The library resources listed in this post are available in CCPL’s COSMOS Catalog. To place a hold request, simply click on the title and enter your library barcode and PIN/password.
If you’d really like to dive into pirate talk, check out CCPL’s Mango Languages database, which offers a “pirate language” that you can learn!
In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a fun pseudo-holiday that has been celebrated on September 19 since 2002, let’s explore all things pirate.
Defintion
(from Dictionary.com)
pirate [pahy-ruht]
noun
- a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea.
- a ship used by such persons.
According to Britannica Kids, the “Golden Age of Piracy” occurred between 1650 -1730, most pirates were men, and they used small, swift ships to attack larger ships. Pirates would use cannon fire to begin the attack and then board the ships using swords and pistols. Well-known pirates of the “Golden Age” include Blackbeard and Captain Kidd.
Once captured, a converted pirate ship flew under the Jolly Roger, a black flag displaying some type of skeleton, such as a skull and crossbones.
Most of the stories we hear about pirates are from movies and books, such as the popular Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl.
But pirates were real people who influenced history through modern times. You may be surprised by what you learn in this article, A Lot of What Is Known about Pirates Is Not True, and A Lot of What Is True Is Not Known| The National Endowment for the Humanities, which helps separate fact from fiction.
To learn more historical facts about pirates and the lives of pirates, check out these items from our nonfiction collection:
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly
Pirates have become so much a part of story and legend that is easy to forget they actually existed. Their roving lives left behind little historical record; thus our image of them is overlaid with three centuries of ballads, plays, epic poems, and films. But how does our conception of pirates compare with the reality, and why has such a romantic aura become associated with murderers and thieves? Author Cordingly, of England’s National Maritime Museum, has mined a wealth of original sources–eyewitness accounts, court documents, national archives, and more–to create the most authoritative and definitive account of the great age of piracy: how they attacked, how they governed themselves, what they wore, what ships they used, why they flourished in the years around 1720, and what brought their reign of terror to an end.
-From Publisher Description
The Pirate Queen by Susan Ronald
An analysis of Elizabeth I’s use of piracy to promote her financial security offers insight into the personal beliefs and vision that motivated her choices, in an account that also traces the contributions of her merchants, philosophers, and councillors.
Pirates Magnified by David Long
Ahoy shipmate! Grab your magnifying glass and seek out history’s most notorious pirates in this swashbuckling search-and-find adventure, packed with over 200 things to spot! Explore the lives of 10 real pirates and learn about life on the high seas, whilst using the free magnifying glass to spot more than 200 pirate-themed items in each eye-boggling illustration. Kids will have fun using the magnifying glass to search whilst learning about real life pirates in this seafaring adventure! Ahoy shipmate! Grab your magnifying glass and seek out history’s most notorious pirates in this swashbuckling search-and-find adventure, packed with over 200 things to spot! Explore the lives of 10 real pirates and learn about life on the high seas, whilst using the free magnifying glass to spot more than 200 pirate-themed items in each eye-boggling illustration. Kids will have fun using the magnifying glass to search whilst learning about real life pirates in this seafaring adventure!
-Amazon.com
Pirate Coast by Richard Zacks
In an attempt to stop the legendary Barbary Pirates of North Africa from hijacking American ships, William Eaton set out in 1805 on a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli. The operation was sanctioned by President Thomas Jefferson, but at the last moment he grew wary of “intermeddling” in a foreign government, and Eaton set off without national support. Short on supplies, given very little money and only a few men, Eaton’s mission seemed doomed from the start. But he improbably triumphed, recruiting a band of European mercenaries in Alexandria, along with some Arab cavalry and Bedouin fighters, and leading them on a march across the Libyan Desert. The success of the event is immortalized in the Marines’ Hymn, but Jefferson never allowed Eaton the fame he craved.
-From Publisher Description
A Pirate’s Life by John Hamilton
No Description Available.
Encyclopedia of the Sea by Richard Ellis
Ellis’s research has taken him all over the world, from Nantucket to Patagonia, from Newfoundland to New Zealand. Now, with more than 450 of his own illustrations, he takes readers from A to Z (abalone to zooxanthelae) in this one unprecedented volume of the sea. of color paintings. 471 illustrations. From one of the world’s leading experts on the sea comes this ocean-sized compendium of aquatic life and lore. Richard Ellis, who is also recognized as America’s foremost painter of marine subjects, gives us a masterful synthesis of years of investigation and tens of thousands of disparate sources. The result is the first comprehensive, fully illustrated, and highly readable reference on almost everything that is known about the sea. Ellis’s research has taken him all over the world, from Nantucket to Patagonia, from Newfoundland to New Zealand. Now he leads us on a great journey: from the amazing diversity of the creatures of the oceans to the birds who inhabit the skies above them; from the little-known realms of marine geography to the men and women who have bravely explored them; from the fabulous legends the sea has inspired through the ages to the intriguing evolution of the tools of nautical navigation. With more than 450 of the author’s own drawings and paintings accompanying the text, Ellis reveals the many wonders of the oceans, abalone, zooxanthellae, and everything in between. We learn about the peculiar behavior of Vampyroteuthis infernalis (the vampire squid from hell) and about Mocha Dick, the real sperm whale that may have inspired Melville’s Moby-Dick; where the crown-of-thorns starfish gets its name and how the rare coelacanth, cousin to a species extinct for 70 million years, and one of the most mispronounced fish in the sea, was rediscovered. We visit lovely and exotic locations from Venice to Ni’ihau (Hawaii’s forbidden isle), and consider both the fearsome kraken (a mythical sea monster often seen by Scandinavian clergymen) and the notorious real-life pirate Captain Kidd (whose hidden treasure was never found). Exhaustive, concise, and entertaining, the Encyclopedia of the Sea is invaluable as an all-inclusive, one-volume source for anyone interested in the sea, its inhabitants, and man’s exploration of its mysteries.
