A person has a god-sized hole in his soul, and everyone fills it as best they can.

So, what types of punishment for offenses were used on a pirate ship?

Walk the plank

The victim was forced to walk on a loose plank, one end of which protruded into the sea. The victim fell along with the board, and in the water grabbed it, looking after the sailing ship and the good-naturedly laughing crew. This is a classic method of execution at sea. The rest are its variations. A small load like a stone from a ship's ballast was tied to the patient (5-10 kg is more than enough for the technology to work reliably), and, encouraged by pikes, he walked along the board sticking out overboard to the very end. Although, in fact, this mythical custom was invented by one of the writers (almost Defoe); nevertheless, it is mentioned in Stevenson's immortal work. The pirates didn’t bother with such nonsense, but simply threw them overboard. Moreover, the load is also not particularly needed. Long-term swimming in the open sea left a slim chance of salvation (most sailors from the times of the sailing fleet swam approximately like an axe).
For your information: even when swimming in warm thirty-degree tropical water, death from hypothermia of an organism tired of vigorously floundering will occur within 24 hours. Well, the colder the water... Well, you understand...

Dragging under the keel


Dragging under the keel (keeling)- in the era of sailing ships, the punishment consisted of dragging a person with the help of keel ends from side to side under the bottom of the ship. Keeling often led to the death of the person being punished and was considered equivalent to the death penalty. This type of execution was used by ancient Greek pirates.
The convict was lifted onto the yard, lowered headfirst into the water and pulled with a rope under the keel to the other side of the ship. Punishment was carried out once, twice or three times, depending on the offense. If the criminal did not choke, then there was a great danger that he would be so cut up by the benthos that had grown on the bottom of the ship that he would soon die from bleeding.
In some ancient Greek images you can see how pirates were dealt with in a similar way. In the 17th century, Dutch and English naval captains sometimes resorted to this type of punishment, but after 1700 it was replaced by spanking, for example, with the CAT WITH NINE TAILS.

Caning

The lash was otherwise known as the Law of Moses. Usually 40 or 39 lashes were given, with the fewer number of lashes denoting some semblance of humanity, since 40 lashes effectively meant capital punishment according to the Old Testament. Of course, 39 blows was enough for the person being punished to die, but punishing with 40 blows, like Pontius Pilate, was considered inhumane. More often than not, the captain or crew would impose a punishment of fewer lashes, depending on the severity of the crime. It is noteworthy that the tradition of punishing a criminal with 40 blows is not biblical, but Roman. In Ancient Rome, if the criminal remained alive after punishment, he had the right to kill the executioner, so 40 blows usually became fatal. Using the same logic, Catholics believed that 39 would not lead to the death of the person being punished. During the Golden Age of Piracy, punishment of 39 lashes was extremely common.

Nine-tails

Dragging behind the ship

The offender (or prisoner) was thrown overboard, tied by his hands (or legs). And they dragged it for several hours. As a result, the poor guy either choked, froze, or the evil shark bit off his extra dangling parts. The theme of this execution is revealed in Jack London’s work “The Sea Wolf”

Hanging

Hanging was used as a punishment for piracy, but the pirates themselves did not disdain this type of execution! In general, during the period of the 16th-18th centuries, hanging was the most common type of execution. The agony of the executed lasted several minutes and death by hanging was considered one of the most cruel punishments. In the 16th and 17th centuries, executions of pirates were always carried out in public to instill fear in ordinary sailors. Typically, the place of execution was the port docks, and the bodies of the government officials continued to hang for several days, and sometimes weeks. The hanging itself was presented as a magnificent ceremony. According to British maritime laws, a person caught of piracy, was to be hanged within 10 days from the date of sentencing. This was done so that onlookers from all nearby cities could gather for the execution. On the appointed day, the prisoner met with the priest to repent. Sometimes this was also done in order to make it possible to pay a ransom for the condemned. If there was no repentance or ransom, the criminal was solemnly escorted in shackles through the entire city, and sometimes transported tied up in a special cart. The official walking in front carried the symbols of admiral power - silver oars. A priest walked next to the condemned man. Arriving at the place of execution, the priest preached a sermon on the evils of piracy, which could last for several hours. After the sermon, the accusation was read, after which the convicted person received the last word. Then a hood was thrown over the criminal’s head, a noose was put on, and the support was knocked out from under his feet. The criminal’s body writhed in convulsions, which the cynical pirates called the devil’s dance, and the crowd surrounding the execution site gazed at the death throes of the unfortunate man. The body hung at least until sunset, and more often for a longer period. The body was then removed and thrown into the sea at low tide.
The pirates themselves mostly hanged offenders or prisoners on the yardarm.

