10 interesting facts about pirates

Thanks to numerous books, movies and TV shows, we have a very romantic idea of ​​pirates. Only the most charming Jack Sparrow performed by Johnny Depp made an entire army of his fans “inveterate pirates”.

In fact, the “pirate fashion” in art is already over 300 years old – the first novels about noble sea robbers began to appear at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, and in the XNUMXth century they were extremely popular.

Of course! Which of the teenagers did not dream of sea romance, free life, salty wind and exciting adventures with boarding and buried treasures.

In fact, everything was much uglier, dirtier and scarier. Few of our contemporaries could endure such a life with its constant hunger (or rotten food), mortal dangers, unsanitary conditions and the rough morals of “colleagues” on the ship, whom they had to endure for many months, because pirates landed on land during long trips not so often. And yes, in order to survive, you would have to kill (sometimes in very dirty ways).

So hold on – here are 10 real facts about pirates and piracy:

10 Pirates didn’t wear earrings for decoration.

We know from the movies that the pirates were still those “dandies” – almost every one of them wore a large gold earring, or even two.

Actually, this is not a work of art. But, of course, such earrings were not worn for the sake of beauty (and not even to show the wealth and luck of a pirate).

Modern historians offer several versions of what pirate earrings could serve for:

• They were part of a kind of “initiation” ritual – when a young sailor first crossed the equator or rounded Cape Horn, he received his first earring as a sign of his “experience”;
• Many pirates (and even ordinary sailors) believed that an earring in their ear sharpened their eyesight. Another version: relieves seasickness. And it was also used as a talisman: for example, a spell of invulnerability and good luck can be cast on an earring;
• Before the battle, wax earplugs were tied to the earrings so that, using them, they would not become deaf from the roar of guns and the screams of the wounded;
• And, perhaps, the most plausible version – the earring served as a guarantee that the suddenly deceased pirate would receive a more or less decent burial. Not a single gentleman of fortune was sure that he would die in his bed as a deep old man – you could die at any moment (in a shipwreck, in battle, or even just drunk rum to death after a successful campaign). The pirate could drink all the booty, except for the coveted earring. And the more weighty it was, the greater was the confidence that its owner would be buried with dignity, taking the earring as payment.

9. Not all eyepatch pirates were one-eyed.

You have probably noticed that in books and films about pirates there are somehow a lot of one-eyed characters with a black bandage.

In fact, there were indeed plenty of such gentlemen of fortune “with defects in appearance”: after all, firearms then, most often, fired buckshot, and numerous flying fragments (as well as wooden chips from a destroyed ship) inflicted very great damage to the “manpower” of both fighting sides. But pirates with little damage, of course, continued to go to sea with their crew.

Moreover, black armbands were sometimes worn not only by really one-eyed pirates, but also by completely sighted ones: they say they were very convenient for aiming (just remember the huge and uncomfortable pistols of that time, which were better to hold with two hands).

And when, after the boarding, it was necessary to “clean up” in the dark hold, the eye, covered with a bandage, adapted much faster to the darkness after the bright light outside.

8. Walking the yardarm was not the most common punishment.

Literally in every second “pirate” film, we see, it would seem, the most “favorite” type of execution among gentlemen of fortune – “a walk on the yard.”

It consisted in the fact that a person was blindfolded, his hands were tied and sent to “walk” along the board extended overboard (or, indeed, along the yardarm) until he fell onto the deck or into the sea.

In fact, such a “walk” was a rarity, applicable mainly to the personal enemies of the pirate leaders – so they could watch (and with pleasure!) The fear and panic on the face of the executed.

In fact, much worse for a guilty pirate or captive was “dragging under the keel”: the unfortunate tortured was tied with ropes and, using a system of blocks, lowered overboard and dragged under the bottom of the ship (and the ship could be rather big!).

And here the main danger was not even that in the process of torture you can simply choke – experienced swimmers were able to hold their breath for quite a long time.

But the fact is that the ship in its underwater part was usually densely overgrown with shells, the sharp edges of which literally slashed the human body “into shreds”, causing hellish pain and inflicting such wounds that healed for a very long time (and poorly).

7. Pirate ships were subject to strict discipline.

Again, in films and TV shows we are colorfully shown what pirates did on the shore (especially in the process of “drinking away” fresh prey), – already here they were free to be in an almost insane state for weeks: fight to the death, squander money, have fun with corrupt women, etc.

But as soon as they returned to the ship, which went to sea, everyone without fail (under pain of death!) Had to strictly observe discipline, subordination and ship’s routine, because their life literally depended on it.

Each pirate signed a paper with the captain, in which his rights and obligations were clearly outlined. Only the boatswain or an elected “delegate from the team” had the right to address the captain.

All orders were carried out quickly and without discussion (and not only in battle, but also on every ordinary day, because no one knew when the next fight would happen). Dismantling over production was not allowed – everyone received a share stipulated in the contract.

6. There were many female pirates

In today’s popular TV shows, you can often see brave and beautiful (but also very bloodthirsty) women on pirate ships in men’s clothes and with pistols, and even with sabers – remember at least Black Sails. (By the way, the 4 seasons of this very beautiful pirate epic, of course, are superbly filmed, but still greatly embellish the everyday life of gentlemen of fortune and their customs).

And, although it is hard for many of us to believe, women pirates are not the fiction of novelists or screenwriters. And there were quite a few of them. Moreover, history even knows real women – pirate captains!

The most famous pirates (sometimes frightening even stern men with their cruelty and fearlessness) were, perhaps, the Irish Ann Bonnie, Grace (actually Grain) O’Malley and Mary Ann Blyde, the English women Mary Read, Lady Mary Kiligru and Maria Lindsey, French women Jeanne de Belleville, Anna Dieu-le-Veu and Jeanne de Clisson, Swedish Ingela Hammar, etc.

5. Among the pirates were representatives of all social strata

It is generally accepted that only commoners who despaired of earning a living in another way, or finished thugs without honor and conscience, who, even before their pirate “career”, were distinguished by their love for fights, robberies and other despised occupations in a decent society, became pirates. But no!

Among the pirates, in reality, there were people from other classes, including those who were not at all distressed. Well, at all times among the “golden youth” there were born adventurers who were not satisfied with a well-fed and calm life. Let’s remember at least some famous pirate captains:

• So, the Scot William Kidd – the son of a nobleman – began his career as an officer in the British fleet (and even hunted pirates for several years on duty). But the passion for dangerous adventures, natural cruelty and thirst for easy money did their job – Kidd himself became a gentleman of fortune.
• Steed Bonette (also a nobleman) served as a major in the government of the colony on the island of Barbados. But one day he bought himself a sloop and began to attack passing ships. What prompted him to do this is not entirely clear (they say – a vixen-wife).
• The famous Henry Morgan, the son of a large landowner, did not want to continue the family business (boring!), so he got hired as a cabin boy on a ship going to Barbados, and then rather quickly “grew up” to an energetic pirate captain. Etc.

4. Piracy was one way to make a living

And yet, yes, indeed, for many representatives of the pirate fraternity, this dangerous and immoral, but rather simple “business” was the only way to somehow feed themselves (or even save some money for a future honest life).

First of all, this concerned the new settlers of Central America, as a rule, not very prosperous initially and moved to the New World in the hope of a change for the better.

Alas, the reality turned out to be not as rosy as it was painted by recruiters and barkers. The choice was often not great: either to work until you drop for a pittance on the plantations of large owners and in their homes as servants (despite the fact that at that time there was an endless struggle of large powers for colonies around, and as a result, local settlements and estates regularly burned and went bankrupt, and all their inhabitants lost their homes and property), or join the sea robbers and be fed at least for a while.

3. Pirates have sailed all the seas

The vast majority of novels, movies, TV series, video games (etc.) about pirates take place in the seas of Central America. Just offhand: Pirates of the Caribbean, Black Sails, Pirates of the Seven Seas, Captain Blood’s Odyssey, Treasure Island, etc.

Yes, of course, in the XNUMXth century, the Bahamas were a real “promised land” for gentlemen of fortune: here they could live according to their own laws, obeying only their captains. They even had a “capital” city – Nassau (which the pirates themselves called Charlestown).

But in fact, piracy was a ubiquitous phenomenon: for example, the French could be attacked by the British off the coast of Europe (and vice versa); the Dutch suffered from Portuguese raids in Indonesia; Barbary and Arab pirates kept the entire Mediterranean and part of the Indian Ocean in fear; Chinese – the entire coast of Southeast Asia (including European colonies), etc.

2. The Jolly Roger Isn’t the Only Pirate Flag

Yes, yes, it’s true: the Jolly Roger is not a flag generally accepted by all pirates. It generally appeared only in the XNUMXth century, when the “Golden Age of Piracy” was already at an end (and did not even become one of the most popular).

The Jolly Roger, of course, is very concise and recognizable, but in fact, every pirate captain was free to choose his own flag. So there were dozens of them.

So, on the flag of Edward Teach, the skeleton held an hourglass in his hand (a symbol of imminent death), and with his other hand he pierced a human heart with a spear.

On the flag of Black Bart, a pirate with a saber in his hand stood on the skulls of defeated enemies.

Calico Jack (Jack Rackham) had several flags – both black and red – one of which was very reminiscent of the “Jolly Roger” (but instead of crossed bones under the skull, it had crossed sabers), and on the other a pirate was drinking wine with death (yeah… and Rackham was taken prisoner drunk).

1. Not all pirates were “outlaws”

Many lovers of pirate themes are aware that in the XIII-XIX centuries there was an almost “legal” version of sea robbery. When maritime states were at war with each other, then some “private persons” with armed ships were allowed (having a special letter from the authorities in their hands) to seize and rob enemy merchant ships.

Such “state” gentlemen of fortune were called privateers or corsairs. Their main difference from ordinary pirates was that pirates, of course, acted only at their own peril and risk (and were undoubtedly subject to the death penalty when caught), and corsairs with patents from their monarchs were considered prisoners of war, and they could not only be redeemed from captivity, but also a good reward for service to the crown.

So, for example, completely official privateers were Sir Francis Drake (for a moment – who made the first trip around the world in history), Walter Raleigh – the favorite of the English Queen Elizabeth I, the Frenchman Robert Surcouf (for which Napoleon personally awarded him the title of baron), and even the great and the terrible Henry Morgan, who eventually became a planter and lieutenant governor of Jamaica.