Climb back aboard to witness the turbulent end of “The Golden Age of Piracy” in Canada. From the most notorious pirate to have sailed the seas of the North Atlantic, to the most infamous pirate trial in Halifax’s history, we find out how East Coast piracy declined and…turned legitimate.
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Clarifications:
Ned Low arrived at St. John’s during his ill-fated pillaging attempt BEFORE he spent time raiding the ships around the Grand Banks-before word got out to Louisbourg’s governor. It was just simpler to relay the tale in the order we did.
The Fortress at Louisbourg was most assuredly not BUILT to defend against pirates alone-but it was armed to. Louisbourg was a fort that saw many ups and downs, multiple invasions, and its construction went through a variety of phases. It just so happens that the first real push toward its eventual power over the St. Lawrence was motivated by the threat of pirates like Ned.
The Miꞌkmaq flags that rise on ships are sideways, but typically the flag is vertical. It was just difficult to animate them vertically and through research we found that flying them in both directions are legitimate.
Extra Tidbits:
We never really had a chance to better explain what the Grand Banks were/are for those who don’t know. It’s an area of ocean, kilometres off the coast of NFLD, with a relatively shallow sea floor. This makes it perfect for cod fishing. At the same time, the Grand Banks are smack-dab in the middle of the main transatlantic sea passage. Spanish Treasure Ships regularly came north from the Caribbean and crossed the Atlantic in an arch that would have them pass right over its fertile waters. The Grand Banks was a perfect place for pirates to spend months pillaging.
Edward Jordan’s tale has recently seen a spike in interest. We unfortunately didn’t have the time to go through his story in great detail, so we've compiled a few things here.
Jordan was almost on his way with The Three Sisters when he was tracked down-his plan had nearly worked. At the time of his arrest, he and his wife were trying to collect crewmen for a sail back home to Ireland from Newfoundland. When he was captured, Jordans quoted as saying: “The Lord have mercy on me, what will my poor children do?” We would have loved to figure out where they eventually ended up, after the city of Halifax collected money for their passage back to Ireland.
Interestingly, tampering with a gibbet was a serious offence, so Jordan’s body sat in it for roughly 30 years (it’s difficult to find a precise count on that). Legend has it that the gibbet was only taken down (and buried) when the Lieutenant-Governor’s daughter came across the horrific sight, while on a leisurely ride around Point Pleasant Park. Jordan’s skull, still tightly bound in the rusted iron, was dug up in 1844 when a new piracy trial renewed interest in his sad tale. It was donated to the forerunner of the Nova Scotia Museum.
The skull is at the centre of a contemporary moral debate about museums displaying the remains of historic figures. The concept of publicly-owned remains, displayed for perceived entertainment, regardless of educational value, without the permission or guidance of descendants (whether or not they are traceable) is a discussion that’s not about to end any time soon. For the time being, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is understandably restricting access to Jordan’s skull-we were not allowed to film it.
If you're wondering what the meaning behind the Liverpool Packet's original name ('The Black Joke') was, well it's apparently a very common gaudy ship name from a raunchy old song. We'll leave it at that.
The War of 1812 is clearly a subject we need to tackle one day.
Privateering was abolished in 1856 with the Declaration of Paris. The vast majority of major international powers signed it...except for the United States. Legally, the American Government can still sign Letters of Marque if they ever want to get revenge for the Liverpool Packet.
We will definitely come back to stories of pirates one day!
For those wondering: yes, we all love (and listened to many times during shoots) Barrett's Privateers by Stan Rogers. • Stan Rogers intros & s...
DESCRIBED VIDEO VERSION: vimeo.com/748581849/212bea135d
00:00 Refresher
01:01 Louisbourg
01:53 Loathsome Ned Low
03:12 St. John's Attack
04:32 The Crackdown
05:26 Edward Jordan
07:41 The Privateers
08:15 Enos Collins
08:52 War of 1812
09:54 CIBC and Scotiabank
10:42 The End
11:55 Bonus Story
#pirates #canadianhistory #VC478S3E1