Landing on a desert island

Punishment by landing on a desert island or maronig had nothing to do with the romance of Robinson Crusoe. This was the most cruel punishment for a sailor. As a rule, a sailor landed on an island had only one option - suicide.
Typically, pirates used three punishments - the Law of Moses, throwing overboard and marooning. The latter punishment was applied to thieves, oathbreakers and captains of mutinous ships. Usually, when landing on the island, a person was left with all the clothes that he was wearing at the time of sentencing, a bottle of water or rum, a pistol and some gunpowder and bullets. But if in “Robinson Crusoe” and “Treasure Island” a person found himself on a relatively large island inhabited by animals and plants, then in real life a tiny piece of land, surrounded on all sides by the ocean, a lonely reef or rock, was chosen as the final refuge. Often such islands were completely hidden under water at high tide. Few managed to escape after this. It is known that Captain Charlie Vane was rescued by a passing vessel. But as a rule, sailors marooned on a desert island shot themselves in the forehead. To avoid a painful death.
The word itself "marooning" comes from the Spanish "cimarron" - deserter. Since this punishment was mainly used by pirates, even if the unfortunate man was saved by an honest and noble captain, he would face inevitable execution for piracy.

Burying in the sand

This is a typical pirate execution. A person was buried on the shore at low tide with one head sticking out. When the tide began to rise, the offender choked. It is almost impossible to get out of such a trap on your own, since the water exerts strong pressure on the sand. In addition, death often occurred not from drowning, but from the inability to breathe normally in conditions of compressed sand.

Water torture

This type of torture was actively used by the Inquisition in the Old World for many centuries, but the pirates only borrowed it, the only difference being that they used sea water, and in some cases they used urine mixed with liquid feces. The tortured person was given water until he vomited or burst. During torture, the offender's nose was pinched and liquid was poured into his mouth through a funnel, which he had to swallow before taking a new breath. All this was repeated long enough to pour the maximum amount of liquid into the stomach. Then the angle of the poor man’s body was changed, he was placed on his back in a horizontal position, and the weight of the filled stomach compressed his lungs and heart. The feeling of lack of air and heaviness in the chest complemented the pain from a distended stomach.

Let out blood and sweat

The least known, but nevertheless documented, torture was used by pirates in the Caribbean. In 1718, George Shevlock subjected the captive captain to cruel torture: naked, he was driven through a line of pirates armed with needles for sewing up sails. Then the bloody prisoner was put in a sugar barrel infested with cockroaches, the barrel was covered with a blanket and left to “feed insects with his blood.” In another documented case, such torture was actively used by the pirate captain Francis Spriggs.

Hanging in chains

Hanging in chains was not used so much by the pirates themselves, but rather, on the contrary, it was used against them and was supposed to instill “sacred horror” in all pirates. It was good news for the pirate that he was already dead. But an unburied body doomed the immortal soul to eternal wanderings and torment, and this affected the superstitious pirates more than the fear of death. The body was placed in chains or an iron cage and it rotted under the scorching sun and was pecked at by birds. Eventually the remains fell into the water, where they were taken away by fish. This is how the famous pirate ended his days William Kidd.

Hewing boards in a dream means a quarrel, sawing them means a deceased person, splitting them means a wedding or christening. Gluing a broken board together means making peace with someone. To break is to lose friendship. Drilling a board means a bold intention brought to fruition. Buying boards means sadness.

Walking on planks in a dream is a sign that in reality you should be more careful in conversations and not be frank with those who are unable to keep secrets.

If in a dream you walk along the rotten planks of an old bridge with caution and still fall through, it means that in reality you will acutely experience the indifference towards yourself of those whom you treat with love and respect.

A washboard in a dream foreshadows difficulties in the near future. Seeing someone wash it or wash it yourself means you have to come to terms with the fact that your rival was more successful. A broken washboard warns of a dissolute life and the resulting troubles.

A chalkboard foretells bad news about someone's illness. To dream that you are writing on it with chalk means that in reality you will make a profit and all that, provided that the board is not black, otherwise it will only mean failure. A cutting board is a sign of troubles in anticipation of an upcoming family celebration.

Interpretation of dreams from the Dream Interpretation alphabetically

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Dream Interpretation - Dirt

Seeing dirt in a dream foretells misfortune.

Walking through the mud in muddy roads is a threat to lose the favor of friends, the trust of your superiors, love and respect in the family, and not through anyone else’s fault, but through your own fault.

Seeing others kneading mud in rainy weather foretells that you will be denigrated among your colleagues by one of them.

Getting splashed with mud on the street means that your reputation is in danger from malicious neighbors.

Cleaning dirt from clothes means dispelling doubts about your integrity. Taking mud baths and generally undergoing mud therapy is a sign of happiness and good luck.

Household dirt means well-being.

Cleaning up dirt in an apartment means losing your usual benefits.

Dirty water in a dream portends illness. Seeing dirty, filthy kittens in a dream means making a mistake in reality, succumbing to the first impression, which turns out to be deceptive.

A dirty, unkempt horse in a dream means deception and envy on the part of those you trust are possible.

A dream in which you see a car towing in the mud foreshadows hardships and hardships, after overcoming which life will seem beautiful and wonderful to you.

Seeing building materials dumped in the mud means a bad deal.

Rolling around in the street dirt means profit.

Seeing your hands dirty means sorrow.

Dirty nails are a shame if in reality you do not change your point of view in accordance with objective circumstances.

Dirty curtains seen in a dream foreshadow humiliating reproaches and quarrels based on mutual misunderstanding.

Seeing dirty, shabby houses means deterioration of health, decline in business and quarrels with a loved one.

Being in a dirty room in a store or any other public institution means that an enemy, under the guise of a friend, will gain confidence in you, which will cause considerable damage to your interests.

Dirty clothes always portend deception and warn you to be careful when dealing with strangers. Such a dream may also portend an action that could tarnish your reputation.

Dirty dishes are a harbinger of a disappointing future.

Interpretation of dreams from

Once upon a time, during the time of filibusters, walking on a plank was a type of execution practiced by sea robbers. The person sentenced to death was blindfolded and placed on a board, one end of which was fixed to the board and the other hanging over the water. The poor fellow, spurred on by the abuse of his recent brothers, as well as by the points of blades and the butts of muskets, took several steps along the board springing under his feet - and inevitably fell down. After this, the depths of the sea swallowed his mortal body.

Who would have thought that someday the phrase “walking the plank” would acquire a completely different – ​​so to speak, “life-affirming” – meaning...

Lyosha, my friend who told this story, at one time commanded a minesweeper. As a rule, minesweepers did not go far, but service on them was never easy or fun. Sailing close to the shore, their crews, however, did not leave the ships for a long time. Over time, such a life began to become very stressful for the sailors. That is why often, when these people finally felt the long-awaited firmament of the earth under their feet, they began to play tricks, looking for adventures on their own heads (as well as other places).

The scheme for finding adventures was usually extremely simple: you just needed to go to some tavern and have a good “take on your chest” there. And then, if you’re lucky, find a woman free from prejudices who, for the next few hours, will agree to brighten up the life of a sailor who, among the water and metal, has forgotten what a woman’s affection is.

On that day that Lyosha told us about, he was lucky. And I had a good time in the restaurant, and met a lady there. It doesn’t matter at all what she looked like (if we proceed from the principle: “there are no ugly women - there is not enough vodka”). As far as drinking goes, she was probably not fit to be a sailor, but she was quite fit to be a hussar. However, a problem soon emerged: when they went outside, the companion told Lyokha that she had a very strict landlady in her rented apartment, and in this form she would not even let them in the door.

What was to be done in such a situation? Shouldn't she be taken to the ship? And then the valiant gentleman decided that going with the lady to his native minesweeper was, perhaps, a really good decision. Just that day, his ship was waiting out the bad weather at a free berth in the bay where the fishermen were stationed (and not in its base, which could only be reached through a guarded checkpoint). There was only a few things left to do - so that the ship's watch wouldn't notice anything. You can’t lose the commander’s authority...

