Pirating has been a fascination with many of us since childhood, but little is said of the buccaneers. This short little article published in 1912 gives us a tiny look into the origin of the buccaneers.
The Buccaneers
Originally buccaneers were peaceful English, French and Dutch settlers in the Spanish West Indies, and they received their name on account of their custom of drying their meat, in the Indian fashion, on a buccan, or hurdle. The Spaniards resented strongly the intrusion of these foreigners and made many attempts to oust them, but the buccaneers were a hardy set of men and crack shots with the musket, so they successfully resister all the Spaniards’ attacks and obstinately remained in the islands. What it was that caused the buccaneers to abandon their comparatively peaceful mode of living and take to piracy it is hard to say. Possibly the constant harrying to which they were subjected by the Spaniards prompted them to retaliate but, whatever the reason, their depredations soon rendered the passage of the Caribbean sea an undertaking of extreme danger to merchantmen, and the word buccaneer has come down as a synonym for robbery, murder and all the vices.
Source: Bryan Daily Eagle And Pilot. Newspaper. May 08, 1912.
