Under the Black Flag(book)

[ishmael]

Just picked up what looks to be a good topical history of pirates during the golden age of Atlantic piracy, between 1570 and 1725. The writer's a Brit, he's taking history and juxtaposing it to popular images.

Blackbeard, Edward Teach, really did, by contemporary accounts, go into battle with his long black beard tied behind his ears and some slow burning matches tucked under his hat! A vision of the dark realm way before Satanic rock and roll. LOL. Lots of pistols in braces around his neck, and a cutlass or two. Argh, matey! Fierce nightmares for a dark alley, or a dark sea.

A serious student of the subject, David Cordingly. Very entertaining writing.

[bamamick]

popular, but for some reason I have just never bought into it. I suppose it's because of the raping and murdering thing, you know? Something about raping innocent women and murdering people in cold blood, over a thing like money, just never really made me too warm and fuzzy.

The guys like Sir Francis, who did it in the name of a 'cause' were just as bad and probably a lot more dangerous.

I really wish that the countries of the world would band together and do something about the piracy that goes on today. I had a friend who was cruising around the Canal Zone and had plans to cut through into the Pacific and head west. One of the biggest reasons that he didn't is that he was worried about the safety of his family. This is one tough guy, but he did not feel as if he could carry guns on the boat because of the dealing with the authorities in different countries, and he thought that it was just plain nuts to travel about without one.

Anyway, sorry to poop in the milkshake, but I don't like pirates (rbgarr excluded, of course :)).

Mickey Lake

[paladin]

Contrary to popular belief, most of those folks were not well trained swordsmen......and before multifiring pistols (repeating firearms) a half dozen handguns was lotsa firepower. Jonathan Browning, father of John Moses, invented the first repeating breach loading firearm in 1834.

[Hughman]

The black in the flag signified that one should yield, and be spared. If the flag be red, it meant no quarter. This convention dates at least from medieval times. Few (if any) pirates flew red flags.

Pirates generally wanted your money, not a fight. The psychopath was an exception, and got all the press - as well as exaggerated accounts to rouse the governments to deal with the perpetrators. Lurid accounts also sold newspapers.

There's a website logging current piracy, from a UK source. Would someone post that please? It's good for a few hours of lurid reading.

[rbgarr]

I wondered what the reasons were for the black versus red. Now I know which one to fly when. It will just depend on my mood that day, I guess.

Bloodthirsty
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Larcenous
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[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I read the book it was a fun read my favorite was Calico Jack sailed a pirate ship with two fearless sexy women.

The book made no mistake when it came to hunting down and demise of most pirates. Killed and hung in a cage for all to see as they pulled into port is not the happy ending Disney presents. ;)

[ishmael]

Ann Bonny, and Mary Read, I just finished their chapter. Both had what would be called today difficult upbringings with narcissistic overtones. Bah! They made their way and ended up on Calico Jack's ship. A minor buccaneer with just a small sloop to his name, they raided the fisherfolk and small carriers of the time.

I found it interesting that while the trial of Calico Jack, Jamaica was in full swing(so to speak, he got hanged and displayed at the entrance to Port Royal) both of the women were given a pass. Why? Because they were both pregnant!

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Both died shortly thereafter in the hell holes that must have been the tropical gaols of the time.

I like this book's looking at the romance compared to the reality.

[martin schulz]

I think the most interesting thing for me was the fact that pirates had established some sort of parliamentary monarchy (captain had all the rights, but was elected and could be opted out).

Considering this they (pirates) probably ran the first modern democracy.

[lagspiller]

Considering this they (pirates) probably ran the first modern democracy.

You are forgetting Iceland.

[rbgarr]

Considering this they (pirates) probably ran the first modern democracy.

At the point of a cutlass, too!

[gavinpascoe]

Isle of Man also claims the first modern democracy. Look up Twnwald. even now the Island has a strange relationship with the United Kingdom. So many quirky things about that country, including the crazy looking flag, car racing, and named after the local god of the sea. Must visit one day

[gavinpascoe]

...make that motorbike racing

[rbgarr]

Isle of Man...the crazy looking flag

Yes, good for a laugh
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[ishmael]

Apparently most pirate ships were a direct democracy, though as in all society of the time the blacks were second class citizens and didn't get a vote. Typically the crews had quite a large percentage of black men...men who'd escaped the plantations on the islands or been captured from merchant ships or slavers. Cordingly believes, from the scant evidence, that their lot aboard ship was pretty much the same as it was on land. In other words, they got the skut work.

What do you suppose the ongoing fascination with pirates is? Our images of them make it look pretty romantic, in a sort of adolescent way. Go where you want, take what you want, party hard. The reality of it, or what we can glean of that reality, was pretty rough. Live fast, die young, and have your corpse hung in the roads in a cage to warn fellows this government is tough on your ilk. Not many lived to a ripe old age. Many of the crews came out of the Royal Navy, and I suppose in comparison the life seemed pretty free.

[Gary Bergman]

Hmm, when we filmed 'True Carribean Pirates' for the History Channel, the producers basiocally used this text as the narrative. Fairly down in nature, but to each his own. As a reenactor, I have learned that most Golden Age pirates were used as political tools. Today's pirates are just thugs with boats; no comparison. There are many good reads, I really like 'Pacific Coast Pirates', and Howard Piles 'Book of Pirates'...the list is long. As far as flag colors, they basically changed in 1700 when Kidd was tried.( incidentally, for those who haven't heard, they discovered the 'Queydah Merchant' in ten feet of water off the Dominican Republic) Original 'Jolie Rouge', being red, morphed to 'jolly roger', being primarily black,and the rest is both fact and film fiction.Depending on the ship, most all races were 'equal', barring Madam Chaing's 4,000 plus ships in the Orient...Our piece of piratical transportation will be on the Great Lakes in '08, after we sift thru two more period films, and possibly a land excursion in Pennsylvania....keep a weather eye peeled, eh wot?

[ishmael]

"As a reenactor, I have learned that most Golden Age pirates were used as political tools."

There was officially sanctioned piracy. Drake and Morgan both had letters of intent, seals of approval, from established governments, Drake's from England, Morgan's from Jamaica(essentially from England.) There's not much talk of Drake in this book, but Morgan rates a chapter of his own. England and Spain were reaching after peace accords, and had signed papers when Morgan made some of his more spectacular raids against the gold coming out of the Andean highlands and landing on the coast in Panama. But the difficulty and time of communication made for convenient excuses. The Spanish filed formal protests, and Morgan, after a brief stint in prison, was knighted. He was a major owner of plantations in Jamaica. He was also, by contemporary accounts, a gentleman. None of the rape and pillage of some of the others. He wanted your money, not your life or your honor.

[Gary Bergman]

Aye, and when Drake and Strong first rounded the Straits of Ten Thousand Virgins into the Pacific, the galleons didn't even have cannons, just small arms...what a fine time to be a privateer....