h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=buccaneer

The buccan, as mentioned in this article, is where the term Buccaneer comes from.

I've heard, though haven't verified this, that the term came into usage when pirates would lit fires on beaches in the wrong spots.

Often, in those days, fires were used like lighthouses, to warn ships where dangerous shoals were.

So the pirates would light fires, in buccans, in bad locations, and steer ships aground, and then raid them.

And became known as buccaneers!