Think only men were pirates? In the eighteenth century, people's lives were not easy, and often the girls who lived on the seashore were forced to do men's work: knit nets, fish, and even hunt with a pirate craft, if it got really tight.
One of these women is the Englishwoman Mary Reid, who from a young age posed as a boy. Her life is similar to the plot of an adventure novel, however this is a real person. She had a friend - the same pirate named Annie Bonnie, and together they robbed merchant ships, during the battle, in no way inferior to men.
Biography
Mary Reid was born in 1685 in London. Her father was a sailor and fed the whole family until a tragedy occurred - he returned from one fishing trip. He died at sea, and without him his son was born. The widow grieved for a long time, and then found herself a roommate who promised to live with her and raise children, but did not fulfill the promise. From him, Reid gave birth to a daughter, Mary. The girl never knew who her father was.
Her older brother was very painful and died in childhood. The roommate left, and the widow Reed was left without any means. Then she came up with one trick: she dressed Mary in her son’s clothes and went to visit her mother-in-law. She said that this was her grandson, and that he needed money. Grandma believed and began to help Mary. For a while, life became more or less tolerable.
However, the girl was forced to walk all the time in boyish clothes, and was so used to her that she later did not want to change into her clothes. She had to act like a boy: to bully, climb trees, spit through her teeth.
Surviving in a cruel world, Mary realized that in the society where she is, it is much easier for men to live: they are hired everywhere; they are given more salaries than women; they are respected more, after all. Therefore, she was in no hurry to change clothes, even when she became an adult girl. She did not receive any education and was interrupted by casual earnings.
And then she found a man’s job: she became a sailor on a Dutch vessel, posing as a young man. Soon, the captain led his vessel to the West Indies, and from that moment began the incredible adventures of Mary as a sailor.
At sea, she did not suffer from pitching, did not experience any inconvenience, and worked on a par with men, contributing to the common cause. But the journey of the team did not last long - pirates attacked the ship. The sailors fought desperately for their ship, and Mary scored the most. However, the forces were unequal, and the pirates seized all the goods, and the team was sent ashore.
Mary pirate
On the same day, they invited Mary to join their team and become a pirate, she agreed. After several successful “operations”, the fame of a real fighter, courageous and desperate, entrenched her.
However, there was one funny incident: there was a woman on the pirate ship - Annie Bonnie. She fell in love with a new sailor and went everywhere for Mary, trying to please her and make friends. The girl hid her secret for a long time, but then Annie nevertheless opened, and began to be friends. The rest of the team thought Mary was a guy.
Moreover, both pirates were fearless, sometimes to the point of madness. They were also very cruel, and few were spared. Among the pirates, they gained fame as the bravest and most ferocious fighters, and Captain Jack Rackham was proud of them, not suspecting that the second was also a woman. He robbed ships in the waters of Jamaica and lived happily ever after.
Since Mary's secret was revealed to Bonnie, her life has become a little easier because she has a like-minded person. Although her friend had a completely different story: she was the daughter of wealthy parents. Her father owned a plantation on which slaves worked, they had a luxurious home, and Annie needed nothing.
Despite this, she was an angry and cruel girl. She told Mary that when the maid disobeyed her in some way, she simply stuck a knife in her chest, and she died. There were no consequences for the daughter of the rich man, and Annie continued to live as if nothing had happened.
When it came time for her to marry, her father picked her a rich groom. However, Annie already had a lover - poor sailor James. She begged him to take her with them, and they left for the island of New Providence.
Accustomed to a rich life, Annie was unhappy with her poor friend, and when she saw the captain of the pirate ship Jack Rackham, she decided to seduce him. Soon she and Jack went to his ship, having previously changed into a man’s dress.
When Mary got on the ship, it became clear that another thug in their team became more, because both girls fought along with men, sometimes they were even more ruthless.
