Robert Louis Stevenson based much of this classic novel on fact and in many ways it provides a very accurate description of pirates. While there never was a pirate named Long John Silver or a Captain Flint, there was a real pirate named Israel Hands (a.k.a. Basilica Hands), who was second-in-command under Blackbeard. He was crippled when Blackbeard suddenly shot him in the leg for no apparent reason one night when Blackbeard, Hands, a pilot and another pirate were drinking in Blackbeard's cabin. When the fourth pirate noticed Blackbeard secretly drawing two of his guns, he quickly left. Soon after that, Blackbeard blew out the candle, crossed his hands and fired both his pistols under the table striking Hands in the knee. The other pistol did no damage. Blackbeard later explained that if he didn't kill one of his crew once in a while, they would forget who he was. Hands later deserted Blackbeard in Carolina and turned King's evidence. In Virginia, he was arrested for piracy and barely escaped execution. He was last seen begging for food in London.

Have you ever wondered what that famous line in the Treasure Island pirate song meant that goes:

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest—
  Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

One of the books Stevenson used to research his novel mentions an actual Caribbean island called the Dead Man's Chest, which was said to be a rendezvous for buccaneers and smugglers. This cryptic line apparently refers to part of a pirate crew who were either stranded or marooned on that island. The song also says, "Drink and the devil had done for the rest" and adds:

"With one man of her crew alive,
  What put to sea with seventy-five."

Here is an interesting version of the Treasure Island pirate song. Inspired by the lines in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, this song was written by Allison and Waller for a 1901 Broadway musical. It's hardly the sort of thing you'd find on Broadway today.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
 Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of the whole ship's list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men of 'em good and true
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,

And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

More was seen through a sternlight screen...
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight,
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

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