Of Pirates and Other Scallywags

What is it that causes children to become so fascinated with pirates, gangsters, hoodlums and Wild West outlaws? Perhaps it's because adults are fascinated with pirates, gangsters and others outside the law so that they write books and make movies and tell stories. There's an air of bravado and daring-do. And it's a lifestyle outside the boring routines of most peoples' daily lives.

The popularity of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow then is nothing new. A traditional yarn with exceptional Hollywood skill in terms of production, Depp took it over the top with his rendition of heroics and villainy.

Pirate yarns, however, go way back. Edgar Allen Poe's The Gold Bug certainly fits the bill for stirring up pirate adventure as two men strive to de-crypt a code that purportedly carries instructions to Captain Kidd's hidden trove of treasure. The cryptogram in the story created such a fascination with decoding mysteries that to the very present our newspapers carry a daily cryptogram in them! (You didn't know that Poe started that, did you?)

Treasure Island is another tale featuring pirates and buried treasure. Long John Silver was the villain in that coming of age story. Pirates also have a prominent role in bringing dread and adventure to the storied Swiss Family Robinson, though adventure is not exactly the right word in real life, because these lawless rulers of the high seas were not nice very nice men. Terror is a more appropriate term.

Captiva Island, now a beautiful resort area, is where the pirate Bluebeard purportedly kept the women his men absconded with after making husbands walk the plank. Yes, pirates have needs, too, besides money... and our daughters and wives were part of that booty. I'm willing to bet they did not always shave and bathe either.

The names I remember from my childhood include Captain Kidd, Blackbeard and Bluebeard. There were many other famous and infamous pirates on the high seas, including Black Bart, Calico Jack, the Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet, and "The Corsair" Jean Laffite. There were also famous women pirates like Mary Read and "Ann Bonny" Cormac as well.

Once commerce commenced between the "New World" and Europe, it was easy for opportunists to take advantage of chinks in the system. Sir Francis Drake was considered a pirate by the Spanish, but a hero to the English, so some pirating is simply a matter of interpretation.

Maybe that is why some people who "pirate software" consider themselves heroes to a certain group of like minded peers. Software and music pirates today can potentially disrupt commerce, but as of now I know of none who took captives of made others walk the plank.

The most famous symbol for pirates was the Jolly Roger, a flag which was employed to terrify others into giving up without a fight. If you can take what you want without losing any men, you have more fighting men for the next adventure. Is this not why bank robbers brandish guns? Napoleon used the same strategy in several battles, not with a pirate flag, but with the element of surprise causing terror to disarm his enemies.

There are still pirates on the high seas today off the coasts of Indonesia, Somalia and Nigeria. In 2004 there were 251 reported incidents of piracy, with nearly a third of these in Indonesian waters. If you are planning a little boat ride around the world some time, there are certain waters you may wish to avoid.