THE PERILS OF THE SEA – PART 4 – Corsairs & Captives

(This post is a continuation of The Perils of the Sea – Parts 1, 2, & 3. If you haven’t done so already, it’s best to read that post before continuing on here.)

This week, we conclude the series of posts about the Charitie, the English merchant ship that was captured by corsairs in the spring of 1609.

Last week, the Charitie and its crew had escaped a French pirate, only to fall into the hands of none other than Simon Danseker, the infamous Dutch renegade corsair captain. We take up the story from there.

The first of our ships that Danseker and his pirates came upon was Master Stanley, who, seeing them so strongly furnished, so laden with ordnance, and so powerful in shot, straightway yielded. Master Humphrey and the other two ships of Yarmouth and Lin, having got the wind of Danseker, steered back again to Master Stanley, intending their utmost endeavor to rescue him. Calling aloud to him, they bid him hoist his sails again, vowing to him by the faith they had in their country and the love of their countrymen that they would never forsake him and would fight for him, and rescue him, or die with him.

But whether it were that Master Stanley misliked their resolution, or was overawed by the strength of Danseker, or whether he was conquered by the Dutchman’s oath and promise, which was that he would neither ransack nor pillage anything from him, he refused to hoist his sails and consented to the yielding.

Master Humphrey and the rest, not willing further to endanger their own ships, every man shifted for themselves and so escaped. Our ship and the Fleming were leeward of the whole fleet, so that when he was possessed of Master Stanley, Danseker then came up to us poor vanquished men. It was easy for him to deal with us, who had neither powder nor other munition to offend him.

The first he spoke when he came up to us was, “I command you to strike sail and follow me!” We saw it were a bootless to resist and that there was no choice save to obey him. But we entreated him to be good unto us and told him that we had been robbed by Tunis men, confederates of Ward, not six days before. Captain Danseker demanded of Master Stanley whether our tale was true or not. He quickly affirmed it to be true.

Then Danseker, like a proud (we may even call him an honest) pirate, told us that since the men of Tunis had had us in hand, he scorned to add affliction where was misery before or to make prey of them who had nothing left. By a messenger, he commanded us to shoot off three pieces of ordinance as a thanks to him and ransom for our liberty and so depart.

We had to confess to him that such was the cruelty of our enemies, we had nothing left whereby we might gratified his courtesy and answer his command.

He forthwith gave order that we should be dismissed. But he kept the Fleming and Master Stanley. The Fleming was laden with corn, and upon it lay divers trusses and bales of rich stuff to the value of twenty thousand pounds, the which stuff he took away from them, since it was the merchants’ goods and not the particular property belonging to any private seaman.

This is the difference between Ward of Tunis and Danseker of Algiers. Ward makes prey of all, and Danseker hath compassion of some. The one refuses to be charitable to any. The other holds it hateful to take anything from them who labor in continual danger to maintain their lives.

We have heard that this was the cause of the falling out betwixt these two pirates, for certainly they are now at difference.

After taking the goods out of it, Danseker dismissed the Fleming and sent him after us. But Master Stanley and his whole company he carried away directly for Algiers, where what will happen to them is yet uncertain.

Some of the men who had been discharged out of their ship and into ours, seeing how uncertain was their hope, and how continual was their danger (since every ship we saw, we must fear to be a pirate) intreated of Danseker that he would be pleased to set them ashore. He not only condescended to their request, but also gave them four shillings apiece, to help to carry them up into the country of Spain.

To our sorrow, we then watched our good friend Master Stanley and his whole company hoisted toward Algiers.

We put in at Almanika, in Spain, where we intended to repair and get what necessaries we lacked that might furnish us for our better safety homeward. The Governor of that town, when he heard what had happened unto us, commanded that we should have all things that we thought needful for us, and offered us a hundred men for a safe-guard every night while we stayed there to repair our wants, lest the corsairs, or any other of their sort, should come back to do us injury.

Thus have I truly delivered unto you what hath happened to us at sea, by which you may judge what difference there is betwixt our states and yours ashore.

For those who may be interested…

The letter written by the Charitie’s captain can be found in a pamphlet titled News from Sea of two notorious Pyrates, Ward the Englishman, and Danseker the Dutchman, with a True Relation of all or the Most Piracies by them Committed unto the sixth of April, 1609, published around 1609 and attributed to a pamphleteer named Anthony Nixon (the pamphlet has no page numbers). I have edited and lightly abridge the original text to make it more accessible.