Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ahoy hoy.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Arr matey, we made it .
We finally made it, my friend,to a pirate episode.
Ahoy, are you excited?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's one of the firstthings we spoke about, colt's
super into pirate history andthat was going to be One of the
first ones, and somehow we goton To violent business, hippies
and censorship and so on.
And so 90.
Yeah, 98 to be one of the firstones, and somehow we got onto
violent business, hippies andcensorship and so on.
And so 90, 98?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, I think this will be 98.
Yeah, I know it's crazy.
We have literally it's in ourshow description too that we'll
probably talk about pirates.
Basically, we've never done one, never done a pirate episode.
So here we are.
We're going to talk about JackWard, originally John Ward.
I'm still kind of lost in whenhe started calling himself Jack
(00:50):
or why, but that is what he'sknown as mainly is Jack Ward.
Have you ever heard of him?
Jack and Boats?
Yeah, jack and Boats.
There you go.
Yeah, bitch, I'm on a boat.
Have you ever heard of himbefore?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
as far as pirates go, I think vaguely something only
because, as you reminded me,that he is alleged.
Well, this is claiming thatJack Sparrow, pirates of the
Caribbean isn't real, which Iwas, I mean.
Next thing, you're going totell me that Easter Bunny and
(01:27):
Jesus aren't cold.
Oh man, but no, I did rememberthat you know vaguely hearing of
that, but Right, well, no, Ireally didn't know much about it
and still don't.
This is much more knowledgeable.
But introduce me to thisinteresting fellow.
(01:48):
Well, not personally.
We didn't have Bill and Ted.
Take us back, not yet, not yet.
Don't count us out.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We'll get a nice place eventually, yeah for sure.
Nice place for soirees, right,and the reason why they called
it, like why he's named afterthis guy, jack Ward, is because
Jack Sparrow well, this guy, hewas given a nickname by the day
of Tunis Uthman Day.
He called him Birdie, basicallybecause John Ward had a bird
(02:23):
tattoo on his arm, which is itwas a swallow, I feel, but
nonetheless, like becausesailors at that era, every time
you went 5,000 nautical milesyou would get a swallow tattoo,
like yeah, so he had one and itwas kind of a rarity in Tunis,
in the Ottoman Empire, like that.
(02:44):
So he really thought it waspretty cool and he thought it
was really cool like work of art.
But he started calling himBirdie, but he would always
reference it to his as Sparrowbecause he'd never really been
out to sea or on the coast allthe way, so he'd only seen a
sparrow, he hadn't seen aswallow.
So that's why it kind of gotthat way, from what I understand
, to swallow.
So that's why it kind of gotthat way, from what I understand
.
Also, you know, they should cuthim in because man Disney's got
(03:09):
a haul on that Pirates of theCaribbean.
So as of like 23, I think, orlate 20.
Well it was.
Anyway, we'll call it 23because I didn't reference the
article 100%.
But they've grossed $4.5billion worldwide off that
Pirates of the Caribbeanfranchise.
So I don't know Jack Ward'sancestors.
(03:29):
You should be looking out andseeing what you can do about
that good piece of that Piratesof the Caribbean money.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And remember us and I tell stories when you get that
check.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, because we pointed it out, guys.
We're the only ones who've evertalked about this.
Just keep it.
Probably, guys, right, we'rethe only ones who've ever talked
about this.
Just keep it.
Um, no, well, so Ward was bornin 1553 in Farversham, kent.
So he's an English folk.
Uh, it's a coastal market townin Southeast England.
(03:59):
He, so it was pretty like whenyou live in these coastal towns
back then you're like going tohave something to do with like
fishing or trade most likely iswhat you're gonna do and what
you're gonna know.
Um, so that's what he was.
He was a fisherman for a whilethere until, uh, what I got out
of it is, uh, he, he kind of gotinto legal piracy, private
(04:20):
privateering, during queen'saunt, queen anne's, war Jeez,
I'm stuttering, jeez.
But so that's how he got hisstart doing things that were
more like on the warfare side ofstuff.
I suppose he was a privateerfrom 5088 to 1603.
And that's when King James tookthe throne.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And he kind of made peace with Spain.
You know and I did see a veryinteresting quote right after
that, when he was upset,obviously, that it was no longer
essentially sanctioned piracy,and an acquaintance of his,
andrew Barker, recalled Wardvoicing his displeasure with the
band, as I quote where are thedays that have been when we
(05:04):
might sing swear?
drink drab Ward voicing hisdispleasure with the band.
As I quote when are the daysthat have been when we might
sing swear, drink drab, whichapparently means whore about and
kill men as freely as your cakemakers do flies, when the whole
sea was our empire, where werob at will?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I thought that was a Sony record exec quote at first,
but then I thought it was infact attributed to Mr Ward yeah,
basically what happened here isSpain had just took over, you
know, mexico, down throughPanama, all these things, and
they owned this huge land massand they were just a behemoth.
So everybody was trying to get apiece of that cake.
(05:39):
And then back then the Englishdidn't have a navy, you know,
they were barely a freakingkingdom kind of in a way.
And so like comparative tothese other powerhouses, and her
Queen Anne, her way of likekind of getting around that was,
she started putting out lettersof marque for privateers, and
what a letter of marque was washer signature saying that you
(06:01):
can loot the Spanish and getaway with it.
You know we're at war, so nobig deal.
And she'd hire these people andgive them guns and stuff or
they'd have their own kind ofdeal too.
So it was a very like freemarket free market like Navy
pretty much, and they also hadto kick back to the Crown, so it
made her money at the same time.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So that's what all this.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, so it was a whole thing.
I mean, it was like a way oflife for people, and then Well,
yeah, they were obviouslyskimming off the top.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Who's going to cop up 4% To the royalty?
They totally were.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, no, that's what happened.
So, within this, though, he gotpress ganged into the Navy
after this point that you'respeaking on, where you know, the
commissions went away, which isthe you know, the privateerian
license and all these thingsAnyway.
But like he got press gangedgang, which means you were
pretty much like coerced byeither getting clubbed over the
(07:08):
head and knocked out and draggedon a ship, or you were like got
him, they probably got him sodrunk and just like stumbled on
the ship, and then he woke upand you're out at sea, and
that's how you joined the navyback then, guys isn't it still?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
or pretty much I'm unfamiliar in such matters.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They brainwash you somehow and say join the Navy.
Yeah, so that's what happenedto him.
This obviously pissed him offand it's also suggested during
this time he gained the nicknameSharky as well.
