Kidd the Pirate

"Kidd the Pirate" is a short story by American author Washington Irving, based on legends of Captain William Kidd. The story was published in Tales of a Traveller, an 1824 collection of Irving's writings, where it immediately precedes that work's most famous story "The Devil and Tom Walker", which also involves Kidd's treasure.

Synopsis

The story begins "In old times, just after the territory of the New Netherlands had been wrested from the hands of their High Mightinesses, the Lords State-General of Holland by Charles the Second". This "unquiet state" is said to have led to an increase in adventurers, buccaneers, pirates, and privateers.

Outline of Kidd's life

Captain Kidd is employed to "put a stop" to piracy, under the logic that it "takes a rogue to catch a rogue". He sets sail, first for New York, and later for the East. There he "turned pirate himself" and plunders in the areas of "Madeiras", "Bonavista", "Madagascar" and "the entrance of the Red Sea".

Kidd returns to Boston, "laden with booty". Learning that he was to be arrested, Kidd buried "the greater part of his treasures". Once arrested, Kidd is returned to England and executed by hanging. This action is said to "spread consternation among the bucanneers of every province", who likewise "secreted their money and jewels in lonely out-of-the-way places".

Rise of Money-Diggers

Irving writes that reports of "buried treasures of gold and jewels...set the brains of all the good people of the coast in a ferment." There are widespread "rumors on rumors" of recovered treasure, including coins with Moorish inscriptions which "the common people looked on with superstitious awe, regarding the Moorish letters as diabolical or magical characters".

Irving writes of many stories of treasure hunts, noting that "in all the stories...the devil played a conspicuous part". In some cases he was "conciliated by ceremonies and invocations". Nonetheless, the devil often plays "some slippery trick". Irving records that "Some would dig so far as to come to an iron chest" only to fall victim to some "baffling circumstance", as when "the earth would fall in" or "some direful noise or apparition would frighten the party from the place".

A rusted pistol

The remainder of the story provides a bridge to the next story, The Devil and Tom Walker. Irving writes of "one calm day in the latter part of the summer" when he and others were engaged in fishing. One of this party recovers "a long pistol of very curious and outlandish fashion". One man speculated that the pistol was "a relic of the buccaneers of old times" that may have "belonged to Kidd himself".

This inspires one of the party to recount "a story about a fellow who once dug up Kidd's buried money". This story is included in the following chapter under the title "The Devil and Tom Walker".

Influence

This story, along with several of Irving's others, was influential in American folklore tales of Pirates and buried treasure. ^[1]

References

↑ Schramer, James J. (2001). "Irving, Washington". In Gidmark, Jill B. Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and Great Lakes. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313301484.

Piracy

Historical times	1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s

Modern times	1990s 21st century

Types of pirate	Pirates Privateers Buccaneers Corsairs Sindhi corsairs Timber pirate River pirate Caribbean Pirates Barbary pirates Moro pirates Wōkòu Vikings Ushkuiniks Narentines Cilician pirates Baltic Slavic pirates Uskoks Cossack pirates Sea Beggars Sea Dogs Freebooters

Areas	Piracy in the Caribbean Piracy on Lake Nicaragua Piracy in the British Virgin Islands Piracy in the Strait of Malacca Piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy in the Sulu Sea Piracy on Falcon Lake Anglo-Turkish piracy Port Royal Tortuga Saint-Malo Barbary Coast Lundy Lagos Salé Spanish Main Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Piracy in Indonesia Barataria Bay Piracy in the Persian Gulf

Noted pirates	Bartholomew Roberts Hendrick Lucifer Hayreddin Barbarossa Blackbeard Stede Bonnet Anne Bonny Abshir Boyah Laurens de Graaf Michel de Grammont Calico Jack Alexandre Exquemelin William Kidd Edward Low Redbeard William Dampier Black Caesar Henri Caesar Roberto Cofresí Jean Lafitte Henry Morgan Lawrence Prince François l'Olonnais Henry Strangways Charles Gibbs Benito de Soto Diabolito Pedro Gilbert Mansel Alcantra Hippolyte Bouchard Samuel Hall Lord Nathaniel Gordon Albert W. Hicks Eli Boggs Bully Hayes Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah Louis-Michel Aury Shirahama Kenki John Newland Maffitt Joseph Baker Joseph Barss Jørgen Jørgensen Vincenzo Gambi Dominique You Pierre Lafitte John Hawkins Peter Easton Nicholas van Hoorn Moses Cohen Henriques Piet Pieterszoon Hein Charlotte de Berry Samuel Bellamy Benjamin Hornigold Samuel Mason Henry Every Roche Braziliano Gan Ning Liang Daoming Wang Zhi Limahong Zheng Zhilong Zheng Jing Cai Qian Cheung Po Tsai Ching Shih Shap Ng-tsai Chui A-poo Lai Choi San Fūma Kotarō Olivier Levasseur

Categories	Piracy Pirates By nationality Barbary pirates Female pirates Years in piracy Fictional pirates

Pirate ships	Adventure Galley Fancy Ganj-i-Sawai Queen Anne's Revenge Quedagh Merchant Saladin Whydah Gally Marquis of Havana Ambrose Light York

Pirate hunters	Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Angelo Emo Richard Avery Hornsby Robert Maynard Chaloner Ogle Pompey Woodes Rogers David Porter James Brooke Miguel Enríquez (privateer)

Pirate battles and incidents	Jiajing wokou raids Turkish Abductions Chepo Expedition Battle of Mandab Strait Blockade of Charleston Battle of Cape Fear River Battle of Ocracoke Inlet Capture of the William Sack of Campeche Attack on Veracruz Raid on Cartagena Battle of Cape Lopez Capture of the Fancy Persian Gulf Campaign Battle of New Orleans Anti-Piracy in the Aegean Anti-piracy in the West Indies Capture of the Bravo Action of 9 November 1822 Capture of the El Mosquito Battle of Doro Passage Falklands Expedition Great Lakes Patrol Balanguingui Expedition Battle of Tysami Battle of Tonkin River Battle of Nam Quan Battle of Ty-ho Bay Battle of the Leotung Antelope incident North Star affair Battle off Mukah Salvador Pirates Battle of Boca Teacapan Capture of the Ambrose Light Irene incident 1985 Lahad Datu ambush Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA Action of 18 March 2006 Action of 3 June 2007 Action of 28 October 2007 Operation Atalanta Carré d'As IV incident Action of 11 November 2008 Action of 9 April 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking Operation Ocean Shield Action of 23 March 2010 Action of 1 April 2010 Action of 30 March 2010 Action of 5 April 2010 MV Moscow University hijacking Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden Beluga Nomination incident Battle off Minicoy Island Quest incident MT Zafirah hijacking MT Orkim Harmony hijacking

Slave trade	African slave trade Atlantic slave trade Arab slave trade Barbary slave trade Blockade of Africa African Slave Trade Patrol Capture of the Providentia Capture of the Presidente Capture of the El Almirante Capture of the Marinerito Capture of the Veloz Passagera Capture of the Brillante Amistad Incident Capture of the Emanuela

Fictional pirates	Tom Ayrton Barbe Rouge Hector Barbossa Captain Blood Captain Crook Captain Flint José Gaspar Captain Hook Don Karnage Monkey D. Luffy Captain Nemo Captain Pugwash Red Rackham Captain Sabertooth Captain Stingaree Sandokan Long John Silver Jack Sparrow Roronoa Zoro

Miscellaneous	Truce of Ratisbon Piracy Act 1698 Piracy Act 1717 Piracy Act 1837 Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law Golden Age of Piracy Confederate privateer Jolly Roger Walking the plank Treasure map Buried treasure Pirate booty No purchase, no pay Marooning Pirate code Pirate utopia Victual Brothers Pirate Round Libertatia Sack of Baltimore A General History of the Pyrates Mutiny Pegleg Eyepatch Letter of marque Davy Jones' Locker Air pirate Space pirate

Lists	Pirates Privateers Timeline of piracy Pirate films Women in piracy Fictional pirates Pirates in popular culture List of ships attacked by Somali pirates

Literature	Treasure Island Facing the Flag On Stranger Tides Castaways of the Flying Dutchman The Angel's Command Voyage of Slaves Pirate Latitudes

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Kidd the Pirate

Synopsis

Influence

References

Further reading