Booty: Documents Fit for a Pirate

So you've a pirate or privateer in the family (lucky you) and you're looking for just the right gift to put a smile on their face this holiday season. Clearly you enjoy seeing that golden tooth of theirs gleam. Well look no further, mates because Pirate Documents has absolutely everything you could want - and more.

Need an authentic letter of marque? They've got that. From the very early days of anti-piracy legislation in the 15th century to the Civil War, PD covers it all. An example of the handsome document purchased for me by the First Mate is featured above; it's probably very similar to the one acquired by my dear Uncle Renato for his schooner Spy.

Looking for ship's articles from the Golden Age of Piracy? You'll find that, too. Or how about maritime quotes? What says serious seafaring quite like having a quote from William Bligh hanging in your cabin?

But don't stop there. For the more quirky folks on your gift giving list you might consider a marriage license circa 1800, a vampire hunting commission, a pact with the devil from 1633 or - my new personal favorite, the Code Duello of 1777 which was generally recognized in Britain and the U.S. That's good stuff.

Click over and roam around Pirate Documents' wonderful site. I can personally vouchsafe the quality of the items they offer. Enjoy, and happy Friday!

Header: United States Letter of Marque c 1812 via Pirate Documents

Sailor Mouth Saturday: Prize

Talk of prizes is cheap when one is around pirates and privateers. Seemingly contradictorily, it is dear as well. All sailors – even as recently as 100 years ago – loved a prize. But what exactly was a prize, legally? Was there even such a thing? As long as there have been ships at sea, the answers have been more complicated than one might imagine.


A number of prize acts have been passed by the various naval countries on both sides of the Atlantic, with the one that really got the ball rolling issued by Henry VIII of England to institute his all-privateer navy. Elizabeth I solidified these laws, with Queen Anne passing a revised act in 1708 and King George adding to it in 1793.

The next great wave of privateers would sprout up in 1810 when the government of Bolivar’s free Cartagena began issuing letters of marque. In all these situations, legal prizes were required to first be judged so via a libel in a court of the country issuing the letter of marque. Of course, this was not always possible and in some cases – notably the Laffites’ Barataria and Galveston operations – rarely if ever happened.

Prize acts, again often in theory more than practice, technically expired at the end of whatever war they were written for. A good example here is the resending of Queen Anne’s 1708 prize act which contributed greatly to the period known now as the Golden Age of piracy. Many recognizable names of the era, from Edward Teach to Howell Davis, had sailed with legitimate letters of marque and simply continued to take prizes after their papers expired, thus becoming pirates rather than privateers.

Prize goods were those taken legally from an enemy at sea. A prize master is the man given control of the prize ship to see her safely into a port controlled by the privateer’s or man-of-war’s country. Young officers often cut their teeth as commanders aboard prizes. Prize money was the result of the sale of prize goods and sometimes the ship itself, which was then divided according to the articles of the privateer or the navy in question. Prizeage was the share of that money belonging to the government.

No one can put the pieces together quite as succinctly as Admiral Smyth, however, so I offer the entry under “prize” from his The Sailor’s Word Book:

A vessel captured at sea from the enemies of a state, or from pirates, either by a man-of-war or privateer. Vessels are also looked upon as prize if they fight under any other standard than that of the state from which they have their commission, if they have no charter-party, and if loaded with effects belonging to the enemy, or with contraband goods. In ships of war, the prizes are to be divided among the officers, seamen &c., according to the act; but in privateers, according to the agreement of the owners.

And nothing could be more thorough than that in describing a lovely – and legal – prize. Happy Saturday, Brethren; I’m off to dine with the first mate. I’ll spy ye tomorrow for Seafaring Sunday.

Header: Revenue cutter Harpy chasing a smuggler via National Museum of Liverpool Blog

History: The Continental Navy and Pirate Democracy

The first was named Alfred, in honor of the greatest Navy that ever existed; the second, Columbus, after the discoverer of this quarter of the globe; the third, Cortez, after the discoverer of the northern part of the continent; the fourth, Andrew Doria, in honor of the great Genoese admiral; and the fifth, Providence, the name of the town where she was purchased and the residence of Governor Hopkins and his brother Esek, whom we appointed the first captain.


