A PIRATE'S LAMENT

All my life as a Pirate I was forced to hide who I was and what I did. Lately I have been astounded by the number of sites and social media dedicated to pirates. Speak like a pirate day, (how sweet for the Cornish.) Associations, Dress up days all sorts of stuff all of which is taken from an interpretation of events by Hollywood and now acted out in real life, boats, swords, cannons,costumes and all. Watching all this unfold before me is mind blowing, sometimes I don't know how I feel at all, whether to laugh or cry, be angry at your mistakes or happy when you get it right, I end up in a kind of dream that what I am witnessing cannot be real and with a smile I make no comments. On the rare moments when I have intervened offering real insight or unique info I was 'marginalised', usually with use of some explicit or other, negativity in extremis. Of course it is not easy to understand why a real Pirate with so much to give would be constantly rebuked by wannabe Pirates. Now don't get me wrong, the fact people feel the need to re enact their own interpretation of Piracy is a wonderful thing. Pirate flags everywhere is a wonderful thing and even Lego pirates for kids and everything else are all wonderful things that keep our flag and our mystique alive and this is good. However, to command a ship and an exploration, map uncharted waters, use navigational skills and mathematics not taught at academy, to enter into Empathy with the sea and then the crew of 30 to 50 souls who must be fed, clothed and believe in your command. Through storms, repairs, water and a thousand other demands are put on to a special kind of experience. Who among you can do this? Who among those who you know can do this? No University could teach this because it is a Craft an Art. A Pirate Captain, a Peiran or even a Privateer uses this Art. I am a Master Peiran, I have used the Art and have done so for many years. So I know what it takes, I know what kind of person has the possibilities to be taught the Art and it's Secrets. In Empathy with the sea it is possible to do the impossible and in any conditions. Very few today have the capacity of Empathy with the sea and the sea's creatures, perhaps it is this special type of Empathy that is seen as some kind of Pirate Magic or Mystique. Empathy is invisible, it cannot be seen so Hollywood has no use for it but to be a true Pirate you will need it first. So surely it must be time to see through the veils of Hollywood and understand the truth about Pirates and their reason for being. Until now Pirates have been painted like Blackbeard, who by the way was not even a Captain and his entire experience at sea was a matter of weeks and can in no way be representative of an entire category of Pirates. The liberty with which Pirates are portrayed is because something is missing and it is because of this that so many writers have invented their own vision of Piracy, all of which are far from the truth. In my own experience when I openly state that I'm a Pirate, I'm met with obvious disbelief or thoughts that I've smoked too much, or they think I'm just joking, in any case a situation arises that clearly shows the gap between reality and an implanted reality. Looking at this scenario in reverse, how crazy would I be to admit to being a Pirate if Pirates are actually evil bastards, killing, raping and stealing just for the fun of it, how on earth could I be proud to be a Pirate if that was true. Let me explain, I once captured two ships at the same time. Your immediate imagination of this event creates a scene in your mind of the attack as literature or hollywood has convinced you to imagine. Reality is not like that or we would all end up dead like Blackbead. In reality to capture two ships or even a single ship requires detail planning and an overview of the entire sea area which means going in and having a look followed by days of planning, choosing the method, tide/current direction, maximum lack of moon, timing, then most importantly the method of escape in uncharted, unlit reef waters whilst under attack by cannon fire. That's then followed of course by making sure you get paid. This is reality. Let me tell you that the Hollywoodiana pirates, all drunk on Rum, undisciplined all strangely speaking with a Bristol accent, waving and shouting and ready to kill, rape and plunder et al, these could not have captured those two ships and they would have all died. To do acts of Piracy requires totally the opposite! There are so many varied ongoing Pirate operations that different types of Pirate knowledge are required and employed. Thankfully almost all are successful and remain silent history. The few so called Pirates of fame were in fact failures or even outcasts from the Pirate Brotherhoods and not representative of true Pirates at all. I'm a Pirate, a Master Peiran. I've sailed every Ocean and most seas on the planet. My clients have ranged from Royalty to Politicians to the unspeakable. Outside of my world I am unknown and this is only because I've always been invisible by choice and successful. Pirates always look for positives, their history and culture and very reason for being will ignore the negatives. The word Pirate itself means Those who Boldly go. Wannabe Pirates seriously enjoy what they do and there are so many various and personal reasons for such enjoyment all of which can be explained. One of the reasons for writing this is because among you will be some who may experience something of a higher plane, mystical even spiritual pull and when this happens they will not be able to explain it in words what they felt and will choose to remain silent whilst knowing they have been touched by some unknown wave of Empathy reaching out to them. In those tiny moments, Pirate words and dress will become less important than drafting smell of the air in the nostrils and a strange chill in the middle of your back, it could be the voice of the sea who speaks in so many different ways seeking Empathy. All you have to do is listen and you will become a Pirate. Anthony.