A small group of pirates huddled together
Edward Englandwent Mate of a Sloop that sailed out ofJamaica, and was taken byWinter, a Pirate, from whom he had the Command of a Sloop just before their Settlement atProvidence. The man was brave and good natured, and far from being cruel, as most of them are; and would not have committed such barbarous actions as he did, had not his comrades compelled him to it.
He sailed to the Coast ofAfrica, after the Island ofProvidencewas inhabited by theEnglish. In his Passage he took several Ships, particularly theCadoganSnow belonging toBristol, oneSkinnerMaster, whowas murdered by those very men who had formerly served under him, upon a quarrel that happened betweenSkinnerand them, about their wages: He shipped them on board a Man-of-War, from whence they deserted, and went on board a ship in theWest-Indies, where they were taken by a pirate, and brought toProvidence, and then they sailed with CaptainEnglanda-Pirating.
As soon asSkinnercame on board, he saw his old Boatswain, who said,Ah! Captain Skinner is it you, I am much in your Debt, and now I shall pay you in your own Coin. These words put the Captain in a panic Fear: And indeed he had Reason enough to be afraid, for they immediately seized him, bound him to the Windlass, pelted him with Glass Bottles, afterwards whipt him about the Deck, and then said, because he had been a good Master, he should have an easy Death, and so shot him through the Head; the vessel and her Cargoe being given toHowel Davis.
After thisEnglandwent into anHarbourto clean his Ship, and also fitted up thePeterborough, which he called theVictory. Then putting out to sea, they sailed for theEast-Indies, and tookMadagascar, by the Way. From thence, after taking in water and provisions, they went forMalabar, in the Empire of theMogul. Here they took severalIndianVessels, and oneEuropean, aDutchShip, which they exchanged for one of their own, and then came back toMadagascar, where they sent several Hands on shore to kill venison, and then resolved to seek out for the remains ofAvery’sCrew; but returning without success, they being settled on the other side, they stay’d no longer than till they had cleaned their ships, and then sailed toJuanna.
In the Year 1720, theBombayFleet, consisting of fourGrabs, theLondon Chandois, and some other ships, carried 1000 Men to bombard and batterGapra, a fort belonging toAngria, on theMalabarCoast; which they not being able to do, fell in with the Pirates, in their return toBombay: But CaptainUptonthe Commodore, having no orders, would not engage them; which soprovoked the Governor, for missing so favourable an opportunity of cutting the Pirates all off, that he gave the command to CaptainMackra, with orders to fight them wherever he met with them.
But the Pirates proceeded to the southward, and took a small ship out ofOrincroRoad, with aDutchand twoPortuguezeMen on board, one of which they sent to the Captain, to inform him, that if he would supply them with provisions and water he should have his ship again. But the Master would not agree to it; thereupon they sent other persons ashore, and swore he should be the last man they would give quarter to, and so put directly forLaccadevaIsland, and arrived there in three days. But being informed by aMenchew, there was no anchor-ground there, they went to the next Island, calledMelincha, whence they were driven by a storm, leaving behind them a hundred people, and all their water-casks: But in a week’s time, they regained the island, took their people on board, and filled the water-casks.Provisions being scarce, they resolved to visit theDutchatCochin, and after three days sail, arrived off ofTellechery, where they took a small Vessel belonging to GovernorAdams; who giving an account of CaptainMackra’sfitting out against them, put them into a grievous passion.
Afterward they arrived atMauritius, where they refitted theVictory, and then sailed the 5th of April forMadagascar, but called first at the IslandMascarine, at which they found aPortuguezeship of seventy guns at anchor, disabled by a violent storm, so that they easily became a Prize to the Pirates. She had on board theConde EreceiraVice-Roy ofGoa, also they found on board her, in diamonds only, to the value of four millions of Dollars. They made the Vice-Roy a prisoner; but in consideration of his losses, accepted of a ransom of 2000 dollars and then set him and his followers ashore. Learning that anOstenderwas on the leeward of that Island, they sailed and took her, and sent her toMadagascarwith news of their success,where they followed themselves soon after, with two hundredMozambiqueNegroes in thePortuguezeShip.
WhenTaylorcame with thePortuguezePrize toMadagascar, they found that theOstenderhad made his men drunk, and seized his ship, which they carried to theMozambique; from thence the Governor ordered her toGoa. But the Pirates staid and clean’d theCassandra, and divided very great plunder. Some, who thought they had got enough, staid atMadagascar, and the rest, having no occasion for two ships, burnt theVictory, she being leaky, and went on board theCassandra, under the Command of CaptainTaylor, designing to go forCochinto dispose of his diamonds, amongst his old Friends theDutch, and also to avoid the dangers of the Men-of-War that were in pursuit of them. But as he was preparing to sail, and heard of four Men-of-War coming after him; therefore he altered his mind, and sailed for the Main ofAfrica, and put in atDelagoa: But the Pirates were surprized in the evening with some shotfrom the shore. They took it for a desert shore, but it proved otherwise; for a few months before, theDutch East India Companyhad settled one hundred men upon it, who, not being supplied with necessaries, were reduced to about sixteen; whomTaylor, upon their humble petition took aboard, and they all became Pirates with him.
Here they stayed about four months, careened their ships, and leftDelagoathe latter end ofDecember: But not agreeing among themselves, they parted those who were weary of that sort of life, went on board thePortuguezePrize, and sailed forMadagascar; the others went on board theCassandra, and sailed for theSpanish West Indies. TheMermaidMan-of-War, which was a convoy to some Merchant-men, about 30 leagues distance, would have gone to attack them, had not the Merchants, whom he had the care of, declar’d their protection was of more service than destroying the Pirates; and so he was oblig’d to be content with only dispatching the news of it toJamaica. This brought down theLanceston, though it was a day or two too late, for they had just before surrendered, with all their riches, to the Governor ofPorto-Bello, where they now live upon their Spoils, saying, others would have done as much, had they had the same opportunity; swearing,That whatever Robberies they had committed they are not the only Rogues in the World; for that the South-Sea[A]did more Mischief in one Year, than they were able to do in their whole Lives.
A pirate walking along, pipe in his mouth and hands in his pockets
FOOTNOTE:[A]The South-Sea Bubble.
[A]The South-Sea Bubble.
[A]The South-Sea Bubble.
CAPTAIN JOHN GOW
A pirate walking with a large sack slung over his shoulder
John Gow, aliasSmith, was born at a place calledCaristoun, in theOrkneyIslands, and was brought up a sailor from his youth, having served on board several Men-of-War, and last of all on board theSuffolk, along withT. Swan, who was engaged with him in the conspiracy to murder CaptainFerneau, and seize the ship and cargoe, as they went off theTexel, but they were prevented byJames Belvin, who was led into the secret and discovered it. CaptainFerneautaking little notice of it, contented himself with turning offSwan, and preferredGowto be second Mate and Gunner.
They sailed on board theGeorgeGalley, August the 1st, 1724, from theTexeltoSanta Cruz, having 15000l.on board, when Gow designed to have seized the Ship as they went out, but could not get a party strong enough to join with him, till he worked up a misunderstanding between the Captain and part of the crew, concerning the provisions of the ship, particularlyWinter,Peterson,and Mc.Cawley, who came upon the Quarter-Deck, in presence of the Owners, just before they sailed, and made a long complaint against the Captain; who assured them that if there was any wrong done them, it was not by his consent; and that he would enquire into it as soon as they had unmoored the ship.
About eight a clock at night, CaptainFerneau, as usual, called them up to prayers in the great Cabin, and then set the watch, and went to sleep, little thinking his end was so near, whenWinter,Rawlisson, andMelvin, begun the scene of blood,Gowlying snug in his hammock, as if he knew nothing of the matter, till he saw whetherthe villany would succeed, or not.Wintercut the Doctor’s throat as he was asleep in his hammock, and then went up toMelvinandRawlisson, who in the mean time had seized the Captain and cut his throat also, but not touching the windpipe,Gowstept up and shot him with a brace of bullets, and then threw him over-board.Mc.CawleycutStephen Algiersthe Clerk’s throat, as he lay in the hammock, andWilliamsshot him dead afterwards.Petersoncut the throat ofBonaventure Jelphs, the Chief Mate; andMichael Moor, at the Command ofWilliams, shot him.
After thisWilliamscame upon the Quarter-Deck, and salutedGowwith CaptainFerneau’ssword, first striking it upon one of the guns, and saying,Welcome CaptainGow, welcome to your new Command. After which,Gowtold the men, That if any of them durst murmur or cabal together, they must expect to meet with the same Fate; and then calling a Council, they agreed to go,Upon the Account, as they called it.
