Seawolves: Pirates and the Scots

by Eric J. Graham

Seawolves is an exciting and thorough examination of Scots connected to piracy, whether they are victims or villains, real or literary. Concentrating mainly on the legendary golden age of pirates - 1690 to 1710 - when pirate vessels not only menaced the waters of the East and West Indies, but even threatened the northern islands of Scotland. During this time, many Scots left hard lives in places like Aberdeen, Stornoway and Orkney to find fame, fortune and adventure on the dangerous high seas of more exotic locations like Madagascar, Brazil or the Caribbean. Some, like Captain James Macrae from Ayr, became well-respected pirate hunters, champions of the law upon the ocean, bravely facing violent battles and unsavoury characters. Others, such as John Gow from Orkney, were these unsavoury characters, their dastardly deeds capturing the imagination of the Scottish public. This morbid fascination is reflected in the work of Scottish writers like Daniel Defoe and Robert Louis Stevenson, with novels such as Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island, among others, cementing the glamour and notoriety of the pirate in the public mind.Gripping, entertaining and informative, Seawolves shows a different, darker side to the famously enterprising Scot. Graham explores all these elements of Scotland's participation in piracy and provides a fascinating and enlightening account of the lifestyle of those who followed the skull and crossbones, often to their death on the gallows.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2005

Reviews

[Gavin Greig · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy but informative read covering piracy from a Scottish perspective. It has more than the usual proportion (for a mass market book) of quotations from primary sources, and does a reasonable job of presenting the cases it covers in their political context. It was particularly interesting to read about the trial of Captain Green in the context of the failure of the Darien Scheme, the English trading companies' aggressive defence of their monopolies and increasing pressure for political union between Scotland and England.

My most significant criticism would be that it doesn't retain much sense of temporal progression, dotting back and forth across the thirty years of the "Golden Age" of piracy, and it is a little difficult to track some narratives across several chapters.

I wish I'd read this when I was playing in a Pyrates role-playing game, and I also wish I'd known back then that there was a family story that we were related to Captain Kidd (he was originally from Dundee, and one of my great-grandparents was a Kidd). However, Kidd's story is a particularly pathetic one, when compared with the out-and-out bad guys, so perhaps it's best I didn't know anyway.

[Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of some of the main Scottish characters in the ages of piracy. The structure bounces round a little, and the short biography of the key players at the start of the book was a necessity rather than an extra given how many interlink. While the style is a little dry at times with occasional lapses into just listing a sequence of events (yes that's history, but...). The Gows and Captain Kidds are great characters anyway and always good to read about. Diverting.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, consistently interesting and even exciting at times! A must for any history buffs