intercession he could to Captain Gow for pardon, or at least not to be
put on board the ship, knowing that if he was carried to Lisbon, he
should meet with his due from the Portuguese, if not from the English;
for it seems he had been concerned in some villainies among the
Portuguese before he came on board the _George_ galley. What they were
he did not confess, nor indeed did his own ship's crew trouble
themselves to examine him about it. He had been wicked enough among
them, and it was sufficient to make them use him as they did. It was
more to be wondered, indeed, that they did not cut him to pieces upon
the spot and throw him into the sea, half on one side of the ship, and
half on the other, for there was scarce a man in the ship but on one
occasion or other had some apprehensions of him, and might be said to go
in danger of his life from him. But they chose to shift their hands of
him this bloodless way, so they double fettered him and brought him up.
When they brought him among the men, he begged they would throw him
into the sea and drown him; then entreated for his life with a meanness
which made them despise him, and with tears, so that one time they began
to relent. But then the devilish temper of the fellow over-ruled it
again, so at last they resolved to let him go, and did accordingly put
him on board, and gave him many a hearty curse at parting, wishing him a
good voyage to the gallows, which was made good afterwards, though in
such company as they little thought of at that time. The Bristol captain
was very just to him, for according to their orders, as soon as they
came to Lisbon, they put him on board the _Argyle_, one of His Majesty's
ships, Captain Bowles commander, then lying in the Tagus, and bound home
for England, who accordingly brought him home. Though, as it happened,
Heaven brought the captain and the rest of the crew so quickly to an end
of their villainies that they all came home time enough to be hanged
with their lieutenant.

But to return to Gow and his crew. Having thus dismissed the
Bristol-man, and cleared his hands of most of his prisoners, with the
same wicked generosity he gave the Bristol captain thirteen cerons of
beeswax, as a gratuity for his trouble and charge with the prisoners,
and in recompense, as he called it, for the goods he had taken from him,
and so they parted.

This was the last prize they took, not only on the coast of Portugal,
but anywhere else, for Gow, who, to give him his due, was a fellow of
council and had a great presence of mind in cases of exigence,
considered that as soon as the Bristol ship came into the river of
Lisbon, they would certainly give an account of them, as well of their
strength, and of their station in which they cruised, and that
consequently the English men-of-war (of which there are generally some
in that river) would immediately come abroad to look for then. So he
began to reason with his officers that the coast of Portugal would be no
proper place at all for them, unless they resolved to fall into the
hands of the said men-of-war, and they ought to consider immediately
what to do. In these debates some advised one thing, some another, as is
usual in like cases. Some were for going to the coast of Guinea, where,
as they said, was purchase[103] enough, and very rich ships to be taken;
others were for going to the West Indies, and to cruise among the
Islands, and take up their station at Tobago; others, and not those of
the most ignorant, proposed standing in to the Bay of Mexico, and
joining in with some of a new sort of pirates at St. Jago de la Cuba,
who are all Spaniards, and call themselves _Guarda del Costa_, that is
Guard ships for the coast (though under that pretence they make prize of
ships of all nations, and sometimes even of their own countrymen too,
but especially of the English), but when this was proposed, it was
answered they durst not trust the Spaniards. Others said they should go
first to the islands of New Providence [Bahama Islands], or to the mouth
of the Gulf of Florida, and then cruising on the coast of North America,
and making their retreat at New Providence, cruise from the Gulf of
Florida, north upon the coast of Carolina, and as high as the Capes of
Virginia.

But nothing could be resolved on, until at last Gow let them into the
secret of a project, which, as he told them, he had long had in his
thoughts, and this was to go away to the North of Scotland, near the
coast of which, as he said, he was born and bred, and where he said, if
they met with no purchase upon the sea, he could tell them how they
should enrich themselves by going on shore. To bring them to concur with
this design, he represented the danger they were in where they were, the
want they were in of fresh water, and of several kinds of provisions,
but above all, the necessity they were in of careening and cleaning
their ship; that it was too long a run for them to go to southward, and
that they had not provisions to serve them till they could reach to any
place proper for that purpose, and might be driven to the utmost
distress, if they should be put by from watering, either by weather or
enemies.

Also, he told them, if any of the men-of-war came out in search of them,
they would never imagine they were gone away to the northward, so that
their run that way was perfectly secure, and he could assure them of his
own knowledge that if they landed in such places as he should direct,
they could not fail of considerable booty in plundering some gentlemen's
houses, who lived secured and unguarded very near the shore; and that
though the country should be alarmed, yet before the Government could
send any men-of-war to attack them, they might clean their ship, lay in
a store of fresh provisions, and be gone. Beside that, they would get a
good many stout fellows to go along with them upon his encouragement, so
that they should be better manned than they were yet, and should be
ready against all events.

