The Lockhouse July 2010, Havre de Grace, MD
Chapter 3rd: All the details of the party that followed the rainy re-enactment. You might not think a party demands a whole chapter. You might be right. Maybe he'll combine the few things that would normally go into an epilogue in here as well. Let's read on and find out, shall we?
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After an hour or so of drinking rum on the porch of the Lockhouse,
hidden from the general public, it was decided that we should go and spend
another couple of hours at the party drinking rum with the public. So
the pirates, who were sober enough to waddle around the building, found a table in the back corner of the large white tent. I think this table was
chosen because of its proximity to the buffet. (Which you can just barely
make out in the background at left. Sorry, I had
to super-adjust this photo so you could see everyone's faces.) Of
course, the normal people had to come in through the front door - this was
a fundraiser, after all. That you can see below left.
Several helpful people checked attendees in. below center)
The best
part of the entrance is shown below right. (I'm talking
about the skull, of course. What were you thinking was the best part?)
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While I was wandering around the tent, I decided to check out the party favors. They had a silent auction going on just inside the door which I totally failed to take a good picture of. (You wouldn't have won anything there anyhow.) They also had a pretty decent live band playing for much of the evening (below left) although they clearly thought all the good pirate shanties had been recorded in the 70s and 80s and were disguised as light rock and jazz. (That would be the nineteen-70s and 80s, not the sixteen-70s and 80s. 'Whoo hoo! More Air Supply!') The centerpieces on the tables were wonderful assortments of pirate kitsch, plastic coins & beads, strange frogs, props and a fruit plate. Overall, even if it wasn't periodish, it was at least well done and eye-pleasing.
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Of course, all that junk was pushed aside at the pirate table. We had to
make room for the three bottles of rum! Well, first someone had to go and
get the three bottles of rum, and then we had to make room for it. I seem to recall that we sort
of snuck our drinks in. See, there was a tent serving drinks, but it was
one of the most popular places in the party (right). So we
got our own and Dave took it upon himself to guard the rum and the fruit tray
so that he could make sure he got most of it everyone got a share.
This was according to the articles. Below is reprinted a
copy of a real period ship's Article from the good
ship Lawloyphup as it relates to Edible Plunder (actual period spelling and grammar
have been preserved. For more on understanding how things were written during
period, you can read through this
monograph, which was written by your own ship's surgeon
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"Article 6: The Captain fhall have and receiue, fore himfelf, two
wattermelon wedges and a pynapple slice, and fhall be grant'd
all feeds left from any other frvits confumed: That the Lootenents,
Leftenants, Rightenants and Tenement Tenants, fhall each of them have
one of those oringe mellon things with the funny name and thre grapes:
That the Prise-Master, Gvnner, Boatswain, Goatswain, Carpenter, Cooper
and Mini-Cooper fhall eech of them have and receeve one orange flice and
two grapse: That the fhip's Lawyer shall have 1/4 a grape, but only if
he bee quiet threwout the profeedings: That the doctor of the faid
vefsel fhall have and receiue for himself as many grappes as he likes,
given to him by several lovely maidens, fince he likes them (the
grapes) (and the maidens), two flices of watermelon, fome of them
horunge melonn things with the funny name and none of the lemons, which
he do nott like and thus will all of them go to the Captain, who will
have to eat them directly. Alfo the doctor fhall have and receve the
plastic frog statue, if his Chest bea wel furnifhed, so as to bee for
him a hood orniment on said Chest." (And THAT'S what I call an aside!)
Right: The Captain demanding his fruit seeds during our evening's festivities as is spelled out in the Edible Plunder Article.
Now where was I...? Oh, yes! To recap, Dave was guarding the fruit (Below left. Still sitting there just like before), which went all well and good so long as there was fruit to guard. Finally, it came down to the last watermelon slice which both Dave and Balls wanted. (Below center.) So Balls drew his knife and it became clear that a fight was in the offing. But, while Dave and Balls were fighting, Cuisto Mako drew his little knife, deftly jabbed the slice and ate it. (Below right.) Thus endeth the game.
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To make matters worse, the pirates, their bellies filled with rum, started getting a bit peckish and had decided to
'check out' the buffet table. If no one notices you sneaking a squab or two in the process
it didn't really happen, right? So several of them just strolled on by the
table as you see at left and right.
All of the fighting over fruit and the food stealing from the buffet got our
captain into hot water with the party's management. Blackjohn was in charge of
the pirates and knife fights were generally not looked well upon by neither the genteel, cash-donating public
nor the friendly folks soliciting said cash. So what's
a beleaguered pirate to do? See the series of pics below.
(Don't think he was innocent or anything. I just didn't happen to get
shots of him in the act of 'checking out' the buffet table..)
