0:00:13 > 0:00:17Of all the renegades in Britain's age of outlaws,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19pirates were the most pursued.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Hunted down on the high seas, their bloody exploits would be
0:00:24 > 0:00:27followed by an appalled but enthralled public.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38In May 1701, the corpse of a convicted pirate
0:00:38 > 0:00:41was brought downriver from Execution Dock,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43to the lower reaches of the Thames,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45here, at Tilbury Point.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50The body was tarred to preserve it,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and then hung in chains above the shoreline
0:00:53 > 0:00:56The body was that of Captain William Kidd,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00whose exploits and downfall had so captivated the country.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Kidd's corpse was displayed here as a dire warning to all seafarers
0:01:05 > 0:01:10entering the great Port of London to resist the temptations of piracy.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Kidd was the product of an era of feverish mercantile expansion,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21powered by a vast network of seaborne trade.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25By plundering this global movement of commodities and riches,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29pirates became the most wanted outlaws in the world.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36With flamboyant names like Blackbeard,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Calico Jack and Black Bart,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43pirate captains would become infamous beyond the seas.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48And through ballads, plays and books,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51they would be transformed into legend.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58And that transformation from reality to mythic outlaw
0:01:58 > 0:02:02is one of the most enduring historical puzzles of the period.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I'm going to take to the seas to explore
0:02:07 > 0:02:09just how this change happened...
0:02:11 > 0:02:15..and examine the devastating impact of these swashbuckling adventurers.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Captain Kidd's tarred corpse would rot away here
0:02:19 > 0:02:24over several years, until the birds had picked his carcass clean.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27But this warning went unheeded,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30for the golden age of piracy was only just beginning.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57For a man who would come to be seen as heralding an age of piracy,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Captain Kidd had never set out to be a pirate at all.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04By the late 1690s with the escalation
0:03:04 > 0:03:07of the Nine Years War against France, Kidd,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09as a highly experienced sailor,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12saw the opportunity to make his fortune -
0:03:12 > 0:03:15not as a pirate but as a privateer.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25Piracy was outright robbery on the high seas, but privateers
0:03:25 > 0:03:28were mercenaries issued with a licence by the government
0:03:28 > 0:03:29to loot the merchant ships
0:03:29 > 0:03:32flying the colours of England's enemies at sea.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Their licence was issued in the form of a letter of marque
0:03:35 > 0:03:41and reprisal. And this one, dated 11 December 1695,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43is Kidd's own privateering commission,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47granted and signed by no less than the King of England himself,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49William III.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59But this wasn't quite as it seemed because there was a
0:03:59 > 0:04:03second commission, this one to hunt down pirates in the Indian Ocean
0:04:03 > 0:04:06whose plundering was seriously disrupting trade with the East.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Now, this venture was cooked up by a shady
0:04:09 > 0:04:12syndicate of some of the most powerful men in England
0:04:12 > 0:04:15who would all share from the spoils of Kidd's enterprise.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19And with the king himself due to get a 10% share
0:04:19 > 0:04:23in the profits, the stakes were very high.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Failure was not an option.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30And yet Kidd's misfortune was to begin almost as soon as he set sail.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35As his ship, the Adventure Galley, slipped down the Thames
0:04:35 > 0:04:39here at Greenwich, Kidd, armed with a new-found arrogance
0:04:39 > 0:04:41from having an actual royal commission -
0:04:41 > 0:04:45believing himself above the law - refused to dip his flag and fire
0:04:45 > 0:04:50a salute at a royal yacht as he passed, which was against all custom.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53And when - outraged - the captain of the yacht
0:04:53 > 0:04:54fired a shot as a reminder,
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Kidd's crew responded with a surprising display of impudence.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02They climbed the yards and slapped their backsides in disdain.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06SHOUTING
0:05:08 > 0:05:11The response was harsher than they could have ever expected.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Because of Kidd's failure to salute,
0:05:13 > 0:05:18the captain of the naval yacht retaliated by boarding his ship and
0:05:18 > 0:05:22press-ganging most of his carefully hand-picked men into naval service.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36With only a skeleton crew, Kidd set course for Madagascar, known
0:05:36 > 0:05:39to be the great pirate bolthole of the Indian Ocean for its good
0:05:39 > 0:05:44anchorage and strategic position on important Mughal trade routes
0:05:44 > 0:05:49from India, then being exploited by Europe's maritime powers.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56We're talking about an age of tremendous colonial rivalry.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59France, Spain, Holland and England,
0:05:59 > 0:06:00all endeavouring
0:06:00 > 0:06:04to create colonies and to conquer land.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08And so you've got a lot of merchant ships of different nations
0:06:08 > 0:06:14competing to get more money out of the Caribbean,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16or India and from the Far East.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And pirates aren't fools,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23they gather where the trade routes are narrowing and they can pounce.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Within sight of Madagascar, Kidd suffered a major setback
0:06:31 > 0:06:35when a third of his crew perished with cholera,
0:06:35 > 0:06:36and the only new recruits
0:06:36 > 0:06:39he could find turned out to be former pirates -
0:06:39 > 0:06:45men who had already turned to piracy and expected Kidd to do the same.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Kidd's bad luck persisted.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53After several more months without plunder or prizes
0:06:53 > 0:06:57and facing the very real prospect of returning home empty-handed,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Kidd made the grave decision to leave the Indian Ocean
0:07:02 > 0:07:07and head for the Red Sea, a rich area full of Mughal merchants
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and wealthy pilgrims travelling to and from Mecca.
