This article was published in the December 4, 1919 issue of the Daily Intelligencer. Anne Bonney runs away with her husband while dressed as a man. After their wedding she learns he is a pirate and works with him at sea. Anne meets Mary Read when they are working on separate pirate ships that fight,… Continue reading Pirates in Petticoats
Category: 1910s
Female Pirates
This article was published in the April 23, 1910 issue of Harper's Weekly. Mary Read is 19 before she works as a sailor or soldier, and her soldier husband also becomes a pirate. Anne Bonney dresses as a man to run away from home with her husband, with whom she works as a pirate. When… Continue reading Female Pirates
La clique du café Brebis by Pierre Mac Orlan
Like Le chant de l'équipage, this is another novel by Pierre Mac Orlan which makes use of pirates while being set in the 20th century. One of the characters is Lucien-Antoine-Nicolas Read, a direct descendant of Marie Read. Mac Orlan repeats his story from Le chant de l'équipage that Marie was John Rackam's mistress. (Though… Continue reading La clique du café Brebis by Pierre Mac Orlan
Le Chant de l’équipage by Pierre Mac Orlan
This book has a contemporary setting (1910s) and involves one character leading another on a wild goose chase with a fake treasure map. Mac Orlan seems to have confused Anne Bonny and Mary Read. He says (through the character Joseph Krühl, who is obsessed with pirates) that Mary was John Rackam's shipboard mistress, and Anne… Continue reading Le Chant de l’équipage by Pierre Mac Orlan
Aunt Trinidad by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
This story is about a teenage boy, Seraphim, who finds out his Aunt Hannah (aka Trinidad) was once married to Alexandre Bras-de-Fer. Seraphim starts hanging out with Aunt Hannah and her two friends, Jane Raidlaw and Ann Bonney, each of whom regales him with a piratical tale. Hannah's and Jane's stories are about their youthful… Continue reading Aunt Trinidad by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Pirates by Franklin Clarkin
This was published in the 1916 edition of The Reade Record, an annual publication of the Reade Society for Genealogical Research. Clarkin writes about being in correspondence with Civil War veteran Henry Clay Wood, who had "come to assume" he was descended from Anne Bonney. The basis of the assumption is not provided, and it… Continue reading Pirates by Franklin Clarkin
Captains of Adventure by Roger Pocock
This book is a collection of brief biographies of "adventurers" throughout history--there are chapters for Vikings, Teddy Roosevelt, Christopher Columbus, Davy Crockett, etc etc. It's about 400 pages long and Anne Bonny and Mary Read get a paragraph in the 6-page chapter "Women", LOL. Pocock writes that Mary joined the navy at age 13. After… Continue reading Captains of Adventure by Roger Pocock
The Governor’s Fee. How the Pirate Blackbeard Helped a Lover. by Henry Christopher Christie
This short story appeared in the October 1910 issue of The Scrap Book. Christie was the author of a narrative poem about Blackbeard. This story is a remix of Blackbeard's trip to Charlestown--instead of asking for medicine, he asks for a doctor, and is sent the hero of the story, Brady. Like in Christie's poem,… Continue reading The Governor’s Fee. How the Pirate Blackbeard Helped a Lover. by Henry Christopher Christie
Die Homosexualität des Mannes und des Weibes by Magnus Hirschfeld
This work on homosexuality was first published in 1914. An English translation (The Homosexuality of Men and Women) did not appear until 2000. Anne Bonny and Mary Read are mentioned as a throwaway example of a homosexual couple comprising two partners of equal social status--their relationship is assumed and asserted to be sexual. Need I… Continue reading Die Homosexualität des Mannes und des Weibes by Magnus Hirschfeld
Les gentilshommes de fortune by Frédéric Boutet
This article appeared in La Revue mondiale in 1911. According to this article, Jean Rackam and his officers were hanged by their feet, whereas the turtlers were hanged by the neck. Ok... Mary's older brother dies at 10 months old--presumably to minimize the age difference to make the deception more believable. She reveals her gender… Continue reading Les gentilshommes de fortune by Frédéric Boutet
Depictions of John Rackam, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read 