EW

BOOK OF

legends & treasures of the golden age of piracy

Edition
Digital
SEVENTH
EDITION

Pirate weaponry Anatomy of a pirate ship Notorious pirate captains

 Welcome to

Book of

In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailing from Europe or Africa to the Americas,
or trading from India to Central America, was a risky undertaking. Ferocious
storms and barely-understood diseases weren’t the only threats; ruthless
pirates lurked on the horizon, craving wealth and reputation.
In the All About History Book of Pirates, we cover everything you need to
know about the legendary Golden Age of Piracy. Uncover the true stories of
the bloodthirsty buccaneers who made their fortune plundering the high
seas, from Captain Kidd and Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach to female pirates
Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Find out what life was really like aboard a
pirate ship, from the roles of the crew to divvying out the spoils. Investigate
the founding and exploits of the notorious Flying Gang, a band of fierce
pirate captains, and the piratical haven they founded on the island of New
Providence in the Bahamas. Packed with incredible illustrations and
insights into the period, this is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to
learn about this famed Golden Age of history.
 Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA

Book of Pirates Editorial

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All About History Editorial
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Part of the

bookazine series
 Contents
8 The Golden Age 66 Henry Every
of Piracy How did the ‘Arch Pirate’ become
Discover the true story behind history’s renowned across the world?
bloodthirsty buccaneers
70 William Kidd
Among the most famous pirates of
all time, was it politics that brought
Captain Kidd down?
The Buccaneering Age
74 Robert Culliford
36 The Age of Buccaneers Culliford snatched Kidd’s ship and
How the buccaneers of Tortuga made made him a lifelong enemy
names for themselves in the Caribbean
76 Amaro Pargo
40 Christopher Myngs Unlike most of his peers, Pargo was a
How a respected Naval officer and war charitable captain
hero became a feared killer

44 Henry Morgan
Was he hero or villain? Loyal subject or
bloodthirsty treasure-seeker?
The Golden Age
48 Daniel Montbars
One of history’s most vicious pirates, 80 The Pirate Republic

58
nicknamed The Exterminator How a nest of pirates emerged in the
Bahamas and formed their own
52 François l’Olonnais ‘pirate republic’
Rivals would rather die than fall into the
hands of l’Olonnais 86 The Flying Gang
Pirate captains joined forces to control
wealth in the Caribbean

88 Sam Bellamy
The Pirate Round Bellamy might have landed the
biggest treasure haul ever known
58 Sailing on a Route
to Riches 92 Benjamin Hornigold
The Pirate Round allowed for Hornigold was one of the founders of
some of the richest pickings the the Flying Gang, but went on to betray
world has ever known them all

62 Thomas Tew 96 Henry Jennings

Pioneer of the Pirate Round, Tew A founder of the Flying Gang, Jennings
saw himself as a seafaring Robin may have been the mastermind
Hood, not a criminal behind it all

6
 98 Blackbeard
Was the famous pirate just a
masterful image cultivator?

102 The Queen

98 Anne’s Revenge
Take a look inside Blackbeard’s
infamous ship

104 The Legend of

Black Caesar
Discover how the slave trade and
piracy intersected and uncover
the truth about ex-slave and
pirate, Black Caesar

110 Stede Bonnet

More of a gentleman than a pirate

112 Woodes Rogers

Rogers’ mission was to destroy the
pirate republic

115 Charles Vane

Vane was despised by even his
fellow pirates

118 Jack Rackham

Smooth-talking and charismatic,
Rackham’s crew was unusual...

122 Anne Bonny

What became of Jack Rackham’s
pirate lover?

124 Mary Read

A female buccaneer, Mary Read
held her own amongst Jack
Rackham’s crew

128 Bartholomew
Roberts
Black Bart had the largest capture
count of the Golden Age

80
132 William Fly
Unrepentant to the last, Fly went
willingly to the gallows

134 Olivier Levasseur

He left clues to the whereabouts
of his treasure, but no one has
found it

138 Pirates in the

Caribbean
What remains of the Golden Age
of Piracy? Discover shipwrecks,
forts, treasure hauls and more

7
 Piracy

8
 The Golden Age of Piracy

I
n the 1600s, the ghoulish sight of the Jolly
Roger could strike fear into the hearts
of even the bravest seamen. Pirates had
existed for as long as man had sailed the
seas, but it was at this time that they truly began
to rule the waves.
The colonisation of the New World and the
birth of the slave trade meant that the oceans
were swarming with richly laden merchant
ships, and many men and women turned to a life
of crime on the high seas. And what a life it was!
A bottle of rum at breakfast and a buxom wench
at supper, and in between a day spent stalking
ships and trading spoils in pirate havens.
These hives of villainy, hidden away on
islands in the Caribbean and Indian Oceans,
served as launch sites for raids on enemy
outposts and merchant ships. Here, pirates could
repair their vessels away from the watchful eye
of the Navy, while taverns, gambling halls and
brothels provided welcome respite for pirates
who had spent months at sea.
Over the years, pirates’ lives became easier
and even more lucrative. Sailors knew these
bandits were skilled, well-armed, and willing to
risk it all – the chance of winning a battle with
them was slim. Ships that did put up a fight were
shown no mercy, so their best option was to raise
the white flag and surrender.
However, as the problem of piracy grew,
merchant communities began to take matters
into their own hands, arming and equipping
ships at their own expense to protect commerce.
These ships, captained by ‘privateers’, were
licensed by the crown and could attack any
enemy vessel. Over time, the line between
privateer and pirate became blurred.
In a world where native populations were
being wiped out or bound in chains, pirate life
represented freedom and democracy. It’s easy to
see why many found it hard to resist the spoils of
the Golden Age of Piracy.

“Ships that did put

up a fight were
shown no mercy,
so their best option
was to surrender”
© Wiki, Alamy, Thinkstock,

9
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Pirate Henry Every
captured a Mughal

SPOILS OF THE trading ship

carrying £600,000
worth of goods

NEW WORLD
The discovery of the Americas not only fuelled
economies, but also a reign of terror
North Atlantic
Piracy took place along the

W
hen Spanish explorer eastern coast of Canada and the
Christopher Columbus set Manila galleons US mainland. Newfoundland
sail on what he believed to These Spanish ships that fisheries were notorious for
be a westward route to Asia, sailed between Mexico and pirate recruitment.
no one could have predicted that instead the Philippines provided a
he would stumble across one of the most profitable link with Ming
resource-rich continents in the world. China and its spice trade.
He returned from the Americas laden
with gold, pearls and a strange plant called
‘tobacco’, kick-starting an era of frantic
colonisation by Spain and other European
powers. They quickly began stripping the Tortuga
Tobacco,
new land and sending back ships laden with French and English
Sugar,
its bounties. buccaneers made this island
Sugar, Cotton
As wars between the colonisers waged, the centre of Caribbean
Cotton
many settlers and sailors cottoned on to the piracy, from which they
riches that these galleons had to offer. By the launched countless attacks on
1630s, buccaneers were in operation in the Spanish colonies.
Caribbean, mostly made up of Frenchmen
who had been driven off the island of
Hispaniola by the Spanish. They relocated to
the island of Tortuga, which provided limited
resources on which to live. It was partly in
retaliation and partly out of necessity that
these buccaneers began attacking Spanish
ships, plundering them for every penny.
The English, French and Dutch embraced
these newly established pirates as they dealt
a much-needed blow to the strengthening
Spanish. The English capture of Jamaica Slaves
served to bolster piracy, as its governors semi-
legitimised piracy and offered a safe haven in
Port Royal – in return for a share of booty. PRECIOUS Port Royal
As Spain’s power waned, the appeal
of piracy faded with it, and letters stating CARGO This Jamaican town was
crawling with criminals,
legitimacy became harder to obtain. The Tobacco with hundreds of brothels
buccaneers needed a new hunting ground. Plunder like tobacco and taverns for pirates to
Rumours of ships laden with precious silks fetched a high price – if spend their loot at.
and spices sailing unprotected through Indian the pirate could bear to
waters soon reached the rotten bunch, and in part with it.
1693, pirate captain Thomas Tew decided to Gold Port Royal – a notorious
seek one out. Setting sail from Bermuda, Tew pirate haven – before it
Really lucky pirates
was destroyed by an
cornered the Cape of Good Hope and cruised might have stumbled earthquake in 1692
along the East African coast to the Red Sea, across a vessel shipping
where he ran down a ship sailing from India Aztec treasures from
to the Ottoman Empire. Despite its enormous Mexico to Spain.
crew, the ship surrendered and Tew’s pirates Slaves
helped themselves to £100,000 worth of gold Not only could captured
and silver, as well as ivory, spices, gemstones slaves be sold on, they
and silk. The route, which was dubbed could also be ransomed
the Pirate Round, became one of the most or made part of the crew.
profitable on the planet.

10
 The Golden Age of Piracy
TRADE ROUTES OF
THE GOLDEN AGE Slave ships
crossing the
Middle Passage
As shipping flourished between
Europe and its colonies, so too did were often
these pillaging pirates targeted by
pirates

Spanish treasure fleets

Among the most
sought-after ships were
those that carried gold
and silver from the New
World to Seville.

Mediterranean corsairs
Though less famous and
romanticised than their
Caribbean counterparts, the
Chinese pirates
Barbary pirates equalled and
Ching Shih controlled a force of several
even outnumbered them.
hundred junks known as the Red Flag
Fleet, terrorising the Guangdong coastline.

Manufactured goods

Middle Passage Portuguese India

One of the busiest trade armadas
routes, this was frequently This trade route ran
targeted by pirates who between Portugal and
captured slaves before they India, mainly transporting
could be sold on. spices and silk.

Madagascar
This was one of the earliest
pirate havens. Here they could
target gold-laden Mughal ships
far from the authorities.

Pirate Round
© Wiki, Thinkstock,

Buccaneers known as ‘Roundsmen’ haunted

this route, targeting East India Company
ships sailing between Britain and India.

11
 The Golden Age of Piracy

THE ALLURE
OF PIRACY
During the Golden Age of Piracy,
bandits and buccaneers reigned
supreme across the seas

“For many, piracy was

A
cross the late 17th and early 18th and it became as much of a livelihood as it did a
centuries, tremendous quantities of chosen way of life.
valuable cargo were being transported
across the Atlantic Ocean, to and
For others, becoming a pirate wasn’t a
choice. Often, ships were seized during their
the only way… to earn
from the American colonies, which prompted
experienced sailors and navigators to recklessly
crossings and its crews forced to serve under
a new command, most especially those who
money and survive”
rebel and steal the goods for their own profit. were already experienced at sea or who could serve in the navy were quickly dismissed and
The haul ranged widely in content and quantity, provide a particular skill, such as doctors, those who were able seamen became mutineers
from treasure chests filled with gold, silver, and chefs, and carpenters. Mutiny, too, played a big as a means of employment. Similarly, in 1856,
sparkling jewels, to tobacco, foods, ammunition, part in piracy. There were many sailors who most countries signed the Declaration of Paris,
and barrels brimming with wine or brandy. were unhappy with their living and working abolishing privateering. Prior to the agreement,
Plenty of these imports, such as coffee, sugar, and conditions, but who relied on their superiors and governments had supplied their navies with
fabrics, were in high demand and could be sold life on board the ship to survive. If the crew were letters of marque, a licence which authorised the
or traded for a substantial amount. Alongside able to group together and rebel, they could take attack and capture of enemy vessels, allowing for
precious gems, the plundered cargo was able over the ship, most often by overthrowing its legal plundering. When the treaty was signed and
to provide pirates with practical items, such as officers and sailing it away from its routed course. maritime warfare made illegal, the governments
weaponry and ship equipment, and food and At the end of the War of the Spanish no longer had any need for the privateers and
drink. For many, piracy was the only way in Succession at the beginning of the 18th century, many of them turned to piracy as a means of
which they were able to earn money and survive, thousands of men who had been recruited to avoiding further unemployment.

12
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Amongst pirate crews, all men and women according to plan, a single voyage had the
were treated as equal with no singular person potential to earn a pirate more than they might
outranking another. They elected their own have made across their entire lifetime, and
captains, choosing whose leadership they wished there was no obligation for any of the profits to
to follow and everyone signed declarations of be handed over to government officials. Port
agreement to make sure that any bounty was Royal in Jamaica, was one of a handful of towns
divided equally. Piracy operated outside the famed in the 17th century for its hedonism and
governing law, under a different set of rules, debauchery; a pirate utopia where drinking,
and was a difficult activity for the authorities gambling, and prostitution could be freely
to control. For those who had no money, no indulged in, and for years it swarmed with
prospects, and very little chance of climbing the buccaneers, although, more often than not, their
class ladder, it presented an independent lifestyle wealth was lost as quickly as it had been found.
of which individual wealth was a possibility. Above almost everything else, being a pirate
Being a pirate – or even just the thought of being meant a life of freedom; a chance for a person to
a pirate – offered promise, opportunity, and live by their own rules and hand. An existence
adventure, away from a mundane existence on spent looting, exploring, and working outside
land. The sailing was a chance to travel and to of the law was one that appealed to many – and
explore, and pirates swarmed across the world, centuries after piracy’s golden age, with its
from the infamous Caribbean to the Ivory Coast. swashbuckling stories of treasure and adventure
With successful pillaging came riches – still being so prevalent in popular culture, it’s safe
and with riches came pleasures. If it all went to say that much of it still does today.

DRINK UP,
ME HEARTIES
Hardtack
Also known as a sea biscuit,
hardtack was part of the staple
diet of any sailor. A plain and
simple cracker made from
wheat flour and water, it was
cheap to produce, long-lasting,
and ideal for lengthy voyages.
Salmagundi
Derived from the French word ‘salmigondis’, mean
ing a mixed concoction of things,
this salad dish mostly comprised of meats, fish, and
vegetables. Ship chefs would
often use herbs and spices as a means of masking
the rotten meat.

Rum
Rum, the drink probably
most associated with
pirates, was more
accessible and affordable
© Alamy, Thinkstock, Wiki, Science Museum

Salted beef
than other liquors, and it
was more easily stored.
In the mid-18th century,
Salted beef was a principal ration aboard every ship and, adding citrus to watered-
like hardtack, it was easy to preserve for longer journeys. down rum proved
Where possible, all meats were either dried or salted and helpful in preventing
stored in a cask in order to extend their shelf life. outbreaks of scurvy.

13
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Edward Teach
ROGUES’ Blackbeard

GALLERY
Nationality: English
Born: c.1680 Died: 1718
More commonly known by the
name of Blackbeard, Teach is one of
These notorious buccaneers are the most famous pirates in popular
culture today, although he wasn’t as
representative of an era of defiance, successful as some of his other peer
s
me a pirate
independence, and adventure For a long time, Teach
at the time. He first beca
under the command of Benjamin
served as Hornigold’s first
mate, but it wasn’t long Hornigold and, at the peak of his
before the skills and success career, he was in charge of four ships,
commanded a pirate army of about
of the student surpassed
the teacher.
300, and had captured over 40
.
merchant ships across the Caribbean
He was eventually captured at his
hideout on Ocracoke Island and
killed by the Royal Navy, under the
command of Robert Maynard.

Bartholomew Roberts

Nationality: Welsh Born: 1682 Died: 1722 Wynn began his

pirating career during
Also known by his real name of John Roberts and his post-humous
the Post Spanish
nickname of Black Bart, Roberts was one of the most successful Succession Period
buccaneers of his era. He was first conscripted under the leadership
of captain Howell Davis, but his exceptional navigation skills allowed Emanuel Wynn
him to quickly climb the ranks and he soon came to thrive under
the pirating lifestyle, plundering over 400 ships across his lifetime.
Nationality: French Born: 1650 Died: Unknown
Fearless and charismatic, he died in battle against privateer Chaloner
Very little is known about Wynn, but he is generally considered the
Ogle and with his death came the grand culmination of piracy’s golden
first buccaneer to have sailed beneath the typical Jolly Roger pirate
age, as no other notorious figures followed him.
flag. His black-and-white design was a simple hourglass printed
beneath a skull and crossbones, both of which became a common
theme amongst pirates. His pirating career is believed to have
commenced towards the end of the 17th century, when he began to
raid merchant ships off the coast of America.
Soon after the death
of Kidd, a sea shanty called
Captain Kidd’s Farewell To
The Seas was written and
printed, condemning
his prosecution.

William Kidd
Nationality: Scottish Born: 1645 Died: 1701 Mary Read
Kidd began his sailing career as a privateer, engaged by the government
to rid the seas of piracy, but he was forced into the trade after his crew Nationality: English Born: c.1685 Died: 1721
elected him their pirate captain. When he captured Quedagh Merchant, Read was the daughter of a captain and first found employment aboard a
an Armenian ship filled with reams of East Indies goods, he became a ship disguised as a boy, before joining the Royal Navy and freely proving
wanted man, and the Royal Navy set out to search for him. At the turn of herself in battle, probably during the War of the Spanish Succession.
the 17th century, he was captured in New York and sent to England for Eventually, she joined forces with Rackham and Bonny, and the trio
trial. He was found guilty, despite his reluctance as a pirate leader, and fought together until they were captured off the coast of West Indies. She
executed by hanging. died, pregnant, while in prison.

14
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Black Caesar

Ethnicity: African
Born: Unknown Died: 1718
Black Caesar was one of the longest serving
pirates of the golden age and his longevity
is key in exploring social equality on the
seas. Prior to sailing, he was a renowned war
chieftain of a tribe and turned pirate captain
only when a hurricane killed the crew who
had enslaved him, and he mutinied. He
ultimately joined Blackbeard’s crew and,
upon their eventual capture, was tried and
hung alongside the others.

Bonny was known to have

blazing red hair and a
matching temper
Had Bellamy’s hauls not
been so successful, it’s likely Anne Bonny
that he’d have lived longer.
The weight of the ship,
laden with treasures, Nationality: Irish Born: c.1702 Died: c.1782
pulled it into high
waves. Although she never captained a ship of her own, Bonny is probably the
most famous female pirate of her time. She was married to James Bonny,
a poor sailor, but who craved adventure. Upon travelling to the Bahamas,
she met Jack Packham, a pirate captain, and embarked upon an affair with
him. She joined his crew, fighting alongside the men and fellow female
buccaneer, Mary Read. Bonny was renowned for her skills in combat and
Samuel Bellamy was well-respected, regardless of her gender. When captured and sentenced,
she claimed pregnancy, and was sent to prison instead. The
timings and circumstances of her death are unknown.
Nationality: English Born: 1689 Died: 1717
Bellamy, also known as Black Sam, sailed mostly in the West Indies for
a little more than a year. He is widely regarded as the most successful As well as his enemies,
pirate of the era, with a plundered estimate of over $130,000,000 Vane was infamously cruel
and the capturing of over 50 ships. He was renowned for his skill in to his own crew. He rarely
followed the pirate code
co-ordinating enemy attacks and minimising the loss of cargo. He was and often stole from his
ultimately defeated by a storm, which sunk him and most of his crew. fellow sailors.

Charles Vane

Nationality: English
Hornigold and his men Born: c.1680 Died: 1721
once raided a ship to steal Vane operated between 1717 and 1719,
nothing but the crew’s hats,
after drinking too much the
during the Post Spanish Succession
night before and throwing Period, alongside other peers, such as
theirs overboard. Teach and Roberts. As with others, he
was an able seaman and an ex-privateer,
Benjamin Hornigold and was likely conscripted into piracy at
the risk of unemployment after the War
of the Spanish Succession. Although
Nationality: English Born: c.1680 Died: 1719
he was never particularly successful or
After pirating for three years, Hornigold accepted the 1718 Kings
wealthy, he was renowned for his bold
Pardon, offered to any man who wished to renounce, become an
© Wiki, Thinkstock, Pixabay

nature and love of the pirate lifestyle. He

honest man, and assist in hunting down marauders. Prior to this
was seized and tried after a shipwreck,
reformation, he had founded the Republic of Pirates, a hideout haven
and eventually executed over a year
in Nassau, but he soon became renowned for the betrayal of his Vane was a savage pirate
known for his brutality later. His body was hung on a gibbet at
former friends and his persecution of piracy. He died after his ship was towards captured crews
Port Royal as a warning to others.
destroyed in a hurricane.

15
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Quarterdeck

ANATOMY OF A
The quarterdeck was the uppermost
part of a ship’s deck, situated behind its
main mast. It was where a captain would
usually address his crew and where the

PIRATE SHIP vessel’s flag was kept.

A ship was the most important thing a pirate could

own, not only providing a means of transport, but
also offering a life of freedom

A
s vital a practicality as a ship was to sail across
the seas, to the crew, it meant much more;
for many, it was their home. Pirates spent
months, sometimes years, living and working
aboard the vessel, and it was important that it was as well
equipped as it could be, able to effectively carry all the
required supplies, cargo, and equipment for a long voyage,
and suitable to endure the harshest of weather conditions.
Captain’s quarters
Each specific design of pirate ship possessed varying
Situated at the ship’s rear, the
characteristics and was therefore useful in different
captain’s cabin was the
scenarios. A brig, for example, was particularly favoured
biggest room. As well as being
during piracy’s golden age, more so than other ships, due
used to dine and entertain, its
to its speed and ease of navigation, although it wasn’t so
large space was also useful in
easy to manoeuvre in high winds. A frigate, too, was a
studying maps and charts.
popular type of warship, specifically built for combat. It
came in a variety of sizes, but was typically larger than
a brig and able to hold its cannons above its deck, which
was ideal during an intense battle.
Generally speaking, ships became slower the bigger
they were, and the more men and supplies which
they carried onboard, especially if they were holding
particularly heavy cargo. Pirate vessels, then, often
travelled in fleets, with the tactic of a faster, and often
smaller, ship sailing forwards to initially approach the
enemy, while a bigger, heavier, and more well-armed
ship could follow and attack. Although this was a clever
strategic move, many merchant ships surrendered
immediately at the mere sight of pirates, thereby
managing to avoid naval warfare.
Adventure Galley was a particularly infamous
ship, captained by William Kidd from the start of his
privateering career at the end of the 17th century. The
vessel itself was a hybrid of designs, combining square-
rigged sails with oars, which was an unusual partnership
in ships of the time. It was originally adapted from
the frigate and built as such a warship in an effort to
make it easily manoeuvrable in both blustery and calm
conditions, as well as to generally increase its speed.
Over two years after its launch and as Kidd quickly
Rudder
succumbed to a life of piracy, the ship was finally
The rudder was a
successful in capturing two Indian vessels. Despite
large wooden paddle
its innovative design, it began to deteriorate not long
located at the ship’s
afterwards, however, with the hull gradually rotting and
stern. Used to steer
leaking. According to the accounts of Kidd and his crew,
the vessel, it was most
the ship was eventually sunk off the coast of Madagascar
often controlled by a
in 1698, three years after its launch, and the pirates quickly
wooden rod, known
moved aboard one of their recent captures, Quedagh
as a tiller.
Merchant. To this day, the final remains of Adventure
Galley have never been located.

16
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Crow’s nest
In piracy’s early days, the
crow’s nest was simply a
basket or barrel tied securely
to the top of the ship’s main
mast. It was most often used
as a lookout point.
Sails
Adventure Galley’s unusual design,
combining sails and oars, helped it
to navigate against the wind and
make progress in calmer weather.
It could reach 14 knots under full
sail and three knots under oar.

Bowsprit
The bowsprit was a slanted
mast, which pointed forwards
from the bow of the ship.
Varying in size according to
the vessel, it secured the
rigging of the foremast.

Guns
Adventure Galley weighed over
a staggering 284 tons in total,
holding 34 cannons, 23 oars,
and three masts. The huge
warship needed over 100 crew
members to properly sail it.

Anchor
Depending on the size
of a ship, its anchor
© Adrian Man, thinkstock, Alamy

Hold could often weigh over

The ship’s hold, also known as the cargo 1,000kg, meaning that
hold, was the space below deck, usually even simply raising it
towards the hull, which was reserved for took a lot of crewmen
carrying the goods safely during a journey. and a lot of time.

17
 The Golden Age of Piracy

FIGHT LIKE A PIRATE

Across the centuries, pirates used a variety of weapons,
each with a different purpose and level of usefulness

A
fter boarding and attacking an enemy were particularly popular with buccaneers. They Smaller firearms, including handheld pistols,
vessel, pirates would often find themselves were practical for close-combat fighting and simple were most effective in close combat, such as when
engaging in a bout of hand-to-hand to use, being easier to master than larger swords or fighting aboard an enemy vessel, as they were
combat, fighting with many different rapiers. Warfare aside, they were also useful bits of easier to operate in cramped spaces, and they
smaller weapons, such as boarding axes, cutlasses, equipment on deck, being sturdy enough to chop required less accuracy in their aim. They were
and daggers, in addition to often improvising on through rope, wood, and canvas. also cheaper, as they held less ammunition than
whatever was available at hand. These impromptu There were other weapons which could be used as larger guns, but, as with all firearms, their efficiency
weapons were particularly useful after all the a form of defence, as well as a form of attack. Bucklers depended on the weather, flints, and strength
gunpowder and ammunition had run out, and the were shields used at the beginning of the 17th of gunpowder.
crew had to keep on fighting to either gain or keep century. Although they were small and blunt, they Developed in the early 17th century, the flintlock
control of the ship. were useful in deflecting blows, protecting the sword pistol was a revolutionary addition to naval
Hand weaponry was uninhibited by the weather hand, and hindering the movements of the enemy. warfare, becoming the dominant firing weapon
conditions, with the rain often rendering all firearms Guns were often a pirate’s first weapon of choice and for hundreds of years to follow. Before their arrival,
useless, and they also allowed for a more controlled their variety in size and range meant they were useful pirates used a variety of matchlock, snaplock, and
attack on enemies, because it was easier to manage in many different situations and for different forms of wheel lock mechanisms, all of which were reliant
their impact. This was especially important during attack. Prior to a boarding party, for example, pirates on gunpowder for their ignition. The variation in
boarding parties, in which pirates attempted to would often climb high up in the rigging and use a the production of calibre across nations, however,
seize a ship and recruit its crew, without causing long-barrelled rifle, such as a musket, to target the meant that captured bullets could not fit into the
unnecessary injury or damage. enemy. This was usually done by sharpshooters; the weaponry without being melted and recast. This
Light, short swords, such as the cutlass, were name for those who were skilled in precision shooting was an incredibly laborious and time-consuming
common weapons during piracy’s golden age and from a long range and were less likely to waste bullets. process, which didn’t even always prove successful.

Grappling hook
Also known as a boarding hook, these weapons Dirk
were designed to be attached to long stretches of A dirk was a specific type of small dagger, often used for throwing
rope and thrown some distance, to connect with in an attack. Both its size and its weight made it easy to carry, and
the target. They were mostly used during combat, it also served a practical use, cutting rope, sails, and food.
to draw in enemy ships.

Boarding axe
Boarding axes were extremely popular aboard a pirate ship and were
most commonly used during boarding parties, as part of the attack
and seizure of a vessel. They were particularly useful in cutting down
the enemy’s rigging and sails.

The blade
Shorter than a usual sword, the blade of a
cutlass was usually broad and curved, with a
cutting edge only on one side.

Hilt
The handle of the cutlass, also known as the
hilt, often had a cupped or basket-shaped
guard, to protect the fighting hand.

18
 The Golden Age of Piracy

“Light, short swords… were Spadroon

The spadroon was a light sword with a straight blade,

particularly popular with which usually had a single edge and a false edge near
its tip. It became popular towards the end of the 18th

buccaneers” century, due to its efficiency in cutting and thrusting.

Blunderbuss
A blunderbuss was a type of pistol, albeit more similar in design to a rifle. It had Pocket pistol
a wide barrel, allowing multiple shots to be fired at once, although it was clumsy Pocket pistols were the
and unwieldy to use, and only accurate at close range. smallest type of firing weapon
used by pirates and were effective in
surprise combat. They were a single shot
weapon, based on flintlock mechanism.

Musketoon
Derived from the musket, musketoons were a smaller and shorter-barrelled version of its
predecessor, and were popular in their size and practicality. Depending on their size, they
could fire a singular or multiple musket balls.

Musket
With their long barrels, muskets were effective at firing from a long distance and were
often used to target opponents before a boarding party. They were, however, difficult to
load, and sometimes needed almost 30 seconds to be ready to fire again.

Frizzen Hammer
The frizzen is the piece of steel which the flint strikes. The hammer is the part of
The contact between the two produces a shower of the pistol which holds and
propels the flint forwards,
© Wiki, Thinkstock,
sparks, which in turn ignites the gunpowder.
to strike the frizzen.
Jaws
The jaws clamp the piece of flint in place, ensuring it hits
the frizzen hard enough for the metal to spark.

Frizzen spring
The frizzen spring holds down the cover of the
pan containing the gunpowder, preventing it
from becoming damp in bad weather.
Pan
Tip The pan is where the Trigger
The short, sharp sword was an gunpowder sits. It is ignited When the trigger is pulled, the
effective weapon in battle, when the flint strikes the cock holding the piece of flint is
particularly useful in cutting frizzen, opening the pan and released, throwing it forwards
and slashing at the enemy. exposing sparks. in order to hit the frizzen.

19
 The Golden Age of Piracy

THE PIRATE CODE

Being a pirate wasn’t always carefree pillaging and
plundering; some rules still had to be followed

T
he pirate code, generally speaking, was dependent on the severity of the wound; the loss pushed captured crews into pirate conscription,
rules of conduct which were drawn up of a limb could fetch hundreds of pieces of silver. forcing them to sign the code. To rebel against the
by a captain and their crew before a The listed articles also covered what share each written rules was, in a sense, to sign one’s own
ship set sail. All pirates travelling aboard pirate received of a successful raid, most often death sentence, and the code was as much of a
the vessel were to swear an oath of allegiance and according to their rank aboard the ship. Usually, way to endure a life on the tough seas as it was a
sign the articles of agreement as a means of formal the captain received between five and six shares; method of keeping rank order. Roberts’ own pirate
induction, which strictly documented what was senior individuals, such as the quartermaster, code survived, due to his untimely death in battle,
to be done, what was not to received two shares; crew and the documents were later used in court, as
be done, and the penalty members received one testimony against piracy.
or reimbursement as was
appropriate. Usually, after a
“Serious share, and junior
individuals, such Stolen goods we
re divided
voyage, all evidence of the
code was destroyed, so as
misconduct… as the cabin boy,
received half a share.
equally across the
according to ran
k
crew

not to be discovered and

used during trial as proof
was punishable Upon dispute or
debate, the decision
of illegal collusion. by marooning always remained
Serious misconduct with the captain,
such as theft, desertion or or even death” but just as with the
secrecy, was punishable by rest of the crew,
marooning or even death, their position of
but there were also less severe rules concerning authority could be lost (sometimes by
curfews, drinking, and gambling aboard the ship. If mutiny) if it was abused or neglected.
someone was injured in combat, the code offered Bartholomew Roberts, a notorious
compensation, with the quantity of payment being buccaneer of the early 18th century, often

Articles of Henry Morgan or five slaves; for the left leg 400 employment. After whom they
pieces of eight, or four slaves; for draw equal parts from the highest
The articles commonly attributed to Henry Morgan an eye 100 pieces of eight, or one even to the lowest mariner, the
and his crew still exist today slave; for a finger of the hand the boys not being omitted. For even
same reward as for the eye.” these draw half a share, by reason

I. The fund of all payments

under the articles is the
stock of what is gotten by the
III. A standard compensation
is provided for maimed
and mutilated buccaneers. “Thus IV.  Shares of booty are
provided as follows: “the
that, when they happen to take a
better vessel than their own, it is
the duty of the boys to set fire to
expedition, following the same law they order for the loss of a right Captain, or chief Commander, the ship or boat wherein they are,
as other pirates, No prey, no pay. arm 600 pieces of eight, or six is allotted five or six portions to and retire to the prize which they
slaves; for the loss of a left arm what the ordinary seamen have; have taken.”

II. Compensation is provided

the Captain for the use of
his ship, and the salary of the
500 pieces of eight, or five slaves;
for a right leg 500 pieces of eight,
the Master’s Mate only two; and
Officers proportionate to their
V. In the prizes they take, it
is severely prohibited to
carpenter, or shipwright, who every one to usurp anything, in
mended, careened, and rigged the particular to themselves…. Yea,
vessel (usually about 150 pieces they make a solemn oath to each
of eight). A sum for provisions other not to abscond, or conceal
and victuals is specified, usually the least thing they find amongst
200 pieces of eight. A salary and the prey. If afterwards any one
compensation is specified for the is found unfaithful, who has
surgeon and his medicine chest, contravened the oath, immediately
usually 250 pieces of eight. he is separated and turned out.

All pirates signed a

20 code of conduct before

becoming part of a crew
 The Golden Age of Piracy

SHIP-BOARD Pirates vs privateers

ROLES Captain
Tasked with keeping waters
safe, privateers became as
brutal as pirates themselves
A pirate’s guide to the who’s-who The pirate captain was elected
Merchant vessels were a tempting target. It was
the English who first commissioned privateers
by the crew and could be
aboard a working ship replaced at any time through a to protect their cargo while in transit, issuing
majority vote. They were them with licenses to attack any ship that
expected to be bold, fearless, and posed a threat. Rather than a wage, privateers
skilled in battle.
were paid with an agreed share of the takings,
and the line between piracy and privateering
became very blurred indeed.
On the face of it, the difference between
these two vocations was simple. Pirates were
criminals who acted alone, while privateers
worked under the order of the crown. By
allowing privateers to attack Spanish ships,
Elizabeth I could deny any direct involvement,
Quartermaster Sailing master Master gunner while still getting a share of the profits. Her ‘sea
dogs’, as they became known, included Francis
The quartermaster was The sailing master was in charge The master gunner was in Drake and Walter Raleigh, but the Spanish
second-in-command to the of sailing and navigating the charge of the ship’s weaponry saw them simply as state-sponsored pirates.
captain, with the authority to ship across the oceans, adjusting and ammunition. Duties Many captains and crews swung between
punish minor offences. They its course as required, and taking included keeping the powder
also managed the account care of all the necessary maps
privateer and pirate depending on the state of
dry and making sure all guns
books and kept general order. and charts. were in good repair. international affairs.
Many privateers were knighted, but others
were not so lucky. In 1701, William Kidd was
hanged for piracy. He had set sail years earlier
with a government commission to suppress
pirates in the Indian Ocean. Here, like many
privateers of the time, he began to plunder
foreign vessels indiscriminately, but conflict
was growing among his crew. When they
threatened mutiny, he struck the ship’s gunner
on the head, delivering him a slow and painful
death. When Kidd returned to the West Indies,
Mate Rigger Carpenter he had been declared a pirate, and was arrested
and sent back to England. After his hanging,
There was often more than one The rigger was specifically The carpenter took care of the
Kidd’s body was gibbeted over the River
mate aboard a large ship and assigned to operate the rigging ship’s maintenance and repair,
they generally served as and to open and release the sails. under the boatswain. They fixed Thames as a warning to any would-be pirates.
apprentices, raising the anchor This was one of the more the masts and yards, and
and making sure the vessel had dangerous roles to have, due to checked the hull regularly to
sufficient rigging. the risk of falling. keep the vessel watertight.

Boatswain Able-bodied Cabin boy

sailor
© Wiki, Alamy, Thinkstock, Kym Winters,

The boatswain was responsible The able-bodied sailor was a The cabin boy was usually a
for supervising the ship’s common and experienced young child who worked aboard
maintenance, checking its seaman, familiar with reading the ship as a servant. They were
structure, sails, and rigging daily, the weather, steering and recruited either through Jean Gaspard de Vence was
as well as all activities on deck, both a corsair and Royal
navigation, and handling the kidnapping or from runaways Navy officer
including dropping the anchor. equipment of the ship. who volunteered.

21
 The Golden Age of Piracy

Day in the life of

A PIRATE
QUARTERMASTER
Keeping order in a lawless world,
Caribbean, 18th century
Being a pirate in the 18th-century Golden Age of
Piracy was not a glamorous job. Those who chose
this perilous path (and those forced to against their
will) risked life and limb. However, the rewards if
successful were greater than any sailor in the Royal
Navy could ever dream of. Although the ship’s
captain was in charge in battle, it was actually the
quartermaster who held the real control. This figure,
elected by the crew, even held command over the
captain himself, and was responsible for the
considerably hefty job of keeping the
men and ship in order.

KEEP THE VESSEL SHIPSHAPE

Far from swashbuckling excitement, almost every
day was filled with boring, monotonous tasks
to maintain the ship. Pirates would fix the sails
with pickers, seam rubbers and needles, work on
repairing any holes in the ship by driving new
oakum into the seams, and work the pump for
hours. If the ship was in bad shape, they would find
somewhere they could careen it to scrape off the
barnacles and remove any worms in the hull.

FIND SOMETHING TO EAT

Food on board pirate ships was scarce, even for the
authority figures. Because water in barrels would
quickly go off, pirates would usually drink bumboo
– a mixture of rum, water, sugar and nutmeg. The
most common food was hardtack, which they ate
in the dark to avoid seeing the weevils crawling
over the biscuits, and some desperate crews even
resorted to eating rats or their own leather satchels.

PUNISH LAWBREAKERS
Considering they were outlaws themselves,
pirates had a surprisingly strict law code; the
quartermaster was responsible for ensuring
seamen stuck to it. It differed from ship to ship,
but common laws included bans on gambling,
rape and fighting. Punishments for rule breakers
breakers to be
were harsh, from whippings to being sentenced It was more likely for law
than endure the
to death. Walking the plank was actually very simply thrown overboard
walking the plank
psychological torture of
rare. One particularly grisly punishment was to be
marooned with a gun loaded with a single shot.

22
 The Golden Age of Piracy

SETTLE A DISAGREEMENT
Quartermasters were keen to avoid any fighting on
their ships, so any disagreements had to be settled
on shore, and there was a set procedure for this.
The quartermaster would accompany the men to
land and turn them back to back. They would walk
a set amount of paces, then, on his word, turn and
fire. If both miss, they would draw their cutlasses.
The intention wasn’t to kill their opposition but to
The famous Jolly Roger draw first blood.
flag was another form
of intimidation

CAPTURE A SHIP
Much of a crew’s success depended on having a
fierce reputation. Rather than slaughtering their
way to victory, the aim was for the other ship to
surrender peacefully, and terrifying reputations
encouraged this. However, once surrendered, the
enemy crew were usually spared. If it was known
that pirates killed their prisoners, then crews would
fight to the death, and this would make victory
more costly in lives. Most were happy to surrender
their booty peacefully.

