Piracy as an Occupational Choice

Dead Men Tell No Tales!

While you may dispute that mantra, there is some proof behind it that substantiates the claim!

On my other blog, I took a shot at the international community that lets modern-day piracy flourish through their seeming indifference.

Then I thought about what I would be doing if I lived back in the halcyon days of privateering circa 1625 in the Caribbean. The Island of Tortuga (meaning Turtle), just north of Hispaniola was actually an island shaped like a huge sea turtle - thus Ile de Tortue as it came to be known was a location where the first French settlers hunted and sold meat to sailors in the area. They were called buccaneers (derived from the word boucan - French for meat).

Would I have hunted and sold meat when there were treasure ships to be taken on the high seas? Not likely.

The pirates banded together and called themselves "Brethren of the Coast". They were united under Jean Le Vasseur, the French governor who built a large fort on the top of a hill which made the enclave virtually unassailable. 

So the choice - feather merchant or buccaneer? Yeah, I'd have been 'Captain Jack Sparrow'. I know I'm blending history at this point with the ride at the Disney Amusement Parks - Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm doing it deliberately.

Q How much does a pirate pay for an earring?

A Buck-an-ear.

Q What do you call a good looking pirate girl?

A Aye - Candy

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Maraud and embezzle and even hi-jack,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We burn up the city, we're really a fright,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We're rascals, scoundrels, villains and knaves,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We're beggars and blighters, ne're-do-well cads,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,

Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.

Yes, it's my favorite ride at Disneyland - and afterward, dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant.