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Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Rum

Some pirate tales

By Rasma RaistersPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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The Beheaded Pirate

About 1680 a man named Edward Treacher was born in Bristol, England and later would become known as Captain Blackbeard. He was tall and had broad-shouldered. His face was covered by a long, black beard and he had long dark hair. Blackbeard was an impressive sight with a wide-brimmed hat upon his head, long boots, and across his body slings full of pistols. To make himself look angry and dangerous he would attach lit fuses to his hair and as the sparks started to burn smoke was all around. What made Blackbeard stand out from other pirates was that he could read and write.

Captain Blackbeard commanded four ships and had a pirate army of 300 when he was at the top. When doing battle Blackbeard clutched two swords, had several knives at hand, and his pistols ready to use. During a sea battle, he defeated the famous warship HMS “Scarborough”.

The troops of the Royal Navy under the command of Lieutenant Robert Maynard finally defeated Blackbeard on November 22, 1718, However, Blackbeard did not stop fighting right away. He only accepted defeat after being shot five times and slashed twenty times. Once Blackbeard was dead he was beheaded and his head was raised upon a stake to warn other pirates near Hampton River in Virginia. Legend has it that Blackbeard's headless body swam around one of Lieutenant Maynard’s ships three times before it disappeared into the waters.

Pirate Hung By Chains

Before becoming a notorious pirate Captain William Kidd was a Scotsman and a leading citizen of New York City and helped with the building of the Trinity Church. Captain Kidd began his pirating at the time that he was assigned to help rid the seas of pirates.

Captain Kidd was not a wiling pirate at first but his crew made him captain. Along with his crew, they attacked an East India Company ship and Captain Kidd found out he was being hunted for making this attack. To keep his treasure safe he buried it on Gardiners Island, hoping the goods could be used for bargaining.

Captain Kidd and his wife were finally captured in Boston, Massachusetts and he was sent back to England for trial. The verdict was death by hanging. As strange as it might seem, the noose placed around his neck broke twice until finally the third time the hanging was a success. After Captain Kidd's body was covered with tar and hung up by chains along the Thames River.

The Evil Pirate King

Frenchman Jean Lafitte was known to be a most dangerous and evil pirate king. He was in charge of a pirate island in the US state of Louisiana. He captured ships and smuggled stolen goods into New Orleans. Being extremely sly and always one step ahead of others when Lafitte heard that the Governor of Louisiana had put a price of $300 on his head, Lafitte put a price of $1,000 for the capture of the governor.

Authorities considered Lafitte to be a dangerous mastermind and mass murderer. Finally, the British asked Lafitte if they gave him citizenship and landholdings in 1814 would he come over to their side. He was warned that if he did not accept their offer they would break up his island and sell all the pieces for scrap. Lafitte asked for some time to consider the offer but did not think long instead he went to New Orleans to warn the Americans that the British were coming. Even though he was not American he was on their side.

Captain Lafitte ordered his pirate fleet to never attack an American ship. When a pirate made the mistake of attacking an American ship Lafitte killed him on the spot. Of the ships that he captured if he found that a ship was not good for pirating Lafitte returned the ship. He was considered a hero in the eyes of the people of New Orleans because with the goods that he smuggled they could afford to purchase things they could not otherwise buy. Even though Lafitte warned the Americans about the British they did not believe him right away and made a raid on his island and locked up all of his men. Andrew Jackson the future president of the US stepped in saying that New Orleans was not prepared for an attack from the British Lafitte and his pirates were released as long as they agreed to help the U.S. Navy with their pirate fleet.

Captain Lafitte and his pirates saved New Orleans from falling into the hands of the British. Once the Battle of New Orleans was over the pirate king returned to his old ways only this time he had almost 1000 followers. Lafitte organized a commune known as Campeche on the island where today you can find the city of Galveston, Texas. For a while, in 1819 he was even governor. From there he continued his pirating mostly against the Spanish. In 1820 his men attacked U.S. ships and he was under pressure to end his operation. Captain Lafitte got a pirate crew together to man his favorite vessel The Pride. He and his pirates kept terrorizing the seas for many more years sailing along the coast of Spanish America.

The Pirate Who Ate the Heart of an Enemy

French pirate Francois l'Olonnais was an especially nasty pirate who had a deep hatred for Spain. When he had first become a pirate he almost got killed by Spanish raiders and from that incident decided to spend his life getting revenge on the Spanish. To make sure everyone knew how dangerous he was and that his threat against the Spanish was real he beheaded the crew of a Spanish ship.

Captain l’Olonnais had a pirate fleet with eight ships and a large crew taking orders. He chose to terrorize the coast of South America. He was a dangerous and very angry pirate who sacked many cities under Spanish rule, captured the ships that were heading for Spain with treasures and simply destroyed anything that was Spanish that got in his way. Everything seemed to be going great for Captain l'Olonnais until after he had pillaged the coast of Venezuela and was suddenly ambushed by Spanish soldiers. Luckily for him even though he lost much of his crew he did manage to escape and take some Spanish hostages.

Captain l'Olonnais wanted everyone to know what a great pirate he was and to warn all those who would try to take a stand against him. He cut the heart out of one of the Spanish hostages he had captured and ate it. Those who were witness to this let all the remaining pirates get away safely. Then l'Olonnais and his pirate crew had stew for a week with the heads of decapitated Spaniards.

However, he and his pirate crew came to a bad end. Captain l'Olonnais was left with only one ship and his own crew and on their journey, there was a shipwreck. Being stranded they chose to go to the Gulf of Darien where they were captured by Spaniards. Once again l'Olonnais managed to escape but was then captured by Indians who were on the Spanish side. Supposedly this pirate's life ended by either being cut into pieces and burned or being eaten by cannibals.

Historical
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About the Creator

Rasma Raisters

My passions are writing and creating poetry. I write for several sites online and have four themed blogs on Wordpress. Please follow me on Twitter.

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