THE NOTABLES
NOTORIOUS NOTABLE PIRATES
NOTABLE BOOTY | NOTABLE CAPTURES
NOTABLE - Bits & Bobs - NOTES
WITH BEAUTIFUL WORDS
DOWNLOAD PIRATE COLLECTION
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100+ pages of the real pirate story, the dictionary, lexicon and all pirate inspired words
this feature collection is available for download
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
END OF THE GOLDEN AGE
Roberts' death was seen by some historians as the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Others claim it effectively ended in 1726, with the hanging of the last prominent pirate captain, Captain William Fly, in Boston. Also crucial to the end of this era of piracy was the loss of the pirates' last Caribbean safe haven at Nassau. By the 1830s, ships had begun to convert to steam propulsion, so the Age of Sail and the classical idea of pirates in the Caribbean ended.
Privateering continued as an asset in war for a few more decades and proved to be of some importance during the naval campaigns of the American Civil War. Privateering would remain a tool of European states until the mid-19th century's Declaration of Paris. But letters of marque were given out much more sparingly by governments and were terminated as soon as conflicts ended. The idea of "no peace beyond the Line" was a relic that had no meaning by the more settled late 18th and early 19th centuries.
THE PIRATE BIBLE - General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates.
Published in 1724, this important book almost single-handedly recorded all the documented accounts that we have. Parts of it are uncannily accurate, drawn word-for-word from official government documents. Others have been shown to be complete fabrications. For researchers, it has served as a treasure map. But the map leads to dead ends as often as it does to verifiable evidence, which scholars covet like gold.
The references to Johnson refer to this book.
REAL QUOTES FROM PIRATES
From A General History of the Pyrates
"Black Bart" Roberts on pirating
"In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life and a short one, shall be my motto." (Johnson, 244)
Translation: "In honest work, the food is bad, the wages are low and the work is hard. In piracy, there is plenty of loot, it's fun and easy and we are free and powerful. Who, when presented with this choice, would not choose piracy? The worst that can happen is you can be hanged. No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto."
Blackbeard Before his final battle
"Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters, or take any from you." (Johnson 80)
Translation: "I'll be damned if I accept your surrender or surrender to you.")
Anne Bonny to "Calico Jack" in prison after he had decided to surrender to pirate hunters instead of fight.
"I am sorry to see you here, but if you had fought like a man, you needn't be hanged like a dog." (Johnson, 165)
Thomas Sutton, when told by a fellow pirate that he hoped to make it into Heaven.
"Heaven, you fool? Did you ever year of any pirates going thither? Give me hell, it's a merrier place: I'll give Roberts a salute of 13 guns at entrance." (Johnson 246)
William Kidd when being sentenced to hang.
"My Lord, it is a very hard sentence. For my part, I am the innocentest person of them all, only I have been sworn against by perjured persons." (Johnson 451)
Maynard on Meeting Blackbeard
“At our first salutation,” Maynard wrote, Blackbeard “drank damnation to me and my men, whom he styled sniveling puppies, saying, he would neither give nor take quarter.”
And Maynard on the death of Blackbeard
“I have cut Blackbeard’s head off, which I have put on my bowsprit, in order to carry it to Virginia.”
The Boston News-Letter with a colorful secondhand account of Blackbeard’s final moments for an enraptured public:
“Maynard and Teach themselves two begun the fight with their swords, Maynard making a thrust, the point of his sword against Teach’s cartridge box, and bended it to the hilt. Teach broke the guard of it, and wounded Maynard’s fingers but did not disable him, whereupon he jumped back and threw away his sword and fired his pistol, which wounded Teach. Demelt struck in between them with his sword and cut Teach’s face pretty much; . . . one of Maynard’s men being a [Scottish] highlander engaged Teach with his broad sword, who gave Teach a cut on the neck, Teach saying, well done lad, the highlander replied, if it be not well done, I’ll do it better, [and] with that he gave him a second stroke, which cut off his head, laying it flat on his shoulder.”
