From Recreating History, Inc.
Recreating History
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
To ye who love lyfe, eat drynk and.... be Merry or Mary whichever be the case...
http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
From Recreating History, Inc.
Grace O'Malley
Charles Vane
Grace MacLeod
Slash
Photos by Karissa
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Belated shanty of the week: Quare Bungle Rye
Things still seem pretty slow here.
I was temporarily held hostage by a proa-load of Dyak shamanesses and couldn't post a shanty last week. Luckily I escaped while they were preoccupied w/ the Pen State scandal and can now post again.
Inspired by a local house concert by Gordon Bok, here is... not quite a shanty, but a well-loved song about a young woman who leaves a sailor with child (yes, you read that right). Comes w/ a MIDI file (apparently; my computer won't open it).
http://www.contemplator.com/england/qbrye.html
/
PS Does anybody actually read any of this stuff? Please leave a comment.
I was temporarily held hostage by a proa-load of Dyak shamanesses and couldn't post a shanty last week. Luckily I escaped while they were preoccupied w/ the Pen State scandal and can now post again.
Inspired by a local house concert by Gordon Bok, here is... not quite a shanty, but a well-loved song about a young woman who leaves a sailor with child (yes, you read that right). Comes w/ a MIDI file (apparently; my computer won't open it).
http://www.contemplator.com/england/qbrye.html
/
PS Does anybody actually read any of this stuff? Please leave a comment.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Shanty of the Week: South Australia
In deference to RH's bandwidth and our readers' (and captain's) attention span, I am bringing you this weeks shanty in the form of a link to the Mudcat Cafe, your free window on the folk process (your lyrics may vary):
http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5494
Comes with a MIDI file for the tune!
/
http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5494
Comes with a MIDI file for the tune!
/
You need one of these!
An early solution to piracy on the high seas, the Blunderbuss, for sale at Bonhams in London:
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=51468
You could also say it was an early solution for piracy....
/
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=51468
You could also say it was an early solution for piracy....
/
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Little Bit of Steampunk
We decided to change up a bit the last weekend we were at the Maryland Renaissance Faire as airship pirates. Not quite period correct but it was a hoot!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sultana Downrigging link
The last big event in Schooner Month in Maryland. Boat rides/parades/exhibits, music, lectures, food. Head down to Chestertown, MD, on the lovely Chester River and make a weekend of it!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Swashbuckling
Crossing blades is almost as much fun as shooting black powder...
videos by n3tuf
Basil and Errol
On the Kalmar Nyckel
Pirates on the Potomac...
and in the Potomac
and almost as dangerous...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Shanty of the week 10/25/11 - Paddy West
A grandiose plan to be sure, but I'll try to keep up with it. A shanty a week until I run out.
And since this is a family site (?), I'll follow in Stan's footsteps and try to keep it clean. But parental review is advised.
People often ask me how I became a sailor (not really, but work with me here). This shanty describes the process as well as I could:
Paddy West
Traditional? Capstan shanty?
I decided to go to sea, when I was 22
But bein' a farmer, for half me life, I didn't know what to do!
Then a sailor sez t'me “Paddy West, will show ya like he showed me
Cause there's one thing sure about Paddy West,...He's never been to sea!”
As I was walkin’ down London Street* I come to Paddy West’s house.
He gave me a feed of American hash and called it Liverpool ‘scouse.
He sez, “There’s a ship a-wantin’ hands, and on ‘er you’ll quickly sign.
Oh, the mate is a b*****d, the bosun’s worse, but she will suit you fine.”
CH: Take off your dungaree jacket, and give yerselves a rest,
And we’ll think of them cold nor’westers that we had at Paddy West’s.
Now when we’d finished our feed, me boys, the wind begin to blow.
Paddy sent me to the attic, the main royal for to stow.
But when I got to the attic, no main royal could I find
So I turned around to the winder and I furled the winder blind.
Now Paddy he pipes all hands on deck, their stations for to man.
His wife she stood in the doorway, a bucket in her hand;
And Paddy he cries, "Now let 'er rip!" and she throws the water our way,
Cryin' "Clew up yer fore t'gan'sl, boys, she's takin in the spray!"
Now seein’s we’re bound to the south’ard, boys, to Frisco we was bound,
Paddy, he takes out a length of rope and he lays it on the ground.
We all stepped over and back again, and he sez to me, “That’s fine!
If ever they ask, ‘Was you ever at sea?’ you can say you crossed the Line**.”
To every two men that graduates, I'll give one outfit free,
For two good men on watch at once, ye never need to see,
Oilskins, me boys, ye'll never want, carpet slippers made of felt,
I'll dish out to the pair o' you, and a rope yarn for a belt.
There's just one thing for you to do before you sail away,
Just step around the table, where the bullock's horn do lay
And if ever they ask "Were you ever at sea?" you can say "Ten times 'round the Horn"
And B’Jasus but you've been a sailor from the day that you was born.
