Electronic Version

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Digitally signed by
Commodore Black Fox
DN: cn=Commodore
Black Fox, o=The
Pyrates Way, LLC,
ou=The Pyrates Way
Magazine,
email=steve@pyrates
way.com, c=US
Date: 2015.07.09
10:40:19 -04'00'
Welcome to Issue #28. Inside
you’ll find recaps of the Hampton
Blackbeard Festival and information
about Tricorns, The real Captain Morgan, the Cave-in-Rock Pyrates, The
Pyrates of Firefly, and Captain Morgan Rum. We also provide you information about Pyrates4Patriots, our
10th Anniversary Celebration Gala.
The Pyrates Way magazine is hosting our
very first Pyrates4Patriots Gala. The Gala has a two-pronged
target, one, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Pyrates Way magazine and two, to
benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
Firefly explores the
lives of a group of smuggling space pyrates who
make a living on the fringe of society, as
part of the pioneer culture that exists on
the fringes of their star system.
Hampton Blackbeard
Pirate Festival returned
for another year of
swashbuckling excitement! We Celebrated
Hampton’s rich maritime heritage by
commemorating the demise of their most infamous visitor, Blackbeard.
Captain Morgan is a
brand of rum produced
by alcohol conglomerate
Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean,
Sir Henry Morgan. "To Life, Love and Loot."
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The tricorn is a style of
hat that was cover of
choice for most pyrates
during the Golden Age of Pyracy. However, it was not called a "tricorne" until
the mid 1800s, but rather as "cocked hats."
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CD Review: Pieces of Eight by Musical Blades
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Pyrate Scratch, your letters to us
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Cave-in-Rock was originally a stronghold for
outlaws including river
pirates and highwaymen, Samuel Mason
and James Ford, serial killers/bandits,
the Harpe Brothers, counterfeiters and many others.
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The annual Hampton
Blackbeard Festival always begins with the
revelry and merriment of Blackbeard’s
Pyrate Ball held on the Friday night
prior to the festival’s open.
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Captain Morgan earned
a reputation as one of
the most notorious and
successful privateers in history, and one
of the most ruthless among those active
along the Spanish Main.
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Wenches of the Quarter:
Sue, Seleste, Rhonda, Kristen, Angela and Kristen
Book Review: Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson
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Advertiser’s List
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48
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A Full Year’s Pyrate Event Calendar
28
31
Always looking for a beautiful water scene,
The Commodore captured these waves when he voyaged to St. Augustine, FL in November of 2014.
DVD Review: Davy Crockett & The River Pirates
Scuttlebutt, Pyrate News from around the globe
Thank Ye, to those who helped with this issue
Next Issue, what you’ll find in #29
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WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT
Mission: To honor and empower Wounded Warriors.
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Usually you’ll find “letters to the editor” in this spot but this
month I’ve taken it over for myself and The Pyrates Way’s gala,
PYRATES4PATRIOTS.
As an authorized
event supporting the cause,
Wounded Warrior Project will
be sending us a ton of brochures, pins
and other goodies that we will share with
our guests.
We shall also recognize the retired, reserved, and active-duty
veterans who have and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom -- giving us the opportunity to put on this gala. Truthfully,
none of what we celebrate as pyrates would be possible without our
sailors, guardsmen, marines, soldiers, and airmen protecting us 24/7.
We owe them everything that we call America.
Thus, this gala is a time where we can give something back to
those who have been wounded in the battles for our freedom. It’s a
tragedy that military actions cause lives to be lost but truthfully, for
the dead, their pain is over. Our wounded servicemen and women
have to continue on with their lives, despite their injuries, sometimes
with great struggle and strife. Every new day reminds them of what
they gave to ensure our freedom and I believe that we should assist
them however we can, much as is the belief of our charity.
We promise you a delightful evening of booty, treasure, rum,
wenches, men in kilts, food, drink, merriment and the best pyrate
entertainment on the east coast of the U.S.
Of course, our ham of a publisher, Commodore Black Fox will
have his remarks, but the true
host and master of ceremonies
will be Captain Fletcher
Moone, founding member of
The Pyrates Royale, the original pirate band put together
over 30 years ago (that’s a lot
of chanty singing!).
Captain Moone is primarily known at The Maryland
Renaissance Festival, The
Virginia Renaissance Faire,
and pirate festivals and faires
all over the country.
Besides his EmCee duties,
Captain Moone will also entertain us with whimsical songs and a
history lesson about God’s gift to all of humankind. . . . beer.
In three sets, live and on center stage, will be “The Devil’s
Houseband,” our close friends, THE BRIGANDS!
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Vision: To foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation
of wounded service members in our nation's history.
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Purpose: To raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the
needs of injured service members. --- To help injured service members aid and assist each other. --- To provide unique, direct proES and services to meet the needs of injured service members.
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Even if you can’t make it to our gala or afford the full adventure
of a weekend in Wilmington, DE, you can still help with our cause
by donating. Here is a donation link: CLICK HERE
For those who will be joining us on the 14th of November, the
early birds (first 25 who order tickets) will be seated at the VIP
tables and feast, drink, and celebrate with The Brigands, Captain
Fletcher Moone, Commodore Black Fox, and other special surprise
guests. We ask that you buy your tickets as soon as possible, as the
first 100 tickets sold will pay for all of the down-payments on the
food, liquor, entertainment, the venue, administrative costs, etc. . .
We offer you more than a few options to save money on your
ticket. You can volunteer for an hour during the event and save $10
off of your ticket. You can buy a couples’ tickets and save $5 on
each ticket ($10 in total). Or, you can purchase a full table of ten
seats for your crew, and save $10 on EACH ticket (a $100 savings).
Visit our ticket booth by CLICKING HERE
You’ll find advertisements throughout this issue, all of which
will lead you to our website, supporting the event. Although the event
celebrates the 10-year anniversary of The Pyrates Way, we will
be raising money to benefit Wounded Warrior Project.
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If you know The Pyrates Way, then you know THE BRIGANDS. We’ve featured them often in our pages and they’ve returned the favor in song. Expect each set at the gala to get bawdier
and bawdier as the rum flows and dancing continues. They’re talented musicians and hysterical entertainers. You might even see their
newest part-time member, Black Fox, on cowbell!
We hope to see you at the gala and PLEASE. . . buy your tickets
NOW! We can’t do this without your help.
As always, fair winds and following tides and
always keep yer powder dry,
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Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer, buccaneer and admiral of the Royal Navy who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements, and
was considered a pirate only to the Spanish, whom he was lawfully
attacking. He earned a reputation as one of the most notorious and
successful privateers in history, and one of the most ruthless among
those active along the Spanish Main.
Commodore Christopher Mings appointed Morgan captain of his
first vessel and Morgan played a key role in the Sack of Campeche in
1663. He continued to plunder the Mexican coast under Lord Windsor's commission in 1665.
When Lord Windsor, governor of Jamaica, refused to stop the
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pirates
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pointed Sir Thomas Modyford in his place. Although Modyford proclaimed loyalty to the Crown, he became a critical element of
Morgan's expeditions by going against the word of the king and granting Morgan letters of marque to attack Spanish ships and settlements.
Modyford was originally appointed governor of Barbados for both his
loyalty and service to King Charles II during the English Civil War
and his familial relation to the First Duke of Albemarle, but he was
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later Eremoved
from this position.
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was then appointed Governor of Jamaica as an attempt
to save his dignity. This, along with the Royalists' defeat at Worcester,
decreased Modyford's loyalty to the crown. As governor, Modyford
was required to call in all pirates and privateers of the West Indies
because England and Spain were temporarily at peace. However, the
majority of these buccaneers, Sir Henry Morgan included, either refused to return or did not receive the message that there was a recall.
When Morgan did return, Modyford had already received letters
from the King of England warning him to force all of the pirates to
return to port. Modyford chose to neglect these warnings and continue
to issue letters of marque under the guise that it was for the King's
best interest to protect Jamaica, and this was a necessary element in
that goal. Because Modyford desired to get rid of the Dutch presence
in the Caribbean he issued a letter of marque to Captain Edward Mansvelt to assemble a fleet of fifteen ships manned by roughly 500 to
600 men.
Having just returned from a successful expedition off the Mexican Coast, where he captured several ships off the coast of Campeche,
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Morgan was appointed vice admiral of the fleet. Mansvelt was given
orders to attack the Dutch settlement of Curaçao, but once the crew
was out at sea it was decided that Curaçao was not lucrative enough for
the impending danger associated with attacking it. With this in mind, a
vote was taken and the crew decided that attacking a different settlement
would be a safer and more lucrative alternative. Unhappy with this decision, many of the buccaneers deserted the expedition and headed back to
port while others continued on with Admiral Mansvelt and Vice-Admiral Morgan to attack the Spanish island of Providence.
When Morgan and Mansvelt's fleet arrived at Providence, the
Spanish were unprepared. Unable to form a defense, the Spanish surrendered all of their forts. Mansvelt and Morgan ruthlessly decided
to destroy all but one of these forts. The buccaneers lived in the city
and collected all of its wealth while Morgan and Mansvelt sailed
around Costa Rica. Eventually, they spotted a Spanish man-of-war
on the horizon and decided to return to Jamaica to gather reinforcements so that the island of Providence could be a town run and inhabited by pirates. As a sign of his sympathy toward pirates Modyford
appointed his brother, Sir James Modyford, as governor of Providence.
In the mind of Mansvelt, the idea of a pirate-run settlement was
brilliant. However, he and Modyford both overlooked the true essence of
a pirate: a pirate is not a soldier who is disciplined and prepared to fight
the world's best armies when the armies were ready for them. Rather,
Mansvelt's pirates were conditioned to raid a town, then leave. Thus,
the pirate reign in Providence was short-lived as the island was quickly
recaptured by the Spanish. After this expedition, Modyford was again
reprimanded by the King of England and asked to recall all of his pirates
and privateers. Once again, Modyford refused.
After learning of a rumor that the Spanish planned to attack Jamaica in retaliation for the sack of Providence, Modyford provided
yet another commission to the buccaneers. This time, he gave the commission directly to Morgan to take Spanish citizens prisoner in order
to protect the island of Jamaica. Modyford used the excuse of protecting
the King's influence in the Americas, but this was most likely simply
a guise for his own personal agenda of gaining money and keeping his
post as Governor of Jamaica.
None the less, Morgan assembled a fleet of ten ships in a way
that was quite different from most Admirals of the time. Instead of
sending out a flyer and allowing willing buccaneers of the region to
heavy fire as they attacked the second fort, but managed to lay down
suppressing fire while scaling ladders and storming the fort, an effort
costing his men many lives. However, the Spanish perceived that the
first two forts were easily taken, and subsequently surrendered the
third fort, enabling Morgan's buccaneers to overrun the city.
Not long after this, the Spanish counter-attacked in an attempt
to protect their wealth and center of trade, but the buccaneers were
ready for the battle and Morgan organized an ambush of the fleet in
a narrow passage. After defeating the much larger and more powerful
Spanish fleet, Morgan and his men continued to inhabit Porto Bello
for two months. During this time, they collected all of the wealth of
the city that they could find, and ransomed the Spanish for the safety
of its town and citizens.
Englishman during their joint sacking of Puerto del Principe, and
that it had been decided that they resolve their quarrel in a duel.
However, the Englishman stabbed the Frenchman in the back before
the duel could take place. The Frenchmen desired revenge against the
English, but Captain Morgan appeased them by putting the criminal
in chains to be carried to Jamaica, promising that justice would be
served upon him. On return to Jamaica, Morgan upheld his promise
and had the Englishman hanged.
Notwithstanding, the French believed that they had been cheated out
of their fair share of the loot by Morgan. The reputation of most pirates
would have been ruined by this rumor, but Morgan set sail to sack Porto
Bello with his original fleet of ten ships and five-hundred men.
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In order to cover their debts,
Morgan and his men decided to aim for
a city that harbored vast treasure. Porto
Bello in modern-day Panama was the
third most important Spanish city in
the New World,
making it an obvious choice for the buccaneers.
Furthermore, Porto Bello was considered the center of Spanish trade in
the Americas, as its warehouses contained the goods and valuables of many
wealthy merchants. With its enormous
concentration of wealth, Porto Bello was extremely well protected by three Spanish forts.
