Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "edward-low"

The Pirate Captain Ned Low by Nicky Nielsen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Edward Low, alias Ned Low. Not the best known of pirate captains, but one of the most brutal. His hunting grounds stretched from the Bay of Honduras to Newfoundland to the African coast. Despite all the mayhem he caused, he was never captured, never stood in the dock, never paid for his crimes. He simply vanished. This is his story.

Edward Low was baptized in 1688 into a family familiar with crime. He grew up on London streets, where he also acquired his education. At some point, he relocated to Boston, Massachusetts where he married Elizabeth Marble in 1714 and became a ship rigger. He lived a normal, family life until the loss of one of two children and, later, his wife. Prone to quarrel and drink, unable to keep a job, he left Boston in 1721. By year’s end, he had mutinied, committed murder, and turned pirate. His crew eventually described him as a “maniac.” Writers tended to use words like “savage” and “psychopath.” Not surprising given how he tortured and slew his victims, including Nathan Skiffe, a well-liked whaling captain who treated his men fairly.

Anyone who studies pirates soon discovers that there are lots of gaps in the historical record. Certainly, this is true in some degree with Low, but there are also far more facts and accounts of his piracy and life than are found for better-known pirates. Nielsen delves into these original sources to show who the real Ned Low was, as well as to discuss how he has been portrayed in them. Among the consulted renderings are eyewitness accounts from victims (especially Philip Ashton and his cousin, Nicholas Merritt), newspaper articles, and Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. (The last is a somewhat controversial document that does include some fallacies. One intriguing example cited concerns the death of a French cook. Johnson says Low burned the man alive, whereas Ashton doesn’t even mention the cook.)

The book consists of nine chapters that cover Low’s life and his encounters with other pirates, such as George Lowther, John Massey, Charles Harris, and Francis Spriggs. The epilogue discusses the role maritime historian Edward Rowe Snow played in lore associated with Low. The one appendix lists the pirates captured by HMS Greyhound, along with their ages and places of birth, as well as which ones were eventually executed for their crimes. There is a section of black-and-white illustrations, a bibliography, and an index.

Throughout the narrative Nielsen poses numerous questions and then explains what may have actually occurred based on empirical evidence, his research, and educated analysis. He also provides necessary background information to orient readers. The Pirate Captain Ned Low is an absorbing, fact-based biography that sheds light on some of the murkier waters – what the author describes as “hazardous shoals of speculation, hearsay and outright lies.” (xii) It is a significant addition to any collection dealing with pirate history, especially that of the eighteenth century.

(Readers should note that with Low’s reputation for cruelty, this book contains a lot of violence and Nielsen pulls no punches in presenting this facet of this pirate.)


This review originally appeared in the March 2023 issue of Pirates and Privateers at http://www.cindyvallar.com/Nielsen.html



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The Notorious Edward Low: Pursuing the Last Great Villain of Piracy's Golden Age by Len Travers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While on a shake-down cruise, HMS Greyhound patrols the waters south of Long Island. She is a sixth-rate warship under the command of Captain Peter Solgard, and he is getting a feel for his new crew. On 10 June 1723, the lookout spots two sloops. Aware that a notorious pirate is loose in these waters, Solgard attempts to trick the scoundrels into thinking his is a merchant ship. Edward Low and his men take the bait, but soon discover that this time there will be no prize and only some will escape with their lives.

The goal of this book is to sift through the old myths that surround Low to determine whether he really was as brutal and ruthless as he has been portrayed in various historical accounts, including newspapers and Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of Pyrates. The author feels that much of Low’s life has been based on rumors and gruesome imagination, so he reexamines and questions what we know about this pirate using unpublished primary source material found in the United Kingdom’s National Archives. He also evaluates “how British Crown authorities used the Royal Navy and new anti-piracy laws to reclaim a measure of authority over North American colonies that attained a worrisome degree of autonomy.” (xiv)

Black-and-white illustrations and quotations open each chapter. Maps and diagrams are also included, as are end notes, a bibliography, index, and four appendices (Low’s Articles of Agreement in 1723, Solgard’s report to the Admiralty, the prisoners Greyhound captured and what happened to them, and excerpts from a minister’s diary).

