Have you always thought that being a pirate sounded pretty cool? Well, there are some things you need to know before you decide to quit your job and steal a boat. For starters, you’ll be called all kinds of names, such as a sea robber, rogue, corsair, buccaneer, sea dog, scalawag, picaroon, sea villan, swashbuckler, and sea marauder.
Names are for tombstones, you say. Funny you should say that. Most pirates don’t save for retirement because they won’t live that long. If they don’t die in battle or as a result of battle wounds (infection), they’ll likely be hanged. Back in the day, pirates were hanged publicly in cages called ‘gibbets’ to deter piracy.
But what a way to go, you say? Living the high life, taking whatever you desire, working when you like and playing hard the rest of the day. Well, it wasn’t all rum and doubloons. Life at sea could be deadly dull. Sometimes, weeks went by in between assaults and the weather could be brutally hot or storms could be perilous. Ship repairs and battle injuries (like sawing off an arm or leg that couldn’t be saved) were tended to during these lulls. Food and ale could become scarce if at sea long enough. There wasn’t enough room below deck for everyone to sleep so the crew had to take turns in hammocks. We’re talking yucky bilge water, rodents, dampness, darkness, and perpetual creaking and rolling. But the upside was that if you got really hungry, the rats were a source of protein— if you could catch them!
It couldn’t be all bad, right? Too true. After a good run, pirates took their loot and headed for the nearest tavern to eat, drink, and be merry (and maybe even find a Mary). They liked to gamble and often lost most of their earnings playing cards. Other times they had to find a safe place to ‘beach’ (careen) their boat to make repairs, including scraping barnacles off the bottom of the vessel or sewing up a large hole in the sail made by a pesky cannon ball.
What did pirates consider to be good booty? Why, anything they could eat or sell or use, silly! This included fine fabrics from merchant ships carrying delicate hand-woven linen and silks from the Far East, snuff, tobacco, pipes, weapons, ammunition, food (especially sugar and coffee and exotic spices), rum, wine, ale, goblets, medicine, pieces-of-eight, doubloons, gold bars, silver, jewelry (including ornate crucifixes!), gems, precious metals, candlesticks, silverware, or anything of value like an antique jewelry box or snuff box. Often, the ship was seized and its crew forced to become pirates. If the ship was of no use or too recognizable, it was raided (sails, guns, ropes, etc.) and then sunk to get rid of any evidence of piracy.
Now you’re talking! Gold and rum, matey! Hope you don’t sunburn easily because pirates loved tropical places and SPF 30 sunscreen could not be found aboard a pirate ship! Popular pirate hangouts included Madagascar, the Caribbean, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola. If coconuts and mosquitoes aren’t your thing, don’t worry. Pirates do a lot of traveling, part of the job. They went wherever there was loot. From the African coast to the New World, pirates sailed the seas. They commonly stuck to trade routes because that’s where the merchant ships could be found. Some pirates sailed from North America to Africa and as far as the Red Sea (roughly 24,000 miles!). This was commonly known as the Pirate Round.
Those of the female persuasion might be wondering if there were women pirates? You bet! Two of the best pirates of all time were women: Anne Bonny and Mary Read (and discussed in PIRATES OF THE CAROLINAS). Probably the toughest female pirate ever was Madame Cheng. When her husband, Cheng I, died in 1807, she took over his piracy business. She took his small operation and turned it into one of the largest and roughest fleets in the history of piracy with over 1800 boats of various sizes and a reported 70,000 pirates under her command! Madame Cheng became known as The Dragon Lady. She bought a pardon from the Chinese government and retired a few years later.
Don’t forget that pirates had to use whatever weapons necessary to gain the prize. Of course there were the classics: cutlasses, swords, pistols, muskets, and big guns or cannons. There were also axes to help board big ships and to tear down sails. Tacks were sometimes used. They were scattered across the deck so that when enemies boarded (often barefoot in the Caribbean and other warm climates) they would step on these sharp tacks. Ouch! Homemade grenades were often tossed onto the decks of enemy ships before boarding.
Pirate flags were used to identify a particular captain. The flags had designs, such as a skull and crossbones or a cutlass or hourglass or a skeleton or devil. These symbols represent power and death. These flags, also called Jolly Rogers, were sometimes hidden until a pirate ship got close to the merchant ship it planned to attack and then it ran up its ‘colors’ to let the other captain and crew know that they were in big trouble! Sometimes the sight of a pirate flag was enough to elicit a surrender. According to my research, it is unlikely that Blackbeard had to fight much once his reputation was well known. What would your design be?
What size ship you ended up on depended on where you sailed. Large, heavily-armed galleons were perfect on the high seas but a sloop was much better in shallow waters. Did you know that an anchor can weigh well over 3,000 pounds?
Still sold on being a pirate? Okay, what crew member would you be? Let me guess—the captain! It may interest you to know that he is an elected position so your crew would have to agree to it. Also, you could be overthrown at any time by a mutinous crew who has been short on ale or pieces-of-eight for too long. You also should know that you only have authority during battle. You may want to consider being quartermaster (the only other elected position but highly influential) or a first mate. Or perhaps a gunner, sailing master, sail maker, carpenter, musician, boatswain, or supporting crew. Only the captain and quartermaster were elected positions.
But as the captain, you would get to decide the Code of Conduct on your ship. Yes, even nefarious pirates had rules to live by and they varied according to the captain. For example, most forbid fighting on board. A few banned drinking (okay, not many). No man shall desert during battle was a standard rule. If injured in battle, certain compensation was guaranteed, depending on whether a leg (perhaps 500 silver pieces) or eye (say maybe 100 pieces of silver) was lost.
Still want to be a pirate? Okay, then. You must get at least 8 correct answers on this quiz to show you’re up for the challenge:
Pirate Quiz
- Did pirates really make victims walk the plank?
- Careen means to turn rapidly to elude an enemy. True or false?
- Did pirates really maroon crew members as punishment?
- Only water is used as a ballast (ship stabilizer). True or false?
- Did pirates really have wooden legs and hooks for hands?
- Did pirates really walk around with parrots on their shoulders?
- Pirates never sailed on schooners. True or false?
- Were pirates really hanged in steel cages when found guilty of piracy?
- The first mate was in charge of dividing the loot among the crew. True or false?
- Where did Blackbeard die and how?
*Answers can be found in Pirates of the Carolinas.
