Henry Morgan

The last major pirate of the classical era, Edward Lowe, was captured in 1723.

Henry Morgan had already moved into legitimate government positions decades earlier.

Blackbeard was dead.

Kidd was dead.

Yet such was the case.

The baby's name was Henry Morgan, and as he grew to be a big boy, a distaste for farming grew within him.

So strong was his dislike that when he became a young man he ran away to the seacoast, for he had a fancy to be a sailor.

There he found a ship bound for the West Indies, and in this he started out on his life's career.

These unfortunate fellows, who had not known where Morgan had gone and were unable to join him, had endeavored to do some piratical business of their own, but had had very little luck and a great many misfortunes.

Morgan's men, with their pockets full of money, jeered and sneered at their poor comrades who had had such hard times, and without any thought of sharing with them the least portion of their own vile gains, they treated them with contempt and derision.

The buccaneer Captain Henry Morgan was now a very great personage, but with his next expedition, which was a very important one, and in its extent resembled warfare rather than piracy, we shall have little to do because his exploits in this case were not performed on our Atlantic coasts, but over the isthmus, on the shores of the Pacific.

Morgan raised a great fleet, carrying a little army of two thousand men, and with this he made his way to the other side of the isthmus and attacked the city of Panama, which of course he captured.

And in the nursery, the walls were a kaleidoscope of time and space and imagination.

The green forest of Sherwood and quiet forms of Robin and his merry men gave way to the roll of the high seas and the smell of salt in the air as Sir Henry Morgan sailed into the harbor at Jamaica.

It's my turn now, Peter.

You've got to be fair.

Thus they feared not hunger in those desert places employing themselves thus for five or six months.

Which passed and the long boat finished, they resolved for the river of Nicaragua to see if they could take some canoes and return to the said islands for their companions that remained behind by reason the boat could not hold so many men together hereupon to avoid disputes they cast lots determining who should go or stay The lot fell on one half of the people of the lost vessel who embarked in a longboat And on the skiff which they had before, the other half remaining ashore Lolanoy having set sail arrived in a few days at the River of Nicoragua Here that ill fortune assailed him Of which long time had been reserved for him As a punishment due to the multitude of horrible crimes committed In his licentious and wicked life Here he met with both Spaniards and Indians Who jointly setting upon him and his companions The greatest part of the pirates were killed on the place Lolanoy with those that remained alive Had much ado to escape aboard their boats Yet notwithstanding this great loss He resolved not to return To those he left at the Isle of Pertus Without taking some boats such as he looked for To this effect he determined to go onto the coasts of Cartagena But God Almighty, the time of His divine justice being now come Had appointed the Indians of Darien To be the instruments and executioners thereof These Indians of Darien are esteemed as bravos Or wild savage Indians By the neighboring Spaniards who never could civilize them Hither Lolanoy came Brought by his evil conscience That cried for punishment Thinking to act his cruelties But the Indians within a few days after his arrival Took him prisoner and tore him in pieces alive Throwing his body limb by limb into the fire And its ashes into the air That no trace or memory might remain Of such an infamous inhuman creature One of his companions gave me An exact account of this tragedy Affirming that himself had escaped The same punishment with the greatest difficulty He believed also that many of his comrades Who were taken in that encounter by those Indians Were as their cruel captain Torn in pieces and burnt alive Thus ends the history, the life And miserable death of that infernal wretch Lolanoy Who full of horrid execrable and enormous deeds Indebted to so much innocent blood Died by cruel and butcherly hands Such as his own were in the course of his life Those that remained in the island de las Puertas Waiting for the return of them Got away only to their great misfortune Hearing no news of their captain nor companions At last embarked on the ship of a certain pirate Who happened to pass that way This fellow came from Jamaica With intent to land at Gracias a Dios And from thence to enter the river with his canoes And take the city of Carthagena These two crews of pirates Being now joined Were infinitely glad at the presence and society Of one another Those because they found themselves delivered From their miseries poverty and necessities Wherein they had lived ten entire months These because they were now considerably strengthened To affect with greater satisfaction Their designs Hereupon as soon as they were arrived at Gracias a Dios They all put themselves in the canoes And entered the river Being 500 men leaving only Five or six persons in each ship to keep them They took no provisions Being persuaded they should find everywhere sufficient But these their hopes were found totally vain Not being grounded on almighty god For he ordained it so That the indians aware of their coming All fled not leaving in their houses or plantations Which for the most part border On the sides of rivers Any necessary provisions or victuals Hereby in a few days After they had quitted their ships They were reduced to most extreme necessity and hunger But their hopes of making their fortunes Very soon animating them for the present They contented themselves with a few green herbs Such as they could gather on the banks of the river Yet all this courage and vigor lasted but a fortnight When their hearts as well as bodies Began to fail for hunger Insomuch as they were forced to quit the river And betake themselves to the woods Seeking out some villages where they might find relief But all in vain For having ranged up and down the woods for some days Without finding the least comfort They were forced to return to the river Where being Come they thought convenient To descend to the seacoast Where they had left their ships Not having been able to find what they sought for In this laborious journey They were reduced to such extremity That many of them devoured their own shoes The sheaths of their swords knives And other such things Being almost ravenous and eager to meet Some indians intending to sacrifice Them to their teeth Alas they arrived at the seacoast Where they found some comfort and relief To their former miseries And also means to seek more Yet the greatest part perished through faintness And other diseases contracted by hunger Which also caused the remaining Part to disperse till at last by degrees Many or most of them Fell into the same pit that lollanoi did Of whom and of whose Companions Having given a compendious narrative I shall continue with the actions and exploits Of Captain Henry Morgan Who may deservedly be called the second lolonoi Not being unlike or inferior to him Either in achievements against the spaniards Or in robberies of many innocent people End of chapter eight part two Recording by Acacia Wood

