Pirate Freedom (47 page)

Then she and I, and our child, will sail around the world. Today, as you sit reading this, we have been dead three hundred years.

We are the people of your past.

All persons of importance in the text are listed here, with many lesser persons. Persons and places are limited to those not apt to be familiar to the average reader. It is assumed that such a reader will have little difficulty with "Shakespeare" and "South America." A few technical terms, etc., are included as well.

A
CADIA
A French colony in eastern Canada.

A
GATHA
, S
AINT
An early Christian martyr.

A
LVAREZ
Captain Ojeda's lieutenant.

A
NTILLES
The island chain separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.

A
NTONIO
A Portuguese sailing master turned pirate.

A
QUINAS
, S
AINT
T
HOMAS
A great medieval theologian.

A
RNOLD
, M
ARY
A
NNE
A woman who posed for years as a male seaman.

This sort of thing happened much more often than is credible. Deborah Samson became a private in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Dressed as men, Rachel and Grace Martin were American partisans in the same war. Other examples might be given.

A
ZUKA
The slave mistress of the captain of the
Duquesa de Corruna
.

B
ARBARA
, S
AINT
The patroness of gunners.

B
ENSON
, B
EN
An English sailor in the prize crew put on the
Duquesa de Corruna
.

B
ERNADETTE
, S
AINT
A visionary to whom the Virgin appeared repeatedly in 1858.

B
IG
C
AYEMITE
An island off the north coast of the Tiburon Peninsula.

B
IG
N
ED
A slave freed to reinforce the crew of the
New Ark
.

B
LACKBEARD
Real name Edward Teach. His death in 1718 may be said to have ended the great age of piracy.

B
ONNEY
, A
NNE
A woman seduced by Calico Jack Rackam who joined his crew. She is believed to have borne his child in prison; neither its fate nor hers is known to history.

B
OUCHER
Under the narrator, second mate of the
Castillo Blanco
.

B
OUTON
Under the narrator, first mate of the
Castillo Blanco
.

B
OWEN
, J
OHN
A trustworthy merchant of Port Royal.

B
RENDAN
, S
AINT
A patron of sailors. He is said to have reached the New World.

B
RETAGNE
Lesage's ship.

B
ULL
, B
ILL
An alcoholic pirate.

B
URT
, C
APTAIN
B
RAM
(A
BRAHAM
) The commodore of a pirate flotilla.

C
ALLAO
A seaport of Peru, near Lima.

C
AMPECHE
, G
ULF OF
The southern arm of the Gulf of Mexico, bounded on the east by Yucatan.

C
ANAL DU
S
UD
The passage between Île de la Gonâve and the Tiburon Peninsula.

C
ARACAS
The capital of Venezuela.

C
ARTERET
, S
IR
G
EORGE
The proprietor of New Jersey.

C
ASTILLO
B
LANCO
Don José de Santiago's ship.

C
ATHARINE
, S
AINT
A Christian martyr who forgave her executioner.

C
HENG
, M
RS
. Cheng I Sao. Arguably the greatest pirate of all time. Those who may have sought the original of Milton Caniff 's Dragon Lady need look no further.

C
HIN
One of the narrator's crew. (Presumably a nickname.)

C
HRIS
(C
HRISTOPHER
) The narrator.

C
IMAROONS
Escaped slaves living in the jungle. (From the Sp.
cimarrón
—"wild beast," "fugitive.")

C
LÉMENT
A buccaneer turned pirate.

C
OLE
, F
ATHER
E
D
A missionary.

C
OPPER
R
IVER
A Jamaican river emptying into Kingston Harbor.

C
ORSON
Bosun aboard the
Sabina
.

C
ORUÑA
A seaport at the northwest corner of Spain.

C
OX
, C
APTAIN
One of Captain Burt's subordinates, friendly with the Kuna.

C
ROMWELL
The English revolutionary who made himself Lord Protector. (Born 1599, died 1658.)

C
USTOM OF THE
C
OAST
The usages of buccaneers.

D
ARIEN
A Spanish colony roughly congruent with present-day Panama.

D
ELL
Bosun's mate (that is, assistant) aboard the
Sabina
.

D
OBKIN
, C
APTAIN
One of Captain Burt's subordinates.

D
OMINIC
, S
AINT
The founder of the Dominican Order.

D
OMINICANS
The monastic order founded by Saint Dominic.

