Were Pirates Foes of the Modern Order—or Its Secret Sharers?

For Captain Kidd, it was a life-changing haul, one that he predicted would “make a great Noise in England.” He was right. Kidd became the “Subject of all Conversation” there, a contemporary wrote, his life “chanted about in Ballads.” One is still sung today: “My name is Captain Kidd, / And God’s laws I did forbid, / And most wickedly I did, / As I sailed.”