On 17 May
1682, a son is born to a Welsh family. His name is John
Robert(s) and he has a fifty percent possibility of
reaching his third birthday. If he survives until then,
his chances of attaining adulthood are even less; against
all odds, John lives into his late thirties. Between the
recording of his birth and 1718, no record has been found
to explain his formative years and how he goes from
working on land to being Second or Third Mate of a slave
ship. Somehow, he gains navigational skills, fighting
tactics, and nautical expertise – all of which prove
instrumental in launching him on a path his parents never
foresee the day he comes into this world.
Two fateful
days mark the beginning and end of John’s final years. In
1718, off the West African coast, the slaver on which he
works is taken by pirates. Their captain, Howell Davis, is
a fellow Welshman; this common bond connects the two men
in spite of John’s initial rebuffs to join in the sweet
trade. Yet the day eventually comes when John decides “a
merry and short life” is better than his current one.
Taking the name “Bartholomew,” he embarks on a career in
piracy. Six weeks after meeting the pirates, they elect
him captain after Davis’s demise. Although atypical of
many of his mates – he abstains from drink and wenching –
he possesses traits and skills necessary to lead and
succeed. Pillaging more than 450 ships also brings him
notoriety, which garners the attention of authorities and
forces the pirates to look elsewhere for plunder several
times. His career ends where it begins: off the coast of
Africa at the hands of the British Royal Navy.
Suthren
opens his account with what is and isn’t known about this
legendary pirate. He also explores what may have
influenced Roberts’ upbringing, as well as possibilities
of how he came to be an accomplished mariner. Before
delving into particulars about his piratical career, the
author devotes three chapters to necessary background
information on piracy (especially between 1680 and the
1720s), the slave trade and slave ships, and pirates in
Canada – the place where Roberts went from ordinary to
unparalleled. Along the way readers meet a variety of
other pirates, including Walter Kennedy, Peter Easton,
Sheila NaGeira, Edward Low, and Eric Cobham and Maria
Lindsey. Also mentioned is pirate hunter Sir Henry
Mainwaring, although without any hint of his piratical
past. While the majority of passages quoted within the
narrative come from other historians, Suthren does include
one extant letter from Roberts to the highest ranking
soldier on St. Christopher (St. Kitts today), who dared to
fire on the pirates. Contrary to what the book says,
Roberts is not the first captain to implement a code of
conduct to govern his men. These articles derive from a
legal document used by buccaneers, a sample of which
appears in Alexandre Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers of
America (1678).
In addition
to several period maps and two illustrations, the book has
a bibliography and index. Endnotes provide source
citations, although none is provided for one curious
reference in the text to pirates blackening their faces so
they appear more threatening. At times, Suthren shares how
twists of fate lead men on differing paths. James Cook
possessed similar traits and skills with Roberts and both
were shaped by the time they spent in Canadian waters. Black Flag of the
North provides a good overview of the period, while
succinctly entertaining readers with the meteoric rise and
fall of the man often referred to as “King of the
Pirates.”
Review Copyrighted ©2018 Cindy
Vallar
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Pirates
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