0:07:11 > 0:07:12Kidd's presence there
0:07:12 > 0:07:15all but announced that he had turned to piracy.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28After a devastating raid on an Indian Mughal fleet
0:07:28 > 0:07:32by a pirate named Captain Henry Every two years before,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35the East India Company, whose monopoly on trade
0:07:35 > 0:07:38with the Indian subcontinent depended on the continuing patronage
0:07:38 > 0:07:41of the vastly rich Mughal Empire,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44was extremely wary of it happening again.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47But Kidd's crew now put increasing pressure on him
0:07:47 > 0:07:52to take prizes, no matter what flag they sailed under.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56In desperation, Kidd attacked a Mughal merchant convoy,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58technically his first foray into piracy.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01But when he was repelled, tensions between Kidd
0:08:01 > 0:08:03and his crew spilled over.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The ship's gunner, William Moore, claimed that he had brought
0:08:06 > 0:08:09the crew to ruin and desolation,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13upon which Kidd picked up a heavy iron hooped bucket
0:08:13 > 0:08:15and brought it down on Moore's head
0:08:15 > 0:08:19with such ferocity that he fractured his skull, and Moore later died.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Admiralty law allowed captains a degree of leeway in the use
0:08:27 > 0:08:30of violence, but this was murder.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Kidd remained unrepentant, though, confident that his good friends
0:08:34 > 0:08:37in England would save him from prosecution.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41And still feeling empowered by his letter of marque from the king,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45he now grew more and more reckless.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57In January 1698, after some minor successes,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Kidd took his greatest prize -
0:09:00 > 0:09:04a 400-tonne Armenian ship called the Quedagh Merchant, which
0:09:04 > 0:09:09was sailing with French passes for which Kidd had a licence to attack.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15However, when he discovered that its cargo was owned
0:09:15 > 0:09:18by a Mughal nobleman, he tried to hand the ship back
0:09:18 > 0:09:20but his crew refused.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31Wishing to avoid a full mutiny, Kidd relented and kept his new prize.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34But when news reached London, various naval commanders were
0:09:34 > 0:09:38sent out to pursue and seize the said Kidd and his accomplices
0:09:38 > 0:09:42for the notorious piracies that they had committed.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Now a wanted man with several English men of war in pursuit
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and with the East India Company baying for his blood,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Kidd made sail for Boston, where his friend, Lord Bellomont,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00the Governor of New York, had promised him safe refuge.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05But Kidd was sailing into a trap that would land him in the dock.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08This here is a letter from Lord Bellomont
0:10:08 > 0:10:10which he had sent to Captain Kidd.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Lord Bellomont had financed all of Kidd's expeditions
0:10:12 > 0:10:14and they had been friendly with each other.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17You can see in the language of the letter here, he's saying,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20"Do not be discouraged by the false reports of ill men" -
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- don't believe what people are telling you.- OK.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26"Yes, you may be assured of my having interest employed
0:10:26 > 0:10:29"to do you all the service that I can."
0:10:29 > 0:10:31He's going to do everything he can to help him.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34But actually, he was luring Captain Kidd to Boston
0:10:34 > 0:10:35to get him arrested.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Lord Bellomont did not want to be associated with piracy at all,
0:10:38 > 0:10:39- whatsoever.- OK.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42So he used that previous friendship to get Kidd.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44But unfortunately, when he arrived in Boston,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46he was then thrown in prison.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Do we think Kidd was a bit gullible here?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51Was he just relying on a sense of trust that had existed before?
0:10:51 > 0:10:54I think Kidd was desperate at this point, to be honest.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57I think he knew that, unbeknownst to him, somehow he had been accused
0:10:57 > 0:11:00of piracy when he did not believe he was a pirate, and so
0:11:00 > 0:11:04he was going to take any means he could to try to protect himself.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07It seems clear to me that Kidd hasn't been unfairly
0:11:07 > 0:11:10labelled as a pirate - he was clearly a pirate. He attacked
0:11:10 > 0:11:13the ships of a nation, and he didn't have a licence to do so.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17I think Kidd was a pirate, but I think above everything else,
0:11:17 > 0:11:18he was a scapegoat.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22And this is because just a few years before, a pirate named Henry Every
0:11:22 > 0:11:26had disrupted trade between the Moguls and the East India Company.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And then, just a couple of years later,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Captain Kidd does the same thing.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32The Moguls then threatened to cut off all trade,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35which would have practically bankrupted the East India Company.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Britain had to make Kidd an example to the Moguls that,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42yes, they would take care of piracy in the most brutal fashion,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45so they could show the world exactly what would happen to a pirate
0:11:45 > 0:11:48if they threatened trade and the British economy.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52So what we have here is an indication of just how
0:11:52 > 0:11:54much of a show trial this was.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57This lengthy document that I'm holding is the actual trial
0:11:57 > 0:11:59transcription - verbatim - of Captain Kidd's trial.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- And this sold out, because it sold so many copies.- Wow.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05At this point, pretty much everybody knew who Captain Kidd was
0:12:05 > 0:12:08because his crimes had been reported in newspapers for several years
0:12:08 > 0:12:10on both sides of the Atlantic.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13People were fascinated with pirates because these were maritime outlaws
0:12:13 > 0:12:16committing their crimes thousands of miles away.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18They didn't declare allegiance to their formal countries,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22they were these people who had social mobility
0:12:22 > 0:12:24that nobody else had.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And people wouldn't be able to see them until their execution.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34What was the scene like at Kidd's execution?
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Well, actually, I can show you that, Sam,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39because there's a picture here, in The Newgate Calendar.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43So this here is a pirate being executed at Execution Dock.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45This is how Captain Kidd would have been executed.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47You can see the noose is around his neck.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Here's the crowd of people.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51And here we have the admiralty marshal
0:12:51 > 0:12:52sitting on his horse.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55And in his hand, you can see right here the silver oar
0:12:55 > 0:13:00of the admiralty. The silver oar was always present at these executions.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03- I've actually got the silver oar... - Ah-ha!- ..that was used
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- at Captain Kidd's trial and execution.- How extraordinary.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Let's have a look.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10- There it is.- So there it is.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12As you can see, it's got all the symbols.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15That's definitely the Tudor arms.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19This is the garnet and coronet of James Stuart, the Duke of York.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21That's very clearly the fouled anchor which was
0:13:21 > 0:13:23- the symbol of the admiralty.- Yes.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25A very powerful symbol of maritime authority.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27It was, yes, definitely.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Everyone who would see it would know exactly what it meant.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43However, there's one further
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and even more compelling artefact
0:13:46 > 0:13:48from Kidd's darkest days.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And it's this, a letter from Captain Kidd to Sir Robert Harley,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56the leader of the Tories.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00It's Kidd's last desperate attempt to save himself from the noose.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04And what's particularly interesting are these few lines.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08"That in my late proceedings in the Indies, I have lodged goods
0:14:08 > 0:14:12"and treasure to the value of £100,000,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16"which I desire the Government may have the benefit of."
