1723. Age 28.
BLAKE, BENJAMIN.
A Boston boy, taken prisoner with Captain Pounds's crew at Tarpaulin Cove.
BLAKE, JAMES.
One of Captain Teach's crew. Hanged in 1718 at Virginia.
BLEWFIELD, CAPTAIN, or BLAUVELT.
In 1649 this Dutch pirate brought a prize into Newport, Rhode Island. In
1663 was known to be living among the friendly Indians at Cape Gratia de
Dios on the Spanish Main. He commanded a barque carrying three guns and a
crew of fifty men. He was very active in the logwood cutting in Honduras.
Whether the town and river of Bluefield take their name from this pirate
is uncertain, but the captain must many a time have gone up the river into
the forests of Nicaragua on his logwood cutting raids.
BLOT, CAPTAIN. French filibuster.
In 1684 was in command of _La Quagone_, ninety men, eight guns.
BOLIVAR, LIEUTENANT.
This Portuguese pirate was first officer to Captain Jonnia. He was a
stout, well-built man of swarthy complexion and keen, ferocious eyes, huge
black whiskers and beard, and a tremendously loud voice. He took the
Boston schooner _Exertion_ at Twelve League Key on December 17th, 1821.
BOND, CAPTAIN.
Of Bristol.
In 1682 arrived at the Cape Verde Islands. Having procured leave to land
on Mayo Island, on the pretence of being an honest merchant in need of
provisions, particularly of beef and goats, Bond and his crew seized and
carried away some of the principal inhabitants. A year later John Cooke
and Cowley arrived at Mayo in the _Revenge_, but were prevented by the
inhabitants from landing owing to their recent treatment at the hands of
Bond.
BONNET, MAJOR STEDE, _alias_ CAPTAIN THOMAS, _alias_ EDWARDS.
The history of this pirate is both interesting and unique. He was not
brought up to the seafaring life; in fact, before he took to piracy, he
had already retired from the Army, with the rank of Major. He owned
substantial landed property in Barbadoes, lived in a fine house, was
married, and much respected by the quality and gentry of that island. His
turning pirate naturally greatly scandalized his neighbours, and they
found it difficult at first to imagine whatever had caused this sudden and
extraordinary resolution, particularly in a man of his position in
Society. But when the cause at last came to be known, he was more pitied
than blamed, for it was understood that the Major's mind had become
unbalanced owing to the unbridled nagging of Mrs. Bonnet. Referring to
this, the historian Captain Johnson writes as follows: "He was afterwards
rather pitty'd than condemned, by those that were acquainted with him,
believing that this Humour of going a-pyrating proceeded from a Disorder
in his Mind, which had been but too visible in him, some Time before this
wicked Undertaking; and which is said to have been occasioned by some
Discomforts he found in a married State; be that as it will, the Major was
but ill qualified for the Business, as not understanding maritime
Affairs." Whatever the cause of the Major's "disorder of mind," the fact
remains that at his own expense he fitted out a sloop armed with ten guns
and a crew of seventy men. The fact that he honestly paid in cash for this
ship is highly suspicious of a deranged mind, since no other pirate, to
the writer's knowledge, ever showed such a nicety of feeling, but always
stole the ship in which to embark "on the account." The Major, to satisfy
the curious, gave out that he intended to trade between the islands, but
one night, without a word of farewell to Mrs. Bonnet, he sailed out of
harbour in the _Revenge_, as he called his ship, and began to cruise off
the coast of Virginia. For a rank amateur, Bonnet met with wonderful
success, as is shown by a list of the prizes he took and plundered in this
first period of his piracy:
The _Anne_, of Glasgow (Captain Montgomery).
The _Turbet_, of Barbadoes, which, after plundering, he burnt, as he did
all prizes from Barbadoes.
The _Endeavour_ (Captain Scott).
The _Young_, of Leith.
The plunder out of these ships he sold at Gardiner Island, near New York.
Cruising next off the coast of Carolina, Bonnet took a brace of prizes,
but began to have trouble with his unruly crew, who, seeing that their
captain knew nothing whatever of sea affairs, took advantage of the fact
and commenced to get out of hand. Unluckily for Bonnet, he at this time
met with the famous Captain Teach, or Blackbeard, and the latter, quickly
appreciating how matters stood, ordered the Major to come aboard his own
ship, while he put his lieutenant, Richards, to command Bonnet's vessel.
