RoyalJames

I might be wrong, but I got a different understanding of the incident. Davis was the one attacking the Gambia castle (and most certainly with Taylor who was his quartermaster). La Buse appeared just after the attack in Moody’s ship. Cocklyn, however, was not present as he was heading for Sierra Leone. Perhaps you are thinking of what happened in the Sierra Leone River / Brent’s Island? I was unaware of these two French captains. When were they captured?

This is truly confusing, part of the information must be wrong but it’s hard to determine which. There is a short discussion of the matter in the book “Shipwrecks of Madagascar” page 195. Fougeray wrote the following in March 1722, which somewhat speaks for Johnson’s version: “two pirate ships 40 guns attacked an Ostend and two Englishmen of the Company, and the first British had escaped and the third, named Cassandra was taken after some resistance, the pirates then set foot on land and looted the island Magni Hali, king's son, told me more he knew that the said pirates crossed the Red Sea with several others. In fact, I learned that one of these, mounted 30 guns and commanded by Captain Condom <<yet a spelling of his name!>>, took a ship armed with 60 guns from Surat”

Hi Swashbuckler, I am not sure what your question is here, but I would also like to know more about this guy. As he moves on to the East India some of the stories are contradictory. The first is all the variants of his name: Thomas / William / Christopher, Congdom / Condent / Congdon, and also Billy one-hand. I would not be surprised if someone showed that this actually is a mix of more than one man. Another thing is that the stories regarding him sometimes seem to be very similar with the stories of La Bouche. Perhaps these two were mixed up for some reason, or they were operating together? The captain of the Atlante stopped at Anjoan 1721, where he learned that Condom (!) had been present at the taking of the Cassandra (but this is not mentioned by Mackra, as far as I know), and that he then took a large prize of a Surat ship. After this he sets down at St Marie and starts negotiating with the authorities at Reunion for an amnesty, or he will continue attack ships off Madagascar. His amnesty is granted and he sinks the Flying Dragon, as a part of the agreement, on St Marie. But only some 30 pirates of the 130 moves to Reunion in the end. At Reunion he seems to become a person of importance, but eventually he leaves for France. These stories can be found in “Reunion esclavage traite noirs neg marron”. Thanks for tip of the film, I got to have a look at it!

I don’t recall that from Snelgrave, is that from the second edition perhaps? But, it is almost identical to what Bucquoy later heard Taylor say. From the German edition: “Könnte man Gott im Himmel bestürmen, ich täte den ersten Schuss auf ihn“ which I believe would translate to “If you could attack God in Heaven, I would take the first shot at him“

Thanks, that gives me a better understanding of the roles on the ships! Regarding the “Johns”, I recently noticed that there was another John Taylor around West Africa in the 1720’s. At the “tryal of pirates” in Cabo Corso 1722 a John Taylor is present as a witness, who I doubt is the pirate captain with the same name.

Snelgrave writes: ”This proclamation I had on board, with a declaration of war against Spain. The quarter-master finding them amongst my papers, and not being able to read, he brought them to me..” I am a little surprised to find a quarter-master not being able to read. I thought the quarter-master would be the one keeping records of the goods onboard, etc. This person is not named, but I believe he belonged to Cocklyn’s crew. In accordance to the originally question, this person would probably not be able to navigate a ship, and thus not a candidate for captain. At least in this crew the list of possible candidates must have been quite thin, which would somewhat question the “democratic elections” of captains. It would be interesting to hear any thoughts about this!

Thank you Foxe! These are very interesting figures. I think this shows that pirate captains most probably had some nautical education. Is there any on-line register of graduated officers from that time?

As most crews elected their captains, I came to wonder if there is any example of a captain not being an educated naval officer. Could perhaps a strong leader among the crew master the role, even if he had no nautical knowledge?

Oh, I didn’t mean that Buqcuoy was correct regarding the attack, it was just a rhetoric question regarding the flags. Actually, what I meant was the opposite, that it seems quite unlikely that Davis and Taylor could trick the French that they were French, and that Johnston’s description is much more trustful at this part (especially if the fort was under English command). Sorry for the confusion. I have seen other references where pirates have used other nations’ colors to trick their victims, but doing this at sea must be different, as they always would reveal themselves just before the attack. In this case they had to stay and speak with the French for half a day first. Thanks again for an interesting conversation!