We reached the minesweeper safely. Lyokha saw that there was no one at the gangway - the watchman was hiding somewhere from the wind and cold. There was no one at all on the deck of the ship! At another time and in another situation, this would have caused noble anger in the commander, but here he sighed with relief - the problem was almost solved. But will it be possible to walk along the ladder without the watchman, who may be sleeping lightly somewhere nearby, not hearing the clicking of his heels and jumping out?

Sober people might have guessed that the lady should have simply taken off her shoes to increase her secrecy. But we have always been taught not to look for easy ways in life!

Noticing a stack of planks on the shore not far from the minesweeper, Lyokha took one of them and, demonstrating his powerful muscles, playfully placed it between the pier and the ship. Then, ordering his companion: “Do as I do!”, he decisively moved along the shaky, sagging plank to the side of the ship.

They also completed the ten to fifteen steps that they then had to walk along the deck to the door of the command cabin.

In the morning, Lyosha's new acquaintance - very shabby and partly sobered up - was successfully escorted back to the shore along the same route. Only this time, walking on a plank over the water cost her much more doubts and worries than the day before.

And the ship's watch never woke up...

I really don’t know whether Lyokhin’s story corresponds to true events - or whether it is just an unfulfilled dream, an adventurous fantasy that was born in his tired head during one of the countless sleepless nights on the navigation bridge...

Pirate laws

Before a campaign, pirates always entered into a special agreement (usually in writing), which stipulated important issues of the upcoming enterprise. It could be called by different names: charter, agreement, code (English code, French chasse-partie). It indicated what share of the spoils the captain and crew of the ship were to receive, compensation for injuries and injuries, incentives for those who distinguished themselves, and punishments for those who were guilty. The content of such agreements did not differ much from each other.

Here are the articles of Captain William Kidd's agreement (they were added to the criminal case file as evidence for the prosecution):

“If a person in the service loses an eye, a leg or an arm, he must be given 600 piastres or six healthy slaves.

The first person to spot a merchant ship should receive 100 piastres.

Any man who disobeys the commander must be deprived of his share of the spoils and punished as the captain of the ship sees fit.

Anyone who chickens out during an attack must be deprived of his share of the spoils.

Any person who was drunk at the time of the attack should be deprived of his share of the spoils.

Any person who incites mutiny should be deprived of his share of the spoils and punished as the captain of the ship sees fit.

Any person who cheats the captain or his crew in seizing booty, money, goods, or anything worth more than one piastre, shall be deprived of his share of the spoils and marooned on the nearest uninhabited island that comes in the ship's path.

Any money or other loot must be divided among the crew."

The trial of Captain William Kidd. 19th century drawing

And here are the rules on the ship of Captain Bartolomeo Roberts:

"Each member of the crew has an equal say in the daily affairs of the crew. Each member of the crew is entitled at any time to the fresh provisions and spirits captured and may use them at his pleasure, unless it becomes necessary to save them for general use, which is decided by vote."

Each crew member must be familiar with the list of prizes (boots - Author's note) on board, because in addition to their own share they are allowed to change clothes. But if they deceive their comrades for even a dollar in the form of dishes, jewelry or money, they will be marooned on a desert island.

It is prohibited to play dice and cards for money.

Candles and lamps must be extinguished at eight o'clock in the evening, and if any of the crew wants to drink after this hour, he must do so on the open deck in the dark.

Each crew member must keep his swords, sabers and pistols clean and always ready for battle.

Boys and women are prohibited from being among the crew. If anyone is caught seducing a woman and taking her on board a ship in disguise, he will be killed.

Anyone who leaves a ship without permission or gets out of hand-to-hand combat during a battle must be punished by death or landing on a desert island.

Fighting is prohibited on board, but every quarrel must be brought to an end on shore by a duel with sabers or pistols. At the quartermaster's command, the duelists, placed with their backs to each other, will have to turn around and immediately shoot. If anyone does not do this, the quartermaster must knock the weapon out of his hands. If both miss, they will have to continue fighting with sabers, and the first blood drawn will determine the winner.

No one can talk about changing their lifestyle until everyone's share reaches £1,000. Anyone who becomes crippled or loses a limb in the service should receive 800 piastres from the general supply, and for lesser injuries - in proportion.

The captain and quartermaster receive two shares of the prize each, the gunner and boatswain - one and a half, the other officers - one share and a quarter, the ordinary gentlemen of fortune - a share each.

Musicians have the right to rest on Saturdays. On other days - with permission."

If the agreement was in writing, all team members signed it. Illiterate people put a cross. It is curious that in the surviving pirate codes the paintings are not located as is customary (and in our time too) - at the bottom of the document, but chaotically throughout the free space. The pirates did this specifically in order to follow an important rule: on a pirate ship everyone is equal, there are no firsts and no lasts.

Very few pirate codes have survived to this day, since pirates, when attacked by navy ships, first tried to destroy the agreement. Otherwise, such an agreement could fall into the hands of the authorities, which served as irrefutable evidence of guilt and meant a quick path to the gallows.

The pirates themselves administered justice to those who violated the provisions of the charter. Here are the most common punishments that pirates applied to those who violated their laws, as well as to torture captured prisoners to obtain information about hidden valuables:

Bloodletting- numerous shallow cuts were inflicted on the offender with knives (as a rule, this did not lead to death).

Immersion in water- a person’s head was lowered into the water and kept there until he began to suffocate.

Flogging- whipping. If 40 blows were given, then this punishment was called the “law of Moses.”

Hanging- mainly used for the treacherous murder of a teammate (the most common type of death penalty at that time).

Hanged from the yardarm. 19th century drawing

Keeling (dragging under the keel)- with the help of a rope (under the keel ends), a person was dragged under the keel of the ship from one side to the other across the ship (often leading to death: if the person did not choke, he received serious cuts from the sharp edges of the shells that covered the bottom of the ship). It was carried out once, twice or three times depending on the offense.

Dragging under the keel

Throwing overboard- the person was simply thrown into the open sea.

Maroning (landing)- a person was left on a desert island.

A person landed on a desert island in those days, in most cases, faced a sad fate - slow death from hunger and thirst or many years of vegetating in primitive conditions. Therefore, according to pirate custom, they left him a loaded pistol and a bottle of rum. 19th century drawing

Beating with a nine-tail whip- a person was given blows with a nine-tailed whip (as a rule, when several dozen blows were given, it led to death, especially if the whip had hooks or blades). Among sailors, the punishment is also known as "Captain's Daughter". If after such an execution the offender remained alive, then his back was rubbed with salt - not to increase suffering, but to avoid blood poisoning from deep wounds.

The nine-tail whip is a short stick with leather straps, at the ends of which hooks, blades or pieces of metal are attached. Just the thought of being beaten with a nine-tailed whip was enough to cause panic fear in any person

"Island for One"- a man was thrown into the sea with a piece of wood.

Towing- a person tied to a rope was dragged behind the ship (sometimes leading to death: the person choked or could be attacked by sharks).

But the punishment in the form of “walking the plank” did not exist among the pirates. The first mention of such punishment dates back to 1785, after the golden era of piracy. Pirates never forced a person to walk along a plank - this punishment was attributed to them by artists at the end of the 19th century, and then it found its way into literature and cinema.

The punishment assigned to pirates by illustrators is “walking the plank.” 19th century drawing

To a modern person these punishments may seem cruel, but for their time there was no excessive cruelty in them. Rather, on the contrary, taking into account that in Europe in the 17th century. and partly in the 18th century. Such types of execution as wheeling and quartering were also used; pirate punishments look relatively humane.

Of course, the pirates also used other punishments, although not so common. For example, someone who hid part of the loot from his comrades could simply be kicked out of the ship and would never be accepted as a pirate in the future. For killing a member of his team, instead of being hanged, the culprit could be tied to a tree, and he himself chose the person who would kill him.

Behavior and morals

The order on a pirate ship was not much different from the life of peaceful sailors. Although, according to eyewitnesses, he was not distinguished by strict discipline. Everyone considered himself a free person, not obliged to obey anyone except the captain. And they often obeyed the captain reluctantly.

William Dampier, himself a famous pirate of the second half of the 17th century, describing a three-month voyage with filibusters off the coast of Panama, noted:

"They were the saddest creatures... And although the weather was bad, which required many hands above, most of them got down from their hammocks only to eat or relieve themselves."

