What’s a pirate without a song?

It originally be a quick joke, but now Pirate Day in this sceptr’d isle now be raisin’ thousands o’pounds fer charity, as well as bein’ more entertainin’ than a barrel full o’mice. We be proud t’carry on the tradition, an’ t’be gettin’ as many folks round Britain as we can t’be talkin’ like pirates!

The single of Jay Foreman’s song On A Pirate Ship is available at www.yarr.org.uk/single, with the proceeds — every doubloon — going to support the Marie Curie Cancer Care… an’ it be costin’ less than a mug o’grog!

How fast can you knit?

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is comin’ up on September 19, so if you want to have the pirate gear ready for when the party sets sail… it’s high time to up anchor!

Knit up a skull-enhanced pair of Arrrgyle socks — grab the free knitting pattern from Moth Heaven — and be the envy of all your mates.

More free patterns for Pirate-theme knitting projects:

• Kid’s Pirate Hat
• ‘We Call Them Pirates’ – knitted cap with skull motif
• Felted Eye Patch – in adult or child size
• Captain Jack Sparrow Knitting Chart
• Tricorn Hat and other Knit Like A Pirate.com goodies to treasure…

DIY Knitting Charts

Want to turn your own images into charts for knitting motifs?

See 3 Easy Ways to Chart a Knitting Pattern for cheap and easy tools to do just that — including a free online knitting pattern generator!

Who knew that the classic pirate emblem of skull and crossed bones could be just so darned cute? The Ahoy line of bedding from Unique Kids is designed for a little boy’s theme bedroom… but c’mon, who’s going to know the difference?

Raise the Jolly Roger and toss a novelty skull throw pillow onto a black leather sofa — yo ho! Board and pillage with the best of the grown-up treasure seekers!

A friend’s parents were doing some genealogy research into their (very large, slightly shady) family tree and came across this wonderful story. It was published on July 17, 1890, in the St. Andrews Beacon, a long-gone newspaper from the south coast of New Brunswick, Canada:

George Case had a son named Elisha Case whom he dispatched to the West Indies on one of his own vessels with a cargo of fish. Neither the vessel or crew ever returned and for many years their fate was a complete mystery.Some years after, Chaffey of Indian Island (Charlotte Co.) sent one of his vessels to the West Indies under command of Capt. Samuel Leeman with Ward Pendleton as mate. Returning without cargo but with some two thousand in specie, they were attacked by pirates, robbed of the money and all of their effects, being only too happy to escape with their lives.

While the pirates were searching the trunks, one of them opened Ward Pendelton’s and on examining the till found a letter addressed to him from his sweetheart.

The pirate captain, as he appeared to be, looked fixedly at Pendleton, at the same time pronouncing his name in a tone of astonishment. He then returned the letter to the till, threw back the clothing he had seized into the trunk and deserted from further plunder.

Years afterward when this Ward Pendleton was on his death bed, he told his friends that in the pirate chief he had recognized Elisha Case son of Geo. Case, an old school fellow.

Capt. Leeman had in his earlier years been seized by a press gang in England and compelled to serve in the Royal Navy for gour years where he learned much of what was of advantage to him in his profession.

Wouldn’t that have been a great story for Old Man Pendleton to tell his grandchildren, on a winter’s night?

It’s possible that the young Elisha Case had been captured by pirates on his voyage to the West Indies and found that the life suited him. Or he might have been grabbed by a press gang in a Carribean port and pressed into service as a privateer, those “legal pirates” who were licensed by the British to intercept American trade ships during the Revolutionary War. After the cessation of hostilities, a great many privateers seem to have carried on with boarding and looting other ships, rather indiscriminately, rather than return to the placid life of a fisherman or a conventional law-abiding sailor.

I do love history. Notice that most of that word is “story” — too bad that history is often made so dry and dull, when it’s taught to us in school.

Captain Jack Sparrow may be the summer’s hottest box-office draw, but what’s it really like inside his bedroom?Watch out for the skull and crossbones hanging from the ceiling. Be careful not to trip over the gold dubloons spilling out of the old chest by the captain’s bed…

In conjunction with next week’s release of Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World’s End Home-and-Bedroom.com is sponsoring a pirate-themed essay contest. Just let your imagination run wild, and give them your 100-word vision of a truly swashbuckling bedroom!

“Beds and bedroom sets are our company’s specialty, so we thought it would be fun to ask : What exactly does a Pirate’s bedroom look like?” explains Ben Weissman, spokesperson for the online furniture retailer. “Whether it’s Captain Jack Sparrow, Barbosa or Davy Jones, they all have a certain ‘Pirate Style’ to their quarters. We want to know what people imagine that would be like.”

The best 100-word essay that the company receives between now and June 10, 2007 will win a Disney Pirates twin bed comforter set (retail value of $100). For more information on the contest, visit Home-and-Bedroom.com.

Thanks to Johnny Depp (pant, drool) and Pirates of the Carribean, those bad boys of the open sea have never been so hot. And so, in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day — that’s today, my little swashbucklers! — let’s all quaff a tankard and brandish a cutlass!

Okay, now confess — who among us couldn’t be talked into doing the sexy pirate wench thing, given the right inspiration and the right kind of costume…
(Leg Avenue)

One sticker (perfect for the dorm room door?) says it all –
Here be Pirates!