Chapter XIII: The Strange Adventures of Philip Ashton (1)

On Friday, June 15, 1722, a number of the vessels of the fishing fleet hailing from Massachusetts Bay, were at anchor at Port Roseway near what is now Shelburne, Nova Scotia. It was the custom of these God-fearing fishermen, when possible, to come into some harbor not too remote from their fishing grounds and there to spend the Sabbath. On this occasion thirteen schooners and shallops were lying peacefully at anchor when a strange brigantine hove in sight and soon found an anchorage near them. She seemed to be an inward bound vessel from the West Indies and little attention was paid to her at first, even when a boat put off from her side with four men in it. When this boat’s crew reached the side of the nearest fisherman, the men climbed boldly on board and drawing pistols and cutlasses demanded a surrender.

The brigantine turned out to be the “Rebecca,” owned in Boston, but recently captured and then commanded by Capt. Edward Low, the Boston man who had become a pirate and whose bloody excesses were becoming more notorious every day. One by one the fishermen surrendered and were pillaged.[129] On Tuesday, the 19th, Low decided to take for his “privateer,” the new schooner “Mary,” owned by Joseph Dolliber of Marblehead. He fitted her with ten guns, renamed her the “Fancy,” and went aboard with a crew of fifty men, including eight whom he forced from among the fishermen. The forced men were Philip Ashton and Nicholas Merritt, masters; Joseph Libbie, one of Ashton’s crew; Lawrence Fabens, one of the crew of the schooner “Rebeckah,” all of Marblehead, and four other men belonging to Piscataqua and the Isles of Shoals, all nimble young men, about twenty years of age and unmarried. Low shipped the prisoners he designed to send home, on board his late brigantine, the “Rebecca,” of Boston, which he and his consort Lowther had taken May 28th, and gave her to her former master, Capt. James Flucker, with orders to take them to Boston. On their arrival the news was duly published in the _Boston News-Letter_ of July 2d, with the customary advertisement as to the forcing, but in order to make the matter doubly sure, a further advertisement, in more legal form, appeared in the _News-Letter_, of July 9th, viz:--

“Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New-England, Essex, ss.
Anno Regni Regis Georgij nunc Magna Britaniæ, &c. Octavo.

“The Depositions of Thomas Trefry late Master of the Scooner
Mary; Robert Gilford Master of the Shallop Elizabeth; and John
Collyer, one of the Crew belonging to the Scooner Samuel,
William Nichols Master, all of Marblehead in the County of
Essex, Fisher men, Testify and say, That as they were upon
their lawfull Imployment nigh Cape Sables, on or about the
14th, 15th and 16th Days of June last past, they were taken
Prisoners by Captain Edward Low a Pirate then Commander of the
Brigantine [Rebecca] but since removed himself into the before
named Scooner Mary, which they took from the Deponent Trefry;
and besides these Deponents they took several other Fishing
Vessels, viz.: _Nicholas Merrit Master of the Shallop Jane_,
_Philip Ashton Master of the Scooner Milton_, _Joseph Libby
one of said Ashton’s Crew_, _Lawrence Phabens one of the Crew
belonging to the Scooner Rebeckah, Thomas Salter Commander_,
all these four Men, to wit, Nicholas Merrit, Philip Ashton,
Joseph Libbey, and Lawrence Phabens, being Young Nimble Men of
about Twenty Years of Age, the Pirates kept them by Force and
would not let them go tho’ they pleaded as much as they dare
to, yet nothing would avail, so as they wept like Children; yet
notwithstanding they forceably Carried them away to the great
Grief and Sorrow of the aforenamed four Young Men, as well as
these Deponents; and when any of these Deponents mentioned any
thing in favour of the said four Young Men, the Quarter Master
of the Pirate Publickly Declared, They would carry them, and
let them send to New England and Publish it if they pleased.
The Deponants further say, That the said Pirates constrained
four more Fisher men belonging to Piscataqua, and the Isle of
Sholes to go with them against their wills also.

“Salem, July the 3d 1722.
Thomas Trefry,
John Collyer,
Robert Gilford.

Essex, ss. Salem, July the 3d, 1722.

“Then Thomas Trefry, John Collyer and Robert Gilford the
Three Deponants above named personally Appearing made Oath to
the Truth of the foregoing Deposition taken ad Perpetuam rei
memoriam.

{ Josiah Wolcot Justices of the Peace
“Coram Nobis { Stephen Sewall Quorum Unis

“A True Copy of the Original, and as of Record appears.
Examin’d per Stephen Sewall, Regist.”

--_Boston News-Letter_, July 9, 1722.

Philip Ashton served, unwillingly, with Low in the schooner “Fancy,” in the “Rose Pink,” alias “Frigate,” and again in the “Fancy,” with Low’s late quartermaster, Francis Farrington Spriggs. In the spring of 1723, Low went to the island of Roatan, in the Bay of Honduras, to clean and refit his fleet. Roatan lies in the latitude of 16° 31’ and is about thirty miles long. On March 9, 1723, while there, Ashton went ashore with the cooper and others for water and managed to escape and after five days Low and Spriggs sailed away without him. Ashton remained alone on the island, except for three days, until June, 1724, when he was joined by eighteen Bay men, seeking shelter from the Spaniards, who took him with them to the Island of Barbarat. Ashton then made several hunting trips to the island of Bonaco and in the spring of 1725 was found there by Captain Dove, the master of a Salem brigantine, who came in over the shoals for water. They sailed for Salem on March 31st, and Ashton arrived home May, 1725, having been absent almost three years. The _New England Courant_ announced his return soon after as follows:--

“Boston, May 10. We hear from Salem, that a Vessel arrived
there from the Bay [of Honduras] _has brought a Man who was
taken by Low the Pirate some Years since_, and ran away from
him when he went ashore at a Maroon Island to take in Water,
where he had been above two Years, when some of this Vessel’s
Company going on Shore brought him off.”

Shortly after Ashton’s return to Marblehead, Roads, the historian of Marblehead, says the next Sunday, which would have been the day after his return, the Rev. John Barnard, pastor of the First Church, preached a sermon on “God’s Ability to Save His People from All Danger,” using for his text Daniel III, 17.[130]

Philip Ashton[131] and his parents were present and the sermon closed with a personal address to him.

Public interest having been aroused in the local Robinson Crusoe, who, indeed, had gone Alexander Selkirk one better, having landed on an uninhabited island wearing only a frock, trousers and cap, without a shirt or shoes, stockings, knife or other iron instrument, or any means of making a fire, and who had lived there nine months without fire or cooked food, there was naturally a demand for an account of his adventures. This was met by Mr. Barnard, who, on Aug. 3d, 1725, writing from Marblehead, says:--

“The great Reason why this Narrative, which has been so long
wished for, has no sooner appeared, is because Mr. Ashton has
necessarily been so absent, that I have not been able to get
the opportunity of Conferring with him, more than two or three
times, about the Remarkable Occurrences he has met with; and
having no leisure himself to write, I have taken the Minutes of
all from his own Mouth, and after I had put them together, I
have improved the first vacant Hour, I could, to Read it over
distinctly to him, that he might Correct the Errors, that might
arise from my misunderstanding his Report. Thus corrected, he
has set his Hand to it as his own History.

“I have added to a short Account of Mr. Nicholas Merritt, (who
was taken at the same time with Mr. Ashton), the manner of his
Escape from the Pirates, and the hard usage he met with upon
it, till his return to his own Country; which I had from his
own Mouth, all tending to the same end and purpose.”

The narrative was soon published under the following title:--

“ASHTON’S MEMORIAL. / An / History / of the / Strange
Adventures, / and / Signal Deliverances, / of / Mr. Philip
Ashton, / Who, after he had made his Escape from the Pirates,
liv’d alone on a Desolate / Island for about Sixteen Months,
&c. / With A Short Account of Mr. Nicholas Merritt, / who was
taken at the same time. / To which is added / A Sermon on Dan.
3. 17. / By John Barnard V. D. M. / _We should not trust in
our selves, but in God; / --who delivered us from so great
a Death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust, that he will
yet deliver us._ / 11. Cor. 9. 10. / Boston, N. E. Printed for
Samuel Gerrish, at his Shop in Corn-Hill, 1725.”

An edition was also published in London the next year and reprints in whole or in part have been made at Portland, Me., in 1810; Edinburgh, 1815; Boston, 1850; and Marblehead in 1910.

* * * * *

This interesting recital of the veritable experiences of a New England man on board notorious pirate vessels, together with other adventures that fall to the lot of but few men, is here reprinted as a document of great value in corroborating many of the statements appearing elsewhere in this volume in chapters devoted to the exploits of Low, Lowther and Spriggs.

_Ashton’s_ Memorial.

AN
_HISTORY_
OF THE
Strange Adventures,
AND
Signal Deliverances,
OF
Mr. _Philip Ashton_,

Who, after he had made his Escape from the
PIRATES, liv’d alone on a Desolate
_Island_ for about Sixteen Months, &c.

WITH

A short Account of Mr. _Nicholas Merritt_,
who was taken at the same time.

To which is added

A SERMON on _Dan. 3. 17._

By JOHN BARNARD, V. D. M.

----_We should not trust in our selves, but in God;
----who delivered us from so great a Death, and doth
deliver; in whom we trust, that he will yet deliver us._
II. Cor. I. 9, 10.

_BOSTON_, N. E. Printed for _Samuel Gerrish_,
at his Shop in Corn-Hill, 1725.
]

FOOTNOTES

[129] Among the thirteen vessels taken were the following from Marblehead, viz.:--schooner Milton, Philip Ashton, master; shallop Jane, Nicholas Merritt, master; schooner Rebeckah, Thomas Salter, master; schooner Mary, Thomas Trefry, master; shallop Elizabeth, Robert Gifford, master; schooner Samuel, William Nichols, master.

[130] “If it be so, our God whome we serve, is able to Deliver us from the Burning Fiery Furnace, and He will Deliver us out of thine Hand, O King.”

[131] Ashton was the son of Philip and Sarah (Hendly) Ashton, and was born in Marblehead, Aug. 12, 1702. He married, first, Jane or Jean Gallison, Dec. 8, 1726, who bore him a daughter Sarah, baptized Dec. 3, 1727, in the First Church, the mother dying a week later.

On July 15, 1729, he married, second, Sarah Bartlett and they had Eliza, baptized Oct. 25, 1730; Philip, baptized May 28, 1732; William, baptized Oct. 20, 1734; Thomas, baptized Apr. 17, 1737 and Jean, baptized Aug. 15, 1742. The date of his death is not known.

ASHTON’S MEMORIAL

AN HISTORY OF THE STRANGE ADVENTURES, AND SIGNAL
DELIVERANCES OF
MR. PHILIP ASHTON, JUN.
OF MARBLEHEAD

Upon Friday, June 15th, 1722, After I had been out for some time in the Schooner Milton, upon the Fishing grounds, off Cape Sable Shoar, among others, I came to Sail in Company with Nicholas Merritt, in a Shallop, and stood in for Port-Rossaway, designing to Harbour there, till the Sabbath was over; where we Arrived about Four of the Clock in the Afternoon. When we came into the Harbour, where several of our Fishing Vessels had arrived before us, we spy’d among them a Brigantine, which we supposed to have been an Inward bound Vessel, from the West Indies, and had no apprehensions of any Danger from her; but by that time we had been at Anchor two or three Hours, a Boat from the Brigantine, with Four hands, came along side of us, and the Men Jumpt in upon our Deck, without our suspecting any thing but that they were Friends, come on board to visit, or inquire what News; till they drew their Cutlasses and Pistols from under their Clothes, and Cock’d the one and Brandish’d the other, and began to Curse & Swear at us, and demanded a Surrender of our Selves and Vessel to them. It was too late for us to rectify our Mistake, and think of Freeing our Selves from their power; for however we might have been able, (being Five of us and a Boy) to have kept them at a Distance, had we known who they were, before they had boarded us; yet now we had our Arms to seek, and being in no Capacity to make any Resistance, were necessitated to submit our selves to their will and pleasure. In this manner they surprised Nicholas Merritt, and 12 or 13 other Fishing Vessels this Evening.

When the Boat went off from our Vessel, they carried me on board the Brigantine, and who should it prove but the Infamous Ned Low, the Pirate, with about 42 Hands, 2 Great Guns, and 4 Swivel Guns. You may easily imagine how I look’d, and felt, when too late to prevent it, I found my self fallen into the hands of such a mad, roaring, mischievous Crew; yet I hoped, that they would not force me away with them, and I purposed to endure any hardship among them patiently, rather than turn Pirate with them.

Low presently sent for me Aft, and according to the Pirates usual Custom, and in their proper Dialect, asked me, If I would sign their Articles, and go along with them. I told him, No; I could by no means consent to go with them, I should be glad if he would give me my Liberty, and put me on board any Vessel, or set me on shoar there. For indeed my dislike of their Company and Actions, my concern for my Parents, and my fears of being found in such bad Company, made me dread the thoughts of being carried away by them; so that I had not the least Inclination to continue with them.

Upon my utter Refusal to joyn and go with them, I was thrust down into the Hold, which I found to be a safe retreat for me several times afterwards. By that time, I had been in the Hold a few Hours, they had compleated the taking the several Vessels that were in the Harbour, and the Examining of the Men; and the next Day I was fetched up with some others that were there, and about 30 or 40 of us were put on board a Schooner belonging to Mr. Orn of Marblehead, which the Pirates made use of for a sort of a Prison, upon the present occasion; where we were all confined unarm’d, with an armed Guard over us, till the Sultan’s pleasure should be further known.

The next Lord’s Day about Noon, one of the Quarter Masters, John Russel by Name, came on board the Schooner and took six of us, (Nicholas Merritt,[132] Joseph Libbie,[133] Lawrence Fabens,[134] and my self, all of Marblehead, the Eldest of, if I mistake not, under 21 Years of Age, with two others) and carried us on board the Brigantine; where we were called upon the Quarter Deck, and Low came up to us with Pistol in hand, and with a full mouth demanded, Are any of you, Married Men? This short and unexpected Question, and the sight of the Pistol, struck us all dumb, and not a Man of us dared to speak a word, for fear there should have been a design in it, which we were not able to see thro’. Our Silence kindled our new Master into a Flame, who could not bear it, that so many Beardless Boyes should deny him an Answer to so plain a Question; and therefore in a Rage, he Cock’d his Pistol, and clapt it to my Head, and cryed out, You D--g! why don’t you Answer me? and Swore vehemently, he would shoot me thro’ the Head, if I did not tell him immediately, whether I was Married or no.

I was sufficiently frightened at the fierceness of the Man, and the boldness of his threatening, but rather than lose my Life for so trifling a matter, I e’en ventured at length to tell him, I was not Married, as loud as I dar’d to speak it; and so said the rest of my Companions. Upon this he seemed something pacified, and turned away from us.

It seems his design was to take no Married Man away with him, how young soever he might be, which I often wondred at; till after I had been with him some considerable time, and could observe in him an uneasiness in the sentiments of his Mind, and the workings of his passions towards a young Child he had at Boston (his Wife being Dead, as I learned, some small time before he turned Pirate) which upon every lucid interval from Revelling and Drink he would express a great tenderness for, insomuch that I have seen him sit down and weep plentifully upon the mentioning of it; and then I concluded, that probably the Reason of his taking none but Single Men was, that he might have none with him under the Influence of such powerful attractives, as a Wife & Children, lest they should grow uneasy in his Service, and have an Inclination to Desert him, and return home for the sake of their Families.

