Three Cheers for the Pirates! The History of Merseyside Smugglers and Wreckers: Realities, Myths, and Legacies

Abstract

Within recent years, Merseyside has adopted piratical imagery as part of its local identity. This adoption reprises Merseyside’s smuggling and wrecking heritage as smugglers and wreckers have been transformed into myths that have been assimilated into modern understandings of historical piracy. This modern interpretation of piracy has transformed the historical pirate into an anti-authoritarian symbol, stripped of its problematic criminal aspects. Pirates have become embedded within Merseyside’s social consciousness through cultural events. This article examines into how and why Merseyside has used its smuggling and wrecking past to facilitate a piratical identity. Drawing on the reality of the region’s history of smuggling and wrecking realities, this study assesses how these activities have been regarded since their heydays. Prevalent societal values of the period determine what is deemed of cultural importance, with Merseyside’s smugglers and wreckers enjoying dizzying heights today after having almost falling into obscurity in the twentieth century.