Henry Morgan Recruiting for the Attack
Morgan at Porto Bello.
However, the French crew refused to take part in this voyage because they did not get along with Morgan's English crew. It was reported that there was a dispute between a Frenchman and an
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come to him, Morgan sailed to the places where the most daring pirates
could be found. When he arrived at the ports, he dressed himself in
red silk and wore fancy gold and jewels so that he appeared to be extremely successful so that more swashbucklers were drawn to him.
Using a word-of-mouth approach, he was able to acquire five hundred
of the best pirates in the area.
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When the fleet
reached the settlement on the northern coast
of South America, the buccaneers found the fortresses very intimidating. With this in mind, Morgan gave them a rousing speech,
in which he reminded them that the Spanish did not know of their
presence and promised them gold and silver. When the sun went down,
the ships began to sail towards Puerto do Naos, where there was a
river that could lead them to Porto Bello. With information gained
from a prisoner, the Buccaneers were able to surprise the first fort.
The soldiers manning it were attacked by Morgan's swordsmen, some
of them while still sleeping in their beds. Morgan's men came under
Fr o m
the ransom
alone, Morgan
and his men
collected
r o u g h l y
100,000 pieces of
eight to bring their
total loot from Porto
Bello to over 200,000
pieces of eight. In a foreshadowing of Morgan's future endeavors, the Governor
of Panama asked him how he
had beaten the Spanish army
sent from his city with such a
small
force, along with
an emerald ring and a request that he not attack Panama.
Morgan replied by sending the Governor of Panama a pistol with a
message as an example of the arms used in the taking of Porto Bello,
and that he intended to come and reclaim it from him in Panama.
Soon after, England sent Port Royal the HMS Oxford (as a gift
meant to protect Port Royal); Port Royal gave it to Morgan to help
his career.
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Modyford had already been
warned to recall his pirates, and
his recent commission to Morgan once again put him
under enormous pressure from the
Crown. Modyford officially
denounced the
attacks on
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town by citing that he sanctioned only attacks on
ships. Modyford attempted to justify his commission by emphasizing
the rumored Spanish invasion of Jamaica. However, he did not believe
that merely talking of a rumored attack would be enough to save his
governorship and dignity, so he decided to try to provoke the Spanish
into actually attacking Jamaica. Although seemingly illogical, Modyford hoped to cover up his last commission by granting Morgan yet
another one
In the same fashion as before, Morgan set out to assemble a fleet
of buccaneers that would be willing to engage in a bold attack on the
to go through a narrow and shallow channel. Although the channel
was only twelve feet deep, narrow, winding, and sprinkled with islands and sandbars, the French captain claimed that he could direct
the ships safely through it. Unknown to him, the Spanish had built
the fort San Carlos de La Barra Fortress at the channel's narrowest
point since the last time the captain had been there three years before.
When the fleet reached this point, they were unable to navigate the
rough terrain because of the cannon and gun fire coming from the fort.
Morgan was left with no choice but to order his men to land on the
beach despite their lack of protection from the Spanish gun fire. Once
nightfall arrived, Morgan and his men slowly entered the fort but
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Morgan manipulated this letter’s intent into being a direct threat:
that the French be allowed to exercise piracy and war against them.
The French could not clear themselves of this accusation, and hence
had their great vessel seized and themselves sent to Jamaica, where
they continued to try to clear their names, but all in vain, as they
were detained in prison and threatened with hanging.
Morgan and his men set out to continue their design for Cartagena,
but the voyage proved to be disastrous to the strength of the fleet. Since
the crew was forced to sail into the wind the entire way to the Spanish
Main, many of the vessels were unable to continue on because either
the sailors were too exhausted from working day and night or the ship
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Spanish Main and was able to attract nine-hundred men to his elevenship fleet. Once gathered, Morgan brought his men to the Isla Vaca,
also known as Cow Island, to decide on a city to attack. After deliberation it was decided that the Spanish settlement of Cartagena de Indias would be their intended target because of the riches it contained.
It was one of Spain's most important cities, and held all of the gold
that was in transit from Peru to Spain, so sacking Cartagena would
not only provoke the Spanish into an attack while weakening one of
their strongest cities, but it would also make for a very large loot.
The night that the final decision to attack Cartagena was made,
there was a celebration. During this rum-filled celebration, a few intoxicated sailors accidentally lit a fuse that ignited explosives on board
Morgan's flagship, the Oxford, which was originally a gift given to
Modyford to help protect Jamaica from privateers like Morgan. However, the ship ended up in Morgan's possession and became his flagship.
When the Oxford was destroyed, many men lost their lives, and
many others chose to desert seeing the tragedy as an omen of bad luck,
so the fleet was decreased to only ten ships and eight hundred men.
However, Morgan still continued onto the Spanish Main to attack
Cartagena in March 1669 after supplementing his loss with that of
another great ship, the French vessel,Le Cerf Volant, of 36 guns; 24
iron, which coincidentally he’d already deigned to acquire on the night
of the explosion.
Having previously desired to strengthen his fleet by joining this
great vessel with that of his own, the Oxford, he knew the French
would not join the English for mistrust. So using earlier news he had
happened to learn of, this being that an English merchant ship had
crossed paths with these French pirates and allowed them credit for
desperately needed provisions they could not afford, he shrewdly but
underhandedly plotted to have the bewildered French imprisoned for
committing acts of piracy against the English, and subsequently to
seize their ship.
This he achieved, albeit in a manner he had not expected, after
inviting the French Commander and several of his men aboard his
great ship to dine, but with the deceptive intention to instantly take
them prisoners under accusations of piracy against the English for
their dealings with the aforementioned merchant ship. That same night,
the unfortunate mishap with the lighting of that fuse occurred. Now
Morgan desperately required the French vessel for himself, more so
than before, and so decided to add to his previous accusation that the
French prisoners had also caused the explosion on the ship out of revenge for their imprisonment.
With Morgan’s accusation heard, the French ship was searched.
Here, a commission given to the French from the Governor of Baracoa
was uncovered. This stipulated that the French were permitted to
trade in Spanish ports, etc., but crucially to also cruise on any English
pirates due to the hostilities they had committed against Spain during
a time of peace between the two nations (Spain and France).
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found that there were no Spaniards there at all. Instead, the Spanish
had left a slow-burning explosive as a trap for the buccaneers, which
Morgan's crew discovered within 15 minutes of their arrival. Upon
discovery, Morgan snatched away the lit match near the powder train
saving himself and his men.
In order to protect his fleet for their voyage back through the channel, Morgan stole all of the supplies from the fort and ordered his
men to bury the cannons in the sand. Because the Spanish already
knew about Morgan's plan to attack Maracaibo, the men took canoes
was under too much stress. When Morgan finally made it to the
Spanish Main, his original crew of nine-hundred had been diminished
to only five hundred, a force far too weak to overtake the highly-protected city of Cartagena. A French captain Pierre Le Picard, onboard
suggested to Morgan that they attempt to sack Maracaibo that he had
been to three years prior under the leadership of the notoriously brutal
pirate Francois L'Olonnais
Reaching the town of Maracaibo, however, was no easy feat. The
town was located on Lake Maracaibo, but to reach the lake they had
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and small vessels through the channel to the town as opposed to the
lengthy process of bringing the larger vessels. This modified plan was
still not quick enough and the residents of Maracaibo were able to escape with their valuables before the buccaneers arrived. After searching
the area and torturing any citizens they could find for three weeks,
Morgan and his men loaded the large vessels with their provisions
and booty, as well as prisoners to be used as messengers, and set off
to attack the nearby town of Gibraltar on the southeastern shore of
Lake Maracaibo.
After collecting the wealth of the town and ransoming its citizens,
Morgan loaded the ships to return home. Returning to Maracaibo,
Morgan found three Spanish ships, the Magdalena, the San Luis, and
the La Marquesa, waiting at the inlet to the Caribbean; he destroyed
the Magdalena, and captured the La Marquesa, while the San Luis's
crew burned down their ship to stop the pirates from having it. needed
In the time that Morgan was ransacking the two towns, the Spaniards
had reinforced the fort San Carlos located at the narrowest point of
the passage and barricaded the passage with three Spanish warships.
Morgan and his men were given a choice to either surrender or be arrested, so they decided to fight for their freedom.
The buccaneers were outmanned by the Spanish, so they were
forced to devise a clever plan to outsmart the Spanish. Morgan ordered
the pirates' largest ship, the Satisfaction, to be turned into a "fire
ship" that would be sailed directly into the Spanish flagship, the Magdalen. Hollowed-out logs were filled with explosives and dressed to
look like a pirate crew, and the twelve men that manned the ship were
instructed to throw grappling hooks into the riggings of the Magdalena
so that it couldn’t sail away. Miraculously, Morgan's plan worked
and Magdalena was destroyed. The second largest Spanish ship, the
San Luis, was run ashore by the ship Morgan was now in control
of. The final ship, La Marquesa, was taken by the pirates after the
ropes tangled. After the battle, Morgan was still unable to cross the
channel because of the fort, but the Spanish had no ships with which
to attack Morgan. Finally, by an ingenious stratagem, he faked a
landward attack on the fort which convinced the governor to shift his
cannon, allowing Morgan to slowly creep by the fort using only the
movement of the tide. In doing so, he eluded the enemy's guns altogether
and escaped in safety. On his return to Jamaica he was again reproved,
but not punished by Modyford.
The Spaniards for their part started to react and threaten Jamaica.
A new commission was given to Morgan as commander-in-chief of all
the ships of war in Jamaica, to levy war on the Spaniards and destroy
their ships and stores - the booty gained in the expedition being the only
pay. Thus Morgan and his crew were on this occasion privateers, not pirates. After ravaging the coasts of Cuba and the mainland, Morgan determined on an expedition to Panama.
He recaptured the island of Santa Catalina on 15 December 1670
and, on 27 December, he gained possession of the fortress of San Lorenzo
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On 4 August 2011 archaeologists from
Texas State University reported having
found what may be one of Morgan's ships
off the coast of Panama. The dive was
conducted off the Lajas Reef; some
sources are stating it was at the mouth of
Panama's Chagres River, where a 52-by22-foot (16 by 7 m) section from the starboard side of a wooden ship's hull was
found.
The find may be Morgan's flagship, Satisfaction.
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In 1683, Morgan was suspended from the Jamaican Council by the machinations of Governor Lynch. Also during this
time, an account of Morgan's disreputable exploits was published by Alexandre Exquemelin, who once had been his confidante, probably as a barber-surgeon, in a Dutch volume entitled
De Americaensche Zee-Roovers (About the Buccaneers of America).
Morgan took steps to discredit the book and successfully
brought a libel suit against the book's publishers William
Crooke and Thomas Malthus, securing a retraction and damages of two hundred English pounds. The book nonetheless contributed much to Morgan's reputed fame as a bloodthirsty pirate
during the time he was in Newport.
When Thomas Lynch died in 1684, his friend Christopher
Monck was appointed to the governorship and arranged the dismissal of Morgan's suspension from the Jamaican Council in
1688. Morgan's health had steadily declined since 1681.
He was diagnosed with "dropsie", but may have contracted
tuberculosis in London, and died on 25 August 1688.
He was buried in Palisadoes cemetery, which sank beneath
the sea after the 1692 earthquake. Morgan’s spirit is said to
roam the Caribbean, waiting for Port Royale to rise again.
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could catch, but very little gold was forthcoming from
the victims.
After Morgan's attack, the Panama city had to be
rebuilt in a new site a few kilometers to the west (the
current site). The former site is called Panamá Viejo and still
contains the remaining parts of the old Panama City.
Because the sack of Panama violated the 1670 peace
treaty between England and Spain, Morgan was arrested and
conducted to the Kingdom of England in 1672. He proved
he had no knowledge of the treaty. When Spanish and
English relations deteriorated, Morgan was knighted
in 1674 before returning to Jamaica the following year to take up the post of Lieutenant
Governor.
