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When is a Pirate not a Pirate?

© Cindy Vallar

When we hear the word "pirate," an image forms in our minds. Whether that picture comes from movies like Peter Pan and Pirates of Tortuga or books like Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Sir Walter Scott's The Pirate, we think of cruel and bloodthirsty cutthroats. Although we call men like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd pirates, some also call them corsairs and buccaneers. Are these words interchangeable? To most of us, the answer is yes, but to aficionados and researchers, the answer is no. So what differentiates one name from another?

Buccaneers acquired their name from the French word boucanier. Based on the island of Hispaniola, these rugged men hunted oxen and boar, then smoked the strips of meat over a barbecue or boucan. In time runaway slaves and deserters joined them. When the Spanish government tried to get rid of them, they took to the sea and raided Spanish ships and towns. By the 17th century pirates who preyed on ships in the Caribbean were called buccaneers and operated out of Tortuga and Port Royal. A well-known buccaneer was Henry Morgan, but the cruelest one was François L'Ollonais. In 1678, Alexandre Oliver Esquemelin, wrote a book, The Buccaneers of America, about his own adventures with these Brethren of the Coast.

Corsairs roamed the Mediterranean Sea in oared galleys for nearly three centuries. Instead of gold or spices, they sought people whom they either held for ransom or sold into slavery. The Barbary corsairs attacked Christian ships and operated out of Muslim ports along the northern coast of Africa. Their Christian counterparts were based on Malta and sponsored by the Knights of the Order of St. John. Perhaps the most famous of the Barbary corsairs were the Barbarossa (Red Beard) Brothers and Dragut Reis.

The Spaniards referred to runaway slaves as cimarrónes, which the English and French shortened to maroons. During the 17th and 18th centuries, marooners became synonymous with pirates of the Caribbean, perhaps because they would maroon one of their own on a desert island with little or no food. The intent was to have the pirate die a slow death, but Alexander Selkirk survived his marooning. Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is based on Selkirk.

During the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates attacked and plundered ships of all countries for their own profit. Before setting sail, they drew up a set of rules that spelled out conduct, division of prizes, compensation for maiming, and punishments for disobedience. Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts was one of many notorious pirates from days long past, but he was not the last pirate to roam the high seas. Pirates continue to plague merchant shipping today.