La Buse the longest serving Golden Age pirate captain?

[Davis]

It seems that La Buse had "Postillion" before he joined Hornigold.

Colin Woodard's "The Republic of Pirates" covers some of La Buse's early activity in The Caribbean. On page 135 is said that La Buse who was commanding armed sloop Postillion joined Bellamy and Hornigold in 1716. Postillion had 8 guns.

So it would seem that La Buse captured Postillion by himself.

And it is sure that it was a french ship? Because i've read somewhere on internet (maybe on this forum, but i can't remember) that, in that period, in the Caribbean Sea, existed an english vessel named "Postillion" and a french one called "Postillon" and the latter became La Buse's ship. But these affirmation doesn't have, for what i know, any source that can confirm them and, at least it's what i think, it's probable that they are false and the difference between "Postillon" and "Postillion" it's just a matter of misspelled transcription of names.

I'm asking all this because i've found a document of 1715 that talks about the ship "Postillon", whom crew became pirates. If it is know, or anyway if we are pretty sure, that the "Postillon" was La Buse's first ship, so that document is talking of his very first period as pirate.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Davis

[sea haugh]

Davis,

Try looking for the "gran diablo" or at St Domingo for that period.

[Davis]

What do you mean exactly? I'm sorry but i think i haven't understood

[sea haugh]

3 Spanish periagues (spelling?) from Barcoa took "Elizabeth&Mary"

The 1st called the "Postillion" command Richard Holland - an Irishman

The 2nd called "Mary Ann" command by Josephus ........ (a mulato? ) acted as quarter master for company in all 46 men,

The 3rd called "Gran Diablo" commanded by a Frenchman.

.By St Domingo, Cuba , i mean there was a ship commissioned by one Le Vasseur in 1715.

[Davis]

So are you saying that the Postillon get caught by Richard Holland?

I'm confused..

[sea haugh]

Am not saying anything , already had my fingers wrapped before , i merely posted something for you to find and that the 3 periagues mentioned were the one`s who took the "Elizabeth & Mary"

that information came from a primary source from the captured vessel.

[RoyalJames]

From the trial of La Buse (google translated):

“..the Council has condemned and condemns to make amends at the front door of the church of the parish, naked, shirt, neck rope and holding in his hand a flaming torch weighing two pounds; for there, decide and declare in a loud voice, that maliciously and recklessly, he has for several years the pirate craft, which he repents and asks for forgiveness to God, the King and Justice; therefore, will be conducted in the public square to be hanged and strangled until death ensues from a gallows, which for this purpose will be planted instead accustomed, his dead body stay twenty-four hours and then exposed to the sea..”

What is the purpose (or symbolic) of the “two pound torch”?

How is a dead body practically “exposed to the sea”? Usually when throwing something into the sea at the shoreline it rather keep getting washed back than swept away.

[Daniel]

What is the purpose (or symbolic) of the “two pound torch”?

How is a dead body practically “exposed to the sea”? Usually when throwing something into the sea at the shoreline it rather keep getting washed back than swept away.

In English practice, the pirate's corpse would be dangled from the gallows over the ocean until the tide washed over it three times; this was done also with mutineers or anyone else executed by order of an admiralty court. The "exposed to the sea" order probably reflects something similar in French practice.

I have no idea about the two-pound torch.

[RoyalJames]

You are probably right. That makes more sense than throwing the body into the sea. It is hard to understand all these “rituals”. Does anyone know the reason for letting the body be washed by the tide?

I understand that pirates usually were hanged at the high-water mark in English territories (due to some juridical reason, up to the high-water mark naval laws were used (?) ). This seems not to be the case for the French, as the trial says that he is to be executed in “the public square”. Has anyone studied other French pirate trials?

[La Buse]

Salut

the body was not washed by the tide but only let them rot on the sand for 24 hours.

the cryptogram Le Vasseur has been decoded!

see: www.tresordelabuse.fr

[La Buse]

Information : official archive

September 25, 1719 to the Guinea coast near Cape Lopez looting of a French ship from pirates

two pirates vessels: "The Defiance" commissioned by Jeremiah Coquelin (Cocklyn) English, 40 cannons and 250 crew

the other ship "Royal Rangère" army of crew and even artillery and commanded by Captain Olivier Le Vasseur de Calais

said pirates took and razed the forts of Gambia and Sierra Leone

[Fox]

Ooh. Is Cocklyn actually called Jeremiah in the original source?

