Shipwrecked with Captain Marrow - 2.0

On the 10th of January, 1722, pirate Captain George Lowther would engage in battle against Benjamin Edwards in the Caribbean.

Not much is known about Lowther before he became mentioned as a pirate, but after he parted ways with his previous captain, Vernon Edwards, he came to obtain a small vessel of his own, which he named the Happy Delivery. Lowther supposedly became known for his tactic of ramming his ship into another, and his men boarding and looting the other ship.

In 1722, near the Grand Caymans, Lowther would come upon the Greyhound, a ship commanded by a man from Boston named Captain Benjamin Edwards. Lowther gave a cannon shot as a signal, and the Greyhound responded with a broadsides. The battle lasted nearly two hours between the Greyhound, and Lowther’s Happy Delivery and other ships in his fleet.

Edwards would eventually succumb to Lowther. To the crew’s dismay, the pirates expressed their disappointment of their only cargo on board being logwood, by taking them prisoner and proceeding to whip, beat, and cut them in a cruel manner. This was followed by setting the ship on fire.

However, the Greyhound’s ship’s mate and navigator, Charles Harris, willingly joined Lowther’s crew, signing his articles, rather than meet the fate of the other men. Harris would carry on to be a significant member and friend to Lowther, even earning his own captaincy in time.

(pictured is an artistic depiction of George Lowther battling Benjamin Edwards)

Treasure recovered from the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet.

For those unfamiliar, a Spanish fleet fell victim to a terrible storm during 1715 while traveling along Florida's eastern coast while en-route home to Spain with all manner of treasures. The scattered eleven wrecks and their gold and silver up and down the eastern shores have earned this stretch of Florida the name "The Treasure Coast." And like vultures, numerous pirates, privateers, and many more in the vicinity descended upon the Spanish salvaging camps and the wrecks with a lust for gold.

The fleet wreckage would go on to be driving elements in the life stories of notable pirates Henry Jennings, Charles Vane, Blackbeard, Samuel Bellamy, Paulsgrave Williams, and Benjamin Hornigold.

(Pictured here is a gold rosary and cross that was auctioned for around $40,000, a batch of cobs and emeralds from the personal collection of 1715 Fleet Society member Richard Jewell, and the plate fleet's route noted upon a portion of a 1715 map)

On the 9th of January, 1686, French buccaneer Francois Grogniet’s crew overran the Panamanian hamlet of Chiriquita.

While they had sailed along the coastline of Costa Rica over the last month, the buccaneers had contemplated a risky plan to march inland and sack the city of Esparta. However, deciding against it, they’d instead arrived into the Gulf of Chiriqui (Laguna de Chiriqui) as the year had drawn to a close.

They instead opted for an easier target; a tiny, impoverished, Spanish coastal hamlet named Chiriquita, which they would go ashore and assault on the 9th of January, arriving about two hours before sunrise. Despite taking the village by surprise, 30 of the buccaneers fell to Spanish gunfire as the guard defended the town. In the fight, nearly every building was set aflame by the buccaneers, ultimately winning due to it.

The French buccaneers remained ashore after plundering the village for a week, using the un-burnt “great church” of the village as a base of operations, before departing on the 16th.

(Pictured is a look from ashore back out to the Laguna de Chiriqui, and artwork of men on a rowboat and a burning coastal village)

Back up to 6K again! Restarting the page back in July from 15K was rough, but thankful to have been able to grow it back up to 6K as quickly as it has. I greatly appreciate all the support and feedback from you all! Pirate history and folklore is a wonderful and intriguing topic, and I'm glad you're all here for it!

Please feel free to click on the invite button here on the page and invite some of your friends who like pirates. Or perhaps be a nuisance and click to invite all of your friends! 🏴‍☠️

On the 8th of January, 1685, pirate Captain Edward Davis and his flotilla would capture the 90-ton Santa Rosa not far from the Pearl Islands, near Panama.

