Got a text with picture from Suzanne and Mike (niece and nephew) \u2014 they apparently found a part of a pirate ship down around Lake Erie. I\u2019ve always wished I had been a pirate and often blog about them. So I Figured why not another pirate blog today\u2026. how about we talk about walking the plank?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the earliest definitions of the phrase \u201cwalking the plank\u201d appeared in the 1788 book A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.<\/em> The book explains it as \u201ca mode of destroying devoted persons or officers in a mutiny on ship-board.\u201d The victim was bound and blindfolded and forced to walk on a board that was balanced on the ship\u2019s side until they fell into the water. This deed, \u201cas the mutineers suppose,\u201d 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 \u2014 so maybe them old scalawags were right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But from what I\u2019ve read, plank-walking was an extremely rare occurrence \u2014 if it ever really happened at all. A lot of \u201cexperts\u201d 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<\/em>. When the pirates were not able to get any money from the Blessing\u2019s<\/em> 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\u2019s son and pitched him overboard, and set the entire ship on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s really no place to walk\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Probably, the reality is that unwanted men at sea were dealt with by marooning \u2014 leaving a man on a desert island to die \u2014 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\u2019t all\u00a0 that committed to justice. Got a text with picture from Suzanne and Mike (niece and nephew) \u2014 they apparently found a part of a pirate ship down around Lake Erie. I\u2019ve always wished I had been a pirate and often blog about them. So … Continue reading
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"