The Real History of Pirates (DVD) by The Teaching Company
Other than scale, what is the difference between a pirate and the vast armies of an emperor? Were the men who famously traversed the Atlantic actually heroic explorers, or were they pirates? In The Real History of Pirates, you’ll look at world history from a new point of view, realizing much of what you’ve learned before should be viewed through a more accurate, post-imperialistic filter.
Pirate Hunters: The US Navy Seals Rescue of Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama (web link available on Hoopla ) by US Armed Forces
When pirates kidnap the captain of a US-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, a team of elite US Navy SEALs deploy to the scene. The rescue of Captain Phillips is presented in detail, using news footage, original visuals, and interviews with SEALs.
Although most pirates were men, women played a significant role in pirate history. Learn more about women pirates with these additional nonfiction items from our collection:
Pirate Queens by Leigh Lewis
A collection of fact-filled profiles, poetry, and illustrations of women pirates who made their mark on the high seas. Each profile includes an original poem presented against a backdrop of full-color art by illustrator Sara Woolley Gomez. The profile is followed by information about the real life and times of these daring women.
-Provided by Publisher
The Pirate's Wife by Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos
Captain Kidd was one of the most notorious pirates to ever prowl the seas. But few know that Kidd had an accomplice, a behind-the-scenes player who enabled his plundering and helped him outpace his enemies. That accomplice was his wife, Sarah Kidd, a well-to-do woman whose extraordinary life is a lesson in reinvention and resourcefulness. Twice widowed by twenty-one and operating within the strictures of polite society in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New York, Sarah secretly aided and abetted her husband, fighting alongside him against his accusers. More remarkable still was that Sarah not only survived the tragedy wrought by her infamous husband's deeds, but went on to live a successful and productive life as one of New York's most prominent citizens. Marshaling in newly discovered primary-source documents from archives in London, New York, and Boston, historian and journalist Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos reconstructs the extraordinary life of Sarah Kidd, uncovering a rare example of the kind of life that pirate wives lived during the Golden Age of Piracy. A compelling tale of love, treasure, motherhood and survival, this landmark work of narrative nonfiction weaves together the personal and the epic in a sweeping historical story of romance and adventure.
- Provided by Publisher
If you are curious about pirate ships and want to learn more, visit Famous Pirate Ships of the Past and Present | SI Yachts. It details facts about famous pirates and their ships, and includes labeled ship diagrams. Stop by the library to read more about pirate ships or put a few items on hold, such as:
What If You Met a Pirate? by Jan Adkins
You know all about pirates. They were big guys with fancy hats, silk jackets, peg legs, and parrots cursing on their shoulders. They sailed big ships with brass guns and made lubbers walk the plank ... right? Wrong ..." Pirates and piracy, buried treasure, and life on the high seas are brought to life in this colorful, appealing book. Jan Adkin's talent for combining words, illustration, and design is uniquely well-suited to the world of Pirates: ships and seafaring, maps, weapons, larger than life characters and larger than life stories are vividly presented in Jan's signature, design-driven style. This large format, full color picture book presents pirate history and pirate lore, pirate ships and equipment, and pirate life.
Pirate Ships by Rosalyn Tucker
Informative text and full-page photos describe different kinds ships used by pirates.
-Provided by Publisher
As you read, you may be surprised to learn some words and phrases in current use, such as “bite the bullet” and “clean slate”, originated from pirate lingo. The following resources will arm you with many more examples so you don’t “foul up” and practice “bilge talk” on International Talk Like a Pirate Day:
How to Survive in the Age of Pirates by Crispin Boyer
Set sail into this imaginative series from National Geographic Kids that gives young readers all the know-how they need to survive any time period.
-Provided by Publisher
Pirates by E T Fox
Informative text and full-page photos describe different kinds ships used by pirates.
-Provided by Publisher
Finally, if you want to read fictional stories about pirates and the pirate lifestyle, these titles may satisfy your curiosity and sense of adventure:
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads to a pirate fortune as well as great danger.
Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, whose lives have been turned upside down by Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet. But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command just barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether or not to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all...or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?
Now, “Ahoy, Matey,” no need to “get into a flap”! You are ready to “bear up” and be “footloose and fancy-free” on Talk Like a Pirate Day!