0:14:16 > 0:14:20It's a massive bribe and the promise of an enormous stash of loot.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23This is Kidd's real legacy,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26the founding myth of buried pirate treasure.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39The secret location of Kidd's treasure - if it ever existed -
0:14:39 > 0:14:42has never been found, even though there continue to be
0:14:42 > 0:14:45claims of its discovery up to this very day.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Kidd had highlighted not only the easy seduction of piracy,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59but also how privateers quickly
0:14:59 > 0:15:03became a hindrance and were shut down by the Government when they
0:15:03 > 0:15:07ceased to serve the interests of the nation and its expanding Empire.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13The Government's attitude to piracy changed because of the exploits
0:15:13 > 0:15:14of Kidd,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17because they damaged British trade,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and Britain's future was going to be
0:15:19 > 0:15:22a great maritime nation, this was accepted already.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26This was the way that a small island could get global power.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31So obviously, piracy, which people had winked at before
0:15:31 > 0:15:34cos it simply damaged the Spanish or other people that people
0:15:34 > 0:15:36didn't really care about, now it was a problem,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and it had to be suppressed.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48But far from suppressing the pirate menace,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Kidd's very public humiliation only served to heighten
0:15:51 > 0:15:54the fascination with these maritime outlaws
0:15:54 > 0:15:59and, in particular, it now rekindled a feverish interest in the elusive
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Captain Henry Every, the one pirate who had got away.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Every had made the most profitable pirate raid in history when,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17in September 1695, he captured the Ganj-i-Sawai,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19a heavily-armed Mughal trading ship
0:16:19 > 0:16:24carrying over £600,000 worth of precious metal and jewels,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29the equivalent of £52 million in today's money.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34For his actions, a bounty of £1,000 had been put on his head,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded history.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41But unlike Captain Kidd,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Every slipped the net and rumours abounded
0:16:44 > 0:16:50for years that he had ended up in a pirate republic called Libertalia.
0:16:56 > 0:17:02As the story goes, Libertalia was a place where people were equal,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05and goods were shared, and laws were fair.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08And the pirates flew a white flag as opposed to a black flag
0:17:08 > 0:17:11to show that, you know, there was no threat
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and people were free under this flag.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18And stories like that, of course, are a great threat to society
0:17:18 > 0:17:21back home, which is tremendously unequal and very harsh.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Fugitive outlaws had always caught the public imagination,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and Every was no exception.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Stories of his big prize, his vanishing act
0:17:32 > 0:17:36and his pirate utopia passed between deckhands
0:17:36 > 0:17:38across the oceans and returned to England
0:17:38 > 0:17:41in the form of popular ballads.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44And this one was purportedly penned by Every himself.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49# Now, this is the course
0:17:49 > 0:17:53# I intended for to steer
0:17:55 > 0:17:59# My false-hearted nation
0:17:59 > 0:18:02# To you I declare... #
0:18:02 > 0:18:05If Every was indeed the author of this ballad,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10then he was not only fuelling his own infamy, but spreading sedition.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Ballads were very dangerous things.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18They were banned in periods of political unrest
0:18:18 > 0:18:22because you could turn a populace like that by singing ballads.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24It doesn't seem likely to us today.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Ballads particularly appealed to the lower classes.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30They were very accessible - they were sold on the streets
0:18:30 > 0:18:33and they were just printed on single sheets of paper on one side.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37And if you couldn't read very well, well, the balladmonger would sing
0:18:37 > 0:18:39the ballad in order to attract a crowd
0:18:39 > 0:18:41and make their sales.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44For the price of a few pennies - or nothing at all
0:18:44 > 0:18:47if you could remember it - you were up-to-date with the latest news.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52# I have done thee no wrong
0:18:52 > 0:18:55# Thou must me forgive
0:18:58 > 0:19:01# The sword shall maintain me
0:19:01 > 0:19:03# As long as I live. #
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Whilst pirates clearly had mass appeal,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09what was now surprising was that,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12amongst the chattering classes, swashbucklers like Every
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and tales of his remarkable disappearance
0:19:15 > 0:19:17became the fashionable new topic.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21And it was a play based on Every which did much to foster
0:19:21 > 0:19:24the legend of the pirate as a brave outlaw.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27The Successful Pirate
0:19:27 > 0:19:30opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in 1712.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Set as a tragic comedy, it cast Every as a self-styled
0:19:34 > 0:19:38king of the pirates and features a rum bunch of incompetents
0:19:38 > 0:19:40hotly debating the virtues of piracy.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47Come on now, sir, I'll oppose you with his faults.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Is he not extremely violent and intemperate with his desires?
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Granted. A hero should be, though.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58That immoderate desire for power,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02that unquenchable appetite for rule
0:20:02 > 0:20:05that has long been dignified
0:20:05 > 0:20:09by the slaves of tyrants.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12But he is no tyrant!
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Therefore, 'tis virtue in him to desire power.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22The public absolutely loved it, much to the irritation of the critics,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26one of whom was outraged by the way that it glamorised villainy in
0:20:26 > 0:20:30making a swabber - a mere deckhand -
0:20:30 > 0:20:32into the hero of a tragedy.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Notwithstanding all you've said,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37he is still only an overgrown thief!
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Why, the worst you hypocrites of order can say -
0:20:41 > 0:20:44and it is to his immortal honour -
0:20:44 > 0:20:51is that he has leapt the pale of custom and is a royal outlaw!
0:20:51 > 0:20:53But for one member of the audience -
0:20:53 > 0:20:56the writer and journalist Daniel Defoe -
0:20:56 > 0:21:00the play was proof enough of the pirate's broad cultural appeal.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14With his customary journalistic chutzpah,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Defoe was to capitalise on the pirates' appeal
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and their ambiguous morality, not only in Robinson Crusoe
0:21:21 > 0:21:23but in several of his books,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26making him, in effect, the first pirate novelist.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31But there was another book published in this period which
0:21:31 > 0:21:34surpassed all others in chronicling the lives
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and exploits of the pirates of the great golden age.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Now, I was brought up on stories of real pirates,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and they were all inspired by this book.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46As titles go, it's pretty difficult to beat.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49A General History Of The Robberies And Murders
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Of The Most Notorious Pirates.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55This was the pirate brilliantly
0:21:55 > 0:21:58packaged and neatly presented,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00and the public absolutely loved it.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The book tapped into a growing vogue for criminal biography,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08but its author - a Captain Charles Johnson -
0:22:08 > 0:22:13remains a mystery figure, as elusive as many of the pirates themselves.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Johnson displayed such a detailed knowledge of the life
0:22:16 > 0:22:18and language of the sea,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21that it was thought by many that he must have been a retired sea captain,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24that he'd perhaps attended pirate trials,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26or even interviewed pirate crewmen.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29But there has also been a long-standing
0:22:29 > 0:22:32and far more intriguing belief that Johnson was merely
0:22:32 > 0:22:36a pseudonym for our old friend, Daniel Defoe.
