le blog www.captain par : Marie Flint Sparrow!

Despite the battles danger, and the inevitable diseases on board, a pirate’s life attracted a lot of sailors, wishing to become rich and influent, to know the freedom of an existence of debauchery and pleasure!

(the extinction was not appropriated and Youtube isn't in relationship with overblog yet! so I send you on Youtube page!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuufKUFr3q0 

This famous song, in slang english, illustrated perfectly life and values of pirates: Of course that's a legendary song created to add to the pirates' folchlore and to give ancient sailors bravery, to forget diseases and rats...! They only sing about the good part!

"Yo Ho", is a prooved exclamation on ships, and the singers are here enjoying the pirate’s life and the festiv meetings!

The refrain insists on the fact that pirates loved alcool as much as possible, that’s why a lot of crews have been caught easely, too drunk to be able to fight. The favorite drinks were beers, and above all rhum (something like two bottles for each sailor!), and a mix between rhum and spices, called "grog".

In every songs we can find repetitions,  (like sentences against them declared "'till you are dead, dead, dead"  totally dead in fact!) but here, the song is composed with lot of synonyms: the third sentence only matters of the loot, and the fact that pirates left every boats and caves empty (plunder); they weren’t only interested by golden and shining treasures: women, and especially from India and South America, were stollen, kidnapped, for the company on board but above all, because women weren’t allowed on pirates’ ships, to be send on the pirates' landmarks on little islands, as the famous Tortuga, and specially around Jamaïca!

They rabaged without warning, surprising every one! They liked the mess and the embezzelments and diversions (in the word jocke "high-jack" meaning at the same time the great Jack, famous name of piracy and also "to hijack , a kind of embezzelment of vessels in this case!), burning (kindling, charing,inflaming and igniting!) cities and boats, they were real bass, rascals, villans, 'bad-eggs", even "devils" (that let us understand the most of them refused redemption before hanging!)  and they claim in this song they are proud of it!

As the song repeats it, even in storms end treasons, when you were drunk in a pirate company,you were in a big and happy family ("me' earties)"!!  Before the next day, you could pass a jovial and friendly night, forgiving the bad parts of a life on seas and of a condemned existence!

Just enjoying pleasures of freedom and furtive wealths!

That the best part kept by Disney ideal, and by the recent films obviously!

As Keira Knightley says and Geoffrey Rush too in another interview, days on the set were funny, crazy, musicals, supernaturals. That's why the famous song is sang in the moviesand in the attractions from which the films are drawn! Disneyland is a wonderful world of imagination end happiness whatever some could say!

And it has the same fonction than a spectacular film of intertainment: make us forget the problems of real life and give us to live only the good part , the pleasures, the happiness, a moment of paeceful and crazy life for one short time of our lives! That's why I'm a recurring visitor of the park! And we have to add that Disney companies directors can be considered as pirates: aren't they in chase of profitable traesures?! 

But above all, as the actress says, pirates are undead! If in movies they cannot die (because of a curse, of a stupid beast, of a vaudou manipulation...), all the famous pirates I became for a while aren't as dead as it seems: they live in Piracy Legend, in the world History, in imagination of everyone. They are the ghosts of the oceans and they will always stay where they used to travel.  And I want to take partin the memory's effort with this blog, my passion, the cinema (and my future pirates' movie!) and the parties!! That's why, if you want to discover the face of the famous Cpatin X, see me at the disguise party this tuesday for the first projection of the las adventure of my friend Jcak Sparrow and our foreign allies! We'll see if we are dead!!!!!!! Ah Ah Ah!   

Keira Knightley Interview
Video sent by CaptainWendy

(I can swear you I can't understand the spanish language! I only can read  italian!) 

If this video gives us a proof of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean and among the Asiatic seas, we can have an idea of a female character who became a pirate:

Keira Knightley, playing the role of Elizabeth Swann in the famous movies Pirates of The Caribbean Seas, is doing the promotion of the last episod of this spectacular and funny trilogy, soon on screens.

She already answers the journalist that the film will be the most pirating adventure among all, with a lot of sabre fights! Concerning her character, the actress explains that Elizabeth changed a lot during the three films: in the first one, when she was just the precious and innocent daughter of  Port Royal?s Governor, she was anxious and frightening by all the half-dead pirates who caught her.

In the second one, she started to be a little bit more resourceful, and now she's understand that she enjoys being able to lead a pirate crew!

After that, the actress talks about her job and above all her working relation-ship with Johnny Depp, one of her famous companions. She tells us about his kindness and his passion for music, and also the rock'n roll style he created for his captain costume, certainly inspired by  Keith Richards, the expected guest star of the last film, even if she didn't spend a lot of time with the musician.

