Dec. 9, 2006 Alaina's Story: Part One
Note: This is Alaina's Story, and it intertwines with Part Two of Kaity's Story. The stories will go together, so it'll be nice to read both stories, to get both Alaina and Kaity's perspectives. Click here to read Part One of Kaity's Story, and here to read Part Two.
Alaina's Story
Part One
Written By: Alaina Ruby Norrington
a.k.a. Becca
A board creaks, and the scratching of a quill pen can be heard outside the cabin door. No one makes a loud noise, for they don't want to interrup the girl inside. They know she is authoring her life's story, up till this point in time. Inside the cabin, girl smiles as she hears the men outside trying their best to be quiet. Across from her, sitting on the bottom bunk is the girl's best friend in the world; they share a quick grin, and she turns her head down, and again concentrates on the paper resting beneath her hand.
My name is Alaina Ruby Norrington, and I am 13 years old. In order to tell you all my story, you must first know of my origins, and you must know of the man who is my father-
James Norrington.
Before his navy career James had been married. He'd been blissfully wed to an amazing, albeit young, lady. And he knew it wasn't fair, but no woman in his mind could ever measure up to Jane. He'd been told that she had drowned 12 years ago while he was away on a trip, along with their brand new daughter.
Once he was known as a great leader, a man whose demeanor politely demanded respect. He was honorable and great, a commander of ships and crews belonging to the greatest empire on earth, England.
He was in love with a beautiful lady, Elizabeth Swann, and believed that she might come to love him. The absence of a wife and a child to love weighed heavily on his mind. Once upon a time, he'd had those things in his life. But not anymore. James took his responsiblities seriously, especially his vow to help rid the Caribbean of pirates.
Then the infamous Capt'n Jack Sparrow appeared in Port Royal, and in a quick and scary turn of events, Miss Elizabeth Swann was kidnapped, and the bold blacksmith, Will Turner set out with Capt'n Jack to find her. James went after Elizabeth, determined to find the pirate and the blacksmith as well.
After much tiresome searching, Elizabeth was found and taken aboard James' ship. She asked him to find Will, as a wedding gift. James believed she meant what she said, and would marry him. The missing persons, Jack and Will, were found, and taken back to Port Royal. They had fought and defeated the skeletal pirates and their Captain Barbossa, and lived in with a curse floating around them. For Will, his motivation was Elizabeth. He needed her, like he needed his next breath. She was the one Will loved, and in his heart, James knew that. In one final act of love, James let go of her. Jack Sparrow, who was sentenced to hang, escaped with the help of Will. But instead of honoring his king and country, instead of doing the "honorable" thing, James Norrington did the right thing. He let Jack go, and he did not arrest Will.
After this, he knew that soon England would learn of his actions, and come for him. He threw propriety to the wind, and headed for the famous pirate port, Tortuga. There he wandered aimlessly, drinking and fighting, although he went no further than those two things.
As fate would have it, Cap'n Jack Sparrow showed up in Tortuga, looking for a crew. His mission was to find the heart of the terror of the seas, Davy Jones. Looking for revenge and work, James joined Jack's crew. In the end, he betrayed them; he took the heart and gave it to Lord Cutler Beckett, and was pardoned from his so-called crimes.
Finally, he believed he was free. Yet he wasn't. He was respectable and "good", yes, but he felt trapped. He realized that the life of a pirate wasn't so awful after all, that there was indeed order and diplomacy on a pirate ship. Although he had no desire to join up with Jack again, he now knew that the Royal Navy was no longer where he belonged. So he was once again a wanderer, looking for a place to call home, though he hadn't the foggiest notion where that place might be.
Strangely enough, he accidentially found himself on a ship bound for a place he thought he'd never go: Port Royal, Jamaica. On board, he met a person who, in London, was known as being one of the biggest scandals in history. Really, what she did was not scandalous at all. No indeed, Jane Rossum's "sin" was in fact her talent. She wrote books. She saw the characters and places in her head, as clearly as she saw the people around her. She wrote with a enchanting touch, and the story came alive under her skilled pen. James knew her. Yes, he knew her quite well. For Jane Rossum was really Jane Norrington, the wife he'd thought was dead. Their daughter was named Alaina. To James' joy, Jane still loved him. And he loved her. Alaina was now 13, and she loved her father with her whole heart, like she'd known him all her life. James and Jane renewed their vows in Port Royal, and they were happy.
But the perfectness of their lives was not to last. Jane caught sick, and she left this world, to join her Father. James was heartbroken. He wanted to throw himself off the cliffs of Port Royal, he wanted to dissolve and disappear. But that was impossible. The realistic, sane part of him told him that he had a daughter to love and care for. Jane's legacy, the person that represented the joyous union he and his wife had shared, needed to be loved and protected. And so, he made a promise to Alaina. "I will never leave you, not if I can help it. I will never abandon you, not unless the circumstances demand it. But, know this: I will always love you, Alaina Ruby Norrington. Always, for forever and eternity."