Low presently came up to us again, and asked the Old Question, Whether we would Sign their Articles, and go along with them? We all told him No; we could not; so we were dismissed. But within a little while we were call’d to him Singly, and then it was demanded of me, with Sternness and Threats, whether I would Joyn with them? I still persisted in the Denial; which thro’ the assistance of Heaven, I was resolved to do, tho’ he shot me. And as I understood, all my Six Companions, who were called in their turns, still refused to go with him.

Then I was led down into the Steerage, by one of the Quarter-Masters, and there I was assaulted with Temptations of another kind, in hopes to win me over to become one of them; a number of them got about me, and instead of Hissing, shook their Rattles, and treated me with abundance of Respect and Kindness, in their way; they did all they could to sooth my Sorrows, and set before me the strong Allurement of the Vast Riches they should gain, and what Mighty Men they designed to be, and would fain have me to joyn with them, and share in their Spoils; and to make all go down the more Glib, they greatly Importuned me to Drink with them, not doubting but this wile would sufficiently entangle me, and so they should prevail with me to do that in my Cups, which they perceived they could not bring me to while I was Sober; but all their fair and plausible Carriage, their proffered Kindness, and airy notions of Riches, had not the Effect upon me which they desired; and I had no Inclination to drown my Sorrows with my Senses in their Inebriating Bowls, and so refused their Drink, as well as their Proposals.

After this I was brought upon Deck again, and Low came up to me, with His Pistol Cock’d, and clap’d it to my Head, and said to me, You D--g you! if you will not Sign our Articles, and go along with me, I’ll shoot you thro’ the Head, and uttered his Threats with his utmost Fierceness, and with the usual Flashes of Swearing and Cursing. I told him, That I was in his hands, and he might do with me what he pleased, but I could not be willing to go with him: and then I earnestly beg’d of him, with many Tears, and used all the Arguments I could think of to perswade him, not to carry me away; but he was deaf to my Cryes, and unmoved by all I could say to him; and told me, I was an Impudent Dog, and Swore, I should go with him whether I would or no. So I found all my Cryes, and Entreaties were in vain, and there was no help for it, go with them I must, and as I understood, they set mine and my Townsmens Names down in their Book, tho’ against our Consent. And I desire to mention it with due Acknowledgments to GOD, who withheld me, that neither their promises, nor their threatenings, nor blows could move me to a willingness to Joyn with them in their pernicious ways.

Upon Tuesday, June 19th, they changed their Vessel, and took for their Privateer, as they call’d it, a Schooner belonging to Mr. Joseph Dolliber of Marblehead, being new, clean, and a good Sailer, and shipped all their hands on board her, and put the Prisoners, such as they designed to send home, on board the Brigantine, with one ---------------- who was her Master, and ordered them for Boston.

When I saw the Captives were likely to be sent Home, I thought I would make one attempt more to obtain my Freedom, and accordingly Nicholas Merrit, my Townsman and Kinsman, went along with me to Low, and we fell upon our Knees, and with utmost Importunity besought him to let us go Home in the Brigantine, among the rest of the Captives: but he immediately called for his Pistols, and told us we should not go, and Swore bitterly, if either of us offered to stir, he would shoot us down.

Thus all attempts to be delivered out of the hands of unreasonable Men (if they may be called Men) were hitherto unsuccessful; and I had the melancholy prospect of seeing the Brigantine sail away with the most of us that were taken at Port-Rossaway, but my self, and three Townsmen mentioned, and four of Shoal-men detained on board the Schooner, in the worst of Captivity, without any present likelyhood of Escaping.

And yet before the Brigantine sailed, an opportunity presented, that gave me some hopes that I might get away from them; for some of Low’s people, who had been on shoar at Port-Rossaway to get water, had left a Dog belonging to him behind them; and Low observing the Dog a shoar howling to come off, order’d some hands to take the Boat and fetch him. Two Young Men, John Holman, and Benjamin Ashton, both of Marblehead, readily Jumpt into the Boat, and I (who pretty well know their Inclination to be rid of such Company, & was exceedingly desirous my self to be freed from my present Station, and thought if I could but once set foot on shoar, they should have good luck to get me on board again) was getting over the side into the Boat; but Quarter Master Russel spy’d me, and caught hold on my Shoulder, and drew me in board, and with a Curse told me, Two was eno’, I should not go. The two Young Men had more sense and virtue than to come off to them again, so that after some time of waiting, they found they were deprived of their Men, their Boat, and their Dog; and they could not go after them.

When they saw what a trick was play’d them, the Quarter Master came up to me Cursing and Swearing, that I knew of their design to Run away, and intended to have been one of them; but tho’ it would have been an unspeakable pleasure to me to have been with them, yet I was forced to tell him, I knew not of their design; and indeed I did not, tho’ I had good reason to suspect what would be the event of their going. This did not pacifie the Quarter-Master, who with outragious Cursing and Swearing clapt his Pistol to my Head, and snap’d it; but it miss’d Fire: this enraged him the more; and he repeated the snapping of his Pistol at my Head three times, and it as often miss’d Fire; upon which he held it over-board, and snap’d it the fourth time, and then it went off very readily. (Thus did GOD mercifully quench the violence of the Fire, that was meant to destroy me!) The Quarter-Master upon this, in the utmost fury, drew his Cutlass, and fell upon me with it, but I leap’d down into the Hold, and got among a Crowd that was there, and so escaped the further effects of his madness and rage. Thus, tho’ GOD suffered me not to gain my wished-for Freedom, yet he wonderfully preserved me from Death.

