 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
 
Welcome aboard Pirates and
Privateers, a site devoted to the history
of maritime piracy, privateering, and the sea
before the Age of Steam.
Within these pages you will find articles
dealing with the history and culture of these
topics from ancient times to modern day. Click
one of the links above or below to explore the
treasures within this website.
Each month, I send out a newsletter
about the latest article and reviews posted
here. I also include information that doesn't
appear at Pirates and Privateers, but is
still of interest to adherents of piracy and
maritime history. By subscribing to the
newsletter, you'll never miss out on the latest
happenings here at Pirates and Privateers.
As
always, if you have a question about pirates,
please write
and ask. If there is a particular pirate
or subject, you'd like me to write about, let
me know.
One cautionary note for those
seeking genealogical information: Historical
records about pirates are rare. Much of what
is known comes from government records,
newspaper accounts, and the few contemporary
accounts written during a particular period.
This information rarely contains details
pertinent to what you need to know to identify
an ancestor. The simple fact is that the vast
majority of pirates' names remain unknown. I cannot answer
genealogical questions. Instead, I recommend
contacting genealogical depositories and
websites, historical societies, and
national archives --
places where the librarians and curators are
better trained to assist in this type of
query.
A special note to teachers
and students: If
you need help with a project or
report, please contact
me. Should you use any of my
articles or reviews, please let me
know and remember to include the
proper citation. The majority of
material contained with this
website is copyrighted.
Fair winds and
following seas,
Cindy
(site last updated 20 May 2025)
Pirate Quote of the
Month
At the
pirate's birthday party
there are streamers and
balloons.
The guests are wearing party
hats and singing birthday
tunes.
They're playing Toss the
Cannonball and Pirate Hide
and Seek
and games of Pin the Cracker
to the Purple Parrot's Beak.
— from Eric
Ode's "The Pirate's Birthday
Party" in
When You're a Pirate Dog
and Other Pirate Poems,
2012
 May Article |
 May
Reviews |
Lady
Luck and Other Amusements
The only sure thing
about luck is that it will change.
The nineteenth-century writer Bret
Harte wasn’t referring to pirates when he
wrote this line, but luck shadowed pirates
in their daily lives whether they were at
sea or on land. Fortune, whether good or
bad, could be had not just in pillaging
but also at rest. Sometimes, though,
pirates just wanted to have fun.
Author’s Note:
While I
worked on this article, my father
passed away. He shared his affinity
for the water and boats with me in
my youth, which helped awaken a
desire to write about pirates. This
article is for him. Now that you are
at peace and without pain, Dad, may
you eat, drink, and be merry.
Lee Aker
Rest in peace
|
Hello,
Pirates!
by Martha Day Zschock
Books for Young Pirates
The
Trafalgar Chronicle: New Series
9
edited by Judith E. Pearson and
John A. Rodgaard
History: Navy
Captain
Kidd
Samuel Marquis
Biography:
Pirates, Privateers, &
Pirate Hunters
The Ghostly Tales
of Florida's
Pirates
by Sarah
Fabiny
Pirate
Apprentices:
Fantasy
Outlaws
of the Sea
by Robert J. Antony
History: Piracy
|
|
|
Pirate & Maritime News
|
Events & Activities
|
|
|
Brick
Wrecks
Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks
8 March - 31 August 2025
The Historic Dockyard Chatham
Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom
Pirates
29 March 2025 - 4 January 2026
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich, United Kingdom
Vikings
Before Vikings
11 April - 30 December 2025
Vrak -- Museum of Wrecks
Stockholm, Sweden
Tennessee
Pirate Fest
24-26 May 2025
Harriman, Tennessee
Pride
of Baltimore II Send-off
30 May 2025
Constellation Pier 1
Baltimore, Maryland
Into
the Charmed Churned Circle
30 May 2025
Lehigh Valley No. 79 Barge in
Red Hook
Brooklyn, New York
Blackbeard
Pirate Festival
31 May - 1 June 2025
Hampton, Virginia
Bow
Lines
Maritime Literary Festival
6-7 June 2025
Exeter Custom House
Exeter, United Kingdom
Kingston
Pirate Festival
8 June 2025
Kingston, Washington
Pirates
Day
8 June 2025
Milford, Connecticut
Falmouth
International Sea Shanty
Festival
13 - 15 June 2025
Falmouth, United Kingdom
Boarded
A New Pirate
Adventure
14 June 2025
12 July 2025
11 October
2025
29 November
2025
27 December
2025
Maritime
Museum of San
Diego
San Diego,
California
Pirate
Day
27 June 2025
Marco Island, Florida
Maritime
Heritage Conference
24-27 September 2025
Buffalo Convention Center
Buffalo, New York
Privateer
Days
27 & 29 June 2025
Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada
Sail
250th New York
4 July 2026
New York City, New York
|
The Rebel & the Spy
These
five people played roles in the War of 1812.
James Madison (far left) was president at
the time and, in my current
work-in-progress, he has a special
assignment for Lucas Burnett, one of the
protagonists in the novel. Jean Laffite
(beside Madison) operates a smuggling
operation, based on barrier islands
southwest of New Orleans. One of his
captains, is Dominique You, whose sister
Alexine has been raised in this nefarious
world of smugglers, pirates, privateers, and
cutthroats. Dolley Madison is the country's
presidentress (first lady) and plays a vital
role in preserving some of our national
treasures during the British invasion of
Washington City. General Andrew Jackson
(second from right) has no intention of
allowing the British to gain entry to the
United States through its back door (the
Mississippi). Governor William C. C.
Claiborne (far right) is Lucas's cousin and
a constant thorn in Laffite's side. They
come together within the pages of The
Rebel & the Spy, a historical
novel where it's not always easy to decide
who is the rebel and who is the spy.
The links below are to a gallery of places
depicted in my novel and a resource list for
those seeking information on the people
pictured above, pirates, ships in the age of
sail, the Battle of New Orleans, the
invasion and burning of Washington, the
bombardment of Fort McHenry, and much more.
(Please note that these pages are updated
from time to time, so check back to see
what's been added.) I hope you enjoy.
Pirates & Privateers
Newsletter
Each month I alert
readers to the posting of the
latest piracy article and book
reviews, new additions made to the
website, and interesting maritime
tidbits. If you would like to
receive the monthly Pirates
& Privateers Newsletter,
send
me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in
the subject line.
If you're not sure,
here's a sample
newsletter to read. I hope
you enjoy!
Note
to subscribers: If you fail
to receive your newsletter,
it's possible that your
e-mail provider returned it
to me for one of several
reasons: they deem it to be
junk mail; your mailbox is
over quota; access to your
account is denied; or you
changed your e-mail address
and forgot to notify me of
the change. Contact me and
we will try to resolve the
problem.
If your
newsletter bounces two months
in a row and you don't contact
me, I just delete you from the
subscriber list. You're
welcome to resubscribe if that
occurs.
Copyright ©2023 Cindy
Vallar
Click to contact me
Background image compliments
of Anke's Graphics |
.jpg)
