All of us have most probably either read a pirate story or watched a film focusing on the exploits of those who sacrifice their normal lives in exchange for seafaring and plundering treasure from trade ships. As in every field, there are a few buccaneers who have made history books too.
Blackbeard
Born Edward Teach, Blackbeard intimidated foes by curling smoking fuses into his long, pleated facial hair and by slinging multiple pistols and daggers across his chest. In November 1717, he captured a French slave ship, latterly renamed the Queen Anne’s Revenge and refitted it with 40 guns. With that extra firepower he then blockaded the port of Charleston, South Carolina, until the city’s dwellers met his demands for a large casket of medicine.
After lying low for a few months in North Carolina, Blackbeard was killed in battle with the British Navy. But innumerous books, plays and movies, from Treasure Island to Pirates of the Caribbean would later bring a semi-legendary interpretation of that period into the public eye.
Henry Every
Henry Every may not be as famous as later pirates such as Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts, but his brief career may have inspired many of them to first take up the cutlass.
During two years of prowling the seas. Every and his band captured roughly a dozen vessels and made off with tens of millions of dollars in booty. His exploits inspired songs, books and plays. And most astonishing of all—and unlike Blackbeard and many others—he did it all without getting captured or killed.
The biggest catch of Henry Every's career was the Gang-i-Sawai. It was part of the Grand Moghul of India's convoy of ships. Every was lucky because one of the cannons exploded on the Gang-i-Sawai heavily damaging the deck. Without strong leadership and with a damaged ship, the crew of Gang-i-Sawai had to surrender. Survivors were tortured to reveal hidden treasures. Pirates plundered about 600,000 pounds of gold, silver and jewels.
Also, historians cannot agree about many facts of Every's life. Probably the most interesting disagreement is about how he ended his career. Contrary to many stories that say he retired and lived the rest of his years disguised as a rich man, many people think that he died soon after his retirement as a poor sailor on the streets of London.
Anne Bonny
The notorious pirate Anne Bonny was born in Ireland, but she moved to America in her 20s, where she married a seaman in 1718 and travelled to the buccaneer-infested islet of New Providence in the Bahamas. There, she abandoned her husband and fell under the spell of ‘Calico’ Jack Rackam, a flamboyant pirate who roamed the Caribbean.
She latterly forged a fellowship with fellow female pirate Mary Read and the pair played a major part in a spree of raids against small fishing boats and trading sloops in the summer and fall of 1720.
When Calico Jack’s boat was captured by a band of pirate huntsmen that October, Calico Jack and several other men were executed, but Bonny and Read dodged the noose after they were both found to be pregnant.
Mary Read
Born in England in the late 17th century, Mary Read spent most of her youth disguised as her deceased half-brother. Hoping to quench her thirst for adventure, she later adopted the name Mark Read and took on a succession of traditionally male jobs, first as a soldier and later as a merchant sailor.
Read turned pirate in the late-1710s, after buccaneers attacked the ship she was working on and made her join their ranks. She later found her way aboard Calico Jack Rackam’s boat, where she befriended Anne Bonny and revealed herself to be a woman.
Despite Read’s heroics, she and the rest of Calico Jack’s crew were captured and charged with piracy. Read avoided execution by admitting she was pregnant but she later came down with a fever and died in prison.
Dinara Hettiarachchi
Grade 9
Ananda College
Colombo 10