That's what he was known as inthe Navy and to this day,
anybody with the last name Wardthat's their nickname is Sharky.
(07:46):
So that's something I found outthroughout this, which is kind
of neat.
So, hmm, now, ward, when theywere doing this whole Navy thing
, they had stopped somewhere andhe was pissed right.
He's like I don't want to be inthe frickin' Navy.
And he basically says whilethese officers are pretending
they're doing something and theythink we're just down here
(08:06):
eating, how about we go take aship?
Right?
So they go take a ship.
Ward and 30 of his shipmatesstole a 25 ton vessel and then
they sailed it to the Isle ofWhite where Ward was elected
captain.
This is the earliest likerecorded account of somebody
being elected to captain on aship like that, which is also
(08:28):
why a lot of people say thatpirates started democracy as
well, because they alwayselected their leaders, I guess,
and you could be impeached too.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
That didn't sound like it went very well.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
No, it didn't.
Yeah, usually most of it didn'tend very well in that nature.
Yeah, so this is a prettyinteresting fellow we're talking
about.
He went around after this pointand he had what was you had the
story where he went to capturethat Catholic ship.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh yeah, and it was supposedly just loaded with loot
and someone had tipped off theowner and everything had been
put ashore.
So there's just basically likethey got the boat.
But no, yeah, this, you know, Ithought that I made one of the
biggest scores ever, and thenit's like the trunk's empty.
(09:21):
Basically Right, cause it'ssupposed to be full of treasure.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, and then it took off.
So, yeah, somebody got tippedoff and they they're like, well,
shit might as well make it apirate ship, Right?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And off they went.
I think that was off island ofSicily, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I feel you're right.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Near and dear to my heart.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yeah, I know there is a lot.
Jack Ward was a pretty bigenemy of the Venetians back then
.
So when Ward and his men sailedto the Mediterranean, they were
able to get a pretty big Dutchboat with 32 guns on it, which
is pretty badass.
I want a boat with 32 guns,wouldn't that be an interesting
(10:02):
thing?
Take it to Lake Elmo, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Instead of people on their little paddle boats Right.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Exactly.
So.
You know they're fillingthemselves out there, but they
need kind of a port of call.
You know there's no Port RoyalJamaica really or any of these
areas where they can stop andfence or loot and do all this
sort of thing.
And they tried to stop in theMoroccan Port of Salé In 1605,
though little did he know thatEnglish and Dutch sailors,
(10:32):
including Richard Bishop andAnthony Johnson, they ended up
fucking these guys over, so theyweren't too hot on them.
They got turned away In 1606,they're on their little
pillaging spree, which soundsvery piratical to me and they
ended up finding themselves inTunis where initially they still
(10:53):
kind of had a bad look and theyweren't too sure if they wanted
to let them in the port.
And all this even though Tunisat the time was a pretty big
like capital for piracy overthere from like the janissaries,
which that's a whole thing initself, but they're basically
like ottoman muslim um soldiers,but very privileged.
But they're and they were alsousually slaves, which is kind of
a whole concept.
That's hard to wrap your mindaround if you don't, if you
(11:16):
don't know or don't have time toexplain it, but the city's
pretty like rugged and stuff.
And what ended up happening inthe end is Ward gave the day
like a bunch of treasure, like,hey, I'm a pirate, I'm not like
some English spy, I'm notwhatever.
Look at all my loot you knowhere, you can have it as long as
you.
Let us like go out there andattack people you know.
(11:37):
And so he's like, oh well, fuck, yeah, let's do that.
And they end up becoming prettygood friends at this point, and
this is also the guy that gavehim the name Birdie or whatnot.
But then that that's kind ofwhen he started his whole
piratical career of just runningamok out there, man.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
He said, rather late in life is when he started to be
successful.
Right, he just sort of, well,yeah, kind of a journeyman,
journeyman privateer, like minorleague, and then just stepped
this shit up yeah, I wouldn'tthink a pirate.
The lifespan of a pirate istypically, you know, the
expected life expectancy backthen of one in general probably
(12:17):
wasn't great with disease andlack of medicine.
But didn't he say he really gotgoing when he was like 50?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, he was about 50 or 50.
I mean, he was born in 1553,and we're already into 1606 here
, people Right, yeah so, butthat's, you know, that's kind of
when this whole area was just.
I mean, there's still piratesin these areas, dude.
This whole area was just.
I mean, there's still piratesin these areas, dude.
This is like where when you seeon the news and you see the
Muslim pirates that are takingships, it's like out here too
(12:46):
you know what I'm saying Likeover in some of this stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So it's a the prices of stuff.
You're going to see shoppingcart pirates everywhere, sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Oh, maybe.
So I mean, yeah, on the way outthe door robbing people, that
is a thing.
I remember that was happening.
Have a flag on their shoppingcart?
Yeah, a false flag, and I'mfrom Canada.
I don't know what the hell isgoing on in the world anymore.
Guys, no, guy, yeah, so youknow.
(13:16):
Nonetheless, this is all kind ofcrazy, but at the end of the
day, this, at the end of the day, this day, he really trusted
John Ward.
Not day day, yeah, not no,friday day day.
Ok, was there ever a day day?
I don't think.
So we should look up.
Oh, and for the record, people,a day is kind of like the
governor of, a mayor of a citywhich, like back in these times
(13:40):
there wasn't really states,there'd be like city-states, you
know.
So it's like a town that's itsown governmental entity.
Basically, Right, did I saythat?
Right, I feel I might have,nonetheless.
So Tunis is like kind of acity-state in the day.
Uthman of that city and JackWard got along pretty good.
(14:01):
He ended up putting him up inhis treasury house, which was
like a palatial mansion, said tobe in.
Like an alabaster mansion iswhat they call it in a lot of
stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Marble, too right Stuff that you would not see in
his at least not at the time inhis homeland of.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
England, no, kent, yes, none of these things.
Yeah, there's no mansions likethat.
You know the Middle East and inall these areas like it the odd
man.
They were ahead of the curve.
You know, like even at thistime you would have to look into
it, but their slave classesweren't like really slaves, like
(14:43):
they were more like governmentemployees.
It's a very weird thing, butnonetheless they were very much
more so progressive than therest of the world.
They harbored a lot offugitives of other countries,
meaning like usually religiousexiles and such stuff like that.
They were very open to allthese things and they were
(15:05):
really big into reading andlearning and all this stuff
where the rest of the world was.
Usually they were trying to usereligion to control the masses
as opposed to educate them andit seemed to be that the Muslim
world at this time was kind ofmore on that tip of education
and stuff.
But I'm not saying they wereperfect guys.
