Scottish Pirates in the GAOP

[Captain Bob]

• "Look at yonder ship that flies a plaid flag!"
  "Aye. Thar sails the dread pyrate MacDougal!"
  

Okay, so maybe I'm crazy with the heat. I noticed at the last ren-faire I went to that the "scotsmen" had better, um... ventilation than I did. When it gets up to 105° you notice things like that, especially when you're dripping moisture like a wet sponge.

Of course, wearing a corduroy frock coat didn't help in the least. I really didn't expect to get that overheated. Who knew the weatherman wasn't exaggerating?

Okay, if there were any Scottish pirates, who were they? Would a highlander pirate have worn a kilt? A kilt wouldn't have been functionally different from sailor slops, would it?

[JoshuaRed]

Oh heck yeah there were Scottish pirates...now if you're asking if there were any infamous ones...I can't say off the top of my head. But the Scottish were certainly active in the Atlantic and West Indies during the GAOP.

In fact, they had grand designs to establish a small Scottish empire in Panama in the 1690's...you can read more HERE.

[Capn_Enigma]

Now thanks a lot, there's an image that's gonna haunt me for a looong time: Me standing on deck watching a kilt- wearing crewman aloft leaning over the yardarm, when, suddenly, the wind...

[Red Maria]

The best known Scottish pirate was Willaim Kidd. There were others and when I can rember their names I'll post them

Oh one thing the man who killed Blackbeard was a highlander with a broadsword. Sad but true.

[John Maddox Roberts]

The MacNiells of Barra where an entire clan of pirates.

[Tatu Ni'all]

"...the man who killed Blackbeard was a highlander with a broadsword. Sad but true"

I think this is still pretty much debated. If you go down to Key West and visit Pat Croce's Pirate soul musuem, that is the tale they tell. If you watch the National Geographic show on it, they show Blackbeard dying on deck.

I would be interested in how that breaks down on who think which tale is true...

[Red Maria]

"...the man who killed Blackbeard was a highlander with a broadsword. Sad but true"

I think this is still pretty much debated. If you go down to Key West and visit Pat Croce's Pirate soul musuem, that is the tale they tell. If you watch the National Geographic show on it, they show Blackbeard dying on deck.

I would be interested in how that breaks down on who think which tale is true...

That National Geographic movie was not accurate as far as the facts shnwn on Blackbeard's life and death. They left a lot out and changed many things. Check the topic about it on this forum. OTOH the details on shipborad life etc. was fairly accurate.

[JoshuaRed]

Blackbeard was gunned down & hacked to death on the deck.

The largest collection of eyewitness reports by Maynard and his men that I've come across is contained in the book "Blackbeard: A Reappraisal of his Life & Times". You can peruse it HERE.

[Tatu Ni'all]

"That National Geographic movie was not accurate as far as the facts shnwn on Blackbeard's life and death. They left a lot out and changed many things. Check the topic about it on this forum. OTOH the details on shipborad life etc. was fairly accurate. "

Its very difficult to put together an all incompassing project together when you only have two hours to do so. My point was not to add credit to the NGC's show (which I liked) but to provide in example of the different views of how Blackbeard died. Whether you agree or not with their take on the show is not in question. They got their facts (however they chose to use) from somewhere.

[Captain Bob]

Oh heck yeah there were Scottish pirates...now if you're asking if there were any infamous ones...I can't say off the top of my head. But the Scottish were certainly active in the Atlantic and West Indies during the GAOP.

In fact, they had grand designs to establish a small Scottish empire in Panama in the 1690's...you can read more HERE.

The Wikipedia entry you linked to (the Darin Scheme) appears to have been deleted. Could you give me a brief overview?

 

Now thanks a lot, there's an image that's gonna haunt me for a looong time: Me standing on deck watching a kilt- wearing crewman aloft leaning over the yardarm, when, suddenly, the wind...

Thanks for sharing. I deliberately avoided raising that issue because I really didn't even want to think about it myself. :) One halloween years ago, I answered the door for the kiddies dressed as a scotsman, wearing a great kilt. I wore plaid flannel boxers underneath. The idea of answering the door without them on would have been just too creepy.

"Going regimental" was not a firmly established tradition until some time during the nineteenth century. At some time in the 17th century (at the latest), Scotsmen wore an undergarment that resembled boxer shorts supported by a drawstring. They might have neglected to don them if hurrying to get dressed for an impending battle, but under most circumstances they would have worn something for the sake of decency, hilarious folk songs notwithstanding. At least, that's what I've read.

[blackjohn]

Oh heck yeah there were Scottish pirates...now if you're asking if there were any infamous ones...I can't say off the top of my head. But the Scottish were certainly active in the Atlantic and West Indies during the GAOP.

In fact, they had grand designs to establish a small Scottish empire in Panama in the 1690's...you can read more HERE.

