The Funky Pirate -- 727 Bourbon St.

The Funky Pirate

The Funky Pirate is a wild and wooley little bar and grill for the adventerous. Offering a wide array of liquid refreshments and taste tempting fingerfoods, this little hole in the wall has become a favorite among those seeking to esacpe the rigors of the daily grind.

The Treasure Chest

For the more adventuresome client, the Funky Pirate offers "The Treasure Chest"...a private room for...special entertainment. Stop by and allow some of the most gracious and gifted women of the South share their own brand of Southern Hospitality!

Pirates and Privateers...(so....you want to be a Pirate?)

For hundreds of years pirates scoured the high seas, menacing travelers, plundering governments, and in the process profoundly affecting the course of maritime history.

The Golden Age of Piracy came about in the late 1600's, almost 200 years after Columbus had first sighted the Bahamas, and lasted until about 1722. Although a brief period (just over thirty years), it was filled with marauders, pirates, and scoundrels of every kind, all attempting to acquire immense wealth and vast riches. The Pirates ranged their travels from Madagascar to the eastern coast of North America, trading their stolen goods to whomever would deal. Most operated mainly from the Caribbean waylaying unguarded merchant ships for the precious cargos from the rich new land. When England made peace with Spain in 1689, many privateering veterans had already turned to the lucrative calling of piracy.

Privateers were men armed with a letter of marque who looted and pillaged in the name of their country; therefore their actions were condoned. Perfect examples of these mercenaries were men like Frances Drake and Henry Morgan, both of whom were so successful they received knighthood from the crown. Later Morgan actually became the lieutenant governor of Jamaica.

Privateers had an appointed captain; where as, pirates elected theirs with a majority vote, and he could be ousted just as easily by another vote. Although there was a line between privateers and pirates, it was more often a thin one and sometimes nearly indistinguishable. Admiral Horatio Nelson was quoted as saying "...the conduct of all privateers is, as far as I have seen, so near piracy that I only wonder how any civilized nation can allow it."

In later years, during the coming of the 'Golden Age of Piracy', countries were beginning to find peace which made it difficult for privateers to make their living. The loss of their letter of marque was, in fact, one of the major reasons piracy flourished in this period. Men used to reaping the rewards of looting, often making several hundred pounds a voyage, did not wish to go back to the life of making ten pounds a year. Many of these men were in the Royal Navy before becoming pirates. They left to escape the harsh punishments inflicted by their officers. As well, being a captain or helmsman on a pirate-ship allowed very few privileges as opposed to the Royal Navy where rank definitely had its privileges.

Captain Bartholomew Roberts, who was one of the most successful pirate captains of his time, had to endure men coming into his quarters at any hour of the day or night, and drinking or eating from his own stock. He was only allowed absolute power in the midst of a battle or an emergency crisis; at any other time matters were settled democratically. For being the captain you would be entitled to two shares of the booty and nothing else.

Receiving a share and a half of the booty, the quartermaster was the crews representative and the only one who was allowed to administer lashings. Lashings however, were rarely used and unfailingly required a majority vote of the crew. This is probably due to the over use of this punishment in the Navy. The most familiar pirate retributions are probably "walking the plank" and "marooning". Marooning was actually more cruel than it sounds. A man would be left alone on a deserted island with no food or fresh water and little or no equipment. Coupled with the fact that they would probably have to deal with hostile natives, this was likely a sentence of a long and drawn out death.

There is no evidence what-so-ever to support the legendary walking of the plank. This is most likely the production of fiction writers' imaginations. Customarily the punishments fit the crimes; for example if murder was the offense the accused was often tied to the victim and thrown over-board. This barbaric retribution was a custom the royal navy practiced as well.

"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company."

Dr. Samuel Johnson

If this is an exaggeration, it is a slight one. Life on a ship was nearly unbearable. Refuse collected in the hull soon became a breeding ground for roaches, rats, and other vermin. It was impossible to keep the ship dry and it always smelled dank. Often pirate ships were over crowded with more than 250 men jammed onto a ship 127 feet long by 40 feet across her beam.

On long voyages, for both pirates and merchants alike, it was not unheard of for a captain to lose half his crew to diseases like Typhoid or Scurvy. A curse, particularly among pirates, was venereal diseases. There are stories about pirates, that after taking over a ship, they would loot the medicine chest to treat their syphilis rather than search for booty.

Pirates were infamously know for their harsh and severe treatment of prisoners. Few of these captives survived to relate these tales, but one such man was an English Captain by the name of William Snelgrave. Spending more than a month on the pirate ship, he witnessed various cruelties and recounts the torture of a French Captain who didn't immediately strike his colours. "...They put a Rope about his Neck and hoisted him up and down several times to the Main-yard-arm, till he was almost dead."

During his time spent there, Snelgrave earned the favor and respect of these savage men and was remarkably released. In fact, so great was their favor that as compensation he was awarded another ship for the one they had taken from him.

Still the pirates brutality was a on going thing. Seldom were prisoners left alive much less released. There were reports of pirates doing the most heinous of acts, such as stuffing a victims mouth with oakum -a material used for caulking their boats- and setting it on fire. One man tore the heart from a captive, and while it still beat, forced it in anothers mouth.

Flaying people alive was common practise as was pelting them with broken bottles or any other sharp objects before ending their life. Even in a barbaric age the men of piracy were renowned for their terrible acts.

Hope this little...overview will assist any and all who wish to portray one of the legends of the Carribean!