[6] Hidden Treasure: Bountiful Riches
One-Eyed Willy's Treasure aboard the Inferno
IN THE FILM: Having survived Willy's intricate system of booby-traps, it truly is a triumphant moment when Mikey, who believed in One-Eyed Willy from the start, finally has his encounter with the infamous pirate captain, uttering the words, "You've been expecting me, haven't you?" With his riches splayed out before him in a dazzling display of gold, precious gems, jewelry and riches galore, One-Eyed Willy's hidden treasure is finally revealed. It's a moment of triumph and reward for the exuberant yet audacious young crew of Goonies, who can finally save their beloved homes from foreclosure.
Film clip:
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IN REAL LIFE: If we're speaking in technical terms, Willy's riches would be considered hidden treasure, well-protected within a long-forgotten lagoon riddled with deathly traps, but it fits in perfectly with the common trope that always comes to mind when people think of pirates: buried treasure. Buried treasure is nothing new to us; for the longest time it has been a "favorite theme in the pirate stories of fiction" (Cordingly 179), even though there are not many records of pirates actually burying their loot. Often, the 'treasure' would be spent on excessive "drinking, gambling, and whoring when they returned to port" (Cordingly 179). However, there are a few rare documented cases in which pirates actually have buried their treasure; Captain Stratton of the ship the Prince Eugene, for example, had traded with a pirate in Madagascar, one by the name of Captain Condell who commanded the pirate ship, Dragon. In exchange for a boatload of brandy and other merchant goods from Captain Stratton, Captain Condell ordered a large sum of Spanish silver dollars to be brought on board the Prince Eugene. Upon returning to Chesapeake Bay, Captain Stratton had his men bury the wooden chests full of silver in the sand, although most likely the 'treasure' was later recovered and confiscated by the authorities in Yorktown. Captain Kidd was another pirate who is most likely the most responsible for the popularized idea of buried treasure, when rumors quickly spread about his buried gold and silver obtained from the Quedah Merchant, mysteriously hidden before his arrest, but we'll touch more on that in another post.
Ultimately, the concept of buried treasure has been immortalized in Western folklore, forever associating the terms "pirate" and "treasure" with one another. Often the true history is tweaked in favor of sensationalization and fantasy, such as is the case of famous pirates like Captain Kidd and Lafitte. Interestingly, elements like supernatural forces find their way into these stories, as Gerard Hurley, author of the article, "Buried Treasure Tales in America" discusses how in folklore, "the easiest way to have a spirit protect a treasure is to kill someone and leave the corpse with the loot" (Hurley 200). Apparently, according to legends and lore, Kidd and Lafitte operated this way by tasking several of their men with burying the treasure. They would then proceed by murdering one of the men and burying him with their wealth, in order for their spirit to become the designated guardian of the treasure.
Sources
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
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