Ahoy there me hearties, on Monday it be 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day so we'll be thinking about them pirates this week. And that's about the extent of my pirate talk...! Pirates seems fitting enough to me - we're going to a masked ball on Saturday and I still don't have a costume: if only I'd looked on Etsy 2 weeks ago as there are LOADS of pirate costumes - yes for adults too! But I thought I'd give you the fun pirate bits that I found. Enjoy!
A few random facts about pirates for you... these may or may not be totally made up!!
- Pirate believed that having women on board was very bad luck, and whistling could make the weather turn stormy, apparently that's where the saying 'to whistle up a storm' comes from.
- Pirates would almost always steal their ships - buying one was too risky as they might be recognised and sent to jail!
- While pirating has been happening since at least the 15th century, it was most rife between 1690 and 1720.
- Pirates were very democratic - they held votes as to which way to go and which colonial ships to attack. Each member of the crew had a vote. They also all got an equal share of the booty with a few members of the crew (captain, ship's pilot, cook, carpenter etc) getting a double portion.
- A pirate captain was actually a battle leader, not a captain; he led the attacks on other ships - the real captain was called the ship's pilot and gained an equal share of the booty as the captain.
- The word Buccaneer comes from the pirates - it derives from the word 'boucan' which is a way of cooking meat over an open fire, like a barbeque. Pirates often landed in places where there were cattle or other herds - they would catch and kill larger animals and then roast / cook them over open fires.
- 'Pieces of eight' were actually Spanish 'reales' coins, and were the most common form of currency aboard pirate ships. 'Doubloons' were Spanish 'escudos' - large gold coins which were of the highest value.
- Pirates pierced their ears because they believed that gold and silver in their earlobes would improve their eyesight... ???!!!
- There is no evidence that pirates ever made treasure maps (none have been found) or that pirates ever made people walk the plank - walking the plank is a Hollywood invention, pirates preferred to just toss people overboard. And they didn't really 'arrrrrgh, and 'urrrrrgh' either - that's another Hollywood myth because the actor who played Long John Silver in the 1950s version of Treasure Island came from the Cotswalds, England and had a regional accent.
3 comments:
Love it!! I had a cat once that I called Bartie Ddu, Welsh for Black Bart, the infamous Welsh pirate Batholemewwww Roberts.
Why are pirates called pirates?
Because they arrrrrrrrrrre!
If you like Pirates then you'll have to pay a visit to my neck of the woods next year!
http://www.brixhampiratefestival.co.uk/
I've never been as always working etc, but I did serve a group of Pirates this year when they came in the shop.
well I did not know about the arrrrggghhh accent thing, but now you say it, I can see how it could be true. Madness!
Not only is Monday "talk like a pirate day" it's also my (our!) wedding anniversary. If only we'd known, 31 years ago, the photos could have been so much more interesting!
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