What do you think of
pirates with flashing swords and crimson cummerbunds? Romanticizations
are rife: Jack Sparrow--Go ahead, say "Captain", The Old Benbow Inn,
peg-legs and Polly the parrot are all examples of that. But the period, in its
entirety, is quite the foggy one, and, if I may add, one with many rather
horrid elements. However, many pirates did engage in astonishingly
dramatic feats of swashbuckling, which shall be illuminated henceforth.
(Or else this will resolve in a convoluted mass of history and cynicism.)
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The Golden Age of Piracy in our class refers
to the time between 1650 and 1720, which were the years when piracy was at its
most rife around the globe. Edward Thatch, the legendary Blackbeard, sailed in
this time as did Bartholomew
Roberts, Mary Read, Ching Shih (a South China Sea outlaw, brigand, and general
insaniac), and many other pirates of fame.
Also, it was in this period that the Spanish Empire, made wealthy through
plunder of native gold in its South American viceroyalties, fell into decline; thus
making its bloated galleons and gold easy prey for pirates. Most memorable of
the famed prizes is the Silver Fleet, accomplished by Piet Heyn. Not the
cartoonist: the privateer.
If I may digress...
...Very kind of you...
In the middle of 1628, it took several days to count the four million coins
aboard the Silver Fleet, notwithstanding the exotic dyes, wood, tobacco, et
cetera with them. How these came to be sailing to Seville in a Spanish fleet is
a matter to be dealt with afterwards, but basically it was rich. And big. Also,
clunky.
That, perspicacious listeners, is why one Piet Heyn, the commander of a fleet,
was immortalized: at least in Dutch ball-game songs.
A fleet from Vera Cruz (behold the image of Vera Cruz
set sail
one early fall, scheduled for the port
of Seville. Behind the many ships drew a flotilla of the Dutch-- thirty-three
hundred sailors aboard in all--under the hand of Piet Heyn, a jovial-looking
man with a goatee (the most obvious features)
and a Letter of Marque.
Considering their vast treasure and the suspicion they held to their abrupt adherent,
the captain of the fleet turned for a Cuban town, Matanzas, where their luck
ran out and they ran aground on the shallows. In the middle of
musket-and-cannon-fire they absconded in boats with jingling pockets or swam
for the shore, leaving rather less gold than they came with. This presented a
pecuniary loss to Heyn, augmenting the fact he only received precisely 1 3/4 %
of the profits, but in any case the great Silver Fleet had been captured, and
Holland now rolled in enough dough to be wealthy for the next one hundred years
Furthermore, we ought to mention the difference
between a pirate and a privateer, a corsair, buccaneer, and fence, as all are
terms which we shall address. Pirates were freelancers, if they were in it only
for revenge or adventure. While a few had honor towards their nation of choice,
birth, or affiliation, they were legally on the other side of the law. Privateers
were agents of a specific nation commissioned to do the bidding of said
nation-If they had a Letter of Marque they were legally under the protection of
the nation and it was-ah, let's say impolitic-to attack them.
Regularly engaging in raising their middle-finger flag at opponents, raiding
enemy ships, and surreptitiously collecting information for their nation, many
of this jolly sort were later real pirates, like Benjamin Hornigold --
Commander of the Flying Gang, alias the Pirate Republic, ergo the first,
traditional, Caribbean pirate horde -- Edward Thatch, future Blackbeard, and
even the Briton Henry Morgan who, with a small army of1,500 cavaliers and pirates captured Panama
(Depiction on PowerPoint), the prominent Spanish city: but not before crossing
the isthmus, defeating a force of nearly two thousand, and collecting enough
plunder for it to take one-seventy-five mules to carry it back, and not after
he was knighted by the English King Charles II while Spain and England were
at peace, no less.)
Following us so far? Slightly shorter explanations
will follow, thank heaven. Oops. Strictly, a corsair is one of the Barbary
Coast engaging in piracy; and it may also be used to refer to a fast ship used
for pirating. The word, mind, is derived from early French. Also derived from
that eminent language is "buccaneer" any of the raiders of Spanish
colonies and ships, also strictly speaking,
although it's commonly used in reference in any pirate. Finally, a
"fence" would be a smuggler accepting illegally-received goods from
an outlaw. Make sense? Right.
