full of lime-juice, pepper, salt and pimento stand in the centre of the table, and from these each guest mixes his gravy according to his taste. When the first helping is finished the older buccaneers get up and serve the others. Lastly the novices carve the pig, and they should have learnt this art by watching their elders.

I do not think it necessary to inform the reader that one of the essential things in a boucan is to drink frequently. The law compels it, the sauce invites one to do so, and few err in this respect. But since

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man is frail and would often fail had he no one to remind him of his duty and correct him, the master of the boucan has to watch his party. Should he find anyone idle or negligent he must at once call everybody’s attention to the fact. The delinquent must then do penance by drinking a large coüi, a no mean punishment since the coüi is always kept full of wine.

In this harmless manner we spent the day with the greatest possible enjoyment. The good wine which is the soul of a meal never failed. I had imported it from France, Madeira, and Canary, and cooled as it had been in the river, anyone would have said that it was iced.” (Labat, p. 52-7)

[j8ksdad]

nice reading! I would say that the "penalty" for not returning with game would really be reason not to shoot anything.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

A buccaneer re-enactment in the GAoP!!! Briliant! I'm hungry and there's wild pigs nearby, now if I only had time to go hunt them down...

Bo

[Mission]

It is pretty funny that the first accounted re-enactment actually occurred right smack in the middle of the GAoP.

Something else I found interesting in that narrative, "...against all the rules to use any metal instruments, such as shovels, or tongs, or plates, dishes, spoons or forks." Everyone tells me that forks were uncommon during period, yet here he mentions them in a way that suggests (to me, anyhow) that you would normally want them. Of course, Labat was primarily land-based and being a priest, he probably ate in some of the better houses, but I still think it's interesting.

[hurricane]

Great stuff. I've seen that description of the boucan before and it is the most exact representation of how it was done. There is still a place in San Antonio in Jamaica that prepares the pig the same way. Thanks for sharing the ritual with us. I had forgotten about it.

-- Hurricane

[hurricane]

Oh, and while I'm at it, your discussion of matchlock, doglock et al is spot on. Buccaneers had the most modern weaponry they could get hold of, especially their rifles. The reason they were so successful on campaign was their ability to outshoot the Spanish, roughly three to one. The matchlock was painfully unpredictable and slow to fire. That said, the pistols were probably a mix of everything, as it was common to board a ship, fire the pistol, smash someone over the head with it and drop it to focus on use of the cutlass. Following battle, the deck would have any number of different weapons on it, from those dropped as well as those among the dead. Good reasoning throughout, sir.

-- Hurricane

[Mission]

This may be the description you read, hurricane. I say this because it seems to give a lot more detail on how boucan works.

I looked up the word 'gargoussier' and a lot of people say these didn't appear until the 1750s or even later. So to them.

“[February, 1701] I went ashore [at the most westerly point of San Domingo] with a couple of men to ascertain if there was anything to fear, and returned with two hunters, who gave us

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fresh pork and cochon boucanné while we regaled them with wine and brandy. We made a bargain with these hunters to supply us with 1,800 pounds of smoked meat, and 300 pounds of mantegne, or pig’s fat. This mantegne is eaten by the Spanish during Lent in virtue of the Pope’s bull of the Crusade which allows them many privileges and, among others, to eat the extremities of animals such as the feet and head. They therefore cut off these extremities so that there is but little left of the animal.

We were to pay for the meat and mantegne in powder, shot, and cloth, etc., and the hunters asked us to send some men to help them bring the meat to the ship. We gave them six men, and I went to choose the meat and took my boy with me to carry my hammock.

The clothes of these buccaneers simply consisted of a pair of trousers with a shirt worn over them fastened at the waist by a belt of bull’s hide. A sheath containing three or four long knives and a gargoussier [a container for cartridges] are fastened to this belt. They wore a small hat with a brim about four inches wide cut to a point above the eyes. Their shoes are made out of one piece of hide, and have no seams.

The guns we use in the Islands are called boucaniers after the buccaneers, and the best guns are made in Nantes and Bordeaux. The barrel is four feet long and they fire a bullet weighing one ounce. The

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gargoussier is a leather bag, ten inches long and six inches deep, and is used to carry cartridges.

A wooden cylinder, the diameter of which is a little smaller than the bore of the gun, is used to make the cartridges. Paper is rolled round the cylinder and the end twisted so that it will retain its shape when the mould is removed. As much powder as the gun can stand is then measured by placing a bullet on the palm of your hand, and pouring our sufficient powder to cover it. The powder is now placed in the paper cylinder and a pullet put on the top of it, and the rest of the paper is then twisted up. These cartridges are now secured in the cartridge-bag so that they can neither be broken or bent. This is a very quick way to load the boucanier, for all you have to do is take the cartridge from the bag, tear off the end of the paper with your teeth and pour out a little powder for the priming. The cartridge is then placed in the muzzle and the weight of the ball makes the charge slide down the barrel. The butt is then banged on the ground and the gun is ready to be fired.

