On 10th February 1722, the pirate, nicknamed "Barti Ddu" ("Black Bart") was killed. (He was never called Black Bart in his lifetime) Barti Ddu, was born John Roberts in Little Newcastle/ Casnewydd Bach, between Fishguard and Haverfordwest,Pembrokeshire, Wales on 17 May 1682. Most accounts point to his father being George Roberts who was included in the Pembrokeshire Hearth Tax list in 1670.
Roberts made little impact on his village home in the eleven years he spent growing up there in the late sixteen hundreds. However, when the boy left to work on a royal naval ship, he soon escalated to remarkable fame. Held in utmost regard by all that cruised the dark side of the seven seas.
Robert's legacy grew to be more extraordinary than anyone in his small home county of Pembrokeshire could have dared imagine as he would become one of the most successful and the last great pirates of the Golden Age of piracy which lasted roughly from 1700 to 1725.
Writer Daniel Defoe visited this area in 1724 whilst researching his book about Britain. He talked to folk who had known the dark-haired, handsome lad who left for sea at the age of ten and never returned. John Roberts is thought to have left at thirteen in 1695, but there is no further record of him until 1718 when he was a mate aboard a sloop. In 1719 he was made third mate of a slave trading ship called the Princess for the Royal Africa Company under Captain Abraham Plumb.
Age 37 Roberts’ long lowly career in the Navy has been habitually unremarkable until one day, while they were anchored along the Gold Coast of Africa (near Ghana) the Princess was captured by pirates led by Howell Davis who commanded the Royal Rover and the Royal James.
Roberts and several of his crew were forced to join the pirates, immediately hitting it off with his captor, who was also Welsh and also from Pembrokeshire,in his case Milford Haven, John Roberts and Hywel Davies speak Welsh to one another and Davies values Roberts’ excellent navigational skills which were entirely overlooked by his former royal naval colleagues and this allowed John Roberts to climb through the ranks.
Despite being conscripted into piracy, Roberts soon came to like the Pirates Culture. Considering the average sailor made only £3 per month in the Royal Navy or a merchant ship with no chance of being promoted to captain it wasn't hard to see the appeal. In fact Roberts is even quoted as saying: In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labour. In this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst is only a sour look or two at choking? No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto. — A General History Pyrates (1724), p. 213–214
A few weeks after Roberts joined the pirates, one of the ships the Royal James had to be destroyed due to worm damage. The Royal Rover continued on towards the Portuguese controlled island of Príncipe. Davis hoisted the flags of a British man-o-war, he was allowed to enter the harbor and after a few days requested the governor board his ship for lunch, intending to hold him for ransom. However, the governor had already figured out who Davis was and set a trap.
The governor requested Davis meet the governor at the fort for a glass of wine first and on their way to the fort the pirates were ambushed and killed, Davis included. With Davis dead and the pirates retreating, a new captain had to be elected.
There were several candidates for the post of commander, all brisk and lively men, distinguished by the title of "Lords," such as Sympson, Ashplant, Anstis, and others. One of these "Lords," Dennis, concluded an eloquent harangue over a bowl of punch with a strong appeal for Roberts to be the new chief. This proposal was acclaimed with but one dissenting voice, that of "Lord" Sympson, who had hopes of being elected himself, and who sullenly left the meeting swearing "he did not care who they chose captain so it was not a papist."
So Roberts was elected after being a pirate only six weeks; thus was true merit quickly appreciated and rewarded amongst them. Roberts's speech to his fellow-pirates was short but to the point, saying "that since he had dipped his hands in muddy water, and must be a pyrate, it was better being a commander than a common man," not perhaps a graceful nor grateful way of expressing his thanks, but one which was no doubt understood by his audience.
Roberts first action as captain was to lead his crew back to Principe to avenge the death of Captain Davis. In the dead of night Roberts and his crew charged onto the island and butcher a large proportion of the male population and stole virtually all items of value that they could carry away. Next they captured a few ships and when the ship next took on supplies, it was voted they would sail to Portuguese Brazil to rob them some more. His acts of avenging Howell Davis along with his bravery and success made most of Davis crew extremely loyal to Roberts and they concluded he was "pistol proof"and that he alone could ensure their success, health and wealth. He embraced his new career path with enormous enthusiasm, he seemed to have found the role in life that he was intended to fulfil – that of a vicious murderer.
