Episode 44-Legends of Pirate Treasure

Welcome to our 44th episode. Join Bobber and Shaner as they discuss pirate treasure and most importantly did they actually bury it. Unfortunately it is considered a very rare occurrence.Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, alongside Vikings, criminals, and Old West outlaws.

In English fiction, there are three well-known stories that helped to popularize the myth of buried pirate treasure: "Wolfert Webber" (1824) by Washington Irving, "The Gold-Bug" (1843) by Edgar Allan Poe and Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson. As you may remember, we discussed the Gold Bug in Episode 22 on
Secret Codes and Hidden Treasure.

Captain Kidd had originally been commissioned as a privateer for England, but his behavior had strayed into supposed outright piracy, and he hoped that his treasure could serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations to avoid punishment.

His bid was unsuccessful, however, and Kidd was imprisoned for 2 years. The first attempt in hanging him resulted in the rope breaking and the crowd demanded he be set free as this was a sign from God.

Nope, they hung immediately, and he died. But the craziest thing about this story is that his body was gibbeted over the River Thames at Tilbury Point, as a warning to future would-be pirates, for three years. Seems a little excessive three years of having a dead body on display over water.

18th century French pirate,Olivier Levasseur, “The Buzzard”, spent years pillaging his way across this corner of the Indian Ocean before settling on the Seychelles. When he was eventually recognized, arrested and taken to the island of Reunion in 1730, he refused to divulge the location of buried treasure believed to be worth $130 million.

“When they cast him into prison, they asked the Buzzard for the secret of the treasure. He refused. They tortured him, he still refused. They gave him a pen and parchment to write the secret of the treasure. He refused. And instead, when they were not around, he wrote [a] cryptogram and hid it on his person.”