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Of Pirates & Buccaneers
Great Ships in History
Ship Classification
Sir Henry Morgan
Allgemein:
Everything we know about pirates seems to be larger than life. Their stories are high-lighted with images of dramatic vividness: Images of smoking cannons, sword fights and ships in flames, curses and drunken laughter, the click of dice on a deck and the scream from the crow's nest: "A sail! A sail!". The shudder of ship planks receiving a broadside; the screams of the maimed, and bone and brains in the sawdust; the clank of gold coins and pieces of eight; a girl on the beach - and at the end of many a life…., dancing the jig of death on the gallows.
Pirates were often quite immature but once aroused capable of unbelievable atrocities. They might throw a prisoner into shark invested waters or allow insects to gorge on an enemy's wounds and yet there were moments, when they seemed almost touched by compassion, remorse, even love. Shipmates who had lost eyes or limbs in combat were allowed to live on board for as long as they chose; and many clomping over the pirates' decks with a wooden leg, earned still a half share of the booty as a cook, no matter how bad their “salmagundi” turned out to be.
Amongst themselves, aboard their ships and in their hide-outs, they were passionate supporters of a primitive sort of democracy, with a high regard for justice and the rights of the individual. As rudimentary and violent they often were, they could be lavishly generous to those they liked and trusted, showering liquor traders and women who kept them company with jewels and gold.
Life & Times of Pirates
Great links for pirate stuff:
The New World Voyages of William Dampier www.athenapub.com/damp1.htm
Website on William Kidd: www.captainkidd.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Dutch site on general historical info about the Netherlands: www.geschiedenis.com/
Last time we checked all the sites worked.
Pirates could be fleeing into the damp sanctuary of the jungle at the mere sight of a Navy ship appearing on the horizon, but when they were cornered on the quarter-deck by a superior force or stood under the gallows before a vast and cheering crowd, they often faced death with courage and sometimes even with ironic humour.
Only a very few, succeeded in their profession. Those who managed to get away with their ill-gotten gains settled down as landowners or wealthy merchants in far-away colonies. But most of the pirates failed to score high or, if they did, they squandered away their loot and ended their days in poverty, dead of disease or swinging from an Admiralty gibbet.
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