I've been pondering this recently - he's always known as Thomas Cocklyn but the only source I'm aware of that gives his first name calls him Jeremiah - this would be a second source.

Incidentally, the same is true of "John" Taylor, who is only given a forename in one primary source that I'm aware of, which calls him Richard Taylor. "John" appears to be a modern appellation, from whence I know not.

[RoyalJames]

Captain Vitry speaks of a pirate called Jerry Lecoole, who in several ways fits in with Cocklyn. Especially if using Jeremiah as his first name.

First names are a mess. I am under the impression that writers of the period were quite prompt to have both a first and a last name on persons, and rather made a guess instead of omitting the first name. Buqcouy as an example says Levassuer’s first name was Johann.

Did persons generally use both first and last names when they introduced themselves at this perid?

[Swashbuckler 1700]

I don't know if this is out of the box thinking or any way clever but:

Isn't it uncommon for a criminal to have many alliances? Of course pirates acted rather openly and against modern common sense of some people they left many eyewitnesses for example. So even while modern criminals use false identities it doesn't mean that many pirates (Except Bonnet who Sailed under the moniker "Captain Edwards") with rather different logic used them but it is still indicative right?

And isn't John the most common name available in English? I think Henry Morgan was John Morgan and Bartholomew Roberts was originally John Roberts who adopted a new more fancy name after privateer Bartholomew Sharp. However, I don't know if this is actual fact as I don't remember the source.

Perhaps name John was used by the writers who knew only the surname and it was very likely that the man was John. You know just fill the gap with what is likely. Same with Johann or Johan or other European variants of the name John. So someone who didn't know La Buse's real name Olivier put him as John (Johann) Instead. Is this even plausible?

Also, didn't people in this era started to have two or three first names sometimes? So why one cannot be both John and Richard? I mean at least in the upper classes they started to use more names. At least among blue bloods we have for example the old pretender of the English crown James Francis Edward Stuart.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Swashbuckler 1700

[La Buse]

Extract :

" par deux vaisseaux forbans commandés, à savoir , la Défiance

commandée par Jérémie Coquelin anglais de 40 canons

et 250 hommes d'équipage ,français ,anglais,et hollandais ,

et l'autre Vaisseau la Royale Rangère armée de même "

It is clear that the French captain who filed this statement of talk with "La Buse" to have all these details!

[RoyalJames]

Perhaps name John was used by the writers who knew only the surname and it was very likely that the man was John. You know just fill the gap with what is likely.

I am thinking exactly the same thing, but also only based on guesses.

La Buse:

That’s an interesting find. Thanks for sharing.

[La Buse]

Edited July 19, 2015 by La Buse

[Fox]

Random question for the La Buse-ophiles:

Does anyone know of any evidence of La Buse wearing an eyepatch? I don't recall mention of one anywhere, but does it come up in any of the non-English sources?

Wikipedia makes the claim, I don't believe it.

[sea haugh]

I don't know either , However , Examination of Francis Matthews , while travelling as a passenger , Bristol to Kingsale in the Mary Sloop , John England being master, did a little check he did have a son called Edward. ( am not saying it is , but it might be worth a little more digging)

For La Buse , perhaps Thomas Simmons examination may hold a clue where to snoop about. Be a young officer by that time if he was as some say.

[RoyalJames]

Does anyone know of any evidence of La Buse wearing an eyepatch? I don't recall mention of one anywhere, but does it come up in any of the non-English sources?

Wikipedia makes the claim, I don't believe it.

Are you saying that we cannot trust Wikipedia as a reliable source?

I can’t recall seeing any reference to him wearing an eyepatch anywhere else. (Not even the French version of Wikipedia says anything about it).

Supplementary question; is there any reference to any pirate wearing an eyepatch?