Skull And Saltire: Stories of Scottish Piracy

by Ian Black, Jim Hewitson

Pirates! The word is enough to send a shiver through your timbers. A nation such as the Scots, with its seafaring tradition, inevitably has a history of lawlessness at sea. From the earliest times, shrewd sailors realized that, by branching out as government agents, privateers, or freelance plunderers, they could make more than just a living. Nautical Scots played a part in the Golden Age of piracy, the seventeenth century, most notably in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. But the story of Scottish piracy probably stretches back to Roman times and reaches up to the present day. In this exploration of a little-known aspect of Scottish seafaring, Jim Hewitson hauls up the anchor, hoists the Jolly Roger, and takes us into some unexpected waters to meet characters such Kirkcudbright-born John Paul Jones, founder of the US navy, hero to the Americans, rogue pirate to the British; Sweyn Asleifsson, an Orkney-based pirate who spent half the year as a peaceful farmer and the other as a wild sea raider; and Greenock's Captain Kidd, the notorious piratical stereotype, who turns out to be more of a naive fall guy than a swashbuckling adventurer.

Genres: History

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2005

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Reviews

[Barbara Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It quite rightly defaulted to the golden age of piracy - taking a wider definition and including wreckers and modern day trickery stretched the term a bit for me, but considering I am a fiction girl normally, I loved the ride through this!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely, esoteric addition to maritime history, addressing the little known details regarding Scottish piracy. It covers the typical characters one would expect: Captain Kidd (said to have been born in Greenock), John Gow the Orcadian pirate, and Blackbeard (whose real name was claimed to be Drummond). But the real strength of the book lies in telling the tales of obscure figures: Rauri MacNeil of Barra (aka "Rauri the Turbulent"), Neil MacLeod of Bereasaidh, the terrifying Allen of the Straws, and Helen Gloag, daughter of a blacksmith, who rose to become princess of Morocco after being captured by pirates on the Barbary coast. The accounts of the exploits of Orcadian vikings, privateer John Paul Jones (founder of the U.S. navy), and Confederate blockade runners of the American Civil War are also worth reading. Fascinating reading for fans of Scottish and maritime history!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to the author we have Robert Louis Stevenson to thank for the idea of buried treasure and more money has been spent attempting to find then has ever been found. There are the usual suspects, Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, and Bartholomew Roberts. The you have the pirates who lurked in the English Channel and North Sea preying on the ships that heading for the ports of Europe with their cargoes which could be auctioned off and the monies split amongst the crew. Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar and Robert Davidson, Provost of Aberdeen, Scotland. There were at least three Highland chiefs who despite their success careers in piracy died in their beds When brought before King James VI, Ruari MacNeil of Barra’s response was “that these piracies were but a just toll on the woman ‘who killed your Majesty’s mother’.” His king released him. On the other hand you have John Gow whose career lasted four months. He and his crew were seeking wine ships, but took ones filled with fish & staves and bringing their crews aboard the Revenge which ate into their provisions. He wound up running his ship aground. Worse was George Lowther the “cowardly captain” of the Carolinas “who sailed away from battle, ran his ship aground, went to live as backwoodsman for a year.” Walking the plank existed only in movies but keelhauling and hanging from the yardarm was painfully real. Excellent book!