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.
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.
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