Pirate swords and weapons

[Jim McDougall]

Udo, this is an absolutely fantastic and wonderful entry, and thank you so much for putting all this together and the great illustrations.

You bring up an intriguing subject! these braces of "Queen Anne pistols" which have become virtually cliche' for the Blackbeard persona.
It makes sense that in these times, long before the famed 'six shooter', and single shot pistols, one would need multiples in case of misfire or needing more shots.

You bring up a good point, how did Blackbeard acquire not one, but six (a brace is a matching pair) of these seemingly select pistols?

It would appear that these 'Queen Anne' pistols with turn off barrels (had to be screwed off to reload) were intended as smaller pocket type pistols for the use of gentlemen as self defense. If I understand correctly they began in England about 1680s-90s with Huguenot makers and Andrew Dolop, a Dutch maker in England around 1695.

While the style was apparently known in England in this time, these seem to have been in use for years later, but these early ones are what seems depicted in the woodcuts in Johnson (1724).

Blackbeard is usually who I think of regarding these pistols, as you note, Black Sam Bellamy (the 'Whydah') was noted as wearing 4 dueling pistols in his sash. As you note, these were much larger pistols and hard to imagine 4 in a sash.....let alone on ribbons (as the one pistol found in that wreck had).

The book "General History of Pyrates" (Capt. Charles Johnson) is agreed to be by an unknown author, and with notable license, however it literally set the standard for the pirate persona ever since.

I noticed that Bartholomew Roberts, who became 'pirate' in 1719, the year after Blackbeards death, was noted in Johnson(1724, p.212) as having "...a sword in hand, and two pair of pistols slung over his shoulders".

It seems an interesting coincidence that both Blackbeard and Bellamy, both in the service of Hornigold, followed the practice of multiple pistols, in braces in either bandolier or ribbons.

Yet Roberts, after them, adopted the idea, it would seem independently.

So the question is:
Did pirates indeed wear braces of pistols as discussed ? was this a practice more widely known in these times? or was this exclusive to the pirate images of 'Capt. Johnson'?
Was Johnson (?) inspired by the 'Queen Anne' pistols which were likely known among gentlemen of his time in England and chose these smaller pistols as good candidates for braces of guns as illustrated in his book?

Obviously a number of the larger 'sun king' type guns would look ridiculous in a bandolier or strung on ribbons, rather like a bandolier of howitzer shells.


Great food for thought!!! Thank you again Udo!