Dennis McCarthy (pirate)

Dennis McCarthy (pirate)
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Born	1690
Died	December 12, 1718
Occupation	Pirate

Dennis McCarthy (c.1690 – December 12, 1718) was a pirate of Nassau during the Golden Age of Piracy. McCarthy was one of many pirates to accept a royal pardon from the new Governor of the Bahamas in 1718. McCarthy returned to piracy after becoming involved in Phineas Bunce's mutiny. Following their capture, McCarthy and seven other men were brought to trial and sentenced to death for piracy and related crimes. McCarthy is most notable for his cavalier attitude during his execution. According to the firsthand account, McCarthy arrived at the gallows decorated in blue ribbons, and among other things, kicked his shoes into the crowd, joking that he had promised not to die with them on. The vivid legal spectacle of this mass-hanging reinforced the Bahamas’ return to colonial rule, and in the eyes of several historians, it therefore symbolically marked the end of the Republic of Pirates.

Historical Background

Most information on Dennis McCarthy originates from the transcript of his trial and execution. As a result, his history prior to the events relevant to it are a matter of educated inference and speculation.

According to the transcripts, McCarthy was 28 at the time of the trial, placing his date of birth around the year 1690. The name McCarthy (also spelled MacCarthy, McCarty, or McKarthy) is Irish in origin, specifically from the area around Cork. Around the time of his birth, Ireland’s colonization by England had grown especially pervasive. Cork became a key exporter of foodstuffs for the Royal Navy and England’s colonies, including those in the West Indies. It is plausible that Dennis McCarthy came from this area. However, by the late 1600s, the Irish diaspora had spread all across the new world, and it is equally as plausible that McCarthy descended from indentured servants or other Irish immigrants in the Americas.

Regardless of the location of his upbringing, McCarthy was almost certainly a sailor by profession prior to becoming a pirate (as were most pirates, with few exceptions). His adulthood coincided with The War of Spanish Succession, fought from 1701 to 1715, which ultimately involved a large portion of the English (later British) empire’s marine resources, and resulted in a dramatic increase in potential for sea-based employment (or servitude, as tens of thousands of sailors were victims of impressment). The end of this long war resulted in the exponential increase in piracy in the west indies, as many sailors found themselves suddenly without work, without pay, or otherwise displeased with the empire. Piracy was a lucrative application of the sailing and combat skills learned collectively during the war.

During this time, political motivations such as Jacobitism also led to piracy. Jacobites supported the Stuart line of succession in Britain, which had been replaced by the ascension of the Hanover dynasty with King George I. Several famous pirates, such as Henry Jennings, were involved in a conspiracy to supply naval resources to a future Jacobite revolution. Likely being Irish, McCarthy would have had reasons to support the Jacobitism, which was associated with support for Irish independence and tolerance towards Catholicism.

However it came to be, by early 1718, Dennis McCarthy was one of hundreds of men who decided to try his luck “on the account”. His presence in Nassau indicates that he was a member in of Republic of Pirates. The lack of legal supervision in the Bahamas, as well as its convenient location amidst Caribbean trade networks, made New Providence Island a hot spot for piracy. Despite its name, The Republic of Pirates was less of an organized government and more of a loose association of pirate crews operating out of the same port. That being said, it did have its authorities, including Captain Benjamin Hornigold. During McCarthy’s trial, his request for Captain Hornigold to testify on his behalf hints at an association between the two. McCarthy likely served at least briefly on a ship in Hornigold's “Flying Gang”, either under Hornigold himself or another captain such as Henry Jennings, Samuel Bellamy, or Edward Teach. While nothing of McCarthy's personal life is known, one witness testimony from his trial mentions the existence of a wife and small child.

Pardoning

By late 1717, piracy in the west indies had grown to a scale that was significantly impeding British trade. Lacking sufficient resources to combat the issue by force, colonial authorities advocated for a proposal to pardon all pirates willing to renounce their lives of crime and peacefully return to British rule. This proposal was later signed into law by King George I, who granted commissions to local governors to offer the promised pardons. On the 23^rd of February, 1718, Captain Vincent Pearse arrived in Nassau to bring the news of the pardons. Although he had not been granted a legal commission, he offered in-advance certificates of pardon which could later be officially documented. Dennis McCarthy was the 35^th of 209 Nassau pirates to accept one of these certificates, as shown on Pearse’s list. Most of those who refused the pardons were Jacobites or associates of hold-outs like Charles Vane and Edward England. If McCarthy did have Jacobite sympathies, the legal clemency a pardon represented outweighed his politics. That being said, at least 19 pirates who signed Pearse’s list returned to piracy while Pearse was still anchored in the harbor, and many others including McCarthy himself would return to crime over the next year.