0:22:38 > 0:22:45Within that slim volume are the detailed lives of
0:22:45 > 0:22:4820 or so celebrated pirates.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51And it has become a sort of touchstone for piracy.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56And it's been used as the basis, really, for the golden age
0:22:56 > 0:22:57of pirates.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00And what I've found fascinating over the years,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02as I've done research in different areas,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04is it all checks out.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08The capture of ships and what the various pirates did with
0:23:08 > 0:23:09the crew and did with the ships -
0:23:09 > 0:23:11totally authentic.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17And one of the most surprising details of Johnson's book
0:23:17 > 0:23:21is its account of a democratic code of conduct,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23or the Pirate's Code as it was generally known.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28The Pirate's Code provided rules for discipline for the fair
0:23:28 > 0:23:32division of plundered loot, and it even set aside specific
0:23:32 > 0:23:37sums of money for injuries sustained to different parts of the body.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40For example, in pirate currency, the most highly valued
0:23:40 > 0:23:42part of your body was your right arm,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46for which you received 600 of these - pieces of eight.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Your left arm was valued at 100 less,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50and your legs at 100 less again.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Bizarrely, a finger and an eye were equally valued at 100 pieces,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58but I suspect that you had to make your own eye patch.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Seamen had a very harsh life.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09They worked for long hours for years for very low pay.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12When tales came back about pirates running their ships
0:24:12 > 0:24:17on more democratic lines - made joint decisions and decisions
0:24:17 > 0:24:18in common and shared their supplies -
0:24:18 > 0:24:22this would never have happened on a navy ship or a merchant ship.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24And this is egalitarian.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34So, a pirate crew could easily find its numbers swelled by sailors
0:24:34 > 0:24:36desperate to escape an oppressive ship
0:24:36 > 0:24:39and more than happy to switch allegiance and sail
0:24:39 > 0:24:40under the black flag.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48And the lure of the black flag was to become far greater
0:24:48 > 0:24:51following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession
0:24:51 > 0:24:53in 1713,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56which not only saw Atlantic trade resume
0:24:56 > 0:24:59but also witnessed thousands of British seamen relieved
0:24:59 > 0:25:01of military duty.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06The result was a large number of idle but highly trained
0:25:06 > 0:25:10sailors at a time of considerable seaborne trade, as all of the
0:25:10 > 0:25:14European maritime powers sought to expand their colonial empires.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Now a great deal of money could be made transporting goods
0:25:18 > 0:25:21on this network. But if you knew that network,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25you could of course just steal it, which is why peacetime provided
0:25:25 > 0:25:28so many opportunities for the maritime outlaw.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34This was especially so in the seas around the West Indies,
0:25:34 > 0:25:39with its lucrative trade in sugar and, more notoriously, slaves.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43There were ships all over the place - merchant ships -
0:25:43 > 0:25:44waiting to be plundered.
0:25:44 > 0:25:50So you had in the Bahamas a whole lot of unemployed seamen,
0:25:50 > 0:25:55adventurers, out-of-work privateers and pirates, all waiting for action.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58It became so full of people looting and raping and whatever
0:25:58 > 0:26:02that it became, in a way, what we would call now a failed state.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31During the War of the Spanish Succession,
0:26:31 > 0:26:32Nassau, in the Bahamas,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36had been utterly ransacked and left in ruins.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40By 1715, still ungoverned and undefended,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42it had become a pirate haven.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46By the following year, the pirate population outnumbered
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Nassau's law-abiding citizens by ten to one.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It had become, in effect, a pirate republic -
0:26:52 > 0:26:56a sprawling encampment of carousing, fornicating sailors,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59funding their profligate lifestyles with plunder.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02It seemed as though Captain Every's mythical pirate kingdom
0:27:02 > 0:27:03had come alive.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51One of the rising ringleaders of this new encampment of renegades
0:27:51 > 0:27:56was a tall, robust Englishman from Bristol named Edward Teach.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04By March 1717, Teach had formed a company of 70 men aboard
0:28:04 > 0:28:09his six-gun sloop and had begun to cultivate a formidable reputation.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17His flag was soon the most feared on the horizon.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And with his mane of coarse, dark locks,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23he now went by the catchy new name of Blackbeard.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26The skull and crossbones has been a symbol of death
0:28:26 > 0:28:30since the Middle Ages. And in this great period, the pirates adopted it
0:28:30 > 0:28:35as their own menacing symbol, with each captain having his own version.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39And unsurprisingly for Blackbeard who was obsessed with his image,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41his flag had it all.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44If ever there was a symbol to strike fear into the heart of your victim,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46then this was it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53A skeleton holds an hourglass in one hand,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55to show you that your time is running out,
0:28:55 > 0:28:56and a spear in the other,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00threatening to draw blood from your heart if you do not surrender.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05And if this wasn't enough, Blackbeard added horns and cloven feet
0:29:05 > 0:29:08to his skeleton to signify that he was in league with the devil.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Sailors during the early 18th century
0:29:15 > 0:29:19were almost universally superstitious.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22And aside from the sight of Blackbeard's flag,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25the sight of the man himself was enough to cause the crews
0:29:25 > 0:29:27of merchant ships to surrender.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37His reputation rests entirely on his appearance,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41which was vividly recorded in Captain Johnson's book.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43"This beard was black
0:29:43 > 0:29:46"which he suffered to grow of an extravagant length.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49"As to breadth, it came up to his eyes.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53"He was accustomed to twist it with ribbons and small tails,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55"and turn them about his ears.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58"In time of action, he wore a sling over his shoulders
0:29:58 > 0:30:01"with three brace of pistols hanging in holster like bandoliers
0:30:01 > 0:30:04"and stuck lighted matches under his hat,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06"which appearing on each side of his face,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09"his eyes naturally looking fierce and wild,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13"made him altogether such a figure that imagination
0:30:13 > 0:30:18"cannot form an idea of a fury from hell to look more frightful."
