A Pirates Personal Weapons

During what is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Piracy, the early 18th century, or "the Pirates of the Caribbean time", pirates were often armed.  This is not surprising as they are criminals who take things by force.  It may be, in fact, silly to think of them without weapons, as their weapons have become a part of their costume, so to speak.  This is a short study of the common personal weapons that pirates most often used.  Please understand that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Clearly weapons such as hammers, marlinspikes, whips, flails, and garottes could and I'm sure did come into play.  Yet, those were not the common weapons of pirates, but rather the weapons of convenience.  Knives, swords, axes, and guns were the common weapons of the time.

Knives

The most common weapon was the knife because it was also a tool of both hunters and sailors, which is where Buccaneers came from.  Knives were also commonly used because they're small and easy to carry concealed -or- between your teeth whilst climbing up the side of a ship that you're about to attack.  Quick and quiet, knives made the best weapons for taking a ship in the dead of the night.  Versatile, as they can be thrown, used to puncture or slash, plus lightweight and easy to carry.  It is easy to see how the knife was clearly a pirate favorite.

(More pics of this great knife can be seen at http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?38165-A-Pirates-knife-yo-ho)

Cutlasses

Pirates also used swords.  The most common type of sword used by Pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy was the cutlass.  Their short, heavy blades sharpened only on one edge made excellent machetes and shipboard tools, as well as weapons.  The reason for this design was the use of the weapon; dual-edge swords can cut on both the forward swing and the back-swing.  There is much less control on the back-swing and an accident could mean damage to the sails and sheets of the ship.  It was true that some sailors and pirates used rapiers.  This was rare however, because the rapier is primarily a thrusting weapon and it takes great skill to master.  The rapier is the weapon of a duelist, not a murderous thug.

Boarding Axes

One of the most common weapons, or tools, found on ships of this period is the ax.  Most sailors probably thought of the ax as more of a tool, like a fireman's ax, than a weapon.  No matter,  as the ax makes an effective boarding weapon whether you choose to attack your enemy directly or damage their ship. Many of the French buccaneers used a small hand ax, not unlike the tomahawk, as an offhanded weapon.  Additionally, every ship of the period should have AT LEAST 1 ax to cut away storm-damaged pieces of rigging and to cut wood for repair pieces.

Belaying Pins or Clubs

Surprising as this may be to hear, murder is not always the goal when taking a ship.  Sometimes, especially if the crew are just poor merchant sailors, there is no reason for a great deal of bloodshed. If just beating down and frightening the crew will get you what you want, why go further?  Also, it was not uncommon for pirates to recruit new members from the crews of taken ships; it's not real likely that you are gonna get someone to join with you if you just shot one of their friends and ran a sword through another.  So, without further delay, I present to you the belaying pin.

The belaying pin is a piece of hard wood or brass 18" - 24" long in a pin or baton shape that fits into a set of parallel holes, one above the other, in the rails or around the masts.  It is a tool on board a sailing vessel of this period that performs the same duty as the modern cleat; it serves as a place to "make fast" or tie off lines from the running rigging (that's the part of the rigging that moves).  As each sail could have as many as 6 running rigging lines coming from it and each line needs a place to be tied off, you begin to see how there are many pins along the rails on both sides of a ship with 15 or more sails, as most vessels with 3 masts could easily have.

Pistols

From the Fifteenth century and the arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean, pistols became the premier personal weapon.  They were highly prized by pirates.  In some ship's articles, it was agreed upon by the entire crew that the lookout who spotted a ship that ended up as a prize got the choice of the pistols found aboard. Unfortunately, despite their incredible popularity both in history and in fiction, pistols of this time period are neither accurate, nor reliable.  This is especially the case when mixed with the humidity of the Caribbean region.  Simply put, black powder weapons absolutely require dry powder to fire properly and it is incredibly difficult to keep powder dry in a place where the air is saturated with water.  

Of course as the centuries roll by, black powder becomes more stable and the mechanisms of the pistols become better as well.  Even so, pistol shots at close range still failed nearly a third of the time.  Again, we must consider the pirate and remember his goal is usually thievery.  Pistols, especially a number of them, are intimidating all on their own.  A pirate might be able to convince common people to help him just by intimidation without ever having to threaten them directly.  How comfortable would you be around a terrorist covered in weapons, which is roughly the equivalent of how people of the 18th Century viewed pirates at that time.

Long Rifles

Long rifles, although they are black powder weapons, were much more stable.  Used both by pirates and marines, these were the assault weapons of the period.  When fixed with a bayonet, the barrel of the gun is plugged, but the weapon retains functionality as a boarding pike.  In the period, some of the French buccaneers were renowned hunters and their accuracy with a long rifle, whether killing a boar or a man, was the stuff of legend.

