29. Death Aboard Ship

Deaths were not unusual on warships or pirate ships. The chances of a seaman ending his life in a catastrophe were high, as many a man fell from the rigging, were washed overboard, succumbed to diseases, or lost in a bloody battle on deck.

A funeral always stopped the busy routine of a sailing vessel. 

Before it began, a shipmate sewed the dead man into his hammock, with a cannonball at his feet. It was rumored if you did not sink the corpse the spirit would haunt the deck. 

It was also rumored that the last stitch went through his nose, as a final test to be sure the sailor was dead and to seal the deceased’s soul into the shroud so it would not follow the ship. 

To a shout of “all hands bury the dead, ahoy!” the crew gathered around.  

Then the chaplain (or anyone that could read), would read the funeral service and gave the traditional Sailor’s Last Rites.

It is at this point the dead man’s shipmates tipped him overboard into a watery grave.  If the ship had a Ship’s Bell the crew would ring it to help the spirit pass from this life to the beyond. 

At this stop can you locate the cannonball by feeling the bottom of this Dead Pirates’ Shroud Display?  Can you ring the Ships Bell to help the spirit of this dead pirate pass from this life into the beyond and not haunt the museum?