Awhile back I was plunderin’ pyrate ship names and discovered The Fiery Dragon. I got pretty excited and even wrote about it: The Fiery Dragon.
If you can’t be bothered to go and read that original write-up about The Fiery Dragon, here’s a quick synopsis: The Fiery Dragon was originally a Dutch warship; it was captured and claimed near the Cape Verde Islands by pyrate Captain Christopher aka Edward aka William aka John Condent or Contend or Conden (probably) in 1718.
Aye, this pyrate, (not unlike other pyrates), had a long, long list of names. For the sake of my sanity and yours, I’ll call him Condent in this plunder.
Oh, he had a nickname as well: “Billy One-Hand”, and how he got that nickname is today’s plunderin’ adventure.
February 1718: Condent and (allegedly) 98 of his best pyrate mates abandoned the pyrate haven of Nassau in a ship called simply Dragon. Not “The Dragon”, mind you, just Dragon.
Not long into the exodus, one of the crew was apparently just a wee bit pissed off. He had received a beating of some sort. Whether the beating was a punishment or just a brawl with another crew member, (or both), the incident drove this pyrate to extreme retaliation: The fool locked himself in the hold of Dragon and threatened to blow EVERYTHING sky high by setting a flame to the gun powder magazine.
There was probably a bit of cursing, running, and shouting on deck. This was definitely an “OH SHYTE!” predicament, and the pyrate crew didn’t have a lot of time to work it out. After hearing one of his fellow pyrates seriously suggest dropping a few grenades below decks, Condent knew that he had to act fast, or everyone…everyone…was going to die.
Pistol in one hand and cutlass in the other, Condent rushed the hold. Both pyrates fired. The angry pyro-pyrate fell dead. Threat eliminated. Condent, though, had been shot in the arm. Unfortunately, the damage was bad enough that the arm had to be amputated.
However, there was a sideways bonus from the event: Condent was promoted to captain of Dragon. Oh, and instead of everyone dying, only the angry pyro-pyrate died. Huzzah!
Thus did BIlly One-Hand enter pyrate legend.
Billy One-Hand eventually arrived at the pyrate colony in Sainte-Marie, Madagascar. In fact, when Condent arrived in 1719, it was with a pyrate fleet of three ships.
Billy One-Hand and his crew had quite a successful pyrating career in the East Indies. Billy eventually retired, (aye, a pyrate who retired!), and married. In 1723, Condent took his wife to France where he became a very wealthy merchant.
Must Mention (Throwback to the original Plunderin’ blog): Back in early 2000, marine archaeologist and treasure hunter Barry Clifford thought that he might have found The Fiery Dragon just off the coast of Madagascar. It wasn’t, but he did find quite a collection of sunken ships that are very likely former pyrate ships. If you want to get the details of Clifford’s marine excavation in Madagascar, check this out: Pirate Shipwreck Research and Archaeology – Shipwreck Center . (Clifford also discovered the shipwreck of Sam Bellamy’s ship, the Whydah, off the coast of Cape Cod back in 1984.)
Billy One-Hand…pretty amazing pyrate tale, eh? That was some fancy plunderin’ and worthy, I think, of at least one grog…perhaps even two. HUZZAH!!
Next time…Pyrate Island. Until then…keep plunderin’
Virginia Chandler 