Saturday, June 10, 2006

I love pirates

Anne Brennan
(1697-?)

Anne Brennan and Mary Read
When a young man makes a crude pass at 14-year-old Anne Brennan on the streets of Charleston, South Carolina, Brennan beats him so badly that his jaw is broken and he must be hospitalized for months. The strong, quick-tempered girl would later become a notorious pirate who terrorized the Caribbean for several years. At the age of 16, Brennan married James Bonny, and the two settled in the Bahamas. While Bonny tried to make his living informing on the local pirates, Anne decided she would rather join the bad guys. She left Bonny and took up with Albert Backhouse, killing his mistress and taking her place in the business of laundering stolen goods for the pirates.
Brennan then became friendly with pirates such as Blackbeard and Calico Jack. She followed Jack on a voyage aboard Pierre Bousquet's pirate ship and quickly convinced the crew to dump Bousquet for Calico Jack. Around this time, Anne met Mary Read, a woman who was trying to pass as a male pirate, and the two became fast friends.
Stopping in the Bahamas again, Anne found that James Bonny had filed adultery charges against her. In an act of revenge, she set fire to Bonny's new home on the island.


In 1720, a bounty was placed on Calico Jack's ship, and armed troops were sent out to capture the pirates. They caught up with Jack, Anne, and Mary Read in October of that year. Jack stayed below in his cabin drinking rum while most of the other men meekly surrendered. However, Anne and Mary fought valiantly until their eventual capture, and they were sentenced to walk the plank to their deaths. Fortunately for them, English law did not allow for the execution of pregnant women-as both Anne and Mary were.
Despite her brief good fortune, Mary Read didn't last much longer. She came down with a fatal disease and died in December. Brennan, on the other hand, escaped before her execution, after giving birth the following year. Purportedly, she returned to America and joined the pioneers settling the West.

Once when I was young, my mother after hours of pleading from me allowed me to visit a psychic medium with my Aunt Yvonne. The psychic told me that in a "other" life I was a very mean male pirate, I had my own ship, and buried my own crew with my treasure somewhere in the Bahamas. Now, I am not sure that I am a believer however since that day I have had a life long love of pirates. =}


N Posted by Rain at 6/10/2006 12:23:00 AM

3 Comments

  • Anonymous Anonymous posted at 11:55 AM  
    Oh...a kick ass girl pirate...yeah, now that could be cool.

  • Anonymous Anonymous posted at 3:10 PM  
    What's not to like about a pirate, unless they sunk your own ship?

  • Blogger Rain posted at 2:26 AM  
    Jules~ both Anne Brennan and Mary Read were both really tough and way, way ahead of their time! There are other female pirates, it is just so hard to find any good resources to go by!

    Puuda Maggui~ Thank you for taking the time to comment. You are welcome anytime!

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