Philip Middleton, he stole 270 pieces of gold.

Hanged at Execution Dock in 1696.

SPRATLIN, ROBERT.

Was one of Dampier's party which in 1681 crossed the Isthmus of Darien,
when he was left behind in the jungle with Wafer. Spratlin was lost when
the little party attempted to ford the swollen Chagres River. He
afterwards rejoined Wafer.

SPRIGGS, CAPTAIN FRANCIS FARRINGTON.

An uninteresting and bloody pirate without one single redeeming character.

He learnt his art with the pirate Captain Lowther, afterwards serving as
quartermaster with Captain Low and taking an active part in all the
barbarities committed by the latter.

About 1720 Low took a prize, a man-of-war called the _Squirrel_. This he
handed over to some of the crew, who elected Spriggs their captain. The
ship they renamed the _Delight_, and in the night altered their course and
left Low. They made a flag, bearing upon it a white skeleton, holding in
one hand a dart striking a bleeding heart, and in the other an hourglass.
Sailing to the West Indies, Spriggs took several prizes, treating the
crews with abominable cruelty. On one occasion the pirates chased what
they believed to be a Spanish ship, and after a long while they came
alongside and fired a broadside into her. The ship immediately
surrendered, and turned out to be a vessel the pirate had plundered only a
few days previously. This infuriated Spriggs and his crew, who showed
their disappointment by half murdering the captain. After a narrow escape
from being captured by a French man-of-war near the Island of St. Kitts,
Spriggs sailed north to the Summer Isles, or Bermudas. Taking a ship
coming from Rhode Island, they found her cargo to consist of horses.
Several of the pirates mounted these and galloped up and down the deck
until they were thrown. While plundering several small vessels of their
cargo of logwood in the Bay of Honduras, Spriggs was surprised and
attacked by an English man-of-war, and the pirates only escaped by using
their sweeps. Spriggs now went for a cruise off the coast of South
Carolina, returning again to Honduras. This was a rash proceeding on
Spriggs's part, for as he was sailing off the west end of Cuba he again
met the man-of-war which had so nearly caught him before in the bay.
Spriggs clapped on all sail, but ran his ship on Rattan Island, where she
was burnt by the _Spence_, while Captain Spriggs and his crew escaped to
the woods.

SPRINGER, CAPTAIN.

He