Ahoy, mateys! I was out plunderin’ the other day and came across something that was unexpected: The many…more than I thought…uses of gunpowder. Get yourself some grog; here we go!
You probably know that gunpowder was used to make a pyrate ship’s guns, muskets, and flintlock pistols go boom. But do you know how much you need and how to store it without blowing up your ship?
The amount of gunpowder used to make a ship’s gun roar depended upon the size of the gun itself. According to the world (wide web), a 32-pounder needed 7-8 pounds of gunpowder. (Which seems like a lot to this old pyrate gal?) 7-8 pounds for each shot? That can’t be right? More plunderin’ to do here…
The gunpowder was stored in a protected, (usually) secured magazine on board the ship and had a very strict “NO SMOKING” policy. When the gunpowder was needed, young boys called “Powder Monkeys” carried the boom bags from the magazine to the gun decks. Most likely, pyrates did not have proper “Powder Monkeys”, (with just a few exceptions, 12–14-year-old boys were not pyrate crew members). We don’t know what pyrates called their boom-bag-bearers; so, I’m gonna go with “Powder Pyrates”. I can do that. I’m a pyrate, and this is my blog.
For a musket or pistol, the amount needed to fire the bullet, (more like a ball), was considerably less. “Grains of powder” is a frequently used instruction for gunpowder amounts that I found, with “small amount” coming a close second. Point is, you don’t need much black powder to make a musket or pistol go boom.
Guess what else gunpowder was used for on board a sailing ship? Tattoos. Instead of ink, crushed gunpowder was used to place tattoos on one’s body. Ouch. I have a couple of tats, (no gunpowder involved), and I can say that the even though inking wasn’t akin to medieval torture, there were indeed just a few moments of searing pain. The thought of putting gunpowder into my skin using a blunt object hammering a slow tap-tap-tap on a sharp, pointy tool makes me more than a little anxious. And if you survive getting the tattoo, what happens if a wayward ember or spark decides to land ON your gunpowder tattoo? Is that how pyrates really lost their arms and legs? One has to wonder. (Halfway kidding.)
Finally, my plunderin’ found (awhile back, actually), that none other than Blackbeard himself had yet another use for gunpowder. Pyrate legend says that Blackbeard had his very own ‘special’ rum cocktail: my man Blackbeard would mix gunpowder with his rum and then set it on fire. While the drink was still aflame, he would drink it in big gulps until it was gone. Maybe that’s where the smoke around his head was coming from? Anyway…
All that gunpowder stuff has made me thirsty. For a grog. Maybe two…Huzzah!
Virginia Chandler 