“Everyone did what he wanted, without asking whether it was pleasant for his comrade. Some of them sang and danced, while others tried in vain to sleep, but this kind of inconvenience had to be endured without grumbling. Before the battle, the filibusters usually hugged as a sign of brotherly agreement or, holding hands, swore to stand by each other until death."

The pirate was a free man and could leave the ship at any time and join another crew that agreed to accept him. He could also go ashore at any time and leave the pirate business.

This is how the governor of Tortuga and the Coast of Saint-Domingue, Jacques Nepvey de Poincy, described the filibusters in a letter to the French government in 1677:

“There are still more than a thousand of these people here, who are called filibusters ... They travel wherever they want; at the same time, they are poorly subordinated as far as service on the ship is concerned, since everyone considers themselves bosses, but they are very good at undertaking and acting against enemy. Each has its own weapons, its own gunpowder and its own bullets. Their ships are usually not very strong and poorly equipped, and they have no other property than what they capture from the Spaniards."

Discipline was also not helped by the fact that pirates always drank a lot of rum. This often led to tragic consequences.

So, while off the eastern coast of Hispaniola during the campaign of Morgan's flotilla against the cities of Maracaibo and Gibraltar in 1669, the pirates got so drunk that they blew up the powder magazine on the flotilla's flagship - the royal thirty-six-gun frigate, handed over to Morgan for the expedition by the Governor of Jamaica, Thomas Modyford. About thirty pirates died, and Morgan only survived by luck.

One of the most famous pirates, Henry Morgan, had an amazing quality - he was always lucky. 19th century drawing

Sometimes drunkenness led pirates straight to the gallows. On November 15, 1720, while off the west coast of Jamaica in the area of ​​Cape Negril Point, a crew of pirates led by John Rackham, nicknamed “Calico Jack,” staged a grand drinking party. By evening, the pirates were so drunk that most of them could not even climb onto the deck of their ship to repel the attack of the twelve-gun sloop Eagle, Captain Jonathan Barnet, who had boarded them at that time, who was sent by the Jamaican authorities to capture Calico Jack.

Alcohol also failed the pirates Bartolomeo Roberts (although Captain Roberts himself did not drink alcohol), nicknamed “Black Bart.” In early February 1722, Roberts' ships anchored in the bay off Cape Lopez on the west coast of Central Africa. There they were discovered on February 5, 1722 by the English warship Swallow under the command of Captain Chaloner Ogle. On the eve of the decisive battle on February 10, 1722, pirates captured a merchant ship with supplies of alcohol and got so drunk that at the critical moment many were not ready for battle. The pirates suffered a crushing defeat, and Black Bart himself was killed by a volley of buckshot from the Swallow while trying to escape from the bay.

The social organization of pirates was democratic. All positions on the ship (including captain and quartermaster) were elective. All important decisions were also made by a majority vote at the meeting. Anyone had the right to say whatever they considered necessary at such meetings.

Here is what Exquemelin wrote about the relationship between pirates:

“The pirates are very friendly and help each other in everything. Anyone who has nothing is immediately allocated some property, and they wait until the poor person has money.”

“The pirates treated each other with care. Those who have nothing can count on the support of their comrades.”

Conflicts between team members, unless the law was broken, were settled through duels. Since duels were, as a rule, prohibited on board a ship, rivals went ashore with pistols and knives (or cutlass). The quartermaster played the role of second. They usually fought until first blood.

However, this should not paint an idyllic picture of the fact that pirates were models of virtue and decency towards each other and nobility towards captives. The biographies of sea robbers are literally filled with stories of regular mutinies, betrayals, fights, quarrels over the division of booty and murders. Pirates for the most part were not at all the noble sea robbers that are constantly written about in novels and films.

According to eyewitnesses, the same Edward Teach, when robbing captured ships, did not even bother himself with waiting: if the victim could not quickly remove the ring from his finger, Blackbeard grabbed a saber, cut off his hand and threw it into his bag.

Blackbeard always had a cutlass with him, and when attacking he wore a sling with six loaded pistols

One night, Blackbeard was drinking in the wardroom with members of his crew, including the pilot and senior officer Israel Hands. During the drinking session, Blackbeard pulled out two loaded pistols and placed them on the table next to him. After some time, Captain Teach suddenly extinguished the candle and fired two pistols in the darkness, although no one gave him the slightest reason for such an act. As a result, Hands was shot in the knee and left crippled for life. When Blackbeard was asked why he did this, he said:

"If I don't kill one of my people from time to time, they will forget who I really am."