They called the ship theRevenge, andmounted six more of her guns, she being able to carry four and twenty in all. But instead of going toGenoaas intended, they sailed for the coasts ofSpainandPortugal, in hopes of getting a ship laden with wine, to keep up their spirits; but all was alike they met with; and instead of wine, they contented themselves with fish, which they took out of a ship called theDelightofPoole,Thomas Wise, Master, bound fromNew-EnglandtoCadiz, out of which they took the men, and what they wanted, and then sunk the Ship, to prevent their being discovered to theEnglishMen-of-War who lay in theStraights.
On the 18th ofDecember, they took theSnow-Galley, out of which Crew they keptRob, and discharged the Captain and the rest of the men, after having plundered the Ship of the arms, ammunition, cloth, provisions, sails, anchors, cables, and then let her go.
By this time, they were got a great way to the southward; and being in want of water as well as wind, they agreed to gotoMaderas, which Island they made in two days, cruising about it near a week, expecting some vessel to come in or come out; but the Country discovering what they were, they were disappointed in their attempts. Then they stood away forPorto Santa, where they put upBritishColours, and sent their Boat ashore with a compliment to the Governor, desiring leave to Water, and buy some refreshments; which he readily agreed to, and went with them to pay theEnglishCaptain a Visit, who received him in a very grand Manner. But the refreshments not coming as expected, he at length told him he was his Prisoner, and must remain so till the provisions were come on board, which was not till next day, whenGowdischarged him, giving him three Cerons of Bees-wax, and three Guns at his going away.
Having now got provisions, they agreed to return to the Coasts ofSpainandPortugal; where they had not been above two days, before they met with theBatchelor,Benjamin CrossMaster, fromNew-Englandbound toCadiz; out of which they tookCrossand his Men, and gave the Ship to CaptainWise, as also 24 Cerons of Bees-wax to him and his mate, and to his four men 8 Cerons. After this they took aFrenchShip fromCadiz, loaded with wine, oil, and fruit, which was what they wanted, and manned her with their own men, taking on board theRevengetheFrenchMaster, and his 12 Men, and most Part of the cargoe, with five guns and their carriages, ammunition, small arms, and sails, and gave the ship toSomerville, Captain of theSnow Galley; and to CaptainCrosstheNew-EnglishMan, to who they gave half the ship and cargoe andSomervillehad all his Men, butAlexander Rob, whom they detained, and who was executed in 1725, for engaging along with them.
Soon after they saw a large ship to the windward bearing down upon them, which at first they thought to have been aPortuguezeMan-of-War; but they found afterwards, it was aFrenchMerchant Ship coming home from theWest-Indies, which not fearing them, came on to the windward.Gowperceiving she was a Ship of great strength, called all his men together, telling them they had a great many prisoners on board, and that he could not trust many of his own men; besides, six of his best Hands were on Board the other Ship, therefore he advised them not to meddle with her, she being far superior in Force. This so exasperatedWilliams, that he demanded ofGowto give his orders for fighting; but he, by the advice of the whole crew, declined it; whereuponWilliamssnapt his pistol at his Face; which not going off, made him still madder.WinterandPetersonstanding by him fired each a Pistol atWilliams, one shooting him through the arm, and the other in the belly; at which he fell, and they believing he was killed, were going to throw him overboard, when he leapt up, and ran into the Powder-Room, with his pistol cocked in his hand, swearing he would blow them all up; which he had certainly done, had they not prevented him that very moment, he having opened the scuttle to do it.
They immediately put him in irons, and hand-cuffed him, and then put him between decks, in a place prepared for prisoners.
Two days after this, they took theTriumvirate, aBristolSloop,Joel DavisMaster, bound fromNewfoundlandtoOporto, with fish; from whence they took all her provisions, arms, sails, and two of her men, and then let her go with the rest, and all her cargoe. Not knowing what to do withWilliams, they resolved to put him on board them, and send him away, for fear of further danger, ordering the Master to put him on board the firstEnglishman of War he should meet with, to hang him for Piracy; which whenWilliamsfound they were resolved to do, he made all the submission he was able to CaptainGow, begging for pardon, knowing if he was carried toLisbonhe should meet with his deserts. But all his entreaties would not do, he was brought up double fettered, when he begged they would throw him into the sea, and drown him, rather than give him up to be hanged in chains, which he knew he deserved fromthePortuguezeas well asEnglish. This made many of them begin to relent and pity him; but considering his savage disposition, they knew there was no safety to keep him on board, and so resolved to let him go, and give him a hearty curse at parting, wishing him a safe voyage to the gallows, not dreaming that they themselves should accompany him.
