Dread Pyrate Greyhound Posted October 27, 2013 Posted October 27, 2013 Is anyone familiar with a pirate named 'John Derdrake' ? I have only found reference to him three times. twice on a pirate website, and once in a picture of old pirate trading cards. Supposedly he was a pirate and shipwright who plundered in the baltic between Sweden, Denmark, and England and commanded a 70 gun ship called the 'Sudden Death' he settled in Stralsund but was captured when he ventured into another port and was hanged. This info came from the website I mentioned. I'm curious because my persona commands an 80 some gun ship and I'm curious because I believed this was impossible till now. Of course there is the obvious chance he was invented to feed a public obsessed with pirate lore, but I could be wrong and he was more of a local legend. The article certainly made him seem like a small time pirate. Let every man Know freedom, Kings be damned, And let the Devil sort out the mess afterwards.
Coastie04 Posted October 28, 2013 Posted October 28, 2013 Never heard of him, but a 70 gun ship doesn't sound like a small time pirate. Assuming for a moment that he is real and that the story you mentioned is at least somewhat accurate, it may be a case of being branded a pirate by a rival political leader or town. He may have been a legitimate naval commander or privateer with some substantial means to acquire such a large vessel. People with that kind of capital tend to generate enemies as well. Someone trumped up a piracy charge (or exaggerated an actual incident, making it sound worse than it was), he was out of favor in the other port and when he showed up, was tried quickly and hanged. Of course, this is all just speculation, and as I mentioned earlier, assuming that this was a real person. She was bigger and faster when under full sail With a gale on the beam and the seas o'er the rail
Iron Jon Posted October 28, 2013 Posted October 28, 2013 There's a short bio in a book at Google Books. I think it was called the International Directory of Pirates, Plunderers, etc... by Phillip Gosse. Not sure if he quotes any references for his work though. Jonathan Washbourne "Jonathan Washbourne Junr of Bridgwater appeared in court and was ordered to pay £5 fees and charges or be publicly whipped 20 stripes for his abusive and uncivil behaviour to Elizabeth Canaday Late of said Bridgwater by Thrusting up or putting of a skunk under the Cloaths to her Naked Body And then saying he had Done the office of a midwife." (from The Plymouth Journal, July 1701)
Iron Jon Posted October 28, 2013 Posted October 28, 2013 There's a short bio in a book at Google Books. I think it was called the International Directory of Pirates, Plunderers, etc... by Phillip Gosse. Not sure if he quotes any references for his wk though. Jonathan Washbourne "Jonathan Washbourne Junr of Bridgwater appeared in court and was ordered to pay £5 fees and charges or be publicly whipped 20 stripes for his abusive and uncivil behaviour to Elizabeth Canaday Late of said Bridgwater by Thrusting up or putting of a skunk under the Cloaths to her Naked Body And then saying he had Done the office of a midwife." (from The Plymouth Journal, July 1701)
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