Talk Like a Pirate Day

Avast ye Hearties! September 19 is Talk Like A Pirate Day so I offer some sites to help you develop some pirattitude!

The picture is of Ching Shih, a famous female pirate in late Qing China. Ching Shih's real name is unknown as is where she was born. "She was born in 1785 and died at the age of 69 in 1844.

Zheng Yi belonged to a family of successful pirates who traced their criminal origins back to the mid-Seventeenth century. Following his marriage to Ching Shih, Zheng Yi used military assertion and his family's reputation to gather a coalition of competing Cantonese pirate fleets into an alliance. By 1804, this coalition was a formidable force, and one of the most powerful pirate fleets in all of China..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih

STORIES

Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26862/26862-h/26862-h.htm 

Blackbeard the Pirate ... and the Presumed Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/Blackbeard/

Blackbeard – Terror of the Sea
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pirates/bbeard.html

The Origins of the Compass Rose
http://www.gisnet.com/notebook/comprose.php

Pirates! Fact and Legend
http://www.piratesinfo.com/History_of_Piracy.asp

Women In History - Female Pirates
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/femalepirates/Female_Pirates.htm

Public Domain Books you may download for free.

Great Pirate Stories by Joseph Lewis French in 1922
https://archive.org/stream/greatpiratestori00fren#page/n5/mode/2up

The History of the Pirates published by Thomas Carey in 1825

https://archive.org/details/pirateshistory1825

Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts by Frank R. Stockton in 1919
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=stockton&book=buccaneers&story=_contents


MUSIC

Shanties and Sea Songs - Well shiver me timbers! This site offers a boatload of shanties, pilot verses and sea songs. There is also a treasure chest full of CD and book recommendations, and information on tall ships, pirates, and sailing books. You’ll be singing and sailing the seven seas in no time at all! http://shanty.rendance.org/index.php


CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

New England Pirate Museum – Educational material from Elementary School to High School, including historical perspectives and poems and biographies for teachers.
http://www.piratemuseum.com/educ.htm


CRAFTS

Jolly Roger Pirate Flag Poster
http://parenting.leehansen.com/Printables/Posters/jolly-roger-flag.pdf

Pirate Activities for Children – Make a Treasure Map or telescope, your own pirate ship and more!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/pirates/pirates.html

Family Crafts - Halloween is around the corner. Why not shiver their timbers with this pirate costume?
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/peoplecostumes/a/hcpiratecap.htm

DLTK- Kids - Make your own pirate, parrot or mouse bookmark.
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/pirates/mpiratebookmark.html

Pirate Sticker Sheets
http://parenting.leehansen.com/Printables/Stickers/pirate-stickers.htm


MISCELLANEOUS LINKS

What did Pirates eat and drink?
http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/Pirate_Food.html

Fun pirate foods for kids
http://recipehut.homestead.com/KidsRecipe.html

Pirate Fun Facts 
http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/Oceansoffun_Pirates.html

Pirate Jokes
http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/Pirate_jokes.html


Image courtesy of http://tinyurl.com/mqzll3

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace  ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

If You're Fond of Sand Dunes...

So begins one of my favorite old songs by Patti Page. I can still hear my father singing it all around the house when I was a child.

I am blessed to live fairly close to Cape Cod, or as we New Englanders call it, "The Cape." I am within a few hours’ drive and it is a sure sign if you are a tourist if you refer to it as Cape Cod. Since summer is beginning to wane here in Massachusetts I thought I would give you a taste of Old Cape Cod.

I am lucky enough to live close to the sea and the boats that will take you to either of the outer islands, beautiful Martha's Vineyard and quaint Nantucket. There is nothing like these two islands, filled with history and charm. This July I went over to 'the vineyard' for a few, gorgeous sun-filled days and reveled in a much slower pace.







View from the hotel overlooking Vineyard Haven. Ahhh, I could get used to this life very easily!

Days were spent biking from one end of the island to the other, picnicking in the park next to the Inkwell gazebo and grand Victorian houses dressed up in their finest colors to welcome visitors.



I love the tiny Gingerbread Houses at Oak Bluffs.

"Oak Bluffs became a Mecca for travelers from around the world as early as the beginning of the 1800‘s. It also became a center of the thriving 19th century Methodist movement.

In the area known now as the Martha's Vineyard Campground Meeting Association (MVCMA) or “The Campground“, members of the Methodist church would come each summer to pitch tents and have open air meetings. As these meetings became more and more popular, returning visitors began replacing the tents with small wooden buildings generally known now as Gingerbread Cottages. This name originated from the ornate molding and bright colors that these summer homes were painted and because of their quaint, almost storybook look. With the Methodist camp meetings taking place in the center, the campground expanded in a circular pattern around the meeting area until hundreds of the small cottages sprang up. Later a more permanent structure was built, called the Tabernacle. This covered open sided structure allowed speakers and meeting attendees to weather the elements and gave rise to a community center which is still in use today.

The campground Gingerbread cottages are cherished historic landmarks as well as very expensive real estate. Many are still family owned and passed on generation to generation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Bluffs,_Massachusetts

I defy anyone to say that the sunsets at Menemsha beach are not some of the most beautiful you have ever seen. This does not even begin to do it justice.

Scores of vacationers and locals gather at the beach, hours before evenings end. It is not only a tradition but an event! No PB&J sandwiches for these hardy souls. Folks set up table lined with fresh lobster, glasses of wine, and of course, cameras ready to snap the sun as she tickles the horizon. She seems to hang there for a moment, saying her last good-byes to the day, before she slips below the surface.

While at Menemsha waiting for the sun to set I spotted this young boy with a starfish. I hope he threw it back in the ocean after he shared his find with his friend.










I love lighthouses! This is Telegraph Hill on East Chop, Martha's Vineyard.


This lighthouse stands off shore at Aguinnah, also known as Gay Head.

















Stumbled upon this lovely shop while lazily window shopping on the last day. It is off a side street in Vineyard Haven and the garden that led to the shop was full of delightful statues.


Statue of smiling Buddha.

Statue of Ganesha


















Saw these scenes while biking to Edgartown. It was worth it to stop and capture them on camera.





























Heading home on the ferry...I can't wait to return.














The sun sets on a beautiful vacation!

Sit back, relax and have a listen to Patti Page sing.

Old Cape Cod

If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air
Quaint little villages here and there
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

If you like the taste of a lobster stew
Served by a window with an ocean view
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

Winding roads that seem to beckon you
Miles of green beneath a sky of blue
Church bells chimin' on a Sunday morn
Remind you of the town where you were born

If you spend an evening you'll want to stay
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

If you spend an evening you'll want to stay
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

[From her album: 'Greatest Hits' (Columbia)]