By 1681, then-acting governor Morgan had
fallen out of favour with King Charles II, who
was intent on weakening the semi-autonomous Jamaican Council, and was replaced by long-time political rival
Thomas Lynch. He gained considerable
weight and a reputation for rowdy drunkDIE
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In reasoning, their decision at that time did not appear a
bad one. As well as considering the further risk they would
have exposed themselves to after battling with the Governor of Panama and his army, they were still in
desperate need of victuals to satiate their extreme
hunger after weeks of arduous marching from Fort
San Lorenzo; the Spanish had made every effort to starve them on their approach by
ensuring all villages were
empty of provisions, and had set
up numerous ambuscades by which
to attack and taunt them.
However, upon learning the extent of
the wealth transferred onto that galleon, their
decision turned out to be a major error in their
judgement, for if they had remained sober enough
and chosen to venture that little further, with
their superior nautical skills at their disposal,
they would have surely needed landed the
amount of spoils they were expecting. Most
of the inhabitants' remaining goods were destroyed in a fire of unclear cause. Morgan's
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men tortured those residents of Panama they
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in the Caribbean coast of Panama, killing 300 men of the garrison and leaving 23 alive. Then with 1,400 men he ascended
the Chagres River towards the Pacific coast and Panama City.
On 28 January 1671, Morgan discovered that Panama had
roughly 1,200 infantry. He split his forces in two, using one
to march through the forest and flank the enemy. The Spaniards
were untrained and rushed Morgan's line, where he cut them
down with gunfire, only to have his flankers emerge and finish
off the rest of the Spanish soldiers.
Although Panama was a rich city, Morgan and his men
obtained far less plunder than they had expected. Much of the
city's wealth had been removed onto the Spanish treasure
galleon, La Santisima Trinidad (a ship that nearly a decade
later would be taken by English pirates, including one William
Dampier, participating in the adventures of Captain Sharp et
al. into the South Seas), that then sailed out into the Gulf of
Panama, beyond the looters' reach.
Or rather, had Morgan's men not decided that celebrating
the capture of Panama was of higher importance than chancing
their efforts with a ship which, at that point may or may not
have been of any value, then they would have remained in a
fit enough state to have made an attempt on it before the ship
had time to exit the bay.
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Unopened cargo boxes and chests en-
crusted in coral were found, in addition to
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the section of hull.
The dives are being led by Texas State
University underwater archaeologist Frederick Hanselmann and assisted by the U.S.
National Park Service Submerged Resources Center and volunteer divers from
Aquarius Reef Base, a joint operation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and University of North
Carolina Wilmington - and in cooperation
with Panamanian authorities and colleagues. The finds will stay in Panama.
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in defeating the bad guys. For me at least, he was the one of the three lead
characters who stood out most strongly. I suspect that if the series had continued, that Mike Fink would have played an important role in any
future stories. I wonder why Jeff York who plays Fink didn't have a bigger
career than he did.
The film is very much a product of its time and so scenes depicting
heavy drinking are numerous (although Ebsen does a marvelous job as the
chandelier-riding Russel), as are scenes depicting our heroes as somewhat
trigger-happy. These are the reasons that I gave the film four stars. I probably
would have given it four and a half if I had that option. And since these
films are aimed at a somewhat younger audience, parents would be well
advised to discuss these scenes with their children.
Review by Mike Leone
the men to carry the story and they do so for the most part admirably.
Fess Parker certainly looks the part of Davy Crockett although I found
his portrayal somewhat undernourished. Perhaps he came across more
strongly in the three episodes from the previous season which I have not seen.
And then again, he may have just been personifying the "strong, silent"
type which was the masculine ideal of the time. Parker's portrayal stands
out in further relief here by being up against the charismatic George Russel
of Buddy Ebsen and the over-the-top Mike Fink of Jeff York.
I understand that Ebsen was originally scheduled to play Davy Crockett and was "demoted" to the sidekick role after Parker was discovered in
a small role in a marauding-ant film called "Them!" Poor Buddy Ebsen,
always losing out on plum roles; first the Tin Man in the Wizard of
Oz and now this. At least he finally got his revenge with The Beverly
Hillbillies and later Barnaby Jones. And here we do get to see him let out
with a couple of Jed Clampett-like whoops along the way.
Jeff York as Mike Fink steals every scene he is in. He is nominally
the villain in the first half of the film, although it is impossible to dislikeUM
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boat. His evil laugh goes so far that it strains credibility, but it doesn't matter. In the second half of the film, he ends up as Davy's and George's ally
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"Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" is actually a recobbling of the
last two of the five Davy Crockett television shows presented by Walt Disney. The first three, which were on during the 1953-54 television season,
had to do with the actual Davy Crockett, with the final one of those three
shows ending with our hero's death at the Alamo. However, the character
was so popular with audiences--every boy in America started sporting a
coonskin cap--that Walt presented two further episodes the following season,
dealing with the legend of Davy Crockett. Later these two episodes were
joined together into a full-length motion picture called "Davy Crockett and
the River Pirates."
The two episodes of this picture are very distinct in tone, with the first
half being a lighthearted comedy centering around a boat race between Davy
Crockett and his friend George Russel on the one hand, and riverboat captain
Mike Fink, an historical figure, on the other. The second half keeps the
three major characters together in a much more serious story as they outwit
and defeat a team of bad guys who are making it dangerous for others to
travel the Mississippi and also straining relations between the folks traveling
the river and the Native Americans.
We are definitely in a man's world here. There are very few women
in the picture and the ones who briefly appear have no lines. So it is up to
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the visitors continued on, would rob them as they made their way
wounded, and escaped death by hiding behind a log. He was soon resaround the bend of the river.
cued and recovered from his wound to continue to command Fort
While at Cave-in-Rock, Mason and his men briefly harbored
Henry for two more years.
the notorious Harpe brothers, who were on the run from the law. The
In 1779, he moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania, where
Harpers were a couple of the most brutal outlaws at the time and
he bought a 500 acre farm. In July, 1781, he was elected justice of
distinguished themselves as being America's first serial killers. Though
the peace and just a few months later, was named as an associate
the Mason Gang could be ruthless, even they were appalled at the acjudge. In 1782, Mason appeared to be successful, as he paid taxes on
tions of the Harpers. After the murderous pair began to make a habit
his 500 acre farm as well as two horses, four cows and six sheep. He
of taking travelers to the top of the bluff, stripping them naked, and
also owned four slaves. However, Mason was struggling financially
throwing them off, they were asked to leave.
and had become deeply indebted. After having been repeatedly accused
In the summer of 1799, the Mason Gang was forced to leave
of being a thief, he made his way to Kentucky in 1784. The following
Cave-in-Rock when they were attacked by a group called the “Exyear, his Pennsylvania farm was sold at a sheriff's sale to pay part
terminators.” This group of vigilante bounty-hunters
of his debt. In 1789, the Pennsylvania court sent a man to Kentucky
was led by Captain Young of
to attempt to collect the remaining debt, but, was unsuccessful.
Mercer
County,
By the early 1790's, Mason he was settled
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tucky.
son, Kentucky. Later, he
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moved downriver on Diamond Island, where
he began to engage in
criminal activity.
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downriver to
Cave-in-Rock on
the Illinois
shore. By
this
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Highway 91 goes north from Marion, Kentucky to the Ohio
River, where there's a small ferry crossing to Cave-In-Rock, Illinois.
That limestone cave, now a feature of a small state park along the
banks of the river, was said to have harbored vicious river pirates at
the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, including the infamous Harpe
Brothers. Dr. Mark Wagner, interim director and staff archeologist
of Southern Illinois Carbondale's Center for Archeological Investigations, says that historical record only places one particular pirate
there and his name was Samuel Mason.
Samuel Mason was born in Norfolk, Virginia to a distinguished
family on November 8, 1739 and raised in what is now Charles
Town, West Virginia. He married Rosanna Dorsey in about 1767
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and the couple would eventually have eight children. In 1773, he
moved his family to Ohio County, West Virginia. During the American Revolution, he became a captain of the Ohio County Militia,
Virginia State Forces in January, 1777. He was given command of
Fort Henry on the Ohio frontier, in present day West Virginia.
Fort Henry, West Virginian the summer of 1777, while colonial soldiers to the east were fighting the war for independence, Mason
feared attacks by the Indian allies of the British. He was proven correct
on August 31, 1777, when a band of Native Americans from several
eastern tribes attacked the fort. Initially, the Indians fired on several
men who were outside the fort rounding up horses. When Mason
heard the shots, he gathered 14 men and rode to their rescue. This,
however, was exactly what the warriors had hoped for and quickly
ambushed the rescue party, killing every last man, with the exception
of Captain Samuel Mason. The captain; however, was badly
time,
he had gathered a number of
followers who openly based themselves at Cave-inRock. Here, Mason and his men would warmly welcome
river boat travelers to rest and eat. However, while these
visitors were enjoying the hospitality, Mason's men were
checking their supplies and goods for anything of value. If they
found something, they would wait until the next day and when
April, 1802 Mississippi Governor William C. C. Claiborne was informed that Samuel Mason and Wiley Harpe had attempted
to board the boat of Colonel Joshua Baker between Yazoo and
Walnut Hills, now Vicksburg, Mississippi. The governor responded
by ordering Colonel Daniel Burnet, with 15-20 volunteers to track
down Mason and his men. A reward of $2,000 was offered for their
capture.
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Though there were dozens of men searching for the Mason Gang,
the outlaws continued with their evil deeds along the Natchez Trace,
striking one caravan with horrific brutality. In response, another
posse of local residents and a few bounty-hunters was raised to go after
them. Learning that Mason and his men were hiding out less than a mile
west of the Trace near Rocky Springs, Mississippi, the posse quickly pursued. When they came upon the camp, they found it had been hastily
abandoned. Though the outlaws' trail was fresh, most of the posse chose
not to follow, instead remaining at the camp searching for any hidden
loot that may have been left by the outlaws. A few men; however, continued the pursuit, but when they lost the trail, they abandoned the search.
Mason's gang eventually drifted down into the Mississippi River
Valley in Arkansas, where he was captured. At the time, territory west
of the Mississippi River was held by the Spanish. When they inquired
as to whether or not he was a pirate, Mason claimed that he was a farmer
just trying to settle his family in Arkansas. When digging through his
baggage, they found $7,000 dollars in bank notes, in which Mason responded asking if it was illegal to have counterfeit American bank notes.
The Spanish responded that it wasn't, but then found approximately 20
human scalps among Mason's belongings, after which they sent him to
New Orleans for a trial.
When his family arrived in New Orleans, the Louisiana Purchase
was underway and the Spanish governor said he didn't have time for the
trial, so Mason was sent back up to Mississippi. At some point along the
way, he and another gang member got access to a gun and killed the
guard. In this exchange, Mason was shot in the head, but survived and
disappeared into the woods. An uproar ensued, with award posters up in
local communities.
A few days later, two of his gang members brought Mason's head
to the authorities to claim the award. It's unclear whether he died
from his wound or if they had killed him. The two gang
members were recognized as pirates and were put on trail.
The trial of the two gang members is well documented
and because of these transcripts, we have a good understanding of how Samuel Mason and his gang operated. The two gang
members testified against each other during the proceedings, giving up valuable details.
They'd go on boats and pretend to be interested in buying something
then rob the people onboard and either stranding them or killing them.
Sometimes the boats were sunk, other times Mason used his network
of people along the river to sell the boat and goods to crooked merchants
along the way.
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As for their ill-gotten gains, of the thousands of dollars of cash
and other valuables stolen by the Samuel Mason over the years, it
was never recovered, prompting a number of lost treasure tales. Some
of this treasure is said to have been hidden at Cave-in-Rock, Illinois,
where the Mason Gang made their headquarters for several years.
This large cave, worn into the limestone bluffs of the Ohio
River, has been used for thousands of years by the Native
Americans. However, it is better known for the many
outlaws it harbored. In addition to the Mason Gang, it
also served as the hideout of the vicious Harpe brothers;
highwaymen, James Ford and Isaiah Potts; a number
of counterfeiters; the post-Civil War bandit, Logan Belt,
and many others.
