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100+ pages of the real pirate story, the dictionary, lexicon and all pirate inspired words
OF THE PLUNDERING PIRATES
THE PLUNDERING PIRATE STORY
the brutal truth in a real story of plundering pirates
Home ~ Pirates ~ Profiteer ~ Golden Age
Fact Check ~ Archetype ~ Glorification
Democracy ~ Equality - Pirate Code
Genre ~ Language ~ Lore ~ Narrative ~ Notables
Notorious Pirates ~ Booty ~ Captures ~ Hangings
THE PIRATE DICTIONARY
the real and invented words, terms & expressions
Home ~ Pirates ~ Captains - Crew - Punishment
Ships ~Sails ~ Flags - Navigation ~ Food ~ Booze Gear ~ Weapons ~ Slang/Expressions
THE LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
the rare, unusual & obscure words related to pirates
HOME ~ [A-F] ~ [G-L] ~ [M-R] ~ [S-Z]
SEARCH THIS SITE - search site below
the brutal truth in a real story of plundering pirates
Home ~ Pirates ~ Profiteer ~ Golden Age
Fact Check ~ Archetype ~ Glorification
Democracy ~ Equality - Pirate Code
Genre ~ Language ~ Lore ~ Narrative ~ Notables
Notorious Pirates ~ Booty ~ Captures ~ Hangings
THE PIRATE DICTIONARY
the real and invented words, terms & expressions
Home ~ Pirates ~ Captains - Crew - Punishment
Ships ~Sails ~ Flags - Navigation ~ Food ~ Booze Gear ~ Weapons ~ Slang/Expressions
THE LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
the rare, unusual & obscure words related to pirates
HOME ~ [A-F] ~ [G-L] ~ [M-R] ~ [S-Z]
SEARCH THIS SITE - search site below
STORY OF THE REAL PLUNDERING PIRATES
DIRECTORY OF THE PIRATE STORY - HOME
Coining Rogue Sea Thieves as Pirates
Coining Rogue Sea Thieves as Pirates
- Profiteering & Buccaneering to Pirating
- Ushering in the Golden Age of Piracy
- Pirate Fact Check Matey
- Lawless Bandits Follow the Pirate Code
- Pirate Democracy & Equality for All
- Rise of a Pirate Archetype
- Glorification & Glitzy Glamorization
- The Allure of Pirate Lore
- Literary Narrative on Pirating Narrative
- Notable Plunders of Booty and Bling
- Notable Crimes and Torture
- Notorious Captures and Hangings
- Bits and Bobs of Notable Notes miscellaneous notes of the pirate life
THE PIRATE NOTABLES
NOTORIOUS NOTABLE PIRATES
Notable BOOTY | TORTURE | HANGINGS
NOTABLE - Bits & Bobs - NOTES
THE DEVIL BLACKBEARD
Blackbeard (real name Edward Teach) was one of the most feared pirates of all. He captured a French slave ship known as La Concorde, renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, equipped her with 40 guns, and sailed with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate, his nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance.
He would weave hemp through his beard and light it on fire to intimidate his enemies. He would also dress in black from head to toe and emerge onto ships in a plume of flames and cloud of smoke. Reports circulated of a man with “fierce and wild” eyes who kept a brace of three pistols on a holster across his chest and a tall fur cap on his head.
Many of his victims assumed him to be the devil and surrendered to him without a fight.
The first recorded accounts of his appearance by Johnson in 1724 mention that his thick black beard was braided into pigtails, sometimes tied in with small colored ribbons. Johnson employed full use of his creative license in portraying Blackbeard as a “bloodthirsty warrior” who entwined strands of his fulsome beard in black ribbons. Johnson further described Blackbeard in battle:
“with lighted matches under his hat, which, appearing on each side of his face, his eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a figure that imagination cannot form an idea of a Fury from Hell to look more frightful.”
It was also described that in times of battle he would wear:
"a sling over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols, hanging in holsters like bandoliers; and stuck lighted slow matches under his hat.”
He cast a fearsome appearance to his enemies.
Blackbeard was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of violence, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed. He was romanticized after his death and became the inspiration for an archetypal pirate.
