Did You Know...
Many common folk don’t always know the terms or words used when it comes to the Renaissance Age and Privateer Era.
Below you will find several helpful links to web pages and sites that will give you definitions, lessons, and a little more information on what we do, the periods we represent, and exactly what some of us are saying.
Below you will find several helpful links to web pages and sites that will give you definitions, lessons, and a little more information on what we do, the periods we represent, and exactly what some of us are saying.
Renaissance Age - Late Dark Ages to Early Middle Ages
The Renaissance Age covers several eras of time. The Kingdom of Dragon Croft falls in the time between the late Dark Ages and the Early Middle Ages.
The reason why it was called the Dark Ages, was due to the decline of the Roman Empire. At one point, the term Dark Ages was meant for the whole Renaissance Age, but now the term is rarely used. You can read more on the Dark Ages HERE.
The Early Middle Ages was the time following the “Dark Ages”. This period of time lasted from 5th century to about 1000. This time is one of three periods, following it came the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. You can read more on the Middle Ages HERE.
The reason why it was called the Dark Ages, was due to the decline of the Roman Empire. At one point, the term Dark Ages was meant for the whole Renaissance Age, but now the term is rarely used. You can read more on the Dark Ages HERE.
The Early Middle Ages was the time following the “Dark Ages”. This period of time lasted from 5th century to about 1000. This time is one of three periods, following it came the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. You can read more on the Middle Ages HERE.
What is a Privateer?
Some people confuse Pirates and Privateers.
Pirates run and work on their own, and for their selves. They are outlaws of the water and mainly disliked by most other sea going merchants. While pirates steal, loot, and plunder, everyone is fair game.
Privateers on the other hand, are licensed by the King or Country which they hail from. Privateers carry Letters of Marque, which are signed and stamped by the King or Queen. Privateers are lettered to liberate funds, ships, and other assorted loot, only from pirates or other enemies of the crown.
Hence occasionally Privateers end up with items with skulls and crossbones. These have always been liberated from pirate vessels and are classed as spoils of war but not worn. As any person sporting Skulls and Bones, labels themselves as a pirate and is open to be clamped in irons, hung, keel hauled, and other forms of punishment or death.
For more information on Privateers, you can read the Wikipedia Article Here.
Pirates run and work on their own, and for their selves. They are outlaws of the water and mainly disliked by most other sea going merchants. While pirates steal, loot, and plunder, everyone is fair game.
Privateers on the other hand, are licensed by the King or Country which they hail from. Privateers carry Letters of Marque, which are signed and stamped by the King or Queen. Privateers are lettered to liberate funds, ships, and other assorted loot, only from pirates or other enemies of the crown.
Hence occasionally Privateers end up with items with skulls and crossbones. These have always been liberated from pirate vessels and are classed as spoils of war but not worn. As any person sporting Skulls and Bones, labels themselves as a pirate and is open to be clamped in irons, hung, keel hauled, and other forms of punishment or death.
For more information on Privateers, you can read the Wikipedia Article Here.
Other Odds & Ends
Sky Larking
Skylarking is another term...coming from the young men on the ship when not working would have a game of tag in the rigging...this was called "Skylarking".
Freezing the Balls off a Brass Monkey
Cannon balls made of iron were kept in place by a brass plate called a monkey...when the temperature dropped the brass would contract and the cannon balls would roll off...hence "Cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey"..
Phrases And How They Came About:
Here are some facts about the 1500s:
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn ' t even afford to buy a pot......they "didn' t have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low.
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell...Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, "Don ' t throw the baby out with the Bath water!"
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof... Hence the saying "It ' s raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That ' s how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.
Local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive... So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn ' t even afford to buy a pot......they "didn' t have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low.
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell...Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, "Don ' t throw the baby out with the Bath water!"
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof... Hence the saying "It ' s raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That ' s how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.
Local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive... So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
Sides of a Ship
The right side of a boat was called the starboard side due to the fact that the astronavigators used to stand out on the plank (which was on the right side) to get an unobstructed view of the stars. The left side was called the port side because that was the side that you put in on at the port. This was so that they didn't knock off the starboard.