Star_, bound from Guiney to Carolina. This ship the pirates armed with
thirty-two pieces of cannon, manned her with a crew of one hundred men,
and placed Fenn in command, who had until then been gunner in Anstis's
ship, the _Good Fortune_. Fenn was a one-handed man. By carelessness, or
perhaps because of Fenn only having one hand, the _Morning Star_ was run
on to a reef in the Grand Caymans and lost. Fenn and a few others had just
been taken on board by his consort when two King's ships arrived, and the
_Good Fortune_ barely escaped capture.
Fenn was soon given another ship, one armed with twenty-four guns. In
April, 1723, while cleaning their ship at the Island of Tobago, they were
suddenly surprised by the arrival of a man-of-war, the _Winchelsea_.
Setting fire to their ship, the crew ran to hide in the woods. Fenn was
caught a few days later struggling through the jungle with his gunner.
FERDINANDO, LEWIS.
In 1699 he captured a sloop belonging to Samuel Salters, of Bermuda.
FERN, THOMAS.
A Newfoundland fish-splitter.
In August, 1723, joined with John Phillips in stealing a small vessel,
which they called the _Revenge_, and went "on the account." Fern was
appointed carpenter. Fern gave trouble afterwards over the promotion of a
prisoner, an old pirate called Rose Archer, to the rank of quartermaster.
Later on Fern headed a mutiny and attempted to sail off on his own in one
of the prize vessels. He was caught, brought back, and forgiven, but on
attempting to run away a second time, Captain Phillips killed him,
"pursuant to the pirates articles."
FERNON, WILLIAM.
A Somersetshire man.
Taken from a Newfoundland ship, he became a seaman aboard Bartholomew
Roberts's _Royal Fortune_. Died at the age of 22.
FIFE, CAPTAIN JAMES.
Surrendered to Governor Woodes Rogers at New Providence Island, Bahamas,
in June, 1718, and received the royal pardon to pirates. Was afterwards
killed by his own crew.
FILLMORE, JOHN.
A fisherman of Ipswich.
Taken out of the _Dolphin_ when fishing for cod off the Banks of
Newfoundland in 1724 by the pirate Captain Phillips, and forced to join
the pirates. Having no other means of escape he, with two others, suddenly
killed Phillips and two more pirates and brought the vessel into Boston
Harbour. Millard Fillmore, thirteenth President of the United States, was
the great grandson of John Fillmore.
FITZERRALD, JOHN.
Of Limerick.
This Irish pirate was hanged at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1723, at the age
of 21.
FLEMING, CAPTAIN. Pirate.
This notorious Elizabethan pirate did his country a great service by
bringing to Plymouth the first tidings of the approach of the Spanish
Armada in 1585.
To quote John Smith, the great Elizabethan traveller and the founder of
the colony of Virginia, "Fleming was an expert and as much sought for as
any pirate of the Queen's reign, yet such a friend to his Country, that
discovering the Spanish Armada, he voluntarily came to Plymouth, yielded
himself freely to my Lord Admirall, and gave him notice of the Spaniards
coming: which good warning came so happily and unexpectedly, that he had
his pardon, and a good reward."
FLETCHER, JOHN.
Of Edinburgh.
Tried at Newport, Rhode Island, for piracy in 1723, found "not guilty."
His age was only 17 years.
FLY, CAPTAIN WILLIAM. Pirate and prizefighter.
He was boatswain in the _Elizabeth_, of Bristol, in 1726, bound for
Guinea. Heading a mutiny on May 27th, he tossed the captain over the
ship's side, and slaughtered all the officers except the ship's surgeon.
Fly was unanimously elected captain by the crew. His first prize was the
_John and Hannah_ off the coast of North Carolina. The next the _John and
Betty_, Captain Gale, from Bardadoes to Guinea. After taking several other
vessels, he cruised off the coast of Newfoundland where he took a whaler.