0:30:22 > 0:30:23Blackbeard was ruthless.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27On one occasion when a victim didn't voluntarily offer up
0:30:27 > 0:30:31the ring on his finger, he simply cut it off, ring and all.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33And he wasn't above maiming his own crew.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37We also know that he shot his second mate, Israel Hands,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40in the knee just to remind him who was boss.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45If Blackbeard looked like a walking arsenal,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47then it was for a very good reason.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Flintlock pistols like this only fired a single shot,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and they were also notoriously unreliable at sea.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57So if your pistol failed to fire because of a damp charge,
0:30:57 > 0:30:59you could go straight on to the next one.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03And then when both were used up, you still had your cutlass.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07One of the most important articles of the Pirate's Code
0:31:07 > 0:31:11was to "Keep your pistols and cutlass clean and fit for service,"
0:31:11 > 0:31:13especially in the run-up to an attack.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18They would all be on deck waving cutlasses, firing in the air.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21And as they came alongside, they would also throw a primitive
0:31:21 > 0:31:24form of hand grenade onto the deck of the merchant ship,
0:31:24 > 0:31:30which caused chaos, and send over a grapnel rope
0:31:30 > 0:31:33and pull themselves alongside, by which stage, normally,
0:31:33 > 0:31:39the petrified crew, not used to battle, just said, "We surrender."
0:31:43 > 0:31:47Blackbeard's reign of terror lasted two years.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Tormenting the American Eastern Seaboard
0:31:50 > 0:31:54from the Caribbean to North Carolina, he plundered sugar,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58rum and loot from a series of English merchant vessels.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18But following his ruthless blockade of Charlestown Harbour
0:32:18 > 0:32:20in May 1718,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24the governor of Virginia issued a warrant for Blackbeard's arrest,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27with a reward of £100 for his capture -
0:32:27 > 0:32:29dead or alive.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Lieutenant Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl was despatched to hunt
0:32:37 > 0:32:42him down and eventually tracked him to the shallows of Ocracoke Inlet.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58Blackbeard raised a bottle of liquor in salutation and declared that
0:32:58 > 0:33:00Maynard and his crew were cowardly puppies,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02before calling out to them,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06"Damnation seize my soul, if I give you quarters or take any from you."
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Blackbeard was ready for a fight.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14The ensuing battle was brief and bloodthirsty.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18As the ships closed in, Blackbeard's men hurled bottle grenades.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20And using grappling hooks and boarding axes,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22they clambered on board.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25But Maynard had hidden most of his crew below deck,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29and they now took the pirates by surprise, engaging in furious
0:33:29 > 0:33:35hand-to-hand combat, with Blackbeard coming up against Maynard himself.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Holding his cutlass aloft, Blackbeard lunged with such ferocity
0:33:39 > 0:33:42that he sheared off Maynard's blade near the hilt.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45But coming for him again, Blackbeard was surrounded
0:33:45 > 0:33:48and hit from all sides.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Riddled with shot and cut to ribbons,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Blackbeard then suffered a terrible wound to his neck
0:33:53 > 0:33:56from a Scotsman wielding a broadsword.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58"Well done, lad," said Blackbeard,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01before staggering but cocking his pistol again.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03"I'll do better," said the Scotsman,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06before hacking away at his neck again deeply,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09killing that great man dead on his own deck.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16With their captain's fighting spirit,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20Blackbeard's men fought on but were soon overcome.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22As proof of Blackbeard's death
0:34:22 > 0:34:25and in order to collect the reward of £100,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Maynard called for Blackbeard's head to be severed...
0:34:31 > 0:34:33..and hung up on the bowsprit.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41The rest of Blackbeard's corpse was then thrown overboard,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44whereupon hitting the water, according to legend,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48it then swam several times around the sloop,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52searching for its own severed head, before sinking without trace.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Because of his fearsome reputation,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Blackbeard's death was seen as a major
0:35:05 > 0:35:10coup in the war against piracy and, in propaganda terms, as significant
0:35:10 > 0:35:13as the trial and hanging of Captain Kidd.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20But even with Blackbeard gone,
0:35:20 > 0:35:25there were still some 2,000 pirates roving the seas.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29The colonies were facing what amounted to an imperial crisis.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37We've got the golden-age pirates rampaging across the Caribbean.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40They're disrupting trade, the colonial governors
0:35:40 > 0:35:44are complaining to London, "You've got to do something about it."
0:35:44 > 0:35:48The Governor of Jamaica is saying, "I can't send a ship in or out
0:35:48 > 0:35:50"without it being captured by pirates."
0:35:50 > 0:35:53And one of the things the authorities do, they get onto
0:35:53 > 0:35:58the admiralty and they say, "Send more ships to the Caribbean."
0:35:58 > 0:36:01So it actually becomes part of the brief of the navy
0:36:01 > 0:36:02to suppress the pirates.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The naval ships that were sent out tended to be
0:36:07 > 0:36:11what are called sixth-rate ships - they were about 40 guns or so -
0:36:11 > 0:36:14and they were powerful vessels. But they were quite big -
0:36:14 > 0:36:18they weren't able to go into shallow estuaries and bays.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23The pirates selected mostly what are called sloops.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27They were relatively shallow draft compared with the naval ships,
0:36:27 > 0:36:31so they could sneak in and out of estuaries and bays
0:36:31 > 0:36:34and channels that the naval ships couldn't get into.
0:36:36 > 0:36:37But naval ships...