The timing of this coincided with efforts to re-establish colonial control over Bahamas, a task delegated to its new Governor, Woodes Rogers. After months of preparation, Rogers arrived in Nassau on the 24^th of July, 1718, along with seven ships, 100 soldiers, 130 colonists, and ample resources to deal with remaining pirates.. Ultimately, the transfer of power met little immediate resistance (aside from efforts on the part of Charles Vane). On August 1^st, Rogers officially granted legal royal pardons to McCarthy and the 200-some others who had renounced piracy earlier that spring. According to trial transcripts, McCarthy became an ensign in the island’s new colonial militia, having been recommended to it as a “sober, civilized person”

Mutiny and Capture

By fall of 1718, Rogers’ apparent hold over Nassau came into question. Tropical diseases had befallen the new colonists, the fort had fallen into disrepair, many former pirates outright refused to work, and just as many had abandoned the island to join Charles Vane. On top of this, the Bahamas continued to face threats from Spain, which still considered the west indies its territory. In early October, Rogers sent three ships – the Mary, the Lancaster, and the Bachelor’s Adventure, to Cuba to trade goods and hopefully re-affirm shaky ties with contacts there. Dennis McCarthy was employed as a mariner on the Bachelor’s Adventure.

On the evening of the 6^th of October, the convoy weighed anchor near a deserted island called Green Key. That night, several of the sailors came aboard the Lancaster to notify its captain William Greenway that the other ships intended to sail. When Greenway boarded the Bachelor’s Adventure, he was met by Phineas Bunce, the leader of the impending mutiny. Bunce led Greenway below deck, where McCarthy held a pistol to his head and told him that if he spoke a word, he was a dead man. Bunce, and the captain of the Mary, John Augur, then proceeded to overtake the rest of the ships while McCarthy kept watch over the Bachelor’s Adventure.

According to the later testimony of cargo master James Ker, McCarthy was the only mutineer to treat him and the other prisoners with any civility, but was just as actively involved in the conspiracy as the rest of them. Thomas Petty’s testimony states that McCarthy prevented Bunce from forcing him into joining them, threatening to leave the pirates if Bunce did. McCarthy also expressed distaste at Bunce beating his prisoners. Several witnesses stated that McCarthy did not wish to become a pirate again and join Bunce, but felt an obligation to. He expressed to Petty that his behavior was ill-advised, and was upset at the consequences it might have for his wife and child.

All the men who did not want to return to piracy were abandoned on Green Key, and told not to try leaving it for 24 hours. The marooned men attempted to escape anyway, and the pirates chased them inland and destroyed the boat they had left. After leaving Green Key several days later, they apparently headed for Exuma. At some point between October 6^th and November 15^th, they encountered a Spanish guarda costa vessel, which attacked them, killing Bunce and many others. Soon after, on November 15^th, the pirates were apprehended by pirate-hunters Benjamin Hornigold and John Cockhram, both of whom were notable former pirates themselves. Woodes Rogers had heard word of the mutiny on the 4^th of November, and had sent Hornigold and Cockhram to capture them. According to Hornigold testimony on behalf of McCarthy, McCarthy was one of the first to surrender, and apparently begged the Governor’s mercy.

Account of Charles Johnson

Aside from the original transcripts of McCarthy's trial, and his name in Pearse’s list of pardon-signers. McCarthy's role in the Green Key incident is described in more detail in Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates (1724). Johnson is responsible for the fame of many historical pirates, and as with them, it is difficult to ascertain which details Johnson acquired through his research, and which he simply embellished. Nevertheless, this version is repeated in Henry Benton's 1834 history of pirates.

According to Johnson, the night of October 6th, McCarthy came with Phineas Bunce aboard the Mary, where the two requested that James Ker share some of his beer with them, both to drink themselves and share with the party's Cuban contacts the next morning. As they sat drinking, "Bunch [Bunce] and Macarty began to rattle, and talk with great Pleasure, and much boasting of their former Exploits when they had been Pyrates, crying up a Pyrate’s Life to be the only Life for a Man of any Spirit." It was then that Bunce announced his intention to overtake the ship. While taunting Mr.Ker, McCarthy went below deck, where he armed himself and other mutineers with cutlasses and pistols. When McCarthy was ready for his surprise attack, he sang a song to Bunce as the signal (“did you not promise that you would marry me?”, to which Bunce responded “by God that I will, for I am parson”). McCarthy then stormed the main deck, and assisted Bunce (and the newly-turned Captain Auger) in their mutiny.

The pirates marooned all the sailors who did not wish to join them on Green Key, naked and without food or means of escape. The next morning, McCarthy rowed them back to the ship to give them clothing, but they were instead forced into revealing the locations of their valuables. Over the next several days, the pirates continued to torment the marooned men. During this time, another ship called the Turtle arrived on the island, the crew of which joined the pirates either by choice or force. Before leaving and sailing eastwards, they were given the Lancaster to sail back to Nassau with, but Bunce and McCarthy came on board and destroyed much of its rigging, presumably to slow down their return (and notification of the authorities). The maroons spent the next week repairing it, only for it to be sunk by the pirates after returning unexpectedly. They returned twice more over the next two weeks, finally leaving them provisions for survival and promising to leave them to their own devices.

