Dead men tell no tales or do they.......

I usually try to blog a few haunted stories before Halloween but I only had a chance to tackle two since I have been so busy but they are fantastic haunts and both from Georgia.   

Ghostly chuckles, objects shifting about, and pounding footsteps are just part of what goes on at the very haunted Pirates' House in Savannah, Georgia which today is a very popular restaurant and a museum (kind of).

The food is said to be divine but even the best food will not distract from the paranormal activity the house has to share.  Privateers wandering around in the basement, ghosts of pirates hanging around upstairs, drunken calls from Captain Flint asking for more rum, dining chairs being rearranged nightly, a sense that the spirits are watching you, and a general sense of feeling ill while inside the building have all been reported.

The apparitions haunting The Pirates' House are, of course, you guessed it, blood-thirsty pirates.  It is also said to be visited by seadogs, sailors, and privateers.  Arr!

Back in the day, in 1753, the Pirates' House was a gathering spot for degenerate captains, beastly criminals, merchant marines, intoxicated sea rovers, buccaneers, and a few exceedingly villainous inhabitants of Savannah.

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On a side note, the Pirates' House is the oldest standing building in Georgia.  Amazing, I know!

Savannah is also home to many underground tunnels built underneath the city at different times and for different reasons.  There is a tunnel/basement underneath the Pirates' House which is believed to be used for kidnapping, trafficking liquor, and to dump dead bodies during the Yellow Fever.  This tunnel stretched over a block and opened out near the Savannah River.  Now back to the haunted Pirates' House........Wait a minute, another side note, supposedly  The Pirates’ House was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novel, “Treasure Island.”

There is no chance you will see me
in this basement!

Okay, now, because sailing was a risky business to be in, not many would voluntarily head out on these voyages but the ships needed crew members.  The Pirates' House was a good place to "recruit" sailors for the openings that had to be filled.

It was fine if no one was eager to volunteer, captains and crew members of ships would provide unfathomable amounts of the finest rum to the able-bodied men at the Pirates' House in an attempt to get them drunk and then just carry them through the underground tunnel beneath the Pirates' House to their ships waiting at the water's edge of the Savannah River. If this tactic failed, these seafaring scoundrels would simply drug the men or flat out knock them unconscious and hog-tie them in order to carry them off to the high seas.  What ever worked.  This practice was outlawed in 1811 by the way.

The men would wake up to find that they had been taken prisoner and forced to work on the ship of the crew who claimed them.

If they did not want to work, that was fine too!  The nefarious buccaneers had no problem to "blow the man down" because there was always plenty of room for them at Davy Jones' Locker-i.e. they were tossed overboard.  One of the most bizarre tales is that of a local police man who came in for a drink after work, he ended up in China for the next two years.

The main evildoers of these behaviors were the French and English Privateers because they felt that they were above the law.

In fact, many had permission from the English government to attack and plunder enemy ships and slaughter the ship's crew members as long as they shared their ill-gotten booty with the English government.


This was referred to as a letter of marque.   This letter of marque was not a 100% guarantee.  The infamous Scottish sailor, Captain William Kidd, had a letter of marque but his government decided to charge him with piracy and executed him anyway.  Blimey!

Another story goes something like this.  While at the Pirates' House, six American sailors were attacked by French Privateers.  Two of the American sailors died and a French privateer was also killed during the brawl.

Another interesting note, it is said that the famous French privateer, Jean Lafitte, stayed at The Pirates’ House many times between dates aboard ship.  You will not be seeing his ghost there as he is off haunting his blacksmith shop in the French Quarter.  

So that is the end of this.  I would not be surprised by the accounts of unearthly activity being reported given the substantial amount of violent acts that took place at the Pirates' House.  Exaggerated folklore or true story?

Another post about Robert Louis Stevenson here.

More about pirates and Jean Lafitte here.

The original pirate of the Caribbean.

The Mystery of History volume 4 brings us to more cool history.  Visit Bright Ideas Press to pick up your copy of the Mystery of History volume 4 here.   You will love it!

Jean Lafitte National Park

Learning about the War of 1812 has brought our attention to a debonair, cultured, French pirate named Jean Lafitte.  He was literally the King Pirate.  He was one of the last pirates to make a name for himself in the Caribbean before he died February 5, 1823.  This is how the story goes.

Jean Lafitte and his brother, Pierre, led an organized group of pirates on a small island in Louisiana (1810).  His cover business was a blacksmith shop located in the French Quarter of Louisiana.

Lafitte's blacksmith shop is the oldest bar in the US today.  This structure has been there since 1700.

They seized ships, stole the cargo from the ships, and smuggled the goods illegally into Barataria Bay which is a bay/island off the Gulf of Mexico located between Empire, Grand Isle, and Louisiana.

Map 1813 of Grand Isle and Grand Terre

You have to remember the time frame here.  This is during the time of the War of 1812.

The US had just imposed a trade embargo with regards to merchant ships in this area so while the new settlers of The Louisiana Territory were happy to have Lafitte smuggling in all sorts of exotic goodies, the federal government, however, was not.  Imagine that, the government not happy with something.

Lafitte was so successful smuggling in the goods that the Governor of Louisiana offered a $500 reward to anyone who captured him.  Lafitte was amused at this idea and made a counteroffer of $1000 for anyone who captured the governor.

The news of Lafitte spread throughout the colonies and back to Britain.  King George III wrote a letter to Lafitte promising him citizenship and land if he would join their side.  The king also made it clear that is he declined, his island and everything and everyone on it would be destroyed.  Lafitte ended up going to New Orleans to warn the Americans that the English were coming.  Turns out, Lafitte favored the Americans over the English.

In the end, that did him little good.  The Americans responded to the warning about the English coming by locking up Lafitte's men and raiding the tiny island.  Andrew Jackson realized New Orleans was not prepared for a British attack so Lafitte and his men were released on the condition that they assist the U.S. Navy against the Brits.  Lafitte and his band of pirates are the reason New Orleans did not fall to the British.

Lafitte and Pierre moved to Galveston, Texas (1817) where they started up a pirate colony (around 1,000 people).  It is interesting to note Lafitte was the first known European settler in Galveston.
Lafitte made money hand over fist selling contraband, smuggling, selling slaves, and open piracy.

He built a home which he named Maison Rouge (red house).

Located at 1417 Harborside, Galveston, Texas

In 1821, Lafitte was forced to leave Galveston as the result of one of his men attacking an American ship.  He did leave but not before he burned down the town behind him.

Allegedly, Lafitte had buried much of his treasures in parts of Galveston and New Orleans.  No one has claimed to have found any of those treasures.  

Now for my favorite part.  The hauntings.  I love a good ghost story.  It is said that the ghost of swashbuckler Jean Lafitte still roams around Galveston Island, especially in and around his house.  The most commonly reported sightings are of ghostly figures and lights; balls of light in random colors such as blue, white, red, and yellow have been seen.  Apparently the neighbors say that these ghostly figures and balls of light are such a common occurrence, they do not pay them any attention any more.

There are also multiple reports of screams, voices, and mumbling that are unexplained.  Perhaps the most frightening accounts (to me) are the hounds.
Reportedly, the Maison Rouge is also home to a pack of supernatural black dogs with flaming eyes.  Reports of growling, barking, and the smell of wet dogs have been reported.  Seeing these dogs is considered an omen of impending disaster...........Legend has it that Pirate King Jean Lafitte had several black dogs, he called devil dogs, which he used for hunting.  These dogs were trained to hunt animal and humans.

Did I mention that Lafitte's blacksmith shop is also haunted?  It is according to the locals.  Reports of manifestations, haunted women's restroom, furniture moving, piano playing with no one there, and so on.

Multiple people have said they have seen Jean Lafitte himself in the fire place and in dark corners.  People have also claimed to see an image of a woman in a mirror on the second floor.  It is also said a male and female also maneuver around the place.  Sounds like my kind of place!

Take a swamp tour.
Read more here.
Learn more about lost loot.
More on the haunted blacksmith's shop and here.

Voyages of the Vikings

We are about to take an adventure to the Middle Ages to meet up with the Vikings.   The word Viking conjures up all kinds of images.  Images of pirates, raiders, explorers, and barbarians wearing horned-helmets.  For the most part, these images are correct minus the horned-helmets.  Historians believe that the horned-helmets depicted in most pictures would have been hazardous and cumbersome in the close-quarter style Viking combat.  Many Vikings were in fact dirty, crazy-haired pirates that took whatever they wanted from whomever they wanted whenever they wanted but many lived on farms raising pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, geese, and chickens.  They grew different kinds of grains and various types of vegetables.  The Vikings lived in long houses made from wood, stone, or blocks with thatched roofs.  Their clothing was simple.  Men wore tunics and trousers and women wore long dresses with aprons.  Vikings made their clothing from wool, linen, and animal skins.  (Information can be found here).

Here are a few books and other resources that I have found so far for our study.

I hope this will be enough. 

This is a simple, fun game I found to print off and play.  Mostly it was about the routes that the Vikings took during their explorations.  Great mapping skills.

BBC primary history-Vikings

resources for teaching

Viking Quest game

I also purchased Viking notebook pages from CurrClick produced by The Notebook Nook.

We are going to be learning about daily life, exploration, boats, weapons, and the places that the Vikings explored and discovered.

Voyages of the Vikings

We are about to take an adventure to the Middle Ages to meet up with the Vikings.   The word Viking conjures up all kinds of images.  Images of pirates, raiders, explorers, and barbarians wearing horned-helmets.  For the most part, these images are correct minus the horned-helmets.  Historians believe that the horned-helmets depicted in most pictures would have been hazardous and cumbersome in the close-quarter style Viking combat.  Many Vikings were in fact dirty, crazy-haired pirates that took whatever they wanted from whomever they wanted whenever they wanted but many lived on farms raising pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, geese, and chickens.  They grew different kinds of grains and various types of vegetables.  The Vikings lived in long houses made from wood, stone, or blocks with thatched roofs.  Their clothing was simple.  Men wore tunics and trousers and women wore long dresses with aprons.  Vikings made their clothing from wool, linen, and animal skins.  (Information can be found here).

