I was always told that pirates were the basis for normalizing disability in society. That they didn’t care if you had something wrong with you, as long as you could still do something to help out around the ship.

Unfortunately, that was wrong.

From my searches, there are only two popularly known pirates who had physical disabilities, Christopher “Billy One-Hand” Condent, and Francois “Jambe de Bois” Le Clerc. Billy One-Hand, as his name would suggest, only had one hand. I am unsure if he had a hook for a hand like stories would make one believe or if he just had his hand amputated while at sea. Jambe de Bois, in English known as Peg-Leg, was the first modern pirate to be credited with having a wooden leg prosthetic. The name Peg-Leg was actually given to him by the Spanish, whom he raided many times, as they would call him “Pata de Palo.”

It is believed that these two historic pirates are the reason behind many pirate myths surrounding disability. Billy One-Hand being the influence for James Matthew Barrie’s Captain Hook, and Jambe de Bois being the influence for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Long John Silver. These two fictional pirates inspired many other authors to create their own disabled pirates, eventually leading to the myth of pirates commonly having disabilities.

You may find yourself asking, “what would happen if pirates were injured while they were sailing?” I’m glad you asked! Often times, the chef, as there wasn’t usually a doctor around and cooks know their way around a knife, would be the one providing the care. Most of the time, this involved the injured person getting very drunk off rum to numb the pain. After they were drunk, the chef would tie something around their limb to cut off blood supply. Then they would cut off the impacted limb, leaving you with an open wound. Luckily, there’s a surplus of wood and iron around for you to get a very fashionable prosthetic, perfect for the look of a stereotypical pirate.

But wait, didn’t I just say that pirates didn’t often have prosthetics aside from a few? Yes, yes, I did. After the amputation, the injured former pirate would be let off at the next stop. And of course, these pirates weren’t heartless, they would reach into the common purse, a compilation of everyone’s joint money, and give the amputee enough money so that he can receive proper care. No more, no less. You have to remember in times like these, pirates are still very greedy. The more they give away, the less they have for themselves.

So, while they do make amazing characters, and they are definitely a memorable image when you think of pirates, disabilities on the ship are far and few between. Only in rare cases of a pirate needing prosthetics are they allowed to stay on board, otherwise the only other time you’ll see amputated pirated on the boat is when they are in the time in-between, after they have the procedure, before they reach the next town.

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Condent#:~:text=His%20frequently%2Dencountered%20nickname%20was,dates%20only%20to%20the%201950s.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Le_Clerc#:~:text=Fran%C3%A7ois%20or%20Francis%20Le%20Clerc,have%20a%20%22peg%20leg%22.&text=He%20was%20often%20the%20first,during%20an%20attack%20or%20raid.

https://www.tga.gov.au/news/blog/fifteen-men-dead-mans-medicine-chest-weird-world-pirate-medicine#:~:text=First%20the%20wounded%20pirate%20would,axe%20would%20cauterise%20the%20wound.

https://attitudes2disability.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/pirates/

Hello! I’m Chase Wonnacott, a Professional Writing student at Algonquin College.

I am an aspiring author who is forever longing for Smurf the cat; she is a calico cat who is currently living with my partner in Guelph. In my spare time, you can find me alone in my room, watching the same things I always do for comfort.

I forever love fantasy, pirates, horror, and all things middle ages. I look forward to sharing some of my favourite interests with you all!