This quote comes from John Adams in his role as a member of the Continental Congress. In it, he delineates the first five vessels of the Continental Navy. Upon those vessels, of course, discipline was not an option but Congress was keen to ensure that the potentially out of control discipline that reigned in the Royal Navy of the day did not trickle down to the newly established fleet of the United Colonies of North America. To that end, a written set of Rules and Regulations were approved and enacted on November 28, 1775.

There are 44 Articles in total dealing with everything from victualling to pay to “divine service”. Some specific points are worth noting on this 236th anniversary of their establishment, particularly those that obviously try to distinguish the new naval force from its ancient parent.

Article 1 is telling in and of itself; the first issue on hand is not day to day life aboard ship but duty, honor, and the importance of setting a good example:

The commanders of all ships and vessels belonging to the Thirteen United Colonies are strictly required to shew in themselves a good example of honor and virtue to their officers and men…

A commander may be the law at sea but he is not above it. Like a modern head coach of an NFL team, whatever happens aboard his ship is ultimately his responsibility and/or fault. Leading by example is not just a good idea, it is a given.

“Divine service,” which in general meant reading from the Bible, is expected to be performed twice a day with a sermon preached on Sunday barring “bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent it.” Most ships of this time, even in the Royal Navy, did not carry a chaplain, however. Sailors imagined holy men aboard as bad luck. Although Article 2 does not say so, a reading of the Articles of War – which Article 7 states must be done once a month – was an acceptable substitute.

Other Articles ban cursing and drunkenness, with the commander given specific parameters as to punishments for same. Article 4 specifically gives the most severe punishment open to a captain without recourse to consultation with a superior officer – a Commodore – or tribunal of courts martial:

No Commander shall inflict any punishment upon a seaman beyond twelve lashes upon his bare back with a cat of nine-tails…

This clearly speaks to the brutal practices of some Royal Navy captains who would order up to 500 lashes, sometimes for minor offenses.

Care is taken to see that men are paid in a timely manner and that their names are entered into ship’s books appropriately. “A convenient place” is to be set up for sick and injured men and the need for a surgeon and surgeon’s mates is also indicated. Fishing is not just encouraged but mandated when possible, so that the men and particularly the sick have fresh food. The purser is admonished to inspect stored provisions “… and if the bread proves damp to have it aired on the quarter-deck or poop…”

Unlike the Royal Navy, where sailors who died or were killed at sea might have their things sold at auction by their mates, Article 23 mandates that “… cloaths, bedding and other things of such persons…” should be returned to their families.

Article 26 specifically addresses a commander’s duty when faced with an enemy ship. This Article, wherein the captain is again expected to lead by example and “order all things in his ship in a proper posture for fight” was the one repeatedly thrown up in James Baron’s face over the Chesapeake/Leopard Affair, eventually leading to the duel that killed Stephen Decatur.

A commander is given permission to take a life in time of battle when a man deserts his “duty or station”. This occurred when David Porter’s Essex met HMS Phoebe in Valparaiso Harbor. Essex’s gunner deserted his post, saying he would not stay to be slaughtered “like a sheep”. Porter, enraged, gave his adoptive son, Midshipman David Farragut, a pistol and admonished him: “Do your duty, sir.” The gunner was not located before Essex struck to Phoebe. The only other Article that addresses immediate punishment by death addresses cases of murder.

Article 32 gives any crewman, from ship’s boy to First Lieutenant, the right of redress if he feels he has “cause for complaint”. This Article specifically states that if the petitioner does not receive a fair hearing from his direct superior, he may petition the captain.

While these Rules and Regulations for a new navy maintain the disciplines necessary for the running of a capable ship, the tone is very different from those of the Royal Navy. The new egalitarianism and the belief that every man should be heard seeped into the wood and brass of those first five ships and it carries on to this day. One might boldly say that a bit of pirate democracy stood on the decks of the Navy of the United Colonies of North America.

Header: The Continental Fleet at Sea by Newland Van Powell c 1974

People: The Mad Carpenter

John Phillips, who for all intents and purposes was nothing more than a two-bit crook, is remembered in the annals of piracy because of two distinctions. First, Phillips’ Ship’s Articles have come down to us in tact and include a curious and otherwise unheard of passage regarding “prudent” women. Second, Phillips is given space in A General History of Pyrates by Charles Johnson (aka Daniel Defoe), one of the foremost sources of information pertaining to pirates of the Golden Age. Beyond that, Phillips seems to have been a man who started out with a relatively level head, but lost his equilibrium along the way turning into a murderous, vengeful individual who was mad at the whole wide world.