In this 55-foot wide cave, which leads a short
distance into the bluff, it is said that over $1 million
worth of stolen loot, gold, cash, and counterfeit bills
changed hands between 1790 and 1830 alone. In
1800, the Mason Gang was rumored to have hidden
a large stash of gold here, but, Mason was killed before he could retrieve it. In addition to the gold allegedly hidden by Mason, more caches of gold and
silver all said to be hidden along the cliff face. If hidden treasure isn't enough of a legend, the notorious
Cave-in-Rock is also said to be haunted.
Another legend of Mason cache is said to continue
to be hidden somewhere in the Rocky Springs, Mississippi area where Samuel Mason and Wiley Harpe
once had a hideout in the early 1800's. After having
made a large robbery on the Trace, they returned to
their campsite. Though they often carried their stolen loot
on the backs of a couple of mules, they knew that they were
being aggressively pursued. This time, they decided to bury their
cache near their camp to be retrieved later. However, neither
Samuel Mason nor Wiley Harpe would be able to do so, as they
would both be dead. According to the legend, there is said to be some
$75,000 in stolen gold and silver coins buried somewhere between the
old church and cemetery at Little Sand Creek. However, looking for it
today, would be a bad idea, as the property is privately owned or belongs
to the National Park Service.
Another tale says that Samuel Mason buried a very large chest
– some seven feet long about four miles northwest of Roxie, Mississippi. The chest, filled with stolen valuables including gold coins and
want to be in a permanent location because everyone stopped at CaveIn-Rock.
jewelry, was allegedly buried on the Reber Dove Farm near an artesian well. If the story is true, the cache has never been found.
In any event, Cave-In-Rock was the scene of several pyrate gangs,
as it was an ideal place from which to ambush river boats moving up
and down the river.
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The two were found guilty of piracy and were hanged in
Greenville, Mississippi in early 1804.
Although one 1803 account claimed Captain Robert McCoy was
killed by Mason in the escape attempt, McCoy, the Commandant of
New Madrid, actually died in 1840, nor was he crippled by Mason.
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After a few incidents, word would get out to law enforcement
and they'd be easy to find. So he moved through the woods creating
camps and attacking flat boats.
Cave-in-Rock nests on the lower banks of the Ohio River, surrounded by fairly dense woodland and numerous cliffs and bluffs.
Though it's an isolated area today, the Ohio River at the time was
like an interstate highway with thousands of boats. Outlaws wouldn't
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There were other accounts from the time period of boats being
robbed, but no one operated on the same scale as Samuel Masons. The
story got wide play in the newspapers at the time, building Cave-InRock's reputation as a den of piracy.
By the 1820s, Mason's story faded away from local memory,
but in the later part of the century, people would go there armed for
an encounter with pirates and find nothing there.
Mason wasn’t the only pyrate to use the cave. During
Samuel Mason's 1797-1799 occupation of Cave-In-Rock
and after his departure, the name of Bully Wilson became associated with cave; a large sign was erected
near the natural landmark's entrance, "Liquor
Vault and House for Entertainment." Wilson
may have been an alias for Mason, a front man
for his criminal operation, or another outlaw
leader who ran a gang of pirates in the region.
River piracy, in late 18th and mid-19th
century America, was primarily concentrated
along the Ohio River and Mississippi River
valleys. River pirates usually operated in
isolated, frontier settlements, which were
sparsely populated areas lacking the protection of civil authority and institutions.
They resorted to a variety of tactics, depending on the number of pirates and size
of the boat crews involved, including: deception, concealment, ambush, and assaults
in open combat, near natural obstacles and
curiosities, such as shelter caves, islands,
river narrows, rapids, swamps, and
marshes. River travelers were robbed, captured, and murdered and their livestock,
slaves, cargo, and flatboats, keelboats, and
rafts were sunk or sold down river.
In 1803, at Tower Rock, the U.S. Army
dragoons, possibly, from the frontier army post up
river at Fort Kaskaskia, on the Illinois side opposite
St. Louis, raided and drove out the river pirates.
Starting in the late 1790s, Stack Island became associated
with river pirates and counterfeiters. In 1809, the last major river pirate
activity, on the Upper Mississippi River, came to an abrupt end, when
a group of flatboatmen, meeting at the head of the "Nine Mile Reach,"
decided to make a raid on Stack Island and wipe out the river pirates.
They attacked at night, a battle ensued, and two of the boatmen and several outlaws were killed. The attackers captured 19 other men, a 15year-old boy and two women. The women and teenager were allowed to
leave. The remaining outlaws are presumed to have been executed.
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For the most part, though, everysecretly led a gang of river pirates and
thing is left to the imagination of the
highwaymen from the 1820s to the
visitor, and that makes Cave-Inmid-1830s, on the Ohio River, in
Rock absolutely irresistible.
Illinois and Kentucky.
Tourists come to the area to visit the
River piracy continued on the
park surrounding the cave and to
lower Mississippi River, from the
take a peek into the tiny rock where
early 1800s to the mid 1830s,
bandits hid and where pioneers died
these river pirates were mainly, orgruesome deaths. The crimes of the
ganized into large gangs similar to
cave become even more gruesome and
Samuel Mason's organization
cold in the imagination, and for many visitors, that’s absolutely fasaround Cave-In-Rock or smaller gangs under the operation of John
cinating.
A. Murrell, which also, existed, from the 1820s to the mid-1830s,
Cave-In-Rock is known by a dozen or so names, owing to the
between Stack Island and Natchez, in the state of Mississippi.
word-of-mouth manner in which the legend of the cave has spread.
The decline of river piracy occurred, over time, as a result of
Today, there’s a state park above Cave-In-Rock, with well-kept
direct military action taken and the combined strength of local law
grass and several picnic shelters for vacationing families. It’s hard to
enforcement and regulator-vigilante groups, that uprooted and swept
think that this was the same place where pirates led travelers to their
out pockets of outlaw resistance.
doom over a hundred years ago, but there’s certainly an eerie feel to
River pirates operated in the Great Lakes during the America's
earliest history and during the Timber Rebellion of 1853, the termUM DIthe
E Bsteep drop-off areas around the picnic tables and the winding stone
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staircases
was applied to the so-called timber pirates from their activitiesTHon the
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Cave-In-Rock’s park is beautiful, but other than a few modest
Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.
fences and the aforementioned picnic tables, it’s been kept in a similar
The Cave-in-Rock area continues to be influenced by the history
condition to what those unfortunate travelers might have seen in the
of the river pirates and the gangs. For instance, the road where Big
1800s. That means that visitors should be especially careful when
Harpe's head was displayed as a warning to other outlaws is now
exploring--one step in the wrong direction and you’ll find yourself
known as "Harpe's Head Road." The place where Big Harpe was
dangling off a cliff.
found dead is now known as "Harpe's Hill." The large isolated rock
It also means that Cave-In-Rock park has some of the most beauwhere the Harpers camped is now known as "Harpe's House,"
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the legend of the Harpe family is told around many places inHtheE
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Cave-in-Rock area. Today Cave-in-Rock continues to be a popular Y a tremendous vantage point for observing the powerful Ohio River,
and with ferry boats drift past every few minutes, it creates a startourist attraction for people who are interested in the cave's long histling, breathtaking scene. We were also told by a few locals that
tory and its vast beauty.
there’s great fishing in the area. It’s easy to believe; catfish and bluegill
Other outlaws include the Sturdivant Gang, a group of countercould be seen jumping out of the water near the flooded path that leads
feiters, and various no-name pirates, pickpockets and river rats who
to the Cave-In-Rock.
gave the town a bad name before it gained respectability as a travel
The cave extends quite a ways into the park above. For light,
hub in the late 1800s. It’s impossible to list all of the pirates who
there’s a large stone circle, sort of like a giant chimney, which extends
visited Cave-In-Rock because there’s simply no list – pirates are, by
from the cave up to the park. It’s covered in a grate to keep tourists
nature, secretive, and many of their names and crimes have been lost
from falling in. It’s also a great place to drop things on people and to
to history.
play pranks on the superstitious who might be worried about the ruThat’s part of the point. A major reason for Cave-In-Rock’s repmors of cave ghosts. . . as travelers passing on the river claim to hear
utation as a tourist attraction is the folklore surrounding the cave,
moans and cries echoing from the cave.
not the history. Little is known for sure--there are dozens of stories
These same cries are still sometimes reported today. Do these eerie
and plenty of evidence for the grisly crimes of early river pirates, but
voices belong to the crime victims of long ago, who were lured to their
not a lot of specific information about the victims or criminals.
death at Cave-in-Rock? That answer remains as mysterious as the
Every now and then, residents may find something startling, such
history of the cave itself.
as gold coins, graffiti or in one case, a body buried under an old house.
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The lower Ohio River country was routinely, patrolled by the Legion
of the United States and U.S. Army troops, garrisoned at Fort Massac, as
constabulary against Native Americans, colonial raiders from Spanish
Upper Louisiana Territory, and river outlaws in the region.
Between 1800 and 1820, the legendary Colonel Plug also,
known as Col. Plug or Colonel Fluger, ran a gang of river pirates on
the Ohio River, in a cypress swamp, near the mouth of the Cache
River, which was below Cave-In-Rock and Fort Massac and just
above the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Plug's tactics
were to sneak aboard, personally, or have one of his pirates, secretly,
go into the hull of a boat and either, dig out the caulking between the
floor planks or drill holes with an auger, causing the boat to sink
and be easily attacked. The boat and the cargo would later be sold
down river.
Little is known about Colonel Plug except, from the folklorish
descriptions provided in 1830 by Timothy Flint's "Col. Plug, the
last of the Boat-wreckers," in The Western Monthly Review and
"The Boat-Wreckers—Or Banditti of the West," in the Rochester,
New York newspaper, Daily Advertiser, Jan. 29, 1830. Fluger
claimed to have been a Yankee native of Rockingham County, New
Hampshire and was a former militia colonel. No historical evidence
exists to justify this claim, as no Fluger surname can be found in the
New Hampshire U.S. census records or the Rockingham County military muster rolls.
James Ford, an American Ohio River civic leader and businessman,
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Mort Mills portrayed Sam Mason as the historical river pirate
leader in The Wonderful World of Disney's live-action miniseries,
in season 2, episode 13, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, which
aired December 14, 1955.
The 1962 film How the West Was Won featured Jimmy Stewart playing a mountain man going down the Ohio River. Along the
way, they stopped in at Cave-In-Rock where Stewart meets a group
of pirates. Their trick was to lure people in the cave then robbing and
killing their victims. Walter Brennan's character, Alabama Colonel
Hawkins, was based on Samuel Mason.
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pyrate music with just those two tracks.
If you like blues with a honky tonk taste, Sail Away will
delight you. It’s a toe-tapping ditty that makes you want to pour
a dram of rum and sip it on the front porch during a thunderstorm.
Salute the Crossbones, again, is a typical Musical Blades song,
fun with conversation in between the chorus. As many times as I’ve
heard Whiskey in the Jar, I’ve not heard it ever recorded with
more enthusiasm, it’s now the only version of the song on the Pyrates
Way iPod.
Musical Blades finish the CD with Two Shots which I predict will be a chanty that other pyrate bands will be stealing. .
.often. It’s pretty much the perfect drinking song.
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lyrics, similar to that of the Brigands, Musical Blades have
grown from re-working existing chantys to writing their own
material and making it great.
With a sound that will remind you of the 1960s/70s group
America, High Seas Drifter is a wonderful slower tune, containing a wonderful change-up in beat, turning it into a fastpaced song.
Although they try to make it their own, there’s not much
one can do with The Derelict (Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum),
and may be the one song in this collection that the listener could
do without (it’s been recorded way too many times in too many
variations). With that being said, the following tracks, Getting
Saved and 14 Years are just “another” Musical Blades songs.
Sam Bellamy is a slow and serious piece of music with
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strong lyrics. Following that, Leaving of Liverpool, is a refreshT
ing version of this often unsuccessfully executed song from lesser
pirate bands. Musical Blades shows their master of the genre of
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Since there’s two discs in this collection from Musical
Blades, I’ll be breaking it down between this issue and #29 (i.e.
next issue).
I do have to admit right off the bat with only one listenthrough, the full set is fantastic, that’s why it earned five parrots! (You usually have to be the Brigands to get that kind of
score).
It’s no wonder that these guys took the top prize in our Battle of the Pyrate Bands II.
