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- "It's not like that, sir. This ship is haunted."
- ―Bursar to Captain Bellamy
This man was a sailor who served aboard the Edinburgh Trader as the ship's bursar during the time of the East India Trading Company's appearance in Port Royal. The bursar showed a superstitious nature, as noted by Captain Bellamy.
Biography[]
At some unknown point likely in his early life, this man became a merchant sailor serving aboard the British merchant ship, the Edinburgh Trader, under Captain Bellamy. He would serve as bursar aboard the ship. Around 1729, the Trader left Port Royal. As it sailed out to open sea, a younger sailor found a beautiful dress on the main deck, and informed his crewmates immediately. The bursar and the quartermaster got into an argument over the dress, which they alleged to be evidence of a female spirit aboard the ship. The Quartermaster assumed it to mean the ship was haunted by a female presence. The Quartermaster spoke up to Captain Bellamy when questioned, saying that all the men had felt the presence of the spirit. The bursar's suggested solution to the perceived ghostly threat was to throw the dress overboard, however the Quartermaster contended with this saying that such actions would only anger the spirit. Bellamy ordered them to find the stowaway who had put the dress there, and also stated that she was probably naked.[1]
The crew searched to no avail, not uncovering the stowaway in the end. However, as the captain was in his cabin, the Quartermaster and the bursar saw the 'spirit' flying above them in the air. Unbeknownst to the fact that Elizabeth was using the dress as like a puppet, dangling it from the mast, they assumed that it was a spirit trying to give them a sign. The captain came outside along with the bursar and quartermaster, and they followed the spirit. After mistaking seaweed for a sign of entrails, they were alerted by another sailor to a message in the ground reading 'Tortuga', the name of the only free port in the area.[1]
After picking up some new crewmen in Tortuga, the crew of the Trader picked up a man at sea, William Turner Jr., who claimed that he had seen the dress before. As the whole ship suddenly shook, the crew assumed that it was just a reef, but Bellamy was soon grabbed by a tentacle of the Kraken. The whole crew panicked, and grabbed spears and pistols to defend themselves. The Bursar assumed that the dress belonged to the Kraken, and he threw it overboard, but was soon grabbed by a tentacle.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- Bursar first appeared in the 2006 junior novelization for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[2] "Burser/Edinburgh" was portrayed by Max Baker.[1][3]
- While the character was identified with the name "Burser" in the film's screenplay draft,[4] the name was spelled "bursar" in the junior novelization.[2] "Bursar/Edinburgh" was the name listed in the film's ending credits.[1][3]
- In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay draft for Dead Man's Chest, during the Kraken's attack on the Edinburgh Trader, the Burser appears on deck, waving Elizabeth Swann's wedding dress, only to slip, fall, sliding and tumbling over the rail.[4]
- In the Dead Man's Chest comic, the dialogue in which the Edinburgh Trader crew discovered was given to different characters. Compared to the film, the comic had Bursar being given the Quartermaster's lines, and the Quartermaster was given the Sailor's lines.[5]
- In real-world history, a bursar is the treasurer at a college or university; the equivalent officer aboard a ship would be the purser.
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 38
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 POTC2 Presskit
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (comic)
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