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Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: We Lost Our Gold

Fun Pirate Facts
Moderators: rose

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captain12fingers
Decorated

Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 209

Fun Pirate Facts
Might This Help With The Hunt ??

A few years back when I received a metal detector for Mother's Day I was detecting in a local Long Island Park and found a gold gilded button worn by a British Solider either during the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.
Did an enormous amount of research on Pirates and this is what I found:

The 17th & 18th Centuries were the known as the Golden Age of Piracy.
Today there are still pirates off the coasts of Africa & Asia terrorizing small vessels and small cruise ships.

Why Would Any One Become A Pirate
The British Navy was know to treat it's sailors like crap. Harsh punishments for minor infractions, pay was little if they got paid at all. There were often food shortages on board. This would prompt the sailors to become pirates on board ships where fair treatment was the law.

Democracy
One of the only place to find a democracy was aboard a pirate ship. They voted for their captain, all officer positions, where to go, what ships to loot, how to divide the loot, how to divide rations and many other things during a time when monarchy and totalitarian rule was the norm. Oh another thing, all types of men from different nationalities would work side by side on a pirate ship. Men who were slaves on land were now considered free and equal aboard a pirate ship. Even the practice of homosexuality was the norm and excepted. The men would often pair up with someone. This partner would be their back up in battle. Due to being at sea for months or even years on end well, things happened.

The Articles
The Articles were the written law aboard a pirate ship. The laws were written down and signed by every sailor on board. The laws may have included on what kinds of punishment was to be given, how to divided the loot, and how rations were to be divided. Rules of no gambling were written down in the articles because it was often prohibited aboard a ship. Gambling often lead to violence so they wanted to avoid that on the ship.

Punishment
Punishment given aboard the ship were usually the same punishments given aboard a government ship. The most common were whippings with a cat o nine. The cat was a small whip with many tails. Sometimes small hooks or metal balls were put on the ends to make the whippings more brutal. Knee hauling was another one. A man would be tied with his hands at his sides and then toss over board along the sides. His body would be dragged along the sides of the boat and get cut up by barnacles.
Another was to make a person run around the entire ship until they passed out. Marooning was the most harsh punishment. A man would be given maybe some water and a tiny bit of food and left on a deserted island. Walking the plank was made up by Stevenson for his Treasure Island book. There is no documentation where this was ever used.

Letter of Mark
A Letter of Mark was a license given by governments for anyone who wanted to be a pirate to loot the opposing countries ships that were at war (or even peaceful times). Britain was really famous for doing this.

Life Aboard
Pirates did not live long. Due to a harsh conditions at sea, a really bad diet and injuries received during battles pirates usually didn't live past the age of their early 30s.
Pirates lived on dried meat and hard tack. Sort of like beef jerky and a stale cracker that usually had little weevils in them. They would often ate in the dark so they couldn't see what they were eating. The cook used whatever was on board to make some sort of meal. They drank beer and ale far more then anything else. Water that was stored in wooden barrels would go rancid within a short period of time. Rum was often watered down and it was expensive. Once a ship was looted they would replenish their food supply.
Disease was rampant. Due to lack of vitamin C pirates would often get scurvy. The British sailors would often suck on limes hence ' YOU LIMEY"
VDs were also high due to their habits of visiting the ladies of the night once on land and their partnerships on board.
Each ship might have had a few men on board who played instruments for entertainment. Gambling was not permitted.
A Surgeon was often employed or kidnapped from another ship to help with illness or injuries aboard the ship.

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:50 am

FindersKeepers
Boot

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 28

Hmm...no mention of ninjas?

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:12 pm

captain12fingers
Decorated

Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 209

FindersKeepers wrote:

Hmm...no mention of ninjas?

No they weren't part of the real deal.

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:13 pm

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