tudying the subject of piracy at all closely, one cannot but be
struck by the number of pirates who came from Wales. Welshmen figure not
only amongst the rank and file, but amongst the leaders. Morgan, of
course, stands head and shoulders above the rest. It is curious how
certain races show particular adaptability for certain callings. Up to two
hundred years ago the chief pirates were Welshmen; to-day most of our
haberdashers hail from the same land of the leek. It would be interesting
to try and fathom the reason why these two callings, at first sight so
dissimilar, should call forth the qualities in a particular race. Perhaps
some of our leading haberdashers and linen drapers will be willing to
supply the answer.

I sometimes wonder what happens to the modern pirates; I mean the men who,
had they lived 200 years ago, would have been pirates. What do they find
to exercise their undoubted, if unsocial, talents and energies to-day?
Many, I think, find openings of an adventurous financial kind in the City.

Politics, again, surely has its buccaneers. One can imagine, for example,
some leading modern politician--let us say a Welshman--who, like Morgan,
being a brilliant public speaker, is able by his eloquence to sway vast
crowds of listeners, whether buccaneers or electors, a man of quick and
subtle mind, able to recognize and seize upon the main chance, perfectly
ruthless in his methods when necessity requires, and one who, having
achieved the goal on which he had set his ambition, discards his party or
followers, as Morgan did his buccaneers after the sacking of Panama. Nor
is Europe to-day without a counterpart to the ruffian crews who arrogantly
"defied the world and declared war on all nations."

One great difficulty which the author of this work is met with is to
decide who was, and who was not, a pirate.

Certain friends who have taken a kindly, if somewhat frivolous, interest
in the compilation of this work have inquired if Sir Francis Drake was to
be included; and it must be admitted that the question is not an easy one
to answer. The most fervent patriot must admit that the early voyages of
Drake were, to put it mildly, of a buccaneering kind, although his late
voyages were more nearly akin to privateering cruises than piracy. But if,
during the reign of King Philip, a Spaniard had been asked if Drake was a
pirate, he would certainly have answered, "Yes," and that without any
hesitation whatever. So much depe