[PW] Inexperienced people in occupations who then excel at them

[S M Colowick]

On 4/5/07, Peter <peter at prunka.com> wrote:
> project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org wrote:
> > Haven't seen my reply as yet, so I'll risk resending:
> > Bartholomew Roberts was a sailor on a merchant ship taken by
> > pirates.  He was pressed into joining the pirate crew and
> > proved so adept that he became captain of the vessel in just
> > a few weeks, after the first captain was killed.  Most rank
> > him among the most successful pirates ever.
>
> Would this be the source of the "Dread Pirate Roberts" in Golding's
> "Princess Bride"?

Goldman's pirate does indeed seem to have been inspired by "Black
Bart" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Roberts.