Fly was caught by a piece of strategy on the part of the whaler captain,
who carried him and his crew in chains in their own ship to Great
Brewster, Massachusetts, in June, 1726. On July 4th Fly and the other
pirates were brought to trial at Boston, and on the 16th were executed. On
the day of execution Fly refused to go to church before the hanging to
listen to a sermon by Dr. Coleman. On the way to the gallows he bore
himself with great bravado, jumping briskly into the cart with a nosegay
in his hands bedecked with coloured ribbons like a prizefighter, smiling
and bowing to the spectators. He was hanged in chains at Nix's Mate, a
small island in Boston Harbour, and thus was brought to a close a brief
though brilliant piratical career of just one month.
FORREST, WILLIAM.
One of the mutinous crew of the _Antonio_ hanged at Boston in 1672.
FORSEITH, EDWARD.
One of Captain Avery's crew. Hanged at Execution Dock, 1696.
FOSTER. Buccaneer and poet.
Only two facts are known about this adventurer. One is that he was
reproved on a certain occasion by Morgan (who thought nothing of torturing
his captives) for "harshness" to his prisoners, and the other that he
wrote sentimental verse, particularly one work entitled "Sonneyettes of
Love."
FRANKLYN, CHARLES.
This Welsh pirate was a Monmouthshire man, and one of Captain Howel
Davis's crew. While at the Cape Verde Islands, Franklyn "was so charmed
with the luxuries of the place and the free conversation of the Women,"
that he married and settled down there.
FREEBARN, MATTHEW.
One of Captain Lowther's crew. Hanged at St. Kitts on March 11th, 1722.
FROGGE, WILLIAM. Buccaneer.
Was with Morgan in his attacks on Porto Bello and Panama in 1670. He kept
a diary of the chief events of these exploits, and distinctly states that
the Spaniards, and not Morgan, set fire to the city. But he was greatly
enraged against Morgan for cheating the buccaneers out of their plunder,
and giving each man only about £10 as his share.
FULWORTH, MRS. ANNE.
This lady accompanied Anne Bonny to New Providence Island from Carolina in
the guise of her mother. When Captain Rackam and Anne Bonny were
intriguing to run away from the latter's husband, "a pardoned pirate, a
likely young fellow and of a sober life," Mrs. Fulworth offered sympathy
and advice to the lovers. The scandal being brought to the ears of
Governor Woodes Rogers by a pirate called Richard Turnley, he sent for the
two ladies, "and examining them both upon it, and finding they could not
deny it, he threaten'd, if they proceeded further in it, to commit them
both to Prison, and order them to be whipp'd, and that Rackam, himself,
should be their Executioner."
GARCIA.
One of Gilbert's crew in the _Panda_. Hanged at Boston in June, 1835.
GARDINER.
Although at one time a pirate, by some means or other he became appointed
to the office of Deputy Collector at Boston in 1699. Accepted a bribe of
stolen gold from the pirate Gillam, which caused some gossip in the town.
GASPAR, CAPTAIN JOSÉ, _alias_ "GASPARILLA" or "RICHARD COEUR DE LION."
Was an officer of high rank in the Spanish Navy till 1782, when, having
been detected in stealing some jewels belonging to the Crown, he stole a
ship and turned pirate. Settling at Charlotte Harbour, he built a fort,
where he kept his female prisoners, all the male ones being killed. Here
he lived in regal state as king of the pirates, on Gasparilla Island. In
1801 he took a big Spanish ship forty miles from Boca Grande, killed the
crew, and took a quantity of gold and twelve young ladies. One of these
was a Spanish princess, whom he kept for himself; the eleven Mexican girls
he gave to his crew.
Gaspar was described as having polished manners and a great love of
fashionable clothes, and being fearless in fight; but in spite of all
these attractive qualities, the little Spanish princess would have none of
him, and was murdered.
By the year 1821 the United States Government had made matters so hot for
Gaspar that the pirate kingdom was broken up and their booty of 30,000,000
dollars divided.
As he was about to sail away, a big ship came into the bay, apparently an
English merchantman. Gaspar at once prepared to attack her, when she ran
up the Stars and Stripes, proving herself to be a heavily armed American
man-of-war. The pirate ship was defeated, and Gaspar, winding a piece of
anchor chain round his waist, jumped overboard and was drowned, his age
being 65.
GATES, THOMAS.
Hanged in Virginia in 1718 with the rest of Captain Edward Teach's crew.
GAUTIER, FRANÇOIS, or GAUTIEZ, _alias_ GEORGE SADWELL.
Native of Havre.
Cook on board the _Jane_ schooner, commanded by Captain Thomas Johnson.
While on a voyage from Gibraltar to Brazil with a valuable cargo, Gautier
and the mate killed the captain and the helmsman and steered the vessel to
Scotland, sinking her near Stornoway. Caught and tried at Edinburgh in
November, 1821, found guilty, and hanged in January on the sands of Leith,
his body being publicly dissected afterwards by the Professor of Anatomy
to Edinburgh University. The age of this French pirate at his death was
23.
GAYNY, GEORGE, or GAINY.
One of Wafer's little party lost in the jungle of Darien in 1681. In
attempting to swim across a swollen river with a line, he got into
difficulties, became entangled in the line which was tied round his neck,
and having also a bag containing 300 Spanish silver dollars on his back,
he sank and was swept away. Some time afterwards Wafer found Gayny lying
dead in a creek with the rope twisted about him and his money at his neck.
GENNINGS, CAPTAIN.
A renegade English pirate who joined the Barbary corsairs, turned
Mohammedan, and commanded a Moorish pirate vessel. Taken prisoner off the
Irish coast, he was brought to London and hanged at Wapping.
GERRARD, THOMAS.
Of the Island of Antigua.
One of Major Bonnet's crew of the _Royal James_. Tried for piracy at
Charleston in 1718, but found "not guilty."
GIBBENS, GARRAT.
Boatswain on board the _Queen Ann's Revenge_. Was killed at the same time
as Captain Teach.
GIBBS, CHARLES.
Born at Rhode Island in 1794, he was brought up on a farm there. Ran away
to sea in the United States sloop-of-war _Harriet_. Was in action off
Pernambuco against H.M.S. _Peacock_, afterwards serving with credit on
board the _Chesapeake_ in her famous fight with the _Shannon_; but after
his release from Dartmoor as a prisoner of war he opened a grocery shop in
Ann Street, called the "Tin Pot," "a place full of abandoned women and
dissolute fellows." Drinking up all the profits, he was compelled to go to
sea again, and got a berth on a South American privateer. Gibbs led a
mutiny, seized the ship and turned her into a pirate, and cruised about in
the neighbourhood of Havana, plundering merchant vessels along the coast
of Cuba. He slaughtered the crews of all the ships he took. In 1819
returned to private life in New York with 30,000 dollars in gold. Taking a
pleasure trip to Liverpool, he was entrapped by a designing female and
lost all his money.
In 1830 he took to piracy once more and shipped as a seaman in the brig
_Vineyard_ (Captain W. Thornby), New Orleans to Philadelphia, with a cargo
of cotton, molasses, and 54,000 dollars in specie.
Gibbs again brought about a mutiny, murdering the captain and mate. After
setting fire to and scuttling the ship, the crew took to their boats,
landing at Barrow Island, where they buried their money in the sand.
He was hanged at New York as recently as 1831.
GIDDENS, PAUL.
One of Captain Quelch's crew. Tried at Boston in 1704.
GIDDINGS, JOHN.
Of York River, Virginia.
One of Captain Pound's crew. Wounded and taken prisoner at Tarpaulin Cove
in 1689.
GILBERT, CAPTAIN.
Commanded the schooner _Panda_. On September 20th, 1832, he took and
plundered a Salem brig, the _Mexican_, on her way from Salem to Rio de
Janeiro. A few months later Gilbert and his crew were captured by Captain
Trotter, of H.M. brig-of-war _Curlew_, and taken as prisoners to Salem and
handed over to the United States authorities. Tried at Boston in December,
1834. Hanged at the same place on June 11th, 1835. This was the last act
of piracy committed upon the Atlantic Ocean.
GILLAM, CAPTAIN JAMES, _alias_ KELLY.