All hopes of obtaining Deliverance were now past and gone; the Brigantine and Fishing Vessels were upon their way homeward, the Boat was ashore, and not likely to come off again; I could see no possible way of Escape; and who can express the concern and Agony I was in, to see my self, a Young Lad not 20 Years Old, carried forcibly from my Parents, whom I had so much reason to value for the tenderness I knew they had for me, & to whom my being among Pyrates, would be as a Sword in their Bowels, and the Anguishes of death to them; confined to such Company as I could not but have an exceeding great abhorrence of; in Danger of being poisoned in my morals, by Living among them, and of falling a Sacrifice to Justice, if ever I should be taken with them. I had no way left for my Comfort, but earnestly to commit my self and my cause to GOD, and wait upon Him for Deliverance in his own time and way; and in the mean while firmly to resolve, thro’ Divine Assistance, that nothing should ever bring me to a willingness to Joyn with them, or share in their Spoils.

I soon found that any Death was preferible to being link’d with such a vile Crew of Miscreants, to whom it was a sport to do Mischief; where prodigious Drinking, monstrous Cursing and Swearing, hideous Blasphemies, and open defiance of Heaven, and contempt of Hell it self, was the constant Employment, unless when Sleep something abated the Noise and Revellings.

Thus Confined, the best course I could take, was to keep out of the way, down in the Hold, or wherever I could be most free from their perpetual Din; and fixed purpose with my self, that the first time I had an opportunity to set my Foot on shore, let it be in what part of the World it would, it should prove (if possible) my taking a final leave of Low and Company.

I would remark it now also (that I might not interrupt the Story with it afterwards) that while I was on board Low, they used once a Week, or Fortnight, as the Evil Spirit moved them, to bring me under Examination, and anew demand my Signing their Articles, and Joyning with them; but Blessed be GOD, I was enabled to persist in a constant refusal to become one of them, tho’ I was thrashed with Sword or Cane, as often as I denyed them; the fury of which I had no way to avoid, but by Jumping down into the Hold, where for a while I was safe. I look’d upon my self, for a long while, but as a Dead Man among them, and expected every Day of Examination would prove the last of my Life, till I learned from some of them, that it was one of their Articles, Not to Draw Blood, or take away the Life of any Man, after they had given him Quarter, unless he was to be punished as a Criminal; and this emboldned me afterwards, so that I was not so much affraid to deny them, seeing my Life was given me for a Prey.

This Tuesday, towards Evening, Low and Company came to sail in the Schooner, formerly called the Mary, now the Fancy, and made off for Newfoundland; and here they met with such an Adventure, as had like to have proved fatal to them. They fell in with the Mouth of St. John’s Harbour in a Fogg, before they knew where they were; when the Fogg clearing up a little, they spy’d a large Ship riding at Anchor in the Harbour, but could not discern what she was, by reason of the thickness of the Air, and concluded she was a Fish-Trader; this they look’d upon as a Boon Prize for them, and thought they should be wonderfully well accommodated with a good Ship under Foot, and if she proved but a good Sailer, would greatly further their Roving Designs, and render them a Match for almost any thing they could meet with, so that they need not fear being taken.

Accordingly they came to a Resolution to go in and take her; and imagining it was best doing it by Stratagem, they concluded to put all their Hands, but Six or Seven, down in the Hold, and make a shew as if they were a Fishing Vessel, and so run up along side of her, and surprise her, and bring her off; and great was their Joy at the distant prospect how cleverly they should catch her. They began to put their designs in Execution, stowed away their Hands, leaving but a few upon Deck, and made Sail in order to seise the Prey; when there comes along a small Fisher-Boat, from out the Harbour, and hailed them, and asked them, from whence they were? They told them, from Barbadoes, and were laden with Rhum and Sugar; then they asked the Fisherman, What large Ship that was in the Harbour? who told them it was a large Man-of-War.

The very Name of a Man-of-War struck them all up in a Heap, spoil’d their Mirth, their fair Hopes, and promising Design of having a good Ship at Command; and lest they should catch a Tartar, they thought it their wisest and safest way, instead of going into the Harbour, to be gone as fast as they could: and accordingly they stretched away farther Eastward, and put into a small Harbour, called Carboneur, about 15 Leagues distance; where they went on Shoar; took the Place, and destroyed the Houses, but hurt none of the People; as they told me, for I was not suffered to go a shore with them.

The next Day they made off for the Grand Bank, where they took seven or eight Vessels, and among them a French Banker, a Ship of about 350 Tuns, and 2 Guns; this they carried off with them, and stood away for St. Michaels.

Off of St. Michaels they took a large Portugueze Pink, laden with Wheat, coming out of the Road, which I was told was formerly call’d the Rose-Frigat. She struck to the Schooner, fearing the large Ship that was coming down to them; tho’ all Low’s Force had been no Match for her, if the Portugueze had made a good Resistance. This Pink they soon observed to be a much better Sailer than their French Banker, which went heavily; and therefore they threw the greatest part of the Wheat over board, reserving only eno’ to Ballast the Vessel for the present, and took what they wanted out of the Banker, and then Burnt her, and sent the most of the Portugueze away in a large Lanch they had taken.

