Peter Love

Peter Love (died 1610) was an English pirate, said to have been born in Lewes, Sussex. He was the captain of the Priam, and for a time occupied a base on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, when he entered into an agreement with the Hebridean outlaw Neil MacLeod.

From his base of operations on Lewis, Love captured numerous ships and seized their cargo. MacLeod, however, betrayed Love, and handed him over to the Scottish authorities. As a result, Love and several members of his crew were found guilty of piracy and condemned to be hanged in 1610. MacLeod did not much outlive Love, since he was betrayed by his kinsman

Background

Peter Love was stated to have been born in Lewes, Sussex, England,^[1] some time in the 16th century. He was a notable pirate of his era; his ship was called the Priam.^[2]

Allegiance with the outlaw Neil MacLeod

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Location of Bearasaigh.

According to early 20th-century historian William Cook Mackenzie, Love and the Priam had narrowly escaped capture off the coast of

The pirate Love and the outlaw MacLeod soon struck up a working friendship; after setting up a base in the area, and an agreement with MacLeod, the pirates resumed their trade and captured a (Lowland) Scottish ship, owned by Thomas Fleming (Ritchieson) of Anstruther, whom they detained as a prisoner. They also captured a Flemish ship, and transferred five of her crew to work as slaves, and replaced them with a similar number of pirates on board. This Flemish ship was later driven by bad weather onto the coast of Shetland, where the crew was forced to go ashore. Mackenzie related one account which stated that the friendship between Love and MacLeod was so strong that Love was about to marry a daughter of Torquil Blair MacLeod, who is described as Neil MacLeod's aunt. Mackenzie noted that this is obviously an error of some sort (as Torquil is a masculine name), and proposed that Torquil Blair may have been an illegitimate son of Old Ruari, the late chief of the MacLeods of Lewis.^[2] Later, the 20th-century clan historian Alec Morrison stated that Neil actually married the daughter of Torquil Blair MacLeod.^[3][5]

Capture and execution

Neil MacLeod, however, betrayed Love, and during a feast attempted to seize the pirates. Some of the pirates were killed during a desperate scuffle, but Love and the Priam were captured by MacLeod and his men. The four Dutchmen who had been enslaved by the pirates were freed and sent across Lewis, and a Scotsman who was also enslaved was detained by MacLeod, who waited for instructions from the Privy Council.^[2]

According to tradition, there was an abundance of money aboard the Priam which was divided and lotted amongst MacLeod and his followers by using the helmet of Donald Cam Macaulay. Mackenzie noted that there is no mention of money in the official records found on board the Priam. Her cargo of spices were of little use to outlaws—but money was of great use. Mackenzie noted that MacLeod's capture of Love would have served two purposes: providing him with a wealth of money; and giving him a means of reconciliation with the Government.^[2]

MacLeod sent a messenger to inform the Privy Council. MacLeod's version of events, related to the Privy Council, was that he was not personally present during the seizure of Love and the Priam. According to Mackenzie, the reason that MacLeod distanced himself from the actual event was so that he could not be held responsible if his men were thought to have helped themselves to the loot. Mackenzie also considered it quite likely that when the Priam was finally handed over to representatives of the Government, anything of use to Neil and his men would not have been found on board.^[2]

Love and nine of his men were handed over to Patrick Grieve and were tried in Edinburgh on 8 December 1610. The men were a mixture of nationalities: