#john rackham

[kamwashere]

i’m sorry but HOW did calico jack pull these baddies

[devolympian]

All my concept art for Calico Jack

[pulpsandcomics2]

Mermaids

[ltwilliammowett]

John Rackham - Calico Jack

Measured by his hauls and compared to many other pirates of his time, John Rackham also known as Calico Jack (his nickname was derived from the calico clothing that he wore, while Jack is a nickname for John) was not a prominent figure - rather a "small fish" with a spatially limited sphere of activity, his female companions were much better known.

Anne Bonny and Calico Jack, portrayed by Clara Paget and Toby Schmitz (x)

Therefore, not much is known about his earlier life, except that he was probably born in England in 1682 and then moved to the Caribbean. Until the end of November 1718, he sailed as quartermaster on the brigantine of the pirate Charles Vane. When Vane refused to attack a French warship with superior armament, Rackham stood up to him and demanded that he board the enemy. Vane initially prevailed and the pirates escaped the warship, but the next day a majority of the crew declared Vane a coward, deposed him and elected Rackham captain. Vane and his few followers were left with a small captured sloop, complete with provisions and ammunition.

John Rackham in "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates", published 1725 (x)

Rackham subsequently plundered a number of ships; he initially turned down the royal amnesty that Woodes Rogers had brought with him to New Providence in July 1718. In the spring of 1719, after a few more captures, he overhauled his brigantine in the Bahamas. There Rackham met a married woman named Anne Bonny, who became his mistress and was soon pregnant. Rackham is said to have bought her off her husband James Bonny for a considerable sum.

After a sloop sent out by Rogers drove him off and took two pinches back from him, Rackham settled in Cuba for a time. He lived there with "a sort of little family" until he ran out of money and food; this apparently refers to Anne Bonny and their child together. In between, he now also submitted to the royal amnesty and sailed as a privateer for Woodes Rogers. Part of this crew was Mary Read, who was later arrested with him.  According to legend, Anne and Mary Read fell in love with each other after they had to show up on board disguised as men. In drawings, the two women are often depicted as a couple, though neither Anne nor Mary seemed to live monogamously. "They don't need each other. They want each other," says Amanda Cotton, a British artist, about her sculpture of Bonny and Read, which the British government, however, refused to install.  Historian Susan Baker also suggested that there was a lesbian relationship between the two, expressed in love and concern for each other. Whether they were purely lesbian is quite speculative, but more likely they were bisexual, considering that Anne and Mary had sexual relationships to men as well. 

Anne Bonny and Mary Read in "A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates", published 1725 (x)

Rackham and his crew quickly relapsed as pirates, however, and eventually the Bahamas dispatched a heavily armed sloop under Jonathan Barnet, a privateer, to seize them. Barnet surprised the pirates off Cape Negril in western Jamaica during a drinking bout and overpowered them with little resistance. Only the two female pirates are said to have put up a determined fight.

Proclamation from Woodes Rogers naming Jack Rackham and crew as pirates, 1720 (x) 

Rackham and his men were tried in Santiago de la Vega in Jamaica on 16 November 1720, found guilty and hanged the following day. The two women escaped the gallows by claiming to be pregnant. Read is said to have died in prison. There is only speculation about Bonny's further fate. She is said to have been freed through the influence of her father and returned to Charles Town, where she is said to have spent the rest of her life married and with children. Others say she simply disappeared, but it is known that she was not hanged.

[theoutcastrogue]

Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues

Episode 2: Pirates

"BBC documentary series. Dr Sam Willis takes to the high seas in search of the swashbuckling pirates of the golden age of piracy during the early 18th century. Following in the wake of the infamous Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Calico Jack and others, Sam charts the devastating impact these pirates had during an era of colonial expansion and how, by plundering the vast network of seaborne trade, they became the most-wanted outlaws in the world."

[originalleftist]

"Calico Jack"'s appearance in Our Flag Means Death should have been Charles Vane instead (Spoilers).

I am aware that OFMD doesn't even pretend to be historically accurate. And this is a good thing, as the real history was much darker, and the real Stede and Blackbeard much less likeable figures (to be clear, one reason I would argue OFMD works so well is that it is obviously and deliberately absurd and fantastical, rather than distorting history while trying to pass it off as accurate or realistic like a lot of media does).

But they usually do draw some interesting details from history. Except... their "Calico Jack" has basically nothing to do with the actual John Rackham, or even the mythologized version of him, beyond the name, being a contemporary of Blackbeard, and being a mediocre pirate. He serves his role in the show, of being a duplicitous asshole ex of Ed's who tries to tempt him back to his old ways. But he really has nothing to do with Rackham, who is basically know to the general public for three things (all of them historically dubious or made-up): wearing calico, flying the famous skull and crossed swords flag, and sailing with Ann Bonny and Mary Read/being romantically involved with Ann. Whereas OFMD's Jack is basically just a fratboy in the trappings of a cowboy, and dropped into the Golden Age of Piracy.

I would contend that Charles Vane would have filled the role they wanted much more naturally, while also having a fair amount of name recognition now due to Assassins' Creed IV and Black Sails. Vane was:

A contemporary of Blackbeard's, even more so than Rackham. They even met up a few weeks before Blackbeard's death.

Known to be a violent asshole even by pirate standards.

A die-hard pirate who refused to accept a pardon. He might not have sold another pirate out to the British, as he did in the show, but he would fit the role of someone tempting Blackbeard back to their old life perfectly.

He has no distinctive costume, whereas calling the character "Calico Jack" and then not having him wear Calico is just weird, like if they had Blackbeard without the beard for the entire show.

Vane actually was deposed by his crew in a mutiny, whereas to my knowledge Rackham never was.

Vane just fits the role of Jack in the show so much better, in my opinion, and the writers reference enough that they clearly know a fair bit about the history of piracy, so I can only conclude that they picked Rackham mainly for his greater name recognition.

[dimity-lawn]

Anne Bonny is one of the new characters in season 2 of Our Flag Means Death, and I want to know where that’s going.

For those who don’t know, Anne Bonny was a real person, and is probably one of the best known female pirates, even if much of the information we have about her is unreliable, exaggerated, or purely fictional.

She was also married to Captain John Rackham.

Yes, that John Rackham. The same John Rackham that is best known as Calico Jack.

Is she looking for her husband? Is she trying to avenge his death? On Stede? On Ed? Who’s she working with and against? Or is her attitude towards his death closer to Spanish Jackie’z towards Geraldo’s? Is Calico Jack dead? He has to be dead, right? There’s no way he could survive that, he’s not Lucius. But how sure can you be with OFMD?

[kchasm]

Ryu Number Chart Update: Tropico 2: Pirate Cove

(With bonus Treasure Island!)

Tropico 2: Pirate Cove is a bit of an unusual entry in the Tropico franchise, as instead of playing as president of a fictional island nation during the Cold War and Doing Politics with the Blocs, you're the Pirate King in Pirate Times, running some sort of Pirate Island. Basically the same concept otherwise, though.

Depending on your game mode (and in line with the earlier Tropico games), you can specify your Pirate King's Pirate Identity as one of a number of historical or fictional-but-in-the-public-domain pirates:

Granted, you don't really see your chosen Pirate do anything as a discrete Pirate Unit, but if you're bad at Being A Pirate, you get a little cutscene which seems to depict a first-person view of the Pirate King having apparently been cast-away, with a view of their Pirate Boots:

Does that count? I feel like that counts, probably. I mean, you also get a first-person view cutscene if you're good at being a pirate (the viewpoint's diegetic; some Pirate Folks raise their drinks at you). In other words, if the Pirate King is a Specific Pirate, and the Pirate King is in the cutscene, then the Specific Pirate is in the cutscene. That's math.

The historical and public domain figures that "show up" in Tropico 2 can be found in the chart below:

There are multiple ways of getting Ryu into this mess, but the ones I've got a Big Like for are through Kingdom Hearts and Fate/Grand Order, which work out owing to Tropico 2's inclusion of Captain Hook (public domain is public domain), and Fate/Grand Order's inclusion of basically every historical and/or folkloric figure they can shove into their gacha, some of whom are genderswapped because why not and also because it worked for Type-Moon the first time; they're not going to stop now.

(This chart is by no means all-inclusive. There's plenty of Video Game I haven't watched yet, and if I tried to include all the connections that went through Minecraft skins, even only including the DLC dropped through the official "Minecraft" account, the topology would drive me to madness.)

So congrats to Charlotte de Berry, Laurens de Graaf, and Nicholas van Hoorn for making it onto The Chart, but the real MVP of this update is Long John Silver, on account of that he provides a neat way to get into Treasure Island video games. (I don't count Treasure Planet characters as the same characters. Little bit too different. Doesn't really feel right.)

If you've never heard of either of these two video games, that's perfectly fair, frankly. Treasure Island is a 2008 adventure game that serves as a sort of condensed video game version of the book with a bunch of adventure game puzzles added. It's faithful-ish, with the exception of a handful of original characters (including the daughter of Squire Trelawney, who serves romantic interest), and the inexplicable narrative decision to have Dr. Livesey suddenly quaff Evil Juice.

(Image credit: Andrea Pannocchia)

I guess I get what they were going for here? "Ho ho, those folks who know the novel and are expecting the same are going to get a big surprise when they get to the twist we added ourselves!" But also, I feel like if anyone is playing a video game adaptation of Treasure Island, they're probably playing it because it's a video game adaptation of Treasure Island and don't really want an Original Twist.

Though my estimations of What Other People Want have been historically lacking, so what do I know? Nada, is what I know.

Anyway, the other game up there, Destination: Treasure Island, is also a griphy adventure game, though this one's a sequel to the book, instead. Jim Hawkins, presumably doing Jim Hawkins things, gets his day-to-day interrupted by Silversent psittacinunce, just in time also for a troika of pirates from the book to arrive at the scene Bearing Vengeance re: the maroonage they suffered (also from the book). Hilarity ensues, although for some reason in the game Black Dog has been renamed "Yellow Dog" which makes him Not The Same Character, as far as The Chart is concerned. (It's fine; he's covered by the 2008 game anyway.)

It's got 100% less Dr. Livesey, but also 100% less Evil Dr. Livesey. I reckon that balances out.

[a-story-is-true]

a story is true, a story is untrue

[on youtube with subtitles]

[manabombs]

text free + close ups ✨

[devolympian]

(Fanservant) 3* Rider: John Rackham.

[pulpsandcomics2]

John Rackham

Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Jonathan Swift

[diioonysus]

women in art: titania

[knightofmordred]

some black sails bts because im in a silly goofy mood

[originalleftist]

Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

Below is a screenshot of a portion of the actual trial record for Ann* Bonny and Mary Read, the two most famous female pirates in history. This is the most detailed eyewitness description of them known to survive to the present day.

Image: Screenshot of an excerpt from the trial record of pirates Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

Here is the text with some edits on my part to update anachronistic spelling and grammar, for those who don't want to try to parse early 18th century court documents:

"Dorothy Thomas deposed, that she, being in a canoa at sea, with some stock and provisions, at the North-side of Jamaica, was taken by a sloop, commanded by one Captain Rackam (as she afterwards heard;) who took out of the canoe, most of the things that were in her: and further said, that the two women, prisoners at the bar, were then on board the said sloop, and wore mens jackets, and long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their heads; and that each of them had a machet and pistol in their hands, and cursed and swore at the men, to murder the deponent; and that they should kill her, to prevent her coming against them; and the deponent further said, that the reason of her knowing and believing them to be women then was, by the largeness of their breasts."

Source: https://www.postandcourier.com/the-tryals-of-captain-john-rackam-and-other-pirates/pdf_68970990-ded9-11e8-be44-1b1f2868c03d.html

*And yes, its often spelled "Ann" with no e in contemporary documents- the e appears to have been an error in the trial record which stuck. Ann also seems to have used aliases, and is sometimes referred to in contemporary sources by the last name Bonn or Fulford, or the first name Sarah, leaving some ambiguity as to her real name.

[cinemaocd]

Jack Rackham is my favorite character in Black Sails because Toby Schmitz is the only actor who realizes he is in a prequel for Muppet Treasure Island...