Disk One is Pieces of Eight (no one tell Styx), that starts
our very strong with a new favorite on my iPod pyrate music
collection, Pirate Heaven. It’s a great upbeat tune with clever
lyrics.
Captain’s Curse has a bit of a Jimmy Buffet guitar lick to it
and is a fun listen. One small issue I have with Musical Blades
that there are so many voices that sometimes they have a chorus
type of harmony and 10,000 Miles Away is an example.
Hollywood Pirate reminds you that these guys are having a
lot of fun with their music. Yet Johnny Home shows you the
range of the band as it’s slow and serious and has earned a place
on the Pyrates Way iPod as well.
The next track, Run out the Guns is a rock song, complete
with electric guitar, don’t mistake it for a chanty. Briney Foam,
unfortunately, sounds like every other Musical Blades song.
Modern Day Pirate is another great “Buffet-esque” piece
but you can’t help but sing the chorus by the second refrain. Yep,
it’s earned an iPod slot as well. . . on repeat!
Another slow and serious song, Pirate’s Plea is a nice break
from some of the previous fast tracks. The CD plays like an
action movie, first fast-paced then slow and back to fast, like a
roller-coaster. . . it’s refreshing to hear a group that knows how
to arrange the songs on their CD with a care to the listener.
A first for me, after listening and reviewing over 50 pyrate
CDs quarterly over the last 10 year, is Will the Circle Be Unbroken. It’s a fast-paced folk/gospel song immaculately performed and without any of the pirate antics that many pyrate
bands are known for.
Drunken Harpy is hysterical with its double-entendre
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lowed). Tickets bought for this event will give you a chance
to win out of several door prizes (each worth over the cost
of a ticket), a half of our 50/50 raffle, plus free goodie
bags of treasure and printed copies of the pyrates way, as
well as gifts and booty being thrown out to the crowd all
during the evening.
We shall provide FREE eats for everyone (think wedding reception food) in a wonderful Caribbean-themed collection of appetizers and best of all. . . FREE RUM!
RUM
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Best of all will be the entertainment!
CAPTAIN
FLETCHER
MOONE, founding member of The
Pyrates Royale and an editor-emeritus
of The Pyrates Way, will be your
Master of Ceremonies. Besides mastering the hosting duties, he’ll present several solo performances and inform you
about the history of beer and the proper measurement of the
gods’ gift to all of us.
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First, it’s the First State (tax-free) and Wilmington is
right on I-95, the man interstate up and down the East
Coast of the U.S. Secondly, it’s smacked dab in the middle
of “pyrate country.” It also falls between the homes of our
entertainers’, The Brigands and Captain Fletcher Moone of
The Pyrates Royale. But the main reason is that it’s the
home of The Pyrates Way , close to our offices in Bear,
Delaware
At this moment in time, we’ still searching for the per-
H
As publisher and editor-in-chief of The Pyrates Way
Magazine, as well as a fellow pyrate and although I’ve
busted my creative hump to bring you these issues quarterafter-quarter, I can’t believe it’s been TEN YEARS since
we presented our first issue to you.
By May of 2006, I’d already begun designing and filling the first issue and now I’ve delivered our 28th issue,
a decade later. Thus, I plan to share our success with all
of you via our very first Pyrates4Patriots Gala to be held
in November in my adoptive home state of Delaware.
Details about our event can be found by clicking on the
advertisement here, which you’ll find often throughout this
issue.
The reason why I picked Delaware is multi-pronged.
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fect venue for our high-class gala . . . black tie and tails
kind of gala. Pyrates and Wenches should be dressed in
their very finest garb (no street urchins or dirty pyrates al-
Yes, we shall offer special rum drinks, wine, several
offerings of ale, cider, and even mead if we can get some.
There shall also be mylde drinks of all sorts.
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The Devil’s House Band, THE BRIGANDS are the
award-winning, favorite band of the pyrates way, as you
can read about them in many of our issues and their lot appear on the cover of one. With several sets planned for the
evening, we have asked them to build their bawdiness with
each one. By the time they take the stage for their final encore, their adult theme will cover the audience. . . more
sensitive ears might want to bring some ear-wax.
One important aspect of our
gala is that NONE of the profit
will go to The Pyrates Way.
Every penny over the cost
will benefit Wounded Warrior
Project, who has recognized us as
an authorized event.
Help Us Help Them!
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19
19-20
JULY
16-20
25-26
25-26
25-26
Seadog Nights Lebanon, OR
Pirate Invasion Sterling RF Oswego, NY
Evangola Pirate Festival Evangola State Park, NY
Pirate Invasion GLMF Rock Creek, OH
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AUGUST
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Pirates of Emerson Halloween Adventure Fremont, CA
Buccaneer Days Catalina Island, CA
Wilmington RiverFest Wilmington, NC
Pirates of the High Seas Fest Panama City Beach, FL
Ft. Meyers' Beach Pirate Festival Ft. Meyers', FL
Tybee Island Pirate Festival Tybee Island, GA
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Pirate Invasion WA Midsummer RF Bonney Lake, WA
The Pirate Festival Ontario, Canada
Michigan Pirate Festival Grand Haven, MI
Beaufort Pirate Invasion Beaufort, NC
Pirates & Wenches Fantasy Weekend Rock Hall, MD
Bill Johnston Pirate Days Alexandria Bay, NY
Iowa/Minnesota Pirate Festival Clear Lake, IA
Pirate Day at Fort Mifflin Philadelphia, PA
Pyrate Invasion PARF Mt. Hope, PA
Palmyra Pirate Weekend Port of Palmyra, NY
03-31
01-04
02-04
08-10
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01-03
03-09
07-08
07-09
07-16
09-10
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22-23
07-08
Pirate Palooza Pubcrawl Decatur, GA
Pirate of St Juans Festival Sanford, FL
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TBA
07
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Pirate Week Grand Caymans
PYRATES4PATRIOTS GALA - Wilmington, DE
St. Augustine Pirate Gathering St. Augustine, FL
Pirate Christmas CRF Huntersville, NC
Pirate Weekend LARF Hammond, LA
SEPTEMBER
11-13
19-20
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DECEMBER
Eastport Pirate Festival Eastport, ME
Pirate Invasion MDRF Crownsville, MD
Talk like a Pirate Day International
Pirate Con Salt Lake City, UT
Marcus Hook Pirate Festival Marcus Hook, PA
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JANUARY
TBA
TBA
TBA
MAY
Pirates at the Pier Cocoa Beach, FL
Gasparilla Invasion, Parade of Pirates Tampa Bay, FL
Treasure Coast Pirate Fest Ft Pierce, FL
FEBRUARY
Buccaneer Days Corpus Christi, TX
Midlands Pirate Fest Papillion, NE
Contraband Days Lake Charles, LA
Scurvy Awareness Day International
Isle of 8 Flags Shrimp Fest. Fernandina Bch, FL
Brixham Pirate Festival Brixham, Devon, UK
John Levique Days Madeira Beach, FL
Pirate Party on the Beach Virginia Beach, VA
Fresno Pirate Festival Fresno, CA
Pirate Wknd. GA RenFest Fairburn, GA
Bowers Bch Buccaneer Bash Bowers Bch, DE
Black Beard Pirate Festival Hampton, VA
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TBA
TBA
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APRIL
TBA
TBA
TBA
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Pirate Sacking of St. Augustine St. Augustine, FL
Buccaneer Beer Fest at BARF Tampa, FL,
Ghost Ships Festival, Milwaukee WI
Undead Buccaneer's Ball Tifton, GA
Pirate Weekend at BARF Tampa, FL
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Lake Park Pirate Fest Lake Park, FL
Treasure Coast Pirate Fest Ft Pierce, FL
Pirates Weekend FLARF Deerfield Beach, FL
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TBA
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Grantville Pirate Festival Grantville, Victoria, AU
NOLA Pyrate Week New Orleans, LA
A Night in Tortuga Beaufort, NC
PirateFest Greenville, NC
Fells Point Privateer Days Fells Point, MD
Shore Leave New Orleans, LA
Pirate Fest Las Vegas, NV
RenStock IV Warwick, MD
Contraband Days Lake Charles, LA
Buccaneer Days Corpus Christi, TX
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Black Beard Pirate Festival Hampton, VA
Pirate Wknd GA RenFest Fairburn, GA
Billy Bowlegs Pirate Fest Fort Walton Bch, FL
Texas Pirate Fest, Hillsboro, TX
Cocoa Beach Pirate Fest, Cocoa Beach, FL
Pirate Festival Long Island, NY
Northern California Pirate Festival Vallejo, CA
Privateer Days Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada
Pirate Rendezvous Damariscotta, ME
Put-In-Bay Pirate Festival Lake Erie, OH
Tallship Celebration Duluth, Duluth, MN
Lockhouse Pirate Encampment Havre de Grace, MD
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Smuggling and Pyracy have gone hand-and-hand since
time immortal. Both criminal acts can be traced back before
the time of Caesar.
The future looks just as compromised as the present and
the past if you follow the American
space/western franchise that Joss
Whedon created. . . “Firefly.”
The original series is set in the
year 2517 and
follows the buccaneering adventures of the renegade
crew of Serenity, a "Fireflyclass" spaceship. Whedon described the Serenity crew
members as "nine people
looking into the blackness
of space and seeing nine different things".
The throwback to the present is that only two
cultures survived from Earth and moved on into the
‘verse, the Chinese and the United States. Thus, among the
new technobabble of the 26th century and additionally new
lingo/curses, is a smattering of Mandarin. This gave writers
an “out” in allowing foul language, usually
stopped by censors, into the script since the
majority of the Fox Network’s main
audience in America would not understand the exotic dialogue.
The wild-west feel of the program mixed with the future was
an endearing part of the show.
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TELEVISION SERIES
Firefly, the first part of the franchise, was a shortlived TV series. One season of 14 episodes was produced. The
series was initially broadcast on Fox from September 20,
2002 to August 19, 2003. Fox canceled it after 11 episodes
were aired. The remaining 3 episodes were later aired on
SciFi (now SyFy). Despite its relatively short lifespan, the series received strong sales when it was
released on DVD and has large fan support
campaigns. It won an Emmy Award in 2003
for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a
Series."
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FILM
The film Serenity
was released on September
30, 2005. The film acts as a
sequel to Firefly and features much of the same cast and crew.
The film was written and directed by Joss Whedon. It was
released on DVD, VHS and UMD on December 20, 2005,
on HD DVD on April 18, 2006 and Blu-ray on December
30, 2008.
It received positive reviews and opened at number two,
taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks
in the top ten, and totaling a domestic box office gross of $25.5
million and a foreign box office gross of $13.3 million.
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Jayne Cobb, played by Adam Baldwin is a tall and physically imposing mercenary previously uninvolved with the
Unification War. Despite his comparatively brutish manner,
Jayne regularly displays cunning and common sense. Adam
Baldwin, when asked to describe the character, said "Sex.
Muscle. Humor. Thuggery. Jayne." He also calls Jayne a
"practical guy," explaining his character's use of gallows
humor by explaining that when in peril, the choice is to "panic
and cry and crap your pants, or you make a joke and you
try to survive."
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Malcolm Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, is owner
and captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, and was
a volunteer in the war between the Alliance and the Independents (aka "Browncoats"). When asked why he named his
ship after a lost battle, Zoe comments "Once you're in Serenity, you never leave. You just learn how to live there." He
is fiercely loyal to those he calls his crew.
Malcolm's main mission is to keep his crew alive and to
keep his ship flying. As Firefly writer Tim Minear stated
in an interview: "It's just about getting by. That's always
been the mission statement of what the show is — getting by."
In "Serenity", Mal says of himself: " If the Wind blows
northerly, I go North."
After the war, Mal acquired his own ship, a derelict 03K64 Firefly-class transport whose previous owner was a man
named Captain Harbatkin (Mal never got around to changing
the registration papers). Mal named the ship Serenity after
the Battle of Serenity Valley, the decisive battle of the Unification War.
