A pirate’s life for me

AS a Pembrokeshire ex-pat, I was pleased to see note of the county’s more famous, if less law-abiding son Black

Bart in your ‘Pirates of the

Caribbean’ article (October

13). Although there is no doubt that he was ‘a very naughty boy’ (to borrow a line from The Life of Brian), one has to admire his exploits. Going to sea at the age of 13, Bartholomew Roberts had risen to the rank of third mate when, in 1719, his merchant ship was captured by pirates under the captaincy of fellow Pembrokeshire old boy Howell Davis. Possibly because of their shared language and origins and/or because Bart was an accomplished navigator, he was soon assimilated into the pirate crew. Only six weeks later, Davis was killed and Bart elected captain. In the three years before his own untimely death in 1722, he was reputed to have captured more than 400 ships. Tim Wells, Warwickshire