French pirate of the mid-17th century. Francois L'Olone, having captured a Spanish ship at the mouth of the Esther River, ordered the heads of all the Spanish sailors on board who surrendered and no longer posed a danger to be cut off. Although he could have received a ransom for them.

Pirates François L'Olone cut off the heads of captive Spaniards. Drawing from the 19th century.

In January 1722, ships under the command of Bartolomeo Roberts arrived at one of the centers of the slave trade on the Slave Coast - Vida. There, pirates captured eleven slave trading ships, after which they demanded ransom from the captains. Everyone paid what they could, except one Portuguese captain. Then Black Bart ordered both ships of this captain to be burned alive with sixty slaves in the holds. Which is what was done.

But, perhaps, Captain Edward Lowe, nicknamed “Ned Lowe,” who hunted in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic from 1721-1724, surpassed everyone in atrocities. Here are just a few of his "exploits".

One day he did not like the dinner that the ship's cook prepared. For this, he ordered the cook to be tied to the mast of one of the previously captured ships and burned along with the ship.

In another case, Ned Low ordered the lips of a Portuguese captain, who threw a bag of gold overboard during an attack by pirates, to be cut off. Lowe then fried them in front of the captain, after which he offered to eat them in exchange for mercy. He refused, then Lowe ordered to kill him and the crew of the captured ship.

In the end, Lowe's atrocities became so annoying to the crew that there was a riot and he was marooned on a desert island.

Edward Lowe, nicknamed "Ned Lowe". 18th century engraving

The pirates were real masters at torture. There are stories of pirates setting their victims on fire, gouging out their eyes, cutting off their limbs, and even shooting them out of cannons.

John Steele, who participated in Morgan's campaigns, wrote in a letter to the Secretary of State of England:

“A common practice among privateers, in addition to burning with a ignition fuse, was to cut a person into pieces; first the body, then one arm, the other arm, a leg; sometimes they tied a rope around his head and twisted him with a stick until his eyes popped out - this was called “wolding.” This was done before the capture of Puerto Bello, because they refused to show the road to the city, which did not exist, and many times in the city itself, because they did not want to show the wealth that they did not know about, they sat a woman there naked on a stone. and they fried her because she did not admit where the money was, which she owned only in their imagination; as he heard, some people declared this with boasting, and one patient admitted with regret.”

Burning with a fuse, or the "torture of St. Andrew," was often used by West Indian freebooters to extract valuable information from captives by inserting fuse between the victim's curled fingers, which were then set on fire. The wicks smoldered, causing unbearable pain to the unfortunate victim.

Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica William Beeston, in an account of a French pirate raid on the island in 1694, reports:

“The blacks allowed some women to be raped, some they cut off their breasts, so even Turks or pagans never committed great inhumane cruelties.”

Thus, if pirates had concepts of honor and nobility, it was only in relation to themselves, and even then not always. Anything, any atrocities, were allowed in relation to the prisoners.

After a successful voyage, the pirates returned to their base ports, the largest of which at different times were: Tortuga, Port Royal in Jamaica, Petit Goave in Hispaniola, New Providence in the Bahamas, etc., where they organized grandiose revelries.

The joint drinking bout of pirates Edward Teach and Charles Vane on Ocracoke Island in the fall of 1718. 18th-century engraving.

Perhaps nothing is more synonymous with pirates than a bottle of rum. Rum was invented in the 16th century. in the West Indies as a by-product of cane sugar production. There are two versions of the origin of the word rum: according to one, the name comes from the Latin word succarum (sugar), according to the other, from the English word rumbullion (fight, disorder). The word rumbullion was used to describe the process of fermentation of sugar cane juice before distillation.

The name itself - rum (English rum) first appeared in the English colony on the island of Barbados at the beginning of the 17th century. Therefore, rum was sometimes called "Barbados water".

The raw material for the production of rum is molasses - molasses made from sugar cane juice. A ton of sugar cane produces 100 liters of rum. The largest centers of rum production in the 17th-18th centuries. were in Jamaica and Barbados.