SHARE OUT THE SPOILS

There was an agreed hierarchy on board pirate
ships that determined how the captured riches
were distributed. Pirates would even use early
forms of modern-day checks and balances to keep
everything fair. Ordinary seaman usually received
a single share, while the captain, officers and
quartermasters received larger amounts. Treasure
was rarely, if ever, buried, and usually comprised
food, weapons and clothing rather than chests of
gold coins and jewels.

AVOID CAPTURE
Nearly all of the most famous pirates in history,
such as Charles Vane and Blackbeard, only
sailed for a few years before they were captured.
Punishment for pirates was very harsh, and their
executions served as a form of entertainment.
Many would end up being hung or ‘dancing the
hempen jig’, and some were placed in gibbets and
starved to death. Their bodies would be left in the
iron cages to swing and rot, serving as a gruesome
deterrent for other would-be pirates.

OVERSEE MEDICAL CARE

Life at sea was not for the faint of heart – injuries
and illness were just an accepted risk of the
profession. The classic images of pirates with
peg legs and hooks are not so farfetched – if
untreatable, most injured limbs would be sawn
off on board, with the patient being held down
by his fellow pirates. If they could afford it,
a lost leg would be replaced with a specially
made peg leg to fit, but otherwise a stick was
© Wiki, Alamy,

just tied to the stump. Hooks, meanwhile, were

, very expensive.
ir bloodthirsty reputation
Despite the
ally be
pirate captains would usu vote
ocratic
elected through a dem
23
 The Golden Age of Piracy

HOW TO CAPTURE A
MERCHANT SHIP
A pirate’s guide to plundering valuable
cargo Caribbean, early 1700s Ruling the waves
Speedy schooner
These ships were popular
Everybody knows that pirates were only after among pirates during the
one thing: treasure, right? In fact, during the Golden Age because of their
Golden Age of Piracy, these bearded barnacles speed and ability to sail
through shallow waters.
were looting all sorts of valuable cargo, from
sugar and coffee to cocoa and silks. Pirates Fearsome
were a major problem for American colonists flag
in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, A pirate’s flag was a
strangling their essential trade routes between symbol of death, sporting
the New World, the Caribbean and Europe. depictions of skeletons
and devils. They hoped
Soon, however, the sea-bound scoundrels it would scare the enemy
themselves were to become prizes worth into surrendering.
hunting, with a rich reward given to any man
who captured and killed them. With bounties Deadly
on their heads, the pirates’ reign of terror only weapons
lasted about 40 years. It was not in the pirates’
interest to waste expensive
gunpowder, but cannons
helped to intimidate the
merchant ships.

What you’ll Coveted cargo

need Merchant ships carried
anything from molasses to
kegs of rum, but
also plenty of useful
supplies such as
ammunition and food.

Flintlock
Pistol

Cutlass

Grappling Hook

Pirate
Flag

01Get into position

Set sail in the Bahamas and keep a weather eye on
the horizon for merchant ships. This is the perfect spot for
02 Follow your target
Shadow the merchant ship to see how many men are
on board, what kind of cargo it carries and what armaments
Ship unscrupulous operations since it’s in line with trade routes and they could have. This could take several days, but a pirate must
close to the cargo ports. There are also plenty of uninhabited be patient; surprise is one of the greatest weapons on the open
islands and secluded coves in which to lie in wait for a passing seas. Pirates were democratic, and would take a vote to make
cargo ship before ambushing them. important decisions, like whether to attack.

24
 The Golden Age of Piracy

How not to… loot if you want to live 4 Famous…

It was 1718 and of all the pirates in the
Caribbean you were likely to meet,
below deck, tricking the pirates into
boarding their ship and using their own
Pirate ships
Edward Teach – better known as dirty tricks against them.
Blackbeard – was the most dreaded. As “Damnation seize my soul if I give
soon as sailors clocked the notorious you quarters, or take any from you,”
flag – a skeleton stabbing a heart with a boomed Blackbeard, before bearing
spear – they surrendered, trading their down on Royal Navy Officer Robert
cargo for mercy. Maynard. But he didn’t see the sailor
Desperate, the locals went to that sprung from behind and hacked
the governor of Virginia, Alexander his head clean off. It was mounted on
Spotswood, whose hatred of pirates the bow of the ship that captured and
sparked a manhunt. Once Blackbeard
was within their sights, the sailors hid
killed the most infamous swashbuckler,
but the legend of Blackbeard lived on. Adventure
Galley
1695-98, WILLIAM KIDD
A hybrid ship combining sails and
oars, Adventure Galley was poorly
built, and was abandoned because
of its rotting hull.

Fancy
1694-95, HENRY EVERY
After staging a mutiny and
taking control of the ship, Every

03Raise the flag

Wait until the dim light of dawn or dusk when the ship
is difficult to see, and draw within firing range. Determine the
04Surrender or die
The flag is usually enough to frighten ships into
surrendering without a fight. It’s well known that a pirate flag
customised it to make it one of
the fastest in the Indian Ocean.

ship’s nationality and then raise that country’s flag to lull them usually means that no mercy will be shown once the ship has
into a false sense of security. At the last moment, switch the flag been boarded. Jam the rudder with wooden wedges so the ship
for the pirate’s true colours – usually black or blood red – and fire can’t be steered, and then use grappling hooks to pull the vessel
a warning shot. close enough to climb aboard.

Whydah
1716-17, SAMUEL BELLAMY
Originally a slave ship, the Whydah
Gally was captured by Black Sam
on the return leg of its maiden
voyage. Its wreck is the only pirate
ship authenticated beyond doubt.

05Take hostages 06Share the booty Royal

Ransack all the cargo, leaving no crate unturned, and
offer the sailors a place on the pirate ship. They could have
Divide up the loot with your fellow crew, making sure
that the captain receives a larger share of the stolen goods. Then Fortune
valuable skills or be used to press other crew members from either add the captured merchant ship to your fleet – making some 1719-21, BLACK BART
© Alamy, Ed Crooks, Wiki

This was just one of many ships

merchant ships. If they refuse, toss them overboard, take them adjustments to hide its identity, of course – or send it to the depths acquired by notorious pirate
as slaves or hold them ransom. Always strip them of any jewels to destroy the evidence. There’s a reward for captured pirates, so you Bartholomew Roberts to be
or money first, though. can’t be too careful. renamed Royal Fortune.

25
 The Golden Age of Piracy

THE SPOILS OF WAR

At the peak of the Golden Age, pirates were pillaging
and plundering all over the world. Here are the biggest
hauls of riches they picked up along the way
X
Year: 1695 Location: Red Sea
Victim: Fateh Muhammed and Ganj-i-Sawai
PRIZE 1
Pirate Captain: Henry Every
Spoils: £500,000

Every may not be as well remembered as some of his

contemporaries, but over his lifetime, he earned more loot than
most of them added together, and he is famous for what was quite
possibly the richest singular haul in piracy’s history. Towards
the end of the 17th century, he headed north from the coast of
Madagascar, in his ship Fancy, alongside other ships hoping to
intercept a fleet of vessels owned by the Grand Mughal of India,
which were returning from their annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The
first one they attacked, Fateh Muhammed, was easily overrun, and
the troop collected somewhere between £50,000 and £60,000.
Greedy for more, Every quickly caught up with Ganj-i-Sawai, which
carried the wealthiest of the treasures. After a bloody and lengthy
battle, Every and his crew tricked the other ships and ran away
with all the loot. A wanted man by the lawful and the lawless alike,
Every disappeared from history shortly afterwards and the rest of
his life remains a mystery. Sources of the time, however, suggest
that he died penniless in London, having lost all of his riches.

Year: 1716 Location: Florid

Victim : Sun ken 171 5 Spa
Pirate Captain: Henry Jen
a coast
nish Treasure Fleet
nin gs
PRIZE 2
00, 000 in total, before division)
Spoils: £87,000 (£6
with mounds of treasure,
of Spanish galleons, loaded
In July 1715, a huge flotilla of the sailors survived, were
k by a hur rica ne off the Florida coast. Many
was sun es as possible. News
to collect as much of the rich
washed ashore, and hurried they were able towards
many ships sailed as fast as
of the calamity spread and tain, Henry Jennings.
tes was Bersheba and its cap
the wreck. Amongst the pira Wa r of Spanish Succession,
gs was a priv atee r wh o had served during the
Jen nin ed foray into piracy.
h shipwreck was his record
and the looting of this Spanis beginning of 1716,
at the sunken vessels at the
Bersheba and its crew arrived nings, however, found
already been salvaged. Jen
when most of the booty had rby, and he ambushed the
shipped on a beach nea
a big lump of it waiting to be me n. Alth ough he enjoyed the
sels and up to 300
camp, armed with three ves o accepted the 1718
was one of the few pirates wh
spoils of his raid, Jennings the authorities himself.
muda and surrendering to
King’s Pardon, sailing to Ber ner , enjoying wealth and
became a plantation ow
He retired from the sea and is unk now n.
h his ultimate fate
success on the land, althoug

26
 The Golden Age of Piracy

Year: 1707 Location: Red Sea

Victim: British squadron of warships
Pirate Captain: John Halsey
PRIZE 3
Spoils: £50,000

John Halsey, like many, began his seafaring career as a privateer. As soon
as the
letter of marque was due to expire in 1704, Halsey and his crew set sail
towards
Madagascar in their ship, Charles, embracing the pirate lifestyle. During
August
1707, as they travelled towards Mocha in the Red Sea, they encountered
a fleet of
heavily armed British warships. Despite having over 60 cannons aimed
at them,
Halsey decided to engage in battle. Surprisingly, the largest of the British
vessels
fled, breaking the formation, and allowing the pirates to overthrow the
convoy.
They managed to capture two of the ships, stealing an estimated £50,000
in loot.
Charles was not Halsey’s only vessel; he possessed a small flotilla, after
capturing
two merchant ships a year earlier. All of these sank soon after the victory
in a
hurricane and Halsey would die himself not long after, in 1708, of a fever.
He was a
well-respected man amongst his fellows and was buried with great ceremon
y.

Year: 1719 Location: Brazilian

Victim: Fleet of Portuguese war
coast
ships
PRIZE 4
Pirate Captain: Bartholomew Rob
erts
Spoils: £40,000-£90,000

During the summer of 1719, Roberts

and his crew spent over two
months sailing the length of the Braz
ilian coast, but they failed to spot
a single ship until they were just abou
t to return to the Caribbean. In
All Saints’ Bay, there was a fleet of
42 Portuguese ships, loaded with
treasure. Roberts, brazenly flying
a Portuguese flag, sailed straight
the middle of the convoy, picked a into
ship at random, and took its officer
hostage. He demanded to know the
richest vessel and the prisoner
pointed out Sagrada Familia, whic
h carried 40 guns and almost 200
men. The treasure ship was boarded
and captured by the pirates, and
they sailed away with a plethora of
riches, including tens of thousand
of Portuguese coins and reams of s
jewellery.

Year: 1693 Location

Victim: Indian tradin
Pirate Captain: Thom
: Red Sea
g ship
as Tew
PRIZE 5
Spoils: £100,000

Thomas Tew only ever

set sail on two major pir
© Wiki, Alamy, Thinkstock

his lifetime, but they we atical voyages during

re both significant. Tew
to pioneer the route kno was one of the few
wn as the Pirate Round,
the Atlantic, to Africa, the which led from
n on to India. His first exp
underway towards the end edition went
of 1693. As they sailed thr
Sea in their ship Amity, ough the Red
Tew and his men came
ships, laden with treasu across a fleet of Indian
re. Although the convoy
300 soldiers, it surrender carried as many as
ed without fight, and bot
uninjured. Amity carried h parties escaped
away £100,000 in goods.
code, the loot was divide As per the pirate
d equally amongst the cre
member receiving betwe w, with each
en £1,200 and £3,000, acc
position, and Tew taking ording to their
£8,000.

27
 The Golden Age of Piracy

THE PIRATE
HUNTERS
At the peak of piracy, vast quantities of goods were being
looted and halting the progression of world trade. In response,
the government employed anyone who wished to help

T
he 1718 Kings Pardon was first delivered capture, but for others, pursuing was the only way integrity to the way in which they operated, and
by Woodes Rogers, the governor of to stop them – even then, it didn’t always work. the crew members regularly stole from and lied to
the Bahamas territory. It was issued Many renowned pirates, including Benjamin one another.
in retaliation to the growing activity Hornigold, accepted the pardon, and took no Not all hunters were reformed pirates, however;
of piracy across the regions and its introduction issue with betraying his fellow men. Others, like many were governmental officials or naval
marked the beginning of the golden age’s decline. Charles Vane, initially agreed to the offer, only to captains, keen to curb the problem of piracy.
The Kings Pardon was offered to anyone rebel almost immediately afterwards. In Colonel William Rhett is one such figure, most
who wished to reject the theory, the pardon was the famous for his capture of Stede Bonnet, who was
buccaneering lifestyle perfect way to employ able also known as the Gentlemen Pirate and who often
and return to work in
accordance with the law,
“Not all hunters seaman and cull levels
of piracy; in practice, it
collaborated with Blackbeard on many successful
voyages. Bonnet had a £700 bounty on his head
in exchange for turning were pirates… incurred complications, when he surrendered to Rhett in 1718. He pleaded
on their fellow pirates and
helping authorities to hunt many were not only in fighting some
of the most notorious
for clemency at his trial, vowing never to engage
in acts of piracy again, but he was condemned to
them down.
Although many pirates
government pirates alive, but also in
terms of the rewards it
death and hanged alongside the rest of his crew in
the Province of South Carolina.
had served as privateers
during the War of the
officials” could offer.
Without the democracy
Bonnet had somewhat of an easy death in
comparison to his ally Blackbeard, who was also
Spanish Succession and of the pirate code to guide executed at the hand of a pirate hunter – the
had been considered useful by the government, in them and the ability to swindle whatever loot they lieutenant Robert Maynard. The infamous seafarer
peacetime, they had become dangerous, volatile, liked, there were many fights amongst the hunters was killed towards the end of 1718, at Ocracoke
and damaging to economic trade. The pardon as to how to divide the rewards and recognition of Island, after suffering five gunshot wounds and
worked particularly well with those who feared a successful chase. There was much less structural almost 20 slashes from a knife or cutlass. After

The Navy raids New

Providence, a pirate
sanctuary in the Bahamas

Hanged bodies were

often tied with chains to
28 prolong public display
 ocean
Warfare on the open
was a deadly affair

The Golden Age of Piracy

Punishment in
the Golden Age

Marooning
This punishment was often reserved for those
who deserted the post in battle. The culprit was
abandoned on a desert island, with nothing but the
clothes they had on, a small can of water, a pistol,
powder, and shot.
Blackbeard’s death
was a major win for
the pirate hunters

Cat o’nine tails

This was a particular method of whipping, which
used an unwound rope of nine strands with a barbed
end, usually either of fish hooks or musket balls.
Afterwards, the raw skin was often doused in salt and
vinegar to cause further pain.

k
A French ship is sun
by the English Navy

Hanging
Hanging was the most common form of pirate
Blackbeard’s death, Maynard and his crew cut off he failed to capture any pirates for a long time, execution and it often took place at gallows
his head, displayed it on the bow of the ship as a refusing to attack passing ships and losing many close to water, whether the sea or a river. To prolong
public display, corpses were usually coated in tar or
warning to other pirates, and then threw his corpse of his crew members to desertion along the way.
tied up in chains.
into the ocean. On an occasion when Kidd did seize a ship, he
Unless they were killed at sea, most captured discovered that its captain was an Englishman and
pirates were sent to prison for a short time, then he attempted to convince his crew to relinquish
put on trial for their crimes, before almost certainly the vessel and its stolen valuables. They refused,
being found guilty of them. Crew members were he acquiesced, and he was immediately branded a
often found to turn on one another and try to pirate by the navy.
bargain their way out of the hangman’s noose, As soon as Kidd was arrested, his crew turned
whether it was with information or their share of against him and he took the blame as their
loot, but the ploy rarely succeeded. The evidence captain. He was imprisoned for a year in solitary
against a captain and his men was usually confinement, before heading to trial, which had
overwhelming, and the majority of the crew was all the evidence to support him removed and two Clapping in irons
© Wiki, Alamy, Getty, Thinkstock,

often hanged together. of his fellow soldiers testifying against him in If a crew member misbehaved aboard the ship, they
William Kidd’s arrest and death was one of the exchange for pardons, helping to seal his fate. Kidd, would often be clamped into wrist and leg irons, and
either tossed into the ship’s hold or tied to the ship’s
more unusual sentences of the piracy era, because the pirate hunter, was hanged as a pirate in 1701,
mast. The latter was especially popular if there were
he originated as a pirate hunter himself. His first after being betrayed by the government he’d helped bad weather conditions.
voyages were sailed hesitantly as a privateer and to protect.

29
 The Golden Age of Piracy

LEGENDS
OF THE SEAS
Pirates were a rather superstitious bunch, with
a big list of dos and don’ts whilst at sea. Not
all of their origins are known, but some prevail to this day

HAVING A CAT
ABOARD A SHIP
BROUGHT GOOD LUCK
Many pirates considered felines, particularly black ones, bringers of good fortune and would
often take them aboard a vessel as a result. There were also particular superstitions regarding
the behaviour of the cat while at sea, quite often in regards to the weather. If it walked towards
a crew member, for example, this was an indication of good luck; if it turned away at the
halfway point instead, they were convinced that bad luck was to follow. If it went overboard,
whether through falling or being thrown, then a storm was sure to come; if the ship survived
the tempest, then it would instead be cursed with nine years of misfortune. Polydactyl cats,
which are cats with extra toes, were considered especially fortuitous, as well as being highly
valued for their ability to climb and hunt, making them particularly useful in controlling the
quantity of rodents aboard the ship.

DAVY JONES’ LOCKER

WAS A HELL THAT
RESTED AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE SEA
The term ‘Davy Jones’ Locker’ dates back to
at least the mid-18th century, when it was
first known to have been written down,
although it is widely assumed to have
circulated orally prior to this time. Succinctly
speaking, Davy Jones is a synonym for the
devil of the sea and his locker deep at the
bottom of it. To be sent to Davy Jones’ Locker
was to be condemned to death; to perish,
often drowned, in the ocean’s depths, with THE FLYING DUTCHMAN WAS A GHOST SHIP,
no hope of return. The name of Davy Jones UNABLE TO EVER RETURN TO PORT
is first referenced in Tobias Smollett’s The The origins of this particular superstition are unclear, although it makes up a huge section of
Adventures Of Peregrine Pickle, an adventure maritime lore. It is said to be fleetingly spotted by sailors, often through the gloom at night, or
novel published in 1751, and it follows in swathed in fog, as a bearer of ill fate. The ship is often attributed to a 17th century Dutch captain
much popular nautical literature of the time. called Bernard Fokke, who was a real sailor. Fokke worked for the Dutch East India Company
Smollett describes the evil spirit by “his and was famous for his incredibly fast voyages, making his trips in record time. Towards the end
saucer eyes, his three rows of teeth, his horns of the 1700s, he and his crew were sunk in a particularly bad storm, and his ship – or whatever
and tail, and the blue smoke that came out of remained of it – was never found. Although the beginnings of The Flying Dutchman aren’t
his nostrils.” definitively known, the Fokke theory does make some sense, as the legendary ship is, as well as
being cursed to forever sail the seas, renowned for its notable speed.

30
 The Golden Age of Piracy
Illustrator David Lloyd gave V the mask,
A SHIP’S FIGUREHEAD, as he thought that Guy Fawkes ought to
be celebrated instead of burned
ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS
A WOMAN, HELPED TO
KEEP IT AFLOAT
Seafarers have always regarded the naked body of
a woman as a harbinger of good fortune and this
often manifested itself onto the ship’s figurehead,
regarded as the spirit of the vessel. Folklore
indicated that a woman had the ability to calm an
angry ocean and, as so much of a sailing voyage
was dependent on the weather conditions, the
presence of the carving was intended to protect
the ship and crew. However, this thinking wasn’t
extended to actual human women, as explained in
the box at the bottom of this page.
It was widely believed that as long as the
figurehead remained attached to the bow, then
however strong a storm might be, the ship couldn’t
sink. The height of ornate figureheads is considered
to be around 1700, near the beginning of piracy’s
golden age, but pirates themselves, of course, rarely
got to choose their own – it really depended on the
ship they stole.
THE KRAKEN WAS
A FEARSOME SEA WHISTLING ABOARD
MONSTER ABLE TO A SHIP BROUGHT
CAPSIZE SHIPS MISFORTUNE AND
The first mention of the kraken in print dates
back to around the middle of the 18th century, BAD WEATHER
but there are stories about such a monster dating During sail, a lot of the ship’s luck and safety was
back to 12th century Norway. Generally, the dependent on the weather, and it was a factoring
kraken is usually described as a giant octopus or basis for many of the superstitions. It was commonly
squid, and it is believed to have the ability to sink regarded amongst pirates and other seafarers, for
a ship. It is likely that the basis for this particular example, that to whistle aboard a ship would bring
myth is grounded in the giant squid or other large ill fortune to the vessel and its crew, especially in the
sea creatures. Although nowhere near as huge form of bad weather, and it was therefore a forbidden
as the mythical kraken, giant squids can reach activity. Furthermore, it was specifically believed that
12-15 metres in length – large enough to capsize to whistle during calm weather would produce wind
a small boat – and it’s not difficult to see how the and that to whistle when it was already windy would
sighting of one could aid a seaman in making generate even stronger gales, hence the popular phrase
a superstitious leap. The word ‘kraken’ is never ‘whistling up a storm’. Whistling wasn’t the only
explicitly used, but the beast is acknowledged prohibited activity aboard a sailing ship, however. There
in Jules Vernes’ 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, were many other superstitious acts including re-naming
described as “a horrible monster worthy to figure the ship, setting sail on a Friday, having a person die
in the legends of the marvellous”. on-board, and the ringing of an untouched wine glass,
all of which were believed to incur misfortune.

IT WAS BAD LUCK FOR A WOMAN

TO BE ABOARD A VESSEL
Although the figurehead of a naked female was widely regarded to be the guiding spirit of
a ship, women generally weren’t welcomed as passengers, as they were ironically believed
to be harbingers of misfortune. Across multiple myths, females have been depicted as cruel,
dangerous, and threatening to sailors. Calypso, a Greek sea nymph, is described as having
the ability to distract seaman with her beauty, leading them to ruin. Women, therefore,
weren’t always kindly acknowledged across the seas, although that doesn’t mean they
© Wiki,Thinkstock,

weren’t always there. Superstitions aside, it was much more likely that their presence simply
presented the men with too much distraction, as well as possibly provoking fights.

31
 The Golden Age of Piracy

FACT AND
FICTION
With years of pirate history, it seems only natural
that with their legacies comes one or two legends.
Some are true and some are complete myths...

CAPTIVES AND MUTINEERS WERE

FORCED TO WALK THE PLANK
Despite the common belief that walking the plank was the preferred method
of torture amongst pirates, there are actually no primary historical records of
prisoners or dishonoured crew members walking the plank. More favoured means
of punishment included marooning, simply tossing the victim overboard, or the
much more gruesome method of keelhauling. This involved tying the person to a
rope and dragging them behind the ship, resulting in death either by wounds from
repeatedly hitting the hull or by slow drowning. Punishments were often threatened
to those who could offer something, such as goods or valuable information, and
pirates were tactical in their execution of penalties, according to how it could benefit
them; walking the plank would have been far too easy and painless. Disagreements
amongst the crew were mostly settled through discussion and a democratic vote, as
the law of their pirate code prevailed.

“Favoured means of punishment included ALL PIRATES WOULD

marooning, simply tossing the victim SAIL UNDER THE
INFAMOUS SKULL AND
overboard or the gruesome keelhauling” CROSSBONES FLAG
Although it’s one of the most recognised symbols of
PIRATES BURIED piracy in modern day, not every pirate ship hoisted
the exact same flag. Crews sailed underneath
THEIR TREASURE SO flags in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, with
various elements representative of different things.
THAT NO ONE COULD A plain black flag, for example, was indicative of
FIND IT the death of a member of the crew. Vessels often
According to historical records, there are had a multitude of flags, which they would use
very few instances of pirates burying their at different points during their route, according to
valuables – and even fewer instances of country or region. A part of the flag’s intent was to
these valuables being buried in an old scare enemies, thereby minimising damages and
wooden treasure on a faraway island. allowing a ship to be plundered with limited loss
Towards the end of the 17th century, of goods. It often worked; for some merchant ships,
William Kidd discovered that he was a the sight of a pirate’s flag alone was enough to instil
wanted man and that the Royal Navy was fear. Emblems were also often raised in the midst of
searching for him and his crew, so he hid battle, as a means of encouraging morale within its
some of his loot near New York, planning to crew, as well as inciting panic in the enemy.
later use it as leverage during his trial. It was
discovered and dug up by the English before
Kidd had the chance to, and it was instead
used as condemning evidence against him.
Rumours of reams of hidden treasure buried
across the world naturally followed, but no
proof, either physical or written, has ever
been found. Generally speaking, pirates were
more likely to enjoy, spend, and trade their
riches, rather than to hoard it.

32
 The Golden Age of Piracy
PIRATES HAD
PIRATES WERE BRUTAL
PARROTS AS PETS
AND BLOODTHIRSTY
ABOARD THEIR SHIPS TRU
Although they are often depicted squawking upon a E TYRANTS
pirate’s shoulder in popular fiction, parrots were not For almost all pirates, their buccaneering lifestyle
always a common choice of pet whilst sailing across wasn’t founded on a love of violence. They viewed
the seas, although they would have made more of themselves as businessmen, working for trade and
an appearance than might be expected. Across the profit, and battles were only participated in when
17th and 18th centuries, pirate crews were part of they were either tactical or necessary to gaining
major economical and geographical movements, wealth. Combat always carried the risk of injury
travelling far and wide and exploring new horizons. or death, as well as damage to or loss of the vessel
They tended to follow the popular trade routes, or the prospective prize, and pirates were keen to
staying near to where the goods were – such as the minimise as casualties as much as they could; if
Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and the coast of West plunder could be taken without a fight, it would be.
Africa, and with these new and tropical places came In many instances, merchant ships would surrender
new and tropical animals. The exotic pet trade at the sight of a pirate flag and the sound of a firing
meant that people back home would have paid a shot, rendering warfare unnecessary and allowing
reasonable amount of money for parrots and other the goods to be easily taken. If merchant crews
unusual animals, and pirates could easily purchase were prepared to put up a fight, pirates would often
them in foreign ports. In most instances, they were threaten to slaughter anyone who resisted them and
less of a pet and more a means of gaining wealth. to accept those who obeyed them as prisoners.

PIRATES WOULD OFTEN

HAVE A WOODEN LEG
This is another popular cliché for whom Robert
Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is to thank; his
main antagonist, Long John Silver, is infamous for
having only one leg. Historically speaking, however,
there were few recorded instances of such injuries
on whom Stevenson may have based his character.
Francois Le Clerc, for example, was a 16th century
French pirate who lost his leg fighting in Guernsey.
As such, he was subsequently given the nickname
of Pie de Palo by the Spaniards and Jambe de Bois
by his fellow Frenchman, both phrases of which
roughly translate as ‘peg leg’. The myth, therefore,
has some basis in fact, as such injuries could very
easily occur when in battle, or during an accident
while carrying out normal duties. In reality, though,
pirates were no more prone to losing a limb than
any other seafarer was; it was just as likely to
happen to law-abiding sailors.

ALL PIRATES WERE

RENOWNED FOR WEARING
EYE PATCHES
TRU This is, in fact, true for some pirates, but it wasn’t necessarily
E always because they had been injured or lost an eye in battle.
Although there are few first-hand accounts for the reasoning
behind it, there is consensus among historians that it’s
plausible that eye patches would have more commonly been
worn as a way of helping the crew to see better in the dark.
This was especially important during a battle, when they
were constantly moving above and below deck, as it can take
eyes up to 25 minutes to completely adapt from bright light
to darkness. If the eye beneath the patch had already been
© Wiki, Alamy, Thinkstock,

conditioned to the darkness, they would be able to quickly

swap the eye patch to the ‘outdoor’ eye, exposing the one
which had already adjusted to the low light and therefore
helping to strengthen the pirate’s attack.

33
 Buccaneering Age
Discover how buccaneers first made
names for themselves harrying
Spanish trade ships

36 The Age of Buccaneers 48 Daniel Montbars

40 Christopher Myngs 52 François l’Olonnais
44 Henry Morgan

36

40
34
44

48

52

35
 The Buccaneering Age

THE AGE OF
BUCCANEERS
With their attacks on French and Spanish possessions in the New
World, the buccaneers were the real-life pirates of the Caribbean

T
hough the term has become
something of a catch-all, a true
buccaneer was a pirate that operated
in the Caribbean and along the South
American coast during the mid to late
1600s and early 1700s. The term has also come to
include those who acted within the law and those
who operated without.
Some prominent buccaneers like Henry Morgan
were actually privateers, sailing ships that were
licensed to seize the goods and chattels on board
enemy vessels, in Morgan’s case Spanish. Privateers
carried a ‘letter of marque and reprisal’, an elaborate
document that was studded with important-
sounding legalese, and they were expected to
maintain journals of their exploits and to turn over a
healthy portion of their prizes to the crown.
The term buccaneer was originally applied to the
lawless hunters and mountain men who worked
and foraged inland, among the hills and valleys of
Hispaniola (which today incorporates the Dominican
Republic and Haiti). They are thought to have been
men of French origin and took their name from
the way they cooked in the style of the Caribbean
Arawak natives, using a wooden frame called a
buccan to cure and smoke their meat.
The Anglicised form, buccaneer, became more
widely known with the 1684 publication in
English of the book by Alexandre Exquemelin, De
Americaensche Zee-Roovers, which was translated
as The Buccaneers Of America. Many were fine
marksmen, with their years as hunters honing their
musket skills.
During the 1620s, these men, dressed in their
leather hides and carrying their long hunters’ knives,
began migrating across the island, drifting towards
the northern coast and circa 1630, many of them
settled on the offshore island of Tortuga, named
as such by Columbus who thought the land mass
resembled the shape of a turtle’s shell. The island
had a good natural harbour and would prove an
effective launch pad to raid the shipping lines that
rode through the Windward Passage between Cuba
and Hispaniola.
On Tortuga, the first leader of note was the
Frenchman Jean le Vasseur, and it is he who is
widely credited with turning the island into a base
for more than half a century’s worth of lawless

36
 The Age of Buccaneers
piratical activity. A former military engineer, in much of his history is corroborated by bona fide
1642 he oversaw the construction of a fort on an Spanish sources.
outcrop above the harbour. With its own source of Exquemelin travelled to Tortuga in 1666 as an
spring water, coupled with the protection provided indentured servant with the French West India
by the fort, Tortuga had the potential to become a Company and he joined the buccaneers three
permanent base of operations. This powerful bastion years later, working as a surgeon, a truly valuable
Le Vasseur described as his ‘dovecote’. commodity aboard ships at the time. He lived
The Spanish were not impressed with his actions among the buccaneers for more than 12 years and
and in 1643 they sent six ships and 500 men to at some point moved from Tortuga to Port Royal
take the fort and put Le Vasseur and his fellows in in Jamaica where he had a hand in the most noted
their place. But so effective was the Frenchman’s adventures of Henry Morgan (whom he cast in a
defensive system he sank one ship and scattered the very unfavourable light in the pages of his book).
rest. The Spaniards’ amphibious landing was also For all his inaccuracies and exaggerations,
a disaster and the invaders were ambushed, however, Exquemelin’s account remains a
losing 200 men. valuable first-hand source
Le Vasseur’s success saw his and it is littered with tales
reputation spread and seamen,
runaway slaves, escaped “He established of buccaneering bravado
and bravery. He tells of
criminals and all kinds of
desperate outlaws from other
Tortuga as Bartholomew the Portuguese,
for example, whose myriad
nations, particularly the English
and the Dutch, soon swelled
a haven for successes were invariably
tempered by wretched ill
his numbers. From here they
began to launch attacks on
buccaneering” fortune, one notable example
being his capture of a Spanish
Spanish shipping, using small ship off the coast of Cuba,
boats to target the great galleons laden with gold and which saw him grab 70,000 pieces of eight and
valuables from the New World. 54,431 kilograms of cacao beans. As he sailed away
The Frenchman’s autocratic rule soon angered with his prize, three Spaniards journeying to Havana
the French authorities, however, as he refused to subsequently set upon his ship and his plunder was
share his prizes, and eventually he fell foul of his in turn plundered.
own men. Still, he established Tortuga as a haven for When a severe storm forced him to find a harbour
buccaneering and this loose and ragtag group found in Mexico, meanwhile, the townsfolk recognised
some cohesion, on occasion referring to themselves him as the man who had been marauding their
as the Brethren of the Coast. Every once in a while coast and he was held captive and set to be hanged.
they appointed an Admiral as they banded together The night before his hanging, however, he escaped
to attack major targets, such as Panama, which was from the ship on which he was held and leaped
thoroughly sacked by Henry Morgan’s men in 1671. overboard, using two earthenware wine jars as
The liveliest account of the buccaneers’ antics are buoyancy aids. Though he got away, his bad luck
found in Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers Of America, continued to dog him and Exquemelin records that
and though he often muddles dates and includes he made many violent attacks on the Spaniards
much hearsay, undoubtedly gathered among hard- without ever becoming rich, “for I saw him dying in Bartholomew the
Portuguese established a
drinking tavern-dwellers in the ports that he visited, the greatest wretchedness in the world.” ‘The Pirate’s Code’

Buccaneers used
small boats for speed
in their attacks

The buccaneer Roche

Brasiliano was a blig
ht on the
Spaniards with a ter
rifying
reputation for tortur
e
37
 The Buccaneering Age

Pirates
in the
Caribbean
Island-hopping pirates spent
much of their career in Nassau, Bahamas

the Caribbean The infamous home to the

‘Republic of Pirates’ and the
main town in the Bahaman
island of New Providence was a
base for British and American
pirates from the 1670s.

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

French privateer François le Clerc
(known as Jambe de Bois courtesy
of his wooden leg) ravaged Puerto
Rico and Hispaniola before
sacking the Spanish treasure port
Havana, Cuba
of Santiago de Cuba in 1554.
On the northern coast of Cuba,
Havana was captured by
French privateer Jacques de
Sores who, failing in his bid to
collect a ransom from the
Spanish Empire in 1555, burnt
the city to the ground.

Port Royal, Jamaica

This string of cays and
sandbars formed a peninsula
off Kingston and provided a
haven for privateers, especially
when heavily fortified by the
English who took the island
from the Spanish in 1655.

The surgeon-cum-writer also records the deeds

of the Dutch buccaneer Roche (or Rock) Brasiliano,
“He would roam Caribbean towns: regularly
who turned to buccaneering when the Portuguese
expelled the Dutch invaders from Brazil in 1654. One
lopping off an innocent person’s arm or leg”
of his most famous feats came five years later when Brasiliano’s dislike for Spaniards, says Exquemelin, on page 52) who counted the sack of Maracaibo
his ship ran aground following a raid on a Mexican was legendary and he would roam Caribbean towns in Venezuela among his many piratical exploits.
port. As he and his 30-man crew travelled overland attacking anyone he pleased, regularly lopping off This man boasted some of the most gruesome
on their way to a pirate safe haven, they ran into a an innocent person’s arm or leg, “for he was like a sensibilities amongst his brethren, on a par with
large contingent of Spanish cavalry and Exquemelin maniac.” He also took a grisly pleasure in torturing Brasiliano, regularly torturing his captives in a
notes that their musketry tore the Spaniards to the Spanish and is said to have roasted his enemies bid to learn where they had stashed their most
pieces. Spanish accounts, on the other hand, record alive on wooden spits, “like killing a pig.” valuable treasures. If they refused to succumb to the
how Brasiliano and his men fled the horsemen and Also included in Exquemelin’s account is the rack he would hack them to bits with his cutlass.
escaped in canoes. French buccaneer François l’Olonnais (see profile Exquemelin devotes the largest amount of space

38
 The Age of Buccaneers

Sir Hen
ry
Panama Morgan sacke
in the 16 d the cit
a captu y
re Span 70s – this imag of
iard bow e
ing befo shows
re him
Tortuga
With mountains on the northern side of
the island and only one harbour on the
south, Tortuga offered safety to
buccaneers who raided the shipping
lines that rode through the Windward
Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola.

Port au Prince, Haiti

The region that accommodates the modern-
day city of Port au Prince was a pirate haven
in the 17th century, with the Spanish
seemingly surrendering the western part of
the island of Hispaniola to the buccaneers.

Dominican Republic
The modern-day Dominican Republic forms the
eastern portion of the island of Hispaniola, which
was the original target in Oliver Cromwell’s
‘Western Design’ (1655). The English were repelled
and conquered Jamaica instead.

© Getty, Abi Daker, Alamy, wiki, Jia Liang, Thinkstock

to Henry Morgan (see profile on page 44) and his empowered the governor of the Bahamas to accept A 17th-century Spanish rapier. Such
swords were popular in Western Europe
operations from Jamaica. the surrender of, and to subsequently pardon, any
While Jamaica became a primary buccaneers’ known pirate.
haven, Tortuga remained incredibly important to The livelihoods of these men (and a few notable
illegal operations, being l’Olonnais’s base for his women), would not have existed without the
attack on Maracaibo. It continued to serve the pioneering of early buccaneers. They inherited the
buccaneers well for many years until the French tactics, the sailing routes and the codes of honour
authorities cracked down on piracy in 1713. That left by their forebears. While many outlaws agreed
was an altogether different ‘age’ of piracy (what to accept the King’s Pardon, others either lied or
we commonly call ‘the Golden Age’), a successor just plain refused, and continued to terrorise the
to the age of buccaneers which has its roots in the Caribbean throughout the early 18th century. Their
exploits of the mid to late 17th century. The English days were numbered; the heirs to the original
followed suit with the King’s Pardon of 1717, which buccaneers were hunted men.

