_The Female Pirate, Mary Read._
Testimony of Charles Johnson.--Marriage of Mary
Read’s Mother.--Singular Adventure.--Reasons for
Disguising her Daughter.--Early Training of Mary
as a Boy.--She Enlists on board a Man-of-war.--The
Character she Developed.--Enters the Army.--Skill
and Bravery.--Falls in Love with a Fleming.--Reveals
her Sex.--The Marriage.--Happy Days.--Death of her
Husband.--Adversity.--Resumes Male Attire.
In writing the account of Captain Kidd and other conspicuous pirates of
his day, we have had occasion to refer to many ancient documents. In
their examination we have come across numerous incidents, extraordinary
in their character. Among these are the well-accredited careers of
two female pirates, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Their lives illustrate
the common remark that fact is often stranger than fiction. We are
mainly indebted, for the wild and wondrous story of their adventures,
to the narrative of Captain Charles Johnson. The second edition of his
valuable history of the pirates now lies before me. It was published in
London, in the year 1724. In the preface to this work the writer says:
“As to the lives of our two female pirates, we must confess they may
appear a little extravagant, yet they are nevertheless true. But as
they were publicly tried for their piracies, there are living witnesses
enough to justify what we have laid down concerning them. It is certain
that we have produced some particulars which were not publicly known.
The reason is we were more inquisitive into the circumstances of their
past lives than other people who had no other design than that of
gratifying their own private curiosity. If there are some incidents
and turns in their stories, which may give them a little the air of a
novel, they are not invented or contrived for that purpose. It is a
kind of reading this author is but little acquainted with. But as he
himself was exceedingly diverted with them, when they were related to
him, he thought they might have the same effect on the reader.”
A young girl in one of the seaports in England, about one hundred and
seventy-five years ago, married a sailor. Not many months after their
marriage the sailor left home for a distant voyage, and never returned.
She never knew whether he deserted her, or whether he died far away.
When he sailed she was expecting soon to become a mother. She resided
with her husband’s relatives. In due time the child was born, and
proved to be a boy.
The mother was a young, light, trifling girl, of fair reputation, and
not very careful habits, who ere long found that she was about to
become a mother again. As the months advanced, in order to conceal her
shame, she took leave of her husband’s relatives, informing them that
she was going to visit her own friends at some distance in the country.
Her little boy, who accompanied her, was then not a year old.
Soon after her departure her son died; and she, ere long, gave birth
to another child, who proved to be a girl. The mother remained away
four years. In the mean time she had very little communication with
her former relatives; and they had no knowledge of the death of her
son, or of the birth of her daughter. Her husband’s mother was still
living. She was in comfortable circumstances, though aged and infirm,
with impaired vision. The mother of the little girl thought that if
she could pass her child upon the aged mother of her husband, as his
son, whom she had seen and loved, the child would be liberally provided
for. But the changing of a girl into a boy seemed to be an insuperable
difficulty. She, however, dressed the child up as a boy, and presented
it to her mother-in-law as her husband’s son. No one suspected the
deception. The good old woman embraced it cordially, and was anxious
to adopt it as her own, promising amply to provide for it.
But the cunning mother declared that it would break her heart to
part with the child that she could not be separated from it. It was,
however, agreed that the child should reside with the mother, while the
supposed grandmother should allow a crown a week for its maintenance.
The child was thus brought up as a boy. The mother watched over her
with the utmost vigilance, instructing her to guard the secret of her
sex with the greatest possible care.
At length the grandmother died: the little property vanished, and the
mother and child were in a situation of much destitution. The child
was now thirteen years of age, bright, well formed, and good looking,
with a thoroughly boyish character. There was a French lady, in the
neighborhood, who took the child into her service, as page and footboy.
The feminine nature was soon entirely swallowed up in manly yearnings
and desires.
She was bold and strong, and developed a roving disposition and a
love for wild adventures. We are not informed of her masculine name.
Her feminine name was Mary. For convenience’ sake we will call her
Frank, during the period of her disguise. Frank enlisted on board a
man-of-war, and served in the capacity of a sailor, energetically and
successfully, for several months. No one was more nimble in running up
the shrouds, or in taking in reefs when the majestic fabric was tossed
like a bubble upon the gigantic waves.
