Eve Bunting - P is for Pirate: A Pirate Alphabet

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P is for Pirate

Written by Eve Bunting and Illustrated by John Manders

A Pirate Alphabet

For Keelin, aged ve, our pirate girl.

Eve

O

For Trinity, Eulalia, and Andrew

John

Text Copyright 2014 Eve Bunting

Illustration Copyright 2014 John Manders

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner

without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief

excerpts in critical reviews and articles. All inquiries should be addressed to:

315 E. Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 200

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

www.sleepingbearpress.com

Printed and bound in the United States.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bunting, Eve, 1928-

P is for pirate : a pirate alphabet / written by Eve Bunting ;

illustrated by John Manders.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-58536-815-0

1. PiratesHistoryJuvenile literature. 2. Piracy--HistoryJuvenile literature.

3. AlphabetJuvenile literature. I. Manders, John, ill. II. Title.

G535.B85 2014

910.45dc23

2013050683

Synchred Read-Along Version by:

Triangle Interactive LLC

PO Box 573

Prior Lake, MN 55372

ISBN-13: 978-1-68452-007-7 (ebook)

There have always been pirates, as long as there have been men filled with greed and the

lust for treasure.

As early as AD 400, Chinese and Japanese pirates prowled the seas around China and

Southeast Asia. Their ships were junks, flat-bottomed, three-masted boats with sails of

woven bamboo. By the Middle Ages piracy was well established as a profession in the Pacific

and Atlantic oceans.

By the end of the seventeenth century pirates roved the seas of the world. They preyed on

ships carrying gold and silver from South America. They plundered galleons from Africa

filled with ivory and looted ships from the East Indies laden with silks and jewels and

spices. This was indeed the Golden Age of Piracy. So much so that by the middle of the

sixteenth century most fishermen in England had a second source of income, piracy, which

they called the sweet trade!

No one who sailed on the seas at any time was safe from marauders. The young Julius Caesar

who ruled Rome from 49 to 44 BC was captured by pirates in the Mediterranean Sea in 75 BC.

The Golden Age of Piracy is long gone. But the stories and the legends, the tales of the pirates

and their ships live on.

The schooners and the merry crews

are laid away to rest

A little south the sunset

in the islands of the Blest. *

Introduction

* From A Ballad of John Silver by John Masefield.

It is hard to believe that a bunch of pirates

would have a code of conduct, rules to live

by on a pirate ship. But they did. The rules

were sworn to by each crew member and

had to be obeyed.

Each ship had its own rules, but they were

similar. They included such laws as that

every man should have an equal vote on all

important matters. That no man should

gamble at dice or cards, that all candles

be put out at eight at night, and that no

pirate should strike another on board the

ship. The captain and the quartermaster

would be given the biggest share of the

prizes taken and the rest divided according

to rank. The ship musicians were allowed

to rest on Sundays but should be available

every other day. Yes, there were musicians

on pirate ships!

A is for the Articles ( the code of conduct )

The rules were there

to see and sign .

Obey them ,

and you might be fine .

These sound like rules for a scout camp.

But a pirate ship was no scout camp. Sitting

on cannons, the men swore on bibles, on

skulls, or on crossed pistols to keep the

code. Their signed names or their marks

made it official.

Punishments for breaking the code were

ruthless. Flogging, leg irons, keelhauling,

or worse (See F.). The most severe could get

you marooned on a desert island to die of

hunger and thirst while your ship sailed

away forever across the far horizon.

John Roberts was his real name. For some

reason he changed the first name to

Bartholomew. Perhaps he thought that was

more distinguished. It was not until after his

death that he was commonly referred to as

Black Bart.

When the ship on which he was third mate

was captured by pirates, Roberts was forced

to join the pirate crew. In an honest service

there is thin commons, low wages and hard

labor, he said once and finished by

announcing, No, a merry life and a short

one shall be my motto.

As an excellent navigator he was very

valuable. When the captain of the Royal

Rover was shot, Roberts was voted into

the job. History judges him to be the most

successful pirate of the Golden Age.

B is for Black Bart

He was a kid of thirteen years

when first he went to sea .

At that time he had no idea

a pirate he would be .

Roberts was a ruthless captain and was not

squeamish about torturing captives to get

what he wanted. By 1721 he had a squadron

of four ships under his command and was in

control of hundreds of men.

His crew believed he was pistol proof

because he came through so many battles

uninjured. But he was not. When his ship was

attacked by the Swallow he was struck in the

throat by grapeshot and died on the deck.

The crew member who found him, collapsed

across the blocks and tackles of a gun, burst

into tears. He was buried at sea. It is

believed that Robertss death marked the

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