Low was of a rather cock-sure disposition and frequently engaged in disputes and quarrels. Not long after the death of his wife he was discharged by his employer for some cause and soon decided to leave Boston. He shipped on board a sloop bound for the Bay of Honduras for a cargo of logwood and proving himself to be no ordinary type of seaman, as soon as the sloop reached the Bay he was appointed to command the boat’s crew that was sent ashore to get the logwood and bring it out to the vessel. As Honduras was Spanish territory and the logwood was cut without permission, in fact, was being stolen from the Spaniards, the boat’s crew of twelve men always went on shore fully armed.
THE IDLE APPRENTICE SENT TO SEA
From an engraving by William Hogarth in the “Industry and Idleness” series, published in 1747. The young reprobate is being rowed past Cuckold’s Point on the Thames on which can be seen a pirate hanging from a gibbet
One day it happened that the loaded boat came out to the sloop just before dinner was ready and as the men were tired and hungry, Low proposed that they stay and eat before going ashore again; but the captain was in a hurry to complete the loading of his vessel and sending for a bottle of rum he ordered them to take another trip at once so that no time should be lost. This angered the men and particularly Low who seized a musket and fired at the captain and missed him but shot through the head a sailor who happened to be standing behind him. Low then leaped into the boat and with its crew of twelve men made off from the sloop.
It is more than likely that some such action had already been discussed by Low and his intimates among the crew. At any rate, they now decided to make a black flag and prey upon the vessels in the Bay. Luck was with them and the next day they came upon a small vessel which they captured.
Low was now embarked on his bloody and cruel career as a pirate and if ever a man sailing the seas deserved to be hanged and gibbeted in chains, it was Low. If one half of the tales that have been told of him are true he must at times have been little short of a maniac. Time and again part of his crew deserted him because of his cruelty. No evil or cruel action was beyond his doing so that it is quite remarkable that he did not die a violent death within the knowledge of his men. In point of fact, however, it is not known exactly how or when he died.
After the capture of the small vessel, Low, who had been elected captain, ordered a course made for the Grand Caimanes—islands lying about halfway between Yucatan and the island of Jamaica—intending to refit their vessel for piratical forays.
The Grand Caimanes or Caymans, as they are known today, were much resorted to by gentlemen of the kidney of Captain Low and soon after arriving at the islands he fell in with Capt. George Lowther, another pirate, who was short of men and who, after becoming somewhat acquainted with Low, proposed that they join forces. As Low’s company was small in number and ill-fitted, an agreement was soon arrived at whereby Lowther remained in command with Low as his lieutenant. The small vessel brought in by Low was sunk and the united company made off together in the “Happy Delivery,” the name of Lowther’s ship.
On the 10th of January, 1722, they came into the Bay of Honduras and sighted the ship “Greyhound,” Benjamin Edwards, commander, of about two hundred tons burden and owned in Boston. Lowther hoisted his piratical colors and fired a gun for the “Greyhound” to bring to, and she refusing, he gave her a broadside which was bravely returned. The engagement lasted for about an hour when Captain Edwards ordered his ensign struck fearing the consequences of too great a resistance. The pirate’s boat soon came aboard and the ship was thoroughly looted. The crew were cruelly whipped, beaten and cut, and five of them, Christopher Atwell, Charles Harris, Henry Smith, Joseph Willis and David Lindsay, were forced and the ship was burned.[103]
Lowther also captured and burned seven other vessels belonging to Boston, and all their logwood, “because they were New-England men,” it was reported. About the same time a sloop belonging to Connecticut, Captain Ayres, was taken and burned and also a sloop from Jamaica, Captain Hamilton, which was taken for their own use and the command given to Charles Harris, who had been second mate of the “Greyhound” and who joined the pirates, it would seem, willingly. A sloop from Virginia, they took and then unloaded and generously gave back to her master who owned her. A sloop of about one hundred tons, belonging to Newport, Rhode Island, also was captured and as it was a new hull and a good sailer she was made a part of the pirate fleet and fitted with eight carriage and ten swivel guns and the command given to Ned Low.