Pirate Theme Party

When you plan a pirate theme party, you will need several tools. You will need the proper costume, decorations, food, music, pirate party invitations, and lighting. That is a simple enough order for anyone to fill, and is nothing compared to the tools that the pirates used in order to navigate. If a pirate wanted to accept a pirate party invitation, he would have to navigate a course to the proper location. Luckily for pirates, the art of ocean navigation had come a long way from their ancient pirate descendants. In the early sixteenth century, the British government offered financial reward for people to come up with ideas for new types of navigation equipment. Two items in particular made safe and accurate ocean navigation possible. First, there was the sextant. A sextant is a too of measurement, and is used to gauge the ships latitude, or the ships position in relation to the equator. The second invention was the chronometer. The marine chronometer addressed the pirates primary concern; determining his longitude The combination of these two inventions, plus the addition of more accurate nautical charts made ship navigation easy and accurate. No longer would pirates have to guess their position or use rudimentary tools. The history of piracy would be changed forever.

Every good pirate party deserves a pirate party invitation. You need to look no further than the pirates themselves to help you with this problem. When a person decided to become or was chosen to be a pirate, they would fill out a contract of agreement. Many of the contract included guarantees of plunder and loot. They also outlined the pirates political rights within the crew. Many pirates had the authority to vote for whatever captain they saw fit. It was an attractive offer considering that the only other option for many was to be pressed into service by the British fleet. To be pressed into service means that the sailors were literally taken without their consent. They were forcibly made to serve on ships in atrocious conditions, so if the opportunity arose to escape that fate, many decided to do so. It made business sense. With pirates, life was much riskier, but the rewards promised to be much greater. In addition to this, there was no guarantee that a pirate would have a longer life with the British fleet. For sailors who had been pressed into service, many of them never saw their homeland again. So when you want to send out a pirate party invitation, why not write it up like a real pirate contract?

Ahoy Mateys! Whenever you write a pirate party invitation, don’t forget the women who made pirating so famous. Mary Read was a woman who walked the path less taken …. or should I say plank! From her earliest years, Mary was raised as a boy. She took to the role quite well and ended up in the Flemish Army of all places. She served with honor, all the while posing as a man. That would soon change as Mary fell in love with one of her fellow soldiers who didn’t know about her true identity. At first he was taken aback, but as soon as Mary revealed herself, he was quick to fall in love. They kept their relationship a secret until after the war. When they finally did reveal their love, all the fellow soldiers threw them a lavish wedding! Sadly, Mary’s bliss would only last a short while. Mary decided to take a new direction in life, and of all things, she chose to become a pirate. She was as good as any other pirate. At one point she fell in love with another sailor, but this time, the object of her affection did not return the interest. Mary was still determined to have him, so when her love interest was challenged to a duel by another pirate, she promptly murdered his rival! I don’t think Mary Read would need a pirate party invitation to show up! It seems like she’d be at the party even if she had to crash it! Ironically, Mary Read also served with the only other known female Caribbean pirate, the lovely Ms. Ann Bonny. Bonny even had a love interest with another sailor. Incredibly that interest was none other that Mary Read! She had assumed that Read was a man and was quickly overcome. No one knows if the relationship developed or not. The next time you send out your pirate party invitation, make sure to drop one in the mailbox for Mary Read.