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You may have gotten the impression that all that were at the party was the
eight of us sitting in the back corner table and the band. While we were
the most interesting thing about the party. (Well, that's
the way I remember it), there were, in fact, scads of other people at the party,
many of them dressed in 'faux pirate' outfits. This is when you
rummage your closet for stripey pants, puffy shirts, belts with large buckles and
a scarf. (Why these are in your closet is another
matter entirely.)
By way of example, we start off with the gent below left, who I first though was examining a shot of rum and was about to get some props from your ship's surgeon for really playing the part. But no, it is a digital camera and...I'm still not going there. We'll stick with indirect humor, word-play jokes and really stupid puns... But that hat! What is it with the hats with fake fur on the brim? Next we have a nice gathering of pirates that are definitely closet clothing raiders. I could nitpick, but they at least get the point across...unlike the girl in the next shot. (She's sticking her tongue out at me so she receives no mercy.) Someone must have told her it was a 20s party because she looks like a flapper in plastic purple shoes. (They didn't have plastic shoes like those in the 20s. To be correct for that period, her shoes should have been made out of Bakelite.) Last we find a couple that actually looks pretty good, but that's not why I posted the photo. I posted it because of the closet-raider girl's sword. Whoo! (My opinion of her just went up 3 points.) All kidding aside, it's nice the folks do come out and support the historical site, dressing up as well as they can to get into the party theme.
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Speaking of clothing, I noticed a guy with a pirate T-shirt that I liked. (Below left - sorry it's so glaringly washed out, I wanted to try and adjust it so you could see the T.) Now, I have three or four pirate T-shirts that are sort of similar to this, but that is no reason not to want another one. My old pappy used to say you can never have too many T shirts, especially when it's this hot out. (I think I liked the color as much as anything.) I happened to mention that I liked the shirt to Shay which is something you should be cautious of doing. Shay is not afraid to talk to anyone about anything, which is admirable in a way. So she promptly got up and went over to ask the guy where he got his shirt from. Not only that, but she asked him to loan her a pen and paper so she could write it down! And he did! If it were me, I wouldn't have had the pen or the paper, much less have known where I got the shirt from unless it was printed right on the shirt. "Uh... I think I got it from... the...mall?...somewhere?"
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Photo: MAD Magazine, "Botch Casually and
the Sumdunce Kid",Issue 136, p. 8
Not long after all that, the buffet was opened. Our
group was naturally the first in line. (Being so close, we knew the exact
moment that the chow was served.) The food was excellent, nary a tin foil
container of mostacholi nor plastic tray of dry chicken in sight. Beyond
that, I didn't recall much about it. However, Shay is a gourmet who
loves to taste dishes and then figure out what is in them and how to reproduce
them. So
she actually remembered the food, allowing me to add detail to this Journal. I will also use my recently acquired Spanish skills to
interpret them for you so that I can add something to it. First up was a rice cassoulet
(cassoulet de arroz - cassolet is a fancy name for casserole). Next were
potatoes
sautéed in herbs and spices (patatas saltadas en hierbas y
especias), several
salads including tabouli, caesar, and a fruit salad with grapes, apples
& chopped oranges (varias ensaladas incluyendo tabouli, caesar, y
bucles de la 'Froot'), many wonderful breads (muchos panes maravillosos)
and short ribs (Danny Devito).
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Photo: Mission The food line got quite long once we made people aware that the buffet was open. Many took to drinking instead of waiting which led to bad decision- making. For example, several women decided they wanted to pose with pictures with the rowdy pirates camped in the corner of the tent. They would come over to the table, drinks in hand and ask nicely if we would all pose with them, leading to group shots like at right.
You'll notice that the Crimson Corsair figures prominently in the "women & pirates photos' seen above and below. You might think that this is because he is a charming rogue. You might think that, but once you see the photo below right, you might find an even more compelling reason for his popularity with the ladies. (Still, he could probably give a few valuable pointers to Sam and Jay at Put-in-Bay.)
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Then again, Crimson has the sort of friends who unexpectedly bring him gifts of beer, so we would not be wise to underestimate his charm. (Nobody brought your surgeon gifts of beer, for example.) (Hint, hint.) (Single malt scotch is even better.) (Hint.)
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Photo: Mission We now come to the section of the journal that I have been waiting to tell you guys about since I started. I've practically been squirming in my seat to unleash an important new concept into the world of pirate re-enacting and 'faux pirate' costuming. I wish I could claim credit for it, but that belongs (as far as I know) to Charlie. Yes, we also finally get to Charlie, of whom I've been promising to tell you about. I actually don't really have that much that I can tell you about him, other than he sometimes gets a devious twinkle in his eye. (Shay really liked this.) I suspect that is an indication of something going on in Charlie's mind like the new phrase I keep teasing you with here. If you really want insight into Charlie, though, check out his pinkie in the photo at right. Yes, Charlie is the kind of guy who drunks rum on the porch out of a earthenware mug with an extended pinky. Having met him, I can say that this is not snobbery, it's a sly wink at propriety.
