Christopher Moody (1650s-1722) was a pirate as a member of

Bartholomew Roberts ) , type=Pirate , birth_place = Casnewydd Bach, near Puncheston, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Kingdom of England , death_place = At sea off of Cape Lopez, Gabon , allegiance= , serviceyears=1719–1722 , base of operations= Off the coast of the Americas ...

' crew but was never a captain in his own right. He is best known not for his own actions but for a popular

Jolly Roger Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the later part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly ...

flag mis-attributed to him as well as for later authors confusing him with unrelated pirate William Moody.

The real Christopher Moody

Christopher Moody was a member of Howell Davis's crew aboard the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Buck'' after Davis staged a mutiny, took over the vessel, and turned to piracy in 1718. Davis sailed to the western coast of Africa where he cooperated with fellow pirates Jeremiah Cocklyn and

Olivier Levasseur __NOTOC__ Olivier Levasseur (1688, 1689, or 1690 – 7 July 1730), was a French pirate, nicknamed ''La Buse'' ("The Buzzard") or ''La Bouche'' ("The Mouth") in his early days for the speed and ruthlessness with which he always attacked his enemi ...

. This was the only time the two Moodys potentially crossed paths: William Moody had recently ejected the quarrelsome Cocklyn but was in turn

marooned Marooned may refer to: * Marooning, the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area Film and television * ''Marooned'' (1933 film), a British drama film * ''Marooned'' (1969 film), an American science-fiction film * ''Marooned ...

by his own sailors. Davis was killed during an attempted raid on Principe and Roberts was elected Captain in his place. Christopher Moody stayed with Roberts until they were caught by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

ship ''Swallow'' in 1722. Witnesses at their trial described Moody as “behaving in a vile outrageous Manner, putting them in bodily Fears, sometimes for the Ship, and sometimes for themselves” and arguing with other forced crewmates. Another witness said that Moody “bully'd well among them who dar'd not make any Reply, but was very easy with his Friends, who knew him; for Moody, on this Occasion, took a large Glass from him, and threatened to blow his Brains out, (a favourite Phrase with these Pyrates) if he muttered at it.” After Moody was captured he was hanged at

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established ...

in Cabo Corso, Ghana, with

Thomas Sutton Thomas Sutton (1532 – 12 December 1611) was an English civil servant and businessman, born in Knaith, Lincolnshire. He is remembered as the founder of the London Charterhouse and of Charterhouse School. Life Sutton was the son of an official ...

and other former members of Roberts' crew. Though perpetrated by William Moody, other actions—that he commanded a ship or two and that he plundered vessels off the Carolina coast—have been ascribed to Christopher Moody. Period accounts such as the memorial by merchant

William Snelgrave William Snelgrave (1681–1743) was an English sea captain, slave trader, and ivory trader on the West African coast. Slave Trader Snelgrave began transporting slaves with his father, William Snelgrave Sr., who was a first-mate on ''the Eagle''. ...

(who had been captured by Davis and Cocklyn) mention only the last name “Moody.” Later depositions from pirates put on trial make clear that the pirate captain active off the Carolinas aboard his ship ''Rising Sun'' was William Moody, later overthrown by Cocklyn.

Moody's supposed Jolly Roger

A distinct and unique Jolly Roger flag is often attributed to Christopher Moody. Instead of the traditional white on black, Moody's Jolly Roger is depicted as gold on red. It also has an hourglass with wings, to express to his victims that their time to live was flying away. In the middle is a white arm holding a dagger. While popularly attributed to Christopher Moody, the flag may have been another pirate's, or may have been fictional. The flag had been described in the mid-18th century, but the first record of its being attributed to Christopher Moody appeared in 1933 in Gray's ''Pirates of the Eastern Seas''. An artist's conception of the flag appears in Bradlee's "Piracy in the West Indies and its Suppression" (1923) but is dated to 1746, years after Moody died. Christopher Moody was never a Captain and so would not have had a flag of his own in any event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Christopher 18th-century pirates British pirates People executed for piracy 1722 deaths 1694 births

The real Christopher Moody

Moody's supposed Jolly Roger

See also

References