VERY good points Capn, the notion of psychological impact was clearly used by pirates, much as in many combative or adversarial situations. As Confucius said (loosely translated) 'the idea is not to beat the opponent into submission, but to make him not wish to fight".
Blackbeard was probably the most notably recorded for this practice, especially the decoration of his beard, said to be with lit fuses (possibly to deter mosquitos ?) but more likely red ties or to that effect. However the braces of pistols on display would be formidable in appearance as well. The idea is, any guy with this much firepower means business!
Well noted on the close quarters combat, no need to large guns, caliber, or swords of length. Which brings the subject of the swords depicted in these woodcuts from Johnson's book......these appear be 'hangers' of various sorts, some which fall into the nebulous category of the 'scimitar'. The oddly clipped blades seem to defy comparison in most blade forms we are familiar with, aside from some ethnographic forms such as the kampilan, mandau and some Chinese types.
So then, might these 'cutlasses' depicted in these images also be somewhat 'sensationalized'?
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