There are many Hollywood myths about pirates, some of which seem to have absolutely no truth to them. For example, there is no record of pirates ever forcing prisoners to �walk the plank�. They had much more interesting methods of torture. For instance, tying prisoners to a mast and forcing them to run around it while being pelted with broken bottles.
Pirates very rarely buried their treasure. They usually squandered it all on drinking, gambling, and women as soon as they got to shore. They were also very unlikely to have parrots, mainly because they would make a mess and get in the way. If they did have parrots, however, the birds were likely to be eaten once supplies ran low.
Some myths do have a grain of truth in them. Peg legs and hooks for hands were pretty likely, mainly because medicine at the time left much to be desired. Amputation was extremely common, and substitutes for lost limbs would be needed. Pirates would have to make due with what they had on board ship. Ear piercing was common not only among pirates, but with other sailors as well. Sailors were a superstitious bunch, and they believed that piercing their ears with precious metals improved their eyesight. Surprisingly, there is some evidence that they may have been right. Some believe that ear piercing was brought back along trade routes from the orient, where doctors knew that earlobes were pressure points that could help eye ailments.