Historians have noted that despite Blackbeard’s terrible reputation, no evidence exists that he ever killed anyone before his final battle at Ocracoke, near Cape Hatteras, when he was fighting for his life.
- Blackbeard flew a flag of his own design, which featured a skeleton with horns against a black background. The skeleton held an hourglass in one hand and carried a spear pointing to a heart dripping with blood.
- Staffing up the ship - when Blackbeard captured the French frigate La Concorde and renamed her the Queen Anne's Revenge he forced the three surgeons on board, carpenters and a cook to remain with his pirate crew.
CAPTURE AND DEATH BY MAYNARD
Read the complete story on his death
Blackbeard was hunted down by Lieutenant Robert Maynard at Ocracoke Inlet off the coast of North Carolina on November 22, 1718. In this final battle, Blackbeard was shot five times and cut about twenty. Blackbeard’s headless body was subsequently pitched into the murky water of Pamlico Sound, where, according to legend, it took a few laps around the Jane before sinking out of sight.
Off With His Head - Blackbeard’s head, however, was suspended from the bowsprit of a sloop until the reward could be collected. Later, as a warning against piracy, Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood mounted Blackbeard’s head on a pike along the edge of the river — a location later christened Blackbeard’s Point. According to later legends, Blackbeard’s head was eventually taken down, and the top half of his skull was turned into a punch bowl that was “enlarged with silver, or silver plated,” and used for a time at one of the taverns in Williamsburg. A local judge even claimed to have drunk from it one night in the 30s.
Blackbeard’s Bounty - prize money for capturing him was to have been about £400 (£63,000 in 2021), but it was split between the crews of the Lyme and Pearl. It was discovered that the crew had helped themselves to about £90 of Blackbeard’s booty. The prize money was not turned over for four years, and despite his bravery Maynard was not promoted and instead faded into obscurity.
Blackbeard’s Ghost - various superstitious tales exist of Blackbeard’s ghost. Unexplained lights at sea are often referred to as "Teach's light", and some claim that the notorious pirate now roams the afterlife searching for his head, for fear that his friends, and the Devil, will not recognize him.
- Despite his infamy, Blackbeard was not the most successful of pirates. Henry Every retired a rich man, and Bartholomew Roberts took an estimated five times the amount Blackbeard stole.
- Parallels have been drawn between the description of Blackbeard and the character of Captain Jack Sparrow in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Blast from the Past: In 1996, Blackbeard’s ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, was found off the coast of North Carolina. Thirty-one cannons and 250,000 artifacts have been recovered. The ship had been heavily armed with 250,000 bits of lead shot, 400 cannonballs, dozens of grenades, and many muskets, as well as a total of 40 English and Swedish cannon. One artifact was a urethral syringe, which was used to treat syphilis with mercury. Mercury does not, in fact, cure syphilis. A selection is on public display at the North Carolina Maritime Museum.
Blackbeard, who terrorized the New World and died in a shipboard sword fight with sailors of the Royal Navy, has captivated the public imagination like no other. He has never let it go.
FALL OF CAPTAIN KIDD
William Kidd was a great sailor and a very wealthy man when he decided to become a pirate while Major Stede Bonnet was a rich plantation owner when he left his nagging wife in exchange for becoming a certified pirate. Kidd set sail from New York under the banner of the English king, as one of the richest and most respected men in the New World.
Kidd made his way into the New York harbor aboard Adventure Galley, a 32-gun warship, and quite possibly the finest boat that had ever anchored there. His goal was to recruit sailors for a year-long trip halfway across the world, to chase down pirates (and French ships) under the legal permission of the English King and Governor Bellomont. Adventure Galley would split 80% of the plunder taken. 150 sailors quickly joined up, and Captain Kidd sailed from New York to hunt pirates…with a crew of greedy, former pirates to aid him.
Cursed Ship
On the voyage across the Atlantic to Madagascar, the crew underwent a horrific bout of cholera that killed almost a third of the men. The rest were left to deal with the pleasures of severe gastrointestinal distress, and an ominous leak in the ship’s hull. When they reached their destination, between Madagascar and East Africa, they failed to spot a single vessel worth taking. By the late summer of 1697, the crew had begun to mumble about the failed leadership of Captain Kidd. There was insubordination. With a crew that was restless and desperate, Kidd chose to tackle ships that could be considered within his rights as a privateer—but which could also be considered illegal targets. The rumors of piracy, he felt, would not be enough to sink him. He had a reputation as a fair and honest man. And he still had powerful friends in England and New York. But the Adventure Galley was thought to be cursed. With his crew on the verge of mutiny, he struck his ship’s gunner, William Moore, with an iron-bound bucket in a furious rage. It was ‘laying him in his gore’ as the popular ballad had it. Moore’s skull was fractured and he died within twenty-four hours.
Capture of the Quedagh Merchant
Kidd and his crew ditched the leaky, rotten remains of Adventure Galley when they captured the Quedagh Merchant. At 400 tons, it was twice the size of Adventure Galley. It was also a merchant galley laden with the riches of an entire region—a treasure trove of spices, gold, and silks. But, most importantly, it was under the command of an Englishman. They made port with the Quedagh Merchant (renamed the Adventure Prize) near Madagascar. But almost immediately on arrival, the vast majority of Kidd’s crew abandoned him. They had received a portion of the Merchant’s treasure so they made off like bandits. He no longer had the men to pilot the Quedagh Merchant and he began to receive reports from England that he’d been branded a traitor to the crown for taking a ship captained by an Englishman.
Off to Boston
He left the Quedah at the island of Hispaniola, where she was unloaded and subsequently burned, bought a small ship called the Antonio and sailed to Boston, where he tried to convince the British governor, the Earl of Bellomont, that he was innocent of the accusations against him. Bellomont had him arrested and sent back to England, where on April 16, 1700, it was recorded that ‘the notorious pyratt’ was committed to Newgate.
Doomed Trial
The trial itself was sensationally doomed. The powerful men whom Kidd had presumed would speak to his reputation were silent. He had no more friends left. His trial was further affected when information was withheld, including his experience as a notable privateer and the insubordination he experienced from his crew while at sea. Tales of Kidd’s savagery were embellished by witnesses with little credibility. Former crew members, looking for leniency in their own sentences, testified against him without shame.
The End of Captain Kidd
The famous Captain Kidd met his end: reviled throughout the land as a swashbuckling scourge of the sea. Kidd had a morbid distinction: he was a rare, unlucky person who had to be hanged twice. The rope broke the first time they strung him up. The crowd saw this as an act of God proving he was innocent and demanded he be released. The executioner disagreed. They strung him up again, checked and rechecked the knot, and this time he hung for good. The King had his lifeless body garroted above the River Thames for three years as a warning against piracy. .
Kidd became a legendary figure largely because no one ever discovered what had happened to the rest of his treasure – if there really was any more to be found. Its value multiplied as time went by and treasure-hunters have searched for his loot from the Americas to the South China Sea, but so far in vain.
William Kidd was a great sailor and a very wealthy man when he decided to become a pirate while Major Stede Bonnet was a rich plantation owner when he left his nagging wife in exchange for becoming a certified pirate. Kidd set sail from New York under the banner of the English king, as one of the richest and most respected men in the New World.
Kidd made his way into the New York harbor aboard Adventure Galley, a 32-gun warship, and quite possibly the finest boat that had ever anchored there. His goal was to recruit sailors for a year-long trip halfway across the world, to chase down pirates (and French ships) under the legal permission of the English King and Governor Bellomont. Adventure Galley would split 80% of the plunder taken. 150 sailors quickly joined up, and Captain Kidd sailed from New York to hunt pirates…with a crew of greedy, former pirates to aid him.