This site claims that the fort was in English hands 1719. I must say it gives a serious impression, but does not list any sources (who knows, perhaps Johnston is the source). Yet another name: the French called it Fort St Lacques. I believe you are a way much more experienced researcher than I am, as I could not find these news articles. Do they give any hint of which country the island belonged to at the time of the attack? Yet another thing you might help me understand. Let’s for a moment assume that Bucquoy was correct, that the pirates had a French flag. What would the purpose of that be? Both Taylor and Davis couldn’t seriously believe that the French would take them for French merchants when they spoke English? Or, was this just a polite way to greet the French and not a sign of the ship’s (faked) nationality? Perhaps the only explanation is that Bucquoy misunderstood it, or mixed it up with another event. He is very accurate on dates, so he probably kept a diary, but stories like this one he may have kept in his head for some round 25 years before written down.

Ok, Stockholm syndrome is probably an overstatement, but he does give a quite scattered description of him. Perhaps the perfect personality for a pirate captain.. Speaking of Snelgrave, he also briefly speaks about the Gambia castle / Fort James, but unfortunately just describes how the pirates meet up afterwards.

A little off topic, but since you asked: regardig food/drinks, it’s described how the pirates drinks a drink called Thook, which seems to be quite strong.. I haven’t seen that mentioned anywhere else.

Thank you for the information! I guess the most interesting lesson in this story is to be critical when reading these old books. There is a digitalized German translation, but I haven’t seen any English one (I know about the French, but haven’t seen that either). I have read parts of it, but unfortunately not with surgery on my mind. =) One episode however, describes how Taylor shots one of the locals in Lagoa for amusement. Bucquoy seems to have something like the Stockholm-syndrome, he partly describes Taylor as a mad guy reaching for his pistols in his sleep, and partly seems to admire him.

Thanks for the help! I shall see if I can find anything in the French archives. A good start would be to understand which country controlled the fort at that time. I guess both authors were more interested in good stories than fact. A third independent source would be nice in order to find out who is right, or perhaps if both were. I made a quick (google) translation of Bucquoy and also copy pasted the corresponding text from Johnston: Bucquoy: “He then began to tell of his deeds which he had done both on this coast than elsewhere . Among others , he came to the coast of Guinea to a French Contor where a fort with 36 cannon was, he had a French flag run , and the Governor also viewed a French that” “He said therefore to the Governor that he would be there early, wanted to go on board to bring some gifts for him, and the needed to be placed on the ship” “When they had sat down and ate something , they drunk to the health of the King of France , which Captain Tailor, though he was an Englishman , took the greatest courtesy. As the Governor , together with the other gentlemen who were sitting at the table , put the glass to his mouth and drank so Tailor pulled his gun out , and put at the governor on the chest, and say to him: My Lord , you are now my prisoner “ Johnston: “Davis, he having been employ’d in that Trade, was acquainted with the Coast: He told them, that there was a great deal of Money always kept in Gambia Castle, and that it would be worth their while to make an Attempt upon it.” “the Governor told them he would Slave them to the full Value of their Cargoe, and asked them, if they had any European Liquor on Board? they answered, a little for their own Use; however, a Hamper should be at his Service. The Governor then very civilly invited them all to stay and dine with him; Davis told him, that being Commander of the Ship, he must go on Board to see her well moored,” “Davis on a sudden drew out a Pistol, clapt it to the Governor’s Breast, telling him, he must surrender the Fort and all the Riches in it, or he was a dead Man.”

Thanks for the reply, perhaps there is some information to find in either English or French archives (depending on who it belonged to at that time) regarding the attack. But I guess there is a chance that it actually is the same story but one of the authors got some facts wrong. Davis and Taylor were probably sailing together at this time, or perhaps met up just after. On the other hand, Taylor may have been inspired by Davis and did the same thing at another place (Bucquoy does not mention the exact location). The book I am referring to is: Jacobs de Bucquoy – ”Aanmerckelyke ontmoetingen in de zestien jaarige reize naar de Indiën” 1744 Bucquoy was a Dutch cartographer taken hostage in Lagoa by Taylor and spent some time aboard with him until released at Madagascar. He heard Taylor telling this story to the crew. I don’t know what source Johnston had.

In the section about Davis, Johnston describes how the Gambia castle was robbed in 1719. Reading Bucquoy a very similar story pops up, but with some differences. Does anyone know if this is the same story in different versions or if there was two very similar different events? In Johnston’s version Davis is the one leading the operation and (if I get it right) the fort is under English possession, while in Bucquoy it is Taylor and the fort is French. /James