Pirates 2: Cheers, Mate!

a school for well placed Britain's. At sixteen, he joined the Royal Navy aboard the h M S Shrewsbury, but his education put him at odds with his fellow shipmates, who had received only an elementary school education. He quickly rose through the ranks and switched ships, eventually serving on board the HMS Britannia during the capture of Barcelona in seventeen oh five. The following year he captained his first ship. In April of seventeen oh eight, he took command of

the station in the West Indies. Needless to say, he was a busy young man. In seventeen twenty one he was elected as a member of part Lament, but returned to naval service five years later. Edward continued to advance, becoming an admiral in seventeen forty five. Not long afterward, he set his sights on improving the Royal Navy's operations and protocol, and then returned to Parliament. He died in seventeen fifty seven, at the age of seventy three. There's

a monument in Westminster Abbey erected in his memory. His distinguished service as a naval officer spanned forty six years. But it's not his exemplary service, or the battles, or even the changes in Parliament that he's most famous for. No. Edward Vernon's legacy is grog. That's right, the mixture of rum and water, originally given to British soldiers, oddly enough

to keep them from getting drunk. You see, when Vernon served in the West Indies, he saw the effects of an all you can drink buffet of rum on board ships. In his observations, nothing parted a sailor from his morals or his duty faster than rum, and he knew just to stop it. He issued an order on August one set declaring that all men would receive their daily allotment of a half pint of rum divided into two parts, rather than all at once. A quart of water was

also added to each half pint. Men lined up in the morning and again in the afternoon to receive their rations handed out and drank in the presence of a lieutenant on duty. And if you're thinking that the drink had to taste awful, you'd be right. But Vernon had a solution for that too. The men could use their salt and bread savings to buy sugar and lines to

make the drink more palatable. The water down drink still amounted to about five cocktails a day, but at least the amount of water, the division, and the taste all seemed to prevent a good portion of drunken Mayhem. Due to his habit of wearing a heavy water resistant jacket

made of a cloth known as grogram. The men had long called Vernon Old Grogram or Old Grog for short, a nick name thankfully they never used in his presence, and since he'd come up with the foul drink himself, the men named it after him, shortening it to just grog yoho ho made. In this episode, we're talking about rum. I'm Aaron Manky and welcome two pirates, Pirates, sailors and privateers. They all had one thing in common in the sevent alcohol, and every country had its drink. The Dutch had gin,

while the French provided wine. Those serving in the British Navy were entitled to one gallon of beer each day until they either ran out or the beer went rancid. When the beer was gone, a pint of wine or a half pint of either brandy or rum was provided, depending on where they sailed. That's a lot of liquor, and some of you might be singing a pirate's life for me right about now, or maybe you're wondering why

they served so much alcohol. Well, sailors needed to drink, and the stored water not only tasted bad, but it also developed algae pretty quickly, especially in tropical climates. Higher proof spirits stored in oak barrels fared better, often retaining or improving their flavor. Food onboard ships consisted mainly of porridge and salted meats, so the alcohol at least gave the men something to look forward to at meal time. They drank to alleviate boredom, to ease tensions, or otherwise

endure their time scrubbing the poop deck. Doctors aboard ships used alcohol as medicine too. Both internally and externally. It cleaned wounds and enabled men to endure surgery a little easier. Disease was a major concern aboard a ship, and scurvy, a condition that occurs without the adequate amount of vitamin C, was always rampant. Left untreated, it leads to anemia and gum disease, among other things. Death eventually follows, usually from

a sudden hemorrhage near the heart or the brain. Men feared scurvy more than just about anything else at sea, and rightly so. Captains assumed that fifty of their crew would die from the disease during any major voyage. While vitamin C is found in an array of fruits and vegetables, it was the lime added to the grog that helped prevent scurvy. From then on, British ships required half an ounce of lemon or lime to be added to the men's grog per day, hence the reason English sailors were

often called limes. Made from the leftovers of processing sugar, rum had a sweet taste, its stored better in casks than most, and it had a higher potency than beer or wine. Sugar growers cleverly marketed rum and the British made at the standard aboard their ships, and for the record, pirates and sailors rarely swelled rum from a bottle. Glass was expensive, and alcohol was shipped mostly in casks. Oh