Cursed Ship
On the voyage across the Atlantic to Madagascar, the crew underwent a horrific bout of cholera that killed almost a third of the men. The rest were left to deal with the pleasures of severe gastrointestinal distress, and an ominous leak in the ship’s hull. When they reached their destination, between Madagascar and East Africa, they failed to spot a single vessel worth taking. By the late summer of 1697, the crew had begun to mumble about the failed leadership of Captain Kidd. There was insubordination. With a crew that was restless and desperate, Kidd chose to tackle ships that could be considered within his rights as a privateer—but which could also be considered illegal targets. The rumors of piracy, he felt, would not be enough to sink him. He had a reputation as a fair and honest man. And he still had powerful friends in England and New York. But the Adventure Galley was thought to be cursed. With his crew on the verge of mutiny, he struck his ship’s gunner, William Moore, with an iron-bound bucket in a furious rage. It was ‘laying him in his gore’ as the popular ballad had it. Moore’s skull was fractured and he died within twenty-four hours.
Capture of the Quedagh Merchant
Kidd and his crew ditched the leaky, rotten remains of Adventure Galley when they captured the Quedagh Merchant. At 400 tons, it was twice the size of Adventure Galley. It was also a merchant galley laden with the riches of an entire region—a treasure trove of spices, gold, and silks. But, most importantly, it was under the command of an Englishman. They made port with the Quedagh Merchant (renamed the Adventure Prize) near Madagascar. But almost immediately on arrival, the vast majority of Kidd’s crew abandoned him. They had received a portion of the Merchant’s treasure so they made off like bandits. He no longer had the men to pilot the Quedagh Merchant and he began to receive reports from England that he’d been branded a traitor to the crown for taking a ship captained by an Englishman.
Off to Boston
He left the Quedah at the island of Hispaniola, where she was unloaded and subsequently burned, bought a small ship called the Antonio and sailed to Boston, where he tried to convince the British governor, the Earl of Bellomont, that he was innocent of the accusations against him. Bellomont had him arrested and sent back to England, where on April 16, 1700, it was recorded that ‘the notorious pyratt’ was committed to Newgate.
Doomed Trial
The trial itself was sensationally doomed. The powerful men whom Kidd had presumed would speak to his reputation were silent. He had no more friends left. His trial was further affected when information was withheld, including his experience as a notable privateer and the insubordination he experienced from his crew while at sea. Tales of Kidd’s savagery were embellished by witnesses with little credibility. Former crew members, looking for leniency in their own sentences, testified against him without shame.
The End of Captain Kidd
The famous Captain Kidd met his end: reviled throughout the land as a swashbuckling scourge of the sea. Kidd had a morbid distinction: he was a rare, unlucky person who had to be hanged twice. The rope broke the first time they strung him up. The crowd saw this as an act of God proving he was innocent and demanded he be released. The executioner disagreed. They strung him up again, checked and rechecked the knot, and this time he hung for good. The King had his lifeless body garroted above the River Thames for three years as a warning against piracy. .
Kidd became a legendary figure largely because no one ever discovered what had happened to the rest of his treasure – if there really was any more to be found. Its value multiplied as time went by and treasure-hunters have searched for his loot from the Americas to the South China Sea, but so far in vain.
HOW A GENTLEMAN BECAME A PIRATE
Stede Bonnet was born an upper class fellow who had no knowledge of seafaring. He was educated, refined and had retired as a Major to his estate from a successful military career. He had no apparent reason to rage against the establishment.
Bonnet was born in the 1680s into a wealthy family in Barbados and, according to the transcript of his 1718 trial, had "the advantage of liberal education." He inherited the family’s 400 acre estate after his father's death in 1694 and in 1709, he married Mary Allamby. They had three sons—Allamby, Edward, and Stede—and a daughter, Mary. After retiring from the militia with a rank of major (and no record of fighting) Bonnet settled in his estate as a member of respectable society. He spent a decade raising a family there. That is until he suffered some kind of mental breakdown.
In A General History of the Pyrates, Charles Johnson wrote that Bonnet was driven to piracy by Mary's nagging and "discomforts he found in a married State" and this led to this "humour of going a-pyrating.” It seems unlikely that a nagging wife turned this law-abiding gentleman into a pirate. Some theories suggest a psychological issue or mental disorder breakdown or a midlife crisis or it could have been something entirely else.