It is interesting to note that although the British and French were known to use long rifles from the rigging (or more accurately from the fighting tops), the Spanish never did -- their Admiralty believed that the risk of fire in the rigging far outweighed the benefits of guns.  Even as late as the 1700's, the Spanish used bows and crossbows in their fighting tops.

Blunderbusses

If the long rifle was the assault weapon of the period, then the blunderbuss is like an AK-47 with undermounted grenade launcher.  This weapon was 100% intimidation; 3 - 5 people standing in its explosive path would become the blood red paint that covered the people behind them.  It was a terror weapon.  It was used both to intimidate and to end boarding actions.  If there were 4 of these side by side, they would clear a deck.  Blunderbuss, when you absolutely want to make it clear that you are in charge and you are not afraid to redecorate in arterial red to prove it.

You can see more of this glorious piece at the following site.  

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2009/12/brass-barreled-blunderbuss-by-david.html

A Pirate Birthday Adventure -- You're never too old.

Last weekend my nephew turned 22.  He loves pirates and his wife, who was making him an excellent pirate outfit for his present wanted to have a pirate surprise party.  She wanted to have a scavenger hunt type thing and so my incredibly talented friends and family pulled together to pull off an amazing pirate adventure.

Here's the letter that started it all off, written by yours truly:

Unto My Most Adventurous Nephew,

From A Most Eccentric and Unknown Uncle Who Has Watched Your Ways

Concerning A Coming of Age, A Rite of Passage, and A Quest In Need of Finishing

I have little time left to me on this spinning ball of mud and I will waste little of it explaining myself. I am kin to you, but you were never told of me. I am kept locked away now by the wasting of body and mind. We will never meet, you and I, yet I believe that you are the one to finish the quest that I have devoted my life to. They called my meticulous work MAD, but you will prove them wrong! At least I think you're the one. But wait; I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let me give you some background.

An age ago when pirates sailed did Jose Gaspar take up the “sweet trade”. He took many rich prizes along the Gulf Coast, raiding shipping and settlements alike. His brig, La Florablanca, was known and feared by all. In his later years, Gaspar began to hoard his treasure, wanting not to split it with the crew. Finally though when La Florablanca rode so low in the water that the gunports could no be opened for fear of sinking the brig, the crew handed Gaspar the “black spot” and demanded a split of the booty.

Gaspar did not stay a pirate captain into his 60's by being a fool. So he put into Tampa Bay near the mouth of the Hillsborough River at the dying of day. The order was to disembark all crew and treasure into the boats. They'd count and split the treasure onshore; the plan was to sail away again at dawn. Unfortunately, there was so much treasure to be loaded and moved ashore that the process took all night. Before the split could happen, a ship could be seen entering Tampa Bay by the morning light. Gaspar eyed her through his spyglass and saw she flew the colors of Britain. She seemed low in the water, as well as poorly-handled by a too-small crew. All the signs of merchantman come to trade at the small nearby settlement.

Gaspar put it to his crew – “Look there what comes our way, hombres – a fat English merchant. Who wants to make this pile even bigger!” The crew took little convincing. They knew the now empty La Florablanca would quickly catch and dispatch this merchant. They were blinded by greed and that was their undoing.

As many now know, that fat British merchantman was no merchantman at all. It was all a rouse and when La Florablanca pulled into range, the ship cut down the British ensign and flew the Stars and Stripes. At the same time, 57 cannons unleashed Hell upon the deck of La Floriblanca. Captain Gaspar watched from the quarterdeck as the grapeshot from the U.S.S. Enterprise decimated his crew 8 times over. The fight was over before the first boarding hook let fly from the American war ship.

What happened next is the stuff of legend. Gaspar ran from the quarterdeck to the fo’c’sle. He wrapped himself in the anchor chain of his beloved Floriblanca and screamed at the top of his lungs:

Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's

Still brandishing his cutlass over his head, he then leaped into the foam and was never seen again. Those few men that survived the U.S.S. Enterprise's attack upon La Floriblanca were rounded up and taken to New Orleans. There they were tried as pirates and hung within the tide marks, as naval law demands.

Yet, we need to go back to that beach. Once the crew decided to attack the “British merchantman”, they had another vote to select 8 men to stay behind and guard the treasure. For the most part, the men chosen were ones that the crew, as a whole, trusted. Now it just so happens that 2 of those men were long time friends of Gaspar, having come with him originally from Spain: Juan Lorenzo ne Roja de Seville, ship's surgeon and Diego Salazar de Cadiz, ship's cook.

