“Buccaneers, like other Europeans and European-derived Christian peoples, did observe the holiday, far more often with raucous, inebriated celebration than with religious devotion.”
— Benerson Little, Pirate Historian
Party like a pirate! “And the Band Played On.” Art by Andy Thomas (Spend some time looking for pirates and wenches who are clearly ancestors of departed rock-and-roll, country and jazz pirates of the 20th century. There are 26 in the crew.)
Last Tuesday’s newspaper delivery podcast session started with pirate revels. PARCAST has a new, Spotify-exclusive podcast titled Real Pirates. It’s well done, focusing in the first few episodes on the rise of the so-called Pirate Republic at Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. The most recent episode, however, broke away to ask the question we all want the answer to: What does a pirate do to celebrate Christmas? The answer is the one we all could come up with: They get roaring drunk. But there’s a little more context than that, and it’s an enjoyable way to spend a half-hour on the road.
The esteemed pirate historian Benerson Little has also explored this topic, in a wonderful essay titled, Of Buccaneer Christmas, Dog as Dinner & Cigar Smoking Women. He covers some of the same ground as the podcast, and more besides.
William Dampier, who gave us so much wonderful description of the buccaneer life of the late 17th century, wrote:
“I have seen above 20 Sail at a time in this Road come to lade Salt; and these Ships coming from some of the Caribbe Islands, are always well stored with Rum, Sugar and Lime-juice to make Punch, to hearten their Men when they are at work, getting and bringing aboard the Salt, and they commonly provide the more, in hopes to meet with Privateers, who resort hither in the aforesaid Months, purposely to keep a Christmas, as they call it; being sure to meet with Liquor enough to be merry with, and are very liberal to those that treat them.”
Rum is, of course, the drink we most associate with privateers, buccaneers, pirates or whatever you choose to call the Frontier Partisans of the sea. But it seems that wine — often seized as plunder — was mighty popular. It may have been fortified stuff around 80 proof, too. Shiver me timbers! The Christmas menu was heavy on pork. Little:
Buccaneer surgeon Basil Ringrose provided the details: “This day being Christmas day, for celebration of that great festival we killed yesterday in the evening a sow. This sow we had brought from the Gulf of Nicoya, being then a sucking-pig of three weeks old, more or less, but now weighted about fourscore-and-ten pounds. With this hog’s flesh we made our Christmas dinner, being the only flesh we had eaten ever since we turned away our prizes under the equinoctial and left the island of Plata. We had this day several flaws of wind and some rain…”
Musicians were highly-valued members of any pirate crew, so you could enjoy fiddle, flute and concertina, at least until they got too drunk to play. And there was singing, of course, though a chorus of “Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of rum!” is heard only in Treasure Island.
We’ll just throw The Parson’s Farewell out there, because we never get tired of The Parson’s Farewell.
Whatever your Christmas may be, me hearties, I hope ye have a merry one!
Matthew says
I happen to be rereading Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe. It is a time travel story involving the great age of piracy. It will be my next review.
Mike says
My wife likes to tease that I like “grey fighting” books, movies, and other forms of art. Her phrase because there always seems to be a battle scene shrouded in smoke, fog, magical mist, etc. I typically offer a slight denial, but then I read a post like this and think “did I last hear those names on the Pirate History Podcast…or maybe Frontier Partisans…or maybe Revolutions…or maybe Hardcore History…or…” Perhaps I do have a type! Merry Christmas to you and yours. A drink to the health of the Captain of this here expedition!
JimC says
Ah, ye made my day!
lane+batot says
I often used to take advantage of heavy fog and other inclinement weather when raiding–it definitely provides camouflage, and helps one elude the enemy if discovered and pursued! I have some fond memories of successful forays in the fog and during storms(sigh…..)
Quixotic Mainer says
I think I spot a piratical Johnny Cash amidst the merry throng. “I was a sailor, I was born along the tide…”
John M Roberts says
The tambourine lady is Janis Joplin.
JimC says
Who could DEFINITELY party like a pirate!
Matthew says
I see Elvis and, I am pretty sure, Jimmy Hendrix.
JimC says
Jimi’s the first I spotted, then Janis. Jim Croce’s in the right foreground and Jerry Garcia’s lurking in the back to the right with a big smile on his face. Apparently Andy Thomas painted himself as the pirate captain in the chair. I think the thing is inspired.