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#1 |
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Join Date: May 2006
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A word encountered in a report of a pirate attack near Sumbawa in +/- 1850:-
"--- she carried eight lillas as well as one large caliber gun---" Does anybody know what a lillas is? I've looked at Portuguese, Dutch, Javanese, Malay, Classical Malay, Oxford on Historical Principles. Cannot find the word anywhere. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: May 2006
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The spelling is wrong.
It should be "lela", in use it would be "meriam lela". It was a type of Malay lantaka, a light swivel gun. Some say double barrelled and longer than a normal lantaka, others say single barrel, just another name for a lantaka. Mods, could you shift this to the Ethno Forum? Thanks. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NC, U.S.A.
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Thank you, Alan, for providing me with this interesting tidbit. As a collector of 'all things pirate', I was unaware of the name of the small, double barreled lantaka that almost looks like a pistol for use. Per haps this female of which you mention carried them in a bandolier, Blackbeard-style? Or just in a basket or bag (that was a lot of armament to go running around with!!)
Mark |
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#4 |
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Mark, "meriam" means "cannon" in Malay, some definitions of a lela give it as longer than a normal lantaka, some give it as doubled barrelled as well, so by either definition it was bigger than a normal lantaka, and a lantaka was a swivel gun used by boats, ships, canoes. It was not a pistol style weapon, but some of the smaller lantakas could be picked up by one man and carried.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Hi Alan and thanks for the clarification. I am actually mortified by the fact that I took your quote of the 'she' to be an actual female!!!
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#6 |
Lead Moderator European Armoury
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Posts: 9,694
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Moved ... and title edited, as i though you wished, Alan
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