Travers begins with an examination of pirate history in the Americas, starting with the buccaneers, and shows how they went from being acceptable associates of colonists to criminals who needed to be brought to justice. The brunt of the book discusses Edward Low’s life and how even if he was a sadistic pirate, this was not how he began life or even his piratical career. Like much of pirate history, he evolved and changed. Born in the 1680s, Low eventually made his way to Boston where he got a job, married, and raised a family. Events in his life altered that reality and, in time, set him onto the irreversible path of piracy.

Travers offers readers a thought-provoking, riveting examination into the realities of piracy in colonial America and how the agendas of different people affected what appeared in print about Edward Low and his piracies. The author poses questions and evaluates what is and is not included in such contemporary accounts as Philip Ashton’s narrative of his time as one of Low’s captives. Those seeking a compelling look into the reality of one man’s descent into a criminal life and how the truth was sometimes manipulated to make him a poster child for evil should read The Notorious Edward Low.


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



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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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A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Katherine Howe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A hanging is a momentous affair. Especially when the execution is of a pirate. William Fly, no less, a totally unrepentant sinner. Everyone will be there . . . well, everyone but Hannah Masury. She’s been forbidden to go by her employer, but Hannah doesn’t necessarily heed what she’s told.

When Hannah finally returns to the tavern’s stable where she sleeps, she finds it occupied by a young lad. He claims to be Billy Chandler and he’s hiding because everyone wants him dead. He even shows her the black spot that marks him for death. She’s not fully convinced that he tells the truth until after they head for the tavern to get some food while everyone else is asleep. But they become separated. She hears a gravelly voice and an odd sound before she stumbles upon Billy’s dead body. Then her name floats through the fog. If she wants to live, she has only one chance: don male attire and pretend to be Billy. He planned on shipping out on a schooner as a cabin boy, which provides her with the means and opportunity to escape before the pirates catch her. As they say, the best laid plans don’t always work out exactly as one hopes, and she finds herself aboard the Reporter whose captain spends most of his time drunk in his cabin and the first mate is none other than Edward Low.

Travel forward in time from 1726 to 1930. Professor Marian Beresford teaches history at Cambridge College in Boston. One of her students, Kay Lonergan, has come across a handwritten diary from two centuries ago. Marian is skeptical about its authenticity, but there’s something compelling about the journal. The more she reads, the more she questions her initial findings. She decides to visit her father, an esteemed historian, in New York and get his opinion. He concurs with her initial assessment . . . but even a slim chance of it being real is sufficient for the trio to persuade the Explorers Club to finance a trip to find the pirate treasure that Hannah Masury writes about in her diary. Just imagine the glory that such a find will bring with it. Marian may finally prove herself worthy of following in her father’s footsteps. In the meantime, Kay wants to go for another reason . . . publicity. She thrives on getting her name in the spotlight, and so she joins them on their grand adventure.

The past and present are interwoven in a seamless tapestry that contrasts Masury’s life with Beresford’s. Marian also compares who she is now with who she was when she was Kay’s age, as well as measuring her own choices and career with that of her father. Howe provides an accurate depiction of Ned Low’s brutality as a pirate and hints at the fact that he didn’t start out being that way. The story is also rife with pirate tropes. Pirate life and behavior is realistically portrayed, although I found it interesting that Marian’s father cites The Pirates Own Book as being the source he uses as proof that the journal is a fake. (This 19th-century volume includes falsehoods as well as truths much like the pirate-age contemporary resource, A General History of Pyrates.)

Two words are key to whether this story works: “plausible” and “probable.” Women did masquerade as men and did become pirates, but how likely was it for one to join the crew of Ned Low? While I think the answer improbable, Howe weaves her tale with enough believability to make Hannah’s story plausible. The entwining of past and present strengthens that belief, while the themes of betrayal, humiliation, and proving oneself are universal and transcend time.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates & Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/adult-hist...)



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