Bonny and Read: Author's Notes
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Bonny and Read – Author’s Notes (WARNING: Thar be spoilers here. Do not read any further until you have finished reading the entire libretto.) Background Despite their status as the most famous and popular female pirates in history, not much is known for certain about Anne Bonny and Mary Read. There are many stories and legends, but few proven facts. The original source for much of the information we have about them is A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, by Captain Charles Johnson. First published in London in 1724, this is a collection of biographies of various pirates of the early 18th century, including Bonny, Read, and John “Calico Jack” Rackham. The GHP, as it is known for short, is generally considered to be a reliable source. It does contain some errors and fanciful elaborations, but most of what Johnson wrote about his subjects has been proven to be accurate. However, in the case of Bonny and Read, much of what he relates, particularly the stories of their early lives, has never been verified by hard evidence or corroboration from other reliable sources. To complicate matters, we do not even know who this Captain Johnson was, or what his sources were. Most authorities believe the name was a pseudonym used by the real author, who for some reason wanted to keep his identity a secret. This makes it difficult to determine how accurate the GHP might be when it comes to any unverified information. The GHP and other unsubstantiated stories aside, the only known facts concerning Anne Bonny and Mary Read are as follows. • On the night of August 22, 1720, Calico Jack Rackham stole a ship from Nassau Harbor. Two women named Anne Bonny and Mary Read were identified as being among his accomplices. • Over the next two months Bonny and Read engaged in various acts of piracy with Rackham throughout the Caribbean. • In late October Rackham and his crew, along with Bonny and Read, were captured off the coast of Jamaica, and taken to St. Jago de la Vega, the colonial capitol. • On November 28, following the execution of Rackham and the other men, Bonny and Read were brought to trial, charged with several counts of piracy. They were convicted and sentenced to hang. At their sentencing, both women claimed to be pregnant. It was ordered that they be held in custody pending the outcome of an examination to validate their claim. And that’s it. That’s all we know. Who they were and where they came from, how they got involved with Rackham and became pirates, and what happened to them after their trial is not known for certain. The career of Anne Bonny and Mary Read coincided with what is known as the “Golden Age of Piracy” in the Caribbean/Atlantic region. This period, roughly from 1715 to 1725, was the most active in the history of piracy, and witnessed the careers of some of the most famous and successful pirates in history, such as Blackbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, and Black Sam Bellamy. The initial impetus was the end of British involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession, which put large numbers of sailors from the navy, as well as privateers, out of work. In addition, a dramatic increase in maritime trade between Europe, Africa, and the colonies of the Western Hemisphere (known as the “Triangular Trade”) provided a wealth of attractive targets. The post-war financial belt-tightening that followed heavy government spending during the war prompted a reduction in naval warships deployed to protect colonies and shipping, and the colonies themselves had few resources of their own to devote to this purpose. These factors combined to make this region ripe for piracy. The British government eventually stepped up its efforts, and by the mid-1720s piracy in the region had been mostly suppressed. The conventional view of these pirates is that they were wild, violent, sadistic, greedy, selfish criminals – albeit “colorful”, in our modern view, and even attractive in a “bad boy” sort of way. However, history, as they say, is written by the victors, and this view is based on the records of the time, which were written by the legal, civil and commercial authorities of the day – in other words, the very people who had a vested interest in vilifying these pirates. More recently, some historians have begun studying the pirates of the Golden Age from the pirates’ own point of view, and a somewhat different picture has begun to emerge. The early 18th century was a time of great social inequality and injustice, when the lower classes were subjected to repression and abuse by the upper classes that were striving for power and profit in an emerging modern world. The common seamen of the day in particular, both in the regular navy and the merchant marine, were subjected to hard living and working conditions, as well as harsh discipline and considerable brutality. With unemployment high, poverty rampant, and an almost inexhaustible supply of cheap labor available, merchants and ship owners had little incentive to treat sailors well, and the sailors had little alternative but to put up with it. Many of those who became pirates did so in reaction to these conditions, seeking to free themselves from the tyranny they felt was inflicted on them by an unjust world, and striving to develop their own alternative communities and culture based on simple democratic principles. Is it stretching the point to view all pirates of this period as altruistically-motivated social revolutionaries? Perhaps; but they do appear to have been something more than just common criminals. 2 Scene Notes Act I, Prologue What happened to Anne Bonny after her trial is unknown. There are many stories, but none have ever been proven to be true. One story that has surfaced in recent years claims that there are surviving descendents of hers who say that she returned to Charleston, married a man named Joseph Burleigh, and moved to Virginia. She raised a large family and lived a long life, dying in 1782. These purported descendents supposedly have evidence to support their claim. However, this story, like all the others, has never been verified. Act I, Scene 1 From 1716 to 1718, New Providence Island in The Bahamas was the base of operations for a large alliance of pirates, under the leadership of captains such as Benjamin Hornigold, Henry Jennings, Charles Vane, and Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch. They were so successful that they brought commerce in the Caribbean/Atlantic region to a virtual standstill. In August of 1718, Woodes Rogers arrived as the first Royal Governor of The Bahamas, charged with the task of suppressing piracy. Rogers was a merchant, former privateer, and a famous mariner of his day who had circumnavigated the globe. (During that voyage he also rescued Alexander Selkirk, the real-life castaway whose adventures inspired Robinson Crusoe.) He arrived with warships, soldiers, and a large number of new colonists – and the promise of a Royal Pardon for anyone willing to give up piracy. Many of the Bahamian pirates accepted the King’s Pardon. Others resisted, and either left or were driven out. Pirate activity continued for several more years, and Rogers struggled to exert his authority over the colony’s lawless and unruly elements. Exactly how and when Anne Bonny arrived in New Providence is uncertain. The story she tells Jack in this scene is consistent with the story of her life as related in the GHP (though in the GHP, she is the illegitimate product of an affair her father had with one of his maidservants). However, there is no evidence or corroboration from other reliable sources to back up this story, so her true background remains uncertain. 1700 is usually accepted as being the year of her birth, making her around nineteen when she became involved with Jack Rackham. However, there is no evidence to support this, and we really do not know how old she was. Some of the elements in this scene, such as her affair with Chidley Bayard and her fight with Maria Vargas, are based on various stories about her wild and scandalous behavior following her separation from her husband, James Bonny. But, again, there is no proof that these stories are true, or that such people as Bayard and Vargas even existed. John Rackham, known as “Calico Jack” for the colorful clothes he wore, was a prominent member of the Bahamian pirates. Nothing is known of his early life, but the events of his career as related in this scene, including the manner in which he succeeded Vane as captain and then subsequently lost his ship, are factual. Exactly how and when he became acquainted with Anne Bonny is uncertain, but it is believed that they met and began a romantic relationship some time after he returned to Nassau and obtained a pardon, in May of 1719. Act I, Scene 2 It is believed that when his money began running out, Jack Rackham joined a privateering expedition against the Spanish under Captain Josiah Burgess, another former pirate, though this probably occurred earlier than depicted. In actual practice, there was not much difference between pirates and privateers. The methods, objectives and motivation were much 3 the same – to make a living, and maybe even get rich, by attacking and plundering ships at sea. The main difference between them amounts to a legal technicality. Pirates had no allegiance to any country, and might attack the ships of any nation. Privateers held a commission (known as “Letters of Marque”) from a particular country authorizing them to attack that country’s enemies, though they might also be engaged to hunt down pirates.