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Ren Faire: Q&A with Captain Thomas Maclaren |
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Written by Paul Raymore
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Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
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Q&A with Captain Thomas Maclaren (aka Tom Riggins) of the Privateers of the Dauntless:
The Privateers of the Dauntless are dedicated to the preservation and education of maritime history of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their goal is to enlighten and open the eyes of both young and old to the colorful history of the merchant mariners and privateers of days past. The Dauntless, is a representation of a late 1500s square rigged ship centered around a scale, 45-foot tall, working main mast with upper and lower yard arms, rigging and sails. This along with a bell stand, helm, Cannons, and other ship board items stages the illusion of a full armed merchant ship.
Tahoe World: What kind of re-enactments of life at sea can spectators at the Truckee Renaissance Faire expect from the Privateers of the Dauntless?
 Captain Maclaren: We portray a Scottish Armed Merchant ship of the mid 1500s in port for trade and repairs after a long voyage. Folks may see the crew doing line work to repair rigging, the carpenter working on spars, the cooper repairing barrels, etc. You may even speak to the ships Surgeon as she checks her supplies for the next voyage.
We will have a “Life at Sea” presentation each day that will introduce various crew members and what they do to the folks in the shire, including navigational techniques. Our gunners will collect some youngsters and run them through the loading and firing of the cannon and you may catch the Captain and/or the ship’s Master demonstrating sword combat with live steel. The folks can come aboard the Dauntless and take a guided tour and learn much more about her and life at sea.
TW: Was there a real ship named the Dauntless?
CM: There have been many ships throughout history named Dauntless including some today, but our Dauntless is a fictitious ship, that could have sailed in the 1500s.
 TW: How about a real Captain Thomas Maclaren?
CM: Captain Maclaren is a fictitious character that has been modeled after such famous men as Admiral Sir Andrew Barton, Sir Francis Drake, and Captain Hawkins, all fighting privateer captains of the 1500s.
TW: What is a privateer? And how does one differ from a pirate or a merchant?
CM: The difference between a privateer and a pirate is subtle and the line was often crossed. As it were, most “pirates” were actually privateers or at least at some point carried the appropriate papers, but history saw them as crossing the line.
A pirate serves no one but himself and is out predominantly for his own profit. Pirates were often enticed by the freedom of the life. A privateer, on the other hand, has been presented with a letter of reprisal or letter of Marque (pronounced “mark”) by a government, and thus has license to harass the shipping of an enemy nation. Taking prize, sinking or burning, but mostly taking prize, as this is how they receive their compensation, through the spoils of what they took. To their own government and people these privateers were often heralded as heroes, but to the enemy they were no different than pirates. Many privateers were also merchants, most started that way, but by arming the ship they also became the war ships of the time. They could also carry cargo while being able to defend it from other enemy privateers or pirates. Often they would be hired to carry merchant cargo or escort other ships to protect them from the enemy and pirates.
 TW: What misconceptions do you find most people have about maritime history of the 16th and 17th centuries?
CM: That all the sailors dress and spoke like Johnny Depp and say Arrrrr. Folks transpose what we know and do today and assume that sailors of the 1500s had the same capabilities and tools. Also, that it was an easy fun filled life and that navigation was an exact science, when in fact it was a very difficult life and navigation was as much intuition, experience and educated guess as anything else.
 TW: Was life at sea back then glamorous? Or mostly just hard work and monotony?
CM: Yes! It was very hard work and many mariners died from disease or starvation, more than died in battle. It might be described as long periods of intense monotony punctuated by desperate hard work to keep from dying. Through storms or battle the sailors would have to work desperately hard to keep the ship from floundering.
A sailor rarely had much personal space, perhaps a little as 28 inches to sling his hammock in the 1700s. With long voyages and smooth sailing they may have a lot of time on their hands, which they would take up with hobbies such as carving, scrimshaw, detailed fancy line work, and music.
Glamorous possibly because of the adventure. Keep in mind most people lived out their whole lives never leaving the town they were born in. A sailor had seen many exotic and far away places. To sit in a tavern and listen to his tales, often embellished, would be as close to an adventure as most folks would ever get.
TW: Anything else you’d like to add?
CM: The Privateers of the Dauntless are the public face of the Sacramento Historical Maritime Educational Organization, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit educational organization. We educate students and adults on the historical maritime aspects, the life and times, through living re-enactment. We feel that history is far more interesting and engaging when brought alive this way and endeavor to inspire young people with maritime history and history in general as well.
Nautical history is the tie that crosses over to almost all other historical aspects as ships were the only means of travel and communication over sea. We also hope to inspire young people to experience the enjoyment, camaraderie and self-fulfillment of modern day sailing.
We are always seeking volunteers to perform as historical mariners as well as sponsors to help us fulfill our mission. For more information, see www.DauntlessPrivateers.org.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 September 2007 )
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