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Black Jack Smatt
(Merchant Trader/Pirate circa 1660)

Port Royal was synonymous with the word Pirate as a result of its gaudy displays of wealth, anarchy and loose morals. The city was renowned to be The Wickedest City on Earth and The Sodom of the New World as its population consisted of cutthroats, harlots and pirates. It was a popular place for British and European backed privateers to spend their treasure amid the 17th century. After governments abandoned issuing letters of marque against Spanish treasure fleets, a number of privateers made the transition to pirate and used the city as their mainstay. Pirates from around the world soon swarmed to Port Royal from afar, including Jack Smatt.

Black Jack Smatt, as he soon became known, arrived on the Island around 1660 in order to take advantage of the booming merchant trading between Europe and the New World. As the sands of time shifted, Black Jack grew restless with his conventional labourings and pursued the more lucrative act of privateering – the warranted attack on enemy ships. His unrivalled excellences in this industry and hunger for true greatness eventually lead him to piracy.

He was well-known as a rum drinker, a womaniser and a rogue spirit. One of his most infamous endeavors was plundering a large Spanish galleon, sailing out of Panama, originally sent from Madrid to protect the Spanish Maine. It was apparently a massive ship of around 200 tonnes and overflowing with treasure. Although Smatt’s holds were already full, the allure of more was too great. It is said that as the pirates drew near to the Spanish ship, it signaled for surrender, however, it was cunningly braced for battle. As Smatt approached, the merchant vessel fired its cannons, yet due to good fortune a sudden gust of wind caused the shot to miss. Allegedly it was at this instance that Smatt’s crew used their grappling hooks and pulled the ships together. The pirates promptly boarded the ship and Black Jack Smatt commandeered one of the largest treasure hauls of the era.

Soon after this, he exploited the absence of the Crown's rum rationing rules, using rum to win over his crew and as bounty aboard his ship. The popularity of rum was so great that any scarcity of it could lead to rebellion on pirate ships. The thirst for rum seemed unquenchable and many ships plundered as its crews were too drunk to control them. Rum became an intrinsic piece of the most prosperous pirating age- "The Golden Era" of 1650 – 1740, and Smatt had found the jewel of Jamaican Rum, his own special blend, created from a blend of rums from the finest distilleries in Jamaica of the time. It was said embody the free spirit that was Black Jack Smatt. The story that was rumoured amongst other pirates who were fortunate to get their hands on some was that if drunk, would bring them the luck and good fortune of Black Jack himself.

After an earthquake destroyed Port Royal in 1692, Black Jack Smatt disappeared along with many other inhabitants of the city. Legend is that the earthquake was an act of God resulting from the city's sinful reputation. Descendents of Black Jack Smatt still live in Jamaica continuing to make their living from the sea.

Article Source: EZEDIR.COM