To conclude she explains the sensation it feels to be the only one girl on the set, fighting among the men! And it seems to be "quite nice": As Anne and Mary could feel, being a better fighter, a better leader, a better captain than men, illustrates women?s emancipation, in an old world under men?s dominations. Elizabeth is as well a perfect name, a symbolic one, in reference to the famous and ruthless queen of the English Kingdom at the time of Golden Age of Piracy.

 But above all, whatever we think, except for physical tortures, the worst punishment for a real and passionated pirate was imprisonment!  To be held during endless decades, far from the treasures, the ships and the horizons of freedom...

What en awful treatment even if it seemed to appears to governments like the most kindly of all!

A captured spy usually didn't have to face a long prison term. In fact the concept of imprisonment for a crime was foreign during the Golden Age of Piracy. The idea of using confinement as a regular form of punishment was not widespread until after the American Revolution. Typically prisoners were in the gaol (jail) while awaiting trial and then if found guilty, while waiting for the sentence to be carried out. (I know what you're thinking, what about the Count of Monte Christo? He falls in the same boat as other political prisoners.) If the person was politically important or if the person possessed certain knowledge or value, then they may be held indefinitely. These are special cases. The only real exception to this general rule was people placed in jail for debt. A person who went to "debtor’s prison" could in spend the rest of his life in jail.

A gaol during the 18th century was not a very pretty sight. It was dark, it was dank, and it was overrun with rodents and insects. Only the largest cities had a real "prison". Most were just converted store rooms or cellars that were used as a gaol when the town had a prisoner. They lacked any kind of common sanitation. Often the floor would be covered in straw in order to absorb human and animal waste. The same straw was used for the prisoners' bed.

In the larger city, there were permanent prisons complete with torture rooms for interrogation, smaller cells for important prisoners and usually a large central holding are for common prisoners. Despite being a permanent structure, these were also filthy, disease ridden, and over-crowded. It was not uncommon for a healthy person to enter a prison, be acquitted of his crime and then suffer from a chronic illness for the rest of his/her life; because of his short time in incarcerated.

However, neither the temporary pen nor the permanent prison was a match for where England stored most of its criminals. The filthiest, most deadly prison of all was the prison ship. The prison ship was a derelict ship that was moored in a river or off shore. The ship was in such a state of disrepair that it was not worth salvaging. Port holes, were boarded over, most hatches were bolted shut or boarded over and the conversion from derelict to prison ship was complete. Prisoners were then thrown into the hold and left to rot until they were tried and their sentence carried out.

Sanitary conditions on the prison ships were abysmal. The ships leaked water, making the men was constantly wet. Vermin such as lice, spiders, other insects and larger critters such as rats were all over the place. Disease was constant with many prison ships cesspools of cholera, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever. The jailers were not too concerned about removing the dead and other prisoners were not quick to report a dead person for fear of even less food being thrown down the hold. Few people could make it past a month on a prison ship.

In all types of prisons, some of the more dangerous or more important prisoners were kept in chains at all times. Some would also be chained to the wall or other large object. If these prisoners happened to have enemies in the cell with them they would probably wake up dead the next day. This was most unfortunate but it was something the authorities could live with.

For the most part, prisoners were not segregated. Men, women and children were often thrown into the same communal cell. To make matters worse, those already convicted and sentenced were often in the same cell as those awaiting trial. Only important prisoners were placed in a cell alone. What this means is that a woman who was awaiting trial for something like stealing a fish from the market could be in the same cell with a man who was to be hanged for rape and murder.

The only bright side is that once you were tried and sentenced, your days in the gaol were numbered. It was time to be flogged, pilloried, sold or hanged!

The good news is, you were already dead. The bad news is you were not given a proper burial. For many pirates, this bad news was quite frightening. It meant that your immortal soul would never have any chance of redemption.

The practice of hanging in chains or irons was pretty basic. The pirate would be hanged until dead. Then his body would be placed in a iron cage or possibly wrapped in chains. This cage was then hoisted on a rafter and left to rot in a public area.

 Typically this public place would be a dock where other potential pirates would be able to view it as a warning/reminder of what comes of those who go on the account. Such places as harbor entrances were a favorite for hanging pirates in irons. Gallows Point was one of the most famous paces.

The body would remain on display until there really wasn't anything left to display because of decomposition. At this point the rotting body would most often be dumped in the ocean for fish food or, at best, buried between the tides. It was very rare for a body hanged in irons to be claimed, due to the enormous amount of disgrace attached to such a person and the assumption that whom ever claimed the body was a pirate as well.

