#Laura Sook Duncombe

[themirokai]

Strong recommendation for everyone to check out Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe which covers the story of Alwilda and many other awesome historical pirate women.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/32202167

So while doing some pirate research for the play I’m writing I stumbled upon one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read. In the 5th century A.D. there was a Scandinavian princess called Alwilda who’s father tried to set her up to marry Alf, the Prince of Denmark. Alwilda wasn’t cool with this so she and some female companions dressed as men, stole a ship, and sailed away. Eventually they met a company of pirates who were in need of a new captain and they were so captivated by her that they elected her as their new leader. Her crew became so infamous that Prince Alf was sent out to stop them. When their ships met he took Alwilda prisoner and she was so impressed by Alf’s skill that she agreed to marry him after all and eventually became the Queen of Denmark.

[matchafoxjournal]

August 2 📚 Currently reading:

- Kelly Quindlen She Drives Me Crazy

- Holly Jackson Good Girl, Bad Blood

- Laura Sook Duncombe Pirate Women

+ Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones Persians

Definitely a reading multiple books at the same time-person, mixing non-fiction & fiction to avoid reader burnout

[piratesofnassauarchive]

Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Notorious Pirate Women

Anne Bonny (left) and Mary Read (right) from  A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson 1724

We know very little about either of them before they entered piracy in 1720 but we do know that they sailed together with Anne Bonny’s spouse John Rackham, otherwise known as ‘Calico Jack’ who was captain of the ship.

The pair earned the respect of their crew mates and were often in charge of leading raids on other ships, showing how much trust the crew had in them as well as their skill in fighting.

Two victims who testified against them, Dorothy Thomas and Thomas Spenlow, described them as wielding pistols and cutlasses as they fought, using foul language and fighting with their blouses open exposing their breasts to prove they were women and scare their enemies.

Their capture happened while the crew were drunk, celebrating a recent raid so they couldn't defend themselves well, leaving Bonny and Read to fight off pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet and his crew. Both were overpowered and captured, put on trial and sentenced to death in Jamaica, set to be hanged but both declared they were pregnant and as English law declared you couldn't hang pregnant women they were given a stay of execution.

Bonny and Read were never executed, Read died in jail likely of typhoid fever or complications due to the pregnancy and was buried on April 28th 1721 but Anne disappeared from the records. Theories for Anne range from her being released to her family, freed by a governor who took pity on her or died in jail.

They were both first written about in the book ‘A General History of the Pyrates’ by Captain Charles Johnson who in the book wrote some of the first biographies of many of the pirates from the Golden Age. Although their time as notorious pirates was short and what he wrote was largely fictionalised it inspired many others writing about pirates and cemented much of how we view their stories today.

Sources and Secondary Reading:

Book: Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by  Laura Sook Duncombe

[discoevsky]

you seem like a person with fantastic taste in books so I would love to know your favorite (I'll cheat and say non LMM) ones. Signed, curious and ready to read.

You don’t know how long I’ve waited for someone to ask me this. These are only a handful and I tried to keep it varied to give you different options based on your interests. Hopefully I didn’t scare you off 😅

Fiction:

The Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld (the audio is superb)

Emma - Jane Austen

Deerskin - Robin Mckinley

Chalice - Robin Mckinley

Rapunzel’s Revenge - Shannon Hale

The Ramona Quimby series - Beverly Cleary (the audio books are superb)

North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

The Raging Quiet - Sherryl Jordan

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

Our Spoon Came from Woolworths - Barbara Comyns

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

No longer Human - Osamu Dazai

Crackpot - Adele Wiseman

Twelve Angry Men - Reginald Rose

The Dark Road - Ma Jian

Small Beauty - Jia quing wilson-lang

Green Grass, Running Water - Thomas King

Sula - Toni Morison

Song of Solomon - Toni Morison

Nonfiction:

The Soul of an Octopus - Sy Montgomery

Gathering Moss - robin Wall Kimmerer

Toto-chan: the little girl at the window - Tetsyko Kuroyanagi

Pirate Woman - Laura Sook Duncombe

[mossyt0mb]

ABOUT PIRATES

oct. '22 ★ memorable passages ✪ ✪

Piracy—one of the world’s oldest professions—has been around even longer than the blind poet and also shares a birthplace with him: the Mediterranean.

