by Dudley Pope
There was now a glint in Heffer’s eye which warned Ned. “He is going to return Jamaica to Spain?”
Heffer nodded.
“He was not the king when he made the treaties,” Ned murmured, “so they are probably not valid. Anyway, show me the letter that says that.” Ned picked up the pistol. “You might wonder why I am holding a pistol, Heffer. If you knew as much as I do, you’d realize that here in Port Royal a good deal more than your pride or neck is at stake. Now, the letter.”
Heffer pointed to a cupboard behind him. “The papers are in there. It is locked.”
“Give Sir Thomas the key.”
For the next fifteen minutes Thomas and Ned, interrupted twice by Saxby, read through the papers. There were several letters, all lengthy and all complex. The Duke of Albemarle confirmed Heffer as Governor of Jamaica, and gave him detailed instructions on how the island was to be governed “until the final decisions are taking concerning its future”. All hostile acts against Spain were to cease forthwith, and Heffer was to take vigorous steps to prevent pirates and freebooters using Jamaica as a base “from which to make raids on Spanish ships”. Money would be forthcoming to pay the army but, Albemarle said, it would not be possible to send any ships of war from England for the present. The rest of his letter concerned setting up a form of judiciary and a legislative council “which will advise the Governor”. The rest, as Thomas said contemptuously, concerned “milk and water matters”, except that the Duke said the value of a Spanish piece of eight had now been fixed at five shillings. In another letter, the Duke of York, as Lord High Admiral, informed Heffer that the King was to receive a tenth and the Lord High Admiral a fifth of the value of all prizes brought into Jamaica.
Ned had tapped this part of the Duke’s letter and read it out to Heffer. “If you are to stop all pirates and freebooters using Port Royal, how do you collect any royal prize money?”
Heffer shrugged his shoulders. “It does seem contradictory,” he admitted.
Ned gathered the letters and put them down in a neat pile. “Where are the rest of them?”
“They are all I received,” Heffer said.
“Come on,” Ned said calmly, “you are hiding some, you naughty boy.”
“No! Upon my honour,” Heffer protested.
“Very well, answer some questions. First, what in those letters and orders leads you to think England intends to return Jamaica to Spain?”
“Well, the Duke refers to waiting ‘until a final decision is taken concerning its future.’”
“Which you construe as meaning it goes back to Spain. You have not thought the Duke might be referring to the proposed type of government – an elected assembly like Barbados, for instance, instead of a military governor?”
“It could be, I suppose.”
“Or, if returning it to Spain, do you think the King has enough ships to bring home all the garrison? Anyway, the Duke says there’s no money at the moment to pay them. Do you expect the King to hand ’em over to the Dons, to be used as slaves?”
Heffer stared at the top of the desk.
“Very well, the second question. Under what sentence or paragraph do you propose arresting us?”
“The Duke’s orders,” Heffer said promptly, though careful not to look up. “Where he says I am to take ‘vigorous steps’ to prevent pirates and freebooters using the island to make raids on Spanish ships.”
Ned sorted out the particular letter and nodded. “Yes, he says pirates and freebooters, and I notice he specifically mentions ‘ships’ not ‘ports’. Quite right too; pirates and freebooters would give Jamaica a bad name.”
“So you see,” Heffer said triumphantly.
“So I see what?” Ned asked.
“I have to arrest you. You must submit.”
“Heffer,” Ned said sharply. “I, Sir Thomas and the masters of all the ships now in the anchorage, except five prizes, possess letters of marque signed by you. We are legally privateers, most certainly not pirates, and we sailed on this last expedition at your request, because you were afraid the Spanish would land.”
“But they did, they did! You didn’t stop them!” Heffer said excitedly. “Three or four thousand of them landed at Runaway Bay, on the north coast, but I was there to meet them, by the grace of God, and I drove them back to their ships. Killed hundreds, my men did, and without your help we drove off the ships!”
Ned nodded. “Thousands of Spaniards, eh?”
“Three or four thousand, at least. Perhaps five. All well trained and heavily armed, too.”
“Before you make more of a fool of yourself than you have done already, Heffer, why don’t you look across the anchorage and see if you recognize the five largest ships.”
“Why should I recognize them?”
“They are the ones which carried the ‘three or four thousand…perhaps five’ Spaniards you drove off. There were in fact fewer than a thousand men landed, commanded by the mayor of Portobelo, made a major for the occasion. We captured him and released him after he paid a goodly ransom. We took his ships and left the rest of his soldiers, five hundred of them, locked up in one of their own dungeons. That was why we left one fort intact; we don’t murder prisoners.”
“I can’t believe it,” Heffer muttered.
“You sent a dispatch to the Earl of Albemarle describing your great victory at Runaway Bay?”
“Well, as the ship was leaving at once to return to England, I did mention the invasion attempt.”
“Did you mention that when we returned you intended to arrest us?”
“When I assured the Duke that I would carry out his orders promptly, I may have mentioned your names.”
“You didn’t mention all those letters of marque you had signed?”
“I don’t recall if I did or not.”
Ned eyed him but Heffer kept his head down.
“I see the value of a piece of eight is fixed at five shillings.” Ned said, in the same tone of voice one discussed the day’s weather.
“Yes, but as I’ve told the Duke, there is no money in the treasury. Not a penny piece. I can’t pay the soldiers or buy them provisions.”
Equally casually, Ned said: “Have you ever looked at about half a million pieces of eight? Or seen 280 pounds of silver in loaves, wedges or cakes? Or sacks of cobs, or chests holding two hundredweight of rough emeralds? Or a hundred and fifty pounds of pearls? Or chests containing seven hundredweight of various gold and silver items: plate, candlesticks, ornaments, jewellery and the like?”
“Of course I haven’t!”
“Would you like to?”
Heffer’s head came up, like a wild ram startled by the bark of a hunting dog. “What do you mean?”
“All those things are out there, stowed in those five ships you drove out of Runaway Bay. Our purchase from Portobelo. And now the splendid Duke of Albemarle has helped us put a price on some of it by valuing a piece of eight at five shillings. A piece of eight is the same as a peso or a dollar and equals eight reals. So a real is worth an eighth of five shillings. The trouble is the men will have to share out the bullion and gems, and since you have no money they won’t be able to spend anything here.”
“But the pieces of eight – they can spend those!” Heffer said eagerly.
“What are you going to use for change – or is everything going to be priced in round numbers?”
“I shall of course claim the King’s share, and the Lord High Admiral’s,” Heffer said sternly, trying to reassert his authority.
Ned laughed and was joined by Thomas, who slapped the top of Heffer’s desk. The sudden thump made the general leap to his feet and then subside again sheepishly.
“General,” Ned’s voice dropped confidentially, “you have offended us. We have brought you a present of nineteen bronze guns and
shot, fourteen falcons, more shot for the guns we took at Santiago, and a privateer squadron now comprising thirty-three ships. In return you wanted to arrest us, quoting orders which you did not have when we sailed – at your request – to deal with your enemies. Yours, not ours.”
Ned stood up and tucked the pistol in his belt. “Well, I must bid you a final farewell, General.”
“Final? Why, where are you going?”
Ned shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows – we’ll have a meeting of captains and decide. When we came in here this morning we expected to stay. We hardly anticipated you’d behave like…well, like a pirate!”
“But where can you go?”
“With this much bullion and gems we’ll be welcomed anywhere. We can even go back and sell it to the Dons. But Antigua, the Bermudas, Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica – we can make a progress through the alphabet. Just think of what tradesmen would say, all that money being spent in their shops, taverns and bordellos.”
Heffer took a deep breath. “Won’t you sit down again? I’ve just remembered another letter from the Duke which you should read. I forgot it because I was reading it earlier and just slipped it into a drawer.” He glanced in alarm at Ned’s pistol, not realizing that he had taken it out of his belt because when he sat down it stuck into his ribs.
“May I get the letter out?” Heffer asked warily.
Ned nodded and a few moments later was reading what was obviously the most recent and by far the most important of Albemarle’s letters which, he remembered from the dates, had been written over a period of a month, obviously while waiting for a frigate to become available to carry them out to the West Indies.
The letter told Heffer in detail what he as a governor must do to establish Jamaica as a flourishing colony. There was no mention of handing the island back to Spain: on the contrary, he was instructed to appoint a legislative council of eight men who would advise him on day-to-day matters. He must at once establish a Jamaican currency, based on five shillings equalling one piece of eight. He was to encourage local tradesmen by allowing them to import goods from England (but nowhere else) free of customs and excise for a period of five years, the only exception being liquor, on which duty and excise was to be levied, whether it was imported or made in the island.
Settlers were to be encouraged, the Duke said, and Heffer was empowered to make grants of land; every settler was to have, free of payment, fifty acres for himself and fifty more for each member of his family with him on the island. Parcels of one thousand acres could be sold to settlers, and the price was to be set by Heffer, but was to be the same for everyone. A land registry office was to be set up to record the grants and sales, and a civil register of births, deaths and marriages should be started, in addition to regular parish records.
The Duke then outlined how the island was to start to pay its own way. Notwithstanding the new policy towards Spain, any prizes bought in to the island would be condemned in the usual way by an Admiralty court, which Heffer was to set up, appointing a suitable person to act as judge, and for the first year the King’s tenth and the Lord High Admiral’s fifth was to be paid into the island’s exchequer.
Ned finished reading and handed the letter to Thomas. He then stared at Heffer, who promptly dropped his eyes. Finally Ned spoke. “You know, Heffer, your foolishness is beyond belief. Out there –” he gestured towards the anchorage “–are enough money, guns, powder and shot, settlers and ships to start Jamaica as a prosperous colony. Yet not twenty minutes ago you were going to arrest us; five minutes ago, hiding this letter, you were going to let us sail to another island. Heffer, if you are going to be typical of the governors of British colonies – and I fear you are – God help us all.”
“You’ll stay?”
“Sharpen your pen and get out the ink,” Ned said. “Don’t call for a clerk: I want an agreement written in your hand between you as governor and me as leader of the buccaneers in Port Royal to whom you have given letters of marque bearing your signature. We’ll have a copy made for you. Date it, and write in your own words as I dictate the substance. The sentry can witness your signature.
“From today the official currency of Jamaica will be the piece of eight, valued at five shillings. You let all shops, warehouses, inns, taverns and brothels function without interference. We will pay you the King’s share and the Duke of York’s share on the Portobelo purchase. You supply us with liquors and tobacco free of duty. We supply more guns, but you levy a payment in gunpowder on all ships trading here. A simple declaration of name, age and country of birth is all that will be needed to establish citizenship. You agree so far? Very well, let’s get on…”
Series & Synopses
Dates given are for first publication and (for Ramge series) year in which novel is set.
Ned Yorke Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Buccaneer 1981
2. Admiral 1982
3. Galleon 1986
4. Corsair 1987
5. Convoy 1979
6. Decoy 1983
Ramage Series
These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels
1. Ramage 1796 1965
2. Ramage & the Drumbeat 1797 1968
3. Ramage & the Freebooters 1797 1969
4. Governor Ramage RN 1797 1973
5. Ramage's Prize 1798 1974
6. Ramage's Mutiny 1799 1977
7. Ramage & the Rebels 1800 1978
8. The Ramage Touch 1800 1979
9. Ramage's Signal 1800 1980
10. Ramage & the Guillotine 1801 1975
11. Ramage & the Renegades 1802 1981
12. Ramage's Devil 1803 1982
13. Ramage's Trial 1803 1984
14. Ramage's Challenge 1803 1985
15. Ramage's Diamond 1804 1976
16. Ramage at Trafalgar 1805 1986
17. Ramage & the Saracens 1806 1988
18. Ramage & the Dido 1806 1989
Synopses (incl. non-fiction)
Published by House of Stratus
A. Ned Yorke Series
Buccaneer
It is the 1650's and Spain considers the Caribbean to be its own private sea. But England, Holland and France conspire to battle for freedom on the oceans set in days littered with the plunder of piracy. Ned Yorke, a loyal Royalist living in Barbados has a small vessel and devoted crew and together they sail, hunted by Roundheads and Spaniards, determined to pay whatever the price for freedom from tyranny. What transpires is a colourful, dramatic retelling of historical events surrounding the capture of Jamaica and the infamous raid on Santiago.
Admiral
Charles II returns from exile bringing with him unease to the Spanish Main. In this vivid description of seventeenth-century buccaneers, Ned Yorke, the leader and hero of the swashbuckling band are depended upon for the defence of Jamaica, fighting with captured Spanish guns. Daring raids on the Spanish seem inevitable, as Yorke sets out on the high seas to distant adventures on behalf of the King and his own honour.
Galleon
As England falls under a blanket of peace with the restoration of Charles II, in distant Jamaica all is not well. Though there is peace with Spain, there is No Peace Beyond the Line. It seems that the West Indies have become the private estate of the King of Spain. But Ned Yorke, Admiral of the Brethren, leader of the Buccaneers will not kowtow to the new Governor in Jamaica who is bent on weakening the Island’s defences and destroying its currency. Ned Yorke and his Buccaneers must not remain idle. The third in a series set in the Caribbean, Dudley Pope reveals a masterful plot of subtle, seafaring lore wound around the tense excitement of adventure on the high seas.
Corsair
In the 1660's Jamaica was an uneasy island, occupied by Spain but settled by the English and French. When Admiral of the Brethren, Ned Yorke, a brave, loyal Buccaneer, learns that Spain is mounting a Caribbean
fleet perhaps to protect the treasures of Spanish ships, or carry an army to Jamaica, he vows to find out the truth. Yorke’s audacious attacks on Spanish camps reveal all and the Buccaneers must fight a bloody, desperate battle to try and hinder them.
Convoy
A deadly game of cat and mouse unravels its way out of this spine tingling war story as Lieutenant Yorke must find an answer to one vital question: how are German U-Boats sinking merchant ships from inside the convoys? In this gripping saga of heroism and intrigue, Yorke discovers the fate of one entire convoy. Only his wit and daring can lead to its survival and that of himself.
Decoy
It is February 1942 and the war in the Atlantic looks grim for the Allied convoys. The ‘Great Blackout’ has started, leaving the spy centre of Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire at a loss as to what the Nazis are planning. U-boat Command has changed the Hydra cipher. The Enigma cannot be broken. Cipher experts can no longer eavesdrop on Nazi command, which leaves convoys open for attack by packs of marauding Nazi submarines. Winning the Battle of the Atlantic will surely give Hitler a final victory. And who can stop him?
B. Ramage Series
Ramage
1796 – sea battles raging and an attack from the French has left third-lieutenant Ramage the sole officer in charge of his frigate. With orders from Nelson to be obeyed and a daring mission to be completed, young Nicholas Ramage must rise to the challenge. Despite the grave adversity of his situation, Ramage embarks upon an intrepid rescue with quite unforeseen consequences. This thrilling adventure is the first in Dudley Pope’s popular and much-loved series.
Ramage & the Drumbeat
Ramage and the Drumbeat takes the brave Lord Ramage to the new world where he becomes embroiled in a series of electrifying sea battles and hazardous political shenanigans. He must once again prove his mettle as he undergoes the merciless enemy attacks. Fighting alongside Lord Nelson, this is Ramage at his best.
