A huge outline could be seen amongst the battle on the deck, smoke from the small candles in his plaited hair pigtails surrounded him, a bandolier for three flintlock pistols strung across his chest, flintlock Pistol fires-swoosh cutlass in the other hand-Blackbeard!….Pirates!

Pirates have been around in some form for more than 3000 years.

Pirates those who attack ships and even ransack cities. The Romans suffered them, we had the Vikings-Danes etc.,

In the 15^th-18^th Century The Barbery Coast became the main centre for Pirates. Most people think of the Caribbean when they think of Pirates and from the 1630s- this is called the Golden era of Piracy.

Pirates sometimes worked with their own Governments (who were always at War with some other Country) blessing like Sir Francis Drake and were not called Pirates as such (as long as H.M Treasury got a percentage!).

There were Pirates all over over the World even in Chinese/Japanese/Asian Regions but by the 17^th Century Japan was becoming more powerful as a overall Country and they started to disappear.

With the advent of better communications, technology, more powerful ships and Governments getting together the World has eradicated nearly all but not quite all Modern-day Piracy.

The word Pirate(peirato) was used in around 140BC by Roman historian Polybius. Also in Medieval England the word meant “sea-thieves”.