|
Following
an attack on a ship mastered by John Barton in 1476 in which he was
killed, his sons Andrew, Robert and John were granted Letters of Marque
which gave them authorisation to seize and hold Portuguese ships, until a
penalty of 12,000 ducats was paid. The Letters were revoked in 1563,
when it was felt that the Bartons were gaining excessive profits from the
reprisals.
It is debatable as to
whether they were privateers or pirates. A pirate is considered to
be a person, acting for his own interests, who attacks indiscriminately
and retains the profits from his attacks for his own gain. A
privateer was generally 'employed' by his own country to cause political
or economic hardship to an enemy country.
In
1508 he was sent by the Government of Scotland to assist the King's
relation, Hans of Denmark. In 1509 and 1510 Hans had the assistance of
Robert Barton, who returned to Scotland on 4th September, 1510, with an
urgent request to King James to send more ships and men to the assistance of
his Danish ally. Andrew Barton was sent to Copenhagen in 1511, with his
two ships the 'Lion' and the 'Jenny Pirwin'.
On August 2nd 1511,
Admiral Sir Andrew Barton was killed in a fierce battle fought in The
Downs, his ships were captured by Sir Edward Howard and they became the
possessions of the English Navy.
Admiral Sir Andrew Barton was my 15 times great grandfather. |
|
|
ACCOUNT
OF THE DEATH OF SIR ANDREW BARTON
From
Sir W Scott's 'Tales of a Grandfather'
'It
chanced that one John Barton, a Scottish mariner, had been captured by the
Portuguese, as far back as 1476. As
the King of Portugal refused to make any amends, James (1V) granted the
family of Barton Letters of Uprisals, that is a warrant empowering them to
take all Portuguese vessels which should come in their way, until their
loss was made up. There were
three brothers, all daring men, but especially the eldest, whose name was
Andrew Barton. He had two
strong ships, the larger called the 'Lion', the lesser the 'Jenny Pirwen'
with which it would appear he cruised in the British Channel, stopping not
only Portuguese vessels, but also English ships bound for Portugal.
Complaints being made to the King Henry V111th, he fitted out two
vessels which were filled with chosen men, and placed under the command of
Lord Thomas Howard and Sir Edward Howard, both sons of the Earl of Surrey. They found Barton and his vessels cruising in the Downs,
being guided to the place by the Captain of a merchant vessel, which
Barton had plundered on the previous day.
On
approaching the enemy, the noble brothers shewed no ensign of war but put
up a willow wand on their mast, as being the emblem of a trading vessel,
but when the Scotsmen attempted to bring them to, the English then cut
their flags and pennants and fired a broadside from their ordinance.
Far from being dismayed by this, he engaged boldly and
distinguished by his rich dress and bright armour, appeared on deck, with
a whistle of gold about his neck, suspended by a chain of the same
precious metal and encouraged his men to fight valiantly.
The
fight was very obstinate. If
we may believe a ballad of the time, Bartons ship was furnished with a
peculiar contrivance, suspending large weights in beams, from his yard
arms, to be dropped down on the enemy when they should come along-side.
To make use of this contrivance, it was necessary that a person
should ascend the main mast, or in naval language, go aloft.
As the English apprehended much mischief from the consequences of
this maneuver: Howard had
stationed a Yorkshire gentleman, named Hustler, the best archer in the
ship, with strict instructions to shoot every one who should attempt to go
aloft to let fall the beams of Barton's vessel.
Two men were successively killed in the attempt, and Andrew Barton
himself confiding in the strong armour which he wore, began to ascend the
mast; Lord Thomas Howard called out to the archer to shoot true on peril
of life 'were I to die for it' said Hustler, 'I have but two arrows left',
the first of these bounded from Bartons armour without hurting him; but as
te Scottish mariner raised his arm to climb higher, the archer took aim
where the armour afforded him no protection, and wounded him mortally
through the armpit.
Barton
descended from the mast, 'fight on' he said ' my brave hearts', 'I am a
little wounded, but not slain, I will but rest awhile, and then rise and
fight again, meantime stand fast by St Andrews Cross', meaning the
Scottish flag or ensign. He
encouraged his men with his whistle, while the breath of life remained.
At
length the whistle was heard no longer, and the Howards boarding the
Scottish vessel, found her daring captain was dead.
They
carried the 'Lion' into the Thames, and it is remarkable that Barton's
ship became the second man-of-war in the English Navy.
When the King wanted to equip a fleet they hired or pressed into
their service merchant vessels and put soldiers on board of them.
The ship called the 'Great Henry' was the first built especially
for war, by the King, as his own property - thus captured vessel was the
second'.
The
Ballad of Andrew Barton
View
the Family Tree
|
|