The Santa Rosa, also known as the Sainte-Rose or San Rosario, was a Spanish vessel; carrying silver from Peru back to Spain which was captured by Captain Edward Davis of the Bachelor’s Delight and his men on the 8th of January. For the following month, the captured Spanish prize would be taken ashore at one of Panama’s Pearl Islands; a scenic archipelago of around 100 islands off the western shore of Panama. There, the flotilla began careening and repairs for some time.

Later, on the 14th of February, when French buccaneer Francois Grogniet arrived to the island, he and his men were offered the Santa Rosa due to their sheer numbers as the captains combined their fleets.

(Pictured are two ships alongside each other [from Black Sails], a scenic beach at one of the Pearl Islands, and pirates careening a vessel on a beach [from Black Sails])

So a question I've been wondering for you mates, well those of you who've had a chance to check out my book, is: What did you learn from it?

I've been pondering the question myself while working on finishing the followup for the Northeast Coast, and I feel like I learned a lot through all the research and writing it. About obscure areas I would have never otherwise learned about. I have other observations, but I want to hear from you guys. This isn't "leave a review here" persay, I just am interested to hear what you learned from the book. 🏴‍☠️

A large anchor ashore at West Coast Trail near Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada.

📷: Photo credit to Joe McKennna.

Now in stock over at A Pirate's Life - Pirate's Plunder! Those in the area of Galveston, TX, can now locate my authentic Jean Lafitte documents and wanted posters, as well as Treasure Island maps at the store!

On the 6th of January, 1681, a mutiny on board the Trinity occurred against pirate Captain Bartholomew Sharp.

The event occurred at Juan Fernandez Island, off the coast of Chile, after the crew had a long string of successful ventures, including more than twenty-five Spanish ships taken and had plundered a few towns, leaving them wealthy. However all of these successes were under the command of John Coxon, who had left them to retire. Richard Sawkins was voted as captain, and would die shortly afterward in battle outside of Puebla Nueva, which then resulted in Bartholomew Sharp in command of the Trinity.

Sharp had done his best afterwards, but the endeavors were unsuccessful along the coast of South America. Finally they encountered and took control of a Spanish galleon, but Sharpe got a little too rough with the prisoners for the like of the crew. He tortured the Spanish crew, and killed the ship’s friar on deck in front of all of the men, leaving most of the Trinity’s crew questioning their captain’s fitness for command. A mutiny was decided, and Bartholomew Sharpe was no longer their captain.

From among the crew, John Watling, a buccaneer from the Bahamas was elected as the new captain after Sharp had been deposed. Watling however had a few new rules to implement onboard based on his religious beliefs, including that they would no longer plunder on Saturdays, nor would he allow his crew to play cards on those days. Watling however would lead an attack on the city of Arica in Peru, only to be repelled, killed... And the crew begrudgingly gave captaincy back to Bartholomew Sharp.

(pictured is a painting of a buccaneering-age pirate captain by artist Andrey Shishkin, a view of Juan Fernandez Island, and the cover of "The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Bartholomew Sharp and others in the South Sea" published in 1684)

A gold bead of Akan origin is fused together with three or four silver coins recovered from the wreck of the Whydah. This small yet significant artifact, likely from a necklace, bracelet, or anklet, stands as one of the few intact Akan gold items found among the Whydah wreckage. The Akan people primarily live in regions of modern-day Ghana and southeastern Ivory Coast. © Whydah Pirate Museum

During January of 1709, Scottish privateer Alexander Selkirk was rescued by privateer Captain Woodes Rogers after he’d spent four years and four months marooned on Juan Fernandez Island, 416 miles off the coast of Chile. The story of his time spent there would be cited as inspiration for author Daniel Defoe when writing his fictional tale of “The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe."

Selkirk had served as sailing master onboard the vessel St. George, led by privateer Captain Thomas Stradling. In 1704, he would mention that he had grave concerns regarding the seaworthiness of their vessel, while at the island of Mas a Tierra in the uninhabited Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile. He was so concerned that he put his foot down, that he would rather stay on the island than to get back on the dangerously leaky ship.