These arguments and their approaching fate concurring, had a sufficient
influence on the ship's company to prevail on them to consent, so they
made the best of their way to the northward; and about the middle of
January they arrived at Carristoun,[104] in the Isles of Orkney, and
came to an anchor in a place which Gow told them was safe riding under
the lee of a small island at some distance from the port. But now their
misfortunes began to come on, and things looked but with an indifferent
aspect upon them, for several of their men, especially such of them as
had been forced or decoyed into their service, began to think of making
their escape from them, and to cast about for means to bring it to pass.

The first to take an opportunity to go away was a young man who was
originally one of the ship's company, but was forced by fear of being
murdered (as has been observed) to give a silent assent to go with them.
It was one evening when the boat went on shore, for they kept a civil
correspondence with the people of the town, that this young fellow,
being one of the ship's crew and having been several times on shore
before, and therefore not suspected, gave them the slip and got away to
a farm-house which lay under a hill out of sight. There, for two or
three pieces-of-eight, he got a horse, and soon by that means escaped to
Kirkwall, a market town and chief of the Orkneys, about twelve miles
from the place where the ship lay. As soon as he came there he
surrendered himself to the Government, desiring protection, and informed
them who Gow was, and what the ship's crew were, and upon what business
they were abroad, with what else he knew of their designs, as to
plundering the gentlemen's houses, etc. Upon this they immediately
raised the country, and got a strength together to defend themselves.

But the next disaster that attended the pirates (for misfortunes seldom
come alone) was more fatal than this, for ten of Gow's men, most of them
likewise forced into their service, went away with the long-boat, making
the best of their way for the mainland of Scotland. These men, however
they did it, or what shift soever they made to get so far, were taken in
the Firth of Edinburgh, and made prisoners there.

Hardened for his own destruction and Justice evidently pursuing him, Gow
grew the bolder for the disaster, and notwithstanding that the country
was alarmed, and that he was fully discovered, instead of making a
timely escape, he resolved to land, and so put his intended project of
plundering the gentlemen's houses into execution, whatever it cost him.

In order to this he sent the boatswain and ten men on shore the very
same night, very well armed, directing them to go to the house of Mr.
Honeyman of Grahamsey, sheriff of the county, and who was himself at
that time, to his great good fortune, from home. The people of the house
had not the least notice of their coming, so that when they knocked at
the door, it was immediately opened. Upon which they all entered the
house at once, except one Panton, who they set sentinel and ordered him
to stand at the door to secure their retreat, and to hinder any from
coming in after them Mrs. Honeyman and her daughter were extremely
frightened at the sight of so many armed men coming into the house, and
ran screaming about like people distracted, while the pirates, not
regarding them, were looking about for chests and trunks, where they
might expect to find some plunder; and Mrs. Honeyman in her fright
coming to the door asked Panton, the man who stood sentinel there, what
the meaning of it all was. He told her freely they were pirates, and
that they came to plunder her house. At this she recovered some courage,
and ran back into the house immediately, and knowing where her money
lay, which was very considerable and all in gold, she put the bag in her
lap and boldly rushing by Panton, who thought she was only running from
them in a fright, carried it all off, and so made her escape with the
treasure.

The boatswain being informed that the money was carried off, resolved to
revenge himself by burning the writings and papers, which they call
there the charters of their estates, and are always of great value in
gentlemen's houses of estates but the young lady, Mr. Honeyman's
daughter hearing them threaten to burn the writings, watched her
opportunity, and running to the charter-room where they lay, tied the
most considerable of them up in a napkin and threw them out of the
window, jumped out after them herself, and escaped without damage,
though the window was one storey high at least.

However, the pirates had the plundering of all the rest of the house
besides, and carried off a great deal of plate, and things of value, and
forced one of the servants, who played very well on the bagpipes, to
march along, piping before them, when they carried it off to the ship.
The next day they weighed anchor, intending though they had cleaned but
one side of the ship, to put out to sea and quit the coast. But sailing
eastward, they came to anchor again at a little island called Calf
Sound. And having some further mischief in their view here the boatswain
went on shore again with some armed men; but meeting with no other
plunder they carried off three women, whom they kept on board some time
and used so inhumanly that when they set them on shore again they were
not able to go or stand, and it is said one of them died on the beach
where they left them.

