Pirate
of the Caribbean.
|
Pirate Caribbean 2 trailer: Jack Sparrow is back. Captain Jack Sparrow discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. With time running out, Jack must find a way out of his debt or else be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife.
Making matters worse, Sparrow's problems manage to interefere with the wedding plans of a certain Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, who are forced to.. but today I would like to speak about some of "Punishment"... ;-)
Pirate Caribbean 2 trailer: Punishment...
Walking the Plank
For the most part, walking the plank is a Hollywood myth.
There are a few accounts that people were forced to walk the
plank by Pirates of the South China Sea. There is also one
account that Barthalomew Roberts forced some of his captives
to walk the plank. However, the accounts are suspect at best.
Still, pirate were known to come up with some rather ingenoious
ways to torture their captives so it is quite possible that
some enterprising fellow with a sharp sadistic mind would've
come up with such a develish plan.
For the most part pirates preferred the time-honored method
of a "heave to". That is , they picked up the culprit
and simply tossed him/her overboard.
Pirate Caribbean 2 trailer: Marooning
Forget everything you learned from Treasure Island and Robinson
Crusoe.Marooning a man was in fact, one of the cruelest forms
of execution devised. When you get down to it, a marooned
man was basically told to kill himself.
Typically pirates had three forms of punishment, Moses' law,
Throwing overboard, and marooning. Marooning was a punishment
reserved for murderers, rapists, thieves, and bad captains.
Typically a marooned man would be given the clothes on his
back, a bottle of water or rum, an arm (pistol), a bottle
of powder and a handful of shot. He would then be left behind
on some spit of inhospitable land to his own devices.
Contrary to the book Treasure Island, no man would have been
marooned on such a big island, covered with plant an animal
life. No, quite to the contrary, the convict was left on nothing
more than a bald spot of land with no hope of food or shelter.
Often these islands would be nothing more than simple sand
bar that would only be above water at low tide. By the time
high tide would arrive the man may be neck deep in water or
worse.
The reason the pirate was left with a pistol was so that he
might take his own life, thus ending his misery in this world
but condemning his Christian soul to hell for all eternity.
What is worse, as in the Case of Captain Vane, when a pirate
was marooned on an island that might actually sustain him,
it was unlikely that anyone would actually rescue him.
The word maroon comes from a Spanish word "cimarron"
which was the Spanish word used for deserters. The English
corruption of this word was Marooner. Because priates were
notorious for leaving their shipmates on deserted islands
the practice became known as marrooning. Because the practice
was so common among pirates, when an honest sea captain would
find a marooned man, they would usually assume him to be a
pirate and would have nothing to do with him, or worse, clap
him in irons and take him to the nearest port to be hanged
and possibly collect a reward..
Pirate Caribbean 2 trailer: Hanging
in Chains or Irons
The good news is, you were already dead. The bad news is you
were not given a proper burial. For many pirates, this bad
news was quite frightening. It meant that your immortal soul
would never have any chance of redemption.
The practice of hanging in chains or irons was pretty basic.
The pirate would be hanged until dead. Then his body would
be placed in a iron cage or possibly wrapped in chains. This
cage was then hoisted on a rafter and left to rot in a public
area.
Typically this public place would be a dock where other potential
pirates would be able to view it as a warning/reminder of
what comes of those who go on the account. Such places as
harbor entrances were a favorite for hanging pirates in irons.
Gallows Point was one of the most famous paces.
The body would remain on display until there really wasn't
anything left to display because of decomposition. At this
point the rotting body would most often be dumped in the ocean
for fish food or, at best, buried between the tides. It was
very rare for a body hanged in irons to be claimed, due to
the enormous amount of disgrace attached to such a person
and the assumption that whom ever claimed the body was a pirate
as well.
By the way, enjoy this new movie of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Pirate Caribbean 2 trailer.

For Pirate of the Caribbean, part 1, click here
Click here to enjoy other great articles and photos
To leave pirate caribbean 2 trailer page and return to Tropical Paradise, please click here





