The establishment of a pirate gang usually took one of two forms. The most usual was for a few ringleaders to plot a mutiny on board a merchant ship. At a prearranged signal the mutineers would seize the officers and kill them and any members of the crew who resisted, and throw their bodies overboard.
But many a pirate who eventually rose high in his profession began in a very small way. Often a handful of desperate char acters would steal a boat and row or sail along the coast by night, until they surprised the crew of some small schooner, and be came masters of her. In this they would venture further afield, until by cunning or force they got possession of a larger ship. The downfall of most pirates was brought about by their utter lack of discipline, for, unless the elected captain was a man of unusual strength of character, as was the famous Captain Bar tholomew Roberts, he was unable to keep his crew in order, and sooner or later, disaster overtook them, through careless navi gation or at the hands of a better-disciplined hostile ship.
One of the first formalities of a newly created pirate crew was the drawing up and signing of the ship's articles, which would include such rules as the following, taken from those of Captain John Phillips of the "Revenge": I. Every man shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full Share and a half in all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Boat swain and Gunner shall have one Share and a quarter.
6. That Man that shall snap his Arms, or smoak Tobacco in the Hold without a cap to his Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lanthorn, shall receive Moses's Law (that is 4o Stripes lacking one) on the bare Back.
9. If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, that Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.
Another matter, considered to be of great importance, was the choice of a flag, whose chief object was to "strike terror into all beholders." The favourite design was a skull and cross-bones; though sometimes a whole skeleton was depicted, holding in one boney hand a rummer or glass of punch, and in the other a sword or dagger. Whenever possible the pirates carried a surgeon, who was treated with a certain amount of respect.
Famous Charwcters.—The ordinary pirate was merely a criminal who lived for himself alone, and lacked any sense of ambition other than to get rich quickly, and must not be placed in the same category with the Vikings, who although sea-robbers and murderers, worked in large and, to a certain extent, organized bands; as did the Mediterranean pirates in Roman times who formed a highly organized brotherhood of desperadoes. The ordinary pirates boasted that they "declared war upon the whole world" and possessed no honour even amongst themselves.
A few of the most famous pirates may be briefly mentioned. Captain John Avery, alias Every, alias Bridgeman, familiarly known as "Long Ben" or the "Arch-Pirate," was born at Ply mouth about 1665, took to the sea and rose to mate in a merchant ship; headed a mutiny and was elected captain ; proved himself a daring pirate leader, and after much success off the Guinea coast and in the West Indies sailed to the Red sea, where he seized a rich ship of the Great Mogul, reported to have on board 1 oo,000 pieces of eight and the Mogul's young and lovely daughter. He took both to Madagascar where he settled down as a reigning monarch. In 1696 he was at Boston, where he bribed the governor to allow him and his crew to land and dispose of their plunder. He died in poverty at Bideford after being tricked out of his ill-gotten gains by certain merchants of Bristol. Charles Johnson wrote a play called The Successful Pyrate, which was acted at Drury Lane, in 1713, and which was modelled on Avery's career.
Bartholomew Roberts was, perhaps, the greatest of all pirates. Born in Wales in 1682, he died fighting in 1722. He was credited with having taken over 400 ships during his career, and was re markable for his discipline, for being a teetotaler, and allowing no women or gambling aboard his ships.
Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, a picturesque blackguard, was killed on Nov. 22, 1718, in a hand-to-hand combat with Lieut. Robert Maynard, of H.M.S. "Pearl." Captain Misson, a Frenchman of good family, was unique in combining active piracy with socialistic ideals. He reigned for many years over a Utopian republic in Madagascar.