The next day they weighed again, holding the same course eastward,
through the openings between the islands, till they came off Ross Ness;
and now Gow resolved to make the best of his way for the Island of Eday,
to plunder the house of Mr. Fea, a gentleman of a considerable estate,
and with whom Gow had some acquaintance, having been at school together,
when they were youths. On the 13th of February in the morning, Gow
appearing with his ship off Calf Sound, Mr. Fea and his family were very
much alarmed, not being able to get together above six or seven men for
his defence. He therefore wrote a letter to Gow intending to send it on
board as soon as he should get into the harbour, to desire him to
forbear the usual salutes, with his great guns, because Mrs. Fea his
wife was so very much indisposed, and this as he would oblige his old
school fellow; telling him at the same time that the inhabitants were
all fled to the mountains, on the report of his being a pirate, which he
hoped would not prove true. In which case, he should be very ready to
supply him with all such necessities as the island would afford,
desiring him to send the messengers safe back, at whose return the
alarms of the people would immediately be at an end.

The tide it seems runs extremely rapid among those islands, and the
navigation is thereby rendered very dangerous and uncertain. Gow was an
able seaman, but was no pilot for that place, and which was worse, he
had no boat to assist in case of extremity, to ware the ship, and in
turning into Calf Sound, he stood a little too near the point of a
little island called the Calf, and which lay in the middle of the
passage. Here his ship missing stays, was in great danger of going on
shore; to avoid which, he dropped an anchor under his foot, which taking
good hold, brought him up, and he thought the danger was over. Gow was
yet in distress and had no remedy but to send his small boat on shore to
Mr. Fea to desire his assistance, that is to say, to desire him to lend
him a boat to carry out an anchor and heave off the ship. Mr. Fea sent
back the boat, and one James Laing in it, with the letter already
mentioned. Gow sent him back immediately with an answer, by word of
mouth, viz., that he would write to nobody, but if Mr. Fea would order
his people to assist him with a boat to carry out an anchor, he would
reward them handsomely.

In the meantime Mr. Fea ordered his great boat, for he had such a one as
Gow wanted, to be staved and launched into the water and sunk, and the
masts, sails and oars to be carried out of sight. While this was doing
Mr. Fea perceived Gow's boat coming on shore, with five persons in her.
These men having landed on the main island, left their boat on the
beach, and altogether marched directly up to the mansion house. This put
him into some surprise at first, however, he resolved to meet them in a
peaceable manner, though he perceived they were all double-armed. When
he came up to them, he entreated them not to go up to the house,
because of the languishing condition of his wife, who was already
frighted with the rumours which had been raised of their being pirates,
and that she would certainly die with the fear she was in for herself
and family, if they came to the door.

The boatswain answered they did not desire to fright his wife, or
anybody else, but they came to desire the assistance of his boat, and if
he would not grant them so small a favour, he had nothing to expect from
them but the utmost extremity. Mr. Fea returned that they knew well
enough he could not venture to give them or lend them his boat or any
help, as they appeared to be such people as were reported, but that if
they would take them by force, he could not help himself. But in the
meantime, talking still in a friendly manner to them, he asked them to
go to a neighbouring house, which he said was a change-house, that is a
public-house, and take a cup of ale with him. This they consented to,
seeing Mr. Fea was alone; so they went all with him. In the meantime Mr.
Fea found means to give secret orders that the oars, masts and sails of
the pirates' boat should be all carried away, and that a quarter of an
hour after they had sat together, he should be called hastily out of the
room, on some pretence or other of somebody to speak with him; all which
was performed to a tittle. When he was got from them, he gave orders
that his six men, who before he had got together, and who were now come
to him well armed, should place themselves at a certain stile behind a
thick hedge, and which was about half way between the alehouse and his
own house, saying that if he came that way with the boatswain alone,
they should suddenly start out upon them both, and throwing him down,
should seize upon the other, but that if all the five came with him, he
would take an occasion to be either before or behind them, so that they
might all fire upon them, without danger of hurting him.

Having given these orders, and depending upon their being well executed,
he returned to the company and having given them more ale, told them he
would gladly do them any service that he could lawfully do, and that if
they would take the trouble of walking up to his house in a peaceable
manner so that his family might not be frighted with seeing him among
them, they should have all the assistance that was in his power. The
fellows (whether they had taken too much ale, or whether the condition
of their ship and the hopes of getting a boat to help them, blinded
their eyes, is not certain) fell with ease into this snare, and agreed
readily to go along with Mr. Fea; but after a while resolved not to go
all of them, only deputed the boatswain to go, which was what Mr. Fea
most desired.

[Illustration: A GANG OF MEN AND WOMEN TRANSPORTS BEING MARCHED FROM
NEWGATE TO BLACKFRIARS

Chained neck to neck and hand to hand these wretches were led through
the streets to Blackfriars Stairs, where they were taken aboard a barge
and carried down the river to the vessel which was to transport them to
America.

(_From the Newgate Calendar_)]

The boatswain was very willing to accept of the trust, but it was
observed he took a great deal of care of his arms, which were no less
than four pistols, all loaded with a brace of bullets each, nor would he
be persuaded to leave any of them behind him, no not with his own men.
In this posture, Mr. Fea and the boatswain walked along together very
quietly, until they came to the stile, having got over which Mr. Fea,
seeing his men all ready, turned short about upon the boatswain, and
taking him by the collar, told him he was his prisoner and the same
moment, the rest of his men rushing in upon them, threw both down, and
so secured the boatswain, without giving him time so much as to fire one
pistol. He cried out, indeed, with all his might to alarm his men, but
they soon stopped his mouth by first forcing a pistol into it, and then
a handkerchief; and having disarmed him, bound his hands behind him and
his feet together. Then Mr. Fea left him there under a guard, and with
his other five men, but without arms, at least such that could be seen,
returned to the alehouse to the rest. The house having two doors, they
divided themselves and rushing in at both doors at the same time, they
seized the four men before they were aware, or had time to lay hold of
their arms. They did indeed what men could do, and one of them snapped a
pistol at Mr. Fea, but it did not go off, and Mr. Fea at the same time
snatching at the pistol to divert the shot if it had fired, struck his
hand with such force against the cock, as very much bruised it.

They were all five now in his power, and he sent them away under a good
guard to a village in the middle of the island, where they were kept
separate from one another, and sufficiently secured. Mr. Fea then
despatched expresses to the gentlemen in the neighbouring island to
acquaint them with what he had done, and to desire their speedy
assistance, also desiring earnestly that they would take care that no
boat should go within reach of the pirates' guns. And at night Mr. Fea
caused fires to be made upon the hills round him, to alarm the country,
and ordered all the boats round the Island to be hauled up upon the
beach, as far as it was possible, and disabled also, lest the pirates
should swim from the ship, and get any of them into their possession.

Next day, the 4th, it blew very hard all day, and in the evening about
high water, it shifted to W.N.W., upon which the pirates set their
sails, expecting to get off and so to lay it round the island, and put
out to sea. But the fellow who was ordered to cut the cable, missing
several strokes, the cable checked the ship's way, and consequently on a
sudden she took all aback. Then the cable being parted when it should
have been held, the ship ran directly on shore on the Calf Island, nor
could all their speed prevent it. With an air of desperation Gow told
them they were all dead men, nor could it indeed be otherwise, for
having lost the only boat they had, and five of their best hands, they
were able to do little or nothing towards getting their ship off;
besides, as she went on shore at the top of high water, and a spring
tide, there was no hope of getting her off afterward. Wherefore the next
morning, being Monday, the 15th, they hung out a white flag, as a signal
for a parley, and sent a man on shore upon Calf Island, for now they
could go on shore out of the ship at half flood.

Now Mr. Fea thought he might talk with Gow, in a different style from
what he did before; so he wrote a letter to him, wherein he complained
of the rude behaviour of his five men, for which he told him, he had
been obliged to seize on them, and make them prisoners, letting him know
that the country being all alarmed would soon be too many for him, and
therefore advised him to surrender himself peaceably, and be the author
of a quiet surrender of the rest, as the only means to obtain any
favour; and then he might become an evidence against the rest, and so
might save his own life. This letter Mr. Fea sent by a boat with four
armed men to the island, to be given to the fellow that Gow had sent on
shore, and who waited there; at the same time, he gave them a letter
from Gow to Mr. Fea, for now he was humbled enough to write, which
before he refused. Gow's letter to Mr. Fea was to let him have some men
and boats, to take out the best of the cargo, in order to lighten the
ship, and set her afloat; offering himself to come on shore and be
hostage for the security of men and boats and to give Mr. Fea a thousand
pounds in goods for the service. He declared at the same time, that if
this small succour was refused him, he would take care nobody should
better himself by his misfortunes, for rather than they would suffer
themselves to be taken, they would set fire to the ship, and would all
perish together.

Mr. Fea replied to this letter that he had a boat indeed, that would
have been fit for his service, but that she was staved and sunk; but if
he would come on shore quietly without arms, and bring his carpenter
with him to repair the boat, he might have her. Mr. Fea did this to give
Gow an opportunity to embrace his first offer of surrendering. But Gow
was neither humble enough to come in nor sincere enough to treat with
him fairly, if he had intended to let him have the boat; and if he had,
it is probable that the former letter had made the men suspicious of
him, so that now he could do nothing without communicating it to the
rest of the crew. About four in the afternoon Mr. Fea received an answer
to his last letter, the copy of which is exactly as follows:

From on board our Ship the
_Revenge_, Feb. 16th, 1725.

