Crazy Goggles

Today we will discuss pirates and their dress code. Pirates had to be hard and tough, considering they were fighting most of the time. But it wasn’t just the fights that killed off the pirates, it was also malnourishment and disease. As a result of malnourishment and disease, most pirates didn’t live past their twenties. Scurvy (the result of vitamin C deficiency) and other diseases alone accounted for as many as two million deaths between 1500 and 1900. Along with this, the pirate crews had to live with a huge number of rats. These rats came aboard when pirates went to a port. They brought tropical disease that accounted for many more deaths.

Pirate clothing had to be sturdy and practical, and built to last violent sea storms and vicious battles. They wore short jackets made from heavy cloth, linen shirts, canvas trousers that were?cut short above the ankle. They also wore woolen stockings and either a knotted scarf, a tricorn hat or a Monmouth cap. Shoes were seldom worn on board a ship because they didn’t grip well on the slippery decks. However, even pirates kept a pair of dress clothes. You will learn about that in the next paragraph.

Many seamen (including pirates) were flamboyant dressers. The dressed nicely while on a short leave or while visiting a port. In fact, many pirates raided ships for nice clothes. These clothes included elaborate coats, hats and silk stockings. Female pirates dressed much like male pirates. This was to hide their gender or for more practical reasons. Now that you know what pirates wore, you need to know their slang. This is what you will learn in the next paragraph.

You will now learn common pirate slang, pocket book version.

Addled-foolish

Ahoy-hello

Avast-hey

Barker-pistol

Barrack stanchion-a sailor posted on land

Belay-stop that

Bilge-foolish talk

Booty-any form of loot

Brethren of the Coast- The name pirates used to describe themselves

Buccaneer-Caribbean pirates

Cackle fruit-chicken eggs

Cat-o’ nine-tails- a whip with many lashes

Caulker-a stiff glass of alcohol taken to round off a drinking bout

Corsair-a French word for pirate

You have now learned basic pirate slang, A-C. Read next time to learn more about pirate slang and other things about pirates. Thank you for reading, and keep practicing that pirate slang.

Today we will discuss pirate ships. These sea vessels are an important part of pirate history. These ships had to carry a vast amount of pirates, as well as a fair amount of cargo. These ships carried pirates from place to place, and won vicious sea battles. Different pirates used different ships, and each one was unique. Just like pirates themselves, their ships struck terror into the hearts of men at sea.

Pirate ships had to be fast and?well armed. They also?had to have ?a shallow enough drift so they could sail close to land. The cannons played an important roll on pirate?ships, but so did the flags. Pirate flags would increase the maximum amount of fear on the other ship. If the enemy was scared, he might not fight as well. Or pirates might?raise a friendly flag to trick the ships into thinking the pirates?were friends. Then the pirates would attack once close enough.

The sloop was a fast,?agile ship and was extremely seaworthy. They carried a maximum of 14 cannons and up to 75 men. Many pirates used these ships. The Barque was a small fast ship with three masts. This ship was wider than the sloop, but could hold up to 90 men. It consisted of 12 cannons and could easily slip between islands. The Junk was the favorite craft for Asian pirates. It was around 80 feet long and could carry up to 15 cannons. Most of these were twin masted and fast. The Schooner was sleek and fast and was similar to the sloop. It weighed about 100 tons and could carry up to 75 men. This ship could carry eight cannons.

The Brigantine was one of the largest vessels commonly used by pirates. It could carry up to 100 men and twelve cannons. It was 80 feet in length and weighed 150 tons. The Frigate was one of the largest vessels. It would carry up to 190 men and up to 28 cannons. These ships were used to police infested pirate waters. The Square-Rigger was very large and commonly attacked by pirates. It was slower than the sloops and schooners, making them easier targets. Because of its size, it could carry a large cargo.

These ships were all used during the pirate age. They all had many uses. Pirates cared for their ships, and worked hard to keep them clean. Pirates hated to lose their ships, because they went through so much work to get it. But these ships weren’t just pirate treasures, they were the thing that inspired treasure hunters. If you could find any sunken ship that belonged to a famous pirate, you would be sitting real nice. Because what’s a sunken ship if it didn’t?sink with any treasure?

The facts in this post came from the book “Pirates” by John Matthews.

Today we will discuss the weapons pirates used. I will go ahead and list the various weapons that pirates used. Pirates used an assortment of different weapons, some very strange. These weapons included the sword called the cutlass, the pistol, an Ax and various knives, gullies, daggers and a dirk or two. But wait, there’s more! There was also the Marlinspike, the Blunderbuss, the Musket and the Grenade (Fireball)! These weapons were useful, if not strange. Many of these had various uses, but we will focus on the combat side of them in the next paragraph.

First, the cutlass. This sword was preferred by all pirates. It was short-bladed, single-edged and slightly curved. Perfect for hacking at your opponent up close. The pistol was the favored small arm of the time. Pistols came in a variety, but most were clumsy, hard to aim and required priming with powder and shot. And this was what you had to do while your were fighting! Needless to say, you’d be dead. That’s why pirates carried many pistols. They carried five or six at a time, all stored for quick draw action. The ax was carried by most pirates, used for cutting rope or busting down doors. It was good for maintenance around the ship, or splitting a skull when you were in a battle. The gully was a sizable knife, used around the ship or in combat. Some folded like today’s pocketknife. There was also the “boucan” a large, sharp knife that looked like a short cutlass.

Daggers & the Naval Dirk played a good for stabbing. The daggers were slim, long knives preferred by pirates. The Naval Dirk was a tool and an instrument of war, popular in maritime. The Marlinspike was like an ice pick with a handle and a rounded blade. It was really a tool used for tasks on the ship. If the crew was inclined to mutiny and could not get their hands on a weapon, they would probably use this. Next up is the Blunderbuss, much like a modern day shotgun. Halfway between a musket and a pistol, it was good for close up ship fights. This gun delivered a scattering of small bore shot over a wide area. This gun was fearsome, not to mention deadly. Much like the Blunderbuss is like a modern day shotgun, the Musket is like a modern day rifle. This gun took time to load, but was extremely accurate in the right hands. Buccaneers favored this gun, mainly because they were good shots. The Fireball is like today’s grenade. These grenades were put into use in the mid-seventeenth century. This canisters filled with stones or small shot, they were often hazardous to use. Though hazardous, these grenades could be devastating in if thrown with accuracy.

Well there you have it, some of the most common weapons in the pirate age. From the cutlass to the Marlinspike. Or the musket to the pistol, but they were all deadly in the right hands. Different pirates favored different weapons, and that made them unique. It’s not the weapon that makes the soldier, it’s the soldier that makes?the weapon.

- The Author

The facts about pirates came from the book “Pirates” by John Matthews, whom I am giving credit to. Also, the saying at the?end is my invention. If the saying?already existed,?I did not know of it and no?offense?is intended.

Today we will discuss the Golden Age of Piracy. This Golden Age of Piracy?is dated roughly between the years 1660 to 1730. Before this was the discovery of the Americas. Also, there was the opening of seaways. Meaning that Europe become very wealthy. And what is a wealthy country without pirates?? So the people that could sail the high seas could intercept the Spanish and Portuguese vessels and take a vast amount of goods and money.?This lead to the Golden Age of Piracy.

There were ragbag pirates and wreckers that infested the waters of Europe and the Mediterranean. But more professional men like Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake (who acquired a fortune through slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean) were in the mix of pirates as well. The Crown then licensed Drake and others like him to attack Spanish vessels, marking the way for more pirate activities.

Then sea charts became widely available and?pirate activity greatly increased.?The main theater of piracy moved between Europe and the Caribbean. There were rich pickings for pirates?there. The plantations were generating staggering amounts of wealth. That made those plantations rich?spots for pirate attacks.?Pirates then became such a menace to the world that authorities all over the world were determined to put an end to piracy forever. Pirates who were considered a great threat at the time were Henry Morgan, Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Henry Avery. Though pirates just didn’t exist in Europe or the Americas, they were world wide.

Along the coast of North Africa the fearsome Barbary corsairs attacked non-Muslim ships while under the Turkish Rule. Also in the South China Sea pirate fleets attacked the Portuguese ships. They pillaged ships from Shanghai to Singapore and from Vietnam to Japan. Pirates to this day are considered a great threat and is the object of international concern.

I got all this information from the book Pirates by John Matthews. And if you want to play a great game as a pirate I recommend Sid Meirs Pirates! In my next post we will discuss the equipment and ships that pirates used.

Today we will discuss the early history of pirates. We all know about pirates, the smugglers of the sea. They’re in movies, games and books around the world.?Most of you have probably seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which feature Johny Depp as Jack Sparrow. The movie was made in 2003 and the following movies were made in 2006 and in 2007. But pirates aren’t just the comical ones we see in movies, they were real. They were real and deadly and they?didn’t play?fair. In the next paragraph (which I got the information from the book “Pirates” by John Matthews) we will explore the history of early?pirates.

Pirates first came around when we started sailing the sea. We have records dating back to the seventh century BC. There?attacks came from the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. It was easy for pirates to attack ships back then. They didn’t have any compasses so they had to sail?near the coasts. Plus, they didn’t have guns. But the pirates weren’t without their enemies. The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, attempted to destroy a nest of pirates in the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. I don’t know what happened to them. But I assume they got away. Pirates always have the people who try to kill them and purge the seas of pirates. And I think that’s a good idea. I will discuss this later in my pirate marathon?.

Anyway, piracy continued through the third century BC where Greek pirates were capturing women and girls and holding them for ransom. During the fourth century (which is before the Greek pirates) Alexander the Great tried to rid the Mediterranean of pirates, but they didn’t go away. Then the Roman general, Pompey, did a more successful job using thousands of men and a fair amount of boats that wiped out a lot of pirates in 67 BC. However, like a bad cold, the pirates kept coming back. Even in the eighth century AD the Viking pirates continued to raid the shores of Britian. Then in 1217 Eustace the Black Monk (he really was a monk for a time) was beheaded for terrorizing the English channel. That’s what you get for being a pirate.

In my next post we will explore the Golden Age of Piracy, where guns got involved. Then things started to get interesting. But I hope you all learn from my posts and that you keep reading them.