Black Pirates Month

 

 

In many of the Commonwealth nations, namely the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, February is celebrated as "Black History Month." And the history of Piracy is an important part of the African Diaspora. Most of the well-known pirate captains of the Golden Age had significant numbers of Africans on their crews. Blackbeard's crew was at times up to sixty percent black.

Upon capturing a slave ship, many pirate captains invited the enslaved people on board to join their crews, usually with an equal vote and an equal share of the treasure. Many runaway slaves also turned pirate, as they were already "outlaws." Pirating was a good way to get paid while evading the authorities.

The chief difference between European and African pirates was this: when captured, European pirates were executed, while African pirates were usually sold or re-sold into slavery. We'll leave it to the reader to decide which fate was worse.

Many pirates of all ethnicities lived and died unsung, their names lost in the tide. But there are a number of black pirates we know by name, whose part in history must not be marginalized. This month we'll profile several historical black pirates in honor of Black History Month.

New Pirates of the Caribbean Film

After much development and many delays, the fifth film in the powerful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is set to begin filming in two weeks. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted a photo from the set:

We hope this film brings a great story as well as a jolt of adrenaline for Johnny Depp's fatigued career. In our opinion, the quality of these stories has been hit-or-miss; but they are visually great, and anything that keeps the spirit of the Golden Age of Piracy alive is good in our book!

Visit Ye Pirate Shoppe for recommendations of pirate media to keep ye content while we await the release.

Pirates for Everyone!

Aye, maties, it's that time a year again. The Gasparilla Pirate Fest is today in Tampa, FL. The Tampa Bay Times has a nice piece on the festival highlighting the growing diversity of the festival.

Formerly a Mardi-Gras-style event for white people with privilege, the Fest is now growing into something for everyone, from the suburbs to the "gritty" neighborhoods, to the rural surrounding areas. The article describes the various groups involved:

Time — and even Gasparilla — changes. After the big brouhaha over Ye Mystic Krewe's all-white, all-male membership, they admitted a few black members. Today you have more than 50 krewes in the pirate party: a krewe for "women of spirit and wit," krewes of sailboaters and riverboat gamblers, the Krewe of Buffalo Soldiers, a krewe in kilts. There's even Ye Notorious Krewe of the Peg Leg Pirate, with a core mission of helping amputees and their families.

It's fitting for a pirate festival to be diverse, because most pirate crews were more diverse than their Naval and otherwise reputable counterparts. Since pirats pledged allegiance to no nation, many nationalilites could be represented on their crews. Pirates had even been known to capture slaving ships and invite the enslaved people to join their crew as equal members.

So if yer near Tampa today... hell if you're near Tampa you're probably already at the fest, so read the nice article tomorrow...

Pyrate Video of the Day

We recently found this version of Rolling Down the River, which is not a historical sea shanty; it was written in 1982. However, it's in classic sea shanty style, and Elise and the folks at the pub do a bang-up job with it. It helps that someone in the crowd is singing contrabass, like Thurl Ravenscroft on Disney's Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me. The uploader of the video disabled embedding, though, so you'll have to click to hear it: Elise and the gang singing Rolling Down the River

Blackbeard's Ghost Says "Up Yer Arse!"

Blackbeard was known for being defiant. When confronted at his last stand, he toasted the crew of his capturers, calling them "cowardly puppies." They say he had to be shot and stabbed numerous times before falling, and even after being tossed overboard, his beheaded corpse was said to have swum around the ship several times before sinking. Such was his reputation that this last tale was considered believable by those who knew him.

It's not surprising, then, that the ghost of Blackbeard is still giving us news nearly 200 years after his death.

The wreck of Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was discovered nearly 20 years ago off the coast of North Carolina. They are still excavating it and making new discoveries all the time.

The latest finds have been various archaic medical technologies, including a device used to treat dehydration by pumping fluid into the rectum. In the 16th century, it seemed reasonable to cure a deficiency by forcing the needed substance up your ass.

Click here for the full story: Medical finds from Blackbeard's wreck

Gasparilla Is Not A Soda

José Gaspar, according to legend, was the "Last of the Buccaneers," having defected from the Spanish Navy to maraud the coast of Florida in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Since 1904, the City of Tampa has been holding a pirate festival in his name (he supposedly called himself Gasparilla as a pirate. It's a fine festival, responsible for the construction of the only fully-rigged pirate ship in the world (according to organizers). Therefore we don't want to report that Gaspar never existed, and was probably created as an alterego by an old man known for telling tall tales of his life at sea. Let's just let his legend live on, especially on this, the last Saturday of January, when the Gasparilla Pirate Festival captures the key to the City of Tampa, and our imaginations.

This Day in Pyrate Historie

The year was 1689. Robert Culliford, William Kidd and six other Britons were shipmates on a French privateering vessel called the Sainte Rose. They had been plundering with the sanction of King Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King." But when tensions with the Holy Roman Empire erupted into the Nine Years' War, Culliford and his countrymen mutinied and took over the ship. Kidd became the new Captain. They renamed the ship Blessed William, and used it to defend English colonies and to privateer against the French. But then, on February 2 of 1690, Culliford stole the ship and went Caribbean pirate! It's a little unclear whether Culliford mutinied against Kidd, or simply took the ship while he was ashore, but in any case today marks the anniversary of the start of Culliford's pirate career.