16 pairates traditions that you didn't know about

For all of you out there who just can't seem to get enough of pirates, there’s actually a lot of hidden facts and traditions about these sea fauring  marauding scavengers that we might not have known, and this includesall sorts of different, interesting traditions. Despite the aesthetic and hilariously portrayedCaptain Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Caribbean, crazy pirates traditions are actually not that kind. Pirates have long held the reputation of beingruthless killers who came up with some pretty unique ways to execute people while out inthe sea. They also started several trends includingwearing earrings and hiding treasures. Before we begin this article about 16 pirates traditions that you didn't know about. 

16 pairates traditions that you didn't know about

16). The vikings: The Vikings are considered tobe a form of pirates too and they were probably the most far-reaching ones of all. They raided and looted between the 8th and 12th centuries and roamed all over Western Europe.

15) The Jolly Roger: The jolly roger is thegenerally accepted universal flag for pirates with its black background and the skull andcrossbones in the front. This flag might be the most known insigniafor the pirates but in reality, there is actually a wide array of versions. The first mention of this Jolly Roger flagwas in a book from 1724 titled, A General History of the Pyrates, by Charles Johnson. However, there are many versions of this flagsuch as Blackbeard’s flag which featured a skeleton toasting the devil while spearinga bloody heart.

14) Female Pirates: Pirates weren’t justrelegated to men. Women could be pirates too. Anne Bonny and Mary Read were both femalepirates. Anne Bonny was so impressive that she servedas the first mate while Mary Read chose to dress as a man in order to hide her identity. When Anne Bonny and Mary Read’s ships werecaptured, the two women were subsequently jailed. It was in prison where Anne blamed her captain,Calico Jack, for his or her imprisonment. She said: ‘sorry to see you there, but ifyou’d fought like a man, you would not have been hang’d like a Dog.’

13) Dirty water: In order to prevent the sailorsin the British Navy from drinking the dirty water that was contaminated with algae andmicrobes, the British Navy would give each sailor a pint (a little over five shots) of rum every day to combine with the water. The pirates, just like the sailors in theNavy, would drink what was readily available to them. And because there were large quantities ofrum in the Caribbeans, the seafaring people could mix rum with an assortment of liquids. The pirates enhanced this ‘grog’ by addinglemon juice - which is said to prevent scurvy - and sugar into the mix.

12) The eyepatch. Pirates are regularly portrayed with an eyepatchbut that doesn’t mean that all pirates are missing an eye. A lot of pirates used to wear eyepatches sothat one eye would always be adjusted to the night. That way, when they went below deck, theycould remove the eyepatch and instantly see a lot clearer.

11) Pirate clothing: As mentioned earlier,the pirate’s attire, albeit fancy and fashionable, was borne out of necessity rather than a penchantfor looking good. The earrings of a pirate were meant to bea form of insurance so that if they were to die, the golden or silver earrings could bemelted down to pay for a casket and other funeral necessities. Some pirates even had their home ports engravedon the inside of their earrings in hopes that they would be shipped back home for a burialif they were to die. So if you’re a mega fan of Pirates of theCaribbean and like to dress up like a pirate from time to time, take note of this piratetradition!

10) The Red Flag: The ‘Bloody Red’ orthe red flag was even more fearsome than the Jolly Roger flag. The red flag designated that no mercy wouldbe handed to captured ships. It meant that, if captured, everyone on boardthe boat or the ship would be slaughtered.

9) Buried treasure: As much as movies wouldlike to portray pirates burying their stolen treasure, it wasn’t actually so common backthen. Pirates would usually steal whatever shipswere carrying across the Atlantic and those tended to be lumber, cloth and animal hides. However, one pirate, William Kidd, was recordedto have buried his treasure on a tropical island. William stored his goods in an area off thecoast of Long Island but a supposed ally dug up his treasure and used it as evidence toconvict William of being a pirate.

8. Gay marriage: Pirates may have been practicinggay marriage as early as the 1600’s. Two male pirates could take part “matelotage,”which may be a French word that would be the origin of the pirate greeting ‘Ahoy mate.’ It meant that they might share all their plunder,exchange gold rings, live together and receive death benefits if one were to die before theother.

