Jolly Roger Image © Åland Maritime Museum
Used with permission.

Jolly Roger, the pirate's black flag of varying designs, was commonly used by the late 1600's - early 1700's. Previously, pirates flying a plain red flag depicting   no quarter given  ctually caused more fear because it meant no life would be spared. The term Jolly Roger is believed to be derived from this red flag.  In French jolie rouge translates loosely to mean beautiful/lovely red which most likely was altered to "jolly roger" over time.

Pirate - v. - to make an attempt, or to complete an attack on a ship. Violence used to steal (by force) the property of another vessel. n. - A thief of the seas, or oceans. One who makes it his business to sail with the express intention of robbery or plunder. An armed vessel which sails without legal commission, with the intention of attacking other vessels in order to steal gold/treasure.

Privateer  -  an armed vessel sailing under the commission of a sovereign power against the enemy.

Buccaneer - originally a term for those privateers who fought against the Spanish, later a general term for pirates of the Atlantic, specifically the Caribbean. The buccaneers were first hunters of pigs and cattle on the island of Hispanola, but were driven off by the Spanish and turned to piracy. Buccaneers were said to be heavy drinking, cruel pirates. 

General Depiction of Pirate Ship

The Golden Era of Piracy
(1500-1800's)

Interesting Tidbits of Famous Pirates

Information glommed from Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates Info., The Pirates Life,
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Defiant Women: Pirates.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Port Royal, Jamaica (Caribbean) was also the center for a form of legalized piracy encouraged by the governors of Jamaica in the hope of dissuading any Spanish attempts to recapture the island. Buccaneers were given letters of marque which authorized them to attack Spanish ships (the most successful of these buccaneers was Henry Morgan).

Henry Morgan (1635-1688)Answering his call, 2000 buccaneers on 36 ships won an attack on Spanish occupied Panama. Morgan was recalled to England and thrown into the dungeons to stand trial as a pirate. However, King Charles II, learning about Morgan’s great deeds, knighted him instead in 1673, making him lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Morgan was ordered to rid the seas from all buccaneers.
Anne Bonne (1697-1720?). Anne met fellow pirate, Jack Rackham on New Providence.  He swept her away from her husband, and the two made their way to the sea, with Anne disguised in men’s clothing. After several months she became pregnant, and Rackham took her to friends in Cuba, who saw her through the pregnancy until term. Immediately after the child was born, she rejoined her lover at sea, there is no record of what became of her baby.
Mary Reed (16?? - 1720)  An illegitimate child, Mary was dressed as a boy to impersonate her deceased (legitimate) brother,  hiding her mothers indiscretions from her sea-faring father. Thus, she was brought up as a boy, a disguise that she was to maintain the greater part of her life.  The military and naval adventures seemed to hold a fascination for her. Hence she chose to serve as a "Foot-boy" aboard a man-of-war until becoming a cadet in a regiment of foot, where "she behaved herself with a great deal of Bravery". She met Anne Bonny, who was Rackham’s mistress aboard, also disguised as a man. At first Anne Bonny mistook Mary to be a handsome young pirate, and begun to make advances, revealing her own sex. Thus Mary was forced to reveal that she was also a woman in disguise, to the great disappointment of Anne. 
Calico Jack Rackham (16??-1720)  John Rackham is also known as "Calico Jack" by many due to his preference for calico coats and britches. Though not among the most notorious pirates of the seas, he is most renown for his association with Anne Bonny and Mary Read, the world’s best known female pirates. Eventually, Rackham turned over control of his ship to the two female pirates Mary Read, and Anne Bonny, the latter of which he had whisked away willingly from her husband, and who had fought at his side in battle after battle.
Captain John Coxon (1670's) Around 1677, John Coxon,  in the company of other English Buccaneers, was involved in the surprise attack and plunder of the town of Santa Marta on the Spanish Main. Coxon was actually responsible for the kidnapping of Santa Marta's Governor and Bishop. Coxon was a hot tempered man who couldn't get along with the other sea captains. Carrying a letter of marque telling him to attack a troublesome French pirate Jean Hamlin, he was often arrested but never hanged.
Henriques, The Englishman (Rhode Island and Jamaica 1730's) Often we see pirates in movies who are missing a hand or a leg but rarely do we read such accounts of real pirate captains. Henriques is an exception. Henriques was missing a hand which did little to slow him down. In battle, he would often start off by balancing his rifle on the stub of his arm and firing his expert accuracy. With the exception of his staunch rule against violence against women, he was an extremely blood thirsty pirate. Despite being wanted everywhere, there is no record of him ever being killed or captured.

