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It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Open wide and say "Arrrrrr!"

Sea breeches

I got this idea from Renaissance Magazine, but I did not like having to draft the full pattern. So I took a pattern I already had and made them into sea breeches, also called a sea petticoat.

• Pants pattern with two leg pieces, like for PJ's or scrubs. I used Simplicity 9802.
• Fabric- wool or canvas, about 2 ¾ yards.
• 1 yd of interfacing, I like muslin.
• Extra paper for pattern adjustments.
• Buttons or draw cord.

Take your waist measurement. Double this measurement, than divide it by four. Measures were the waist is on the pattern, omitting seam allowances. Expand the with of the pattern with paper. To do this, split the pattern down the middle. Insert paper, mark the extra with, and tape. This will give you nice full breeches. You could at this point measure where the breeches should come to, knee lenth or a bit longer. Cut off about two inches lower for a hem.

Next you will need to make a waist band and codpiece pattern. Skip this part if you are going to use a draw cord. The waistband is a rectangle that is your waist measurement plus two inches wide by three inches tall. Add a 5/8" seam allowances to all sides. (That's an extra 1 ¼ ".) The codpiece is a triangle with an 8" base and a height of 7", before seam allowances. I used a ½" seam allowance here.

Cut out your pieces, two of each pattern piece, of your fabric. Cut 1 waistband out of interfacing.

If you are going to make draw cord breeches, sew according to the pattern. Remember to make two holes in the front so you can draw the cord through before making the casing for said cord.

For waistband breeches-
Sew back crotch seam. Sew front crotch seam up to 5 ½" below waistline. Hem the fly opening. Sew the seam for the outer leg, and then sew the inseam.

Sew codpiece on all three sides, leaving an opening to turn. Trim and grade seams and clip corners. Turn codpiece inside out and hand stitch opening close. Add two buttonholes to the short edge of codpiece at each angle. Attach codpiece to breeches front. Center on seam with bottom point one to ½ inch below fly opening. Use a triangle shaped seam to attach codpiece.

Sew waistband on each three-inch side, one of the long sides, and two inches of the other side. Trim and grade seams and clip corners. Turn. Make a buttonhole on the tab.

Pleat breeches into waistband. Finish. Try on breeches and mark where buttons should go and mark hem.

The Staff Sling

The staff sling

It is time to talk about weapons of medieval pirate. First up is one that most have not of heard of, the sling staff. The sling staff (or staff sling) was an early projectile weapon launcher. It was mainly used in naval battles in the Middle Ages. Otherwise, they are rare and hard to find anything on them.

The first use of the staff sling was by the Thracians. It was used as a weapon of the Peltasts (Slingers). The slingers were lightly armed and used the staff sling for "shock and awe" type battles. They would run in, fire a dart, javelin or rock, and then run away.

The sling fell out of use after the classical era, but the staff sling was still used. Geoffrey Chaucer mentioned a sling in the Canterbury Tales. In the Tale of Sir Topaz, he states

Sir Topaz quickly retired;

the Giant took a sling and fired

Fired stones, but greatly daring

Sir Topaz swiftly left the place

And got away by God's good grace

And by his noble bearing.

Seeing that the sling was a weapon associated with King David, an evil Giant could not have used it. A staff sling was more likely was used. Staff slings also lunched their projectiles a lot slower than the traditional sling a not as accurate, making it easier for Sir Topaz to get away.

An image of a staff sling can be seen in a depiction of the last sea battle of Eustace the Black Monk. The picture shows a staff sling being used to fling a bottle. The bottle could contain quicklime. Quicklime was used to blind opponents in battle.
Staff slings were used because they are easy to train a fighter to use in comparison to a normal sling or a bow. Also, unlike a bow, the wet concisions of a ship had little effect on this weapon.

A beginner's guide to Medieval and Renaissance piracy, part 6

Pirates have friends and foes. King Henry III of England did something that changed piracy forever. He invented the letter of reprisal, some times called a Letter of Marque. A pirate who held one was a privateer and could attack enemies of their home country. Pirates had become a defacto navy! One country's privateer hero is another's pirate villain. Spain hated the efforts of Drake and Hawkins, who were knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. The Hanseatic League and the Clique Ports were formed to fight off pirates.

What could happen to a pirate? Very few lived to an old age. If one was caught, he or she could expect to be executed. In the Golden Age, the norm was hanging, with their body hung in a giblet afterwards, as a warning to others. This looks to not be the case for the Middle Ages. The most common form of execution was beheading.

This concludes A beginner's guide. All six parts are from my handout "So You Want to be a Pirate," from my SCA class of the same name.

A beginner's guide to Medieval and Renaissance piracy, part 5

So what is the prize treasure for a pirate? Why, anything that could be on a ship! On John Cabbie's first raid, he found wool, gold and wine in the hold. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI granted a blessed edict that made all the lands west of the Cape Verde islands apart of Spain. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish started to ship gold and silver from the New World. This made other nations very mad. Sir Francis Drake and his cousin Sir John Hawkins took advantage of this and raided the treasure galleons coming form the New World, also called the Spanish Main. It was a trend that lasted into the Golden Age.

After a pirate got his treasure, what happened to it? Burying it was out of the question. If it was alcohol, it was consumed. Food was eaten. Money was spent at the next port. Other goods were sold. Pirates offered goods of high quality at cheap prices.


Friends, foes, and fate next time on A Pirate's Life.

(From "So you want to be a pirate," my SCA pirate class.)

A beginner's guide to Medieval and Renaissance piracy, part 4

Firepower is what makes or breaks a pirate. By the time of the Mary Rose, canons were a common sight on ships. In my studies, I have found what they used before this form of heavy artillery. Illuminations show archers on ships shooting at another ship. Other images show staff slings holding a corked bottles of lime that are about to be flung. Lime was used as an early chemical weapon, designed to blind opponents. Spears, pikes, and grappling hooks were also used. The first use of a major weapon, a catapult, was by pirate John Cabbie. Swords and daggers have to be shorter than those used on land because of the close quarters on a ship. Handguns like blunderbusses and harquebusiers were in use at the end of the period.

Next time, Booty on A Pirate's Life!

(From my SCA class, So You Want to be a Pirate)

A beginner's guide to Medieval and Renaissance piracy, part 3

A pirate's ship had to be fast, and not have too many leaks! Medieval ships included the cog and carvel. The cog had its timbers put up against each other, called "clinker built." When they were first used they had an open top, later covered with the deck to protect the cargo. "Castles" were built at the front and back of the ship. When ship builders started to overlap the timbers, the cog became the caravel. In the sixteenth century, galleons came into use, along with galleys in the Mediterranean. Irish pirate, Grace O'Malley, may have used some from of galley. No matter what kind of ship a pirate was on, the living quarters were cramped, dirty, and wet.

Next time- fighting!

(From my SCA class, So you want to be a Pyrate.)