Issue #19 - The Pyrates Way

The Pirate Hunter - The True Story of Captain Kiddby Richard Zacks432 pages • Published by HyperionMention the name of Captain Kidd, and you can't helpthinking of buried treasure, bloodthirsty tales of plunder,and general maritime mayhem. There was a real CaptainKidd, and he did sail among the pirates, but we all have thewrong idea about him, according to Richard Zacks, whoseThe Pirate Hunter: The True Storyof Captain Kidd sets the recordstraight. William Kidd was a mastermariner who lived in NewYork, on Wall Street, no less, at theend of the seventeenth century. Hehad a wife and daughter. "He wasno career cutthroat, no cartoonBlackbeard, terrifying his prey byputting flaming matches in hishair." Kidd was a respectable seacaptain, who had enormously badluck in his endeavors to hunt piratesfor profit.Kidd was no pirate, but a privateer,recruited by powerful Lordsand merchants to rob from the piratesthat had robbed from themerchants. He had a secret commissionfrom King William IIIhimself, who privately took a tenpercent share of any profits thatKidd might come up with. Kiddsailed on Adventure Galley, a threemasterbuilt in England andlaunched in 1696 specifically forKidd's mission, with a crew of 150. Many of the crew hadbeen pirates themselves, and Kidd was putting himself inan uncomfortable management position. He had nothingbut bad luck in finding pirates to rob, but even before hedid so, rumors of his being a pirate himself had sprung up.After his crew mutinied, he tried to return to his home inNew York, but discovered to his surprise that he was themost wanted man in America. He sneaked back towardsNew York, and in another unpiratical act, sought the helpof his lawyer. He made overtures to Lord Bellomont, hisprime backer, but the gouty and treacherous Bellomont,having learned of the extentand whereabouts of the haulKidd had brought back, puthim into jail. Kidd wasshipped in chains to England.The corruption involvedin his jail term andhis trial are well detailedhere.Zacks has dug into accountbooks, diaries, andforgotten, centuries-old governmentaldocuments tobring out the truth aboutKidd, but this is far from adusty academic account.Zacks has fun telling usabout how pirates reallylived, how politics was conducted,the difficulties ofshipboard life, and how differentthe times were fromour own. For example, hewrites of a messenger: "As hereached the East River, theManhattan skyline loomed:a windmill and two church steeples towering over a seasiderow of three-story gable roofs." Kidd's was a wild and eventfullife, even if it wasn't the life of a pirate. My guess is thatZacks's book will never overcome the centuries of folklorethat have accumulated around Kidd's story, but the truestory is still a rousing treasure.KILL FOR THE RUMDIE BY THE BLADELIVING THE PYRATES WAYReview By R. HardyÂPrevious Page Issue 19 The Pyrates Way 19 www.pyratesway.com Spring 2013 Next PageÂ