and about that legendary drink. Higher didn't have the ration grog that British sailors had, and they liked their rum made into a punch, adding lines, sugar and often a dash of nutmeg, but no water. Either way, drunkenness presented a few problems. Traversing lines was a job difficult sober, much less when three sheets to the wind. As pirates like to say, drunken sailors got into more fights, were killed or robbed more easily, and even mistakenly recruited onto

other ships. And since drunk pirates were easier to capture, it put them closer to that dreaded penalty for their profession, death by hanging. But the threat of death didn't seem to matter to some though. In seventeen nineteen, pirate captain Howell Davis took Captain Snell Grave and some of his men hostage after ransacking his ship. His crew found the liquor and then drank themselves into a stupor. A fire broke out when one of the men went below deck

with an open flame around the highly flammable rum. The fire then jumped from barrel to barrel, making its way to thirty thou pounds of gunpowder. The men, all drunk is could be, accepted their fate and made a final toast, but thankfully Captain snell Grave and some of his other men had remained sober and put out the fire, avoiding a disaster. It's no wonder that we tend to think

of pirates as insatiable drunkards. Captain Henry Morgan is undoubtedly the poster child for rum, yet stories surrounding him are not driven by one specific type of liquor. No, the pirate most associated with rum was Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard. Although he could drink massive quantities, he never passed out. Legend has it that he often mixed rum with gunpowder, lighting the substance before drinking it, which makes sense since, as we've learned, black Beard had mastered the

art of projecting a fierce image. So there you have it. While pirates and sailors both enjoyed rum or just about any other alcohol, really, we tend to see pirates and rum as well practice the inseparable. Some pirates owed their

rise and downfall to rum. Raising cattle was the main way of earning a living in Pembrokeshire, Wales in two We don't know much about John roberts early years during that time, but we do know that by seventeen eighteen he'd become third mates aboard the Princess, a British slave trading ship. He had also taken on the first name

of Bartholomew, although most just called him Bart. On a June morning in seventeen nineteen, he toiled away at his daily chores aboard the Princess, anchored off the Ghana coast. On shore, mud huts and a crumbling stone fort stood against a tropical blue sky. Canoes filled with their human cargo road towards the ship. At noon, two ships entered the harbor, black flags flying in the wind for Roberts

and the others. The color meant one thing pirates. The Princess and the other slave ships were non match, and the captain immediately surrendered. Welsh pirate Howell Davis sent his men aboard to raid the Princess. They took all the liquor, food, gold, and clothing, and then they took thirty four crew members. Some went willingly. Roberts did not the manner they'd been boarded, the way the pirates ransacked the ship, and the apparent

drunken anarchy among the men. All of it disgusted Roberts. However, he changed his mind about piracy after seeing the crew's treatment. While his captain had treated him and the others not much better than slaves, Davis treated his men practically as equals and divided all treasure fairly among them. He also learned that pirate life wasn't anarchy. Life aboard the ship seemed organized and even democratic, and so Roberts grew to

like Davis. An impressive man with an impressive ship. On board were thirty two cannons, twenty seven swivel guns, and a large crew, making them a solid match for any ship that crossed their path. That didn't mean safety, however, six weeks later, Davis and several of his top crew members were gunned down during an attempt to raid a Portuguese settlement. In fact, only two men made it back alive. The pirates found themselves without leadership to solve the problem,

They made punch and drank. One of the men suggested they select the best navigator, the man with the most courage. Then he offered a name, Bart Roberts. The crew filled the remaining leadership roles and resolved to avenge Davis's death. Roberts organized thirty men and stormed the main fort. They plundered a few houses, torched two ships in the harbor, and then sailed away toward Brazil in search of additional wealth.

