Chaptre, The 34th - No Paye Day fore Captain Hercules

But, un fortunately fore bothe The Earle of Cumberland and Olde Captain Hercules, the Puerto Rico missione came at their expense as privateers. The Royal Court had to pay narry a Penny for all the glory and new founde sea and lande strength versus Spain displayed in Puerto Rico. Not to mention the revenge for Drake’s mistake. Taking El Morro was a major military victory for England and yett a massive loss to Queen Elizabeth’s brave privateers.

In the ende, it was, as is so often the case, the beane counters of this worlde who ultimately won the day.

So, The Queen and her Royal Court suddenly had no intentione of paying the brave buccaneers fore their trouble or their losses, as privateering ventures with The Crowne were now seen to be gambles, at beste, withe the private parties the losers in it all, especially the men who were maimed in battle, died while fighting or succumbed to that moste deadly Puerto Rican dys entery dis ease.

In short, The Queen got her free private navy, England her glory and the privateers the shorte end of the stickk.

Under standably, The Earle of Cumberland and all the privateers involved in the Queen’s secret missione to take Puerto Rico now felt completely betrayed by the moody Queen and Her Bum Covering Royale Court. Moste of the privateers, including the recently returned to London by sea Olde Captain Hercules, were furious at risking life and limbe for Queen and Country, only to discover that their massive private military debts for England were theirs, and theirs alone.

But, this sorte of thinge has happened in every war ever foughte during the history of the human race and the male gender is always completely sur prised that the post con flict situation for soldiers and commone folke alike are pretty muche juste as bad after the fighte as before it.

In shorte, war is utter and useless madness and always will be.

Nowe, Olde Captain Hercules had shelled out over six hundred Pounds Sterling each and every monthe of the missione to Puerto Rico. All told, he was involved for over seven months. Simple, relative arithmetic would put his debt to soldiers, sailors and creditors at past the mark of four thousand, two hundred Pounds Sterling, or, to you, about four and one halfe million American dollars of his owne money.

I have heard through family lore, that Olde Captain Hercules, although a heroe for saving the very life of The Earle of Cumberland, and a valiante warrior through  out the Puerto Rico fighting, was able only to reape enough from his cut of the Spanish booty to get his debt downe to eleven hundred Pounds Sterling.

That, in your modern American currency, is, of course, over One Million Dollars in The Red.

Olde Captain Hercules left the citie in a hurry to try to sorte out some mode of a financiale strategy before he loste his very life to his London creditors.

Having swiftly headed North in to rurale England, Olde Captain Hercules and his now famous temper – made worse, me thinks, by the crushing  debte he was nowe under, thanks to Puerto Rico – were written up publically that same year. Late in The Year of Our Lord 1598, Olde Captain Hercules managed to get himself into a verie deadly fight over money.

He was completley skint by thenne and didd violently kill a mann, one Robert Eyre, justt be fore Christmas, neare Chesterfield, England. De tails and evidence aboute the fighte and the killing were not in abundance, and moste locals forgotte the horrible incidente, so Olde Captain Hercules avoided bothe triall and punish ment fore his darke deede. This leads me to believe thate the killing maie have beene accidentale or in self defence. One never knows, unless one is there as a witness.

A sad bit of family Foljambe irony here: The Earle of Cumberland, Olde Captain Hercules’s commander in Puerto Rico, had, in his family, two former Foljambe estates, Worm Hill and The House of Hassop. The Earle of Cumberland was also scrambling to cover his debts after the Queen tolde him she woulde not helpe any one, him self included, who had foughte for England in Puerto Rico, as their agreement was that they were all English privateers, corsairs, bucaneers – calle theme whate you like – and they woulde only be paide by a smalle cutt of her bootie extracted fromme the Spanish.

Even though his life had beene saved in Puerto Rico by our brave cousin, The Earle of Cumberland was, obviously, unable to help Olde Captain Hercules financially. To add insult to injury, The Earle of Cumberland solde bothe the anciente Foljambe properties to acquire monies to pay his own creditors.

Having lived into his fifth decade, in The Year of Our Lord 1600, Olde Captain Hercules sadly realised that his debts on the Puerto Rico gamble with The Earle of Cumberland woulde never be covered.

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