The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-05-30

Long before ever the suffrage was
an issue in England, in a time when
women for the most part spent their
lives by their own hearthstones, there
fourished two women pirates, Brit
ish born. Real buccaneers they were,
who staggered and swore right lus-
tily and sailed the Spanish Main and
slew folks with broad cutlasses and
did all the other things that we'll
regulated pirates were in the habit
of doing. Their names were Mary
Read and Anne Bonny, and their rec
ords are still to be read in certain
ancient British court records, though
they seldom are.
Mary was one of those strange wo-
men who have gone through life
dressed as men. She kept her secret
from all except very few. Before
she was Is she enlisted as sailor
in the British navy, and history OF
pirates published in London in 1724
by Captain Charles Johnson tells all
about her. She did well enough as
a sailor, then enlisted in the army
and went with a British regiment to
Flanders, where she fought through
a number of campaigns and was dis
tineuished for reckless bravery and
helped keep up the reputation for
profanity which goes with soldiers in
Flanders. She called herself Frank
Read, and apparently no one sus-
pected that she was a girl.
But, being woman, she could not
refrain from falling in love, and
finally was married to a fellow SOL
der of whom she had grown very
fond. Then they both left the army,
bought a little inn in Flanders and
settled down to housekeeping. All
this seems a long way from piracy
but do not be impatient.
Mary's husband died in a year or
two and she went back to her wild,
masculine life, shipping as sailor
on a Dutch merchantmen bound for
the West Indies. Before the vessel
reached it's destination it was halted
by British pirates, who, being IN
need of sailor, took the lusty Mary,
never suspecting that the recruit to
their crew was woman.
Mary pirated for little while with
the boys, and then the ship put in at
New Providence, one of the Bahama
Islands, and took advantage of gen.
eral pardon offered to every British
pirate except Captain Kidd and Cap
tain Avery. They all promised to be
good. the crew disbanded, and there
was Mary out of job again.
Now, the British governor of New
Providence was fitting out priv
teersman at that time to harry Span
ish commerce. Privateering, by the
way, was the respectable and legal
way of being pirate, and was coun-
tenanced because the owner OF prl-
vateer had to divide his spoils with
the government Well, our Mary be-
came a member of the crew of this
British privateersman, and incident
ally, it was very tough crew she
ioined. One member of it was pl-
rate named Backam. Another was
his wife, Anne Bonny, buxom
wench, who, like Mary, was disguls-
ed as a man. Anne was a real tough
kiddo,'' Captain Johnson tells us,
while Mary was just an honest work
ing girl whom cruel fate had made
pirate quite against her will. How
ever, Mary does not seem to have put
up any very violent struggle against
cruel fate.
However that was the rough ana
ready Anne Bonny fell in love with
Mary, who, she fancied, was man.
OF course, Mary had to explain ana
then Anne explained and they gre"
yery chummy, and being women
couldn't resist embracing each other
frequently, so that Rackam, Anne's
husband, grew very jealous OF the
supposed Frank" and had to De
let in on the secret for fear ne wouia
sneak hp on Mary and insert Dirk
between her shoulders.
:! The bold Rackam couldn't pear
the thought of being subordinate
and dividing up the spoils OF war
with the government, so he led a mu-
tiny, soon tossed the officers OF the
ship overheard and moved his BE-
longings up the captains cabin.
It is not known whether he hoisted
the Jolly Roger at the masthead'
but probably he did, and if he dian
he should have. Anyhow, they. went
plundering merrily over the south