They arrived at the Bay of All Saints to find forty two Portuguese ships along with two men of wars, each with seventy guns. A direct attack would be suicide, but fleeing would also be difficult. Instead, Roberts sailed the Royal Rover into harbor as though they were part of the convoy. His men dressed in French colors and sailed to the smallest boat, threatening attack. If anyone resisted or

sent up a distress signal, the smaller ship surrendered. Roberts then greeted their captain kindly, well as kindly as possible under the circumstances, and asked which of the ships in the harbor contained the most treasure. If the captain cooperated. Roberts promised to allow him and his crew to sail off unharmed, lie or resist, and they'd face sudden death. The Portuguese captain pointed toward the Sagrada Familia, a ship with just forty guns and a hundred and fifty men

on board. It wasn't long before Roberts quickly hatched a plan. The kidnapped captain would hail the larger ship and request a meeting. When the captain of the Sagrata boarded, his men would take him hostage. However, the men aboard the Sagrata weren't easily fooled and prepared to defend themselves. For Roberts and his crew, both choices to run away or keep going wouldn't let them the aime results, so they chose to advance. Sharpshooters aboard the Royal Rover picked off

the Portuguese men on the main decks. The Pirates pulled alongside the Sagrata Familia and boarded, brandishing swords and tossing primitive hand grenades. In the end, Roberts only lost two men in the battle. Of course, all that noise drew plenty of attention, the Portuguese sailors set off cannons to alert the Man of Wars. There wouldn't be time to unload the Sagratta familiars treasure, so Roberts decided to steal the entire ship instead. It all came down to speed.

The Sagratta Familia and the Royal Rover were faster than the Man of Wars and the pirates. They sailed safely out of harbor. When they had traveled quite a distance, they found a place to go ashore. They had just plundered more treasure than any of them could spend in a lifetime, and that's when at all fell apart. Although he had led them into a wildly successful raid, a

majority of the crew mutinied to moating Roberts. He regained command by mid seventeen twenty, though, forming one of the most successful crews in the Atlantic, raiding more ships than anyone else. Roberts also had a flair for the dramatic. In one instance, he sailed into the harbor town south of Newfoundland in a ship they had captured and renamed the Good Fortune. It had to be a site to a large sloop flying the black flag the sound of beating drums and men firing guns. It was late June

of seventeen twenty. Over twenty ships and approximately one fifty small fishing boats sat in the bay at the site of the good fortune. Every ship in the harbor surrendered without a single shot. Over time, Roberts acquired more men and more ships. He had so many men that establishing new rules became necessary to prevent another mutiny. He wrote that every crewman had a vote in the affairs of the moment and was entitled to equal shares in strong alcohol at the time it was seized. The men could

use it at their pleasure. Of course, he also required the men to keep their guns clean. There were to be no irish crewmen, no gambling, physical violence, and absolutely no women on board. Deserters would either be marooned or put the death. Musicians on board were to be given the sabbath off, and by eight pm each night lights were to be put out. Those wishing to continue drinking had to do so on the main deck. It was a final attempt to curtail the amount of drunken revelry

his crew had grown fond of. Far too often, the crew was unfit for duty, and they were frequently too drunk to participate in raids. Drinking had begun to unravel his crew, although they had a series of successful raids in the West Indies. In seventeen twenty, they captured so much rum that the men declared it a crime against providence if they weren't continually drunk. In May, they returned

to the western shores of Africa. Seve role British warships were at ports, including the HMS Swallow, commanded by Captain Chaloner Ogle. While anchored off shore, Roberts tried to rein in his rum swigging crew. Although they were constantly inebriated, They managed to plunder a four hundred and ten foot English slave ship that August. The Onslow carried twenty six guns, fifty crewmen, and six hundred slaves. Robert kept the ship, equipping it with forty additional cannons and renamed it the

Royal Fortune. Now at the helm of the largest ship any pirate captain had ever sailed, The crew patrol the African coast throughout January of seventeen twenty two. However, they had company Captain Ogle and the Swallow, so Roberts charted a course for Brazilian waters, hoping to cash in one more time before retiring. They anchored near Cape Lopez on February five of seventeen twenty two, and that's when Ogle

and his crew finally caught up with them. The pirate captain had three ships, seventy two guns and two hundred and fifty three men. Ogle had just as many men, but they were all aboard one ship with only fifty guns. But Roberts and his men mistook the Swallow for a merchant vessel carrying sugar and allowed it to get a bit too close. You would think they'd be happy they had all the rum they could drink, but they wanted punch,

and that meant that they needed sugar. Roberts sent the Royal Ranger to give chase, which divided his fleet, and that was a mistake that Ogle didn't miss. He slowed, allowing the pirate ship to follow, and once the Royal Fortune was out of ear shot, he allowed the Royal Ranger to draw closer. The pirates raised their black flag and fired a warning shot, believing they had another easy victory.

