File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2000/anarchy-list.0002, message 295


From: "Brie Finegold" <brie-AT-ucsd.edu>
Subject: Re: Re:Person's Unknowna & Jolly Roger
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:24:56 -0800


<<Incidentally, "Jolly Roger" was not especially the name of an old pirate.
"Old Roger" was an old name for the Devil and probably that was one reason
the skull and cross-bone flag was given his name (others suggest it was a
corruption of 'jolie rouge', referring to the red rather than the black
flag).>>

the jolly roger was intended to strike fear into the hearts of potential
victims.  when a pirate ship raised their jolly roger, it was an offer of
quarter and a warning of what might happen if the other ship turned down the
offer.  if the crew didn't respond quickly enough, the pirates would raise
their red flag, which meant no quarter given.  most pirate captains had
their own version of the jolly roger...the one that most of us think of is
captain emanuel wynne's.  i have pictures of calico jack's, walter
kennedy's, thomas tew's, edward england's, henry avery's, bartholomew
roberts' (two versions), blackbeard's, stede bonnet's, and christopher
condent's if anyone would like them scanned.  a lot of the designs also
incorporate an image of an hourglass to symbolize that the trapped crew had
little time to make a decision, and some included hearts and pictures of the
devil.

xoxo
brie


   

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