Got a text with picture from Suzanne and Mike (niece and nephew) — they apparently found a part of a pirate ship down around Lake Erie. I’ve always wished I had been a pirate and often blog about them. So I Figured why not another pirate blog today…. how about we talk about walking the plank?
One of the earliest definitions of the phrase “walking the plank” appeared in the 1788 book A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. The book explains it as “a mode of destroying devoted persons or officers in a mutiny on ship-board.” The victim was bound and blindfolded and forced to walk on a board that was balanced on the ship’s side until they fell into the water. This deed, “as the mutineers suppose,” might avoid them being charged for murder. Actually, no record exists of charges being brought against anyone who forced their victims to walk the plank — so maybe them old scalawags were right.
But from what I’ve read, plank-walking was an extremely rare occurrence — if it ever really happened at all. A lot of “experts” scoff at the notion, saying that the practice existed only in fiction. But some non-fiction stories have been written about the practice. In 1821, a Jamaican newspaper reported that pirates from a schooner had boarded the English ship Blessing. When the pirates were not able to get any money from the Blessing’s captain, the head pirate made him walk the plank. The buccaneers then shot the ousted captain three times as he struggled to stay above water. They they musket-whipped the captain’s son and pitched him overboard, and set the entire ship on fire.
I have a pamphlet that says the notion of walking the plank originated with the pirates that plagued the Mediterranean Sea when it was dominated by the Roman Empire. (Pirates have been around for a long time!) When the pirates captured Roman ships, they would mock the sailors by telling them that they were free to walk home. Of course, at sea, there’s really no place to walk….
Probably, the reality is that unwanted men at sea were dealt with by marooning — leaving a man on a desert island to die — very popular among pirates. And sometimes, prisoners were tied up and tossed overboard to drown or be eaten by sharks. And then, of course, hanging, shooting, whipping, and torturing were all fun for pirates. I guess pirates weren’t all that committed to justice.
— 30 —