I can only imagine their faces when the Swallow swung around opened the lower gun ports and delivered a barrage of cannon fire. The damage to the Royal Ranger was devastating, killing all but one men. Needless to say, the surviving crew surrendered. A few days later, Ago returned to bay and overtook Roberts and his crew, all because they were too drunk to fight. While only three aboard the pirate

ship would die, one of them would be Roberts. Before his remaining men were arrested, and through a haze of rum, no less roberts men managed to follow his last wish, they tossed his body overboard into the sea. Over his career, Roberts had become an empire. Before his death, he had led his crew on over four d raids, and that's

pretty darn prolific. But even with the best ships, heavy artillery, and a small army of men, he was taken down rather easily by a single ship with far less speed, firepower, and crew. And historians today can only blame the rum while they blame the pirates who drank all the rum. But you get what I mean. Here's how it happened. On February ninth, Ogle found the Royal Fortune right where he'd last seen it. They had seized another ship and

were in the process of rating its liquor supply. Ogle waited until the following morning, when most of the men would be drunk or suffering hangovers, and his plan worked. In fact, the men were so drunk they didn't even see the HMS Swallow approach until the ship was almost upon them. Even then, they were in such a stupor they mistook it for another trading vessel or even the Royal Ranger come back. Finally, Roberts came out onto the

main deck to see what was going on. He took the bold strategy of heading straight towards the Swallow, intent on exchanging sideblows before heading out for open water. The two ships exchanged cannon fire, and the Royal Fortune took on some damage. The Swallow remained barely untouched. Roberts then steered his ship toward open water, but as crewmen were simply too intoxicated, some had passed out on the deck,

while others could barely walk, let alone sail. And it was all that erratic behavior that allowed Ogle to swing his ship a hound and catch up. The Swallow. Delivered several more shots at the Royal Fortune, destroying the mast, and while Robert's crew, well those who hadn't passed out at least, tottered around on the deck, the pirate captain lowered the flag and surrendered. Soon after Ogle's men boarded

and secured the crew with barely a skirmish. Historians remain on the fence if the name black Bart had to do with his black hair and darker complexion or his reputation. Either way, he didn't earn the moniker until after his death. It's an interesting nickname for a pirate who was a complete teetotaler. In fact, t was his preferred drink, and it was his lack of drinking that had caused his

crew to distrust him and mutiny the first time. Little did he know then, but his crew had already planned to abandon him after the raid at Cape Lopez, all because they didn't trust a sober captain. Rum, the pirate drink of choice, had been black Bart's downfall. In the words of Robert Louis Steven's Treasure Island, drink and the devil had done the rest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. All throughout seafaring history, alcohol had served

a purpose and presented a problem. Even military ships around the world still carried alcohol on board, long after keeping clean drinking water had become possible. For the Royal Navy, the centuries old tradition of issuing grog ended on July of nine. On that day, sailors around the world took one last swig before dumping the barrels over the rail. Some of those sailors even took to wearing black armbands, while others had a mock funeral as they tossed the barrels,

marking the day as black top Day. And I like to imagine that as they did, some of them even saying, and we heaved them over and out of sight with a yo, heave ho and a fair you well, pirates and rum it's appairing almost as classic as chocolates and peanut butter, just with a bit more wobbling. I guess, I certainly hope you found our journey through that territory today to be as satisfying as a delicious drink. But don't hoist the anchor just yet. We have more sailing

to do. In fact, after this brief sponsor break, my grim and mild teammates Alie Steed will come aboard to share one more rum soaktail. Where there's a will, there's a way. If the demand for something is high and the rewards even higher, some will go to great lengths to get it, especially rum. On January eighteenth, Amendment of the United States Constitution banning the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors was ratified, and so began the Ahibition era.