Captain John Quelch declared to the ministers present at his execution that he was:
“...not afraid of Death,” nor “the Gallows,” but “of what follows; [he was] afraid of a Great God, and a Judgment to Come.”
Captain George Cusack to a crew member begging for help as he struggled not to drown.
“Cowards, what do you think to go to Heaven and do such actions as these? No, I will make you officers in Hell under me.”
And at his own execution, he said:
“Take warning by my Death how you lead your Lives: Ill actions must expect miserable Ends… The Company of Loose Women, and a Covetous desire of getting Money, have been and are the two Mischievous Rocks on which men Shipwrack their Souls, and generally the means that lead them to this Deplorable End which ye now see prepared for me.”
Captain Joseph Halsey in a letter to his mother to ease her soul:
“I am very sorry mother, to think that I should be called so soon out of this world by an untimely end, for I had always hope of helping you, and should have done very well, had it not been for these [other pirates]. It has cost me all my wages, venture, and life. Don’t make yourself uneasy, for it cannot be helped. I’ll send you home my shirts, buckles, and hat. Remember me…”
An Anonymous Pirate when asked on the gallows if he repented.
"Yes, I do heartily repent. I repent I had not done more mischief; and that we did not cut the throats of them that took us, and I am extremely sorry that you aren't hanged as well as we." (Johnson 43)
NOTABLE NOTES ABOUT PIRATES
Sailors Defected
Were pirates desperate men who could not find honest work? It was not uncommon for merchant crewmen to join the pirates. This was because honest work at sea consisted of either merchant or military service, both of which featured abominable conditions.
Sailors were underpaid, routinely cheated of their wages, beaten at the slightest provocation, and often forced to serve. The corrupt officers would often "tax" their crews' wage to supplement their own, and the Royal Navy of the day was infamous for its reluctance to pay. From this wage, 6d per month was deducted for the maintenance of Greenwich Hospital, with similar amounts deducted for the Chatham Chest, the chaplain and surgeon. Six months' pay was withheld to discourage desertion. By 1793 more than 42,000 sailors had deserted. Roughly half of all crews were press ganged and these not only received lower wages than volunteers but were shackled while the vessel was docked and were never permitted to go ashore until released from service. It should surprise no one that many would willingly choose the more humane and democratic life on board a pirate vessel.
As noted by Economist Peter Leeson who believed that pirates were generally shrewd businessmen, far removed from the modern, romanticized view of them as barbarians:
“We normally think about pirates as sort of blood-lusting, that they want to slash somebody to pieces. a pirate, just like a normal person, would probably rather not have killed someone, but pirates knew that if that person resisted them and they didn't do something about it, their reputation and thus their brand name would be impaired. So you can imagine a pirate rather reluctantly engaging in this behavior as a way of preserving that reputation.”
Privateers Sent Out to Plunder
During wartime, nations would issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which allowed ships to attack enemy ports and vessels. These ships kept the plunder and had to share some of it with the government that had issued the letter. These men were called privateers. The most famous examples were Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan. These men never attacked English ships, ports, or merchants and were considered great heroes by the common people of England. The Spanish, however, considered them pirates.
Pirates Didn’t Last Long
Pirates knew their lives on the high seas were brief. On average, pirates lasted in their chosen career for only two years before they died by illness, injury or execution. Illness and injury were to be expected on the high seas. Even the most famous pirates, such as Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts, were only active in piracy for a couple of years. Roberts, who had a successful career as a pirate, was only active from 1719 to 1722. Blackbearn lasted two years.
Surrendering Saved Lives - Pirates tended to kill few people aboard the ships they captured; usually they would kill no one if the ship surrendered, because if it became known that pirates took no prisoners, their victims would fight to the last breath and make victory both very difficult and costly in lives. In contrast, ships would quickly surrender if they knew they would be spared. In one well-documented case 300 heavily armed soldiers on a ship attacked by Thomas Tew surrendered after a brief battle with none of Tew's 40-man crew being injured.