The word pirate comes from the ancient Greek word piero, which means “to make an attempt.”

Many became privateers-turned-pirates-turned-privateers, a perfect illustration of the state’s complicated relationship with privateers.

Most of all, pirate ships of this era were democracies. Captains were elected by the crew at the start of each voyage. Decisions on where to sail and whether or not to make a raid were decided by majority vote. Rules, division of prize money, and injury pay were all written into a charter that had to be signed by every pirate at the start of a new voyage. This system, developed by the Brethren of the Coast and perfected in Madagascar by the pirates of the Pirate Round, would come to be a hallmark of the Golden Age of piracy. As Cordingly comments, “Liberty, equality, and brotherhood were the rule rather than the exception.”

--- from the book Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe

[kyoko-minion]

1. City of Fortune : How Venice Ruled the Seas - Roger Crowley

2. Empires of the Sea : The Siege of Malta , the Battle of Lepanto , & the Contest for the Center of the World - Roger Crowley

3. Empires of the Sea : The Final Battle for the Mediterranean , 1521 - 1580 - Roger Crowley

4. Empires of the Sea : Maritime Power Networks in World History - Rolf Strootman / Roy van Wijk / Floris van den Eijnde

5. The Sea in History : The Modern World - Christian Buchet

6. The Great Sea : A Human History of the Mediterranean - David Abulafia

7. The Boundless Sea : A Human History of the Oceans - David Abulafia

8. A World History of the Seas : From Harbour to Horizon - Michael North

9. The Sea & Civilization : A Maritime History of the World - Lincoln Paine

10. The Sea in World History : Exploration , Travel , & Trade - Stephen K. Stein

11. Pirate Queens - Leigh Lewis

12. Pirate Women - Laura Sook Duncombe

13. Daring Pirate Women - Anne Wallace Sharp

14. Seafaring Women :  Adventures of Pirate Queens , Female Stowaways , & Sailors’ Wives    - David Cordingly

15. She Captains : Heroines & Hellions of the Sea - Joan Druett

A Clipper at Sunset, 1877 by Edward Moran

[semper-legens]

147. Pirate Women, by Laura Sook Duncombe

Owned: Yes Page count: 229 My summary: The life stories of some of the women of the world who sailed as pirates - from Viking maidens like Alfhild, through Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the Golden Age of Piracy, to modern day pirate women My rating: 3.5/5 My commentary:

Yaar, me hearties, it be time to set sail on the ragin’ seas o’ the non-fiction genre! Anyone who knows me even a little knows that I love pirates, and pirate history, and pirate movies, so the chance to read about some cool pirate ladies from history is always appreciated. I think the only other such book I’ve read was written by a man, who seemed to be under the impression that women are physically incapable of hard labour (?) so getting a perspective from a woman is valuable. And I’m especially grateful for more information on my girl Sayyida al-Hurra. She’s one of the real pirates, and she was so cool.

This book has a lot of ground (er, ocean) to cover, and each chapter looks at a different location and time period. There’s well-known pirates like Anne Bonny, less well-known but still historical and awesome pirates like Ching Shih or Grace O’Malley, and some almost definitely mythical or fictional pirate ladies as well. Duncome gives a look at their lives, speculating to cover the historical/legendary gaps, and overall she gives a very compelling look at these figures.

The stories themselves are short, more an overview than anything, but in the cases of the real pirates little is truly known about most of their lives. Dumcombe knows this, and does point out where her retellings might be based partially or entirely on fiction, though I’ll admit that she does sometimes make claims that are hard to prove without any real references given in the text itself. Still, if legends about Blackbeard or Captain Morgan are repeated without fact beign considered, why not these ladies? Does it matter that some of them have faded into myth, or were fiction to begin with? Isn’t it worth passing around their stories anyway? I appreciated her last chapter, where she talks about pirate women as depicted in Hollywood, though I’m not sure about some of her conclusions.

In short, if you want to learn about badass lady pirates, this book’s a pretty good place to start.