The poor Major was most depressed by this undignified change in his
affairs, until Blackbeard lost his ship in Topsail Inlet, and finding
himself at a disadvantage, promptly surrendered to the King's proclamation
and allowed Bonnet to reassume command of his own sloop. But Major Bonnet
had been suffering from qualms of conscience latterly, so he sailed to
Bath Town in North Carolina, where he, too, surrendered to the Governor
and received his certificate of pardon. Almost at once news came of war
being declared between England and France with Spain, so Bonnet hurried
back to Topsail, and was granted permission to take back his sloop and
sail her to St. Thomas's Island, to receive a commission as a privateer
from the French Governor of that island. But in the meanwhile Teach had
robbed everything of any value out of Bonnet's ship, and had marooned
seventeen of the crew on a sandy island, but these were rescued by the
Major before they died of starvation. Just as the ship was ready to sail,
a bumboat came alongside to sell apples and cider to the sloop's crew, and
from these they got an interesting piece of news. They learnt that Teach,
with a crew of eighteen men, was at that moment lying at anchor in
Ocricock Inlet. The Major, longing to revenge the insult he had suffered
from Blackbeard, and his crew remembering how he had left them to die on a
desert island, went off in search of Teach, but failed to find him. Stede
Bonnet having received his pardon in his own name, now called himself
Captain Thomas and again took to piracy, and evidently had benefited by
his apprenticeship with Blackbeard, for he was now most successful, taking
many prizes off the coast of Virginia, and later in Delaware Bay.
Bonnet now sailed in a larger ship, the _Royal James_, so named from
feelings of loyalty to the Crown. But she proved to be very leaky, and the
pirates had to take her to the mouth of Cape Fear River for repairs. News
of this being carried to the Council of South Carolina, arrangements were
made to attempt to capture the pirate, and a Colonel William Rhet, at his
own expense, fitted out two armed sloops, the _Henry_ (eight guns and
seventy men) and the _Sea Nymph_ (eight guns and sixty men), both sailing
under the direct command of the gallant Colonel. On September 25th, 1718,
the sloops arrived at Cape Fear River, and there sure enough was the
_Royal James_, with three sloops lying at anchor behind the bar. The
pirate tried to escape by sailing out, but was followed by the Colonel's
two vessels until all three ran aground within gunshot of each other. A
brisk fight took place for five hours, when the Major struck his colours
and surrendered. There was great public rejoicing in Charleston when, on
October 3rd, Colonel Rhet sailed victoriously into the harbour with his
prisoners. But next day Bonnet managed to escape out of prison and sailed
to Swillivant's Island. The indefatigable Colonel Rhet again set out after
the Major, and again caught him and brought him back to Charleston.
The trial of Stede Bonnet and his crew began on October 28th, 1718, at
Charleston, and continued till November 12th, the Judge being Nicholas
Trot. Bonnet was found guilty and condemned to be hanged. Judge Trot made
a speech of overwhelming length to the condemned, full of Biblical
quotations, to each of which the learned magistrate gave chapter and
verse. In November, 1718, the gallant, if unfortunate, Major was hanged at
White Point, Charleston.
Apart from the unusual cause for his turning pirate, Bonnet is interesting
as being almost the only case known, otherwise than in books of romance,
of a pirate making his prisoners walk the plank.
BONNY, ANNE. Female pirate.
Anne was born in County Cork, and her father was an Attorney-at-Law, who
practised his profession in that city, her mother being lady's maid to the
attorney's lawful wife.
The story of the events which led to the existence of Anne may be read in
Johnson's "History of the Pyrates," where it is recounted in a style quite
suggestive of Fielding. In spite of its sad deficiency in moral tone, the
narrative is highly diverting. But as this work is strictly confined to
the history of the pirates and not to the amorous intrigues of their
forbears, we will skip these pre-natal episodes and come to the time when
the attorney, having lost a once flourishing legal practice, sailed from
Ireland to Carolina to seek a fortune there, taking his little daughter
Anne with him. In new surroundings fortune favoured the attorney, and he
soon owned a rich plantation, and his daughter kept house for him.
Anne was now grown up and a fine young woman, but had a "fierce and
courageous temper," which more than once led her into scrapes, as, on one
occasion, when in a sad fit of temper, she slew her English servant-maid
with a case-knife. But except for these occasional outbursts of passion
she was a good and dutiful girl. Her father now began to think of finding
a suitable young man to be a husband for Anne, which would not be hard to
do, since Anne, besides her good looks, was his heir and would be well
provided for by him. But Anne fell in love with a good-looking young
sailor who arrived one day at Charleston, and, knowing her father would
never consent to such a match, the lovers were secretly married, in the
expectation that, the deed being done, the father would soon become
reconciled to it. But on the contrary, the attorney, on being told the
news, turned his daughter out of doors and would have nothing more to do
with either of them. The bridegroom, finding his heiress worth not a
groat, did what other sailors have done before and since, and slipped away
to sea without so much as saying good-bye to his bride. But a more gallant
lover soon hove in sight, the handsome, rich, dare-devil pirate, Captain
John Rackam, known up and down the coast as "Calico Jack." Jack's methods
of courting and taking a ship were similar--no time wasted, straight up
alongside, every gun brought to play, and the prize seized. Anne was soon
swept off her feet by her picturesque and impetuous lover, and consented
to go to sea with him in his ship, but disguised herself in sailor's
clothes before going on board. The lovers sailed together on a piratical
honeymoon until certain news being conveyed to Captain Rackam by his
bride, he sailed to Cuba and put Anne ashore at a small cove, where he had
a house and also friends, who he knew would take good care of her. But
before long Anne was back in the pirate ship, as active as any of her male
shipmates with cutlass and marlinspike, always one of the leaders in
boarding a prize.
However, the day of retribution was at hand. While cruising near Jamaica
in October, 1720, the pirates were surprised by the sudden arrival of an
armed sloop, which had been sent out by the Governor of that island for
the express purpose of capturing Rackam and his crew. A fight followed, in
which the pirates behaved in a most cowardly way, and were soon driven
below decks, all but Anne Bonny and another woman pirate, Mary Read, who
fought gallantly till taken prisoners, all the while flaunting their male
companions on their cowardly conduct. The prisoners were carried to
Jamaica and tried for piracy at St. Jago de la Vega, and convicted on
November 28th, 1720. Anne pleaded to have her execution postponed for
reasons of her condition of health, and this was allowed, and she never
appears to have been hanged, though what her ultimate fate was is unknown.
On the day that her lover Rackam was hanged he obtained, by special
favour, permission to see Anne, but must have derived little comfort from
the farewell interview, for all he got in the way of sympathy from his
lady love were these words--that "she was sorry to see him there, but if
he had fought like a Man, he need not have been hang'd like a Dog."
BOON, JOHN.
Member of the Council of Carolina under Governor Colleton, and expelled
from it "for holding correspondence with pirates," 1687.
BOOTH, SAMUEL.
Of Charleston, Carolina.
One of Major Bonnet's crew. Hanged at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1718.
BOURNANO, CAPTAIN, or DE BERNANOS.
In 1679 this famous French filibuster commanded a ship of ninety tons,
armed with six guns, and manned by a crew of eighty-six French sailors.
Joined Captain Bartholomew Sharp when he was preparing his expedition to
assault the town of Santa Maria. Bournano was a useful ally, as he was
much liked by the Darien Indians, but his crew quarrelled with the English
buccaneers, and they left Sharp's company. In the year 1684, Bournano,
known by then as Le Sieur de Bernanos, commanded a ship, _La Schite_,
carrying a crew of sixty men and armed with eight guns.
LA BOUSE, CAPTAIN OLIVER, or DE LA BOUCHE.
French pirate.
When Captain Howel Davis had taken and sacked the fort at Gambia and with
his crew was spending a day in revelry, a ship was reported, bearing down
on them in full sail. The pirates prepared to fight her, when she ran up
the Black Flag and proved to be a French pirate ship of fourteen guns and
sixty-four hands, half French and half negroes, commanded by Captain La
Bouse. A great many civilities passed between the two captains, and they
agreed to sail down the coast together. Arriving at Sierra Leone, they
found a tall ship lying at anchor. This ship they attacked, firing a
broadside, when she also ran up the Black Flag, being the vessel of the
notorious Captain Cocklyn. For the next two days the three captains and
their crews "spent improving their acquaintance and friendship," which was
the pirate expression for getting gloriously drunk. On the third day they
attacked and took the African Company's Fort. Shortly afterwards the three
captains quarrelled, and each went his own way. In 1718 La Bouse was at
New Providence Island. In 1720 this pirate commanded the _Indian Queen_,
250 tons, armed with twenty-eight guns, and a crew of ninety men. Sailing
from the Guinea Coast to the East Indies, de la Bouche lost his ship on
the Island of Mayotta, near Madagascar.
The captain and forty men set about building a new vessel, while the
remainder went off in canoes to join Captain England's pirates at Johanna.
BOWEN.
A Bristol man. In 1537, when the Breton pirates were becoming very daring
along the south coast of England and Wales, Bowen contrived to capture
fourteen of these robbers, who had landed near Tenby, and had them put in
prison.
