Changeling
Terminology, Pirate Taxonomy
In times of piracy some terms such as pirate, freebooter, rogue, were general while others (buccaneer, privateer, marooner) had more specific meaning which may or may not have later become generalized. Although there are formal distinctions between pirates and privateers, it should be noted that the classification of these criminals originates from their specified type of target, or for the region in which they fought:

Pirates
Pirates were not bothered by consciences or patroitic ties. They were out to attack and plunder everyone and anyone in the name of making their own profit. The usual order was: attack a ship, board it, plunder it, take prisnors, recruit new pirates. Recruiting was getting men of the captured ship to change sides and join the pirates. This was made official when the man agreed to sign the rules of conduct each pirate ship drew up and each pirate signed. The objective was often not to kill, brutalize or torture so much as take what they wanted from a captured ship and be gone. Often they would allow the captain and most of the crew to go on their way without undue brutilization. They filled their free time, which was abundant, with rum drinking, singing and games. Some pirates were satisfied with one or a few good catches of booty with which to retire on land. Others became famous or infamous for record numbers of ships taken. Of course there were the pirates in the business for killing and torture as well as making a fortune. Certain captains would not only leave a trail of raided ships behind but also a trail of blood either selecting for specific revenge against injustices or in acts of pure sadism. Ships were usually all of one nationality. A ship was considered diverse if it had 85 English, 10 colonists and 5 among Caribbean and Black men.

Privateers
There was not often a big difference between pirates and privateers. The main difference or distinction between the two was that privateers possessed a piece of paper from a government and was called a letter of marque. Sometimes they were required to fly the Union Jack or the flag of the commissioning country in a corner of their flag and at other times they were not. Of course since the whole business bordered outside the law, some ships would fly a Union Jack illegally. Governments would commission privateers to attack merchant ships of the country they felt wronged by. In general the rouges were out to gain in booty and plunder sailing their privately owned vessel, attacking whomever they wished, not always sticking to the merchant boats of the nation they were supposed to. This letter of marque could be given out by any government, colonial, royal or both but not everyone recognized it as a legal profession. King James I, of "occasional twists of refinement" not only recognized his own privateers but referred to their profession as "committing of a splendidum furtum (magnificent theft)", (Chapin, 9).

Wartime Employment
In times of war, pirates could find jobs under this semi-legal blanket and make out well. Between wars the same men in need of employment, took to the illegal side because the money was so good. Throughout the seventeenth century this pattern of legal and illegal employment opportunities repeated quite a few times as England and France fought Spain then later England fought France. Just before King William's War, in 1688, England made a call saying it would pardon pirates. The following year England hired privateers for King William's War--known to them as the War of the League of Augsburg. After the English and French fought again in Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), the privateer force that had been again built up was out of business. This was still during the Golden Age of Piracy, said to end by 1720. Pirates rallied to set up base on the Bahaman island of New Providence where operations branched out up the North American coast. As Peter Rankin says of the former privateers put out of business: "Poverty drove them to crime and experience drove them to piracy" (82).

Pay
In the case of British privateers, the crown would get ten percent of the booty, the Colonial government, a share of the remaining and the privateers would split up the rest. Some North American Colonials looking for a way to make profit would even invest, outfit or buy shares in privateer ventures because they turned out so successfully.

Marooners
This is another term generally used to describe pirates. Maroon comes from the Caribbean where the Spanish word "cimarrón"- to describe anything wild or untamed was used for runaway slaves and later for lost people in general. The practice of marooning was a punishment, used by pirates, in which a seaman was left on a desert island to die. The Caribbean is ideal for this because by high tide its many small sand islands disappear and eventually the marooned pirate would die.

Buccaneers
After the Americas were "discovered" and taken over, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Spain was the principal holder of all South, North, Central America and the West Indies. The areas actually occupied by Spaniards were the Caribbean, South America and Panama, collectively known as the Spanish Main. Pirates from other countries would prey on ships returning to Spain across the Atlantic Ocean full of new world treasure. After 1588, when England defeated the Spanish Armada, Spain suffered a reduction in sea power and areas such as North America's east coast and the Caribbean could now be settled by French and English people willing to venture into the unknown. Spaniards had settled in the Caribbean briefly, long enough to kill many of the inhabitants, but then moved further west in search of gold. Despite Spanish efforts to keep them out some Frenchmen settled in Hispanola (Haiti) in seeking religious or political refuge from France.

How they became buccaneers
From the previous Spanish settlers Haiti was inhabited by cattle and pigs living on their own. The French settlers made do and dried and salted the meat in long strips over racks of sticks used by hunters called "boucans." Seamen would then come by and trade for the meat which was a pleasant change from their usual, everyday salt pork. Thus these Haitians became known as the "boucaniers," "bucaniers," or "buccaneers." Sailors who deserted from stopping ships began to add to the population on Haiti so that in order to thin out the population some left for Tortuga (Ile de la Tortue) an island a little northwest of Haiti. Filibusters, were men who hopped on passing ships and left either of these islands by the same method as new residents joined the buccaneers. Spain then raided Haiti in an attempt to keep its territory. As a consequence, Tortuga became the buccaneer headquarters.

