Captain Ward and the Rainbow

John Ward was allegedly born in Kent, England, circa 1553. He’s said to have worked in fisheries before signing onboard a British privateer. When King James I ended the Anglo-Spanish War in 1603, letters of marque were withdrawn, but many crews opted to carry on in piracy. Around 1604, Ward was allegedly pressed into service aboard the King’s Lyon’s Whelp from which he led colleagues in deserting and stealing a series of larger ships. Wards piracy quickly became a point of international contention as Venice pushed England to rein in their pirate.

The famed ballad Captain Ward and the Rainbow describes Ward’s royal pardon request on January 6 of some unknown year. The request was denied, and Ward reluctantly settled in Tunis, organizing a corsair fleet, teaching gunnery and navigation, and living in comfort until his death in 1622. Most details of Ward’s career come from a 1609 pamphlet of English merchant captain Andrew Barker, whose ship York Bonaventure was among those captured by Ward, A True & Accurat Account of the beginning, proceedings, overthrows, and now present estate of Captain Ward and Danseker.