The Rise of Revenge
David Moore, an archaeologist and historian with the North Carolina Maritime Museum notes that according to the legal record, Bonnet borrowed £1700 (about $400,000 today) around 1717. He suggests that there may have been financial problems, perhaps due to a natural disaster or drought that wiped out his sugar crop. He also lost a child. Whatever his reason was, it made him buy himself a 60 ton sloop. No ship seizure like any other new Pirate Captain. He armed it with ten cannons, hired a crew of 70 men and named the ship Revenge. We don’t know who he sought revenge on at that time, but it came to revenge later. In a break from tradition, Bonnet paid his crew wages, not shares of plunder as most pirates did.
When he was done outfitting Revenge, he ran up a jolly roger up the pile and set off for Virginia to raid some commercial vessels. And that is what they did, but their success was due to the crew and their experience not to anything Bonnet did. This did nothing to earn him respect as the Captain. They captured several ships with holds loaded with booty. But they encountered, fought, and escaped from a Spanish man of war. The Revenge was badly damaged, Bonnet was seriously wounded, and half the crew was dead. In Nassau, Bonnet replaced his casualties and refitted the Revenge, increasing the sloop's armament to twelve guns.
They stripped everything they could and set off for Honduras, a well-known pirate hangout, to spend it. He met Blackbeard there and somehow this novice convinced the seasoned Blackbeard to plunder together.
Disabled by his wounds, Bonnet temporarily ceded command of the Revenge to Blackbeard, but remained aboard as a guest of the more experienced pirate captain. Blackbeard and Bonnet weighed anchor and sailed northward to Delaware Bay, where they plundered what they could find. Blackbeard and Bonnet weighed anchor and sailed northward to Delaware Bay, where they plundered and raided until they parted ways.
Return of Blackbeard
In March 1718, he encountered the 400-ton merchant vessel Protestant Caesar off Honduras. The ship escaped him and his crew became angry. They came across Blackbeard again shortly afterwards and Bonnet's crew deserted him to join Blackbeard. Bonnet found himself a guest again, this time contemplating retirement from the criminal business.
When Blackbeard docked his fleet in North Carolina, Bonnet went ashore only to return and find Blackbeard had stripped and abandoned the Revenge and marooned some 25 crewmembers on an island. Bonnet took his ship back, picked up his men, and resumed pirating. But he still seethed with plots of revenge. But it had to wait because Blackbeard was long gone. Bonnet went on to seize merchant vessels, abuse his crew, kill prisoners and threaten civilians. His ruthless behavior eventually gained him a fearsome reputation of his own. His need for revenge never met, he never saw Blackbeard again.
Pardon and Profiteering
He was pardoned by North Carolina governor Charles Eden and received clearance to go privateering against Spanish shipping. Though tempted to resume his piracy, he did not want to lose his pardon. He adopted the alias "Captain Thomas" and changed his ship's name to Royal James and returned to piracy by July 1718.
Capture of a Gentleman
South Carolina wanted him so the state commissioned Colonel William Rhett to hunt and capture him. In August of 1718, Rhett cornered Bonnet at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and he and the crew went down in a blaze of gunfire. Well, they were arrested. Bonnet soon declared that he would blow himself and the ship up before he surrendered, but his men gave themselves over quickly.
Rhett brought them to Charles Town in early October. Bonnet escaped on October 24th, but was recaptured on Sullivan's Island. On November 10th Bonnet was brought to trial and charged with two acts of piracy. Bonnet pleaded not guilty and conducted his own defense without legal assistance, cross-examining the witnesses to little avail, and calling a character witness in his favor. Bonnet also tried to take advantage of his upper-class background to plead for mercy and he blamed everything on Blackbeard. His trial was dragged out - even after all his men were hanged - until eventually Judge Nicholas Trott sentenced the Gentleman Pirate to be sent to the gallows. Bonnet wrote to Governor Johnson to ask for clemency, but Johnson endorsed the judge's decision. London papers later reported that the governor delayed his execution seven times due to his mental health.. Bonnet was eventually hanged at White Point Garden, in Charles Town, on December 10, 1718.
He spent less than two years of his midlife crisis storming the seas.
Stede Bonnet was born an upper class fellow who had no knowledge of seafaring. He was educated, refined and had retired as a Major to his estate from a successful military career. He had no apparent reason to rage against the establishment.
