Multi-national Pirate Crew in "Out of My Port, Frog!"

[Red_Dawn]

This is something I was reminded of when I answered in the tavern post. I've asked about this over a year ago at Piratesinfo.com and a writers' forum. I got good advice from both place, but sometimes I wonder if I could use some more...

Most of my cheesy little tales take place roughly in the very early 1700s. I had been looking into the little things for my stories, and I completely missed the War of Spanish Succession. The two largest nationalities in my crew are English and French. Oh, and the religious make up of the crew about half Protestant and half Catholic, mostly along national lines. See a problem?

Not that my pirates care; if they had any pretentions of patriotism, they would've been privateers. Neither does their home base (a made-up island), unless you do something blatant, like yell "#$^% France!" in the French areas or "Je $%^ sur le roi d'Angleterre!*" in the English areas. However, there are other real life ports my pirates may need to got to. True, they're probably limited to pirate-friendly ports in the first place, but shore leave might still be awkward for pirates of the wrong nationality. Cheese does not give me free license to completely ignore history and logic.

Got any advice, observations, or insights on the subject? Thanks!

* Pardon my online-translator French.

P.S. As a side note, I still haven't found out much about the war and how much of it spilled into the Caribbean, but that's best left to another thread...

[Elena]

It spilled into the Caribbean too, because privateers there were mostly on the prowl. And the colonies were copies of the mother country...

But my pirates have multi-national crews as well (because most crews were like this) and they knew where to go ashore... There were ports like Port-de-Paix, Hispaniola, where the governor preferred to close his eyes and open hands to receive the protection tax from the pirates, there were British ports where a ship wearing a Dutch convenience flag was welcomed...

There is a Spaniard (in wartime) who speaks English with foreign accent and he says he is a Venetian merchant sailor hired on a Dutch (or British) ship when asked...

Edited October 30, 2010 by Elena

[Red_Dawn]

Good points, Elena. Thanks!

But my pirates have multi-national crews as well (because most crews were like this) and they knew where to go ashore... There were ports like Port-de-Paix, Hispaniola, where the governor preferred to close his eyes and open hands to receive the protection tax from the pirates, there were British ports where a ship wearing a Dutch convenience flag was welcomed...

Blind eyes and fake flags. Got it.

There is a Spaniard (in wartime) who speaks English with foreign accent and he says he is a Venetian merchant sailor hired on a Dutch (or British) ship when asked...

Lying about their nationality could work. I'd be sorely tempted to make them blow their cover for laughs, though.

[Elena]

Well, Chago (my mercenary) almost did it once, but he closed his mouth before letting the reference to Flamenco singers slip, as his statement could simply refer to Opera singers or whatever