What is Pirate Glass?

I get asked this an awful lot on my videos, so figured I'd write a little post about it for those that would like to know more.

Pirate glass is very thick seaglass* that appears, at first glance, to be black. However, if you hold a light behind it you will usually see its true colour shine through (truly black glass is INCREDIBLY rare). The actual colour of Pirate Glass is usually dark green, olive, amber or brown, but it is possible to find colours such as dark blue or even purple. One of my prized possessions is a piece of blue Pirate Glass.

As to why it's called Pirate Glass, I WISH I could tell you it's because every single piece was definitely 100% from bottles of grog lost overboard by careless pirates on the high seas... but sadly that is not the case.

The glass IS likely pretty old. Glass blowing techniques used to be much less refined, and so bottles were much thicker in times gone by. Also, as any amateur brewer knows, beer (or any fermented, bubbly drink) has a tendency to explode if you're not careful, and in the old days a simple solution to this was... thicker glass. Not only the thickness, but the colour, had a practical use. Again, as amateur brewers will know, sunlight can cause beer and other alcoholic drinks to age prematurely. This is called 'going skunky' or (more pleasantly) 'being lightstruck' and makes the drink taste awful. By making the glass darker, this helps prevent sunlight from reaching the beer, and is also why beer bottles to this day tend to be brown or green instead of clear. Thick black glass has also been used in many industrial areas, such as glassblowing (funnily enough). So... although it is certainly possible that your piece of pirate glass came from a handblown grog bottle... it may also be from any old bottle of booze, or a local glass factory.

"So" I hear you cry, "WHY is it called Pirate Glass?!"

There's no official answer... but I believe it's because it's a catchier name than "old industrial bottle glass". The very chance it COULD be from an old grog bottle is enough for us to suspend our disbelief for a moment, and let our imagination run away with us. Which honestly, is a much more fun way to live at the end of the day.

Some people believe Pirate Glass to be rare, but that's not actually true. It's pretty common, especially in areas with historical ports, harbours, or were part of naval trading. However it is pretty tricky to spot, since unless you've got a knack for it, it just looks like an ordinary black stone. It is therefore often overlooked by budding beachcombers, giving the impression that it is rarer than it is.

I hope this has been helpful and enlightening! If you have any other questions about Pirate Glass or any of my other beach combing finds, feel free to ask me in the comments to this post, or in my videos, and I shall strive to help if I can.

*seaglass - broken shards of glass that have been worn smooth by spending years in the sea.