Joanna,
Your family background's got me off and running on the etymology of the
words "buccaneer" and that which we hear/read more in America, "pirate."
Pirate, apparently, is the broader term under which comes buccaneer, one who
"preyed on Spanish shipping in the West Indies during the 17th century."
I'm guessing those buccaneers would have been, mostly, English sailors.
I'm not in an awake-enough mood (or light) to squinch my eyes up looking for
citations in the OED, but the trusty old American Heritage Dictionary links
"buccaneer" etymologically to "boucan," referring to a barbecue frame. And,
as I recall from years-ago searching the word "barbecue," it yielded
"pigtail" and "supporting structure." Prolly it's as simple as how the
buccaneers, and pirates as well, cooked their meat on the beaches.
Pirates plundered ships for profit----but "without commission from a
sovereign nation". England's Elizabeth I countenanced (ok,
encouraged)---but didn't commission, for obvious diplomatic reasons---high
seas plundering, because many of the goods ended up in her royal treasury.
Her talented friends Ralegh, Drake, Gilbert, Hakluyt and others, managed to
make for Elizabeth I and for themselves some money for their many projects.
Elizabeth was not known for her generosity, so these men acquired wealth in
ways that matched their skills.
Judy, tired, free-associating, and now lucid-dreaming...............
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joanna Boulter" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: [POETRYETC] Shiver my timbers
> I, however, had an ancestor who was a pirate ....
>
> A South Welsh buccaneer who organised a swearing match for sole possession
> of the gold they'd captured, and, as of course he'd been confident of
> doing, won outright. My uncle showed me a stone barn down on the Gower
> coast, which the chap is supposed to have built with his ill-gotten gains.
>
> Judy, there's a poem about him in my little book of Welsh family poems.
>
> joanna
>
>> Robin and Stephen,
>>
>> Hey, Pirate-loving guys! THE pirate, Edward Teach, known as "Blackbeard"
>> made his comfy pirate-home nearby my home, his near the string of islands
>> called Outer Banks in North Carolina, an island known as Ocracoke.
>>
>> For the most fun website about him, google "BlackBeard Lives" and then on
>> its homepage click on "Day 6: Ocracoke" for the nitty grit on his North
>> Carolina days.
>>
>> I feel Da Beard's presence now, bcuz it's Majorly ThunderRainBursting all
>> 'round----just as all y'all were sharing pirate tales!!!! YOIKS!
>>
>> Judy
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Robin Hamilton" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 8:32 PM
>> Subject: Re: [POETRYETC] Shiver my timbers
>>
>>
>>>> And my news says Scotland is the most dangerous country in the world.
>>>> The school of Hard Knox - must be, laddee!
>>>
>>> Ouch -- I read that too, Stephen. Japan comes out best. (0.01 to
>>> Scotland's 2.5%)
>>>
>>> Didn't surprise me much, having grown up there, that Glasgow scored high
>>> on
>>> the GBH stakes, but I was a bit taken aback that the UN rates the
>>> *whole* of
>>> Scotland, with England not far behind, as Danger Territory.
>>>
>>> (Where does Wales figure?)
>>>
>>> Makes you think, that does, but.
>>>
>>> (I tried to get back to the relevant UN report, but apparently the
>>> current
>>> one isn't on-line yet.)
>>>
>>> Robin
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Stephen V
>>>>
>>>> > "Ah'r, Jim lad."
>>>> >
>>>> > From +Treasure Island+, where the Black Spot originated.
>>>
>
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