Captains Run the Ship
When a ship was captured, pirates would sometimes ask the crew about their captain. if he was cruel, they might torture and kill him. if he was good to his men, they sometimes would reward him with treasure — and sometimes would give him a ship.
SEE THE SCOURGE OF THE SEVEN SEAS
for more words describing the Pirates and their crews
NOTABLE STATISTICS
By 1720, there was an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 pirates operating in the Caribbean and North America.
The Privateer Numbers
During King George's War, approximately 36,000 Americans served as privateers at one time or another.
During the American Revolution, about 55,000 American seamen served. The privateers had almost 1,700 ships, and they captured 2,283 enemy ships. Between the end of the Revolutionary War and 1812, Britain, France, Naples, the Barbary States, Spain, and the Netherlands seized approximately 2,500 American ships. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Throughout the Civil War, Confederate privateers successfully harassed Union merchant ships.
Commerce Raiders in disguised warships called commerce raiders or merchant raiders attacked enemy shipping commerce. Commerce raiders operated successfully during the American Revolution and the Civil War. The Confederacy sent out several commerce raiders, the most famous of which was the CSS Alabama. During World War I and World War II, Germany also made use of these tactics, both in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Since commissioned naval vessels were openly used, these commerce raiders should not be considered privateers, much less pirates, although the opposing combatants were vocal in denouncing them as such.
Modern Piracy - statistics have been recorded
on pirate attacks dating back to 1995. The records indicate hostage-taking dominates the types of violence against seafarers.
The United States has a statute imposing a sentence of life in prison for piracy "as defined by the law of nations" committed anywhere on the high seas, regardless of the nationality of the pirates or the victims. This is due to the "universality principle"which states that a government may "exercise jurisdiction over conduct outside its territory if that conduct is universally dangerous to states and their nationals.”
FASCINATING LINKS
Timeline of Piracy - from 1400BC
The Swashbuckling History of Women Pirates
Blackbeard: History of the Dreaded Pirate
Pirate Ship Relic Hunters
History of the Caribbean Pirates: 10 Things You Should Know
The Most Iconic Episode From the Life of Blackbeard Is How It Ended. Here's How the Pirate Really Died
AN ODE TO THE SCOURGE
To end this pirate history in the best way is to end it with an ode to a pirate… pirate poetry is apparently a thing.
You're a lily-livered landlubber,
A poxy-faced buffoon.
Your armpits smell like rancid cod,
Your face looks like a prune.
You're a rusty-bladed buccaneer,
Who only drinks stale grog.
Your wooden leg has woodworm,
You weevil eating dog.
You're a parrot-lovin' jellyfish,
A lice-infested slob.
There is no need to spill my guts,
You rotter, Scurvy Bob!
Poem by the Scourge-Free
Katherine Lynas
And as Bartholomew Roberts declared "a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto…”
Roberts' death was seen by some historians as the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Others claim it effectively ended in 1726, with the hanging of the last prominent pirate captain, Captain William Fly, in Boston. Also crucial to the end of this era of piracy was the loss of the pirates' last Caribbean safe haven at Nassau. By the 1830s, ships had begun to convert to steam propulsion, so the Age of Sail and the classical idea of pirates in the Caribbean ended.
Privateering continued as an asset in war for a few more decades and proved to be of some importance during the naval campaigns of the American Civil War. Privateering would remain a tool of European states until the mid-19th century's Declaration of Paris. But letters of marque were given out much more sparingly by governments and were terminated as soon as conflicts ended. The idea of "no peace beyond the Line" was a relic that had no meaning by the more settled late 18th and early 19th centuries.
THE PIRATE BIBLE - General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates.
