let's verse presents bizarre pirate
traditions most people don't know about
number one
the Jolly Roger flag the best-known
pirate flag is the Jolly Roger the skull
and crossbones but you might not know is
that there are many versions of this
flag the first time that it was ever
mentioned was from a book that was
written by Charles Johnson in 1724
called a general history of the Pirates
Blackbeard's flag was a bit different
than the original this flag had a
skeleton toasting the devil while it was
spearing a bleeding heart other flags
featured men standing on skulls
hourglasses beside the skulls and even
red skeletons number two all pirates
weren't men he didn't have to be a man
to be a pirate there were a few women
who took to the sea to become rich two
of the most famous female pirates were
Mary Reed and Anne Bonny in 1720 the two
women sailed on the pirate ship revenge
Mary dressed like a man to hide her
identity and Anne was the first mate
when their ship was captured the two
women went to jail when they were
arrested they blamed the ship's captain
Calico Jack the women were angry at
calico Jack and when they were in jail
and said sorry to see you there but if
you fought like a man you would not have
been hanged like a dog
number 3 Blackbeard had a secret to
maintain his facial hair Blackbeard is
famous for being one of the most
terrifying pirates in the world part of
the reason he was feared so much was the
appearance of his beard he captained the
Queen Anne's Revenge
before he captured that ship and any
other ones he found a way to make
himself feared by all he would weave
hemp into his long dark beard and in a
hair under his captain's hat when he
would go light the hemp on fire it would
cause smoke to come out from his face
making people fear for their lives he
also wore a crimson coat and he carried
two swords two knives and two guns at
all times
he looked evil and rude
to everyone he met number four pirates
were the first mixologists grog was
invented in the sixteen hundreds by the
sailors in the British Navy they wanted
to keep their water from getting slimy
and contaminated with microbes and algae
so they would mix rum with the water by
1731 the idea had caught on and each
sailor was given half a pint of ROM each
day which was the equivalent of about
five shots
the Pirates borrowed the recipe for grog
however they made a few changes they
added lemon juice to prevent scurvy and
they added sugar to make it taste better
this quickly became the go-to drink for
pirates number five
pirates didn't wear eye patches because
they were missing an eye thanks to sword
battles there were some pirates with
missing eyes however many pirates wore
eye patches for another reason
pirates spent a great deal of their time
on the bright deck and then would go
into a dark cabin below and this
happened very often when they were
raiding ships or protecting their own by
keeping one eye covered it was always
adjusted to the dark when they had to
rush into a dark cabin they would simply
remove the patch from the covered eye
and they would instantly be able to see
number six
pirates wore earrings to finance their
burials this is one of the most bizarre
pirate traditions that most people don't
know about it's because you would not
expect a pirate to care where they were
buried when they died but they did
pirates knew that they could die at sea
however they didn't want to be buried at
the bottom of the ocean to ensure that
they would have a proper burial they
would wear expensive earrings when a
pirate would dye their earrings would be
melted down and sold to pay for their
casket and other burial costs even if a
pirate was found washed up on the sea
other pirates made sure that they got a
proper burial there were some pirates
who wanted to be buried at their own
port so they had to have the name of the
port engraved on the inside of their
earrings so that their bodies could be
sent home after they died number 7 the
blood-red pirate flag was the most
feared when people on ships saw the
Jolly Roger flag it created a sense of
dread when they saw the red flag however
it was even more terrifying if a ship
flew a flag that was read it warned
everyone on the ship that they were
going to be shown no mercy and killed
immediately this flag was called bloody
red when pirates on a ship saw this flag
they would often jump ship to save
themselves even if it meant drowning in
the ocean
number eight most pirates didn't bury
treasure most people believed the
Pirates would bury their treasures on a
tropical island to keep it safe the only
pirate who did this was William KITT he
buried his treasure off the coast of
Long Island however his plan backfired
when one of his allies dug up the
treasure and used it to convict Kidd a
piracy most pirates did not bury their
treasure because it usually wasn't
treasure by which typically stole
weapons food alcohol lumber and animal
hides since these goods were worthless
in the ground
the Pirates often use them or sold them
number nine Pirates practiced gay
marriage gay marriage goes back as far
as 1600 on pirate ships because pirates
spent so much time on ships together
they often became intimate when same-sex
relationships were formalized the
Pirates called it mate lithic when two
pirates entered into mate lytic they
would share all of their goods and
treasure if one pirate died the other
pirates would receive death benefits the
two would live together exchange gold
rings and share the occasional female
prostitute number 10 julius caesar was
captured by pirates pirates are known
for taking hostages when they take over
a vessel one group of pirates managed to
capture Julius Caesar back in 75 BCE
they plan to ask for a ransom of 20
talents and julius caesar said that he
was worth at least 50 while he was their
hostage caesar would recite poetry to
the pirates after his ransom was paid
he had the Pirates crucified as their
punishment number 11 the pirate's
earrings protected their hearing those
pirate ships had numerous cannons on
board in fact Blackbeard's ship Queen
Anne's Revenge had 40 cannons the
cannons were very important
during combat if they needed to sink a
ship to avoid capture when the play
routes would shoot their cannons there
was a loud blast that could cause
deafness to keep that from happening
pirates would often hang wax from their
earrings before the cannon was fired
they would take the wax from the
earrings and put it in their ears to
muffle the sound number 12
they were superstitious surrounding a
pirate's earrings
while the earrings that pirates war were
practical there were also several
superstitions surrounding the earrings
many pirates believed that the earrings
could prevent seasickness others
believed that they could cure poor
eyesight many pirates wore gold hoops
because these earrings were said to
prevent drowning however this theory was
debunked over and over again subscribe
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