TheBristolCaptain obeyed their orders, and as soon as he came toLisbonput him on board theArgyleman of War, CaptainBowlerCommander, who brought him home not above three days before Gow and his Crew came to keep him company.
In the middle of lastJanuary, they arrived atCaristounin the Isles ofOrkney, whenGowgave them instructions, what account they should give of themselves to the people of the country, to avoid suspicion. But now began their misfortunes, for several of their men began to think of making their escape, the first was oneRead, who took an opportunity to get away when the boat went ashore, who went to a farm-house whichlay under a hill where he hired a horse and rode toKirkwall, a market town about twelve miles off, where he informed them what they were; whereupon they raised the Country to defend themselves. The Pirates soon hearing what was done, ten more of them went away with the longboat, making the best of their way forScotland, who were some time after taken in theFrithofEdinburgh, and made Prisoners.
This so provokedGow, that he resolved to plunder the Country, be the consequence what it would, and in order thereto, he sentBelvinhis Boatswain, withRoband Four more, to Mr.Honnyman’shouse, the Sheriff, who not being at home, his Servants let them in, not suspecting their design. They immediately fell to work, but Mr.Honnyman’sDaughter had the presence of mind to hide the money in a tub of feathers, till she found an opportunity to carry it away, by the contrivance ofAlexander Rob, who was placed centinel at the door. But when the Boatswain found the treasure was gone, Gow having before told them where itlay, he swore he would burn the house, and all that was in it, which the young Lady hearing, she runs to the Charter-room where the Treasure lay, and threw it out of the Window, jumping herself after. However, they plundered the house of about fifty pounds, and some plate, and then forced a servant who played on the bag-pipes, to pipe before them to the ship, whom they also detained, and was brought along with them to theMarshalsea, where he was sick till his release.
The next day they weighed anchor, and came toCalf-Sound, where the boatswain went ashore again with four armed Men, meeting with no Plunder. From thence they went to the Island ofEda, to plunder the house of Mr.Fea, whomGowhad formerly been School-fellow with, and knowing him to be a Man of Courage, believed that the Alarm atCaristounhad drawn him thither: But Mr.Fea’swife at that Time being very sick in Bed, kept him at home, and having notice of them he sent a letter toGowbyJames Laing, to desire him to withdraw, assuring him thatmost of the inhabitants were fled to the mountains on the report of his being a Pirate, desiring him to send the messenger safe back, at whose return the affrights of the people would be over.Gowsent him word back, that he would write to nobody, but if Mr.Feawould send his men with a Boat, he would reward them handsomely, which Mr.Feahearing, he ordered his great Boat to be staved, and sunk, and the sails to be carried out of sight. In the mean time, perceivingGow’sboat come on shore, with five men in it, well armed, he met them, and said if they would go to a Publick House in the neighbourhood, and take a cup of ale with him, he would see what he could do to serve them, which they agreed to, seeing Mr.Feawas all alone, not suspecting any danger. Mr.Feahad before given orders for half a dozen men, well armed, to lie in ambush to surprize them, which being done, Mr.Feasent to Mr.Gowto let him know, that the country was alarmed, and that it would be his best way peaceable to surrender, whichGowdid ina day or two, thinking thereby to make himself an evidence; but it would not do, although he complied so far as to delude all his men ashore one after another, who would certainly have cut his throat, had they known of any ways afterwards to have escaped.
They were put on board theGreyhound, which delivered them into theMarshalsea,March30, 1714, where they continued tillJunefollowing, when eight of them were hanged atExecution Dock, viz.John Gow,James Williams,James Belvin,John Winter,Peter Rawlisson,Daniel Mc.Cawley,William Ingram, for another Piracy underAnstis, and a month afterwardsAlexander Robwas hanged for Piracy underGow.
