Pirates of the…North Sea

There’s more to pirates and piracy than the stereotypes of Captain Hook, Jack Sparrow and those 15 men on a dead man’s chest. The reality here in Hastings was often as much about commerce and politics as swashbuckling and derring-do. Toby Sargent has been reading a new novel that tells it like it was.

Kevin Isted’s new novel – The Barque of Bulleyn – is described on the jacket as a ‘thrilling story of adventure, gun-running, piracy, political intrigue and betrayal’. And it’s all of that, but with the added benefit of being written by someone directly descended from one of the pirates who grew his sea-faring roots in Elizabethan times, right here in Hastings.

The book tells the story of Robert Isted, Kevin’s great (times nine) uncle and his nautical adventures between April and July 1574, detailing his work on behalf of Queen Elizabeth during the uneasy political period leading up to the defeat of the Spanish Armada 14 years later. Robert was an opportunist who spotted the potential for personal gain – and considerable excitement – to be had from stretching his remit to cross the line from operating as a privateer, a sort of officially sanctioned maritime gamekeeper, to outright piracy.

The author has clearly done a great deal of research into his ancestor’s life, but has also looked carefully into the social history of the time, weaving the two strands together into a compelling narrative. So it is that we learn much about how life on board a ship of war was organised; the political intrigues and machinations between the English, the Scots, the Dutch and the Spanish; and fascinating insights into matters as diverse as 16th century cosmetic surgery, contraception and the many and varied means by which torture and execution were carried out.

There is also a lot of detail about Hastings itself 450 years ago, and it’s good to learn that the spirit of the Old Town today is so firmly rooted in this distant time.

I asked Kevin which came first: the research or the idea for a novel?

“Most of the research was done as a part of my research into my family history, long before I ever thought about writing the book,’ he replied. ‘Of course, once I had decided to write it, I needed to supplement that with further research into the time and locations in which the events occurred, and into a number of the real-life characters referred to in the historic records on which the novel is based.”

Although he does not live in the town, he has close links with the place his distant relative called home:

“When I was a boy, my parents used to bring me to Hastings, where my father had grown up and where we still had relatives. My great-aunt and her husband had owned a fish restaurant and a fish shop in the Old Town. It seemed an exciting place to me then.

“Since that time, I have lived and worked in many places and hadn’t been back to Hastings for many years, until a few years ago. I suppose I still look back on it through rose-tinted glasses.

“There are, of course, parts of the Old Town that almost seem timeless. Indeed, I suspect if Robert Isted was transported from the 16^th century and deposited in All Saints Street today, he would still recognise where he was.”

But Kevin Isted is no sentimentalist, mourning a distant past:

“The thing I am most encouraged to see is that Hastings has a dynamic and vibrant community. There are lots of festivals and events for locals and visitors, not least of all, the world record holding Pirate Day that is now an event of particular interest to me, having discovered some Hastings pirates in the family.

“And I see Hastings Online Times, run by volunteers, as an important part of that process in providing information, engaging the public, and promoting Hastings.”

Finally, I asked him if he, as a former seaman himself, felt any envy for the life of his infamous forebear?

“I’m reminded of something HL Menchen wrote: ‘Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands and hoist the black flag (the skull and crossbones) …’ Well, I may never have gone quite that far. But, at sometime in life, most young men yearn for adventure, and I was no different. To a large extent, that is why I went to sea and what influenced some other decisions I made. I’m now retired but, fortunately, I find that age hasn’t quelled that spirit of adventure too much and in some respects may have provided a little urgency to it.”

Rather to my surprise, The Barque of Bulleyne is written in the present tense, which takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s a fine first novel and all the better for being so solidly grounded in fact and the real history of that time.

The Barque of Bulleyne is published by The Conrad Press, price £11.99.

 

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