Letters to the Editor
This is the full letter and response as printed (in highly edited form) in Issue #4.
To the Editor:
I found J.L. Kettering's article on the "peroidness" of pirates ("Argh! Here there be Pirates", Spring 2005) to be an absolutely fascinating and well-written column. (Not to mention extremely topical, as that subject has been discussed in depth on more than one Internet message board.) I am a little saddened, however, that the author did not quote his source references. I realize that there may well be space constraints, but at the same time, his material was so well presented that it left me wanting to dive into my own research project. As I myself portray a pirate persona at faire, it is a subject of great personal interest, and something I am always trying to learn more about. Had Mr. Kettering presented a short list of "suggested reading" books, articles or sources, or at least mentioned where he got his facts from, it would have been greatly beneficial to those of us (oh okay... me) who wish to create personas that more accurately reflect the time frame in which Renaissance Faires attempt to depict.
In a more severe sense, such a listing of references would have lent much needed credence to Mr. Kettering's commentary. Without references, the author leaves himself open to rebuttal and contradiction from those who think they know better. For example, in his article, Mr. Kettering suggests that a pirate with a peg leg would be an unlikely occurrence. However, were one to read "A General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates" by Captain Charles Johnson, they would find in the chapter describing the life of Captain England the following passage: "...a fellow with a terrible pair of whiskers, and a wooden leg, being stuck round with pistols, like the man in the almanack with darts, comes swearing and vapouring upon the quarter-deck..." (Conway Maritime Press, 1998, pg. 88) This reference does not dispute the author's conviction that such a thing would be rare, but it does suggest that primitive prosthetic devices did indeed exist among pirates.
My point is this: Mr. Kettering's article was without doubt well researched, well presented and in the end, favorable to the "popular" portrayal of pirates at faire. Had he gone the extra yard and listed references or presented a suggested reading list, any nay-sayers or detractors would at least be forced into doing their own research before denouncing him, and those of us who desire to portray the most accurate representation as possible (and even those who don't) would have an idea as to where we may glean a few insights into what it is we wish to do. It is one thing to write an article and assume that because it is in print the common reader will accept it at face value, and quite another to back it up with specific references. I believe that the staff of the RRR would be well served to mention where their facts come from in future issues.
Sincerely,
Eric S. Voecks
Response
Good Erik,
First let me thank you for your praise. The writing I do for “RRR” is to be enlightening and so I hope, entertaining. Yes I do a lot of research on such articles and usually I ask the gentle reader to do as you were inclined to do to jump in and to do some research themselves if they are so moved. As a re-enactor/educator this is one of my goals. The methods I use for research if you are interested will be covered in an upcoming Article “In search of the Past.”
Sometimes when writing an article or simply doing research on a specific topic is like finding ones way through a maze. Often one is drawn to other topics and subjects in search of the often elusive “truth” as it were. Sometimes more often than not one has to be prepared to look outside of the box. In fact to reference one point of the Article “Argh here there be Pirates” I make mention of the loss of limb being replaced by a prosthetic as not being as prevalent as it sometimes is conceived to be. Yes peg legs and hooks on sailors, pirates and people with loss of limb did occur, however what source did I use to come to the conclusion such was not all that common?
The American Civil War…Here we have great records of loss of limb and records of Amputations done by doctors and surgeons. It is a very morbid read and there are some very detailed accounts of the operations, infections and the survival rates. I have seen pictures of a surgeon’s bullet from this war and it sent shivers down my very spine.
(Note: A surgeon’s bullet is a bullet found at a Civil war battle site that has teeth marks in it, this is also where the saying Bite the bullet comes from, as the surgeon would give the patient a bullet to literally bite on as he cut off the injured limb)
I looked here for information as I know that amputation and the death rate from such an operation was well documented.
On a Pirate ship without a real doctor having such done by a carpenter or a cook with unclean tools and conditions and no anesthetic my hypothesis is that very few would have survived the procedure and the possible almost probable infection, to wear such based on the information I have read concerning similar procedures done in the American Civil War. Such men who did survive had to be of very strong constitution and in my opinion had a band of angels on their side. Even today on a modern battlefield with all the wonders of modern medicine and modern surgical techniques the operation is a dangerous one. Amputation is an operation of last resort to quote my Brother a Retired Major in the US Army Med Corp
The study of history and the writing of such is often like working a puzzle sometimes we find the information we need right in front of us at others however we need to do some serious searching, and even then we may not always find the Holy Grail if you will.
As to sources I used well you actually listed a few that were used, I also used a few Internet sources like the Labyrinth, the World book encyclopedia, and the Fictional sources I quoted such as Treasure Island.
Another issue about the listing of sources well in some cases the list of such is well over two pages long. To give you an idea…Not only were books, Internet sites, encyclopedias used but also various paintings as well.
Issues that I researched for the article were many from the time frames pirates existed in, laws and treaties concerning such, maritime flags and their meanings, ships and histories, biographies of famous pirates and so much more. It is very rare that the truth of the past be revealed in one place. Just as an archeologist must dig and sift through tons of dirt and debris so must a writer of a historical article or book do the same. Even then sometimes all we can do is make an educated guess
The difference is instead of dirt we are looking at paintings, literature some good some not so good trying to produce a picture of what is was like or how it was and in some cases the best we can do is come up with more questions.
What I will say is if you or any reader is curious about the sources of any article I or any of the authors here at “RRR” write please feel free to send a letter to the Editor referencing the specific article and we shall do our best to comply with the revealing of our sources.
Respectfully,
J.L. Kettering