Pirate Rules of Conduct or "Articles".

Rules of Conduct on the Ship of Captain Bart Roberts

I. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.

II. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even a Piece of Eight in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.

III. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.

IV. The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.

V. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.

VI. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.

VII. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

VII. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediatlely, If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draweth first blood shall be declared the victor.

IX. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000 pounds. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in his service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.

X. The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.

XI. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favour only.

From the CBC News website, 02 August 2001, a Thursday:

War on sea piracy fails to quell 165 worldwide attacks this year

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Pirate attacks mounted worldwide in the first six months of this year, buoyed by Indonesia's sinking economy and straggling sea patrols, a monitoring group reported Thursday.
Southeast Asia remained a pirates' paradise, contributing 85 of 165 attacks across the globe from January through June, the International Maritime Bureau's Kuala Lumpur-based piracy watch centre said.
The worldwide total was up slightly from 161 cases recorded in the first six months of last year, and 115 in the same period of 1999, the centre reported in its quarterly survey.
"It is common knowledge that attacks originate from Indonesia," it said. "Declining economic conditions and lack of maritime patrolling have exacerbated the piracy threat in Indonesia and surrounding waters."
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, nevertheless recorded fewer attacks in the first half of this year - 44 off its archipelago's 13,000 islands compared to 56 in the same period of 2000.
Bandits picked up the slack in neighbouring Malaysia, where attacks doubled from seven in the first six months of last year to 13 this year, despite the Malaysian Navy boosting efforts to battle piracy.
The Philippines - struggling to contain cash-rich rebels rolling in ransom from chronic kidnappings - also grew more afflicted, with four cases reported so far this year compared to one in the first half of 2000.
During this period, Ghana also suffered a rise from no cases last year to three in 2001, while Tanzania went from one to three.
Papua New Guinea, Trinidad, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Senegal, Iran and Iraq each recorded one attack in 2001 compared to none in the first six months of last year.
Three crew members were killed and 19 wounded this year in the six-month period under survey, the report said. None were killed in the first half of last year, while 13 people were injured.
The report said the war on piracy was hampered by differing opinions - while some governments want joint patrols, others say action against pirates is "best unilaterally undertaken by the state that harbours them."
"Governments continue to differ on how their waters should be policed and have resisted giving foreign government forces access to their territory," the report said, without specifying any countries.
The IMB advised ship owners to install satellite tracking systems that have proven helpful in recovering hijacked vessels. It also said that all suspicious craft should be reported to the Malaysian piracy watch centre.

Did you say LEGO Pirates?
Evil Stevie's Pirate Game site. Yep, that's "Stevie" as in "Steve Jackson."
Brickmania has a custom Pirates Tavern for LEGO available.
Baseplate hosts a minifig designer.
Brickfilms similarly hosts a great number of LEGO stop-motion films.

The Cant

There's a certain cant to Piracy, a means to keep prying ears from hearing too much. If you want to sail On The Account, you'll have to learn to know your orders.

abaft: point nearer the stern of a ship than another

about: to change tack

Acts of Pardon/Acts of Grace: a letter of marque for a "reformed" pirate, thus making him a privateer

Bachelor’s Wife: a mistress

barque: three-masted sailing vessel, square-rigged on mainmast and fore and aft rigged on mizzen

barquentine: vessel resembling a barque, but square-rigged on foremast only

Bilged on her anchor: a ship pierced by her own anchor

boom: a spar used to extend the foot of a sail

bowline: rope made fast to the leech or side of a sail to pull it forward

bowse: to haul with a tackle to produce extra rightness

bowspirit: spirit projecting from the bow of a ship

brail: to furl a sail by pulling it in towards the mast

brig: originally a abbreviation of "brigantine", but later a two-masted, square-rigged vessel

brigantine: a two-masted vessel, square-rigged on foremast and fore and aft rigged on mainmast

bring to: check the movement of a ship by arranging the sails in such a way that they counteract each other and keep her stationary

Brought a spring upon her cable: a ship coming about in a different direction

Brulot: Montaigne word for a fireship (q.v.)

buffer: chief bosun’s mate who is in charge of discipline

bumboat: a boat privately selling goods or provisions to sailors on ships in harbors

cable: a large rope

capstan: vertical rotating cylinder used for winding up anchor and other cable

Careen: to cause a vessel to keel over on its side to clean or repair its bottom

chain shot: cannon balls fastened together with chain

Chase guns: cannon on the bow of a ship

Clap in irons: to be put manacles and chains

Clap of Thunder: powerful drink

clap on: to add a temporary feature

clipper: a fast sailing ship

coaming: the raised edge around a hatch

Crack Jenny’s Tea Cup: To spend the night in a house of ill repute

Crimp: a person who is tricked or press ganged (q.v.) into serving on a crew

cutter: small, decked vessel with one mast

davits: a small piece of timber used as a crane

Draft: the minimum water depth necessary to float a ship

driver: large sail suspended from the mizzen gaff

fathom: depth measurement of six feet

Fireship: a ship loaded with gunpowder and explosives, set on fire and sent to drift into enemy ports.

