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Edward Low

Pirate captain of 1722 and 1723 who surprised the New England fishing vessels at Port Rossaway in June 1722 and forced men out of them into his crew, among them Philip Ashton, who got away at Roatan in March 1723.

BornNot establishedDiedNot establishedAlso writtenNed Low (Ashton's Memorial, 1725); Edward Low (Johnson's chapter heading, 1724)

Two men set down what Edward Low did, and only one of them was there. Philip Ashton was forced aboard in June 1722 and got away the following March, and John Barnard wrote his narrative up and printed it in 1725. Everything else, the childhood, the origin story, the ears and the noses and the burnings, comes out of one chapter of Charles Johnson's General History of the Pyrates of 1724.1

The name and the beginnings

He was Ned Low to the men who met him. Ashton watched a boat come from a brigantine with "the Infamous Ned Low, the Pirate, with about 42 Hands". The fuller Edward Low is Johnson's, from the heading of his chapter. Lowe and Loe are later spellings, not used here.2

Johnson opens flatly: "Edward Low was born in Westminster, and had his Education there, such as it was, for he could neither write or read." A brother of his ended his days at Tyburn in company with Stephen Bunce and Jack Hall the chimney-sweeper, and the brother's name is nowhere set down.3,4

A rigging house in Boston, a sloop to the Bay of Honduras, then a boat sent back to the logwood with a bottle of rum when its men had asked to stay and dine: Low, patron of that boat, fired a musket at the master, missed him and shot another man through the head, then put to sea with a dozen men, a black flag and a declaration of war against all the world. At Grand Cayman he joined George Lowther, already at the trade, and served under him until 28 May 1722, when they parted and Low took a brigantine and forty-four men who chose him captain. He had no part in the Gambia Castle mutiny of 1721 that made Lowther a pirate; he came afterwards.5,6

The man he forced aboard

Ashton fixes two days. He was taken on 15 June 1722 off Cape Sable, when Low's company surprised the New England fishing vessels at Port Rossaway and forced him out of the schooner Milton along with Nicholas Merritt. He got ashore at Roatan on 9 March 1723. The articles were put in front of the fishermen, and Ashton records the threat he was given when he would not sign, "You D-g you! if you will not Sign our Articles, and go along with me, I'll shoot you thro' the Head".7,8,9

Johnson tells the same raid and gets it different. He puts it about 12 July, calls the harbour Port Rosemary, and counts thirteen vessels lying there, none of force, when the brigantine spread her black flag and ran in among them. They took an eighty-ton schooner out of the anchorage, and Low went captain of her and named her the Fancy. The brigantine went to Charles Harris, forced into the trade himself out of the Greyhound of Boston by Lowther. The company rose to eighty men, "who all signed the Articles, some willingly, and a few perhaps by Force".10,11

The two accounts come nearest to touching in March 1723: the company reached the Bay of Honduras about the middle of the month, and Ashton got ashore at Roatan on the ninth.12

The cruelties, and who tells them

The catalogue that made the name is all Johnson's. A French ship's cook bound to the mainmast and burnt with his ship. Two Portuguese friars triced up at the arms of the fore-yard, let down before they were quite dead, and hoisted again, out of sport. Off Rhode Island two whale-boat masters, one ripped up and disembowelled, the other made to eat his own ears with pepper and salt. And the captain of the Nostre Signiora de Victoria, who let a bag of moidores drop into the sea and had his lips cut off and broiled in front of him before Low murdered him and all thirty-two of his crew.13,14

Ashton was aboard from June to March. What he describes is a command run on threats and death, not one of these scenes.15

The Greyhound, and the men who hanged instead

On 10 June 1723 the two pirate sloops engaged HMS Greyhound. When the Ranger was disabled Low bore away in the Fancy and left her, and Charles Harris and his people were taken. New York's Common Council put its own version on paper on 25 July, voting Captain Peter Solgard of the Greyhound the freedom of the corporation for a cruise in which he engaged "two Pyrate Sloops, commanded by one Low", took one of them "after a resolute Resistance", and "very much shattered the other, who by the Favour of the Night escaped".16,17

The prisoners were held until a court of vice-admiralty sat at Newport on 10 July 1723 for three days. Twenty-five were found guilty and hanged near Newport on the nineteenth. The corporation's resolution says twenty-six. Low was not among them: he was never taken and never tried.18,19

After the Squirrel

Late in July 1723 he took a large ship, the Merry Christmas, cut ports in her for thirty-four guns, styled himself Admiral and hoisted a black flag with the figure of Death on it in red. In January 1724 he took the Squirrel, Captain Stephenson. Then he is lost. No news of him had reached England, though he was said to talk of going to Brazil, and Johnson closed the chapter, "What became of him afterwards, I can't tell."20,21

What the evidence does not settle

Dates and places of the cruise

  • The month and harbour where the New England fishermen were forced

The cruelty stories

  • Independent evidence for the specific cruelties attributed to LowPossible

Origins and end

  • Low's birth date, his brother's name and the manner of his end
  • A Westminster birth rests on Johnson's word alone
  • His last recorded act falls in January 1724

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. Edward Low's career survives in two period prints of unequal weight: Philip Ashton's first-hand captive narrative, written up by John Barnard and printed in 1725, and Charles Johnson's General History of the Pyrates of 1724, which supplies the only continuous account of his origins, cruise and end and stands alone for most of what it reports. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narratives: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew) and Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  2. The surname Low and the by-name Ned are attested at first hand by Philip Ashton, who records a boat coming from a brigantine with 'the Infamous Ned Low, the Pirate, with about 42 Hands', while the full forename Edward rests on the heading of Johnson's chapter alone, and no other period spelling was found in either print. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narratives: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew) and Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  3. Johnson states that 'Edward Low was born in Westminster, and had his Education there, such as it was, for he could neither write or read', and no parish or baptismal record has been read either for or against it. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  4. Johnson gives Low an unnamed brother who ended his days at Tyburn in company with Stephen Bunce and Jack Hall the chimney-sweeper. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 10692 to 10700
  5. Johnson traces Low's route into piracy through a Boston rigging house and a sloop to the Bay of Honduras, where the logwood boat he was patron of was sent back to work with a bottle of rum after its men asked to stay and dine, and where he then fired a musket at the master, missed him and shot another man through the head before putting to sea with about a dozen men under a black flag, declaring war against all the world. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 10717 to 10724
  6. By Johnson's account Low joined George Lowther's already piratical company at Grand Cayman and parted from him on 28 May 1722, taking a brigantine and forty-four men who chose him captain; no source read for this record places Low in the Gambia Castle mutiny of 1721 that founded Lowther's company. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  7. Philip Ashton gives the two firm calendar points of the cruise from his own experience: he was taken on 15 June 1722 off Cape Sable and he escaped at Roatan on 9 March 1723. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  8. Low's company surprised and plundered the New England fishing vessels at Port Rossaway in June 1722 and forced men out of them into his own crew, among them Philip Ashton and Nicholas Merritt of the schooner Milton. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  9. Ashton records that the forced men were put to the pirates' articles under threat of death, and records the threat given to him, 'You D-g you! if you will not Sign our Articles, and go along with me, I'll shoot you thro' the Head'. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  10. Johnson dates the raid on the fishing anchorage to about 12 July, names the harbour Port Rosemary, and counts thirteen vessels lying there, none of force, when the brigantine spread her black flag and ran in among them, a month and a name apart from the eyewitness account of the same raid. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 10778 to 10782
  11. Johnson says the pirates took an eighty-ton schooner out of the anchorage which Low commanded and named the Fancy, gave the brigantine to Charles Harris, himself forced into the trade by Lowther out of the Greyhound of Boston, and increased the company to eighty men 'who all signed the Articles, some willingly, and a few perhaps by Force'. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 10782 to 10794
  12. Johnson's narrative carries almost no dates between the parting from Lowther on 28 May 1722 and the Greyhound fight of 10 June 1723, so the captures in that stretch cannot be securely ordered; its one fixed point in the interval is the company's arrival in the Bay of Honduras about the middle of March 1722-3, within days of Ashton's escape at Roatan. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narratives: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 10994 to 10998, and Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  13. The atrocities that made Low's name are carried by Johnson alone: a French ship's cook bound to the mainmast and burnt with his ship, two Portuguese friars triced up at the arms of the fore-yard and let down before they were dead several times over out of sport, and two whale-boat masters near Rhode Island, one ripped up and disembowelled and the other made to eat his own ears with pepper and salt. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  14. Johnson says that after the captain of the Nostre Signiora de Victoria let a bag of moidores drop into the sea, Low had his lips cut off and broiled before his face and then murdered him and all his crew, thirty-two persons. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  15. No specific atrocity attributed to Low is corroborated by a first-hand witness or a court record read for this account; Ashton, who was aboard from June 1722 to March 1723, describes a command run on coercion and death threats but none of the mutilations Johnson recounts. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narratives: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew) and Ashton's Memorial (An History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton)
  16. At the fight with HMS Greyhound on 10 June 1723 Low bore away in the Fancy and abandoned his consort the Ranger, commanded by Charles Harris, which was taken with her company. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  17. A resolution of the Mayor and Common Council of the City of New York of 25 July 1723, printed in Johnson's chapter, presented Captain Peter Solgard of his Majesty's ship the Greyhound with the freedom of the corporation for a cruise in which he engaged 'two Pyrate Sloops, commanded by one Low', took one of them 'after a resolute Resistance', and 'very much shattered the other, who by the Favour of the Night escaped'. Likely More likely than not on the evidence we have. Council minute in a period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 11201 to 11217
  18. Johnson reports that a court of vice-admiralty sat at Newport on 10 July 1723 and ran three days, and that twenty-five of the prisoners were found guilty and executed near Newport on 19 July, while the New York corporation's resolution printed in the same chapter says twenty-six were executed. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 11122 to 11212
  19. Edward Low was never brought to trial, so no court adjudicated his personal guilt and the word proved attaches to none of the acts laid to him, unlike the consort crew taken in the Ranger. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew)
  20. Johnson says that late in July 1723 Low took a large ship called the Merry Christmas, fitted her with thirty-four guns, took the title of Admiral and hoisted a black flag with the figure of Death in red at the maintopmast head. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 11337 to 11342
  21. The last act Johnson records is the taking of the ship Squirrel, Captain Stephenson, in January 1724, after which he reports that no news of Low had come to England, though he had heard Low talked of going to Brazil. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. XIII, Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew), Project Gutenberg ebook 40580, lines 11387 to 11392