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Though generally acting brutish and simple, occasionally
he hints at a more complex and sensitive character. In the first
episode, "Serenity," Jayne joins Shepherd Book in a silent
grace. In "The Message", Jayne is revealed sending money
earned by his mercenary activities home to his mother. His
mother was using the money to care for a sick child named
Mattie. In the same episode, he proudly sports an orange and
yellow knit cap with earflaps and an orange pom-pom (a
tuque), simply because his mother made it for him, to "keep
him warm" as he traveled through space. Jayne thinks the hat
is quite cunning, though his fellow shipmates gently mock him
about it.
Adam Baldwin auctioned the original hat from the show
for the charity Marine
Corps–Law Enforcement
Foundation for $4,707.57
USD and Fox asserts intellectual property rights in the burgeoning
replica market.
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Originally a member of a gang that
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ambushes Malcolm and Zoe, Jayne
switches allegiances and joins them after
Mal offers him a larger share of heists
and his own bunk.
Jayne keeps a large arsenal of weapons
in his bunk on Serenity, the largest and most
powerful being a firearm (specifically, a "Callahan
G
full-bore auto-lock with a customized trigger, double
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cartridge and thorough gauge") nicknamed Vera, which he
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attempts to trade with Mal for his "wife" Saffron in "Our
Mrs. Reynolds". Jayne frequently carries a handgun based
on a LeMat Percussion Revolver, and in the movie Serenity,
carries a machine gun named Lux. Jayne is regarded as something of a Robin Hood-like folk hero by the people of Canton
on Higgins' Moon ("Jaynestown"), who have erected a statue
of him in the center of the town and sing a song dedicated to
"the hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne" ("The Ballad
of Jayne Cobb") in which they tell how "he robbed from the
rich and he gave to the poor". The true story is that Jayne
double-crossed his partner Stitch Hessian and was forced to
jettison the money in order to escape. Jayne eventually accepts
the town's hospitality but seems to feel guilty that the people
view his self-interested actions as heroic.
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However, it did not make back its budget until its release
on DVD. Serenity won film of the year awards from Film
2005 and FilmFocus. It also won IGN Film's Best Sci-Fi,
Best Story and Best Trailer awards and was runner up for
the Overall Best Movie. It also won the Nebula Award for
Best Script for 2005, the 7th annual 'User Tomato Awards'
for best Sci-Fi movie of 2005 at Rotten Tomatoes, the 2006
viewers choice Spacey Award for favorite movie, the 2006
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form and
the 2006 Prometheus Special Award.
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THE FIRST MATE
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Zoe Washburne was played by Gina Torres. Zoe served in the
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Unification
War under Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and continues
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under his command on his spaceship, Serenity. She shares his belief
in the corruption of the Alliance and wants freedom for the Border
Planets. A loyal first mate and a tough, deadly fighter, Zoe is the
only member of Mal's crew to regularly call him "sir," a vestige
of their past as soldiers. She trusts Mal unconditionally, but has
been known to disobey orders in serious situations when she disagrees
with him.
Zoe married Serenity's pilot Wash sometime after he joined the
crew, though initially she claimed that something about him "bothered" her.
Although Zoe and Wash worked a very dangerous sort of
lifestyle, they managed to retain a rather happy marriage with one
another. Wash at times grows jealous of Zoe's close relationship with
Mal. Zoe and Wash considered having children, but Wash was
killed during the events of the film Serenity.
The prop used as her weapon of choice was originally used in
the series The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.
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THE PILOT
Hoban Washburne is played by Alan Tudyk. He is only ever
referred to as "Wash,” the first syllable of his surname.
A laid-back guy with a dry and occasionally laconic sense of
humor, Wash tends to represent the pragmatic, cut-and-run opinion in
any shipboard debate, and often serves as the calming influence in heated
arguments. His actions sometimes appear cowardly, but Wash has
proven his resolve and willingness to put himself in harm's way and
do violence on behalf of his friends on many occasions.
Wash dies near the end of the 2005 film Serenity when a harpoon launched by a Reaver ship impales him, killing him instantly.
His last words are "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I..." (the
final word "soar" is cut off by his being impaled).
Mal Reynolds then takes up his duties as pilot of Serenity with
River Tam as his new co-pilot. As a tribute to Wash, his collection
of toy dinosaurs remains on the pilot's station of the bridge.
THE DOCTOR
Doctor Simon Tam, played by Sean Maher (and in a flashback by Zac Efron) who's family had hopes for him to have a future in medicine. Simon was accepted to the best Medical
Academy, or "MedAcad," on Osiris. Simon graduated in the top
3% of his class, and promptly moved onto a medical internship,
which he completed in a mere eight months.
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River Tam played by Summer Glau, first appears in Firefly.
River is the teenage sister of Dr. Simon Tam, both of whom take
refuge aboard Serenity. She was considered a prodigy from a very
young age, intelligent beyond her years and athletically gifted. Simon
stated that compared to her, he is an "idiot child," despite having graduated from medical school near the top of his class and finished his internship a full four months earlier than his classmates.
River grew up with her brother Simon, with whom she was
very close, as part of the wealthy Tam family on the "core" (Alliance-dominated) planet of Osiris. Having a high intellect and a
ready grasp of complex subjects, she was sent to a government learning facility known only as “The Academy” at the age of fourteen.
Actually the school was in fact a
cover for a government experiment
in
creating the perfect assassin. While in the hands
of the Alliance doctors and
scientists, River was secretly and extensively experimented on, including surgery that removed most of her amygdala, preventing
River from being able to control her emotions.
As evidenced in Serenity, River is extremely skilled at handto-hand combat, and in one episode of Firefly, she fires three fatally
accurate shots from a pistol after only a single quick glance into
the battlefield.
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Around this time, Simon's sister
River attended The Academy.
Simon realized that River
was in trouble and began a
quest to find and rescue her
from the Academy. After
learning about River's
abuse at the Academy, he
is unable to help her for
two more years.
Simon then looks
for a ship to take him
and a cryogenically
stabilized River offplanet. The Serenity‘s
mechanic, Kaylee
Frye, is immediately infatuated
with Simon.
Mal Reynolds
offers Simon a post
as medic on Serenity, and Simon accepts. Simon soon settles into
life on the ship, spending time with River, in attempts to figure out
what happened to her at the Academy. The Tams remain below
Alliance radar, despite some close calls.
In the film Serenity, Simon has finally become well-adjusted
to the crew, to the point where he even stands up to Mal and punches
him when Mal puts River in danger during a heist. Near the end
of the film, Simon admits to Kaylee that he would have liked to
have had a romantic relationship with her just as they prepare for
an apparently hopeless battle with Reavers and the two consummate
their relationship in the end.
THE PREACHER
Derrial Book, played by Ron Glass, is a "shepherd", or
preacher, who provides frequent spiritual advice and perspectives
for the crew of Serenity. He has a mysterious past, and on numerous occasions has demonstrated a depth of
knowledge in a number of fields.
Kaylee Frye was portrayed by Jewel Staite. Kaylee has exceptional mechanical aptitude, despite her lack of formal training,
and serves as ship's mechanic on Serenity.
Kaylee is exceptionally sweet and chipper, the type who
maintains a bright and positive attitude even when others are feeling low. Jewel Staite explains Kaylee's character as being wholesome, sweet, and "completely genuine in that sweetness", adding
"She loves being on that ship. She loves all of those people.
And she's the only one who loves all of them incredibly
genuinely."
Staite told Interview magazine, "She's kind of
a floozy who wears her heart on her sleeve."
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Inara Serra is played by Morena Baccarin. Inara is a Companion, a high-society courtesan licensed by the Union of Allied
Planets (the "Alliance"). In Alliance society, Companions are
part of the social elite, often accompanying the wealthy and powerful. There is considerable ritual and ceremony
surrounding their services, which appear to extend beyond sex to nurturing psychological
and emotional well-being.
As of the end of Firefly, most of what
is known about Companions is derived
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from Inara herself and incidental discussions with and about other
Companions and Companion-trained individuals.
Less than a year before the events of the pilot episode, she
leased one of Serenity's shuttles for transportation, living space,
and workspace, providing her with some mobility.
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In which one would not expect a clergyman to be familiar:
including space travel, firearms, hand-to-hand combat, and criminal activity. Book's past appears to involve the Alliance in some
way; he possesses an Alliance identity card that gives Book priority status on an Alliance medical ship, and in "The Message",
he demonstrates knowledge of Alliance military procedures.
Shepherd Book and the inhabitants of Haven are later killed
by the Operative in the movie Serenity.
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Alongside her mechanical aptitude which allows
Kaylee to fix just about anything, she has a desire for feminine things and is annoyed when Mal does not see that she
is a woman as well as a mechanic.
Although most notable in the episode "Shindig,” when he
criticized her desire to purchase an elaborate dress on the
grounds that she would have no opportunity to wear it in her
job.
Kaylee finds herself further attracted to the doctor after
he saves her by removing a bullet from her. Jayne Cobb
would embarrass her in this and later episodes by making
fun of her attraction to Simon, usually right in front of
Simon.
However, in the closing scene of the episode
"Jaynestown", he states it is his 'proper' attitude that makes
it difficult for him to express his feelings for her.9
In the movie Serenity, Simon Tam confesses his feelings
for her, which she reciprocates. The ending depicts the two
finally consummating their relationship.
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Sue
Soleste
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Rhonda
Kristen
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Angela
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of cultural heritage. The nuances of the debate are entrusted to other writers,
leaving most of Kurson’s readers undistracted but perhaps irritating those
who might object to the glorification of treasure hunting.
In the end, of course, Kurson’s protagonists find beads “just like the
pirates wore, barrel-shaped and each a quarter of an inch long, orange with
fast streaks of black, still as bright as the day they’d been made.” They
find burnt ship’s planks, preserved in the mud for centuries. They find
weapons. They find treasure.
Kurson, as a writer, is like his characters. Metaphorically, he is in
the long-odds business of treasure hunting. In the no-cure, no-pay world of
writing, the treasure he seeks is the page turner, the story that can be read
with glee, the story worth talking about to friends and acquaintances. With
Pirate Hunters, Kurson, like his characters, found gold.
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Review by Bill Streever
Years ago, a good friend signed up to search for a treasure ship 100
miles off the coast of Texas. Not only my friend but everyone ever bitten
by the treasure bug — that is to say, most of us — will relish Robert
Kurson’s new book, Pirate Hunters. It is nonfiction, like his earlier bestseller Shadow Divers. But also like Shadow Divers, it is nonfiction with
the trademarks of a novel: the plots and subplots, the tension and suspense,
the dialogue and character development, and the all-important tempo that
keeps readers reading. Like a good novel, it tells more than one story.
On its surface, Pirate Hunters documents the search for a lost pirate
ship. Naturally, a pirate ship could hold gold and silver. It could have
sunk with a hull full of loot. Alternatively, it might hold nothing but ballast stones, empty bottles and antique buttons and buckles. Pirates of the
era were not, after all, big savers.
Even an empty ship might be full of romance, at least for the protagonists of Kurson’s book. If they could find an actual pirate ship, they would
find meaning in their lives, the kind of satisfaction that few people ever
know.
Kurson goes beyond the hunt itself to present a second story, that of
Capt. Joseph Bannister, commander of a sailing ship called the Golden Fleece.
Once a respectable merchant captain, Bannister turned pirate near the end
of his career. Why? Kurson’s characters tell us that Bannister was motivated by principle. He became a pirate to stand against British authority,
to resist convention, to avoid the mundane life of a retired seaman. For his
trouble, Bannister was eventually captured and hanged, his body “dumped
in nearby Gun Cay.”
Kurson presents a third story, the story of the world of treasure hunting, of impromptu meetings in homes and pizza joints, of research libraries
and magnetometers and scuba diving. He brings in the big names of the field,
the treasure greats such as Mel Fisher, Tracy Bowden and Jack Haskins.
When asked about his life’s work, one of the treasure greats replies, simply
and tellingly, “I just loved the wrecks.”
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ogy-vs.-treasure hunting debate. Kurson does not avoid the topic entirely;
he merely wades in, mentioning here and there the changing laws that confront his treasure hunters, laws intended to protect old wrecks as a form
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Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the
Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship
by Robert Kurson
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The tricorne appeared as
a result of the evolution of the broadbrim round hat used by Spanish soldiers in
Flanders during the 17th century.
By pledging (binding) the brims, a triangular shape was obtained. This shape was favored by Spanish soldiers and in 1667, war
broke out between France and Spain in the Spanish Netherlands.
