The Pirates' Who's Who Part 27

Starting life as a sailor before the mast, he quickly showed abilities which led to his promotion to the rank of mate in an English ship trading in the West India Islands, and later he was made master. On the declaration of war with America, Jones joined the rebels, and was given command of a privateer, and from 1777 he became a terror to English shipping around the British Isles.

One of his most startling exploits was his surprise visit in his ship, the _Ranger_, to his old home with the object of kidnapping his former employer, Lord Selkirk.

On September 23rd, 1779, he fought his famous action off Scarborough against a British convoy from the Baltic under the command of Captain Pearson, in the _Serapis_, and Captain Piercy in the _Countess of Scarborough_. Jones had left the _Ranger_ for a frigate called the _Bonne Homme Richard_ of forty guns and a crew of three hundred and seventy men, and had also under his command four other ships of war. A furious engagement took place, the utmost bravery being shown on either side; the English ships at last being compelled to surrender, but not until the enemy had themselves suffered fearful damage to both their crews and ships. After the conclusion of peace, Paul Jones, once the darling of two continents, faded into obscurity and even poverty, and died in Paris in the year 1792 at the age of 64.

JONES. SEAMAN.

A mariner. "A brisk young fellow" who served with Captain Bartholomew Roberts's crew. On one occasion Captain Roberts had reason to think that one of his men had spoken disrespectfully to him, so, as a warning to the rest, he killed him. The dead man's greatest friend was Jones, who, hearing what had happened, had a fierce fight with Roberts. This severe breach of discipline was punished by Jones receiving two lashes on the back from every man on board. Jones after this sailed with Captain Anstis in the _Good Fortune_.

JONES, THOMAS.

Found to be "not guilty" at a trial for piracy at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1723. One of Captain Charles Harris's crew. Age 17.

JONES, WILLIAM.

Tried for piracy at Boston, 1704.

JONES, WILLIAM.

Of London.

Age 28. Hanged at Rhode Island, 1723.

JONNIA, CAPTAIN.

A Spaniard.

Commanded in 1821 a fast schooner, carrying a crew of forty men, armed with muskets, cutla.s.ses, blunderbusses, long knives, dirks, two carronades--one a twelve, the other a six-pounder. They had aboard with them three Mexican negresses. The pirates took and plundered the Boston schooner _Exertion_, on December 17th, 1821, the crew being considerably drunk at the time. The plunder they took to Principe in the Island of Cuba. The pirates took everything from their prisoners, even their clothes, but as a parting gift sent the captain a copy of the "Family Prayer Book" by the Rev. Mr. Brooks. The prisoners were marooned on a small mangrove quay, but they eventually escaped. Jonnia and some of his crew were afterwards captured by an English ship and taken to Kingston, Jamaica, and there hanged.

JOSE, MIGUEL.

Hanged at Kingston, Jamaica, in February, 1823. This old man's last words on the scaffold were: "No he robado, no he matado ningune, muero innocente."

JUDSON, RANDALL.

One of Captain Roderigo's crew. Tried for piracy at Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts, in June, 1675, and sentenced to be hanged; "presently after the lecture," which was delivered by the Rev. Increase Mather. Afterwards pardoned, but fined and banished from the colony.

KELLWANTON.

A notorious pirate in the sixteenth century. Was captured in the Isle of Man in 1531.

KENNEDY, CAPTAIN.

Began life as a pickpocket and housebreaker in London. He was Captain Roberts's lieutenant, and was afterwards given command of a prize, the _Rover_.

Kennedy could never, even when a captain, forget his old trade. It is recorded that he stole a black suit of clothes from the captain of the _Bird_ at Sierra Leone in 1718. These he put on with the captain's best wig and sword. He then swaggered about on board in these till his fellow-pirates drenched him with buckets of claret, so that he had to disrobe and throw the garments overboard.

Owing to a quarrel with Captain Roberts, Kennedy went off in his ship, the _Rover_, and sailed to Barbadoes. His first prize, a Boston ship, was a distinct novelty, being commanded by one Captain Knot, a Quaker, who lived up to the principles of his sect by allowing no pistol, sword, or cutla.s.s, or other weapon aboard his vessel. The crew, finding Kennedy had no knowledge whatever of navigation, threatened to throw him overboard, but because he was a man of great personal courage they did not in the end carry out their threat. The crew next decided to give over piracy and to set sail for Ireland. This island they altogether missed through bad navigation, and they ran the ship ash.o.r.e on the north of Scotland. The crew landed and pa.s.sed themselves off as shipwrecked mariners, but owing to their drinking and rioting in each village they came to, the whole countryside was soon roused. Kennedy slipped away and reached Ireland.

Having soon spent all his ill-gotten gains in Dublin, he came to Deptford and set up a house of ill-fame, adding occasionally to his income from this source by a little highwaymanry. One of the ladies of his house at Deptford, to be revenged for some slight or other, gave information to the watch, and Kennedy was imprisoned at Marshalsea and afterwards tried for robbery and piracy. Kennedy turned King's evidence against some of his old a.s.sociates, but this did not save his neck, for he was condemned and hanged at Execution Dock.

KHEYR-ED-DIN. Corsair.

Brother of the famous Barbarossa. When the latter was defeated and killed by the Spaniards, Kheyr-ed-din sent an amba.s.sador to Constantinople, begging for help to protect Algiers. He was appointed Governor of Algiers by the Sultan of Turkey in 1519. Now greatly increased both in ships and power, he scoured the whole Mediterranean for Italian and Spanish prizes.

