Inspiration: Skull and Crossbones

In the UK, the skull and crossbones is also known as the Jolly Roger and was used as a flag to show when a pirate ship was about to attack.  The ships would fly false flags as they pursued their prey and then hoist the jolly roger as they were about to attack.  It was an offense to even own a jolly roger flag, so only lawless pirates would dare.

It seems though that Jolly Roger may have originally been a generic term for pirate flags and may have originally been Joli Rouge and actually referred to the blood flag, a plain red flag used by French privateers.

Some sources say that quarter would be given when a flag with a black background was used, but no quarter when a red flag was flown.  Those that surrendered under a black flag would be spared and allowed to live.

While the skull and crossbones go back to the 1700s, the variety of designs of pirate flags was much wider.  Hourglasses symbolising death and cutlasses were common, along with the long bones and skulls we are used to.

Pirates are strongly associated with Cornwall, where I live.  Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, 'the Pirates of Penzance' means that in the public mind, Penzance is especially pirate like.  Penzance is a town situated along the coast of Mounts Bay, along with Mousehole (home of the infamous Mousehole Cat, star of a children's book); Newlyn (still a thriving fishing port) and Marazion (a beautiful ancient town connected to St Michael's Mount by a causeway at low tide).  We even have a rugby team called the Cornish Pirates.

There is a world record for the largest number of people dressed as pirates in one place and Penzance has tried to get the record twice now and come nail bitingly close both times.  I was there the second time with some family members.  It was great fun to go and dress up as pirates and see everyone's costumes.  Some of my pirate things have become permanent home decor.  I have a wolf's head sculpture which wears my tricorn hat and a jolly roger sits on the table with our TV on.  There is something so romantic and exciting about pirates, even if the truth was very different!

Pirate John 'Eyebrow' Thomas was believed to be a pirate who lived in Marazion and his grave is now a minor tourist attraction in it's own right, featured on tripadvisor.  After his death, Marazion church refused to bury him and so he is buried in the churchyard of the nearby village of Gulval instead.  Cornish Bird Blog explores the story further and it ends up being more of a mystery...  It's not clear if he was a pirate, or maybe a privateer.  Certainly his gravestone features the skull and crossbones.

Cornwall was generally well known for it's pirates and smugglers.  With 400 miles of coast riddled with rocky little coves, there were numerous spots to land illicit goods or treacherous rocks to lure unsuspecting ships on to.  It was such an issue that coastguards created a path along the entire coast so that they could move quickly to intercept illicit goings on.  This path has seen many uses since and is now the South West Coastal Path and draws many tourists to the area and gives access to the entirety of the Cornish coastline.

This is a link to my Pirate Pinterest Board!