This isn’t so much a tradition as much as it is a cool fact, but psychological warfare was huge for some pirates- namely Blackbeard. Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard, really enjoyed this aspect of a battle. He was famous for weaving hemp into his beard and hat and then lighting it on fire, so that smoke constantly bellowed from his head as he was fighting. Oh, and his ship was equipped with over 40 cannons.