In pirate movies and books people talk about the Black Spot. What is it and what does it do.?

Question

I've heard a bunch of different storys but no explainations. Everyone just says " ahh the black spot!" and run away. Ya I'd be afraid if I just knew what the heck it was!!!

Answer 1

"The Black Spot" appears in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island." It's the pirate's death sentence: when a pirate violates the code, and his shipmates decide he needs to be killed, they draw a black circle on a sheet of paper and hand it to the victim. He lives in constant fear of their terrible vengeance -- but not for long.

I'm not sure it was an actual pirate tradition, but it's a GREAT dramatic device because you now have a character who is terrified, not only by his impending doom but by the unknown nature of WHEN and HOW. It's pure Hitchcock.

The Black Spot actually appears twice in "Treasure Island." First, near the beginning, Blind Pew brings it to Billy Bones -- the pirate who stole Flint's map and has been keeping it in the Admiral Benbow, where young Jim Hawkins has befriended him. Bones gives Jim the map before he dies, thereby starting the dramatic action of the story.

Then later on, when Jim, Squire Trelawney, and everyone have made it to the island, Long John Silver does something (I won't say what so as not to spoil the whole story!) that violates the code. So his shipmates give HIM the Black Spot -- but the only paper they can find is a Bible. So they tear a page out of the Bible to give him the Black Spot, and Silver points out that this will bring down curses on their head for tearing a Bible.

"Treasure Island" is a very quick and easy read, because it's an absolutely BRILLIANT adventure story. There have also been a number of movies made, but the very best -- the apex -- the top of the piratical heap is the 1950 version starring Robert Newton as Long John Silver. It's important to understand something when you watch this movie -- Newton created the characterization of Long John Silver in that movie, and to this day, everybody who talks like a pirate sounds the way they do because of Newton. (Apparently it's a Cornish accent, but filtered through Newton's own brilliance.) The whole "Arrrrrrr...." thing is Newton's. He is the DEFINITIVE Long John Silver -- yes, even better than Tim Curry in "Muppet Treasure Island" (which is actually a pretty good telling of the definitive pirate story).

Watching this movie is the buccaneer's version of watching "Hamlet" for the first time, hearing the melancholy Dane say, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," and going "OH, so THAT'S where it comes from!", or listening to Beethoven's 5th symphony and having that glorious flash of enlightenment and recognition when you first hear DA-DA-DA-DUM in context. It's the source, the fountainhead, the flash of sheer creative brilliance -- and it's a darn good adventure story, too, the perfect centerpiece for a pirate party.

Answer 2

Read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

pirates were only out for the money and some bad guys joined together in an effort to make more plundar effectively they were a guild or a union. If you betrayed the Pirate Guild, some self proclaimed guy in charge would leave you with a card that contained a black dot, which marked you as a cursed man in a world of superstition.

This black dot was pretty much the same thing as a subpenoa calling you to face up to your betrayal. Some pirate assassin would sneak in and murder the black dot bearer. This was seen as a curse by the people around the black spot bearer because they knew he would die.

Answer 3

The black spot did not really exist. It first appeared in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The Black Spot predicted the demise of the one that received it. Most recently, it was in Pirates of the Caribbean two, Jack received it on his palm - the one in Treasure Island, I believe, was on a card of some sort - and the giver was Davy Jones - not the same in Treasure Island. There is nothing to be afraid of, because the black spot does not really exist in pirate fact and legend.

Answer 4

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RE:
In pirate movies and books people talk about the Black Spot. What is it and what does it do.?
I've heard a bunch of different storys but no explainations. Everyone just says " ahh the black spot!" and run away. Ya I'd be afraid if I just knew what the heck it was!!!

Answer 5

I'd say the Black Spot well predates R L Stevenson. There's a Welsh ballad called Can y Blotyn Du (The Song of the Black Spot). It tells of a wanderer who returns home after an absence of seven years as a pirate, reveals himself to his sister by showing the 'black spot' on his arm, goes to his mother and father's house intending to repay some debts they have but decides not to reveal who he is till next day. Fatal error: the parents, noting the money in his purse, murder him in the dead of night. The sister shows up next day and they realize what they've done. They commit suicide and the sister goes off her head.

The original was probably an English song (17th or 18th century) since it says it all happened in the "land of the English", and indeed in "lovely Cornwall."

Answer 6

the black spot is in reference to being a pirate traitor or a person(pirate) who has been marked for death.....its the code of the pirates......its almost like a scarlet letter....

Answer 7

in Pirates of the caribbean 2 Jack gets a black spot on his hand and it means Davvy Jones's "Kracken" is after him, so pretty much he's marked for death.

Answer 8

a person receiving the Black Spot was marked for Death.

Answer 9

Because noone knows

It was on a page of the bible in treasure island.