Avast! Ye Scurvy Dogs

There's a lot of interest in pirates these days what with real contemporary pirates such as those operating in the Arabian Sea who've recently been in the news. There have also been some recent film pirates in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series. The Maritime Museum of British Columbia has some interesting artifacts from pirates of a few hundred years ago, including the charming device at the left, in which convicted pirates were suspended publicly for long periods of time as a deterrent to piracy. Captain Kidd's body was hung like this for 10 years before his family was allowed to claim his remains. On the right are a variety of pirate flags. As can be seen, the skull and crossbones was only one such flag and every pirate was free to design his own.

In addition to a collection of pirate weapons such as flintlock pistols, cutlasses and pikes, the museum also offers educational programs about pirates and piracy for kids, advertised by the poster below. You can find out more about this and other educational programs by clicking through to the Maritime Museum website: http://www.mmbc.bc.ca/thingstodo.html

All the information in this post is from displays in the Maritime Museum of British Columbia and should not be used or reproduced elsewhere without their permission.