Common Myths

Like many children in the last century, the Disney movie Peter Pan introduced me to pirates. I sat beside my little sister, unaware of the popcorn I was losing into the couch, mesmerized by a dauntless boy taking on the villainous Captain Hook, the vengeful but educated leader of the Jolly Roger pirate ship. 

Hook attended Elton College prior to acquiring his sea legs. Although "a common feature of many pirate films... is the portrayal of the pirate captain as an aristocrat, or as an educated man of some standing in society", (Cordingly, David) most pirates were not of aristocracy. They were more likely to be criminals, former members of the Royal Navy, or merchant seamen who surrendered to the pirates who captured them (Cordingly, David).

Dressed in a long red coat, leather buckle shoes, and an ostentatious feathered hat, Hook did not look the part of a weathered mariner. Pirates of this time often wore " short blue jackets, over a checked shirt, and ... long canvas trousers..." (Cordingly, David). Pirate attire was quickly sullied by the grime of manual labor or from the blood of a foe.

As a child, I was more afraid of the ticking, ominous crocodile than the grouchy pirate captain. Disney watered down the viciousness of pirate captains again with the belligerent, goofy, and eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow. However, based on the gory, ruthless historical accounts, pirates were violent criminals bound only by their own moral code. They would torture, maim, and kill to secure stolen goods.