39
 The Buccaneering Age

Christopher
Myngs
the mass murderer
How a respected naval officer and war hero
became a feared killer and a buccaneer DEFINING
MOMENT
Port Royal victory

T
hroughout the long and bloody history Parliament, and Myngs became the captain of his The success at Port Royal, Jamaica, was a big
of buccaneering, very few buccaneers first ship, Elisabeth. turning point for Myngs. When the win against
have been as feared and reviled as Sir While Elisabeth was still under his command, he the Spanish colonies led to him acquiring
command of the whole Jamaican Squadron,
Christopher Myngs. Having started his led a crew of soldiers into the first Anglo Dutch War he started to get a big head. The victory for
career completely legally as a British (1652-54) and managed to capture a Dutch convoy, England led to the raid on Santa Marta,
government-sanctioned naval officer, Myngs is a including two men-of-war. After the end of the Venezuela, and the presumption that
Myngs could do anything.
prime example of the effects of power and means war, Myngs’s career continued to blossom further.
going to one’s head. During his lifetime, a ‘kill or be Bestowed with a promotion to flag officer rank from 1656
killed’ attitude and a series of extremely poor choices Cromwell himself, Myngs was ordered to set sail to
transformed Myngs from a respected, battle-worn the Caribbean in 1655. His mission was to clean up
vice admiral into a bloodthirsty mass murderer. the carnage left by noted angler and veteran of the
Born circa 1620-25 – the exact year of his birth Irish wars, Robert Venables, who had set off on an
remains unknown – in Norfolk, England, Myngs expedition to attack the Spanish in the West Indies
joined the Royal Navy as a cabin boy a couple of during the war.
years before the start of the English Civil War (1642- Seeking to use his puritan status to weaken
51), and quickly worked his way up the ranks after Roman Catholic influence in the New World,
siding with the Parliamentarians, who won. He was Cromwell recruited Venables as the general
given a bit of a leg up by Oliver Cromwell, the then commander of land forces and sent him on a special
Lord Protector of England and Her Commonwealth, mission he called the Western Design. The aim was
who wished to reward him for his loyalty to to secure a base of operations in the Caribbean,

40
“Even after all the
trouble he caused
for the English
government,
Myngs still
received a
knighthood”

41
 The Buccaneering Age
DEFINING
MOMENT
A buccaneer nor a lender be
The war hero’s career took a turn for the worst,
at least in the eyes of the English government,
when he dealt with the Port Royal pirates more,
and plundered towns like Cumana, Puerto
Caballos and Coro of Venezuela. Throughout
his captaincy during this time, there looked
to be no stopping him when it came to
unnecessary devastation.
1658-1660

Before he became a buccaneer,

Sir Christopher Myngs was a The Anglo-Spanish War
respected war hero lasted from 1654-60

targeting Spanish colonies in the West Indies, to

threaten trade and treasure routes in the Spanish
“His power kick reached a point where he
Main. After some faulty advice from Thomas Gage,
a renegade Dominican ‘expert’, Cromwell’s hope was
would brutally massacre entire towns for no
the Western Design would allow him and his men
to attack the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean, thus
particular reason”
avoiding a war in Europe. and Penn departed the West Indies for England, and After this win, Myngs was promoted and
Obviously, not everything went quite to plan. Cromwell sent Myngs in their place. given command of the Jamaican Squadron of
Venables was required to share his rule over the Myngs finally arrive in Port Royal, Jamaica, in 1656 Commonwealth ships – the entire naval fleet of
infantry – most of which were highly under qualified as the captain of the 44-gun navy frigate, Marston Port Royal – the following year, with Marston Moor
and incompetent – with General-at-Sea William Moor. His crew were on the verge of mutiny when becoming his flagship. He also kept the buccaneer
Penn, and the pair often clashed. The hostile he took them on, but he managed to subdue them vessels as auxiliaries, but it was not until October
working environment made the mission almost with a firm hand. Whipped into shape, the reformed 1658 that Myngs could be considered a pirate.
impossible. The fact that Venables’s overbearing wife soldiers were ready for anything, which was great With the new fleet at his fingertips, Myngs
joined them on the expedition, and was rumoured for them as the captain had quickly realised that the led several more attacks on the Spanish Empire
to have interfered with and criticised his plans, didn’t best defence for the powerful Spanish forces that throughout the Caribbean from late 1657 to early
help matters. now surrounded Jamaica was to take the offense. 1658, and invaded some of the bigger, richer towns
With supplies dangerously low, the soldiers The crew were to attack before they could be of northern areas of South America. In February
suffering from thirst and heatstroke and Penn and attacked themselves. 1658, he returned to Jamaica as naval commander,
Venables at the end of their tethers, the pair finally Some of the English forces from Venables’s army and acting as a commerce raider during the
abandoned the mission after trying and failing to remained around the island, but they would be remainder of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654-60).
capture Hispaniola, the territory now know as Haiti of little help to Myngs’s plan. Instead of recruiting During this time, Myngs began to get a bit of a
and the Dominican Republic, which was ready and them, Myngs turned to the local buccaneers of Port reputation for often being crueller than necessary.
waiting for them. Giving up, they instead decided to Royal and subsequently led a raid on Santa Marta in His power kick reached a point where he would
capture the neighbouring island of Jamaica, which Venezuela. Everything went to plan and the crews brutally massacre entire towns for no particular
was being weakly defended by the Spanish. After were successful, with the Spanish experiencing a lot reason while in command of his fleets of buccaneers.
their lacklustre and rather hollow victory, Venables of bloody collateral damage. Later in 1658, he readied his squadron to attempt

42
 Christopher Myngs
Myngs and his
buccaneering
crew’s plunder
of South
American towns
caused chaos
and destruction
for the locals

DEFINING
MOMENT
Myngs’s legacy
to scatter and capture a Spanish treasure fleet off of Jamaica, Edward Myngs successfully led the then-largest An attack on Santiago
the coast of Porto Bello. Failing to do either, Myngs D’Oyley, and so was buccaneer fleet ever assembled, 14 ships de Cuba, Cuba’s second
and 1,400 pirates, to sack San Francisco de
destroyed the Columbian towns of Tolú and Santa subsequently arrested for largest city, ended in
Campeche. After all the trouble Myngs had
Maria, more out of annoyance than anything else. embezzlement. Myngs experienced with the law, this was a huge feat plunder and success
At some point during his time in the Caribbean, was sent back to England and demonstrates how much influence he despite its extremely
Myngs’s havoc-wreaking command style underwent in 1660 aboard Marston had over the English government and strong defences, and
the buccaneers of the Caribbean.
a significant change. Before he recruited his crew of Moor, and ordered to stand attracted buccaneers
buccaneers, all of his invasions had been with his trial as an ordinary pirate. 1663 from all over the Caribbean
naval fleet, and had therefore been completely legal However, Myngs’ luck who wished to join Myngs on
under the government. With the assistance of the changed again when the restoration his 1663 mission to capture San
new crew, Myngs became naught but a criminal. of the monarchy brought political Francisco de Campeche, which resulted
Understandably, his actions more than miffed turmoil. His case was dropped in the confusion of in them acquiring a huge haul of booty. During
the Spanish government. They considered him a it all and he became a free man. He was sent back the attack, Myngs was wounded and so returned to
common pirate and mass murderer, and attempted to the Caribbean with a new fleet, this time on his England to recover. He continued sailing for a few
to protest his conduct to the English government of flagship Centurion, and resumed his naval duties. years more, serving as Vice Admiral of the White
Oliver Cromwell, but to no avail. Myngs returned to Port Royal in 1662 and, despite during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-67), and
In 1659, Myngs successfully plundered and the fact that the Anglo-Spanish War had ended with even received a knighthood for his service.
devastated Cumana, Puerto Caballos and Coro of a new truce existing between England and Spain, he The ex-buccaneer was finally defeated at what
Venezuela with his Port Royal buccaneers before ordered his fleet to attack more Spanish colonies. His was known as the Four Days’ Battle (11-14 June,
returning to Jamaica, his temporary home, with actions were believed to be part of a covert English 1666). During what became one of the longest naval
about a quarter of a million English pounds’ worth policy with the aim to undermine the Spanish engagements in history, Myngs was hit by two
of silver and other valuable goods from Coro. The dominion of the area by destroying as much of the musket balls, one through his cheek and the other
© Alamy, Getty, Wiki, Thinkstock

raid seemed like a success on the surface, but infrastructure as possible. Later that year, Myngs through his shoulder. He eventually succumbed to
Myngs overlooked a rather large slip up: he had got his buccaneers back on board by promising the wounds the following August.
shared half the bounty, which was considered them the opportunity to plunder some more. This Even after his knighthood and war hero status,
government property, with the buccaneers against time, however, Myngs had the support of the new Myngs’s reputation as an unrelenting and formidable
the explicit orders of the English Commander governor, Lord Windsor. pirate is the one that has endured the most.

43
 The Buccaneering Age

Henry Morgan
the best of the buccaneers
Whether hero or villain, loyal subject or
bloodthirsty treasure-seeker, Henry Morgan
lived a courageous and colourful life

W
hen the English publisher of His reputation was boosted further five years
Alexandre Exquemelin’s book later, when in 1668 he led the famed attack on the
The Buccaneers Of America Spanish treasure port of Portobello in Panama. The
printed its edition in 1686, town was a staging post for Spain’s Peruvian booty,
Henry Morgan was outraged. launching the empire’s treasure on the sea roads
He was described therein as a pirate, and he sued for back to Spain. And the Portobello assault not only DEFINING
libel. The case was settled out of court, the aggrieved proved Morgan’s tactical acuity, but also his audacity MOMENT
party taking a handsome sum, for Morgan was a and his sheer ruthlessness.
The Western Design
privateer, not a common pirate, and he made war The port was protected by two castles, one on Oliver Cromwell’s bid to capture a prominent
on the Spanish Empire with a commission from the either side of the bay. Unwilling to risk his ships, Spanish territory in the West Indies stalled at
English governor of Jamaica. When the buccaneer Morgan launched an amphibious assault, sailing first as the troops under General Venables and
General-at-Sea Penn failed in their bid to take
died on his Jamaican estates in 1688, succumbing his 12-ship fleet to the Bay of Boca del Toro before Hispaniola. However, a successful attack on
to ailments engendered by his heavy drinking and transferring his 500-man raiding party into canoes Jamaica proved a strategic move, allowing
carousing, the governor ordered a state funeral. For acquired in Cuba. Paddling through the night, they privateers like Morgan to plunder
millions from Spanish shipping.
Henry Morgan, in his eyes, was the very best of the landed around 4.8 kilometres from their target
buccaneers. History is inclined to agree. and marched under the cover of darkness, arriving 1654
The evidence is plentiful, and more than at Portobello just before dawn. A skirmish with a
compelling. Morgan had sailed into Caribbean Spanish lookout post on the edge of town broke
waters in 1654 with the troops committed to Oliver their cover, though they had managed to catch the
Cromwell’s Western Design, and the successful garrison unawares. 
invasion of Jamaica gave the English a newly Morgan’s men split up, and one group took the
acquired territory from which to terrorise Spanish town, rounding up the residents and locking them
shipping. During this period Morgan proved himself in one of the two churches. The others, meanwhile,
an able captain and war-leader, taking charge turned their attention to the fortresses protecting
of several raids, including the 1663 sacking of the bay. The nearest was Santiago Castle with its
Villahermosa and the looting of Gran Granada in garrison of 80 men. It looked a formidable obstacle,
Nicaragua. At the age of 32 he was named Admiral bristling with guns (that many did not work was
of the Brethren of the Coast. unbeknownst to the assailants). Morgan, however,

44
Morgan earned the title Admiral
of the Brethren of the Coast
 The Buccaneering Age
was concentrating on other things, for he had a of the town, Morgan and his men set about their remit, though the Admiralty, suitably impressed,
cunning plan. It was also rather cruel. looting and Exquemelin, the French surgeon and declared that the Portobello haul was a legally
Entering the church, he dragged out the mayor buccaneer who was ever-biased against his former accountable prize.
and several townsfolk, including some friars and leader, catalogued Morgan’s crimes, claiming that According to Exquemelin, when back in Jamaica
nuns, and forced them to march towards the he tortured women to find the whereabouts Morgan and his men soon ran through their money
castle ahead of his buccaneers, acting of their hidden cash. There is some with drunken orgies and it was not long before
as a human shield. The defenders corroborating evidence, though it is his men pressed him to launch another quest for
fired cannon, killing one of widely believed that Exquemelin loot. In October 1668, he set sail for a rendezvous
Morgan’s men and wounding exaggerated Morgan’s off Hispaniola where he met up with some French
civilians. The guns then fell D EFINING brutality. Ironically, in so buccaneers and the 34-gun frigate HMS Oxford,
silent and the attackers MOMENT doing he actually boosted which had been donated by the governor of Jamaica.
soon reached the castle Morgan’s standing. Morgan’s target was the wealthy Spanish treasure
walls. While the Spanish
The prisoner in London Whatever one makes port of Cartagena and his squadron of ten ships
Though arrested and returned to London in
stared in horror at the a bid to appease the Spanish after the sack of his morals, few and 800 men seemed more than enough to ensure
motley gang of invaders of Panama, Morgan’s standing in the eyes of could doubt Morgan’s a positive outcome. However, things went awry
stalking towards them, English society became apparent. During his courage or his military after Morgan had transferred his base to Oxford. A
stay he was received in all the finest drawing
another group sneaked rooms, and was never incarcerated. acumen; the raid on rowdy party ensued ahead of the raid and someone
up on the seaward side Indeed, he met King Charles II to Portobello is regarded as set the magazine alight. The frigate was blown
and scaled the walls. The receive his knighthood. one of the most audacious to smithereens. Only ten of the 200-strong crew
battle for the castle was on. 1672-1674 amphibious operations of survived the blast. One of them was Morgan.
The Spaniards fought gallantly the 17th century. He sent a The destruction of Oxford forced a change of
and more than half their number letter to the president of Panama plan and Morgan switched targets, sailing instead
died before they surrendered. demanding 350,000 pesos. Otherwise, to Maracaibo on the Venezuelan coast, which
The following day, Morgan turned his he’d burn Portobello to the ground. After proved easy prey. Exquemelin again reports
attention to the bastion on the other side of the much wrangling he received around 100,000 pesos hideous torture conducted for pleasure and for gain.
bay, the Castle of San Felipe, which soon fell into and with his booty from the sacking of the town, News of Morgan’s exploits reached the admiral of
his hands. He then raised the English flag above returned to Jamaica with somewhere in the region Spain’s West Indian fleet who sent three warships
the town and his fleet sailed in. Once in command of 250,000. His critics claimed he had exceeded his to intercept the marauding buccaneer. Ever the

Morgan’s attack on
Maracaibo, Venezuela in
March of 1669 was a sign
of his growing audacity

46
 Henry Morgan
Morgan’s sack on Panama
inspired the artist Allen True
to paint this bloody picture

DEFINING
MOMENT
Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica
Armed with his knighthood, he returned to
Jamaica with the new governor, Lord Vaughan.
However, the two did not get on with the latter
complaining of the former’s carousing lifestyle.
That said, Morgan proved his worth with his
military excellence coming to fore during
a stint as acting governor when he
boosted the island’s defences.
1674-1682

Morgan’s notoriety has seen

several statues built in his honour

cunning fox, however, Morgan won the day. He

sailed a captured ship into the Spanish flagship and “The Spaniards launched a raggedy charge and
blew up both vessels. 
His reputation was now soaring at dizzying were shot down by the dozen”
heights, though Morgan was not yet done. In
December 1670 the largest-ever buccaneer fleet 400 fell as the invaders charged into the city. The not received news of the treaty until after the fact,
– totalling almost 30 ships and 1,200 men – was buccaneers lost just 15 men. but still both men were to be punished by way of
bearing down on Panama, the primary Spanish Aware that defeat was a distinct possibility, the appeasing the Spanish. Morgan was arrested and
treasure port on the Pacific coast. After a fierce battle Spanish had made contingency plans, moving sent home to England, though he never saw the
to knock out the castle at the entrance to the River out the vast majority of the treasure onto ships inside of the Tower and was instead allowed to live
Chagres, Morgan sailed upstream before transferring ahead of the battle. The fleeing militia, meanwhile, freely in London.
his troops first to canoes and then onto foot. were ordered to fire the city should their defence In fact, in 1674 Morgan was actually knighted by
On January 28, 1671, Morgan and his troops fail. Again, the inhabitants were tortured to reveal Charles II for his services to the crown and returned
advanced across the plain outside Panama, which the whereabouts of hidden treasure. According to Jamaica as the Lieutenant Governor. There he
the Spaniards had defended with 1,200 infantry to Morgan, only £30,000 was taken in plunder, lived well as an exceedingly wealthy man, owning
and 400 cavalry. These men were relatively amounting to £15 per man. His buccaneers were plantations totalling over 6,000 acres. He was
inexperienced, however, and were no match by all accounts furious and many blamed Morgan eventually removed from office in 1682 and died
© Alamy, Getty, FreeStock, Thinstock

for Morgan’s war-hungry troops. The Spaniards for their paltry remuneration. Concerned about his six years later, succumbing to the diseases caused
launched a raggedy charge and were shot down safety, Morgan scampered back to Jamaica. as a result of his bawdy lifestyle. By the time of his
by the dozen courtesy of Morgan’s sharpshooters, News of Panama’s destruction was well received death, though, his brave deeds, in addition to the
French musketeers stationed in his vanguard, and in Jamaica, though it soon became apparent that horrors outlined in Exquemelin’s book, ensured that
the cavalry soon broke ranks and fled, leaving it had contravened the Treaty of Madrid, signed in he would forever leave an indelible imprint on the
the infantry at the buccaneers’ mercy. More than July 1670. The Jamaican governor and Morgan had history of buccaneering.

47
 The Buccaneering Age

Daniel
Montbars
the exterminator
His seething hatred for the Spanish made
Daniel Montbars of Languedoc one history’s
most vicious and bloodthirsty pirates DEFINING
MOMENT
Fighting the Spanish

S
ome pirate legends are exactly that. The gruesomely inventive. Now, movies and books have Montbars sails from Le Havre, having signed up
mists of time and centuries passing blur romanticised much of the life at sea, but make no to the French Royal Navy. Serving with his uncle,
historical fact into tall tales. Rumours mistake, pirates were tough brutes and could partake they head to Santo Domingo in the Dominican
Republic and fight a sea battle with two
and whispers attain the veracity of in sickening acts of barbarity when needs must. Their Spanish ships. It is here that the uncle is killed
facts. Reputations are forged, spurred life was not an Errol Flynn movie. and Montbars’s hatred of the Spanish
on, accounts are written down and passed from Spanish sailors and garrison soldiers who were increases even further to set him on his
left over from battle – at sea and on land – were sure subsequent path.
generation to generation. Upon closer inspection,
stories of mighty deeds ripple away into nothingness, to fear the name ‘Montbars’. A thorn in the side of 1667
like a reflection in a pond. Myths offer the illusion of the Spanish fleet, the pesky bee in their bonnet,
greatness and the illusion can last a long time when the wasp around their sugary beverage, Captain
left unquestioned. Some pirates, for sure, deserve Daniel Montbars terrorised Spanish settlements and
their fearsome reputations. Some really did accrue townships for several decades, in a mad lust to exact
huge amounts of treasure and would have spent revenge and mayhem against his sworn enemy.
it rather than buried it. Yet many were subject to Montbars’s preferred method of killing was slow
aggrandisement in the eyes of writers and historians. and very painful for the victim. It was also a gory
Daniel Montbars (1645 – c.1707), a French spectacle for anybody forced to watch. This was
buccaneer who sailed around the West Indies on precisely the point and effect Montbars wished. The
a personal bid to destroy everything and anything punishment was a way of humiliating the person
Spanish, was the real deal and acquired a legend forced to endure it. Montbars would order a man to
in his own lifetime. A bloodthirsty buccaneer, have his stomach sliced open, take out part of the
his preferred method of torture and killing was guts and attach it to a wooden post. The indignity

48
 Daniel Montbars

Legend has it, Montbars’s hatred of the

Spanish came from tales of Conquistador
cruelties toward the natives of Central
and South America

49
 The Buccaneering Age

It is said Montbars buried

treasure at Anse du Gouverneur
beach, St Bart’s island

and horror didn’t end there. With viscera extracted church. The Cathar religion was prominent in the the Spanish overseas, in the pirate-infested waters
and nailed down, the cruel captain would then have area until massacre after massacre – known as the of the Caribbean and Americas. On the other side of
the person dance around doing a jig, while smacking Albigensian Crusade – virtually erased their presence the world, which must have looked like heaven on
a burning log against said person’s backside. As the and their branch of worship. Raised in a wealthy earth to so many Europeans, Montbars distinguished
man cried out in abject agony, his innards family and receiving a gentleman’s himself in skirmishes and battles against the Spanish
would spill out on the floor until the education, the story goes that navy. One account described how the Frenchman
poor victim snuffed it. There’s Montbars developed a specific fearlessly charged ahead but relished in the defeat of
crazy and deranged, and then loathing for the Spanish his enemy: “Montbars led the way to the decks of the
there’s Daniel Montbars of
Languedoc, scourge of the
D EFINING after reading accounts of
Conquistadors in the New
enemy, where he carried injury and death; and when
submission terminated the contest, his only pleasure
Spanish Main and whose
MOMENT World. How true this all seemed to be to contemplate, not the treasures of the
violent manner earned Terrorising the Spanish Main is remains unprovable, vessel, but the number of dead and dying Spaniards,
him the name – in his Montbars travels the Caribbean and Gulf of but Montbars’s actions against whom he had vowed a deep and eternal
own lifetime – ‘Montbars Mexico terrorising the Spanish Main. During this against the Spanish hatred, which he maintained the whole of his life.”
time, he sacks and plunders coastal towns in
the Exterminator.’ Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela.
attest to a virulent So how did Montbars operate and get away with
Chances are, if you were He develops a reputation, not just as a fierce hatred toward his Iberian his countless assaults against the Spanish? The
unfortunate enough to buccaneer, but as a torturer with a fine neighbours and he region’s unique geography and turbulent politics
come across Montbars and line in sadistic inventiveness. plagued them incessantly, – empires at each other’s throats – played a huge
you were batting for the 1670s-1707 using British-run ports – part. Exquemelin, the Dutch author, who wrote The
Spanish, things really wouldn’t because they would support Buccaneers Of America (1678), a pioneering work
end well. attacks against the Spanish at written by a pirate, one of Captain Henry Morgan’s
Montbars hailed from the southern given times. associates, dissected the allure of Caribbean waters,
French region of Languedoc, a place with Bidding adieu to France in 1667, with their hidden coves, readily available food and
its own blood-soaked history, as it was seat of the Montbars joined the Royal French Navy as a water sources, and potential riches. It didn’t take
medieval Cathar heretics, for a short time deemed a midshipman and set off from the northern port of much for a pirate ship to disappear. ‘There are so
major threat to Catholicism and the authority of the Le Havre with the intention of taking the fight to many uninhabited little islands and keys, with

50
 Daniel Montbars

DEFINING
MOMENT
Lost at sea?
Around 1707, Montbars disappears from
history. It is said he drowned at sea, when his
boat was caught in a storm. But in the years
since, like many pirate tales, stories of buried
treasure circulated. The island of Tortuga has
been a focal point. Did Montbars bury his
plunder on the beaches at Grand Saline
or Anse du Gouverneur?
c. 1707

Montbars wearing the skull and crossbones,

a 19th-century engraving illustration by
craftsman René Rescalon

They’d also absconded with all their gold and silver.

“Montbars settled on becoming a… buccaneer Montbars wasn’t best pleased, so ordered his men

and to exact retribution against all Spaniards” into the foothills. He’d torture them into giving up
the treasure.
When a Spanish fleet rocked up and blocked the
harbours convenient and secure for cleaning their the Coast, a pirate collective, mustered nearly 1,000 exit route, Montbars decided upon two things. Firstly,
vessels, and abounding with what they often want, men and set off in 15 ships to take the Spanish-held he would ransom the town and, in exchange for
provision: I mean water, sea-fowl, turtle, shell and port of Maracaibo. 2,000 crowns, he promised not to burn the place to
other fish.” He goes on to write about bigger catches: Montbars also left his mark on Colombia, Mexico, cinders. Secondly, Montbars knew he and his men
“Another reason these seas are chose by pirates is in Honduras and Venezuela. The Spanish Main could be taken down in a fight and, if they survived,
the great commerce thither by French, Spaniards, cowered in fear. It hadn’t been too long since they’d sent to the gallows. As part of a diversion tactic,
Dutch and especially English ships. They are sure, rid themselves of another French menace, either. It Montbars sent out a fire ship – literally a ship loaded
in the latitude of these trading islands, to meet with was as if the Spanish administration were cursed with combustibles and set on fire – to cause mayhem
prizes, booties of provision, clothing, naval stores, and by insanely violent Frenchmen. Before Montbars and send the Spanish into a panic. It worked and
sometimes money.” commenced his lucrative endeavours, they’d put Montbars sailed away in the ensuing chaos. Stories
Montbars turned to the pirate life after an uncle, up with the ‘Bane of Spain’ aka François l’Olonnais, like this attract legend. Here was a man with his back
who had accompanied him to the Caribbean, died another buccaneer known for his cruel methods and against the wall, but who refused to give in and dug
at the hands of the Spanish one day. The narrative righteous slaughter. (He died in 1668 and was eaten himself out of a tight spot to have the last laugh.
puts it that Daniel was ashore on Hispaniola at the by cannibals.) Montbars disappeared from history, as if he’d been
time of his beloved uncle’s untimely death, helping Throughout his pirating career, Montbars only a phantom of the imagination all along. Some say
© Shutterstock, Getty, Thinkstock

French buccaneers ambush Spanish horsemen. In had eyes for the Spanish. He was, in effect, ‘Bane of he died at sea during a violent storm, going down
the wake of grief, Montbars settled on becoming a Spain: the sequel’. The siege of Maracaibo is among with the ship for an eternity resting in Davey Jones’s
full-time buccaneer and to exact retribution against his most audacious and infamous episodes. The locker, leaving behind all that buried treasure and a
all Spaniards in the colonies. Is this simply another actual fighting lasted barely a couple of hours, with name – ‘Montbars the Exterminator’ – for the history
apocryphal part of the ferocious Montbars biography? the townsfolk and garrison initially putting up a books to remember. The year of his disappearance is
Perhaps, but Montbars did sign up to the Brethren of defence before fleeing into the hills to avoid capture. usually given as 1707.

51
 The Buccaneering Age

François
l’Olonnais
the most sadistic pirate
Rivals would rather die than put themselves in the
hands of one of the most fearsome pirates to ever
sail under the black flag

D
uring his life, François l’Olonnais North Atlantic Ocean. Spaniards were said to prefer
appeared to have two loves. One death to any thought of surrendering to him and
was a fondness for gathering large it earned him the admiration of the Governor of
quantities of treasure and the other Tortuga, a Caribbean island off the north-west coast
was a penchant for inflicting the of Haiti which was a known pirate refuge.
worst kind of pain on those who stood in his way. As The governor, Monsieur de la Place, granted
one of history’s most notorious pirates, torture was l’Olonnais the command of a small ship and allowed DEFINING
merely part of his job, and it was something he was him to go forth and seek his fortune. He and his MOMENT
found to thoroughly enjoy. That he was rather good assembled crew ended up targeting a small Cuban
The day l’Olonnais played dead
at it made it all the worse for his victims but it did, at village called De los Cayos. But even though they Early in his pirating career, l’Olonnais’s ship
the very least, earn him a great, if not fearful, respect were spotted by fishermen who raised the alarm, was battered in a storm and his fleeing crew was
from his fellow pirates. prompting the inhabitants to ask Havana’s Governor slaughtered by the Spaniards. He had to resort
to smearing blood from his wounds across his
Born Jean David Nau in the French seaside for assistance, the pirates overcame a well-armed face and body so he could hide among the
territory of Les Sables-d’Olonne circa 1635, l’Olonnais vessel sent to deal with the situation, forcing the dead. He escaped and found himself in the
grew to show every sign of ruthless ambition and Spaniards to surrender. pirate refuge of Tortuga thanks to the
assistance of French slaves.
greed. He’d been sent to the Caribbean island of L’Olonnais then showed them how ruthless he
Martinique as an indentured servant in the 1650s, could be. He had his foes hanged one by one. He c.1661
but after his time in servitude he became a free man also turned his attention to a hangman who had
and moved to the island of Hispaniola. There he travelled with the Spaniards and who was under
joined the buccaneers in attacking wave upon wave orders to execute every pirate. L’Olonnais was to be
of Spanish ships and sacking coastal settlements. He the exception and taken to Havana alive, only the
gained a reputation, not so much as an accomplished circumstances had changed somewhat. Shaking
pirate, but as a cruel and heartless adversary. with fear, the hangman stuck a deal, offering the
Indeed, in his first few voyages, l’Olonnais showed pirates information in the hope of being spared. But
little mercy. He and his fellow pirates were able after l’Olonnais listened and took note, the confessor
to intercept many ships laden with goodies from was beheaded too. Just one man was kept alive,
the Spanish West Indies and Spanish Main, which and sent back to the governor with a chilling note.
earned him great riches and booty and turned him It read: “I shall never henceforward give quarter to
into a well-known figure in a good portion of the any Spaniard whatsoever; and I have great hopes I

52
Francois l’Olonnais

53
 The Buccaneering Age
shall execute on your own person the very same out to sea once more, he had been impressed by Carlos de la Barra, which was defended by 16 large
punishment I have done upon them you sent l’Olonnais’s preparation, offering up men and his guns. Carrying pistols and swords, they slaughtered
against me. Thus I have retaliated the kindness you expertise for what was certain to be a bumper haul. a group of men trying to stop them and then, with
designed unto me and my companions.” The It meant the fleet was eventually packed with the fort destroyed and fires burning, they continued
governor was understandably rattled. some 600 pirates. It didn’t take very to the city. Heading towards land in canoes, dodging
Yet that wasn’t enough long for their first success. fire from a ship sent to protect against invasion,
for l’Olonnais. Buoyed by A couple of months into their l’Olonnais’s men went ashore and marched towards
his success and having voyage, l’Olonnais was the town. By this time, most of the inhabitants
embarked on a series D EFINING alerted to a ship sailing had fled with their goods and money but they left
of fruitful expeditions, MOMENT from Puerto Rico to the behind more than enough food for a hearty feast
l’Olonnais placed his The eating of a heart colonial territory of New and the pirates were able to seize their houses.
eye on some bigger If there was any doubt about his brutality, Spain, which had been Showing the kind of leadership which would
prizes. He decided l’Olonnais’s encounter with a group of Spaniards established in 1521 define him and solidify his reputation, l’Olonnais
on the way to San Pedro would fix that. When
he wanted to sack they would not tell him of a safe route, he
following the conquest had 160 pirates go into the woods in search for the
the city of Maracaibo, slashed the chest of a Spaniard, pulled out his of the Aztec Empire. fleeing inhabitants. According to Alexandre Olivier
where he had already heart and began to chew on it. “I will serve He ordered all but his Exquemelin’s 1678 account of l’Olonnais and the
successfully ambushed a you all alike if you show me not another own ship to hang back as sacking of Maracaibo, The History Of The Buccaneers
way,” he told the others.
bounty-laden ship and so he went to meet it alone, Of America, they returned with “20,000 pieces of
he found himself standing c1666 sparking a fierce battle against eight, several mules laden with household goods
on board one of eight ships that the Spaniards that lasted three and merchandise, and 20 prisoners.” Some of the
were bobbing in the sea under the hours. Once l’Olonnais emerged prisoners were tortured using the dreaded rack in
glaring heat of the sun, along with over victorious, with his foes surrendering, the hope of getting them to pinpoint where many of
400 resolute men. the pirates bagged themselves a huge quantity their goods had been hidden. When they gave little
The Frenchman expected to pick up vast riches of cacao, 40,000 pieces of eight and an extremely information away, l’Olonnais used his cutlass to slash
and untold resources and he was bolstered by the lucrative amount of jewels. a hapless prisoner into bits in front of the others as
support of Michel de Basco, a successful pirate For this reason, the inhabitants of Maracaibo a warning.
who had come to live a very comfortable life. had every right to be fearful. First of all, the pirates It seemed to do the trick. One of the prisoners
Even though de Basco had no pressing need to go targeted the supposedly impregnable fort of San said he would show the pirates the hiding place. Yet

“As one of history’s most

notorious pirates, torture
was merely part of his job,
and it was something he
was found to enjoy”

When l’Olonnais sacked cities. he

also tortured citizens for information
regarding their wealth and goods

54
 Francois l’Olonnais
the fleeing inhabitants had moved the items for fear
of them being found. So after two weeks and with
rape, pillaging and wholesale destruction underway,
the pirates decided to head for the town of Gibraltar
where they believed Maracaibo’s residents were
hiding. Getting wind of this, the governor seized his
chance and sent 400 men to meet them there. He
also ordered the residents of this town to take up
arms and join the fight.
L’Olonnais took stock of the situation. He and
the pirates decided the potential riches
in Gibraltar were too great to give
up without a fight and so they
headed to the town with their
cutlasses and pistols. At one
D EFINING stage, l’Olonnais ordered
MOMENT the pirates to flee and
The attacking of Gibraltar the Spaniards began to
When l’Olonnais and his pirates decided to follow. The pirates turned
advance on Gibraltar, they knew it would be and slaughtered their
tricky. But l’Olonnais saw a material value in
pursuers. Gibraltar was
victory, believing a win would bestow more
glory on their fortune. In any case, there was theirs and they took
a warning for anyone showing fear: “I will prisoners and grabbed as
pistol him with my own hands,” he told much booty as they could.
the others.
Some of the female
c.1666 prisoners were abused by
their captors and other prisoners
were tortured. L’Olonnais did not
care that many captives were dying
of disease and hunger – money and treasure
was more important. After a month, he sent four
of his prisoners to demand a ransom on behalf of
the pirates. If the governor did not pay a significant
ransom, they said, the town would be burned to
the ground. Fires raged after a couple of days and
eventually the pirates left with their treasures and
slaves, stopping off at Maracaibo on the way for
further plundering.
On their return to Tortuga, l’Olonnais and his men
were given a hero’s welcome but the spoils were
soon spent, so embarked on another expedition.
As before, the pirate showed his inhuman nature,
allowing prisoners to be severely tortured. L’Olonnais
would cut the tongues of prisoners failing to divulge
information; he would wrap knotted rope around
men’s heads so tight that their eyes would pop; and
he would peel flesh from victims and chop away
their arms and legs. Once Spaniards answered his
questions, he would simply kill them.
Yet he wouldn’t entirely get away with his crimes.
When l’Olonnais’s ship ran aground close to the
islands of De Las Pertas in the Gulf of Honduras,
he and his crew were forced to break up the vessel
and build a boat big enough to allow half of them
to leave the shore. Unfortunately this took time and
they ran into the Kuna tribe in Darien, a province
of Panama. After being captured, l’Olonnais was
© Alamy, Look and Learn, Wiki, Thinkstock

ripped to pieces by the natives, his limbs torn

away and burned and his ashes thrown to the
air. As Exquemelin notes, it was done, “to the
intent no trace nor memory might remain of such
an infamous, inhuman creature.” There was no
An engraving to show the cruelty and question, l’Olonnais’s pirating days were well and
sadism of l’Olonnais
truly over.

55
 The Pirate Round
Pirates hunted ships on the richest
trade route, the passage from India to
the Caribbean known as the Round

58 Sailing on a Route 70 William Kidd

to Riches
74 Robert Culliford

62
62 Thomas Tew
76 Amaro Pargo
66 Henry Every

58

56
74 66

70

76

57
 The Pirate Round

SAILING ON A
ROUTE TO RICHES
The Pirate Round existed only for a brief period of time but it
allowed for some of the richest pickings the world has ever known

T
he day Thomas Tew asked his men
to steer a fresh course for the Cape
of Good Hope in January 1693,
he became more than a privateer;
he became one of history’s most
innovative pirates. Tew may not have liked his
association with piracy but when his crew shouted
their approval and allowed him to forget about
attacking French holdings in West Africa in favour
of pursuing riches in the Indian Ocean and the
Arabian Sea, his stock not only grew, he inspired a
whole new wave of piracy.
Prior to Tew’s decision to head for fresh waters,
piracy had mainly flourished in the Caribbean. The
pirates generally had the blessing of the European
powers who handed them letters of legitimacy and
they tended to target Spanish ships, intercepting
them as they made their way across the sea so that
they could relieve them of their plentiful booty. For
the rival colonial powers, it was a way of engaging
Spain in a proxy war of sorts but it wasn’t to last.
Spanish power began to wane and peace started
to take hold at a governmental level. Opportunities
for pirates in the Caribbean were therefore getting
ever more scarce. Faced with a particularly
dangerous mission to Africa, Tew felt there were
better, easier pickings elsewhere. He’d heard that
ships packed with silks and spices were sailing
through Indian waters and he believed the time
was right to target one. Even better, he had got
wind that the ships were unprotected and it made
the new mission all the more enticing.
Starting from Bermuda, Tew and his crew sailed
around the Cape of Good Hope, along the East
African coast, en route to the Red Sea. They ran
down the flagship of the Mughal Empire that had
been sailing from India and found it to be the most
easy of pickings. Rather than defend the huge
quantities of gold, spices, ivory, silk and jewellery
on board, the ship’s 300-strong crew decided not
to put up a fight. In doing so, Tew and his men
collected booty valued at some £100,000.
It hadn’t taken long for word to get around
that Tew’s men had divided up their spoils once
they arrived at Île Sainte-Marie, off the coast of
Madagascar. They each had taken goods worth The Navy persues pirates
to their island hideout
at least £1,200 – a life-changing amount – and it

58
 Sailing on a route to riches
only served to encourage other pirates to follow the of their own and so they set off in their droves. since they brought wealth, cut-priced goods and
same route. Tew’s chosen path became known as The pirates would leave from one of a number of trade. They were more than welcome to maintain
the Pirate Round and the buccaneers who followed colonial America’s Atlantic ports, depending on and repair their ships in the ports and stock up on
it were referred to as ‘Roundsmen’. Scores of East where they were usually based, be it New York, vital items for their arduous journeys.
India Company ships sailing between Britain and Boston, Philadelphia, Rhode Island or Bermuda. The pirates were certainly glad of this assistance,
India became prime prey as a result. They would then head south-east down because the Pirate Round entailed a far longer
The potential of the Pirate Round was stark but the west coast of Africa via journey for the sailors than the
it was another pirate, Henry Every, who turned it Madeira, round the Cape of forays in the Caribbean. They
into something of a holy grail. It was 1695 and Tew
had ventured out once more to raid a Muslim ship,
Good Hope, northwards up
the African coast and on to “Captains needed all the provisions,
assistance and time for
this time facing fierce resistance, which ended with
him being killed. Every was in the same waters,
Madagascar, Mauritius or
Réunion. As they did so, they
everywhere careening as they could
muster to lessen the dangers
commanding the warship, Fancy, backed by his
150-strong crew and 46 guns. With these, he took
had the full support of those
back home.
sensed a they would face, since being
at sea for months at a time
possession of Fateh Muhammad, bagging gold and
silver worth £40,000. But it was the follow-up that
Indeed, people living in
the American ports were
jackpot” was dull, the food was usually
terrible and there was also the
reaped the rewards. Battling hard against the Ganj- very amenable to the pirates. chance of developing scurvy
i-Sawai ship, he seized an incredible haul worth as In many cases, that was because they were far through a lack of vitamin C. There was also a
much as £525,000 – arguably the largest booty ever from being a respectable bunch themselves – New danger of high fever, gangrene and being caught, so
taken by a pirate crew. York was certainly a smaller, rougher and a very support and supplies was vital.
That was it. Captains everywhere sensed a different place to the city we know today. As such, The stop-off points on the Pirate Round were
jackpot and a chance to bag some serious treasure the pirates were seen as essential for day-to-day life great trading posts, too. A rocky island base was
claimed and established by buccaneer Adam
The waters around Mecca Baldridge at Île Sainte-Marie. It was perfectly
in the Mughal Empire were
located since it was close to the route of the
busy with people making
the Hajj pilgrimage maritime ships as they returned from the East
Indies laden with goods. Baldridge would offer
supplies and trade their plunder for cattle and food,
with the pirates loving the secluded, safe bays.
Hundreds of their fellow men made it home and
they were able to get along without hassle. Many
of them raised families there, burying their dead in
the infamous pirate graveyard.
Another base was created by James Plantain at
Ranter Bay in the north of Madagascar. The island
became a key pirate haunt, providing the breathing
space needed ahead of the targeting of ships from
the rich Mughal Empire. The pirates would head

Around 30 headstones remain at the pirate

cemetery on the island of Île Sainte-Marie, The gra
ve
otherwise known as the island of pirates Pierre L of a pirate call
ec e
cemetery hartier in the d Joseph
pir
the sku at Île Sainte-M ate
ll and c
rossbon arie; note
es
59
 The Pirate Round

The North-east Americas

The fisheries of eastern Canada

Pirate
were filled with fishers and sailors
who would be recruited by pirate
crews in the summer months

Round TOBACCO,
SUGAR,
who stopped for supplies.