The Wikipedia entry you linked to (the Darin Scheme) appears to have been deleted. Could you give me a brief overview?

It seems to be ok now.

I'm surprised no one mentioned a Scottish exodus following the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion.

The Whydah site once had a list of her crew. I believe many were Scotts.

One of the plates recovered from the Whydah had the masonic symbol carved into the bottom of the rim...

[Captain Bob]

It seems to be ok now.

I tried the link again. Here's what I got:

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Darin scheme

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darin_scheme"

That's what I see every time I try to view it. I'm afraid this might be one of those times Wikipedea doesn't mesh with WebTV. Most times my only problem is poor screen resolution, and some of that is relieved when I highlight the text. Other times, their charts and tables don't align correctly. This link is the first time I've seen the above message. (Several times over the last few days, actually.)

Getting back on topic, wasn't Bartholomew Roberts a Scot?

[Captain Bob]

I just Googled "darin scheme" and got no results either, apart from a few hits that included the phrase "darin' [daring] scheme". After a couple of permutations, I found Darien Scheme.

Is that what I've been missing?

[Daniel]

Yes, the Darien scheme is what you're looking for.

Bartholomew Roberts was Welsh.

I can't believe I forgot that Kidd was Scottish, originally from Greenock. I just usually think of him as a New Yorker, since he lived there so long.

Cordingly estimates that about 10% of Golden Age pirates were Scots. The transcript of Stede Bonnet's trial shows four Scots out of 29 defendants: Neal Paterson, Willliam Scot, and George Dunkin, all from Aberdeen, and Bonnet's gunner George Ross, from Glasgow. All four were convicted of piracy and sentenced to death.

Note that not all Scots pirates would have been Highlanders; the Scottish Lowlands were much more populous, after all.

[Rumba Rue]

I saw this picture and just had to save it. I think it says it all.

[Red Maria]

Too bad it was at low speed.

[Hester]

The MacNiells of Barra where an entire clan of pirates.

Hey, JMR:

Thanks! Now I understand where the Cape Breton band "The Barra MacNeils" got their name (and what connotations they were implying with it). Here's their website:

http://www.barramacneils.com/

Apparently, one of the leaders of this pirate clan went by the wonderful sobriquet "Rory the Turbulent"! Source:

http://clanmacneil.ca/history1.htm

Cheers, Hester ... whose ancestors came from Aberdeenshire on the opposite side of Scotland, including one line that I've traced back to 1680 in the little fishing village of Rosehearty on the north coast. I wonder if any of them were pirates?

[Patrick Hand]

BUT... but.... but... Those are pettycoat breaches.... NOT kilts.......

Yah... I posted this somewhere else...... heck... you get what you pay for....

anyway..........................

If someone stole my breaches and left me with only a chunka cloth to cover my loins... I'd a kilt them also.......

OH yah..... Fox.... as long as I'm beeing silly..... I asked someone why they call themselves "rennies".... it turns out that "faries" had already been taken.....

[Tartan Jack]

The MacNiells of Barra where an entire clan of pirates.

I just HAD to revive this thread when I found it!!!

As for the MacNeils:

In Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin's "Scottish Highlanders: A Personal View" (Barnes and Noble: New York, 1984; reprint 1992), I found this interesting:

"The Barra MacNeils were picturesque pirates, and Kisimul Castle was well known as acorsair lair from which the MacNeil galleys set out on swift, successful raids. They were almost impregnable on Barra, and certainly safe from all attack at Kisimul, which rises sheer from the sea on a small island and which could not in those days be assaultes by land.

During the Lordship of the Isles, the MacNeils generally supported the MacDonalds. Roderick Og MacNeil of Barra was celebrated for his bravery. He was one of the chiefs who accompanied the Earl of Argyle on his expedition against the Catholic Earls, which ended disasterously for Argyle. Roderick Og fell at the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594.

His son was a splendid character called Roderick 'the Turbulent', one of the greatest sea-rovers of a clanwhich had the sea in its blood. Queen Elizabeth of England complained of his piracy, and he was peremptorially summoned to appear before the Privy Council in Edinburgh. Natually he ignored the summons, and eventually he was captured by a trick, being invited aboard the ship of a friendly MacKenzie, where he and his henchmen were got drunk and then secured while the boat made off with them. When he arrived in Edinburgh, he took a high tone. He explained that he had made war on English ships because he was honor bound to avenge the murder of the King's mother (Mary, Queen of Scots) by Elizabeth, and he had assumed that the King would be pleased by what he had done. He feels he deserves the pardon which he then recieved."

(MacKinnon, 211-212)

I'm not actually sure if the MacNiels wore kilts shipboard, but it is interesting. The are Highlander Pirates for sure.

MacNeil, through the Neel family (on mother's side),