0:36:37 > 0:36:40If there were only four to cover the entire Caribbean
0:36:40 > 0:36:45and there were, what, 200 to 300 pirate ships operating
0:36:45 > 0:36:49in that same area, the naval ships couldn't be everywhere at once.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52So the navy had a difficult job and, in a way,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54the pirates had the advantage.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00But as the Government soon realised,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04it would take more than deploying a few more naval ships.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09In 1717, under the new king, George I,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12one of the measures taken to quell the pirate menace was the issue
0:37:12 > 0:37:14of a royal proclamation -
0:37:14 > 0:37:15an Act of Grace -
0:37:15 > 0:37:18in which the king promised that any pirate who voluntarily
0:37:18 > 0:37:21surrendered himself to British authorities within a year
0:37:21 > 0:37:24would receive his most gracious pardon.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29One of the pirates who took advantage of this amnesty,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32albeit briefly, was Captain John Rackham,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34whose colourful cotton clothes
0:37:34 > 0:37:38earned him the equally colourful nickname of Calico Jack.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Calico Jack achieved lasting fame,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44not for his actions which amounted to seizing
0:37:44 > 0:37:48a handful of vessels in the seas off Jamaica but for his association
0:37:48 > 0:37:53with two of his crew members, which became one of the most beguiling
0:37:53 > 0:37:57and frankly suspect episodes of the entire golden age of piracy.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04It was whilst taking advantage of the pirate amnesty
0:38:04 > 0:38:07and frequenting the taverns of Nassau that Calico Jack met
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and courted a bold young Irishwoman named Anne Bonny.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13And with his return to piracy soon after,
0:38:13 > 0:38:19he took her to sea. And she joined his crew, dressing in men's clothes.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Now, here the story takes a rather brilliant turn.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25When Calico Jack's sloop, Revenge, captured a merchant ship,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28he acquired a young sailor by the name of Mark Read.
0:38:28 > 0:38:33Now, Anne Bonny, who was serving on Jack's crew dressed in men's
0:38:33 > 0:38:35clothes, took a bit of a fancy to this young sailor,
0:38:35 > 0:38:40and in a quiet moment alone, revealed to him that she was in fact a woman.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45Upon which, Mark Read revealed that he was also a woman named Mary.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55In late 1720, a merchant sea captain named Jonathan Barnet,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58with a commission to hunt down pirates, took Calico Jack and his
0:38:58 > 0:39:03crew by surprise whilst they enjoyed a rum party anchored off Jamaica.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Jack and his men were too drunk to fight and fled to the hold,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11leaving only Bonny and Read to resist.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14The two women flew at Barnet's men like furies,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17firing their pistols, wielding their cutlasses and axes,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20and shouting obscenities as they went.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23But they were unable to rouse their crew who tamely gave up,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27with Calico Jack himself calling for quarter.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Calico Jack's female crew members would end up behind bars,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37but their exploits have posed questions ever since.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41And for leading folk musician Martha Tilston,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45their story has provided the inspiration for a new composition
0:39:45 > 0:39:47which she has asked me to perform with her.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49Martha, it's really exciting that you've written
0:39:49 > 0:39:52a ballad about pirates because ballads were the way that
0:39:52 > 0:39:55the activities of the pirates, which happened thousands of miles away,
0:39:55 > 0:39:57were brought home and sold to the masses.
0:39:57 > 0:39:58You're part of a long tradition.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01Well, I imagine it was totally fascinating for people to hear this,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04especially for women who maybe were not in a situation
0:40:04 > 0:40:06where they were having a particularly adventurous life,
0:40:06 > 0:40:08or living a life that was very sort of stuck at home.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11To read about that is a way of escaping, or to hear about it.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14So you'd pass the story round. But it would have spread.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17I think the news and the story would have spread because a good story is
0:40:17 > 0:40:20spread through music and storytelling at that time.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23You've written a duet, so there's a male voice,
0:40:23 > 0:40:25the voice of the jailor who's taking Anne Bonny off to her cell.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27- Yeah.- And then Anne Bonny and Mary Read singing.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Well, I wanted to get the male and the female.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32I think what was beautiful about the lady pirates is
0:40:32 > 0:40:34they were out in this fairly male world, but there was a good
0:40:34 > 0:40:37female presence there, and it's nice to put that across.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40And also the voice of the law and the outlaw, I guess, so...
0:40:40 > 0:40:42- Let's give it a go.- OK.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54# Oh, step aside, I'm Anne Bonny
0:40:54 > 0:40:57# I am a lady pirate
0:40:57 > 0:41:00# And there's more beside me out on the sea
0:41:00 > 0:41:03# All dressed in manly fare
0:41:03 > 0:41:06# Climbing up the rigging
0:41:06 > 0:41:11# Leaping down with the moon on our blades
0:41:11 > 0:41:14# On the edge of life, we're living
0:41:14 > 0:41:17# And we'll take if you're not giving
0:41:17 > 0:41:19# Then we'll slip away
0:41:19 > 0:41:24# Into the velvet night
0:41:26 > 0:41:29# Oh, come with me, Anne Bonny
0:41:29 > 0:41:32# I'll show you to your cell
0:41:32 > 0:41:35# An outlaw is an outlaw
0:41:35 > 0:41:39# And you all hang just as well
0:41:39 > 0:41:41# And you all hang just as well
0:41:41 > 0:41:44# But you thought that we never could tell
0:41:44 > 0:41:51# But you didn't hide your shape so well
0:41:51 > 0:41:54# Thrown like a barrel over the ocean, oh
0:41:54 > 0:41:57- # And we had you pinned - No, you never knew
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# Thrown like a barrel over the ocean, oh
0:42:00 > 0:42:02# And you fought as well
0:42:02 > 0:42:06- # Like a man - Down went Calico and Mary, oh
0:42:06 > 0:42:09# But hanged I will never be
0:42:09 > 0:42:12# Free as a herring gull on the ocean, oh
0:42:12 > 0:42:16# You'll sing my name through history
0:42:16 > 0:42:18# Ooh, ooh, ooh... #
0:42:18 > 0:42:22There's something really romantic and very attractive about the idea
0:42:22 > 0:42:24of these female pirates out, and were they dressed up as men or not,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26and why were they dressed up as men and...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29I mean, for me, my instinct when I read about it, or heard about it,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32was that that's just going to be easier to climb the rigging
0:42:32 > 0:42:33if they haven't got skirts on.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36I can imagine that when they were taking over other ships
0:42:36 > 0:42:37or when they were in battle,
0:42:37 > 0:42:41that sort of to not obviously be a woman might be advantageous.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45But I can't imagine they hid the fact that they were women
0:42:45 > 0:42:47for that amount of time on a ship with loads of men.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50No, and that's the thing, I think, that really stands out for me.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53- I'd like to think that all of the men knew they were women and...- Yeah.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55For sure they would. I can't imagine how you'd do it,
0:42:55 > 0:42:57but also why would you do it.
0:42:57 > 0:42:58Calico Jack was her lover, so...
0:42:58 > 0:43:01I mean how would she keep that from the whole ship?
