Did pirates wear elaborate, mask like make-up?

by JAlfredPrufrock1920

So I'm watching Crossbones (yes for John Malkovich!) and a percentage of the pirates are wearing insane make-up. Not just eyeliner or what have you, but one has his face painted like a skeleton, another has like this monster of the lagoon thing going on. So I guess my question is just that, was this common practice in the true pirate companies or a tv drama only thing?

ETFox

Sorry for the tardiness. The short answer is no. Other criminal groups, particularly groups like the deer-stealers and poachers known as the Hampshire Blacks or the Waltham Blacks are recorded as wearing masks or colouring their faces for the purpose of disguise. In fact, the infamous Black Act of 1723 was passed specifically to combat their activities and made the wearing of masks illegal. Pirates used intimidation as their main weapon. They wanted to frighten their victims into surrendering before a fight became necessary, but they did it by sailing on well-armed ships and using flags to announce their identity. Rumours of the pirates' torturing of captives and burning of victims' ships spread, and most seamen considered it wiser to surrender rather than risk such a fate. However, there is not a scrap of evidence that I've seen of pirates painting their faces for effect. The difference between groups like the Blacks and pirates is that the Blacks were essentially local criminals, they lived in the areas in which they committed their crimes, so disguise was essential to avoid identification. Pirates had no reason to disguise themselves in that way.