Honoured Sir,

I am sorry to hear of the irregular proceedings of my men; I gave no
orders to that effect, and what hath been wrongfully done to the
country, was contrary to my inclinations. It is my misfortune to be
in this condition at present; it was in your power to have done
otherwise in making my fortune better. Since my being in the
country, I have wronged no man, nor taken anything but what I have
paid for. My design in coming was to make the country better, which
I am still capable to do, providing you are just to me. I thank you
for the concern you have for my bad fortune, and am sorry I cannot
embrace your proposal as to being evidence, my people have already
made use of that advantage. I have by my last signified my design of
proceeding, provided I can procure no better terms. Please to send
James Laing on board to continue till my return. I should be glad to
have the good fortune to commune with you upon that subject. I beg
that you would assist me with a boat, and be assured I do no man
harm, were it in my power, as I am now at your mercy. I cannot
surrender myself prisoner, I'd rather commit myself to the mercy of
the seas; so that if you will incline to contribute to my escape, I
shall leave my ship and cargo at your disposal.

I continue,
Honoured Sir etc.,
John Smith

Upon this letter, and especially that part wherein Gow desired to
commune with him, Mr. Fea, believing he might do some service in
persuading him to submit, went over to Calf Island and went on shore
alone, ordering his boat to lie in readiness to take him in again, but
not one man to stir out of her, and calling to Gow with a speaking
trumpet desired him to come on shore. This the other readily did, but
Mr. Fea, before he ventured, wisely foresaw that whilst he was alone
upon the Island, the pirates might unknown from him, get the ship by
different ways, and under cover of shore might get behind and surround
him. To prevent which, he set a man upon the top of his own house, which
was on the opposite shore and overlooked the whole island, and ordered
him to make signals with his flag, waving his flag once for every man
that he saw come on shore, but if four or more came on shore, then to
keep the flag waving continually, till he (Mr. Fea) should retire. This
precaution was very needful, for no sooner was Mr. Fea advanced upon the
island, expecting Gow to come on shore to meet him, but he saw a fellow
come from the ship, with a white flag, a bottle, a glass and a bundle,
then turning to his own house, he saw his man make the signals
appointed, and that the man kept the flag continually waving. Upon which
he immediately retired to his boat, and he was no sooner got into it,
but he saw five fellows running under shore, with lighted matches and
grenadoes in their hands to have intercepted him, but seeing him out of
their reach, they retired to the ship.

After this the fellow with the white flag came up and gave Mr. Fea two
letters; he would have left the bundle, which he said was a present to
Mr. Fea, and the bottle which he said was a bottle of brandy, but Mr.
Fea would not take them, but told the fellow his captain was a
treacherous villain, and he did not doubt that he should see him hanged,
and as to him (the fellow) he had a great mind to shoot him; upon which
the fellow took to his heels, and Mr. Fea being in his boat did not
think it worth while to land again to pursue him. This put an end to all
parley for the present, but had the pirates succeeded in this attempt,
they would have so far gained their point, either that they must have
been assisted, or Mr. Fea must have been sacrificed.

The two letters from Gow were one for Mr. Fea, and the other for his
wife. The first was much to the same purpose as the former, only that in
this Gow requested the great boat with her masts, sails and oars, with
some provisions to transport themselves whither they thought fit to go
for their own safety, offering to leave the ship and cargo to Mr. Fea,
and threatening that if the men-of-war arrived (for Mr. Fea had given
him notice that he expected two men-of-war) before he was thus assisted,
they would set fire to the ship, and blow themselves up, so that as they
had lived so they would die together. The letter to Mrs. Fea was to
desire her to intercede with her husband, and plead that he was their
countryman and had been her husband's schoolfellow, etc. But no answer
was returned to either of these letters.

On the 17th, in the morning, contrary to expectation, Gow himself came
on shore upon the Calf Island[105], unarmed except for his sword, and
alone, only one man at a distance, carrying a white flag, making signals
for a parley. Mr. Fea, who by this time had gotten more people about
him, immediately sent one Mr. Fea, of Whitehall, a gentleman of his own
family, with five other persons well-armed over the island, with orders
to secure Gow if it were possible by any means, either dead or alive.
When they came on shore, Gow proposed that one of them, whose name was
Schottary, a master of a vessel, should go on board the ship as hostage
for this Gow's safety, and Schottary consenting, Gow himself conducted
him to the ship's side.

Mr. Fea perceiving this from his own house, immediately took another
boat and went over to the island himself, and while he was expostulating
with his men for letting Schottary go for hostage, Gow returned, and Mr.
Fea made no hesitation, but told him that he was his prisoner. At this
Gow started and said that it ought not to be so, since there was a
hostage delivered for him. Mr. Fea said he gave no order for it, and it
was what they could not justify, and since Schottary had ventured
without orders, he must take his fate, he would run the venture of it;
but he advised Gow, as he expected good usage himself, that he would
send the fellow who carried his white flag back to the ship with orders
for them to return Schottary in safety, and to desire Winter and
Peterson to come with him. Gow declined giving any such orders, but the
fellow said he would readily go and fetch them, and did so, and they
came along with him. When Gow saw them, he reproached them for being so
easily imposed on, and ordered them to go back to the ship immediately,
but Mr. Fea's men, who were too strong for them, surrounded them and
took them all. When this was done, they demanded Gow to deliver his
sword, but he said he would rather die with it in his hand, and begged
them to shoot him, but was denied; and Mr. Fea's men disarming him of
his sword, carried him with the other two into their boat, and after
that to the main island, where Mr. Fea lived.

Having thus secured the captain, Mr. Fea prevailed with him to go to the
shore over against the ship, and to call the gunner and another man to
come on shore on Calf Island, which they did. But they were no sooner
there, but they also were surrounded by some men which Mr. Fea had
placed out of sight upon the island for that purpose. Then they made Gow
call to the carpenter to come on shore, still making them believe they
would have a boat; and Mr. Fea went over and met him alone, and talking
with him, told him they could not repair the boat without help and
without tools. So persuading him to go back and bring a hand or two with
him, and some tools, some oakum, nails, etc., the carpenter being thus
deluded, went back and brought a Frenchman and another with him, with
all things proper for their work. All of whom, as soon as they came on
shore, were likewise seized and secured by Mr. Fea and his men.

But there were still a great many men in the ship, whom it was necessary
to bring if possible to a quiet surrender; so Mr. Fea ordered his men to
make a feint as if they would go to work upon the great boat which lay
on the shore upon the island but in sight of the ship. There they
hammered and knocked and made a noise as if they were really caulking
and repairing her, in order to her being launched off and put into their
possession; but towards night he obliged Gow to write to the men that
Mr. Fea would not deliver the boat until he was in possession of the
ship, and therefore he ordered them all to come on shore, without arms,
and in a peaceable manner. This occasioned many debates in the ship, but
as they had no officers to guide them and were all in confusion, they
knew not what to do. So after some time bewailing their hard fate, and
dividing what money was left in the ship among them, they yielded and
went on shore, and were all made prisoners, to the number of
eight-and-twenty, including those who were secured before.

Being now all secured and in custody in the most proper places in the
island, Mr. Fea took care to give notice to the proper officers in the
country, and by them to the Government of Edinburgh, in order to get
help for the carrying them to England. The distance being so great, it
took up some time; for the Government at Edinburgh not being immediately
concerned in it, but rather the Court of Admiralty of Great Britain,
expresses were dispatched from thence to London, that his Majesty's
pleasure might be known; in return to which, orders were despatched into
Scotland to have them immediately sent up into England with as much
expedition as the case would admit. Accordingly they were brought up by
land to Edinburgh first, and from thence being put on board the
_Greyhound_ frigate, they were brought by sea to England. This
necessarily took up a great deal of time, so that had they been wise
enough to improve the hours that were left, they had almost half a
year's time to prepare themselves for death, though they cruelly denied
the poor mate of a few moments to commend his soul to God's mercy, even
after he was half murdered before. They were most of them in custody the
latter end of January, and were not executed till the 11th of June.

The _Greyhound_ arrived in the river the 25th of March, and the next day
came to an anchor at Woolwich; and the pirates being put into boats
appointed to receive them, with a strong guard to attend them, were
brought on shore on the 30th, and conveyed to the Marshalsea prison in
Southwark, where they were delivered to the keepers of the said prison,
and were laid in irons. There they had the mortification to meet
Lieutenant Williams, who was brought home by the _Argyle_ man-of-war,
from Lisbon, and had been committed to the same prison but a very few
days before.

Indeed, as it was a mortification to them, so it was more to him, for
though he might be secretly pleased that those who had so cruelly, as he
called it, put him into the hands of Justice by sending him to Lisbon,
were brought into the same circumstances with himself, yet on the other
hand, it could not but be a terrible mortification to him that here were
now sufficient witnesses found to prove his crimes against him, which
were not so easy to be had before.

Being thus laid fast, it remained to proceed against them in due form,
and this took up some long time still. On Friday, the 2nd of April, they
were all carried to Doctors' Commons, where the proper judges being
present, they were examined; by which examination the measures were
taken for the farther proceedings. For as they were not equally guilty,
so it was needful to determine who it was proper to bring to an
immediate trial, and who, being less guilty, were more proper objects of
the Government's clemency, as being under force and fear and
consequently necessitated to act as they did; and also who it might be
proper to single out as an evidence against the rest. After being thus
examined they were remanded to the Marshalsea. On Saturday, the 8th of
May, the five who were appointed for evidence against the rest, and
whose names are particularly set down in its place, were sent from the
Marshalsea prison to Newgate, in order to give their information.