Soon weary of this employment, Frank, apparently a graceful, well-built
boy of nineteen, enlisted in the army. Shouldering a musket, and
very rapidly becoming a proficient in military drill, she fell into
the line and accompanied a regiment of foot to Flanders. She was in
several severe battles. It is said that in time of action, no one
of the regiment conducted with more reckless bravery. She seemed to
lose all consciousness of danger, and, if we may so express it, in a
state of frenzy which rendered her calm by its very intensity, was as
regardless of shells, cannon-balls, and bullets, as though they had
been snowflakes.
She would certainly have been promoted could merit have secured that
honor. But in mercenary England, at that time, no commission could be
obtained but such as was purchased with gold. Ever consumed by restless
desires, Frank, ere long, succeeded in exchanging the infantry service
for a situation in a regiment of horse. Here Frank’s lithe and graceful
figure showed to great advantage. There was not in the company a bolder
rider, a more dexterous manager of the war-horse than she.
Even the steed she strode seemed conscious that he bore a more than
ordinarily precious burden. There was something in the gentle tones
of her voice, and in her caressings, which the proud horse seemed
to recognize, ever welcoming her approach with his neighings. The
officers greatly admired Frank, and felt a strange kind of interest in
the unboastful yet chivalric heroism he displayed in several bloody
engagements.
The old Latin maxim hath it, “Amor omnia vincit,” _Love conquers all
things_. It so happened that there was in the ranks a comrade, ever
riding by the side of Frank, who was a very handsome young Fleming,
about twenty-three years of age. He was a gentle, lovable fellow, and
equally brave as his gentle, lovable comrade, for whom he formed a very
strong friendship. He slept in the same tent, and by the side of Frank.
They were ever together helping each other.
The girl nature of Frank could not resist all this. She fell
desperately in love with the fair-faced, flaxen-haired Flemish boy.
Whenever the young Fleming was ordered out upon any party, Frank
insisted upon accompanying him; and the more desperate the adventure,
the more resolute were her importunities to share the peril with him.
It was observed that frequently Frank would rush into the greatest
danger, simply that she might be near her friend, even when she could
render him no assistance.
This extraordinary devotion of Frank to her comrade the Fleming,
attracted the attention of the whole company. As no one suspected, in
the slightest degree, her disguise, it was supposed that there must
be a vein of insanity in the nature of the quiet, retiring, handsome
soldier boy.
One morning, in her tent, she made known to her fellow soldier that she
was a woman. The Fleming was speechless with astonishment. Here, then,
was the secret of the wild devotion that had led her to expose her life
recklessly wherever his own had been in peril.
The strangeness of the situation added to its romance. From being a
warm friend he became a devoted lover. As his memory went back to the
many scenes of danger they had together faced, and the cool bravery
she had shown, he could not but see that here was a helpmeet worth
having. Mary was instinctively proud. Though for years she had led the
rough life of the camp with all its hardships, she was no whit less a
true woman. She was more than ready to be wooed and won as a wife.
But no lady in the parlor of home could be more modest and reserved in
receiving the addresses of a lover, than was Mary in her intercourse
with the lover who shared her tent. Her good sense taught her that if
she would secure and maintain his love, she must, by indubitable proof,
win his highest confidence and respect.
Strange as this story may appear to the reader there seems to be no
reason to doubt its accuracy. The young Fleming urged her to become
his wife. To this proposal she did not long hesitate to accede. They
plighted their mutual faith. The campaign soon ended. The regiment went
into winter quarters. The two lovers united their purses, and purchased
a woman’s wardrobe as the bridal outfit for Frank. She assumed her new
garb, and announced her sex to her amazed fellow-soldiers.
These strange tidings created great excitement an the camp. They
were publicly married. A great crowd attended the espousals. Many of
the officers assisted in the ceremony, and the bride received many
presents. There was a general contribution among all her comrades to
raise a sum to assist her in commencing housekeeping. Frank had been a
universal favorite, and had secured the esteem of all.
Being thus comfortably established, they both had a desire to quit the
service. The circumstances were so romantic and peculiar that they
found no difficulty in obtaining their discharge. They then established
themselves in Flanders, in a restaurant or eating house. Their little
inn, kept with British neatness, was near the Castle of Breda, and was
known far and wide by the name of its sign, “The Three Horse Shoes.”
They had a large run of custom, and were particularly patronized by the
officers of the army.
