The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea (1976) states that the Jolly Roger existed only in the imagination of writers of pirate stories. It was supposed to be a white skull on a black ground, sometimes with crossed bones below the skull. There is, however, no evidence that such a flag was ever flown by a pirate ship at sea.

If there ever were a general flag that might be recognised as a pirate flag, it would probably be the plain black flag which some pirate ships were occasionally reported as flying.

E. C. McCarthy,
Stamford, Lincolnshire

What, if any, function do wasps actually have?

Further to your last answer (October 7), the function of wasps is the same as the function of all other creatures on Earth, namely, to stay alive and to ensure the continuance of their species. It is wrong to assume that all living organisms have been placed on this planet for the benefit of mankind. A wasp might just as well ask: “What purpose do human beings have?”

John Odams, Ingatestone,
Essex

Wasps eat aphids, which makes them good guys in the garden. They also build nests of beauty that rivals many a sculpture. What is more, the great British picnic would never be the same again without them.

Dil Roworth, Taunton,
Somerset

They provide some of England’s finest rugby players.

Christopher Bell, Sevenoaks,
Kent

As I am neither a farmer nor a goat, I have no kids, but I have two children. Who first gave such a disparaging term as “kids” to our children?

Further to your last answers (September 29, 30), surely this is a chicken-and-egg situation. Who first called a grandmother “nanny”?

Derek Mant, Basingstoke,
Hampshire