We arrived rather late at the hunter’s boucan. They had plenty of meat dried or being dried, and two or three pigs which they had killed that day, so we made a very hearty supper.

The meat is cured as follows. As soon as the pig is killed, it is cleaned and the meat cut into as long strips as possible. These strips, which are about one

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and a half inches thick, are then powdered with salt, and left for twenty-four hours. After this the salt is brushed off, and the strips are laid flat on shelves made of lathes in the boucan. The boucan is a little domed-shaped hut, or ajoupa made of leaves. A fire is lighted on the floor of the boucan, on which is thrown the skin and bones of the animal. These make a thick pungent smoke that penetrates the meat, which eventually becomes so dry that it is as hard as a board.

The strips are then taken out and tied up in bundles of 100 pounds each. In former days, a bundle was worth three pieces of eight, or three piastres, or Spanish écus, which are called pieces of eight because each piece is worth eight reals (a real = about 2-1/2 d.).But while I was in San Domingo the price had risen, as pigs were not so plentiful, and a bundle containing 100 pounds was worth as much as six pieces of eight.” (Labat, p. 174-7)

[hurricane]

That was it! Thanks for posting it. It's a great tutorial and saves a lot of conjecture for those trying to recreate the boucan style.

-- Hurricane

[Mission]

I live to serve. Actually, this stuff is just so well written and of such relevance to the group that I really want to post it for those who haven't been lucky enough to read this account. (It really is one of the best period journals I've read to date.) It's not of interest for my book, so I post it here - which also makes it Google search-able for others trying to find info.

[Guest]

“[February, 1701] I went ashore [at the most westerly point of San Domingo] with a couple of men to ascertain if there was anything to fear, and returned with two hunters,

That fits with the pictures that are posted earlier in this topic, and they are from a little later period (1700's also). I just read (well re-read) a description of Hunters wearing only a shirt and breaches, but no socks of shoes...(I think it's in The Buccaneers of America, I'm going to take more notes this read)I don't know how much clothing styles would have changed for Hunters,but the descriptions are consistent.

It's also interesting the different descriptions of boucans,

The boucan is a little domed-shaped hut, or ajoupa made of leaves. A fire is lighted on the floor of the boucan, on which is thrown the skin and bones of the animal.

But I've read descriptions of them just being a wooden rack that the meat was dried on, I think it's Dampier who writes about Log wood Cutters sleeping on Boucans inside their tents to keep out of the water, so obviously, there were different ways of drying Boucan. I'm kinda surprised at how thick they cut the meat, (1 1/2" thick)...It would take longer to dry that way, but once again, there are different descriptions about exactly what boucan was (was it totally dried meat, heavily smoked meat that later dried out...)

The gargoussier/Cartridge box is interesting, I was trying to find a description from the Sack of Panama where the Spanish Governor asked Morgan about his secret weapon (or something like that) and Morgan sent back a cartridge box.... Like I typed, next re-read of The Buccaneers of America, I have to take better notes, there is also a reference to a type of tree that is used for tanning...

The guns we use in the Islands are called boucaniers after the buccaneers, and the best guns are made in Nantes and Bordeaux. The barrel is four feet long and they fire a bullet weighing one ounce

I also want to find what guns were called, a quick check of TBoA called them guns, but a reference to muskets was what the Spanish were using, so they may have been matchlocks. I agree that the Buccaneers are going to use the best gun (not rifle... ) they can get.

.

[hurricane]

Actually, Morgan sent the governor a pistol and some bullets to show him how he could so easily outshoot the Spanish.

Also, boucan isn't dried, it's slow roasted. Only as it ages does it dry and become jerky like. There's a big difference between dried beef then and boucan that was consumed by the buccaneers at meal time.

-- Hurricane

[Guest]

There's a big difference between dried beef then and boucan that was consumed by the buccaneers at meal time.

I think that may be where we are having a difference of defining the word, I'm thinking of the dried meat as opposed to a form of bar-b-que... (Then we get into a difference of a Boucan being a rack or a hut...used to dry or bar-b-que meat.....)

But wouldn't both dried meat and the bar-b-qued version be called the same thing? Because both were prepared on a Boucan.

or were there Buccaneers and Dried Beefneers, or Jerkyneers?

[hurricane]

Yes, my understanding is that the beef is prepared in such a way that it's basically much like barbecue today, but as it dries out the salting takes over and they end up with jerky. But the initial product is very tender, flavorful and rich in taste and texture. The use of pimento wood went a long way to creating the flavor that is hard to reproduce these days, unless you have access to the pimento branches.

The jerky-like beef was good for storing and campaigns, but wouldn't have been consumed in camp where any fresh meat was available. So the more proper representation at PiP is to barbecue on a grate of green wood over coals (not burning wood). If you can get pimento, that's ideal, obviously.