-That is my father's story. But now it is time for you to get to know me, Alaina. Now it is time for you to know my thoughts and feelings, my hopes and dreams.
Alaina leans over, and blows the candle out. She knows the men are restless, and she knows she can finish her story another day. She stows the leather covered, blank-paged book in the trunk secured to the floor. She and her friend, her sister in every way but one, Kaity Scarlett Sparrow, turned and walked out the door at the same time. They were greeted by cheers and teasing from Will, Barbossa and the rest of the crew. How they all came together, in a ship in the Atlantic, is an exciting and interesting story.
But it is a tale for another time. |
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Nov. 23, 2006 The Quartermaster
| The Quartermaster was elected by the pirate crew to be their "senator".
He protected their interests, and was very important on the ship.
The Quartermaster's duties included settling quarrels, punishing minor
offenses, regulating provisions, inspecting weapons, assinging work and
battle stations, and inspecting the loot to see that it was properly
shared.
He also did bookwork, so the Quartermaster must be literate. If a man was elected, then the crew saw him as trustworthy, intelligent and responsible. In many ways, the Quartermaster had more power than the Captain!
As you can see, pirates, (at least most of them), weren't the
unintelligent bums that some people think they were. They were an
important part of our world's history; without them, there'd be no Jack
Sparrow! Sincerely, Alaina Ruby
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For my next "series" of posts, I'll be talking about the different stations in a pirate crew: Captain, Quartermaster, Boatswain, (or bo'sun), Cook and Crewman.
As I have said before, there is a great wealth of myths concerning pirates out there.
They were dashing gentlemen, they loved to fight, etc. But perhaps the biggest myth concerns the Captain of a pirate ship.
Most believe that the captains were tyrants who ruled the crew with an iron fist. Most did not fit this description!
Think about it: What's the opposite of a strict, harsh, oppressive 17th -18th century naval crew? A pirate crew! So naturally the Captain would not be a domineering, bossy "ruler".
The only time a Captain a great amount of authority was in a battle.
Yes, he had a greater share of treasure. But he was responsible for finding a good place to get that treasure! Yes, he got his own cabin, But the other crew members could enter it at any given time!
The pirates governed themselves democratically, with a "one man, one vote" rule. The majority wins. Even if the Captain was not in the majority.
They were quick to protest any infringement on their rights, and to look at the mutiny of Jack Sparrow in The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Mutiny was a real aspect of a Captain's life. Because of this, the "power" given to a Captain or Officer was limited.
When I learned these things, I was surprised and a little depressed!
After all, who hasn't dreamt of a Hollywood style pirate ship and crew?
I hope you read these and get both knowledge and enjoyment!
Sincerely,
Alaina Ruby
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Oct. 20, 2006 ~Blackbeard~
Despite a fierce reputation that has survived nearly three centuries, Blackbeard wouldn't be called a successful pirate. Those were rich men who died a quiet death at an old age.
But Blackbeard certainly was notorious.
He was born Edward Drummond around 1680 in Bristol, England, according to history brooks. He assumed the surname Teach, also spelled Thatch, Tache or Tatch, as a pirate. His more well-known nickname came from his dark, bushy whiskers.
Legend says that Blackbeard, a big man with a formidable countenance, used his beard to heighten any pirate's biggest weapon - the ability to engender fear. Before battle, he supposedly braided his whiskers into pigtails and tucked slow-burning matches amongst them or behind his ears, spending curls of smoke around his face.
Blackbeard was always armed with an array of daggers, swords and loaded pistols, though some historians say there's no evidence he killed anyone until the day of his own death.
His nautical bad-guy career began during Queen Anne's War, as a privateer sailing out of Jamaica to attack French merchant ships.
After the war ended in 1713, Blackbeard crewed for another pirate in the Bahamas. he captured the French slaver, Concorde, in 1717. When he was rewarded with its command, he renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge.
At its largest, his force included four ships and 300 or more men. The fleet assaulted mariners from the Caribbean to New England. North Carolina's coast offered several hideouts from colonial and British authorities. An anchorage at Ocracoke is still called Teach's Hole. Bath was another Blackbeard haunt.
North Carolina's Gov. Charles Eden reportedly shrugged at pirate activity and possibly shared in Blackbeard's booty. Eden pardoned the pirate in June 1718.
Blackbeard supposedly was semi-retired in November 1718 when he met his end at Ocracoke. In fact, some historians theorize the losses of Queen Anne's Revenge and a smaller sloop, Adventure, in June 1718, were intentional. Grounding the vessels in Beaufort Inlet might have been the pirate's way of "downsizing" his business.