[samanthaswords]

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas

”History has largely ignored these female swashbucklers, until now. From ancient Norse princess Alfhild to Sayyida al-Hurra of the Barbary corsairs, these women sailed beside–and sometimes in command of–male pirates. They came from all walks of life but had one thing in common: a desire for freedom.” Peering between distorted contemporary record to find the fact amongst the fanciful, researcher and author Laura Sook Duncombe has collected what so many of us quite eagerly want: a better look at the women who took to the high seas to find what so many societies denied them- the basic human right for self-respect, power and equality without their gender getting in the way. "Pirate women hardly fit any mold or exist in any easily classifiable role. They are violent, they are sexually liberated, they are women of color, they are queer women, they don’t follow rules, they don’t apologize, and they do not often get happy endings.”

Her book is on Amazon and there’s two great interviews with Laura with Rebellious Magazine and the Smithsonian magazine!

For more piratey goodness, check out the Smithsonian’s exhibition ‘Pirates in the Atlantic World’s he-yarrrr. Or, check out my interview on the 17th Century and all things in the spirit of the Seventh Sea! Images Top: Cover of Laura Sook Duncombe’s book, available on Amazon.

Next: Artist depiction of Ann Bonny and Mary Read after their conviction for piracy November 28th, 1720.

Bottom: Portrait attributed to Cheng I, the greatest pirate of known history.

[ltwilliammowett]

Women at Sea

Women at sea or women in general in connection with the navy are unfortunately still a rather neglected topic, and so Margarette Lincoln, herself an author on this topic, once looked at the literature on this subject.  Here is the list she compiled and which I would like to pass on to you, as there are a few that deal with this topic.

- Bold in her Breeches: Women Pirates Across the Ages by Jo Stanley (1995) - The basic work that covers all women pirates through the centuries and geographically from Ireland to China.

- Female Tars: Women aboard Ship in the Age of Sail by Suzanne J. Stark ( 1996) - She deals in her book with three types of women on board, the whores, the officers' wives and women in male disguise.

- Heroines and Harlots: Women at sea in the great age of sail, by David Cordingly (2001) - he looked at the archive material and was able to confirm that there were a very large number of women in England and America who went to sea. He also tries to include the role of men.

-British Sea Power: Representing the Navy, 1750-1815 by Margarette Lincoln (2002) - here she included a whole chapter devoted to how women saw the Navy. She continued this with her next book - Naval Wives and Mistresses (2007) and now tried to include letters and the social role.

- Naval Families : War and Duty in Britain. 1740- 1820 by Ellen Gills (2016) - Here individual families and their fates are highlighted.

- Enterprising Women and Shipping in the 19th century, by Helen Doe (2009) - She stays ashore in her book and highlights the maritime business in women's hands.

- Sailors and Traders: a Maritime History of the Pacific Peoples, by Alastair Couper ( 2009) - Explores the sexual relationships of European sailors and indigenous South Sea island women in the 18th and 19th centuries. It also makes a connection to the whalers and the recruitment of almost exclusively female crews in the 20th century.

- From Cabin Boys to Captains- 250 years of women at sea, by Jo Stanley (2016) - Here she now reports on the life and work of female sailors.

- Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes and Privateers who ruled the seven seas, by Laura Sook Duncombe (2017) attempts to shed light on the lives of female pirates.

- Women and english piracy, 1540- 1720 : Partners and Victims of Crime, by John Appleby (2013) - moves away from the romanticised lives of female pirates and shows how women supported pirates and even started their own businesses. He also tried to dispel some of the myths.

This small list shows how little work has been done on this topic, although there are some small articles on individuals that have gradually appeared in naval history magazines. There is still a lot to be done in this area and more research is needed.

[capjacksparro]

"The heart of piracy is freedom- freedom from society, freedom from law, and freedom from conscience."

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers who ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

[braincoins]

Books finished/read in 2021

(* indicates a book started before 2021)

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Warmaidens by Kelly Coon

The Companion by Katie Alender

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled The Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Final Girls by Seanan McGuire

The Royal Art of Poison by Eleanor Herman

Parasite by Mira Grant

Symbiont by Mira Grant

Chimera by Mira Grant

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

*The Legacy of The Bones by Dolores Redondo

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, and Carey Pietsch

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz

Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones collected by Alvin Schwartz

(to be continually updated through the year...)

[cutlassandcompass]

Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe came in the mail and I’m hoping the last couple of hours of this workday speed by so I can read it.

[teencenterspl]

Brie’s February Staff Picks:

The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson (YA F HUT)

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (J F GON)

You Say It First by Katie Cotugno (YA F COT)

 Whitney’s February Staff Picks:

Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights by Karen Blumenthal (YA 362.198 BLU)

History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives that they Don’t Want You to Know by Anita Sarkeesian (YA 305.42 SAR)

A Pirate’s Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages by Laura Sook Duncombe (YA 910.45 DUN)

[kcrabb88]

I was tagged by @bububalloon. Thank you! :D 

3 Ships: Raoul/Christine, Jean Prouvaire/Bahorel, Flint/Hamilton (Black Sails) 

Last Song: Think of Me from Phantom 25th

Last Movie: The High Note

Currently reading: Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe, and about to start Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Plus various research books! 

Currently watching: The Great (well, not right this moment, but that is the current TV show I am watching)

Currently consuming: Just water, atm, but I was eating Milky Ways earlier :D 

Food I’m Craving Right Now: Hmmm....a really nice chocolate cake, I am just in a chocolate mood tonight 

[lotstradamus]

pssst lottsa laffs, apologies if you've already done this but do you have a masterpost of pirate media recs? I need some sea in my reading list

1) ‘lottsa laffs’ is the best thing I have ever been called, 2) NO I DON’T, not a proper one, and you KNOW I love an excuse to talk about pirates! plus you said pirate MEDIA and not pirate BOOKS, so you’re getting EVERYTHING*: 

fiction:

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh ♥

Peter Darling by Austin Chant (it’s a Peter Pan)

Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen (also a Peter Pan)

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy by L. A. Meyer (The Group Chat’s resident Bloody Jack scholar says that it gets super pirate-y around book 3) 

The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie

non-fiction:

Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean by B. R. Burg 

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe ♥

tv/film:

Black Sails (2014-2017) ♥

Hook (1991) (another Peter Pan!)

Peter Pan (2003) (I mean…)

Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

Treasure Planet (2002)

music:

The Parson’s Farewell - Bear McCreary ♥

Gay Pirates - Cosmo Jarvis

Professional Pirate - Muppet Treasure Island

Shiver My Timbers - Muppet Treasure Island

pretty much anything by Storm Weather Shanty Choir – lots of their songs are traditional Naval sea shanties and not piratical at all (and some are actually anti-pirate), but goddamn: A Drop of Nelson’s Blood, Santy Ano, High Barbary ♥

I’ve started and intend to finish:

The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara

Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly

Capt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J. V. Hart (PETER PAN!)

The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation by Rich Cohen

*with my apologies for, of course, all the Peter Pan.

[eponymiad]

26, 33, 41 for book questions?

26. What is your favourite non-fiction book?

It has been a long time since I finished a nonfiction book, but I’m currently reading Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe and I’m really enjoying it. I tried to do a bunch of pirate research over the summer for a fic I was working on, and there was so little about women in piracy, so I’m glad to have found this one!  33. What is a book you read after seeing the movie/ TV series?

Most recently, I read all the Umbrella Academy comics! I don’t know that I would have enjoyed them without watching UA (I picked them up post-season 1) but they were a delight after seeing the characters more fleshed out.  41. What is your favourite duology?

I’m gonna give two non-answers here.

- The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix, which is fully six books BUT was published in two volumes because the books are very short, so I’m gonna count it. I tend to forget book details unless I aggressively reread, but *so* much of these books that I read literally half my lifetime ago have stuck in my brain. Some day a Nix fan will tell me they’ve read these books too. It hasn’t happened yet, but some day. I have hope. 

- The Wrath and the Dawn series by Renée Ahdieh, which I only read the first book for but enjoyed immensely. In googling duologies to jog my memory, I realized I had the sequel sitting on my shelf AND it’s the exact vibe I’ve been in the mood for, so I grabbed it to read through the tropical storm tonight. This was inadvertent, but thank you for the question because yay book!