If you were a pirate
and you broke the rules, the most common punishment was
to be marooned or beached on the nearest island. So they
would drop you off at the nearest island with just a
flagon of water and a pistol. So it was up to you to
either survive or die. Now since most of the islands in
the Caribbean were small islands, of sand, most of the
men died.
If you were a notorious
captain and they caught you, they really want to make an
example out of you. They would embalm you in tar; hang
you in irons by the waters edge until you deteriorated
into nothing.
Pirates often wore very
colorful and mismatched clothing. That is because they
acquired their wardrobes from the ships that they
plundered. So for instance, if they plundered a merchant
ship, they and they like the merchants clothing, then the
next day they would be wearing the merchant’s clothes.
However, they did take pride in their appearance and
would never ever wear the clothing that belonged to a
British sailor. It was the striped clothing that they
referred to as …
In the movies, they
referred to the captain as directing the men, but that’s
not how it was. The captain led the men into battle. The
person that actually directed the men and told them what
to do while driving the ship was the
pilot.
When you think of
pirates, you might also think of buried treasure. Well
the fact is that none of the pirates actually buried
their treasure. Once they got it, they spent it as fast
as they could.
Mutinies were a little
more democratic than you might think. If the crew wasn’t
happy with the captain, they would simply vote him out
and vote in a new captain to take his
place.
Walking the plank was
also an invention of Hollywood. Pirates actually had a
more creative way of punishing. It was called kill haul.
What they did was they would attach a rope to one side of
the boat and they would attach you to the other side of
the rope. Then they would drag you under the boat so you
would hit all of the barnacles and all of the rest of the
debris that gets on the bottom of the boat so it would
rip open your skin. And if they did it slow enough, you
would drown.
When we think of
pirates, we typically think about men. Well what about
the women? Well interestingly enough one of the most
powerful pirates to go down in history was a woman. Once
a prostitute, lady Gin Chi became a pirate by the early
1800’s she commanded a fleet of over a hundred
ships.
Many slaves became
pirates. In fact, there is evidence of a pirate ship
completely made up of slaves.
You may be surprised to
find out that you were a buccaneer yourself. Buccaneer
comes from the word Buchan which means “prepare me in a
way similar to bar-b-q.” Pirates would go to islands and
kill wild boar and cattle and cook them over an open
flame. They would use that meat to barter with ships who
were seeking provision. So if you bar-b-q at home, you
minus well call yourself a buccaneer.
You’ve probably heard
the term “Davey Jones’s locker.” Well Davey Jones wasn’t
a pirate. Davey Jones’s was another word for the devil.
So if you got sent to Davey Jones’s locker, you got sent
to hell.
Slave ships were very
large, and very manned. That’s why pirated usually
wouldn’t attack them. However, if they did attack them,
they would take the slaves off of the ship and sell them
on the next port.
Pirates pierced their
ears, not to look suave but because they believed that
piercing their ears with precious metals, such as gold
and silver, would improve their eyesight. Now pirates
weren’t the only ones that believed this, other sailors
believed this as well.
Pirate captains kept
their ships very full of crew members. They had about
twice as many crew members as colonial ship or another
ship that they would attack. That often worked to their
advantage. Not only in the plundering, but also in their
work. Work was evenly distributed evenly throughout the
crew members, so it was done faster with less strain than
other colonial ships. So a … on a pirate ship was also
referred to as easy money for a little
work.
So here’s an easy
question for you. Do I look better with my glasses on or
off?
In a future video,
we’re going to be doing interesting facts about pigs. Now
I actually have a pet pot belly pig, his name is Piggins,
so you’re going to be able to meet him.
And in another video,
interesting facts about glasses.
Thanks again for
watching. If you have any questions, please leave me a
comment and rate my video. See you next
time!