During the subsequent military struggle, its use spread to the French
armies. The style was brought back to France, where its usage spread
to the French population and the royal court of King Louis XIV,
who made it fashionable throughout Europe, both as a civilian and
military wear.
By the end of the 17th century, the tricorne was popular in both
civilian fashion and in military uniforms. They remained one of the
predominant European styles of hat throughout the 18th century. In
the United States, only the first five Presidents, from George Washington to James Monroe, wore this style of hat according to the fashion
of the 18th century. James Monroe earned the nickname "The Last
Cocked Hat" because of this.
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The tricorne fell out
of style by 1800, though actually not
called a "tricorne" until the mid 1800s.
During the 18th century hats of this general style
were referred to as "cocked hats". At the peak of its popularity,
the cocked hat (tricorne) varied greatly in style and size.
Typically made from animal fiber, the more expensive being of
beaver-hair felt and the less expensive of wool felt, the hat's most distinguishing characteristic was that three sides of the brim were turned
up (cocked) and either pinned, laced, or buttoned in place to form a
triangle around the crown.
The style served
two purposes: first, it allowed
stylish gentlemen to show off the most current fashions of their wigs, and thus their social
status; and secondly, the cocked hat, with its folded brim,
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The Tea Party movement uses the tricorne
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as an icon to associate itself with the American Revolution.
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In France, synagogue officiants (usually not rabbi), wear the
tricorne on formal occasions. In the French navy and air force, tricornes are still worn by women as a piece of uniform.
The tricorne is a key feature in the University of Minho's academic dress, in Portugal. Its origins are as far as 18th century, as
being the academic dress of Colégio de Estudos Superiores de S. Paulo,
as depicted by tile panels in the Archbishop's Palace of Braga (now
Rectorate of the University of Minho).
The brims of hats could
In 1981 the milliner John Boyd made the famous pink tricorne
also be left plain or dressed up with
hat for Diana, Princess of Wales. This style became known as the
a variety of trims. Common trims
"Lady Di" design and was copied worldwide.
would be worsted wool hat braid in
As for the Pyrate style of tricorn, there were many variations of
black or white, but also in brocades and
style and ornamentation. Some of these are not quite cocked up all the
metallic trims. Silk trim is also an option
way and some that would be described as adapted versions of bicornes.
in various colors and really depends on the
Tricourn styles popular between 1685 and 1687 are just
pyrate’s personal preference.
slightly turned up in the front and kind of "rolled" up in the back.
This common style for the period seem to be low crowns with flatter
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Tricornes
had a rather broad
brim, pinned up on
either side of the head
and at the back, producing
a triangular shape. The hat
was typically worn with the point
facing forward, though it was not at all
unusual for soldiers, who would often rest a rifle
or musket on their left shoulder, to wear the tricorne pointed above
their left eyebrow to allow better clearance. The crown is low, unlike
the steeple hats worn by the Puritans or the top hat of the 19th century.
Tricornes ranged from the very simple and cheap to the extravagant, occasionally incorporating gold or silver lace trimming and
feathers. In addition, military and naval versions usually bore a
cockade or other national emblem at the front.
The tricorne quickly declined in use at the end of the 18th century. It evolved into the bicorne, which was widely used by military
officers in Europe from the 1790s until World War I, not completely
fading out of style until World War II. For enlisted soldiers, the
tricorne was replaced by the shako at the turn of the 19th century,
which had become the new dominant style of military headgear from
1800 on. As the fashionable hat for civilian men, the tricorne was
overtaken by the top hat.
Tricornes survive today as part of the traditional dress of the
Chelsea Pensioners (UK) and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps of
the United States Army, and the distinctive hat of the Guardia Civil
(Spain), called a tricornio in Spanish, originates from the tricorne.
In the UK, a black feathered tricorne hat is part of the ceremonial
dress of most Lord Mayors; at the annual Lord Mayor's Show in
November, the newly elected Lord Mayor of the City of London can
tops and shallower brims. (This is actually a good thing for re-enactors as most hat blanks today come with brims that are 3-4 inches
wide.)
When researching tricorns, one notices the infrequency of
tricorn images with "cockades." While cockades were indeed
worn, during the Golden Age of Pyracy, they are usually worn to either show alliance to political parties
or movements or as a member of the Royal Navy.
Widespread use of Cockades for "fashion" seems
to come on the scene later the 18th century.
Due to the flamboyancy of pyrates,
when they could afford it, tricorn embellishment runs a full gamut of creative decoration, from plain hats with
no lining to hats that are dripping with
feathers and trim.
Hat body colors vary as well with Black, Grey, and Tan
(called snuff or tobacco) were
popular choices.
usually be seen enthusiastically waving his tricorne at the crowds.
In the British Parliament until recently, both the Lord Chancellor
and the Speaker of the House of Commons used to carry plain black
tricornes as part of their formal dress each day when on duty; only
on rare occasions was it worn by the Lord Chancellor when acting as
a Lord Commissioner of the Sovereign, and by the Speaker when rebuking a Member at the Bar of the House.
In the United States, the tricorne is associated with the American
Revolution, American Patriots of that era, and the reenactors of the
Golden Age of Pyracy.
Participants in Revolutionary reenactment events often don tricornes, and they also can be seen in sports culture as worn by fans of
teams with Revolutionary names, such as the New England Patriots (an American football team), the New England Revolution (a Major League Soccer team), the United
States men's national soccer team, the University of Massachusetts Amherst,
and the George Washington
University.
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was much smaller than other hats and therefore could be more easily
tucked under an arm when going inside a building, where social etiquette dictated that a gentleman remove his hat. Cocked hats
with laced sides could have the laces loosened and the
sides dropped down to provide better protection
from the weather, sun and rain.
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This be the 12th video in a "How to Dress Like
a Pirate" series by Tiger Lee of Pirate Fashions. Here we be sharing arrrr secrets of how
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we make a custom pirate tricorn hat.
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This is how I made my Capt. Jack Sparrow hat
for less than $20
Part of a personal project preparing costumes
for the annual Medieval Faire. See my playlist
for the rest of my Medieval Monday videos.
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Still learning the ropes of the software so I'll
use that as an excuse for the glitches! ;P
This hat would be good for a pirate, revolutionary Eera
S lady, Renascence faire, or just for the
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I decided to see if I could make my own tricorn
for my Halloween costume this year. I think it
came out quite well...
Somehow I wound up losing me voice during
the time that I was making this, but what can
you do?
For more information on Colonial Clothing see
our "Guide to Creating Colonial Clothing in the
Classroom"
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Jeff MacKay Owner and Master Hatter of Captain Jack's Pirate Hat takes customers through
the steps to select and purchase their own
custom Pirate Hat. Covering the steps of style,
material, treatment, color, size and accessory
selection.
This is an HD video of my Jack Sparrow Tricorn Pirate hat made to show the details and
color of the hat.
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Led by Blackbeard the Pirate himself, re-enactors help visitors step
There are pyrate festivals and then there are PYRATE FESback in time and re-live the history and legends of 1718 Hampton.
TIVALS and the Blackbeard Pirate Festival in Hampton, VA never
This year the festival has been honored by being named the 3rd best
fails to entertain and amaze any pyrate or wench from the wellG
pirate
seasoned re-enactor to the polyester pirate who’s just started their
THadESfestival in North America by USA Today. The Festival offers
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PYR a variety of children’s activities, live musical entertainment, fireventure into our pyrate hobby.
works, period vendors, arts and crafts, and much more!
Many readers ask us why The Pyrates Way visits some fesThis year’s activities include a number of reenactments from
tivals over and over again. . . why? Mostly because we’ve discovered
impromptu street skirmishes between pirates and the militia, to fullthat many of these events change dramatically from year-to-year
scale sea battles in the Hampton Harbor, featuring the popular reand offer an opportunity to capture new images, foods, beverages, enenactment
of Blackbeard’s final battle. Onlookers can also enjoy the
tertainment, and most of all. . . new mates to share with!
waterfront view where tall ships tower over more than 50 private
Thus we returned to the Blackbeard Pirate Festival in Hampton
sail and powerboats all decked out in their own pirate gear.
once again, on a beautiful May day filled with plunder and the
A presentation ceremony follows the sea battle, where Lt. Maybooty of new experiences and wonder.
nard
presents Blackbeard's head and defeated crew to Virginia's GovEarlier in this issue, you re-lived our experience at the Grand
ernor Spotswood. Visitors can participate in the festivities when they
Ball that kicks off the weekend’s event. Now witness how incredible
join Blackbeard’s funeral parade, Hampton’s version of Mardi Gras,
this festival has grown.
and
share in the booty from his treasure chest.”
According to the official site of the festival, now run by the city
We had a wonderful time at the festival as always. Pyrate
government instead of Blackbeard’s Crew, “Once a year visitors from
friends of The Pyrates Way, both new and old, shared their
all over the country enjoy the sights and sounds of 18th century
Hampton overrun by pirates. Hampton’s waterfront comes alive with
love of bands like The Brigands, food like Maryland crab cakes,
dozens of pirate re-enactors, costumed in historically accurate garb,
and the delicious wonders of Heavy Seas beer out of Baltimore.
who transform today’s Hampton into the busy seaport of yesterday.
The Blackbeard Pirate Festival is worth visiting EVERY year.
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Pyrates4Patriots
8, 9,
13, 14, 16, 28, 36, 43
Pyrates Way Bumperstickers
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Pyrates Way Gift Pack
7, 36
Pyrates Way PodCast
13
Scarlet Scarab
36
Shadow Fleet
13
Soles Through Time
7
Stimpzilla
13
Talderoy’s Treasures
9
The Bilge Pumps
7
The Brigands
8, 43
The Concordium
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The Merry Mercer
28, 36
The Pyrates Way Magazine
13
U.S. Navy
14
Ye Olde Pyrate Exchange
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28, 36
48
8, 36
14, 36
7, 43
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A&M Dreamlinks
Ape Planet Magazine
Ben “Blackbeard” Cherry
Bloody Historical
Colonial Seaport Foundation
Cos&FX Magazine
Dragon Wings
Faire Magazine
Glastonbury Designs
Kimball Publications
LoveWinx
Marcus Hook
Old Bear Creek
Pirates & Paradise
Pirate Artist
Pirate Girl Face Painter
In every issue of our magazine there are folks behind
the scenes for whom we rely on for every page. In every
issue, we try to thank all of them for all they’ve done
for us and you, our gentle pyrate reader.
On the cover is the beauteous Lawrie Evans Ira
whose pose was captured in Beaufort, NC. The images
was captured by East Coast Photography.
We’d like to thank the Blackbeard’s Crew and the
City of Hampton, VA for inviting us to their 2015
Blackbeard Festival where we had an incredible time
chatting with and capturing the images of many of the pyrates who
visited.
Thanks also to the
six beautiful Wenches
of the Quarter who have
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become the most popular features of The Pyrates Way
magazine. Rhonda’s photo was taken by The Commodore
during the 2014 Virginia Beach Pirate Party on the
Beach. Sue and Soleste’ photos were anonymously supplied, Kristen’s photo was given to us by Sam Moody,
Angela’s photo was taken by Phan Cho, and Kristen’s
image was provided by Suzanne Arthur-Regan.
Thank you to Fox Broadcasting for letting use their
descriptions and images from the television series, Firefly.
Another thank you to the folks at Captain Morgan
Rum who let us focus our rum article on their very
tasty variations of rums.
Taxes on rum entering the contiguous 48 states from Puerto Rico
were made lower than those on rum coming from foreign countries.
At this time both Seagram's and the Bacardi family built large new
plants near San Juan. In 1985, Seagrams sold its rum distillery
and manufacturing facilities in Camuy and Arecibo—and doing business as Puerto Rican Destillers—to Destilería Serrallés, a Puerto
Rican concern that had been producing the Don Q brand in Puerto
HISTORY
Rico since 1865. As part of the contract Seagrams also licensed to
In 1944, the Seagram Company started producing rum under
Serralles the rights to produce and distribute the "Captain Morgan"
the name Captain Morgan Rum Company.
brand in Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean until 2012.