Other Pirates of the Caribbean 

Sir Frances Drake (1545-1596). On the 28^th of January 1596, 16 years after Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, he began his last journey against the Spanish strongholds of the West Indies where after successfully accomplishing his objectives Drake passed away. As a farewell, Drake’s crew ignited two captured vessels, and while the cannon’s did solute him, the water of the Caribbean Sea had engulfed him.
Captain "Red Legs" Greaves (1670-1680 - Island of Margarita of Venezuela) Greaves got his nickname "Red Legs" from his heritage. The kilt wearing Scots were known for going bare legged in any weather and this lifestyle led to "red legs" in the Caribbean sun. As his reputation spread throughout the Caribbean "Red Leg" Greaves became known for his humanity and morality. He never tortured his prisoners, robbed the poor, or maltreated women. After Greaves became a legally free and pardoned man he once again retired to a plantation becoming well known for being a charitable and kindly man who gave generously to many public institutions. Greaves died of old age, universally respected and missed by all in his community
Bartholomew Roberts (1682?-1722)  Roberts was known as a tall, dark, and attractive man.  He was a popinjay among his fellow pirates dressing in rich crimson waistcoat, and breeches, a hat with a red feather, and a diamond cross hanging from a golden chain around his neck.
Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) (16??-1718)  Edward Blackbeard Teach was undoubtedly was one the most feared and most despised pirates of all time. He was named Blackbeard, for his large black beard that almost covered his entire face. To strike terror in the hearts of his enemies Blackbeard would weave hemp into his hair, and light it during battle. A fleet of Royal Navy ships surprised Blackbeard at Ocracoke Inlet on November 22, 1718, where he was killed. Although it was a short battle, it was one of the most bloody in Blackbeard’s pirating career. Before he fell, he had a reported 5 bullet wounds and more than twenty sword cuts before dying. As a show of victory, the Royal Navy captain decapitated Blackbeard, and hung his head on the ships rigging.
Caesar (Blackbeard's right hand man 16??-1718) It was not uncommon among Pirate crews to find runaway slaves. While some crews saw black slaves as just another form of profit, other pirates cared little about the color of a man's skin, so long as he was good in a fight. This was the case of one such slave named, Caesar. He was a member of Black Beard's crew and one of the few men on board the Queen Anne's Revenge that Black Beard truly trusted.
Piet Heyn ( off the island of Cuba in 1620's) Piet Heyn was a terror to the Spanish Main particularly around the island of Cuba. Heyn returned to the Netherlands a great hero, Benavides and de Loez were tried for cowardice and desertion. Benavides was beheaded and de Loez imprisoned for life. Heyn would enjoy his status as Dutch hero for a few years. Eventually he went off to do battle against English pirates and had the unfortunate mishap of being blown apart by an English cannonball.
Captain George Lowther (West Indies and the Carolina coasts around 1721) George Lowther was known for his cruel torture methods he used to force plundered ships' crewmen to tell the location of their hidden valuables. He escaped capture while marooned at an island and Lowther's body was eventually found sometime later with a pistol wound and his pistol at his side. He avoided the typical pirate's end when he took his own life quite rare for a pirate.
Charles Vane (Bahamas and Carolina coasts early 1710's) When the new Governor Woodes Rogers arrived on board Delicia with two accompanying man-of-wars (HMS Milford and HMS Rose) in New Providence offering pardons to pirates in late July 1718, Vane set fire to one of his recent French prize sloops and set sail and took a few shots at the entering man-of-wars as he slipped by them. Vane and his crew were reported to be the only pirates in New Providence that did not accept the pardon at Woodes' arrival. Charles Vane's career was somewhat vibrant - from his open defiance to the new Governor to the unluckily circumstances that led to his capture. Vane was able to escape pursuers several times by out sailing or outwitting them
Stede Bonnett (1688?-1718)  Pirated along the Carolina coasts. It was a great shock to the high society of Barbados, when for no apparent reason, Major Bonnet left his life as a gentleman planter, to become a pirate. Doing so he mortified his neighbors who excused his actions as the result of some "disorder in his mind", a thought, not utterly unreasonable. There were also those who insinuated that it was his aversion toward respectability, that drove him to such an extreme change of career.
William Lewis (Nassau  1717-1727) Probably the most astounding accomplishment of this pirate was the longevity of his career. He was also an accomplished linguist, able to speak fluently most of the native languages of the Caribbean as well as Spanish, French, and English.  After several escapes from death as a pirate, he was eventually killed in his sleep by his crew.
Black Sam Bellamy (16??-1717) April 1717, off Cape Cod, Bellamy's fleet was hit by an intense storm, completely capsizing and destroying his ship, the Whydah. Two men survived this tragedy, one disappeared in history, while the other, Thomas Davis, lived on to pass down the intense account of the shipwreck to Cape Cod, Maine folklore.
Hiram Breakes (1745-??) Breakes was notoriously violent, believing in the adage that dead men tell no tales. In 1764, Breakes was nineteen years old, tall and handsome. As with many pirates, Breakes held some strange religious convictions. He would pillage and plunder six days of the week and then on the Sabbath hold a service on board the ship asking for forgiveness. The service was mandatory for the whole crew. Upon returning home to Holland, he was greeted with the sad news that Mrs Snyde (his married mistress) was hanged for attempting to poison her new born son (fathered by none other than Breakes). According to most accounts the news of Mrs. Snyde's death drove Breakes "melancholy mad" and in a fit of depression he threw himself off a dyke and drowned to death.
Captain Benito de Soto (1820's) De Soto with his ship Black Joke  terrorized the waters of the Caribbean.  De Soto proved himself to be as brave and defiant in death as he was in piracy. Rather than allow somebody to hang him, he stood on top of his coffin and calmly reached for the gallows and adjusted the noose around his neck. He smiled to the gathered crowd and exclaimed "Adios Todos!" (roughly, so long everybody") as he jumped from his cart to his slow painful death.
*Woods Rodgers (Privateer, pirate hunter) became governor of Bahamas (1679-1732)  English privateer and governor of the Bahamas who helped suppress piracy in the Caribbean. Rogers was appointed royal governor of the Bahamas and in 1718 arrived at Nassau, headquarters of more than 2,000 pirates, where he established orderly government and forced many outlaws to surrender. He offered pardons to pirates in an effort to get them to turn. and eventually 2,000 pirates accepted the pardons and made the Bahamas virtually pirate free.

