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posted by [personal profile] elanya at 11:51pm on 02/02/2005
And I had to transcribe this anyway :) So, you can read this, and tell me what you think about it. Its like an exercise in Internal criticism! Yay historical research methods!

Boston News Letter November 14-21, 1720

St Christophers, Sept [30?]. On the [2?]7h Instant about Eleven a Clock in the forenoon; came boldly in here into Blackstar Road, two Pirates, a Ship of 34 Guns , and a large Sloop of 6 Guns, having on board about 140 men, and carried out the Ship Mary, whereof Capt. Henry Fowle from Boston was Commander, and set two other Ships on Fire, one whereof was quite burnt down, and the other was saved by some Men that went off the shoar and quenched the Fire: Capt. Fowle seeing his Ship out in the [Ocean?], fearing she was irrecoverably lost, put on a bold resolution that he and his old Boatswain would venture their Lives on board the Pirates to see if possible he could save and recover his Ship and Cargo again; which accordingly he did, and when he came on board, the Pirates treated him very civily, far beyond his expectation, and promised him both Ship and Cargo, upon condition of him sending a Note on shoar for some fresh Stock, to be on board the next Morning, but not coming so soon as expected, the Pirates seat Capt. Fowle on shoar to forward it off himself, and when he came on shoar the Lieutenant General would not suffer him to go off again to the Pirates: which he thought very hard to be hindered from going off to save his owners interest in the Ship and Cargo whe he was willing to run the Risque of his Life ; but Providence ordered it otherwise, the Pirates having got all things ready in the Cabin to set her on Fire, the major part of the bemoaning Fowles case, said they were sure he was an honest Fellow that never abused any Sailors, had he been a Rogue, he would never have come on board to them; one of them know Capt. Fowle, and swore to the Company that he was an honest fellow, which hindered her from being burnt; It Capt. Fowle could have had Liberty to have gone off the Pirates would not have taken the value of six pence from his Ship, but finding he was stopt from coming on board again, the Pirates stood up into Saltp[oud?] Bay, and left the Ship laying too under her Topsails, and Capt. Fowle then got Liberty for himself and four of his Men to go off and save her, but before he could get on board, she was fast on shoar, and as it happened there was no rocks, and she was got off without any Damage to her Bottom. When the Pirates left her, they plundered her of all her Provisions, Water, most of her Blocks, cut and destroyed a great deal of her running Rigging, everything of small Stores, all his Books and Instruments, stove all the Chests in Pieces, left him and his Men only with what they had on their Backs, however Capt. Fowle’s going off as he did, sav’d his Ship and Cargo. Cap. Fowle had 220 Tearses of Sugar on Board, when the Ennemy cut her out, 4 or 5 Tearses they hove overboard, he hopes in a Fortnights time to be ready to sail for London.
When the Pirates left the Ship they wrote the following Lines,
For our words sake we let you go
But as for Creol we are their Foes.
Mood:: 'tired' tired
Music:: Leonard Cohen - The Guests
There are 20 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 
posted by [identity profile] shanmonster.livejournal.com at 05:55am on 03/02/2005
They sound awfully nice for pirates.
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 03:40pm on 03/02/2005
Yes... I'd like to know how exactly the reporter knew what the pirates talked about on their ship, when there was no one there to report ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 03:36pm on 03/02/2005
Interesting. Are the bits in brackets things you weren't sure about your reading of? (ack, that's an awful sentence, but I hope you know what I'm asking ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 03:41pm on 03/02/2005
Things I couldn't decipher because of the printing, yes. Smudged things and etc, which I'm sure you are all too familiar with ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 03:44pm on 03/02/2005
Indeed. >_<

Were these on microtext, or was this film?
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 03:48pm on 03/02/2005
Microtext/print/whatever you call it. But I think really is just comes from the papers in question having been published in 170, more than the medium I was dealing with.
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 03:57pm on 03/02/2005
170, eh? ;) I could understand that being hard to read.

But really, it's a pretty complete transcription. I just wish the date was clear - dates are important ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 04:03pm on 03/02/2005
1720 ;p I am pretty sure it is sept 30th. I am not quite sure what they mean by the 17h or 27h instant, unless they mean it happened around 11:17 or 11:27?

I am curious about who the pirate was. It could have been, maybe bart Roberts. it sounds like him, anyway. But I'd have to check out some other stuff to know if he was in the area around the right time, and I'd still be guessing.
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 04:10pm on 03/02/2005
Ah, I think I can explain the "instant" thing. I've seen the phrase "the [date] instant" (e.g. "the 17th [or 27th] instant", I presume in this case) used to mean "the [whatever date] of this month". A quick check of the OED confirms this usage, and gives examples like "On the 8th Instant at 5 in the Morning, we discovered a Sail." (from 1688) and "Sept., The pope will die on the 11th instant." (from 1708) So presumably the author is saying this happened on the 27th (or 17th) of September.
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 04:17pm on 03/02/2005
I wondered about that.... but then the first date would be... what, the date it was writteN? Hmmm... Happened on the 27th, written on the 30th, that would follow. I can go and look at it again later and re-check. stupid smudgy newspaper :p
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 04:23pm on 03/02/2005
Yarr... I also think that would make sense. 3-day turnaround is pretty good - 13-day turnaround would also be feasible, I suppose. I don't know if it's going to be necessary to narrow it down to the 17th or 27th, in terms of trying to figure out which pirate it might have been. Do they/you have Roberts' movements tracked down to the day?
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 04:51pm on 03/02/2005
No, not really. He definitely *was* in the Carribean in Sept 1720, and is listed in one book I have (Though I'm not sure of his sources) as having been the one to take the above ship at St. Kitts. So, go me, maybe, or else someone is making the same assumptions I am ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 04:54pm on 03/02/2005
This one book that Hazel got me is chock full of anecdotes, letters, etc, but alas, no references -_-
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 04:56pm on 03/02/2005
Ah yes... I get to deal with that pretty often these days, what with reading lots of 19th century antiquarian accounts of different churches and neighbourhoods in London. Many of them didn't believe in telling me where they got their goddamn information, unfortunately. :p

There was one article from the 1850s that tells me all about some really interesting document, and I have no way to trace it :(
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 05:28pm on 03/02/2005
I hate that. I have several books like it, and they aren't even old -_-. Some of them are good histories, some of them aren't, but really... would it kill you to at least have a *bibliography*?
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 04:54pm on 03/02/2005
I'll vote for "go you," at least insofar as coming to the same (tentative) conclusion independently is a good thing ;)
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 04:57pm on 03/02/2005
Its the bavaiour... not going back on his word, and also the line about Creoles, as Roberts (and his crew) had a mad hate on (to use the good academic language ;) for people from Barbados and Martinique, especially, but also other Islanders.

He hung the Governor of Martinique from his yard arm!
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 04:58pm on 03/02/2005
Was he the one with the stuff about severed heads on his flag? ABH and AMH or whatever it was?
 
posted by [identity profile] elanya.livejournal.com at 05:02pm on 03/02/2005
He sure was! (a Barbadian's head, a Martinician's etc), and him *stanfing on them*, no less, often with a sword drawn :)
 
posted by [identity profile] curtana.livejournal.com at 05:04pm on 03/02/2005
Certainly does sound like a mad hate on! :)

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