A notorious pirate. When serving on board the East Indiaman _Mocha_, he
led a mutiny, and with his own hands murdered the commander, Captain
Edgecomb, in his sleep. He came back to America with Captain Kidd, and was
hiding, under the name of Kelly, when caught in 1699 at Charleston,
opposite Boston, by the Governor of Massachusetts, who described him as
"the most impudent, hardened villain I ever saw." It was said that Gillam
had entered the service of the Mogul, turned Mohammedan, and been
circumcised. To settle this last point, the prisoner was examined by a
surgeon and a Jew, who both declared, on oath, that it was so.
GILLS, JOHN.
One of Captain Teach's crew. Hanged in Virginia in 1718.
GLASBY, HARRY.
Sailed as mate in the _Samuel_, of London (Captain Cary), which was taken
in 1720 by Roberts, who made Glasby master on board the _Royal Fortune_.
Tried for piracy on the Guinea Coast in April and acquitted. Evidence was
brought at his trial to show that Glasby was forced to serve with the
pirates, for, being a "sea-artist" or sail-master, he was most useful to
them. Twice he tried to escape in the West Indies, on one occasion being
tried with two others by a drunken jury of pirates. The other deserters
were shot, but Glasby was saved by one of his judges threatening to shoot
anyone who made any attempt on him. Glasby befriended other prisoners and
gave away his share of the plunder to them. When the _Royal Fortune_ was
taken by the _Swallow_, several of the most desperate pirates,
particularly one James Philips, took lighted matches with which to ignite
the powder magazine and blow up the ship. Glasby prevented this by placing
trusted sentinels below.
GODEKINS, MASTER.
This notorious Hanseatic pirate, with another called Stertebeker, did
fearful damage to English and other merchant shipping in the North Sea in
the latter part of the fourteenth century.
On June 1st, 1395, he seized an English ship laden with salt fish off the
coast of Denmark, her value being reckoned at £170. The master and crew of
twenty-five men they slew, the only mariner saved being a boy, whom the
pirates took with them to Wismar.
These same men took another English ship, the _Dogger_ (Captain Gervase
Cat). The _Dogger_ was at anchor, and the crew fishing, when the pirates
attacked them. The captain and crew were wounded, and damage was done to
the tune of 200 nobles.
Another vessel taken was a Yarmouth barque, _Michael_ (master, Robert
Rigweys), while off Plymouth, the owner, Hugh ap Fen, losing 800 nobles.
In 1394 these Hanseatic pirates, with a large fleet, attacked the town of
Norbern in Norway, plundering the town and taking away all they could
carry, as well as the merchants, who they held for ransom. The houses they
burnt.
GOFFE, CHRISTOPHER.
Originally one of Captain Woollery's crew of Rhode Island pirates. In
November, 1687, he surrendered himself at Boston, and was pardoned. In
August, 1691, was commissioned by the Governor to cruise with his ship,
the _Swan_, between Cape Cod and Cape Ann, to protect the coast from
pirates.
GOLDSMITH, CAPTAIN THOMAS.
Of Dartmouth in Devon.
During the reign of Queen Anne, Goldsmith commanded a privateer vessel,
the _Snap Dragon_, of Dartmouth. He turned pirate and amassed great
riches.
This pirate would have been forgotten by now were it not that he died in
his bed at Dartmouth, and was buried in the churchyard there. The lines
engraved on his tombstone have been quoted in the Preface, but may be
repeated here:
Men that are virtuous serve the Lord;
And the Devil's by his friends ador'd;
And as they merit get a place
Amidst the bless'd or hellish race;
Pray then, ye learned clergy show
Where can this brute, Tom Goldsmith, go?
Whose life was one continual evil,
Striving to cheat God, Man, and Devil.
GOMEZ, JOHN, _alias_ PANTHER KEY JOHN.
Brother-in-law of the famous pirate Gasparilla.
Died, credited with the great age of 120 years, at Panther Key in Florida
in 1900.
GOODALE, JOHN.
A Devonshire man.
