
FRESH STUFF DAILY
Seacoast New Hampshire
& South Coast Maine
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
|
|
| |
|
|
|
f48
no prescription online pharmacy viagra sale where can i buy propecia without a prescription canadian cialis cialis 5 mg 10 mg levitra levitra online levitra online canada cheapest med canada pharmacy no prescription generic viagra canada canadian viagra Levitra 10 mg propecia without prescription canada pharmacy viagra propecia without prescription cialis or viagra cialis generic cialis canada viagra with prescription ACCOMPLIA(BUY) cialis or viagra detox from vicodin viagra sale viagra from canada viagra for sale propecia with out a prescription cialis online cialis 5 mg cialis online online cialis
0
|
The Brief Career of Pirate John Quelch
|
|
|
|
Written by J. Dennis Robinson
|
|
Page 1 of 3 
MARITIME HISTORY
Legends of pirates at the Isles of Shoals persist, despite a lack of historical evidence. One band of pirates, however, were captured with their loot at Star Island. Author Clifford Beal tells the story in his revealing and highly readable new book "Quelch’s Gold".
PIRATES OF THE PISCATQUA
SEE ALSO: Seeking Balckbeard's Treasure
The historical pirate is dead. He was stabbed in the back in the 1880s by a romantic novel called Treasure Island and the operetta Pirates of Penzance. He was keelhauled by the comic Captain Hook in the early 20th century production of Peter Pan. What remained of the truth was fed to the sharks by actor Johnny Depp who plays the quirky conflict-averse Captain Jack Sparrow in three recent Disney films.
Yes, Virginia, there once were real pirates on real wooden ships. There have been pirates since the days of ancient Greece. There are modern pirates with machine guns and machetes who pray on yachts and sailboats today. But the pirates we most romanticize plundered these waters in the 17th and early 18th centuries. They did not sport beards made from live snakes, but there might have been the occasional hooked arm, peg leg, striped shirt, eye patch and shoulder-parrot. They were, by in large, violent and desperate men living under wretched conditions.
Lucky for the real pirates, there are historians like Clifford Beal who know how to wield a pen and dig for facts. Beal cuts to the heart of one authentic pirate in his new book Quelch’s Gold. John Quelch is not as famous as Captain Kidd and Edmund "Blackbeard" Teach, who also sailed these waters, but his story reveals much about how pirates actually lived. Like criminals of any era, we know the most about those pirates who got caught and went to trial. Quelch was hanged in Boston in 1704 after a single year of looting on the high seas. Legend says Quelch’s men deposited their treasure at the Isles of Shoals in New Hampshire. .
Beal’s adventure begins in August of 1703 as the 80-ton brigantine Charles slipped out of Marblehead harbor. Owned by a syndicate of five influential Bostonians, the Charles was on a mission to attack French privateers, government sanctioned pirates, that were harassing British merchant ships in the North Atlantic. The owners did not know, however, that their captain, Daniel Plowman, lay dying in his bunk. Forty hours after the Charles cleared the harbor, Plowman was dead, presumably of natural causes. John Quelch, the ship’s lieutenant, took command.
CONTINUE with JOHN QUELCH
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners.
Portsmouth Herald
|
Portsmouth Herald Latest Headlines
|
| Portsmouth Herald News from SeacoastOnline.com |
-
Memorial Bridge re-opens
PORTSMOUTH — The Memorial Bridge reopened ahead of schedule on Friday following a month of repairs that forced drivers to seek alternative routes between the city and Kittery, Maine.
-
Driver inattention caused 3-car crash, say police
PORTSMOUTH - A three-car chain-reaction crash snarled lunch hour traffic on Woodbury Avenue Friday and sent a Maine man to Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
-
City police 'did all the right things' with man on bridge
PORTSMOUTH — When two city police officers talked a suicidal man off the High Level Bridge Wednesday morning by promising him a burger, a warm place to go and undivided...
-
and#8216;Lost' to premiere on Groundhog Day! Coincidence?
Now we know when the sixth and final season of “Lost” will begin. According to the ABC press release, the show will debut on Tuesday, February 2. The...
-
Portsmouth police log
8:50 a.m. Report taken about a suspicious male who approached a child in Hannafords.
-
Owner: Cigarettes stolen during Seacoast Variety break-in
PORTSMOUTH — Police were called to the Seacoast Variety store early Friday morning when a witness reported the front door was smashed, and according to store owner Joseph Goulis, $200...
-
Go and Do: Festival of Trees in Portsmouth
-
Say hello to Josie
Josie is a domestic long haired, 2½ year old, spayed and microchipped female. She has been good with children and other cats, but the staff members at the N.H. Society...
-
Movie review: 'Twilight' gets 3 stars
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon," also known as "Twilight: The Squeakquel," is actually pretty good — a tick better than the first "Twilight," which wasn't bad either. These are hardly...
-
The Truth about Dating: Do you have a dating addiction?
Everywhere I turn on television these days I see Dr. Drew Pinsky popping up discussing one type of addiction or another.
-
FairPoint says it's on rebound
PORTSMOUTH — FairPoint Communications remains an aggressive competitor in the telecommunications industry, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, a company official told members of the Portsmouth Rotary...
-
Eliot mother wants to be 'Biggest Loser'
ELIOT, Maine — Angela Boyle is pretty and vivacious with a self-deprecating sense of humor, a mother of four, a wife, an income tax preparer, a six-year resident of Eliot...
-
City paying 1 percent for art
PORTSMOUTH — Less than a month after unveiling the "Vigilance" sculpture at Fire Station One, the city will move forward with plans for a new piece of public art at...
-
School officials, police lock down York High
YORK, Maine — School officials and police instituted a lockdown at York High School for less than 30 minutes Thursday morning after a student was allegedly seen armed with a...
-
'Twilight' fans stay up all night for 'New Moon'
NEWINGTON — Kellie Bradley, 17, saw the first "Twilight" film 18 times.
-
'Heart of Portsmouth' auction begins
PORTSMOUTH — The online auction to raise money to help Amy DeStefano as she awaits a heart transplant begins at 8 a.m. today.
-
'Tramp' and killing comment lands man in court
PORTSMOUTH — It was New Year's Eve 2008 when "Bernie" Molloy called the manager of his apartment complex "a tramp of the highest order," leading to his arrest on a...
-
Check progress of Winnicut River work online
GREENLAND — Residents can follow the progress of the Winnicut River restoration with an on-site Web cam that has recorded the work in time lapse photography.
-
Service Credit Union donates 50 turkeys to Portsmouth Salvation Army
PORTSMOUTH — Michele Saccoccia, Aimee Sundstrom and Carolyn Richard leaned over a gray tarp in their bright red Service Credit Union fleece pullovers as they placed on the floor a...
-
Fifth man linked to Mont Vernon burglary killing is charged
NASHUA — A Hollis man was arraigned Thursday on a charge that he helped dispose of evidence from the killing of a Mont Vernon woman last month and an attack...
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, November 20, 2009 |
|
|
|