Caribbean, many of us have a certain image of pirates: They spend their entire lives at sea, they speak with intense accents, and they make each other walk the plank as punishment.
But in reality, these seafaring lawbreakers—who date back to ancient times—often have wives and children back at home, are contributing members of their local economies, and do not grunt arrrr nearly as much as you previously believed. To learn more about these mysterious criminals, read on for 30 surprising facts about pirates that are totally true.
September 19th marks the annual Talk Like a Pirate Day. But the truth is, pirates didn't actually have a uniform accent. Many of the phrases we associate with them today actually originated from the 1950 Disney film Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton as Long John Silver, which was based off the 1883 novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson.
When Not Treasure Hunting, Pirates Practiced Democracy
Newton's performance—full of 'arrs, ' 'shiver me timbers, ' and references to landlubbers—not only stole the show, it permanently shaped pop culture's vision of how pirates looked, acted, and spoke, Colin Woodard, author of The Republic of Pirates, told National Geographic.
The pirates we know from modern movies may have a signature style, but that onscreen fashion isn't exactly accurate. As historian Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos, author of the book
, told Georgetown University, Only Johnny Depp looked like Jack Sparrow [in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean]. Pirates wore typical maritime clothing of the day, with pirate captains and those with more money donning more expensive outfits.
Plunder The Caribbean With Tortuga
In order to help their eyes adjust more quickly between the bright ship deck and the dark belowdecks, pirates would patch one eye so it was always adjusted for the darkness, according to E. Bruce Goldstein's
There are a few other fictitious-sounding details about pirates that are accurate. For example, battling pirates surely lost limbs from time to time and some of them would have replaced their absent appendages with a hook or a wooden peg, according to National Geographic.
According to the Smithsonian Institute, members of the crew … received compensation for the loss of body parts in action—an early form of worker's compensation.
Pirate Havens In The Golden Age Of Piracy
, sailors believed that applying pressure to the earlobe would ward off seasickness. In many cases, the pirates would accomplish this by popping on an earring.
Pirates had extensive networks on land that kept them in touch with the outside world, Geanacopoulos told Georgetown. They had a mail system of sorts (ships ferrying letters back and forth) that enabled them to communicate with relatives, and even a commuter service to take 'retiring' pirates from their famous haunts in Madagascar to more mundane lives in America.
For as long as there have been ships, there have been criminals who have taken to the sea. For example, historians have found evidence of pirates in the Mediterranean as far back as 1353 B.C. During that time, the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten complained of pirates who had raided his coastal cities and ports. The tyrants also threatened the trading routes of ancient Greece and looted cargoes of grain and olive oil from Roman ships, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.
Quotations From Real Pirates
However, there is a certain time span that is most famously associated with piracy. Usually referred to as the Golden Age of Piracy, the period between 1650 and 1720 is when these seafaring lawbreakers saw the height of their fame, according to National Geographic. During this time, infamous pirates such as Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, and Henry Morgan made names for themselves, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
While men have definitely dominated the world of piracy, there have been several notorious women pirates, including France's Jeanne de Clisson, England's Mary Read, and Ireland's Grace O'Malley and Anne Bonny (that's an illustration of her, above).
Pirates may have been searching for gold, silver, jewels, and rum while plundering ships, but they were also on the lookout for something that was just as valuable: maps. For instance, National Geographic describes one particular stolen Spanish atlas from 1680 as extremely valuable pirate booty that overjoyed pirates when they seized it, according to their detailed journals.
Sea Of Thieves
The manuscript was filled with precious navigational information including maps, charts, and descriptions of different places. It was so valuable that pirate Bartholomew Sharpe printed a colorful English version of it and presented it to the king of England—a gift that may have saved him from execution.
According to National Geographic, some members of pirate crews were literate and were essential for reading navigational charts. Books were even sometimes part of the booty taken from ships that the pirates pilfered.
Pirates didn't have refrigerators on their ships, and so they needed a special menu suitable for life at sea. That means that they brought food onboard that wouldn't rot right away and relied on cured meats and fermented vegetables. They might have also kept animals that could provide the crew with milk, eggs, and, ultimately, fresh meat.
Photos Of Sunken Ships (10 Real World Pirate Boats)
While pirates are known for being a raucous bunch, they did follow a strict set of rules—namely, the pirate code. While the exact details of the pirate code varied from ship to ship, most included an outline for disciplinary practices and how they would divide their stolen goods.
The codes also included some surprising rules of conduct. For example, in 1722, Captain Bartholomew Black Bart Roberts' drafted a code that established that the lights and candles [are] to be put out at eight o'clock at night; if any of the crew, after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck. In other words, no staying up past 8 p.m.
Merchant sailors were treated and paid poorly—and sometimes the pirate's life proved to be the fairer deal. Sailors were so badly treated in many of these merchant vessels by the captains and owners, Woodard told CNN. They were given lousy rations, cheated out of their pay at the end of journeys, often fed spoiled food and placed on vessels that intentionally didn't have enough provisions on board. So, in some ways, becoming a pirate was a way to stick it to the man.
The Ship Of Gold: The '£1 Billion' Lost Treasure Of The Merchant Royal
Pirates often spent months and even years at sea with only occasional stops at ports that offered entertainment. But the sailors still needed to keep themselves occupied on their ships, which is why they often had bands onboard to play shanties and perform theater.
Black Bart Roberts' code included the following rule regarding the band: The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only, by right, on all other days, by favor only.
Because pirates lived on ships, keeping a large pet like a dog or a monkey could be difficult. A much more sensible and strategic option was a parrot. Back home, people would pay good money for parrots and other exotic creatures, and sailors could easily buy them in many Caribbean ports, Angus Konstam, historian and author of
The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt
, told Atlas Obscura. Some were kept, but most were sold when the ship reached home. They were colorful, they could be taught to talk—always entertaining—and they fetched a good price in the bird markets of London.
While pirates did indeed fly banners from their ships to warn others of their criminal intents, the symbols on the flags weren't necessarily the skull and crossbones we think of today. According to National Geographic, Black Bart had himself holding an hourglass with the devil. Captain Low had a blood-red skeleton standing at the ready. And Christopher Moody's flag was so colorful, it became known as the bloody red.
As pirates would approach enemy ships, they would wave a friendly flag. At the last minute, they would pull up the Jolly Roger, a sign that they were ready to attack.
All About Pirates And Their Treasure
When they weren't attacking other ships or keeping watch, pirates needed to get some sleep. And while higher-ranking officers were usually lucky enough to enjoy private quarters, the rest of the crew slept in hammocks below deck. Hammocks were ideal since they would rock and sway with the ship, making for an easier night's rest.
While you might assume that the illegal activity pirates engaged in hurt the economies around them, it was actually the opposite, Geanacopoulos told Georgetown. Pirates would spend the gains from their various plunders at the ports each time they docked, meaning those towns would benefit in the same way that cruise port towns today benefit from visitors' cash flow. Piracy also offered opportunities for poor men who otherwise might not have had employment.
Pirates may have been lawbreakers, which surely meant that many were social outcasts, but others were accepted members of their communities. Geanacopoulos told Georgetown that some, like Captain Kidd, who helped found Trinity Episcopal Church and even paid for a family pew (though there is no record that he actually used it), were fairly prominent members of Colonial society.
The Project Gutenberg E Text Of The Book Of Buried Treasure, By Ralph D. Paine
Some of these men were married and had children before or during their time as pirates while others waited until they were retired to settle down and start a family.
Apparently, even when the famous Captain Kidd was sentenced to be hanged for his piracy-related crimes, he told
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