BOWEN, CAPTAIN JOHN.
The practice of this South Sea pirate extended from Madagascar to Bengal.
He commanded a good ship, the _Speaker_, a French vessel, owned by an
English company interested in the slave trade, which Bowen had captured by
a cunning ruse. He afterwards lost his ship off Mauritius, but was well
treated by the Dutch Governor, who supplied doctors, medicine, and food to
the shipwrecked pirates. After three months' hospitality on the island,
Bowen procured a sloop, and in March, 1701, sailed for Madagascar. As a
parting friendly gift to the Governor, he gave him 2,500 pieces of eight
and the wreck of the _Speaker_, with all the guns and stores. On arriving
at Madagascar, Bowen erected a fort and built a town. Shortly after this a
ship, the _Speedy Return_, and a brigantine were so very thoughtless as to
put into the port, and paid for this thoughtlessness by being promptly
seized by Bowen. With these two vessels Bowen and his merry men went
"a-pyrating" again, and with great success, for in a short time they had
gathered together over a million dollars in coin, as well as vast
quantities of valuable merchandise. The pirates then, most wisely,
considering that they had succeeded well enough, settled down amongst
their Dutch friends in the Island of Mauritius to a quiet and comfortable
life on shore.
BOWMAN, WILLIAM.
A seaman; one of the party which crossed the Isthmus of Darien on foot
with Dampier in 1681. Wafer records that Bowman, "a weakly Man, a Taylor
by trade," slipped while crossing a swollen river, and was carried off by
the swift current, and nearly drowned by the weight of a satchel he
carried containing 400 pieces of eight.
BOYD, ROBERT.
Of Bath Town, North Carolina.
Sailed with Major Stede Bonnet in the _Royal James_. Hanged on November
8th, 1718, at Charleston.
BOYZA.
A Columbian.
One of Captain Gilbert's crew in the _Panda_. Hanged at Boston in June,
1835.
BRADISH, CAPTAIN JOSEPH.
A notorious pirate. Born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on November 28th,
1672. In March, 1689, was in London out of a berth, and shipped as mate in
the hake-boat _Adventure_, bound for Borneo on an interloping trade.
In September, 1698, when most of the officers and passengers were ashore
at the Island of Polonais, Bradish and the crew cut the cable and ran away
with the ship. The crew shared the money which was found in the
bread-room, and which filled nine chests, amounting to about 3,700 Spanish
dollars.
Bradish sailed the _Adventure_ to Long Island, arriving there on March
19th, 1699. After leaving their money and jewels on Nassau Island, they
sank their ship. Most of the crew bought horses at the neighbouring
farmhouses and disappeared. Bradish and a few others were rash enough to
go to Massachusetts, where they were promptly arrested and placed in the
Boston Gaol. But the gaolkeeper, one Caleb Ray, was a relation of Bradish,
and allowed him to escape. An offer of a reward of £200 brought the
escaped prisoner back, and he sailed in irons on H.M.S. _Advice_, with
Kidd and other pirates, to England, and was hanged in chains in London at
Hope Dock in 1700.
BRADLEY, GEORGE.
Master of Captain Fenn's ship, the _Morning Star_, wrecked on the Grand
Caymans in August, 1722. The crew got ashore on an island and hid in the
woods. Bradley and the other pirates afterwards surrendered themselves to
an English sloop, and were carried to Bermuda. Bradley escaped to England,
and was last heard of at Bristol.
BREAKES, CAPTAIN HIRAM.
This Dutch pirate was the second son of a well-to-do councillor of the
Island of Saba in the West Indies. Hiram was appointed in the year 1764 to
a ship which traded between that island and Amsterdam. In the latter port,
Hiram, who was now 19 years of age and a handsome fellow standing over six
feet in height, fell in love with a certain Mrs. Snyde.
Getting command of a small ship that traded between Schiedam, in Holland,
and Lisbon, Breakes for some time sailed between these ports. Returning to
Amsterdam, he and Mrs. Snyde murdered that lady's husband, but at the
trial managed to get acquitted.
Breakes's next exploit was to steal his employer's ship and cargo and go
out as a pirate, naming his vessel the _Adventure_. His first exploit was
a daring one. Sailing into Vigo Harbour in full view of the forts, he
seized a vessel, the _Acapulco_, lately come from Valparaiso, and took her
off. On plundering her they found 200,000 small bars of gold, each about
the size of a man's finger. The captain and crew of this Chilian vessel
were all murdered. Breakes preferred the _Acapulco_ to his own ship, so he
fitted her up and sailed in her to the Mediterranean.
Breakes was one of the religious variety of pirate, for after six days of
robbing and throat-slitting he would order his crew to clean themselves on
the Sabbath and gather on the quarter-deck, where he would read prayers to
them and would often preach a sermon "after the Lutheran style," thus
fortifying the brave fellows for another week of toil and bloodshed.
Gifted with unlimited boldness, Breakes called in at Gibraltar and
requested the Governor to grant him a British privateer's commission,
which the Governor did "for a consideration." Sailing in the neighbourhood
of the Balearic Islands, he took a few ships, when one day, spying a
nunnery by the sea-shore in Minorca, he proposed to his crew that they
should fit themselves out with a wife apiece.
This generous offer was eagerly accepted, and the crew, headed by Captain
Breakes, marched up to the nunnery unopposed, and were welcomed at the
door by the lady abbess. Having entered the peaceful cloister, each pirate
chose a nun and marched back to the ship with their spoils. Soon after
this Breakes decided to retire from piracy, and returned to Amsterdam to
claim Mrs. Snyde. But he found that she had but lately been hanged for
poisoning her little son, of which the pirate was father. This tragedy so
preyed upon the mind of Captain Breakes that he turned "melancholy mad"
and drowned himself in one of the many dykes with which that city abounds.
BRECK, JOHN.
One of the crew of the brigantine _Charles_ (Captain John Quelch). Tried
for piracy at Boston in 1704.
BREHA, CAPTAIN, _alias_ LANDRESSON.
BRENNINGHAM, CAPTAIN.
Of Jamaica and Tortuga.
In 1663 commanded a frigate of six guns and seventy men.
BRIERLY, JOHN, _alias_ TIMBERHEAD.
Of Bath Town in North Carolina.
One of the crew of the _Royal James_. Hanged at Charleston in November,
1718.
BRIGHT, JOHN.
Of St. Margaret's, Westminster.
One of the crew of Captain Charles Harris. Hanged at Newport, Rhode
Island, in July, 1723, at the age of 25.
BRINKLEY, JAMES.
Of Suffolk, England.
One of Captain Charles Harris's crew. Hanged for piracy at Newport, Rhode
Island, on July 19th, 1723. Age 28.
BRODLEY, CAPTAIN JOSEPH, or BRADLEY, sometimes called
"Lieutenant-Colonel." "An ancient and expert pirate."
Appointed Vice-Admiral by Morgan in his expedition up the Chagre River. He
was a tough old pirate, and had proved himself a terror to the Spaniards,
particularly when Mansvelt took the Isle of St. Catharine. In 1676 Brodley
was sent by Morgan to capture the Castle of Chagre, a very strongly
garrisoned fort. All day the pirates kept up a furious attack, but were
driven back. At last, when it seemed impossible for the pirates ever to
succeed in entering the castle, a remarkable accident happened which
altered the whole issue. One of the pirates was wounded by an arrow in his
back, which pierced his body and came out the opposite side. This he
instantly pulled out at the side of his breast; then, taking a little
cotton, he wound it about the arrow, and, putting it into his musket, he
shot it back into the castle. The cotton, kindled by the powder, set fire
to several houses within the castle, which, being thatched with
palm-leaves, took fire very easily. This fire at last reached the powder
magazine, and a great explosion occurred. Owing to this accident of the
arrow the pirates were eventually able to take the Castle of Chagre. This
was one of the finest and bravest defences ever made by the Spaniards. Out
of 314 Spanish soldiers in the castle, only thirty survived, all the rest,
including the Governor, being killed. Brodley was himself severely wounded
in this action and died as a consequence ten days later.
BROOKS, JOSEPH (senior).
One of Blackbeard's crew in the _Queen Ann's Revenge_. Killed on November
22nd, 1718, at North Carolina.
BROOKS, JOSEPH (junior).
One of Blackbeard's crew in the _Queen Ann's Revenge_. Taken prisoner by
Lieutenant Maynard on November 22nd, 1718. Carried to Virginia, where he
was tried and hanged.
BROWN, CAPTAIN.
A notorious latter-day pirate, who "worked" the east coast of Central
America in the early part of the nineteenth century.
BROWN, CAPTAIN.
On July 24th, 1702, sailed from Jamaica in command of the _Blessing_--ten
guns and crew of seventy-nine men, with the famous Edward Davis on
board--to attack the town of Tolu on the Spanish Main. The town was taken
and plundered, but Brown was killed, being shot through the head.
BROWN, CAPTAIN NICHOLAS.