The Pyrate Chronicles website serves two purposes. Firstly, it presents the historical background to the books series. Secondly, it provides detailed information on the Golden Age of Piracy in general. The Pyrate Chronicles book series tells the story of a group of pirates who find themselves on a desperate journey to return to familiar lands after inadvertently sailing into a mysterious mist. It is pirate fanstasy set to a historical background. This website is a work in progress, constantly being added to.
One of the most blood-thirsty pirates active in the Caribbean, in the Azores, and along the coast of North America. He was active between 1721 and 1724, his fate being disputed by historians. The above flag was used by the notorious Edward Lowe from July 1723 during the time he called himself admiral and is taken from a description by Charles Johnson in A General History of the Pyrates – “… and hoists a black Flag, with the Figure of Death in red, at the Main-topmast Head …”
“…the great Calamity that hath befallen this Island by a terrible Earthquake, on the 7th instant, which hath thrown down almost all the Houses, Churches, Sugar-Works, Mills and Bridges, through the whole Country. It tore the Rocks and Mountains, destroyed some whole Plantations, and threw them into the Sea, Port-Royal had much the greatest share in this terrible Judgement of God.” – Dr. Emmanuel Heath, Anglican rector of St. Paul’s Church, Port Royal
In 1692, Port Royal was the main British base in Caribbean, which had been captured from the Spanish in 1655. The town became a thriving centre of trade and privateering, but by 1692 the focus had shifted to the cultivation of tobacco and sugar cane with an increased growth in the slave trade. Port Royal was built on a peninsula off the coast of Jamaica across from present-day Kingston and was religiously and culturally very diverse. At its height in 1692, the population of the town is estimated to have exceeded 6500 inhabitants, of which about 2500 were slaves.…
This phrase is used to describe someone who is unstable, unpredictable, or uncontrollable. This term has its roots in Naval warfare in the Age of Sail. Due to their weight the cannons on a sailing ship, which were generally referred to as guns, were secured to prevent them from moving about with the waves of the sea or to prevent damage from the enormous recoil when fired. A cannon that had become loose of its restraints and was rolling dangerously about the deck could cause immense damage to the vessel and crew.
“All the Pyrates who were found at this Colony of Rogues, submitted, and received Certificates of their Pardon except Captain Vane and his Crew, who, as soon as they saw the Men of War enter, slipp’d their Cable, set Fire to a Prize they had in the Harbour, and sailed out with their pyratical Colours flying, firing at one of the Men of War as they went off.” – Captain Charles Johnson, A General History of the Pyrates
Little is known about Charles Vane’s his early life, except that he was a sailor from Port Royal, although not believed have been born there. He is thought to have been born about 1690, probably in England. He was an outspoken Jacobite, who served as a privateer under Henry Jennings, in 1716 helping him to secure the gold from the Spanish treasure fleet that had sunk off the coast of Florida in a storm.…
To be packed together so tightly that there is very limited movement. This phrase is thought to originate from the use of the block and tackle system on a sailing ship, referring to when rigging blocks are so tight against one another that they can’t be tightened any further. The word ‘chock’, possibly derived from the Old French word for block – ‘choque’, was a wedge or block of wood used to prevent movement, and ‘block’ refers to the pulleys used in the ship’s rigging, that have one or more grooves over which a line is roved, being used to change the direction of a line or, in pairs, to form a tackle. When a ship’s rigging was pulled as tight as possible and there was no more free rope, the blocks would be tightly compacted and said to be ‘chock-a-block.’