Pirate folklore

May 8, 2006 Diana Tierney

a new phenomena of our pop culture isn't quite so new. This popular folklore has a basis in history.

Pirates. A word synonymous with swash buckling swords, ships and buried treasure is a folk tale that has become a part of the American pop culture. Pirating has been around since there were ships filled with valuables in the water. Historians have been able to trace pirates back to the early Greek times. Where pirates would sail the Mediterranean in search of merchants boats traveling from one Greek port to another.

Much of the folklore that we commonly know about pirates comes from the American colonial time. During this period, three of the top world powers were fighting with each other over resources from the new world. This made prime weather for a rogue sailor to take a ship and go about finding riches on his own. Another aspect that made pirating so popular was that a pirate received better benefits sailing under a pirate flag than if he sailed under a country's flag. Their living conditions were better as a pirate.

Our view on Pirates is very romantic. Looking at such stories as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and others, we see high sailing adventure and in some cases whirl wind romances. In reality, pirates weren't very glamorous. Though they had it better than their sailor counter parts, they still had it pretty rough. They were hunted down and if caught and found guilty they were hung.

In pirate folklore, we see much of the action taking place in the Caribbean and along the southeast Atlantic United States. According to myth, the governor of South Carolina was friends with Blackbeard. Also according to Blackbeard's legend, he had a long beard that he would braid and the light on fire just to make himself look scarier.

The seas weren't just for men. Women had a hand in pirating the open seas. Two names synonymous with female pirates; Anne Bonnie and Mary Read. Much of the folklore that has surrounded them has been an exaggeration of history. They flew under the flag of Calico Jack (who was really only known for having the women on his ship), Anne Bonnie according to some accounts Anne Bonnie had a sorted affair with the captain. These two characters have gained popularity with in the genre because they have quite the feminist persona. Both had dressed up as men and fooled many of their counter parts. There are tales of Mary's former life as a soldier in the English army, where she pretended to be a man. The strangest thing about their story is that no one knows what has happened to them. They were both tried on piracy. According to some claims, Anne Bonnie died of influenza and Mary just disappeared from the historical records.

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