When many people hear the word “pirate”, they imagine a man with a peg leg, an eye patch, and a parrot on his shoulder, sailing beneath a black flag imprinted with a skull and crossbones. Some of these assumptions about pirates are accurate while others are the result of the influence of popular fiction, as in the book Treasure Island
Walking the Plank
When pirates in popular fiction mention “walking the plank”, they’re talking about the ship’s gangplank. Although Major Stede Bonnet, a plantation owner who turned pirate in 1717, is said to have invented this form of torture, there is no documented evidence that he or any other pirate actually made prisoners “walk the plank”.
Pirates and Parrots
Parrots and other exotic animals such as monkeys were highly prized and sold at prices so high that only the very wealthy could afford them. Because of the value of these animals, pirates pillaged and sold them along with other loot but most likely did not keep them as pets themselves. They did occasionally carry the animals on their shoulders, but only to advertise that the animals were for sale at port.
Hooks and Peg Legs
Pirates ran a high-risk operation and it was not uncommon for a man to damage a limb beyond repair. When this happened the limb had to be amputated; a dangerous surgery to attempt in an age without proper pain killers or antibiotics. If the pirate survived after surgery, hooks and wooden legs were available to replace the lost hand or leg, but these were expensive, forcing many pirates to make do.
Eye Patches
Pirates did use eye patches to cover damaged eyes but it’s also speculated that patches were used to protect a man’s night vision. Moving out of bright sunlight to the darkness below a ship’s deck would leave a man blinded until his eyes adapted, putting him at a disadvantage during battle. To fix this problem pirates may have kept one eye covered above deck, switching the eye patch to the other eye below deck; the uncovered eye would already be adapted to the darkness, letting the pirate see.
Buried Treasure
Pirates worked hard to attain their loot and the last thing they wanted to do was bury it, although a very small number of pirates, such as Captain Kidd, did bury their treasure for a short time to keep it safe. Despite this, none actually made treasure maps for fear that someone else would find it.
The Jolly Roger
All pirate flags are called Jolly Rogers, but the name specifically conjures up an image of a skull over a pair of crossed bones. A number of pirates did actually use this insignia of dread, although other pirates preferred to have their own personal designs on their Jolly Rogers. For example, Blackbeard depicted himself as a devil on his flag, holding an hourglass in one hand and pointing a spear at a bleeding heart with the other.
More about Pirates
Today, the lives of pirates are romanticized and exaggerated in fiction but in reality their living conditions at sea were filthy and dangerous, so much so that they deliberately set sail with more men than needed because many would not make it back alive. Pirates themselves are also romanticized, thought of as rogue Robin Hood-like characters, yet when many of them sailed the seas years ago people feared them for what they really were; murderous thieves after money, women, and rum. Yo ho ho.
Sources:
Selinger, Gail and Smith, W Thomas. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pirates. New York: Penguin Group (USA) Inc, 2006
MythBusters Episode 71: “Pirate Special”. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
“History of Piracy”. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
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