They were very happy. But prosperity, in this world, does not long
shine upon any one. Peace came. The army was dispersed. There were no
longer any guests at “The Three Horse-Shoes;” and Mary’s husband was
taken sick, and died. She was left childless and without any means of
support. She had been trained to the pursuits of manhood. She was a
young widow, but little more than twenty years of age. As a woman, she
knew not in what direction to turn to obtain a living. Only for a few
months had she assumed the character of a woman, and worn the garb of
a woman. All the rest of her years she had worn the dress and followed
the pursuits of a man. As a man, there were many opportunities opening
before her, and all congenial ones, for obtaining a support.
Again she assumed her masculine attire, sold out all her effects, and
with gold enough in her purse to meet her immediate wants, set out
for Holland, where, a perfect stranger, she entered again upon her
masculine career, without any fear of detection. Quartered upon one of
the frontier towns of Holland there was an English regiment of foot. It
was a time of peace, and the soldiers were living in indolence, with
nothing to do. It was easy, under these circumstances, to join the
regiment, and to purchase a release, at any time when one might wish to
do so.
Again Frank enlisted. After a few months, weary of the monotonous life,
she obtained a discharge, and shipped herself, as a common sailor, on
board a vessel bound for the West Indies. It was a Dutch vessel. Frank
was the only English person on board. On the voyage, an English pirate
hove in sight and ran down upon the merchant-ship. The pirate was so
well armed, and such a throng of desperate men crowded its decks, that
resistance would have been but folly. The ship was captured without a
struggle.
The pirate, after plundering the ship of all its treasures, impressed
the English Frank as an addition to its own crew; and then turned the
despoiled ship adrift, inflicting no personal injury upon the officers
or sailors. As we have before mentioned, these buccaneers did not
regard themselves, at that time, neither were they regarded by others,
as ordinary pirates would now be judged. They were acting in a certain
sense under the royal commission. They were authorized to plunder all
_Spanish_ ships. And if they occasionally made a mistake, and did not
read the flag aright, it was an irregularity not entirely unpardonable.
This piratic ship continued its cruise of plundering for several
months. Frank had been impressed on board, and could not escape had she
wished to do. Probably her moral sense was not sufficiently instructed
to lead her to make any remonstrances, which would, of course, have
been entirely unavailing, or to feel any special qualms of conscience.
Accustomed as she ever had been to the masculine dress, and to all
the habits of the sailor and the soldier, she did not feel the least
embarrassment in her new situation. No one moved about the decks or
clambered the shrouds with more free motion than Frank.
Just about this time the royal proclamation, to which we have
referred, came out, offering pardon to all pirates who would surrender
themselves, excepting Kidd and Avery. The crew of this ship of
buccaneers decided to take advantage of this proclamation.
The West-Indian group, called the Bahamas, consists of several
hundred islands of various magnitudes. One of these, San Salvador, was
the first land, in the New World, which was discovered by Columbus.
The most important of the group, from its excellent harbor, and its
situation in reference to Florida, is New Providence. The island
was originally settled by the English in 1629. It was captured by
the Spaniards, and the English were expelled, in the year 1641. The
merciless Spaniards murdered the governor, and committed many other
great outrages. Again, in the year 1666, the thunders of British
broadsides echoed along its shores, and the banners of England were
again unfurled over its mountains and fertile vales. Forty-seven years
passed away, over this war-cursed globe, when, in 1703, a united fleet
of French and Spanish ships expelled the English, and, neglecting
to take military possession of the island, it became a rendezvous
for pirates, where scenes of revelry, sensuality, and crime were
perpetrated which no pen can describe.
Thus for eighty years Heaven looked down upon its enormities. It was
then again formally ceded to the English, and has since remained in
their possession. At the time of which we are writing, England held the
island, and a British governor was in command there. The buccaneers,
with their purses well filled with gold, the result of their cruises as
freebooters, ran into the harbor of New Providence. They made their
surrender to the governor, and received the royal pardon.
Frank had been but a short time among them. Her purse was not a heavy
one. It is not known that she added anything to it during her short
and compulsory cruise on board the buccaneer. Her money was soon
expended. The British governor at New Providence was at that very time
fitting out several armed vessels to cruise against the Spaniards, as
privateersmen. He was eager to enlist any of the bold buccaneers who
could be lured to enter that service. Nothing could be more congenial
to the wishes of these desperate men. Frank, being out of employment,
enlisted as privateersman, on board of one of these Government ships.