Here are a few books and other resources that I have found so far for our study.

I hope this will be enough. 

This is a simple, fun game I found to print off and play.  Mostly it was about the routes that the Vikings took during their explorations.  Great mapping skills.

BBC primary history-Vikings

resources for teaching

Viking Quest game

I also purchased Viking notebook pages from CurrClick produced by The Notebook Nook.

We are going to be learning about daily life, exploration, boats, weapons, and the places that the Vikings explored and discovered.

Happy St. Padraig's Day.......

I found a few interesting little known facts about St. Patrick's Day and wanted to share them as they are quite fascinating, and it is St. Patrick's Day.

Factiods:


~St. Patrick's birth name was Maewyn Succat.  After he became a priest he changed his name to Patricius.  He was born in Wales to Roman parents around AD 387 (late 4th century)-i.e. not Irish.

~St. Patrick allegedly never wore anything green as he preferred blue, light blue to be exact.  The color green was associated with St. Patrick's Day after Ireland declared independence in the 18th century.


~Legend has it St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland but science has determined that Ireland is not an ideal environment for snakes as it is too cold to host reptiles dating back to the Ice Age.

~St. Patrick was kidnapped at 14 by Irish pirates.

~Paddy versus Patty.  In America, we refer to St. Patrick's Day as St. Patty's Day but in Ireland Patty is a shortened version of the female name Patricia which has nothing to do with St. Patrick, however, the Irish spelling for Patrick is Padraig and when you shorten Padraig you get Paddy.

~Catch that leprechaun.  The mascots for St. Paddy's Day according to Irish folklore are mischievous, shoemaking fairies who are known for hiding their riches at the end of rainbows. 

If you catch a leprechaun, you are granted three wishes in exchange for their freedom. 

An odd tidbit about leprechauns is they are all male, no female leprechauns according to Irish folklore.

~Did you know shamrocks are not four-leaf clovers?  Shamrocks are three-leaf clovers and the national emblem of Ireland.  The word shamrock comes from Gaelic seamrog which means little clover.  While there is not an exact shamrock plant, scientist agree that the term shamrock refers to Trifolium Repens a.k.a. white clover.  Some believe it also refers to Triolium Dubium a.k.a. sucking clover.  Both species have leaves separated into three leaflets (trifolium). 

There are at least 300 species that belong to the trifolium family.  A clover is a trifoliate.  You may occasionally find four-leaf, five-leaf, and even six-leaf cloves.  Four-leaf clovers are thought to bring good luck but your chances of finding one are 1 in 10,000.  So all shamrocks are clovers but not all clovers are shamrocks. 

~Interestingly more Irish live in the US than in Ireland.  It is estimated that 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry.  The population of Ireland is 4.7 million.

~And a final very random fact I found about not about St. Patrick's Day but about Ireland is that divorce was not permitted in Ireland until 1997.  That is mind-blowing to me.

So there you have, random facts and trivia for St. Paddy's Day.
A few other post from Horsing Around at Home for preschoolers and more facts and trivia can be found here.

Fun trivia and random facts about Saint Patrick and his day......

~What is the deal with green?  The color green is associated with Saint Patrick's Day but is really a representation of the Irish Independence movement in the late 18th century.  Saint Patrick's color was actually light blue.

~Did you know Saint Patrick was not even Irish?  He was actually born in Great Britain to Roman parents sometime during the 4th century (?390 A.D.).

~And his name at birth was actually Maewyn Succat.  He changed his name after becoming a priest.  I think that was a good idea.  Saying Happy Maewyn Succat Day is a little harder to pronounce.

~What is up with all that pinching?  Irish immigrants in the US started this tradition.  Apparently, they believe that wearing green would make you invisible to the leprechauns and fairies.  So obviously, if you are not wearing green, you get a pinch.

~Have you ever seen a female Leprechaun?  According to Irish folk tales, Leprechauns are only male.

~Saint Patrick wrote Confessio of Patrick.  He writes that when he was 16, Irish pirates captured him from his home in Great Britain and took him off to Ireland and forced him into slavery.  It took six long years for him to escape.



~Even though he was enslaved in Ireland, he returned to Ireland sometime in the year 432.  Saint Patrick was the first to bring Christianity to Ireland.

~Irish legend has it that Saint Patrick used a three-leafed plant (shamrock) as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when he went to introduce Christianity.


~If you get a chance to visit Ireland, see if you can any snakes on the Emerald Isle.  Unless you are at the zoo, you probably will not be able to find any snakes.  According to the legends, Saint Patrick banished all of the snakes to the sea.

~Can you image that in one single day all around the world over $250 million dollars worth of beer is sold.  Whoa......

~Saint Patrick died on March 17, 461 A.D.  People all over the world celebrate this day as Saint Patrick's Day.  They may not know exactly why, they might be drinking green beer all day and night, and you will get pinched if you are not wearing green.  Sounds like fun to me!

May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.