LAST CH: Put on yer dungaree jacket, and walk out lookin' yer best,
And tell 'em that you're an old sailor man what's come from Paddy West's.
Paddy West was a legendary Liverpool boarding-house master (generally a polite term for a “crimp”), who, finding a shortage of experienced sailors, started his own “school of seamanship” so as to supply “experienced” seamen to outbound ships. The first verse is from Bob Zentz, who says, “I learned that Paddy verse from a Sailor in North Carolina in the 60's - never seen or heard it since....”
* or Great Howard Street, or your favorite sleazy waterfront street.
** the Equator
And since this is a family site (?), I'll follow in Stan's footsteps and try to keep it clean. But parental review is advised.
People often ask me how I became a sailor (not really, but work with me here). This shanty describes the process as well as I could:
Paddy West
Traditional? Capstan shanty?
I decided to go to sea, when I was 22
But bein' a farmer, for half me life, I didn't know what to do!
Then a sailor sez t'me “Paddy West, will show ya like he showed me
Cause there's one thing sure about Paddy West,...He's never been to sea!”
As I was walkin’ down London Street* I come to Paddy West’s house.
He gave me a feed of American hash and called it Liverpool ‘scouse.
He sez, “There’s a ship a-wantin’ hands, and on ‘er you’ll quickly sign.
Oh, the mate is a b*****d, the bosun’s worse, but she will suit you fine.”
CH: Take off your dungaree jacket, and give yerselves a rest,
And we’ll think of them cold nor’westers that we had at Paddy West’s.
Now when we’d finished our feed, me boys, the wind begin to blow.
Paddy sent me to the attic, the main royal for to stow.
But when I got to the attic, no main royal could I find
So I turned around to the winder and I furled the winder blind.
Now Paddy he pipes all hands on deck, their stations for to man.
His wife she stood in the doorway, a bucket in her hand;
And Paddy he cries, "Now let 'er rip!" and she throws the water our way,
Cryin' "Clew up yer fore t'gan'sl, boys, she's takin in the spray!"
Now seein’s we’re bound to the south’ard, boys, to Frisco we was bound,
Paddy, he takes out a length of rope and he lays it on the ground.
We all stepped over and back again, and he sez to me, “That’s fine!
If ever they ask, ‘Was you ever at sea?’ you can say you crossed the Line**.”
To every two men that graduates, I'll give one outfit free,
For two good men on watch at once, ye never need to see,
Oilskins, me boys, ye'll never want, carpet slippers made of felt,
I'll dish out to the pair o' you, and a rope yarn for a belt.
There's just one thing for you to do before you sail away,
Just step around the table, where the bullock's horn do lay
And if ever they ask "Were you ever at sea?" you can say "Ten times 'round the Horn"
And B’Jasus but you've been a sailor from the day that you was born.
LAST CH: Put on yer dungaree jacket, and walk out lookin' yer best,
And tell 'em that you're an old sailor man what's come from Paddy West's.
Paddy West was a legendary Liverpool boarding-house master (generally a polite term for a “crimp”), who, finding a shortage of experienced sailors, started his own “school of seamanship” so as to supply “experienced” seamen to outbound ships. The first verse is from Bob Zentz, who says, “I learned that Paddy verse from a Sailor in North Carolina in the 60's - never seen or heard it since....”
* or Great Howard Street, or your favorite sleazy waterfront street.
** the Equator
Slash’s book list as of 10/25/1711
Slash’s book list as of 10/25/1711
I humbly recommend the following as worthy reading for all who seek to remember, understand, and recreate American nautical history and the Golden Age of Piracy (and concur with Cap’n Vane that Republic of Pirates is an excellent first choice).
Y’r ob’t s’v’t,
/ (his mark)
President of Vice
RH
==============
The Sea Rover’s Practice by (former Navy SEAL officer) Benerson Little. A field manual for anyone who would be an, ahem, alternative maritime entrepreneur, whether legal or not so much. Weapons, tactics, vessels, and business plans for the sea rover.
Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates by Robert Ritchie. A scholarly yet lively account of possibly the most misunderstood “pirate” in history. A detailed study of the politics and the fuzzy and shifting line between pirates and pirate hunters.
The Only Life That Mattered by James L. Nelson. Fictionalized story of late-Golden-Age Caribbean pirate shipmates “Calico Jack” Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read.
Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution by Robert H. Patton. When the Continental Congress could barely support a Navy, hundreds of privateers filled the gap, capturing hundreds of British merchant ships and diverting the Royal Navy from supporting the land war.
Brethren of the Coast trilogy by James L. Nelson. Adventures of a Virginia planter with a shadowed past. Gripping, well-written, nautically and historically correct stories from this former tall-ship officer.
