 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
 
Welcome aboard Pirates and
Privateers, a site devoted to the history
of maritime piracy, privateering, and the sea
before the Age of Steam.
Within these pages you will find articles
dealing with the history and culture of these
topics from ancient times to modern day. Click
one of the links above or below to explore the
treasures within this website.
Each month, I send out a newsletter
about the latest article and reviews posted
here. I also include information that doesn't
appear at Pirates and Privateers, but is
still of interest to adherents of piracy and
maritime history. By subscribing to the
newsletter, you'll never miss out on the latest
happenings here at Pirates and Privateers.
As
always, if you have a question about pirates,
please write
and ask. If there is a particular pirate
or subject, you'd like me to write about, let
me know.
One cautionary note for those
seeking genealogical information: Historical
records about pirates are rare. Much of what
is known comes from government records,
newspaper accounts, and the few contemporary
accounts written during a particular period.
This information rarely contains details
pertinent to what you need to know to identify
an ancestor. The simple fact is that the vast
majority of pirates' names remain unknown. I cannot answer
genealogical questions. Instead, I recommend
contacting genealogical depositories and
websites, historical societies, and
national archives --
places where the librarians and curators are
better trained to assist in this type of
query.
A special note to teachers
and students: If
you need help with a project or
report, please contact
me. Should you use any of my
articles or reviews, please let me
know and remember to include the
proper citation. The majority of
material contained with this
website is copyrighted.
Fair winds and
following seas,
Cindy
(site last updated 18 April 2025)
Pirate Quote of the
Month
Hoisted
upon the Deck a great many
half hogsheads of Claret and
French Brandy: knock’d their
Heads out, and dipp’d Canns
and Bowls into them to drink
out of: And in their
wantonness threw full
Buckets upon one another.
And in the evening washed
the Decks with what remained
in the Casks. As to bottled
Liquor, they would not give
themselves the trouble of
drawing the Cork out, but
nick’d the Bottles, as they
called it, that is, struck
their necks off with a
Cutlace.
— Captain
William Snelgrave during his
captivity amongst pirates,
1719
 April Article |
 April
Reviews |
Yo
Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum . . . But
Fill full
your cups: feel no distress
That
thoughts so great should not be
less!
These two lines from Thomas
Hardy’s “Drinking Song” are probably
ones with which Joseph Mansfield will
concur. After all, he chooses to
switch from being a highwayman to a
pirate because of “the love of drink
and a lazy life.” Of course, he may
also agree with the Reverend Increase
Mather’s words from “Wo to Drunkards”:
This woful Vice is
every way Prejudicial, Injurious
&
Destructive
to him that shall be subject to
it.
Author’s Note:
While I
worked on this article, my father
passed away. He shared his affinity
for the water and boats with me in
my youth, which helped awaken a
desire to write about pirates. This
article is for him. Now that you are
at peace and without pain, Dad, may
you eat, drink, and be merry.
Lee Aker
Rest in peace
|
The
Tortuga Plantation
by James L. Nelson
Historical Fiction:
Pirates
The
Problem of Piracy
in the Early Modern World
edited by John Coakley, C. Nathan
Kwan, and David Wilson
History: Piracy
|
|
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Pirate & Maritime News
|
Events & Activities
|
Some pages remain in the
old style, while others are in the new
style. We apologize for this. After
twenty-four years, there are many
pages to overhaul and this takes time.
We appreciate your understanding and
patience.
The latest pages that have been
overhauled include the master list of
Pirate
Articles. I've added more
categories and each article summary
now includes the pirates discussed in
the specific article, as well as other
people with connections (friends or
enemies) to pirates. Two articles -- The
Crew of a Pirate Ship and Making
Your Mark -- have also been
overhauled.
|
Brick
Wrecks
Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks
8 March - 31 August 2025
The Historic Dockyard Chatham
Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom
Pirates
29 March 2025 - 4 January 2026
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich, United Kingdom
Vikings
Before Vikings
11 April - 30 December 2025
Vrak -- Museum of Wrecks
Stockholm, Sweden
PirateFestLV
26-27 April 2025
Craig Ranch Park
Las Vegas, Nevada
Homosassa
Pirate Invasion
28 April 2025
Homosassa, Florida
Making
a Maritime Painting
Patrick O'Brien
1 May 2025
National Maritime Historical
Society
Peekskill, New York
Into
the Charmed Churned Circle
31 May 2025
Lehigh Valley No. 79 Barge in
Red Hook
Brooklyn, New York
Art of
the Sea Exhibition
June 2025
National Maritime Historical
Society
Bow
Lines
Maritime Literary Festival
6-7 June 2025
Exeter Custom House
Exeter, United Kingdom
Boarded
A New Pirate
Adventure
14 June 2025
12 July 2025
11 October
2025
29 November
2025
27 December
2025
Maritime
Museum of San
Diego
San Diego,
California
Maritime
Heritage Conference
24-27 September 2025
Buffalo Convention Center
Buffalo, New York
Sail
250th New York
4 July 2026
New York City, New York
|
The Rebel & the Spy
These
five people played roles in the War of 1812.
James Madison (far left) was president at
the time and, in my current
work-in-progress, he has a special
assignment for Lucas Burnett, one of the
protagonists in the novel. Jean Laffite
(beside Madison) operates a smuggling
operation, based on barrier islands
southwest of New Orleans. One of his
captains, is Dominique You, whose sister
Alexine has been raised in this nefarious
world of smugglers, pirates, privateers, and
cutthroats. Dolley Madison is the country's
presidentress (first lady) and plays a vital
role in preserving some of our national
treasures during the British invasion of
Washington City. General Andrew Jackson
(second from right) has no intention of
allowing the British to gain entry to the
United States through its back door (the
Mississippi). Governor William C. C.
Claiborne (far right) is Lucas's cousin and
a constant thorn in Laffite's side. They
come together within the pages of The
Rebel & the Spy, a historical
novel where it's not always easy to decide
who is the rebel and who is the spy.
The links below are to a gallery of places
depicted in my novel and a resource list for
those seeking information on the people
pictured above, pirates, ships in the age of
sail, the Battle of New Orleans, the
invasion and burning of Washington, the
bombardment of Fort McHenry, and much more.
(Please note that these pages are updated
from time to time, so check back to see
what's been added.) I hope you enjoy.
Pirates & Privateers
Newsletter
Each month I alert
readers to the posting of the
latest piracy article and book
reviews, new additions made to the
website, and interesting maritime
tidbits. If you would like to
receive the monthly Pirates
& Privateers Newsletter,
send
me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in
the subject line.
If you're not sure,
here's a sample
newsletter to read. I hope
you enjoy!
Note
to subscribers: If you fail
to receive your newsletter,
it's possible that your
e-mail provider returned it
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reasons: they deem it to be
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the change. Contact me and
we will try to resolve the
problem.
If your
newsletter bounces two months
in a row and you don't contact
me, I just delete you from the
subscriber list. You're
welcome to resubscribe if that
occurs.
Copyright ©2023 Cindy
Vallar
Click to contact me
Background image compliments
of Anke's Graphics |
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