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John Gow
John Gow (c. 1698–11 June 1725) was a pirate whose short career was immortalised by Charles Johnson in the 1725 work ''The History and Lives of All the Most Notorious Pirates and Their Crews''. Little is known of his life, except from an account by Daniel Defoe, which is often considered unreliable, the report on his execution, and an account by Mr. Alan Fea, descendant of his captor, published in 1912, almost two centuries after his death. Early life Gow was probably born in Wick, Caithness, to William Gow, a merchant, and Margaret Calder. He was raised in Stromness, Orkney, where he went to school and learned to sail a ship. Pirate Prior to August 1724 he crewed a voyage from London to Lisbon and back, during which he plotted to seize control of the vessel. He failed to attract sufficient numbers, however, and the effort went nowhere. In London, word spread about the attempt, so Gow fled to Amsterdam, where he joined the Canary Islands-bound ''Caroline'' as second mate. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wick, Highland
Wick ( ; ) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population of 6,954 at the time of the 2011 census, a decrease of 3.8% from 2001. Pulteneytown, which was developed on the south side of the river by the British Fisheries Society during the 19th century, was officially merged into the burgh in 1902. Elzy was described as on the coast a couple of miles east of Wick in 1836. The town is on the main road (the A99– A9 road) linking John o' Groats with southern Britain. The Far North railway line links Wick railway station with southern Scotland and with Thurso, the other burgh of Caithness. Wick Airport is on Wick's northern outskirts and serves as a base for private helicopter flights to offshore wind and oil projects, as well as scheduled commercial flights to Aberdeen. The main offices of '' The John O'Groat Journal'' and '' The Caithness Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Great Britain
Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingdom of England (including Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single Parliament of Great Britain, parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems—English law and Scots law—remained in use, as did distinct educational systems and religious institutions, namely the Church of England and the Church of Scotland remaining as the national churches of England and Scotland respectively. The formerly separate kingdoms had been in personal union since the Union of the Crowns in 1603 when James VI of Scotland became King of England an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Drever
Ivan Drever is a Scottish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He often tours with fiddler Duncan Chisholm who founded the Celtic rock band Wolfstone which Drever joined in 1990 but left in later years. Drever has mixed traditional folk with some rock and roll sounds. Life Drever spent his childhood as one of ten children on Sanday, one of the islands of Orkney in Scotland. Interest in music was clear from a young age with Drever winning youth talent shows at 12. He enjoyed country music and Jim Reeves. In 1974 he founded the band 'Knowe O'Deil' and stayed until the late 1980s. In the 1990s Drever moved to Easter Ross and joined Wolfstone. Drever spent many years in the Scottish town of Inverness which inspired many songs. His album 'Waterfront' is named after a favourite bar and restaurant there. Drever has 4 children, including musician Kris Drever. Career In 1989 he released his debut album, Homeland. In 1990 Drever joined Wolfstone where he played guitar, cittern, whistle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown (17 October 1921 – 13 April 1996) was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist with a distinctly Orkney, Orcadian character. He is widely regarded as one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century. Biography Early life and career George Mackay Brown was born on 17 October 1921, the youngest of six children. His parents were John Brown, a tailor and postman, and Mhairi Mackay, a descendant of Clan Mackay who had been brought up in Braal, a hamlet near Strathy, Sutherland, as a native speaker of the Reay Country dialect of Scottish Gaelic. Except for periods as a mature student in mainland Scotland, Brown lived all his life in the town of Stromness on Mainland, Orkney. One of his Stromness neighbours was his friend the artist Sylvia Wishart. Because of illness, his father was restricted in his work and he received no pension. The family had a history of depression and Brown's uncle, Jimmy Brown, may have died by suicide: his body was found in Stromness harb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pirate (novel)
:''"The Pirate" is also the title of novels by Harold Robbins and Frederick Marryat'' ''The Pirate'' (published at the end of 1821 with the date 1822) is one of the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott, based roughly on the life of John Gow who features as Captain Cleveland. The setting is the southern tip of the main island of Shetland (which Scott visited in 1814), towards the end of the 17th century, with 1689 as the likely date of the main incidents. Composition and sources On 21 August 1820 John Ballantyne offered Archibald Constable a new novel to follow ''Kenilworth'' (which was to be published in January the following year). No title or subject was specified at that stage, and it was not until April 1821 that Ballantyne noted that what he calls the 'Buccaneer' had been begun. The need for research on the northern isles, and other occupations, slowed Scott down, and the first volume was not completed until early August, but his pace then quickened and the work was fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (1819), ''Rob Roy (novel), Rob Roy'' (1817), ''Waverley (novel), Waverley'' (1814), ''Old Mortality'' (1816), ''The Heart of Mid-Lothian'' (1818), and ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' (1819), along with the narrative poems ''Marmion (poem), Marmion'' (1808) and ''The Lady of the Lake (poem), The Lady of the Lake'' (1810). He had a major impact on European and American literature, American literature. As an advocate and legal administrator by profession, he combined writing and editing with his daily work as Clerk of Session and Sheriff court, Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire. He was prominent in Edinburgh's Tory (political faction), Tory establishment, active in the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Highland Society, long time a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brigstock Weaver
Brigstock Weaver (born c. 1686 – died 1767) (fl. 1720–1725, first name occasionally Bridstock) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his association with fellow pirates Thomas Anstis and Bartholomew Roberts. History Weaver had been first mate of the ''Mary and Martha'' when they were captured near Saint Kitts in 1720 by Bartholomew Roberts and Montigny la Palisse, who burned the ship and forced the crew to sign their Articles. Roberts took several more vessels, keeping the best of them for himself and placing Thomas Anstis in command of his previous ship ''Good Fortune''. Weaver joined Anstis as first mate. In April 1721 Anstis broke off from Roberts and took the ''Good Fortune'' with him. Soon after Anstis captured the ''Morning Star'', fitting it out as his own ship and forcing Weaver to command the ''Good Fortune.'' Weaver continued piracy on his own throughout 1722, looting over fifty ships from the Caribbean to Newfoundland. He met Ans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent, via the Thames Estuary. From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor. The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London. The lower Reach (geography), reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its long Tidal river, tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of . From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by . Running through some of the drier parts of mainland Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newgate Calendar
''The Newgate Calendar'', subtitled ''The Malefactors' Bloody Register'', was a popular collection of moralising stories about sin, crime, and criminals who commit them in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally a monthly bulletin of executions, produced by the Keeper of Newgate Prison in London, the Calendar's title was appropriated by other publishers, who put out biographical chapbooks about notorious criminals such as Sawney Bean, Dick Turpin, and Moll Cutpurse. Overview Collected editions of these stories began to appear in the mid-18th century, and in 1774 a five-volume bound edition became the standard version. While many of its accounts are highly embellished and/or drawn uncritically from other sources, they are lively and full of incident, and often refer to contemporary events and social issues. Along with the Bible and John Bunyan's ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', the ''Calendar'' was famously in the top three works most likely to be found in the averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Execution Dock2
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is called a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is ''condemned'' and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term ''capital'' (, derived via the Latin ' from ', "head") refers to execution by Decapitation, beheading, but executions are carried out by List of methods of capital punishment, many methods, including hanging, Execution by shooting, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, Electric chair, electrocution, and Gas chamber, gassing. Crimes that are punishable by death are known as ''capital crimes'', ''capital offences'', or ''capital felonies'', and vary depending on the jurisdic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calf Of Eday
The Calf of Eday (; ) is an uninhabited island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Eday. It is known for its wildlife and its prehistoric ruins. History There is a Neolithic chambered cairn in the southwest overlooking Calf Sound, which separates the island from Eday. Rectangular in shape, the cairn was excavated in 1936–37 and contains a small chamber with two compartments and a larger one with four stalls that has a separate entrance and was probably added at a later date. Two similar structures have been identified nearby along with various other ancient ruins. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the Calf of Eday was home to a salt works, the remains of which can still be seen to the north of cairns. The pirate John Gow and his men successfully raided the Hall of Clestrain on 10 February 1725, but when they attempted to attack Carrick House on Eday, they ran aground on the Calf of Eday, where they were captured. Etymology The Norse gave animal names to some island ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of Clestrain
The Hall of Clestrain is a house in the parish of Orphir, Orkney, Scotland. The house was the birthplace of the explorer John Rae (explorer), John Rae in 1813. Currently derelict, the house became a listed building in 1971. It featured in the second series of the BBC TV series ''Restoration (TV series), Restoration'' in 2004. Description Although a relatively small domestic structure, the house had Palladian aspirations, and was once one of the most impressive buildings in north Scotland. Stone steps rose to a moulded entrance (once possibly pedimented) on the main front, with pavilions to either side. The square main block has three bays on each side and the gable ends. It was constructed from ashlar and harl. An internal stone staircase connects the basement, main floor and upper floor. The house was occupied until the roof was blown off in gale in 1952. With a "temporary" replacement roof of asbestos cement, asbestos sheets, many of the large sash windows were b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
