On stepping out onto the cobbled street, he saw that Pete was already staggering down the middle of the road, supported by two shipmates, leading another rowdy verse of the crew’s favourite shanty.
In the tavern in Steinburg the crew of Dream Chaser sing a sea shanty. As a tribute to one of my favourite bands, I chose not to use an historical song, but rather one written by them. It is the fourth track on the Ye Banished Privateers album Hostis Humani Generis, which was released on 7th February 2020, and was written by their songwriter and accordion player Björn “Bellows” Malmros.
The song is about Johnnie, a carpenter and Jacobite, who fled his home after the failed Jacobite rebellion in 1745, taking the King’s shilling and joining the British Navy. Always desperate for recruits, no questions were usually asked, especially for someone who was a skilled carpenter, which made it a viable option for those wishing to evade justice.…
In the prologue of the first novel William Benton explains that he stayed with a group of maroons after he jumped ship. Nathaniel Bagshaw was unaware of the term. Benton explains that they were communities of escaped black slaves. A large community began to flourish on the island of Jamaica, which was ruled by the Spanish at the time, from 1530 onwards after several slave revolts in the colonies of New Spain. The Spanish called them maroons, which is believe to come from the word ‘cimarron’, meaning ‘fierce’ or ‘unruly’. They were known to often ally themselves with buccaneers.