Pirates Being Brits

[Grey Wolf]

One will immediately notice that most of the best known & talented pirates were Brits. Would anyone want to explain why this came to be? Thanks.

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

Probably because we as `English-speaking` people only hear about the `English-speaking` pirates. There were many many MANY pirates from all over the world.

Probably one of the most successful pirates - someone who helped organize and ran an EMPIRE of pirates that eventually numbered over 50,000. - is Cheng I Sao, a female Chinese pirate from the early 1800's.

Here's a link to a very good website that talks about many pirates from many places around the globe:

<a href="http://www.cindyvallar.com/piratearticles.htm" target="_blank">http://www.cindyvallar.com/piratearticles.htm</a> (hi, Cindy!) <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

 

[Capn_Enigma]

Actually, the richest booty in the Caribbean was a Spanish treasure fleet taken by Piet Heyn, a Dutchman in 1628. It was a prize of 11 to 14 million Dutch Guilders.

Of the leading five pirates in booty, only <b>one</b> was an Englishman (Christopher Myngs).

So much for the British leading. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

Heh, yes, that's very true too, Capn Enigma! Good call! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="yes.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

Wouldn't you like to have been on THAT ship and gotten your share of THAT plunder! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/danse1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="danse1.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" /> <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

 

[Capn_Enigma]

Aye Cat! After that, <b>my</b> parrot would be squawking "Pieces Of Eight!" as well! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" />

 

[Admiral8Q]

I would think the rough Scottish accent tpye would be the steriotypical pirate. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate2.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":" border="0" alt="pirate2.gif" />

 

[Grey Wolf]

...

Thanks all.

 

[Captain_Python]

Grey Wolf, I get your question. You mean why so many pirates were of English/British origin in the famous Pirate Golden Age in the Caribbean. The Royal Navy was one of the most if not the most succesfull navy in the world. The English relied a little more on ships than say France or Spain, because they were not islands like Britain. Also, after wars, something like 3 out of 4 sailors were released from duty of the the Navy in peace time due to it costs so much to upkeep a peacetime navy. 50,000 sailors were released after the War with Napoleon I believe (it might of been the War of Spanish Succession, which would of also been close in that number). These men had to find jobs, and thier only option would be piracy. Also the British were considered the most skilled sailors, and the skilled sailors would probably last longer as pirates.
While there were other nationalities of Pirates, and a whole set of Asian pirates, but when we think of pirates today, we most often think of that period of 1650 to 1750, and also commonly confuse the technology and world of 1650 to 1750 with the period of 1550 to 1650, when Spanish Galleons ruled the seas. Look at our steriotypes we have today, look at kids pirate stuff, and you will see the link.

 

[Grey Wolf]

...

Thanks Captain Python. It made me ponder over the subject because most of the pirates we read about are Brits, & those that we know about mostly excelled in what they did - from the daringly succesful Henry Morgan to the character Blackbeard. One wonders if there were many pirates from other nationalities who are worth noting, then why don't we hear about them? Surely, if they were "great" then they would be familiar to the topic, but it just isn't the case. Perhaps the language barrier has a lot to do with this, but it isn't sufficient enough to stop giving credit where credit is due.