0:43:01 > 0:43:04# We commandeered a ship one day
0:43:04 > 0:43:07# Out on the stormy seas
0:43:07 > 0:43:09# And of the men that joined us
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# There was one young Mary Read
0:43:12 > 0:43:15# She was dressed in manly fare
0:43:15 > 0:43:18# We became a savage pair
0:43:18 > 0:43:24# We rode the waves with the moon in our hair
0:43:24 > 0:43:28# Thrown like a barrel over the ocean, oh
0:43:28 > 0:43:30- # And we had you pinned - No, you never knew
0:43:30 > 0:43:34# Thrown like a barrel over the ocean, oh
0:43:34 > 0:43:36- # And you fought us well - Like a man
0:43:36 > 0:43:40# Down went Calico and Mary, oh
0:43:40 > 0:43:42# But I will never be hanged
0:43:42 > 0:43:46# Free as a herring gull on the ocean, oh
0:43:46 > 0:43:50# You sing my name through history
0:43:50 > 0:43:56# Oooh, ooh-ooh... #
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Legislation passed since Captain Kidd's trial
0:44:05 > 0:44:08meant that admiralty law could now be administered in the colonies,
0:44:08 > 0:44:13that the accused did not need to be sent back to England.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Unsurprisingly, Jack and his men were found guilty at the ensuing
0:44:16 > 0:44:19trial and were sentenced to death.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Now, in prison, Jack was allowed to see Anne one last time,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24but far from pitying him,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28she brazenly reprimanded him for their capture.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30"Had you fought like a man," she scowled,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34"you need not have been hanged like a dog."
0:44:34 > 0:44:37It was at the point of their sentencing that Bonny
0:44:37 > 0:44:41and Read's story took its last and most dramatic twist.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45When the judge passed sentence, he asked them
0:44:45 > 0:44:47if they had anything to say.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51The ladies replied, "My lord, we plead our bellies."
0:44:51 > 0:44:53They claimed that they were pregnant.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56The judge ordered a physical examination to be undertaken,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59and both women were indeed found to be pregnant,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02and both were granted a stay of execution.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15For Mary Read, however, this was no happy resolution
0:45:15 > 0:45:20as she contracted a fever soon after the trial and died in prison.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29As for Anne Bonny,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33there's no historical evidence that she was executed or released.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37Like Captain Henry Every, she simply vanished.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55Following his execution, Calico Jack's body -
0:45:55 > 0:45:56like that of Captain Kidd -
0:45:56 > 0:45:59was hanged in chains as a warning to others,
0:45:59 > 0:46:05on a sandy spit off Port Royal in Jamaica, now know as Rackham's Cay.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09But plenty of others would follow him to the gibbet.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30Nassau, in the Bahamas, which had been a pirate republic of
0:46:30 > 0:46:33lawless riot and drunken revelry
0:46:33 > 0:46:35had been brought under control with the appointment
0:46:35 > 0:46:38of Captain Woodes Rogers as the island's governor.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41He continued to offer that royal pardon
0:46:41 > 0:46:44and set about rebuilding the island's defences.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Captain Woodes Rogers is a key figure in the war
0:46:53 > 0:46:54against the pirates.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57He was a tough and resolute sea captain.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01He had orders to drive the pirates from their lodgement.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04And he goes out there with a fleet of ships,
0:47:04 > 0:47:07gets a hostile reception, but he establishes order.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09He captures some pirates
0:47:09 > 0:47:14and he then sets up a show trial which he presides over.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18Nine of them are hanged on the beach in front of the Fort of Nassau.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23And this sent a signal, really, across the Caribbean
0:47:23 > 0:47:27that there's a man in Nassau now who's in charge,
0:47:27 > 0:47:29who's restoring order.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34And in effect, it was an example to other colonial governors
0:47:34 > 0:47:37that if you're tough with the pirates, you can get rid of them.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Following the clamp-down in the Caribbean, many of the pirates
0:47:45 > 0:47:49set off across the Atlantic for other less well-patrolled waters.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02And it was to the slave coast of West Africa that they headed.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05It was in these waters just two years before
0:48:05 > 0:48:08that one sailor had risen to prominence -
0:48:08 > 0:48:12a pirate captain to eclipse all others -
0:48:12 > 0:48:16in what was to be the final flourish of this age of plunder.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22His name was Bartholomew Roberts,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26an outspoken and disciplined man whose swarthy Welsh complexion
0:48:26 > 0:48:29would lead to him being remembered as Black Bart.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Like many sailors of his generation, Bart had faced a dilemma
0:48:33 > 0:48:35when his ship had been captured by pirates,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38and he had reluctantly turned pirate.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41But that reluctance was then blown out of the water
0:48:41 > 0:48:44when his crew elected him captain.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48"Since I have dipped my hands in muddy water," he surmised,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52"it's better to be a commander than a common man."
0:49:03 > 0:49:07Over the course of three years, from 1719,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Black Bart had wrought havoc among merchant shipping on both
0:49:11 > 0:49:14sides of the Atlantic. And by the time he reached
0:49:14 > 0:49:17the shores of Africa in June 1721,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20he was in command of a flotilla of three vessels
0:49:20 > 0:49:23in addition to his flagship, The Royal Fortune.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36Such was the size and loyalty of his combined crew, that Black Bart's
0:49:36 > 0:49:39little fleet seemed like a proper navy, especially when you
0:49:39 > 0:49:43consider the way that he further formalised the Pirate's Code.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Amongst his articles or rules,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50he stipulated that no-one was to game at cards or dice for money.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53Anyone found seducing women or bringing them on board disguised
0:49:53 > 0:49:55would suffer death.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Oh, and the lights and candles had to be out by 8.00pm.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02So that's no fun, no women and you all had to be tucked up early.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08Bartholomew Roberts was, in a way, the most resolute
0:50:08 > 0:50:10and unbending of all pirates.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13He was a rather puritanical character and, I should think,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15completely terrifying to meet.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18Those who did put up a fight with Bartholomew Roberts had
0:50:18 > 0:50:23a really bad time and were usually eliminated in horrible ways -
0:50:23 > 0:50:28I mean, not just cutting off ears and noses, but he would hang them
0:50:28 > 0:50:30up in the rigging and use them for target practice.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34And this was simply in order that the word would get around -
0:50:34 > 0:50:36you don't mess around with Bartholomew Roberts.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Black Bart proved so elusive that those in pursuit began
0:50:47 > 0:50:50to think he was invincible, beyond capture,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54even pistol-proof, as his own crew described him.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56However, there was one man -
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Captain Chaloner Ogle of HMS Swallow -
0:50:59 > 0:51:01who had been tracking Bart for some eight months,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04and he was soon to find his quarry in his sights.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Sail ahoy! Sail ahoy!
