AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Meet captain kidd11/1/2023 ![]() The most recent pirates work off the coasts of Somalia and Malaysia, looking far different from the “golden age” of piracy depictions. While books, movies, and popular culture may have taken liberty with descriptions of pirates through the ages, these pillagers have terrorized the seas for more than 2,000 years in one form or another, plundering victims and striking fear into their hearts. ( Pirates once swashbuckled across the ancient Mediterranean.) Their targets often didn’t stand a chance. They could be loaded with chain shot (two cannonballs chained together), grapeshot (small cannonballs), or basic cannonballs. Cannons were also common onboard pirate ships. It had a distinct flared muzzle that sprayed small lead balls at intended victims. Pirates also enjoyed using a gun known as a blunderbuss. This musket’s barrel and stock were cut down, likely so a pirate could more easily use it in close combat. Similar to sloops, schooners were fast, simple to maneuver, and could easily hide in estuaries because of their shallow draft. Schooners were another favorite of pirates. They were quick and had a shallow draft, making easier escape into shallow waters. During the 16th and 17th centuries, sloops were the most common choice for pirates. ![]() They favored small, more maneuverable vessels, which allowed easy escape from larger warships that chased them. Most pirates did not sail Spanish galleons, or even the frigates such as Captain Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl. ( Ireland marked 100 years of independence with a tourist route dedicated to a pirate queen.) Pirate ships Other forms of punishment ranged from being thrown overboard to being lashed to being marooned on a desert isle. Victims of keelhauling either died by bleeding out from injuries inflicted by barnacles on the hull of the ship or by drowning. Keelhauling was arguably a more hideous fate that involved an individual being tied to a rope and dragged under the ship. If victims were punished in some way, it was typically via keelhauling. If a pirate violated the code, it is unlikely they were made to "walk the plank." Little to no historical evidence exists to support that practice, which was largely pulled from fiction, including Treasure Island. ( Queen Elizabeth I's favorite pirate was an English hero, but his career has a dark side.) In reality, pirates most probably spoke in a manner similar to all sailors of the time. His portrayal also popularized many of the sayings associated with pirates today. His portrayal of the fictional captain in the 1950s rendition of Treasure Island used an exaggeration of his own West Country accent and would define the sound of a pirate's accent. In particular, British actor Robert Newton, who played both Blackbeard and Long John Silver. The trope of talking like a pirate is mostly a product of 20th-century Hollywood. Robert Louis Stevenson imagined some of them for his 1883 novel Treasure Island, published more than 150 years after the “golden age” of piracy. But they’re not legitimate things a pirate would actually have said. Pirate talkĬommon pirate phrases-such as Arrrrr me mateys!” and “ Shiver me timbers!”-are common in pirate movies and pop culture. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy Notice.Please be respectful of copyright. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie Preferences, as described in the Cookie Notice. Click ‘Customise Cookies’ to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. ![]() Third parties use cookies for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalised ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. This includes using first- and third-party cookies, which store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. If you agree, we’ll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie Notice. We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |