Benjamin "Flood" Ireson ( 1775 – after 1808) was a 19th-century American sailor, captain of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Betsy''. In 1808, during a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

, the ''Betsy'' was on its way from

Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordfi ...

to home port when it discovered another ship, the ''Active''. The ''Active'' was wrecked and taking on water. "Ireson tried to rescue the crew of the sinking vessel, but his own men insisted upon giving up an attempt which held considerable dangers. On return to Marblehead, the crew, finding themselves blamed for the loss of life, placed responsibility upon their captain."Ormond, Leonee
Notes on the text from "Captains Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling
/ref> The people of Marblehead, the ''Betsy'''s home port, were outraged with Ireson, and he was

tarred and feathered Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture where a victim is stripped naked, or stripped to the waist, while wood tar (sometimes hot) is either poured or painted onto the person. The victim then either has feathers thrown on them or is ...

and dragged out of town in a cart.

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

first heard the tale in 1823, and wrote a poem based on the incident, ''Skipper Ireson's Ride''. There was some question as to the identity of the person. In later retellings, it was "Floyd" Ireson who was punished. A series of letters in the '' Boston Evening Transcript'' in 1837 identified "Floyd" Ireson as Benjamin "Flood" Ireson. In retellings, his nickname, Flood, had become corrupted to Floyd.Zanger, Jules
A Note on Skipper Ireson's Ride
The New England Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2. (Jun., 1956), pp. 236-238. "The inhabitants of Marblehead eventually recognized their mistake, but Whittier's poem served to perpetuate the original story." ''The True Story of Skipper Ireson'' by

Charles Buxton Going Charles Buxton Going (April 4, 1863 - 1952 in France) was an Americans, American engineer, writer, and editor. Biography Born in Westchester, New York, Westchester N.Y., Going attended Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columb ...

is a poetic rebuttal of Whittier's poem. The 1941 film adaptation of '' The Devil and Daniel Webster'' names Ireson as one of the Jury of the Damned - ''"Floyd Ireson and

Stede Bonnet Stede Bonnet (c. 1688 – 10 December 1718) was an English pirate who was known as the Gentleman Pirate because he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the is ...

, the fiendish butchers."''

References

External links

Skipper Ireson's Ride
by

The True Story of Skipper Ireson
by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireson, Benjamin American sailors Year of birth uncertain 1770s births 19th-century deaths Year of death uncertain People from colonial Massachusetts Tarring and feathering in the United States