Friday, August 10, 2012

Booty: Come Hell or High Water

So it looks like the good folks at Diageo, the company that makes and distributes Captain Morgan's Rum, are going to make the odd jumble of artifacts found over a year ago in Panama's Chagres River the remains of Henry Morgan's fleet.  And that, as this oh so well researched article from the Huffington Post lets us know, is just about that.

I've gnashed my teeth over this before so I won't trouble the Brethren with the many, many reasons why we are rushing to judgement by naming the artifacts as Morgan's.  I have yet to see an article that mentions carbon or any other reliable form of dating of these items.  As an old archaeologist that grinds my bones but, basically, what we have here is corporate sponsored history.  And those cannon and stuff are Morgan's, come hell or high water.

Click over to the article, which is basically just a mish-mash of quotes from other equally reliable news sources (Fox News and Popular Mechanics figure in the mix), if you are so inclined.  The only thing I can personally vouch for there are the pictures; those, it must be said, are quite lovely.

Header: The Ruyter map of the West Indies c 1747 via Wikimedia
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5 comments:

  1. Capt. John SwallowAugust 10, 2012 at 11:20 AM

    Funny how every discovery must be someone famous (or infamous) to make it of value...making it "famous to support the brand" is even more ridiculous.

    Of course, if Henry Morgan had been half the seaman they like to pretend he was, we wouldn't be having this discussion because he wouldn't have lost so many o' his own ships!. Anyone who can run two different ships aground on the same reef at two different times AND blow up his own ship & crew on a third occasion doesn't deserve to be called "Captain".

    Laffite would've laughed him out o' the Gulf...

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  2. PaulineAugust 10, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    I could not agree with you more, Captain; particularly on the issue of Laffite's sailing capabilities.

    It's a sad day when corporate dollars trump actual historical research. These artifacts may indeed have some connection to Morgan, or they may not. What I can't wrap my head around is why they're only important if they are connected to Morgan.

    What I can wrap my head around is that this is the last post here at Triple P regarding the Chagres River artifacts. On to bigger and better things, as they say.

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  3. KeithAugust 10, 2012 at 5:06 PM

    I like your new image at the top of the blog. good one.
    Keith.
    http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/

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  4. Timmy!August 11, 2012 at 1:28 AM

    Of course the artifacts belonged to Henry Morgan, Pauline. The corporate sponors have said so. Why don't you believe them?

    Now don't you worry your pretty little head about it and everything will be just fine...

    I for one welcome our new corporate overlords... ;-)

    I also like the new image at the top of the blog as well.

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  5. PaulineAugust 11, 2012 at 10:31 AM

    Keith: Thanks! I got that from my mates over at Under The Black Flag (see the sidebar). Hope all is well with you & yours.

    Timmy!: Yep; the pat on the head. Thanks, purveyors of fine rum.

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