Goodale, who was a renegade and had turned Mohammedan, held a position of
importance and wealth amongst the Moors of Algiers. In the year 1621 he
bought from the Moors a British prize called the _Exchange_, and also, for
the sum of £7 10s., an English slave, lately captain of an English
merchant ship, whom he got cheap owing to his having a deformed hand.
GOODLY, CAPTAIN.
An English buccaneer of Jamaica, who in the year 1663 was in command of a
"junk" armed with six guns and carrying a crew of sixty men.
GORDON, CAPTAIN NATHANIEL.
Of Portland, Maine.
Commanded and owned the _Evie_, a small, full-rigged ship, which was
fitted up as a "slaver." Made four voyages to West Africa for slaves. On
his last voyage he was captured by the United States sloop _Mohican_, with
967 negroes on board. Tried in New York for piracy and found guilty and
condemned to death. Great pressure was brought on President Lincoln to
reprieve him, but without success, and Gordon was hanged at New York on
February 22nd, 1862.
GOSS, CUTHBERT.
Born at Topsham in Devon.
The compiler of these biographies regrets to have to record that this
pirate was hanged, at the comparatively tender age of 21, outside the
gates of Cape Coast Castle, within the flood-marks, in 1722. He was one of
Captain Roberts's crew, having been taken prisoner by Roberts at Calabar
in a prize called the _Mercy_ galley, of Bristol, in 1721.
GOW, CAPTAIN JOHN, _alias_ SMITH, _alias_ GOFFE. A Scotch pirate, born at
Thurso.
Although the short career of this pirate made a great noise at the time,
he did little to merit the fame which he achieved. He had the honour of
having an account of his piratical activities written by Defoe, and ninety
years later was made the hero in a novel by Walter Scott, as Captain
Cleveland.
Gow sailed from Amsterdam as a foremast hand in the _George_ galley,
commanded by Captain Ferneau, a Guernsey man. Being a brisk and
intelligent man, he was soon promoted to be second mate. They called at
Santa Cruz in Barbary to take in a cargo of beeswax to deliver at Genoa.
Sailing from Santa Cruz on November 3rd, 1724, Gow and a few others
conspired to mutiny and then to go "upon the account." The captain, as was
his custom, had all hands, except the helmsman, into his cabin at eight
o'clock each night for prayers. This particular night, after it was dark,
the conspirators went below to the hammocks of the chief mate, the
supercargo, and the surgeon and cut all their throats. They did the same
to the captain, who was then thrown overboard though still alive.
Gow being now elected captain and one Williams, a thorough rogue, mate,
they renamed the vessel the _Revenge_, armed her with eighteen guns, and
cruised off the coast of Spain, taking an English sloop with a cargo of
fish from Newfoundland, commanded by Captain Thomas Wise of Poole. Their
second prize was a Glasgow ship loaded with herrings and salmon.
They next sailed to Madeira, where Gow presented the Governor with a box
of Scotch herrings. About this time Williams, the first mate, insulted Gow
by accusing him of cowardice because he had refused to attack a big French
ship, and snapped his pistol at him. Two seamen standing near shot
Williams, wounding him severely, and to get rid of him they put him aboard
one of their prizes. Discussions now took place as to where to sail, and
Gow, who was in love with a lass in the Orkney Islands, suggested sailing
thither, as being a good place to traffic their stolen goods.
On arriving at Carristown they sold most of their cargo, and one of the
crew, going on shore, bought a horse for three pieces of eight and rode
to Kirkwall and surrendered himself. Next day ten more men deserted,
setting out in the long-boat for the mainland of Scotland, but were taken
prisoners in the _Forth_, of Edinburgh. By now the whole countryside was
alarmed. Gow's next move was to land his men and plunder the houses of the
gentry. They visited a Mrs. Honnyman and her daughter, but these ladies
managed to get their money and jewellery away in safety. Gow's crew
marched back to their ship with a bagpiper playing at their head.
They now sailed to Calfsound, seized three girls and took them aboard.