It also makes the representation easier at the Fort event, since there's no need to create a hut and do the smoked version. I think a lot of people would really enjoy learning where barbecue came from.

-- Hurricane

[Animal]

Hey Patrick, we can open our own joint called Boucaneer Barbeque. Might be able recoup some of our expenses. Damn, now I need to trademark the name so some pyrate doesn't steal it.

Animal

Edited February 16, 2010 by Animal

[Guest]

I took a break from sewing the cuff on my new coat, and was looking for something else when I found it....

This is from Exquemelin's The Buccaneers of America after Morgan took Porto Bello.(page 139 in the Dover edition)

The President of Panama was astounded that 400 men could have conquered such a strong fortress, whose defenders had not lacked courage, with nothing but small-arms. He sent a messenger to Morgan, asking that he might be allowed to see the weapon which had given him such power. Morgan received the president's envoy with great civility and gave him a French musket with a barrel four and a half feet long, firing a one ounce bullet; he also sent a cartouche which he'd had expressly made in France, containing thirty cartridges full of powder. He charged the messenger to tell his master that Morgan presented him with this musket, and that within a year or two he would come to Panama to fetch it back again.

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[hurricane]

Yes, I've heard that version. But I was quoting the transcripts from the Spanish, since they are also records of what transpired. Unfortunately, I always take Exquemelin with a grain of salt, since he was sued by Morgan for libel and Morgan won. Never could imagine why Morgan giving up what was then a state-of-the-art gun -- that would be like us sending a smart bomb over to the Taliban to have a look at. He was a lot smarter than that. A pistol? No big deal.

Always wondered how a surgeon would have a eyewitness account to a battle when any leader in his right mind would keep doctors to the rear to tend to the wounded and not put them in the line of battle.

-- Hurricane

[Mission]

Just for the record, Exquemelin was only sort of a surgeon. He had received some training when he was indentured and wound up having to go to school to complete his training and get certified when he got back to Europe after his time with Morgan. Like some other resident buccaneer and pirates surgeons I've read about (Wafer comes first to mind), he was made surgeon because he had some training, not because he was really qualified. So he might easily have been both soldier and surgeon. (He talked very little about what he did as a surgeon, which greatly puzzled me when I read his book. Most surgeons go on and on about this stuff - even Wafer has more to say on that topic than Exquemelin. Upon later discovering that Exquemelin really wasn't a full surgeon made that seem to make a bit more sense to me.)

Incidentally, the suit wasn't over misstated facts, it was over the idea that Exquemelin presented Morgan in an unfavorable light. In fact, they made the publishers take the offensive parts out of the English edition. (I forget what the comments were exactly, but they were, as I recall, mostly descriptive comments, not factual ones.)

Besides, why would the Spanish be any less likely to twist the facts than the English? Did they state that no gun was given to them? OTOH, it could be that Morgan gave them a lesser gun to make them think it was state of the art (if that's the question here...I actually haven't read all the comments.) My impression of Morgan was as a clever, savvy and tricky character. (Which is probably why Exquemelin said what he did. Rarely are such opinions formed in a vaccuum.) Either way, the fact that he described any gun in such detail would seem to be of interest to those trying to create a buccaneer impression.

On a side note, I am assuming the parts that were taken out of the early English editions over Morgan's suit were eventually put back in in the interest of completeness (although I don't know this, I just assume it). If so, I wondered how long English law would have to be upheld after the death of the parties involved. (Again, if it isn't still being upheld. It would seem silly to omit character-focused comments in what is regarded today as an historical work over a matter of vanity.) Anyone know? (I'm just curious.)

[Guest]

I always take Exquemelin with a grain of salt, since he was sued by Morgan for libel and Morgan won

I've wondered; exactly what did Morgan Sue Exquemelin for?

Was it because Exquemelin said Morgan's father was a well to do farmer, and that Morgan was sold into indenture?

was it;

But once a woman was in their hands they would work their will upon her, or beat her, starve her, or similarly torment her. Morgan , being the general, should have set a better example, but he was no better than the rest.

Or was it because of the "Well Bread Woman" that Morgan was lusting after?

Or that he kinda left early with a larger share of the loot?

Off hand, I can't think of anything Exquemelin said bad about Morgan until Panama... (well maybe some comments about the Buccaneers cruelty), So maybe Exquemelin was peeved about how little loot they got from Panama, and wrote about Morgan in a bad manner.

And Morgan with his new status of Governor, of course wouldn't want everyone to know about his past.

But just because Morgan won the lawsuit, doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't do any of those things....just he had a better lawyer, and (somehow) more money

[Mission]

This article is sort of interesting - it goes along with what Hurricane said. (I don't recall the 40' crocodiles, but that would be a factual error, I'd say.)