D
RAKE
, S
IR
F
RANCIS
An Elizabethan hero who plundered the Pacific Coast of South America and helped defeat the Spanish Armada. He is the father of naval strategy.

D
UBEC
Apparently, the third mate of the
Magdelena
.

D
UQUESA
D
E
C
ORRUNA
A Spanish slaver. Later, the
New Ark
.

E
MILIA
Captain Isham's ship.

E
STRELLITA
The Guzmans' housemaid.

F
ANCY
Red Jack's ship.

F
AT
V
IRGIN
I
SLAND
Its official name is Virgin Gorda, q.v.

F
RANCINE
Valentin's dog, stolen from Lesage.

F
ULGENCIO
, B
ROTHER
An elderly lay brother at Our Lady of Bethlehem.

G
AGNE
A buccaneer with whom the narrator quarrels.

G
IBRALTAR
A village at the end of Lake Maracaibo.

G
OLDEN
H
IND
The ship in which Drake raided the Indies and circumnavigated the globe.

G
OSLING
, C
APTAIN
A subordinate of Captain Burt's who captures a ship carrying letters of importance.

G
ROMETTO
An armed servant. This interesting word is said to be de
rived from an East African language. The gromettos found on sailing ships were slaves or freed slaves.

G
UADELOUPE
P
ASSAGE
A corridor (between Antigua and Guadeloupe) through the Leeward Islands and into the Atlantic. It is wide and deep enough for large vessels.

G
UZMAN
, J
AIME
A merchant of Coruña.

G
UZMAN
, S
ABINA
M
ARÍA DE
V
EGA
A
RANDA
A Spanish lady who wished to buy a parrot.

H
ANSEN
G
UNNER
aboard the
Sabina
.

H
ARKER
, C
APTAIN
H
AL
One of Burt's subordinates.

H
ISPANIOLA
An island of the Greater Antilles, now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

H
OLY
F
AMILY
A rural parish.

H
OODAHS
A Moskito slave.

H
OUDEK
, F
ATHER
The pastor of Saint Teresa's.

HOY
As a noun, a work boat or barge. The expression "all hands hoy" (that is, to work) is equivalent to "all hands on deck."

I
GNACIO
, B
ROTHER
A lay brother at Our Lady of Bethlehem.

I
GNATIUS
L
OYOLA
, S
AINT
The ex-soldier who founded the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus).

Î
LE Á
V
ACHE
An island just south of the western end of Hispaniola.

I
NDIOS
B
RAVOS
Any unconquered tribe. (Sp.)

I
SHAM
, C
APTAIN
A subordinate of Captain Burt's.

I
SLANDS OF
K
ING
P
HILIP
The Philippines.

J
ACKSON
, T
OM
First mate on the
Weald
.

J
AMAICA
A large island one hundred and fifty miles south of Cuba. It was a British possession.

J
ARDEN
, P
AUL
Second mate on the
Magdelena
.

J
ERSEY
One of the Channel Islands.

J
IB
A usually triangular sail set on a forestay.

J
OAN
, S
AINT
A teenager in armor, one of history's most successful generals. The English burned her alive.

J
OHN
, S
AINT
The apostle whom Jesus loved is probably meant.

J
UDE
, S
AINT
The apostle who asked the New Testament's most famous question. He is the patron of hopeless causes.

J
UNIPER
, B
ROTHER
A foolish Franciscan.

K
IDD
, C
APTAIN
A privateer who turned pirate.

K
UNA
A Central American tribe prone to albinism.

L
ADY
M
ARIE
C
APE
Presumably Cape Dame Marie, at the western end of the Tiburon Peninsula.

L
AKE
M
ARACAIBO
A large freshwater lake near the coast of Venezuela. It receives the waters of the Catatumbo River and empties into the Gulf of Venezuela through a narrow channel.

L
ANGUEDOC
A region of France bordered to the southeast by the Mediterranean.

L
ESAGE
First mate on the
New Ark
.

L
ISBOA
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

L'O
LONNAIS
, F
RANÇOIS
Also Francis L'Ollonais. A pirate leader most famous for his cruelty. These may be pseudonyms.

L
ONG
B
AY
A pirate rendezvous on the southern coast of Jamaica. Lucy, Saint A martyred Sicilian girl.

L
UIS
, F
ATHER
A monk at Our Lady of Bethlehem who taught mathematics. Maas Gunner's mate aboard the
Sabina
.

M
ACÉRER
A ship commanded by Captain Burt.

M
AGDELENA
The naval vessel captured by Melind.