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Subject: New Book re' Women Pirates From: katlaughing Date: 25 Feb 02 - 07:21 PM Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas by Sara Lorimer. I found it at Amazon, but I hope the cover art is NOT an indication of the book's content. It's a little campy and stereotypical. They talked about it and interviewed the author on NPR's All Things Considered, this evening. Thought some of you might be interested in it AND, I'd like to know if any of you have read it. If so, is it any good? I sent ATC a letter, telling them they could have chosen a better tune with which to end the segment. More stereotyping: they used a "yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" song. Anyway, here's a blurb from amazon's site. It did sound interesting, esp. the bit about Cheng I Sao, who commanded 80,000 men!
Editorial Reviews A treasure trove of high adventure and bad behavior, Booty tells the all-true tales of real women pirates who prowled the seas from the 9th to early-20th centuries in search of easy prey and easy profit. Raiding ships, boozing, brawling, and looting, they struck terror in the hearts of men from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea to the rivers of New York. Meet Rachel Wall, who traded her devout religious upbringing for "lewd and wicked company"; Cheng I Sao, who led a fleet of 2,000 ships and made her men drink cocktails of wine and gunpowder; Mary Read, who killed one pirate for the love of another; and Sadie the Goat, who headbutted her victims before fleecing them of cash. Their exploits and those of many more swashbuckling women fill these pages, along with salty illustrations and an informative look at the finer points of pirate life (grog, flogging, fashion, and more). Arrrrr. " It's the pirate's life for me! kat |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Charley Noble Date: 25 Feb 02 - 07:37 PM Don't know about this book but I did find a similar one worth reading, SHE CAPTAINS: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea by Joan Druett, published by Simon & Schuster, 2000. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Clinton Hammond Date: 25 Feb 02 - 07:51 PM The best pirates, no one knows anything about, because the best pirates, male or female, were never caught... |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: technission Date: 25 Feb 02 - 08:32 PM I understand there is a film about this subject in the planning stages - it'll be rated AAARRRRRRRHHH...... But seriously for a change, sounds like interesting reading michael the greybeard 8># |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Desdemona Date: 25 Feb 02 - 09:21 PM Oooooh, fun topic! I bought "She Captains" for a friend las Christmas, and it IS a very good read, but the book you *REALLY* want is: Lieutenant Nun : Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World, by Catalina De Erauso! This is an incredibly ripping good yarn, which I shan't spoil for you except to say that you've got a 16th century Spanish convent-bred maiden who runs away & passes as a man for much of an UNBELIEVABLE swashbuckling career on the high seas & elsewhere; can't recommend it highly enough! |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: katlaughing Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:19 AM Clinton, one of the women in this book retired in her old age...still known as a pirate. Guess there's always exceptions, eh? I am sure you are right about most, though. Desdemona...fiction, right? Charley, thanks for the info. Michael Greybeard, huh? At least you've got the Arrrrrr down pat!**BG** Thanks yew all, kat |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: technission Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:45 AM Yeah, I worked on crew of a docu-drama about the pirate Jean LaFitte, shot in Galveston a few years ago - it shows alternately with another film about the hurricane of 1900 at a tourist/historical attraction in Galveston called "The Great Storm Center". It was a limited-budget shoot and some challenging locations, the entire crew made humorous (and sometimes exasperated) use of the Aarrgghhhh expression that week. Thanks to all the mateys for the reading suggestions. This does indeed seem like an interesting topic and the literature surely deeper than the occasional Zap Comics foray into the scabrous female pirate zone, back in the hazy 70's. 8># gbm |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: katlaughing Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:58 AM Ah, in that case, you've certainly earned the moniker, I am sure! Betcha got yer "me-heartys" down pat, too! :-) Is the same docu-drama shown on television? I remember we saw one a few years ago on LaFitte (sp?) and really enjoyed it. In the case of the Galveston Hurricane and Flood, you might be interested in this piece I wrote after learning of it, for the first time: Thought for the day - old thread. What an incredible story. thanks, katlandlubberbutfascinatedbytalesofthesea |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Desdemona Date: 26 Feb 02 - 04:50 PM kat----no, it's non-fiction, honest to God! Amongst the highlights of her many adventures was killing her own brother in a duel, WITHOUT RECOGNISING EACH OTHER! It really is a thumping good read, as they say; I got it from a friend who got it from a female couple who do 17th century living history (as male characters)---too much fun! |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: katlaughing Date: 26 Feb 02 - 05:09 PM Thanks, Desde...I shall have to read it! |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Coyote Breath Date: 26 Feb 02 - 08:28 PM Now I knew there was Mary Bonny but I never knew there were others, it makes sense. Pirates are still a favorite of mine. As an old guy, My current "hero" is Hugh Glass. He was a sea captain who supposedly was captured by LaFitte and had the option of dying or joining. He joined and pirated around