Product Code Database
A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small , particularly Dugout canoe and . The word is French language and is derived from the Spanish language piragua , which comes from the Carib piraua.
Pirogues are usually propelled by paddles that have one blade (as opposed to a kayak paddle, which has two). It can also be punted with a push pole in shallow water. Small Sail can also be employed. There are two types of sails with differences in their shapes, the square one is used mainly for fishing near the coast and is only useful for , while the triangular-shaped ones are used to transfer goods from one place to another by maintaining a bowline direction. Outboard motors are increasingly being used in many regions.
Pirogues were used by Lewis and Clark on the Missouri River and westward from 1804–1806, in addition to bateau, larger flat-bottomed boats that could only be used in large rivers.Ambrose, Stephen (1997). Undaunted Courage. Their pirogues were medium-sized boats of the company carrying eight rowers and a pilot, capable of carrying eight tons of cargo. "Pirogues", Discover Lewis & Clark, The Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance, 2009 Henry D. Thoreau writes of using heavy pirogues in his book The Maine Woods.
At the end of the 17th century, periaguas came to mean a type of galley or galiot, used by both and around the Bahamas, Cuba and Hispaniola. Periaguas could be rowed against the wind, useful for approaching potential victims or escaping from pursuers. Benjamin Hornigold and Sam Bellamy began their careers as pirate captains operating from periaguas.Century Dictionary: periagua
Chapelle 19-20
Woodard 89, 125, 128-30, 133-34
Periaguas were flat-bottomed galleys of variable size, moved by both rows and sails. Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin described Spanish guarda costa periaguas as being crewed by up to 120 men and two masts and 36-46 rows. They were usually 30 feet long, 16-18 feet wide, and 4-5 feet draft, armed with one cannon and four . The masts could be dismounted in disfavorable winds or to help them go unnoticed.
In his 1952 classic song "Jambalaya", Hank Williams refers to the pirogue in the line "me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou". Johnny Horton, an avid Louisiana fisherman who celebrated Cajun customs and culture, also mentions pirogues in his 1956 song "I Got a Hole in My Pirogue". Hank Williams, Jr. (son of the aforementioned Hank Williams) had a hit song in 1969 "Cajun Baby", which refers to the pirogue in the line "ride around in my old pirogue".
Doug Kershaw's 1961 hit "Louisiana Man" includes the line "he jumps in his pirogue headed down the bayou". Many online lyrics sites misunderstand this line, saying "hero" or sometimes "biro" instead.
|
|
