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Queens of the Sea #10: Striped Shirt and Vest for Mary Read

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Welcome to day ten of the Queens of the Sea series, part of the Random Magic Pirates book tour! Here is the mini-bio for today’s pirate, provided again by Lyrika:

Mary Read: The Last Woman Standing

Mary Read was an English pirate and contemporary of pirate Anne Bonny. She’d spent her early days as a soldier and innkeeper, and her character was marked by bravery and resoluteness, as this snippet of a story from her short but tumultuous life illustrates:

An occurrence soon happened that put the attachment of Mary to a severe trial. Her lover having quarrelled with one of the crew, they agreed to fight a duel on shore.

Mary was all anxiety for the fate of her lover, and she manifested a greater concern for the preservation of his life than that of her own; but she could not entertain the idea that he could refuse to fight, and so be esteemed a coward.

Accordingly she quarrelled with the man who challenged her lover, and called him to the field two hours before his appointment with her lover, engaged him with sword and pistol, and laid him dead at her feet. (From: The Pirates Own Book (1837), by Charles Ellms)

She was one of only three people standing to defend the ship she sailed on when Captain Jonathan Barnet’s crew attacked in an October 1720 battle. Mary Read, Anne Bonny and an unnamed seaman fought off the pirate hunters, while the rest of the crew remained in the hold.

The battle ended in the capture of the ship, Revenge, and all her crew; Mary and Anne were both imprisoned and Anne’s lover, Jack ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham was hanged. Anne vanished from historical records and her final fate is a mystery, but Mary died of a fever.

I like the contrast here between her tattered striped shirt and that spiffy black and silver vest – the intended implication is that the vest is, shall we say, a new acquisition.

Take my poll and let’s choose the Queens of the Queens of the Sea! They’ll both expire on the 28th, but I’m not sure when, so if they’re not closed by noon PST on the 28th, that’s when I’ll pick the winners.

poll by twiigs.com

poll by twiigs.com

The contests will be open until May 27th, 11:59 PM Pacific time. So if you haven’t entered, today and tomorrow are your last chance! Click here for the chance to win an original drawing, for those of you who can give me an address if you win, and click here for the chance to design a pirate outfit, open to everyone!

Check out the tour schedule here! And for more information about Random Magic, here’s the trailer for the book.

Also, check out the Rum + Plunder treasure hunt for more pirate prizes!

Queens of the Sea #8: Green Justacorps for Anne Dieu-Le-Veut

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Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Welcome to day eight of the Queens of the Sea series, part of the Random Magic Pirates book tour! Here is the mini-bio for today’s pirate, provided again by Lyrika:

Anne Dieu-Le-Veut: The Brave Buccaneer

A buccaneer during the Golden Age of Piracy. She was originally from France, and deported from France to Tortuga by the order of governor Betrand d’Ogeron de la Bouere, himself a former adventurer and pirate.

She fought a duel with a Dutch pirate who’d killed her first husband. He was impressed with her courage in challenging him and asked her to marry him on the spot. He already had a wife whom he’d abandoned, but from that day forward they were recognized as partners and fought side
by side on raids, sharing command.

Anne had a reputation for being laconic, brave, and willful. She also didn’t back down, and this was how she earned her nickname (Anne Dieu-Le-Veut, or Anne What-God-Wants), as people said of her that what Anne wanted, God would make happen for her.

Although it was a common superstition at the time that a woman on board brought bad luck, Anne’s presence was considered lucky. Reportedly born circa 1650, she disappeared from recorded history in the early 1700s.

In my imagination, there was certainly at least one time in Anne’s life where what she most wanted was a sweet pirate coat and gloriously shiny boots. Who can say whether or not the Almighty granted that particular request, or indeed any of them; at least I can, although it is rather too late for her to enjoy it. In any case, this kind of coat is called a justacorps, and it’s what we think of — or, at least, what I think of — when we think of over-the-top pirate captains from the Golden Age of Piracy.

So, I’m quite behind on my pirate series, I’m sorry to say; today was supposed to be the last day, but I still have two left, so I’ll do one tomorrow and one on the 26th, which is when the final poll will be open.

Don’t forget to enter my contests! Click here for the chance to win an original drawing, for those of you who can give me an address if you win, and click here for the chance to design a pirate outfit, open to everyone!

Check out the tour schedule here! And for more information about Random Magic, here’s the trailer for the book.

Also, check out the Rum + Plunder treasure hunt for more pirate prizes!

Queens of the Sea #5: Blue Gown and White Cloak for Grace O’Malley

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Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Welcome to day five of the Queens of the Sea series, part of the Random Magic Pirates book tour! Here is the mini-bio for today’s pirate, provided again by Lyrika:

Grace O’Malley: The Rebel Chieftain

Grace O’Malley, or Gráinne Ní Mháille in Gaelic, was a de facto Irish clan chieftain and pirate. She challenged English merchant ships and interrupted trading routes, which brought her to the attention of reigning monarch Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth sent a military commander to deal with the trouble, and he reportedly killed Grace’s oldest son, turned her second son against her and imprisoned her youngest son. Grace wrote to request an audience with Elizabeth, and was granted one. They agreed on a truce, but the truce was brief.

The meeting is notable for its unusual nature, as it included a negotiation of terms between two of the 16th century’s most unusual and powerful women — one a queen of royal blood, and the other a
pirate queen of her own making.

You can read more about Grace O’Malley at Miss Page-Turner’s City Of Books on May 18th, as part of the Queens of the Sea series. (I’ll update the link after it’s been posted.)

I really wanted to try to draw something she could have worn for her meeting with Queen Elizabeth, but I can’t really make heads or tails of how that picture works — how about that cape’s neckline? In the end, I based the general design on a statue of Grace O’Malley that I thought was very beautiful.

Don’t forget to enter my contests! Click here for the chance to win an original drawing, for those of you who can give me an address if you win, and click here for the chance to design a pirate outfit, open to everyone!

Check out the tour schedule here! And for more information about Random Magic, here’s the trailer for the book.

Also, check out the Rum + Plunder treasure hunt for more pirate prizes!

I’m amused by the poll results so far…

poll by twiigs.com

Queens of the Sea #3: 1650s Doublet and Breeches for Jacquotte Delahaye

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Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Welcome to day three of the Queens of the Sea series, part of the Random Magic Pirates book tour! Here is the mini-bio for today’s pirate, provided again by Lyrika:

Jacquotte Delahaye: The Gambler

Jacquotte Delahaye was a 17th century French pirate, or buccaneer, and her hunting ground was the Caribbean
Sea.

She was originally from Haiti and turned to piracy after the death of
her family. She faked her own death and later returned under her own
name.

Her nickname was ‘Back from the Dead Red,’ because of her vivid red
hair and seeming ability to return from the grave.

You can read more about Jacquotte Delahaye at The Book Swarm on May 16th, as part of the Queens of the Sea series. (I’ll update the link after it’s been posted.)

Other sources say she was active around 1650 or so, and that she started out disguising herself as a man but later worked under her own identity — so I gave her men’s clothes, but cute ones. The doublet just doesn’t seem very nautical to me… maybe it could be for formal occasions. In any case, at this point we are just a couple of decades away from the kinds of clothes, like waistcoats and justacorps, commonly associated with the “golden age of piracy.”

Don’t forget to enter my contests! Click here for the chance to win an original drawing, for those of you who can give me an address if you win, and click here for the chance to design a pirate outfit, open to everyone!

Check out the tour schedule here! And for more information about Random Magic, here’s the trailer for the book.

Also, check out the Rum + Plunder treasure hunt for more pirate prizes!