The Pirates Whos Who | Page 7

freebooters and thus began the great period of
piracy which was the cause of the ultimate breaking-up of the Spanish
power in the West Indies.
Of the life on board buccaneer and pirate ships a somewhat hazy and
incomplete picture reaches us. The crews were usually large compared
with the number of men carried in other ships, and a state of crowded

discomfort must have been the result, especially in some crazy old
vessel cruising in the tropics or rounding the Horn in winter. Of the
relationship between the sea-rovers and the fair sex it would be best,
perhaps, to draw a discreet veil. The pirates and the buccaneers looked
upon women simply as the spoils of war, and were as profligate with
these as with the rest of their plunder. I do not know if I am disclosing
a secret when I mention that my friend Mr. Hyatt Verrill, who is an
authority on the subject of the lives of the pirates, is about to publish a
book devoted to the love affairs of these gentry. I confess to looking
forward with pleasure and a certain degree of trepidation to reading his
book and to seeing how he will deal with so delicate a subject.
We know that Sir Henry Morgan was married and provided for his
widow in his will.
Captain Kidd, wife, and child, resided in New York, in the utmost
conjugal happiness and respectability, but then Kidd was a martyr and
no pirate.
Captain Rackam, the dashing "Calico Jack," ran away to sea with the
woman pirate, Mrs. Anne Bonny, and they lived together happily on
board ship and on land, as did Captain and Mrs. Cobham. The only
other pirate I know of who took a "wife" to sea with him was Captain
Pease, who flourished in a half-hearted way--half-hearted in the
piratical, but not the matrimonial sense--in the middle of the nineteenth
century.
A certain settler in New Zealand in the "early days" describes a visit he
paid to Captain Pease and his family on board that pirate's handy little
schooner, lying at anchor in a quiet cove at that island.
On stepping aboard, the guest was warmly welcomed by a short,
red-faced man, bald of head and rotund in figure, of about fifty-five
years of age. His appearance suggested a successful grocer rather than a
pirate. On the deck were seated two ladies, one nearing middle age, the
other young and undoubtedly pretty. At the feet of these ladies
sprawled several small children. Captain Pease proceeded to introduce
his guest to these as Mrs. Pease No. 1 and Mrs. Pease No. 2. The ladies

continued their sewing while a conversation took place on various
subjects. Presently, taking out his watch, the pirate turned to the
younger lady, observing that it was nearing teatime. Mrs. Pease No. 2,
laying down her sewing, went to the cabin, from which the rattle of
teacups and the hiss of a boiling kettle were soon heard. Tea being
announced as ready, the party entered the cabin, Mrs. Pease senior
taking the place at the head of the table and pouring out the tea while
the younger Mrs. Pease very prettily handed round the cups and bread
and butter, the guest particularly noticing with what respect and
thoughtfulness she looked after the wants of the elder Mrs. Pease.
As a pirate Captain Pease was second or even third rate, confining his
daring to seizing small unarmed native craft, or robbing the stores of
lonely white traders on out-of-the-way atolls. But as a married man he
showed himself to be a master; matrimony was his strong suit,
domesticity his trump card. He gave one valuable hint to his guest,
which was this: "Never take more than two wives with you on a voyage,
and choose 'em with care."
One is apt to disassociate serious matrimony, and still less responsible
paternity, with the calling of piracy, but with Captain Pease this was far
from being the case. Every one of his wives--for he had others on
shore--contributed her mite, or two, to the growing family, and the
Captain really could not say which of his offspring he was most proud
of. It seems at first strange that a man of Captain Pease's appearance,
figure, and settled habits, almost humdrum, should have been such an
undoubted success with the ladies; but that he was a success there can
be no doubt. Perhaps his calling had a good deal to do with this
attraction he had for them.
Before bringing this Preface to a conclusion, there is one other aspect
of piracy upon which I will touch.
Death, portrayed by a skeleton, was the device on the flag beneath
which they fought; and a skeleton was for ever threatening to emerge
from its cupboard aboard