There is a long-standing idea that pirates buried their treasure and left maps enabling them to find it later. However, this is a myth.<\/p>\n

The origins of this commonly held belief stem from a story concerning the pirate Captain William Kidd (c1655\u20131701), who tried to escape a spell of imprisonment by writing a letter to the governor of New York and Massachusetts, Lord Bellomont, claiming that he had buried a cache of gold and jewels on Gardiner\u2019s Island, just off the coast of New York.<\/p>\n

Somehow, newspapers got wind of the story and rumours of Kidd\u2019s riches spread like wildfire. However, the search was unsuccessful \u2013 there was nothing to be found. Years later, it would serve as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s famous novel Treasure Island<\/em>, only serving to perpetuate the myth further.<\/p>\n

On the podcast: Dr Rebecca Simon responds to your questions on the 17th-century golden age of piracy. Plus, how accurate are pop culture portrayals of pirates?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div> <hr\/>The reality is that pirates had no reason to bury their treasure. In fact, the word \u2018treasure\u2019 often did not mean gold and jewels at all; rather, it usually referred to other valuable items, ranging from textiles and spices to various wines and spirits.<\/p>\nThe majority of pirates had short lives at sea and needed to get wealthy quick, so they plundered goods and sold them on land in order to repair and restock their ships, hire new crew, support company. Burying these items would have only led their families, or buy plenty of food and women\u2019s to lost goods and likely death before they could be recovered. So, while it makes for a fun story, the reality of \u2018buried treasure\u2019 is as fiction as Treasure Island<\/em>.<\/p>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> This content is part of our series of pirate myths \u2013 read the rest in the series:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/period\/stuart\/peg-leg-pirates-real-eyepatches"\">Did any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/period\/stuart\/walk-plank-real-punishment"\">Was walking the plank a real pirate punishment?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/period\/stuart\/jolly-roger-skull-crossbones-pirate-flags"\">Did real pirates fly the Jolly Roger?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/period\/victorian\/what-is-the-origin-and-meaning-of-the-pirate-expression-shiver-me-timbers\/"\">What is the origin and meaning of the pirate expression \u2018shiver me timbers\u2019?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/period\/stuart\/english-pirates-accent-west-country-blackbeard\/"\">Did most English pirates really talk with a West Country accent?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul> <\/p><\/div> <\/section>This content first appeared in the December 2021 issue of BBC History Revealed<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dr Rebecca Simon Published: Monday, 17 January 2022 at 12:00 am There is a long-standing idea that pirates buried their treasure and left maps enabling them to find it later. 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