Published in 1724, this important book almost single-handedly recorded all the documented accounts that we have. Parts of it are uncannily accurate, drawn word-for-word from official government documents. Others have been shown to be complete fabrications. For researchers, it has served as a treasure map. But the map leads to dead ends as often as it does to verifiable evidence, which scholars covet like gold.
The references to Johnson refer to this book.
REAL QUOTES FROM PIRATES
From A General History of the Pyrates
"Black Bart" Roberts on pirating
"In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life and a short one, shall be my motto." (Johnson, 244)
Translation: "In honest work, the food is bad, the wages are low and the work is hard. In piracy, there is plenty of loot, it's fun and easy and we are free and powerful. Who, when presented with this choice, would not choose piracy? The worst that can happen is you can be hanged. No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto."
Blackbeard Before his final battle
"Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters, or take any from you." (Johnson 80)
Translation: "I'll be damned if I accept your surrender or surrender to you.")
Anne Bonny to "Calico Jack" in prison after he had decided to surrender to pirate hunters instead of fight.
"I am sorry to see you here, but if you had fought like a man, you needn't be hanged like a dog." (Johnson, 165)
Thomas Sutton, when told by a fellow pirate that he hoped to make it into Heaven.
"Heaven, you fool? Did you ever year of any pirates going thither? Give me hell, it's a merrier place: I'll give Roberts a salute of 13 guns at entrance." (Johnson 246)
William Kidd when being sentenced to hang.
"My Lord, it is a very hard sentence. For my part, I am the innocentest person of them all, only I have been sworn against by perjured persons." (Johnson 451)
Maynard on Meeting Blackbeard
“At our first salutation,” Maynard wrote, Blackbeard “drank damnation to me and my men, whom he styled sniveling puppies, saying, he would neither give nor take quarter.”
And Maynard on the death of Blackbeard
“I have cut Blackbeard’s head off, which I have put on my bowsprit, in order to carry it to Virginia.”
The Boston News-Letter with a colorful secondhand account of Blackbeard’s final moments for an enraptured public:
“Maynard and Teach themselves two begun the fight with their swords, Maynard making a thrust, the point of his sword against Teach’s cartridge box, and bended it to the hilt. Teach broke the guard of it, and wounded Maynard’s fingers but did not disable him, whereupon he jumped back and threw away his sword and fired his pistol, which wounded Teach. Demelt struck in between them with his sword and cut Teach’s face pretty much; . . . one of Maynard’s men being a [Scottish] highlander engaged Teach with his broad sword, who gave Teach a cut on the neck, Teach saying, well done lad, the highlander replied, if it be not well done, I’ll do it better, [and] with that he gave him a second stroke, which cut off his head, laying it flat on his shoulder.”
Captain John Quelch declared to the ministers present at his execution that he was:
“...not afraid of Death,” nor “the Gallows,” but “of what follows; [he was] afraid of a Great God, and a Judgment to Come.”
Captain George Cusack to a crew member begging for help as he struggled not to drown.
“Cowards, what do you think to go to Heaven and do such actions as these? No, I will make you officers in Hell under me.”
And at his own execution, he said:
“Take warning by my Death how you lead your Lives: Ill actions must expect miserable Ends… The Company of Loose Women, and a Covetous desire of getting Money, have been and are the two Mischievous Rocks on which men Shipwrack their Souls, and generally the means that lead them to this Deplorable End which ye now see prepared for me.”
Captain Joseph Halsey in a letter to his mother to ease her soul:
“I am very sorry mother, to think that I should be called so soon out of this world by an untimely end, for I had always hope of helping you, and should have done very well, had it not been for these [other pirates]. It has cost me all my wages, venture, and life. Don’t make yourself uneasy, for it cannot be helped. I’ll send you home my shirts, buckles, and hat. Remember me…”
An Anonymous Pirate when asked on the gallows if he repented.