Indian Ocean Pirates  - With the decline of the Spanish Main towards the end of the 17th century many pirates shifted their unwelcome intentions towards growing trade in the East. The treasure ships of the Indian Mogul and the merchant men of the various East India Companies provided attractive targets. Most pirates made off for the island of Madagascar (off the east coast of Africa). However, such was the damage to trade and resulting European feeling in India, that governments (and sometimes the traders) were forced to act against the pirates often engaging privateers to seek out and capture pirate ships. Madagascar Pirates -For 30 years from 1690 - 1720 the island of Madagascar was the principle base of the pirates preying on the rich trade of the Indian Ocean. Not colonized and barely explored, Madagascar was the ideal bolt hole for pirates driven out of the Caribbean. A visitor at the end of the 17th century accounted 17 pirate vessels and an estimated population of 1500 men. At various times the island played host to many of the most notorious pirates of the time, including Captain Kidd, Thomas White and Thomas Tew.

William Kidd (1645-1701) Captain Kidd experienced a short-lived pirating career: but in it he managed to have a great many people killed, some of which he himself murdered in cold blood. Eventually captured and shipped to England from New York, Kidd experienced a terrible death: the hangman’s rope broke twice, the third time it held. Once he was dead: his body was dipped in tar and hung by chains along the Thames River. Kidd’s body served as a warning to all would-be pirates for years to come.
Thomas White (1720's)
Henry Avery (aka John Avery, Long Ben/Capt. Bridgeman) (1665-1728?). In September 1695, Avery's ship, Fancy waited outside Mocha for the pilgrim fleet to arrive. Avery was joined by several American pirates: 

Captain Joseph Faro on Portsmouth Adventure from Rhode Island 
Captain Want on Dolphin from Philadelphia. 
Captain William Maze on Pearl from Rhode Island
Captain Thomas Tew on Amity from New York
Captain Wake on Susannah from Boston. 

This new group effectively doubled the pirate crew numbers and were able to plunder the pilgrim fleet and the Great Mogul's ship producing about 1000 lbs. of loot for each crewman.
Count Maurycy Beniowski -  Born in Poland to a noble family, Count Beniowski, as a youngster he took part in the Polish uprising to liberate Poland from the Russian rule and after being captured by Russians was sent into exile to Siberia. However he managed to escape and after some tumultuous years he found himself leading an armed expedition headed toward Madagascar. On an African Island near Madagascar he managed to establish a stronghold, and pronounced himself the king of Madagascar.

Barbary Coast Pirates-  North African pirates had a license to rob English ships and Madagascar pirates of the XVIII century representing French king’s interests. Since ancient times, the notoriously named Barbary Coast formerly applied to the coast of North Africa from the western border of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean.

Known Women Pirates of the Golden Era

Grace O'Malley, a.k.a. Granuaile – –1500s, Atlantic, commanded three galleys and 200 men.

Mrs. Peter Lambert of Aldeburgh, Suffolk, – – late 1500s

Lady Killigrew – – 1530-1570, Atlantic.

Elizabetha Patrickson – – 1634.

Anne Bonny – – 1720, Caribbean.

Mary Read – – 1720, Caribbean.

Mary Harvey (or Harley) alias Mary Farlee – – 1726.

Mary Crickett (or Crichett) – – 1728

Rachel Wall – – 1780s, sailed from Massachusetts.

Anonymous female commander of French privateer La  Baugourt – – 1805.

Catherine Hagerty – –1806, Australia and New Zealand.

Charlotte Badger

Margaret Jordan – – 1809, Canada.

Yo-Ho-Ho - These BE the Terms to Know

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