Well, Ed, did the Portugee go in three fingers depth and jug choke it or not? jack
And the answer is...(pause for drama)...I don't know.
But what I do know is how difficult it is to translate accurately. For example, remember JFK's gaff in Berlin, when in a fit of German/American solidarity he declared something like, "
Ich bein Berliner," which in colloquial Kraut talk was to say:
"I am a jelly doughnut."
I thought the quoted "Portugee" passage could be read either way, sort of like an ink blot test. But additional collateral reading leads me to believe that jug choking ca.1600s/1700s was less likely (or more unlikely) than simply relieving at the muzzle to a few inches in. It would have have been much easier, and if my "blown pattern" rationale is valid...well, how many
henweighs of fairies could dance on the head of a breech-loader hinge pin.
What's a henweigh?
About a pound and a half without the feathers. EDM