Once the fight began and the fate of La Florablanca so quickly sealed, these 8 desperadoes took what treasure each could carry and made their good their escapes before full dawn could betray them on the beach. Diego and Juan Lorenzo were the last to leave. They loaded a longboat full of the remaining treasure and rowed as hard as they could, as long as they could, up the Hillsborough River. Nearly exhausted, but still fearing capture, the men slept hidden under their boat for the rest of the day. That night they buried the treasure under the waning quarter moon. They made a map with directions on the back to the treasure what they had buried and then made their way back into the small settlement of Tampa. Before going their separate ways, they made a pact not to betray the other. To enforce the pact they decided to tear the map into pieces and put said pieces into a hat. Both men then chose an equal number of pieces at random and they went their separate ways. Juan Lorenzo, the surgeon, was your great, great, great, great grandfather on your mother's side. I am in possession of his half of the pieces. I have spent years researching journals, making contacts, and searching for the remaining pieces of the map. With these clues and contacts, perhaps you will be able to succeed where I never was and you will find the lost treasure of Lorenzo and Salazar. Again though, I get ahead of myself.

In addition to this letter, I have sent an exam on the “sweet trade” to validate you as a Master of Piratical Arts, which you will be required to pass before you take possession of the first bit of contact information. In the event that I am sadly mistaken and you are unable to score a passing grade on this Master exam, do not be concerned. I have made all of the necessary arrangements with my proctor.

Happy Birthday Nephew and where-ever your voyages take you may the weather always be fair, the wind always be strong, the sun always be warm, and the rum always close to hand with the luck of the Irish rovers forever in your soul.

Get dressed now and go see the proctor.

Afterwards, he was given a test of knowledge and then he had to make his way around town finding clues to lead him to pieces of the map.  There were 6 stops in all.  During his adventure, he had to find and dig up 2 treasures, solve a pirate puzzle, follow a compass, drink rum, climb a tree, sword fight an enemy pirate, and sail a boat upriver to the "hidden spring".  There were people to help out at every stop to keep up the theme. Great fun was had by all.

America -- Founded By Pirates

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!  On this day when we celebrate the birth of American independence, let us not forget the pirates.  Wait?!?  What do pirates have to do with American independence?  Quite a bit, actually.  Pirates influenced our style of government, worked with colonial governors, and even fought in the Revolution of 1776.

What the U.S. Flag Should Look Like

As you may remember from "You Want Me to Sign Your What?", pirates have a very democratic process for electing their captain and believe in rules agreed upon by the group as a whole and explained to everyone.  All though it may not resemble it so much anymore, this was the root that our modern system of government in the U.S. came from.  Many pirates were originally maroons; our modern freedoms have their roots in the settlements these former slaves set up for themselves.  If you don't like that idea very much, then check this out.

Pirates often worked with the governors of the American colonies.  As a holdover from earlier and simpler times, colonial governors had some of the crown's executive authority.  They could (and did) create privateers.  One of the major values to being a privateer was having a port to sell your cargo in, as long as you could prove it was 'spoils of war'.  Of course, you run the risk of being caught when you do this.  Below is an excerpt from a letter Governor Dudley of Massachusetts sent to the crown:
. . .

1.  That the government of Rhode Island does not observe the Acts of Trade and Navigation; but counteneces the violation thereof, by permitting and encouraging of illegal trade and piracy.

2.  That Rhode Island is a receptacle of pirates, who are encouraged and harbored by that government. . . .

What you may not know is the good governor Dudley also licensed pirates to be privateers for the Massachusetts Bay Co.  He wrote the crown because he was angry that these Rhode Island boys were cutting into his profits, not because he honored the Acts of Trade and Navigation so much or because he feared that pirates were a danger to his people.

What about the pirates fighting in the Revolutionary War?  Well that is a really fascinating story because it involves not only pirates, but also Ben Franklin.  You can read all about it here:

Luke Ryan, the Irish pirate who fought for American liberty.

Captain Morgan Had Many Crumsters

     One of the things I treasure most about studying pirates and their ilk is the rich language they left behind.  Sailing has a language all its own and crumster (also crompster or cromster) is an archaic word in that language.  A crumster was a type of ship.  Specifically, it is a dutch-made coastal vessel whose full name is a cromsteven, which means bent stem, referring to something in its construction, no doubt.  A more English name for a crumster is a hoy.  From the 16th to the early 19th century, the crumster was one of the most common types of ships sailing the seas.

     A crumster was built to be a coastal vessel.  They have 2 (or 2½) masts, carry about 60 to 80 men, 12 to 16 cannons, and were often used as armed-merchantmen. They are square-rigged on the fore-mast, spritsail-rigged on the main mast, with either a boom-rig from the main mast or a small lateen-sail at the aft of the ship.  These sleek and low-slung ships were favored by buccaneers and Caribbean merchants alike.

Pirates Like to Eat Things

     I am in the middle of re-reading William Dampier's books and I am struck by how much ole' Bad Bill (as I like to call him) liked to eat. In some regards I understand this because in my younger days I was curious to know what shipboard meals would be like in the 1600 - 1700's.  This led me to learn how to make hard tack and salt beef.  I made some and my friends and I managed to choke it all down with copious amounts of rum. (Just in case you are adventurous, here is how to make your own hardtack and salt beef.)  It was truly horrible; a taste experience so bad that it really put me in touch with the desperation of the 17th Century sailor. If left with only starvation as an option, then I am sure that I would be happy to eat the hardtack and salt beef. Yet, I would probably look for any opportunity to try for something better, as I would be sure that nearly anything would be better tasting.

     Perhaps this too is Bad Bill's motivation, because as he describes animals in his books, he often includes references to eating them.  For example, while cruising off the coast of Panama:

     " . . . who brought aboard some half-grown Tortoise; and some of us went ashore every day to hunt for what we could find in the Woods: Sometimes we got Peccary, Warree, or Deer; at other times we light on a drove of large fat Monkeys, or Quames, Corroses (each a large sort of Fowl), Pidgeons, Parrots, or Turtle-doves.  We liv'd very well on what we got, not staying long in one place . . ."

      Ewww, monkeys.  Somehow I just can't imagine eating a monkey or wanting to eat a monkey.  Yuck!  I just can't imagine it.  Here's another great journal entry from Captain Dampier:

     From Bon Airy we went to the Isle of Aves, or Birds; so called from its great plenty of Birds, as Men of War and Boobies; but especially Boobies.  The Booby is a Waterfowl, somewhat less than a Hen, of a light greyish colour.  I observed the Boobies of this Island to be whiter than others.  This bird hath a strong Bill, longer and bigger than a Crows, and broader at the end: her feet are flat like a Ducks feet.  It is a very simple Creature and will hardly go out of a Man's way.  . . .  Their Flesh is black and eats fishy, but are often eaten by the Privateers. . .

     In one of my favorite sections Bad Bill spends two pages describing the "sucking fish" and all of the different things that he finds them attached to, including the bottom of ships, old turtles, drifting planks, and even swimming sharks.  At the end of the section he declares that this fish must be  "the Remora, of which the Ancients tell such stories" and after listing every place he's seen them he ends the section like this:

     They have no scales and are very good meat.

     I have always loved pirates.  My parents took me to Walt Disney World in 1972 and they had to drag me away from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride screaming after they refused to take me on it a third time. I wasn't really aware that eating everything in sight was a trait of pirates until now.  I'm not really known for being an adventurous eater, but then I have a family history of gastro-intestinal problems.  Hmm, perhaps if I ate more monkeys . . .  No.  Just no.

A Brief Primer on Ships

A: Capital Ship, B: Barque, C: Brig, D: Schooner, E: Sloop

To be a pirate you must know about ships. Pirates spent their lives on ships. They ate, drank, slept, worked, fought, and often died aboard them. In fact, it's almost impossible to be a pirate without a ship. So in this week's edition of the Pirate's Primer that is exactly what we are going to study. When we're done you'll know the difference between a boat and a ship, some common types of ships seen during the Age of Piracy, and why pirates chose the types of ships that they did. Since you can see how important this lesson is, I know that you'll be paying close attention. If you do nod off, you may wake up kissing the gunner's daughter. Now let's get to it.

The difference between a boat and a ship is a complicated question. A common definition says that a "ship is a square-rigged craft with at least three masts". The problem with this definition is that many ships from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century had only two masts. As for the "square-rigged" part, well that opens another large hole that we'll talk about in just a moment. First, let's get a pair of simple definitions that works for us: A ship can carry a boat. A boat must have a small enough hull to be carried by a ship.

This is a boat.  A ship is in the distance.

Before you can learn to tell the differences among the various types of ships, you're gonna have to climb the ratlines. Yes. It's time to learn about rigging. Rigging is the one of the most difficult things you can try to learn without actually doing it. A completely separate language exists solely to describe it. There are nouns like backstay and pendants, verbs like hoisting and heaving, and adjectives like abaft and athwart. Look up into the rigging and you'll see a maze of ropes and knots. Every one of them has a name and in an emergency a sailor must know what to call each one without hesitation. But don't be scared off. Simple Simon will help you through it. This time it's just up the masts and right back down. Think of it as an initiation. You're no landlubber, right? You're a pirate. Let's go.

Rigging a ship means attaching its sails to its masts, the tall poles that stick straight up out of the deck, so it can catch the wind and propel itself along the water. There are various ways to do this, but for right now we're only going to discuss two: Square Rigging and Fore & Aft Rigging. Both types are commonly seen on the sailing ships of the time. Both types have their own advantages and disadvantages. They were used together on some ships and separately on others. Knowing both types will help you to identify ships when it's your turn in the crow's nest.

Square Rigged

A square rigged ship has square or rectangular sails attached to the yardarms that cross the masts. This way of rigging creates the common image that most people have of sailing ships. The advantage of square rigging a ship is speed. The more large sails that you can hoist, the more wind that you will catch. This is also one of the disadvantages of square rigging, as a strong crosswind could damage the sails or capsize the ship. The second disadvantage to square rigging is the lack of maneuverability. The large square sails are not designed to be moved about to catch the wind from different angles. They are fixed in basically one position. You now see the limitations of square rigging. Head winds (winds coming from the direction you are trying to sail) and bad weather make it necessary to have another method for rigging a ship.

