Little-Known Pirate Beliefs, Practices & Kooky Doctrines

Many of the things we think we understand have the suspicious fingerprint of Hollywood’s touch, and on closer inspection, it turns out they are fictionalized ideas tailor-made for adventure films. Disappointing though this may be, we are here to tell you that the truth is actually far more fascinating. The buccaneers of yore certainly operated on a code. They abided by an ancient bro code that prohibited stealing from each other, for example, and they had strange ideas, such as the wisdom behind their eyepatches. Keep reading to learn more about their unique beliefs and practices.

This way, none of them ever came out empty-handed from maritime piracy. Before the valuables were distributed according to rank and other rules of the charter, similar to an insurance policy on liability coverage, a specific portion was given to those in recovery.

But these accessories actually helped protect them from aural damage, which is likely to result from multiple cannon blasts prior to a ship invasion. They put gobs of wax on these golden hoops and made earplugs out of them during battle. This tactic made it easy for them to quickly cover their ears against the explosions.

While many parts of the modern world still do not allow same-sex relationships, some pirates settled into an agreement called matelotage. Their civil unions in the 17th and 18th century were marital regimes that governed their income division and inheritance agreements. Sharing booty was central to same-sex pirate relationships.

Here, their gold or silver earrings served another purpose. They could be used as an equivalent to modern-day burial insurance. The value was enough to cover all related funeral expenses and then some. Even if their bodies washed ashore somewhere after a battle, these jewelry pieces could pay for transport back home to their final resting place.

But the most terrifying pirate flag was the Bloody Red. The color itself spoke of violence and bloodshed, indicating the intention of the attackers to show no mercy to the crew of an annexed ship.

An eyepatch readily adjusted the vision of one eye for roving in dark places. When needed, like jumping below decks during battle, eye patches helped them maneuver in dark areas by pre-acclimating one eye for the dim light. Switching the patch gave them an advantage over the enemy by giving them night vision.

For his release, they demanded 20 talents, for which they were scoffed, with Caesar offering to give them at least 50 talents of silver. The exchange was successfully made, but the pirates’ days were numbered. Caesar immediately formed a small naval force to hunt them down. He eventually crucified them all.

He was known to intimidate his enemies by setting on fire slow matches made of hemp that he tied under his hat. Some of these were woven into his thick beard, which glowed against his crimson coat when afire like he was the devil himself.

In spite of his piratical background at sea, Captain Kidd was a dignified member of society. He actively supported the Trinity Church and made donations for the construction of the parish church in New York. He was a decent man who prayed with his family and even had a pew made for them.

Pirates weren’t bad with cocktails either. They took the grog and made it even better by adding lemon juice to the mixture, which also proved to be an effective solution against scurvy. With the addition of sugar, they had a mix worthy of a modern bar. This legendary pirate’s drink became known as the bumbo.

While the monetary value is self-explanatory, pirates held their earrings dear as amulets against seasickness. Some believed their jewelry had outlandish medicinal properties too, curing or improving their range of vision. While such ideas were merely old wives’ tales, they may have benefited from a placebo effect.

But history shows that only Capt. William Kidd was ever recorded to have done this. Wanted by the authorities for piracy and dealing with a mutinous crew in New York, he sailed for Long Island to cache his stolen valuables underground. Sadly, his buried booty was later used as evidence, and he was convicted in court for piracy.

Pirates also took things of immediate practical value, such as booze, weapons, provisions, wood, and the like. The Whydah Gally is the only pirate ship from the Golden Age of Piracy that’s ever been authenticated. It was discovered near the coast of Cape Cod, along with gold, silver, and other riches that descended with it to the ocean floor.

Some famous maritime criminals ladies include Mary Read and Anne Bonny, the latter of whom became Calico Jack’s lover and sea-roving partner in the Bahamas. After all three were captured and imprisoned, Bonny reportedly castigated Jack for not fighting like a man. Read died in prison. Calico Jack was executed in 1720. Nobody knows what happened to Anne Bonny. Whether she died in her cell or was eventually released, the bold woman disappeared like a phantom ship.

Meanwhile, mediocrity may have played a role in the creation of legends. Pirates who were defeated in battle, captured, and tried in court have become the more popular ones. Their exploits have been inflated through the grapevine, published, and inflated some more, creating legends built of anecdotes – the stuff of lore and literary exposure.

Roche Braziliano gained notoriety for roasting two farmers alive. There were accounts of pirates eating the hearts of captives. Then there was keelhauling. This involved throwing the roped-up victim overboard and then pulling the rope on the opposite side, dragging the man along the keel (the underwater underbelly of the ship). Shockingly, some people actually survived this ordeal.

