Copper Ring or Earring?

[Black Rinalda Kidd]

Be there any truth ta th' idea o' a pirate in period (or earlier) designatin' himself as such by wearin' a copper ring somewhere aboout his person? Me friend locally says he found documentation ta support this, but I canna seem ta duplicate his efforts thus far. I'd heard more often o' a sailor, even in ancient days, wearin' a gold earring ta pay either fer a proper burial, or passage into th' underworld (depending on faith), but his word be th' first I've heard o' copper. Has anybody foound any such historical basis fer th' notion?

[Capn_Enigma]

There are lots and lotsa threads on the authenticity of earrings here on this board. Why don't you just read them first before you post yet another one? There is a search function, ye know?

[hitman]

Black Rinalda Kidd,

I see you have already met our dear freind Capn_Enigma. Here is a link to one of the threads he was disscussing,

https://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtop...642&hl=ear+ring

It doesn't address your question directly but it does lay out a really good argument (one of many) for ear rings in general not being period. By way of a more direct answer to your question I have no refrences to sailors wearing copper earings but then given the limited number of refrences I have this should not surprise anyone.

[Capt. Sterling]

Me friend locally says he found documentation ta support this, but I canna seem ta duplicate his efforts thus far.

Simple solution... if he's a friend, just ask him to share his source with you and then you can check out whether his source is truly valid or not..

[JoshuaRed]

And more to the point, there is not a shred of real evidence of GAOP pirates wearing earrings as a general habit or fashion statement...so if you're friend has found the smoking gun, please share it with us!

[Black Rinalda Kidd]

Thank ye Hitman, fer th' link. Fer whatever reason, me searches didn'a seem ta bring anythin' ta th' surface tha' much addressed wha' I were lookin' fer. Foun' th' "does this make me look gay" thread, nae problem, tho'! Just hadn'a hit upon th' right parameters, methinks. Occassional curse o' th' researcher in th' information age, and pruif I still thinks in me da's J-space.... An' I thank ye, Joshua Red. I'd been nursin' tha' suspicion in th' back o' me mind, e'en if I didn'a want ta admit ta th' dooubt. I'd asked me friend where he found his material when first he told me o' it, Capt'n Sterling, but regrettably, he couldn'a remember, but, I do quite honestly thank ye, naeth'less, fer th' spirit. Tha', unfortunately be th' usual state o' these things wi' him and I wonder wi' a wry shake o' me head a time or two why I persist. Ma'be hope springs infernal tha' one day he might actually hae printed somethin' oout! Faith be a funny thing. There be times he be right tho', when I eventually finds his sources on me own, and sometimes he be known ta some as somethin' o' a local blatherskite - bless his black little heart - so I knew it were equal odds. I'll ask him ta trae an' retrace his steps, in the hope somethin' might come o' it.

Tha' said, th' only real reference ta any connection between pirates an' copper worn at any time (tha' weren't fiction) tha' me search fer me friend's source turned up were a cryptic one in a National Geographic article aboout the Blue Nile. Therein be a description o' a man encoountered along th' journey, wearin' wha' th' author called a "pirate's copper ring in his ear," but withoout anythin' further ta say o' why he'd make such an assertion, or precisely wha' tha' actually meant (appearance ta a modern, Western observer, or real artifact o' local cultural significance), it weren't much o' a connection. Nae history, nae cultural data, so nae help there. Could be a modern notion, fer a' I could find. Or it could be so much bilgewater....

But, again, Capt'n Sterling, Joshua Red and Hitman, I do thank ye.

[Patrick Hand]

OK... we have already argued the ear-ring bit (I still don't beleave it... but don't have the proof to dispute it.... rats)

Anyway.....

Have you ever worn a copper ear-ring........?

I have a cheap silver one.... but it dosen't turn my ear green......

Copper is cheap..... so it couldn't pay for even 1/10 th of a funeral.......

So why bother......

A fun aside.....

I pierced my ear back in 1978... back then the only people that wore earrings, were Bikers, sailors, and gays (well the gays pierced thier right earlobe not the left.... yah.. I checked before I jabbed a hole in my left ear.....)

Why... I don't know... it was just something that I wanted to do..... I also got a tatoo before it was "fasionable"

When I did American Civil War reenactmenmts....the Capt. would do inspections.... and make me take my earring out...(not period)..... I argue..... I didn't pierce my ear because it was fasionable..... I did it because I wanted it.......

I don't think this satisfied the period dissagreenent...... "back then" people wanted to "fit it"...... but I argue......Pyretes did not fit in......they did what they wanted to.... my pierced ear (before it was a part of common culture) is just something that I wanted to do... Now it is fashionable..... dang... sucks being a trend setter......