AARRRG MATEY!! Our guest speaker, Gail Selinger captured our attention immediately by separating fact from fiction when it comes to Pirate Myths.  After all, she is a Pirate Historian, a serious author, a teacher, and even a Pirate Re-enactor.

We learned the term “walking the plank”, was actually fiction and that treasure maps and the “X marks the spot” on them probably never existed.  Remember Long John Silver, buried treasure and “yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum”?  All fiction!  The book Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson introduced these and other Pirate lore that is believed as fact by many today.  Interestingly, the eye patch, peg leg, and hook were actually used in the late 1600’s by many who had been injured, including Pirates.

Pirate is defined as a person who steals on the water.  Fact: both men and women were pirates although the women had to disguise themselves for protection.  Fact: The captain of the ship had little authority, he was the navigator who guided the ship.  It was the Bosun (Boatswain) who kept the ship running and delegated the work load.  The first democracy noted in history was the pirates.  They drafted a set of rules known as the ships articles, which everyone had to live by, those who did not were punished.  The pirates were the very first to compensate those individuals who were injured on the ship or while working.  They developed a workman’s compensation system that paid an amount for the loss of an eye, arm, fingers, etc.  They were paid an amount such as 500 Pieces of Eight for the loss of a left leg, 100 Pieces of Eight for loss of an eye or finger, and so on.  Remember, their jobs were to rob others, steal what they could and return to the ship to share with the other pirates.  Each pirate received a share, the captain received 1 ½ shares but most of the time many did not get what was promised to them.

The Pirate flags flown on ship identified who was the ship’s captain.  The most feared was Black Beard, he flew the red pirate flag which indicated to other ships that if you fight me I will kill all on board.  Black beard was a Welchman who stood 6ft. three inches and had black course hair and a braided beard.  Captain Edward “Blackbeard” Teach was feared by all on sea and had one of the mightiest pirate ships ever to set sail.   He captured a French slave ship named La Concorde in 1717 and renamed it Queen Anne’s Revenge then kept it for himself.  He knew the importance of image and looked like the devil in battle.  He dressed all in black, strapped several pistols to his chest, then attached several slow burning fuses to his beard and hair then lit them.  The smoke shrouded him and his enemies became scared and distracted, sometimes giving up.  In 1718 Blackbeard went to North Carolina and accepted a pardon from the governor who wanted him to steal more loot in exchange for protection.  Blackbeard accepted and shared his takings with the governor until he died.

All in all, a Pirates life sounds like a pretty tough way to live.  Maybe the saying, “Only the strong survive” came from that era.  I’m happy to live in these times and be a Rotary member, don’t ever want to walk the plank!

Pat Dolphin