Pirate Life
Famous Pirates
True or False?
Weaponry
Pirate Vocab
100
To avoid drinking stagnant water and getting sick, pirates would drink up to a gallon of this every day.
("Stagnant" water is water that is motionless or undisturbed for a prolonged time, like in a puddle or a clogged sink. Bacteria and diseases grow easily in stagnant water.)
What is ale, or beer? (Alternate answer: grog)
Pirates, and sailors generally, drank ale or grog because it was difficult to store enough clean drinking water on ships. The alcohol in these beverage helped kill germs and bacteria. Grog was a mixture of rum (an alcoholic beverage), sugar, and lemon or lime juice.
100
This pirate captain would sometimes set his own beard on fire to frighten prisoners.
Who was Blackbeard?
Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, was infamous as one of the most frigtening pirates. However, he wove hemp, a natural fiber, into his beard and lit the hemp on fire instead of his own facial hair. Below is an engaving of Blackbeard from 1736:
100
True or False?
Many pirates had hooks as prosthetic hands.
FALSE
Many pirates lost limbs, and not only due to fighting. Even a loose rigging line or slipped anchor could sever a limb. However, for many reasons, a hook for a hand would not have been practical for anyone on a ship. The myth of pirates having hooks for hands probably comes from the character of Captain Hook in J.M. Barrie's famous novel Peter Pan.
100
The primary weapon for bringing down other ships, it was large and intimidating.
What was a cannon?
FUN FACT: Pirates usually preferred cannon shot that would not destroy other vessels, but only kill the people onboard, since they wanted to plunder the ships for their treasure.
100
True or False?
Two of the most common pirate sayings were “Arrrrr!” and "Garrr!"
FALSE
This myth exists because of a popular 1950 Disney film, Treasure Island. (Additional fun fact: This was Disney's first live-action movie.) English actor Robert Newton played the character Long John Silver. Newton's accent and voice in the film led people to believe that pirates commonly said "Arrrr!" Below is a photo of Newton playing Long John Silver in the film: 
200
Food on ships was often scarce or spoiled quickly, so many pirates ate these furry stowaways.
What are rats?
Pirates, and sailors generally, also kept livestock on board, such as chickens to provide eggs and cows to provide milk. However, even this was not always enough to feed all of the crew on a ship.
200
Which of the following pirates was a real person?
a) Long John Silver
b) Captain Jack Sparrow
c) Captain Hook
d) Mary Read
Who was Mary Read?
Of the pirates listed, only Mary Read was a real-life pirate. Thase others are famous characters from books and movies. Below is an engraving of Read from 1720. Notice that, like all female pirates, Read was dressed in men's clothing. Women who wanted to be pirates had to dress as men because it was considered bad luck for women to be on ships. 
200
True or False?
A common way for pirates to execute someone was to make them walk the plank.
FALSE
Believe it or not, there is no good evidence that pirates ever forced anyone to walk the plank. This myth may have arisen because the real-life ways pirates executed people were too gruesome to depict in Hollywood movies.
200
A small sword with a curved blade.
What was a cutlass? 
200
Name of the best-known pirate flag design showing a skull and crossbones:
a. Grim Roger
b. Grim Reaper
c. Jolly Jack
d. Jolly Roger
What is Jolly Roger?
The example of a Jolly Roger flag below is about 200 years old and made of cotton. It was originally dark brown but faded sun to sun and wind. 
300
To keep meat from spoiling on their long sea voyages, pirates and other sailors would smoke it in small tents called buccans, a Portuguese word. This led to what slang term for a pirate?
What is a buccaneer?
Another fun fact: The Haitian French word for buccan, barbacoa, later became the English word "barbecue."
300
When another pirate complained that this female pirate was on his ship--because sailors believed a woman on a ship was bad luck--she responded by stabbing him.
Who was Anne Bonny?
Below is an engraving of Bonny from 1720:
300
True or False?
Pirates may be the reason the United States never adopted the metric system.