He changed his name to Bartholomew and a short but brutal career began.Some think he adopted the name Bartholomew in reference to the legendary buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp and in order to hide his true identity.
He was described as a tall, an attractive man, who loved expensive clothes and jewelry. His preferred attire was rich crimson waistcoat and breeches, a hat with a red feather and a diamond cross hanging from his neck. his manner of dress consisted of scarlet breeches, waist sash and overcoat. Upon his head was a tricorn with a red feather in its band and around his neck hung a diamond encrusted cross on a gold chain. His brace of pistols dangled from his shoulder on a silk sash of scarlet. He was a colorful rogue by most accounts. Even in battle he was well dressed.He fits our idea of what a pirate ought to look like perfectly.
“Black Bart” was the undisputed king of swashbuckling scurvy cutthroats, a brutal murderer who decorated his ship with the hanged corpses of his mortal enemies, and a hardcore sea-reaver who terrorized merchant shipping and painted the Atlantic Ocean blood-red.
Between the years 1719 and 1722, an astoundingly-long career considering that most pirates were lucky to go twelve months without being hanged from the neck until dead, Roberts and his veritable armada of heavily-armed pirate warships is credited with single-handedly plundering and destroying over 470 prize ships and over 50 million pounds of loot from the coasts of America and West Africa.. More than any other pirate in the Atlantic, bringing trade to a screeching halt. He rightfully earned the title of “King of the Atlantic Pirates.”
While these numbers might be an exaggeration, there is no doubt, he was a dangerous and daring pirate when he came into his own. As for the claim of most successful pirate, Henry Morgan captured more, but Morgan, rogue that he was, was still technically a privateer. However, several Chinese pirates also captured more ships, had longer careers and attained more wealth; for example 19th centure female pirate Ching Shih.
One of the keys to Roberts success was the Welsh language. As a speaker of Cymraeg/ Welsh, he was able to communicate to allies in the language, ensuring that enemies were unaware of his intentions. His success was also due to his organization, charisma and daring.
Roberts followed the common egalitarian socio-cultural foundation of pirate life as explicated in Marcus Rediker’s 1981 analysis of Anglo-American pirates, the first of its kind. Roberts created and enforced a pirate code, called articles,which crew members had to swear on a Bible to uphold, which actually gave more power to the crew than the captain, allowed for a more equal distribution of plunder, and demanded discipline from himself and his crew; he established alliances with other pirate captains and targeted those responsible for oppressive systems of authority or those known for taking actions against pirates, displaying pirates’ symbolic unity; and he enacted revenge on those that wronged him or attempted to capture him.
Roberts has been called a pious man in that he had religious services onboard his ships, and never attacked on the Sabbath. He never drank alcohol, only tea, did not allow alcohol consumption or gambling onboard his ships (although his crew was completely drunk when he finally met his end). Yet, we can see from his actions mentioned earlier, his piety was confused at best and possibly psychotic. He also devised amusing ways to kill his captives.
While some sources say he only killed one or two people other accounts are contrary to this opinion. He was known to torture, The Africans members of his crew were still considered slaves and were not given shares of the booty, and at least 1/3 of his crew were forced, that is made to be pirates. He had a hatred for the Irish and Spaniards.
Once, he captured a slaver with 80 slaves on board. He burned that ship with all slaves on it. The reason was he wouldn't waste any time or efforts to unshackle the unfortunate people.This was the pathologic nature of Black Bart; he would butcher the innocent and then demand his men pray to God.
Some sources claimed that crew loved him and would follow him in to the bowels of Hell if he asked. Other sources claim a good third of his crew was always on the verge of mutiny and Roberts would rule with an iron fist and do what ever necessary to break up mutiny plots, including in at least on case killing a possible mutineer. As mentioned at least a third of his crew was forced to be in his crew. The forced men were not given shares or were given share only in an attempt to get them to join the crew outright. Men who deserted Robert's crew were often chained and sometime killed. in order to prevent desertions, Roberts often avoided hospitable towns and often would just remain at sea.