Fore and Aft Rigged

A fore and aft rigged ship has oddly-shaped sails attached along the masts, at the top by a gaff (a swinging pole used to extend the top of a fore and aft sail away from a mast), and at the bottom by a boom (a swinging pole used to extend the bottom of a fore and aft sail away from a mast). This way of rigging creates an image somewhat like modern sail boats. Sail boats today still use a style of fore and aft rigging, but their sails are triangular so they only need a boom. The advantages of this way of rigging are stability and maneuverability. Because the sails are smaller and moveable there is little chance that the wind will damage them and almost no chance that the wind could capsize the vessel. Additionally since the sails can swing to any angle within 180 degrees to catch the wind, the ship is quicker to respond to direction changes. The disadvantage to fore and aft rigging is the lack of speed due to the limited amount of sail that you can put up. Now you can see why both types of rigging were used. By taking note of the way that a vessel is rigged you will be able to identify its purpose.

There are many different kinds of ships. We are not even going to try to learn about them all. Be warned that the information provided herein is a summary and vast simplification of a very complicated topic. We are only going to examine five different types of ships because those five will be enough for our purposes. Being keen-eyed as you are, I'm sure that you have already seen the ships that we are going to talk about. You've probably also seen some differences among them. We are going to examine, in light detail, the Capital Ship, the Barque, the Brig, the Schooner, and the Sloop.

Capital Ship

For our purposes, the Capital Ship is a square-rigged craft with at least three masts. I see that I can't fool you. The problem here is a lack of words. Barques, Brigs, Schooners, and Sloops are all ships. However, when we discuss a capital ship we are referring to a large vessel, ranging from about 300 - 500 tons in weight and 80 - 100 feet in length, usually used to carry cargo, passengers, and/or troops that is square rigged with at least three masts. A galleon is a type of capital ship. So are naval warships and large merchantmen. A capital ship is almost always square rigged. During a storm a Ship will pull down her square sails and put up storm sails or "Trysails". These are a set of three fore and aft sails used for high winds. When the storm is over the capital ship will return to its fuller, square-rigged sails.

A Barque

The Barque or Barquentine is a three masted ship that is square rigged on both the foremast (the forward most mast) and the mainmast (the largest or main mast), but fore and aft rigged on the mizzenmast (the rear most mast). The Barque was more maneuverable than the capital ship and was sometimes seen in a military role, although mostly barques were used as merchant vessels. Barques ranged between 200 - 300 tons in weight and 70 - 80 feet in length. A Dutch fluyte, one of the most common targets of seventeenth century piracy, is a type of barque.

A Pirate Brig

The Brig or Brigantine is a two masted ship that is square rigged on the foremast, but rigged both fore and aft as well as square on the mainmast. The top section of the mainmast is rigged with square sails while the lower section is rigged with a fore and aft sail. The brig was highly maneuverable and faster than larger ships while still having room for cargo and a respectable number of cannons. The brig was sometimes used as a marauding vessel for pirates and privateers, but was most often used as a small warship by the English and French navies. Brigs were generally around 200 tons in weight and 70 - 90 feet in length. It is believed that Henry Morgan's flagship, The Satisfaction, was a brig.

A Schooner

The Schooner is a two masted ship that is rigged fore and aft. The schooner combined the best of all things for most pirates and privateers. It was small enough to hide in remote coves and navigate close to the shoreline, but big enough to carry a crew of 75 men. The schooner was a fast and very maneuverable vessel. It was most often seen as a pirate or privateer vessel. Schooners were generally around 100 tons in weight and 60 - 80 feet in length.

A boat fleeing a burning sloop

The Sloop is a single masted vessel that is rigged both fore and aft as well as square. The entire mast is rigged with square sails while the lower section is rigged with a fore and aft sail as well. Additionally, a jib, a large triangular sail, is often rigged between the mast and the bow. The sloop was the fastest and most maneuverable ship of the period. It was capable of sailing in very shallow water where other ships could not dare go for fear of running aground. Sloops were used by privateers, pirates, and pirate hunters alike. Sloops were small vessels. They weighed 100 tons at most and were 40 - 60 feet in length.

There you have it, swabs. Now you know how to tell the difference between a ship and a boat, you know a little more about the types of ships used in the early age of piracy, and you know what types of ships Pirates chose to use. You also survived your first trip into the rigging. (I promise I won't make you go back up there until much later in the column.) Next time we'll discuss the differences between pirates, privateers, buccaneers, and maroons. Until then, go get some grog, mates. You've earned it.

