| Event type: | Meeting |
| Date: | 18th April 2024 |
| Venue: | Kenilworth Methodist Church |
| Organiser: | |
| Cost: | Entry is free to members (non-members welcome for a £1 donation) |
Speaker: Max Keen
An interesting and entertaining talk by an excellent and enthusiasic speaker
Once again Max delighted us with his entertaining historical talk dressed this time in pirates garb including cutlas, pistol and parrot. He enthused us with the history of swashbuckling pirates.
First, he tackled some of the facts and some of the fiction of the many fables that have sprung up over the centuries regarding pirates:
- Pirates had their own communication language.
Fiction. Pirates used the local language where they and usually their crew were brought up. - Pirates always flew their flag – the Jolly Roger – the skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag.
Fact. It is claimed that the Jolly Roger derived from Joli Rouge ( Pretty Red ) which was the red flag used by French privateers. This flag symbolised red blood and violent pirates ready to kill. - Pirates buried their treasure.
Fiction. Pirates generally kept their treasure where they could see it, on board their ships. - Pirates made transgressors walk the plank.
Fiction. This only happened in the story of Peter Pan! A more likely punishment was keelhauling where the punishment was to be dragged under the hull from one side of the ship to the other. If the offender did not drown they were badly lacerated by the razor sharp barnacles clinging to the hull. - When on board a pirate ship a strict disciplinary code was kept.
Fact: Everybody on board had a vote. - Gaming was not allowed.
- Lights out for everyone was 8.00pm.
- Pistols were to be kept clean, oiled and ready for action.
- No children or girls on board.
- If pirates lost limbs in action they were entitled to compensation – allotted ‘pieces of 8’ in Spanish silver.
- Pirates often kept parrots.
Fact. They were kept as pets. Not too many other animals could weather the harsh conditions at sea. - Pirates had eye patches and wore earrings.
Fact. Eye patches were worn to preserve night vision in that eye. Earrings were worn to supposedly prevent sea sickness. - Any misdemeanour was punished by flogging.
Fact, but very seldom. A more likely punishment was branding.
During the ‘Golden Age’ of Piracy between 1650 and 1720 there were many thousands of pirates. They had their HQ at Port Royal in Jamaica where they were free to spend their ill-gotten gains on gambling, women and drinking. One of the strongest drinks was rum mixed with gunpowder, hence the description of a stiff drink ‘blowing your head off’. Port Royal was eventually destroyed by an earthquake.
Max described some of the more famous buccaneers and pirates whose lives were usually short and brutal:
- William ‘Captain’ Kidd – A Scottish privateer who fought the French and then had a royal commission to fight pirates. However, he eventually became a pirate and was duly hanged.
- Edward Teach ‘Blackbeard’ – a fearsome pirate who preferred using fear and intimidation to extract cargo rather than fighting.
- Bartholomew ‘ Black Bart’ Roberts – a Welsh pirate and one of the most successful villains of the Golden Age of Piracy who plundered over 400 ships in his 3 year career.
- Anne Bonny – one of the very few female pirates. Anne despised a normal life preferring piracy. She was eventually captured but won a stay of execution because she was pregnant supposedly by ‘Calico Jack’.
- John Rackham - ‘Calico Jack’ – Nicknamed due to his flamboyant clothes. He began his career as a sailor but soon turned to piracy, teaming up with Anne Bonny to terrorize the Caribbean.
All in all, an enthralling talk by Max Keen, a gifted speaker with an array of historical costumes.