Trust our fans to keep us from being too Anglocentric. We’ve had a how-to-talk-like-a-German-pirate page up on the site for a few years, and we recently heard from one Kap’tein Sander, who wrote:
‘Tis a great concept, this (Talk like a pirate day’), but it seems to me that it has one big flaw: No Dutch Pirates?! My good sirs, I hope that you are aware of the great naval history of the United Provinces, both those of Holland and the Dunkirkers? If not, I recommend you to read some pages on wikipedia or something J.
But I am not in my right to scold you, for you have already performed a very good task on the English pirates.
I myself present to you in this document a small list of words, which will hopefully prove useful to you and to Dutch-speaking would-be pirates around the globe!
Here’s his glossary:
Types of pirates:
Kaper (pl. kapers): privateers; pirates that had received a permit from a country to raid and pillage ships of their enemies.
Boekanier (pl. boekaniers): pirates who attacked French & Spanish ships in the late 17th century.
Vrijbuiter (pl. Vrijbuiters): completely independent pirates, without a pirate code (which boekaniers had and respected)
Types of ships:
Fluit(schip) (Fluyt in old Dutch): Dutch tradeship, with a slight pear shape
Galjoen: galleon
Jacht: Yacht, originally invented by the Dutch navy as a fast boat for pursuing fleeing enemies
Korvet: corvette, not a kind of car, lightly armed warship
Linieschip: ship-of-the-line
Schoener: schooner, a bit sturdier than a jacht, but no real warship
Spookschip: ghost ship
De Vliegende Hollander: the Flying Dutchman
Parts of the ship:
Anker: anchor
Bak: forecastle, upper deck of the ship
Bakboord: left side of the ship
Boeg / voorsteven: bow of the ship, front of the ship
Brug: bridge
Dek: deck
Kajuit: cabin
Kiel: keel, a sort of ‘fin’ at the bottom of the ship
Patrijspoort: porthole
Roer: rudder
Romp: hull
(Scheeps)ruim: can’t seem to find an english word, yet it’s just the place where you put all your trading goods and booty
Spant: the ‘ribs’ of a ship
Spiegel: stern, flat backside of the ship
Stuurboord: right side of the ship
Valreep: the plank
Zeil: sail
Weapons:
Donderbus: blunderbuss, type of early gun
Enterhaak: grappling hook
Floret: foil, a type of sword
Haakbus: arquebus, type of gun
Hartsvanger: cutlass, type of sword
Kanon: cannon
Musket: musket, type of gun
Rapier: rapier, type of sword
Sabel: sabre, type of sword
Ranks:
Bemanning: crew
Kapitein: captain
Eerste stuurman: chief mate, the captain’s second in command (sometimes the kapitein would also name a tweede stuurman, derde stuurman, vierde stuurman, etc.)
Bootsman: responsible for the maintenance of the ship, but may boss the matrozen and lichtmatrozen around
Matroos: crewmember
Lichtmatroos: lowest rank on the ship, he’s the one that has to do the housekeeping on the ship
Scheepskok: the ship’s cook
Creatures of the seven seas:
Achtarm / kraak: octopus, kraken
Dwaallicht: will-o-the-wisp’s, in Dutch folklore it was believed that these lights were the souls of unbaptized and unborn children
Haai: shark, ‘naar de haaien gaan’ (to go to the sharks) means to go down, to sink
Klabauter / dreutel: sea-leprechaun, indiginous to Germany, the Netherlands and the Baltic Sea; although the German version seems to be evil, the Dutch version saves shipwrecked people
(zee)meerman: merman
(zee)meermin: mermaid
(Zee)meeuw: (sea)gull
Papegaai: parrot
Pokken: barnacles
Sirene: siren
Vis: fish
Walvis: whale
Food ‘n’ drinks:
Bier: beer
Grog: grog (thank god)
Rum: rum
Tweebak / (Scheeps)beschuit: rusk
Water: water
Miscellaneous:
Aanleggen / kaaien / voor anker gaan (verb): to anchor a ship
Alle hens aan dek: ‘all hands on deck’, the captain calls out for his crew to join him on deck
Alle trossen los!: the trossen are the ropes with which the ship is attached to the dock
Aye / ja: yes
Bries: wind, breeze; ‘een lichte bries’ (a light breeze), ‘een stevige bries’ (a strong breeze)
Buit / scheepsbuit: booty, swag
Dok / werf: dock
Dood en(de) duivel!: Death and devil!
Doodshoofd: skull
Duizend bommen en granaten!
Enteren (verb): to capture a ship
Haak: hook
Houten been: pegleg (‘wooden leg’)
Hou vaart!: ‘fare thee well’
Kielhalen: to drag someone along the keel of the ship
Lagune: lagoon
Landrot: landlubber
Maat: matey, friend
Ooglap: eye patch
Schatkist: treasure chest
Verduiveld!: by the devil!
Vervloekt!: damned!
Voetenspoelen: (to wash the feet), euphemism to throwing prisoners overboard
P.S.: The German pirate song ‘Alle die mit uns auf Käperfahrt fahren’ is in fact an old Flemish folk song, originating in Dunkirque, present day French-Flandres (where people in those days still spoke Dutch and the place was called Duinkerken, a notorious haven for pirates).
The original Dutch song was sung as early as the 17th century. I don’t want to rip off on the German version, but right information is right information; which doesn’t mean that the German pirates can’t sing the German version of the song!
Al die willen te kaap’ren varen /(All who wants to fare out to raid with us)/
Moeten mannen met baarden zijn /(Must be men with beards)/
refrein:
Jan, Piet, Joris en Corneel /(Jan, Pier, Tjores and Corneel)
/Die hebben baarden, die hebben baarden /(They have beards, they have beards/
Jan, Piet, Joris en Corneel /(Jan, Pier, Tjores and Corneel)/
Die hebben baarden, zij varen mee /(They have beards, they sail with us)/
Al die ranzige tweebak lusten /(All who like the taste of filthy rusk)/
Moeten mannen met baarden zijn /(Must be men with beards)/
refrein
Al die deftige pijpkens smoren /(All who smoke classy pipes)/
Moeten mannen met baarden zijn /(Must be men with beards)/
refrein
Al die met ons de walrus killen /(All who hunt the walrus with us)/
Moeten mannen met baarden zijn /(Must be men with beards)/
refrein
Al die dood en duivel niet duchten /(All who do not fear death and devil)/
Moeten mannen met baarden zijn /(Must be men with beards)/
And I’ll end with the Dutch translation of one of the best songs of the sea ever made; the drunken sailor. As with many translated folk songs, this song has many versions; I picked one and added verses from other versions.
Wat zullen we doen met de dronken zeeman (/Wat shall we do with the drunken sailor?) /x3
‘s morgens in de vroegte. /(Early in the morning)/
Chorus
Hela hop daar gaat ie (/Hooray, and hup there he goes) /x3
‘s morgens in de vroegte! /(Early in the morning)/
Gooi hem overboord dan kan ie zwemmen (/Toss him overboard so he can swim)/
Hang hem in de mast om uit te waaien (/Hang him onto the mast so he can blow out)/
Stop hem in zijn bed om uit te slapen (/Put him in his bed so he can sleep it off)/
Stop z’n kop in een emmer met water (/Put his head in a bucket full of water)/
Roep de kapitein die zal hem leren (/Call the captain, that will teach him)/
Dat zullen we doen met de dronken zeeman (/That’s what we’ll do with a drunken sailor)/