Sketch portrait of a pirate
A small cottage
Transcriber's NoteFraser notes in his foreword to this book that the original author's spelling was "indefinite even for his own day", and adds that it has "has been more or less modernized" in this edition; however, there are still many inconsistencies in spelling, use of hyphenation and italics, and capitalisation of words. These inconsistencies, along with archaic spelling, have been retained throughout.Minor typographic errors in punctuation have been corrected without note. The word 'with' was printed as 'htiw' (page138), and has been corrected. The word 'were' has been amended to 'where' (page139, "... where they sent several Hands ..."), for the sentence to make sense.Two instances of transposed letters have also been corrected—sieze changed to seize, and Goaler changed to Gaoler. The original title page illustration also contained an error, Jnae, which referred to a month. This was cross-checked with the rest of the text, and has been amended to read June in the transcription of the text.Gaps in page numbering were originally unnumbered blank, illustration, or section title pages. The frontispiece illustration has been moved to follow the front matter.Transcription of the text in the illustration on pagexii:THEHistoryandLivesOf all the most NotoriousPIRATES,AND THEIRCREWS;From Capt.Avery, who first settled atMadagascar, to CaptainJohn Gow, andJames Williams, his Lieutenant,&c.who were hang’d atExecution Dock,June11, 1725, for Piracy and Murther; and afterwards hang’d in Chains betweenBlackwallandDeptford. And in this Edition continued down to the present Year 1735.Giving a more full and true Account than any yet Publish’d, of all their Murthers, Piracies, Maroonings, Places of Refuge, and Ways of Living.The Fifth Edition.Adorned with Twenty BeautifulCuts, being theRepresentation of each Pirate.To which is prefixed,An Abstract of the Laws against Piracy.LONDON:Printed forA. BettesworthandC. Hitch, at theRed LyoninPater-noster-Row;R. Ware, at theSunandBibleinAmen-Corner; andJ. Hodges, at theLooking-glassonLondon-bridge. 1735.][Return to main text]
Transcriber's Note
Fraser notes in his foreword to this book that the original author's spelling was "indefinite even for his own day", and adds that it has "has been more or less modernized" in this edition; however, there are still many inconsistencies in spelling, use of hyphenation and italics, and capitalisation of words. These inconsistencies, along with archaic spelling, have been retained throughout.
Minor typographic errors in punctuation have been corrected without note. The word 'with' was printed as 'htiw' (page138), and has been corrected. The word 'were' has been amended to 'where' (page139, "... where they sent several Hands ..."), for the sentence to make sense.Two instances of transposed letters have also been corrected—sieze changed to seize, and Goaler changed to Gaoler. The original title page illustration also contained an error, Jnae, which referred to a month. This was cross-checked with the rest of the text, and has been amended to read June in the transcription of the text.
Gaps in page numbering were originally unnumbered blank, illustration, or section title pages. The frontispiece illustration has been moved to follow the front matter.
Transcription of the text in the illustration on pagexii:
THEHistoryandLivesOf all the most NotoriousPIRATES,AND THEIRCREWS;From Capt.Avery, who first settled atMadagascar, to CaptainJohn Gow, andJames Williams, his Lieutenant,&c.who were hang’d atExecution Dock,June11, 1725, for Piracy and Murther; and afterwards hang’d in Chains betweenBlackwallandDeptford. And in this Edition continued down to the present Year 1735.Giving a more full and true Account than any yet Publish’d, of all their Murthers, Piracies, Maroonings, Places of Refuge, and Ways of Living.The Fifth Edition.Adorned with Twenty BeautifulCuts, being theRepresentation of each Pirate.To which is prefixed,An Abstract of the Laws against Piracy.LONDON:Printed forA. BettesworthandC. Hitch, at theRed LyoninPater-noster-Row;R. Ware, at theSunandBibleinAmen-Corner; andJ. Hodges, at theLooking-glassonLondon-bridge. 1735.][Return to main text]
THEHistoryandLivesOf all the most NotoriousPIRATES,AND THEIRCREWS;
From Capt.Avery, who first settled atMadagascar, to CaptainJohn Gow, andJames Williams, his Lieutenant,&c.who were hang’d atExecution Dock,June11, 1725, for Piracy and Murther; and afterwards hang’d in Chains betweenBlackwallandDeptford. And in this Edition continued down to the present Year 1735.
Giving a more full and true Account than any yet Publish’d, of all their Murthers, Piracies, Maroonings, Places of Refuge, and Ways of Living.
The Fifth Edition.
Adorned with Twenty BeautifulCuts, being theRepresentation of each Pirate.
To which is prefixed,An Abstract of the Laws against Piracy.
LONDON:
Printed forA. BettesworthandC. Hitch, at theRed LyoninPater-noster-Row;R. Ware, at theSunandBibleinAmen-Corner; andJ. Hodges, at theLooking-glassonLondon-bridge. 1735.]
[Return to main text]