Trace the route COTTON

that Thomas Tew SUGAR,

COTTON
and his associates
made famous
The Bahamas
Buccaneers who refused an
offered pardon from the monarch
or government often fled to safe
havens hidden in the Bahamas
and Bermuda.

SLAVES

Jamaica
Some Buccaneers who
repented and accepted
pardons were given 14
hectares of land in Jamaica.

The Pirate Round

Pirates known as
‘Roundsmen’ targeted this
route, taking East India
Company ships sailing
between Britain and India.

for the Red Sea to attack vessels which set sail

from Surat, north of Mumbai in India, to Mecca on
“William Kidd, who was sent to capture Every,
the west coast of Saudi Arabia. As they made their
way back with their spoils, they often sailed east of
ended up becoming a pirate”
Madagascar where they could find other ships to pressured the British government to take action, His downfall came when he looted Quedagh
plunder, maximising the amount of booty. having initially blamed the British East India Merchant, captained by an Englishman which, in
It was all straightforward and led to years of Company for the attack. The Privy Council and circumstances you’ll read elsewhere in this book,
success. The pirates knew when Muslims would be East India Company offered a bounty of £1,000 eventually led to him being executed.
on their way to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage, for the capture of Henry Every. But the Pirate For all that, though, the Pirate Round was brief.
taking advantage of a stretch of sea just 30.5 Round continued. Indeed, even the notorious Baldbridge lost his base on Madagascar in 1697
kilometres across. Understandably, the Mughal Scottish privateer, William Kidd, who was sent when local tribes discovered he had sold a group
Empire was incensed at what was going on and it to capture Every, ended up becoming a pirate. of natives into slavery, and the ships became more

60
 Sailing on a route to riches

Spanish treasure fleets

Also known as the West Indies
fleet, Spanish ships carried goods
on the first permanent transatlantic
trade route in history.

ManufacTuRed
goodS

Middle Passage
One of the busiest routes due to
the slave trade . Almost a third of
pirates were black, but whether
they were truly pirates or slaves is
disputed by historicans.

Madagascar
This was a pirate haven for
Roundsmen. Here they could
target gold-laden Mughal ships far
from the authorities.

© WIKI, Antony Stanley, Getty, Alamy, Look and Learn, Thinstock, Vecteezy

guarded, which meant expeditions were more It wasn’t until 1719 that the Pirate Round became
dangerous. Thomas Howard seized upon a ship popular once more, even if only for a couple of
which had run aground on a reef off Madagascar years. Pirates such as Edward England, Olivier La
in 1699, while Abraham Samuel led a kingdom Buse, Christopher Condent and John Taylor were
of pirates and Antanosy people in southeastern active during this period. Indeed, La Buse and
Madagascar from 1697. But the War of Spanish Taylor captured Nossa Senhora Do Cabo at Réunion
Succession put the Pirate Round to bed. Waged in 1721 and took away £800,000 worth of treasures
between 1701 and 1714, triggered by the death of from Portuguese East Indiaman. But it simply
the last Habsburg King of Spain in 1700, it opened proved too arduous a route and it didn’t help that Henry Every receives
opportunities for pirates in the Bahamas and native Indian pirates were looking for their own treasure during a
made it easier to plunder as a member of the naval share of the spoils in the area. There’s no doubt it successful expedition in
the Indian Ocean
services. Legal backing meant not being caught. was good while it lasted, though.

61
 The Pirate Round

DEFINING
MOMENT
Tew lands in Bermuda
Little is known of Tew’s early life, not even
where and when he was born. He is said to have
had family in Rhode Island. Traveller John Groves
wrote to the Council for Trade and Plantations
in 1697, and said he had seen Tew in Jamaica
in 1682, but it was his landing in Bermuda
in 1691 that proved so pivotal: he built a
reputation as a privateer.
1691

Thomas Tew
the seafaring Robin Hood
He went after the richest ships in previously
uncharted waters, and distributed the wealth
among the people

I
t was 1692 and Captain Thomas Tew was caused a rethink. Sensing the benefits to himself to
standing on the deck of a 70-tonne, eight-gun be outweighed by the danger, he made a decision to
sloop, facing his 46 strong crew as the hot change course. In doing so, he not only altered the
sun burned their skin. He regaled them of destination but the entire course of his career.
the purpose of their expedition: to make their Up until that point, Tew had taken pride in being
way to the River Gambia where they were to take a privateer – that is, someone engaged in maritime
a French factory at Goorie, yet he had, in his mind, warfare under a commission of law. He liked the
plans for something else entirely. Although Isaac air of respectability this gave him, and hated being
Richier, the Governor of Bermuda, had sent both Tew labelled a pirate. Piracy was not, he would argue,
and Captain George Dew on separate ships to carry why he had left his wife and two daughters behind
out the mission, Dew’s topmast was destroyed in a in Newport, Rhode Island, to set up in Bermuda.
violent storm. It meant that Dew had to travel back Pirates were merely lawless in his eyes, even though
for repairs, and that had left Tew and his crew to they were, in actuality, often born as much out of
voyage alone. This, he surmised, paved the way for a necessity as greed. The Navigation Act of 1651, for
golden opportunity. instance, had banned the colonies of the British
Getting ready for the expedition had been no easy Empire from trading with the Netherlands, Spain,
task, even for such an experienced voyager as Tew. France and their colonies. This had strangled trade to
His raid had been commissioned and funded by a the point that sailors were sitting around twiddling
private group of individuals eager to boost their own their thumbs for long periods of time.
wealth and, while he was confident that his years as With Dew out of the way, though, Tew was able
a privateer would enable him to pull it off, Tew had to firmly stand on his own two feet. According to
spent many months preparing for it. With an official an account of Tew by Captain Charles Johnson in A
granting a ‘letter of marque’, he and Dew had set General History of the Pyrates from 1724, he felt that
off from Bermuda, but Dew’s premature departure targeting French holdings would have no benefit to

62
 Thomas Tew

This image shows

Thomas Tew (left) talking
all about his exploits to
the New York governor
Ben Fletcher

63
 The Pirate Round
An illustration showing Thomas Tew
successfully attacking a ship from India

the public, and only be of use to those funding it. He decisions and look after their interests – the new retained by Tew. Ever the gentleman, the captain
felt his and the crew’s bravery would not be justly band of pirates prepared themselves. They ventured eventually ensured the group of men who had
rewarded, so he asked a crucial question. to the Cape of Good Hope in the South Atlantic financed the original expedition were also handed
Rather than sail to The Gambia and carry Ocean, and steered to the Mandeb Strait, £5,000, which was 14 times the vessel’s value. There
out the mission under protection, which connects the Red Sea to the were differences of opinion at Madagascar, though.
he wanted to know if his crew Gulf of Aden. The crew came The quarter master wanted to settle there, finding St
would pursue a less dangerous across a richly laden ship Mary’s Island perfect with an abundance of food and
expedition, one that would travelling from the Indies resources. Tew gave those who wanted to stay their
perhaps enhance their D EFINING to the Arabian Peninsula, share of the booty while the rest looked to return
reputation and deliver MOMENT and Tew convinced them to Rhode Island. On their way back, they captured
riches that they would The destruction that the 300 or so on an Indian ship and increased their wealth. Their
directly benefit from. of Dew’s ship board would not put up reputation grew and they arrived back in April 1694.
He wanted them to Tew was commissioned to destroy a French a fight. He was right. The Tew was treated like a high-end celebrity, fawned
factory near the River Gambia with Dew. They
forget the commission, departed, sailing close together, but a storm enemy surrendered, and over by those in power and applauded by all who met
effectively turning pirate. damaged Dew’s ship, forcing him to head the pirates took away him. He’d opened people’s eyes to the opportunities
To his great pleasure, back for repairs. This made it easier for gold, silver, ivory, spices, offered by the Arab ships, and he became solid
Tew to propose to his men that they
the crew is said to have become pirates.
gemstones and silk, sharing friends with Benjamin Fletcher, the royal governor of
shouted: “A gold chain or a the lucrative spoils between the Province of New York. But while he now wanted
1692
wooden leg, we’ll stand with them. The quarter master did a quiet, non-seafaring life, his crew – and others who
you!” Whether they did actually not approve of taking the other dearly wanted to embark on an expedition with him
say those words could never be five ships in the area, so they steered – pestered for another trip. Their motivation was clear:
truly verified, but it certainly adds to the to Madagascar instead. unlike Tew, many crew members had squandered
drama surrounding such pirate endeavours. But Tew’s decision to take his crew into uncharted their shares. Eventually, Tew relented, and a second
With the crew having selected a quarter master – waters had paid off, with the value estimated to be pirate cruise on board the Amity was planned.
someone who would give approval to the captain’s worth more than £100,000, of which £8,000 was More than 40 men accompanied him initially, and

64
 Thomas Tew

DEFINING “The crew was thirsty

MOMENT
Tew relents and sails on a
for treasure and
second pirate cruise
Tew didn’t want to be seen as a pirate so he absolutely hellbent on
visited New York governor Ben Fletcher
and persuaded him to grant a privateer
commission. He set sail in 1695 and joined
taking a ship”
the fleet commanded by Henry Every. For
Tew, however, the expedition came to a further 20 or so crew members had joined them
a very bloody final end.
by the time they reached Madagascar. With six new
1695 guns, they felt ready for anything.
Even now, though, Tew hated being labelled a
pirate. Before he set off on this second expedition, he
had ensured that he had the right paperwork – a new
letter of marque from Fletcher, which he’d obtained
following a bribe that nonetheless granted a level of
legitimacy. They found they were not alone as they
approached the Mandeb Strait, and aimed to enter
the Red Sea. Other pirates had decided the Arab
ships would be easy pickings too, having heard of
Tew’s tales, so they all went ahead together attacking
a 25-ship Mughal convoy in September 1695, which
was en route to Mecca. Among those joining Tew
was the infamous pirate Henry Every. A chase
between the pirates and the convoy ensued.
The crew was thirsty for treasure and absolutely
hellbent on taking a ship. An attempt was made to
overtake one of them – the Fateh Muhammad – and,
as the captain’s black flag fluttered in the breeze,
there was great confidence, albeit mixed with a little
fear, among his men that they would be able to seize
it. All around them other pirates were jostling for
position, hoping to capture ships as well. It was a
A map of the Mandeb
Strait, which connects the major battle on the waves, and Tew – who intended
Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden this to be his last voyage – was on the cusp of
another success.
Although Tew didn’t like being Their ship got closer and Tew instructed the crew
referred to as a pirate, he still to fire. Another order to fire was heard, but it was
had a flag in-keeping with his in a foreign tongue. This enemy ship was fighting
piratical pursuits
back. As Tew’s crew scrambled for a fight, the Arab
ship continued to fire. A cannonball travelled at high
speed towards the Amity and struck a glancing
blow across Tew’s abdomen as he stood on the
quarterdeck of his sloop. His stomach was ripped
apart, and blood poured from the horrendous wound.
Tew “held his bowels with his hands,” according to
A General History of the Pyrates, and within minutes
he was dead. Panicking, his crew surrendered and
were captured, although they were freed after Every
seized the Fateh Muhammed. They then buried their
captain at sea, mourning his loss and direction.
Yet Tew’s legacy continued. The route he had
selected for his expeditions became established
as the Pirate Round, and he was hailed as a good
man whose work – while displayed ruthlessness –
had greatly benefited the poor. As Fletcher would
© Wiki, Nasa, Eugene Zelenko, Thinkstock

write on 24 December 1698, three years after Tew’s

death: “This Tew appeared to me not only a man of
courage and activity, but of the greatest sense and
remembrance of what he had seen of any seaman
that I ever met with.” Indeed, his successes were so
inspirational, they boosted the number of people
becoming pirates. A golden age had begun.

65
 The Pirate Round

Henry Every
the pirate king
From seaman to notorious plunderer, how
did ‘The Arch Pirate’ become one of the most
renowned in the world?
DEFINING

O
ne of the most notorious pirates of ready source of slaves, and Every found employment
his era, Henry Every was a force to as first mate on board the Spanish warship Charles MOMENT
be reckoned with during his brief II in 1693, attacking French slave ships. Again,
Every joins the Navy
yet sensational career. Famed for this was a short-lived post, as the crew mutinied It could be argued that without this early career
achieving what most pirates could in early May the following year over lack of pay choice, Every might never have found his way to
only dream of, Every survived the usual pitfalls of and other grievances. Every is generally credited a life of piracy. Clearly able and quickly earning
himself a good reputation, this initial start on
pirate life – namely capture and death – and was able with having been instrumental in the mutiny and the seas was to point Every in the direction
to retire, it was said, with one of the largest fortunes consequent removal of the captain, and – in a stroke of his future, more-famed exploits. He
known in pirating history. of fate – Every himself was elected the captain of the enjoyed several posts, before being
discharged the following year.
Like many of his pirate brethren, Every fell newly named Fancy.
into the way of life by chance. Devon born, it was His career as a pirate was just as brief as his 1689
perhaps natural that he would find life on the seas, career in the Navy, lasting for just two years in
and Every initially joined the Royal Navy, serving for total. However, it was this period of his life that
only a short time between 1689 and 1690. During made Every’s name. Under his command, the
this period, however, he is said to have taken part Fancy quickly gained a reputation for being quick
in several of the main battles of the Nine Years’ War, and unstoppable, early successes helping to swiftly
and did well enough for himself that he was chosen build a reputation for luck and cunning that would
to serve on the HMS Albemarle – a 90-gun frigate – turn out to be the foundation of his legend. Early
by the captain himself in June 1690. on it was rather clear that he was going to be a
A mere two months later, Every was discharged thorn in the side of Anglo-Indian relations, as Every
from the Navy. He remained at sea, switching his stated that he would only attack non-British ships,
attentions to the morally dubious, albeit lucrative, a pronouncement that was perceived as a threat
slave trade. The slave coast of Africa provided a despite English reassurances.

66
 Henry Every

It was his time as captain of the

Fancy that earned Every his later
title of The Pirate King

67
 The Pirate Round

g
ate fla
the pir f
h ave been ring his brie
Said to y Every du
r
of Hen tive career
cra
but lu

Every’s exploits captured

the popular imagination,
inspiring a number of The daring capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai made Every’s
literary works career, and left him the richest pirate known to history

The most daring and notorious of Every’s exploits, There was more good fortune to follow, when an Mughal’s daughter who had happened to be on
however, came six months after he became captain exploding cannon killed many Ganj-i-Sawai’s men, board that day, duly fathering on her a number of
when he led the single most audacious and lucrative further reducing her chances and greatly increasing children. (This is pure fabrication, as although it was
pirate attack recorded in history. Every and the odds in Every’s favour. With his quarry reported there were women of high birth on board
the Fancy, along with several other unable or unwilling to put up much the Ganj-i-Sawai, there is nothing to support this
vessels, took on the 25-ship strong of a fight now, Every triumphed, extreme claim.) Every was also rumoured to have
convoy of ships belonging having just achieved the become royalty in his own right, and it was said he
to the Grand Mughal as it seemingly impossible. was treated as such by those who followed him.
crossed the Red Sea in D EFINING With this victory, Every Despite the lack of evidence for any such claims, one
August 1695, heading for MOMENT became the wealthiest thing was certain: Every’s name was one of the most
Mecca on pilgrimage. Mutiny on Charles II known pirate across the famed in the pirating world, and word of his exploits
Escort ship the Fateh At the forefront of this bold move by globe, with the booty inspired many others to turn to the same way of life.
Muhammed was taken disaffected and unpaid crew members, Every from the capture of the Despite the glamour and fame attached to Every’s
was quick to assert his position as a leader.
out with ease, but When the either drunk or sick captain and his
Ganj-i-Sawai clocking in exploits, there is – as always – a darker side to the
ambitious Every had his loyal followers chose to leave the ship rather at an estimated value of tale. It was said that when the Ganj-i-Sawai was
sights set on the grand than serve under the mutineers, Every was £600,000, a staggering captured, Every and his crew showed no mercy,
prize: the treasure-laden appointed captain in his place of the sum the equivalent of murdering those who stood in their way and raping
newly renamed Fancy.
1,600-tonne Ganj-i-Sawai. over 50 million pounds in women who took their fancy, many of whom threw
A daunting prospect to a 1694 modern currency. Those who themselves overboard in desperation rather than
less bold man, the odds were also took part in the capture face what the men had in store for them. Such
not in Every’s favour, with the Ganj- received around £1,000, untold reports could be dismissed as part of the legend that
i-Sawai boasting 62 guns to the Fancy’s wealth for your average seaman. has surrounded Every, but – unlike other rumours
46. Luck was on Every’s side, however, and an The myth of Every took off immediately, and – the violence that took place after the capture is
early and crippling blow to the enemy’s mainmast there was no limit to the fabled daring of this supported by official records given by eyewitnesses,
quickly determined which way the wind blew. famed pirate. He had, it was said, married the Great including members of Every’s crew, not long after

68
 Henry Every
The Privy Council
offered a £500 reward
for the apprehension
of Every, an amount
that was met by the
East India Company

DEFINING
MOMENT
Capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai
This most daring of escapades made Every’s
brief career as a pirate and earned him lasting
renown as one of the richest and most successful
marauders in history. The Mughal vessel
was carrying jewels and other treasures to
the worth of several hundred thousand
pounds, and it is for this exploit that
Every is best remembered.
1695

The stories continued, fact weaving with fiction

“One thing was certain: Every’s name was one to create a legend that was further perpetuated by
Daniel Defoe’s 1719 The King of Pirates and other
of the most famed in the pirating world” accounts that purported to tell the real story of
this intriguing and terrifying individual. Over the
events took place. Every, on the other hand, is said to the attempt, returning to England. He also left years Every has been known by various names and
have said no harm came to the women. another legacy: due to Every and his bold attack and aliases, some from during his lifetime and others
Furthermore, there were fatal consequences to capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai, the authorities for the that have been attributed to him posthumously,
Every’s bold move. Ever delicate at the best of times, first time decided to crack down on the increasingly such as Benjamin Bridgeman, and the subsequent
the capture of the Ganj-i-Sawai proved a harsh blow frequent crime of piracy and all that it stood for. shortening of Long Ben, which can be linked to the
to the shaky diplomatic relations between England Every and his men were declared ‘enemies of the real man. Others, such as John Avery, which cannot.
and the Mughal powers, placing English authorities human race’ by parliament. Every himself signed his name as Henry Every.
in a tricky position to say the least. Understandably Retribution was brutal, as 24 of the pirates There are conflicting stories about the eventual
greatly angered by what had transpired, the Mughal involved in the attack were arrested, and six found end of this bane of the establishment. Some say he
threatened retribution. If Every expected to be themselves before the courts. Tried and found guilty escaped to the tropics where he lived out his days
supported by his home country then he was to after an initial acquittal was overturned through with the riches he had plundered, enjoying them
be mistaken, as a combined reward of £1,000 was bribery of the jury, the unfortunate men were well into his old age. Other versions of the tale have
offered to anyone who could capture the biggest eventually hanged in London in 1696. him getting at least some of what he deserved,
© Alamy,, wiki, Eugene Zelenko, Thinkstock

threat to the safety of the seas. Every and his crew Every himself, as fate would have it, managed to being in turn conned out of his ill-gotten gains and
took moves to flee but, despite buying time by avoid sharing their sorry end, though many would retreating, penniless and alone, to die in poverty
sailing to the Bahamas and bribing its governor, no doubt say he deserved to meet a similar death for and squalor. If that were the case, what became of
they could not escape the combined might of the the trouble he had caused. Despite no firm evidence Every’s famed treasure? Perhaps, as some believe,
Privy Council and The East India Company. After of what happened next, many supposed sightings it is still out there somewhere, just waiting to be
an attempt to obtain a pardon from the royally were made of the infamous pirate over the months discovered by an intrepid treasure hunter, along with
appointed Governor in Jamaica failed, he abandoned and years that followed. the remains of Every himself.

69
 The Pirate Round

Captain
William Kidd
from privateer to pirate
Captain Kidd is undoubtedly among the most
famous pirates of all time, but was it politics that
ultimately brought him down?
DEFINING

T
hings were not going well for Captain about everybody he met who was beneath him in
William Kidd, a privateer about to social status. A shipping agent in the Indian port MOMENT
upgrade to pirate. With the backing of of Karwar attested to Kidd’s argumentative nature The king’s commission
rich lords in England, including King and dealings with the crew. He described the The governor of New York, Massachusetts
William III (in on the deal with a 10 captain as “a very lusty man, fighting with his and New Hampshire, Governor Richard Coote,
per cent share), Kidd had set out on the open waves men on any occasion, often calling for his pistols Earl of Bellomont, approached Captain Kidd
to undertake a privateering mission with the
in Adventure Galley, with the remit to take down and threatening anyone that durst speak anything backing of King William III. Given the letter of
pirates, freebooters and sea rovers. Four notorious contrary to his mind to knock out their brains, marque personally signed by the king, Kidd
names mentioned in the king’s commission, drawn causing them to dread him.” set off to take down pirates and enemy
French ships he came across.
up on 11 December 1695, included: Thomas Tew, A series of miscalculations (in decision-making
Thomas Wake, William Maze and John Ireland. and course of action) sealed his fate and infamy as December 1695
These pirates plagued shipping routes in the Indian one of the most famous pirates of all time. Due to
Ocean. Kidd was, thanks to a letter of marque, also his connection to wealthy backers in New York and
able to plunder any French merchant ships that England, Kidd believed he had a level of protection.
crossed his path, under the ‘commission of reprisals’. But moving forward into piracy was strange
Yet months and months had passed, fraught with behaviour – even today the reasoning is unknown,
disappointment after disappointment. Adventure and may be attributed to numerous factors, rather
Galley, a 34-gun ship, was in need of much repair, than a singular cause. Spurred on by a crew who
and the crew was increasingly in mutinous may have cut their captain’s throat if things didn’t
mood. Personal character defects in Kidd didn’t improve soon, Kidd failed to realise that once news
help matters, either. He was deemed an arrogant of his piratical ways reached the ports around the
man, a fine seaman but a tyrant on deck, whose Indian Ocean and back to the king’s court, the
obnoxious self-importance and airs annoyed just privateering syndicate whose ship he commanded

70
 William Kidd

“Kidd’s obnoxious
self-importance and
airs annoyed just
about everybody
he met who was
beneath him in
social status”

Born in Scotland in 1645, William

Kidd came from a sailing
background, and his father was
said to be lost at sea

71
 The Pirate Round
and who sent him out to capture pirates, would
wash their hands of him and close ranks.
The myth of Captain Kidd as the greatest pirate of
them all has endured. But the truth of the matter is
different. Compared to others of his kind, he wasn’t
successful in endeavour or fortune, certainly not
enough to justify his status in popular culture. What
partly sealed the deal was the rumour in the years
after his meeting with the hangman’s noose,
that he’d left behind buried treasure. A
possible location for this bounty
of silver and gold is Gardiners
Island, off East Hampton,
Long Island. A chest of D EFINING
treasure is a vital element MOMENT
in pirate mythology,
hugely popularised
The killing of
William Moore
by Robert Louis With Kidd’s men in a mutinous mood and their
Stevenson’s children’s captain in a foul one, gunner William Moore told
classic Treasure Island Kidd that they should capture a Dutch ship that
had come into their midst. They quarrelled
(1882). Much like Kidd’s when Kidd threw an iron-hooped bucket at
reputation down the years Moore, which struck him on the head.
(somewhat overblown), Moore died the following day.
actual historical accounts of October 1697
sea dogs burying their ill-gotten
pieces of eight and gold are a
rarity. Feverish media attention during
his capture and trial back in London ensured
Kidd became something of a poster boy for this
period of maritime history.
William Kidd was born in Greenock, Scotland,
circa 1645. His father was a minister in the
Presbyterian church, and by 1689 was at sea working
as a privateer already straddling the line between
hero and villain. Although he earned a name as
a brave individual who went fearlessly into battle

Kidd wrote several letters to

King William from his prison
cell, requesting clemency

A romanticised portrait of a scene at

New York Harbour aboard Captain
Kidd’s ship. Painted by Jean Leon
Gerome Ferris (1863-1930)

against the French, these early forays into plundering Galley and noted that it had a red flag raised (the
and rucking with the enemy indicate that his pirate’s flag). Attacking a fleet headed by the East
personality didn’t endear him to folk. In command India Company was an attack of lunacy as much
of Blessed William, the buccaneers mutinied and as piracy, and Spectre, under Captain Barlow, won
ditched their captain, sailing off without him after this skirmish. Kidd ordered his boat to get out of
they docked at the isle of Saint Nevis. range and skulked off. For weeks, Adventure Galley
Setting off from Plymouth in May 1696, Kidd and went marauding, and tales of brutality regarding
his crew of 80 must have been in high hopes. Once Adventure’s crew were circulated.
in the Indian Ocean, deadly tropical diseases took Two weeks after the run-in with Spectre, Kidd
hold. Illness and inaction (where were the pirates?) landed the Big One. The 400-ton Quedagh Merchant
slowly began to gnaw at their collective spirit. was spied not far from the port of Cochin. Under
Replacing the dead with new crew, many of them the command of an Englishman, John Wright,
pirates, they set off for the Red Sea and Kidd’s volte- Quedagh Merchant was carrying what to Captain
face from near complete. First, venturing to the Red Kidd must have been up to that point something
Sea was not in his mission statement. Second, he of a motherlode: silk, opium, sugar, iron and calico.
was now openly talking about making money from Adventure Galley was flying French flags this time,
seizing any ships in the region. a routine deception as the idea behind it was a
On 14 August 1697, the 36-gun ship Spectre, ship might not be seized by privateers. Using his
captained by Edward Barlow, saw Adventure letter of marque, he announced Quedagh Merchant

72
 DEFINING
William Kidd
MOMENT
Examination in parliament
From his incarceration in Newgate Prison,
Kidd was marched to Whitehall and became the
only pirate to appear before MPs at the Houses
of Parliament. Questioned on two separate
occasions, records haven’t survived. All that
is known is that Kidd tried to impeach Lord
Oxford and Lord Somers, who had
backed the privateering mission.
March 1701

A 17th-century depiction of
Captain
Kidd burying his treasure
at
Gardiners Island, off Long
Island

had married a wealthy Manhattanite (Sarah Oort),

and could call governors and lords friends and
acquaintances. But the offer from the syndicate was
a bind. He dared not refuse it, as to turn down such
an opportunity would have attached a social stigma
and dishonour. Conversely, it served to increase his
standing in the world, if a success, and could make
him a rich man who could afford to live a life of
leisure or pursue some other land-based business.
Kidd didn’t go quietly when arrested; he raged.
Having taken stock of the captain’s plunder – which
was listed by the captured pirate during an interview
before the eventual arrest – everybody from
Bellomont to the East India Company was gripped
by treasure fever, all wanting a slice. The total prize
was estimated at a gargantuan sum: £400,000. As
much as £14,000 was recovered in gold, silver and
jewels. But was the estimate correct? And was there

“Captain Kidd turning pirate is among the gold buried on Gardiners Island, where Kidd had set
ashore twice in the weeks before his arrest?

stranger stories of the era. He had risen in the On 14 April 1700, Kidd was back in London,
holed up in Newgate Prison. There he stayed for 11
world from humble beginnings” months, growing suicidal and knowing none of his
former friends and allies wanted anything to do
was being taken as a prize for King William. It Intending to flee the area and make for the with him. In court, he faced charges of piracy and
is estimated that Kidd earned £7,000 from this West Indies, Captain Kidd made port at Sainte- murder. Upon being found guilty and sentenced to
capture. He flogged its contents at Caliquilon and Marie, Madagascar, and ran into Captain Robert be hanged, a stunned Kidd said: “My lord, it is a very
went on his merry way, the crew sated for now. Culliford of Resolution. This known pirate should hard sentence. For my part, I am the innocentest
Soon after that, Kidd decided to ditch Adventure have been detained, placed in irons, and his ship person of them all, only I have been sworn against
Galley, which was very much on its last legs, and seized by Kidd. It was, after all, what he’d planned perjured persons.”
the newly acquired Quedagh Merchant became his to do. Instead, they became pally, and Kidd assured Kidd’s death on 23 May 1701 at Execution Dock,
man-of-war vessel. It was also around this time that Culliford he wasn’t out to get him. Wapping, was gruesome and undignified. The first
he learned that his piratical adventuring had become Captain Kidd turning pirate is among the stranger attempt to pass the sentence ended with the rope
© Alamy, Wiki, Thinkstock

common knowledge, not only in the region, but back stories of the era. He had risen in the world from breaking. Strangled and delirious, the convict was
in Europe. Kidd had frankly become a great source humble beginnings, had earned a reputation as strung from a ladder and hung a second time. His
of embarrassment for the syndicate, if the stories a trustworthy man, was commended for acts of corpse was placed in a gibbet at Tilbury, where it
were true. bravery in his dealings with the enemy France, rotted for years.

73
 The Pirate Round

A galleon comes under attack by

pirates; could it contain a fortune
like that of the Great Mohamed?

Robert Culliford
scourge of William Kidd
When Robert Culliford snatched Kidd’s ship, the famed
captain would stop at nothing to get him back

T
he mysterious Robert Culliford’s life When France and England declared war on one were granted a sought-after letter of marque, granting
was one that was marked by some another, the crew of Sainte Rose mutinied and seized their privateering endeavours an official approval.
startling reversals of fortune, with control of the vessel. Appointing William Kidd as Culliford became a captain in his own right when
mutiny, marooning and Marshalsea all captain, they renamed the ship Blessed William, the privateers captured a French frigate, L’Espérance,
playing their part. Culliford came from yet things weren’t rosy on deck for these English which Mason gave to his loyal crew mate. Blighted
coastal Cornwall and, although his early years are lost privateers. The sailors soon grew dissatisfied with with bad luck that saw them lose much of their
to history, he soon left obscurity far behind. Culliford Kidd’s captaincy, and Culliford was at the head of a hard-won booty to French privateers, Culliford sailed
first came to notice in 1689 when he was serving second mutiny against his former crew mate that for India, determined to refill their cargo hold with
as part of an Anglo-French crew, the Sainte Rose, a took place in 1690. Waiting for Kidd to go ashore, plenty of plunder. Instead, Culliford and his crew
French privateer ship sailing the Caribbean seas. It Culliford’s mutineers stole away in Blessed William were soon captured by the Mughals and thrown in
was while on this crew that he met a fellow and elected William Mason their captain. This proved prison. Here they languished for nearly four years
crewman named William Kidd, later to become a decisive moment in Culliford’s career and, though before they were released, and Culliford led his men
famous in his own right, entering pirate legend as he wasn’t captain, he exercised enormous influence out to sea, once more aboard a ship stolen from the
Captain Kidd. over Mason. Under Culliford’s direction, the crew mighty East India Company.

74
 Robert Culliford
No doubt believing that his bad luck was behind determination and the success of his recent when Culliford learned that they were there on a
him, Culliford must have been surprised to find endeavours, he became a rather attractive prospect. mission to offer him a pardon, he was more than
himself on land all over again, when the crew of the With Kidd powerless to stop them, the majority of interested. After such an extensive pirate career,
stolen vessel took back their ship and marooned his crew abandoned their pirate-hunting master and Culliford was happy to accept the royal pardon,
him. Luckily for Culliford, he was rescued signed on to sail with Cuilliford instead. though some of his crew weren’t so sure and fled,
by Mocha, a ship whose captaincy With his newly enlarged crew, happy to remain outlaws.
he inherited in 1697. With his Culliford sailed from Saint After years in exotic climes, Culliford returned to
ill fortune finally a thing of Mary’s Island off the coast England, believing himself to be a free man. Here,
the past, Robert Cuilliford’s
career finally went from
D EFINING of Madagascar in 1698.
Alongside him was another
however, he found that he had been outwitted. In
fact, almost as soon as he set foot on British soil,
strength to strength, and MOMENT pirate, Dirk Chivers, and Culliford was arrested for the attack on the treasure-
he was soon the captain Capturing Great Mohamed together the two men laden Great Mohamed. The man who had once
of his own fleet. As the After years of ill fortune that included mutiny, made for the Red Sea, sailed the open seas was thrown into the festering
marooning and a four-year spell in a Mughal
years passed, he became prison, Culliford teamed up with pirate captain
where they engaged prison at Marshalsea, his pardon now worthless. It
a famed and feared pirate, Dirk Chivers and sailed for the Red Sea. They Great Mohammed. seemed inevitable that Culliford’s next stop would be
operating off Madagascar captured Great Mohamed, a ship groaning That ship was carrying the gallows, but instead he agreed to testify against
under the weight of its treasure. The
and seizing a fortune in a fortune in cash, and another pirate, Samuel Burgess, in return for his life.
bounty of £130,000 made the captains
treasure and vessels. and crew rich men. Culliford and Chivers At this point, Robert Culliford disappears from the
Nine years after he met 1698 captured it with ease. historical record, his fate unknown. Although what
Kidd about Sainte Rose, the Emboldened and fired up by became of Culliford will likely remain a mystery, it
men were to meet again off the this enormous haul, Culliford is tempting to speculate about what happened to
coast of Madagascar. Now Kidd was continued to sail the waters around him once he was released from Marshalsea. Perhaps
a feared pirate hunter, and when he heard Madagascar, terrorising shipping and he went back to sea under another name, or even
that Cuilliford was in the area, he was determined bringing in plenty of booty. aboard a naval vessel, or maybe, having cheated
to get his revenge. He had not forgotten the mutiny Culliford’s reign of piratical terror couldn’t last death by the narrowest of margins, the hugely
all those years ago, nor Culliford’s part in it, and he forever, and in 1699, the British arrived on St Mary’s wealthy Captain Culliford retired and lived to a ripe
was sure that the time had come to make Culliford Island in search of the infamous captain. Although old age, happy to live the high life on the spoils of his
pay. In fact, once Kidd’s crew heard of Culliford’s his first instinct had been to fire on the British ships, piratical career.