Section thirteen of Pirates of Panama: The Buccaneers of America by A. O. Esquemeling translated by G.

A. Williams This is a LibriVox recording.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer please visit librivox dot org Reading by Lars Rolander Chapter nine The origin and descent of Captain Henry Morgan; his exploits, and the most remarkable actions Captain Henry Morgan was born in Great Britain, in the principality of Wales.

His father was a rich yeoman or farmer of good quality even as most who bear that name in Wales are known to be.

Morgan when young had no inclination to the calling of his father and therefore left his country and came towards the sea coasts to seek some other employment more suitable to his aspiring humour where he found several ships at anchor bound for Barbados with these he resolved to go in the service of one who according to the practice of those parts sold him as soon as he came ashore He served his time at Barbados And obtaining his liberty Betook himself To Jamaica There to Seek new fortunes Here he Found two vessels Of pirates Ready to Go to Sea And being destitute Of Employment He went With them With intent To follow The exercises Of that sort Of people He soon learned Their manner Of living So exactly That having performed Three or four voyages With profit And success He agreed With some of his comrades Who had got by the same Voyages A little money To join Stocks And buy a ship The vessel Being bought They unanimously Choose him Captain and commander With this Ship he set forth From Jamaica To cruise On the coast Of Campeche In which Voyage he took Several Ships With which he Returned triumphant Here he Found an old pirate Named Mansvelt Whom we have already Mentioned Busied in Equipping a considerable Fleet With design To land on the Continent And pillage Whatever he could Mansvelt Seeing captain morgan Return with so many Prizes Judged him To be a man Of courage And chose Him For his vice-admiral In that expedition Thus Having fitted out Fifteen ships Great and small They sailed from jamaica With five hundred men Walloons and French This fleet arrived Not long after At the isle Of St. Catharine Near the continent Of Costa Rica Latitude twelve degrees Thirteen minutes And distant thirty Five leagues From the river Chagres Here they Made their first descent Landing Most of their Men Who Soon forced the garrison That kept the island To surrender All the forts And castles thereof Which they Instantly demolished Except One wherein They placed a Hundred men Of their own party And all the slaves They Had taken From the Spaniards With the rest Of their men They marched To another Small Island So near Saint Catherine's That with a bridge They made in a few days They passed Thither Taking with Them all the ordnance They had Taken on the great island Having ruined With fire and sword Both the islands Leaving necessary orders At the said castle They put to sea again With their Spanish prisoners Yet These they Set ashore not Long After on the firm Land near Puerto Velo Then they cruised On costa rica Till they Came to the River Cola Deciding to Pillage all the towns In those Parts thence To pass to the village Of Nata To do the Same The governor Of Panama On advice of their Arrival and of the hostilities They committed Thought it his duty To meet them With a body of men His coming Caused the Pirates To retire Suddenly seeing the whole Country Was alarmed And that their designs Were known And consequently Defeated at that Time Hereupon they returned To saint catharines To visit the hundred men They Left in the Garrison there The Governor of these men Was a Frenchman named Le Sieur Simon Who behaved Himself very well In that charge While mansfeldt Was absent Having Put the great Island In a very Good posture Of defense And the Little one He had caused To be cultivated