 The Pillory

Few pirates got off by simply being pilloried. To be sentenced to the pillory was a sentence of public humiliation. The pillory was a round platform that could be rotated. The person to be pilloried would be secured to the pillory in a number of ways. In some instances he or she was fastened with chains about the neck, hands ankles and waist and forced to remain in kneeling or half crouching stance. Other pillories had a chest high yoke where the head and hands were securely locked in place forcing the person to stand in an uncomfortable position. In most cases, the pillory was located in a market place or other gathering area. Many pillories were designed so that the platform could be rotated 360°. This allowed a good view of the person from all directions. Persons would often be sentenced to the pillory for a few hours or perhaps a day or two.

There are records or people being sentenced to the pillory for six or twelve hours only to have the sentence commuted after one or two hours on the pillory. The reason for the commuting of the sentence is because the pillory was not designed to kill a person only cause them great humiliation. While in the pillory, the crowd was allowed to castigate the criminal. This included both verbal and physical torment. The physical torment included throwing rotting vegetables and human and animal waste at the criminal. Often more deadly items such as sticks and stones were thrown. While being pilloried, the criminal was not allowed food or drink. Many people died being pilloried despite having a sentence commuted to time served. Broken bones were common, and in the case of the neck yoke, if a person lost their footing they could suffocate due to strangulation.

It is doubtful many pirates got off with just a time in the pillory. However, a pirate who was flogged could very well spend some time in the pillory after being beaten. If you see a sentence such as "fifty stripes on the back followed by a day of public display (or humiliation) it probably meant flogging and the pillory.

Flogging:

The lucky man convicted of piracy got off with 50 to 100 lashes! Flogging was an acceptable way to punish sailors on board Navy and Merchant ships. The Captain of the ship usually determined the number of lashes to be given and in some cases those numbers could reach fifty or even one hundred. In most instance a much lower number was given (ten or twenty). The implement used in the punishment was the cat-o' nine tails.

The Cat o' nine tails was a particularly nasty whip that was common on board naval vessels at the time. It was a whip, usually made a cow or horse hide, with nine knotted lines. There are stories that steel balls or barbs of wires would be added to the end of the lines to give them more striking force.

The whips were typically oiled and wiped clean in between floggings but the concept of bacteria and germs was unknown. The cat-o'-nine tails was a breeding ground for disease and pestilence.

After the flogging was meted out, one of two things was usually done. On board most ships the back was doused with a mixture of salt and vinegar or a bucket of water fron the ocean!. This lessened the chance of infection. however this was done to members of the crew, men still considered good sailors. Pirates were less likely to be given adequate medical treatment, especially if they were captured by a nation other than Britain. A pirate flogging could lead to a slow painful death from gangrene or blood poisoning.

A funny note: Many people have heard the song, What do you do with a Drunken Sailor. One particular verse was originally sung: Give him a taste of the Captain's Daughter. This has been corrupted by some balladeers to Throw him in bed with the captains' daughter. Obviously the second term makes more sense to many people today, but does not really seem to be much of a punishment (unless the Captain catches him!). If you go back to the original verse and make the connection that the Captain's Daughter was slang for the Cat-o 'nine tails then the punishment become quite clear. So next time you are at an Irish bar and they begin singing Drunken Sailor impress your friends with this bit o trivia: The Captain's Daughter is the Cat-o-nine tails!

On 10 February 1722, the Royal Fortune, my favourite and biggest vessel arrived to Cape Lopez. The previous day, I had captured the Neptune, and many of my crew were drunk and unfit for duty just when I needed them most.They at first thought that the approaching ship was the Ranger returning, another ship of my company, under the appearance of a  fleeing merchant ship, but a deserter from the dangerous Swallow, led by the English sailor Captain Ogle, recognized his ancient vessel and informed me of the situation. I was breakfasting in company with Captain Hill, the master of the Neptune, when I was given the news. As I usually did before action, I dressed myself in my finest clothes:

I was known around the world as a gallant figure, at the time of the engagement, in being dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in my hat, a gold chain round my neck, with a diamond cross hanging to it, a sword in my hand, and two pairs of pistols slung over my shoulders …

My  plan was to sail past the Swallow, which meant exposing us to one broadside. Once past, we  would have a good chance of escaping. However we failed to keep the Royal Fortune on the right course, and the Swallow was able to approach to deliver a second broadside. Suddenly, I received a grapeshot cannon fire, which struck me in the throat, while I stood on the deck. Before my body could be captured by Ogle, my will  to be buried at sea was fulfilled by my loyal crew, who weighted my body down and threw me overboard.