“The man who had once sailed the open seas Culliford returned to
London, believing he
had been pardoned by
was thrown into the festering prison” King George I

The capture of Great Mohamed left

Culliford’s crew rich men, and the
captain netted a fortune

75
 The Pirate Round

Amaro Pargo was one of the

richest, not to mention most
charitable, pirates of the age

Amaro Pargo
the charitable captain
Not all pirates spent their days plundering; some
consorted with kings and gave a fortune to charity

B
orn on Tenerife in 1678, Amaro Rodríguez Catholic from birth and faith, and this was always Amaro’s career coincided with the War of the
Felipe y Tejera Machado became famed a defining element of Amaro Pargo’s life. As he Spanish Succession and, for a privateer with ambition
in pirate history by the nickname Amaro grew older he sought for a career of his own and, and daring, the rewards could be enormous. Amaro,
Pargo. He was given this name in honour when in his early 20s, took to the ocean as a second however, wasn’t going to rest on his privateering
of the largo fish, which was known to lieutenant aboard Ave Maria, known to its crew as La laurels, and had ambitions in business too.
move swiftly through the waves, taking its prey Chata, which translates to The Barge. It was on The Swiftly he established himself as one of the most
by surprise. The ships commanded by this famed Barge that a chance attack by pirates gave the young accomplished captains at sea, building his fortune on
privateer were just as swift and just as sure, but not second lieutenant the chance to prove himself, an the back of trading between the Canary Islands and
everyone feared this particular pirate. event that changed of his life forever. When Amaro’s the West Indies. He expired brandy and wine made
Amaro was born to wealthy parents on the island shrewd strategising resulted in the defeat of the pirate from his own crops, and also became one of the
of Tenerife, where he was raised in comfortable, attack, the young man was given a ship as a reward, most active slave traders to emerge from the Canary
privileged surroundings. Like his peers, he was a and from that moment, nothing could stop Amaro. Islands. On the back of these business interests, no

76
 Amaro Pargo
matter how unsavoury they seem to us, Amaro Pargo firmly believed, since God had given him so many return, Pargo funded the building of the Parroquia de
acquired a fortune in goods and property, eventually blessings and such good fortune, that he was duty Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, the precursor to La
becoming the richest man in the Canary Islands. So bound to give something back in return. Just as in Laguna Cathedral that can be seen on Tenerife today.
celebrated was Amaro that he was welcomed into all other areas of his life, Amaro didn’t do charity Amaro remained unmarried and, since his death,
the company of King Philip V of Spain, who by halves, and he shovelled a fortune into historians have sought to find evidence of a romantic
awarded him a letter of marque. philanthropic works. Amaro’s exploits connection between the nun and the pirate, though
At the head of a large and richly and trade deals were used to bring so far, have been unable to do so. There is no denying
appointed fleet, Amaro sailed much-needed relief for the that Amaro counted Sister Mary of Jesus as a beloved
the West Indies, making poor and needy, including friend, and when she died in 1731, he funded a lavish
the very best of the letter D EFINING those held in prison. He casket for the woman he considered as good as a
the king had awarded MOMENT ploughed money into saint. Indeed, Amaro always believed that he had
him. His fortune meant religious orders, charitable been blessed by Sister Mary, and was convinced that
An audience with the king
that he could afford the In 1725, after years spent serving the king endeavours and places she watched over him after death, bringing him luck
best of everything, and of Spain, Amaro Pargo was honoured by of worship, even paying and good fortune, as well as providing the occasional
his ships were some Philip V of Spain, who named him Caballero for the construction of miracle to see him safely home.
hijodalgo. This title officially recognised
of the best-equipped Amaro as a nobleman, a hero of the people, churches and cathedrals When Pargo died in 1747, he was at home in San
on the ocean, tirelessly and one of the most important people in in which he could Cristóbal de La Laguna, the very place in which he
chasing down his Dutch the land. It was the pinnacle of worship the Lord he had been born. His funeral was as magnificent as
his achievements.
and British quarries. As a believed had raised him to you might expect, and was attended by an enormous
loyal subject of King Philip V, 1725 the very pinnacle of wealth crowd of both the rich and poor, all of the town
Amaro Pargo’s targets were any and success. After all, he was a pouring into the streets in order to pay their respects
vessel that came from a nation who favourite of the king himself, not to to the man who had given them so much. Amara
opposed Spain, and he was merciless mention the most wealthy man in the Pargo, however, left one tantalising mystery behind.
in pursuit. If captains refused to capitulate to his Canary Islands. Thanks to his exploits, Amaro In his will, he wrote of a vast treasure that he had
demands, he engaged them in battle, seizing their Pargo became a celebrity in his homeland, loved by accrued and hidden somewhere, a priceless booty of
ships, their cargo and a fortune in booty. the people from the richest to the poorest, and hailed art, money, jewels and every imaginable luxury. To
But for Amaro, life wasn’t all about boarding, as a hero, as well as a man of God. this day, that treasure has not been found; perhaps,
looting and battling; he had a philanthropic side too. That man of God found one of his closet friends in one day, Amaro Pargo’s fortune will be revealed. Until
From the day of his birth in San Cristóbal de La the shape of Sister Mary of Jesus, a nun who became then, it remains one of the greatest mysteries of the
Laguna, Amaro Pargo was a devoted Catholic. He his confidante, confessor and spiritual advisor. In pirate age.

Amaro took his

nickname from the
pargo, a fast-moving fish

Sister Mary of Jesus was Amaro Amaro’s tomb on Tenerife

Pargo’s closest friend and features the unmistakable symbol
spiritual confessor of the skull and crossbones

77
 86
The Golden Age
Piracy reached its Golden Age
between 1715-1725, when a gang of
pirate captains ruled the caribbean

80 The Pirate Republic 112 Woodes Rogers

86 The Flying Gang 114 Charles Vane
88 Sam Bellamy 118 Jack Rackham
92 Benjamin Hornigold 122 Anne Bonny
96
98
Henry Jennings
Blackbeard
124
128
Mary Read
Bartholomew Roberts
98
102 The Queen 132 William Fly
Anne’s Revenge
134 Olivier Levasseur
104 The Legend of
Black Caesar 138 Pirates in

88
the Caribbean
110 Stede Bonnet

122
78
 138 128

104

114

80

79
 The Golden Age

THE PIRATE
REPUBLIC
The Golden Age of
Piracy saw a nest of
pirates emerge around
the port of Nassau on
the Bahaman island of
New Providence. Here
they formed their own
‘pirate republic’…

80
 The Pirate Republic

T
he Golden Age of Piracy has come under the cover of night, a clutch of Royal Navy An 18th-century cannon
to describe the decade between 1715 men sneaked off to join the outlaws. stands in place in Fort
and 1725 where, with the Treaty of Many of the early buccaneers had been Charlotte, New Providence
Utrecht bringing an end to Britain’s privateers, operating under license from the
involvement in the War of the crown and granted legal right to harry enemy
Spanish Succession, a number of enterprising and shipping. During the Golden Age, however, this
ruthless commodores had taken to the seas for changed and men took to the sea knowing
private gain. British sailors had full well that they were
suffered particular hardship in open revolt against the
with the signing of the authorities. As well as out-of-
Treaty and the Royal Navy’s “When captured work and disaffected sailors,
subsequent mothballing of
its enormous fleet. This left by pirates, pirate numbers were boosted
by the arrival of runaway
sailors out of work, and those
who did find employment saw many men slaves, indentured servants
and all sorts of other outlaws,
their wages slashed in the new
economic climate.
switched sides” including the politically and
religiously agitated, many of
though the infamous duo of ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy
and Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach took more than
Indeed, dissatisfaction was whom objected to George I’s 300 ships between them, there are no reports of
so prevalent among those ascension to the throne of their having killed a single captive.
who sailed with merchant vessels or those still England in 1714. He had succeeded Queen Anne Much to the authorities’ annoyance, these
working with the Royal Navy that very often, at the expense of the house of Stuart, much to pirate gangs enjoyed enormous success, harrying
when captured by pirates (or buccaneers as the the chagrin of Jacobite sympathisers. It is no French, Spanish and English shipping throughout
Caribbean operatives became known), many coincidence that Blackbeard renamed his the West Indies and raiding the coast. Chief
men immediately switched sides. On board a flagship, the captured slaver La Concorde, as among them were the pirates who set up in the
pirate vessel, not only would they stand to boost Queen Anne’s Revenge.  port of Nassau on the Bahaman island of New
their wages, but they would also enjoy a less The authorities regularly painted pictures of Providence. The island was around 60 square
stringent brand of discipline. One famous example these pirates as brutal monsters, bent on rape miles in size and was situated 200 miles east of
of maritime defection is the standoff between and pillage, but the truth is often quite different. Florida, thereby offering a sound base to harass
Bahaman pirates and HMS Phoenix in 1718, where, Many colonists regarded them as folk heroes and the shipping lanes.

A flotilla of smaller pirate

ships attack a British Royal
Navy vessel

81
 The Golden Age
The island offered fresh fruit, meat and water
while Nassau’s harbour was tailormade for defence
and the unloading of booty. It could take around
500 vessels, though it was too shallow to accept
large battleships. With Hog Island splitting the
harbour into two inlets, it was also difficult to
blockade. The surrounding region, meanwhile,
offered plenty of protection amid its waterways
and no sensible captain would sail these waters
without an experienced pilot at the helm.
Buccaneers had long recognised New
Providence’s strategic importance, though it
came into its own when selected as the base of
operations by the privateer-turned-pirate Benjamin
Hornigold in 1713 (see separate profile on page
92). Hornigold, along with his great rival Henry
Jennings (see separate profile on page 96) became
the unofficial overlord of a veritable pirate republic,
which played host to the self-styled Flying Gang.
In truth, New Providence had suffered greatly
during the War of the Spanish Succession and had
witnessed Spanish incursions during 1703, 1704 Full-on naval battles were
and 1706. By the time Hornigold had set his sights typically avoided by pirate
on the island, there was only a skeleton settlement crews and captains
in the town of Nassau, and Thomas Walker was
the island’s only remaining appointed official. amount of interest and concern, with the acting was away on business Hornigold freed Stillwell
Though the evidence is scant, it appears that he governor of Bermuda, Henry Pulleine, writing to and hatched his own plan in a bid to rid New
was acting in the role of deputy governor upon officials in London that the Bahamas had become Providence of Walker and his troublesome ways.
Hornigold’s arrival and he did not take kindly to a veritable “nest of pyrates”.  This was a key moment in the history of the
the pirates’ presence. Walker, meanwhile, who lived a few miles island, for with Walker out of the way, there would
He took it upon himself to stand up to the from Nassau with his freed black wife and their be no opposition to the Flying Gang, who would
buccaneers and, calling for reinforcements, he children, set about planning an attack on the rule the Bahamas as they saw fit.
penned copious letters to anyone and everyone, Bahaman pirates and sailing against the men on According to a deposition given in Charleston by
sending missives to the proprietors of Bahaman Harbour Island, due east of New Providence, he Walker’s son, Thomas Jr, the young man ran into
estates, the lords of the admiralty and the press, captured the pirate Daniel Stillwell, a number of Hornigold in late 1715 in the port of Nassau and the
informing them of the growing pirate menace his associates and the pirate ship Happy Return. pirate told him that his father was a “troublesome
operating from his island. He whipped up a goodly His luck ran out, however, and while Walker old fart” and that if he did not desist from his

Pirates board a vessel under

the cover of moonlight

82
 The Pirate Republic
meddling ways, Hornigold would
murder him, burn his house to the
ground and whip his family.
When, in December of that year,
Hornigold captured the mighty
Spanish warship that he vainly named
Benjamin, it looked as though Walker
had lost control. By the time Henry
Jennings and his men sailed into
tury Fort
Nassau in January 1716, their decks The 18th-cen oks
erlo
Fincastle ov
laden with Spanish treasure, a new age ssau
the city of Na
really had been born. A short while
later, Hornigold refortified the harbour,
refitting the old fort and arming it with cannons.
Walker conceded defeat. He set sail for Charleston
with his family, never to return. New Providence,
to all intents and purposes, belonged to pirates. 
According to Captain Johnson’s original source,
A General History Of Pirates (as it came to be
known), by 1716 Nassau played home to not just
Hornigold and Jennings, but also to the former’s
loyal lieutenant Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, John
Martel, Olivier La Buse, Charles Bellamy and
Edward England among many others. The island
of New Providence also acted as a rendezvous for
a clutch of other infamous pirates, including Stede
Bonnet, Jack Rackam and the pirate women Mary
Read and Anne Bonny.
As 1716 wore on, the outlaw population on
New Providence blossomed, boosted by log
cutters from Campeche and any number of the
disaffected. The citizenry began to drift away,
fearful of their treatment at the hands of the
swaggering newcomers. One Thomas Barrow, the
leader of the men that had worked on the Spanish All crewmembers on a
wreckers, earned a nasty reputation for extorting pirate ship would fight for
the menfolk and upsetting the island’s women. their share of the spoils
Hundreds of tents and huts, houses and hovels
sprung up as the pirates made the place their own. Tortuga, off the coast
Wives and prostitutes moved in and alehouses did of Haiti, is also the
site of a pirate base
a roaring trade. 
The better homes in and around Nassau,
meanwhile, were populated by the merchants and
smugglers to whom the pirates sold their booty
and with whom they traded for ammunition and
other valuable supplies. However, even the traders
were not always ensured safe passage around
New Providence. Barrow is said to have robbed a
brigantine from New England around this time
and to have beaten up the master of a Bermudan
trading vessel.
Still, the place was not entirely lawless.
Generally, the pirates operated within the rules of
an unwritten code of conduct, which ensured that
their existence was the very best among sailors,
and certainly more profitable and enjoyable than
the life of a Royal Navy tar or a merchant. For the
Flying Gang came to elect their captains and, if
they felt he had failed them, they could depose
him. When in combat, the captain was granted
full command but the majority of decisions, from
deciding where to attack to choosing suitable
punishments for transgressors, were made
democratically by the ship’s crew.

83
 The Golden Age

New Providence
This small island
in the Bahamas
was to become a
pirate paradise

Lake Killarney
A supply of fresh water
ensured that New
Providence was a fine safe
haven for outlaws.

New Providence interior

The island offered the pirates
coneys and pigs and plenty of
fruit. The New Providence
farmers also grew corn, peas,
yams, onions and a variety of
other produce.

Prizes were split pretty evenly between all ships of all nations, the British authorities finally Rogers had already proved himself an able
crew members, with the captain only taking a took a decisive course of action with a three- commander and had been a successful privateer
little more than his men and the cabin boy taking pronged plan of attack. First, the Navy would himself, operating under the sponsorship of the
the smallest share. The crew also appointed a dispatch three warships to Caribbean waters. Mayor and corporation of Bristol in years past. He
quartermaster to ensure that food and supplies Second, George I would offer the King’s Pardon arrived at New Providence in July 1718 on board
were doled out equitably. Hornigold and Jennings to any surrendering pirate, forgiving them for all the Delicia, a former East Indiaman, and was
were the pre-eminent pirate leaders, though some piracies committed prior to January 1718. Third, accompanied by the warships HMS Milford and
have written that Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach was the authorities would appoint Woodes Rogers as HMS Rose along with the sloop-of-war Shark. In
appointed as a magistrate on the island. Whatever governor and garrison commander of the Bahamas total, he had brought seven armed ships and more
the truth of this claim, he certainly became a with a precise remit: deliver the King’s Pardon to than 500 men – more than enough, the authorities
powerful pirate leader. Such was the power of this any who would accept. Those that did not should reckoned, to take down the republic of pirates.
pirate republic, and the damage it caused to the be hunted down via a committed offensive. Several prominent figures, such as Hornigold

84
 The Pirate Republic

Hog Island
Hog Island (now known as
Paradise Island) was a popular
spot for abandoning the hulls
of captured and looted ships.

Potters Cay
With two inlets serving
the port, Nassau offered
its defenders protection
from blockades and a
ready escape route.

Nassau
During the period, only one
fort protected the harbour,
and though in disrepair for
many years, it was refortified
first by Benjamin Hornigold
and then by Woodes Rogers.

“George I would offer the King’s Pardon to any and William Cunningham, who had been one of
Blackbeard’s gunners. Rogers hanged them, a total
surrendering pirate, forgiving them for all acts” of eight recidivists swinging on the gallows on the
morning of December 12.
himself, having already received news of the King’s town. He recruited Benjamin Hornigold and Rogers’ arrival and his execution of these
Pardon, decided to turn themselves in. Others, such Captain Cockram as pirate hunters and sent them Nassau pirates did not bring an end to the age of
as Charles Vane and Blackbeard, decided to fight. after Vane. Though Vane eluded him, in October buccaneering, but it terminated New Providence’s
Vane was holed up in Nassau upon Rogers’ Hornigold caught up with a clutch of pirates on position as a haven for outlaws and scoundrels.
arrival but quickly fired his guns and fled, leaving the island of Exuma. These men had accepted the Though the likes of Blackbeard and Vane remained
the island to the new governor who immediately set King’s Pardon before swiftly going back to their at large for a while, the Pirate Republic had breathed
about reassuring the civilians, and also rebuilding old ways. They included two notable men, John its final breath, before finally succumbing to the sea’s
the crumbling fort that overlooked the growing Augur, a former commander of the sloop Mary, pounding waves.

85
 The Golden Age

The Flying Gang Book of Pirates

fter the Wars of Spanish Succession drew to a close, many British they decided to form an organisation, taking the moniker ‘The Flying Gang’.

A
privateers who preyed on the Spanish New World shipping were Masterminded by Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings during the salvage
left feeling rather listless. With no more state-sponsored raiding of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, the gang consisted of the most cunning and
to fill their wallets, many of these men decided to turn their ships fierce buccaneers of the day and would terrorise the Caribbean until the Royal
and crew to a less salubrious form of money making – piracy. Navy and infighting brought them to justice. Not all famous pirates would be in
As there was a collection of these men and women around the Caribbean, the gang however, with men like Black Bart forging their own destinies.

Benjamin Hornigold Henry Jennings Edward Teach

Nationality: British Nationality: British Nationality: British
Born: c.1680 Died: 1719 Born: Unknown Died: Unknown Born: c.1680 Died: 1718
One of the founders of the Flying Gang, Benjamin The other founder of the Flying Gang, Henry Better known as Blackbeard, Teach could hold the
Hornigold served as a mentor for other members, Jennings’ first act of piracy was to seize some title as the most famous and feared pirate of all
including the terrifying Edward Teach. Aboard his of the 1715 Treasure Fleet plunder. He became time. Under the tutelage of Benjamin Hornigold,
30-gun sloop Ranger, he menaced merchants but the unofficial mayor of Nassau and Hornigold’s Teach took over some of his mentor’s small fleet
always avoided attacking British vessels in what rival, mentoring men like Charles Vane and Jack when Hornigold retired in 1717. By attacking
is usually seen as patriotism. Ignoring tempting Rackham. Jennings became infamous after a and capturing a French, he gained his notorious
targets wasn’t popular among his booty hungry botched attack on a French merchant vessel. flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. Decked out with
crew, however, and they mutinied and cast Betrayed by Sam Bellamy, who made off with 40 guns, this ship was a force to be reckoned
him out as captain. Taking up the 1718 Pardon, Jennings’ loot, the captain reportedly slaughtered with. Preferring to use his fearsome reputation
Hornigold became a pirate hunter, spending the 20 French and English sailors and put an English rather than violence to claim his booty, Blackbeard
rest of his life hunting down his old prodigy and merchantman to the torch. Jennings took the 1718 nevertheless fought the British Navy that was sent
other famous buccaneers. Pardon and retired from pirating. after him, finally submitting after a frenzied fight.

86
 Thw Flying Gang

Charles Vane ‘Calico’ Jack Rackham Sam Bellamy

Nationality: British Nationality: British Nationality: British
Born: c.1680 Died: 1721 Born: 1682 Died: 1720 Born: 1689 Died: 1717
The epitome of the romantic pirate image, Vane So named for his flashy, colourful calico clothes, As is the case with many pirate nicknames,
found his fortune in the sunken 1715 Treasure Jack Rackham is most remembered for his flag, the ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy got his name from his rather
Fleet with other members of the Flying Gang. Jolly Roger, and his unisex crew. He came into his distinctive appearance. Favouring black coats,
After being captured by the British in 1718, he own as a pirate when he mutinied against Charles Bellamy also shunned the fashionable powdered
hoodwinked them, spinning a story that he Vane, who lost his crew’s faith when he refused to wigs of the day, and instead he embraced his
wanted to surrender. Back on the seas, Vane attack a French ship ripe for the taking. Raiding natural black hair, which he would regularly tie
carved out a reputation for cruelty and violence around Nassau, Rackham would start an affair up to keep out of his face. After a 1716 mutiny
on friend and foe alike. Always refusing to bow to with Anne Bonny and the two would escape to the against Benjamin Hornigold, Bellamy set about
authority, he dodged the 1718 Pardon by breaking high seas, recruiting volunteers from the ships they becoming the richest pirate who ever lived. Recent
the blockade of Nassau. Stuffing a ship with attacked. After a heavy bout of drinking in port, excavations of his flagship, Whydah, show that at
gunpowder and explosives, he directed it at the Rackham’s ship was seized and its captain sent to the time of his death in 1717, he had amassed five
British, blowing a hole and making his escape. Port Royal to dance the hempen jig. tons of booty.

Paulsgrave Williams
Nationality: American
Born: 1676 Died: 1724
An accomplice of Sam Bellamy, Williams sought
his fortune in the sunken Spanish treasure fleet of
1715. Disappointment racked the man as both he
and Bellamy found that most of the treasure had
been secured before their arrival. Not one to be
deterred, Williams decided to ‘salvage’ loot from
ships that were still afloat and so fell into piracy.
Unlike his partner, Williams was known to always
sport a white, powdered wig in the sweltering
Caribbean sun. Contemporaries commented on
the sharp contrast between his white hair and sun-
baked skin.

Stede Bonnet Mary Read

Nationality: Barbadian Nationality: British Olivier ‘La Buse’ Levasseur
Born: c.1688 Died: 1718 Born: c.1690 Died: 1721 Nationality: French
A landowner before turning to a life of crime, Starting her life at sea as a sailor in the Royal Born: c.1688 Died: 1730
Bonnet was known as the ‘gentleman pirate’. After Navy (disguised as a man), Mary Read turned to Like many British privateers, Levasseur did not
raiding ships on the Eastern seaboard of the USA, piracy after being captured by buccaneers and want to desist his actions for the French crown
he began raiding with Edward Teach, after meeting had eventually signed up with Jack Rackham when the War of Spanish Succession drew to a
the man in Nassau. While plundering, Bonnet by 1720. She would only reveal her sex to Anne close. He was nicknamed ‘the buzzard’ for his quick
had sustained wounds that made him unable to Bonny, and the two may have had an affair, and fearless attacks. Levasseur is rightly famous for
command, but still followed Blackbeard and his which they kept secret from Rackham to avoid his substantial buried treasure, to which he created
crew in many successful raids. Bonnet almost lost his jealous feelings. After the whole crew was a string of clues. Leaving behind cryptic hints,
everything to Blackbeard, with his disgruntled captured after a heavy night of drinking, Read ciphers, rock carvings and a lost necklace, many
crew joining the Queen Anne’s Revenge and then claimed she was pregnant, known as ‘pleading have followed the trail in the hopes of discovering
Blackbeard himself betraying Bonnet and making the belly’ to avoid execution but fell ill and died his wealthy legacy, although nobody has
off with their ill-gotten loot. in captivity. succeeded – yet.

87
 The Flying Gang

Captain
Sam Bellamy
the pirate in black
Sam Bellamy might have landed the biggest
treasure haul ever known, but he lost it all – and
his life – during a violent storm

B
orn on Long Island, a Cape Cod resident ‘Black Sam Bellamy’ (because of his penchant for
raised on the area’s rich heritage related to black clothing) – and his crew sailed up the east
pirates and shipwrecks, Barry Clifford hit coast to Block Island, to the north of Cape Cod,
the news in July 1984. An avid explorer where Bellamy intended on careening and refitting DEFINING
of the deep blue sea, he’d discovered the two large ships in his four-ship fleet. The rain lashed MOMENT
remains of Captain Sam Bellamy’s famous ship, down harshly like a cat o’ nine tails on a sailor’s
Treasure hunter turns pirate
Whydah, wrecked by sand shoals and a tempest bloodied back, visibility was extremely poor, and Having sailed from England to Cape Cod, at
more than 200 years before, on 26 April 1717. the wind rose dangerously. The areas in which the the northern tip of Long Island, to track down
Clifford recovered 200,000 artefacts and plenty ships were sailing virtually blindly were known as relatives who lived there, Bellamy joined an
expedition to recover treasure from a Spanish
of treasure. While many pirate tales of plunder treacherous waters, for sand shoals could ground wreck down in Florida. With the project a
and buried treasure exist in the collective pop- a ship. Caught in a lee shore (where the wind rips failure, the crew turned pirate, joining
culture ether, mainly thanks to books and films, in from the open ocean and pushes vessels towards forces with Benjamin Hornigold and
Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard.
the rediscovery of Whydah and its bounty is quite land), one of the ships – a sloop traditionally known
extraordinary. Here was an authentic pirate ship as as Mary Anne – threatened to be smashed among 1716
evidence that pirates could get their grubby mitts breaking waves. The crew attempted to save the ship,
on some serious booty, and there was a kernel by cutting down the masts, and hunkered down for
of fact – a shred of truth – to the stories. This was the night. They survived.
the first authenticated find from the golden age of Miles further up the coast, Whydah – pitching and
piracy. Captain Sam Bellamy (1689-1717) earned the rolling – was dragging towards the shore. Not even
distinction – and long-lasting fame – as the pirate who anchors, deployed against the storm in an attempt to
captured the largest haul ever known. steady the ship, could help them. The laws of physics
Many yarns begin on a dark and stormy night, came into play. A ship its size could not survive a lee
and Whydah’s demise is no different. As pirate tales shore. Striking a shoal, the boat was a few hundred
go, there’s something almost tragic about Bellamy’s yards from land, and quickly ripped asunder. Two
death and the loss of all that beautiful treasure. men made it to safety. Over the course of several
Captain Sam Bellamy – known forever as the pirate days, bloated bodies washed up on the beaches,

88
 Sam Bellamy

“Captain Sam Bellamy earned the

distinction – and long-lasting fame
– as the pirate who captured the
largest haul ever known”

Captain Sam Bellamy

went down with his
ship on 26 April 1717

89
 The Golden Age
the crabs and other sea life having feasted upon an meted to the crew, something detailed time and time
unexpected human banquet. again during Bellamy’s days as a pirate, where he
As a Devonshire lad, born in Hittisleigh, circa 1689, captured more than 50 ships.
Bellamy was destined for a life at sea. After years in Thanks to Barry Clifford’s excavation of Whydah,
the Royal Navy, where he fought against the Spanish its bounty is known to the world. And what a haul!
in the West Indies, aboard the sloop Barsheba, Some 8,397 coins from several countries, 8,357 coins
Bellamy turned pirate and spent his 20s earning of Spanish silver, nine gold coins, 4,131 pieces of
a reputation as a dashing and good-natured pirate, eight, 17 gold bars, 14 gold nuggets, 6,174 ‘bits’ of gold,
which is unusual. He took no prisoners when raiding and gold dust. The treasure also included African
ships, and liked to think of himself as a Robin Hood jewellery. Bellamy and his men mustn’t have believed
figure, making his crew the Merry Men. their luck. While they never got to spend any of it,
Bellamy’s career into pirate history began when as fortuitous events conspired against them, Captain
he took over Benjamin Hornigold’s sloop, an eight- Bellamy must surely have considered this amount of
gun vessel, Mary Anne. Because Hornigold, a former treasure as a retirement fund.
privateer gone rogue, was an avowed Whydah was on its maiden voyage.
patriot – even when he himself Built in England, and put to sea
turned pirate in Jamaican in 1716 as a slaving ship, it was
waters – he refused to attack named after a west African
English merchant vessels.
Among Hornigold’s crew
D EFINING trading post. A three-masted,
300-ton, ten-gun vessel of
was a black-bearded chap
MOMENT about 100 feet in length,
by the name of Edward Capturing Whydah Whydah was on its Whydah’s galley bell
Whydah, sailing with an abundance of riches,
Teach, who distinguished was spotted between Cuba and Hispaniola.
himself in service, and Captain Bellamy ordered a pursuit and chased Treasure from
was awaiting a promotion for three days. Rather than kill the captain or Whydah, on display
Whydah’s crew, though, Bellamy swaps his at Field Museum in
from Hornigold. He would
old ship for Whydah. Making for the US Chicago, 2009
go on to be known by his coast, to meet an old friend, the ship
nom-de-pirate, Blackbeard, sets its course to disaster.
the most famous buccaneer 1717
of them all.
Hornigold’s no-English-ships
rule caused disagreement and rupture
between Bellamy and his compatriot. But for
a time, Hornigold, Bellamy and a Frenchman named
Olivier “La Buse” Levasseur joined forces as a troika
of three pirate ships: The Benjamin, Mary Anne (also
spelled Marianne) and La Buse’s Postillon. In the
Yucatán Channel (the strait between Mexico and
Cuba), the three pirates captured an English vessel
(against protestations from Hornigold) and several
Spanish ships. Bellamy also made daring raids in
smaller vessels known as piraguas. They also, on one
occasion, joined forces with privateers – led by Henry
Jennings – to tackle a French merchant ship, La St
Marie, commanded by Captain D’Escoubet. Firing
musket shots and cutting La St Marie’s anchor, the
pirates and privateers boarded a 16-gun ship loaded
with 30,000 pieces of eight. There was no violence

“They spread a large, black flag with a death’s head

and bones across, and gave chase,” as recounted by
Bellamy’s crewman Thomas Baker

90
 Sam Bellamy
maiden voyage. Having crossed the Atlantic from the
west coast of Africa, picking up slaves for the West
Indies plantations, it was sailing in the Windward
Passage (between Cuba and Haiti) when Bellamy’s
crew saw it. As a large vessel, it would provide an
upgrade to their current ship – Sultana – and Bellamy
ordered to give chase. Three days later, Whydah was
in sight and offered little resistance. Taking the 10
guns from Sultana, Whydah was now Bellamy’s. He
was now in charge of a powerful 28-gunner.
Along with the treasure, he must have
felt like fortune was smiling down
upon him.
In Cape Cod, local folklore
D EFINING and tradition has it that
MOMENT Bellamy was returning
Whydah lost at sea to the area because he
A storm destroyed Whydah, but a few hundred was deeply in love with
yards from the beach. The ship took on too much
an American woman,
water and capsized, sending the crew into a
panic and attempting to swim for it. Of a 145- Maria Hallett. Either way,
man crew, only two survived. Captain Sam he met his end close to
Bellamy was among the dead. Whydah’s the shore of Long Island,
companion ship, Mary Anne, was also
lost in the storm. Whydah going down in the
storm and just two crewmen
1717
surviving the wreck. Mary
Anne’s seven-man crew, who had
seen out the storm, were rescued
the next day by two fishermen and given
over to the authorities. The two Whydah survivors,
Thomas Davis and John Julian, were also handed
over to local law enforcements and subsequently
tried. Davis wasn’t a pirate. Employed as a carpenter
aboard St Michael, a ship Bellamy captured and
forced the carpenter to work on for him, Davis
protested so much, Black Sam assured him that he’d
be replaced as soon as possible. At trial, he produced
witness testimonies, asserting to his good character
and was found not guilty of piracy. John Julian was
a slave and never tried, instead sold back into slavery
as was typical at the time. He died in 1733. The Mary
Anne crew were tried in Boston and six of them
hanged. Reverend Cotton Mather of the Second
North Church in Boston visited Mary Anne’s men
as they awaited the scaffold. Publishing a pamphlet
of his conversations with Bellamy’s surviving – and
condemned crew members – he cautioned “All the
riches which are not honestly gotten must be lost in
a shipwreck of honest restitution, if ever men come
into repentance and salvation.”
Captain Sam Bellamy, like so many buccaneers,
lived a short and eventful life. It was a hard life and
far from romantic. His temperament might have
been good-natured compared to others, but a thief is
still a thief. His career as a pirate was equally short.
He was roaming the Caribbean as a pirate captain
aged 27 and was dead at 29.
If Blackbeard is the quintessential pirate baddie,
Bellamy is the archetype for the dashing pirate
anti-hero of Hollywood movies. The Robin Hood
comparison is bunkum, but the good pirate – the
pirate who takes it to the enemy and does so with
© Alamy, TopFoto

X marks the spot. panache and humour – captured the imagination,

Whydah went down off more so than the grim realities of buccaneer tradition
the coast of Long Island
and life.

91
 The Flying Gang

Benjamin
Hornigold
poacher turned gamekeeper
The Caribbean privateer turned to piracy, mentoring
the infamous Blackbeard before accepting the King’s
Pardon and becoming a ruthless pirate hunter…

B
enjamin Hornigold turned to piracy suffered greatly during the war and there was
in the aftermath of the War of the only a skeleton settlement in the town of Nassau.
Spanish Succession, which came This was to be Hornigold’s haunt.
to an end for the British with the Hornigold’s career in piracy began in a humble
Treaty of Utrecht in the spring of fashion with the acquisition of three long canoes,
1713. This worldwide conflict had left the Royal equipped with oars and simple rigging, which
Navy financially drained and the Admiralty allowed the marauders to move quickly against
mothballed its fleet and released over half of its small sloops and the Spanish plantations that
labour force. Thousands of sailors, all across the dotted the Caribbean coast. Splitting into three
globe, were suddenly out of work, while those different parties, Hornigold’s men launched
who retained employment saw a sharp fall in a year-long reign of terror, capturing booty
wages. Privateers were no longer set to work. estimated at more than £60,000. News of an
In the West Indies, sailors found themselves impending retaliatory attack by the Spanish
in a perilous state. Spanish vessels continued authorities saw the group fragment, though
to seize British shipping and, adding insult to Hornigold stayed put, settling on the readily
injury, the owners of the vessels often withheld defendable Harbour Island. Teach, it is thought,
sailors’ wages during their incarceration. For stayed with him.
many, piracy was the only way out. Certainly, By the summer of 1714, Hornigold had been
Hornigold, a successful privateer during the war, given control of a small sloop, the Happy Return,
saw this as his best option and, taking with him and set sail to harry the Spanish colonies in
one Edward Teach (later known as Blackbeard), Florida and Cuba. In the autumn, he acquired a
in late 1713 he embarked on his new career. ship of his own and in December snatched a tiny
He chose as his base of operations the Cuban fleet laden with treasures. His haul of over
Bahamas, which were strategically well placed £10,000 is said to have established his glowing
to intercept Spanish and French shipping, and reputation as the pre-eminent pirate operating in
which offered plenty of protection amid their Bahaman waters.
myriad waterways. Only a fool would enter these His career took a darker turn in late 1715. Up
waters without an experienced Bahaman pilot. until this point, Hornigold regarded himself as a
The Bahaman island of New Providence had privateer, still at war with Spain, even if his remit

92
 DEFINING
MOMENT
Treaty of Utrecht
This series of treaties brought to an end the War
of the Spanish Succession and, with it, a close to
the act of privateering in the West Indies. This
in turn forced many seamen to turn to piracy,
including Hornigold and his loyal lieutenant
Edward Teach, who sallied forth from the
Bahaman island of New Providence.

1713

“Hornigold’s men launched

a year-long reign of terror,
capturing booty estimated
at more than £60,000”
93
 The Golden Age
was unofficial. But in November he seized the
English ship Mary, a sloop with capacity for 140
men and six guns, and this he sailed into Nassau
harbour along with a captured Spanish vessel.
There, he declared that every pirate in the area
would fall under his protection.
This group of ruffians called themselves
the Flying Gang and they made Nassau their
own. Other rogues and seadogs came
pouring in and Nassau witnessed
a true gathering of pirates.
Hornigold soon captured
another Spanish sloop,
even bigger than the
D EFINING
Mary, which he named
MOMENT
the Benjamin. Unleashing Blackbeard
Edward Teach proved a loyal servant to
With the ever- Hornigold and remained faithful even when
expanding band of others mutinied. Hornigold rewarded that
pirates transforming loyalty in 1716 when he granted Teach his own
Nassau into a den of ship, thereby igniting the career of the man
who would become most synonymous
iniquity, Hornigold with Caribbean piracy, the infamous
prospered, and in April Captain Blackbeard.
1716 he snatched the 1716
French sloop the Marianne,
bagging a cargo amounting to
more than £12,000. This ship he
turned over to the pirate Sam Bellamy,
whom he had met off the coast of Cuba and who
had impressed him with his tales of derring-
do. Hornigold promoting him ahead of his own
followers, including Teach.
It is thought that Bellamy may have been
key to Hornigold’s subsequent alliance with
the French pirate Olivier La Buse. Despite his
nabbing of the Mary, Hornigold liked to think
himself a privateer, maintaining hostilities
against his nation’s traditional enemies, Spain
and France. He was reluctant to attack English
shipping and yet urged on by his two new allies, Hornigold captured the French-
his men agreed to target another English ship in owned La Concorde, which he
turned over to Edward Teach
the Yucatán Channel.
This motley group also captured a pair of
Spanish brigantines, brimming with cocoa, piracy. The people of Nassau fled to safer land. As retaining the ship, renaming her Queen Anne’s
which they took without firing a shot. As the he set out to sea again in late 1716, he captured Revenge and installing 40 cannons.
year stretched on, he traded the Benjamin, which a sloop capable of carrying six guns, which he Such was the prevalence of piracy in the
was showing signs of damage, for the slightly turned over to Teach. Once in charge of his region that King George I decided to take action
smaller Adventure. Soon, however, the tenuous own vessel, Teach adopted the now-legendary and in September 1717 issued a proclamation
friendship between Hornigold, Bellamy and La moniker of Blackbeard. granting a royal pardon for all piracies committed
Buse began to fray. The duo operated in consort through 1717, prior to January 5, 1718. Known as the King’s
Hornigold’s reluctance to attack English pillaging six prizes off the American coast and Pardon, it was announced in Nassau by the son
shipping was an irritant to his two allies and then raiding back in the Caribbean. By the of the governor of Bermuda and divided opinion
the men on his own ship began to question his April of that year, Hornigold had upgraded the among the seamen living therein. For the more
authority. He reticence was costing them loot, Adventure to the Bonnet and had captured the moderately minded men, including the rivals
and some may have blamed his negligence for treasure-stuffed sloop, Revenge. By the year’s Jennings and Hornigold, this was welcome news.
the loss of the Benjamin. After a meeting aboard end the pair ended up with a haul totalling in Despite the occasional lapse, Hornigold liked
the Adventure, a ballot was held and Hornigold excess of £100,000. They were the masters of the to regard himself more privateer than pirate,
was deposed. The majority of his men voted to Caribbean, Hornigold every inch the equal of his and, like many in the Nassau gang, saw an
join Bellamy and La Buse. Hornigold was allowed great rival, Henry Jennings. opportunity to invest his plunder in legal trade.
to keep the Adventure, but was told to leave the Hornigold and Teach sailed together Hornigold accepted the King’s Pardon and
alliance. With lieutenant Edward Teach on board, throughout 1717 and towards the end of the sailed to Jamaica, where he struck up a positive
he limped back to Nassau. year near Martinique they captured the English- relationship with the newly appointed governor
He was soon on his feet again, however, and built frigate, now in French hands, La Concorde Woodes Rogers. Indeed, as Rogers cracked
it was at this time that he elected to fortify the de Nantes. This was a fine prize, and the two down on those who had refused the King’s
harbour at Nassau, making it a true bastion of men divided their haul and parted ways, Teach Pardon, he turned to those that knew the pirates’

94
 Benjamin Hornigold

“By 1719 Hornigold had returned ways. Who better to catch a

full-time to the life of the privateers” pirate than a former pirate?