Stradling took him up on the offer and marooned him on the island with a musket, a hatchet, a knife, a cooking pot, a bible, bedding and some clothes. Before the ship’s departure he had a change of heart; not wanting to be legitimately stranded. Yet, Stradling refused to let him back on.

Stradling and the St. George would later sink off the coast of what is now Columbia; with survivors taken prisoner by the Spanish and endured harsh punishment.

Selkirk survived for four years and four months on the island alone, eating spiny lobsters, feral goats, turnips, cabbage, and various fruits. He ended up domesticating feral cats to protect him while he slept at night, and built huts during the day; but ultimately he felt lonely, and watched every day for ships coming to the island to be his escape.

Two ships did arrive, but both were Spanish, and as a Scotsman and privateer, he’d fare better alone on the island and hid. Eventually, later Woodes Rogers would arrive, who jokingly referred to Selkirk as the “governor” of the island. Selkirk was able to provide what the Duke’s crew needed to combat their scurvy, and was granted passage off the isle, and granted the rank of second mate, with Rogers impressed by his physical vigor and peace of mind from his ordeal, stating that:

”One may see that solitude and retirement from the world is not such an insufferable state of life as most men imagine, especially when people are fairly called or thrown into it unavoidably, as this man was.”

(pictured is Pierce Brosnan in Robinson Crusoe [1997], an aerial view of the island, one of the few sandy beaches along its coastline, and a book on Alexander Selkirk that was published in 1835)

Say Ahoy to the First Mate Gobi, who has been quite the assistant while working on book two, regarding the Northeast Coast up to Newfoundland. Much progress has been made.

An 8-pounder gun aboard the replica 32-gun French frigate Hermione.

During January, 1663, English privateers Robert Blunden, Abraham Langford, and Colonel Samuel Berry were dispatched by the council of Jamaica to make their way to Tortuga to win over the French buccaneers of the island; fearing that they may mean harm to the English colonies.

The concept involved the trio persuading those in charge of Tortuga to be okay with the concept of British rule, yet without provoking the king of France. However, en-route, Captain Blunden would hear that the buccaneers of Tortuga would potentially resist the concept, which led him to change his course and instead make a landing at the mainland settlement of Petite-Goave. There, he instead met a collection of buccaneers living there who would instill much faith in the privateer himself; raising the English flag, rallying beneath him, and declaring him their leader and ‘chieftain’.

This would, reportedly, mark the first time that the English flag had been hoisted in Hispaniola, yet, is was not what England had hoped for. Several months later, Samuel Barry would return to Jamaica to report how the plans had gone awry, reporting that the trip to join with the buccaneers of Tortuga was a complete failure.

(Pictured is a look towards the mainland from the island of Tortuga, a 17th century English flag, and a look on a map of the settlement of Petite-Goave as of 1752)

Any of you reading mates use Goodreads? If so, and you've had a chance to check out my book some, hit me up with a rating/review on the site!

Doing great on the Amazon front, but could use some, at least one, on Goodreads. For those unfamilair with the site, its a big well-known site predominatly known for book reviews and where people make 'wish to read' lists.

On the 2nd of January, 1669, multiple pirate captains were killed aboard Captain Henry Morgan’s flagship, Oxford, at Ile-a-Vache as the ship exploded.

Off the western coast of Hispaniola, Morgan often used Ile-a-Vache as a base of operations. During a meeting of the captains of Morgan’s fleet onboard the Oxford, a 34-gun fifth-rate warship granted to Morgan by Governor Thomas Modyford, an accident occurred. All of a sudden, the ship’s powder magazine ignited and destroyed the vessel.

At the time of the explosion, the captains, including Henry Morgan himself, had been seated around a table on the quarterdeck at the ship’s stern; a council of war pertaining an assault on Cartagena. According to surgeon general of Morgan’s fleet, Richard Browne who survived the incident, he noticed that the explosion caused the mainmast of the ship to fall instantly; which landed upon captains Aylett, Thornbury, Whiting, and Bigford. He also noted that while those captains were immediately killed, the explosion’s shockwave blasted Captain Henry Morgan off the ship and into the water safely.