Copyright 2001, Mark S. Cookman

The Navigational Cross-Staff

For over 20 years I have been heavy into historical re-creation and research. The following piece details the construction and testing of a navigational cross-staff that I entered into an SCA Arts and Sciences competition years ago.
Period/Culture: The navigational cross-staff, sometimes called the forestaff, was first developed in the fifteenth century. The cross-staff was initially used by astronomers as early as the ancient Greeks to measure the angles between celestial bodies. A German mathematician named Martin Behaim is credited with first using this instrument as a navigational tool while sailing with the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cao on his voyages down the coast of Africa in 1485. The cross-staff was used by every seafaring culture in western Europe. It did not fall completely out of use as a navigator's tool until the late eighteenth century.

. . .And a Bottle Full for the Chantyman

Welcome back my mates. In this issue of the Pirates Primer we will be discussing sea chanties. A chanty (or chantey or shanty) is a song sung by sailors in rhythm with their work. A chantyman is the person who leads the singing of chanties and adds or improvises verses as necessary. Chanties provide two large benefits. First, they unify the crew in its work and thus make that work more efficient. Second, they allow the crew some entertainment and relief from the long hours of repetitive work that is sailing. It is my belief that chanties are as old as ocean-going ships, but I cannot prove this through my research to date. Chanties can be dated much earlier than most people believe, however.

Hang the Musikers, Too

Hail Mates! Simon has returned from the war. I yet live, but it took me a while to recover. Perhaps sometime when we're not busy with learning about Pirates, I'll tell you about it over a cup or two of grog. For now though, I must apologize. I am sorry to have gotten behind on my column and I hope I still have an audience. This time we will be talking about another important part of some crews, but not all, the musicians.

It is difficult to prove that musicians were a part of every pirate crew, but there are two excellent examples from the pirate period that they may have been a common part of most ships of war, pirate and privateer ships included. The first example is from the early Seventeenth century. In Captain John Smith's advice concerning how to conduct a one on one naval engagement he remarks when preparing to board one should, ". . . sound Drums and Trumpets, and Saint George for England." The second example comes from the early Eighteenth century. In the articles of Captain Bartholomew Roberts it is stated: "The Musicians to have Rest on the Sabbath Day, but the other six Days and Nights, none without special Favour." When thinking about the musicians on board a ship in the 16th to 18th centuries, one must not think of a band. That would be far too organized a concept.

The Next in Line to Hang

In this second part of a three part lesson dealing with the crew positions aboard a pirate vessel, we are going to look at the responsibilities of the Sailmaster, the Carpenter, the Cook, the Surgeon, and the Master at Arms. These were all lower officer positions and were either voted upon or assigned by the captain as discussed in the first part of this lesson. The sailors who served in these positions were skilled laborers and, as such, their skills were always very much in demand. These were definitely crew members that a pirate ship could not function without.

Five for the Gallows Pole

If you are still interested in being a pirate, then you should know what the job entails. It's not all boarding ships, counting booty, and drinking rum like you might think. A great deal of hard work is required to run any sailing ship, let alone one populated by pirates. In this lesson of the primer we are going to examine the five principle officers on board a pirate ship, their duties, and their responsibilities. This is part one of a three part lesson. In the next lesson we will examine the duties and responsibilities of other officers and crew members with special duties. In the final lesson, we will look at one very special group of crew members that are almost always overlooked. Read on to learn what your shipmates would expect of their primary officers.

You Want Me to Sign Your What?

Well mates, as promised, it is time to discuss ship's articles. Before you can join a pirate crew, you'll have to sign their articles. It doesn't really matter if you can't read them or even if you can't write your name. Pirates are very forgiving about a lack of formal education. You can just make your mark and become part of the crew. Now Simon knows that is never going to go over with you. You're smart and you'll want to know what you're signing. So, in this lesson we are going to learn what the articles were, why they were needed, and how they were decided upon. As an additional aid to really understanding what the articles were like, we will analyze the articles of Captain John Phillips and his crew (c. 1720) point by point to determine what kind of items appeared in ship's articles.

4 Kinds of Caribbean Cutthroats

Welcome back mates. In this lesson we are going to explore the differences between four types of seafaring scoundrels. They are pirates, privateers, buccaneers, and marooners. When we are done, you'll know what each of these names mean, you'll understand why the old adage 'once a thief, always a thief' also applies to pirates, and you'll also learn what pirates called themselves. So freshen your drinks, pull up your chairs, and let's begin.

A pirate is a person who practices piracy. Piracy is any robbery or other violent crime, for private ends and without authorization by any country, committed on the seas. Basically, pirates attacked any vessel they chose without regard to nationality in order to make a profit. Typically pirates would attack a ship to force it to stop, then board that ship. After taking the ship, or securing the surrender of the crew, pirates would plunder the ship of its valuables and take any prisoners worth a ransom. After that, the pirates might try to recruit crew members from the plundered vessel to replace their losses or fill out their own crew. Finally, the pirates would return to their own ship and sail away. Contrary to popular belief, pirates were not always bloodthirsty killers. Many pirates considered piracy their occupation. These men simply wanted to do their job and get away with their plunder as quickly and easily as possible. If the captain and crew of the captured ship were not a hindrance, then they could often escape brutalization altogether. Some pirates, however, were in the business of torturing and killing. These pirates left a trail of plundered ships and murdered men where ever they went. It is this second sort of pirate that has colored the meaning of the word. There were pirates of every nationality and a few ships were even mixed in nationality, but that was rare. Typically ship's crews were of the same nationality and not diverse. Pirates and privateers were very much alike and sometimes the same.