Instead of being instantly executed, they were left on the edge of oblivion – abandoned to die alone on a sandbar or a faraway island. The crew would leave a transgressor with nothing but a weapon he could use to kill himself. If the hunger and pain of loneliness became too much to handle for too long, a quicker way out was always available to a disgraced pirate.

The beef they brought for long journeys was heavily preserved, salted, and smoked. The meat would harden over time, and some used what they couldn’t chew as belt buckles. Decayed strips of mesh would draw the attention of maggots, but life at the high seas was hard, so they simply thought of these little critters as a rather lively garnish.

Nothing could go to waste in their efforts to avoid dying of hunger. Bits and pieces of vegetables, scraps of animal meat, and whatever thingamabobs they could salvage from storage were cooked into an amorphous dish known as Salmagundi.

Often deprived of fresh stuff to eat, pirates rejoiced at the sight of a live sea turtle. This was a welcome change to the monotonous servings of overly salted smelly meat, maggots, and decaying vegetables.

It was hard for pirates to stay dry or warm, especially after a storm. Health conditions could plunge to horrendous lows, making their labor doubly hard. These tough living conditions contributed to the high mortality rate among pirates.

Pirates loved hardtacks, which were more like biscuits in toughness and texture. And because life can be really bleak in desultory, hit-and-miss voyages, they didn’t mind munching on bread infested with weevils and other insects.

Instead of selling the jewelry they stole, many treated the pieces as collector’s items. There was even a tale of a disgruntled pirate who wanted his massive diamond sliced into bits because he found it an encumbrance to carry around.

They would also dry meat in the sun with heavy seasoning to remove the moisture. This meant that their meals became less palatable, ingested more as a necessity than a delicious treat worth cherishing.

Pirates lived lives of debauchery and were highly unlikely to save for a rainy day. They drank a lot, partied hard when they could, and spent much of their loot on women. Most of them didn’t have much left to bury for the morrow.

Piracy was their way of making a living. Though the profession lacked an in-built moral compass and legal backing, they felt their violence was justified. To them, it was a career no different from a man following his trade or an employee going to work in town. They elected their officers, paid their dues, got their fair share of the loot, and followed a pirate’s code.

Unlike dogs, these colorful birds didn’t weigh them down or consume too much food. Their upkeep required barely any effort or expense. Pirates loved their company, and in many ways, these birds helped them maintain their sanity amidst the vastness of the eternally blue sea.

Captain Morgan and his crew were paid to do the same piratical acts they’d been doing for years, but this time with legal authorization. Captain Morgan assaulted and destroyed many Spanish posts and cities for the Jamaican government. He grew so wealthy from the missions that he bought three plantations.

The practice requires a lot of patience, and it just wasn’t their style. All of that waiting around made them feel foolish. Their preferred method for obtaining provisions was to pillage, taking what they wanted with force from other ships and coastal towns.

Apart from augmenting their grog with lemon (the aforementioned bumbo), they also created a horrific mixture by putting raw eggs in water and adding beer and gin to make it a more potent cocktail.

Pirates often found themselves in rotten luck, and at the apex of their starvation, some resorted to eating anything they could choke down, including leather and hair. Desperate to survive, some were forced to eat the flesh of their companions who’d died at sea.

They liked to dip this flavorless bread in rum, which they had an abundance of in barrels. They also boiled it in sugar water to add some flavor. This imaginative pirate gruel made the crackers more interesting to consume. It also killed all the little insects that liked to burrow into the bread.

What they stole from other ships generally wasn’t any fresher than their own stock. They could only wish they had the skill and the time to dock and fish, but that would also make them sitting ducks to a world of threats. Even their water supply turned stale in weeks.

Many pirates were exceptionally violent. Ching Shih, for example, liked to pop the eyeballs from his captives and nail them to the deck of his ship. Daniel Montbars sliced prisoners up and impaled them with their intestines dangling.

They also didn’t really say “yarrr!” when they got excited. These utterances, yarrr, arrr, or arrg are only heard in movies as invented pirate words spoken by fictional pirate characters. There’s no evidence that such language was ever used by real pirates.

Pirates loved to drink and preferred spirits over dull water. Of course, when water is so prone to going bad and getting filled with bacteria, this only makes sense. Pirates also consumed alcohol because it made them feel warm during cold weather. With all these forces working together, drinking became an intrinsic part of their lifestyle.