Pirates with parrots and bangles of gold, the life of a seadog was filled with high adventure and dramatic romance, right? Well, not quite… Actually, not at all. Jan Adkins' fun and enlightening book, What If You Met a Pirate? (Roaring Brook Press, 2004; ISBN: 1-59643-007-9) sorts real-world fact from Hollywood fiction and proves that the truth is definitely more interesting.
Pirate Fiction vs Real Pirate History
Aspiring young swabs will quickly learn that those shoulder-perching birds weren't so much mascots as merchandise. Bought "low" in Africa or South America to be sold "high" in the port towns, these exotic creatures were among the offerings at the impromptu bazaars that cropped up when pirate ships came ashore with plundered goods to sell. That was the reality. While birds proffer great comic relief on the big screen, true pirates preferred cats because they kept the rodent population in check.
Speaking of cool cats, Johnny Depp strikes a swell figure for himself as a rogue corsair, but as for real pirate glamour, think again. The fact is that Mr. Depp can afford better pirate garb (and probably washes it more often, too). Real pirates spent their days barefoot and bedraggled. Unbathed, they dressed more for comfort than style in the battered gear that served them best for a hard day's work of hauling sails and clambering about on dangerous rigging.
Gold earrings and eye patches, however, are Hollywood's contribution to historical truth. Eyes lost to ropes whipped up by the wind were common and the gold earrings were meant to pay a pirate's burial cost when the poor soul's body washed up on land weeks or even months after his burial at sea. They wore the earring if they could -- it was one small concession to post-mortem comfort in a profession where old veterans were as rare as disease was common.
All About Pirates
Who was Blackbeard and where did his bristled head wind up? What pirates gained notoriety in their day? Were most pirates sponsored by their own governments? What is the best kind of ship for a pirate? (Here's a hint: the big pirate ships that populate our cinematic seas today don't make very quick get-away vehicles.)
All these fun facts and many, many more fill the pages of What If You Met a Pirate? Exhaustively researched, meticulously drawn, descriptively labeled, and humorously written, Jan Adkins' book is a bona fide pirate treasure -- definitely one to dig up on your next trip to the library or bookstore.
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