Straight Outta History

Our mate John Ol’ Chumbucket Baur (Pyrate, Author & co-founder o’ Int’l. Talk Like A Pirate Day) is publishing his next book – a novel called Chrissie Warren: Pirate Hunter (read about it and his continuing adventures at his blog). O’ course, like any good writer, he knows when it’s time for a break – to clear the decks, flush the bilge, careen the brain (if ye will) and scrape the barnacles off…leaving space for more creative genius…or madness, depending which is required at the time!

So…he happened across the DIY promo poster generator for the recent bio-film Straight Outta Compton and created a fine poster with both himself and Mark Cap’n. Slappy Summers on it (see it here)…which, o’ course, inpired us to create our own; using one o’ the excellent portraits our mate Robert Quicksilver Warren shot!

NOW….much like the end o’ me Cutlass, there is a point to all this!

Straight Outta History, Indeed!

Aye…and we mean it. We are not (as some misguided individuals have supposed) “portraying fictional characters”. Certainly no more so than any “Re-enactors” or “Interpreters” at any historical site ye might visit…probably less so in many cases.

In fact, we don’t really “portray” anyone…we are Pyrates; as historically accurate as we’ve a mind to be, sharing true historical FACTS about Pyrates (or anything else ye want to call them, including Privateers) in The Americas and around the World. This is not a short history, either – Pyrates were instrumental in creating (and manipulating) commerce in the “New World” – and thus, many ports and cities along it’s coastlines (from the 1400s to the 1900s, at least). They were invaluable in battles on this continent, well past the “Golden Age of Pyracy”…most notably, The War of 1812 – and especially, The Battle of New Orleans. O’ course Pyracy didn’t stop…it just changed a little with the times and locations. The Great Lakes, The Mississippi, The Caribbean – Pyracy still exists (though certainly not with some o’ the ‘guidelines’ favoured by earlier types).

We have a unique perspective; not just because we’re both historians, skilled researchers, adventurers/discoverers in our own right – not even because the QM has a university degree in Battlefield Archaeology – but because we both have Ancestors who were Pyrates!

Some o’ me Ancestors were here in The Americas long before anyone “discovered” them…and many o’ the rest o’ them were the first to set foot here from another land – Adventurers, Discoverers, Courir de Bois, Voyageurs and aye, Pyrates/Privateers! They worked & lived with the Original Peoples, founded & built some o’ the very first towns, discovered great lakes and great rivers, hunted, fished, trapped & traded their way from Newfoundland to Louisiana and much o’ the lands in between.

The QM’s Ancestors came here sometime later – but already had a long history o’ war on land and sea, Privateers, Explorers and the like – in fact, her distant Grandmother likely signed a Letter of Marque or two. One o’ her Uncles was the Master Gunner for none other than Blackbeard, aboard The Queen Anne’s Revenge – and is buried in the same bog as the rest o’ the ill fated crew!

As we frequently tell folks, real history is far more interesting, astounding, compelling and at times, bizarre, than anything ye could make up – and that’s why we share it with ye! Sure, folks like to have fun with the romanticized image o’ Pyrates – we like a good swashbuckling as much as anyone – but knowing the true stories behind it all is the true adventure!

If ye want to learn some real Pyrate history, get in touch; book a tour or a seminar. If ye see us out and about, take a moment to introduce yerself, ask any questions ye like and we’ll do our best to answer…at the very least, a respectful nod in our direction is always appreciated!