Hornigold answered his

William Hogarth painted this picture of

D EFINING call. The poacher turned
the governor of the Bahamas, Woodes
MOMENT gamekeeper, and in the
Rogers (right), whose son is showing him The King’s Pardon autumn of 1718 he set
plans for the port of Nassau sail in a bid to bring
Put together by King George I in a bid to curb
the blight on West Indian shipping, the King’s the notorious Charles
Pardon was carried to the Nassau pirates by
Captain Vincent Pearse in February 1718. A
Vane to justice. It was
potentially tense engagement was eased with while conducting this
the help of Hornigold who advised fellow mission that he captured
pirates to accept the olive branch, even the 30-ton sloop Wolf
if they later recanted.
and the recidivist pirate
1717 Nicholas Woodall, who
was smuggling supplies and
ammunition to Vane’s base at
Green Turtle Cay. In the winter of
that same year, he captured yet more recidivists,
including Blackbeard’s one-time gunner named
William Cunningham.
By 1719 Hornigold had returned full-time to
the life of the privateers, operating under Rogers’
commission, sailing against the Spanish from his
old haunt of Nassau. According to the famous
fact-cum-fiction that is Captain Charles Johnson’s
A General History Of The Robberies And Murders
Of The Most Notorious Pyrates, Hornigold may
well have perished in a shipwreck, although
modern historians disagree with this idea, and it
is thought that he more likely met his end after
an engagement with a Spanish brigantine near
Havana, either dying in combat or soon after in a
Cuban prison. Certainly, this once-famous pirate
and a key member of the infamous Flying Gang
was never heard of again.

Men were often press-ganged into joining

the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail

95
 The Flying Gang

Under the rule of Jennings,

New Providence became a
pirate paradise

Henry Jennings
mastermind of the pirate haven
Henry Jennings was an unusual pirate
because he lived long enough to enjoy old age

L
ike so many famed names from the this famed captain. For all his escapades though, he immediately declared that the treasure was the
golden age of piracy, the life of Henry perhaps Jennings’ fearsome reputation rests on one rightful property of Spain and that no other country
Jennings is shrouded in mystery, his particularly audacious raid that took place in 1715. should try and take so much as a peso. Meanwhile,
origins lost in the mists of time. Where On 31 July 1715, the Spanish Treasure Fleet was Spanish crews were immediately dispatched
he came from and what his life was attempting to navigate the coast of America, carrying to salvage the treasure they could find. They
before he came to prominence as a privateer during a fortune in booty. Having survived bad weather successfully located the flagship, Urca de Lima, and
the War of Spanish Succession is largely unknown, around the Bahamas, things only got worse when began salvaging its priceless cargo. In order to keep
but all sources agree that he was a wealthy plantation a hurricane blew up as the fleet reached Florida. the booty safe, a fort was built at St Augustine, where
owner of Jamaica, so why he decided to leave it Battered by the terrible conditions, the fleet was the treasure was stored as salvage efforts went on.
all behind for a life of adventure at sea remains a reduced to matchwood and its enormous cargo Of course, commands issued by the Spanish king
mystery. Whatever lay behind Jennings’ decision, of gold and treasure was lost in the wreck. When cut little ice with his opponents when it came to
the life of a privateer proved financially fruitful for King Philip V of Spain heard of the loss of his fleet, enormous sums of money, and soon privateers and

96
 Henry Jennings
ships from across the globe were heading for Florida, As half of a partnership with Black Sam Bellamy, Jennings lived the high life as ruler of New
where the fleet had been lost. Jennings emerged Jennings was no gentleman privateer and was happy Providence, famed for his cruelty as much as his
into the historical record in Jamaica at the head of a to wreak violent revenge on those who attempted to fortune. All of those who took shelter there paid him
fleet of his own, his sights set on the lost fortune. As oppose him, slaughtering his enemies and ruthlessly a hefty share of their booty in return for protection,
captain of the sloop named Bathsheba, he deserting their ships. Eventually Bellamy’s and he became enormously wealthy on the profits
headed out towards the stricken fleet, greed got the better of him and he of his diplomatic endeavours. Why this wealthy
determined to make himself a double-crossed his old partner plantation owner became first a privateer and then
fortune at sea. in crime, leading Jennings a pirate, history doesn’t tell, but Jennings embraced
When Jennings reached
the coast, he took one look
D EFINING to brutally kill a group of
captured French and British
the life with everything he had until offered
the opportunity to return to something vaguely
at the Spanish fort and MOMENT prisoners in retaliation. resembling respectability.
knew that he could easily Accepting the amnesty Although his actions When Woodes Rogers was appointed governor
crush it and claim the After years living as the unofficial pirate mayor against the Spanish of the Bahamas and offered an amnesty, Jennings
of New Providence, Jennings was wealthy
treasure held there. With beyond imagining, and feared and celebrated
Treasure Fleet had accepted it. He took his formal pardon and changed
his crew outnumbering in equal measure. When the governor of been sanctioned by the allegiances, becoming a pirate hunter who pursued
the Spanish soldiers by the Bahamas, Woodes Rogers, offered an governor of Jamaica, those he had once called friends. Rich beyond his
amnesty, Jennings accepted it and retired
more than four-to-one, Lord Archibald Hamilton, wildest dreams, he lived the life of a privateer at sea
to Bermuda, where he could freely
Jennings demanded the enjoy his wealth. when Jennings reached the while maintaining an opulent island home to which
surrender of the salvage 1718 island after his latest raid, he he could retire between expeditions.
crew. At first the crew refused, discovered that he had been Eventually, Jennings gave up his seafaring life
but after a short conflict that declared a pirate by order of King and retired to enjoy a life of luxury on his plantation
made Jennings’ point, the soldiers George I. Should he drop anchor and in Bermuda. Some tales, perhaps seeking a suitably
backed down, leaving the crew to pile set so much as a foot on land, he risked moral ending to career that had been so steeped in
their ships high with treasure before heading back to the gallows. Forced to leave behind his comfortable violence and crime, claimed that Jennings couldn’t
Jamaica. With Britain and Spain at peace at the time life, he fled for the Bahamas and set up home on resist the pirate’s life. Supposedly, he was eventually
of the wreck, Jennings’ actions were illegal, but went New Providence, focusing his efforts on the sleepy captured by the Spanish and left to rot in a prison
unpunished. In fact, it wasn’t until he later seized backwater town of Nassau. Here, he established cell. In fact, it’s far more likely that Henry Jennings
a French ship and caused a diplomatic stink that himself in what was to become a legendary pirate received no such punishment and lived out his old
things took a turn for the worst for this fearsome, haven, eventually becoming its unofficial mayor and age in relative yet happy obscurity, growing older and
fortunate pirate. the man to whom all paid court. richer in his Bermuda home.

Jennings became the unofficial

mayor of the pirate haven in
New Providence

After a short fight, the Spanish

© Wiki, NASA

soldiers surrendered, handing

their salvaged fortune to Jennings

97
 The Flying Gang

“Despite his fearsome

appearance, there are
no verified accounts of
Blackbeard ever having
murdered or harmed
those he held captive”

Despite his
enduring fame
and notoriety,
Blackbeard’s career
as a pirate lasted
just two years

Blackbeard’s appearance, no less than his

reputation, instilled fear in any enemies
he came across on the seas

98
 Blackbeard

Blackbeard the legendary pirate

Blackbeard’s famous ship was the illegally
obtained Queen Anne’s Revenge

Life in the time

of Blackbeard
Queen Anne’s War
Was Blackbeard a formidable pirate or a Blackbeard’s career as a pirate coincided with
the end of the War of the Spanish Succession,
which meant thousands of seamen were
masterful image cultivator? relieved of military duty, creating a huge
number of highly trained, but bored sailors at a
time when the cross-Atlantic colonial shipping
trade began to boom. As such, pirate captains

F
earsome pirate and terroriser of the The duo were successful, but inconsistent. Ships had a constant pool of recruits.
oceans, Blackbeard has become a at the time very rarely carried precious cargo – and
legendary figure in seafaring stories, certainly it would be rare to happen upon chests of
making his mark on history books gold and silver – so pirates relied on looting general Pirates as patrons
While pirates of the time were often viewed
despite a career spanning just two years. goods such as cocoa, cotton and rum, either for their as despicable rogues of the sea, official views
Little is known about the early life of Edward own use, or to sell for reasonable amounts at ports. were sometimes quite different, with the
Teach – the moniker ‘Blackbeard’ not coming to life Hornigold and Teach’s strategy, however, seemed English government considering privateers
until many years after his birth, which historians mixed. In September 1717, for example, they captured who became pirates a kind of informal ‘reserve
estimate to be around 1680. Little is known of his the ship Betty, from Virginia, but only took its stores naval force’. Royal pardons were regularly
true identity, either. Records exist for Edward Teach, of Madeira wine before sinking the ship and its issued to pirates and public opinion was often
favourable toward them.
Thatch and Thack, and it remaining cargo.
was common at the time Come the end of 1717
for pirates to use fake – by which time Teach, Female pirates
names, so as not to tarnish “Teach was now known as Blackbeard Piracy was certainly seen as a man’s game,
which is why the two famous female pirates
their family’s reputation. His
real identity will probably raised in Bristol thanks to his impressive
facial hair, had his own
– Anne Bonny and Mary Read – disguised
themselves as men. When their ship was
always be unknown.
Teach was raised in
and likely began ship – the valuable cargo
from British ships had
assaulted in 1720, the two women – along
with just one other man – were the only ones
the sea port of Bristol and
likely began his career as
his career as a become too tempting for
the fleet’s crew. Fearing
to defend it, as the other crew members were
too drunk to fight.
a privateer, or ‘corsair’ – a
person authorised by a
privateer” mutiny, Hornigold retired
from piracy, leaving Teach A pirate’s life
government to attack in charge and accepting Life aboard a sailing ship was anything but
foreign vessels during wartime – during the Spanish a royal pardon. It was around this time that Stede comfortable. The crew lived in cramped and
filthy quarters, food spoiled quickly and fresh
War of Succession, also known as Queen Anne’s War. Bonnet, also known as ‘The Gentleman Pirate’,
water was hard to come by (which is why so
After the war, he set off to New Providence, a joined Teach. A land owner and military officer many pirates drank rum instead). One dietary
largely uninhabited area home only to pirates, from a wealthy family, Bonnet was unable to control staple was ‘hard tack’, a type of biscuit that
traders and transients, where law and order dared his rowdy crew and so ceded control to Teach. The sailors often ate in the dark to avoid seeing
not tread. Here he met renowned pirate Benjamin expanded party sailed together as one. the weevils infested within.
Hornigold, and like others looking for a life of Up until now, Teach, or Blackbeard, as official
adventure and riches, joined his ship as a crewman. reports had begun referring to him, had proven Superstition at sea
But Hornigold saw something special in Teach. As himself to be a strong, respected leader and a Pirates and sailors were notoriously
historian Charles Johnson wrote in his 1724 book, A capable pirate, but it was in November 1717 that the superstitious, believing that having women
General History Of The Robberies And Murders legend really came to life. After attacking French on board their ship was bad luck – which
was surely a problem for the crew of the
Of The Most Notorious Pyrates, Teach “had often merchant vessel La Concorde off the coast of Saint
womanising Blackbeard – and that whistling
distinguished himself for his uncommon boldness Vincent, Teach took the ship as his own, renaming on a ship would create a storm, hence the
and personal courage.” Hornigold put Teach in it Queen Anne’s Revenge and equipping it with 40 phrase ‘whistle up a storm’. Many pirates also
command of a sloop, and together they began a guns. It was a large, imposing vessel, flying a sinister believed having pierced ears would improve
reign of terror along colonial shipping lanes. flag showing a skeleton spearing a heart – an image their eyesight.

99
 The Golden Age
that quickly became synonymous with terror on the However there are numerous legends and
high seas the world over, and one that perfectly fit newspaper clippings that suggest – despite his
the image Blackbeard had cultivated. relative mercy toward captured ships – he was
A tall, broad man with a thick beard covering a man of cruelty. One story claims he shot his
most of his face, Blackbeard was a frightening own first mate, saying “if he didn’t shoot one or
figure – something he played to during battle, when two [crewmen] now and then, they’d forget who
he wore three pistols across his chest and put lit he was.” Another says that after a long drinking
matches under his hat to create a terrifying session he challenged his crew to sit in the ship’s
mist from which he would hold while they set alight
emerge like the devil several pots of sulphur.
himself. As Johnson wrote,
he was “such a figure that
“There are no All except Blackbeard
scrambled out for fresh
imagination cannot form
an idea of a fury from hell
verified accounts air, with the captain later
emerging, snarling, “Damn
Pieces of eight to look more frightful.”
Blackbeard was a man who
of Blackbeard ever ye, I’m a better man
than all ye milksops put
Thanks largely to fictionalised stories such as
Treasure Island, the idea of ‘buried treasure’
understood the importance having murdered together!” Some even claim
of appearance, and thought Blackbeard would force his
is commonly associated with pirates from
this era, and Blackbeard is no exception. But it better to strike fear into his captives” young wives to prostitute
there’s no evidence to suggest that he ever the hearts of his enemies themselves to groups of
buried any valuables, and nothing that’s been than rely on skill alone. his companions.
unearthed – save for the wreckage of Queen But despite his fearsome appearance, there are In May 1718, Blackbeard once again demonstrated
Anne’s Revenge – has ever been attributed
no verified accounts of Blackbeard ever having his dual personality, during the Blockade of
to him. In fact, the only known pirate to ever
bury anything valuable was William Kidd, who murdered or harmed his captives – although the Charleston where he showed both mercy and
sailed the seas long before Blackbeard. But cannon fire involved in forcing other ships to give up menace. His flotilla blocked the port of Charleston,
that’s not stopped adamant treasure hunters no doubt killed many. Those who surrendered were and with no guard ship at the port the pirates had
from combing the Carolina coast, just in case. allowed to sail free, albeit without their possessions. their pick of ships. They took over the Crowley,
The booty that Blackbeard and his Those that resisted were marooned and their ships bound for London carrying a group of prominent
contemporaries would plunder was more likely
torched, but still they escaped with their lives. Charleston citizens, including Samuel Wragg, a
to be composed of perishable items such
as cocoa and rum, rather than the chests of
gold and silver commonly described in myth
and legend. These goods in bulk still held “Teach took the ship as
value, and given the dangers of piracy at the
time, most knew it was foolish to transport
valuables across the sea.
his own, renaming it
Queen Anne’s Revenge
and equipping it with
Legend has 40 guns”
it that his skull
was used to make a Defining moment
silver chalice, with one Teach becomes a pirate 1716-1717
1930s judge in Carolina After the singing of the Treaty of Utrecht, which established
peace after Queen Anne’s War, Teach moves to the
claiming to have uninhabited island of New Providence, within easy reach
drunk from it of major shipping lanes and home to pirates, traders and
transients – a place where law and order are unheard of. Here,
he meets renowned pirate Benjamin Hornigold and joins his
crew, commandeering a sloop Hornigold had taken as a prize.
Shortly after, the pair go on a pillaging rampage through the
waters, capturing boats from Havana, Bermuda, Madeira and

Timeline Virginia. Teach is recorded as a pirate in his own right.

1680
l Edward Teach is born l Learning the ropes l A legend is born l Going it alone l The blockade of Charleston
There’s no firm record of Teach serves as a privateer The name As his crew becomes Blackbeard strikes terror into the
Edward Teach’s birth, but during Queen Anne’s ‘Blackbeard’ enters disgruntled with the lack town of Charleston after blockading
historians suspect it was War, a struggle between official records for of pillaging, Benjamin its wealthy port, plundering merchant
likely around 1680, and France and Britain for the first time in a Hornigold steps down as ships and seizing passengers and
that he was probably born control of North America. report to a British pirate captain and retires crew of the Crowley. After his
in Bristol, an important This period of his life colonial council from piracy, leaving demands for medicinal supplies are
international sea port at gives rise to the name of about Hornigold’s Blackbeard in charge. The met, he releases the hostages, without
the time. his ship, Queen Anne’s operations. pair never meet again. their valuables – or clothes.
1680 Revenge. Spring 1717 Late 1717 May 1718
1701-1714

100
 Blackbeard
member of the Council of the Province of Carolina.
Blackbeard demanded medical supplies from the
South Carolina government, and threatened to
execute his captives if his demands were not met.
Wragg – acting as spokesperson for the hostages
and no doubt using his social standing to his
advantage – agreed, and one hostage, Mr Marks,
was sent with two pirates to retrieve the supplies.
Blackbeard imposed a deadline of two days. After
three days, the party hadn’t returned, and the
hostages became frantic, fearing Blackbeard’s wrath.
Eventually a message arrived: Mark’s boat
had capsized. Blackbeard granted a
reprieve of two further days, but still
the party did not return. Blackbeard
Yet the captain did not
wasn’t the most
brutally execute his hostages,
as threatened. Instead, he successful pirate
moved a number of his ships ever – Henry Every
into the Charleston harbour, once took more of piracy. For example, Blackbeard, without knowing the outcome
causing panic in the town. pirate Francis Drake of Bonnet’s pardon, then sought his own from
Eventually Marks returned
wealth in just a was knighted by Queen Governor Eden in June 1718, and settled in the town
with the medical supplies. It single ship Elizabeth in 1581 when he of Bath, where he took a wife and found work as a
emerged that on his arrival to South returned from a round-the- privateer – an industry that was helpful in keeping
Carolina’s government offices the world expedition with a booty of restless former pirates occupied.
drugs had been provided swiftly, but the more than £1 million. While out on an expedition, he encountered
pirates he had travelled with had disappeared The pardon was open to all pirates Charles Vane, and he, Vane and a group of other
to go drinking. They were finally discovered, drunk who surrendered before 5 September 1718, but also notorious individuals, including Israel Hands,
and entirely incapable of manning a boat back to stipulated that immunity was only assured on Robert Deal and Calico Jack, spent several drunken
Blackbeard. The pirate captain kept his word, though, crimes committed before 5 January of that year. evenings together. This party of dangerous figures
and the ships and prisoners were released. In theory, this would mean death for Blackbeard caused panic for local officials, in particular
However, while Blackbeard was to some extent for his actions at Charleston. It was likely that this Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia. The
an honourable man, he was still a pirate, and his misdemeanour would be waived, but he wanted governor commissioned Lieutenant Robert Maynard
willingness to double-cross others – his own men, his safety assured. After discussing the matter with to capture Blackbeard and his crew, offering a hefty
in fact – was never clearer than in June 1718. His Bonnet, he sent his companion to Bath Town to incentive from the Assembly of Virginia.
former captain and mentor Benjamin Hornigold surrender. Bonnet received a full pardon and then But Blackbeard was outsmarted. Believing that
had previously accepted a royal pardon, and it travelled back to Blackbeard to collect his ship, the Maynard had only a small crew with him, the pirates
seems likely that around the time of the blockade Revenge, and the remainder of his crew. boarded Maynard’s ship. No sooner had they set foot
of Charleston, Blackbeard had been considering Upon his return, however, he found that on the vessel than a veritable army came bursting
seeking one, too. Pardons were regularly issued, with Blackbeard had disappeared, having stripped the forth from the ship’s hold, shouting and firing,
officials in England taking a rather relaxed view Revenge of its provisions and marooned its crew. overpowering the pirates with superior training and
weaponry. Blackbeard and Maynard fought head-to-
Defining moment Defining moment head, and as Maynard drew back to fire at the pirate,
Blackbeard advanced and was cut down by one of
Blackbeard gets his treasure The beginning of the end
Maynard’s men before being brutally attacked – and
November 1717 October 1718
On 28 November, Blackbeard’s two ships attack French Blackbeard parties at Ocracoke Island with a cohort that eventually killed – by Maynard’s crew.
merchant vessel La Concorde transporting slaves includes dubious characters Charles Vane, Israel Hands It was a grisly death for the legendary pirate, but
off the coast of Saint Vincent, firing cannons across and ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham. The governor of Virginia, he fought to the end: his body revealed at least five
its bulwarks and forcing its captain to surrender. Alexander Spotswood, had issued a proclamation that bullet wounds and 20 stab wounds suffered before
Blackbeard gives the crew of La Concorde the smaller of all former pirates must make themselves known to the
his two ships and renames La Concorde ‘Queen Anne’s authorities, and not travel in groups larger than three.
he was brought down. His head was hung from the
Revenge’. He equips the ship with 40 guns, making it The governor orders a number of captains, including bow of Maynard’s ship – the final humiliation for a
one of the world’s most formidable pirate ships. Lieutenant Robert Maynard, to capture Blackbeard. man who had for so long dominated the seas.

1719
l Double cross l A quiet life l Off the wagon l The end of a golden age Setting an example l
Queen Anne’s Revenge Blackbeard seeks his After months of relative peace Maynard tracks Blackbeard Blackbeard’s
runs aground, and while pardon from the governor and quiet, Blackbeard sails down, and the pirates open associates are tried in
his partner Bonnet is away of Virginia, and finding to St Thomas on a sloop he fire. Mistakenly believing Williamsburg, Virginia.
seeking a pardon from kind hospitality from renames Adventure, seeking they’ve won the battle, the Records show that one
© Look and Learn; Thinkstock

Governor Charles Eden, a town in need of an a commission as a privateer. pirates board Maynard’s ship, is acquitted and one is
Blackbeard strips his ship economic boost, decides He returns to piracy, and the but are quickly overpowered. pardoned, but the rest
of valuables and maroons to settle down in Bath and governor of Pennsylvania Blackbeard is killed after a are hanged.
Bonnet’s men. take a wife. issues a warrant for his arrest. brutal fight. March 1719
June 1718 June 1718 Summer 1718 November 1718

101
 The Golden Age

The Queen
Anne’s Revenge
The infamous pirate ship of the most
notorious buccaneer around, 1710-18

T
he scourge of the Atlantic and the ships. Reeling from the attack, the ship would then
Caribbean, Queen Anne’s Revenge be boarded and stripped of its wealth and booty.
was a mighty vessel. Constructed in Queen Anne’s Revenge was only Blackbeard’s ship
1710 by the Royal Navy, the frigate was for a short time but its speed and strength helped
first stolen by the French, renamed La him in his most audacious mission: the blockade of
Concorde de Nantes and used as a slave ship before Charleston Harbor.
making its way into the hands of Blackbeard in 1717. In 1718, Blackbeard steered the ship into the South
Much has been made of the fearsome pirate (real Carolinian port in league with three other pirate
name Edward Teach) and like his famous flagship, ships. Five merchant ships were plundered by the
he was originally part of the Royal Navy. However, corsairs as traffic came to a standstill in the dock for
the lure of plunder and booty was too much for this a week. Blackbeard made his escape, taking many
young privateer who decided that a pirate’s life was Charleston citizens as hostages for ransom. He then
Rather than
for him. He added 26 guns to the vessel giving it a marooned his ships and many of his crew about
total of 40, and its size meant it could take up to 300 300 miles north and took the treasure for a Jolly Roger,
tons of precious loot. Its main hunting ground was himself. The infamous pirate had escaped Blackbeard’s flag
the North Carolinian coast and the ship’s clever tactic once again but Queen Anne’s Revenge featured a skeleton
was to hide in inconspicuous inlets before launching had made its final voyage. It was
a devastating broadside on unsuspecting passing rediscovered in 1996.
piercing a heart with a
spear and toasting
Gun mechanism the Devil
The cannons were kept in place by
a rope noose and would be covered
for added protection. Rear rigging
allowed the weighty guns to be as
manoeuvrable as possible.

Reload and fire!

In the heat of battle, sponges would
cool down the cannon in between
shots and a ramrod would pack the
loads into the gun, ready to fire.

Armament
Each 900kg cannon was operated by four
men and fired 10kg bullets that shattered
the enemy ships from stern to bow.

102
 The Queen Anne’s Revenge
Shipwreck
The shipwreck was studied for many years before
it was confirmed that it was indeed Queen Anne’s
Revenge. The recovered artefacts are now on show
at the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Sailing speed
With three masts and eight sails, Queen Anne’s
Revenge could achieve high speeds when in pursuit
of an enemy or fleeing the long arm of the law.

Blackbeard’s
quarters
Located at the rear, the
captain’s cabin was the
most secure place in
the event of a mutiny,
but only the bravest
would dare rebel
against Blackbeard.

Supplies
Extra rigging, food and
drinking water were kept
in the hull while heavier
materials like ammunition
were kept midship for
ballast. Food supplies
consisted of salt pork,
salt beef and hard tack
(unleavened biscuits).

Seizure
Blackbeard first came into
contact with the ship off
Anchor the coast of Martinique.
The ship’s anchor alone
The pirates, aboard two
weighed 1,500kg. Its sheer
sloops, took over the ship
bulk meant raising it took
easily as the crew had
about an hour of hard work.
been severely weakened
by scurvy and dysentery.

Galley
Fire was constantly a threat on board these wooden
ships, so the stove was made of brick and a bucket of
sand was kept nearby to extinguish flames.
© Sol 90 Images

103
 The Golden Age

“In reality, the pirates of

the Caribbean and the
Atlantic were, like the
Barbary pirates of North
Africa, slavers as well as
thieves and murderers”

It wasn’t uncommon for slaves to become

part of the crew on pirate ships, though
depending on their captors they might
still remain slaves for trade

104
 The Legend of Black Caesar

The Legend of
Black Caesar
Was Black Caesar a vicious pirate, or was he an
accidental victim of Blackbeard? And what
role did slaves play in piracy?

T
he truth about the golden age of piracy Some, slaves included, could be made into pirates
is often stranger and crueller than without their choosing. Once aboard, all received
the fiction. Piracy became a profitable equal shares of the loot, and all faced the gallows
business in the Caribbean in the mid- if they were caught. But not all were hanged. After
1600s because of two other profitable being captured in 1720 because their crew were
businesses; shipping and slavery. The first business too drunk to fight, the notorious female pirates
supplied the pirates’ targets, the constant supply of Anne Bonney and Mary Read dodged the noose by
valuable cargo in the ‘triangular trade’ between Africa, claiming pregnancy. While women pirates benefitted
the New World and Europe. Ships in this trade were from a humane impulse, black pirates were saved
exposed at sea on the long passages between Africa by inhumanity. Too valuable to execute, they were
and the New World, and the New World and Europe. often sold into slavery, or returned to their owners.
The European empires had the technology to create Black sailors constituted between a quarter and a
the shipping networks, and an economy half of Caribbean and Atlantic pirate crews.
sophisticated enough to render Some were volunteers, others
all three legs of the triangular slaves who had been forcibly
trade profitable. But they did
not yet have the military means
“Slaves could conscripted. In 1717, blacks
numbered 60 of Edward
to secure the vast oceans.
The second business was
be made into ‘Blackbeard’ Teach’s 100
crewmen. Many black pirates
integral to the triangular trade: pirates without were ‘cimarrons’ or ‘Maroons’,
a supply of African slaves.
The legends of piracy depict their choosing” escaped slaves from Spanish,
French and English plantations.
the pirate’s ill-gotten gains as Others were captured as part of
gold or jewellery. In reality, the a slave ship’s cargo. In 1717, the
pirates of the Caribbean and the Atlantic were, like pirate captain Samuel ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy took 25
the Barbary pirates of north Africa, slavers as well as African slaves from a ‘Guinea ship’. Some slaves were
thieves and murderers. The growth of the Atlantic sold on, but others remained on board, signing the
trade triangle depressed sailors’ wages, while periodic ‘articles of agreement’ as equal members of the crew.
wars between European empires raised and then In 1721, Bartholomew ‘Black Bart’ Roberts, the most
dashed hopes of employment. Many pirates were successful of all Golden Age pirates, had 88 blacks
out-of-work sailors, reduced by necessity to take the in a crew of 368. In 1722, Roberts was killed in an
lowest and most dangerous of sailing jobs. encounter with three Royal Navy ships off the coast
There may be, as the saying goes, no honour of Ghana. Fifty-two white crewmen were hanged.
among thieves, but there is a curious equality among His 65 black crewmen were given to the Royal Africa
them. Anyone could choose to become a pirate. Company, sold into slavery.

105
 The Golden Age
The pirate known as Black Caesar emerged
from this brutal context. He too became a legend,
though all that is known for certain is his death – or,
at least, the death of a black pirate named Caesar.
Nevertheless, the legend of Black Caesar reflects the
historical realities of slavery and piracy.
On 22 November 1718, Blackbeard’s ship,
Adventure, was taken in Ocracoke Inlet in North
Carolina by HMS Jane, a Royal Navy ship under
Lieutenant Robert Maynard, and HMS Ranger.
Blackbeard was killed – shot five times and cut with
more than 20 sword and knife wounds – and his
severed head hung from HMS Pearl’s bowsprit. A
few days later, 15 of Blackbeard’s crew were tried
at Williamsburg, Virginia. Thirteen were convicted.
Four months’ later, they were hanged. Between five
and seven of the hanged pirates were black, and one
of the condemned was named Caesar.
Six years later, the legend of Black Caesar was

THE MAROONS born in Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History

Of The Pyrates. In Johnson’s telling, Black Caesar

OF JAMAICA was an African chieftain. In the late 1600s, a slave

trader tempted him and 20 warriors onto his ship by
Black pirates were not the only escapees from the showing him a watch and promising further gifts.
slave trade to create their own societies. All over
Once aboard, Black Caesar and his men were plied
the New World, escaped slaves and freemen formed
communities that the Spanish called ‘cimmarons’, and with food, drink and offers of jewels and silks. The
the English ‘Maroons.’ slavers cast anchor, and allowed their ship to drift
In Jamaica, escaped slaves intermarried with Taino from the shore. By the time the Africans realised
natives. The settlements of Maroons in the island’s they had been abducted, it was too late. Weeks later,
interior were large enough to block the expansion of a hurricane came as the ship approached Florida. A
the colonial economy from the coasts. In 1731, the
sailor who had befriended Caesar freed him, and the
British sent troops into the hills in the First Maroon
War, but failed to defeat the Maroons. Instead, the two commandeered the ship, probably at gunpoint.
British granted the Maroons a form of recognition. They escaped in a longboat, and were driven to the
The colonial authorities granted the Maroons local shore by the oncoming storm. The slave ship seems
autonomy in return for military service if needed. This to have been destroyed on the reefs.
balance held until the Second Maroon War of 1795. Caesar and his friend used the longboat as a
The immediate cause of the war was a dispute
miniature pirate ship. When a sail approached, they
over two stolen pigs. A black slave whipped two
Maroons suspected of stealing the pigs. Six Maroon
rowed out and posed as shipwrecked sailors. Once
elders came to the British to complain, and the British their would-be rescuers were at hand, they pulled
arrested them. A revolt broke out. For eight months, out their weapons and demanded food, ammunition,
5,000 redcoats and militiamen struggled to defeat and valuables. They then escaped into the mangrove
the Maroons, tracking the fugitives with bloodhounds swamps of Elliott Key, the northernmost point of Caesar now expanded his operation. He recruited
imported from Cuba. the Florida Keys, to bury their loot. On one of these a crew, and intercepted ships on the open sea. If he
One improbable outcome of the war was the return
raids, Caesar’s accomplice abducted a young woman. was chased, he would either lose his pursuers by
of some of the Jamaican Maroons to Africa. When the
Maroons surrendered in December 1795, the British The two pirates fell out over her. Caesar killed his cutting into the creeks and swamps – Caesar Creek,
deported the 600 Maroons of Trelawney, where the friend, and took ownership of the woman. to the north of Elliott Key, is named for him – or
rebellion had begun, to Nova Scotia in Canada, where
they joined communities of Black Loyalists who had
sided with the British against the American Revolution.
In 1800, the British deported the Jamaican Maroons
again to the new colony of Sierra Leone. Landing
at Freetown, they were added to the Register of
Liberated Africans.
The Maroon settlement of Accompong abided
by the terms of the 1739 treaty, and survived, along
with several other smaller Maroon communities.
When Jamaica became independent in 1962, the new
government confirmed Accompong’s autonomy. In
2005, UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural body,
declared the music of the Moore Town Maroons to
be a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity.” In 2016, a delegation of Maroons from
Accompong travelled to the Kingdom of Ashanti in
Ghana. Once there, they set about renewing ties with
the Akan and Asante peoples, who number among
their ancestors. Slaves are forcibly led to
an auction to be sold

106
 The Legend of Black Caesar

disappear into the mangroves. To hide his boat, he

either lowered the mast and sank the boat in the
shallows, or alternatively affixed a metal ring to a
rock and, using a heavy rope, turned his boat upside
down; an 18th century map of southern Florida
marks ‘Black Caesar’s Rock’, apparently in reference
to this trick.
According to the legend, Black Caesar established
a tyrannical private kingdom on Elliott Key. His
settlement included a harem of over 100 women,
abducted from passing ships. Many, it can be
assumed, were slaves who had exchanged one kind
of servitude for another. He also took hostages, and
erected stone huts in which to imprison them while
awaiting ransom payments. When he left on a raid,
he made no provision for these hostages. Many of
them starved to death.
In a further gruesome twist, some of the children
escaped from the camp. Subsisting on berries
and shellfish, they formed their own feral society,
speaking its own language. While Elliott Key is
reputed to be haunted by the inmates of Black
Many slaves would not
Caesar’s camp, the image of a camp of fugitive survive the crossing

107
 The Golden Age
children was to reappear in the Lost Boys of JM In 1716 or 1717, Black Caesar left his swampy
Barrie’s Peter Pan. kingdom and signed up with Blackbeard. The legend
The rest of Black Caesar’s story might all be places Caesar on Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s
fiction too, or at least a composite of different stories. Revenge, a 40-gun vessel, but he may equally
The elements of the story are representative of the have been commanding one of the smaller ships
intertwined histories of slavery and piracy. Slaves which Blackbeard formed into a fleet in March 1717.
frequently were abducted from west Africa after Working their way northwards from Belize, they
being tricked onto ships. Members of the crew and attacked ships off Jamaica, Cuba, and the Florida
the cargo of a slave ship could be cast ashore as coast, before blockading the port of Charles Town
survivors of a shipwreck. The slave name ‘Caesar’ (modern Charleston) in South Carolina. ‘Commodore’
was not uncommon, either. Slavers often gave Blackbeard and his confederates looted ships
mock-Classical nicknames to that attempted to enter the
their slaves, and Black Caesar port, took local dignitaries
was an imperious figure, a man
of ‘huge size, immense strength, “No trace of hostage and demanded
medical supplies for his fleet,
and keen intelligence.’
No trace of Caesar’s stone
Caesar’s stone and successfully extorted a
ransom from the residents.
prison has been found on
Elliott Key, but Johnson’s
prison has With Blackbeard and his
allies continuing to wreak
descriptions of Caesar’s hideout
and settlement echo accounts
been found” havoc, Alexander Spotswood,
the governor of Virginia, set
of Maroon settlements. Escaped two Royal Navy sloops, HMS
slaves did flee to the swamps of Florida, or the hills Jane and HMS Ranger, on his trail. On the evening Did free slaves willingly
of Jamaica. Once there, they established societies of 21 November 1718, Lieutenant Maynard of HMS choose a life of piracy?
and subsisted by raiding plantations and piracy on Pearl found Blackbeard’s Adventure in its anchorage
the seas. In Florida, escaped slaves intermarried with at Ocracoke Island. Blackbeard was taken by surprise The battle began the next morning. A broadside
Seminole Indians, forming the Black Seminoles, a – he was drinking with guests – and short of men. from Adventure devastated Maynard’s crews,
hybrid of African and Native American culture. Their One of his officers, Israel Hands, was ashore with rendering HMS Ranger unable to continue the
descendants live among the Seminole Nation of some 24 of the crew; in Treasure Island, Robert Louis fight. But small arms fire from HMS Jane may have
Oklahoma; one of their two communities is named Stevenson names one of Long John Silver’s men damaged Adventure’s sails and rudder, because
Caesar Bruner Band. after Hands. Blackbeard’s ship ran aground. Maynard steered

The ‘triangular trade’ between

Africa, the New World and Europe

108
 The Legend of Black Caesar

The slave trade

in numbers
= 1 million

European traders enslaved an estimated 12.5 million Africans

between the early 1500s and the late 1800s

10.7 million of those HMS Jane alongside, launched grappling hooks and
slaves survived the Of the 54,000 slaving voyages across grenades, and boarded Adventure.
Middle Passage the Atlantic, Portuguese slavers In Johnson’s A General History Of The Pyrates, a
between Africa and carried the most slaves, 4.65 million in ‘negro’ stays in the powder room below decks on
30,000 crossings. Blackbeard’s ship. Blackbeard has ordered him to
the New World colonies. blow up the ship, but he doesn’t. Is this the same
Caesar tried and hanged at Willliamsburg? And why
was that Caesar not among the convicted pirates
who made statements to the colonial authorities
during their four-month imprisonment?
When Adventure was attacked, Blackbeard was
on board with 18 other men. Six, according to the
Admiralty report, were “Negroes”. Blackbeard’s crew
contained many black pirates, but he also plundered
slave ships and dealt in slaves. In 1717, he took 60
British slavers Only 500,000 slaves from the French slaver Concorde off the
Just over half of carried 2.6 million (4.5%) worked in island of Saint Vincent. As he left Charleston that
all slaves worked in slaves in 12,000 cotton plantations. year, he took another 14 from Princess. So at least
sugar plantations. crossings. some of Adventure’s six ‘negros’ may have been
slaves. Furthermore, none of the black men on board
Adventure were killed or wounded in the battle. It
is likely that the ‘negro’ in the powder room was a
slave, imprisoned below decks.
Half a million Nine of the 15 men tried at Williamsburg were
slaves went to British captured in the fighting. The remaining six were
possessions in the arrested on shore at Bath Town, under suspicion of
One in three of all slaves Caribbean and piracy. Two were acquitted; one was Israel Hands,
who noted that Blackbeard had recently shot him
(4 million people) taken to the North America. in the knee. It is possible, then, that Caesar was not
New World went to Brazil. even on Adventure during the battle?
In the four months between conviction and
execution, three black pirates, James Black, James
White and Thomas Gates, made depositions.
Presumably, they hoped that by cooperating they
might save their lives. The pirate named Caesar did
not do this. Was this because he was a notorious
© Alamy, Wiki, Thinkstock, Look and Learn

pirate, who knew that no amount of collaboration

would spare him the noose? Or was it that he was a
slave who spoke little or no English and, having been
In 1772, a judge in London The British captured by Blackbeard and then held below decks,
ruled in the Somerset v. Stewart parliament freed knew nothing about his captors?
case that slavery was illegal in all British slaves The answer, like Black Caesar’s treasure, may still
the British Isles. in 1833. lie buried in the swamps of Elliott Key.