So what is this concept? Well, it's a term to Charlie came up with for the women who dress in slinky, 'faux pirate' clothes that no period woman would have been caught dead in: prostiteers. Maybe it's because we had been drinking so much rum, but that just struck me as so clever and funny when he said it.
The pirate table embraced this term and hooted at several girls who dressed in prostiteer garb. I think the best example was the statue posted at the front entrance, so we'll start with her. Yes, white low riders, a Captain Morgan coat, stripey topped boots with ginormous buckles, an open man's shirt provocatively tied, a huge white feather and, the pièce de résistance, dark sunglasses. (She wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes among 17th and 18th c. pirates, no matter what 21st c. popular culture suggests.) The rest of the photos are mostly of the same two girls. Lest you think otherwise, I am not insinuating that they were anything other than girls out having a good time dressed as our plastic model might have done in her off hours (if her clothes weren't made of plastic, that is.)
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As I mentioned, a lot of unattached women wound up at the
pirate table. Maybe they thought that pirates were the 'bad boys' of the
event. (Oh, if they only knew the truth.) However, one
of them wound up spending a lot of time talking with Shay (at left).
I didn't actually hear any of the conversation, so I asked Shay about it.
It turns out this woman's name was Cathy and she was a contractor of some kind who
had moved here from Texas to work in Washington DC. I believe Shay said she had
two kids (a boy and a girl). Both Cathy and Shay had been to
the National
Cryptology Museum and were interested in it, which made me wonder just
who Cathy consulted for. She also shared Shay's interest in planes including the AT-6 (a
plane Shay used to fly), the Enigma - which is something of a riddle to me
- and Gary Powers' spy plane, which played with the band U-2. (I
think that's what Shay said.) Knowing I'd have a lot of space to fill, I
asked if she would give me further details, and she replied that the rest
of it was "girl stuff." (Means 'No.')
By this time the tent was fairly well filled with party attendees and it seemed like the fundraiser for the Lockhouse was going to be a bright success. (Below left.) Someone came over to our table and asked us if we wanted to get up in front of the crowd and perform while the band took their break (which I'm sure would have been an absolutely embarrassing debacle, based on the low levels of rum remaining in the three bottles on the table.) Fortunately, it occurred to Blackjohn that Cuisto Mako still had his hurdy-gurdy. So Cuisto got it and stood in for the band, providing a bit of the music of the (16)70s and 80s to provide a nice authentic touch to the evening. (Below right.)
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Eventually, like all good things, this one had come to an end.
There was A Damned Confusion amongst us! Rogues a plotting - Talk of
Separation (above left). Absurdly silly ideas for pictures
starting springing into your surgeon's mind (above right -
particularly note Blackjohn's expression.) Even the fish mug complained
about being tired of chatting with the drunken, plastic frog pirate
centerpiece. Since Shay and I had an hour's drive or so ahead of us, I had stopped drinking hours ago,
making the discussion sound less
like witty banter and more like silly drunk talk. So we toasted the
evening, said our goodbyes and bid everyone a fine evening.
Epilogue: Being the two pictures the surgeon didn't manage to work into the main text as well as the photographer credits. Pretty lame, isn't it? That's why it's at the bottom of the last page instead of on its own page. See how that works?
As ever, I must first thank the photographers who allow me to use their photos.
BLACKJOHN
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MISSION
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Usually there are too many photos to use, but I actually had to resort to stealing some photos from Michael and Kate's Fall 2009 Lockhouse shots to fill space. I stuck that photo of Dave for no reason - he didn't take any photos, but I wanted that in the journal somewhere. ;) |
MISSION
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KATE & MIKE Photo: Someone |
I want to thank Blackjohn for trying to warn me not to come to this event and then being so inviting anyhow. I had long wanted to make it to the Lockhouse. I had been hoping to meet the surgeon re-enactors who have shown up to past Lockhouses with their gear, but neither of them made it to this event. Instead, we had a good time with the Pirate Brethren. I'm even tempted to check out the Fall Lockhouse, which was John's suggested alternative. I leave you with the classically posed crew of the Pirate Brethren below. Well, the first one is classically posed, the second one is pure Blackjohn.
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July 2011, Although the Surgeon's Journal has been upgraded to the new page format which eliminated the old titles, I didn't want to completely lose that title graphic which I probably spent more time than I like to think about creating. So here it is for your viewing pleasure. (This was one of the more garish ones, eh?)
