Forget what you think you know about pirates

The popular image, shiver me timbers, comes straight out of Disney.

To set the record straight:

1. They didn’t punish people by making them walk a plank blindfolded. Instead, the victims were killed immediately or keelhauled – tied to a rope and dragged behind the ship.
2. They didn’t say “Ahoy!” or “Matey!” I’m not so sure about “Argh!”
3. Female pirates had to disguise themselves as men to protect themselves. But, by some accounts, there were many of them.
4. Forget the buried treasure. And their loot was often something other than gold or jewelry.
5. In fact, maps and some books were more treasured as booty than gold.
6. Captains were elected and could be removed. Who would have thunk?
7. The eyepatch wasn’t to hide a missing eye but rather to allow for rapid visual adjustment between above deck and below. Anyone want to try that for verification?
8. Conditions aboard a pirate ship were often more civilized than those on merchant vessels, where lousy rations and low pay were often common.
9. The skull-and-crossbones Jolly Roger wasn’t the only terrifying pirate flag, by far. How about Black Bart’s one having himself holding an hourglass with the Devil? Or Captain Low’s blood-red skeleton standing at the ready?
10. Pirates still flourish today, especially in the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific.

Well, Eastport’s annual pirate weekend festival’s coming up. We’re bracing for the invasion.