Pirate Rules

Contrary to popular belief, most pirate crews abided by a code of conduct known as the Articles of Agreement. All sailors when joining the crew (either by choice or by force) would agree to the articles and would suffer the penalties listed for breaking them. There are five surviving pirate codes, and I shall detail them below.

Henry Morgan's Code:

The oldest and most used code was written by Henry Morgan, documented by Exquemelin, the ship's physician:

I. The fund of all payments under the articles is the stock of what is gotten by the expedition, following the same law as other pirates, that is, No prey, no pay.

II. Compensation is provided the Captain for the use of his ship, and the salary of the carpenter, or shipwright, who mended, careened, and rigged the vessel (the latter usually about 150 pieces of eight). A sum for provisions and victuals is specified, usually 200 pieces of eight. A salary and compensation is specified for the surgeon and his medicine chest, usually 250 pieces of eight.

III. A standard compensation is provided for maimed and mutilated buccaneers. "Thus they order for the loss of a right arm six hundred pieces of eight, or six slaves ; for the loss of a left arm five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves ; for a right leg five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves ; for the left leg four hundred pieces of eight, or four slaves ; for an eye one hundred pieces of eight, or one slave ; for a finger of the hand the same reward as for the eye.

IV. Shares of booty are provided as follows: "the Captain, or chief Commander, is allotted five or six portions to what the ordinary seamen have ; the Master's Mate only two ; and Officers proportionate to their employment. After whom they draw equal parts from the highest even to the lowest mariner, the boys not being omitted. For even these draw half a share, by reason that, when they happen to take a better vessel than their own, it is the duty of the boys to set fire to the ship or boat wherein they are, and then retire to the prize which they have taken."

V. "In the prizes they take, it is severely prohibited to every one to usurp anything, in particular to themselves. . . . Yea, they make a solemn oath to each other not to abscond, or conceal the least thing they find amongst the prey. If afterwards any one is found unfaithful, who has contravened the said oath, immediately he is separated and turned out of the society."

Bartholomew Robert's Code:

I. Every man has a vote in affairs of moment; has equal title to the fresh provisions, or strong liquors, at any time seized, and may use them at pleasure, unless a scarcity (not an uncommon thing among them) makes it necessary, for the good of all, to vote a retrenchment.

II. Every man to be called fairly in turn, by list, on board of prizes because, (over and above their proper share) they were on these occasions allowed a shift of clothes: but if they defrauded the company to the value of a dollar in plate, jewels, or money, marooning was their punishment. If the robbery was only betwixt one another, they contented themselves with slitting the ears and nose of him that was guilty, and set him on shore, not in an uninhabited place, but somewhere, where he was sure to encounter hardships.

III. No person to game at cards or dice for money.

IV. The lights and candles to be put out at eight o'clock at night: if any of the crew, after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck.

V. To keep their piece, pistols, and cutlass clean and fit for service.

VI. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man were to be found seducing any of the latter sex, and carried her to sea, disguised, he was to suffer death; (so that when any fell into their hands, as it chanced in the Onslow, they put a sentinel immediately over her to prevent ill consequences from so dangerous an instrument of division and quarrel; but then here lies the roguery; they contend who shall be sentinel, which happens generally to one of the greatest bullies, who, to secure the lady's virtue, will let none lie with her but himself.)

VII. To desert the ship or their quarters in battle, was punished with death or marooning.

VIII. No striking one another on board, but every man's quarrels to be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. (The quarter-master of the ship, when the parties will not come to any reconciliation, accompanies them on shore with what assistance he thinks proper, and turns the disputant back to back, at so many paces distance; at the word of command, they turn and fire immediately, (or else the piece is knocked out of their hands). If both miss, they come to their cutlasses, and then he is declared the victor who draws the first blood.)

IX. No man to talk of breaking up their way of living, till each had shared one thousand pounds. If in order to this, any man should lose a limb, or become a cripple in their service, he was to have eight hundred dollars, out of the public stock, and for lesser hurts, proportionately.

X. The Captain and Quartermaster to receive two shares of a prize: the master, boatswain, and gunner, one share and a half, and other officers one and quarter.

XI. The musicians to have rest on the Sabbath Day, but the other six days and nights, none without special favour.

John Phillips's Code

Captain John Phillips, captain of the Revenge, also set a code for his men in 1724:

I. Every Man Shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full Share and a half of all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain and Gunner shall have one Share and quarter.

II. If any Man shall offer to run away, or keep any Secret from the Company, he shall be marooned with one Bottle of Powder, one Bottle of Water, one small Arm, and Shot.

III. If any Man shall steal any Thing in the Company, or game, to the Value of a Piece of Eight, he shall be marooned or shot.

IV. If any time we shall meet another Marooner that Man shall sign his Articles without the Consent of our Company, shall suffer such Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think fit.

V. That Man that shall strike another whilst these Articles are in force, shall receive Moses’ Law (that is, 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare Back.

VI. That Man that shall snap his Arms, or smoke Tobacco in the Hold, without a Cap to his Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lanthorn, shall suffer the same Punishment as in the former Article.