Rum was stored in wooden barrels, from which it was poured into mugs. The first wine bottles resembling modern ones began to be made only in the middle of the 17th century. in England. Thanks to the invention of new technology, the strength of glass has increased significantly. Quickly becoming popular, the glass bottle from the second half of the 17th century. became the main container for bottling rum.

Vieux Rhum Anglais Rum 1830 Considered to be the oldest rum to date. Rum has been bottled in similar bottles since the second half of the 17th century.

The famous historian of piracy Jean Merien cites the following words of pirates to a contemporary when reproaching them for excessive drunkenness and wastefulness:

“Since dangers constantly await us, our fate is very different from the fates of other people. Today we are alive, tomorrow we are killed - what is the point in accumulating and saving anything? We never care about how long we will live. The main thing is to be as good as possible spend your life without thinking about preserving it."

Robert Louis Stevenson's wonderful novel "Treasure Island" very accurately describes, from the point of view of history, how pirates wasted their lives. John Silver says:

“It’s not the ability to earn money, but the ability to save... Where are the people of England now? I don’t know... Where are the people of Flint? Mostly here, on the ship, and they are happy when they get pudding. Many of them lived on the shore, like the last beggars. With they died of hunger, by God! Old Pugh, when he lost his eyes, and also his shame, began to live on twelve hundred pounds a year, like a lord from Parliament. Where is he now? Dead and rotting in the ground. But two years ago he had nothing left. eat. He begged, he stole, he cut throats and still could not feed himself!

Indeed, in a short period of time, the pirates managed to squander (drink on drink, spend on prostitutes and gambling) all the loot during the campaign. They were helped in this by a whole system of drinking establishments and brothels, specially designed for pirates.

The following figures indicate the scale of drunkenness among pirates. By 1692, the population of Port Royal was, according to various estimates, from 6,500 to 10,000 people. At the same time, there were at least a hundred drinking establishments in the city, i.e. at least one tavern or tavern per hundred inhabitants, including women and children! And this is not counting brothels, of which there were not much fewer.

By the way, in the novel “Treasure Island” there is one fictional pirate attribute that has become universally famous - a black mark (English Black Spot), indicating an accusation brought by the pirate community (or individual pirates) to one of its members for violating the charter, orders, rules and customs Subsequently, the black mark was repeatedly used in literature and cinema.

In reality, there was no black mark. In the tradition of some pirates of the Caribbean in the 17th-18th centuries. there was a presentation of the death card, which was the ace of spades. If such a card was thrown to a pirate, it meant that he was in danger of death or that they did not want to see him here.

National composition

Surprisingly, among the pirates there were black Africans (usually former slaves), who were full members of the crew, had all the rights and responsibilities of other pirates, and participated in the division of the booty on an equal basis with everyone else. The existence of such an extremely unusual phenomenon for the 17th-18th centuries, and we are talking not only and not so much about the freedom of black Africans among pirates (this also happened in Europe), but to a greater extent the phenomenon of their absolute equality with whites, indicates that that the relationships within the pirate community were centuries ahead of their time. Moreover, there were quite a lot of blacks among the pirates.

For example, of the 272 pirates crewed by Bartolomeo Roberts captured on February 10, 1722, 75 were black Africans.

On almost every pirate ship in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. there were black pirates. 19th century drawing

Pirates had no racial tensions. Complete and general friendship of the peoples reigned on their ships.

Most pirates in the 17th-18th centuries. always consisted of the British (from England and from the colonies of the New World), and somewhat less the French and the Dutch. Modern historians give the following assessments of the national composition among pirates of the Caribbean and Atlantic in the period from 1715-1725:

35% are British;
20-25% - Americans (residents of the English colonies in New England);
20-25% - blacks (they were in almost every crew);
15-20% - French and Dutch (mostly natives of the West Indies);
5% - other nationalities.

To be continued.

Historical cases

"Walk the Plank" plays a large role in the awareness of pirates in popular culture. In reality, this type of execution was used very rarely. Most pirates did not scatter their victims. Even those few who enjoyed the spectacle of torture (such as Edward Lau) used longer methods.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Don Carlos Seitz, Under The Black Flag, Dail Press, 1925 (republished by Dover Publications in , ISBN 0-486-42131-7)
• Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, “Pirates: 2. Walking the Plank”, The Mariner's Mirror, vol. 80 (May,1994), p. 204

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