BEFORE THE GOLDEN AGE

[kass]

And yet the ILLUSTRATIONS are rife with the very cliches the TEXT seeks to deny. I've seen this countless times in my collection of "current mainstream" pirate books. Which I guess would be the fault of the editor for not taking the time to find a good pairing of writer and artist.

Never forget that Osprey books are for table-top wargamers who want to get a nutshell idea of the period for their games. They were never intended to be in-depth studies of anything. And if you base clothing on the illustrations in the center, you do so at your peril.

I don't think that's the way it works with Osprey books, or at least it didn't. My friend wrote the Samurai books, and when he did, he provided the artist with photographs of armour and clothing. But he didn't have any say over the artwork. They work pretty independently. And I wouldn't be surprised if Osprey chose the period illustrations based on how much they had to pay for permissions to use certain things, not what was period appropriate.

Well, number one, the artist made all the people look like they were Hawaiians, not Japanese (too dark-skinned, to polynesian). Number two, he got some of the stuff seriously wrong even though it was right in the photos. One major faux pas was putting the armour on a figure backwards (yes, the breastplate was on his back -- his back was facing the viewer). The artist obviously knew nothing about Japanese armour...

[Fox]

The really funny thing about Osprey books is that some of the pictures used for the earlier ones were basically paintings of British re-enactors. Looking through some of the older ones there are people in them I know and recognise. Nowadays re-enactors base their kit on the pictures, little suspecting the truth...

[Jib]

I seem to recall something about 'cleaning out the prisons' of war criminals and shipping them to the West Indies during or just after the English Civil War. Any ideas?

[JoshuaRed]

Sure! That's how Captain Blood ended up in Jamaica in the story.

Flogging Molly has a great song about the Irish being rounded up and sent to the tobacco plantations in Barbados too.

[Jib]

I've heard that Irish and Scots were often called "Red Legs" because they sun burned so easily.

I've also heard that scalping came from Ireland and the Native American thought it was magic and started to preform it.

[JoshuaRed]

Aha! So that's where the "red leg" lyric in Tobacco Island by Flogging Molly comes from! It's all about the Irish who were rounded up and shipped to Barbados in the 17th C.

[Jib]

I read an interesting play called "The Clearing" which was based at about the time Cromwell took hold of Ireland and required the native peoples to settle west of the river Shannon. It mentioned that many Irish (including a large number of clergy) were sent to West Indies for either refusing to leave or as prisoners. I don't know about the truth to it but it creates an interesting visage.

It's a good play too!

[Dorian Lasseter]

I've heard that Irish and Scots were often called "Red Legs" because they sun burned so easily.

I've also heard that scalping came from Ireland and the Native American thought it was magic and started to preform it.

You are more or less correct on the red leg thing... White slaves, mostly brought from Ireland...

And as for scalping being from Ireland... Not to my knowledge... But.. It is european in origin... The english would pay for indian scalps during the many indian wars in the Americas.... And yes, the Natives then began returning the favor...

[Jib]

Seems odd that this era wasn't called "The Golden Age" since the cargos of treasure were much larger. Why is the GAOP called such?

[Daniel]

Seems odd that this era wasn't called "The Golden Age" since the cargos of treasure were much larger. Why is the GAOP called such?

The Golden Age is called that because there were more pirates at sea in the western world at that time than ever before or after. It was not called the Golden Age at the time; that's a term 20th century historians applied to it. It's also the time that most influenced our mental image of pirates. Pirates have been around since the days of Egypt, but when you say the word "pirate" the image that comes to most people's minds is based on pictures of Golden Age pirates (though not necessarily very accurate pictures).

[Fox]

If we include the 1690s in the "Golden Age" then the prizes taken by the pirates in the Red Sea like Avery and co were among the most valuable ever taken.

The capture of the Gunsway netted something like £600,000 for Avery's men. Tew took about £150,000 in one cruise, and Dirk Chivers took about the same amount from the Great Mohammed. In 1721 Taylor and La Bouche took goods worth about £1.2m from the Nostra Senhora de Cabo at Reunion Island. (figures in period sums, not modern equivalent)

In the Caribbean and Americas though the prizes were considerably less valuable.

[Jib]

GAOP= Wealth and value of plunder.

Okay that makes sense.

Most of the rich prizes were taken in the Indian Ocean?

[Fox]

Sorry, didn't make myself clear. I think the reasons we now call the 1690-1730ish period the "Golden Age" of piracy are those Daniel gave: the prevalence of piracy, the disruption it caused trade, and because it is the period we most associate with the word "pirate".

I was just pointing out that there were, occasionally, hugely valuable cargoes taken (I can't off hand think of any other single capture which yielded more than the Nostra Senhora de Cabo). I'm not convinced though that the size of prizes - which was generally pretty pitiful - led to the "golden" appelation.

And yeah, during the GAoP most of the really valuable prizes were taken in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. The Americas exported potatoes, tobacco and cotton, the Indies exported spices, silks, gems, drugs, and (most lucratively) wealthy pilgrims from the Moghul's court.

Although the Spanish did send treasure fleets of gold and silver from the New World they were incredibly well protected, and only something like 4 or 5 were taken in the 200+ year period they operated for. By contrast the Pilgrim fleets crossing from India to Arabia were filled with wealthy people and often carried cargoes of gems and precious metal, but were not so well protected, and were within the pirates' grasp in a way the Spanish fleets were not.