Don't Say the P Word in Jamaica

When you are a reeanactor your interest in the past will help shape the type of tourist attractions you  want to see when you vacation.  So when I traveled to Jamaica I was looking forward to seeing some pirate history.  Jamaica is after all the home of the infamous pirate haven of Port Royal.

I was a little surprised when I sat at the tour desk at the resort I was staying at and asked if there were tours  of Port Royal or a glass bottom tour of its ruins (Much of Port Royal sunk in an earthquake in  1692 ) and the answer was no.

 I took a couple of tours  to various places on the island and the tour guides could point out movie locations and where the Queen of England stood on some bridge but did not mention Henry Morgan—he of the rum bottle fame.  When I asked about him on one tour they called him a buccaneer and reluctantly acknowledged that he was governor of Jamaica.

I went into a souvenir store and browsed the extensive t-shirt collection and there was not one pirate themed t-shirt on display.  When the clerk asked me if he could help me I told him what type of shirt I wanted.  At first he lost all power of speech then stuttered something about going into the back.  After consulting with another worker he went to the back of the store and emerged with a pirate themed t shirt.    I left the store feeling like I asked  to buy some  ganja.

There was a pirate store at the airport but it was very disappointing because it was full of the same flags, cups, and posters with the same sayings and graphics you can buy in the states.  There was nothing that combined pirates and Jamaica.

Over the past few years, as I traveled throughout the Caribbean, there seems to be little interest in promoting their piratical past.  You would think in the post Pirates of the Caribbean world someone would put together a tour of places associated with pirates.

So far the only island I found who has embraced its piratical past is Nassau in the Bahamas.  There is a pirate museum and a statue of  Blackbeard right in the town center.

Pirates had an enormous impact on the economy, politics and culture on the places they prowled. Like other people and events, they should be acknowledged.  However, piracy has a messy history of crime, corruption and bloodshed, so it’s understandable why there might be some embarrassment to claiming a pirate heritage. 

As a reenactor I go on the assumption that because an historical time frame is important to me it should be important to others, especially those where the history occurred.  Being lazy, I would like easy access to pirate sites.

As much as I lament the inattention, I’m afraid of exploitation that spreads fantasy and not facts.  It makes me shudder to think of pirate themed amusement parks invading the Caribbean.  Maybe it’s best pirates stay hidden.

P.S.  Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!