With Many fertile Plantations Sufficient to revictual The Whole fleet Not only for the present But also for a New voyage Mansfelt Was Very much bent To keep the Two Islands In perpetual Possession Being very commodiously Situated for the pirates Being so near The spanish Dominions And easily defended Hereupon Mansfeld Determined to return To Jamaica To send recruits To st cathedrals That in case Of an invasion The pirates might Be provided For a defence As soon as he Arrived He propounded His intentions To the governor There Who rejected His propositions Fearing to Displease his master The king of England Besides that Giving him the Man he desired And necessaries He must of Necessity Diminish the Forces of that Island Whereof he was governor Here upon Mansfield Knowing that of Himself he Could not Compass his Designs He went to Tortuga But there Before he could Put in execution What was intended Death Surprised him And put a period To his wicked Life leaving all things In suspense till The occasion I shall hereafter Relate Le sieur simon Governor of St. Katherine's Receiving No news from Mansfield His admiral Was impatiently Desirous to know The cause thereof Meanwhile Don Pierce de Guzman Being newly Come to the government Of Costa Rica Thought it not Convenient for The interest of Spain For that island To be in the Hands of the Pirates Hereupon he equipped a considerable fleet, which he sent to retake it.

Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available now on Spotify.

[upbeat music] Henry Morgan's daring borderline reckless raids became the stuff of legend, and he successfully plundered more than his fair share of booty in the West Indies.

And best of all, he got away with it.

Henry Morgan did not die in battle, and he did not end up on the end of a noose.

Few other captains from his time had that privilege, and none of them did it quite like Morgan, who, after his plundering days were done, became a nobleman and a politician, reveling in the admiration and respect of his peers.

So was he a pirate or was he a privateer? The answer really depends on who you ask, but there is no denying that Henry Morgan has earned his spot as one of the most notorious men to sail the seven seas.

[upbeat music] [gentle music] Henry Morgan's early life is very obscure, although most sources indicate that he was born circa 1635 in the Welsh town of Llanrumney, which today is a suburb of Cardiff.

We know little else about his upbringing, although a contemporary of the pirate named Alexandre Exquemelin claims that Morgan came from a wealthy farming family but that he had no interest in that life, which is why he became a sailor.

Welcome back.

An interesting episode, probably more so how the audience in 1950 would have received the title and the story.

Harry Morgan is one of those names very well known in the 1950s as a result of the culture that had been passed down.

Morgan was a Welsh privateer.

So Live and Let Die kind of picks up with him going on these operations and whatnot.

And so the basis of the story is that these doubloons, these coins belonging to Captain Sir Henry Morgan, Bloody Morgan, one of the most famous pirates of the era, who was a real person, by the way, These coins are found and is brought to the U.S. and England's attention that these coins are being used to finance Russian operations in America.

And the person who's doing this is this Mr.

Big, this Haitian national who's living in the United States, who has his background of working for Allied Intelligence World War Two and eventually lending his intellectualism and his skills to Russia, and now is an agent of Smirsch.

So they leveraged the private sector.

The British utilized privateers, men like Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, Woodes Rogers.

Real pirates or, well, legal pirates.

Right.