Downie R. The Way of the Pirate. Who's Who in Davy Jones' Locker

New York, NY: Ibooks, 2005. — 259 p. — ISBN: 1-4165-0416-8.To produce what one intends to be an authoritative reference book from sources as dubious as those I have used is perhaps foolhardy. And perhaps that's why more scholarly researchers have avoided the attempt.
My only excuse can be that I offer this volume as the opening statement of a conversation. I hope that it will stimulate readers to make their own researches, search their own libraries or track down local legend and folklore. I honestly look forward to being corrected by anyone who feels inspired to do that. You will find a blank letter-form at the end of the book.
My biggest quandary was just who to include and who to exclude from this directory. Many men were hanged for piracy who were clearly innocent. Conversely, several men were acquitted at trial, while obviously as guilty as sin. In the end I decided that all these tales added to the sum of knowledge about pirates, so I put 'em all in. One of your responsibilities as a reader is to decide what you want to believe.
If I offend any of the descendants of these characters then I am a bit surprised, I would happily accept any of them as an ancestor of mine. After a couple of centuries the buccaneer genes you have inherited will probably only surface when you are given a parking ticket or correspond with the Inland Revenue.
The seventeenth century was not an era noted for its political correctness. If I offend persons of any particular race, religion, nationality or gender, then I can only swear that it was not my intention to do so.