In addition to these pirate captains, around 350 crewmembers were also killed, as well as a number of French prisoners, and the Oxford was destroyed, the remnants sinking almost immediately. The cause of the explosion was reportedly a drunken gunner who fired a musket, which had ignited a black powder barrel and triggering the whole powder magazine of the ship.

Only ten people survived the explosion: Henry Morgan, two other captains, Richard Brown, two seamen, and four cabin boys. The shipwreck remnants were discovered in May, 2004 by the Oceans Discovery team, discovering cannons, brass fittings, and an English naval anchor that confirmed the shipwreck’s identity.

(Pictured is a pirate looking towards an explosion occurring onboard the ship [from Black Sails], floating dead pirates [from Black Sails], remnants of a ship sinking as seen from within the water [from Black Sails], and a look out to sea from the shore of Ile-a-Vache)

This seems to be making it's way around the social medias, so why not? For me, the predictable answer is release of my book "Pirate Ghosts and Buried Treasures of the Southeast Coast" back in September after keeping it under wraps for so long! But this isn't about me, I want to hear what you guys have been up to this past year!

While we're at it, what is a goal you have for the upcoming year? 😀 🏴‍☠️

This photo depicts for years what has been discussed as being a potential shipwreck along the shores of Prince Edward Island in Canada - protruding up through the red-hued sand, visible only at low-tide between Jacques Carier Provincial Park and Alberton Harbour.

Discoveries around the site include metal components once believed to have affixed a mast in place, and evidence that wooden dowels may have held components of it together.

Still, some doubt it as a ship remnant, but believe it could perhaps be leftover elements of a wharf long-gone, perhaps from the 1800s or earlier.

What are your thoughts mates?

📸 Photography credits to Jason Woodside.

Happy New Years! During the Golden Age of Piracy, December 31st was not New Years eve, at least not officially for the English. Instead, it was March 25th.

In 45 B.C, Julius Caesar ordered a new calendar, with 12 months, 365 days, a start date of January 1st, and every 4th year would include a leap year to compensate for the extra 6 hrs. it takes the earth to revolve around the sun. By the 16th century it was decided that the Julian calendar was overcompensated with too many leap years. As a result Catholics were worried that they weren’t celebrating Easter at the appropriate time, so in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII approved the Gregorian calendar that we still use to this day...

Except for England. Protestant Queen Elizabeth didn’t intend to take orders from the Catholic church, and as such, March the 25th remained the legal start of the new year, which was “Lady Day” when Christians celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. However, despite legal calendars and dating not beginning until the 25th of March, many English still reportedly acknowledged January the 1st as the ‘next year’, which would help during discussions with individuals not from England. In time, England would later convert to the Gegorian calendar.

But largely in English traditions, New Years wasn’t a celebration, just an acknowledgement that a number was changing on the calendar. Whether any pirates practiced any celebrations at sea during March is anyone’s guess, but “getting inebriated and partying” largely is an alien tradition to the time period for the simple matter of the calendar rolling over. Although on New Years Day, not eve, English privateer Woodes Roger’s crew in 1708 were wished a merry new year and each had a pint to friends and good health.

As for what would be celebrated during this date during the Golden Age would be Christmas. Christmas was not a single-day holiday as we observe it now, but lasted for many days on end until Twelfth Day, on January 5th.

Whatever your New Years Eve plans are this day, get home safe mates.🍺

(Pictured is a replica of an hourglass aboard a ship, relevant for the recording of time)

On the 30th of December, 1670, buccaneers Captain Roche Brasiliano, De Lecat (Captain Yellows), and Captain Joseph Bradley departed from Old Providence; bound for seizing San Lorenzo Castle at the mouth of the Chagres River as part of Henry Morgan’s Panama Campaign.

Captain Bradley sailed with 470 men aboard his ship the Mayflower, with instructions he was to lead the buccaneer force to capture San Lorenzo Castle which would be used by Morgan’s force as a pirate advance-base, from which they could launch their assault on Panama.

On January 6th, 1671, their three ships would arrive and violently storm the castle despite what was heavy opposition. The 360 Spanish within the fort under garrison commander Pedro de Elizalde y Ursua stood strong against the buccaneers, even the commander would write that “Even if all England were to come, they would not capture this castle.”

While the Spaniards would be brutally massacred within the fort by the mass amounts of pirates; throwing grenades and even igniting the fort’s black powder magazine, over a hundred of Bradley’s number would be wounded or killed. Brasiliano was among the wounded, while Captain Bradley had been shot through both legs. Morgan’s forces however would win the day and claim the fortress. Bradley would die, days later from his injuries, just as Henry Morgan appeared on the horizon.

Weeks later, when Henry Morgan would lead his men marching across the Isthmus of Darien intent on sacking Panama, Brasiliano seems to have recuperated as he would take part in the march.

(Pictured is a look over to Old Providence from a nearby island, ships traveling [from The Lost Pirate Kingdom], and an aerial view of the current-day remains of San Lorenzo Castle at the mouth of the Chagres River)

The Spanish Galleon replica "Buccaneer Queen" as seen during sunset through the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

On the 29th of December, 1664, a number of Spanish soldiers under the command of Ensign Diego Perez Bullones arrived to Matanzas and interrogated local residents as to why the Dutch privateer, Captain Jan Barendszoon Ruyter, had captured an English vessel and took it to Curacao.

Captain Ruyter had been a Dutch privateer operating around the Antilles just before the outbreak of the second Anglo-Dutch War, and had claimed that he had been dispatched to the West Indies to defend against growing English hostilities. The problem was that no war had been declared between the nations back in Europe; and that Captain Ruyter had no jurisdiction, according to his letter of marque, to assault and capture the English vessel.

Once in Matanzas, on the northern shore of Cuba (believing everything they had done was fine), the captains of the two Dutch vessels would go on to relax onshore, and attended Christmas Mass the following morning at the tiny chapel located in Matanzas. During this time period however, letters had made their way to the Cuban capitol and soldiers had been sent to deal with Captain Ruyter.

Two days later, after arriving and interrogating locals to their whereabouts, they would tell the Dutch privateers that they needed to leave on the 31st; and on New Year’s Day, they begrudgingly departed. The Second Anglo-Dutch War would begin later in March, though it’s initiation had nothing to do with this privateer’s actions.

(Pictured is a collection of tents on the beach from pirates making camp ashore [from Black Sails])

During late December of 1716, a poor turtle fisherman would approach Governor Heywood of Jamaica to report that he had been robbed by pirates, and that not only had they taken what little he had; but they’d burdened him with with four members of their own crew they had wanted to expel from their ship.

The turtler explained that three men of the pirate crew, as well as one young boy, had been shoved aboard his vessel, but not until after all four were whipped inhumanely. They had also suffered other punishments, with burning matches between their fingers, toes and ears. He would go on to say specifically about the boy, aged twelve or thirteen, that he afterwards explained why he’d been whipped.

The boy stated that he had expressed interest in leaving their crew, but when it had been mentioned in conversation, the pirates told him of what they’d done in the past to others with the same thoughts. They said that they’d hanged another boy to death, and beat and abused another to within an inch of his life to the point where he didn’t think he’d live; and then without remorse threw him overboard where he drowned.

Heywood would later write to the Council of Trade and Plantations that based on other information presented by the turtler he acquired through the men, that he had reason to believe the pirates have taken multiple vessels near Jamaica; murdering those on board, taking what they wanted, and burning the vessels afterwards.

(Pictured is a burning ship with a pirate vessel leaving the scene of the crime [from Black Sails], back scars caused by whipping that have since healed [from Outlander], and a young boy around age 12 among a pirate crew [the Cabin Boy from Pirates of the Caribbean])

As many of you know, a follow up book, "Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of the Northeast Coast" is on the way. Book two already had considerable progress made on it by the time the first book was published in September. I've been working hard on book two since Christmas Eve and today I finally hit 200 pages!

