When pirates roamed the seas

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Without a shadow of doubt, pirates have been and are an interesting group who roved high seas since man discovered ocean voyaging. They have once terrorised the world and specially have brought sailors into ruination by explosions of homicidal rage in the middle of sea.

"Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest - Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest - Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!”

When Jim Hawkins sets off as a cabin boy on the ‘Hispaniola’, he anticipates to discover esteemed treasure buried.

But he little perceives what awaits him - spine chilling adventure on Treasure Island and murderous struggles with Long John silver and his cut-throat pirate band. This is Robert Louis Stevenson's classic children's novel ‘Treasure Island’ written on the background of continuing piracy and sea adventure.

Piracy underlies the basic theme of another famous English novel Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain. In this popular children's novel, Mark Twain examines the piracy and exciting lives led by people living in and around the Mississippi River in the mid 19th century.

Popular authors of fantasy adventure stories, horror stories and film makers have drawn material for their works from the stories of activities of pirates, real and imaginary.

Piracy - another definition

To deviate from the point in discussion, I would have a glimpse at one of the twin definitions of piracy. Here ‘piracy’ refers to illegal copying of things such as video tape or computer program. Most countries have exclusively adopted protection against piracy of books, films and other forms of intellectual property. Still, pirated copies of music tapes are flooding the market and even pirated editions of books are published.

Certain manufacturers are often distressed to see some of their designs or products pirated by other manufacturers or in other countries. A ‘pirated radio station’ broadcasts radio programs illegally. All the same, ‘pirates’ in our discussion refers to roaming bands of marauders on the high seas.

By the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, piracy continued to be a perpetual danger to mariners and the 16th and 17th centuries were outlined by the ‘golden age’ of piracy. Subsequently, powerful navies patrolling the oceans of the world, directly minimised piracy.

A shadow of pirate

Francis Drake, popularly known to be a state sponsored pirate was a prominent sea captain during the reign of Elizabeth I. Drake provided impetus for all Englishmen to sail around the world and his decisive battling techniques overthrew Spanish Armada. The bitter enmity between England and Spain during the reign of Elizabeth I well endorsed Drake's plans to unofficially plunder and steal from Spanish ships.

Francis Drake seized treasure from Spanish colonies on many of his successful voyages and was a pirate and an explorer. Strangely, his military calibre displayed in battling with Spanish ships and his piracy won him greater popularity in England.

Later Francis Drake embarked on his ship ‘Golden Hind’ to set sail on three year voyage of plunder and exploration – a rather infamous expedition to Spanish people but an adorably heroic deed for English.

On his return, Queen Elizabeth welcomed him aboard with a knighthood to celebrate his triumphal success of ‘unofficial’ piracy which reduced Spanish spirit to nothing.

Drake raided the Spanish harbour of Cadiz and destroyed ‘invincible Armada’ a Spanish invasion fleet being organised to take the offensive at English. Piracy however, did not originate with the discovery of the New World but these sea robbers probably go as far back as the creation of ships. In world history, much of pirate activity flourished from sixteenth century to seventeenth century and some pirates, the buccaneers, for instance took mainly Spanish targets while others plundered ships and towns of any nation.

World's wickedest city

Gold and other treasure of New World tempted different nations and pirates to launch fierce attacks on ships and towns. Recently I found a special segment in a book that provides striking account of pirate house underwater. It goes on something like this.

”During a violent earth quake, most of Port Royal, a trading centre in Jamaica, vanished into Caribbean sea.

Two thirds of the town was plunged underwater and more than 2,000 people perished instantly. Port Royal had a reputation as the ‘wickedest city’ on earth because it served as a pirate haven for years.

The English had captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655 and invited pirates to use Port Royal as a safe place to sell their plundered goods. Archaeologists, with the support of the Jamaican government are now conducting a detailed underwater excavation of Port Royal.

The scientists have found a six-room building with brick floors underwater. In one room they uncovered a mound of 60 union-shaped bottles. That room, they say, was probably used as a tavern and another room, littered with scraps of leather and wooden objects, may have housed a shoe maker and a wood worker.” (Hidden treasures of the sea – published by National Geographic Society).

Female pirates

It is a complete delusion that piracy was the profession limited to men. Ships sailing across the Jamaican sea were confounded by the sight of female cut throats as Anne Bonny and Mary Read in men's attire. Ann Bonny and Mary Read were fierce pirates and made a living by piracy until captured along with their accomplices.

The court of Jamaica imprisoned them on conviction and their accomplices were hanged. Yet these two women pirates were spared execution as they were discovered to be pregnant by the time they were captured.

Spanish ships passing through the terrains of piracy with treasure plundered from Americas were the favourite prey of pirates famous for their inhumanity.

Edward Teach, popularly known as Black Beard, used to terrify his victims with his eccentrically ferocious appearance and the smoking rope under his hat. Displaying the uttermost brutality inherent in the world of piracy, Black beard often cut off fingers of his victims to recover the gold rings they wore.

European pirates centered their operations in Madagascar in the 17 century.

The most successful pirate of this era was Henry Avery who is reported to have disappeared with a ship load of diamonds.Pirate Henry Morgan became a lieutenant governor of Jamaica and enforced laws against piracy.

History unfolds how Henry Morgan commanded to hang some of his old partners in crime.Pirate flag too deserves special notice in this regard. The pirate flag displayed in Indian Ocean by Christopher Condent had three skulls and cross bones that were designed simply to terrify their prey.