Earrings
One question which crops up on many different
websites, and is answered on many others is the question of why pirates wore
earrings. A brief summary of some of the commonest theories put forward would
run as follows:
Eyesight:
There is an acupuncture point in the ear-lobe which relates to eyesight, so
pirates wore earrings to improve their vision
Sea-sickness:
Sea sickness is brought about by a miniscule imbalance, and an earring in one
ear corrects that imbalance.
Portable wealth: A gold hoop in the ear would be a relatively safe way of
transporting one's wealth around.
Funeral expenses: Earrings were worn to pay for a funeral if the pirate
drowned and his body washed up ashore.
Funeral expenses 2: Earrings were worn to pay the ship's cooper to make a
barrel to transport the pirate's preserved body home in, so he would not be
buried at sea or in foreign lands
Funeral expenses 3: Earrings were worn to ensure that the pirate did not die a
pauper and had at least some wealth to pay for his funeral.
Mark of a voyage: Pirates wore earrings to signify that they had made a
particular voyage, common ideas are going south of the Equator or rounding Cape
Horn.
Although all of the above theories (and the many
many others) seem to make sense, and often have the opinions of some serious
scholar or other behind them, they are all easy to prove wrong. For example, I
have two earrings and terrible eyesight, plus there is no evidence that pirates
knew about acupuncture. I also know people with earrings who suffer from
seasickness. Then consider the cost of a gold earring compared to the cost of a
funeral or barrel - to suggest that the earring was used to pay for anythin
after death is ridiculous. Perhaps the most attractive of the theories outlined
is that an earring on a sailor was the mark of one voyage or another, but again
there is no evidence whatsoever that that was the case, and nobody seems to be
able to decide which voyage (even the modern day sailors who assert that
"it is still the tradition...").
The real reason pirates wore earrings (if they did
at all) was probably far simpler:
Fashion:
pirates wore earrings because they were fashionable.
However, before we can satisfactorily conclude why
pirates wore earrings we must make sure that we know whether pirates wore
earrings. Of course, everyone has seen loads of paintings and pictures
featuring pirates wearing earrings, but that doesn't mean they actually did
since all of those paintings and pictures come from outside the Golden Age of
piracy. In fact there is next to no evidence for pirates of the period
1670-1730 wearing earrings.
There are plenty of portraits showing Tudor seadogs
like Sir Francis Drake wearing earrings - but earrings were fashionable for the
Tudors.
On May 25th 1616 a Spanish military commander wrote
to a Viceroy about a recent pirate attack, describing the pirates "youths
and very gentle men, some of them Irish, with great forelocks and
earrings." - but in 1616 earrings were fashionable
In 1635 a victim of the privateer/pirate William
Cobb of the Roebuck noted "the leftenant Franglee who hath a ring
in his left ear" - but in 1635 earrings were fashionable.
What the evidence above tells us is that at times
prior to the Golden Age of piracy earrings were worn by pirates, but since
earrings were generally fashionable during that period there is no reason to
suppose that they were worn for any reason other than fashion. The crucial
point now is that around the middle of the 17th century earrings ceased to be
fashionable, and remained out of vogue from then right through the Golden Age
of piracy. Some would try to argue that pirates didn't care about fashion and
that they continued to wear earrings. However, we know that pirates were as
concerned with fashion as the next person - at sea they almost certainly wore
traditional sailors' "working rig", but ashore they spent the fruits
of their labours and often dressed well to do so.
Artists like Howard Pyle, and subsequent authors
and film-makers would have us believe that earrings were as much a part of the
pirate's equipment as a ship or a cutlass, but there is just no evidence to
support the idea that it was a strong pirate fashion at the turn of the 18th
century.
Historian Ken Kinkor drew my attention to a
deposition made in 1701 by the pirate Theohilus Turner who had been pardoned
and was demanding the return of some of his plunder, which he listed:
"333 pieces of Arabian gold and 2 gold
earrings
100 pieces of Christian gold 20 Ounces of Gold Dust
3 Silver Rings with Stones in ym.
2 Silver Rings with Diamonds in them
1 Gold Ring with a Red Stone
3 Gold Rings with diamonds in them
100 peeces of Eight
29 Peeces of Eight in Double Bitts
An Agate and a square stone inlaid
A little Leather case with 3 pairs of gold buttons
3 or 4 morris Stones and others, no.13
One little gold box "
However, there are two important things to note
about this list; firstly, that since the earrings were confiscated from Turner
it is likely that he wasn't wearing them, they were in his possession but not his
ears. Secondly, whether Turner wore the earrings listed or not this piece of
evidence only shows that one pirate out of the thousands of the period owned
earings, it is not therefore evidence of a mass fashion amongst pirates.
Many people mention the flag of the pirate Henry
Avery as evidence in support of pirates having worn earrings (pictured higher
up this page). The flag which appears in countless books labelled as Avery's
does indeed seem to show an earring, but there is a great deal of doubt as to
whether that flag was Avery's and as to whether it dates from the Golden Age of
piracy. Almost all of the flags commonly used to illustrate books come from a
series of drawings at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, but the
drawings are entirely undated and quite possibly date from many years (perhaps
hundreds) after the Golden Age of piracy. To confuse matter further there is
another flag which might be Avery's, depicted in the engraved illustrations to
Johnson's General History, which is much plainer, does not show earrings and is
possible to date.
To go even further, there is no actual evidence
from his own time that Avery even had a black flag at all! Delightful drawing
though it is, unless some independent piece of evidence comes to light we must
disregard Avery's flag as evidence of anything.
A look at other sources for evidence of the
supposed fashion for earrings will be equally fruitless. Neither Exquemeling's
"Buccaneers of America" (1685) or Johnson's General History (1724)
mention earrings and no contemporary depiction of a pirate of the Golden Age
wearing earrings has yet been discovered. Not even Bonny and Read, the famous
female pirates of whom we have such excellent descriptions from their trial
seem to have worn earrings! The wrecks of two pirate ships have been excavated,
and the sunken ruins of Port Royal have been investigated by archaeologists and
so far not one earring has been found. At least 144 men and boys drowned aboard
Sam Bellamy's Whydah, if they'd all been wearing earrings one would have
expected at least a few to have been found, but not a single one has surfaced.
There exists a pair of earrings, which according to
a family legend once belonged to the pirate Roberto Cofresi y Ramirez de
Arellano (1791-1825), and which can be seen here. However, Roberto Confresi considerably post-dates the
Golden Age of piracy (indeed, he lived in a time when earrings were often
worn), so even if the family legend could be verified it still has no bearing
on the "fashion" for pirate earrings in the Golden Age.
In summary then, prior to the Golden Age, at a time when earrings were
fashionable, pirates wore earrings. After the Golden Age, at a time when
earrings were fashionable, pirates wore earrings. From the Golden Age itself,
at a time when earrings were unfashionable, there is no real evidence to show
that pirates generally wore earrings. There are always exceptions to any rule: possibly
Theophilus Turner wore earrings, he certainly owned some, but from a period of
half a century, in which literally thousands of buccaneers and pirates plied
the trade, Turner's deposition is the only piece of reliable evidence to
suggest that pirates wore earrings. One pirate out of thousands definitely does
not make it a fashion.