He raided the Spanish coast and carried off slaves from the Balearic Islands. He next took and destroyed the fortress of Algiers, and employed 7,000 Christian slaves to build a new one and also a great mole to protect the harbour. Invited by Solyman the Magnificent to help him against the Christian Admiral Andria Doria, in August, 1533, he sailed from Algiers with his fleet, being joined on the way by another noted corsair, Delizuff.

A year afterwards, at the age of 73, Kheyr-ed-din set out from Constantinople with a vast fleet, sacking towns and burning all Christian ships that were so unfortunate as to fall in his way. He returned to the Bosphorus with huge spoil and 11,000 prisoners. He sacked Sardinia, then sailed to Tunis, which he vanquished.

Charles V. of Spain now began to collect a large fleet and an army of 25,000 men and sailed to Tunis. A fierce fight followed; the Christians broke into the town, ma.s.sacred the inhabitants and rescued some 20,000 Christian slaves. Kheyr-ed-din escaped with a few followers, but soon was in command of a fleet of pirate galleys once more. A terrific but undecisive naval battle took place off Prevesa between the Mohammedans and the Christians, the fleet of the latter being under the command of Andrea Doria; and Kheyr-ed-din died shortly afterwards at Constantinople at a great age.

KIDD, CAPTAIN WILLIAM, sometimes ROBERT KIDD or KID.

In the whole history of piracy there is no name that has so taken the world's fancy than has that of William Kidd. And yet, if he be judged by his actions as a pirate, he must be placed amongst the second- or even third-rate masters of that craft. He took but two or three ships, and these have been, after two hundred years, proved to be lawful prizes taken in his legal capacity as a privateer.

Kidd was born at Greenock in Scotland about the year 1655, and was the son of the Rev. John Kidd. Of his early life little record is left, but we know that in August, 1689, he arrived at St. Nevis in the West Indies, in command of a privateer of sixteen guns. In 1691, while Kidd was on sh.o.r.e, his crew ran away with his ship, which was not surprising, as most of his crew were old pirates. But that Kidd was an efficient seaman and a capable captain is shown by the number of times he was given the command of different privateer vessels, both by the Government of New York and by privateer owners.

In 1695 Kidd was in London, and on October 10th signed the articles which were to prove so fatal for him. In January, 1696, King William III. issued to his "beloved friend William Kidd" a commission to apprehend certain pirates, particularly Thomas Tew, of Rhode Island, Thomas Wake, and William Maze, of New York, John Ireland, and "all other Pirates, Free-booters, and Sea Rovers of what Nature soever."

This privateer enterprise was financed chiefly by Lord Bellomont, but the other adventurers (on sh.o.r.e and in safety) were the Lord Chancellor; the Earl of Orford, the First Lord of the Admiralty; the Earl of Romney and the Duke of Shrewsbury, Secretaries of State; Robert Livingston, Esq., of New York; and lastly, Captain Kidd himself.

The ship the _Adventure_ galley was bought and fitted up, and Kidd sailed away in her to suppress piracy, particularly on the coast of America.

Nothing was heard of him till August, 1698, when ugly rumours began to get about of piracies committed by Kidd in the Indian Ocean. In December of the same year a general pardon was offered to all pirates who should surrender themselves, with two exceptions--namely, Captain Avery and Captain Kidd. In May, 1699, Kidd suddenly appeared in a small vessel at New York, with rich booty. His chief patron, Lord Bellomont, was now Governor, and was placed in the most awkward position of having to carry out his orders and arrest Kidd for piracy and send him in chains to England in H.M.S. _Advice_, which ship had been sent specially to New York to carry back Kidd, Bradish, and other pirates to England.

The trial of Kidd proved a scandal, for someone had to suffer as scapegoat for the aristocratic company privateers, and the lot fell to the luckless Kidd. Kidd was charged with piracy and with murder. The first charge of seizing two ships of the Great Mogul could have been met by the production of two doc.u.ments which Kidd had taken out of these ships, and which, he claimed, proved that the ships were sailing under commissions issued by the French East India Company, and made them perfectly lawful prizes.

These commissions Kidd had most foolishly handed over to Lord Bellomont, and they could not be produced at the trial, although they had been exhibited before the House of Commons a little while previously.

It is an extraordinary and tragic fact that these two doc.u.ments, so vital to Kidd, were discovered only lately in the Public Records Office--too late, by some 200 years, to save an innocent man's life.

As it happened, the charge of which Kidd was hanged for was murder, and ran thus: "Being moved and seduced by the instigations of the Devil he did make an a.s.sault in and upon William Moore upon the high seas with a certain wooden bucket, bound with iron hoops, of the value of eight pence, giving the said William Moore one mortal bruise of which the aforesaid William Moore did languish and die." This aforesaid William Moore was gunner in the _Adventure_ galley, and was mutinous, and Kidd, as captain, was perfectly justified in knocking him down and even of killing him; but as the court meant Kidd to "swing," this was quite good enough for finding him guilty. The unfortunate prisoner was executed at Wapping on May 23rd, 1701, and his body afterwards hanged in chains at Tilbury.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PIRATE BEING HANGED AT EXECUTION DOCK, WAPPING.

To face p. 182.]

A popular ballad was sung to commemorate the life and death of Kidd, who, for some reason, was always called Robert Kidd by the populace. It consists of no less than twenty-four verses, and we here give fifteen of them:

THE BALLAD OF CAPTAIN KIDD