                       
                             Pirate Articles

        Pirates usually signed a set of articles, or rules, before setting 
sail.  Most pirate articles have disappeared, destroyed at the end of a 
voyage or thrown overboard when the ship was in danger of capture.  A few 
sets, though, have survived.  Here are the articles of the Revenge, Captain 
John Phillips, 1723:

I.   Every man shall obey civil command; the Captain shall have one full share
     and a half in all pirzes; the [sailing] master, carpenter, boatswain and 
     gunner shall have one share and a quarter.

II.  If any man shall offer to run away or keep any secret from the company, 
     he shall be marooned, with one bottle of Powder, one bottle of water, 
     one small arm [a pistol], and shot [bullets].

III. If any man shall steal anything in the company he shall be marooned or 
     shot...

IV.  The man that shall strike another whilst these articles are in force 
     shall receive Mose's Law [that is, whipped with the cat-'o-nine-tails] 
     on the bare back.

V.   That man that shall snap his arms [that is, pull the trigger of his 
     pistol so that the hammer strikes the flint, causing sparks], or smoke 
     tobacco in the hold without a cap to his pipe, or carry a candle lighted 
     without a lantern, shall suffer the same punishment as the former 
     article.

VI.  That man that shall not keep his arms clean, fit for an engagement, or 
     neglect his business, shall be cut off from his share, and suffer such 
     other punishment as the captain and the company shall think fit.

VII. If any man shall lose a joint [that is, part of a limb] in time of an
     engagement, he shall have 400 pieces-of-eight: if a limb, 800.


 *Plundered from 'The Sea Rovers' by Albert Marrin (no relation to Cheech)*

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Pretty nifty, eh? Please feel free to edit them to your liking, and stick 
them in your gfiles section... or have them shown to the new ab-users. 
    


