Jim Hewitson

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 did. Excellent book!… (més)