Piracy is a robbery committed at sea or on the shore. The earliest documented instances of piracy are in the Mediterranean seas in 13th century BC. By the 1st century BC, there were pirates along the Anatolian coasts threatening the commerce of the Roman Empire. On a voyage, Julius Caesar was kidnapped and held for ransom by pirates. The most famous pirate utopia is of Captain Mission and his crew who formed a free colony called libertatia in Madagascar in the late 17th century. The most colorful were the Caribbean pirates, namely, Henry Morgan and “blackbeard” or Edward Teach.
Unlike modern beliefs and cinema, most pirates lived and ate poorly. Pirates readily accepted outcasts from the society. Even though they raided ships, most did not bury their treasure. The ‘treasure’ was often stolen food, water, alcohol, weapons or clothes. During the age of British imperialism, law required merchants to use trade vessels to ferry goods. These were protected by warships; living conditions were horrible; worm infested food, scurvy and other diseases; brutal captains; gang boys being forced to replace crippled or dead crew. Many crews would mutiny during an attack and offer themselves and their ship to pirates as a new vessel and crew. These were skilled seamen with intolerance for absolute authority; that’s probably why the captain of pirate vessels was always chosen unanimously by the crew.
Life constantly at sea was a bore for pirates, and conflicts and fights were common. The captain could interfere but not do much since pirate vessels were run democratically. For the long voyages, they would stock up on bottled beer since water would be too salty. Hard tack or long –lasting biscuits and lime for vitamin C would be the staple diet. If lucky they would have a few hens onboard for eggs and meat. Mostly they would easily catch turtles, especially abundant in the Caribbean.
Life at shore depended on the success of their sea escapade. If lucky, they would motley spend all their loot in the pleasures of taverns on food, rum, wine and gambling! Though it wasn’t all fun for a successful pirate. After each voyage, the ship would need to be careened, sails and rigging o be replaced or repaired. Also, an important task was to stock the ship with food and water for the next voyage.
During an attack, pirates were usually out numbered and would mostly have a much smaller vessel and lightly armored. But their ships were highly maneuverable and they boarded and retreated from a ship quickly. They employed various scaring tactics which paralyzed their victims.
Unlike popular belief, pirates were too practical to carry pets. The famous Hollywood pirate peg leg is also a practical substitute for an injured pirate. For lack of doctors onboard a pirate vessel, the cook would amputate the leg and if the person survived the bleeding, it would be replaced with whatever was present. A wooden peg would seem like something readily available; though nothing as dramatic as the “long john silver”. Similarly the hooks for amputated hands came about.
Piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue in the waters between the pacific and Indian ocean. Also, the Strait of Malacca and Singapore which is used by over 50,000 ships every year. We still hear of pirates and their escapades and will continue doing so for some more years; providing us authenticity for some of Hollywood‘s most celebrated movies.
Christopher Schwebius is an entrepreneur who seeks out sharply defined, specifically focused topics to research. Upon finishing his research he provides relevant, un-biased information to his readers based on his discoveries and/or personal experiences.
One of his latest ongoing projects can be viewed at
www.whatdidpirateswear.com.
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