Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "bartholomew-roberts"

Black Flag of the North: Bartholomew Roberts, King of the Atlantic Pirates by Victor Suthren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


On 17 May 1682, a son is born to a Welsh family. His name is John Robert(s) and he has a fifty percent possibility of reaching his third birthday. If he survives until then, his chances of attaining adulthood are even less; against all odds, John lives into his late thirties. Between the recording of his birth and 1718, no record has been found to explain his formative years and how he goes from working on land to being Second or Third Mate of a slave ship. Somehow, he gains navigational skills, fighting tactics, and nautical expertise – all of which prove instrumental in launching him on a path his parents never foresee the day he comes into this world.

Two fateful days mark the beginning and end of John’s final years. In 1718, off the West African coast, the slaver on which he works is taken by pirates. Their captain, Howell Davis, is a fellow Welshman; this common bond connects the two men in spite of John’s initial rebuffs to join in the sweet trade. Yet the day eventually comes when John decides “a merry and short life” is better than his current one. Taking the name “Bartholomew,” he embarks on a career in piracy. Six weeks after meeting the pirates, they elect him captain after Davis’s demise. Although atypical of many of his mates – he abstains from drink and wenching – he possesses traits and skills necessary to lead and succeed. Pillaging more than 450 ships also brings him notoriety, which garners the attention of authorities and forces the pirates to look elsewhere for plunder several times. His career ends where it begins: off the coast of Africa at the hands of the British Royal Navy.

Suthren opens his account with what is and isn’t known about this legendary pirate. He also explores what may have influenced Roberts’ upbringing, as well as possibilities of how he came to be an accomplished mariner. Before delving into particulars about his piratical career, the author devotes three chapters to necessary background information on piracy (especially between 1680 and the 1720s), the slave trade and slave ships, and pirates in Canada – the place where Roberts went from ordinary to unparalleled. Along the way readers meet a variety of other pirates, including Walter Kennedy, Peter Easton, Sheila NaGeira, Edward Low, and Eric Cobham and Maria Lindsey. Also mentioned is pirate hunter Sir Henry Mainwaring, although without any hint of his piratical past. While the majority of passages quoted within the narrative come from other historians, Suthren does include one extant letter from Roberts to the highest ranking soldier on St. Christopher (St. Kitts today), who dared to fire on the pirates. Contrary to what the book says, Roberts is not the first captain to implement a code of conduct to govern his men. These articles derive from a legal document used by buccaneers, a sample of which appears in Alexandre Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers of America (1678).

In addition to several period maps and two illustrations, the book has a bibliography and index. Endnotes provide source citations, although none is provided for one curious reference in the text to pirates blackening their faces so they appear more threatening. At times, Suthren shares how twists of fate lead men on differing paths. James Cook possessed similar traits and skills with Roberts and both were shaped by the time they spent in Canadian waters. Black Flag of the North provides a good overview of the period, while succinctly entertaining readers with the meteoric rise and fall of the man often referred to as “King of the Pirates.”




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The Pirates’ Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship by Rebecca Simon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Many people may think of pirates as being somewhat chaotic and in favor of anarchy. The opposite is true, as Dr. Simon adeptly demonstrates in her latest book, The Pirates’ Code. Each crew of pirates devised their own set of rules under which they would sail, and these articles of agreement dictated what would happen to anyone who failed to adhere to them. Such codes also indicated how much each pirate received from plunder and how much compensation injured pirates were entitled to. The pirates and their codes under discussion here sailed during the most prolific period of piracy, 1650 to 1730. The earliest mention of such an agreement comes from Alexandre Exquemelin, a buccaneer and the author of The Buccaneers of America. Four other articles of agreement have come down to us. The first, which appeared in a colonial newspaper and an account of thirty-six men tried for piracy, belonged to pirates who sailed with the infamous Edward Low. The other three codes (published in Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates) were from the crews of Bartholomew Roberts, George Lowther, and John Phillips.

After introducing readers to the Golden Age of Piracy and articles of agreement, Dr. Simon divides the rules into individual chapters in which she explores the purpose of each and how it impacts a pirate’s life. The first focuses on work and wages on a pirate ship, providing some comparisons to life in the merchant marine and navy. The second examines punishments; these pertain to both those the pirates suffer when in violation of the rules and what they inflict on captives. Chapter three concerns health and safety, while the fourth explores intimate relationships among pirates (male and/or female). Weaponry, fighting tactics, and safety are covered in chapter five. The subjects of food, drink, and vices are discussed in the sixth and seventh chapters. Entertainment and culture are explored in the final one. She concludes her study of the articles and pirate life with a look at how the pirates bring about their own downfall by the end of the era. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the book, which also has a center section of color pictures. There are a select list of pirates that includes tidbits about each and a glossary. References, a bibliography, and an index round out the volume.

There are many books that focus on pirates and their lives at sea, but Dr. Simon brings a fresh perspective to this topic by examining them from the lens of their articles of agreement. She provides snippets from contemporary documents and eyewitnesses, be they pirates or victims, to showcase how aspects of the rules impacted what pirates did and how they lived. Specific pirates, some well-known and others who are not, are showcased to validate what is discussed under each rule. Throughout the book she emphasizes that these codes served specific purposes: to safeguard their environment, to minimize conflict among themselves, to maintain loyalty within each crew, and to provide protection from the hazards of working at sea. In other words, the goals of these articles were to gain wealth and stay alive.

The Pirates’ Code is informative, refreshing, and remarkable. It shines a light on a much-discussed topic while also bringing forth new material not found in previous books. Regardless of your level of knowledge of pirate lore, this volume is a treasure for any collection.


(This review was originally published at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/RSimon.htm...)




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Pirates of the Slave Trade: The Battle of Cape Lopez and the Birth of an American Institution by Angela C. Sutton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


History is required in school, but during my youth at least, my teachers didn’t always show how what happened one place was connected with or impacted events happening elsewhere. My research into pirates and the past has taught me that these interconnections do exist. More and more, books that come across my desk strive to show this bigger, often global picture. Pirates of the Slave Trade is one such book.

At first glance, readers may wonder what was the Battle of Cape Lopez. Those familiar with pirate history know of it but more because of what happened at this fight than by its name. It took place off the coast of West Africa on 10 February 1722. The outcome brought about the demise of one of the most prolific pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy, Bartholomew Roberts. The subsequent trials at Cape Coast Castle led to mass hangings of fifty-two pirates. Captain Chaloner Ogle of the British Royal Navy would be honored with knighthood. Piracy began to wane, whereas the buying and selling of slaves increased in scope and intensity. In turn, this led to changes in how Europeans viewed Africans and how Britain and her colonies, especially in what would become the United States, characterized those who were enslaved.

This is, in essence, what Pirates of the Slave Trade is about, but Sutton touches on many peripheral topics related to piracy and slavery. After setting the scene and introducing the main characters, she examines what drew Roberts and his men to Africa. He was neither a stranger to the slave trade – his sailing career started aboard slave ships – nor unknown when he returned to African waters in 1722. (He was already a notorious pirate, having captured more than 400 vessels and murdered a governor.) Captain Ogle, on the other hand, was a pirate hunter, a man determined to end Roberts’s depredations and he possessed the authority to do whatever it took to accomplish the pirates’ eradication.

Sutton also introduces a third man to this equation: John Conny, an Ahantan king who learned the ins and outs of European slave trading operations firsthand and used them to his advantage in what is now Ghana. As he grew more influential and powerful, he sheltered pirates and made it possible for them to prey on ships of the various West India companies in African waters.

The book is divided into two parts. “The Battle of Cape Lopez” identifies principal players and establishes the parameters that lead to the final confrontation between the Royal Navy and the pirates. “The Birth of an American Institution” delves into the battle’s legacy, asking and seeking answers to:

Who were the real gentlemen of fortune here?
And who are they today?
Who benefits from global extraction-based exploitative processes that change the face of the entire world?
And who among us (“us” meaning the national as well as the global population) are left behind? (143-144)

Maps, artwork, and tables accompany the narrative. Footnotes provide additional information on topics mentioned in the text, while endnotes provide citations to source material consulted. There is an index, but no bibliography.

Sutton deftly lays the groundwork on the slave trade and slavery, piracy in Africa, and the people and places involved to orient the reader in the primary purpose of this book. She discusses the trading companies to a fuller degree than is often covered in history volumes. Readers gain a better understanding of before and after, especially as regards slavery in America. She skillfully shows how one incident leads to another and another, showing their interconnectedness and the resultant outcomes. In addition, she utilizes the words and deeds of William Snelgrave, a captain engaged in the slave trade who also became a captive of three pirates, to graphically depict the before and after changes.

Many authors writing books about pirates and their connections to slavery tend to gloss over the details, preferring to mention rather than elucidate. Sutton dares to venture much further into what is a provocative and sometimes incendiary discussion; she does so “with an antiracist lens.” (238) She explains why and lets readers know that they can effect change – a fact that resonates today. Pirates of the Slave Trade is enlightening, thought-provoking, and a must read for anyone who wants a fuller picture of the connections between piracy, the slave trade, and the legacy the downfall of one created for the other.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates & Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Sutton.html)



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