1. The Guardship.
2. The Blackbirder.
3. The Pirate Round.
Revolution at Sea Saga by James L. Nelson. Five novels following the career of smuggler-turned-privateer-turned-naval-officer Isaac Biddlecomb. Features cameo appearances by George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin (complete with onboard lightning rod). Climaxes on the Delaware River as Philadelphia is overrun by the British.
1. By Force of Arms.
2. The Maddest Idea.
3. The Continental Risque.
4. Lords of the Ocean.
5. All the Brave Fellows.
Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her by Barry Clifford and Paul Perry. The story of underwater archaeologist Clifford’s discovery of Sam Bellamy’s Whydah and the first-ever successful recovery of a pirate shipwreck and treasure.
Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship by Barry Clifford.
Whydah salvor Clifford brings the day-to-day life of a pirate to light in this kid-friendly book. (John King, the youngest member of the Whydah’s company, was only 9 years old when he ran from his mother aboard one of Bellamy’s prizes and joined the crew. Worse luck for him, he died with the rest when the Whydah piled up on that sandbar off Cape Cod.)
Shanties from the Seven Seas by Stan Hugill. Sea shanties were songs used to keep the proper rhythm and unity in shipboard work. Hugill, the last working shantyman aboard a British square-rigger, explores the history and evolution of hundreds of shanties. BAD LANGUAGE WARNING (there isn’t enough): As a shantyman (?) who strives for authenticity, I lament the fact that Hugill cleaned up most of the bawdy or obscene language found in period shanties; our culture is the poorer for it! But aside from that, this book is a must-have for lovers of sea music.
The Arts of the Sailor: Knotting, Splicing and Ropework by Hervey Garrett Smith. A compact guide to marlinspike seamanship; fits in a ditty bag.
The Ditty Bag Book by Frank Rosenow. What’s a ditty bag? Read this book and find out. A guide to tools and techniques of the old-fashioned sailor’s trade. Also, as you might guess, it also fits in a ditty bag.
Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings: How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Instruments by Dennis Fisher. You too can be a navigator. Learn how sailors found their way in the days before GPS, and build the instruments yourself. I learned everything I know about the Al-Kamal (an ancient Arabic weapon of math instruction) from this book.
More later.
I humbly recommend the following as worthy reading for all who seek to remember, understand, and recreate American nautical history and the Golden Age of Piracy (and concur with Cap’n Vane that Republic of Pirates is an excellent first choice).
Y’r ob’t s’v’t,
/ (his mark)
President of Vice
RH
==============
The Sea Rover’s Practice by (former Navy SEAL officer) Benerson Little. A field manual for anyone who would be an, ahem, alternative maritime entrepreneur, whether legal or not so much. Weapons, tactics, vessels, and business plans for the sea rover.
Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates by Robert Ritchie. A scholarly yet lively account of possibly the most misunderstood “pirate” in history. A detailed study of the politics and the fuzzy and shifting line between pirates and pirate hunters.
The Only Life That Mattered by James L. Nelson. Fictionalized story of late-Golden-Age Caribbean pirate shipmates “Calico Jack” Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read.
Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution by Robert H. Patton. When the Continental Congress could barely support a Navy, hundreds of privateers filled the gap, capturing hundreds of British merchant ships and diverting the Royal Navy from supporting the land war.
Brethren of the Coast trilogy by James L. Nelson. Adventures of a Virginia planter with a shadowed past. Gripping, well-written, nautically and historically correct stories from this former tall-ship officer.
1. The Guardship.
2. The Blackbirder.
3. The Pirate Round.
Revolution at Sea Saga by James L. Nelson. Five novels following the career of smuggler-turned-privateer-turned-naval-officer Isaac Biddlecomb. Features cameo appearances by George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin (complete with onboard lightning rod). Climaxes on the Delaware River as Philadelphia is overrun by the British.
1. By Force of Arms.
2. The Maddest Idea.
3. The Continental Risque.
4. Lords of the Ocean.
5. All the Brave Fellows.
Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her by Barry Clifford and Paul Perry. The story of underwater archaeologist Clifford’s discovery of Sam Bellamy’s Whydah and the first-ever successful recovery of a pirate shipwreck and treasure.
Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship by Barry Clifford.
Whydah salvor Clifford brings the day-to-day life of a pirate to light in this kid-friendly book. (John King, the youngest member of the Whydah’s company, was only 9 years old when he ran from his mother aboard one of Bellamy’s prizes and joined the crew. Worse luck for him, he died with the rest when the Whydah piled up on that sandbar off Cape Cod.)