7. The connection between Julius Caesar and pirates:Pirates once captured Julius Caesar and when the pirates only demanded a ransom of 20 talents(approximately 200,000 dollars today) Caesar just burst out laughing, remarking how thepirates did not know who they had captured and demanded that they ask for 50 talentsinstead. During his 38 days ‘in capture,’ Caesarwould regularly partake in the pirates’ activities and even wrote poems that he wouldrecite to them. When the pirates didn’t understand Caesar’spoems he would simply laugh in their faces and call them illiterate savages. He would regularly threaten the pirates withdeath such as crucifixion and by hanging but the pirates labeled it as ‘boyish playfulness.’ When the ransom finally arrived from Miletus,Caesar manned his own ships and captured nearly all the pirates who he later crucified.

6. Pirate earrings: A pirates’ earrings werenot only to pay for caskets and funeral necessities but they were also used to hang wax on themin order to avoid hearing damage from the cannons going off. Pirates would stick wax into their ears andaround their earrings as a form of makeshift earplugs. A pirates’ earrings also came with a lotof superstitions. Some pirates believed that earrings couldprevent seasickness while others thought that it could fix bad eyesight. However, many pirates believed that a pairof gold earrings could prevent them from drowning.

5. Not all pirate ships sported a Jolly Rogerflag. Some pirates from The Bahamas would have theirflags specially made by a sailmaker’s widow who only took payments in brandy. Blackbeard’s flag featured a skeleton holdingan hourglass in one hand and the other holding a spear through a heart.

4. Walking the plank: Pirates didn’t actuallymake people walk the plank. They usually just killed people straight awaybut if they were to torture their victims they would maroon a person on a deserted island,whip them with a leather whip or perform an act called keelhauling. Keelhauling meant dragging a person in thewater from the back of a boat or a ship.

3. Every boat or ship had their own rules andset of conducts. These rules would have to be abided by everyoneon board and they included how the loot would be divided, who had what chores, and whatwas expected of all people. One such rule that almost all ships had wasthat there was no fighting on board. All disputes between pirates were to be settledon the land. And if you’ve ever seen a ship in storm,you probably know how chaotic it is - and there were also rules placed on board forpirates in the event they did get into a pretty bad storm.

2. What a pirate really is: Although many peopleassume pirates to be eye-patch wearing, scimitar-wielding bandits, a pirate is actually anyone who commitsa crime while at sea. These crimes could range from robbery to violenceto murder.

1. Talk Like a Pirate Day: Every year on September19th it is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So on that one occasion, you can spend allday talking like a pirate and it would be perfectly acceptable. And if one day isn’t enough, you can evenalter your Facebook settings to a ‘pirate’ language! In my opinion, this day should also be called‘national pirates of the carribean day’! Now that you know some of the coolest factsabout pirates, here's an interesting fact about Blackbeard and how his name came tobe! While everyone loves and knows about captainJack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, what do you know about the infamous blackbeard? Blackbeard may be the most terrifying andwell-known pirate in the world.

He was born as Edward Teach but he later gothis nickname, Blackbeard, for his thick black beard and also for his fearsome composure. Blackbeard was much more inclined to use hisintimidating presence than violence to rob. But in order for Blackbeard to maintain histerrifying appearance, he would weave hemp into his beard and onto his hair so that whenhe lit the hemp on fire it would look as if his beard was on fire and that smoke was billowingfrom his entire head.

So, whether you’re a fan of blackbeard orthe crazy pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean, this video probably taught you a lot aboutpirate traditions that you probably didn't know about! So whether a boat or ship in storm was causing may hem on the sea, or pirates were on the hunt for buried treasure, there were lots of different things pirates did that you probably didn’t know about! Alright, captain! Did you know any of the facts in this video? Which one was the most surprising? Let us know in the comments section below! Enjoyed this video? Hit the like button and share with your friends! Also, follow to our blog for more articles like this! Thanks for reading!