Women Pirates

Women Pirates - everybody knows of ladies being captured by pirates, and even a pirate wench, but this page is about a female irish warrior, and scottish warriors, and even some french pirates.

This page is primarily about famous woman pirates and adventuresses, or women of great adventure and courage.

There have been many women of the past who didn't want to live within the confines of society's idea of what a woman should be.

Some of the ladies you will meet on this page were willing to dress as men in order to go out into the world and fulfill their passions.

Many were pirates, and we will explore this little bit of Pirate History.

An adventuress was willing to go to any lengths to escape her bonds.

Women Pirates - Myths

Now I will be honest some of these women are partially mythology and some just speculation, but there have always been legends about adventuresses in almost any culture you can name, and that is what is so exciting about Pirate History.

Whether they actually lived or not their exploits have been documented throughout history.

Nobody really liked a pirate or a viking, or a medieval queen that led soldiers into battle, but let's keep in mind that those were the times in which they lived.

An adventuress was willing to be unpopular.

Lady Pirates make great subjects for art work - in my opinion.

Yes, there were Women pirates

The stories of the lives of the women pirates below may blow that - It's just a myth! thing right out of the water.

Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny

1700-1782

Irish American Pirate

Brought up on a plantation in Charleston, South Carolina.

At 13 she ran away with James Bonny a small-time pirate - to Nassau.

She liked to hang out with Pirates and met John "Calico" Jack Rackham. They had a love affair and she ran off with him. She became one of the women pirates of history with a little mystery thrown in.

She was known historically to sail with him, by his side as a pirate and was fairly successful for a while.

Then she was arrested and then disappeared. Much speculation has resulted.

One story says that she was rescued by her father and that she had Rackham's child and then married Joseph Burleigh, and that they had 8 children together and that she died in South Carolina a respectable woman at the age of 82.

Another story that is quite off the charts is that she disguised herself as a man and may have been one of the most cunning dress up as a man women pirates there every was.

For a while the story went that she was Black Bart the pirate, or Bartholomew Roberts (again disguised as a man)

The reasons are many that people thought Black Bart was actually Anne Bonny.

He was always well dressed...

Had excellent manners

Never shared his cabin with anyone.

He did not drink alcohol - and I guess that was strange for a pirate.

He had excellent nice neat handwriting

Never grew a beard and loved beautiful classical music.

He also had given an order to his men that if he should be killed in battle he should be thrown into the sea right away.

That is eventually what happened.

Historians now say there is no way she could have been Black Bart, or Bartholomew Roberts.

No one really knows - although there was some confusion because there was also another outlaw named Black Bart in the wild west somewhere.

Anne Dieu Le Veut

aka Marie-Anne and Marianne

1650's French

Dieu Le Veut was not her last name but actually a nick name given to her. It means "God Wants" and it was reportedly given to her because anything she wanted it seemed god gave her.

She became one of the women pirates who sailed the caribbean and was very early on married to a pirate, until her husband was killed by another pirate Laurens de Graff. She apparently then challenged him to a duel, but he refused to fight her and instead married her.

Apparently, they fought and led as pirates side by side.

No one knows much else as she and de Graff disappeared.

Now that is a romantic story and proves that even women pirates fell in love. Read about him at the link - he was apparently quite the looker.

Grace O'Malley

- Was considered the real Pirate Queen

Grainne Ni Mhaille 1530-1603 aka the Sea Queen of Connaught

Another girl pirate was Grace O'Malley.

Younger years was married and lived in Bunowen Castle - he died

The British tried to take her castle, but she fought them off and the castle becameknown as the Hen's Castle. They never attacked that castle again.

and she gained the loyalty of all of her husband's men and moved to Clare Island, and started

recruiting fighting men from Ireland and Scotland.

She became known as a pirate because she started, while transporting goods in trade, demanding taxesfrom english ships. She decided that since the British could do that to ships, she could do it inher waters.

Then apparently some clan killed her "boyfriend" and she took revenge on the clan and seized their castle for herself.

She protected her lands in Western Ireland. She fought any intruders and pirated the englishwhen they came near her own little world.

Another interesting fact of her life that is a real legend is that after sailing into Dublin withher sailors, tired and hungry and wet she went to Howth Castle to ask the lord for hospitality, as waspart of Gaelic Tradition. The gates were locked to her and she was refused.

Out of revenge for this rudeness it was reported that she captured the lord's son and held him for ransom.

She refused money or anything but that Howth Castle should always be open to provide for tired strangers,and never closed to people in need of hospitality. The lord agreed and to this day 400 years later, Howth Castle always leaves its gates open and an extra place setting is still set at the table, all because of Grace O'Malley.

Wow now that is influence, women pirates definitely did make their mark on history.

I'll bet all this pirate stuff is giving you ideas...

Are you thinking about drawing? Are you feeling inspired? Well if you already draw, and just need a little more instruction check out my fairy drawing book, or if you have little drawing experience, I have a really simple basic section with some free lessons on how to draw all kinds of characters.

And then a Queen meets with her...

Finally Queen Elizabeth agreed to meet with her after capturing some of her relatives. The two women met and made an agreement. Grace O'Malley spoke only the old irish and some latin, and Queen Elizabeth only english and some latin - so apparently they conversed in latin.

They agreed that Grace would stop pirating British shops for the release of her relatives andthe return of some lands.

Apparently she realized afterwards that she was not going to get her lands back and went back to supporting the Irish rebels and making her raids.

She had over two hundred men working for her, and a fleet of ships under her control, as well as many castles. It is supposed that she died at Rockfleet Castle in 1603 the same year as Elizabeth.

The Irish still regard her as an Irish Queen, she was not just one of the women pirates in history, but a Warrior Queen.

An English Lady Pirate.