Thursday, 27 July 2006
Lundy Island Pirates - Colyn Dolphin
Colyn Dolphin, or Dolphyn, was a Breton pirate who made Lundy Island his base in the 1440s. He is known to have terrorised ships all over the country. He was said to be quite a bit taller than the English and Welsh folk he scared so much, and was apparently athletic-looking, too.
As well as treasure, Dolphin liked to take wealthy prisoners and hold them to ransom. This was to be his downfall. In 1449, Dolphin kidnapped Sir Harry Stradling, whose family owned St Donat's Castle in Glamorgan, South Wales. To pay the ransom, his family had to sell off several estates. Sir Harry Stradling did not forget.
Instead, he built a watchtower where he posted men to watch for Colyn Dolphin's boat and waited for a chance to exact his revenge. Eventually he struck it lucky and Dolphin's boat was seen to run aground. Actually, luck may not have had a lot to do with it, as it is uncertain whether this was an accident or whether Stradling's men used lights to lure him onto the rocks. What is certain, however, is that Stradling quickly had the pirate and his crew taken prisoner.
There are two stories of what became of Colyn Dolphin. One is that he and his men were hanged in the castle grounds. The other is that Dolphin was buried up to his neck in a place called Tresilian Cave during low tide, while Stradling and his men watched as the tide came in. Either way, Henry VI was not very happy with Stradling for taking the law into his own hands, but happy or not, Colyn Dolphin's reign of terror over the seas was finished.
My next Lundy post will be about its association with the Barbary pirates.