After leaving Green Key for good, the pirates headed for the area of Long Island. There, they spotted three ships anchored near the coastal salt-ponds. It was assumed they were English merchant ships, and so the entourage prepared to attack them. In reality, the ships were Spanish privateers, allegedly captained by Irish turncoat "Turn Joe". The heavily-armed vessels decimated the pirates, who surrendered or abandoned ship. Among those captured by the Spanish, those that had been forced into piracy were given a small boat to sail back to Nassau with. The others were marooned along with the men who had swam ashore during the battle (including McCarthy). Several days later, Benjamin Hornigold arrived to capture them, led their with the aid of the men the pirates had abandoned at Green Key (who had since returned to Nassau as well). Hornigold lured the pirates into coming on board by tricking them into believing that the ship was a merchant headed for New York. The sailors promised them food, drink, and passage, to which the pirates eagerly agreed. As soon as they were on the ship, they were arrested.

Trial and Execution

McCarthy and the nine other surviving pirates were escorted back to Nassau and arrived on November 28^th (the others being John Augur, William Cunningham, John Hipps, George Rounsivel, William Dowling, William Lewis, Thomas Morris, George Bendall, and William Ling). In the absence of a jail, or enough guards to man it, Governor Rogers held the prisoners aboard his ship the Delicia, in Nassau harbor. Rogers was concerned that trying these men in court would lead to an uprising, or that news of their capture would reach Charles Vane, who might act to free them. Although Rogers’ judicial authority to try pirates was questionable at best (typically, captured pirates had been sent back to England or other more established port cities), he and the council he had brought together over the issue decided that to show hesitation or fear would be a detriment to their rule in the Bahamas. Therefore, the trial proceeded as quickly as possible.

On December 9^th, McCarthy and the others were brought to the fort, where the guardroom had been made into a court. Governor Rogers and the seven other council members acted as both judge and jury for the next two days. Aside from the testimonies of the victims (who had since escaped Green Key and returned to Nassau), each of the defendants were also allowed to call forth witnesses. McCarthy called up James Ker, William Greenway, John Taylor, Thomas Richard, Thomas Petty, and later, Benjamin Hornigold. As elaborated above, these witnesses admitted that McCarthy was civil and regretted his involvement, but nevertheless was involved and therefore did not deserve acquittal. At the end of the trial on December 10^th, McCarthy and all of the others (save for John Hipps) were sentenced to death by hanging. McCarthy was apparently well-behaved throughout his imprisonment.

Governor Rogers scheduled the execution for December 12^th at 10:00 AM. He stated to the prisoners that as soon as they were captured, they should have considered themselves dead. In response to pleas for a longer trial, Rogers stated that he simply did not have the resources to both deal with them and work on re-building Nassau. The condemned were then imprisoned in the fort, and were allowed to send for loved ones to say their goodbyes to. On the morning of the 12^th, each was asked if they had any more crimes to admit to. All of them said no or refused to answer. They were unchained and led to the ramparts of the fort where they requested a service of prayer and psalms. A crowd of over one hundred residents of Nassau had gathered to watch the spectacle. After the service, the prisoners were brought down to the foot of the fort wall, where a makeshift gallows had been constructed. For about 45 minutes, the prisoners waited to be executed. Right before the time came, one more of them, George Rounsivel, was acquitted by the governor for his familial connections.

Contrary to his remorseful and cautious behavior up until this point, McCarthy arrived at his execution with a cheerful demeanor. He was dressed “as if he was to fight a prize” (a prize being a ship captured by pirates). Specifically, he wore a clean set of clothes, and most distinctly, was adorned with blue ribbons tied to his neck, wrists, knees, and cap. James Morris dressed similarly, but instead in red ribbons. While atop the ramparts of the fort, McCarthy exhorted the crowd to rescue them, stating that “he knew the time when there was many brave fellows on the island that would not suffer him to die like a dog”. He then kicked off his shoes into the crowd, exclaiming that he had promised not to die with his shoes on (likely a pun, as “dying with one’s shoes on” was historically slang term for dying by hanging or otherwise in action). When it came time to descend to the gallows, McCarthy leapt on the stage with great agility. For the remaining time, he continued his efforts to convince the crowd to intervene, but to no avail.

At about noon, on December 12^th, 1718, the barrels holding up the gallows were pulled out from beneath them, whereupon Dennis McCarthy died at age twenty-eight.

Impact

Just as Governor Rogers had intended, the execution of McCarthy and his seven compatriots cemented his authority in the Bahamas. The fear of a swift execution not only decreased the number of men returning to piracy, but quelled a plan to rebel and assassinate Rogers. Pirate activity in the west indies decreased dramatically after 1718, and the Golden Age of Piracy was all but over by 1722. Although many other factors played into the demise of the Republic of Pirates, McCarthy’s trial was a vivid and effective symbol of the return of civilization to Nassau.

Despite being a minor pirate in comparison to other figures of the time, McCarthy's response to his execution struck enough of a cord to warrant his mention in many accounts of piracy's golden age (including, at one point, in Charles Dickens' periodical, All the Year Round). While many pirates were repentant, terrified, vengeful, or despondent at their executions, McCarthy's blue ribbons and playfulness depicts a quintessentially piratical mindset: civilization could take his life, but not his freedom.

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