[Editor: This poem, by E. J. Brady, about the English privateer Captain Woodes Rogers (and with reference to Valentine’s Day), was published in The Critic (Adelaide, SA), 16 December 1899.]
St. Valentine’s Day.
A Privateering Ballad.
(1708—1710.)
By E. J. Brady.
Out of Bristol Roads two years,
With his racing privateers,
Scouring down the Western Main,
Round the Horn and up again;
West from Cape St. Lucas bore —
Trailing prizes, half a score —
Rogers and his rovers merry.
They have filched the merchant’s crowns,
They have sacked the Spanish towns,
They have drained their cans of flip
On the Acapulco ship;
And the angry Dons allege,
Forced their frighted friars to pledge,
In sooth, His Grace of Canterbury!
Far the trading Frenchman runs,
As they pelt him with their guns;
Long the galleon will tell
How they held him hard and well —
On his starboard quarter drew,
With the small shot raking through,
And the heavy round-shot tearing.
And the ransomed Dons can say
How the British make the play,
When their grappling irons grip,
When they lay them ship by ship,
When the sweating cannoneers
Send their broadsides home with cheers,
Midst the brazen trumpet’s blaring.
Of the black-browed Creole girls;
When they bring the tallowed keels
Of a Bristol ship or two
To the plunder of Peru,
Ere the Viceroy’s treasure chest
Goes a-roving with the rest,
As “our brother’s” loot increases,
With the Lima merchants’ plate,
With the Bishop’s bags of eight,
With the rings and with the pearls
Of the black-browed Creole girls;
With the gold and with the gain
Of his Majesty of Spain
And his padres’ hoarded pieces.
Fain a proud Corregidor
Adds his gold cane to the store;
And these coasting brigands steal
From the friars of Guayaquil
On their “devil-ship” to knell,
San Stefau! the great church bell!
O’er the South Sea blithely rolling
With his ingots in the hold,
With his chests of plate and gold,
With the glinting yellow bars,
(Sovereign salve for wounds and scars)
With his tuns of Chili wine
Honour to Saint Valentine,
Goes our glutted Rover tolling.
So this gallant Rover wrote
To his “gentlemen” a note,
On the morning red and fine
Of their own Saint Valentine, —
Though his heel was hurted sore,
Though his face a bandage wore —
Thanks to luckless Spanish pistol —
“Will ye pleasure me to dine,
That we drink in Chili wine
To the Senoritas Kynd,
We perforce doe leave behynd;
And such English maids as you
Woulde, kynde friends most honour do,
Midst the waiting Fayre of Bristol?”
So his gentlemen, to-day,
In their bravery array;
So they gaily “come to meat” —
Sit them down to drink and eat;
Sit them down with right good zest
To the plundered cargoes best;
And with rude and noisy chaffing,
Toast the Spanish ladies kind,
They “perforce doe leave behynd;”
Loudly pledge the vanquished fair,
All in good thick wine and rare,
With the clank of fighting tools
On the oaken cabin stools,
As the rascals roll a’quaffing.
Lo! each braggart in his eye,
Sees the English headlands lie;
Counts in mind his share of spoil;
Dreams of leisure after toil,
English blondes of smiling lips,
Bristol wharves and lights and ships,
Though the pump’s the while complaining,
Though a wormy plank’s lean breadth
Groans betwixt his dream and death;
Though her sides be shot and torn,
Though her sails are patched and worn,
Though her rotted cordage fly,
Though she worketh beam and tie
In the hollow seas hard straining.
They must fare with ills like these,
They must fight the hollow seas,
They must beat around the world
Till their roving sails be furled;
Till they bring their pilfered loads
Safe at last to Texel Roads —
But the Spanish King may whistle
For his ships and for his plate,
For his stolen store of eight,
When, with Dampier at the wheel,
Round the Cape the robbers steal,
Down the Channel; up the coast —
Free to quaff and free to coast —
Landed safely home in Bristol.
“’Fore the punch-bowl do we stand,
Valiant villains, hand-to-hand;
Some for love and some for gain
Rovers of the Spanish main:
First to drink — with cheers between —
All good health to Anne, our Queen;
Yea, my lads, recharge the crystal!
Now to English lasses all,
Be they short or be they tall,
Be they fair or be they brown,
Country-bred or London town;
Here, my sword hand clutched in thine,
Name I now my Valentine:
Bonny bright-eyed Bess of Bristol.”
