Firstly - where do our ideas about peg-legs and parrots and walking the plank actually come from? Well, you can probably blame Peter Pan for that last one, and potentially the first and second too. But many other images, of wild beards, wooden sailing ships, and black flags bearing terrifying death heads, all hail from a very specific period of history. The Golden Age of Piracy, as it has become known, lasted from around 1705 to 1725, and was at its height during 1717-1719. This was the period when such infamous pirates as Blackbeard, Ned Lowe and Charles Vane menaced European shipping in the Caribbean.
Historians have written at length about the reasons why such a Golden Age came into being, but it really boils down to a perfect storm of social conditions: the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714, resulting in the discharging from the Navy of thousands of destitute and disillusioned sailors; the vagaries of shipping routes and transatlantic trade requiring many ships to pass through the warren of Caribbean archipelagos; and the wrecking in a storm of a Spanish treasure fleet off the Florida coast in 1715. Though some historians broaden the period to include the buccaneering age of the late 1600s, and the Indian Ocean piracy of the 1690s, most agree that the Golden Age was over by 1730: by this point, all the most famous pirates were either dead (many executed), pardoned or vanished from the records.
Stevenson, in turn, was influenced by the pirate-historian’s invaluable tome, A General History of the Pyrates, first published in 1724 by Captain Charles Johnson, whose true identity is still a matter of debate. Johnson tells the tales of many of the pirates of the Golden Age, including dubious biographical details and accounts of their trials and deaths, which lend them an almost legendary status. Fiction certainly has a lot to answer for, but, then again, perhaps it is merely the fascinating uniqueness of this period which has spawned its weighty legacy. Never again would the world see an explosion of this kind of criminality, led by such notorious, brazen individuals, whose exploits barely required embellishment to transform them into page-turning thrillers.
Yet life as a pirate was hardly one long romantic adventure. For a subject that fascinates so many, there is a frustrating lack of historical sources around piracy. Trust me – I’ve read virtually every academic book going, and they all get a little samey after a while, since they’re mostly rehashing quotes from A General History of the Pyrates. However, one thing that all the books can agree on is that life on board a pirate ship was, for the most part, nasty, brutish and short. Life at sea was hard and dangerous: in a time before universal healthcare, injury from wood splintered by a cannonball would likely result in death, or - best-case scenario - a lost limb. Punishments were brutal and crews were unsentimental. For pirates, it really was all about the loot, and they didn’t much care how they got their hands on it.
Much is made of the fact that pirate crews were egalitarian in their approach: they voted for their captains; their quartermasters shared the loot, if not equally, then by agreed proportions; they drew up rules that all aboard had to abide by; they had their own rudimentary health insurance policy, in that they received compensation for lost limbs and other significant body parts. It has been argued that many sailors were drawn to a life of piracy because it was easier than life in the Navy or as a merchant sailor. This was true – you could make more money as a pirate, and pirate crews tended to be much larger than those on a merchant ship, making the day-to-day running of the ship a little less gruelling. But it can be too easy to assume that life on pirate ship was one of freedom from the oppression of the state.
Pirate crews were exclusively male (search for female pirates during this age and you’ll likely only turn up Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two amongst thousands of men) and many were riddled with STDs thanks to their usage of brothels when in port. Although some crews were multiracial, pirates regarded slaves as fair game for raids just as much as any other commodity. It has been suggested that pirate ships were places where homosexuality was able to flourish free from societal judgment, but there is no evidence that these ships were any more tolerant than the rest of society.
Aside from the fact that I have no earthly idea how to sail, my general timidity and non-confrontational approach to life probably means I won’t be selling my house and buying a boat anytime soon. Still, it’s nice to dream sometimes, and I doubt I’m alone. We’ll all be fascinated by these colourful characters from history for many years to come, and the harsh realities of pirate life, and the terror unleashed on their (mostly undeserving) victims, will be conveniently overlooked. Because the truth is that the appeal of piracy lies not in the violent crime or the brutality, but in the idea of freedom: of blowing off societal constraints and living by our own rules, sailing the seven seas with a trusted gang of shipmates. Or maybe we just think we look good in the outfits...
Further reading on the Golden Age of Piracy:
Under the Black Flag - David Cordingly
Black Flags, Blue Waters - Eric Jay Dolin
The Republic of Pirates - Colin Woodard
The General History of the Pyrates - Captain Charles Johnson
A Pirate’s Life for She - Laura Sook Duncombe
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