109
 The Flying Gang

An engraving of Stede Bonnet,

surely one of the most ill-
equipped pirates to ever set sail

Stede Bonnet
the gentleman pirate
Stede Bonnet wasn’t a very good pirate, but he was certainly a stylish one

S
tede Bonnet, the gentleman pirate, wasn’t support of his men and for this reason, they stayed trusted lieutenants serving as caretaker captain of
your run-of-the-mill seafaring rogue. A loyal to their captain through thick and thin. Revenge, Bonnet joined Blackbeard’s own ship as
wealthy and educated plantation owner In 1717, Bonnet reached Nassau after a brutal battle a guest. Although Bonnet had enjoyed some small
with time on his hands, Bonnet’s domestic with a Spanish vessel. With Revenge battered from successes as a captain, under Blackbeard’s command
life was far from an idyll and, after one- the engagement and Bonnet suffering from injuries, Revenge truly found her purpose. With the
too-many arguments with his wife, his mind was the captain met Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach and convalescing Bonnet pottering about ineffectually
made up. He left his spouse and three children at the infamous pirate made him an offer he couldn’t in his nightclothes and Blackbeard striding the deck
home in Barbados, he purchased the sloop Revenge, refuse. Blackbeard offered to take control of Revenge barking orders, the two men made a strange sight as
replenished his fashionable and fine wardrobe, and so Bonnet could have time to recover. Indeed, he they looted ship after ship, the hold soon filling will
set out to be a pirate. suggested that Bonnet might remain aboard the all manner of precious booty.
Although the crew of Revenge didn’t think much vessel as his guest, sailing as some sort of pirate This collaboration went on for months and it was
to their dandyish captain’s seafaring skills, they tourist whilst Blackbeard called the shots. whilst he was in control of Revenge that Blackbeard
were among some of the most well-paid men on the Bonnet accepted the offer and together the two engaged and seized the magnificent Concorde, later
Caribbean waves. Bonnet’s generosity secured the men set out to sea. With one of Blackbeard’s most to become his legendary flagship, Queen Anne’s

110
 Stede Bonnet
Revenge. What Bonnet made of all this we can little crew, of course, he had no choice but to agree. twice robbed and humiliated him, he never saw
only guess but his time as a cruising passenger Once again, Stede Bonnet became a tourist aboard Blackbeard again.
was coming to an end and, eventually, Bonnet and Blackbeard’s ship and this time, he began to get a Deprived of most of his crew and all of his booty,
Blackbeard went their separate ways. Flushed with little tired of the pirate life. Perhaps he longed for Bonnet and Revenge set to sea once more, but their
success, Bonnet went down to the hold the wealthy plantation he had left behind, captain was as inept now as he had ever been.
of Revenge to count his loot and even if he didn’t long for the wife he As soon as he realised that privateers were a little
he found it empty, Blackbeard had abandoned there, but life as a more governed than pirates, Bonnet cooked up a
having cheated him. pirate hadn’t proved to be the scheme to go back to his pirate life. He assumed a
After months of successful
piracy under Blackbeard,
D EFINING successful adventure he had
dreamed of.
pseudonym and even referred to his ship as Royal
James in an effort to fool the British into thinking
Bonnet’s crew were about MOMENT In the company of that he was nothing but an innocent merchant.
to face a stark reality. Collaboration with Blackbeard Blackbeard, Bonnet sailed Desperate to preserve his pardon whilst continuing
Used to victories with When an injured Stede Bonnet agreed for North Carolina. It his pirate lifestyle, it was a subterfuge that the
to temporarily cede control of his ship to
the legendary captain, Blackbeard and stay on as his guest, it was a
was here that the two occasionally inept Bonnet couldn’t hope to pull off.
now the Gentleman fateful decision. Blackbeard cheated him not men were granted a Bonnet was captured in 1718 and sought to save
Pirate had resumed once but twice, stealing his booty and even pardon. Bonnet then his skin by claiming that he was an innocent man,
his crew. Despite stating he would avenge
control, there was received permission from forced into piracy by his wilful crew. Although
himself, Blackbeard escaped Bonnet’s
precious little triumph justice and sailed into the sunset. the governor to travel members of that same crew admitted that he
and plenty of frustration 1717-1718 on and secure his letter of certainly wasn’t the strongest captain around, they
as their quarry continually marquee, which would leave passionately refuted claims that he was naught
outwitted Bonnet, leaving the him free to legally operate as a but a bystander. During his trial in Charleston,
pirates empty-handed. When Bonnet privateer. He returned to Revenge to people called for his release and a desperate Bonnet
met Blackbeard again, his crew swiftly share the news with his crew and found wrote letters in which he begged for his freedom,
deserted him and joined the famous captain. that Blackbeard had outwitted him once again. He promising he would be a model citizen if his life
Although Bonnet had already been betrayed by had stripped the ship of the supplies and treasure would only be spared.
Blackbeard once, when Blackbeard offered him and left the crew marooned, leaving Bonnet to Sentenced to death, Stede Bonnet’s wits deserted
passage aboard Queen Anne’s Revenge if he would re-equip his vessel at his own expense. Although him. He was finally hanged on 10 December 1718,
cede command of Revenge, he accepted. Left with Bonnet swore to take revenge on the man who had the gentleman pirate now a broken man.

The moment Stede Bonnet

was hanged in Charleston

Bonnet is pictured here,

captured by Colonel Rhett

111
 The Golden Age

Captained by Rogers, the

Duke lost no time in attacking
Spanish shipping in the name
of the English crown

Woodes Rogers
the governor privateer
From the Bahamas to the real Robinson Crusoe, Governor
Woodes Rogers lived a life at sea

B
usinessman, privateer, island governor and William Dampier, who asked him to captain a In 1704 a Scottish sailor named Alexander
rescuer of the real-life Robinson Crusoe, privateering expedition that would circumnavigate Selkirk had been sailing master aboard the Cinque
Woodes Rogers longed for adventure. Born the globe. Rogers seized the challenge with both Ports under the command of Captain Thomas
in the late 1670s and growing up just in hands and took two ships, Duke and Duchess, out to Stradling. By sheer coincidence, Stradling had also
time to see the War of Spanish Succession, sea. As captain of the former, he was given a Letter sailed with William Dampier, the same man who
he came into the world at just the right time to find of Marque and threw himself whole heartily into life commissioned Rogers to undertake his voyage
adventure. Raised in a wealthy household with a as a privateer. round the world. Selkirk had been on that voyage
rich nautical heritage, by the time Rogers was a The voyage took three years and made Rogers too and had turned his back on Dampier, believing
young man, he was already in charge of the family into a celebrity in his homeland. His was not an him incapable of leading an expedition. Now that
seafaring business and his future looked bright. In easy expedition and he found himself enduring was a distant memory and when the ship made a
fact, over the years that followed, bright was the last challenges including scurvy, freezing temperature, stop for provisions at the Juan Fernández Islands,
thing his life seemed to be! empty cargo holds and even mutinies. Perhaps the Selkirk told Stradling that he would go no further. He
Rogers became famous for a voyage he began most famous story associated with the expedition, believed that the vessel wasn’t fit to go back out to
in 1708 at the invitation of family friend Captain however, is the tale of Alexander Selkirk. sea and Stradling thanked him by marooning him

112
 Woodes Rogers
Rogers was twice
appointed as
Governor of Nassau

Alexander Selkirk joined the crew

of the Duke, and left his isolated
island behind

Sailing as a privateer,
Woodes Rogers arrived in
California in 1709

on a nearby deserted island named Isla Más a Tierra. thanked the crew with a gift of fresh wild goat meat, though, and Rogers faced threats from pirates who
Selkirk’s was a lonely life and as the years passed, which did wonders for their scurvy-ridden teeth. were determined to take back their old haunt and
and no doubt he began to wonder if he would ever His story later became immortalised in the tale of establish the pirate haven once more. In fact, their
be rescued at all. Rogers, meanwhile, was battling Robinson Crusoe, of course, but Woodes Rogers had efforts failed and Rogers showed no mercy to those
with scurvy aboard his ship and determined that other things on his mind. who challenged his rule. They were put to death,
he had to replenish his stock of limes After rescuing Selkirk, the expedition this demonstration of Rogers’ power leaving the
as a matter of urgency. He took continued, but it seemed to be beset other residents of the island in no doubt that their
the fateful decision to land at with bad luck, culminating in new governor wasn’t a man to be trifled with. He
the Juan Fernández Islands a legal battle upon Rogers’ fortified the islands of New Providence and Nassau,
and, as they sailed along
the empty coastline of
D EFINING return to England. His career
didn’t end here and, faced
holding back the threat from Spanish forces until
they Spanish and British crowns finally made peace.
MOMENT
Isla Más a Tierra, spied with financial ruin due to In fact, Rogers never fully shed the bad luck that
a campfire on the A trip around the world mounting legal costs and seemed to follow him around and was always in
When he inherited his father’s businesses,
supposedly uninhabited Rogers found himself facing financial losses the failure of his business financial trouble of one sort or another. When he
island. Rogers was sure caused by the loss of his ships to the French. and privateering exploits, visited England in March 1721, he was placed in
that this meant there He accepted an offer from William Dampier to he returned to the ocean. debtors’ prison for old debts and lost his office as
captain an expedition, determined to make
were Spanish vessels in a success as a privateer and replenish his Rogers left behind governor. With nothing better to do upon his release
the area, yet when he sent coffers. His dreams of making a fortune his life as a businessman from prison, he wrote the legendary book, A General
a landing party onto the remained unfulfilled. and privateer and went History Of The Robberies And Murders Of The Most
island, they discovered not 1707-1711 into politics, becoming the Notorious Pyrates, but fate had one more twist in
Spanish sailors waiting to be royal governor of the Bahamas, store for Woodes Rogers.
plundered, but the sorry figure of a largely lawless place where In 1728, after seven years out of office, he was
Alexander Selkirk. pirates ran riot with little censure. At suddenly made governor of the Bahamas again,
The marooned and desperate Selkirk the head of a fleet of ships he sailed for the but the preceding years had exhausted him. He
welcomed the newcomers with open arms, even Caribbean and successfully took the pirate haven battled with island politics, finding them far more
when he realised that the crew included his old of New Providence, quelling any resistance thanks troublesome than any attack from pirates had ever
shipmate, Dampier, whom Selkirk had thought so to his ability to grant royal pardons to those he been, and died in 1732, having lived a life full of
little of. Offered passage home on board, Selkirk found there. Not everyone wanted to be pardoned drama, heartbreak and precious little triumph.

113
The Flying Gang

Charles Vane was one of the

most ruthless pirates of his time
 Charles Vane

Charles Vane
despised by his fellows
The pirate so prolific in his plundering that lawful
trade in the Caribbean was brought to a standstill

C
harles Vane was one of the most formidable former sea captain called Woodes Rogers,
ruthless and uncompromising of all and he brought with him ten ships, including two
pirates. During his three-year career, Royal Navy warships and 100 soldiers. Charles Vane
he captured or looted more than thirty was caught by surprise with his fleet in Nassau
ships, with no regard to nation or harbour. Most other pirate captains surrendered
allegiance. Vane frequently ignored the Pirate Code immediately and accepted the King’s Pardon, but
and treated his own crew with almost as much Vane sent a letter to Rogers demanding to keep all
contempt as those of the ships he plundered. of his pirate booty. This was probably just a stalling
DEFINING Reports of his early life are sparse, but Vane
probably came to the West Indies during the War
tactic because Vane then set fire to the largest of
his own ships, a 20-gun ship called Lark, and set it
MOMENT of the Spanish Succession. In 1716 he was a sailor drifting towards Rogers. As the British frantically cut
Vane pretends to take under Captain Henry Jennings, a British privateer, their anchors to move out of the path of the fireship,
King’s Pardon
The 20-gun Royal Navy warship HMS Phoenix
but with the war now over, privateers were out of a Vane took a six-gun sloop and slipped out to sea,
captures Vane and his crew as they return to job. After the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet sank off firing his cannons in a parting shot of defiance.
Nassau. Charles Vane claims that he is on the coast of Florida, Jennings and his crew turned Instead of lying low, Vane immediately began
his way to accept the King’s Pardon. He is
pirate and raided the Spanish camps that were seizing new ships and recruiting enough men
released on the spot, but Vane has no
intention of turning straight and attempting to salvage the shipwrecked treasure. to retake the port. He captured a sloop to use
immediately resumes piracy. They made off with 350,000 silver pieces of eight as a consort ship for his raids and promoted his
February 1718 and sailed for Jamaica. On the way they attacked a quartermaster Yeats to captain it. He also wrote
Spanish ship and plundered another 60,000 pieces to governor Woodes Rogers to brag that he would
of eight. With his share of the money from these soon be joined by the pirate Stede Bonnet, and
raids, Vane outfitted his own ship, which he named would then attack Nassau. The truth, however, is
the Ranger. For two years he used Nassau as his base that he was not well liked by other pirates. For the
and plundered merchant shipping, along with several ordinary crew, part of the attraction of turning pirate
other famous pirates collectively known as the Flying was the more democratic rule aboard the ship. But
Gang. Each time he captured a better ship, he took it Vane was autocratic and treated even his officers
as his own, but he always renamed them Ranger. with contempt. His crews complained that he
Then, on 22 July 1718, a new governor of Nassau didn’t share out the plunder fairly and he was often
was sent from Britain to stamp out piracy. He was a unpredictable and capricious in his choice of targets.

115
 On one occasion he captured a ship full of logwood In August 1718, Vane began attacking the ships Then in November 1718, confidence in Vane’s
(a valuable plant dye), but instead of taking the cargo, entering and leaving Charleston, South Carolina. command crumbled altogether. Having sailed for
he ordered his prisoners to throw it overboard so he One of these was a large brigantine with 90 slaves several weeks without seeing a ship, they sighted
could use the ship for his own purposes. Halfway from west Africa. Vane ordered them all a target and hoisted their pirate flag,
through the process, he changed his mind and transferred to Yeats’ sloop, ignoring expecting a speedy surrender.
allowed the captain to keep both his ship and the the captain’s complaints about Instead, they promptly received
remaining cargo. At other times he promised the the overcrowding. Yeats had a broadside and the ship
crews of captured ships that they would be well
treated if they surrendered quietly, and then had
finally had enough and he
sailed off one evening,
D EFINING hoisted its own flag,
revealing it to be a French
them all murdered anyway. abandoning the Ranger. MOMENT warship that significantly
Vane gave chase but Vane slips his pursuers outgunned them. Vane
Yeats escaped up the Colonel William Rhett was a famous pirate wanted to flee but his
Gold and silver coins hunter, with a particular grudge against Vane.
from the wrecked North Edisto river While hunting him, Rhett comes across two
quartermaster Calico
Spanish Treasure fleet towards Charleston, ships that have been recently plundered. The Jack Rackham argued
provided the starting crew tells Rhett that Vane is planning to
capital for Charles
where he and his crew that they rush in and
hide upriver, to the south. But Vane has
Vane’s pirate career all accepted the King’s board the warship, since
deliberately planted this false rumour,
Pardon from the governor and Vane heads north instead. their fighting skills would
of South Carolina. Charles 15 September carry the day. Vane insisted
Vane lurked for several days 1718 that they would be sunk by its
at the mouth of the river, hoping cannons before they could get
to catch Yeats and have his revenge, there. Since pirate law at the time
but he was forced to break off when the was that the captain’s decision was final
governor of South Carolina sent out two well-armed when it came to fighting, chasing or being chased,
ships under the command of Colonel Rhet, on a Vane got his way and the Ranger escaped. But the
mission to track down and capture vagrant pirates. following day, the crew accused him of cowardice

116
 Charles Vane
The party at Ocracoke Island went on so long that
merchants set up shop to sell food and liquor to them

DEFINING
MOMENT
The Ocracoke Orgy
Vane joins Blackbeard and hundreds of other
pirates for a non-stop rolling party at Ocracoke
Island, North Carolina that lasts for weeks. As
well as food and drink, more than 50 prostitutes
have been brought from nearby Bath Town.
Vane tries to persuade Blackbeard to join
forces with him and take back Nassau,
but Blackbeard declines.
October 1718

Vane’s piracy actually

almost halted the slave
trade at one point,
because so few ships
In 1718, Charles Vane took over Nassau
ever made it to port
harbour and flew his pirate flag from the fort

“Vane’s fierce reputation allowed him to take conscience… when you have been a common robber
and pyrate, stealing ships and cargoes and plundering

ships simply by firing a few warning shots, or all mankind that fell in your way? Stay there and be
damned, if you are so squeamish!”

even just hoisting his pirate flag” Vane does indeed appear to have been too
squeamish – or proud – to make off with one of the
tiny fishing boats, because he was picked up instead
and voted Jack Rackham the new captain of the thanks to the fishermen who occasionally visited by a different ship that arrived at the island not long
Ranger. Vane was put aboard a small sloop with the the island to catch fish and turtles. Contemporary afterwards. Vane used a false name and was taken
few crew who took his side. accounts don’t make it clear whether Vane depended aboard as crew, but the captain of this ship also
Undaunted, Charles Vane had the sloop upgraded on intimidation or charity to feed himself, but he happened to know captain Holford and when the
in Honduras and immediately began looking for was stranded for several weeks. Eventually a ship two ships met at sea, Holford was invited to dine
fresh targets. Within three days he had captured arrived, captained by an old pirate acquaintance of aboard the ship carrying Vane. He was recognised
three small ships off the northwest coast of Jamaica. Vane’s, named Holford. Unfortunately, Holford had almost immediately and Holford summoned his
He kept the largest one and persuaded the crews since turned honest and flatly refused to take Vane ship’s mate with a pistol to take Vane away in irons.
from all three to join him and by mid-December had aboard, except in chains, saying “I shan’t trust you Vane spent some time in jail at Port Royal, Jamaica
captured two more. Vane’s fierce reputation allowed aboard my ship… for I shall have you caballing with before being tried and hung.
him to take ships simply by firing a few warning my men, knock me on the head and run away with At his trial, many of his former accomplices, who
shots from his cannons, or even just hoisting his my ship a pyrating”. Instead, he gave Vane a month had since taken the King’s Pardon, spoke out against
pirate flag. With his unquenchable ambition he to make his own escape and warned that he would him. Charles Vane said nothing in his own defence,
would soon have been in a position to take revenge take Vane prisoner for the bounty on his head, if he nor called any witnesses. In terms of the sheer
on the disloyal Yeats and Rackham. But in February was still on the island when Holford returned. Vane number of ships captured, Vane’s career had been
1719, his ship hit a violent storm and he was wrecked protested that there was no way to escape except by one of the most successful of any pirate. But his ego
upon an uninhabited island near Honduras. Almost stealing one of the fisherman’s small boats. Holford and his capriciousness cost him his allies and his life.
© Alamy

all of his crew were drowned and Vane only survived apparently replied “Do you make it a matter of He died almost as poor as he began.

117
 The Flying Gang

Calico Jack
the charismatic pirate
He was quick witted and smooth talking, but this
dashing corsair let his heart rule over his ambition

J
ohn Rackham went by the nickname of and sailed off to sell his booty, but the attack had
Calico Jack because of the colourful striped been seen from shore and local merchants clubbed DEFINING
trousers that he wore, which were made of together to fund two pirate-hunting ships to go MOMENT
Indian calico cloth. His career was short and after him. These eventually caught up with him in Mutiny against Charles Vane
not especially successful but he stands out as February 1719, while he was anchored at the Isla de When his captain Charles Vane refuses to attack
a French warship twice the size of their own
a flamboyant and charismatic character. Rackham los Pinos, near Cuba. Rackham and his crew were
vessel, Rackham sows dissent among the crew
was the first to use the famous skull and crossed ashore at the time so they escaped capture, but the with an impassioned speech accusing Vane of
swords design on his pirate flag and he was also the Kingston was taken back to Jamaica. cowardice. Since the captain has the power of
only pirate captain known to have women in his crew. Some sources state that Rackham and his crew veto, there is no danger of having to fight
the French ship but it allows Rackham
We know from his trial records that Rackham was returned to Nassau in New Providence after this to overthrow Vane.
born in 1682 but nothing is known of his early life to accept the King’s Pardon. This would have been 23 November 1718
until he turns up as the quartermaster of Charles after the 5 September 1718 deadline for the pardon,
Vane’s ship, Ranger, at the age of 35. Rackham so they would have been technically ineligible,
had probably been a pirate for several years at this but Rackham may have claimed that they had
point, slowly working his way up the ranks to one been forced into a life of piracy by Charles Vane.
of the most senior positions in Vane’s crew. Then in The governor of New Providence, Woodes Rogers,
November 1718 he accused his captain of cowardice detested Vane and so it’s possible that he accepted
and persuaded the crew to vote him as their leader this excuse and pardoned them anyway. It’s around
instead. Calico Jack’s first month in command was this time that Calico Jack encountered the first of the
not terribly impressive. He attacked mostly very women that would later sail with him. Anne Bonny
small ships and didn’t make much money from was the wife of James Bonny, a pirate who had
them. On one occasion Rackham captured a ship, turned honest and made a small living informing on
only to discover that it was full of prisoners being his former shipmates to Governor Rogers. Rackham
deported from Newgate gaol in England to work and Bonny began an affair, and when her husband
on the plantations. Not only was this a decidedly found out, Rackham tried to buy her divorce. James
worthless cargo, but he didn’t even manage to hang Bonny refused this offer and instead complained to
on to the ship itself as it was recaptured a few days the governor, demanding that Rackham be publicly
later by an English naval warship. flogged. To escape this fate, Rackham dressed Anne
In December he had better luck and captured the Bonny as a man, rounded up eight other pirates, and
Kingston just outside Port Royal in Jamaica. This had stole a small ship called the William. Of course this
both a valuable cargo and was also a much better immediately voided his pardon and Rackham went
ship. Rackham took the Kingston as his new flagship straight back to minor piracy. It isn’t clear whether

118
 Jack Rackham

“ “Rackham
took the
Kingston as his
new flagship
and sailed
off to sell his
booty”

119
 The Golden Age
Mary Read was one of Rackham’s original crew ashore in Cuba, while Anne Bonny gave birth to
aboard the William, or whether she transferred later a child. In August 1720 they were back at sea and
from a captured ship, but contemporary accounts looking for prey around the coast of Jamaica. The
state that Calico Jack was completely fooled by her William had just four guns and 14 crew so they were
disguise as a man. forced to hunt small game close to the shore.
It’s worth taking a moment to In September they stole the catch and
consider how credible this is. tackle from seven small fishing
Female crew were unheard boats, worth just £10, but after
of aboard sailing ships at that they were able to capture
the beginning of the 18th D EFINING two small merchant sloops,
century and Mary Read MOMENT worth £1,000. But by
both dressed and swore keeping so close to the
Fooling the Spanish coastguard
like a man. But Rackham Calico Jack is trapped in a small bay by a heavily
shore, Rackham had
already knew he was armed Spanish coastguard ship, together with attracted attention from
smuggling Anne Bonny a small sloop that it had captured. In the night, the authorities. The
Rackham and his crew row over to the sloop,
aboard in men’s clothing, governor of Jamaica sent
board it and silently slip away. When dawn
so he might be expected breaks, the Spanish ship opens fire with all a pair of pirate-hunting
to be more suspicious. cannons on Rackham’s old ship, now ships, commanded by
A witness at their trial luckily abandoned. Captain Jonathan Barnet
testified that both women c.1719 aboard the Snow-Tyger, to sail
looked exactly like men, around the island after him.
apart from “the largeness of their On 20 October 1720, Rackham
breasts”, which is a fairly big hint. Life was rounding Negril Point at the
aboard a small sailing vessel wasn’t anywhere western end of Jamaica when he saw a small
near private enough for a woman to go unnoticed for flat-bottomed boat with nine men aboard. The
long, no matter how gruff her appearance. Another charismatic Calico Jack hailed them with a mixture
witness said that in any case they only dressed as of menace and persuasion, and insisted that the
men when attacking or chasing other ships. men come aboard and drink with him. He probably
Whatever the living arrangements aboard the intended to persuade them to join his crew, but they
William, Rackham and his crew spent some time were sufficiently suspicious to come fully armed

“By keeping so close to the shore, Rackham Rackham’s body was displayed at
the entrance to Port Royal harbour
had attracted attention from the authorities” as a warning to other pirates

Jack Rackham
Rackham left the defence of his ship, the captures a
William, to Anne Bonny and Mary Read Spanish ship

120
 Jack Rackham
with muskets and cutlasses. Nevertheless, they seem
to have got on well, and as night fell the pirates and
sailors got royally drunk together. Then at around
10pm, Captain Barnet caught up with the pirates and
found the William at anchor in the bay. He ordered
all lights to be extinguished on the Snow-Tyger and
slipped quietly alongside. The first the pirates knew
of his presence was when he loudly demanded their
surrender. Rackham’s crew leapt to battle stations
and managed to fire a couple of times from their
small swivel-mounted guns, but the Snow-Tyger
out-gunned them and after unleashing a broadside,
Barnet moved in to board them.
Most of the crew of the William were still below
decks and almost the only ones to put up a fight
were Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Calico Jack
seems to have kept well out of the way during the
battle and Barnet managed to capture all of them
with no casualties among his own men. Rackham
and his crew were taken to Port Royal in Jamaica
and tried at St Jago de la Vega (now Spanish Town)
on 16 and 17 November 1720. Bonny and Read were
tried two weeks later. The entire crew were found
guilty of piracy and sentenced to hang. Even more
unfortunate was the fate of the nine other men who
had come aboard to drink with Rackham that night.
They were swept up with the others and charged
with piracy, just like the rest of the crew. At
the trial, they loudly protested that
they were just turtle fishermen
who had been compelled to
come aboard the William.
D EFINING They pointed out that
MOMENT they had immediately
Birth of Rackham’s son surrendered to Captain
Calico Jack has an informal marriage to Barnet when the William
Anne Bonny while at sea and she gives birth was boarded and had
to a son in Cuba, but she rejoins him shortly
afterwards. It isn’t clear what becomes of
refused Rackham’s
this son, but Rackham’s attachment to orders to help him weigh
Bonny sets him apart from the murder anchor and outrun the
and whoring that defines many of
Snow-Tyger.
the other famous pirates.
It’s impossible to know
Early 1720
for sure whether these men
had intended to join Rackham’s
pirate crew or not, but the fact that
they were armed at the time of their
capture counted heavily against them and all nine
were sentenced to hang along with the rest of the
Calico Jack crew. Ironically, the two pirates that fought the
’s flag is on
most iconic e of
pirate embl the hardest to evade capture – Anne Bonny and Mary
ems today
Read – both escaped the hangman’s noose
by “pleading the belly”, in other words they
claimed to be pregnant. But Calico Jack
was hung, disembowelled and his body
displayed in a gibbet on a tiny islet at the
entrance to Port Royal, which became known
as Rackham’s Cay.
John Rackham’s career began when he
accused Charles Vane of cowardice but in
the end he was branded a coward himself for
© Alamy, Rex Features

refusing to put up a fight aboard the William.

Mary Read is reported to have said “If he had
Calico Jack featured in the fought like a man, he need not have hanged
1956 TV series The Buccaneers
like a dog”.

121
 The Flying Gang

Anne Bonny
disappearing pirate queen
Irish Anne Bonny became famed
across the Caribbean for her exploits, Anne was one of the
fiercest crew members
but what became of her? onboard the Revenge

W
hen Anne McCormac was born daughter was just 13 years old, leaving her entirely dissolute soldier and would-be pirate. Furious at her
in Cork, Ireland in 1689, her in the care of her father. By this time, McCormac disobedience, Cormac disowned Anne and turned
life was one of adventure from – now known as Cormac – had enjoyed enormous her out of his house, swearing that she would not get
the start. Anne was born to success in the new world and he was determined to a penny from him.
a respectable married lawyer ensure that his daughter married well. He arranged a With James scheming to get his hands on his
named William McCormac and his maid, so when marriage to a respectable, wealthy acquaintance, but new wife’s money frustrated, the couple left Charles
news of the pregnancy broke, McCormac’s orderly the girl had absolutely no intention of submitting to Town and headed off in search of adventure.
world was plunged into scandal. her father’s wishes. Seeking a fortune of their own, they soon arrived in
Separated from his wife and facing public ruin For all his careful planning, William Cormac had the Bahamas, where Anne threw herself headlong
– not to mention the fury of his spouse’s family – reckoned without Anne’s lust for adventure and into the wildest parties she could find. She soon
McCormac and his lover decided to elope. They set while he made his fortune as a plantation owner discovered that there was more to life than James
their sights on Charles Town, South Carolina, where in this respectable new world, Anne had longed to Bonny and became a regular fixture in pirate
they were sure that they could make a new start. In escape it. She turned her back on the suitors her drinking dens. Surrounded by tales of adventure and
fact, Anne’s mother died in Charles Town when her father selected and chose instead James Bonny, a fortune, Anne Bonny set her sights on a far higher
prize than any her husband could offer.
With James busy acting as an informant for
Governor Woodes Rogers, Anne instead fell head
over heels for the infamous pirate, Calico Jack
Rackham. Threatened with public flogging for her
dalliance with Jack, Anne stole away with her lover
and took to the waves. Once again disguised as a
man, Anne proved herself to be one of the most
fearless and fierce members of Rackham’s crew. She
loved the thrill of a fight and never shied away from
combat, standing firm beside her mates.
Rackham and Anne were separated briefly when
she fell pregnant. Believing that a pirate ship was no
place for a pregnant woman, Calico Jack left her in
Cuba, promising to return once she had given birth.
He kept his promise, but history doesn’t record what
became of the child she had been carrying when
As their male crew mates fled, she left the ship.
Anne and Mary Read fought Anne wasn’t the only woman sailing with Calico
valiantly against their captors
Jack Rackham, and she was joined on board his ship,

122
 Anne Bonny
Revenge, by Mary Read. Read was easily her equal The trial was short and the entire crew were
in terms of temperament, courage and ambition, sentenced to hang, Mary and Anne included. In one
and soon the crew of Rackham’s Revenge became last desperate attempt to save their lives, the two
moderately successful in the West Indies. Rather ladies both pled their bellies, meaning that they
than pursue huge and well-defended bounties, they claimed to be pregnant. No pregnant woman would
focused on smaller raids and soon the ship’s hold be hanged and the execution of both was postponed
contained a respectable amount of treasure. until they had given birth.
The career of Read, Bonny and Rackham Stricken with fever while in prison, Mary
came to an abrupt end in October died before her baby was born, but
1720 when the Revenge lay at Anne’s story takes a strange
anchor. A ship captained by twist. The infamous Anne
the British Navy’s famed Bonny disappeared from the
pirate hunter, Jonathan D EFINING historical record immediately
Barnet, sighted the MOMENT following her appearance
vessel and stole upon Anne and Calico Jack fall in love in court and the decision
it by night. In fact, the In 1720, the pirate captain, Calico Jack to commute her death
Rackham, and Anne Bonny fell in love. Jack
vast majority of the sentence, yet rumours of
offered Anne’s husband a payment if he would
crew was passed out divorce her, but instead he threatened her with her fate abounded. The
drunk after celebrating a flogging. Calico Jack didn’t waste a moment most likely explanation for
a successful attack on and he and Anne stole a sloop, William, her sudden disappearance
from the harbour at Nassau, and took
a Spanish ship that had to the sea. is that Anne’s wealthy father
netted a small fortune in took pity on his daughter
1717-1718
treasure. Only Mary and Anne in her time of most need. Anne was a disobedient
were still sober and though they Unwilling to see his child go to daughter and turned out of
the house by her father
fought valiantly, they were easily her death or see her child born in the
overpowered by the larger and, crucially, festering confines of a Port Royal prison,
more sober crew of the British ship.
The captured crew was taken to Spanish Town
some claim that he pulled some strings among
his rich and powerful friends, essentially buying
“Only Mary and
to face trial, where the revelation that the captured
pirates of the Revenge included two women caused
her freedom. Released from jail, Anne returned to
America and the shelter of her father’s planation.
Anne were still sober,
a sensation. This was utterly unheard of, and people
watched the proceedings with interest, wondering
Here, she took a new name and began a new life as a
respectable wife and mother, far from the pirate ship
though they were
what would become of these most unusual ladies. where she had once known such peril and adventure. easily overpowered”
When British
forces boarded the
Revenge, Anne
fought furiously to
save her crew mates

123
 The Flying Gang

DEFINING
MOMENT
Towards piracy
Read’s ship was sailing to the West Indies
when it was attacked by pirates and she, as an
assumed Englishman, was captured and forced
into piracy. In 1719, she took the King’s Pardon
and wished to assume a career as a privateer.
The crew mutinied against the captain and
Read joined in. She earned a reputation
as a good fighter.
Circa 1719

Mary Read
the female buccaneer
Cutting a swath in the macho world of pirates were
rare women like Mary Read
ary Read hadn’t exactly envisaged a her daughter as a boy in a bid to fool a relative into

M
career as a pirate. She was a victim of contributing to her upbringing. Moving to London,
circumstance and, some might say, young Mary was raised as a lad. This ruse became a
opportunity. Sailing aboard a ship life-long undertaking. Although dead by 31 or roughly
to the West Indies, a gang of pirates thereabouts, Mary continued crossdressing as and
attacked the vessel and took her captive. From here, when it suited. Employed as the footman to a female
Read’s life headed on a drastically different course French aristocrat, when she got bored of all that, she
from the one she’d imagined. Her fame, however, was enlisted as a cadet in the British army, then at war
less for her piratical deeds and misadventures and with the French. The story goes that she fell in love
more because of the unusual relationship with fellow with a Flemish soldier, presumably she revealed to
sea-rovers: Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham. him her big secret, and they went off to run a tavern
Read is a something of a mystery before she in the Netherlands together. When this man died, she
turned up in the Caribbean and struck up an ill-fated dragged up again and joined a foot regiment before
but deeply romanticised partnership with her pirate heading out to the Caribbean. It’s a rich tale, one fit
cohorts. A life as set down in the classic A General for a grand picaresque 19th century novel, but how
History Of The Robberies And Murders Of The Most true is it? Maybe buried somewhere is the truth, or
Notorious Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson, written maybe none of it is true.
three years after Read’s death, proved the major It is quite incredible that a woman could pass for
contributor to her myth. The problem is that virtually a man for so long while sailing the seven seas. To
none of it is verifiable, with only court documents be aboard a cramped ship with all sense of personal
and records available from time spent in the West space obliterated by necessity and hierarchy of the
Indies and the trial which saw her, Bonny and crew, the ingenuities involved in masking the truth
Rackham sentenced to death for their crimes. from others must have been truly extraordinary and
Johnson sets out Read’s life before turning stoked by a constant fear of being found out. Yet
pirate as a melodrama full of tragedy, bravery and ships are full of dark corners and crannies and it is
crossdressing. Born circa 1691, it is said she was feasible Mary Read and others developed their own
the illegitimate daughter of a sea captain. Mary’s tricks and seadog personas to ward off inquisitive
mother was unwed at the time and decided to dress prying. But when toilet facilities were either boxes

124
 Mary Read

Mary Read, the female pirate

who wore men’s clothes

125
 The Golden Age

Nassau Harbour, the Bahamas. From here,

Rackham, Read and Bonney stole an armed
sloop and set sail for pirating adventures

overhanging the bow and small platforms for Ann Arnold, was uncovered by Captain Scott of action was to steal a sloop from Nassau harbour and
urinating into the ocean, such daily challenges were the ship the Robert Small, when they crossed the slink off into infamy. When captured and put on trial
fraught with risk. But there was a greater danger equator and celebrated with what could be an at at Spanish Town, Jamaica, Read and Bonny were
than going to the bathroom. Women were forbidden times vicious ceremony, involving beatings with wet described as fearsome creatures, a world away from
from pirate ships. Being found out could rope, dunking and in some cases, being ladylike grace and femininity. One witness in court,
possibly lead to sexual assaults. Also, chucked overboard. Scott and his who was attacked by the pirates, named Dorothy
taking women to sea knowingly crew were shocked, but he later Thomas, provided the judge with a description of
was frowned up by pirates, declared Miss Arnold to be Read and Bonny, which might have shocked folk.
despite their democratic
ways when dealing with
D EFINING among the finest mariners
he ever knew: ‘I have seen
‘The two women, prisoners at the bar, were then on
board the said sloop, and wore men’s jackets and
decisions. Anybody caught
MOMENT Miss Arnold among the long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their
smuggling a woman was Meeting Calico Jack first aloft to reef the heads; and that each of them had a machet and
Read meets Jack Rackham in Nassau and turns
to be put to death, as the mizen-top-gallant sail pistols in their hands, and cursed and swore at the
pirate. Rackham threatened to kill Read because
pirate’s code rule drawn he noticed Anne Bonny, his lover and fellow during a heavy storm men, to murder the deponent; and that they should
up by Bartholomew pirate, who sometimes dressed as a man, was in the Bay of Biscay.’ If kill her, to prevent her coming against them, and the
Roberts stated: ‘If any attracted to her. When Jack he discovered they proved their worth deponent further said, that the reason of her knowing
Read was a woman, they kept it secret from
man were found seducing the rest of the crew. Read’s pirating and did a good a job as a
any of the latter sex, and
carry’d her to sea, disguised,
career lasted barely a few months. man, some captains were
suitably impressed. Captain
“When put on trial,
1720
he was to suffer death.’
A way of stopping any of this
Scott was not a pirate, of
course, and Mary Ann Arnold no
Read and Bonny were
malarkey was to hire unmarried
pirates. But women at sea and working
buccaneer, but both Arnold and Mary
Read’s exploits show that they competed
described as fearsome
aboard vessels was not uncommon or completely and worked and fought for respect. creatures, a world
unknown. It worked out well enough for Read. Read met Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny in
One 19th-century female seaman, named Mary Nassau and soon joined forces. Their first course of away from grace”
126
 Mary Read
A 19th-century illustration of a more
sexualised nature. Read baring her breast
before a defeated, startled male pirate

DEFINING
MOMENT
A pirate’s end
Having escaped the hangman, Mary Read
was sent to prison to carry out the commuted
sentence. In April 1721, not long after the
trial, it is said she died from a violent fever
and believing them to be women then was by the not mere passengers, as while languishing in her cell. There is no
largeness of their breasts.’ Thomas’s account provides Dorothy Thomas and information as to whether she gave birth
or not. Read was buried on 28 April in
an interesting detail: the pair did not hide their sex. others attested, but very St. Catherine’s church.
It is said when Mary Read first joined Calico Jack’s much in the fray and made
April 1721
crew, and Anne Bonny took a shine to their new themselves known during
recruit, Jack was jealous and threatened to cut Read’s skirmishes and missions to
throat. Only when it was revealed Read was really attain the property of vessels. A
a woman in disguise did he stop his threats and French witness, speaking through an
allow her to remain aboard. The situation is certainly interpreter, told the courtroom how the women
unique and leads to all sorts of questions. Was this a ‘wore men’s clothes, and at other times, wore
ménage à trois? Were Read and Bonny lovers? women’s clothes’.
On 16 November 1720, the crew were faced Then, like many highly charged courtroom
with four charges of piracy, after being captured dramas, Mary Read and Anne Bonny played their ace
off the coast of Jamaica. Presiding over the court card: they were pregnant and therefore could not be
was Sir Nicholas Lawes, the island’s governor, and killed by the state. After an examination confirmed
12 commissioners. Rackham was found guilty and the matter, they were carted off to prison.
swiftly executed. His body was placed in a cage and How much of Mary Read’s story is true may never
hung from a gibbet at Deadman’s Cay. be known, but she entered pirate lore for she was
Read faced charges relating to attacks against among the very few female pirates who operated
seven fishing boats, two sloops off the island of during the golden age of piracy, and proved herself
Hispaniola, a schooner and a merchant sloop (named as good a fighter and pirate as the man next to her.
the Mary) close to Dry Harbour Bay, Jamaica and While her career was small-time and the plunder
kidnapping. She pleaded not guilty, but was found hardly worth risking death for, Read’s place in history
© Rex Features

guilty on two counts (relating to the schooner’s is affirmed. The relationship with Calico Jack and
capture and the Mary episode). She was sentenced to Anne Bonny is the most unusual facet of her short Read sailed with the famous
Captain ‘Calico Jack’ Rackam
death with the others. Read and her pal Bonny were but fascinating life.

127
 The Golden Age

DEFINING
MOMENT
Death of Howell Davis
Although initially an unwilling pirate, Roberts
was both esteemed and trusted by the captain
who captured him. When Davis was killed during
a bungled attempt to kidnap the governor
of Principe, Roberts was catapulted to the
position of captain: his first act was to
avenge the death of Davis before going
on to make his own reputation.

Bartholomew Roberts was the 1719

most successful pirate of the era in
terms of vessels captured, the final
count numbering more than 400

128
 Bartholomew Roberts

Black
Bartholomew
Roberts
the prize king
Reluctant at first, ‘Black Bart’ overcame his
qualms to become the pirate with the largest
capture count of the Golden Age

K
nowledge of Roberts’ early life is of the opportunity to speak Welsh to Roberts,
somewhat unclear. Born in Wales as confiding in him whenever he did not want the
John Roberts in 1682, he is believed to rest of the crew to hear. Whatever his initial qualms
have begun his career at sea at the age regarding piracy may have been, it seems that
of 13. After that, however, the trail runs Roberts was quick to overcome them, warming to
decidedly cold for the next 23 years, and it is not until his new, albeit unexpected, role. So much so, in fact,
1718 that he next enters the scene, serving as a mate that six weeks later, when Davis was killed during a
on a sloop out of Barbados. botched attempt to capture the governor of the island
The following year saw Roberts as third mate of Principe, Roberts was quick to accept the position
aboard Princess, a slave ship, and it was then that of new captain of Royal Rover. Further highlighting
fate, rather than natural inclination, intervened to the esteem Roberts’ held for his mentor, vengeance
throw him into a life of piracy. The Princess was was the first thing on his mind: Roberts and his men
captured by pirates while at anchor off the Gold stole ashore, killing many of the men of Principe and
Coast, by an attacking force led by captain Howell looting the place before fleeing into the darkness.
Davis. Perhaps because Roberts was a fellow Operating off the coasts of West Africa and the
Welshman or just because Howell recognised in Americas, Roberts established a name for himself as
Roberts a man of great capabilities, he was spared the lucky and profitable, and his men were more than
sword and taken along with the departing pirates as willing to follow him after a string of captures helped
part of their crew. cement his position. Like most pirates, his career
Roberts quickly became a trusted favourite with was relatively short, spanning just three years from
Davis, and it is said that the captain took advantage 1719 to his death in 1722. However, if the amount of

129
 The Golden Age

Celebrating a recent victory, many of Roberts’

crew were said to have been drunk on the day
of their fateful encounter with the Swallow

ships captured is the measure of success for a pirate, and it was this streak of daring that led to the success There was, however, a fly in the ointment;
then Roberts is the most prosperous ever. During of his most audacious raid. following the encounter and no doubt hoping for
his career he was known for the capture of at least Roberts and his crew had spent a disheartening yet greater treasures, after spending some of their
400 vessels, albeit losing out on the title of most two months watching the coast of Brazil for potential ill-gotten gains, Roberts and some of his crew set off
loot stolen, which goes to Samuel Bellamy. There sport, but had so far been unlucky. Patience to pursue another ship that they hoped
were definite perks to a life of piracy over that of a was rewarded, however, when a would also be profitable. Not only
common seaman, and a quote attributed to Roberts Portuguese fleet of more than 40 were they unsuccessful, but
has him comparing the relative poverty of a normal ships was discovered in the Roberts returned to find that
seaman to the wealth obtainable under a pirate flag.
A skilled navigator and leader of men, Roberts was
Bay of All Saints, the largest
bay in Brazil. The ships
D EFINING the man he had left in
charge, Kennedy, had taken
not above a touch of subterfuge to achieve his aims, were awaiting an escort to MOMENT off with one of his ships
accompany them safely Taking the Sagrada Familia and what was left of the
to Lisbon, and Roberts Generally held to be Roberts’ most audacious captured treasure from
victory, the wily captain quickly infiltrated the
was quick to seize the Portuguese fleet and identified the biggest prize the Sagrada Familia.
advantage. Boarding among it. Attacking before anyone could realise With his lesson well
one of the small vessels what was happening, he seized a sizable learned, Roberts and
treasure haul, only to lose part and the ship
of the fleet, he quickly the renamed Fortune
when another of his crew absconded
ascertained from a stunned with it some time later. set sail once more. It was
mate which of the other 1720 believed to be in the wake
ships was the biggest prize: of this unfortunate incident
the Sagrada Familia. Attacking that Roberts embarked upon
and taking the ship before anyone the creation of a pirate code, a set
could raise the alarm, Roberts had hit the of rules by which the pirates under him
Several flags have been attributed to Roberts jackpot. The captured ship turned out to hold not would agree to abide. Different captains had different
during his three-year career. This one shows an only 40,000 gold moidores but also jewellery of great codes over the years, but in the one attributed to
hourglass held between death and a pirate
worth intended for the king of Portugal himself. Roberts, no boys or women were allowed on board

130
 Bartholomew Roberts

DEFINING
MOMENT
Capture of Neptune
The capture of this merchant vessel proved to
be Roberts’ final victory and the beginning of
his downfall. Celebrating their prize, most of the
crew of Royal Fortune were drunk when the
British ship of the line, Swallow, came into
view, and despite a bold attempt to escape
to freedom, Roberts was killed in a
vicious broadside.
February 1722

Despite his death, Black Bart’s

reputation lived on, inspiring
many to embark upon a life of
piracy on the high seas

had requested if it should ever come to it, Roberts’

“A skilled navigator and leader of men, Roberts body was thrown overboard rather than allowed

was not above a touch of subterfuge” to be taken, and so the career of one of the most
renowned pirates of his age came to an end.
Bold and daring, Roberts was well known for
the ship, and gambling for money with either dice two ships were captured, being taken by Roberts, speaking his mind, and his renown is illustrated
or cards was strictly forbidden. Burned no doubt by with one being made use of as a store ship. by the fact that not only did many attempt to
Kennedy’s betrayal, defrauding the company would During his career, Roberts had several ships emulate him, but also the one occasion on which
be punished by the offending party being marooned, named Fortune or variations of this, and it seemed several pirates sought him out for help and advice,
and deserting the ship during battle carried with it a well-chosen name for this luckiest of pirates. Even which Roberts duly gave. The nickname Black Bart,
the penalty of marooning or death. Robbing another Roberts’ luck had to run out at some point, though. although much in use and known today, was not
man was also not to be tolerated, and would result in On 9 February 1722, Roberts and his crew had actually used by or about Roberts during his lifetime.
the guilty party having their nose and ears slit before captured the Neptune. Due to much celebration, Of the four flags that have come to be associated
being sent ashore to fare as best they could. the following day the men were still worse for with Roberts, the one most often linked to him is
Roberts was not to be kept down for long, and wear, many said to have still been drunk. They black with a white skeleton and white pirate who
Newfoundland was his next destination. There, he were therefore badly prepared for the appearance are holding an hourglass between them. Another
took many ships and managed to force the surrender of Swallow, a ship that had taken Ranger, one of features a pirate standing on two skulls, with initials
of Trepassey harbour, it was said, without the need the ships under Roberts’ command, a few days underneath that made no secret of his dislike for
for bloodshed. Moving onwards into the Caribbean, beforehand. Roberts’ boldness came to the fore Martinique and Barbados due to their moves against
over the next year Roberts and his crew were once more and a daring plan of escape was fixed him. The flag that was flown on the day of the fateful
perhaps too successful: their activities so impacted upon, one that involved sailing right past Swallow meeting with the Swallow was somewhat fitting,
trade in the West Indies that they were left without in an attempt to reach freedom. Things did not go depicting a skeleton and a man holding a burning
© Alamy, Getty Images

worthy quarry, forcing them to move on to West according to plan, and when Swallow was able to sword. Roberts’ name is still known today, with
Africa to find more lucrative pickings. Off the coast fire a second broadside at the ship, Roberts was homage paid to this pirate of great renown in pop
of Guinea, the Royal Fortune was pursued by two killed – the famed pirate who everyone had thought culture throughout the centuries since his death –
French ships. Roberts’ luck held, however, and the invincible cut down like so many before him. As he proof that his deeds live on.

131
 The Golden Age
Fly began his pirate
career with mutiny

William Fly
the last pirate of the Golden Age
When William Fly went to the gallows,
the Golden Age of Pirates died with him

W
illiam Fly isn’t famous for Perhaps for the first time, the ambitious young man they raised the Jolly Roger, renamed the ship, Fame’s
his piratical exploits or his realised that the road from boatswain to captain was Revenge, and set a course for America under the
seafaring adventures, but for a long one and he determined instead to become a captaincy of the newly-elected William Fly.
his death that marked the end pirate, seeing it as a shortcut to fame and fortune. In fact, the piratical career of Fame’s Revenge was
of the golden age of piracy. Unable to hold his tongue in the face of Green’s short. The reign of the pirates was coming to an end
Hailing from Jamaica, Fly wasn’t particularly tyranny, Fly led a mutiny against him and seized the and, in the dying days of the golden age, there was
remarkable but he was ambitious and he took to ship en route to Africa. The mutineers dragged the no chance that any newly-minted pirate ship could
the ocean in May 1726 determined to make his hated Captain Green up onto the deck. Drunk and hope to remain at large for long. After successfully
fortune. As a lowly boatswain aboard the slave ship insensible, Green recovered his wits and begged for seizing four ships during their journey to North
Elizabeth, Fly was at the mercy of its captain, James his life, but his men were deaf to his entreaties and Carolina, the crew engaged a fifth and forced some
Green. A brutal man who ruled through fear and hurled him into the ocean to die. He was soon joined of its men to join their crew. One of these men,
tyranny, Green worked his ill-treated crew to the by the first mate and as the two men sank beneath William Atkinson, was to prove the undoing of them.
bone and Fly soon realised that he would never the waves, the mutineers imprisoned any remaining Atkinson soon saw that Fly’s men weren’t happy
achieve his dreams while serving under the captain. loyal crewmen and celebrated uproariously. Then under his command. Their hauls were small and

132
 William Fly
the new captain was every bit as brutal as the man was famous for his prosecution of the Salem witches In the face of Mather’s preaching, Fly alone
they had overthrown and drowned. Atkinson waited and he was determined to make Fly repent and save refused to be moved. With his men keen to escape
for his moment and remained patient as Fly was his immortal soul. He lectured the four pirates on the threat of eternal damnation, the former captain
divided his crew between the Fame’s Revenge and their ungodly behaviour, telling them to repent and continued to argue with Mather, who eventually
a newly-captured vessel. Atkinson secretly secure salvation. While his three crewmen gave up his mission to save William Fly’s soul.
released some of the prisoners that had eagerly devoured Mather’s sermon, When the day of execution came, Fly strolled
been taken on board and, when keen to end up on the right side of through the gathered crowds like a true celebrity,
he gave the signal, the escapees the Almighty, William Fly was waving to those who had come to witness his death.
subdued Fly and what having none of it. Smiling and prancing, when he reached the scaffold
remained of his crew. D EFINING He listened as Mather he hopped nimbly up to take his place, every inch
Atkinson’s audacious MOMENT rained down fire and the showman. He examined the noose from which
plot succeeded and he brimstone on his deed he would soon dangle and declared it a poor job.
The refusal to repent
successfully navigated Fly’s refusal to repent and his last words until, tired of being Carefully, he re-tied the noose until it was to his
the ship, along with its suggest that he wasn’t driven purely by berated for the death of liking and then placed it around his own neck
four captive pirates, to ambition, but by his own moral code. He Green and the first mate, As his crewman meekly repented and told the
believed to the last that he was not to blame for
Boston. Placed on trial his fate, and warned that those in positions of he informed Mather he spectators to follow the path or righteousness and
for his life, Fly wasn’t authority should treat those below them hadn’t personally killed the law, Fly looked on in amusement. He sought
about to start begging properly, or leave them with no choice either. Instead, he claimed, no pity, nor offered repentance and instead warned
but to revolt.
and pleading like Stede one of the other pirates had any seafarers among crowd to treat their men with
Bonnet, but was determined 12 July 1726 thrown the two men into the dignity and respect, for it was they who were to
to remain as piratical as ever. sea, he had merely stood by and blame for mutiny and piracy. After all, he pointed
He behaved as though this was a watched. This made no difference, out, if he had not faced the tyranny of Green, he
walk in the park, showing little interest Mather told him, and he continued would have remained a loyal and law-abiding
in the trial nor his ultimate fate. The pirates were to sermonise as Fly railed and ranted against crewman all those months ago.
sentenced to death after a short trial and flung into a William Atkinson, the man he believed had betrayed Fly was hanged on 12 July 1726, unrepentant
jail cell to await their date with the gallows. his trust. He was obsessed with the hopeless idea of to the last. His body was gibbeted as a warning to
During his spell in prison, William Fly was visited realising his revenge on Atkinson, even though he others and with him, the golden age of piracy finally
by the preacher, Cotton Mather. Mather, of course, surely knew that he would not live to exact it. breathed its last.

“When he reached the scaffold he hopped

nimbly up to take his place”

Fly led a mutiny on his The remains of Fly and his executed crew
first ship, casting the men were taken out to Nixes Mate in
© Alamy

hated captain into the sea Boston Harbor following their execution

133
 The Flying Gang
Book of Pirates

Olivier
Levasseur
the buzzard
How one pirate has been leaving clues to the
whereabouts of his two million dollar booty
long after his death

W
hen you think of piracy, what excellent education and became a naval officer some
specifically comes to mind? years later.
Peg legs, eye patches and During the War of the Spanish Succession,
hooks for hands are staples for Levasseur procured both a scar across one of his
movie pirates, but real life was eyes and a Letter of Marque from King Louis XIV.
rarely so imaginative. However, feared and renowned The Letter of Marque meant that he was licensed to
pirate Olivier Levasseur procured himself an eye attack and capture enemy vessels before bringing
injury, and therefore an eye patch, before he had them before admiralty courts for condemnation and DEFINING
barely started dabbling in buccaneering. Continuing sale, and so he became a privateer for the French MOMENT
the swashbuckling stereotypes, he also managed to crown. But when it was time to return home with
A change in career
secure himself one of the biggest treasure hauls in his ship when the war eventually ended, Levasseur Having fought as a French naval officer during
pirate history before being captured and sentenced to decided that life wasn’t for him. Instead, he signed the War of the Spanish Succession, Levasseur
death in 1730. If this were a movie, Levasseur would up with the infamous Flying Gang in 1716, and made a rather surprising career change when
he joined Benjamin Hornigold’s Flying Gang
have made a brave escape, swaggered aboard his ship befriended fellow crew members Sam Bellamy and instead of returning home. He quickly
and sailed off into the sunset for one last adventure. Edward Teach, who would later come to be known as became known as La Buse because of the
In actuality, Levasseur wasn’t so lucky. But that the notorious pirate Blackbeard. speed and ruthlessness with which he
attacked his enemies.
doesn’t mean his story wasn’t stranger than fiction. After a year of looting the party split (Hornigold
Nicknamed La Buse and La Bouche – French for becoming a pirate hunter had something to do with 1716
‘the Buzzard’ and ‘the Mouth’ because of his speed it), but that wasn’t the end for Levasseur. In 1719, he
and ruthlessness when it came to attacking his decided to try his luck out on the West African Coast,
enemies – Levasseur spent much of his life as an and formed a partnership with Englishmen and
outlaw. However, his rather fortunate upbringing fellow pirates Howell Davis and Thomas Cocklyn.
helped him carve out a respectable sailing career. The three pirates had a short but successful run,
Born in Calais to a wealthy bourgeois family during with their biggest victory being their attack of the
the Nine Years’ War (1688-1697), he received an slaver port of Ouidah, a city on the coast of the

134
Olivier Levasseur

Levasseur’s grave can be found at

Saint-Paul, Reunion, in France
 The Golden Age

DEFINING
MOMENT
An enormous booty
A career highlight for Levasseur and his partner
John Taylor was their attack on the Portugese
great galleon Nossa Senhora do Cabo, which
Basil Rathbone played Levasseur in the contained treasures belonging to the Bishop of
film Captain Blood starring Errol Flynn Goa and the Viceroy of Portugal. Levasseur,
Taylor and their crew managed to get away
with a huge fortune thought to be now
worth over $2 billion.
April 1721

John Cruise-Wilkins has attempted to find La Buse’s Reginald Cruise-Wilkins first found a pirate marking
hidden treasure after his father started a search in 1947 La Buse left a cryptogram for people to solve on some rocks near his home at Bel Ombre

republic of Benin. They managed to capture the

slave ship Bird Gallery at the mouth of the Sierra
“They managed to capture the slave ship Bird
Leone River and were so thrilled by the attack that
they celebrated for a month before finally releasing
Gallery and were so thrilled by the attack that
its captain, William Snelgrave, who had been
beaten and shot but ultimately spared. According
they celebrated for a month”
to writings from Snelgrave after the ordeal, Howell Levasseur began plundering from the safety of the to the Bishop of Goa and the Viceroy of Portugal, who
has said, “their reasons for going a pirating were to Sainte-Marie base with a new set of pirate partners, were both on board on a return trip from Lisbon. The
revenge themselves on base merchants and cruel John Taylor and Edward England. ship seemed like no easy conquest, with its 74 gun
commanders of ships.” Together, the trio and their crew captained three ports in contrast to Levasseur’s 26 cannons.
Like his compatriots in the Flying Gang, Levasseur, ships and 750 men, and successfully plundered the Luckily for the pirates, the Nossa Senhora do Cabo
Howell and Cocklyn’s partnership eventually came Laccadives, selling the loot to Dutch traders for an had been damaged in a storm, causing the crew to
to an end, this time due to a falling out after a impressive £75,000. Once again, the partnership dump all 74 cannon overboard and then sit it on a
drunken argument. Not long after setting out on came to an end, but this time it was England who sandbar while it underwent repairs. In one of the
his own, Levasseur found himself shipwrecked in was cast out; Levasseur and Taylor grew tired of his most opportune captures of all time, Levasseur and
the Mozambique Channel, stranded on the island kindness towards their captives and so decided to his crew managed to seize an absolutely preposterous
of Anjouan. It was during this time that his bad eye maroon him on the island of Mauritius to teach him haul, with each crew member receiving a whopping
became completely blind and Levasseur started a lesson. £50,000 and 42 diamonds each. The stolen fortune
wearing his signature eye patch. It was with Taylor that Levasseur perpetrated one is believed to have been worth well over $2 billion in
Very little is known about how he got himself of the greatest exploits in piracy history, securing today’s money.
off Anjouan, but things started to look up again for them enough booty to fulfil any buccaneer’s wildest Having pulled off the biggest and most impressive
Levasseur after that point. According to legend, the dreams. In April 1721, the pair made plans to capture exploit of his career Levasseur decided he deserved
Frenchman became instrumental in the building the Portuguese great galleon Nossa Senhora do Cabo a break, and settled down in secret on the Seychelles
of a pirate fortification on the island of Sainte-Marie, – known in English as Our Lady of the Cape – which archipelago where he started attempting to spend his
just off the coast of Madagascar. From 1720 onwards, was loaded with gold and precious stones belonging money. But, like most pirates, he didn’t quite manage

136
 Olivier Levasseur

a happy ending; his dangerous and very illegal According to legend, a woman named Rose Savy already collected several treasures; but there are
lifestyle finally caught up to him in 1730, when he came cross some mysterious carvings in the rocks still four left. You will find them with the key to the
was captured near Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, and at Bel Ombre beach near Beau Vallon on the island combinations and the other papers.” The will also
hanged for piracy on 7 July. of Mahé during the 1920s while the tide had contained Levasseur’s original cryptogram, which
But Levasseur’s story doesn’t end been unusually low. After hearing of accompanied Savy on a steamboat to Kenya and
there. Mere moments before he was the carvings – which represented a flight to the national library of Paris so its origin
hanged and with a rope around a dog, snake, turtle, horse, fly, could be verified.
his neck, the pirate threw hearts, a keyhole, a staring In 1947, Savy’s neighbour, Reginald Cruise-
a cryptogram, contained D EFINING eye, a ballot box, a woman’s Wilkins attempted to decipher the cryptogram,
within a locket, from the MOMENT body and the head of a and discovered a connection with the Zodiac, the
scaffold into the crowd man – a public notary in Clavicles of Solomon and the Twelve Labours of
The story continues
that had gathered to Levasseur’s life may have ended in execution
Victoria, Seychelles, made Hercules. In order to find the treasure, he believed a
watch his execution, and for piracy in 1730, but his legacy continues. a connection through series of tasks had to be carried out in a strict order,
yelled: “Find my treasure, After throwing a cryptogram into the crowd searching his archives with the treasure chamber being buried somewhere
just moments before being hanged, La Buse
he who may understand and concluded that the underground. Cruise-Wilkins eventually died in 1977,
continues to perplex. Several pirates claimed
it!” Those served as to have already discovered the booty, but symbols had been made but his son John, a history teacher, has dedicated part
Levasseur’s final words. there has been no evidence supporting by pirates. of his life to continuing his father’s quest. His search
Since the bizarre event, those boasts. Savy also happened has so far been futile.
many people, both pirates 7 July 1730 across the last will of a pirate Throughout his life, Levasseur had no need for
and otherwise, have attempted named Bernardin Nageon de the treasures he acquired by way of buccaneering.
to crack the code and seek out the L’Estang, who had died 70 years Everything he did, he did for fun. The cryptogram
© Alamy, Getty Images

treasure. Some even claim to have been after Levasseur, and claimed to have was no different: with people still trying to crack its
partly successful, but there is no evidence that obtained some of the hidden treasure. Within code and find the fortune it conceals, the cryptogram
the booty of gold and precious stones has ever been the will was the following message to his nephew: ensured he could continue having fun long after his
discovered. However, several may have come close. “I’ve lost a lot of documents during shipwreck. I’ve death, even if he wasn’t there to witness it.

137
 Pirates in the Caribbean

PIRATES IN THE

CARIBBEANNautical treasure hunters, or anarchic outlaws? Meet the pirates who dominated the
Caribbean in the 18th century and discover their hideouts

138
 Pirates in the Caribbean

T
oday when we think of the Caribbean, we might
imagine endless golden beaches and turquoise “He pillaged 18 kilograms of
seas. However, if you had set sail at the start of
the 18th century and survived the long arduous gold dust, a great quantity of
journey across the Atlantic, you would not find
solace and tranquillity, but instead an anarchic wilderness, brandy, elephant teeth and
overrun with pirates.
Far from the eccentric, adventure- and treasure-seeking 14 men to beef up his crew”
rogues that pepper our cultural imagination, pirates were violent
outlaws who sailed the shallower waters in sloops, ready to of Marque and Reprisal. These gave former naval officers
pillage anything they could get their hands on and wreaking and merchants the right to pillage enemy vessels, carrying
havoc across the Atlantic and further abroad. valuable cargo like indigo, tobacco and sugar. These privateers,
The origins of piracy lie with state governments. While the or buccaneers, often targeted Spanish ships, as they controlled
act itself was illegal, in England state-sponsored attacks on Edward Teach’s severed head
much of South America and the Caribbean. But the English
the ships of national enemies were made lawful by Letters hangs from a bowsprit wanted in on the action and in the 1620s Thomas Warner
settled St Kitts whilst the neighbouring island of Nevis followed
shortly after.
Capture of the Pirate,
Blackbeard, 1718, Jean The Museum of the London Docklands’ exhibition ‘London,
Leon Gerome Ferris, which Sugar and Slavery’ highlights the extremely lucrative nature of
was painted in 1920
colonisation and how it kick-started the industrial revolution
back home. Rich in resources, the Caribbean islands were ripe
for exploitation and those who weren’t up for a bloody fight
with the local Carib or Arawak tribes on unsettled islands
could simply pillage goods from Spanish and French ships.
The exhibition includes original letters of marque and a gibbet
that was used for displaying dead bodies of condemned pirates
around Wapping. The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich
is also plays host to displays about how 17th-century British
naval culture encouraged privateering.
The island of Tortuga off the coast of modern day Haiti
became an informal buccaneer’s capital or ‘pirates’ den’ during
this period. A Brethren of the Coast was set up by Captain
Henry Morgan – a Maritime Robin Hood – and even supposedly
respectable men such as Captain Anthony Hilton, the first
governor of Nevis, decided his time was better spent in Tortuga.
By working together, targeting trade routes and overpowering
ships, these buccaneers became extremely successful. However,
it would soon start to get out of hand. A law unto themselves,
buccaneers soon started pillaging anything they could get their
hands on, regardless of the diplomatic consequences.

Today, the Caribbean is

largely a tranquil holiday
destination, but its past is
rather more bloody

The Letter of Marque, which

gave privateers a license to
attack and pillage enemy vessels

139
 Pirates in the Caribbean
Two buccaneers who effectively brought this early era to a A similar tower – Bluebeards Castle – is now a luxury holiday
close were Captains Henry Every and William Kidd. Every was resort open to guests.
a mariner on the King Charles II. When the crew mutinied, These lookouts, however, did little to stop Every. When his
Every was elected as the new captain and set off on a pirating men arrived back in England, they were arrested, put on trial
expedition, first to the Portuguese Island of Príncipe, off the and hanged at Wapping – a commonly known sight for the
coast of Africa, where he captured his first ships and pillaged execution of pirates, called Execution Dock was used for over
gold dust, brandy and elephant teeth before heading to the 400 years – but Every escaped. Stories abound of him having
Red Sea to attack ships leaving Mecca on their way back to the moved to Ireland, headed home to Plymouth or even back to
Mughal Empire. Every attacked the Ganj-i-Sawai and this time Saint Thomas. His fate remains unknown.
he was rewarded with between 23,000 and 27,000 kilograms The incident brought home the risks involved with
of gold and silver. The Mughals complained and the English privateering for the government and it was hoped the trial of
realised they had to act or risk losing vital trade with Asia. Every’s men would act as a show trial. Instead, the story of
Every and his team sailed to Saint Thomas in the Danish- ordinary men making their fortune on the high seas, visiting
controlled Virgin Islands, and perhaps to the Bahamas, before exotic lands and eluding justice, was lapped up by the press.
Henry Morgan was a
heading home. Today on Saint Thomas you can take a guided prominent Welsh privateer of A few years later the exploits of another privateer turned
tour of Skytsborg Tower, also known as Blackbeard’s castle. the 17th century pirate, William Kidd, would again capture the public’s
This was a lookout built in 1679 to warn the Danes about imagination, and launch the so-called golden age.
pirates but, legend has it that it later used by Blackbeard. From Kidd set off from London in 1696 with his own Letters of
the top you can see out as far as St Cruix and Puerto-Rico. Marque, ready to turn pirate on the pirates and re-claim stolen
loot. King William III was to receive ten per cent of the profits. It
did not quite work out that way…
“The sensational story of ordinary Pirates at the end of the 17th century sailed on a well-known
route called the Pirate Round. Pirates would cross the Atlantic,
men making their fortune on the high sail around the Cape of Good Hope and then make a stop either
in Madagascar itself or on the small island of Île Sainte-Marie.
seas was lapped up by the press” Here they would boost supplies and congregate, before they

La Crique beach, in Île

Sainte-Marie (known in
English as Saint Mary’s)
near Madagascar

This painting depicts

pirates attacking an
English naval vessel

Henry Every, taking

the Great Mughal’s
prized ship

140
 Pirates in the Caribbean
Captain Kidd depicted in a
scene, welcoming women
on board to see his ship in
New York
Kidd’s treasure
Some of the treasure captured
by William Kidd, one of the most
notorious of all pirates, has recently
been uncovered by divers
The privateer is said to have acquired a vast treasure when he
turned to piracy but by the time he was arrested, the infamous
loot had vanished.
During his incarceration, Kidd wrote to Sir Robert Harley,
the Commons Speaker of the time, offering the location of his
£100,000 loot (which is about £10.5 million in today’s money)
if his sentence was commuted; unfortunately for him the offer
was declined.
The so called Kidd-Palmer charts, discovered by Hubert
Palmer in a bureau purportedly from Kidd’s ship The Adventure
Galley – which was purchased in 1935 – allegedly pointed to the
treasure being in the China Sea.
The charts vanished in 1957, as has any evidence of a
historical evaluation by the British Museum, who were long
purported to have verified the charts as genuine.
Other islands that have been searched include Oak Island,
Nova Scotia, Hon Tre Lon, Vietnam and Bonaire, the Lesser
Antilles. Kidd was known to have stopped off in the Caribbean
to unload The Quedagh Merchant and his letter to Harley
implies the treasure is in the West Indies.
In 2015, divers believed they had found treasure from
the Adventure Galley, off the coast of Madagascar. The UN,
however, dismissed the discovery, stating that the silver bar the
divers had discovered was 95 per cent lead and the wreck is a
broken port construction.

William Kidd and

his buried treasure

headed off up the coast of Africa towards the Red Sea and onto
India where Mughal ships were a-plenty. The Pirates Museum
in Antananarivo highlights why Madagascar was the perfect
hideout. When the British began re-asserting their authority
over Nassau, legend as it that pirates formed another republic
here called Libertaria, though this has never been verified.
English speaking visitors to the museum can have all the
exhibits explained to them by one of the museum staff at no
extra cost.
Kidd soon caused suspicion because he was spotted by naval
ships carrying on further north, past Madagascar to the Comoro
Islands. The pirate hunter had turned pirate himself.
Some argue that Kidd’s conversion to piracy was not
necessarily voluntary: a third of his crew perished with cholera
and all of his replacements turned out to be pirates themselves. William III saw the Piracy
Frustrated after months at sea, Kidd followed Every’s footsteps Act of 1698 come into action
during his reign
and headed straight for the Red Sea where he plundered the
wealthy Quedagh Merchant before heading back to Madagascar
and then the relative sanctity of the Caribbean.
It was while on Anguilla that Kidd heard that the English
government had declared him a pirate and had issued an arrest
warrant; the Mughals had threatened to cut off trade which
could have bankrupted the East India Company. Kidd was
arrested in America and transported back home where he was
tried, found guilty and hanged.
The trial and capture of Kidd, however, did little to dissuade
privateers and mariners from going rogue. In fact, once again
it had the opposite effect. Newspapers turned Kidd into a

141
 Pirates in the Caribbean
celebrity and transcripts of his trial sold out, while rumours flag room, priceless treasure from the golden era and exhibits on
spread that Every had escaped to the Caribbean where Kidd’s Woodes Rogers, Horringold and female pirates Anne Bonny and
treasure allegedly lay hidden. Mary Read. If you’re in Nassau it is also worth hopping across
Privateers soon began to congregate in Nassau in the the sea to Florida where pirates would hide out amongst the
Bahamas, living by their own pirates code. By 1716, pirates in shallow keys. The Tampa Bay History Centre features many rare
Nassau outnumbered citizens by ten to one. Some describe it as artefacts washed up on Florida’s shores and will soon open a
a pirate’s republic; others condemned Nassau as a failed state. new gallery, featuring a 60 foot replica sloop and a cartographic
Nassau, however, was certainly not a meritocratic utopia Blackbeard’s black flag centre showcasing some of the earliest maps of the New World
if you were a local. The pirates looted whatever they could, encapsulates his vicious, brutal and the Caribbean.
reputation. A white skeleton
burned down houses of settlers and reportedly even raped holds an hourglass in one It was during the golden age that the most notorious pirate
local women. The closest thing the pirates had to a leader was hand, signalling that your time of them all arrived on the scene: Blackbeard. We cannot be
Captain Benjamin Horingold, another privateer. Horingold, in this world is running out, certain of his real name, though multiple sources give variations
while the other hand holds
however, was the subject of an effective coup when he refused an arrow pointing at a bloody on Edward Teach. What we do know is that Blackbeard was
to attack English – now British – ships. The pirates reasoned that red heart a contemporary of Hornigold and gained a reputation for his
most of the ships coming in and out of the Caribbean with the
biggest loots were British since Britain was now the dominant
force in the Caribbean.
“By 1716, pirates in Nassau
Indeed once they started raiding British ships, the Nassau
pirates captured 70 per cent of all the treasure that would
outnumbered citizens by
be looted in the whole era. All the big names congregated in
Nassau during the 1710s so the Pirates of Nassau Museum
ten to one. Some described
in Nassau is well worth a visit. A life size model of Nassau’s
Quayside has been reconstructed. There is also a replica pirates
it as pirate’s republic”
Nassau Harbour in the Edward Teach, known as the
late 19th century formidable Blackbeard

Pirates boarding a Spanish vessel

in the dead of night. Taken from
Lives of the Most Notorious
Pirates by Charles Johnson

142
 Pirates in the Caribbean

Wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge

The discovery of Blackbeard’s ship boosted our understanding of this infamous yet mysterious figure
Blackbeard’s ship was After stopping on the
discovered after cannons and island of Bequia, Blackbeard
other artefacts were salvaged renamed the ship, unloaded
from the coast of North the slaves and some, but not
Carolina in 1996. all, of the crew.
Originally a French slave With the newly-named
vessel known as La Concorde, Queen Anne’s Revenge,
the ship is most famed for Blackbeard took ships in Saint
only having made three Vincent, Saint Lucia, Nevis,
journeys since its 1710 launch. Antigua and Hispaniola. In
In 1717, having set sail South Carolina, he blockaded
from Nantes, near Brittany Charleston’s port for a week
in France, and stopping off with his crew.
in Africa to pick up slaves, it When Blackbeard headed
was attacked by Blackbeard to Beaufort Inlet, North
about 160 kilometres from Carolina, the Queen Anne’s
Martinique. With some of the Revenge finally met its end
crew having already perished, when it ran aground in the
and Blackbeard boasting two notoriously shallow waters.
ships with a total of 150 men Today you can visit the ABOVE Raising artefacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge wreck site
and 20 cannons, Captain North Carolina Maritime
Pierre Dossett did not stand Museum in Beaufort, which
a chance. He surrendered the houses more than 300
ship to the pirate. artefacts from the wreckage.

courage, brutality and striking appearance: he sported a dirty,

long beard, tangled into knots, and would place lit matches
under his hat. Indeed, the contemporary pirate biographer
Charles Johnson wrote that Blackbeard was “…altogether such a
figure, that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury from hell
to look more frightful.”
By now the situation in the Caribbean was out of hand.
The British had to act. They made a former privateer, Woodes
Rogers, governor of the Bahamas and ordered him to bring back
law and order. However, fighting every single pirate who had
made Nassau their base would have been an insurmountable
task. Instead a compromise was reached. If a pirate would
switch sides and work for the government to go after other
pirates, they would be offered a pardon. Horingold accepted
such a pardon and agreed to start hunting down his former
partners in crime.
For a while, Blackbeard also accepted a pardon from the
governor of North Carolina, and he settled down in Bath Town.
However, this wasn’t to last. Soon Blackbeard was back to his
Illustration of Captain Kidd
burying his Bible, because – old ways.
according to legend – of its He met his end at Ocracoke Inlet when the Governor of
opposition to his way of life Virginia sent Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard to bring
him down. On 22 November 1718, in an infamous bloody
The life of a pirate was showdown aboard Blackbeard’s ship, one of Maynard’s crew
not easy, with violence
and theft a part of the job put an end to the notorious pirate by hacking off his head.
North Carolina is the best place to learn more about Blackbeard.
Visit North Carolina have suggested an epic four day itinerary
inclduing visits to the Maritime Museum – which houses
artefacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge – his final home in
© Thinkstock, Alamy

Bath and a ferry trip out to the site of Blackbeard’s final battle.
After Blackbeard’s death, piracy fell into decline. Without
a base or the camaraderie of the major players, it no longer
seemed so attractive a venture. The pirates that weren’t caught
absconded on their ships and disappeared into the ether, never
to be heard of again, leaving generations of us to fantasise about
their lives on the run in exotic lands.

143
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INFAMOUS PIRATES THE GOLDEN AGE

Uncover the true stories behind the Discover why pirates and privateers
bloodthirsty buccaneers who made their menaced coasts and trade routes during
fortune plundering the high seas this legendary period of the Age of Sail

THE PIRATE REPUBLIC LIFE ON A PIRATE SHIP

Investigate the founding of the mythic Find out what life was really like for pirates,
Pirate Republic, a haven hidden away on from day-to-day roles aboard a pirate ship
the Bahaman island of New Providence to how to capture a merchant vessel
9000