But of course the law never stopped the bootleggers. It was hard to enforce, and ingenious methods of smuggling quickly emerged, stills, fast cars, and speakeasies. We've all heard those stories before, but let's talk for a minute about the bootleggers of the sea. The rum runners. During the Prohibition, ships cruised the coastline between the Caribbean and Canada, parking themselves just off shore. If the coast guard approached, they moved into

international waters and out of jurisdiction. Known as rum row, the ships existed along every state and coastline on the Atlantic and Pacific. Smaller, faster boats often accompanied the rum laden vessels. Their job was much like the fast cars, out racing law enforcement to deliver the rum to port. Like legendary pirates. One rum Runner stood out Captain Jack Jack Randall, that is, and his schooner I'm Alone. Jack

had always wanted to be a pirate. As a twelve year old in eighteen ninety nine, Jack and his friends pretended to be swashbuckling sailors. They rated his parents jam and cookie covers, and the rum cabinet drunk. He set out to find a ship. Of course, a few miles down the road, sickness and clarifying sobriety hit, and he returned home to face the consequences. His father understood his son's love of the sea and took him on fishing

trips off Canada's Labrador coast. As an adult, Jack worked on trade ships and then military vessels, fighting in the Boer War, World War One, and World War Two. He never outgrew the love of the sea, but it was also what Jack did between the First and Second World Wars that showed us he still loved pirates too. It was spring of nineteen twenty two when the idea came to him rum running. Jack was good, really good at being captain. He commanded several ships, becoming legendary among his peers.

In ninety eight, a group of Montreal business men made him an even more enticing proposition, and Jack took command of the I'm Alone, a single deck, two massed schooner with twin hundred horsepower diesel engines. The ship's capacity was key. It could carry two thousand, eight hundred cases of liquor worth upwards of a hundred thousand dollars in a single run, and those are ninety six prices. And like in the golden age of piracy, Captain Jack and the i'm Alone

had a price on their heads. The US government was determined to stop rum runners, but little did anyone know that in nineteen twenty nine, the Captain and the ship

would spark an international incident. It started in the winter of nineteen twenty eight as Jack sailed the West Indies, then made a stop and believez to pick up five hundred cases of William Pennry, three hundred cases of Johnny Walker black Label, a hundred and ten massive jugs of Bacardi rome, and two hundred cases of champagne, among other

assorted beverages. Months later, in March of nine, the Walcott, a Coastguard cutter, stumbled across the I'm alone, just off the Louisiana coast, designed and built to catch rum runners. They eventually caught up and the commander requested a search. Jack declined to acquiesce to the captain's demands. However, he also did something unusual. He invited the captain aboard. It was a pirate move akin to black Bart's meetings with other ship captains before they were plundered, and the Coastguard

commander he accepted. The two men chatted cordially for some time, all the while Jack insisted the Coastguard had no jurisdiction as he was fourteen miles offshore in international waters. The commander insisted that the I'm alone sat just ten miles offshore, and the US had jurisdiction up to twelve miles. For two days there was a standoff. Another Coastguard ship, the Dexter, arrived and reiterated that they must be allowed to come aboard and inspect his ship, or else they'd sink it. Again.

Jack declined he'd done what he set out to do. Keep them distracted. You see, they had allowed him to run under full sale for those two days. They were now two hundred miles off the US coast. When the I'm Alone sank bow first, the Coastguard picked up everyone who was on board, though one crewman died during the sinking. The Coastguard returned to Port with Jack and the rest of the crew, and they were riding high on the

accolades they expected for capturing this notorious rum runner. Instead, Canada stepped in and declared that the Coast Guard had committed an act of piracy. The French and the British also condemned it, and Washington dropped the charges. Jack retired from run running A wealthy man. He went on to serve the Royal Navy and became one of their most indispensable officers during World War Two. Lieutenant Commander Jack Randall died on February nineteenth of nineteen forty four. He was

buried with full naval honors. His childhood friends might say that he had a sailor's heart and officers courage and the soul of a pirate. Pirates was executive produced by Aaron Manky and narrated by Aaron Manky and Alexander Steid. Writing for this season was provided by Michelle Muto, with research by Alexandra Steed and Sam Alberty. Production assistance was provided by Josh Than, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.

To learn more about this and other shows from Grim and Mild and I Heart Radio, visit Grim and Mild dot com