Probably born in Devonshire, England some time in the late 17th century, John Phillips took up the trade of carpentry. It was as a carpenter’s mate that Phillips was traveling from England to Newfoundland when his ship was overtaken and boarded by the pirate Thomas Anstis. As so often happened during that era, Anstis’ ship was without a carpenter and Phillips was pressed, very much against his will it seems, into joining the pirate crew.

Not long after this incident, Anstis had his ship at Tobago in early 1723. After finishing a careening, many of Anstis’ men – including Phillips – were still ashore when Royal Navy ships came into view. In a hurry to save his own skin, Anstis packed on all sail and left the men ashore to fend for themselves. Phillips and a few others escaped into the jungle but the British ships captured many of Anstis’ men. Anstis himself would later be killed by his own crew for his cowardly act; Phillips, however, made it back to England somehow.

According to Johnson, Phillips got word almost immediately that his mates from Anstis’ ship were to be tried for piracy. Fearing his name would come up in the proceedings, he quickly took up a post on another ship bound for Newfoundland. Unable to find work as a carpenter in the New World, he went to work gutting fish among the numerous fisheries on the coast. This job was brutally hard, paid very little and in the dark and cold of the Newfoundland winters, literally drove men and women mad.

Within four month, Phillips was fed up with the fisheries. He and four other like-minded mates stole a boat belonging to a man name Minot or Minors in August of 1723. Their intention was to go a-pirating and they made quick work of a few local fishing vessels, pressing some of the men aboard them into signing their hastily drawn up Ship’s Articles. Though his articles generally follow the pattern of the few others that have come down to us, Phillips included a passage in same that read:

If at any time you meet with a prudent Woman, any Man that offers to meddle with her, without her Consent, shall suffer present Death.

At least two modern writers have speculated that Phillips was witness to brutal incidences of rape while aboard Anstis’ vessel and had no stomach for such barbarism. This is a curious speculation given Phillips’ later dealings not only with prisoners but with his own crew. Of course murder is not rape but rape is torture; to my mind the theory remains only speculative.

At some point, Phillips took John Rose Archer, who claimed to have sailed with Blackbeard, aboard his ship and promoted him to quartermaster. The caused ill will among Phillips’ original four shipmates and that would bubble over in a short time.

Phillips headed south to Tobago where he and his crew suffered three months of near starvation without a single prize. Finally their luck changed; they captured a French merchant and took her over, renaming her Revenge. Other prizes followed, but trouble was brewing. Some of Phillips’ crew, many of them men forced to serve aboard Revenge, began trying to escape. Many were flogged for their trouble and at least one, carpenter Thomas Fern, was shot dead probably by Phillips himself.

By late 1723, Phillips had returned to the waters off Newfoundland where he gutted the local fishing boats almost as soon as they hit the water. One was notably spared because it belonged to the same man from whom Phillips had stolen his original vessel. “We have done him enough injury already,” he told his crew. After this kindness he turned around and tortured a captain who had foolishly tried to run from Revenge.

The success Phillips had in Newfoundland masked the goings-on aboard his own ship. His punishments of even minor infractions became more heinous and already resentful men turned mutinous. In April of 1724, the Revenges had had enough; they rose up and tossed Phillips overboard to drown in the icy water of Notre Dame Bay.

The lack of leadership, no matter how brutal, made quick work of the men aboard Revenge. Johnson says that the ship was overtaken by the Royal Navy and most of her small crew was hanged including quartermaster Archer.

For all his small success, Phillips life at sea did not seem to sit well with him. Unlike others pressed into pirate service who went on to enjoy their new life, freebooting was a short but arguably not very merry one for the mad carpenter.

Header: Engraving of John Phillips from Johnson’s A General History of Pyrates

History: In the Cards

The British Museum has a curiously ordinary looking pack of playing cards on display in person and on their website (the picture above is from the latter). They were acquired in the Philippines by a Royal Navy officer named Edward Belcher some time in the 1840s. According to Belcher, he confiscated them from a pirate ship he had engaged and successfully defeated.


Belcher, a fascinating individual who really should be the subject of his own post, joined the Royal Navy in 1812 when he was a lad of twelve. He was quite successful and saw the world aboard ship, exploring such diverse places as the Canadian Arctic and the Great South Sea. He was particularly active off the coasts of China, Japan and the Philippines where he zealously – some historians claim over-zealously – tried to stamp out the rampant piracy that had become an institution by the time he arrived in those waters.

