We have four other questions that asked pretty much the same question, try them and see if it answers your question:

• How accurate is the media portrayal of pirates?
• Where did the image of the 'pirate parrot' come from? (and other pirate myths)
• How did Pirates really speak? Did they have the stereotypical accent that so many people use? Or is that a myth?
• Has there ever been documented evidence of anyone finding (pirate) buried treasure?

One of those should help - it's a popular kind of question.