Shanties from the Seven Seas by Stan Hugill. Sea shanties were songs used to keep the proper rhythm and unity in shipboard work. Hugill, the last working shantyman aboard a British square-rigger, explores the history and evolution of hundreds of shanties. BAD LANGUAGE WARNING (there isn’t enough): As a shantyman (?) who strives for authenticity, I lament the fact that Hugill cleaned up most of the bawdy or obscene language found in period shanties; our culture is the poorer for it! But aside from that, this book is a must-have for lovers of sea music.
The Arts of the Sailor: Knotting, Splicing and Ropework by Hervey Garrett Smith. A compact guide to marlinspike seamanship; fits in a ditty bag.
The Ditty Bag Book by Frank Rosenow. What’s a ditty bag? Read this book and find out. A guide to tools and techniques of the old-fashioned sailor’s trade. Also, as you might guess, it also fits in a ditty bag.
Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings: How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Instruments by Dennis Fisher. You too can be a navigator. Learn how sailors found their way in the days before GPS, and build the instruments yourself. I learned everything I know about the Al-Kamal (an ancient Arabic weapon of math instruction) from this book.
More later.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous 2011
Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous http://www.cambridgeschoonerrendezvous.com/. A perfect weekend in beautiful and historic Cambridge Maryland. Linda and I helped with the school tours on friday which included a sail on the Mystic Whaler http://www.mysticwhalercruises.com/ hailing from New London, Connecticut. Other boats included the Prom Queen, Lady Maryland, Isa Lei (ketch), Elf (clipper), Adventurer, Martha White, Heron, Odyssey (sloop), Nathan of Dorchester (skipjack). Saturday was sunny in the sixties with a nice breeze and lots of folks enjoying the festivities.
We saw some old friends made some new friends.
Thank you Roger and Paula for putting us up again this year in your wonderful B&B. Thank you Janie and Paul "Calico Jack" http://www.janiemeneely.com/ for entertaining us and to everyone who worked so tirelessly to make the event a success.
We saw some old friends made some new friends.
Thank you Roger and Paula for putting us up again this year in your wonderful B&B. Thank you Janie and Paul "Calico Jack" http://www.janiemeneely.com/ for entertaining us and to everyone who worked so tirelessly to make the event a success.
Mystic Whaler
Grace O'Malley
Capt. John
Recreating History
Detail
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Letter of Marque
Grace O'Malley receives a Letter of Marque from King Henry VIII at the Maryland Renaissance Faire. Of course Grace O'Malley never met King Henry but did meet his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I from whom she did receive a Letter of Marque.
MD Renfaire's Henry VIII reading the letter of Marque
We will use the letters as visuals when we talk about privateers, buccaneers, and pirates. Also check out U.S. Constitution's granting of Letters of Marque: Article I, Sec. 8 cl. 11
This weekend finds Recreating History at the Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous in Cambridge Maryland where we will be presenting the tools of our trade and maybe even dancing....but probably not dancing. But we will have nautical stuff (it is after all a schooner thing), knots, rope, sewing sail cloth, weaving and tatting, and weapons and tactics. It is a beautiful time of year and the setting on the mighty Choptank River.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Renaissance Faire weekend
Well, Greg's cartridges are made, and we are getting ready for the Maryland Renaissance Faire...looks like it will be a perfect weekend weatherwise....breezy and mid 60's. It's a steampunk weekend for us....arrrr! First time we are trying this. But this will also be our last weekend to be at the faire as next weekend we are Cambridge bound...a pirating we will go, yo-ho-yo-ho-yo-ho.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
getting ready
Friday we'll be making cartridges for the Cambridge event.... Greg's got a brand new blunderbuss pistol just waiting to be fired. The Bess's are well accustomed to doin their stuff! Hope the weather holds with no rain...Bess's don't like rain. Come to think of it...Grace doesn't either.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous 2010
Some of last years pics at Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous...
Slash
Grace MacLeod weaving
Tatting demo
A ship!
Grace O'Malley and Charles Vane on the Pride II
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Welcome
Ahoy, and welcome to the first blog post of Recreating History's first blog....as it were. This years weather has been most uncooperative for outdoor events, encampments, and the like and as Fall approaches...and it has, we are looking forward to a few last favored events that hopefully will be weather pleasant.
Our website has had a domain name change which has screwed it all up and is being careened...arrrrgh. The site will undergo some finite changes with the event/photo gallery using slide show pages instead of the static pictures. I am hoping this will streamline the rebuild and give some dynamics to the site.
Our website is here. It should be looking better in a few weeks.
Next event is Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous on October 21-22, 2011
Recreating History, Inc. is dedicated to making history educational and fun.
Our website has had a domain name change which has screwed it all up and is being careened...arrrrgh. The site will undergo some finite changes with the event/photo gallery using slide show pages instead of the static pictures. I am hoping this will streamline the rebuild and give some dynamics to the site.
Our website is here. It should be looking better in a few weeks.
Next event is Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous on October 21-22, 2011
Recreating History, Inc. is dedicated to making history educational and fun.
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