Pirate attacks off the colonial coast continued, however, and Virginia's Gov. Alexander Spotswood blamed Blackbeard. Not so forgiving as Eden, he put a price on Blackbeard's head and urged the British military, the Virginia Assembly and Eden's opponents to help capture him.
Blackbeard was tricked into battle by Lt. Robert Maynard off Ocracoke Nov. 22, 1718, on a British sloop. According to legend, the pirate fought on even after being shot, stabbed and slashed across the throat, until he died while cocking a pistol.
It was the custom of the times to display dead pirates as a deterrent to the occupation. Blackbeard's severed head was hung from the bowspirit of Maynard's ship.
Sounds gross, doesn't it?
Since Blackbeard is so well-known, I thought it would be nice to do a biography on him.
~Alaina~ |
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Oct. 15, 2006 ~More Myths~
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How many of you have heard that a pirate execution was to walk the plank? Sadly, most everyone has heard this. But this isn't true. That's a Hollywood invention. Yes, there may have been planks on 18th century pirate ships, but they weren't meant to be used for torture or death. Actually, pirates prefered not to fight. Not even when they were overtaking a ship. They wanted you to just surrender, not fight with them. If you resisted, then yes, you may be hung or beaten. But in general, thy preferred more peaceful "raids".
Usually, when pirates overtook a ship, they didnt plunder immediately. Instead
they assembled everybody on deck, including the captain, and asked the crew, "How does your captain treat you? If the sailors gave a bad report, the pirates would tie the captain to the mast most likely the same place where the sailors had been whipped and whip him. The turncoat sailors, of course, became pirates.
But if the sailors deemed their captain a decent man, the pirates would frequently not punish him and would not plunder his ship. So, as you can see, pirates are probably the most fictional characters in Hollywood history! ~Alaina~
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Sep. 13, 2006 The Story of Anne Bonny
Usually whenever people think of pirates, they think of a Jack Sparrow-like guy, cocky and always a little drunk.
But pirates weren't just guys. There were a few women who went against the norm, who slipped onto pirate ships and became just as feared as the men. One of these women was named Anne Bonny.
Anne Bonny is a very mysterious person, and no one knows much about her. She was born sometime between 1697 and 1705. She was the daughter of William Cormac and one of his maids. When the everyone found out that Anne's parents had not been married yet, William, his new wife and their newborn baby left Ireland for Charleston, South Carolina.
Anne married a sailor named James Bonny. He hoped to win possession of Anne's father's estate, but she was disowned by her father. According to legend, Anne started a fire on the plantation in retaliation against her father's decision. James took her to the Bahamas, and Anne began mingling with pirates. She left James, and sailed with "Calico Jack" Rackham.
According to a superstition at that time that women aboard ships brought bad luck, it has been said that Anne was not allowed to join Rackham's crew. Legend says that Anne disguised herself as a man to come aboard the Revenge, Rackham's pirate ship.
Anne was not the only female pirate on Rackham's ship. A woman by the name of Mary Read also disguised herself as a man to join the crew, after her ship was taken during a raid. She and Anne shared their secret, and became close friends.
In October of 1720, Rackham and his crew were attacked by Jonathan Barnet, who was working for the governor of Jamaica. Most of the pirates did not put up much resistance since most of them were too drunk to fight.
Anne and Mary were sentenced to be hanged along with all the other pirates, but they got out of it because they were both pregnant.
Mary died either from fever or childbirth in the prison, but Anne disappeared. There are no records of her release or execution. Most likely, her father paid a ransom for her, in hopes that she would begin a new life. Some say she married another man, and they moved to America and went West together. Others say she used a new identity and continued her pirate lifestyle. No one knows for sure. Most of Anne Bonny's life is a mystery, and will probably always be that way. |
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Famous Myths and Legends about Pirates
Ever since I saw Pirates of the Caribbean Ive been interested in pirates. But after doing some reading about real pirates, I found out that they werent the dashing, charming people that everyone thinks they are.
Here is one of the most popular myths about pirates; a myth that is used in everything-
Pirates Buried Their Treasure
Not true.
Why, would a pirate bury his, (or her), treasure, when it could be spent on getting drunk or other activities?
If they took money back to the ship, they started gambling and fighting. Pirates didnt want that conflict on board their ships.
Pirates had pretty short life spans, so they believed that they should live as well as they could while they were alive.
Another myth-
Pirates Would Walk Around On Just One Leg, Or Look Out of Just One Eye
True.
Life as a pirate was harsh and dangerous, and maimed pirates were as common as beggars in the city.
Pirates Were Dashing and Charming
Not usually.
I'm sure that there were some pirates with that amazing charm and ability to convince people without using a weapon, but most were not like that.
Sorry, Jack Sparrow lovers.
Pirates were former sailors, slaves and beggars. They had to be hard and unsympathetic to live the life of a pirate.
Hope you liked this
Ill post more myths soon!!!!
Sincerely,
Alaina Ruby
President of PiratesCafe
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