Black Spot (Treasure Island)
Encyclopedia
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
for his novel Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
. In the book, pirates are presented with a "black spot" to officially pronounce a verdict of guilt or judgment. It consists of a circular piece of paper or card, with one side blackened while the other side bears a message and placed in the hand of the accused. It was a source of much fear because it meant the pirate was to be deposed as leader, by force if necessary--or else killed outright. In Treasure Island, Billy Bones is much frightened by it but remains determined to outwit his enemies; however he suffers a stroke caused by the consumption of spirituous liquor and dies. Later Long John Silver
Long John Silver
Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Silver is also known by the nicknames "Barbecue" and the "Sea-Cook".- Profile :...
receives the spot, but is calm enough to notice that it has been torn out from a Bible, and warns his associates of the ill luck this will bring upon them.
Origins
The origins of Stevenson's Black Spot might be in the historical tradition of Caribbean pirates of showing an Ace of SpadesAce of Spades
At least in English-speaking countries, the ace of spades is traditionally seen as the highest card in the deck of playing cards, although the actual value of the card varies from game to game...
to a person condemned as traitor or informer. The card was putting the person dangerously "on the spot", since the ace
Ace
An ace is a playing card. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the case of the Ace of Spades...
bears a single pip.
Appearances in other works
The Black Spot has since been used in other works of popular culture:- 1930: In Swallows and AmazonsSwallows and AmazonsSwallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...
by Arthur RansomeArthur RansomeArthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...
, the Amazon Pirates give their Uncle, Captain Flint, a Black Spot on a piece of paper, with writing on the other side that says "You are deposed from being an uncle or anything decent" due to his ill-treatment of their friends. - 1938 In the film AlgiersAlgiers (film)Algiers is a 1938 American drama film directed by John Cromwell and starring Charles Boyer, Sigrid Gurie, and Hedy Lamarr. The Walter Wanger production was a remake of the successful 1937 French film Pépé le Moko, which derived its plot from the Henri La Barthe novel of the same name...
Regis draws the ace of spades when forced to cut the deck. Carlos calls this drawing of the black spot "very bad luck". - 1946: In the novel Joy in the MorningJoy in the Morning (1946 novel)Joy in the Morning is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 22, 1946 by Doubleday & Co., New York, and in the United Kingdom on June 2, 1947 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
by P. G. WodehouseP. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, Boko Fittleworth greets the news that Bertie Wooster is engaged to Florence Craye by saying "I did think that the black spot had finally passed into Stilton's possession." - 1948: The short story The LotteryThe Lottery"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. Written the same month it was published, it is ranked today as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature"....
by Shirley JacksonShirley JacksonShirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
. - 1996: Muppet Treasure IslandMuppet Treasure IslandMuppet Treasure Island is a 1996 American musical film based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. It is the fifth feature film to star The Muppets and was directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson....
, a retelling of Treasure Island, the black spot is drawn on a piece of paper and given to Billy Bones. It is also given to Long John Silver on a leaf from a BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. He escapes execution by claiming they have defiled the holy book. - 2000: The 2000 video-game Skies of ArcadiaSkies of ArcadiaSkies of Arcadia, released in Japan as , is a console role-playing game developed by Overworks for the Dreamcast and published by Sega in 2000. Skies of Arcadia Legends, a port, was released for the GameCube in 2002. Legends was also in development for the PlayStation 2; however, the PS2 version...
presented players with a black spot, a message from a bounty hunter that they would soon be hunted down and killed. - 2002: Puzzle Pirates, an MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
created by Three Rings DesignThree Rings DesignThree Rings Design, Inc. is an online game developer that was founded on March 30, 2001 by Daniel James and Michael Bayne. The company is named after the Three Rings of the Elves in Tolkien mythology, and the names of the Three Rings show up in various places throughout Puzzle Pirates such as in...
, uses the term "Black Spot" to refer to a temporary way to silence rude and disruptive players. - 2005: In the German film Die wilden Kerle 2 (The Wild Soccer Bunch 2), protagonist and Wild Soccer Bunch leader Leon hands a "Schwarzer Punkt" ("Black Spot") to Vanessa when in his opinion she betrays the gang by fancying another gang's leader.
- 2006: In the Disney feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
, Captain Jack SparrowCaptain Jack SparrowJack Sparrow is a fictional character and the central protagonist in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series created by screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, portrayed by Johnny Depp. He is first introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl...
is presented with a "Black Spot" by Davy JonesDavy JonesDavy Jones may refer to:People:*Davy Jones , English actor and singer, formerly of the band The Monkees*Davy Jones , American*Davy Jones , American baseball player...
as a marker that the KrakenThe Kraken (Pirates of the Caribbean)The Kraken is a fictional sea monster in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The monster made its first appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as an antagonist portrayed through Computer-generated imagery...
can track; in the film, the black spot appears as a large black boil-like swelling on the palm of his hand. - 2007: In the CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
reality televisionReality televisionReality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show Pirate MasterPirate MasterPirate Master is a CBS reality television show created by Mark Burnett which replaced the previous Mark Burnett show on CBS, Rock Star. It follows 16 modern-day pirates on their quest for gold, which totaled US$1,000,000. The show was hosted by Cameron Daddo, and took place in the Caribbean island...
, the black spot is given by the captain to the three contestants that he nominates to be voted off. - 2008: On the indie-Americana band Murder By DeathMurder by Death (band)Murder by Death is an American five-piece indie rock band from Bloomington, Indiana. Their name is derived from the 1976 Robert Moore film of the same name.- Early years :...
's fourth album Red of Tooth and ClawRed of Tooth and ClawRed of Tooth and Claw is the fourth full-length album release by American five-piece indie rock band Murder by Death and marks the first record the band has released on the Vagrant record label...
, there is a song titled "The Black Spot" in which the singer laments, "The black spot, I never thought I'd be the one givin' it to you." - 2009: The pirate-themed power/folk metal band AlestormAlestormAlestorm is a folk metal band from Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterized by a pirate theme, and as a result have been dubbed a "Pirate metal" band at a popular heavy metal related website....
featured the Black Spot in their song "Chronicles of Vengeance" on their second album Black Sails at MidnightBlack Sails at MidnightBlack Sails at Midnight is the second studio album by the Scottish power/Pirate Metal band Alestorm. As with their first album, all the drums tracks were recorded by session drummer Migo Wagner but touring drummer Ian Wilson added additional percussion...
. - 2011: The third episode of Series 6 (Season 32) of Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, "The Curse of the Black SpotThe Curse of the Black Spot"The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Stephen Thompson, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
", takes place on a pirate ship, suggesting that the device of the spot is a reference to Stevenson, but the black spot is a mark that is placed on the palm of the hand of anyone that is sick or injured by a mystical seductress named only as "The Siren", not on a card handed to an individual. - 2006-2011: Kate BeatonKate BeatonKate Beaton is a Canadian webcomic artist. Originally from Mabou, Cape Breton, she has a degree in history and anthropology from Mount Allison University. She began drawing comics for the university newspaper, the Argosy, during her third and fourth years at school. Previously she worked in the...
's "Hark! A Vagrant:" Page 265 has a pirate receive an black spot from another pirate before he's shot for pointing out that the practice was invented by Stevenson. Page 281, strip "Davey Jones, I mean, In the drink" A a man recives a black spot from gangsters, he then tells them "You've Mixed up genres."