Calico Jack

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Calico Jack : biography

December 18, 1682 – November 18, 1720
  • A skeleton supposed to that of Rackham is visible in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, hanging outside Port Royal when Jack Sparrow sails in, with the sign "Pirates, ye be warned" hanging next to him. In the same film, the Black Pearl flew Rackham’s Jolly Roger, a skull and crossed swords, as seen in the beginning of the film.
  • George MacDonald Fraser’s 1983 novel The Pyrates features Calico Jack as the leader of a federation of pirate captains known as "The Coast Brotherhood".
  • In Carrie Vaughn’s young adult novel, Steel, when the main character’s ship ports in the Bahamas, the crew go to a tavern at which Rackham is present with his shipmates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, as well as a number of other famous pirates, such as Blackbeard.
  • In Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Rackham is one of the most notorious pirates that the player may enter battle with.
  • In the acclaimed Adventures of Tintin comic book series, a character named Red Rackham, based on Calico Jack, appears in two consecutive episodes: The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. In the feature film The Adventures of Tintin, the Red Rackham character is Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine’s pirate ancestor. This is not present in the books.
  • The pirate game Captain Claw alludes to Calico Jack. In the levels, a Wanted poster of a yellow monkey can be seen on the walls. If Claw approaches this poster, he speaks out: "Who is this Calico Jack?"
  • The eleventh and final track on German heavy metal band Running Wild’s 1988 album, Port Royal, is entitled "Calico Jack". The final minutes of the song are about Rackham’s trial and Rackham being sentenced to death, told from the perspective of the judge and Rackham himself.
  • In the animated TV show The Octonauts, Kwazii Kitten (himself an ex-pirate) states that his grandfather was Calico Jack.
  • The pirate king Gol D. Roger from the manga-animé One Piece is loosely based to Calico Jack.
  • Summerwine Brewery in Yorkshire named a rum barrel-aged imperial stout "Calico Jack".
  • Calico Jack is a brand of flavored rum owned by distilling giant Beam Inc.
  • Calico Jack is mentioned in the book Thirty Nine Clues Book 9, Storm Warning, along with Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
  • In the forthcoming video game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Calico Jack is among the famous pirates to appear in the game.
  • East Carolina University, in Greenville, NC, has adopted the flag as part of their "Pirates" culture.

Capture, trial and death

In September 1720, Bahamas Governor Rogers had issued a warrant/proclamation declaring Rackham and his crew as pirates, but it was not published until October. About the same time, pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet was in pursuit of Rackham in Jamaica. Barnet captured Rackham and his crew while they were at anchor (and drunk) at Bry Harbour Bay in Jamaica, October 1720. They were tried and convicted in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in November 1720. Rackam was hanged in Port Royal on November 18, 1720. Rackam’s body was then gibbeted on display on a very small islet at a main entrance to Port Royal now known as Rackham’s Cay.

Captain Rackham

Once gaining the captaincy Rackham made a career of plundering small vessels close to shore. He and his crew captured the Kingston, a small Jamaican vessel, and made it their flagship. They made several conquests in the West Indies, taking a couple of large ships off of Bermuda.

In 1719, Rackham sailed into Nassau in the Bahamas to take advantage of a general amnesty for pirates to obtain a royal pardon and commission from Governor Woodes Rogers. Rogers had been sent to the Bahamas to address the problem of pirates in the Caribbean who had started to attack and steal from British ships.