fluke: broad part of an anchor

frigate: three-masted, fully rigged ship heavily armed with 24 to 38 pound guns

furl: to wrap or roll a sail close to the yard, stay or mast to which it belongs

gaff: spar which holds upper edge of a four-sided fore and aft sail

Go On the Account: to embark on a piratical cruise

ground: the bottom of the sea

halliards: rope or tackle for hoisting a spar holding a sail

haul wind: to direct a ship’s course as nearly as possible in the direction from which the wind is coming

heav to: an order to stop

Heave down: to turn a vessel on its side for cleaning

Hogshead: a large cask used to transport beer or wine

holystone: a piece of sandstone used to scrub the decks

Jack o’ Coins: the paymaster

Jack o’ Cups: the first mate

Jack o’ Staves: the first lieutenant

Jack o’ Swords: the bosun

Jack: a flag or a sailor; showing how sailors would refer to their ship’s colors as one of the crew

Jenny: a prostitute or trollop

job: triangular sail

killick: the anchor

Lady of Expansive Sensibility: a Jenny [q.v.]

lanyard: any rope that ties something off

league: three miles

lee: side away from the wind

let go and haul: order on tacking square-rigged ship given when the bow has just passed across the wind

list: lean to one side

Loaded to the Gunwhales: drunk

lugger: two-masted sailing vessel with a lug-sail rig

mainmast: the ship’s principal mast

matelot: (pronounced "matlow") another term for a sailor

messdeck lawyer: a know-it-all

midshipman: non-commissioned rank below lieutenant

mizzen: aftermost mast in a three-masted vessel

nipper: short length of rope used to bind anchor cable

nipperkin: a small drink

old coat: a veteran sailor (see "stripey")

Patarero: a muzzle-loading mortar that fires scattering shot, stones, spikes old nails, broken glass, etc.

pinnace: small two-masted vessel; eight-oared ship’s boat

Press Gang: a group of sailors who "recruit" for their ship using violence and intimidation

Privateer: a pirate officially sactioned by a national power

quarter: 1) part of the side of the ship nearest the stern 2) mercy shown to an opponent

reef: to shorten sail by rolling up the bottom section and securing it by tying short lines attached to the sail

rigging: general name for ropes, chains, and wires which hold masts, spars and yards in place and control movement of the ship

royal: to sail against topgallant

Salmagundi: a dish of chopped meat, eggs, anchovies, onions and anything else the cook can throw in; a piratical delicacy

scuppers: holes pierced in deck near bulwarks to allow surplus water to drain off

sheet: line running from the bottom aft corner of sail by which it can be adjusted to the wind

shrouds: standing rigging stretched from the side of a ship to support the mast

skysail: sail above the royal

sloop: sailing vessel with fore and aft riggied single mast

smacksman: sailor on a cutter or ketch-rigged sailing vessel

snow: two-masted merchant vessel, rigged as a brig with the addition of a trysail mast

Son of a Biscuit Eater: not so much a sailor term, but a derogatory term indicating a bastard son of a sailor

sprogs: raw, untrained recruits

Squiffy: a buffoon

squadron: a group of ten or less warships

square-rigged: rig consisting of four-cornered sails hung from yards

stanchion: upright support

stargazer: a sail set above moonsail

start: to hit with a rope’s end or cane

stay: standing rigging fore and aft and supporting a mast

Strike the Colors: to haul down a ship’s flag as a signal of surrender

strike: to lower or hit

stripey: long-service able seaman (named for the many stripes on his sleeves, indicating an "old coat")

Sweet trade: the career of piracy

tack: lower, forward corner of fore and aft sail; in square-rigged ships, line controlling forward lower corner of sail; ship’s coarse in relation to the wind

tackle: ropes and blocks

Take All Flags: to sail as a Pirate rather than a Privateer - the nationality of your victim does not matter

top: platform at masthead of ship for sailors to stand upon

topgallant: sail above topsail

topman: sailor who works on the sails

topmast: mast next above lower mast

topsail: sail above mainsail

waister: an incompetant sailor

weather: side from which wind is blowing

weigh: to raise

yard: spar attached to mast to carry a sail

yawl: four-oared ship’s boat or small sailing boat

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Most of the stuff on this page is copyright by White Wolf Publishing Inc. Used without express permission, and without any intent to challenge their rights to the material. Much of the artwork is copyright T. Diterlizzi. You should visit his gallery and support this fine artist. The purpose of this site is to provide support for a Live Action troupe who create improvisational stories through Changeling:the Dreaming.