Bonnet was born in the 1680s into a wealthy family in Barbados and, according to the transcript of his 1718 trial, had "the advantage of liberal education." He inherited the family’s 400 acre estate after his father's death in 1694 and in 1709, he married Mary Allamby. They had three sons—Allamby, Edward, and Stede—and a daughter, Mary. After retiring from the militia with a rank of major (and no record of fighting) Bonnet settled in his estate as a member of respectable society. He spent a decade raising a family there. That is until he suffered some kind of mental breakdown.
In A General History of the Pyrates, Charles Johnson wrote that Bonnet was driven to piracy by Mary's nagging and "discomforts he found in a married State" and this led to this "humour of going a-pyrating.” It seems unlikely that a nagging wife turned this law-abiding gentleman into a pirate. Some theories suggest a psychological issue or mental disorder breakdown or a midlife crisis or it could have been something entirely else.
The Rise of Revenge
David Moore, an archaeologist and historian with the North Carolina Maritime Museum notes that according to the legal record, Bonnet borrowed £1700 (about $400,000 today) around 1717. He suggests that there may have been financial problems, perhaps due to a natural disaster or drought that wiped out his sugar crop. He also lost a child. Whatever his reason was, it made him buy himself a 60 ton sloop. No ship seizure like any other new Pirate Captain. He armed it with ten cannons, hired a crew of 70 men and named the ship Revenge. We don’t know who he sought revenge on at that time, but it came to revenge later. In a break from tradition, Bonnet paid his crew wages, not shares of plunder as most pirates did.
When he was done outfitting Revenge, he ran up a jolly roger up the pile and set off for Virginia to raid some commercial vessels. And that is what they did, but their success was due to the crew and their experience not to anything Bonnet did. This did nothing to earn him respect as the Captain. They captured several ships with holds loaded with booty. But they encountered, fought, and escaped from a Spanish man of war. The Revenge was badly damaged, Bonnet was seriously wounded, and half the crew was dead. In Nassau, Bonnet replaced his casualties and refitted the Revenge, increasing the sloop's armament to twelve guns.
They stripped everything they could and set off for Honduras, a well-known pirate hangout, to spend it. He met Blackbeard there and somehow this novice convinced the seasoned Blackbeard to plunder together.
Disabled by his wounds, Bonnet temporarily ceded command of the Revenge to Blackbeard, but remained aboard as a guest of the more experienced pirate captain. Blackbeard and Bonnet weighed anchor and sailed northward to Delaware Bay, where they plundered what they could find. Blackbeard and Bonnet weighed anchor and sailed northward to Delaware Bay, where they plundered and raided until they parted ways.
Return of Blackbeard
In March 1718, he encountered the 400-ton merchant vessel Protestant Caesar off Honduras. The ship escaped him and his crew became angry. They came across Blackbeard again shortly afterwards and Bonnet's crew deserted him to join Blackbeard. Bonnet found himself a guest again, this time contemplating retirement from the criminal business.
When Blackbeard docked his fleet in North Carolina, Bonnet went ashore only to return and find Blackbeard had stripped and abandoned the Revenge and marooned some 25 crewmembers on an island. Bonnet took his ship back, picked up his men, and resumed pirating. But he still seethed with plots of revenge. But it had to wait because Blackbeard was long gone. Bonnet went on to seize merchant vessels, abuse his crew, kill prisoners and threaten civilians. His ruthless behavior eventually gained him a fearsome reputation of his own. His need for revenge never met, he never saw Blackbeard again.
Pardon and Profiteering
He was pardoned by North Carolina governor Charles Eden and received clearance to go privateering against Spanish shipping. Though tempted to resume his piracy, he did not want to lose his pardon. He adopted the alias "Captain Thomas" and changed his ship's name to Royal James and returned to piracy by July 1718.
Capture of a Gentleman
South Carolina wanted him so the state commissioned Colonel William Rhett to hunt and capture him. In August of 1718, Rhett cornered Bonnet at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and he and the crew went down in a blaze of gunfire. Well, they were arrested. Bonnet soon declared that he would blow himself and the ship up before he surrendered, but his men gave themselves over quickly.
