The pirate ship was a floating fortress of modern weaponry (mostly confiscated in victory) including knives, daggers and cutlasses.These blades were also used as a defensive weapon for personal protection while debauching ashore with a bottle of rum and a wench or two in Tortuga's rowdy pubs where disputes and murder were as common as morning traffic jams in Los Angeles. The pirates blade arsenal consisted of knives, daggers, cutlasses, and swords when engaged in one of their favorite recreational pursuits of ferocious forays of plunder and pillage of a coastal village.
Many of the pirate swords and knives were customized by the men themselves. Swords were sized down, some handles were fashioned from wood and other natural materials that gave it a personalized look. Contrary to popular myth, scrimshaw carving of handles of whale bone did not have its genesis with the pirates, but, rather from whalers who passed the idle time aboard ship fashioning whale bone into handles and emblazoning them with decorative motifs. When it came to hand to hand combat weapons, a simple sharp slicing knife, scimitar or a dagger that could deliver a penetrating stab was the preferred weapon of choice. The pirates had no need for fancy decor to make a killer fashion statement while engaging in life and death battles. Sea combat was not reality television's "Project Runway," and fashionista Martha Stewart would have been made to walk the plank.
Along with weapons, pirates need a ship to set a course for action and adventure, and Blackbeard the Pirates ship was one of the most feared. The Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina is the final resting place of artifacts from Blackbeards flagship, Queen Annes Revenge including an array of knives and swords. The museum is home to the Blackbeard Exhibit that is a delight to young and old alike, especially knife collectors and historians of 18th Century bladed weaponry.
Finding a sunken pirate ship is one thing, but finding the Queen Anne's Revenge has to be the Holy Grail. David Moore, Curator of Nautical Archeology at the Maritime Museum explained the "treasure" retrieved. "The wreck site of QAR was located on Nov. 21, 1996, ironically just one day before the anniversary of Blackbeard's death on Nov 22, 1718. Unfortunately, since the ship was run aground and lost as opposed to an actual storm-driven wrecking event, the pirates had ample opportunity to take most any thing of value off the vessel when they left, including personal possessions and weaponry. So most of what we’ve located and recovered have been broken bits and pieces that had probably been cast aside or thrown into a bucket or barrel below decks as spare parts."
Other items on display are also in the collection "We have several intact swords on display on loan from Colonial Williamsburg that date from the same period as the shipwreck; one bearing a doghead pommel close to that illustrated on an engraving of Blackbeard in Captain Charles Johnson’s A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE PYRATES (1724). We also have a couple of fragments from bladed instruments, one a boxwood with pewter inlay handle, and another a brass quillon block from a small hunting styled sword," Moore said.
In close quarter combat, nothing makes the pirates adrenalin race faster than the use of a good cutlass. A similar weapon is the machete used in the Caribbean to this day. In battle it didn't require the finesse common with accomplished swordsmen. It was short enough to be engaged in battle in tight quarters, and was more dependable then single shot pistols where reloading was time consuming and before you got off your next shot a blow from a cutlass could be your last memory.
Moore went on to explain which weapons were most desired. "It is difficult to say which bladed weapon type would have been most favored by pirates. It depended on the environment in which they were used, ie., close-quarters versus open expansive decks. Since the majority of the prizes would have been smaller merchant vessels, shorter cutlasses and/or daggers would have been better suited. In fact, I’m quite certain that most battle-savvy pirate veterans would have carried several bladed weapons on his person going into boarding actions – I know I would have," said Moore.
Although I am not pirate, I own two modern day daggers from Gerber...the Guardian I and II. Of all my knives, these are my favorites. Daggers were favored by pirates preying on ships laden with booty. A dagger can have a single or double edged blade (my Gerbers are double edged) and in combat they were generally kept hidden and out of sight, but could at a moments notice be drawn and ready for action. I talked with one knife seller at a gun and knife show set up next to my booth. He had axes, swords, daggers and scimitars. I remember complimenting him on the variety and he said, "There's nothing like a good knife or dagger in the long run..eventually your enemy will run out of bullets!" In pirate battle, eventually someone would run out of powder and shot, so this is one of those rare cases where you are advised to never bring a flintlock to a knife fight!
The St. Augustine Pirate Museum which celebrates the golden age of piracy was actually inspired originally by the golden age of Hollywood! Pat Croce, founder of the Pirate Museum has always been fascinated by pirates as young boy. Then as an adult he happened to watch the 1935 film "Captain Blood" starring Hollywood's screen idol swashbuckler, Errol Flynn in the starring role. Then it all came flooding back, and his passion for all things pirate was ignited once more.
Croce explained the journey of the museum from Key West to St. Augustine. "I purchased a home in Key West, Florida and at the time had also spent years collecting pirate artifacts for a personal collection, and eventually wanted to share my collection and love of pirates with the general public, so I opened the Pirate Soul Museum in Key West." After five years he decided to move the museum to St. Augustine, Florida, America's oldest city where infamous pirates such as Sir Francis Drake plied their trade. Today, the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum is a treasure trove of education and history as told through the collections and exciting displays of pirate life from flags to eyepatches to bladed weaponry. It's a journey back through time to the era of dashing swashbucklers and their Golden Age.
"We have over 800 artifacts on hand, and our guides, who by the way are dressed as pirates and referred to as Pirates on Duty give the tours and are highly knowledgeable about pirate history and the history of the artifacts themselves," Croce said. "Some of our other displays includes a real Jolly Roger flag and is one of only three surviving Jolly Rogers in the world." This familiar flag from the pirate era was hoisted high to more or less frighten and intimidate the crews of other ships the pirates were about to engage in battle. "We also have one of the worlds oldest pirate wanted posters from 1696 and Captain Kidds Journal of his final voyage in 1699."
What would a pirate museum be without real treasure? The Pirate Museum in St. Augustine is loaded with it. Croce talked about some of the recent acquisitions "We were very fortunate to obtain real shipwreck treasures from the Florida Division of Historical Resources. For a long time their vault has been closed to the public, but these rarely-seen shipwreck treasures are now exclusively on loan to The Pirate Museum. In addition to 18th century barshot and grenades that took down many a mast with their spinning fury, you'll see gold and silver, intricate jewelry, weaponry, and pottery," said Croce with a broad pirate smile.
Step out of pirate history and into the fantasy world of Hollywood pirates and get a real sense of how blockbuster movies like Pirates of the Caribbean have shaped the collective perceptions of movie goers. See Captain Barbossa's silver flintlock pistol and Jack Sparrow's movie sword. and many pieces of pirate paraphernalia from old Hollywood.
Croce talked about our fascination with all things pirate. "It probably all started with Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" a tale about Long Silver and young Jim Hawkins, so Stevenson is probably the godfather of pirate pop culture. I know the piratical bug bit me when I saw Erroll Flynn in Captain Blood so hae always been fascinated with pirates. Lets face it when it comes to pop culture, pirates, gangsters and dinosaurs will always be there." By the way, the museum also has a rare early copy of Stevenson's book on display.
Pirates will always be fascinating and colorful characters. That's because there is a little pirate in all of us who long for adventure in this static digital age. If you are a collector or lover of knives, daggers and swords, make sure you plan on setting sail to visit a pirate museum on your next vacation and learn about this fascinating era of the Golden Age of Piracy. But if you do, don't be surprised if you walk away with a thirst and a hunger for a yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum Matey!