the Galveston area for about six years. Then he and a companion left that life and trekked up the mainland eluding canibals (well Hugh did, his partner didn't fare as well) and getting captured by Pawnees who adopted him. He lived with them for a fairly long spell and ended up as a trapper and mountain man. He was 67 when the Blackfoot war party caught him on the ice of the Judith river and hacked him up a bit. Aaarrragh! Hugh Glass was the fella who, after being severely mauled by a Grizzly, crawled and limped his way back to Manual Lisa's fort. He had been abandoned by two companions who took his rifle and pistol leaving him with a knife. He killed the older one who he figured should have known better but spared the life of the nineteen year old who was powerful gree at the time. Good thing too or we'd a never heered of Jim Bridger. |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: technission Date: 27 Feb 02 - 01:07 AM Wow, Kat that's a thoughtful piece o'writing. There are stories aplenty to shiver anyone's timbers. Still photography was flourishing then so there are also some wrenching images of the square miles of splintered wood and masonry that had been homes and businesses...almost a Hiroshima without the fire. The city portion of the island is now "protected" by a seawall facing the gulf, about 15 - 18 feet high, and the stories of this engineering feat are interesting too - as to how streets and homes were transplanted while the earth was raised along the shoreline. But a category 3 or higher storm will probably raise enough tide in the bays on the north side of the island to cause extensive flooding from "behind"...but humans just seem drawn to living near bodies of water of all types, establishing their civilizations there, and hoping the crick don't rise. Well none of that really related to pirating although many privateers would have sought refuge in the area during a storm...so come on about and steer the pointy end toward: http://www.interlog.com/~tbaikie/homepage/haddock.htm There you will find some truly inventive invective which is also suitable for minors, courtesy of Captain Haddock and the pirate Red Rackham. You'd better do it, you spineless freshwater brigand! 8)> |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Susanne (skw) Date: 27 Feb 02 - 07:01 PM There's also "Bold In Her Breeches: Woman pirates across the ages" by Jo Stanley, which came out in 1995. I've only really read the entry on Grace O'Malley - very readable but still fairly reliable information, was my impression. |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Desdemona Date: 27 Feb 02 - 07:30 PM I'll have to scheck that one out, Susanne; there's just something about pirates, you know? And WOMEN pirates---well, throw in some rum, & there you have the best of all possible worlds! |
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Subject: RE: New Book re' Women Pirates From: Celtic Soul Date: 27 Feb 02 - 08:28 PM Thanks for the headsup! I am always on the lookout for more info! I'll likely give this one a read, and (unless someone beats me to the punch) will come back and let ya know what I think. Coyote Breath... There was an "Anne Bonny" and a "Mary Read", but so far as I know, no famous "Mary Bonny". Incidentally, they were shipmates (Ann and Mary). Mary disguised as a man with very few the wiser, and Ann the Captains woman, who dressed in whatever she liked but never tried to disguise the fact that she was female. The legend goes that Ann discovered the truth about Mary, and they became close friends (Mary being the only other woman on the crew). Captain Calico Jack Rackham grew quite jealous of the time they spent, and eventually, Mary had to reveal her secret to him to assuage his ego (and to keep from pissing off the Captain too much). Mary was reported to have fought a duel for her "Husband" (a shipmate), and at the last moment before slaying her opponent, revealed her gender so as to make the loss all the worse for the poor sot. I believe I read that she was raised by a relative as a boy for some sort of inheritance reasons, and so became used to life as a male at an early age. In the end, it is said that, when the ship was captured, it was the *women* who fought longest and hardest. One of them is reported as saying that, had they (the crew, or maybe more specifically, the Captain) fought like men, they would not have been captured, and so they deserved their fate (hanging). Both women got a stay of execution, as they were both said to be pregnant. Mary died in jail, and I am unsure what happened to Ann. There is a woman *claiming* to be the descendent of Ann Bonny. I have heard it said that Ann got out of jail, and moved on to a more sedate, married life here in the "Colonies", though I do not know if this is complete myth. A little more history on "Cheng I Sau" (who I came to know as "Madam Ching"). She was not only the most successful female Pirate. She was the most succesful pirate of *EITHER* gender in recorded history. She inherited her fleet after her husband died, and continued the "business" on her own with rather a great deal of success. Yes, fleet. She had a few hundred ships, I believe. No female pirate compendium would be complete without her, and I am surprised that so many others have *no* mention at all about her. Likely some of this is due to the fact that she was not a pirate from the "Golden Age of Piracy" (which also happens to represent specific places in the world moreso than others, as well as a certain time period). Let's not forget that, though Grace O'Malley is called a "pirate", really, she was a Privateer, as she had a letter of mark from Queen Elizabeth I. So long as she only sacked the ships of the enemies of the crown, she was not considered a "Pirate" by her government. I hope I have most of that right...it's been a long time since I read my Pirate history books. And finally, a topic I know a little something about! ;D
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