Am I a Pirate or a Privateer?

A privateer was differentiated from a pirate by only one thing: a letter of marque. A letter of marque, which is sometimes called a letter of reprisal, was an official government sanction to harass enemy shipping granted most often during times of war. Sometimes these letters came directly from a king, but royal governors in the Caribbean could write them as well. A ship that carried a letter of marque was recognized as unofficial part of their country's navy. They were given the permission to attack ships of the nations defined in their letter without sanction from their own navy, provided that they gave the crown its share (usually 20%) in the spoils. In most things, however, pirates and privateers were exactly the same. It was not uncommon for privateers to attack vessels of countries not defined in their letter of marque and thus become pirates hiding behind a letter of marque. Another common practice was for privateers to continue their business after the letter of marque had been revoked because the war had ended. Thus, the distinction between privateer and pirate was always a very fine one. There is another factor to consider in this. Governments attempted to keep themselves informed of the actions of their privateers by means of the prize court.

80% is a good deal, right?

Privateers had to register their plunder with the prize court when they returned to port. The prize court inventoried the spoils of war taken by all privateers, deducted the kings share, and heard claims to the spoils by outside sources. For example, an English privateer engages a French privateer and wins the day. The English privateer captain decides to take the entire French vessel and their cargo as a prize. He selects a prize crew from his own crew to help man the French ship and keep its crew in line. Both ships sail back to the home port of the English privateer and the English captain turns the French ship and its cargo over to the prize court. The prize court, which was usually run by the royal governor, decides that the King will take the French ship as His share and publicly posts an inventory of the rest of the spoils for people to make claim against. Representatives of two English merchant companies look over the inventory and make claims against some of the French ship's cargo. The prize court hears their claims and decides that the first has no true claim to the goods as they can produce no proof that the goods are theirs. The second company presents a better case. They demonstrate that a little over half of the cargo of the French ship carries their company symbol. Furthermore, they present the cargo manifest of one of their missing merchant ships that is presumed lost. The cargo manifest seems to match the same cargo bearing their logo from the inventory of the French prize ship, so the court awards that cargo to the merchant company. This procedure takes a little over a month. When the English privateer returns to port, the captain finds that what he thought would be a great fortune for he and his crew is now just some petty trade goods that a representative from the first merchant company is willing to purchase from him at one quarter of its value. This is the life of a legitimate privateer. To duck the prize court or to hide spoils from it was an act of piracy.


There is another factor to consider concerning privateers. To illustrate it I will pirate a sentiment that was expressed by Benjamin Franklin when he was asked about the legality of the American revolution. (Understand that Simon doesn't often pirate the words of others, but Ben's phrasing is exceptional.) Privateers are completely legal in the first person, such as our privateers, it is only in the third person, their privateers, that they become illegal. When you are the victim of a privateer, they are a pirate and nothing more. Spain never recognized or sanctioned privateering as legitimate. All privateers were pirates in the eyes of the Spanish. Spanish dominance and cruelty in the Caribbean is legendary. The buccaneers were a creation of that cruelty.


From 1492, when Columbus claimed the new world for Spain, until 1588, when Admiral Lord Howard defeated the Spanish Armada, Spain completely dominated the Caribbean. Shortly after the defeat of her armada, Spain began to lose her colonies in the Caribbean to other countries. For the most part, the Spanish did not fight hard to keep these island colonies because they were busy plundering the natives of Mexico and South America of their riches. One of the colonies that was often contested was the French colony of Haiti on island of Hispanola. When the French settlers arrived they found wild oxen and pigs roaming the land. These animals came from the original Spanish settlers who had long ago moved further west. The early French settlers made a trade out of hunting these animals, cooking their meat in long strips, and selling the meat to passing Spanish ships. The rack that these meat sellers used to cook the long strips of meat were called "boucans", thus the Spanish sailors named these merchants "boucaniers". The Spanish government quickly decided that these "boucaniers" posed a threat to the security of their colony of Santo Domingo on Hispanola and began to move against them.