I don't know how the women feelabout that, yeah but well, they
(15:25):
didn't hold those same beliefs,dude, I know, yeah, I know it,
but I'm just saying these peopleback then they weren't on this
extremist crap like they are now.
You know, some of these guysNot all Muslims are like that
people.
It's a very peaceful religion,by the way, but nonetheless they
got along pretty well and theystarted, you know, raiding
(15:45):
English ships and Venetian shipsand it was said at one time
that for like a year straight,all correspondence from Venice
and England which was a commonthing, because Venice was like
king of trade back then, youknow, they were a global
superpower, this city-state, andthey basically everything had
to do with him.
Every correspondent saidsomething about Jack Ward doing
(16:08):
this, jack Ward doing that andover time, this guy using the
Janissary Corps in Tunis, therehe created like an armada of
pirates, which is kind of cool.
So he was out there reallyfucking shit up guys.
This Jack Ward AKA Birdie, akaSharky, you know, inspiration of
(16:30):
Jack Sparrow.
Well, I mean, come on, like hetook some Maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
We can't confirm if that is so or not.
If so, again hey, hisdescendants deserve a cut of
that Sharknado lune.
So do Coolio's, by the way, Godrest.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, indeed, right, I bet you they do get something.
Maybe I don't know.
You know I'd be in a Sharknadomovie.
Why not Just putting it outthere?
If any movie liked that,they're like hey, you want to
play a part in this movie?
I'm like sure, guys, Whatever,Give me some money.
Alright, I'm cool, Right?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I don't know, I think their budget was saltines,
maybe so.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Maybe so I don't know , but nonetheless, this guy he
ended up being an admiral ofbasically the Tunis Navy is kind
of what it turned out to be,but on the other end of the
stick he was looked at as apirate, you know.
So it's just how these sorts ofthings works, and we all know
he really was a freaking piratethis guy was.
This guy was pretty crazy stuff.
(17:35):
He ended up converting to Islamat some point and then changed
his name to yusuf and since hewas an admiral of the fleet, he
also, uh, was adopted the nameraiz, and so he went sometimes
by yusuf raiz, which I've read alot of things where they're not
even sure if he actuallyconverted, because it's not like
this guy was very religious.
(17:55):
It's pretty well known hewasn't.
They were pretty big on robbingCatholic ships, but that was
mainly a thing where it wasagainst the Spanish, so it
wasn't necessarily all aboutCatholicism, I don't think, but
they do say who had the mostshit too.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, they did by far .
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And a lot of it.
What I've read was thatbasically they used it to
demonize him in England andstuff like that because he was a
convert.
They used it to demonize him inEngland and stuff like that
because he is a convert.
You know, being a pirate, he'sromanticized, but as soon as he
was a convert to Islam, then itbecame a whole.
He was a heathen at that pointand looked at differently.
But there was a lot of people.
There was a lot of balladswritten about this guy.
(18:34):
I think it's one of the firstpirates besides Francis Drake
that people wrote ballads about,although I would say that John
or Jack Ward here he takes thecake on being a pirate Because
he bucked the queen too.
You know, he totally was likefuck it, enemy of all mankind,
guys.
Right, what was the quote?
(18:57):
Just to explain how peopledescribe this guy.
You'd found a thing wherethey're talking about what he
looked like, him and his crew.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Oh, I think when they showed up in Tunis and the
Janissaries were dressedimmaculately right, I mean, they
were yes, and so they describedthis as not verbatim, but as
them showing up bearded,toothless, like draped in velvet
, basically like mismatched,just random things they had
stolen from people, it justlooked like a.
I mean I'm sure they're kind ofintimidating, but just a total
(19:30):
different look than like theglamorous, you know, they looked
like they were Out at sea.
Well, yeah, yes where thejanissaries looked like they
might be waiting at a fineOttoman restaurant or something,
Only armed, but still.
Yeah, it was just like who thefuck are these guys?
(19:52):
I'm sure that's probably whatsome nice restaurants think when
they show up to some extent.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah, probably so Probably so.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No beard but lack of velvet get-ups, but a fair
amount of jewelry sometimes.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
There you are.
I found something.
Jack Ward was described as adrunk from morn till night, the
habits of a thorough salt, afool and an idiot out of his
trade, and also wearing curiousand costly apparel.
And he was also very short,with little hair, bald in front,
swirly face and beard, speakslittle and almost always
(20:34):
swearing.
That's something else Like.
Whenever he talked, like I'msurprised there wasn't a bunch
of fucking fuck, this and thatand the other thing in that
quote you read, because that waswhat he was known for.
Like basically every other wordthat came out of this guy's
mouth was cussing of sorts orsomething like you know whatnot,
I guess.
So he's kind of like what youthink about when you think about
(20:57):
the real dirtball pirate I feel, you know, as opposed to the
(21:18):
elegant ambassador type piratesmakes fun of him a lot of times
because he wasn't really much ofa pirate, but there were such
things as these like piratesthat came from lineages and such
and were like lords or noblesof any class, you know, and so
they did kind of carrythemselves well.
And then on the other end ofthe stick you had these guys
that came out of places likeWapping and Kent and whatever,
(21:42):
and they were just dirtyfreaking fishermen or dock
workers, you know.
And they decided to say fuckthe system, it's rigged, and go
after just ships, you know, andlive a life.
One of the sayings that comesout of Jack Ward's camp,
somewhere, I feel, or if it'snot, it's cool, it's a real
pirate thing, but I'm not surewho said it.
That's the only problem.
But a short life and a merryone, that's a real pirate thing.
(22:04):
I'm not sure who said it,that's the only problem.
A short life and a merry one,that's the life for me.
That's kind of how all theseguys always lived.
Pretty insane.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
What did he make it to?
Didn't he make it to almost 70?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, he was an old fart.
He did actually make it quite aways Later in life.
He still lived in thatalabaster mansion, although it
was said to have been kind ofrun down over time, you know,
and the ottoman empire wasn'tonce what it was, you know.
It kind of kind of started itsdecline but they, uh they, they
were talking about he.
He loved incubating chicks,like that's what he did.
(22:40):
He kind of lived for it.
In his older years he would sitout on his, you know, overlook
the ocean, kind of deal on likewhatever porch I don't know what
you want to call it in afreaking mansion you know a
viewpoint of sorts, and he had aincubator full of eggs and
that's what he did.
He would just watch chickshatch.
That was his favorite thing,you know.
It was also said that he waspretty hard to deal with in a
(23:04):
lot of ways.
If he weren't, he was smooth,but once you pissed him off he
could be a pretty aggressive.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
fellow Pirates are not known for their
understanding or coping skills.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
As far as I, know Right Well, and Matt Albers from
the Pirate History Podcast,which we don't have any
affiliation, just great show.
He kind of describes it.
Some of his, his tactics sayslike when he's talking with
people as like somebody who isextremely drunk, uh, with severe
(23:34):
ptsd and delusions of grandeurit sounds like a fun dinner
guest.
Yeah, because I because I mean,this guy was, he came from
nothing, he was like 50, and allof a sudden he's like basically
like an admiral of a piratearmada out of nowhere.
You know, this happened withinlike three years, man.
(23:55):
People are writing balladsabout this guy, I don't know.
Pretty strange character, ifyou ask me this Jack Ward.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Not too many moved in .
Did the neighbors like bringhim a Bundt cake or something
and he'd cut their heads off?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, that's possible , I don't know, but I do love
that.
I love a lot of thedescriptions of this guy, but he
was just basically a short, fat, swarthy, sweaty, balding
gentleman who basically didn'ttalk, he just cussed.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I thought you snuck gentleman in there.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, I don't know why, I didn't feel the need to,
but I guess I had to.
You know, it's a heck of astory.
It's worth looking into.
We kind of got sidetracked hereand there, like we always do
here at.
I Tell Stories, and that's okay.
I know it right.
I live next to a grey house.
They say, tracked here andthere, like we always do here, I
tell stories, and that's okay.
What happened?
I know it right.
I live next to a gray house.
They say nonetheless, um,wasn't too many dark turns on
(24:52):
this episode.
There's a lot more crazy shitaround this guy.
Uh, what was that?
The famous ship he captured?
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I can never remember the name it was a venetian ship,
right, that was supposed to behis biggest haul ever.
Yeah, it was, and, as they, youknow, it's on fire as the crew
are trying to put that out andit's still just being pelted
with cannon fire and the chainguns which Colt explained to me.
It's a nasty, basically, likeliterally a chain, two small
(25:21):
cannonballs chained togetherthat just shred, shred, be it
material, of human or ship.
You're going to fuck some shitup, and so that's going on and
he's just loading onto the boatto get all the silks and indigo
or part of the main.
And I don't know if I'm goingto butcher this, actually I do
(25:42):
know that.
But as far as I know, theimmense ship was called the
Riniere e Soderina.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
No, that's it.
You did it pretty good there.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
A Carrick, right yeah , is the type of ship.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Say that again.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
That was like the.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Carrick, yeah, carrick, yeah, bro, yeah, no,
you nailed, it.
Good job bro.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yep.
So that was pretty much thebiggest haul of his career,
right, or at least a major score.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
No, that was the biggest haul of his career.
There were some other ones thathe was credited with, you know,
because back then he was such abig name that even ships that
he or his Janissary-like armadadidn't capture that he still got
credit for them becauseeverybody wanted to blame Jack
Ward.
Basically, there was a very,very successful pirate out there
(26:32):
who was kind of a gentlemanpirate like we were just talking
about in a way, and his namewas Simon Dansker and he was
credited for some pretty bighauls too, but Jack Ward got the
credit for some of them.
They did eventually worktogether briefly, so I don't
know if that's how they gotintertwined, but Jack Ward is
definitely by far the mostfamous pirate of the era.
This is pre-Golden Age ofPiracy, so people aren't even
(26:55):
out in Jamaica doing it all theway yet.
It's still pretty much justSpain and Portugal out there, as
far as I know.
I mean, I know.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Francis Drake, is there still wine?
Obviously not rum yet.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, I feel like it would be.
You know they would water downtheir wine.
I don't know, I'd have to lookinto that.
When rum came into play, itdefinitely Because rum became.
Sorry, rum became very popularand kind of came from when they
tried to put all them sugarplantations over there in
Jamaica and Cuba and all theseplaces.
And you know, the byproduct ofit is molasses which, if I'm
(27:32):
right, that's what you make rumfrom right.
Pretty much is like that soundscorrect.
Yeah, yeah, so like it was.
Just, you know, and that's whyit became what it was.
But you know, and they would,yeah, yeah, so they would have
wine on ships, of course.
I'm just not sure how they gotby with their drinking water,
because later on they would put,you know, rum in their water to
keep it from spoiling,basically, or going stagnant or
(27:54):
whatever you want to call it.
But uh, yeah, pretty crazy stuff, this jack ward.
Uh, I'm glad you got in hislast ship there, because that is
the big one, if you look him upand you're going to really do
some research on him.
His biggest deals was he wasbasically the admiral of a
Muslim pirate fleet and he'sfrom England, which is kind of a
(28:16):
crazy story, and also the Cetede Solerina right.
See, I can't say it right.
That's why I had you say it,and I've heard Matt Albers say
it a bunch recently.
So what else?
There you go.
All right, shoot, I should havelooked at my notes, I think.
No, you nailed it because I'vebeen listening to this stuff,
(28:36):
trying to brush up on Jack Wardhere real quick.
But there is really a lot tothis guy as far as pirates go.
A lot of it's probably bullshit, except for the ships he
captured and like the thingsthat he did.
Well, because pirates got, youknow, fantasized in the
Victorian era.
So a lot of the history that wehave on him is actually like
(28:57):
not even firsthand to count,unless you're dealing with stuff
by, like, william Dampier orsomething like that.
You know, and that's a wholeother story.
Nonetheless, oh, thanks fordoing a pirate episode that was
pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Thank you, my friend.
It's been fun.
I liked reading on it and I'mglad you were so knowledgeable.
Yeah, yeah, everybody, watchout for egg pirates out there.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's a thing?
Yeah, that's a thing.
You know that recently there'sbeen more egg busts coming
across the Mexican border thanfentanyl First time ever, I
guess, I don't know.
Pretty weird.
So everybody out there you know, maybe stay off the eggs, okay,
you don't need to support thisbullshit.
(29:38):
Just joking, I don't know.
I'm trying to think aboutfentanyl and eggs and how they
correlate, I don't know.
Anyway, stop byPitLockSupplycom if you want an
I Tell Stories shirt.
In the description under theshow notes or you know,
somewhere in there there's asupport the show link.
That'd be cool if you decide todo that.
We are just independent outhere floating on this ocean, all
(29:58):
right, and I hope thateverybody out there has a great
day.
And yeah, thanks for tuning in.
Much love everybody.
That everybody out there has agreat day and yeah, thanks for
tuning in.
Much love everybody.
Ahoy hoy.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Arr matey, we made it .
We finally made it, my friend,to a pirate episode.
Ahoy, are you excited?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's one of the firstthings we spoke about, colt's
super into pirate history andthat was going to be One of the
first ones, and somehow we goton To violent business, hippies
and censorship and so on.
And so 90.
Yeah, 98 to be one of the firstones, and somehow we got onto
violent business, hippies andcensorship and so on.
And so 90, 98?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, I think this will be 98.
Yeah, I know it's crazy.
We have literally it's in ourshow description too that we'll
probably talk about pirates.
Basically, we've never done one, never done a pirate episode.
So here we are.
We're going to talk about JackWard, originally John Ward.
I'm still kind of lost in whenhe started calling himself Jack
(00:50):
or why, but that is what he'sknown as mainly is Jack Ward.
Have you ever heard of him?
Jack and Boats?
Yeah, jack and Boats.
There you go.
Yeah, bitch, I'm on a boat.
Have you ever heard of himbefore?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
as far as pirates go, I think vaguely something only
because, as you reminded me,that he is alleged.
Well, this is claiming thatJack Sparrow, pirates of the
Caribbean isn't real, which Iwas, I mean.
Next thing, you're going totell me that Easter Bunny and
(01:27):
Jesus aren't cold.
Oh man, but no, I did rememberthat you know vaguely hearing of
that, but Right, well, no, Ireally didn't know much about it
and still don't.
This is much more knowledgeable.
But introduce me to thisinteresting fellow.
(01:48):
Well, not personally.
We didn't have Bill and Ted.
Take us back, not yet, not yet.
Don't count us out.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We'll get a nice place eventually, yeah for sure.
Nice place for soirees, right,and the reason why they called
it, like why he's named afterthis guy, jack Ward, is because
Jack Sparrow well, this guy, hewas given a nickname by the day
of Tunis Uthman Day.
He called him Birdie, basicallybecause John Ward had a bird
(02:23):
tattoo on his arm, which is itwas a swallow, I feel, but
nonetheless, like becausesailors at that era, every time
you went 5,000 nautical milesyou would get a swallow tattoo,
like yeah, so he had one and itwas kind of a rarity in Tunis,
in the Ottoman Empire, like that.
(02:44):
So he really thought it waspretty cool and he thought it
was really cool like work of art.
But he started calling himBirdie, but he would always
reference it to his as Sparrowbecause he'd never really been
out to sea or on the coast allthe way, so he'd only seen a
sparrow, he hadn't seen aswallow.
So that's why it kind of gotthat way, from what I understand
, to swallow.
So that's why it kind of gotthat way, from what I understand
.
Also, you know, they should cuthim in because man Disney's got
(03:09):
a haul on that Pirates of theCaribbean.
So as of like 23, I think, orlate 20.
Well it was.
Anyway, we'll call it 23because I didn't reference the
article 100%.
But they've grossed $4.5billion worldwide off that
Pirates of the Caribbeanfranchise.
So I don't know Jack Ward'sancestors.
(03:29):
You should be looking out andseeing what you can do about
that good piece of that Piratesof the Caribbean money.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And remember us and I tell stories when you get that
check.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, because we pointed it out, guys.
We're the only ones who've evertalked about this.
Just keep it.
Probably, guys, right, we'rethe only ones who've ever talked
about this.
Just keep it.
Um, no, well, so Ward was bornin 1553 in Farversham, kent.
So he's an English folk.
Uh, it's a coastal market townin Southeast England.
(03:59):
He, so it was pretty like whenyou live in these coastal towns
back then you're like going tohave something to do with like
fishing or trade most likely iswhat you're gonna do and what
you're gonna know.
Um, so that's what he was.
He was a fisherman for a whilethere until, uh, what I got out
of it is, uh, he, he kind of gotinto legal piracy, private
(04:20):
privateering, during queen'saunt, queen anne's, war Jeez,
I'm stuttering, jeez.
But so that's how he got hisstart doing things that were
more like on the warfare side ofstuff.
I suppose he was a privateerfrom 5088 to 1603.
And that's when King James tookthe throne.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And he kind of made peace with Spain.
You know and I did see a veryinteresting quote right after
that, when he was upset,obviously, that it was no longer
essentially sanctioned piracy,and an acquaintance of his,
andrew Barker, recalled Wardvoicing his displeasure with the
band, as I quote where are thedays that have been when we
(05:04):
might sing swear?
drink drab Ward voicing hisdispleasure with the band.
As I quote when are the daysthat have been when we might
sing swear, drink drab, whichapparently means whore about and
kill men as freely as your cakemakers do flies, when the whole
sea was our empire, where werob at will?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I thought that was a Sony record exec quote at first,
but then I thought it was infact attributed to Mr Ward yeah,
basically what happened here isSpain had just took over, you
know, mexico, down throughPanama, all these things, and
they owned this huge land massand they were just a behemoth.
So everybody was trying to get apiece of that cake.
(05:39):
And then back then the Englishdidn't have a navy, you know,
they were barely a freakingkingdom kind of in a way.
And so like comparative tothese other powerhouses, and her
Queen Anne, her way of likekind of getting around that was,
she started putting out lettersof marque for privateers, and
what a letter of marque was washer signature saying that you
(06:01):
can loot the Spanish and getaway with it.
You know we're at war, so nobig deal.
And she'd hire these people andgive them guns and stuff or
they'd have their own kind ofdeal too.
So it was a very like freemarket free market like Navy
pretty much, and they also hadto kick back to the Crown, so it
made her money at the same time.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So that's what all this.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, so it was a whole thing.
I mean, it was like a way oflife for people, and then Well,
yeah, they were obviouslyskimming off the top.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Who's going to cop up 4% To the royalty?
They totally were.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, no, that's what happened.
So, within this, though, he gotpress ganged into the Navy
after this point that you'respeaking on, where you know, the
commissions went away, which isthe you know, the privateerian
license and all these thingsAnyway.
But like he got press gangedgang, which means you were
pretty much like coerced byeither getting clubbed over the
(07:08):
head and knocked out and draggedon a ship, or you were like got
him, they probably got him sodrunk and just like stumbled on
the ship, and then he woke upand you're out at sea, and
that's how you joined the navyback then, guys isn't it still?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
or pretty much I'm unfamiliar in such matters.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They brainwash you somehow and say join the Navy.
Yeah, so that's what happenedto him.
This obviously pissed him offand it's also suggested during
this time he gained the nicknameSharky as well.
That's what he was known as inthe Navy and to this day,
anybody with the last name Wardthat's their nickname is Sharky.
(07:46):
So that's something I found outthroughout this, which is kind
of neat.
So, hmm, now, ward, when theywere doing this whole Navy thing
, they had stopped somewhere andhe was pissed right.
He's like I don't want to be inthe frickin' Navy.
And he basically says whilethese officers are pretending
they're doing something and theythink we're just down here
(08:06):
eating, how about we go take aship?
Right?
So they go take a ship.
Ward and 30 of his shipmatesstole a 25 ton vessel and then
they sailed it to the Isle ofWhite where Ward was elected
captain.
This is the earliest likerecorded account of somebody
being elected to captain on aship like that, which is also
(08:28):
why a lot of people say thatpirates started democracy as
well, because they alwayselected their leaders, I guess,
and you could be impeached too.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
That didn't sound like it went very well.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
No, it didn't.
Yeah, usually most of it didn'tend very well in that nature.
Yeah, so this is a prettyinteresting fellow we're talking
about.
He went around after this pointand he had what was you had the
story where he went to capturethat Catholic ship.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Oh yeah, and it was supposedly just loaded with loot
and someone had tipped off theowner and everything had been
put ashore.
So there's just basically likethey got the boat.
But no, yeah, this, you know, Ithought that I made one of the
biggest scores ever, and thenit's like the trunk's empty.
(09:21):
Basically Right, cause it'ssupposed to be full of treasure.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, and then it took off.
So, yeah, somebody got tippedoff and they they're like, well,
shit might as well make it apirate ship, Right?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And off they went.
I think that was off island ofSicily, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I feel you're right.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Near and dear to my heart.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yeah, I know there is a lot.
Jack Ward was a pretty bigenemy of the Venetians back then
.
So when Ward and his men sailedto the Mediterranean, they were
able to get a pretty big Dutchboat with 32 guns on it, which
is pretty badass.
I want a boat with 32 guns,wouldn't that be an interesting
(10:02):
thing?
Take it to Lake Elmo, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Instead of people on their little paddle boats Right.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Exactly.
So.
You know they're fillingthemselves out there, but they
need kind of a port of call.
You know there's no Port RoyalJamaica really or any of these
areas where they can stop andfence or loot and do all this
sort of thing.
And they tried to stop in theMoroccan Port of Salé In 1605,
though little did he know thatEnglish and Dutch sailors,
(10:32):
including Richard Bishop andAnthony Johnson, they ended up
fucking these guys over, so theyweren't too hot on them.
They got turned away In 1606,they're on their little
pillaging spree, which soundsvery piratical to me and they
ended up finding themselves inTunis where initially they still
(10:53):
kind of had a bad look and theyweren't too sure if they wanted
to let them in the port.
And all this even though Tunisat the time was a pretty big
like capital for piracy overthere from like the janissaries,
which that's a whole thing initself, but they're basically
like ottoman muslim um soldiers,but very privileged.
But they're and they were alsousually slaves, which is kind of
a whole concept.
That's hard to wrap your mindaround if you don't, if you
(11:16):
don't know or don't have time toexplain it, but the city's
pretty like rugged and stuff.
And what ended up happening inthe end is Ward gave the day
like a bunch of treasure, like,hey, I'm a pirate, I'm not like
some English spy, I'm notwhatever.
Look at all my loot you knowhere, you can have it as long as
you.
Let us like go out there andattack people you know.
(11:37):
And so he's like, oh well, fuck, yeah, let's do that.
And they end up becoming prettygood friends at this point, and
this is also the guy that gavehim the name Birdie or whatnot.
But then that that's kind ofwhen he started his whole
piratical career of just runningamok out there, man.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
He said, rather late in life is when he started to be
successful.
Right, he just sort of, well,yeah, kind of a journeyman,
journeyman privateer, like minorleague, and then just stepped
this shit up yeah, I wouldn'tthink a pirate.
The lifespan of a pirate istypically, you know, the
expected life expectancy backthen of one in general probably
(12:17):
wasn't great with disease andlack of medicine.
But didn't he say he really gotgoing when he was like 50?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, he was about 50 or 50.
I mean, he was born in 1553,and we're already into 1606 here
, people Right, yeah so, butthat's, you know, that's kind of
when this whole area was just.
I mean, there's still piratesin these areas, dude.
This whole area was just.
I mean, there's still piratesin these areas, dude.
This is like where when you seeon the news and you see the
Muslim pirates that are takingships, it's like out here too
(12:46):
you know what I'm saying Likeover in some of this stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So it's a the prices of stuff.
You're going to see shoppingcart pirates everywhere, sorry.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Oh, maybe.
So I mean, yeah, on the way outthe door robbing people, that
is a thing.
I remember that was happening.
Have a flag on their shoppingcart?
Yeah, a false flag, and I'mfrom Canada.
I don't know what the hell isgoing on in the world anymore.
Guys, no, guy, yeah, so youknow.
(13:16):
Nonetheless, this is all kind ofcrazy, but at the end of the
day, this, at the end of the day, this day, he really trusted
John Ward.
Not day day, yeah, not no,friday day day.
Ok, was there ever a day day?
I don't think.
So we should look up.
Oh, and for the record, people,a day is kind of like the
governor of, a mayor of a citywhich, like back in these times
(13:40):
there wasn't really states,there'd be like city-states, you
know.
So it's like a town that's itsown governmental entity.
Basically, Right, did I saythat?
Right, I feel I might have,nonetheless.
So Tunis is like kind of acity-state in the day.
Uthman of that city and JackWard got along pretty good.
(14:01):
He ended up putting him up inhis treasury house, which was
like a palatial mansion, said tobe in.
Like an alabaster mansion iswhat they call it in a lot of
stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Marble, too right Stuff that you would not see in
his at least not at the time inhis homeland of.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
England, no, kent, yes, none of these things.
Yeah, there's no mansions likethat.
You know the Middle East and inall these areas like it the odd
man.
They were ahead of the curve.
You know, like even at thistime you would have to look into
it, but their slave classesweren't like really slaves, like
(14:43):
they were more like governmentemployees.
It's a very weird thing, butnonetheless they were very much
more so progressive than therest of the world.
They harbored a lot offugitives of other countries,
meaning like usually religiousexiles and such stuff like that.
They were very open to allthese things and they were
(15:05):
really big into reading andlearning and all this stuff
where the rest of the world was.
Usually they were trying to usereligion to control the masses
as opposed to educate them andit seemed to be that the Muslim
world at this time was kind ofmore on that tip of education
and stuff.
But I'm not saying they wereperfect guys.
I don't know how the women feelabout that, yeah but well, they
(15:25):
didn't hold those same beliefs,dude, I know, yeah, I know it,
but I'm just saying these peopleback then they weren't on this
extremist crap like they are now.
You know, some of these guysNot all Muslims are like that
people.
It's a very peaceful religion,by the way, but nonetheless they
got along pretty well and theystarted, you know, raiding
(15:45):
English ships and Venetian shipsand it was said at one time
that for like a year straight,all correspondence from Venice
and England which was a commonthing, because Venice was like
king of trade back then, youknow, they were a global
superpower, this city-state, andthey basically everything had
to do with him.
Every correspondent saidsomething about Jack Ward doing
(16:08):
this, jack Ward doing that andover time, this guy using the
Janissary Corps in Tunis, therehe created like an armada of
pirates, which is kind of cool.
So he was out there reallyfucking shit up guys.
This Jack Ward AKA Birdie, akaSharky, you know, inspiration of
(16:30):
Jack Sparrow.
Well, I mean, come on, like hetook some Maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
We can't confirm if that is so or not.
If so, again hey, hisdescendants deserve a cut of
that Sharknado lune.
So do Coolio's, by the way, Godrest.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, indeed, right, I bet you they do get something.
Maybe I don't know.
You know I'd be in a Sharknadomovie.
Why not Just putting it outthere?
If any movie liked that,they're like hey, you want to
play a part in this movie?
I'm like sure, guys, Whatever,Give me some money.
Alright, I'm cool, Right?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I don't know, I think their budget was saltines,
maybe so.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Maybe so I don't know , but nonetheless, this guy he
ended up being an admiral ofbasically the Tunis Navy is kind
of what it turned out to be,but on the other end of the
stick he was looked at as apirate, you know.
So it's just how these sorts ofthings works, and we all know
he really was a freaking piratethis guy was.
This guy was pretty crazy stuff.
(17:35):
He ended up converting to Islamat some point and then changed
his name to yusuf and since hewas an admiral of the fleet, he
also, uh, was adopted the nameraiz, and so he went sometimes
by yusuf raiz, which I've read alot of things where they're not
even sure if he actuallyconverted, because it's not like
this guy was very religious.
(17:55):
It's pretty well known hewasn't.
They were pretty big on robbingCatholic ships, but that was
mainly a thing where it wasagainst the Spanish, so it
wasn't necessarily all aboutCatholicism, I don't think, but
they do say who had the mostshit too.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, they did by far .
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And a lot of it.
What I've read was thatbasically they used it to
demonize him in England andstuff like that because he was a
convert.
They used it to demonize him inEngland and stuff like that
because he is a convert.
You know, being a pirate, he'sromanticized, but as soon as he
was a convert to Islam, then itbecame a whole.
He was a heathen at that pointand looked at differently.
But there was a lot of people.
There was a lot of balladswritten about this guy.
(18:34):
I think it's one of the firstpirates besides Francis Drake
that people wrote ballads about,although I would say that John
or Jack Ward here he takes thecake on being a pirate Because
he bucked the queen too.
You know, he totally was likefuck it, enemy of all mankind,
guys.
Right, what was the quote?
(18:57):
Just to explain how peopledescribe this guy.
You'd found a thing wherethey're talking about what he
looked like, him and his crew.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Oh, I think when they showed up in Tunis and the
Janissaries were dressedimmaculately right, I mean, they
were yes, and so they describedthis as not verbatim, but as
them showing up bearded,toothless, like draped in velvet
, basically like mismatched,just random things they had
stolen from people, it justlooked like a.
I mean I'm sure they're kind ofintimidating, but just a total
(19:30):
different look than like theglamorous, you know, they looked
like they were Out at sea.
Well, yeah, yes where thejanissaries looked like they
might be waiting at a fineOttoman restaurant or something,
Only armed, but still.
Yeah, it was just like who thefuck are these guys?
(19:52):
I'm sure that's probably whatsome nice restaurants think when
they show up to some extent.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yeah, probably so Probably so.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No beard but lack of velvet get-ups, but a fair
amount of jewelry sometimes.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
There you are.
I found something.
Jack Ward was described as adrunk from morn till night, the
habits of a thorough salt, afool and an idiot out of his
trade, and also wearing curiousand costly apparel.
And he was also very short,with little hair, bald in front,
swirly face and beard, speakslittle and almost always
(20:34):
swearing.
That's something else Like.
Whenever he talked, like I'msurprised there wasn't a bunch
of fucking fuck, this and thatand the other thing in that
quote you read, because that waswhat he was known for.
Like basically every other wordthat came out of this guy's
mouth was cussing of sorts orsomething like you know whatnot,
I guess.
So he's kind of like what youthink about when you think about
(20:57):
the real dirtball pirate I feel, you know, as opposed to the
(21:18):
elegant ambassador type piratesmakes fun of him a lot of times
because he wasn't really much ofa pirate, but there were such
things as these like piratesthat came from lineages and such
and were like lords or noblesof any class, you know, and so
they did kind of carrythemselves well.
And then on the other end ofthe stick you had these guys
that came out of places likeWapping and Kent and whatever,
(21:42):
and they were just dirtyfreaking fishermen or dock
workers, you know.
And they decided to say fuckthe system, it's rigged, and go
after just ships, you know, andlive a life.
One of the sayings that comesout of Jack Ward's camp,
somewhere, I feel, or if it'snot, it's cool, it's a real
pirate thing, but I'm not surewho said it.
That's the only problem.
But a short life and a merryone, that's a real pirate thing.
(22:04):
I'm not sure who said it,that's the only problem.
A short life and a merry one,that's the life for me.
That's kind of how all theseguys always lived.
Pretty insane.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
What did he make it to?
Didn't he make it to almost 70?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, he was an old fart.
He did actually make it quite aways Later in life.
He still lived in thatalabaster mansion, although it
was said to have been kind ofrun down over time, you know,
and the ottoman empire wasn'tonce what it was, you know.
It kind of kind of started itsdecline but they, uh they, they
were talking about he.
He loved incubating chicks,like that's what he did.
(22:40):
He kind of lived for it.
In his older years he would sitout on his, you know, overlook
the ocean, kind of deal on likewhatever porch I don't know what
you want to call it in afreaking mansion you know a
viewpoint of sorts, and he had aincubator full of eggs and
that's what he did.
He would just watch chickshatch.
That was his favorite thing,you know.
It was also said that he waspretty hard to deal with in a
(23:04):
lot of ways.
If he weren't, he was smooth,but once you pissed him off he
could be a pretty aggressive.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
fellow Pirates are not known for their
understanding or coping skills.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
As far as I, know Right Well, and Matt Albers from
the Pirate History Podcast,which we don't have any
affiliation, just great show.
He kind of describes it.
Some of his, his tactics sayslike when he's talking with
people as like somebody who isextremely drunk, uh, with severe
(23:34):
ptsd and delusions of grandeurit sounds like a fun dinner
guest.
Yeah, because I because I mean,this guy was, he came from
nothing, he was like 50, and allof a sudden he's like basically
like an admiral of a piratearmada out of nowhere.
You know, this happened withinlike three years, man.
(23:55):
People are writing balladsabout this guy, I don't know.
Pretty strange character, ifyou ask me this Jack Ward.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Not too many moved in .
Did the neighbors like bringhim a Bundt cake or something
and he'd cut their heads off?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, that's possible , I don't know, but I do love
that.
I love a lot of thedescriptions of this guy, but he
was just basically a short, fat, swarthy, sweaty, balding
gentleman who basically didn'ttalk, he just cussed.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I thought you snuck gentleman in there.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, I don't know why, I didn't feel the need to,
but I guess I had to.
You know, it's a heck of astory.
It's worth looking into.
We kind of got sidetracked hereand there, like we always do
here at.
I Tell Stories, and that's okay.
I know it right.
I live next to a grey house.
They say, tracked here andthere, like we always do here, I
tell stories, and that's okay.
What happened?
I know it right.
I live next to a gray house.
They say nonetheless, um,wasn't too many dark turns on
(24:52):
this episode.
There's a lot more crazy shitaround this guy.
Uh, what was that?
The famous ship he captured?
Speaker 1 (24:58):
I can never remember the name it was a venetian ship,
right, that was supposed to behis biggest haul ever.
Yeah, it was, and, as they, youknow, it's on fire as the crew
are trying to put that out andit's still just being pelted
with cannon fire and the chainguns which Colt explained to me.
It's a nasty, basically, likeliterally a chain, two small
(25:21):
cannonballs chained togetherthat just shred, shred, be it
material, of human or ship.
You're going to fuck some shitup, and so that's going on and
he's just loading onto the boatto get all the silks and indigo
or part of the main.
And I don't know if I'm goingto butcher this, actually I do
(25:42):
know that.
But as far as I know, theimmense ship was called the
Riniere e Soderina.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
No, that's it.
You did it pretty good there.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
A Carrick, right yeah , is the type of ship.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Say that again.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
That was like the.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Carrick, yeah, carrick, yeah, bro, yeah, no,
you nailed, it.
Good job bro.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Yep.
So that was pretty much thebiggest haul of his career,
right, or at least a major score.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
No, that was the biggest haul of his career.
There were some other ones thathe was credited with, you know,
because back then he was such abig name that even ships that
he or his Janissary-like armadadidn't capture that he still got
credit for them becauseeverybody wanted to blame Jack
Ward.
Basically, there was a very,very successful pirate out there
(26:32):
who was kind of a gentlemanpirate like we were just talking
about in a way, and his namewas Simon Dansker and he was
credited for some pretty bighauls too, but Jack Ward got the
credit for some of them.
They did eventually worktogether briefly, so I don't
know if that's how they gotintertwined, but Jack Ward is
definitely by far the mostfamous pirate of the era.
This is pre-Golden Age ofPiracy, so people aren't even
(26:55):
out in Jamaica doing it all theway yet.
It's still pretty much justSpain and Portugal out there, as
far as I know.
I mean, I know.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Francis Drake, is there still wine?
Obviously not rum yet.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, I feel like it would be.
You know they would water downtheir wine.
I don't know, I'd have to lookinto that.
When rum came into play, itdefinitely Because rum became.
Sorry, rum became very popularand kind of came from when they
tried to put all them sugarplantations over there in
Jamaica and Cuba and all theseplaces.
And you know, the byproduct ofit is molasses which, if I'm
(27:32):
right, that's what you make rumfrom right.
Pretty much is like that soundscorrect.
Yeah, yeah, so like it was.
Just, you know, and that's whyit became what it was.
But you know, and they would,yeah, yeah, so they would have
wine on ships, of course.
I'm just not sure how they gotby with their drinking water,
because later on they would put,you know, rum in their water to
keep it from spoiling,basically, or going stagnant or
(27:54):
whatever you want to call it.
But uh, yeah, pretty crazy stuff, this jack ward.
Uh, I'm glad you got in hislast ship there, because that is
the big one, if you look him upand you're going to really do
some research on him.
His biggest deals was he wasbasically the admiral of a
Muslim pirate fleet and he'sfrom England, which is kind of a
(28:16):
crazy story, and also the Cetede Solerina right.
See, I can't say it right.
That's why I had you say it,and I've heard Matt Albers say
it a bunch recently.
So what else?
There you go.
All right, shoot, I should havelooked at my notes, I think.
No, you nailed it because I'vebeen listening to this stuff,
(28:36):
trying to brush up on Jack Wardhere real quick.
But there is really a lot tothis guy as far as pirates go.
A lot of it's probably bullshit, except for the ships he
captured and like the thingsthat he did.
Well, because pirates got, youknow, fantasized in the
Victorian era.
So a lot of the history that wehave on him is actually like
(28:57):
not even firsthand to count,unless you're dealing with stuff
by, like, william Dampier orsomething like that.
You know, and that's a wholeother story.
Nonetheless, oh, thanks fordoing a pirate episode that was
pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Thank you, my friend.
It's been fun.
I liked reading on it and I'mglad you were so knowledgeable.
Yeah, yeah, everybody, watchout for egg pirates out there.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's a thing?
Yeah, that's a thing.
You know that recently there'sbeen more egg busts coming
across the Mexican border thanfentanyl First time ever, I
guess, I don't know.
Pretty weird.
So everybody out there you know, maybe stay off the eggs, okay,
you don't need to support thisbullshit.
(29:38):
Just joking, I don't know.
I'm trying to think aboutfentanyl and eggs and how they
correlate, I don't know.
Anyway, stop byPitLockSupplycom if you want an
I Tell Stories shirt.
In the description under theshow notes or you know,
somewhere in there there's asupport the show link.
That'd be cool if you decide todo that.
We are just independent outhere floating on this ocean, all
(29:58):
right, and I hope thateverybody out there has a great
day.
And yeah, thanks for tuning in.
Much love everybody.
That everybody out there has agreat day and yeah, thanks for
tuning in.
Much love everybody.
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