Rhett brought them to Charles Town in early October. Bonnet escaped on October 24th, but was recaptured on Sullivan's Island. On November 10th Bonnet was brought to trial and charged with two acts of piracy. Bonnet pleaded not guilty and conducted his own defense without legal assistance, cross-examining the witnesses to little avail, and calling a character witness in his favor. Bonnet also tried to take advantage of his upper-class background to plead for mercy and he blamed everything on Blackbeard. His trial was dragged out - even after all his men were hanged - until eventually Judge Nicholas Trott sentenced the Gentleman Pirate to be sent to the gallows. Bonnet wrote to Governor Johnson to ask for clemency, but Johnson endorsed the judge's decision. London papers later reported that the governor delayed his execution seven times due to his mental health.. Bonnet was eventually hanged at White Point Garden, in Charles Town, on December 10, 1718.
He spent less than two years of his midlife crisis storming the seas.
OTHER NOTABLE PIRATES
Virtually all of the pirate materials—as well as the works of Robert Louis Stevenson—are inspired by Blackbeard’s circle of pirates, who shared a common base in the Bahamas, and were active for a very brief period: 1713 to 1720 or so. Despite the short timespan of their careers, many of these pirates’ names have lived on through the ages:
Among the most infamous Caribbean pirates of the time with Blackbeard and William Kidd, were the flamboyant Calico Jack Rackham, and the most successful pirate, Welshman Bartholomew Roberts.
The award for the Richest, Most Successful Pirate You’ve Never Heard Of goes to Henry Every. He raided India. Scored millions. And then more millions. And he gets extra credit for not ever being captured or killed - in battle or the gallows. After a couple of years he just packed up his toys and sailed off into the sunset.
- The Rhode Island Pirate, Thomas Tew
- Englishman Robert Culliford
- Sam Bellamy of the famous Whydah
- The bombastic Charles Vane
- The last buccaneer Jean Lafitte
The most famous buccaneer was Henry Morgan. Morgan was responsible for raids in Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela. Based in Port Royal, Jamaica in 1670, Morgan led a fleet of thirty-six ships and 1,846 men, the largest fleet ever assembled in Caribbean history.
The most popular privateer was Francis Drake. Drake raided Spanish settlements and shipping in the South Sea shores of present-day Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Venezuela, along the coasts of Central America.
- English ex-privateers included Henry Jennings, Samuel Bellamy, and Edward England.
The Pirate Governor
Captain Woodes Rogers chased the pirates out of The Bahamas. A former privateer, he went on to become the governor of The Bahamas, and in the process, helped drive all the pirates off the Islands.
Pirate Known For Brutality
Edward – or Ned – Low was notorious as one of the most brutal and vicious pirates. Originally from London, he started as a lieutenant before striking out on his own. His career as a pirate lasted just three years, during which he captured over 100 ships, and he and his crew murdered, tortured and maimed hundreds of people. His own crew mutinied in 1724 and he was rescued by a French vessel who hanged him on Martinique island.
The Women With Calico Jack
The female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny,
were infamous female pirates of the 18th century; both spent their brief sea-roving careers under the command of Calico Jack and gained notoriety for their ruthlessness—they are known to have spoken in favor of murdering witnesses in the crew's counsels—and for fighting the intruders of a vessel while crew members were drunk and hiding under the deck. When the judge sentenced Anne and Mary to death he asked if they had anything to say. "Milord, we plead our bellies", meaning they asserted they were pregnant. The judge immediately postponed their death sentence because no English court had the authority to kill an unborn child. Read died in prison of fever before the birth of the child. There is no record of Anne being executed and it was rumored her wealthy father had paid a ransom and rumors include a return to piracy or that she became a nun.
The Vikings - are the most widely known and far-reaching pirates in medieval Europe and they were seaborne warriors from Scandinavia who raided and looted between the 8th and 12th centuries. They raided the coasts, rivers, and inland cities of all Western Europe as far as Seville, and also the coasts of North Africa, Italy, and all the coasts of the Baltic Sea. They were feared marauders.