VII. That Man shall not keep his Arms clean, fit for an Engagement, or neglect his Business, shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such other Punishment as the Captain and the Company shall think fit.

VIII. If any Man shall lose a Joint in time of an Engagement, shall have 400 Pieces of Eight ; if a Limb, 800.

IX. If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.

Edward Low's Code

The articles listed below are attributed by the Boston News-Letter, the continent's only newspaper, to Captain Edward Low. They were also used by Captain George Lowther.

I. The Captain is to have two full Shares; the Quartermaster is to have one Share and one Half; The Doctor, Mate, Gunner and Boatswain, one Share and one Quarter.

II. He that shall be found guilty of taking up any Unlawful Weapon on Board the Privateer or any other prize by us taken, so as to Strike or Abuse one another in any regard, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the Company shall see fit.

III. He that shall be found Guilty of Cowardice in the time of engagements, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the Company shall think fit.

IV. If any Gold, Jewels, Silver, &c. be found on Board of any Prize or Prizes to the value of a Piece of Eight, & the finder do not deliver it to the Quarter Master in the space of 24 hours he shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the Company shall think fit.

V. He that is found Guilty of Gaming, or Defrauding one another to the value of a Royal of Plate, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the Company shall think fit.

VI. He that shall have the Misfortune to lose a Limb in time of Engagement, shall have the Sum of Six hundred pieces of Eight, and remain aboard as long as he shall think fit.

VII. Good Quarters to be given when Craved.

VIII. He that sees a Sail first, shall have the best Pistol or Small Arm aboard of her.

IX. He that shall be guilty of Drunkenness in time of Engagement shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and Majority of the Company shall think fit.

X. No snapping of Guns in the Hold.

John Gow's Code

I. That every man shall obey his commander in all respects, as if the ship was his own, and as if he received monthly wages.

II. That no man shall give, or dispose of, the ship's provisions; but every one shall have an equal share.

III. That no man shall open, or declare to any person or persons, who they are, or what designs they are upon; and any persons so offending shall be punished with immediate death.

IV. That no man shall go on shore till the ship is off the ground, and in readiness to put to sea.

V. That every man shall keep his watch night and day; and at the hour of eight in the evening every one shall retire from gaming and drinking, in order to attend his respective station.

VI. Every person who shall offend against any of these articles shall be punished with death, or in such other manner as the ship's company shall think proper.

Pirate Myths

This week I will be doing a run down of popular pirate myths that have been been widely held thanks to media. The majority of popular pirate myths come from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, which like all classic adventure novels is part truth and part fiction.

Pirate Prosthesis: The classic depiction of a buccaneer shows him with some sort of dismemberment, be it a hand, an eye or a leg. Some say that pirates wore eyepatches to keep one eye accustomed to the dark, for fighting in the gloom of the lower decks of a ship. While plausible, there is no historical evidence of this. There is also no evidence that any pirate ever had a hook for a hand, this comes from Peter Pan. As for wooden legs, there is one singular account of a one-legged pirate in the crew of Captain Edward England. The report comes from the captain of East India Company ship called the Cassandra, by the name of Captain Macrae. He wrote, "a fellow with a terrible pair of whiskers (mutton-chops) and a wooden leg, being suck round with pistols, swearing and vapouring upon the Quarter-Deck, and asks, in a damning manner, which was Captain Macrae". This unknown person was likely the inspiration for Long John Silver in Treasure Island, who made popular the wooden leg trope.

Treasure Maps: It would be wrong to state that pirates never buried their treasure, but it was much rarer than media would have us believe. William Kidd definitely buried some of his treasure around Madagascar and Gardiners Island, hoping to use his knowledge of its location as a bargaining tool. However, there is no historical evidence that Kidd ever made a map, and the idea of a treasure map and "X marks the spot" are both inventions from Treasure Island.

Pirates enjoyed a life of crime: While there were some notable career pirates, including Charles Vane and Blackbeard, who refused the king's pardon and stayed devoted to piracy, the vast majority of pirates were ex fleet personnel who found themselves either unemployed or working under insufferable conditions. They were desperate men, runaway slaves or the offshoots of religious wars and colonial hostility. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the frequency of piratical attacks dropped significantly, as the pirates could use their skills to find legitimate work in the European navies.

The pirate voice: The "ooh arr Jim lad" voice that we all associate with pirates is the invention of Robert Newton, in the 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island. The beginning of the story is set in Bristol, which was indeed a thriving port and many notable pirates including Blackbeard came from there. Newton affected a strong West Country accent for the role and it has become synonymous with all pirates and used in hundreds of films ever since.

Exotic pets: This once again is solely invented by Treasure Island, and no historical record of any pirate owning parrots or monkeys can be found. Ships would occasionally have cats to catch rats, but the logistics of taming and domesticating a parrot or monkey would be far more effort than any pirate would have been prepared to go to.

Pirate Weaponry

This week I am going over the typical weapons pirates had available to them, and what they were used for.