As time passed and his fame grew, he amassed a great pirate fleet, often said to be between seven to twenty ships of various sizes. In reality he never had more than three ships and most often he sailed with just two ships. But two well armed pirate ships was enough to terrorize the merchant fleets because the Royal Navy was not present in the Caribbean in any great numbers.
Calling himself “The Admiral of the Leeward Islands,” It is said that Roberts brought trans-Atlantic shipping to a standstill. His legendary 30-month career took him to the West Indies, New England, Newfoundland and Liberia.Roberts was also an early user of the Skull and Crossbones pirate flag; etching him into folklore and inspiring not just other pirates, but pop culture centuries after his death.
The crews of his ships are said to have comprised freed slaves, of many nationalities and senior pirates who called themselves ‘The House of Lords’. The House of Lords was actually the name given to senior pirates on Howell Davis ship. Roberts senior pirates were actually known as the "Old Standards". Despite the so called democracy on pirate ships, Roberts crew had an established pecking order with long time crew members getting larger shares than new comers. Men forced to be pirates were given even less and Pirates of African descent given no share at all.
After the Pirates had avenged Davis’s death by destroying harbor, they sailed towards the coast of Brazil where they plundered many ships including some warships. A large amount of goods were taken from the Portuguese.
But this is also when one of his crew, Walter Kennedy, who he'd left in charge (so he could go and capture another sloop) chose to sail away with the Royal Rover and all the loot it contained.This act of betrayal did little for Kennedy, he headed home for Ireland but his navigation was poor and he ended up in Scotland. Most of his crew were arrested and hanged but Kennedy escaped to London, where he started a new career as a brothel keeper but was imprisoned for stealing from one of his girls. In prison he was recognised by a past victim and was subsequently executed for piracy. The judge said later “He was a sad dog and deserved the fate he met with” and no doubt Roberts would have agreed. It is another story but he did have an unexpected influence on the history of piracy. An action that caused Roberts to rename the recently captured sloop the Fortune.
By late February 1720, they were in the West Indies just in time to meet two ships; the Summerset and the Philipa from Barbados, which had been dispatched to try to put an end to the pirate menace. They found the Fortune and engaged with it and after sustaining considerable damage, Bart broke off the engagement and was able to escape. He headed for Dominica to repair the sloop, with twenty of his crew dying of their wounds on the voyage – It was the first time he had come under fire himself at sea and he didn’t like it.
Dominica was a well-known pirate refuge and it was here that they repaired the sloop and recruited replacement crew members before sailing north to Grenada. The governor of Dominica sent word to Martinique that pirates were at sea, so now two sloops from Martinique were searching for them causing Bart to swear vengeance against the inhabitants of Barbados and Martinique. He was especially cruel whenever he came across a ship from either island, he had a new flag made with a drawing of himself standing upon 2 skulls, one labelled ABH (A Barbadian Head) and the other AMH (A Martiniquian Head). This was a forerunner of the famous Jolly Roger flag.
He changed his plans and sailed on to the coast of Newfoundland, In June 1720, they came to a port called Trepassy where they engaged in one of the most infamous pirate assaults of its age. They entered Trepassy harbour with their black flags flying, where over twenty ships lay at anchor and destroyed all of them except one, which they kept for themselves. They then went ashore and set fire to the harbour side which was burnt to the ground.
With their new ship they returned to the warmer seas of the Caribbean where they struck lucky. The pirates captured a French man-of-war and discovered that one of the passengers was the Governor of Martinique-Time for revenge – He was hanged from the yardarm.To really drive home that point about holding grudges, Roberts spent the next couple months sailing around with the governor’s dead body suspended above his ship’s deck as a warning to others. They sailed on, spreading fear and destruction wherever they went.
By the spring of 1721, Roberts had almost brought sea-borne trade in the West Indies to a standstill. However, their success brought problems, the more they achieved, the less business there was for them. They had to relocate to the coast of West Africa in their ship The Royal Fortune.
They sailed up and down the coast, raiding ships as they went, their base for a while was a small settlement run by a retired pirate called Jack Crackers.In Porto-Nova in Benin they took eleven ships which were either ransomed or plundered. Ransom meant that their goods were no good for the pirates and so the ships would be sunk unless they were ransomed with a suitable cash payment.