Being thus brought up to London, and committed to the Marshalsea prison,
and the Government being fully informed, what black uncommon offenders
they were, it was thought proper to bring them to speedy justice. In
order to this, some of them, as has been said, who were less criminal
than the rest, and who apparently had been forced into their service,
were sorted out, and being examined (giving first an account of
themselves, and then of the whole fraternity) it was thought fit to make
use of their evidence for the more clear detecting and convincing of the
rest. These were George Dobson, John Phinnes, Timothy Murphy, and
William Booth.

These were the principal evidences, and were indeed more than
sufficient, for they so exactly agreed in their evidence, and the
prisoners (pirates) said so little in their defence, that there was no
room for the jury to question their guilt, or to doubt the truth of any
part of the account given in. Robert Read was a young man, mentioned
before, who escaped from the boat in the Orkneys, where he surrendered
himself, after getting a horse at a farmer's house, and conveying
himself to Kirkwall, the chief town of the said Orkneys. Nevertheless,
he was brought up as a prisoner with the rest, nor was he made use of as
an evidence but was tried upon most, if not all the indictments with the
rest. But Dobson, one of the witnesses, did him the justice to testify
that he was forced into their service, as others were, for fear of
having their throats cut, as many had been served before their faces,
and that in particular he was not present at, or concerned in any of the
murders for which the rest were indicted. Upon which evidence, he was
acquitted by the jury. Also he brought one Archibald Sutor, the man of
the house said before to be a farm-house, as to whether the said Read
made his escape in the Orkneys, who testified that he did so escape to
him, and that he begged him to procure him a horse, to ride off to
Kirkwall, which he did, and there he surrendered himself; also he
testified that Read gave him (Sutor) a full account of the ship and the
pirates that were in her, and what they were; and that he (Sutor)
revealed it all to the collector of the Customs, by which means the
country was alarmed, and he added, that it was by this man's means that
all the prisoners were apprehended (though that was going too far, for
'tis plain, that it was by the vigilance and courage of Mr. Fea,
chiefly, that they were reduced to such distresses as obliged them to
surrender). However, it was true that Read's escape did alarm the
country, and that he merited very well of the public for the timely
discovery he made, so he came off clear as indeed it was but just, for
he was not only forced to serve them, but as Dobson testified for him,
he had often expressed his uneasiness at being obliged to act with them,
and that he wished he could get away, and he was sincere in those
wishes, as appeared by his taking the first opportunity he could get to
put it in practice. This Dobson was one of the ten men who ran away with
the pirates' long-boat from the Orkneys, and who were afterwards made
prisoners in the Firth of Leith, and carried up to Edinburgh.

Gow was now a prisoner among the rest in the Marshalsea. His behaviour
there was sullen and reserved, rather than penitent. It had been hinted
to him by Mr. Fea, as by others, that by his behaviour he should
endeavour to make himself an evidence against others, and to merit his
life by a ready submission, and obliging others to do the like. But Gow
was no fool, and he easily saw there were too many gone before who had
provided for their own safety at his expense, and besides that he knew
himself too deeply guilty of cruelty and murder to be accepted by public
justice as an evidence, especially where so many other less criminals
were to be had. This made him, with good reason, too, give over any
thoughts of escaping by such means as that; and perhaps seeing so
plainly that there was no room for it might be the reason why he seemed
to reject the offer, otherwise he was not a person of such nice honour
as that we should suppose he would not have secured his own life at the
expense of his comrades. Gow appeared to have given over all thoughts of
life, from the first time he came to England. Not that he showed any
tokens of his repentance, or any sense of his condition suitable to that
which was before him, but continuing sullen and reserved, even to the
very time he was brought to the bar, when he came there, he could not be
tried with the rest, for the arraignment being made in the usual form,
he refused to plead. The Court used all the arguments which humanity
dictates in such cases,[106] to prevail on him to come into ordinary
course of other people in like government, laying before him the
sentence of the law in such cases, namely that he must be pressed to
death, the only torturing execution which however they were obliged to
inflict.

But he continued inflexible, carried on his obstinacy to such a height
as to receive the sentence in form, as usual in such cases. The
execution being appointed to be done the next morning, he was carried
back to Newgate in order to it. But whether he was prevailed with by
argument and the reasons of those about him, or whether the apparatus
for the execution and the manner of the death he was to die terrified
him, we cannot say, but the next morning he yielded, and petitioned to
be allowed to plead, and he admitted to be tried in the ordinary way.
Which being granted, he was brought to the bar by himself and pleaded,
being arraigned again upon the same indictment upon which he had been
sentenced as a mute, and was found guilty.

