The Pirate Captain Ned Low

by Nicky Nielsen

Edward ‘Ned’ Low’s career in piracy began with a single gunshot. While working on a logging ship in the Bay of Honduras the quick-tempered Ned was provoked by the ship’s captain. He responded by grabbing a musket and inciting a mutiny. Then the London-born sailor and a dozen of his crewmates held a council, stitched a black flag and voted to make war against the whole world preying on ships from any nation, flying any flag. Low’s name became synonymous with brutality and torture during the 1720s as he cut a swathe of destruction from the shores of Nova Scotia to the Azores, the coast of Africa and throughout the Caribbean. Ned Low’s life was one of failed redemption: a thief from childhood who briefly rose in the world after moving to America, only to fall again lower and harder than before. He was feared even by his own crew, and during his life on the wrong side of the law he became infamous for his extreme violence, fatalistic behaviour, and became perhaps one of the best examples of why pirates were classed in Admiralty Law as hostis humani generis: the common enemies of all mankind.

Genres: Pirates

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 30, 2022

About the author

Nicky Nielsen is Lecturer in Online Egyptology at the University of Manchester, teaching on the Certificate, Diploma, Short Courses and MA Egyptology programmes. Originally from Denmark, Nicky was awarded an AHRC Block Grant to undertake PhD research at the University of Liverpool investigating subsistence strategies and craft production at the Ramesside fortress site of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. He has excavated in Europe, Turkey and Egypt and is currently field director of the University of Liverpool Tell Nabasha Survey Project. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Alongside a series of scholarly papers, Nicky has recently published Pharaoh Seti I: Father of Egyptian Greatness.

Reviews

[Cindy Vallar · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Zandt McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to Pirates, there are things we know. There are things we know we don't know. And then there are things we think we know which we really don't and probably never will. Perhaps. They are a fascinating topic but also increasingly frustrating. Dr. Nicky Nielsen starts this study on the Pirate Captain Ned Low by admitting as much. I appreciated the honesty. Nielsen lists upfront where his sources are coming from and how much we can truly trust their statements.

Ned Low himself is an interesting pirate. From his humble beginnings, I was ready to go on this journey with him. I'm a bit divided on the outcome. On one hand, everything Nielsen promised us as readers was delivered. We are given as much of Ned Low's life as we know and can piece together from various documented accounts. There's still a nagging part of me that wonders if anybody else, at any time, said something we just don't know was truly connected to the Captain. Maybe a passing story that will unearth another chapter in this brutal Pirate's life. So it's not against Nielsen that I feel this way. They are very good at introducing other sources and proving why those sources or stories about Ned Low were fabricated.

What is remarkable about Pirates is how different the ones we know the most about were from the ones we know so little. Captain Kidd has tons of documentation. I admit I feel a soft spot for him since out of all the Pirates, he seems to get the short end of the straw. His benefactors turned tail to save themselves and he was labeled a Pirate and hung. The proof of his innocence was noted as existing and then mysteriously vanished during his trials. Meanwhile, we have Ned Low and only know bits and pieces of his story and he's an absolute monster brute. Same thing with Blackbeard. Now I'm thinking of Vane and maybe this doesn't hold as much weight as it did when I first thought it.

A good portion of this book follows one of Low's captives, named Ashton. He never wants to join the Pirates and ultimately escapes. Then he has to survive, seemingly alone, on an island until help eventually arrives. It is a story-within-a-story. Ashton's tales show us glimpses of what it must have been like to live aboard one of Ned Low's ships but Low himself becomes more of a figurative presence. When we do return to Low and his crew, after Ashton's story is officially done, it felt a little lackluster for a while.

We don't know what Ned Low looked like. While we know his wife dying leads him to abandon his daughter and live life at sea, the unpredictable rages he is prone to are not defined. This is an instance where he was too successful of a pirate. By not getting captured, he never is forced to tell his own tale. He fades away with every excuse for his actions unknown. Was he truly as horrible as everyone made him out to be? We may never know. This book is the closest we will get right now to discover the man as he was known then. Clearly, I would consider this a great resource on the facts alone gathered. Would I put this proudly on my shelf of other Pirate-related books? Absolutely. I'm hoping Nielsen, who primarily publishes Egypt-related works, does another.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have often struggled to find nonfiction books about pirates that fall in that sweet spot between academic and entertaining. Either the research seems suspect on a very readable book, or the content is so dry I can barely focus on what I'm reading. This book about a relatively unknown pirate Ned Low hits the mark of being fascinating and accurate at the same time. The author gives an excellent explanation of maritime life, not just aboard pirate ships, and reveals the fascinating life of a man I had never heard anything about. The information is readable while not being boring and the author was skillful at weaving in other parts of history from that time period without seeming like he was going down rabbit trails. Following the exploits of Ned Low and sprinkled with titillating stories of other facets of the naval world, I found myself reading this book incredibly quickly as if it were a novel I needed to find out the end of. I was highly impressed by the nonfiction writing and felt I walked away understanding pirate culture far more than I did before reading this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for giving me the ARC copy.

[Soozee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and well-researched account of the life of a pirate - albeit not one I have ever heard of, and yet he attacked over 100 ships and in his day was a force to be reckoned with. The tale is told well, with clear reference to contemporary events and people, and relies on first hand accounts written at the time.

The author tells of Ned Low's humble beginnings, and how he drifted to a life of piracy, relying on primary resources where possible, and doesn't try to fill the gaps with supposition or fantasy. You therefore believe what you are reading, which is of a life far removed from anything we could understand today.

It was an interesting read and I learned a lot about the life of pirates (not at all as glamorous as Hollywood portrayed), their codes of behaviour and the way they gathered a crew. Fascinating stuff.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Georgia Zevs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly a well researched and balanced case study of a pirate who perhaps isn't as famous as many of his contemporaries, however had a successful and bloodthirsty career.
The writer has interpreted primary sources and offered a number of theories rather romanticised suppositions or cliched tropes. It's a refreshing and engaging read, and I would definitely recommend to those with a historical interest in piracy.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were moments - actually, quite a few - when the author's critical thinking skills broke free from the stupor that seems to overcome most pirate biographers confronted by lack of evidence and three centuries of myth but not enough to push the rating above three stars. I was a little disappointed but not surprised. And I have to say, as an aside, that Philip Ashton must have been extraordinarily tiresome. Why Low kept him alive is a mystery.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well researched, informative, and entertaining book about a new to me pirate. I appreciated the style of writing and I learned a lot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine