Treasure Island

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson

      One of the greatest fictional adventure tales for young people is "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. This classic story of a boy's coming-of-age in the midst of a life and death struggle over a buried treasure has inspired young people for many years. But it also the basis for much of the mythology that surrounds pirates in the public mind continuing to this day. Just as Hollywood's Western movies have their archetypes, so does the classic (and modern) Pirate movie. Stevenson's Long John Silver, Ben Gunn and Captain Flint provide those archetypes.

Reading Treasure Island again I was struck by this introduction by the author:

TO THE HESITATING PURCHASER

If sailor tales to sailor tunes,

Storm and adventure, heat and cold,

If schooners, islands, and maroons,

And buccaneers, and buried gold,

And all the old romance, retold

Exactly in the ancient way,

Can please, as me they pleased of old,

The wiser youngsters of today:

--So be it, and fall on! If not,

If studious youth no longer crave,

His ancient appetites forgot,

Kingston, or Ballantyne the brave,

Or Cooper of the wood and wave:

So be it, also! and may I

And all my pirates share the grave

Where these and their creations lie!

"To the Shores of Tripoli."

"From the halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli;"

The second line in the first stanza of the Marine Corps hymn refers to the the port of Tripoli in North Africa and the role the U.S. Marines played in the Barbary Wars, a conflict where a reborn U.S. Navy fought against the Barbary Pirates. The Pirates of the Barbary Coast for hundreds of years preyed on the merchant shipping in the Mediterranean demanding ransom and tribute from the nations of Europe. Once the 13 American colonies became independent of Great Britain, the American merchant fleet was also subject to attack from the North African corsairs.

Upon the conclusion of hostilities with Britain, it was felt that there was no longer a need for an American navy. The fighting men of the Navy were cashiered and their ships were sold or given away. But as a new nation with a long coastline and a large merchant marine the United States found itself in a very vulnerable position. Americas first threat was from French privateers, which led to an undeclared war against France (1798-1800). The U.S. then had to deal with the Barbary pirates.

The large American merchant fleet sailing in the Mediterranean was a tempting target for the pirates. American sailing ships were captured and the men on board were held for ransom and kept in dungeons, subject to horrible living conditions. In response to these events and others in 1794 the U.S. had passed an act authorizing a new American Navy. Six large heavy frigates, including the U.S.S. Constitution, were ordered to be built and the American Navy and its Corps of Marines was reborn.

PIRATES!

Heritage museums & gardens
67 Grove St.
Sandwich, Mass. 02563

For as long as mankind has been sailing the Seven Seas, there have been Pirates. Down through history Kings, Queens and the common people of coastal and seafaring nations were bedeviled by and had to learn how to deal with these salt water criminals.

As a young man Julius Caesar was captured by Cilician pirates and held for ransom. While being held captive he promised that once he was freed he would hunt down and punish his captors. He kept his promise.

Queen Elizabeth I of England had her own pirates, to include Captain's Drake and Hawkins, whose raids on Spain's New World Empire met her tacit approval and gained her profit. During the Great Age of Sail warring nations often sent out privateers - sailing vessels that were privately-owned but were authorized to raid merchant ships flying enemy flags. Neutral shipping was exempt from these attacks. Participants in this legal form of piracy often fell into the temptation of attacking vessels of all nations and becoming full-time pirates. Captain Kidd was thought to be guilty of this and was taken prisoner in Boston in 1699. Sent to England for trial, he was found guilty of Piracy by a London Admiralty Court and was hung on May 23, 1701.

The classic type of Pirate that we are most familiar with from our books and in films, such as Long John Silver of "Treasure Island" fame and "Captain Blood", are fictionalized versions of the real Pirates that roamed the Atlantic and the Caribbean during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are portrayed as swashbuckling, anti-heroes leading romantic lives of adventure, accumulating treasure and free from the constraints of society. There is a grain of truth to this. Pirates were often men attracted by the prospect of gathering riches and perhaps, the freedom of sailing from port to port, having no allegiance to any government or other men. Along with this came a life full of violence, often prematurely shortened, making it in very many cases a Faustian bargain.

The Heritage museums and gardens in Sandwich, Mass. is currently offering an exhibit entitled "A Short Life and Merry - Pirates of New England". The exhibit includes Hollywood memorabilia, historical displays and period artifacts all relating to the subject of Pirates. Open Daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Exhibit ends October 31, 2008. The museums are closed to the public from January to March.