Cards, like dice, were a favorite game for many seamen. They were easy to carry and to learn how to play; gambling with them was easy too. Most pirate articles in the West forbade gambling at sea but that doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t go on. Many famous names in piracy, from Bartholomew Roberts to Blackbeard to Cheng I Sao, were reportedly inveterate gamblers.

Belcher did not say why he confiscated the cards and what he actually did with them – perhaps he was a gambling man himself? Regardless, they now reside in the British Museum for the enjoyment of visitors from all over the world. They’re quite lovely, too, and just one of those many seemingly mundane objects that tie us to our collective piratical past.

History: Piratical Insurance

I did the corporate grind, as they like to call it now, for something like fourteen years and all of that working for the same workers’ compensation insurance company. Initially it was a way to pay for college but I got good at it and eventually carved out what must have looked like a nice career. Because of my knowledge – and the first mate’s as well – of the WC system, I have always maintained that pirates were the first providers of work comp in history. Apparently, the insurance industry now agrees with me.


The first mate sent me this article yesterday regarding the 100th anniversary of the first WC law in America, enacted in Wisconsin in 1911. The author, an insurance attorney, points out that:

Pirates in the 18th century looking to protect their employees (scurvy mates) from a loss of income (booty) as a result of job-related injuries (there were many) instituted the precursor to modern day workers’ compensation laws.

Even with the farcical tone, the point is very well taken as well as accurate. Perhaps my only issue with that statement would be the “18th century” exclusion. Ship’s articles delineating remuneration for lost time, lost limbs and even loss of life continued into the 19th century. The finest but perhaps the last example of pirate work comp was authored by Jean and Pierre Laffite and applied to both their Barataria and Galveston operations. In fact, these articles were even more broad and inclusive than those of 18th century pirates. Captains like John Philips and Bartholomew Roberts had signed articles, of course, but they only applied to their own ship and perhaps a small group of accompanying prizes. The Laffites’ articles, which should more properly be called commissions, were required to be carried by any captain who wanted to do business with the brothers.

These commissions became almost excruciatingly detailed, naming specifics such as what color flag a ship was expected to fly when it entered the Laffites’ bay (particularly at Galveston) and where it might anchor. Percentages of prize profits were meticulously dolled out to captains, officers, ship’s owners, crews and the Laffites with no room for negotiation. Commissions were executed in triplicate and captains were expected to sign a new one each year with the expectation that each point would be strictly adhered to. The brothers ran a take it or leave it operation and Jean in particular was not above simply revoking a commission and kicking a privateer to the curb if anything shady went on.

Specific percentages were set aside for those injured. These, which generally appear as five percent of total prize value, were turned over to Jean or one of his lieutenants and held for future use. Any man injured in the taking of a prize or the working of a ship would be paid out according to his injury. An eye, for instance, was of more value than a thumb but an arm netted more than an eye.

The Laffites’ commissions were unique in that they also provided for the living relatives of a man who died at sea. There were certain parameters around this – death by suicide or in a duel were specifically excluded, for instance – but generally speaking a man who lost his life in service to his ship could expect any family he had to be taken care of.

More than one interesting point can be raised here. First, although surely the majority of men who sailed on Laffite ships had no family at all, there were enough who did to warrant inclusion of the point in the first place. This gives us an idea of the settled nature of the communities that grew up around the Laffites’ operations. Second, this clause in their commissions speaks volumes with regard to the Laffites’ business savvy and insurance underwriting skills. Of course it was a calculated risk, but if only one in ten men had a relative to claim their death benefit, then a profit could be made.

Perhaps one could go so far as to say that Jean and Pierre Laffite, in their time and turn, went further than simply providing for their men and developed the seed of modern insurance risk taking. At least we can say that their structure of risk vs. retention is the nature of insurance even today.

Header: foundation of what is believed to have been Jean Laffite’s “Maison Rouge” in Galveston, Texas

History: Success And Failure

Bartholomew Roberts was certainly one of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age. At least as far as volume of ships and booty taken. He was an anomaly among his fellows as well: a religious individual who always had his Bible with him, he was also very fond of the wealth he accumulated on the high seas. On the day he died he was notoriously wearing a cloth-of-gold suit cut to the most fashionable lines, a huge tricorn hat of satin with crimson feathers and a thick gold chain from which was suspended a huge cross encrusted with rubies and diamonds. He shunned alcohol, but he had no qualms about shooting and slicing a merchantman’s crew. Most notably he was originally a prisoner aboard the pirate ship of Howell Davis. When Davis was killed through treachery on Sierra Leone, Roberts – probably very much to his surprise – was elected Captain and his first act was to cut a bloody swath through the African island to revenge Davis. A man of surprising contradictions indeed.

Roberts did not always stray from convention, though. He followed the habit of pirate captains of his day and established a set of Articles for the crew of his flagship, Royal Fortune. These were written down and sworn to – on the Captain’s Bible – some time in 1720. They are the most detailed set of Ship’s Articles extant and it is interesting to note that every crew member signed the document. So much for pirate illiteracy.

I Every Man has a Vote in Affairs of the moment; has equal Title to the fresh Provisions or strong Liquors at any time seized, and may use them at Pleasure unless scarcity make it necessary for the Good of all to vote a Retrenchment.

II Every Man to be called fairly in turn by List on board of prizes, because, over and above their proper Shares, they were on these Occasions allowed a Shift of Clothes. But if they defrauded the Company to the value of a dollar, in plate, jewels or money, Marooning was their punishment. If the Robbery was only betwixt one another, they contented themselves with slitting the Ears and Nose of him that were Guilty and set him on Shore, not in an uninhabited place, but somewhere where he was sure to encounter Hardships.

III No Person to Game at cards or dice for Money.

IV The Lights to be put out at eight a-Clock at Night. If any of the crew, after that Hour, still remained inclined for Drinking, they were to do it on the open Deck.

V To Keep their Piece, Pistols and Cutlass clean and fit for service.

VI No Boy or Woman to be allowed among them. If any Man were found seducing any of the latter sex, and carried her to Sea disguised, he was to suffer Death.

VII To Desert the Ship or their Quarters in Battle, was punished with Death or Marooning.

VIII No striking one another on board, but every Man’s quarrels to be ended on shore at Sword or Pistol thus: the Quartermaster of the Ship, when the parties will not come to any Reconciliation, accompanies them on Shore with what assistance he thinks proper and turns the Disputants back to back, at so many Paces Distance. At the Word of Command, they turn and fire immediately or else the Piece is knocked out of their Hands. If both miss, they come to the Cutlasses and then he is declared Victor who draws the first blood.

IX No Man to talk of breaking up their Way of Living till each had a share of 1,000. If in order to this, any Man shall lose a Limb or become Lame in their Service, he was to have 800 pieces of eight out of the public Stock, and for lesser Hurts proportionably.

X The Captain and the Quartermaster to receive two Shares of a Prize. The Master, Boatswain and Gunner, one Share and a half, and other Officers one and a quarter.

XII The Musicians to have rest on the Sabbath Day, but the other six days and nights none without special Favor.

As history tells us, no amount of careful documentation or number of signatures could guarantee health or success. Roberts complained in his log of his men’s gambling and almost continuous drinking and the latter came back to bite them all. When Royal Fortune met the pirate hunting HMS Swallow in 1722, Roberts’ crew was so drunk to a man that they could not even run out their guns. Roberts was killed by grapeshot from Swallow’s cannon, and the crewmen that were not killed in the engagement were eventually tried and hanged.

Header: Engraving of Bartholomew Roberts from a 19th century copy of Captain Charles Johnson’s General History of Pyrates, from which these articles are quoted

History: Sign Or No Sail

We've talked about ship’s articles aboard pirates before. These egalitarian pieces of paper are so fascinating that, to my mind anyway, they prove more than a few myths about pirates of any age at least partially untrue. The paramount bit of misinformation is that pirates were uneducated dullards, knuckle dragging thugs and basic brute beasts. While collectively they were not necessarily ready to dine with royalty, many could read and write and all could certainly understand and agree to what they were signing up for.

Today then, another set of ship’s articles from the Golden Age of piracy. Once again, these are quoted from Charles Johnson’s seminal General History of Pyrates. These articles come from the ship Delivery and were agreed to and signed by Captain George Lowther and his crew around 1720. They are similar to, but also noticeably different from, the articles we examined in July from John Phillips’ ship Revenge.

I The Captain is to have two full Shares, the Master to have one share and a half; the Doctor, Mate, Gunner and Bosun one Share and a quarter.

II He that shall be found guilty of taking up any unlawful Weapon on board the Privateer, or any Prize, by us taken, so as to strike or abuse one another, in any regard, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the Company shall think fit.

