HOW SAVVY ARE YOU

Anne Bonny and Mary Read were the only two female pirates in the Age of Pirates in the western world. They both were best friends on the same ship, and they have very interesting stories. Anne always seems to stand out more than her friend, although both were called "fierce hell cats" in their day.

Anne was born in the late 1690's in Cork County, Ireland to a poor maid working for a lawyer. Once the relationship was discovered between her parents, the small family fled to South Carolina, where they bought a plantation near Charleston. The port of Charleston beckoned to many pirates, and Anne met several, loving their tales of the sea. She eventually eloped with a young man who was just beginning his piracy, James Bonny. Both sailed the seas as pirates, Anne disguising her gender to the rest of the crew.

Some say that she chose this way of life as a rebellion to a male-dominated world. Others say she was just a tomboy who never grew up. Either way, she proved her mettle to be a real fighter and bucaneer.

Bonny took his ship to New Provence, Jamaica, which was a real pirate stronghold. Anne met many pirates there. One she befriended was the famous Captain Jack Rackham, who flew a ship under the flag of a skull and two crossed sabers. This is believed to be the first flag to have a skull, which also later had two crossed bones.

In 1718, the English government offered amnesty to pirates who would turn evidence. James Bonny was one who turned informant. Disgusted, Anne fled into the arms of Jack Rackham. On his ship, Vanity, she at first continued her disguise. On one of their raids, another woman from the ship jumped to the pirate ship and joined the crew---Mary Reid. The two women soon became friends, and the rest of the crew soon found out they were women. The story goes that Anne stabbed the loudest complainer in the heart.

Around 1719, the Vanity was in harbor at Jamaica celebrating one of their biggest heists of a Spanish ship when an English ship approached. The English sailed abreast, ready to board and arrest the pirates.

Captain Jack and his drunken crew ran to the hull of the ship and cowarded in the corners as the two women stayed on deck. Some reports say that the women yelled down for the men to come up fighting. The two women stood their ground and drew swords, fighting off the English the best they could. They killed one and wounded several others before being restrained.

The crew was sent to prison and stood trial. All were sentenced to hang. Both Anne and Mary were pregnant, and "pleaded their bellies," using the English rule that a woman who was pregnant could not be hanged.

Captain Jack sat in his cell on the eve of his hanging when they let Anne Bonny down to see him. He probably expected some comfort, but when she saw him in his cell, she simply said "Sorry to see you here, but if you'da fought like a man, you wouldnt'a hanged like a dog." Then she left.

Mary was told that she was still going to hang after the birth of her child. She died of a violent fever before the child was born.

There is no record of Anne being told that, and no record of her hanging after she gave birth. Most historians say she was not hanged at all, or there would be some record. She must have given birth, but no one knows what happened to her after that. There are many stories, but no one knows if she went back to piracy, or home to South Carolina, or to Ireland.

There are some great sites and books about this lass. She was one not to be reckoned with. The only "sugar-n-spice" with this girl would have been some of the loot from the Spanish ships.

Also: Some historians believe that Billy the Kid was infatuated with Anne Bonny. Some tell of seeing him reading books based on her life, and keeping drawings of her. His own alias was "William H. Bonny." These historians believe he took her name. He, also, was Irish.

Oh yes, I also remember reading that Billy often said he would not "hang like a dog." And he never did.

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