French Pirates

["hellfire" Marie]

I was just wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some websites, books, or whatever that would contain information about French pirates. I am not looking for info on a particular pirate. I just want to know how different the French pirates might have been from the English. Did they have different superstitions, different slang, would they have prefered different ships, etc.

For example- would the French have a different name for Davy Jone's locker or was that term universal?

Any information at all would be great!

[Cut-throat]

Heres a little tid-bit about the origin of the Jolly Roger. Though it is only one of a few theories, it does involve the French.

http://www.cindyvallar.com/flags.html

Follow the link and scroll down toward the bottom of the page. You should see French text in italics.

[Cut-throat]

Heres a quick wikipedia bio of the French pirate Francois L'Ollonais

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois..._l'Ollonais

["hellfire" Marie]

Thanks for the links, Cut-throat. I found the Jolly Roger information very interesting.

[blackjohn]

You should pick up a copy of Barry Clifford's book The Lost Fleet. It's half underwater archaeology, half history of the pirates (many/most French) that wrecked on the reef, with their exploits afterward.

[PirateQueen]

French corsairs were active in the Caribbean in the mid 16th century. Here's an informative web page:

The French Corsairs

[Calico Jack]

And of course, there's a new book out looking at trying to patch together a biography of the brothers Lafitte - most definitely criminals and pirates rather than American Patriots - who were distinctly French in origin, but not GAoP [more late Napoleonic/War of 1812].