Hooks and Peg legs: A piratical history of prosthetics

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Gold & Gunpowder is made by a single person without the use of AI. If your image or footage did not receive credit, contact Gold & Gunpowder.

Back in December I visited the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, seeing the Mary Rose and taking a tour of the HMS Victory. In this museum they also had an original copy of a late 18th century print, depicting Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson battering French crocodiles with a club of British oak. Nelson had amputated most of his right arm, and in this print he is seen with a hook hand. Though Nelson certainly didn’t have a hook hand outside of this image, it shows that hook hands existed in 18th century pop culture. Nowadays we associate hook hands with pirates, but this made me question if the association existed during the Golden Age of Piracy, and if hook hands were actually used.

Sources:
A General History of the Pyrates Vol1 & 2 - Cpt. Charles Johnson
Amputation - piratesurgeon.com
A New Voyage Round The World - William Dampier
Captain Hook’s Hook: It’s Most Likely Inspiration - And His Nemesis Crocodile’s Too! - Benerson Little
Historical prostheses - V. Putti
Memory to serve - Antoine Labbé
Of Padauk Leg and Rats - Jack Plane
Pirates & Peg Legs: A Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics - Mae Cantos
Prosthetic Limb Development: A Historical Review - Lauren L. Smith
Survival to amputation in pre-antibiotic era: a case study from a Longobard necropolis - Micarelli et. al.
The ancient origins of prosthetic medicine - Jacqueline Finch
The Development of Amputation - Norman T. Kirk
The memoirs of Pere Labat - Jean-Baptiste Labat
The Pirate Wars - Peter Earle

Footage credits:
Family Guy
Berserk(1997)
Treasure Island(1990)
Peter Pan(1953)

Music credits:
Anamalie - Kevin MacLeod
Johann Fischer Musicalisches Blumen-Bueschlein Suite No.2 in F major
Guts Theme (Piano Arrangement) - Sound Runes
DamaMay - Kevin MacLeod
Long Note One - Kevin MacLeod
Cay - Jon Sayles

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:27 A history
7:52 Pirate age prosthetics

#pirates #history #prosthesis