The Pirates Whos Who | Page 5

first thing to do was to elect a commander. This was done by
vote amongst the crew, who elected whoever they considered the most
daring amongst them, and the best navigator. The next officer chosen
was the quartermaster. The captain and quartermaster once elected, the
former could appoint any junior officers he chose, and the shares in any
plunder they took was divided according to the rank of each pirate. The
crew were then searched for a pirate who could write, and, when found,
this scholar would be taken down to the great cabin, given pen, ink, and
paper, and after the articles had been discussed and decided upon, they
were written down, to be signed by each member of the crew. As an
example, the articles drawn up by the crew of Captain John Phillips on
board the Revenge are given below in full:
1.
Every man shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full
Share and a half in all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boatswain and
Gunner shall have one Share and quarter.
2.
If any Man shall offer to run away, or keep any Secret from the
Company, he shall be marroon'd with one Bottle of Powder, one Bottle
of Water, one small Arm, and Shot.
3.
If any Man shall steal any Thing in the Company, or game, to the value
of a Piece of Eight, he shall be Marroon'd or shot.
4.
If at any Time we should meet another Marrooner (that is, Pyrate,) that
Man that shall sign his Articles without the Consent of our Company,
shall suffer such Punishment as the Captain and Company shall think
fit.
5.

That Man that shall strike another whilst these Articles are in force,
shall receive Moses's Law (that is 40 Stripes lacking one) on the bare
Back.
6.
That Man that shall snap his Arms, or smoak Tobacco in the Hold,
without a cap to his Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lanthorn,
shall suffer the same Punishment as in the former Article.
7.
That Man that shall not keep his Arms clean, fit for an Engagement, or
neglect his Business, shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such
other Punishment as the Captain and the Company shall think fit.
8.
If any Man shall lose a Joint in time of an Engagement, shall have 400
Pieces of Eight; if a limb, 800.
9.
If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to
meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.
These formalities took time and much argument and the drinking of
many bowls of punch, and, when once settled, the next business was to
make a flag. The Jolly Roger, consisting of a human skull and two
crossed thigh-bones, was generally portrayed in black and white. Some
crews preferred a study in red and white. More enterprising captains
with imagination and taste, such as Captain Bartholomew Roberts, who
was a truly remarkable man and the greatest pirate who ever "declared
war upon all the world," aimed at something more elaborate. Roberts
flew several flags, all made to his own design.
On one was depicted a "human anatomy," holding a rummer, or glass,
of punch in one bony hand, and a flaming sword in the other. Another

favourite flag of Roberts had a huge portrait of himself, sword in hand,
and two skulls.
Another had a "skellington" standing with either foot firmly placed on a
skull, and under one skull were embroidered the letters A.B.H., under
the other A.M.H., which letters stood for a Barbadian's head and a
Martinican's head, to warn any inhabitant of either of these islands what
to expect if he was so unfortunate as to be taken prisoner by
Bartholomew, who never forgot nor forgave two occasions on which he
was very roughly handled by ships from Barbadoes and Martinique.
The weak point in all pirate ships was the lack of discipline. Time and
again some successful enterprise, almost completed, was thrown away
by lack of discipline. No captain could be certain of his command or
crew. If he did anything they disapproved of, the crew would throw
him in chains into the hold, or as likely overboard, and elect another. It
is on record that one ship had elected thirteen different commanders in
a few months. Some of the big men retained their commands, Roberts
holding the record, for a pirate, of four years, until his death; while
Bartholomew Sharp holds the record for a buccaneer.
Having procured a vessel, perhaps little more than a fishing-boat,
sometimes only an open row-boat, the embryo pirates would paddle
along some coast until they came across an unsuspecting craft, one not
too big for the desperadoes to attack. Hiding their arms, they