Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Captain Morgan and Lord Byron



This is the why Americans have to wander back home for extensive google searches and reading to sort things out.

I know who Captain Morgan is. 
(Disclaimer: I have never helped him drink his rum. It would not have been fair since I never helped Jeremiah with his wine either, even though it was a mighty fine wine)

Anyhow, Captain Morgan was a pirate, and not a very nice pirate at that, although his life has been highly romanticized. He was swashing his buckle mainly in the Caribbean and owned many a slave plantation.

Leastways, that is how I understood it. 


So. Imagine my surprise to be walking the walls of Chester and to climb into a tower to see a sculpture of Captain Morgan's cannon, destroyed during the English Civil war. 


 What the hey....

Now, a month after my return, I am just getting around to sorting it out. This Captain Morgan was Sir Thomas Morgan (as opposed to Henry Morgan, pirate. ). He was Welsh and loyal to the king. Just to confuse things, the pirate Captain Henry Morgan was Welsh as well. Just to further confuse the matter, they both lived in the 1640 time range. 

(Interesting side note: Did you know that it is a law still on the books that if a Welshman is caught in Chester after 10 PM, it is legal to shoot him with a bow and arrow?) 

So...let's keep it straight: Captain Henry Morgan was privateering in the Caribbean at about the same time that Captain Thomas Morgan was getting his cannons busted in Chester as a Cavalier, a royalist. 

Another name popped up: Lord Byron was a Cavalier. 

What???

We're talking two different centuries. 

Turns out that Lord Byron the Cavalier was Sir John Byron. 

Lord George Byron was the poet, born in 1788. 

Moral of the story?

English history needs to use more first names. 




Without further reading, I would have simply assumed that Lord Byron was drinking 

Captain Morgan rum... 



...at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem...

and that cannon would still be a point of confusion.

10 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I’m so confused.

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  2. Excellent research! I'm still confused. Must have some rum to sort it ouit further. Linda in Kansas

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  3. I think I need a glass of Captain Morgan's after that.

    Fortunately for Welshmen bows and arrows are not around much in the Chester of 2022. I do wonder what would be behind such a law. Maybe it's like laws and restriction against Irish.

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  4. Too many centuries of history. We can't help but confuse everyone!

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  5. You are singing to the choir of someone with several John Smith people in their direct lineage.

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  6. Thanks for clearing that up for me... or perhaps just confusing me! I'm still processing it.

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  7. ....and would pirate Morgan be remembered today if someone hadn't decided to call their rum Captain Morgan?

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  8. Red, there is a question for the ages!

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  9. I think there was once a pop song about Morgan the Pirate. I can’t be sure, but I have a snatch of a tune running in my head. And this isn’t it. 😀 https://youtu.be/5kUpEqkOD_4

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  10. That's all still pretty confusing! But it sounds like a lot of fun. I've seen Captain Morgan rum in stores but I've always preferred Kraken spiced rum!

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