But that's jus' fine an' dandy, on account of Ole Purvis bein' 'ere to help ye.
Yer first lesson on Pirates!
Piracy's an old, old craft. Tis been said piracy's about as old as people usin' logs t' get across rivers whilst carryin' goods. Ye'll find records o' piracy ag'in Rome, ye'll hear stories o' it from Greeks an' Phoenicians. And it's been a part o' Southeast Asia fer ages 'pon ages. I dun known Asia's piracy s'well, so ye'll forgive me, I'm hopin', if I gloss o'er it a bit. Tis a seperate tradition from western piracy anyhow.
When most folks think o' pirates, they think o' th' Caribbean. An' suren it was a good time to be on the account (That is, practicing piracy). But ye'll find as well there's a rich tradition o' it in th' Mediterranean as well. In particular, places like Malta an' (I'm thinkin') Cyprus have a long history o' piracy t' 'em. An' piracy played a true an' important role in th' Crusades; an' the centuries t' follow as Muslims an' Christians plundered each other. But, we're gonna focus on th' Caribbean pirate.
Th' Caribbean twas a natural place fer piracy t' sping up. Spain was happily killin' an' lootin' South America, so was Portugal. All that gold what they killed for had t' be shipped back home, an' the seas around th' caribbean were still wild an' unpatrolled. Tis only natural that freebooters would show up.
Yer early pirates were buccaneers. They got this name from boucan, a kind o' jerky they'd make. Buccaneers settled in on unclaimed islands (well, unclaimed by th' Europeans. Twere more than enough Caribbean folk on 'em). They'd make camps, hunt for food, an' generally live like settlers 'r rovin' bandits while on land. But a lot o th' time, they were out prowlin' fer ships t' take. Later on, as th' Caribbean twas settled an' built up, Buccaneers died off in favor o' a less survivalist style o' freebooter.
One o' th' big misconceptions about piracy is th' captain. Most folks thin' th' captain was th' tyrant o' the ship. Twas nothin' further than th' truth. Th' captain was first among equals. Ye gotta remember, most times pirates were former merchant sailors or navy men, where th' captain twas god an' emperor o' th' ship, as 'is power came from the crown or the company. An' that captain would use that power t' keep th' bottom line low. Sometimes, this would make th' crew mutiny. After disposin' o' the old captain, they'd pick a new captain, usually th' mutiny leader. This captain was a leader, but only durin' battle. Other times, he was just a man on th' ship. He could make plans, aye. But the crew had to agree to it. Often times, the ship would write up an article, delinatin' power and rights to th' crew. A crewman could well go into th' captain's cabin an' drink from th' captain's stock if well he wanted! But, this bein' said, usually th' captain twas given respect an' deference. S'long's 'e didn't 'is luck, pirates didnae have regular elections; they booted th' captain soon as enough of 'em got sick o' 'im.
Tis enough fer now. Later on, I'll tell ye about privateers and pirate towns.
