Captain Kidd as he is recalled today is a composite type. All the pirates who have frequented the New England coast have become blended into one and that one—Captain Kidd. A credulous public even denies him his own name and sings of Robert Kidd in the famous ballad:—
My name was Robert Kidd, when I sail’d, when I sail’d,
My name was Robert Kidd, when I sail’d;
My name was Robert Kidd, God’s law I did forbid,
And so wickedly I did, when I sail’d.
I’d a Bible in my hand, when I sail’d, when I sail’d,
I’d a Bible in my hand, when I sail’d;
I’d a Bible in my hand, by my father’s great command,
But I sunk it in the sand, when I sail’d.