Pirates were Really a Poor Lot

By Leonard Wibberley

First published June 12, 1979

11/12/2018

I am writing a book about pirates for children, such as you and me, and to bless myself, have been reading up on them.

To write a book upon piracy these days is nothing but a piece of lunacy, for Robert Louis Stevenson preempted the whole field with his Treasure Island which was published in 1883.

It was unfair of Stevenson to prove so talented. No one can hope to compete with his Flint of the “Walrus” or blind Pew with his whining voice and terrible green shade over his eyes, or Long John Silver, the “sea faring man with one leg” who could switch from the jolliest of companions to the most coldblooded of rogues in a moment and still retain our deep affection.

Reading about pirates as they really were, forces on me the sad conclusion that they were a poor lot. The famous Captain Kid, for instance, whose treasure is still reported buried all the way from Long Island to Key West, seems scarcely to have made more than $50,000 in his life, and if, to put that into modern terms, we call it $250,000, why there’s many a man strolling around a golf course these days who does better every year out of real estate or banking.

Kid’s trouble seems to have been that he wasn’t thoroughly committed to piracy. He was a pirate only when it seemed safe and even then he had qualms of conscience about the whole thing. He did much of his cruising off the coast of India and in the Red Sea and the biggest prize he took was a Moorish merchantman of 400 tons called the Queda.

After taking a few inconsiderable prizes, he threw himself on the king’s mercy, was tried and hanged at Execution Dock, London, and his body suspended in chains on a gibbet further down the river. There wasn’t a “yo ho ho” or a bottle of rum in the man and his defense at his trial (largely that his crew had forced all his piratical actions upon him) was so thin that I begin to wonder whether it did not give rise to the expressing “You’re kidding.”

A better man was Bartholomew Roberts of the Royal Fortune who started out as an honest seaman, second mate indeed on the Princess of London. His ship, however, was captured by a pirate vessel and he was forced into piracy which in the beginning he didn’t like at all. But later he was elected captain and turned to the profession with zest.

Roberts was a Welshman, dark-skinned, dark-haired and courageous. On one occasion he sailed into a convoy of 42 vessels off Portugal, picked out the fattest of them, opened fire and boarded her. The rest scattered and Roberts found his prize contained 40,000 gold moidores, chains and trinkets of great value and a cross set with diamonds and designed for the king of Portugal.

Roberts tried to get a little more order into piracy than Kid, Tew, Blackbeard, Avery and so on. He drew up a list of rules to govern the behavior of his crew. All lights and candles aboard were to be put out at eight at night — this to discourage drinking below decks. Anybody who wanted to go on drinking after lights out had to go topside in the cold of the night.

Again any who cheated his shipmates out of prize money to the value of a dollar was to be marooned on a desert island with a gun, some shot, a flask of powder and a bottle of water. All quarrels were to be settled ashore “at sword and pistol.” Musicians (he had a number of them) were to be given Sundays off, but must play when called upon on other days. No women captives were to be molested and a guard was to be placed over them.

Despite his kindness to the ladies and musicians, Roberts was as bloody a man as ever roved the high seas. He died of a grape shot through his throat in the midst of a furious battle, but I think it was the diamond studded cross intended for the King of Portugal that was the end of him. He liked to wear it in battle and was wearing it when he was shot down. His crew flung him overboard with the cross around his neck, and dressed in a crimson damask waistcoat and crimson breeches. A handsome funeral, all in all, you’ll have to admit.

Dampier was more of a botanist and explorer than a pirate. He sailed around the world, making copious notes on plants, birds, animals and islands but saying very little about taking ships and sacking towns. He explored the Australian coast before Cook arrived on the scene and died in his bed.

But there isn’t a pirate in all my reading to beat Long John Silver, and perhaps I ought to learn humility from this, put the whole project aside, and just read Treasure Island again.

New Release Alert:

After years of being out of print, Leonard's pirate adventure—Deadmen's Cave—is finally available on Kindle! Click here to find on Amazon.

DESCRIPTION:

17th century pirates, swashbuckling action, and romance... 19-year-old Tom Lincoln is captured by the notorious pirate Henry Morgan and forced into a life of piracy. To escape and rescue another prisoner—the teenage niece of the Governor of Panama—Tom must unlock the secret of a mysterious cutlass he found in a cave filled with dead men on an uncharted island. ★★★★★ "Well-written, fast-paced, historically accurate, with a great story, wonderful characters, and an overall theme and message that lingers. Suitable for all ages. I have recommended it to adults, and they love it. I cannot recommend it highly enough."—Goodreads Review ★★★★★ "This was one of my favorite books of childhood—a swashbuckling coming-of-age story with indelible characters. This is a masterful tale, and it is a shame it is not well-known. I highly recommend it."—Amazon Review