0:51:10 > 0:51:12When the cry came for sail ahoy,
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Black Bart was enjoying a breakfast of strong tea -
0:51:15 > 0:51:16because he abhorred liquor -
0:51:16 > 0:51:20and salmagundi, a pirate speciality of pickled herring,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23boiled eggs, meat and vegetables.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27But for a man normally so disciplined and astute,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30Black Bart had finally been caught out.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38Looking through his telescope, he saw that the approaching ship
0:51:38 > 0:51:43was using the old ruse de guerre of flying false flags,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and he quickly ordered his men to ready themselves for battle.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Black Bart, perhaps sensing that the fatal hour was upon him,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01decided to go out in style and dressed gallantly for the engagement.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07As Captain Johnson's General History Of The Pirates records,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10"Roberts himself made a gallant figure,
0:52:10 > 0:52:14"being dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16"a red feather in his hat,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19"a gold chain round his neck with a cross hanging to it,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21"a sword in his hand
0:52:21 > 0:52:25"and two pairs of pistols hanging at the end of a silk sling,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29"flung over his shoulders, according to the fashion of pirates."
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Bart's plan was a characteristically bold one.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37If he was to stand any chance of escape, he would need to force
0:52:37 > 0:52:41that naval ship onto a new course, but that involved sailing
0:52:41 > 0:52:45directly towards her, which would expose his ship to cannon fire.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53The two ships closed on each other and exchanged broadsides.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58Captain Ogle's ship, The Swallow, remained unscathed, but Black Bart's
0:52:58 > 0:53:03lost its mizzenmast. Though, on it sailed, heading out into open sea.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06However as the noise subsided
0:53:06 > 0:53:09and the smoke cleared after that first broadside,
0:53:09 > 0:53:13the helmsman noticed Bart slumped on deck on a pile of rigging.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Not realising he was injured, he swore at him to get up
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and fight like a man.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20But Bartholomew Roberts was dead.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23His throat had been ripped out by grapeshot.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26And before his body could be seized and taken as a trophy,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28his faithful crew wrapped it in a sail,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31weighed it down with shot, and consigned it to the deep.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41A second broadside brought The Royal Fortune's mainmast down,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43upon which Black Bart's crew -
0:53:43 > 0:53:46with their spirits sunk and their captain gone -
0:53:46 > 0:53:47called for quarter.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02For his success, Captain Ogle was awarded a knighthood,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06the only British naval officer to be honoured specifically
0:54:06 > 0:54:08for his actions against pirates.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16The battle, Black Bart's death and the subsequent trial
0:54:16 > 0:54:19of his remaining crewmen at Cape Coast Castle,
0:54:19 > 0:54:20on the coast of Ghana,
0:54:20 > 0:54:24was to prove the turning point in the war against pirates.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37And this is their death warrant -
0:54:37 > 0:54:41a small piece of paper that would herald the end of an era.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45"Ye and each of you are adjudged
0:54:45 > 0:54:48"and sentenced to be carried back to the place from whence you came.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51"From thence to the place of execution
0:54:51 > 0:54:54"without the gates of this castle.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57"And there, within the flood marks,
0:54:57 > 0:55:02"to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead."
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Like Captain Kidd some 20 years before,
0:55:17 > 0:55:22these 52 dead pirates swaying out across the Atlantic
0:55:22 > 0:55:25were a stark reminder of the perils of piracy.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29It was the greatest slaughter of pirates ever carried out
0:55:29 > 0:55:31by the admiralty.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34And in a stroke, it brought this brief and bloody age
0:55:34 > 0:55:35to a dramatic finale.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Black Bart's short career had amounted to capturing
0:55:53 > 0:55:57over 470 vessels and plundering riches worth
0:55:57 > 0:56:01a total of around £20 million in today's money.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04When the rewards so greatly outweighed the risks,
0:56:04 > 0:56:09it's no wonder that so many sailors embraced the life of piracy.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15In his book, Captain Johnson devotes more space to Black Bart than
0:56:15 > 0:56:19to any of his contemporaries, and it includes a quote from Bart
0:56:19 > 0:56:24himself that, for me, serves as a mantra for all pirates.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26"In an honest service," says he,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29"there is low wages and hard labour.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33"In this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease,
0:56:33 > 0:56:35"liberty and power.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39"A merry life and a short one shall be my motto."
0:56:39 > 0:56:43Now, what's that if not the Faustian pact of all outlaws?
0:56:45 > 0:56:48As Georgian Britain's imperial
0:56:48 > 0:56:53and mercantile ambitions marched on, so its navy grew in size
0:56:53 > 0:56:57and strength, bolstered by vast numbers of sailors who only a
0:56:57 > 0:57:01few years earlier, might have easily joined the ranks of the pirates.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07They may have been a bunch of common outlaws, but these pirates
0:57:07 > 0:57:12had shaken the very foundations of a fledgling empire that would spread
0:57:12 > 0:57:15across the world once their lawless reign over the seas was ended.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27And these maritime renegades left a powerful legacy.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32Ordinary men - and women - forging new identities
0:57:32 > 0:57:34and a dangerous vision of freedom
0:57:34 > 0:57:40far removed from the authoritarian social order of Georgian Britain.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44To the establishment they were "enemies of mankind".
0:57:44 > 0:57:47But to the public, they became folk heroes,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and have remained so ever since.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53It would seem that in this short but sensational period in our
0:57:53 > 0:57:58history, it was the pirate and not Britannia who really ruled the waves.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10Next time, outlaws come closer to home.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12In the teeming cities of Georgian Britain
0:58:12 > 0:58:14and with no established police force,
0:58:14 > 0:58:18the thief, the robber and the cheat could live beyond the law.
0:58:18 > 0:58:23Rogues like Jack Sheppard, who no prison would hold,
0:58:23 > 0:58:26and Deacon Brodie, the original Jekyll and Hyde.