“… That, Like Your Partner in a Heated Spat, Just Love to Drum Up the Past”
As usual with lists like this, there are some dubious claims. For example, Calico Jack’s creation of the pirate flag appears to be a myth. Wikipedia offers:
The flag commonly associated with Rackham depicts a white skull above crossed swords on a black background, and Rackham is sometimes credited with inventing or designing the Jolly Roger design. At trial, however, no witness described Rackham ever using such a flag, only noting that his sloop flew “a white pendant” (pennon).
Another site elaborated:
Another early use of the design is documented in the British Admiralty Records of 1700, where the frigate, HMS Poole, engaged a pirate ship commanded by Captain Emanuel Wynn which flew a Jolly Roger described as: “a sable flag with a white death’s head and crossed bones in the fly”, generally considered by many historians to be the first definitive skull-and-crossbones pirate flag.
That doesn’t directly contradict the Rackham myth, because he is credited with creating a different variant (skull and crossed SWORDS).
Sidebar: The name Jolly Roger, which dates back at least to 1724, is allegedly a corruption of a French phrase:
It is sometimes claimed that the term derives from “Joli Rouge” (“Pretty Red”) in reference to a red flag used by French privateers. This is sometimes attributed to red blood, symbolizing violent pirates, ready to kill. This red flag, captured by the Royal Navy in 1780 and now on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, is the only other surviving authentic Jolly Roger flag.
(Why would I have noticed such trivial crap as the Rackham myth? I researched this back when Black Sails was on the air. I loved that series, except for the final season.)
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I don’t know whether this one is true, but I hope it is:
