An excerpt of 

"Pirates of the Real Caribbean" 

by 

Bucky McSkelton.

     To be sure it must be said that Captain Artemis Flint was no criminal - at least not to the English government which he served. A ruffian, a hell-raiser, and a swindler - yes, but a real criminal - no. Unlike some of his living contemporaries in the late 1600's - like William Kidd or Calico Jack Rackham - he served England by harassing and robbing the Spanish in the Caribbean. Thus he was known as a privateer and not a buccaneer.

     His early years are largely obscure, but it is known that he started his career under the wing of the famous Captain Henry Morgan  when he was also a young man in the service of Cromwell. Their task was to wrest Jamaica from the Spanish. They succeeded and of course the trade in sugar prospered and soon after that came the rum trade - thus the more contemporary knowledge of Morgan as a rum spokesman.

John Rackham

William Kidd

Henry Morgan

     Flint, a Welshman by birth, served England and later retired there after witnessing the hanging and display of Captain Kidd’s body over the Thames as a warning against piracy toward England. It was in his retirement that he came in contact with Lord Ashton DeCorpse, with whom he shared many a rainy evening telling tales of the high seas and bloody raids on Spanish ships and settlements. It was during this time that DeCorpse made arrangements for Flint to reside in the DeCorpse family cemetery upon his death.

     Just what treasures and secrets Flint came across in his travels can only be guessed at because none of his ship’s logs or tales survive to this day. However, rumors persist that he spent time amongst the "heathen" natives of the islands as he called them, and that he acquired some occult knowledge from his time there. Just what these legends might be can only be guessed at, but it is known that he commanded deep respect from most of his crew and a loyalty that could only be called supernatural in the levels of devotion shown by this crew. In fact it is known that upon word of his death several members of his old crew actually committed suicide by either drowning themselves over the railings of what ships they served or by musket ball.

     In the journal of his old First Mate, Bartholomew Twitche, is was written that:

       "Not all held the ol’ Cap’n as a hero. Some allowed as he was a bloody tyrant givin’ to rages and brutality that put the fear of the devil in his crew more than sets up loyalty for him. He ruled with that THING he held dearest - an wit’ it he held our wills in check." 

     It should be noted that this, however, was only one opinion against Flint from any former member of his crew.  The "THING" that Twitche refers to was never fully explained in any writings of his, or the former crew of Flint's ship - the Black Dragon.