"Yes, I do heartily repent. I repent I had not done more mischief; and that we did not cut the throats of them that took us, and I am extremely sorry that you aren't hanged as well as we." (Johnson 43)
NOTABLE NOTES ABOUT PIRATES
Sailors Defected
Were pirates desperate men who could not find honest work? It was not uncommon for merchant crewmen to join the pirates. This was because honest work at sea consisted of either merchant or military service, both of which featured abominable conditions.
Sailors were underpaid, routinely cheated of their wages, beaten at the slightest provocation, and often forced to serve. The corrupt officers would often "tax" their crews' wage to supplement their own, and the Royal Navy of the day was infamous for its reluctance to pay. From this wage, 6d per month was deducted for the maintenance of Greenwich Hospital, with similar amounts deducted for the Chatham Chest, the chaplain and surgeon. Six months' pay was withheld to discourage desertion. By 1793 more than 42,000 sailors had deserted. Roughly half of all crews were press ganged and these not only received lower wages than volunteers but were shackled while the vessel was docked and were never permitted to go ashore until released from service. It should surprise no one that many would willingly choose the more humane and democratic life on board a pirate vessel.
As noted by Economist Peter Leeson who believed that pirates were generally shrewd businessmen, far removed from the modern, romanticized view of them as barbarians:
“We normally think about pirates as sort of blood-lusting, that they want to slash somebody to pieces. a pirate, just like a normal person, would probably rather not have killed someone, but pirates knew that if that person resisted them and they didn't do something about it, their reputation and thus their brand name would be impaired. So you can imagine a pirate rather reluctantly engaging in this behavior as a way of preserving that reputation.”
Privateers Sent Out to Plunder
During wartime, nations would issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which allowed ships to attack enemy ports and vessels. These ships kept the plunder and had to share some of it with the government that had issued the letter. These men were called privateers. The most famous examples were Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan. These men never attacked English ships, ports, or merchants and were considered great heroes by the common people of England. The Spanish, however, considered them pirates.
Pirates Didn’t Last Long
Pirates knew their lives on the high seas were brief. On average, pirates lasted in their chosen career for only two years before they died by illness, injury or execution. Illness and injury were to be expected on the high seas. Even the most famous pirates, such as Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts, were only active in piracy for a couple of years. Roberts, who had a successful career as a pirate, was only active from 1719 to 1722. Blackbearn lasted two years.
Surrendering Saved Lives - Pirates tended to kill few people aboard the ships they captured; usually they would kill no one if the ship surrendered, because if it became known that pirates took no prisoners, their victims would fight to the last breath and make victory both very difficult and costly in lives. In contrast, ships would quickly surrender if they knew they would be spared. In one well-documented case 300 heavily armed soldiers on a ship attacked by Thomas Tew surrendered after a brief battle with none of Tew's 40-man crew being injured.
Captains Run the Ship
When a ship was captured, pirates would sometimes ask the crew about their captain. if he was cruel, they might torture and kill him. if he was good to his men, they sometimes would reward him with treasure — and sometimes would give him a ship.
- Pirate captains who sensed that their ship was about to be captured, would find a way to escape being caught by pretending to be one of the crew. Being the commander in chief of the pirate ship, he would be greatly punished (probably hung) if he fell into the hands of authorities. So to escape, he would change his clothes to an old ones and mingle with his subordinates. This way no one knew who he was.
SEE THE SCOURGE OF THE SEVEN SEAS
for more words describing the Pirates and their crews
NOTABLE STATISTICS
By 1720, there was an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 pirates operating in the Caribbean and North America.
The Privateer Numbers
During King George's War, approximately 36,000 Americans served as privateers at one time or another.
During the American Revolution, about 55,000 American seamen served. The privateers had almost 1,700 ships, and they captured 2,283 enemy ships. Between the end of the Revolutionary War and 1812, Britain, France, Naples, the Barbary States, Spain, and the Netherlands seized approximately 2,500 American ships. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Throughout the Civil War, Confederate privateers successfully harassed Union merchant ships.