In a most bizarre development, the captains of the ships asked for a receipt for the goods stolen and the ransom money paid so that they could explain things to the owners. It is hard to believe and even harder to realise that Roberts obliged- such generosity. However, it was also here that he set fire to a slave ship and watched it burn, whilst those who could escape jumped into the shark infested waters and were torn to pieces in a feeding frenzy.
By the 1720's the Royal Navy and pirate hunter had begun chasing and catching pirates in earnest. However Roberts had started his career after the Kings Pardon (1718) and therefore had no intentions of surrendering or stopping.
In early February of 1722, Captain Challoner Ogle was dispatched by the British Government to find and capture Roberts. On February 5th, 1722, the warship HMS Swallow which was commanded by Captain Ogle found Roberts and his three pirate ships, the Royal Fortune, the Ranger and the Little Ranger anchored off the coast of Cape Lopez (now Gabon)..
As HMS Swallow turned to avoid a shoal, the pirates thought it was a merchant ship and the Ranger captained by James Skyrme gave chase. As soon as the Royal Navy was out of sight of the other pirates they opened fire and gave the Ranger a devastating broadside attack which killed ten pirates and took Skyrme's leg off. Eventually the pirates surrendered and were captured.
On February 10th, HMS Swallow returned to Cape Lopez to surprisingly find the Royal Fortune still anchored. The day before Roberts and his crew had captured the Neptune and most of the crew was still celebrating and drunk when the Swallow approached. At first the crew thought it was the Ranger returning, however a deserter from the Royal Navy recognized the ship and informed Roberts who was having breakfast with Captain Hill of the Neptune. As Roberts usually did, he prepared himself for battle.
Roberts plan was to sail directly past the enemy ship, take one broadside but eventually escape to open ocean. However Roberts' helmsman failed to keep the ship on the right course and HMS Swallow was able to get off two successful broadsides.
The fight started and Roberts was the first to fall as he was hit in the throat by a grape-shot and killed. His body, fully dressed, with his arms and ornaments, was thrown overboard according to his repeated request made during his lifetime. Thus the arch-pirate died, as he always said he wished to die, fighting. His motto had always been "A short life and a merry one." His body has never been recovered.
Despite the death of Roberts the battle continued for several more hours until the mainmast of the Royal Fortune was destroyed. Without their captain, the pirates could not resist much longer, and they surrendered and asked for quarter. When the smoke had cleared and the weapons laid down, it was found only three pirates including Roberts were killed and the rest were taken into custody. One crew member named John Philips tried to explode a gunpowder magazine intending to blow up the ship but was restrained by other crew members.
The Royal Navy ended up capturing 272 pirates, 65 of them being freed black slaves. The black pirates were sold back into slavery and the rest were taken to Cape Coast Castle. Of the remainder who did not die in custody, 54 were sentenced to hang. 52 were actually hung and twenty of Roberts crew was allowed to become indentured servants for the Royal African Company. Over one third of Robert's crew were acquitted and released.
Captain Chaloner Ogle was rewarded with a knighthood for his slaying of Roberts, and he also profited financially by stealing gold dust from his cabin. Ogle went on to become Admiral of the Fleet for the British Royal Navy.
The death of Roberts really signaled the end of the golden age of piracy. He was the final pirate captain that was able to ruthlessly control the high seas and brazenly defy the imperial powers of the time. While piracy and smuggling would persist throughout the rest of the 18th and even into the 19th centuries it would face a slow death as the various locations were rooted out by the empires and pirates were vigorously sentenced and executed. It would never reach the heights of Bartholomew Roberts who commanded a fleet of warships.
Brave, daring and commanding, he was the model buccaneer. So, if ever anyone says to you that ‘real’ pirates were not as interesting as those we see on the silver screen, just mention the name of Bartholomew Roberts/Barti Ddu.
The last words on the crew’s loyalty to Roberts and sense of adventure attributed to the life of a pirate is probably best summed up in the final words of Thomas Sutton, one of the crew members, when discussing heaven with a follow prisoner: “Give me hell, it’s a merrier place: I’ll give Roberts a salute of 13 guns at entrance”
The pirate code of Roberts would be recovered because of the speedy end to the naval battle and the death of their captain. The documents did not have a chance to be destroyed and were later used in the trial against the pirates as proof of their collusion.