[The author is indebted for this incident to the journal of Captain Woodes Rogers, the celebrated privateer.]
Sydney, N.S.W., Oct., ’99.
Source:
The Critic (Adelaide, SA), 16 December 1899, p. 68
Editor’s notes:
The section in quotation marks has been styled as to given it the appearance of archaic English. It uses “kynd” and “kynde” for “kind”, “doe” for “do”, “behynd” for “behind”, “woulde” for “would”, and “Fayre” for “Fair”; all of which have been left as they are. However, those words which used the letter “f” to indicate the archaic long “s” (which looked like the letter “f”) have had the “f” replaced with an “s”, in order to make that section reader-friendly (re: such, most, midst, and Bristol). Reproduced below is that section, unchanged:
“Will ye pleasure me to dine,
That we drink in Chili wine
To the Senoritas Kynd,
We perforce doe leave behynd;
And fuch English maids as you
Woulde, kynde friends moft honour do,
Midft the waiting Fayre of Briftol?”
betwixt = (archaic) between (“betwixt” can be abbreviated as: ’twixt)
Captain Woodes Rogers = Woodes Rogers (1679?-1732), English sea captain, privateer, and Governor of the Bahamas
See: 1) “Woodes Rogers: English privateer”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Woodes Rogers”, Wikipedia
chaff = tease; banter; joking about or teasing in a good-natured or light-hearted fashion
Chili = Chile (a country in South America)
crown = a coin equivalent to five shillings
Dampier = William Dampier (1651-1715), an English explorer, privateer, naturalist; he was the first person to circumnavigate the world three times; he explored parts of the coastline of Western Australia in 1688 and 1699
See: 1) J. Bach, “Dampier, William (1651–1715)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “William Dampier”, Wikipedia
don = a distinguished or important man; a lecturer, professor, teacher, tutor, or headmaster at a college or university, especially one at Oxford University or Cambridge University (England); a Spanish title of respect used for gentlemen and noblemen (from Latin “dominus”, meaning “lord”)
eight = pieces of eight, i.e. the silver coin worth eight reales (“peso de ocho” in Spanish, or “pieces of eight”, also known as “Spanish dollars”); due to its financial reliability and uniformity of silver content, these coins were used as legal currency in many countries during the 18th and 19th centuries
ere = (archaic) before (from the Middle English “er”, itself from the Old English “aer”, meaning early or soon)
fair = “the fair sex”, i.e. females, women (in a collective sense); also phrased as “the fairer sex”
filch = to take something in a furtive manner, especially something of small value
flip = an alcoholic drink, especially popular in the 18th Century, made with beer or ale, mixed with spirit (e.g. rum) or wine, sweetened with sugar, with a beaten egg added, stirred and heated by a hot iron (known as a “flip dog”), and served hot (spices, such as nutmeg, could also be added)
’fore = (vernacular) before (a contraction of “before”)
friar = a monk; a male member of a mendicant religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, who has taken a vow of poverty (and is therefore not allowed to own property); the Catholic mendicant orders include the Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans, and Franciscans (a mendicant is someone who depend on alms or charity for a living; of or relating to a member of a religious order which requires its members to take a vow of poverty); “friar” derives from the Norman French “frere” (meaning “brother”)
See: 1) “friar: Roman Catholicism”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Friar”, Wikipedia
frighted = to experience fright; to experience a sudden intense or extreme fear, to be frightened
His Grace = a title and form of address applied to an archbishop or a duke (who may be directly addressed as “Your Grace”, e.g. “Yes, Your Grace”) (the title and form of address for a duchess is “Her Grace”; also directly addressed as “Your Grace”)
His Grace of Canterbury = the Archbishop of Canterbury, who can be formally addressed as “Your Grace”, or referred to as “His Grace”
Horn = in the context of sailing or the sea, Cape Horn: a rocky headland on Hornos Island (part of the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, Chile), located off the southern coast of South America; it was named after Hoorn, the birthplace of the Dutch navigator Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (ca. 1567-1625), who sailed round Hornos Island in 1616
See: 1) “Cape Horn”, Wikipedia
2) “Willem Schouten”, Wikipedia
lo = (archaic) look, observe, see; an interjection used to call attention to something (especially as used in the phrase “lo and behold”)
main = the high sea, the open ocean
midst = amidst; of or in the middle of an area, group, position, etc.
