THE PRIVATEER ( . . . JUST AN OLD PIRATE!)

Pirates! Yes, pirates or (privateers)…the world of pirate reenactment! My two favorite pirate films from when I was a child were Captain Blood and the Crimson Pirate, starring Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster, respectively. I thrilled to their adventures as a youngster and as luck would have it, I was presented an opportunity to “play” pirate with an offshoot group of Bjornstad’s members. The Buccaneers of Bjornstad is a group of freebooters, privateers, bilge rats, scalawags and wenches. Known for their accurate dark ages and medieval reenactment, the Buccaneers of Bjornstad bring the same high calibre attention to detail as The Vikings of Bjornstad and Companie di Bjornstad’s earlier time period portrayals.

Age not withstanding, I happen to like the guy..I really wanted to be an astronaut or a swashbuckler when I was a child…so, the thought of portraying one as an adult just tickled me.

My pirate persona is a black-hearted, black clothed, silver-haired ruffian, who’s seen years of service on ships (coincidently, I was an owner of a 27 ft. sloop back in the mid-’70’s, so I do have some sailing credentials). He can navigate with the best of them and in his younger days would lay on sails with the rest of his scurvy crew.

The “Original” Cap’n Ed character dates back in my service club days with the Kiwanis International organization. The inspiration for him came as a costumed character for a Halloween dinner/dance and fundraiser. I put him to bed for a number of years, but I guess there’s a little pirate still left in me, hence his current “reincarnation”.

He’s dashing and debonair, with an easy grin and prone to falling into his cups when drinking too much grog and fancying the ladies. Not quite rich enough to retire, he still plies his particular brand of charm to the shipping lanes from Tortuga to the Spanish Main. The Spaniards have marked him as a criminal who has sent dozens of their galleons to the bottom of the sea, after removing the booty from their ships. While he is not in love with gold, he appreciates the things it can do for himself and his pirate brethren. ‘Ware, Dredd Cap’n Ed, the privateer…the scourge of the Caribbean!”