The buccaneers proved impossible for the Spanish to drive off. They began to retaliate against their Spanish oppressors using the tools at their disposal. Remember last week when I told you that it was hard to be a pirate without a ship. The buccaneers are why I did not say that it was impossible. The earliest buccaneer raids were conducted by canoes against Spanish ships moored off the shore of Haiti. The buccaneers, who prided themselves on their ability to hunt the wild pigs of Haiti with nothing but two long daggers, poured over the sides of the Spanish ships in the dark of night and silently killed all aboard. These tactics provided them with ships and from that point they differed only from Pirates in that their targets were almost exclusively Spanish. The marooners had a similar development.


The word marooner comes from the Spanish word, "cimarron", meaning wild or untamed. Cimarron was the name applied by the Spanish to runaway slaves, as well as Spanish deserters, in the Caribbean. It basically came to mean anyone of Spanish origin who lived in the wild away from Spanish civilization. The Spanish government made halfhearted attempts to destroy cimarron settlements, but the cimarron fought back using much the same tactics as the buccaneers. Just as the buccaneers, the cimarron, or marooners as they came to be called, targeted Spanish shipping and towns for their raids. A marooner came to be the name given to any pirate of African heritage. Maroon, the word for the act of leaving someone in a wild and untamed place has the same root, but does not otherwise relate to a marooner. We will discuss the punishment of marooning in a future lesson.

Boarding from a Small Boat

What did pirates call themselves? Well that depended upon their education and status when they went to sea. Pirates often called themselves pirates among themselves and merchant crewmen when among those who might take offense to their occupation. Privateers usually prided themselves upon the fact that they were privateers. Privateers took to using the term "Gentleman of Fortune" to describe themselves. This term was quickly picked up by the pirates. This became the general term that polite society used to favorably describe pirates, as well as the term that many pirates adopted to describe themselves.

A Gentleman of Fortune

Well mates, that's it for this week. Next week we'll discuss pirate articles and see why the Caribbean pirates were among the first corporations in the western hemisphere. Until then, may all be well with you.

---

Copyright 2001, Mark S. Cookman

The Pirate's Primer

So You Want to be a Pirate?

Look at yourself, ya scurvy dog. You think you want to be a pirate? You? . . .Ha! You're a landlubber, matey. I'll bet ya don't know your articles from your yard arm. Pirates are rough bunch of people and if you want to join 'em then you better learn up on 'em. Otherwise, you'll be kissing the gunner's daughter long before the dog watch. Lucky for you that I happen to run in that circle. I'll help ya out with The Pirate's Primer. Pay attention and you'll be kicking the powder monkey and climbing the ratlines in no time. Me? Oh, you can call me Simple Simon. I'm the cook, and sometimes the gunner's mate, aboard the privateer Sabine.

Let's start with some basics. First I'll explain everything I just said to you. And I'll use wee little words that a child could understand as I can see you're a bit confused. Then we'll talk about some of the future topics that you can expect to see in the Pirates Primer.


Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of fresh vegetable food, but a scurvy dog is a low, base, mean or rotten person. I'm sure ya know what a landlubber is, anyone who is not a sailor. A ship's articles are the contract that everyone on board ship signs agreeing to abide by the rules of the ship. That may not sound very piratical to you, but it is through and through. A yard arm is either half of a long slender horizontal pole affixed at a right angle to the to a mast that is used to support a square sail. Kissing the gunner's daughter refers to a shipboard punishment involving being tied over a cannon to stretch your back out real well for a flogging. The dog watches are a pair of short half shift watches occurring roughly from 4-6 and 6-8 pm. Kicking the powder monkey refers to harassing one of the young lads who serve aboard ship to quickly run the bags of gunpowder from the magazine, where it is kept safe and dry, to the cannons. The rat lines are the cargo netting-like ladders that run up the sides of the masts. Now maybe you know a little more than you did before and that is the goal here.


As the weeks go by we will look at the different types of ships seen in the age of piracy. We will discuss the parts of a sailing ship and her rigging. We will talk about the various crew positions on board ship. We will examine the ship's articles and discuss why they made the rules they did. We will talk about naval warfare during the period as well as some of the famous figures of the time both pirates and pirate hunters. Finally, since we're not at sea, this won't be one man rules all so I welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions that you might have. Don't worry matey. Just stick with Simple Simon. I'll not be tellin' anyone how green ye are now and soon enough you'll know more about being a sea dog than ye ever dreamed.

---

Copyright 2001, Mark S. Cookman

What in the Woold

Woolding is the act of wrapping a thin, flexible piece of wood around someone's head to make a loop and then slipping another piece of wood inside that loop and twisting until that someone's eyes pop out of their head.

It was a method of torture used by pirates in the late 17th and early 18th century. To be fair, they learned the technique from Spanish inquisitors working for the Catholic church.

Why would I name my blog such a thing?

We are, for the most part, completely spoiled by modern society. When twitter goes down, it is a major catastrophe for some. When we cannot connect to the internet, it is problem that must be resolved. If we do not have cell phone reception, it is just torture.

There are far worse things than our minor troubles.

Are you, or anyone you know, likely to get woolded any time soon? I didn't think so. ; )