Here are some terms and phrases that shiver our timbers:
- Bilged on her anchor: A ship holed or pierced by its own anchor (also an obvious innuendo)
- Grog blossom: Redness on the nose or face of someone who drinks spirits to excess
- Nipperkin: A small cup or drink (we’ll be using “having nipperkins” in place of “taking shots” on our next bar crawl)
- Picaroon: A scoundrel! A scallywag! A ne’er-do-well!
- Crack Jenny’s tea cup: To spend the night in a house of ill repute
In addition to adding to your personal arsenal of pirate language, we’re also sharing notable women pirates who sailed the seven seas.
Ching Shih, the Pirate Queen Who Surpassed Blackbeard
Zheng Yi Sao, also known as Ching Shih, was a former prostitute who married Zheng Yi — a pirate who fought for the Vietnamese Tay Son dynasty. When her husband fell overboard and died, Ching Shih took over operations and ended up amassing the largest and most successful pirate fleet in history.
At the height of her power, it’s estimated that Ching Shih commanded 400 ships and somewhere between 40,000-80,000 men. Blackbeard is often the first name that comes to mind when we talk about pirates, yet at his height, he only commanded four ships and up to 300 pirates.
And as a testament to her cleverness, Ching Shih knew when to call it quits. After ten years of running the most powerful pirate empire in history, she surrendered and received land in Canton, where she owned and operated a successful gambling house until her death at the age of 68 or 69.
Anne Bonny, a Mysterious Figure from the Golden Age of Piracy
As one of the few recorded female pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy, Anne Bonny joined the pirate John Rackham as part of his crew alongside another female pirate, Mary Read. The crew attacked merchant ships in the West Indies until they were captured and sentenced to death for their crimes. The male members of the crew were all executed, but both Bonny and Read claimed to be pregnant, which bought them extra time. Eventually, Read died in prison and Bonny’s fate remains unknown.
Though there’s no real evidence to back this up, a 1724 book titled A General History of the Pyrates later claimed that Bonny and Read were lovers. If so, we love that sapphic romance for them.
Sadie the Goat, River Pirate and Headbutter Extraordinaire
Sadie Farrell, otherwise known as “Sadie the Goat,” was an Irish-American river pirate who started out as a street mugger in New York City’s Fourth Ward. Why was she called a goat? Because her signature move was to headbutt a man in the stomach while her accomplice hit the victim with a slungshot and robbed him. Her nemesis was a six-foot-tall female bouncer at a New York City bar called The Hole in the Wall. The bouncer, Gallus Mag, bit off Sadie’s ear in a bar fight (which was apparently her signature move when dealing with difficult customers).
Eventually, Sadie the Goat took her troublemaking ways to the waters, sailing up and down the Hudson and Harlem Rivers to raid small villages, farm houses, and mansions. When the farmers along the river began to resist her river crew with gunfire, she went back to the Fourth Ward and made a truce with Gallus Mag, who returned her ear (it had been displayed in a pickled jar in the bar). Sadie put the ear in a locket and wore it for the rest of her life.