o’er = (archaic) over (pronounced the same as “oar”, “or”, and “ore”)
padre = a Christian clergyman (chaplain, priest, reverend), especially one working in or with the military (from the word “padre”, meaning “father”, in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; the title of a Christian priest in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Latin America)
plate = metal dishes, foodware, and utensils (e.g. bowls, dishes, cups), or other metallic ware, which has been plated with a layer of precious metal (usually gold or silver)
privateer = a privately-owned ship authorised by a government or sovereign to attack and seize enemy vessels during wartime; the captain, officers, and crew of such a ship; the commander or captain of a private ship could be issued a “letter of marque” by a government or sovereign, which was an official commission or license which gave an authorisation to lawfully capture or seize prizes of war (i.e. enemy property, such as cargo, equipment, goods, vehicles, and vessels) during an armed conflict or time of war (according to stipulated arrangements, the seized enemy property or the money from its sale, would be divided between the ship’s sponsors, owners, captain, officers, and crew, with it being a common practise for the issuing government or sovereign to receive a percentage of such property or money)
See: 1) “privateer: ship”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Privateer”, Wikipedia
3) “Letter of marque”, Wikipedia
prize = a prize of war, i.e. property (e.g. cargo, equipment, goods, vehicles, and vessels) lawfully captured or seized during an armed conflict or time of war (especially referring to an enemy ship and its cargo); the act of capturing, seizing, or taking (especially an enemy ship and its cargo)
See: 1) “prize: law”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Prize (law)”, Wikipedia
quaff = to heartily drink a beverage (usually an alcoholic drink), especially to drink a copious amount in a short time; (archaic) an alcoholic drink
roads = (archaic) (also known as a “roadstead”) a partly-sheltered body of water near a shore, where ships can safely anchor, having a reasonable amount of protection from ocean elements
Rogers = [see: Captain Woodes Rogers]
score = twenty (sometimes used in conjunction with a cardinal number, e.g. “threescore”, “fourscore”) (may also refer to an undefined large number)
shot = lead balls used in antique rifles; pellets of lead contained within a shotgun cartridge; iron or lead projectiles fired from cannons, whether as a single large cannon ball (round shot), or as multiple small pieces, such as canister shot, spherical case shot (shrapnel), or grapeshot (may also refer to: the past tense of the act of shooting (discharging of) a firearm, crossbow, bow, etc.; the act of being hit with a bullet)
Spanish main = the mainland of Spanish America; the Caribbean Sea
See: 1) “Spanish Main: historical region, South America and Caribbean Sea”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Spanish Main”, Wikipedia
Texel Roads = (in Dutch: Reede van Texel) the roadstead of Texel (Texel is an island off the coast of North Holland, Netherlands)
See: 1) “Texel”, Wikipedia
2) “14 Amazing Things to Do on Texel (Netherlands)”, Amsterdam Tips, 16 August 2022
3) Anton (Ton) Wegman, “Rede van Texel | Texel Roads, Diorama”, Flickr [“Detail of the large diorama of the famous Texel Roads. Oudeschilt, Texel, Museum Kaap Skil”; includes historical information on the Roads of Texel]
4) John Luffman, “Grand Expedition: A Map of the Texel and Vlieter Roads with the Country of Holland as far south as the Hague: Intended to Illustrate the Operations of the Great Expedition” (map), Peter Harrington Gallery [see map]
5) “A chart of the Texel roads, with those of the islands of Vlieland, Sschelling & Ameland. and both sides of the coast up to Amsterdam. / In°. Lodge Sculp” (map), Europeana [see map]
6) “A chart of the Texel roads, with those of the islands of Vlieland, Schelling, & Ameland, and both sides of the coast up to Amsterdamk”, The University of Texas at Austin [see map]
thine = (archaic) yours (“thine”, meaning “yours”, is the more common usage); your (“thine”, meaning “your”, is usually placed before a word which begins with a vowel or a vowel sound, e.g. “To thine own self be true”)
tun = a large cask, especially used for holding wine; more specifically applied to a unit of liquid capacity of 252 gallons (954 litres)
Viceroy = someone who governs a colony, province, state, or country as the representative of a monarch (derived from Latin “vice”, meaning “in place of”, and from Old French “roi”, meaning “king”)
Western Main = the Western ocean
ye = (archaic; dialectal) you (still in use in some places, e.g. in Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland, and Northern England; it can used as either the singular or plural form of “you”, although the plural form is the more common usage)
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