 Jlundberg  | 26 Mar 2016 11:29 a.m. PST |
I have been watching "Black Sails" and get constantly amazed at the depiction of the pirates as brave and freedom loving. When Blackbeard's ship was cornered most of his crew surrendered without a fight despite being destined to the gallows.
Were pirates in the golden age of piracy:
Just freedom loving scamps
Vicious bullies
Poor sailors with no other options
Opportunists that got caught up in the moment |
| MajorB | 26 Mar 2016 11:41 a.m. PST |
Were pirates in the golden age of piracy:
Just freedom loving scamps
Vicious bullies
Poor sailors with no other options
Opportunists that got caught up in the moment Yes. |
| kallman | 26 Mar 2016 12:01 p.m. PST |
MajorB beat me to it. Of course trying to define why various men turned to Piracy during the so called Golden Age runs the gambit. Many of the rank and file were sailors escaping the brutal conditions they lived under in the various national navies. Recall many of them would have been "press ganged" into their service. Therefore the opportunity to get out from under the heel of their officers would be extremely enticing. It is also one reason that pirate crews tended to be as good as they were because they had learned their trade in the navy. Of course discipline was another matter once free of the military yoke. As in all cases part of the allure was the promise of quickly gained riches. Or in the case of Stede Bonnet who was already a well off man set off simply for the adventure. That adventure eventually led to him being hung. |
| darthfozzywig | 26 Mar 2016 12:17 p.m. PST |
All of the above, as with most anyone. But as I was at the New Orleans battlefield just an hour ago, I say yaaaaaaarr! Brave pirates! |
| freerangeegg | 26 Mar 2016 12:17 p.m. PST |
And don't forget that one mans pirate was often another countries privateer |
| Winston Smith | 26 Mar 2016 12:19 p.m. PST |
Pirates are hanged. Tapestries are hung.  The Crimson Grammaticist strikes again! |
| Winston Smith | 26 Mar 2016 12:21 p.m. PST |
Our vision of pirates is largely shaped by Erroll Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Long John Silver etc and all the fun times they had.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
If we want to believe that the crew had a shop steward to enforce Union regulations, go ahead.
We game the myth. Not the reality. |
| thorr666 | 26 Mar 2016 12:39 p.m. PST |
You can't generalize, everyone is an individual |
| kallman | 26 Mar 2016 12:53 p.m. PST |
Fair point Winston and I should have known better. I doff my hat to the Crimson Grammaticist. I should note Bonnet's "hanging" occurred in Charleston, South Carolina. |
| Gone Fishing | 26 Mar 2016 12:59 p.m. PST |
Slightly off topic, but according to the Angus Konstam's Osprey book on pirates, our picture of what pirates looked like during the Golden Age was almost entirely determined by the American artist, Howard Pyle. It seems he was working on illustrating a book and used gypsy costumes he had handy (they were convenient and looked suitably dashing) which bore little relation to what sailors would have actually worn during the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century. Pyle's student, N.C. Wyeth, picked up the look and voila! we had our modern idea of the pirate. There's probably a good deal more that could be said, but it's an interesting point, regardless. |
| Winston Smith | 26 Mar 2016 1:06 p.m. PST |
"The Gypsy Pirate" sounds like something Liam Clancy should have sung. Or Luke Kelly. |
 Herkybird | 26 Mar 2016 1:28 p.m. PST |
I think most pirates were runaway sailors trying to make a living, I think they were more like a gang, some bullies, some followers on, but what do I know!? |
| Stryderg | 26 Mar 2016 3:27 p.m. PST |
A question for the Crimson Grammaticist: if songs are sung, do pirate songs get sanged? And no, I don't have anything constructive to add to the conversation. |
| Grelber | 26 Mar 2016 5:42 p.m. PST |
If Howard Pyle's (1853-1911) illustrations define our ideas of how a pirate dressed, would the photos of old productions of Pirates of Penzance likely be any more accurate? In a lot of these, they wear the fustanella style kilt and look like Greek bandits (or Bashi-Bazouks). For that matter, did seamen wear kilts/skirts in the late 1600s/early 1700s? Grelber |
| 21eRegt | 26 Mar 2016 6:51 p.m. PST |
Peace is often attributed to the rise of the "Golden Age of Piracy." When Queen Anne's War ended there were a lot of unemployed privateers who needed to make a living, so they turned to what they knew best. The "King's Pardon" actually occurred BTW. One of the things they seem to have gotten right. |
| Mike Bravo Miniatures | 29 Mar 2016 4:06 a.m. PST |
The clobber in Black Sails looks convincing (very plain, little gaudiness). No idea if it is authentic though… |
| Weasel | 29 Mar 2016 8:04 a.m. PST |
I imagine that the type of person that would be attracted to life as a pirate is not a very pleasant type of person.
But then, neither were many of the people in the navies that hunted them. But then, we've romanticized far worse and the statute of limitations on terrible people is about a hundred years or so, so eh :-) |
paints brigs for the British fleet.
