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BARBADOS & PIRATES

This beautiful island got its name from early sailors who were fascinated by the aerial roots of the ficus trees which reminded them of beards and as a result they gave the island the name Los Barbados.

The rugged Atlantic coast of Barbados photo by G. Wilson

The most famous sailor to visit Barbados was Lord Nelson. He and his fleet of eighteen war ships were hot on the wash of the waves of the French Admiral Villeneuve whose fleet it was feared had been sent to menace the English colony. Finding no Frenchman to fight, Nelson departed for Trinadad. It is speculated that had he instead headed north to Antigua, he might have encountered the French fleet and one of the most decisive naval battles of history would have been fought, not off Cape Trafalgar, but in the waters of the West Indies.

Nelson's death a few years later was deeply mourned by Barbadians and a public subscription raised enough money for a statue of Nelson erected in Bridgetown in 1813. The Barbadians bragged that theirs was first to favour that great sailor, but they were wrong. The first, an eight foot high statue atop a fifty foot neoclassical column, was built in Place Jacques Cartier in Montreal in 1809.

Lord Nelson photo by G. Wilson

Piracy - Robbery At Sea

Portrait of a Pirate - the blood of buccaneers was in his veins

Beware!

Take Care!

Few subjects have a stronger appeal to our imaginations than the exploits and desperate daring of pirates. From time immemorial they have haunted the highways of trade and tavel. In 78 B.C., young Julius Caesar was held for ransom by pirates. These "bretheren in inequity" cruised the seas pillaging and plundering with gay abandon. They were so successful that at times, travel and trade were reduced to a standstill.

Despite all attempts to put a stop to their preying, they kept on coming, motivated in the main by the conquests of the Spanish conquistadores and their plunder from the Natives of the New World of astonishing quantities of gold and silver. This loot led to two centuries of buccaneerings on the Spanish Main, the Golden Age of Piracy.

Most gold was melted down from beautiful objects like this golden idol looted from the incas.

Naval forces were increased and amnesties offered to entice the culprits to cease and desist, but to no avail. The buccaneers, freebooters, sea rovers and corsairs resisted all enticements and persisted in terrorizing travellers across the briny deep. The fierce fellows who infested the Caribbean Sea were a hardbitten greedy breed of men who failed to qualify for the quality of mercy. Plunder was their aim but cruelty was their game and they played it to the full by inflicting devilishly dirty deeds upon their unlucky captives. The mere glimpse of the icon of piracy - the Jolly Roger - sent shivers of fear and apprehension up the spines of seagoing travellers. This pirate pennant on the mast served notice to all that "no quarter will be given."

Francis Drake elevated piracy to a higher plane. In 1577 he circumnavigated the globe and in the process, seized a wealthy Spanish galleon. Despite the outraged objections of the Spanish ambassador to England, Queen Elizabeth granted Drake an audience on his return because of his outstanding accomplishment. She questioned him for six hours about his epic trip and then bestowed a knighthood on him aboard the Golden Hind. Henceforth she referred to Drake as her "pirate." Such action encouraged others to try their luck at sea and the looting of Spanish ships by Englishmen began in earnest.

Sir Francis Drake in 1591 five years befor his death in the West Indies

THE CARIBBEAN - HAUNT OF PIRATES

Piracy reached its peak in the decade 1714 to 1724. In this short period as many as 5500 men were engaged in the business of bombarding and boarding all passersby. Sailing under what was called the Banner of King Death were such rascals as Henry Morgan, Richard Sawkins and Bartholomew Roberts, who captured 400 ships, and the best known buccaneer of all, William Kidd.

Henry Morgan

The pirate picture tends to be a highly romantic one of the handsome swashbucklers like Errol Flynn, who armed with sword and a brace of pistols was a match for any man. These dashing daredevils lived lives of high adventure, amassing in the meantime fortunes of gold, silver and jewels which they buried in secluded coves for quieter days to come.

Errol Flynn The Sea Hawk

More often they are depicted as fierce, foul-mouthed men who led hard, savage lives who inspired fear and dread and those luckless enough to be looted. Their victims had every reason to wonder who these inhuman devils were for they were quick to maim and murder in pursuit of treasure and perhaps even pleasure. Firing broadsides into helpless merchant ships, they boarded and began with grim, savage satisfaction to kill captives in heinous ways too horrible to mention. Walking the plank was preferred to the torture that seemed to last forever.

Scholars in recent years yearn for a more civilized picture of pirates. Their rogues were more courtly and kind and they affirm that much of the meanness and malevolency is mythology. They found in the late 17th and early 18th centuries that piracy was peopled by raiders who were less cruel and more egalitarian than previously portrayed. This kinder, gentler view of pirates is personified more by the portrait of the following young fellow.