In said time the only areas of piracy were
certainly not the Caribbean... English pirates and privateers engaged in their
various devious work in the Mediterranean Region, Madagascar, India, China -
Such as Madame Ching Shih - and even Ireland! Admittedly, those of repute were
in the Caribbean, though quite a few hailed from the British Isles.
The Spanish Main
was the most
fruitful of pirates' opportunities, running along the north coast of South
America and up Panama, with juicy Spanish treasure ships and primarily
hospitable ports of call upwards in the Greater and Lesser Antilles -- St.
Martin and Eustatius at the top, Barbados, and Antigua just as a sample. The
Windward Passage, pretty awesomely named, was the (wide) strait between Cuba
and Hispaniola i.e. Haiti.
Later in the age, when the American Eastern
Seaboard's aboriginal inhabitants were driven out and replaced by European
colonists, some pirates dwelt there, as well as
some who hid in the boonies of Florida where a few became friends of the
Seminole and Creeks (Depiction of S. and C.s). By that time Englishmen were
spreading, and the Native Americans had little love for them: outlaw joined
with outlaw, and the swampy woods of Florida seemed excellent to get oneself
lost in. Some of these pirates include
Mary Read, Stede Bonnet (Rather cool name, but in fact was about the most
doltish pirate on record), and Jean Lafitte.
A more promising location was Nassau and the
Bahamas, with shoals promising grounding for a large vessel and inlets which
few but locals were aware of. This was the location of Benjamin Hornigold's
Flying Gang, made up of his old drinking
buddies, and, before long, veritably half the population of Nassau. It began
with the demise of the War of Spanish Succession, when privateers were laid off
because there was no need for mercenaries, and aggravated, several privateers
set up shop in the town -- hamlet, rather -- of Nassau. At this time -- Ah, I'd
best mention the time I suppose, it was 1714 -- around thirty families lived in
ramshackle houses, with a collapsing fort. In other terms, it was perfectly
splendid for a bunch of outlaws to begin pirating. Gaining prestige (and
audacity) Ben Hornigold became a sort-of de facto self-proclaimed prince until
a man called Woodes Rogers became governor... But alas, I'm afraid you have to
hear that another time.
In future America and the United Kingdom,
Boston and Bristol were the centers of commerce passing to the Old World and
out into the New. Today America is another independent country, but in the
pirates' time it was the haven of
scoundrels and the dwelling of adventurers, of those categories many
overlapped. Potatoes, tobacco, live oak, and many other then-exotic commodities
were transported out and to America's fellow colonies, and Bristol was the
location where manufactured goods, fabrics, and food were set on the course to
America and other places; though the city only contained 20,000.
Coming to the New World, Samuel Bellamy, Edward Low, and others stepped from
their ships to the docks of Boston where nearby redbrick houses and pylons
marked the docks. In Britain, a meandering river: Avon, wound seven miles
through the coast until coming to the medieval walls and stone docks.
Blackbeard grew up here, in the same baileywick as a notorious pirate-hunter
Woodes Rogers who was responsible for the deposition of the Flying Gang.
However, that's another story.
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And what do you think they looked like? As again, there are droves of
romanticizations: and considering the time the pirates lived in, the sky's
really the limit as to a dress code. A couple had gear to write home about,
Bartholomew Roberts reputedly dressed in a scarlet sash with an earring and
jewels--no, I am not kidding, he was allegedly a bit flamboyant--a
quintessential pirate
Blackbeard's
mane smoked with fuses, and Stede Bonnet dressed in linen and silk. But then
again, all three came to bad ends.
If we must imagine, consider the fact pirates stalked the seas from South Africa
to the Caribbean, capturing ships, stealing whatever they could get their hands
on, pawning what they wouldn't keep, and wearing what was memorable. Of course,
many began as ragtag thieves or sailors, turning to the lawless colonies for
fun, profit, or simply something more interesting, so that should be taken into
consideration.
Scurvy blotched mariners' skin, pestilence hollowed their health
 |
| We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune! And while we're at it, we also enjoy burning witches but this is about pirates, not Monty Python and the Holy Grail. |
and thinned their ranks: they wore what was warm
and if they were lucky, water-repellant too. Lastly, pirates were richer than
some.
As for vessels, we might as well give them a
brief mention? The Royal Navy had, as Britannia ruled the waves naturally, the
most elite sailing craft, Ships of the Line. The most powerful vessels on the
waves, first-rate ships (i.e. those with the strongest plate and finest
craftsmanship) weighed in at almost two-thousand tons, decreasing in breadth
and weight to frigates and brigs and sloops and schooners. And the earliest
denizens of the Flying Gang piloted 30-foot long canoes.
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The world was an unstable and changing
place. Politics was a sister of
religion, and after the wars of religion had ended, there were still hard
feelings. In Britain the queen's half-brother was denied recognition as the
heir of England, being a Catholic, and instead a cousin from Germany, properly
Protestant, was selected. The dynasty of the Spanish Hapsburgs fell when the
king Charles II (not to be confused with the English king Charles the
II) died, and a war broke out in Europe as a result. And there, we have come to
the War of Spanish Succession.
In 1702--Admittedly slightly late for our decades-spanning narrative-- Spanish
rule came crashing down when the king died without an heir, and those pesky
in-laws came clamoring for a place in the estate. Only the estate was the Spanish
Empire, spanning from Cadiz to the Philippines, and the in-laws were the major
rulers of Europe. Before long, England had taken sides: allying with Holland, Austria
and Prussia, while France and Spain joined.
England was going to anyone besides the French.
In the middle of this, three-quarters the
male population of English colonies were
serving in battle, voluntarily or involuntarily, and privateers were bursting
from the gunwales .
To put it... lightly, maritime ventures were
not favorable toward anyone involved.
Why pirating, you ask?
Primarily, English crews were recruited by gangs of men who walked city streets
and taverns, kidnapping men to serve in their crew. . . "pressing" is
the official term; and they were called "press" or "press
gangs." Good for morale? I think not! Also, a disturbing amount of people
appeared to be disgustingly immoral, depraved, and greedy, but that's another
story... And if we get our way, not one imminently to be told.
Why, though? Why would they leave their livelihoods and join a
collection of scrofulous seven-letter-words? It was an unenviable prospect,
living with slight sleep, and even slighter healthcare - Yeah, I mean worse
than some people think today's is.
There is not an easy answer. Some were
captured and turned traitor to save their skins, and some did so just for a
better lifestyle. Some were entranced by the very romanticizations that are
inflicted on today's history...For a critical viewpoint. Some were bitter about
the Peace of Utrecht, the treaty ending the war--Many of whom are quintessential
pirates, Blackbeard among them. A couple looked to it to escape the law, or, in
Stede Bonnet's case, to escape their wives. That fiasco ended with his hanging,
so let us assume that in the case one marries unwisely it's best to get a divorce.
It offered them comparative freedom, an
opportunity to do as one wanted, to obtain unforeseeable wealth and to have
some real voice in the ship. Believe it or not, pirate captains were elected by
the crew, majority ruled whether one was to be elected or replaced. This likely
resulted in a little bit of gold changing hands....
Black sailors were common, being offered
full rights as a crewmember when pirates captured a slaver ship In the times
which they lived, it was surprisingly egalitarian. One imagines a pirate ship
as a milieu of different nationalities and affiliations -- as long as they
shared a common enemy -- Where a
different society existed, divorced from the rank and rule of the
Europeans, and remained fairly ordered even without that; and with the addition of a more
eclectic populace. Now please throw metaphorical tomatoes if I start typing about the "pirate in us all"...the "soul of the sea"...or
similar statements.
I mean metaphorical, guys. Nonexistent.
Forget the tomatoes.
...Or they would be sold back into slavery: many merchants and businessmen were
of little conscience.
Naturally, it was not all fun and
games: Even each benefit was, there was a ship to run. Sails had to manned, and
adjusted by hand, which meant sailors had to climb the masts and unknot ties to
change the speed of the ship, and to "tack" the sails (in other
words, to turn the bow to the wind, changing the impact of the wind from one
side to another.) This was particularly necessary in stormy or windy conditions;
as such that one would really not like to be forty feet in the air, clinging to
the mast, a daredevil koala on an
eucalyptus trunk.
Pardon me, I will applaud my splendid
metaphor.
Scurvy always visited the crews of lawful and rogue alike, a disease resulting
in the body hemorrhaging below the skin and causing purple sores, chronic
weakness, gum recession (not a financial scenario), and anemia: the lack of
hemoglobin in blood resulting in such lovely things as fingernails growing
upwards, hallucinations, and a hunger for odd consumptions such as ice, paper,
and wood. However, I know for a fact I do not have anemia, and yet I have
always eaten ice cubes.
Before I am too carried away in studying the horrid side effects of
aforesaid diseases, I'll connect this in some way to my story and continue.
Before Doctor James Lind proved the assistance of citrus in diets (Picture of
Lind on PowerPoint), several sailors fortunately realized that fruits and
vegetables helped considerably (replenishing the vitamin C. lacking in
scurvy-stricken patients) and they were supplied in knowing fleets, eventually
becoming mandatory in... uh...
1800. Rad, Brits. More sailors die of
scurvy than in action (did I mention that?) and it takes you over a hundred
years to formally adapt adequate prevention.
Next on the rouleau of piratical mores, strictly
enforced was the dividing of the plunder, in which each member took a share according to their position, only to
forfeit it if they had broken the ship's law in cases like of mutiny--and
mutineers also faced marooning, flogging, or keelhauling-- and also for
abduction, dereliction of duty or in some cases inebriation, depending on the
articles of the ship.The captain, of course, had the lion's share, decreasing
successively to the cabin boys and swabs.
As it was, on English ships men were
normally recruited by press-gangs and under the thumb of the captain, whose
authority sometimes brooked on cruelty. But Blackbeard supposedly shot a member
of his crew for no reason at all, incidentally. Women, under no circumstances
were allowed. Pay was issued in the form of I.O.U.s for an unspecified amount
just before the recipient's vessel set sail, and many times they received no
pay at all.
Depravity reigned many of the ships and
attacks, the English Henry Avery operating out of Madagascar exemplifying such.
His deeds are quite vile. Pirates faced execution if they were caught sans
pardon, and several times they deserved it--Edward Low, a pretty remarkable (but really, okay, he
was totally sadistic) man for instance, who with one of his more abominable
practices broiled his captives alive.
Interestingly, Low was initially married to one Eliza Marble in Boston, where
he had two children: one, a boy who died after birth and another a girl named
Elizabeth. After his wife and children died he became a pirate, and although,
really, he was sick he treated women well, leaving them on shore if they
were onboard a captured ship, and hardly recruited married men. Then again,
this occurred in a sketchy area three-hundred years ago.
Doubtlessly this does little to detract from the general horridnesses of the
time, but interestingly enough the original pirate lord Benjamin Hornigold,
while being a generally threatening chap, was not known to kill captives: his
crew was searching for the resting place of a capsized treasure fleet and they
captured the crew, he liberated their pockets of money, a couple of silk items,
and left them alone (although the captain did notify him as to the location of
the fleet's salvage camp, so perhaps that helped), and once took an English
vessel, stole their hats and explained they had thrown theirs overboard when
drunk, and what gentleman goes without a hat?
promptly
releasing them. Conversely he did also threaten to kill Nassau's governor, and
beat his family "senseless" so nobody's perfect.
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In the next classes
you may expect a mix of cynicism and invigoration: but never apathy. Addressed
topics possibly may include the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Golden Age,
the (in)famous pirates, the vicissitudes of maritime life, and conversely those
of Europe. Expect exciting dynastic decisions, maggots, sails, and
decapitations!