III He that shall be found Guilty of Cowardice, in the Time of Engagement, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and Majority shall think fit.

IV If any Gold, Jewels, Silver &c. be found on board of any Prize or Prizes, to the value of a Piece of Eight, and the finder do not deliver it to the Quarter-Master in the space of 24 hours, shall he suffer what Punishment the Captain and Majority shall think fit.

V He that is found Guilty of Gaming or Defrauding another to the Value of a Shilling, shall he suffer what Punishment the Captain and Majority shall think fit.

VII He that sees a Sail first, shall have the best Pistol or Small-Arm on board her.

VIII Good Quarters to be given when called for.

Lowther’s articles come across as addressing the violent nature of a pirate crew more thoroughly – and interestingly exclusively – than John Phillips’ articles. There is specific mention of quarter for enemies and prizes and shares are delineated but the vast majority of points address punishment for transgressions among the crew. Nothing is mentioned about the treatment of prisoners (other than the implied issue of “quarter”) and the articles do not address recruitment or women at any point. Johnson tells us simply that Lowther required his men to sign or they would not be allowed to sail.

Delivery came to no good end despite her carefully written, if unusually truncated, articles. While careening their ship in 1723, Lowther and his men were surprised by agents of the British South Sea Company. Being in the vulnerable position of having their ship aground and their guns unavailable, most of the men readily surrendered. Though Lowther and a handful of the crew managed to escape into the dense jungle of the small island they were on, the situation was essentially hopeless. With their food and fresh water left at the ship and the prospect of hanging should they be caught looming large, Lowther and his mates committed suicide.

Header: Buccaneers by Howard Pyle

History: Know Your Articles

We've talked before about democracy among pirates. Though I don't adhere to the one man/one vote and justice for all picture of pirates in general, there is no denying the ship's articles that have come down to us in writing from the Golden Age and beyond. Captain Charles Johnson in his book The General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, listed three such sets of articles from as many separate ships. They make interesting reading and give a tantalizing glimpse of how these rovers of the sea interacted with their officers and one another.

We'll revisit this from time to time because all of the articles in question are fairly detailed and there are others - the Laffite brothers', for instance - that are worth looking at too. All together they would make a prohibitively long post. But separately they're fun to dive into. So today, the articles of Captain John Phillips' Revenge dated circa 1723:

1) Every man shall obey civil Command; the Captain shall have one full share and a half of all Prizes; the Master, Carpenter, Bosun and Gunner shall have one share and quarter.
2) If any man shall offer to run away or keep any secret from the Company, he shall be marooned with one bottle of powder, one bottle of water, one small arm and shot.
3) If any man shall steal anything in the Company or game to the value of a Piece of Eight, he shall be marooned or shot.
4) If at any time we should meet another Marooner that man that shall sign the Articles without the Consent of our Company shall suffer such punishment as the Captain and Company shall see fit.
5) That man that shall strike another whilst these Articles are in force shall receive Moses's Law on the bare back.
6) That man that shall snap his arms or smoak Tobacco in the hold without a cap to his pipe or carry a candle lighted without a lanthorn shall suffer the same punishment as the former Article.
7) That man that shall not keep his arms clean, fit for an engagement, or neglect his Business shall be cut off from his Share and suffer such other punishment as the Captain and Company shall see fit.
8) If any man shall lose a Joint in Time of Engagement, he shall have 400 pieces of eight; if a Limb, 800.
9) If at any Time we meet with a prudent woman, that man that offers to meddle with her without her Consent shall suffer present Death.

These Articles address, perhaps rather severely to modern eyes, the issues most critical aboard a wooden ship about the business of freebooting. Civil behavior, adding to or subtracting from the strength of the company, keeping ready for battle and the abject fear of fire. Shares and compensation are spelled out, as in any contract, and even "prudent women" are looked after. Moses's Law, by the way, means a flogging of 39 lashes; literally "40 stripes lacking one".

Phillips was a small time pirate plying the sweet trade in the northern Atlantic for the most part. Of interest in this case, aside from the articles themselves, is that the men of Revenge swore by their articles on an axe as no Bible was handy. Also the fact that about a year after these articles were agreed to, the men mutinied off the Newfoundland coast. They bound and gagged Phillips and tossed him into the cold ocean.

Among free thinking and generally violent men, even the most carefully written articles were no guarantee of safety, by land or sea.