I'm not a fan of pirates -- but I am a fan of old graveyards. In the last decade or so, I've noticed an increasingly prevalent belief that graves which include a skull and crossbones design are the graves of pirates. Below is a screencap demonstrating the issue.
The too common mistake seems to come from a popular association of the skull and crossbones design with the pirate flag or "Jolly Roger." Yet, historical records of pirates suggest this exact flag might have never even been used. A 1724 account of a pirate attack states:
About Eleven of the Clock one Night, after the whole Crew had been Some Time assembled in the great Cabbin, I heard three Huzza's, and then they all came upon Deck, and hoisted Jolly Roger, (for so they call their black Ensign, in the Middle of which is a large white Skeleton, with a Dart in one Hand, striking a bleeding Heart, and in the other an Hour Glass.) [...] When they fight under Jolly Roger, they give Quarter, which they do not when they fight under the Red or Bloody Flag.
(The image described actually resembles this 17th century seal found at Jamestown.)
Even if we suppose that some pirate did eventually streamline the design into a skull and crossbones, seeing such an image on a grave does not denote a pirate anymore than the skull and crossbones on old poison bottles denotes that it was meant for pirates. It is simply a generic symbol for death. In a time when people contemplated and confronted death in ways that are perceived as "morbid" or "unhealthy" now, to put skulls and other symbols of death on gravestones seemed entirely logical. An increase in prudery starting somewhere around the late 18th century saw the disuse of skulls and skeletons as tombstone decoration, replaced with more indirect symbols such as angels, obelisks and Grecian urns.
It's of note that, in old time writings contemporary to what people think of as pirates, the pirate graves are usually suggested to be very rough and plain -- not the kind of monuments that would include carved designs; and it can be reasoned that, as piracy was not legal, if you had made a fortune through piracy you probably wouldn't want to advertise that fact, lest the authorities come to seize your property (or, if you'd already died, that of your heirs.)
As to the name Jolly Roger, its etymology is uncertain. It could relate to a popular song of the early 18th century called
Jolly Roger Twangdillo, in the same way that polka dots have nothing really to do with polka dancing except that it was a popular fad at the time of the naming. It's also been speculated as a corruption of some other phrase,
joli rouge (pretty red) being sometimes suggested, though not likely since the Jolly Roger flag was black. It was also known as "
Old Roger" which indicates it's not likely a corruption from some other word. Old Roger was also a name for the Devil (compare Old Nick in this sense) and in 17th century English Roger could be a generic name for a male person of a certain (low) social class.