TRUE
French scientist Joseph Dombey was sailing to the USA in 1793 when the ship he was traveling on was captured by pirates. Dombey had been invited to teach the U.S. government about the metric system being used in Europe. (At the time, the U.S. was using multiple measuring systems.) Sadly, Dombey died in captivity, and the U.S. government ended up adopting the measuring system it still uses today.
300
Although usually associated with Native Americans, this weapon also was used by pirates to break into a ship's cargo room where loot was stored.
What was a tomahawk?
300
Meaning of the pirate saying "Give no quarter."
a. To share no money
b. To give no place to sleep
c. To show no mercy
d. To give no place for a ship to dock
What is to show no mercy?
Pirates would oten fly a red flag to threaten that they would show no mercy to their captives--in other words, that everyone they captured would be killed.
400
This crew member was second in importance only to the captain and relied on tools that included maps, telescopes, and the compass.
Who was the navigator?
400
This pirate captain was known as "The Prince of Pirates" because, unlike most pirates, he was merciful and generous toward those he captured on his raids. He is also believed by many historians to have been the wealthiest pirate ever, even though his career as a captain lasted only a little over a year:
a. Samuel Bellamy
b. Jack Sparrow
c. Robin Hood
d. James Cook
Who was Samuel Bellamy?
Bellamy died along with most of his crew when his ship, the Whydah Gally, capsized and sank in 1717. Additional fun fact: In 1984, the Whydah's wreckage was found off the coast of Massachusetts. It is the only fully authenticated Golden Age pirate shipwreck ever discovered, and as of today (2025), divers are still recovering its treasure. Below is a photo of some of the silver coins found in the wreckage: 
400
True or False?
Pirates often used maps to locate buried treasure.
FALSE
Pirates did not use treasure maps. In fact, they rarely even buired their loot. The only historical claim of any pirate burying treasure is one incident by the famous Captain William Kidd. However, pirates did value (and steal) sailing maps, since these were important navigation tools.
400
Commonly used by pirates, this type of pistol was popular for over 200 years and had a flint-striking ignition mechanism.
What was a flintlock?
400
One of the following was not a pirate insult:
a. scallywag
b. me hearty
c. lily-livered
d. scurvy dog
What is me hearty?
"Me hearty" meant "my friend" or "my comrade." All of the other terms listed were used by pirates mainly for those they considered cowardly or unskiled at seafaring.
500
Most historians agree that piracy dates back many centuries to which of these countries?
a. Greece
b. England
c. The Caribbean
d. China
What is Greece?
Most historians agree that piracy dates back to at least 1353 B.C. in ancient Greece. Piracy was considered a legitimate profession in ancient Greece and is mentioned in famous texts like The Iliad and The Odyssey.
500
This "pirate queen" commanded more than 300 ships and as many as 40,000 men in the South China Seas during the early 1800s.
Ching Shih
Ching Shih, also known as Shi Yang, became a pirate when she married her husband, who was also a pirate, in 1801, and continued her career after his death. Under her leadership, no female captive could be harmed. Pirates were allowed to buy female captives as wives, but if the pirates cheated on their wives, they were put to death.
500
True or False?
Pirates most often wore eye patches to cover an eye which had been damaged or lost in a fight
FALSE.
While some pirates probably did wear eye patches because they had lost eyes due to violence or accidents, eye patches were usually worn to help their eyes adjust to the light and darkness above and below deck during raids.
500
Often thought of as a modern invention, pirates would throw these small handheld weapons when they were within close range of another ship.
What were grenades?
Pirate grenades were hollow balls made of glass or metal that were filled with gunpowder and a fuse. They were also called powder flasks or fireballs. The photo here shows 17th-century ceramic grenades.
500
The meaning of "Avast ye!"
a. "Stop!"
b. "Be quiet!"
c. "I see land ahead!"
d. "Let's party!"
What is Stop?
Avast ye probably comes from the Dutch phrase houd vast, meaning "hold fast."