Boarding axe:

A staple for ship-to-ship combat, the boarding axe remained in popular use until the 19th Century. Like its modern equivalent the fire axe, a boarding axe had a heavy wedged blade and a two or three foot shaft. The purpose of the axe was for many things, from cutting the lines on enemy ships (or cutting the grappling hooks that have made their way to your own ship) the boarding axe was also used for opening locked doors and containers aboard enemy vessels, prising cannonballs from the hull and hand to hand combat.


Cannon:

By modern standards, the type of cannon that made up naval artillery in the age of sail were inefficient, difficult to load and short ranged. During the golden age of piracy, all cannons were smoothbore, which meant their operators would need to aim above their target and judge the trajectory of the arc. Between shots, a mop was inserted into the barrel to swab away any embers which might ignite the next shot prematurely. There was a great variety of ammunition that cannons could fire, and ammunition could even be improvised from nails, bolts and even loose change. The improvised shrapnel would be fastened into a hard case. This was called langrage.


Cutlass:

A type of sabre popular with naval forces in the 17th and 18th Centuries, the cutlass was a descendant of the falchion, a medieval short hacking sword.The heavy blade made it useful for cutting ropes and canvas, as well as an effective close combat weapon due to its short blade and being much easier to learn to use than other swords of the day. The intimidating weapon could also be turned flat and used for non-lethal strikes in interrogations. The versatility of the cutlass made it extremely popular with both sailors and islanders, and in modern Caribbean English, cutlass remains a byword for machete.

Flintlock arms:

The flintlock mechanism was developed in France in the early 17th century. It quickly replaced earlier technologies, such as the matchlock and wheellock, being simpler to use, more reliable and easier to make. It continued to be in common use for over two centuries, until it was finally replaced by the percussion lock. Because the reloading time on a flintlock weapon was at least 15 seconds for trained shooters, flintlocks became the first firearms to be made with multiple barrels to allow for more shots before reloading. 

Grenadoe:

The precursor to the modern hand grenade, a grenadoe was an IED not much largerthan a tennis ball. A hole would be drilled in a cast-iron sphere, and filled with powder, shot and shrapnel, and fitted with a fuse. Grenadoes could either be thrown or launched from a hand mortar, an ancestor of the grenade launcher. These were also used in contemporary land conflict, but were particularly devastating in the close quarter combat of the sea.

 

Pirate Ships

Here I will provide definitions of various seacraft used in the late age of sail from the smallest to the largest. By the golden age of piracy, most vessels sailing vessels were square-rigged, as opposed to fore-and-aft rigged, and came in various shapes and sizes for different purposes.

Launch: A low, long, flat-bottomed ship's boat designed for rowing to and from shore.

Yawl: A small ships boat rowed by 4 to 6 oars.

Whaleboat: A pointed rowboat used for whaling and beach work.

Pettiauga: a canoe made of two tree trunks hollowed and united into one fabric for shallow water.

Longboat: the largest and strongest boat belonging to any ship. Usually used for carrying heavy burdens such as anchors or ballast, generally furnished with a mast and sails. Some longboats belonging to warships would be decked and armed and fitted for cruising short distances.

Galley: A low flat fishing vessel furnished with one deck and fitted with sails and oars.

Pinnace: A small single-decked vessel navigated with oars and sail having generally two masts.

Menchew: a single-masted vessel, usually a cargo boat much used on the Malabar coast.

Pink (aka. Hagboat): A general name given to sailing ship with narrow rounded sterns.

Shallop: A large boat with two masts, propelled by oars and sail.

Gallivat: A large naval boat equipped with four to eight swivel guns, of 40 ton 70 tons burthen, carrying about 100 men for landing. It sailed with a peak-sail and was rowed with 30 or 40 oars. It held 20 fighting men besides the rowers.

Sloop: A small vessel furnished with one mast, the mainsail of which is attached to a gaff above, to the mast on its foremost edge and to a long boom below. Sloops were often small warships with two or three masts.

Schooner: A small ship with two masts whose mainsail and foresail are suspended from gaffs reaching from the mast towards the stern.

Galliot: A Dutch flat-bottomed two masted vessel.

Brigantine (aka. Brig): A two-masted merchant vessel.

Ketch: A vessel equipped with two masts from 100 to 250 tons burthen. Principally used as a bomb vessel to bombard fortresses.

Snow: The largest of all two masted vessels, with a small mast behind the mainmast similar to a mizenmast on a larger ship.

Frigate: A light nimble ship mounting 20 to 38 guns. Frigates had a descent of four or five steps from the quarter deck to the main deck.

Barca-longa: A large Spanish fishing boat with two or three masts used for coastal trading and offshore fishing.

Grab: A large coasting merchany vessel of India, generally two or three masts without a bowsprit, 150 to 300 tons burthen.

Fly-boat: A large Dutch flat-bottomed vessel of 400 to 600 tons burthen, notable for its unusually high stern resembling a gothic turret.

Man-O'-War: A broad term used by the English Navy for large well-armed warships.

Galleon: A large warship with three or four batteries of cannon. By the 18th Century the term referred specifically to the largest of the Spanish merchant vessels usually with four decks.

Ship of the Line: The largest, best-armed ship on the sea (pictured). Designed principally for broadsides and naval combat.