Now they made the Pink, which Mounted 14 Guns, their Commodore, and with this and the Schooner Sailed from St. Michaels, to the Canaries, where off of Teneriff, they gave Chase to a Sloop, which got under the Command of the Fortress, and so escaped sailing into their Hands; but stretching along to the Western end of the Island, they came up with a Fishing Boat, and being in want of Water, made them Pilot them into a small Harbour, where they went a shore and got a supply.

After they had Watered, they Sailed away for Cape de Verde Islands, and upon making the Isle of May, they descry’d a Sloop, which they took, and it proved to be a Bristol-man, one Pare or Pier Master; this Sloop they designed for a Tender, and put on board her my Kinsman Nicholas Merritt, with 8 or 9 hands more, and Sailed away for Bonavista, with a design to careen their Vessels.

In their Passage to Bonavista, the Sloop wronged both the Pink and the Schooner; which the Hands on board observing, being mostly Forced Men, or such as were weary of their Employment, upon the Fifth of September, Ran away with her and made their Escape.

When they came to Bonavista, they hove down the Schooner, and careen’d her, and then the Pink; and here they gave the Wheat, which they had kept to Ballast the Pink with, to the Portugueze, and took other Ballast.

After they had cleaned and fitted their Vessels, they steered away for St. Nicholas, to get better Water; and here as I was told, 7 or 8 hands out of the Pink went a shore a Fowling, but never came off more, among which I suppose Lawrence Fabins was one, and what became of them I never could hear to this Day. Then they put out to Sea, and stood away for the Coast of Brasil, hoping to meet with Richer Prizes than they had yet taken; in the Passage thither, they made a Ship, which they gave chase to, but could not come up with; and when they came upon the Coast, it had like to have proved a sad Coast to them; for the Trade-Winds blowing exceeding hard at South East, they fell in upon the Northern part of the Coast, near 200 Leagues to the Leeward of where they designed; and here we were all in exceeding great Danger, and for Five Days and Nights together, hourly feared when we should be swallowed up by the violence of the Wind and Sea, or stranded upon some of the Shoals, that lay many Leagues off from Land. In this time of Extremity, the Poor Wretches had no where to go for Help! For they were at open Defiance with their Maker, & they could have but little comfort in the thoughts of their Agreement with Hell; such mighty Hectors as they were, in a clear Sky and a fair Gale, yet a fierce Wing and a boisterous Sea sunk their Spirits to a Cowardly dejection, and they evidently feared the Almighty, whom before they defied, lest He was come to Torment them before their expected Time; and tho’ they were so habituated to Cursing and Swearing, that the Dismal Prospect of Death, & this of so long Continuance, could not Correct the language of most of them, yet you might plainly see the inward Horror and Anguish of their Minds, visible in their Countenances, and like Men amazed, or starting out of Sleep in a fright, I could hear them ever now and then, cry out, Oh! I wish I were at Home.

When the Fierceness of the Weather was over, and they had recovered their Spirits, by the help of a little Nantes, they bore away to the West Indies, and made the three Islands call’d the Triangles, lying off the Main about 40 Leagues to the Eastward of Surinam. Here they went in and careened their Vessels again; and it had like to have proved a fatal Scouring to them.

For as they hove down the Pink, Low had ordered so many hands upon the Shrouds, and Yards, to throw her Bottom out of Water, that it threw her Ports, which were open, under Water; and the Water flow’d in with such freedom that it presently overset her. Low and the Doctor were in the Cabin together, and as soon as he perceived the Water to gush in upon him, he bolted out at one of the Stern-Ports, which the Doctor also attempted, but the Sea rushed so violently into the Port by that time, as to force him back into the Cabin, upon which Low nimbly run his Arm into the Port, and caught hold of his Shoulder and drew him out, and so saved him. The Vessel pitched her Masts to the Ground, in about 6 Fathom Water, and turn’d her Keel out of Water; but as her Hull filled, it sunk, and by the help of her Yard-Arms, which I suppose bore upon the Ground, her Masts were raised something out of Water; the Men that were upon her Shrouds and Yards, got upon her Hull, when that was uppermost, and then upon her Top-Masts and Shrouds, when they were raised again. I (who with other light Lads were sent up to the Main-Top-Gallant Yard) was very difficultly put to it to save my Life, being but a poor Swimmer; for the Boat which picked the Men up, refused to take me in, & I was put upon making the best of my way to the Buoy, which with much ado I recovered, and it being large I stayed my self by it, till the Boat came along close by it, and then I called to them to take me in; but they being full of Men still refused me; and I did not know but they meant to leave me to perish there; but the Boat making way a head very slowly because of her deep load, and Joseph Libbie calling to me to put off from the Buoy and Swim to them, I e’en ventured it, and he took me by the hand and drew me in board. They lost two Men by this Accident, viz. John Bell, and one they called Zana Gourdon. The Men that were on board the Schooner were busy a mending the Sails, under an Auning, so they knew nothing of what had happened to the Pink, till the Boat full of Men came along side of them, tho’ they were but about Gun-Shot off, and We made a great out-cry; and therefore they sent not their Boat to help take up the Men.

And now Low and his Gang, having lost their Frigate, and with her the greatest part of their Provision and Water, were again reduced to their Schooner as their only Privateer, and in her they put to Sea, and were brought to very great straits for want of Water; for they could not get a supply at the Triangles, and when they hoped to furnish themselves at Tobago, the Current set so strong, & the Season was so Calm, that they could not recover the Harbour, so they were forced to stand away for Grand Grenada, a French Island about 18 Leagues to the Westward of Tobago, which they gained, after they had been at the hardship of half a pint of Water a Man for Sixteen Dayes together.

