What do you do with a drunken Sailor?

By Murray Stewart murray.stewart49@gmail.com

The For Fact’s Sake columns are – according to Google and the Duck ’n Fiddle’s Explanation of Everything – based in fact. However, some names and places have been changed to protect innocent people involved.

Highway robbery on the high seas

The concept of stealing other people’s possessions goes way back to the Flintstones. If you had something desirable in your cave like a bearskin rug, a Tretchikoff original or a yummy wife, some scoundrel would connive to relieve you of at least a couple, if not all three, either by stealth or force.

Throughout history, thieves have somehow been glorified as villainous heroes, often creating a global cult-following. Robin Hood, Black Beard and The Highwayman spring to mind, as do Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone or Billy the Kid. They have inspired films, books, songs, comic-strips and whimsical poems – many of which seem to condone their blatant skulduggery as perfectly acceptable, if not admirable.

Now, as far as flags go, the Jolly Roger is perhaps the most recognised worldwide. The name though, is somewhat misleading, and has nothing to do with being merry or playing hip-hockey with your partner.

No. On the contrary, the white skull and crossbones were a warning to lock up your daughters and hide the family jewels. This was the era of the eye-patched, peg-legged, swash-buckling Pirate, when blatant robbery on the high seas reached boiling point.

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