Then to the Island of Eda to plunder the house of Mr. Fea, an old
schoolmate of Gow's. Arriving there on February 13th, by bad management
they ran their vessel on the rocks. The bo'son and five men went ashore
and met Mr. Fea, who entertained them at the local public-house. By a
simple stratagem, Mr. Fea seized first the bo'son and afterwards the five
men. Soon after this, Fea trapped Gow and all the rest of his crew of
twenty-eight men. Help was sent for, and eventually the _Greyhound_
frigate arrived and took Gow and his crew to London, arriving off Woolwich
on March 26th, 1725. The prisoners were taken to the Marshalsea Prison in
Southwark, and there found their old companion, Lieutenant Williams. Four
men turned King's evidence--viz., George Dobson, Job Phinnies, Tim Murphy,
and William Booth.
The trial at Newgate began on May 8th, when Gow was sullen and reserved
and refused to plead. He was ordered to be pressed to death, which was the
only form of torture still allowed by the law. At the last moment Gow
yielded, and pleaded "not guilty." Gow was found guilty, and hanged on
June 11th, 1725, but "as he was turned off, he fell down from the Gibbit,
the rope breaking by the weight of some that pulled his leg. Although
he had been hanging for four minutes, he was able to climb up the ladder a
second time, which seemed to concern him very little, and he was hanged
again."
[Illustration: PRESSING A PIRATE TO PLEAD.
To face p. 140.]
His body was then taken to Greenwich and there hanged in chains, to be a
warning to others.
GRAFF, LE CAPITAINE LAURENS DE. Filibuster.
Commanded _Le Neptune_, a ship armed with fifty-four guns and a crew of
210 men, in the West Indies in the seventeenth century.
GRAHAM, CAPTAIN.
Commanded a shallop, with a crew of fourteen men, in 1685. Sailed in
company with Captain Veale up and down the coast of Virginia and New
England.
GRAMBO.
Was "boss" of Barataria, the smugglers' stronghold off the Island of
Grande Terre, near Louisiana, until shot by Jean Lafitte in 1811.
GRAMMONT, SIEUR DE. French filibuster.
One of the great buccaneers. Born in Paris, he entered the Royal Marines,
in which he distinguished himself in several naval engagements.
He commanded a frigate in the West Indies, and captured near Martinique a
Dutch ship with a cargo worth £400,000, which he carried to Hispaniola,
but there lost all of it through gambling, and, not daring to return to
France, he joined the buccaneers.
He sailed to Curaçoa in 1678 with the Count d'Estrees' fleet, which was
wrecked on a coral reef off the Isle d'Aves. De Grammont was left behind
to salve what he could from the wreck. After this, with 700 men he sailed
to Maracaibo, spending six months on the lake, seizing the shipping and
plundering all the settlements in the neighbourhood.
In June, 1680, de Grammont, with an obsolete commission and a small party
of men, made a brilliant night assault on La Guayra, the seaport of
Caracas. Only forty-seven men took part in the actual attack on the town,
which was guarded by two forts and by cannon upon the walls. The pirates
were attacked next day by 2,000 Spaniards from Caracas, but with the
greatest skill and bravery de Grammont got almost all his party away,
though wounded himself in the throat. He carried away with him amongst his
prisoners the Governor of the town.
He retired to the Isle d'Aves to nurse his wound, and later went to Petit
Goave.
In 1683 took part in the successful English and French attack on Vera
Cruz, and afterwards, when Vanhorn died of gangrene, de Grammont, his
lieutenant, carried his ship back to Petit Goave. In 1685 he received a
fresh commission from de Cossey, the Governor of Dominica, and joined
forces with the famous buccaneer Laurens de Graff at the Isle of Vache,
and sailed with 11,000 men for Campeachy. Taking the town, he reduced it
to ashes and blew up the fortress, returning with the plunder to
Hispaniola. Before leaving, however, to celebrate the Festival of St.
Louis, they burnt a huge bonfire, using 200,000 crowns worth of logwood.
Grammont at this time commanded a fine ship, _Le Hardy_ (fifty guns and a
crew of 300 men).
In 1686 de Grammont was granted a commission of "Lieutenant du Roi," in
order to keep him from harassing the Spaniards, and yet not to lose his
valuable services to his country.