Stede Bonnet

"Hmm," murmured Job.

"Has Stede Bonnet gone clean crazy?" And as Herriot let the painter down over the bulwark at the stern, "Ah, he's going to change her name, by the great bull whale." An hour before dawn the crew of the longboat returned, grumbling and empty-handed.

Herriot appeared preoccupied with some weightier matter and scarcely deigned to notice their failure by swearing.

There was no singing as the anchor was raised.

All day they cruised along the hilly southern shore.

The men seemed unable to cast off the gloom that had settled upon them.

Stede Bonnet sat in his cabin never once coming on deck and drinking hard, a thing unusual for him.

Jeremy, who saw more of him than any of the foremast hands, realized from his gray set face that the man was under a terrible strain of some sort.

If the green pirate chose to go to sea again and perhaps drown himself and his crew, it was a matter of no concern to Blackbeard.

But this was a matter of very great concern to Stede Bonnet, and he proceeded to prove that there were certain branches of the piratical business in which he was adept and second to none of his fellow proprietors.

He wished to go pirating again and saw a way of doing this which he thought would be far superior to any of the common methods.

It was about this time that King George of England, very desirous of breaking up piracy, issued a proclamation in which he promised pardon to any pirate who would appear before the proper authorities, renounce his evil practices, and take an oath of allegiance.

And notwithstanding his furiously dissenting voice, it was determined to surrender.

And when Mr. Rhett sailed up to the Royal James, intending to board her if the pirates still showed resistance, he found them ready to submit to terms and to yield themselves as his prisoners.

Thus ended the great sea fight between the private gentlemen, and thus ended Stede Bonnet's career.

He and his men were taken to Charlestown, where most of the pirate crew were tried and executed.

He's basically a gentleman who sometimes volunteers to do some drills with the militia.

But for some reason, Steed Bonnet decides that all of this is unsatisfactory, and he wants to seek a life of adventure and daring on the high seas as a pirate.

So at the age of 29, he goes about radically remaking his life.

And there are various theories about why someone in his position would do this, because he doesn't fit any of the normal motivations that get people to go onto pirate ships.

And this breaks pirate rule number two.

Pirates don't work for wages, they work for plunder.

So the fact that Steed Bonnet has to offer men regular pay is a sign that no one is taking him seriously as a pirate captain.

But he gets a crew to sign up.

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Chapter five, Kidd and Stede Bonnet.

The guilt of Kidd, rumors of buried treasure, mesmeric revelation, adventures of Broadish, strange character of Major Bonnet, his piracies, encounters, indications of insanity, no temptation to turn pirate, Blackbeard, Bonnet deposed.

Mr. Charles Elliott, in his History of New England, writes, It seems to have been felt necessary by those who were charged in England with complicity with Captain Kidd that a vigorous prosecution should be urged and that an example should be made of him to satisfy a clamorous public opinion.

We now bid adieu to Captain Kidd, leaving it with our readers to form their own opinion from the facts here given of the degree of praise or blame to be attached to his character.

About the same time, when William Kidd was passing through his strange adventures, there was another buccaneer appearing upon the stage whose character and career were still more astonishing.

There was a gentleman in Barbados of wealth, position, and education by the name of Stede Bonnet.

He had a large fortune and was highly esteemed for his intellectual culture and his honorable character.

Um, a lot of fun.

Uh, based on Stede Bonnet, real guy.

Yeah, and Blackbeard.

Uh, and Blackbeard, of course.

Yeah.

Did they have a lot of kids, pirates?

Stede Bonnet had a lot of kids.

Did he?

Teach formed temporary alliances with other captains operating out of Nassau.

Two sloops, one commanded by a man named Stede Bonnet, the other by a former privateer named Richards, joined the Revenge for coordinated operations.

The arrangement was simple: sail in company, share intelligence on sightings, and divide prizes according to each vessel's articles when captures were made jointly.

Teach met with the other captains by boat when anchored, discussing likely routes and signals for recognition at night.

Yeah, if you get through to the semi-finals, you were clearly doing something right.

So today we need to choose between Mary Read, Hal Davies, Steed Bonnet.

Well, he's going through.

And William Kidd.

She is not mentioned in the game whatsoever.

Hal Davies is not mentioned.

Steed Bonnet,

fifth.