Here the French came on board, and Low having put all his Men down, but a sufficient number to Sail the Vessel, told them upon their Enquiry, Whence he was, that he was come from Barbadoes, and had lost his Water; and was oblig’d to put in for a recruit; the poor People not suspecting him for a Pyrate, readily suffered him to send his Men ashoar and fetch off a supply. But the Frenchmen afterwards suspecting he was a Smugling Trader, thought to have made a Boon Prize of him, and the next day fitted out a large Rhode-Island built Sloop of 70 Tuns, with 4 Guns mounted, and about 30 Hands, with design to have taken him. Low was apprehensive of no danger from them, till they came close along side of him and plainly discovered their design, by their Number and Actions, and then he called up his hands upon Deck, and having about 90 Hands on board, & 8 Guns mounted, the Sloop and Frenchmen fell an easy prey to him, and he made a Privateer of her.

After this they cruised for some time thro’ the West Indies, in which excursion they took 7 or 8 Sail of Vessels, chiefly Sloops; at length they came to Santa Cruiz, where they took two Sloops more, & then came to Anchor off the Island.

While they lay an Anchor here, it came into Low’s Head, that he wanted a Doctor’s Chest, & in order to procure one, he put four of the Frenchmen on board one of the Sloops, which he had just now taken, & sent them away to St. Thomas’s, about 12 Leagues off where the Sloops belonged, with the promise, that if they would presently send him off a good Doctor’s Chest, for what he sent to purchase it with, they should have their Men & Vessels again, but if not, he would kill all the Men & burn the Vessels. The poor People in Compassion to their Neighbours, & to preserve their Interest, readily complyed with his Demands; so that in little more than 24 Hours the four Frenchmen returned with what they went for, & then according to promise, they & their Sloops were Dismissed.

From Santa Cruz they Sailed till they made Curacao, in which Passage they gave Chase to two Sloops that out sailed them & got clear; then they Ranged the Coast of New Spain, and made Carthagena, & about mid-way between Carthagena and Port-Abella, they descry’d two tall Ships, which proved to be the Mermaid Man-of-War, & a large Guinea-Man. Low was now in the Rhode Island Sloop, & one Farrington Spriggs a Quarter-Master, was Commander of the Schooner, where I still was. For some time they made Sail after the two Ships, till they came so near that they could plainly see the Man-of-War’s large range of Teeth, & then they turned Tail to, and made the best of their way from them; upon which the Man-of-War gave them Chase & overhalled them apace. And now I confess I was in as great terrour as ever I had been yet, for I concluded we should be taken, & I could expect no other butt to Dye for Companies sake; so true is what Solomon tells us, a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed. But the Pirates finding the Man-of-War to overhale them, separated, & Low stood out to Sea, & Spriggs stood in for the Shoar. The Man-of-War observing the Sloop to be the larger Vessel much, and fullest of Men, threw out all the Sail she could, & stood after her, and was in a fair way of coming up with her presently. But it hapened there was one Man on board the Sloop, that knew of a Shoal Ground thereabouts, who directed Low to run over it; he did so; and the Man-of-War who had now so forereached him as to sling a Shot over him, in the close pursuit ran a Ground upon the Shoal, and so Low and Company escaped Hanging for this time.

Spriggs, who was in the Schooner, when he saw the Danger they were in of being taken, upon the Man-of-War’s outsailing them, was afraid of falling into the hands of Justice; to prevent which, he, and one of his Chief Companions, took their Pistols, and laid them down by them, and solemnly Swore to each other, and pledg’d the Oath in a Bumper of Liquor, that if they saw there was at last no possibility of Escaping, but that they should be taken, they would set Foot to Foot, and Shoot one another, to Escape Justice and the Halter. As if Divine Justice were not as inexorable as Humane!

From an engraving in “The History and Lives of the most Notorious Pirates,” by an old Seaman, London, n.d., in possession of Capt. Ernest H. Pentecost, R.N.R.]

But, as I said, he stood in for the Shoar, and made into Pickeroon Bay, about 18 Leagues from Carbagena, and so got out of reach of Danger. By this means the Sloop and Schooner were parted; and Spriggs made Sail towards the Bay of Honduras, and came to Anchor in a small Island called Utilla, about 7 or 8 Leagues to Leeward of Roatan, where by the help of a small Sloop, he had taken the Day before, he haled down, and cleaned the Schooner.

While Spriggs lay at Utilla, there was an Opportunity presented, which gave occasion to several of us to form a design, of making our Escape out of the Pirates Company; for having lost Low, and being but weak handed, Spriggs had determined to go thro’ the Gulf, and come upon the Coast of New-England, to encrease his Company, and supply himself with Provision; whereupon a Number of us had entred into a Combination, to take the first fair advantage, to Subdue our Masters; and Free our selves. There were in all about 22 Men on board the Schooner, and 8 of us were in the Plot, which was, That when we should come upon the Coast of New-England, we would take the opportunity when the Crew had sufficiently dozed themselves with Drink, and had got sound a Sleep, to secure them under the Hatches, and bring the Vessel and Company in, and throw ourselves upon the Mercy of the Government.

