Monday - September 19, 2005

Me Favorite Pirate Wenches - ARRRH!

Mary Read was born in England and raised as a boy so that her widowed mother could get money from her husband’s parents. About the age of 12, Mary served as a “footman” for a Lady. Later she joined the Flemish army and fought as an infantryman. No one knew the soldier was a woman until her heart got the better of her. She fell in love with a fellow soldier, who at first was alarmed at the advances of this “man.” She finally revealed herself to be a woman and the soldier became enamored of her. At the end of the conflict, they revealed their secret to their fellow soldiers. The unit gave them a lavish wedding and chipped in to buy them a tavern near Utrecht, Belgium (then Flanders).

Alas, happiness was not to last and Mary’s husband died of an illness soon after. Having nothing better to do with herself, Mary donned her male disguise and went to sea on a ship to the West Indies. As was common in that time (see this website, Pirate Facts), pirates captured the vessel and pressed the captured crew into pirate life. Mary apparently took to the life of piracy very well. She was said to “Swear and Shoot as well as any Mann.” She fell in love with a sailor — who apparently didn’t return her affections. When the sailor offended another pirate and was challenged to a duel, Mary created an offense with the pirate that also demanded a duel — only she scheduled their face-off a half-hour before her would-be lover’s. Then she promptly killed the man, thus saving her love interest. He was less than grateful.

As luck would have it, the ship Mary boarded belonged to “Calico Jack” Rakham. Aboard this vessel was the only other woman pirate of the Caribbean, Ann Bonny. Bonny, although she was openly living with Calico Jack, was attracted to one of the new crew and made her interests know to the “fellow,” who revealed “himself” to be Mary Read. There are some historians who believe there may have been a sexual relationship between the two.

Ann Bonny was born in Ireland, the product of a married lawyer and his wife’s maid. Their union created so much of a scandal that the threesome left to join the South Carolina colony and start a plantation. Ann was a wild child, riding and shooting as well or better than boys her age. Then she fell in love with a poor seaman by the name of Bonny and ran away with him. The two ended up in New Providence, Bahamas, then a pirate stronghold.

Ann and Bonny soon had a parting of the ways when raffish Calico Jack showed up. There are differing accounts, but it seems that there was an attempt at a Common Law Divorce in which Calico Jack offered money or barter for Ann’s freedom from her husband. Some historians say Ann was too proud to go through with it. In any case, the three were jailed and, once freed, Bonny and Calico Jack left the island for the pirate’s life. Ann wore men’s clothes when the crew went to action.

Calico Jack and his crew were captured by the British in 1721. It was said that while Calico Jack and most of the crew stayed below decks drinking and gambling rather than face their foes. Mary, Ann and a few others fought bravely, but were eventually captured. The crew were taken to trial in Spanishtown, Jamaica and sentenced to die by hanging. At this point, Mary and Ann (still in men’s clothes) stepped forward and said “Sir, We plead our bellies” — meaning they were pregnant. The court went into an uproar. No one had ever heard of women behaving in such a manner. But the women knew their legal standing. English law forbade the hanging of a pregnant woman (taking of an unborn life) until they came to term, at which point the mother would be executed and the baby turned over to an orphanage. A doctor confirmed that the women were, indeed, both about six months along. Before the pirate crew was hanged, they testified to both women behaving as men — especially Mary’s would-be (& possibly the father of the baby) lover. Apparently, this was an attempt to have the women hanged with the rest of the crew. The women were, however, spared. Mary Read died a few months later of a fever. Bonny either escaped or was bailed out by her rich father — depending upon what source you believe.

_{Source: Beagle Bay: About Women Pirates.}

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/19/2005 at 12:19 PM   
Filed Under: • History •  
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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