Whips and such...

[Fox]

Hmmm, on the whole I have to agree with Enigma. We certainly have evidence of whips being aboard pirate vessels (evidence from the articles, anecdotal evidence about the punishment and abuse of their victims etc) but not of their widespread use or prevalence; and I absolutely agree about the decorative nature of most of the cats seen about today.

My views on the egalitarian lifestyle of pirates are fairly well known, so I won't go into them here, but I will say that I think it's a mistake to assume that floggings were common in the RN or symbolic of that service.

Caveat: Rogozinski's "Pirates" is a bloody awful book filled with generalisations, exaggerations, and even some downright errors.

[CrazyCholeBlack]

OK, so what I understand is

whips & cats as punishment : yes.

whips as weaponry ala Indiana Jones : no

Then there is that boatswains "encouragement" rope, what was that properly called again Foxe?

That said, since this *isn't* Twill, if you like your bull whip & want your faire going pirate to carry one, have at it. :)

[Patrick Hand]

That said, since this *isn't* Twill, if you like your bull whip & want your faire going pirate to carry one, have at it

We already had this arguement in Twill.....

[Lady Alyx]

Well heck for fun'S sake me and me beau take our cat o nines to faire just to be ah..wink....ah playful with! Ah WINK

[John Maddox Roberts]

Another whip, much used on galleys in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay was what the French called the "nerf de boeuf" and the English, more crudely, the "bull's pizzle." Yes, that's right, it was the dried penis of a bull. The movies show rowing masters flogging rowers with a bullwhip, but the bull's pizzle was the favored instrument, because unlike a bullwhip it didn't cut the rower's back, thus reducing your galley's propulsive force. But it delivered maximum pain. In some places, it was used as a policeman's truncheon. Heavy and slightly flexible, a skilled man could easily knock someone unconscious with one. Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" has extended sequences set on Mediterranean pirate galleys in which use of the bull's pizzle is described in detail.

[Lady Alyx]

You know John that does make sense...I do remember from plenty of ole pics and films there was something a little more solid that they used...kinda reminded me of that old sock that Homey the Clown used on In Living Color