"
Dead Man" Davey Black
The son of a coal miner in Leicestershire, the young Davey Black had never even heard of the sea let alone seen it. After working with his father and uncle in the mines , Davey decided that 12 hours a day underground was not where he wanted to be, so at the grand old age of 8, he retired from the pits and armed with two apples, half a loaf and a quart of ale, he set off to explore the world. He got one and a half miles before being robbed. Left where he fell, he was fortunate to be found by a passing band of "Virtuous women" who took pity on the poor wretch and took him away with them.
By the age of 14, Davey had himself an education of sorts and decided to seek his fortune on the streets of Plymouth, earning his keep as best he could. As a young man, he tried to live a righteous life, but in truth the closest Davey ever got to god was giving the last rites to the men that he killed and "religious experiences" to the women he charmed!
A theif, a vagabond and a downright scoundrel, Davey soon found himself looking forward to a date with the hangman. He escaped from his cell with the aid of one of his numerous female conquests and went to the harbour to sign up with the first ship out of Plymouth that night. It turned out to be a pirate ship..... Davey was right at home.
Over the months he earned a fearsome reputation as a ruthless and bloodthirsty rogue. Evil personified, so some of his pirate bretheren believed. During one particularly bloody battle Davey was fiercely set upon and had his throat cut and was thrown overboard. He was found floating in the sea two days later, amazingly still alive. From that day on, Davey was nicknamed "Dead Man Davey Black" as the story soon spread that this blackhearted pirate could not be killed, as the Devil could not take the competition and would not allow him into Hell. In fact, the only crew that would dare to sail with Davey ever again, were the infamous Pirates of St. Piran.