Seagram CEO Samuel Bronfman purchased a distillery named
In 2001, Seagrams sold the "Captain Morgan" brand to Diageo.
Long Pond from the Jamaican government. Among the buyers of raw
Diageo made an announcement on 24 June 2008, that it intends to
rum from the Long Pond distillery was a Kingston pharmacy
build and operate a new rum distillery on St. Croix, Virgin Islands
named Levy Brothers. The Levy family had been purchasing
beginning in 2010 and to source from it beginning at the end of their
raw rum, adding medicinal herbs and spices, aging, and
current supply contract in 2012.
bottling it. Bronfman liked the rum product and
An actor portraying Captain Morgan at the 2007 Scream
bought the rights to it.
Awards. The event was sponsored by Diageo.
In the 1950s the governIn 1984, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum was introduced
ments of both the United
to the United States. Captain Morgan is, by volume, the second largest
States and its Puerto
brand of spirits in the United States, and the seventh largest worldRico commonwealth
wide. In 2007, 7.6 million 9-liter cases were sold. Most Captain
territory instituted M D
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Morgan
rum is sold in the United States, Canada, Great Britain,
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a number HofE job
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South Africa, and Global Travel.
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creation proAlthough the pirate Henry Morgan is a figure of Jamaican culgrams in
ture, the Seagram's Captain Morgan Rum was labeled as a product
Puerto
of Puerto Rico, whereas the Captain Morgan Rum produced by J.
Rico.
Wray and Nephew Ltd. is labeled as a "product of Jamaica."
In November 2009, the NFL banned a covert ad campaign, allegedly put on by Diageo. It was understood that for each NFL player
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strikingSthe "Captain Morgan" pose on camera during a regular season
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AT Diageo would donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats (a nonprofit which helps retired NFL players with various hardships after
leaving the game). The league made this announcement following
Captain Morgan is a brand of rum produced by alcohol conglomerate Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of
the Caribbean, Sir Henry Morgan who died on 26 August 1688.
Since 2011, the label has used the slogan "To Life, Love and Loot."
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Seagrams HQ, 1944
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such a celebration by Brent Celek of the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 2010 two American territories, Puerto Rico and the United
States Virgin Islands bickered over plans for the Captain Morgan to
move operations to the U.S.V.I under tax incentives. The matter came
to a head when it created a debate in the United States Congress over
the USVI's attempt to use tax benefits to lure the company to that
territory.
In 2011, to bring it into line with the international version,
Morgan's Spiced in the UK was rebranded as Captain Morgan's
Spiced. This was accompanied by a large media campaign and parties
hosted around the UK in clubs and bars to advertise the new rum.
The "Captain Morgan" mascot was introduced along with "Morganettes".
OUR OWN PYRATE ARTIST
The likeness of the Captain Morgan character was created by
award winning artist Don Maitz. We hope to feature don in a future issue of The Pyrates Way.
THE PROCESS
Captain Morgan's Rum is distilled from sugar cane. The combination of the type of yeasts employed for fermentation, distillation
method, aging conditions, and blending determines the characteristic
flavor of rum. Made with molasses, water, mash and yeast, Captain
Morgan Original Spiced rum is distilled in a continuous still. Once
distilled, the clear spirit is aged in oak barrels for up to a year, adding
a golden color and character to the rum before the flavors and spices
are added. The brand’s taste is achieved through a proprietary recipe,
which is blended into the rum mixture at the final stages of production,
making use of spices indigenous to the Caribbean Islands.
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Sugar cane
was used to make alcoholic drinks in Egyptian times but it was not
until the 16th century that
farmers and workers on
Caribbean sugar cane plantations took up this ancient tradition. They took molasses, the
dark, sticky by-product of the sugar
making process and distilled it into a
harsh, strong spirit. Rum in the raw. As plantations spread, so did the tradition of making rum.
Plantations from Jamaica to Latin America each had
their own different rum but one thing united them all.
They were strong. Very strong. So to soften the blow,
distillers would add their own unique recipes of
herbs, spices and fruits.
Just as the young Henry Morgan came of age
in the Caribbean, so too does the rum that bears his
name. We take American white oak bourbon barDIE
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rels, char them, and fill them with triple disU
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tilled rum. Then we leave them to rest and
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mature.
The charred
barrels play a
huge part in shaping the rum's flavor, helping release
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ars. Aging in these barrels also mellows the
spirit and helps create the
rich golden colour that is
characteristic of Captain
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Morgan ® Original Spiced.
What makes Captain Morgan Original Spiced taste so good? It's
all about the blend.
Rums of the same age and batch can vary hugely in style, taste
and colour. Once distilled, their diverse flavors can be influenced by
many factors. How long it is matured. Where it is matured. What
it is matured in.
So their Master Blenders need to blend the rum with a secret
recipe of spices and flavors from the four corners of the globe to make
the perfect blend. Naturally, this involves tasting and re-tasting until
they get the Captain Morgan blend just right. It's a tough job but, hey,
someone's got to do it.
VARIETIES
Black - The original Captain Morgan rum, this is a full-bodied
blend of pot and continuous still rums from Jamaica, Guyana &
Barbados aged in oak, has a dark colour and distinctive rich taste.
Available only in the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia,
South Africa, and some other countries. Packaged in a traditional
Captain Morgan bottle with a black label highlighting the words
"Jamaica Rum". 100 proof (USA - 80 proof)
Black Spiced Rum - Crafted from Caribbean Blackstrap rum and
select ingredients, including “rich clove spice and premium cassia
bark ... finished with double charred blackened oak for a premium,
smooth taste”. Advertised as a bold alcohol that carries the taste of
cinnamon and clove, followed by “hints of warm spice and vanilla
for a smooth finish". Only available in the USA, Canada, and
Australia. Packaged in a distinct stout-bodied clear-glass bottle with
a white label printed on both sides. 94.6 proof (Australia - 80
proof)
Dark Rum - A blend of Caribbean and Canadian Rum. 80 proof
Deluxe Dark - A blend of dark Caribbean rums, aged in white
oak barrels, only available in Canada. 80 proof
in mixed cocktails. 42 proof (formerly 48). Also offered in a 90
proof version of the coconut flavor.
Lime Bite - A silver lime-spiked spiced rum. 70 proof
Private Stock - Rich, dark and full-bodied, blends hints of island
spices with a smooth texture. Packaged in a distinctive squat bottle
with a small label. 80 proof
Limited Edition Spiced - Similar to Spiced Gold. 70 proof
Silver Spiced - Aged in oak barrels for over a year, with a smooth
taste and a well-rounded, vanilla character. 70 proof
Long Island Iced Tea - A pre-mixed cocktail of rum,
vodka, whiskey, gin and triple-sec liqueur. Only
available in the USA and Canada. 35 proof
Tattoo - An extra-dark, lower-proof rum with fruit flavors described
as berry or citrus, introduced to compete with Jägermeister for market
share. Unavailable in Canada. 70 proof
Original Spiced - Aged Caribbean rum,
with spices and other natural flavors. 70
proof
White Rum - Aged in white oak barrels for over a year. Only available in the USA and Canada. 80 proof
Original Spiced Gold - A blend of rum and
other spirits. Mellow aged and enhanced
with fruit flavors, spices, and a heavy touch
of vanilla. 70 proof
White Rum flavored - White Rum in a variety of flavorings including coconut, grapefruit & pineapple. 70 proof
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1671 - A smooth, dark sipping rum. 70 proof
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100 Proof - The highest alcoholic content of the Captain Morgan line
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drinks.
Closest relation is Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum.
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100 proof
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Parrot Bay - White rum offered in a variety
of flavorings including coconut, key lime, RUM
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mango, orange, passion fruit, pineapple and
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strawberry. This range appears to have been
introduced to compete with the flavored vodkas
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REVIEW BY Rob Ossian
As soon as the bottle is opened and Tattoo is poured, there is
a noticeable aroma of citrus, vanilla, and cherry.
The liquid itself has a dark caramel color with a golden glow.
There is a faint taste of general allspice with some warmth but
little actual burn in the finish.
This is a rum that was created with the intention of mixing,
but truth be told it's not necessary. Captain Morgan Tattoo is
pretty good straight up or just on ice.
If you find rum to be a little harsh to your pallette, try a
splash of coke, Dr. Pepper, or orange juice with a squeeze of lime
(and/or lemon) makes a nice, easy-drinking cocktail. Or, replace
this in drinks where you use the Captain's original spiced rum for
a different twist.
Realistically, I fully expect that this rum will not cater to all
tastes. There are surely rum traditionalists who will consider this
too much of a departure, and I am usually one of them. However
those who enjoy infused rums will particularly appreciate the flavor
and smoothness of this one.
I enjoy it, and would never turn down an open bottle of Captain
Morgan Tattoo passed my way.
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REVIEW BY Christopher Null
For a good time, do a Google Image Search for “Captain
Morgan Tattoo.” You’ll find plenty of pictures not of this
spiced rum but of unique and ill-considered body art on all
kinds of anatomical bits.
I’ve actually had a mini of Tattoo for years. It’s that
mysterious. What’s it all about? Tattoo is a spiced, “extra
dark” rum with additional flavoring agents added. It is said
to have been developed as a Jagermeister competitor, and pouring a shot reveals how that works.
It’s dark to the point of near opacity, with a heady nose
of citrus fruit, raspberries, and a touch of classic vanilla rum
character. Promising, perhaps, but a sip offers a cacophony of
flavors, from the rough rum body to the heavy allspice and
clove finish. The middle is pure molasses, those citrus notes
being largely drowned out by all the other stuff going on here.
What’s missing? Any sort of balance. Tattoo is a mess of a
spirit, almost liqueur like and just too overblown with additives to be a serious rum.
But as an ice-cold shooter to prime college kids for a night
out? Well, maybe I can see where the Captain is coming from.
ES
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REVIEW BY The Rum Trader
Whenever I find myself leaving my office for lunch, I try to
plan my route so that I am able to visit one of my local package stores
on my way. My motto is “You never know what you might find.”
So, during yesterday’s lunch hour, I dropped by a store new to
me. It was a typical mom-and-pop package store. They had one’s and
two of the most popular rums (i.e. Bacardi, Captain Morgan,
Cruzan). Finding nothing of interest is typical for these types of ‘pass
through’ shopping trips so I quickly headed for the door. While scanning the register area, I noticed some pints behind the counter including
Captain Morgan’s Tattoo rum.
Not being a big fan of Captain Morgan products, Tattoo is a line
I’ve managed to avoid… until today. Honestly I thought Tattoo had
been discontinued, so seeing a pint on the shelf caught my eye. It’s reasonable price was enough to make me buy a bottle. Not until later
would I realize my mistake.
Once home, I visited the Captain Morgan website to verify if
Tattoo is still being produced (it is). Next, I checked the CM site for
recommended Tattoo cocktail recipes (there are none). With no recommended cocktails, I quickly reviewed the bottle/label for hints on
how to consume Tattoo. Tattoo is licorice black in color and it’s
label states: “Puerto Rican Rum with Spice & Other Natural
Flavors”.
With not much to go on, I decided to go with a standby drink:
Dark ‘n Stormy. My assumption being, Tattoo rum is black so it
might be a usable ‘black’ rum. My assumption was wrong and I
owe an apology to the people of Bermuda. I am sorry.
Mixing up this Dark ‘n Stormy:
4oz Gosling’s Ginger Beer
2oz of Captain Morgan Tattoo
I layered the Tattoo over the Ginger Beer in a lowball glass
and snapped a quick photo. The effect was quite appealing. During
the pouring and stirring phase I noticed Tattoo’s medicinal aroma.
Tattoo is a spiced rum heavy on licorice and clove. It has a cough
syrup flavor with a limited, traditional rum flavor.
The sharp, Gosling’s ginger beer is quite good but Tattoo’s
medicinal flavor is extremely overpowering. The ginger never
had a chance to blend.
Since I have 1/2 pint left of Tattoo I will search a bit
more to hopefully find a cocktail where it can blend better and
be a better mixing partner. I wish Captain Morgan would publish some recipes to help users enjoy this product. Tattoo is
unique to say the least but if it cannot play better with other
ingredients it won’t have a repeated place in TheRumTrader’s
cabinet.
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