Nielsen, Nicky The Pirate Captain Ned Low. His Life & Mysterious Fate

Edward "Ned" Lows career in piracy began with a single gunshot. While working on a logging ship in the Bay of Honduras the quick-tempered Ned was provoked by the ships captain. He responded by grabbing a musket and inciting a mutiny. Then the London-born sailor and a dozen of his crewmates held a council, stitched a black flag and voted to make war against the whole world preying on ships from any nation, flying any flag. Lows name became synonymous with brutality and torture during the 1720s as he cut a swathe of destruction from the shores of Nova Scotia to the Azores, the coast of Africa and throughout the Caribbean. Ned Lows life was one of failed redemption: a thief from childhood who briefly rose in the world after moving to America, only to fall again lower and harder than before. He was feared even by his own crew, and during his life on the wrong side of the law he became infamous for his extreme violence, fatalistic behavior, and became perhaps one of the best examples of why pirates were classed in Admiralty Law as "hostis humani generis": the common enemies of all mankind.

Low's name became synonymous with brutality and torture in the 1720s as he cut a swathe of devastation from the coasts of Nova Scotia to the Azores, the African coast and the entire Caribbean. Ned Low's life was one of failed redemption: a thief from childhood who rose briefly after moving to America, only to fall lower and harder than before. He was feared even by his own crew, and during his life on the wrong side of the law he became notorious for his extreme violence and fatalistic behaviour, becoming perhaps one of the best examples of why pirates were classified in admiralty law as "hostis humani generis": the common enemies of all mankind.