Wales has produced more than its share of pirates and Pembroke-shire has bred some famous ones, such as Barti Ddu (Black Bart), pictured, from Little Newcastle, and Hywel Davies (The Prince of Pirates) from Milford Haven.
Author Dafydd Meirion gives an account of the Welsh Pirates in his delightful new book Mr-Ladron Cymru, (Y Lolfa £5.95).
Black Bart, who changed his name to Bartholomew from John and who succeeded his mentor Hywel Davies after going to sea at the age of ten, was a very unconventional pirate.
He was a teetotaller and would not allow his pirate crew to work on a Sunday, or attack another ship on the Sabbath, yet he was the originator of the skull and crossbones.
The book gives an interesting insight into the relationship between some of the gentry and the pirates.
The association of Sir John Perrott, of Haroldston, and Sir John Wogan, of Picton Castle, with the pirate fraternity is well known and the author mentions these and the links with other noble families, such as the Middletons and the Bulkeleys.
This Welsh book tells us that pirates still operate today off the coasts of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria, with 445 instances of piracy in 2003, in which 21 sailors died.
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