I'm thinking this is more likely the actual origin of "real artists ship": http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt http://www.folklore.org/St

I'm thinking this is more likely the actual origin of "real artists ship": http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt (The story in the original link above, of course, exemplifies the phrase).