Cabin Boy (Execution Fort)

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Unknown
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Eye color	Green
Hair color	Brown
Died	c. 1729, Execution Fort
Title(s)	Cabin Boy

"The King and his men stole the queen from her bed. And bound her in her bones. The seas be ours, and by the powers. Where we will...we'll roam."

―Cabin Boy

This young man was a cabin boy during the Age of Piracy around the time when Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company attempted to eradicate piracy on the Seven Seas. As one of the first casualties of Beckett's ruthless campaign against the "uncivilized" seas, the pirate Cabin Boy was one of many persons convicted of piracy as well as associated with piracy that were executed at an EITC fort. Before he was hanged, the Cabin Boy held a piece of eight and started singing the song Hoist the Colors, which ultimately resulted in the fourth meeting of the Brethren Court.

Biography

Early life and execution

Little is known of this boy's life, only that he became a cabin boy associated with piracy at a young age. At some point, he was sentenced for execution under strict statutes condemning all persons convicted of piracy as well as those associated with piracy, as introduced by Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company. Prior to being in line with other prisoners led to their final reward at the gallows in the central courtyard of an execution fort, shackled and chained, the pirate cabin boy had a piece of eight in his possession.

The cabin boy at the gallows.

With Beckett's Armada growing with each conquest and hapless pirates across the globe dancing the Hangman's Jig at his command, something drastic had to be done. Hector Barbossa sent forth the song Hoist the Colours to summon pirates to Shipwreck Island, the legendary retreat of the Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court, where they would decide what should be done about their common enemy. And so when the pirate cabin boy stood on the gallows, he began to sing Hoist the Colors mournfully, low and wavering, focused only on the song and not on those who had come to see him hung. The young man was interrupted by the Executioner providing a barrel for the young man to stand on in order to reach the noose for him to be fitted around his neck. Despite this, the song resonated as it was picked up by the entire assembly of waiting prisoners, as Lord Beckett expected. The cabin boy was duly executed along with the rest, dropping his coin to the ground.

Legacy

Despite all the advantages of the East India Trading Company, the song that had been sung by the cabin boy and the other singing gallows pirates ultimately resulted in the Brethren Court being called. As Barbossa issued summons, the Fourth Brethren Court gathered at Shipwreck Island, where they declared war against Lord Cutler Beckett and the EITC. The deaths of the cabin boy and his fellows were avenged with the ultimate defeat of Beckett aboard the HMS Endeavour by the combined attack of the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman.

Behind the scenes

The pirate Cabin Boy was played by Brendyn Bell in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for At World's End, the character was identified as "A PIRATE CABIN BOY" and was described to have been put directly on the gallows, with a noose fitted around his neck.

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End