THE PIRATE NOTABLES
NOTORIOUS NOTABLE PIRATES
Notable BOOTY | TORTURE | HANGINGS
NOTABLE - Bits & Bobs - NOTES
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THE STORY, LANGUAGE & LORE
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LEARN THE REAL STORY OF PIRATES
the brutal truth in a real story of plundering pirates
Pirates ~ Golden Age ~ Fact Check ~ Archetype
Democracy - Pirate Code ~ Notable Notes
Notorious Pirates ~ Booty ~ Hangings
Literary ~ Language ~ Lore ~ Narrative
the brutal truth in a real story of plundering pirates
Pirates ~ Golden Age ~ Fact Check ~ Archetype
Democracy - Pirate Code ~ Notable Notes
Notorious Pirates ~ Booty ~ Hangings
Literary ~ Language ~ Lore ~ Narrative
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THE PIRATE DICTIONARY- real and invented words, terms & slang and expressions
Home ~ Pirates ~ Captains - Crew - Punishment
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The words were invented - just like Star Trek - to build a vocabulary for the genre. The colorful words and phrases don’t come from Pirates. The authentic words refer to ships, sails, food, gear etc. These are part of the vernacular of the time period and come from nautical sources or the military. Read more here. This dictionary is formed from real words and terms used in Golden Age and the jargon for sailors and shipbuilding. The pirate specific terms come from Johnson’s nonfiction pirate reference book written in the late 17th century. See it here.
And the dictionary contains the slang you need to Talk Like a Pirate in September.
Home ~ Pirates ~ Captains - Crew - Punishment
Ships ~Sails ~ Flags - Navigation ~ Food ~ Booze Gear ~ Weapons ~ Slang/Expressions
The words were invented - just like Star Trek - to build a vocabulary for the genre. The colorful words and phrases don’t come from Pirates. The authentic words refer to ships, sails, food, gear etc. These are part of the vernacular of the time period and come from nautical sources or the military. Read more here. This dictionary is formed from real words and terms used in Golden Age and the jargon for sailors and shipbuilding. The pirate specific terms come from Johnson’s nonfiction pirate reference book written in the late 17th century. See it here.
And the dictionary contains the slang you need to Talk Like a Pirate in September.
CLICK TO ACCESS THE LEXICON
BONUS BOOTY - words related to pirates
LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
the rare, unusual & obscure words related to pirates
[A-F] ~ [G-L] ~ [M-R] ~ [S-Z]
View the rare, unusual and obscure words - some even obsolete - that apply to pirates, their lives and their world. Obscure words form the very foundation of this site - the dictionary is like giving you an expected wage. The lexicon is giving you a share of the best booty and the bling.
VIEW LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
the rare, unusual & obscure words related to pirates
[A-F] ~ [G-L] ~ [M-R] ~ [S-Z]
View the rare, unusual and obscure words - some even obsolete - that apply to pirates, their lives and their world. Obscure words form the very foundation of this site - the dictionary is like giving you an expected wage. The lexicon is giving you a share of the best booty and the bling.
VIEW LEXICON OF PIRATES IN OBSCURITY
PIRATE COLLECTION PRESENTED BY
A BEAUTIFUL WORD
this obscure vocabulary site is for logophiles, writers readers, and word lovers - it is a part of
A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
Collection of Vocabulary Books, Sites and Resources
Series Homepage | View Sites | Download Books
Words are also posted on twitter under the hashtags #beautifulwords and #wordoftheday and shared visually on pinterest bulletin boards
ABOUT SITE | SITEMAPS | SEARCH | FEEDBACK
Original Content by Kairos ~ @kairosoflife
Homepage | Portfolio | Contact
Original content © 2021 Copyright, Kairos
A SERIES OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
Collection of Vocabulary Books, Sites and Resources
Series Homepage | View Sites | Download Books
Words are also posted on twitter under the hashtags #beautifulwords and #wordoftheday and shared visually on pinterest bulletin boards
ABOUT SITE | SITEMAPS | SEARCH | FEEDBACK
Original Content by Kairos ~ @kairosoflife
Homepage | Portfolio | Contact
Original content © 2021 Copyright, Kairos