All I can say is that New England and beyond, in regards to pirate folklore, is nuts, and it's been a lot of fun researching and writing about it thus far. So many interesting, odd, and quirky tales.

Please, if you live anywhere in Maryland extending all the way up to Newfoundland, and have any information on any pirate relevant folklore, regarding buried pirate treasure of pirate-relevant hauntings, please send me a message. I've already got a lot of entries, but absolutely anything is appreciated as I don't want to leave anything out. Even if it's just a brief claim, as in "so and so buried X here," its still a possible lead for further research.

On the 27th of December, 1715, five pirate ships attacked Spanish salvage teams who were attempting to recover the wreckage of the Spanish silver fleet that had wrecked earlier in the year. Amongst these five vessels were ships captained by Charles Vane and Henry Jennings, and managed to plunder from them a total of 350,000 pieces of eight.

Jennings had acquired five vessels for this purpose, with twenty-one practiced divers, and a couple hundred pirates, including the notably vicious Vane. Vane was reported to have maimed innocent people and and many believed him to be an "evil psychopath." Upon the beach landing, Vane was said to be a spectacle of greasy hair flowing hair, and his “insane eyes” leering. He led a group of fifty men up the dune line, unloading his loaded pistols one after the other. The pirates swarmed the beach as Spanish soldiers ran deeper into the dunes and formed ranks to protect what they had previously dredged up from the off the beach.

Over the next several days, Jennings, Vane and the various crews would finish them off and load up everything their ships could carry. However, unfortunately unknowingly to them, they had missed a bigger haul taking back the 350,000 pieces of eight, as just a few days before their raid, General Hoyo Solozano had recovered and stowed “at least four million pieces of eight” (worth about $200 million nowadays) and had already sailed back towards Havana, Cuba along with the protection of the Spanish navy before the pirates’ arrival.

Threatened by prosecution by Archibald Hamilton, the governor of Jamaica, on account of their piracy, Jennings and his men (including Vane) reoccupied an abandoned island of New Providence.

(pictured is Charles Vane, as portrayed in Black Sails by Zach McGowen)

I would like to issue a warning to all followers. Throughout the last month or two you may have noticed random people replying to your comments with a link to a group regarding the sales of Atocha Shipwreck Coins/Spanish Escudos.

These people have been spamming links to their group not only on my page, but many other pirate-relevant pages as well. While at first, at least on a few posts, I considered it harmless and at least slightly relevant to the topic - but then I learned from within other shipwreck treasure and coin groups about the group in question: they're scammers. Many who have interacted and made purchases in their group have found themselves swindled of their money, either never receiving their coins or getting fakes.

I have since banned 19 profiles that have spammed links on my posts, and new ones they may create, from seeing this page. Two within the last few minutes. I do so as soon as I'm aware of their comments posting the link to said group, and keep my comments sections clean of this. It's one thing for someone to post a link, as a comment on a coin or treasure relevant post, but I don't appreciate the spamming of this group and tagging my followers who are potentially unaware of what's happening.

I simply would like you all to be aware, and personally advise against interacting with their group. I do not mean to intend that every person in the group has a bad reputation, just the group as a whole has earned one. If you do join, please do so cautiously mates.

Pictured is their banner photo (which is admittedly a beautiful array of Spanish treasure).

Colombia Looks To Recover Billions In Treasure From 1708 Shipwreck The 300-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks,” has been controversial, because it is both an archaeological and economic treasure.

The Christmas Gobi playing with pirate ornaments on the Christmas palm tree, 2021 when we first rescued him vs. 2023. Very thankful to still have this little guy aboard. ❤

Milk and cookies beats water and hardtack! Even pirates appreciate tidings of comfort and joy, it's not easy being a criminal at sea. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and those you treasure.

For those in North Carolina, stay tuned. Weather permitting, I may be there very soon for a special event.