Europe under attack When we had arrived [in Cork], I made a request to Lord Inchaquoin to give me a passport for England. I took boat to Youghal and then embarked on the vessel John Filmer, which set sail with 120 passengers. `But before we had lost sight of land, we were captured by Algerine pirates, who put all the men in irons. ...the corsairs plundered British shipping pretty much at will... So wrote the Reverend Devereux Spratt - carried off in April 1641 for several years bondage in Algiers, while attempting a simple voyage across the Irish Sea from County Cork to England. Spratts experience has been largely forgotten now, though it was far from unique in his day. bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:24:22 +0000