The Louisiana Pirate Festival is getting underway in Lake Charles, which is as good a reason as any to talk about two of the most remarkable stories in pirate history: Cheng I Sao, a Chinese pirate queen who commanded 400 ships and 70,000 men and never lost a battle; and Ireland's Grace O’Malley, who, as the story is sometimes told, gave birth to one of her four children - and then, just hours later, grabbed her gun and successfully drove off a group of raiders.
Cheng I Sao, Female Pirate Extraordinaire (JStor Daily)
Grace O'Malley: 12 fascinating facts about Ireland's fearless Pirate Queen (Irish Post)