Commerce Raiders in disguised warships called commerce raiders or merchant raiders attacked enemy shipping commerce. Commerce raiders operated successfully during the American Revolution and the Civil War. The Confederacy sent out several commerce raiders, the most famous of which was the CSS Alabama. During World War I and World War II, Germany also made use of these tactics, both in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Since commissioned naval vessels were openly used, these commerce raiders should not be considered privateers, much less pirates, although the opposing combatants were vocal in denouncing them as such.
Modern Piracy - statistics have been recorded
on pirate attacks dating back to 1995. The records indicate hostage-taking dominates the types of violence against seafarers.
- In 2006, there were 239 attacks, 77 crew members were kidnapped and 188 taken hostage but only 15 of the pirate attacks resulted in murder.
- In 2007 there were 263 attacks. There was a 35 percent increase on reported attacks involving guns. Crew members that were injured numbered 64 compared to just 17 in 2006. That number does not include instances of hostage taking and kidnapping where the victims were not injured.
- Between January and September 2009 the number of attacks was 306, an increase from 293. The pirates boarded the vessels in 114 cases and hijacked 34 of them. Gun use in pirate attacks rose to 176 cases from 76 last year.
- Since 2008, Somali pirates have made about $120 million annually, reportedly costing the shipping industry between $900 million and $3.3 billion per year. By September 2012, the heyday of piracy in the Indian Ocean was reportedly over and backers were reportedly reluctant to finance pirate expeditions due to the low rate of success. Pirate attacks had dropped to a six-year low by October 2012. Only five ships were captured by the end of the year, showing a decrease from 25 in 2011 and 27 in 2010, with only one ship attacked in the third quarter compared to 36 during the same period in 2011. In contrast, incidents off on the West African seaboard increased to 34 and attacks off the coast of Indonesia rose from 2011's total of 46 to 51.
- In 2020, the amount of piracy increased by 24% after being at its lowest peak since 2019. The Americas and Africa have been identified as the most vulnerable to piracy as a result of less-wealthy governments being unable to combat piracy.
The United States has a statute imposing a sentence of life in prison for piracy "as defined by the law of nations" committed anywhere on the high seas, regardless of the nationality of the pirates or the victims. This is due to the "universality principle"which states that a government may "exercise jurisdiction over conduct outside its territory if that conduct is universally dangerous to states and their nationals.”
FASCINATING LINKS
Timeline of Piracy - from 1400BC
The Swashbuckling History of Women Pirates
Blackbeard: History of the Dreaded Pirate
Pirate Ship Relic Hunters
History of the Caribbean Pirates: 10 Things You Should Know
The Most Iconic Episode From the Life of Blackbeard Is How It Ended. Here's How the Pirate Really Died
AN ODE TO THE SCOURGE
To end this pirate history in the best way is to end it with an ode to a pirate… pirate poetry is apparently a thing.
You're a lily-livered landlubber,
A poxy-faced buffoon.
Your armpits smell like rancid cod,
Your face looks like a prune.
You're a rusty-bladed buccaneer,
Who only drinks stale grog.
Your wooden leg has woodworm,
You weevil eating dog.
You're a parrot-lovin' jellyfish,
A lice-infested slob.
There is no need to spill my guts,
You rotter, Scurvy Bob!
Poem by the Scourge-Free
Katherine Lynas
And as Bartholomew Roberts declared "a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto…”
THE PIRATE NOTABLES
NOTORIOUS NOTABLE PIRATES
Notable BOOTY | TORTURE | HANGINGS
NOTABLE - Bits & Bobs - NOTES
CLICK FOR A SITEMAP OF PIRATE PAGES
THE STORY, LANGUAGE & LORE
STORY | SLANG | WORDS
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
CLICK TO ACCESS THE DICTIONARY
THE PIRATE DICTIONARY- real and invented words, terms & slang and expressions
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.
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
