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The Jolly Roger Flag
Nothing was probably more terrifying for sailors during the “Golden Age of Piracy” (18th Century) than spotting a black flag with the skull and crossbones sailing towards you. Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship about to attack during the early 18th century. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger that we think of today is the skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag, was used during the 1700’s by a number of pirate captains including “Black Sam” Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor. Use of the term Jolly Roger in reference to pirate flags goes back to…
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Jean Lafitte
Little is known of Lafitte’s early life, but records show that by 1809 he and his brother Pierre appeared to have established themselves in New Orleans, Louisiana. They started a blacksmith shop that was actually serving as a depot for smuggled goods and slaves brought ashore by bands of privateers. From around 1810 to 1814 this group probably formed what would become Lafitte’s illicit colony on the secluded islands of Barataria Bay south of the city. Holding privateer commissions from the republic of Cartagena (in modern Colombia), Lafitte’s group preyed on Spanish commerce, eventually disposing of its plunder through merchant connections on the mainland. Barataria Bay was a very important…
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A DAY IN THE LIFE… OF PIRATES!
I considered writing this entirely in pirate speak, but I determined that would distract too much from the actual information I wanted to get across… so instead, look for the piratical translation below! A long time ago on the Spanish Main in the region known as the Caribbean lived a rough and rugged sort of men and women. Some were refugees, some were criminals, some just couldn’t make it in civilized society. Whatever the case “roughing it” was a way of life. Some of the earliest hunters in and among the uninhabited islands used a style of wooden frame similar to a modern grill to cook their food. This wooden…
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Gráinne Ní Mháille or Grace O’Malley
In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, I decided to dedicate today’s post to one of the best. Grace O’Malley was a queen, a pirate and all around bad ass. She went toe to toe with Queen Elizabeth I and won. Not many people did that. Gráinne, or Grace as it was Anglicized, was born in 1530 on the west coast of Ireland to Owen O’Malley, a wealthy trader, seafarer and chieftain. Legend says that as a teenager she begged her father to let her serve with him aboard his ships. He told her no saying her hair would get caught in the rigging. The next day, she showed…
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The Shardana
In honor of “Talk Like a Pirate Day” I have decided to write a story about the Shardana, a race of ancient pirates. In order to talk like them you would have to learn a long dead language, I am afraid.The Shardana, or the Sherden, didn't exactly leave behind anything for us to definitively talk about who they were or what they are about. The first possible reference to them was in a letter from an Egyptian mayor, a guy named Rib-Hadda, to the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, wherein he refere [...]