Williams the lieutenant, who was put on board the Bristol ship (as hath
been said) with orders to deliver him on board the first English
man-of-war they should meet with, comes, of course, to have the rest of
his history made up in this place. The captain of the Bristol ship,
though he received his orders from the crew of pirates and rogues, whose
instructions he was not obliged to follow, and whose accusation of
Williams they were not obliged to give credit to, yet punctually obeyed
the order, and put him on board the _Argyle_, Captain Bowler, then lying
in the port of Lisbon and bound for England; who, as they took him in
irons, kept him so, and brought him to England, in the same conditions.
But as the pirates did not send any of their company, nor indeed could
they do it, along with him to be evidence against him, and the men who
went out of the pirate ship on board the Bristol ship, being till then
kept as prisoners on board the pirate ship (and perhaps could not have
said enough, or given particular evidence, sufficient to convict him in
a course of justice), Providence supplied the want by bringing the whole
crew to the same place; for Williams was in the Marshalsea prison before
them, and by that means they furnished sufficient evidence against
Williams also, so that they were all tried together.

In Williams's case the evidence was as particular as in Gow's, and
Dobson and the other swore positively that Williams boasted that after
MacCauly had cut the super-cargo's throat imperfectly, he (Williams)
murdered him, and added that he would not give him time to say his
prayers, but shot him through the head. Phinnes and Timothy Murphy
testified the same, and to show the bloody disposition of this wretch,
William Booth testified that Williams proposed afterwards to the company
that if they took any more ships they should not encumber themselves
with the men, having already so many prisoners that in case of a fight
they should not be safe with them; but that they should take them and
tie them, back to back, and throw them all overboard into the sea.

It should not be omitted here also in the case of Gow himself (as I have
observed in the introduction) that Gow had long meditated the kind of
villainy which he now put in practice, and that it was his resolution to
turn pirate the first opportunity he should get, whatever voyage he
undertook, and that I observed he had intended it on board a ship in
which he came home from Lisbon, and failed only for want of a sufficient
party. So this resolution of his is confirmed by the testimony and
confession of James Belvin, one of his fellow-criminals, who upon trial
declared that he knew that Gow and the crew of the _George_ galley had a
design to turn pirates from the beginning, and added that he discovered
it to George Dobson, in Amsterdam, before the ship went out to sea. For
the confirmation of this, George Dobson was called up again, after he
had given his evidence upon the trials, and being confronted by Belvin,
he did acknowledge that Belvin had said so, and that in particular he
had said that the boatswain had a design to murder the master and some
others and run away with the ship. Being asked why he did not
immediately reveal it to the master, Captain Ferneau, he answered that
he heard Belvin tell the mate of it, and that the mate told the captain;
but the captain made light of it. But the boatswain finding himself
discovered, refused to go, upon which Gow was made second mate, and
Belvin was made boatswain; an he had been as honest afterwards as
before (whereas on the contrary, he was as forward and active as any of
them, except that he was not in the first secret nor in the murders), he
might have escaped what afterwards became so justly his due. But as they
acted together, Justice required that they should suffer together, and
accordingly, Gow and Williams, Belvin, Melvin, Winter, Peterson,
Rowlinson and MacCauly, received the reward of their cruelty and blood
at the gallows, being all executed together on the eleventh of June.

It happened that Gow being a very strong man, and giving a kind of
spring, it so strained the rope that, on some people pulling him by the
legs, it broke and he fell down, after he had remained about four
minutes suspended. His fall stunned him a little, but as soon as he was
taken up, he recovered himself so far as to be able to ascend the ladder
a second time, which he did with very little concern, dying with the
same brutal ferocity which animated all his actions while alive. His
body hangs in chains over against Greenwich, as that of Williams does
over against Blackwall.

FOOTNOTES:

[102] The most northerly of the islands.

[103] The word is here used in its original sense, indicating
something acquired by seeking--or hunting--_pour chasser._

[104] The island of Carrick.

[105] According to Johnson's _History of the Pirates_ (Chap.
XVIII) Gow's real motive for returning to the Orkneys was to wed
a girl whose parents had repulsed him on account of his poverty.
She was the daughter of one Mr. G----, a well-to-do man.

[106] One of these humane arguments, according to Johnson, _op.
cit._, consisted in tying his thumbs together with whipcord,
"which was done several times by the executioner and another
officer; they drawing the cord until it broke."



APPENDIX


_Although the several histories which are related within the compass of