Ft. Wayne Journal GazetteBehind THE EYEPATCHFeast or famine filled ‘real’ pirates’ lives By Stefanie Scarlett At one time, pirates had hit a lull in entertainment, marooned on a becalmed sea. That ship had sailed. Piracy was so 18th-century. Another legend was born. The sequel, “Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” opens Friday. “He’s just great fun. He takes the ultimate fantasy-adventure romp of it and makes a really fun show. … It’s great tongue in cheek,” says Gail Selinger, co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pirates.” And as a pirate re-enactor for the past 22 years, she knows exactly why we’re so taken with these sea robbers. Who wouldn’t want to be his or her own boss and travel the world, dressed to kill? “The pirates were the consummate entrepreneurs, they went off on their own, they took risks in order to reap enormous gains, they operated outside any nation’s law and they suffered the consequences,” says Frank Lambert, Purdue University history professor and author of “The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World.” They included Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Captain William Kidd and Jean Lafitte. Selinger’s favorites are 16th-century Irish clan leader Grace O’Malley (who is the subject of “The Pirate Queen,” a musical that will open on Broadway this fall) and “Red Legs” Greaves, a Scotsman known for wearing a kilt on ship and thus sporting sunburned legs. But a pirate’s life wasn’t all rum and games; it was more feast or famine. Their travels were dependent on the wind, which could leave a ship stranded for days or weeks at a time. Food spoiled quickly, drinking water went bad, and tempers among the “thieves and cutthroats” flared. “The ‘real’ part of it isn’t all that exciting,” Selinger says, laughing. “Hollywood, rightfully, is trying to sell admission to movies, and they romanticize and glorify and distort pirates, and that’s OK … but it seems to me that the pirates of history were a lot more complex than they’re represented to be,” Lambert agrees. A pirate was anyone who attacked and robbed other countries’ ships and who wasn’t operating under the jurisdiction of a state. But that definition depends on one’s perspective. For instance, the Spanish considered Francis Drake to be a pirate, since he attacked their ships and stole their silver, Lambert says. But he was working for Queen Elizabeth I, which technically made him a privateer in the eyes of the English. Drake eventually was knighted for his efforts. There were plenty of other such privateers, including the Barbary pirates of North Africa, who worked for the various political leaders of the Barbary states (Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli and Tunis). “The Barbary pirates deliberately used terrorist tactics to frighten merchant ships into submission. They cultivated the image of fierce men who gave no quarter,” Lambert says. They would often fly flags of U.S. allies to lull sailors into thinking they were friendly. Then, when they were close enough, they’d switch flags, attack and loot the ship. They’d take what they could – not only silver and grain, but also food, medicine, spare parts, even the ship itself. The vessel’s contents would be sold back home, or exported to other countries. Many of the captured crew would be sold as slaves, he says. The United States engaged in a 33-year period of conflict with the Barbary states including two wars, he says. In the latter part of the 18th century, the U.S. paid them more than $1 million, including some ransom for captured sailors. And that’s partly the reason why the U.S. Navy was created, he says. Not all of the Barbary pirates were North Africa natives; some were “European mercenaries” who were looking for work – including former sailors or Royal Navy members who were under- or unemployed, Lambert says. That’s the other downside of piracy, there’s a lot of downtime. But that never stopped anyone enterprising enough to try it. “As soon as man slashed two reeds together, there were pirates,” Selinger says. The ancient Greeks and Romans had words for pirates; Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates. William the Conqueror was a descendant of several generations of pirates. And the Vikings made some of the best, she says. For her research, Selinger, who lives near Los Angeles, has traveled to England and the Caribbean. She belongs to a re-enactor group called the Port Royal Privateers who “perform” at festivals. Selinger is a tall ship gunner, which means she gets to fire the cannon. She grew up in a coastal New York town, watching old pirate movies starring Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. She took up fencing in college. And another pirate was made. She likes to debunk pirate myths: Yes, they often made treasure maps to hid their loot, but didn’t mark the spot with an “X” – that meant others could potentially find it. They didn’t necessarily sink ships; they preferred to loot them instead. And they didn’t really make prisoners walk the plank, they just tossed them overboard. So much more efficient that way. Of course, pirates still exist today – the difference is that they prefer to keep their identity a secret, unlike pirates of yore who liked to cultivate a very public reputation, Selinger says, the better to scare their victims into submission. There are those who attempt to rob cruise ships and oil tankers. And legions of lesser known pirates break copyright laws to profit from another’s original work, Lambert point out. “I’m struck by the electronic pirates today who are stealing legitimate commerce and identity. (And) pirates who make CDs and distribute them … It’s individuals operating outside the law, and outside copyright laws, to make a buck.” Pirates, indeed.
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