A Kinder, Gentler, Younger HENRY MORGAN!

Newly discovered pirate artifacts are shedding new light on this lost age. Spoils appear to have been carefully divided for distribution among crew members including rare jewellery from the African gold trade. Weapons like primitive hand grenades have been found that appear to have been meant more to intimidate than devastate, used more for waging psychological warfare than blasting galleons to bits. Their finds open up a whole new world of real piracy that belies the stories of monsters and mayhem. Their sea rovers had no time for tiresome talk of walking the plank. It was still difficult to kill kindly, however, and some of the captives were hacked to death or tossed overboard. Some favoured few did live to tell of the tolerable treatment they received and they were expected to pass on the word to other worthies. There was method to this madness for any tales of their mercy meant potential victims would prefer to surrender rather than go down to the depths and to death fighting.

Bill Basking at the Bounding Main photo by G. Wilson

Tell that to the crew of HMS Scarborough, a 30-cannon British man-of-war that beat a hasty retreat to its base in Barbados after a brisk fight with the scourge of the Caribbean, Queen Anne's Revenge, a vessel often sought but never caught because of its cagey captain, Edward Teach, the infamous 'Blackbeard'. He took no prisoners.

Sheltered by the Sea Shore photo by G. Wilson

Buccaneers, whose name comes from the French word Boucanier meaning 'smokers of meat' from their practice of cooking meat this way, were freebooters who attacked only French, Spanish and Dutch vessels, never English. Pirates were neither patriotic nor particular. They robbed and ravaged without discrimination, their only concern the capability of those attacked to take revenge. Privateers on the other hand were licenced looters. sea-fairing civil servants, so to speak, who turned in their take to government coffers from where their share was parcelled out.

Barbados suffered severely from the depredations of the privateers who oftimes struck at the very doorstep of the island's capital. Captain Martel's pirate ship sank a sloop at the entrance to Carlisle Bay. He in turn was pursued, caught and connonaded into oblivion off the east coast of the island. All pirate pursuits did not end so successfully, however, and the island's governor complained bitterly, "These parts are infested with pirates."

Ready, Aim, Fire photo by G. Wilson

G and B Keep Calm photos by B. and G. Wilson

In a commanding position on the east coast of Barbados overlooking the Atlantic is the castle of Sam Lord. This beautiful regency mansion was built on the ill-gotten gains of piracy, but of a slightly different nature. Legend has it that on dark nights, Sam and his slaves would bedeck trees, the castle walls and even the horns of the cows grazing in the fields with lanterns. These beacons of light tricked sea captains into thinking they had reached Bridgetown harbour. In their haste to find safe haven, they ran aground on the coral reefs that stretch along Sam's shoreline. The wrecks were then leisurely looted by Sam and his servants.

Sam Lord's Castle

Aye Matee, Enough Rum for Us All photo by G. Wilson

A Toast with Winston photo by G. Wilson

Female freebooters were well represented by Mary Read and Anne Bonny, whom witnesses described as "ready, willing and able" for anything. They were caught and convicted, but impending motherhood saved them from the noose. Not so Charles Vane who it was said, heard the horrid sentence and strode to the gallows, "without the least remorse."

The Time-Honoured Death Sentence For Piracy

"Ye are adjudged and sentenced to be carried back to the place from whence you came, from thence to the place of execution and there to be hanged by the neck till you are dead, dead, dead. And the Lord have mercy on you soul."

Mary Read

A great many famous people have found their paradise in Barbados. Popular activities include sailing the bounding main and snorkeling in the blue waters of the Caribbean.

Aye, Aye Captain, Mam! photo by B. Wilson a low rating

A Fish in Water photo by B.Wilson

Among the famous who flocked to Barbados was Claudette Colbert who liked the place so much she moved there and lived out her life on the island. A popular place for photos is the entrance to the long-time home of Claudette Colbert an actress of renown not known now by many.

Entrance to Home of Claudette Colbert photo by G. Wilson

Time To Leave photo by Bye Bill

Shiver me timbers, if pirating wasn't perpetuated in this family by one Thomas Baxter, a privateer turned pirate who preyed about the Caribbean causing untold trouble. This freebooter is an ancestor of the Wilsons and his DNA abounds in the corsairs who came after whose folly it was to follow in his footsteps.

10 x great-grandson, Malcolm photo by 8 x great-granddaughter, Geri

9 x great-grandson, Jason photo by 8 x great-granddaughter Geri

9 x great-grandson, Shane photo by 8 x great-granddaughter Geri