Pirates: fact or fiction?

While pirates certainly sought and captured valuable cargo, they almost never buried their treasure: they mainly spent it quickly.

Pirates also didn’t make secret maps to help find buried treasure – so why do we think they did?

In books like Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, maps where 'X' marks the spot of a hidden hoard of gold, silver and precious jewels are a key part of the plots.

That said, there is one tantalising tale of a real pirate horde for dedicated treasure hunters.

'Captain William Kidd did bury some treasure once, but just once,' writes Robert Blyth in Buried Treasure: A Pirate Miscellany. 'This was hidden on Gardiner’s Island, near Long Island, New York in 1699. It remains unclear how much treasure he buried. At least some of it was uncovered and sent to London as evidence at his trial for piracy and murder. Despite many searches, nothing else has yet been found. Presumably Kidd expected to recall where he’d stashed the valuables, so he probably felt no need to draw a map.'

Pirates never made their victims walk the plank. They just threw them overboard or abandoned them on desert islands.

'Marooning' – deliberately leaving someone on an uninhabited island – was one of the punishments a pirate captain would have used to maintain discipline among their crew.

'In real life, the most famous marooned person wasn’t a pirate but a privateer,' writes Blyth in A Pirate Miscellany. 'Alexander Selkirk (1676–1721) was put ashore on Más a Tierra, one of the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile, in 1704, having complained to his captain about the seaworthiness of the ship. Selkirk was right to be worried: the ship later sank with no survivors. In 1709, after four years and four months entirely alone, he was finally rescued. Selkirk was the inspiration for Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719).'

Walking the plank and its association with pirates seem to be due to its key role in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and its subsequent appearance in several pirate films.

The infamous skull and crossbones, often seen on tombstones and immediately recognisable as a symbol of death, is just one example of pirate flag design.

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries several pirates of the ‘golden age’ adopted their own distinct designs, usually a white or red motif on a black background. These flags often featured skulls, crossed bones, skeletons and hourglasses, which all represented mortality.

The flags were designed to frighten victims into surrendering without a fight, allowing a pirate captain to gain treasure without risking crew in combat.

'On occasion,' adds Blyth, 'a pirate ship might also carry a red flag. If the black Jolly Roger was insufficient to make a ship surrender, flying a red flag meant the pirates would fight to the death to capture their target.'

While pirates were undoubtedly violent, it’s wrong to assume that life on board ship was chaotic and unruly.

Many pirate captains adopted a code of conduct for their crew, designed to ensure that the ship was run fairly and efficiently. A well-organised crew increased the chances of success.

The pirate Bartholomew Roberts for example had 11 articles, including the seemingly quaint command that 'lights and candles [should] be put out at eight o’clock at night. If any of the crew wants to continuing drinking after that hour, they must do it on the open deck.'

Pirate captains also listed the punishments for breaking the rules, including 'marooning'. In some cases, the crew decided what degree of discipline was required. Any disputes between individuals were usually settled ashore.

Roberts’s pirate code even extended to guarantees on how treasure would be shared and how crew members would be compensated should they be injured in the line of duty.

'If any man should lose a limb or become disabled,' the code supposedly stated, 'he is to have 800 pieces of eight, with smaller amounts for lesser injuries.'

Captains may have had other motives for keeping their ship happy. Pirates often voted for their captain: if a captain didn’t do a good job, the rest of the crew could get rid of them…