CNJ+ August 2023

CAPTAIN MORGAN YO-HO-HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM! By, Pam Teel

Did you know that the man on the famous bottle of Rum was a real Captain? In fact, he was a 17th century knight and conqueror of many foreign lands. The only connection Sir Henry Morgan had to the bottle that bears his name is the rum company, owned by Seagram’s Corporation, started up a distillery in Jamaica in 1944, and Morgan, after invading Jamaica, later served as its lieutenant governor. Apparently, Seagram’s needed a savory character to help sell their liquor, and once again

at the Tredegar House mansion. It's also possible that he married a woman whose father was related to the Morgans of Tredegar. Exquemelin alleged that Morgan took to the sea to escape the agrarian lifestyle but was abducted and sold into indentured ser vitude. After completing his service, he supposedly joined the voy ages of buccaneers and made his way to Jamaica. Morgan outright denied ever being kidnapped and sold, and later

characterized many of Exquemelin's claims about him as libelous. However, a record of indentured servants from that peri od lists a Henry Morgan from Wales. Some scholars also say that he went to the Caribbean voluntarily to help Oliver Cromwell conquer Spanish colonies. In 1655, Morgan and his fierce buccaneers aided England's effort to seize Jamaica, which had been in Spain's pos session since Christopher Columbus claimed it in 1494. But for as tough as the buccaneers were, they faced certain peril. According to The English Conquest of Jamaica, England's Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, was overconfident and underprepared when he set out to occupy the island. There was little consideration of how danger ous it would be. Morgan and his men went through hell. As detailed in the book, Henry Morgan, they were ravaged by an army of tropical dis eases, including smallpox, malaria, and yel low fever. Things got even more complicated when they ran out of cattle to eat. Spanish snipers prevented Morgan and his men from venturing inland for food, forcing them to eat snakes and dogs. Morgan survived

Captain Morgan dominated the world. Do you remember the Captain Morgan rum slogan? "Got a little Captain

in you?" Well, who exact ly was Captain Morgan? Henry Morgan is often thought of as a pirate. The rum bottles depict him wear

ing a pirate hat and a pirate coat, giving the image of a full-fledged pirate. Plus, the real-life Morgan commanded a band of Caribbean pirates, called the Brethren, off the coast. However, he wasn't quite a pi rate, at least not most of the time. He was what one would call a privateer, which was like a pi rate, "only legal." He was a maritime mercenary for the Brit ish monarchy. His endeavors included raiding Spanish terri tories and protecting British trade routes in the Caribbean. He was knighted for his efforts. In exchange for his services to the British monarchy, he was allowed to keep whatever treasures he looted. Between 1650 and 1750 the difference between pirates and privateers became more pronounced as war grew more organized. (Morgan was primarily active during the 1660s and 1670s.) Privateers were increasingly incorporated into naval strategies, and Britain in particular viewed privateering as a

state-sanctioned busi ness practice. Mean while, "piracy became ever less tolerated" because of its damag ing impact on trade. It's believed that Henry Morgan was born around 1635 in Wales, and he died in 1688 in Jamaica. But the specifics of his

having seized Jamaica from the Spanish and converted it into an English colony. He would later be named Jamaica's lieutenant governor. Captain Morgan's various exploits led to legendary show downs at sea. One of

lineage and how he ended up in the Caribbean are unclear. Surgeon Alexan dre Exquemelin, who joined Morgan on his journeys, wrote that Morgan's father was "a well-to-do farmer." However, other attempts to find Morgans lineage thought that he was biologically related to the Morgans who resided

the most dramatic was a fiery confrontation with Spanish Admiral Don Alonso del Campo y Espinosa in 1669. Espinosa cornered Morgan in Ma racaibo, Venezuela, then a Spanish territory. As recounted in Chronological History of the West Indies, Morgan had entered the city unimpeded and

26 CNJ+ | FORMERLY THE MILLSTONE TIMES

AUGUST 2023