This is the reason why most pirates destroyed their codes and any and all documents related to them as it would have all been used against them at trial.
Thus, this lends to the mystery and lack of understanding of the true history of pirates because we only have brief glimpses as to what their private and mysterious lives were all about. The lack of historical documentation about the pirates will always be a hinderance to anyone trying to studying them.
The Pirate Code of Bartholomew Roberts
I. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized.
II. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar, they shall be marooned. If any man robs another, he shall have his nose and ears slit and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.
III. None shall game for money either with dice or cards. IV. The lights and candles shall be put out at eight at night and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour, they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.
V. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass, and pistols at all times clean and ready for action. VI. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.
VII. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
VIII. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol.
IX. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.
X. The captain and quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.
XI. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day.
The most unique is the ban of gambling on board, most other pirates wished to limit it but not ban it altogether. As pirates were mainly known for their lack of religious practice, it is also a rare example of the observance of the Sabbath. It’s claimed that Roberts even read the bible out to the crew on Sundays. Despite some of these rules sounding harsh, it was clear discipline on board was a priority to Roberts, and is probably the reason why he was known for being a good leader of his men
News of Robert's death shocked the world as most sea merchants thought of him as invincible. His death was seen as the end of the Golden Age of Piracy and became one of the pivotal moments in the naval history of history of Caribbean and West Africa.
It was after his death that Roberts became known as the infamous Black Bart, or Barti Ddu in Welsh. The tales of Roberts’ piracy were so glamorous, so unfettered, they seemed to be more the work of legend than truth. But true, they were,well documented by history.
Most of the information on Roberts comes from the book A General History of the Pyrates, published a few years after Roberts' death. The original 1724 title page credits one Captain Charles Johnson as the author. (The book is often printed under the byline of Daniel Defoe on the assumption that "Charles Johnson" is a pseudonym, but there is no proof that Defoe is the author, and the matter remains in dispute.)
Johnson devotes more space to Roberts than to any of the other pirates in his book, describing him as: ... a tall black [i.e. dark complexioned] Man, near forty Years of Age ... of good natural Parts, and personal Bravery, tho' he apply'd them to such wicked Purposes, as made them of no Commendation, frequently drinking 'Damn to him who ever lived to wear a Halter'. — A General History of the ... Pyrates (1724), p.213[54]
As the most successful of the Caribbean pirates, Roberts has appeared in many media adaptations of pirates. The “Dread Pirate Roberts” from the book and film The Princess Bride was based on him besides the name, the character Westley, who uses the alias, is a refined individual who is captured by pirates and befriends the captain, ultimately taking his place.
He appeared as a character in the game Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, in which he is a mythical figure as well as a pirate. He also appeared in Sid Meier’s Pirates! as a rival to the player, complete with his red coat and diamond cross in battle. Additionally, he has been mentioned in passing in numerous tales, such as in Treasure Island, the classic of pirate literature, and has been the subject of several books.
There is also a Pembrokeshire seaweed spiced rum made up of a blend of the finest Caribbean rum, seasoned with not only the most delicate notes of vanilla, clove and subtle orange, but with hand picked laver seaweed from the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast named after him called Barti Ddu Rum.
Ironic really as he was not known total abstainer, instead as mentioned earlier his tipple of choice was tea. It would have been easy to get hold of as many of the merchant ships at that time would have carried it. Unusually the crew often would “vote him small parcels of plate and china” if any were found on board captured ships. The somewhat sophisticated notion of drinking tea from china cups was certainly not replicated by many others in the pirate fraternity. Would love to hav tried some if this rum, but I'm on the wagon.
Links
Sources:
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag. Random House, 2013.
Farman, John. The Short and Bloody History of Pirates. Millbrook, 2002.
Breverton, Terry. Black Bart Roberts: The Greatest Pirate of Them All. Gretna: Pelican, 2004
Burl, Aubrey. Black Barty: The Real Pirate of the Caribbean. Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 2006.
Defoe, Daniel. “Of Captain Bartho. Roberts and His Crew.” A General History of the Pyrates. Ed. Manuel Schonhorn. New York: Dover, 1999.
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