But it pleased GOD to disappoint our Design. The Day that they came to Sail out of Utilla, after they had been parted from Low about five Weeks, they discovered a large Sloop, which bore down upon them. Spriggs, who knew not the Sloop, but imagined it might be a Spanish Privateer, full of Men, being but weak handed himself, made the best of his way from her. The Sloop greatly overhaled the Schooner. Low, who knew the Schooner, & thought that since they had been separated, she might have fallen into the hands of honest Men, fired upon her, & struck her the first Shot. Spriggs, seeing the Sloop fuller of Men than ordinary, (for Low had been to Honduras, & had taken a Sloop, & brought off several Baymen, & was now become an Hundred strong) & remaining still ignorant of his old Mate, refused to bring to, but continued to make off; and resolved if they came up with him, to fight them the best he could. Thus the Harpies had like to have fallen fowl of one another. But Low hoisting his Pirate Colours, discovered who he was; and then, hideous was the noisy Joy among the Piratical Crew, on all sides, accompanied with Firing, & Carousing, at the finding their Old Master, & Companions, & their narrow Escape; and so the design of Crusing upon the Coast of New-England came to nothing. A good Providence it was to my dear Country, that it did so; unless we could have timely succeeded in our design to surprise them.

Yet it had like to have proved a fatal Providence to those of us that had a hand in the Plot; for tho’ our design of surprising Spriggs and Company, when we should come upon the Coast of New-England, was carried with as much secrecy as was possible, (we hardly daring to trust one another, and mentioning it always with utmost privacy, and not plainly, but in distant hints) yet now that Low appeared, Spriggs had got an account of it some way or other; and full of Resentment and Rage he goes aboard Low, and acquaints him with what he called our Treacherous design, and says all he can to provoke him to Revenge the Mischief upon us, and earnestly urged that we might be shot. But GOD who has the Hearts of all Men in His own Hands, and turns them as He pleases, so over ruled, that Low turned it off with a Laugh, and said he did not know, but if it had been his own case, as it was ours, he should have done so himself; and all that Spriggs could say was not able to stir up his Resentments, and procure any heavy Sentence upon us.

Thus Low’s merry Air saved us at that time; for had he lisped a Word in compliance with what Spriggs urged, we had surely some of us, if not all, have been lost. Upon this he comes on board the Schooner again, heated with Drink, but more chased in his own mind, that he could not have his Will of us, and swore & tore like a Madman, crying out that four of us ought to go forward, & be shot; and to me in particular he said, You D--g, Ashton, deserve to be hang’d up at the Yards Arm, for designing to cut us off. I told him, I had no design of hurting any man on board, but if they would let me go away quietly I should be glad. This matter made a very great noise on board for several Hours, but at length the Fire was quenched, and thro’ the Goodness of GOD, I escaped being consumed by the violence of the Flame.

The next Day, Low ordered all into Roatan Harbour to clean, and here it was that thro’ the Favour of GOD to me, I first gained Deliverance out of the Pirates hands; tho’ it was a long while before my Deliverance was perfected, in a return to my Country, and Friends; as you will see in the Sequel.

Roatan Harbour, as all about the Gulf of Honduras, is full of small Islands, which go by the General Name of the Keys. When we had got in here, Low and some of his Chief Men had got a shoar upon one of these small Islands, which they called Port-Royal Key, where they made them Booths, and were Carousing, Drinking, and Firing, while the two Sloops, the Rhode-Island, and that which Low brought with him from the Bay were cleaning. As for the Schooner, he loaded her with the Logwood which the Sloop brought from the Bay, & gave her, according to promise, to one John Blaze, and put four men along with him in her, and when they came to Sail from this Place, sent them away upon their own account, and what became of them I know not.

Upon Saturday the 9th of March, 1723, the Cooper with Six hands in the Long-Boat were going ashore at the Watering place to fill their Casks; as he came along by the Schooner I called to him and asked him, if he were going a shoar? he told me Yes; then I asked him, if he would take me along with him; he seemed to hesitate at the first; but I urged that I had never been on shoar yet, since I first came on board, and I thought it very hard that I should be so closely confined, when every one else had the Liberty of going ashoar, at several times, as there was occasion. At length he took me in, imagining, I suppose, that there would be no danger of my Running away in so desolate uninhabitated a Place, as that was.

I went into the Boat with only an Ozenbrigs Frock and Trousers on, and a Mill’d Cap upon my Head, having neither Shirt, Shoes, nor Stockings, nor any thing else about me; whereas, had I been aware of such an Opportunity, but one quarter of an Hour before, I could have provided my self something better. However, thought I, if I can but once get footing on Terra-Firma, tho’ in never so bad Circumstances, I shall count it a happy Deliverance; for I was resolved, come what would, never to come on board again.

Low had often told me (upon my asking him to send me away in some of the Vessels, which he dismissed after he had taken them), that I should go home when he did, and not before, and Swore that I should never set foot on shoar till he did. But the time for Deliverance was now come. GOD had ordered it that Low and Spriggs, and almost all the Commanding Officers, were ashoar upon an Island distinct from Roatan, where the Watering place was; He presented me in sight, when the Long Boat came by, (the only opportunity I could have had) He had moved the Cooper to take me into the Boat, and under such Circumstances as rendred me least lyable to Suspicion; and so I got ashoar.

From the map in “Voyages and travels of Capt. Nathaniel Uring,” London, 1726, in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society]