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Baymen

Albinus' Baymen.

The Baymen are former pirates under the leadership of Albinus, who retired from the Account to start a timber business. Charles Vane took command of them and made them his new crew. 

History[]

Background[]

Albinus led a large and feared pirate crew, who at some point sacked Campeche and Cartagena at his behest. However, at some point he decided to retire. He and his men settled an island in the Bahamas. With his crew serving as lumberjacks and foremen, along with the use of slave labor, Albinus began a timber business. The Baymen live a hardscrabble life, despite Albinus claiming that their business is doing well. They dress in animal skins and live in a primitive camp[1]

Season One[]

Charles Vane travels to Albinus’ Island, where the Baymen’s camp is located. There, he tries to negotiate with Albinus to give him a dozen men, and Vane promises to give Albinus a share for every four men he gives Vane. Albinus agrees to the plan but if Vane gives him a share for every three men. Before Vane leaves with his crew of Baymen, he challenges Albinus to a fight, calling him weak. The two fight, and Vane is knocked unconscious and buried in a shallow grave. However, Vane awakens and kills Albinus[1].

Vane then leads roughly 40 Baymen to New Providence Island. There, they attack Fort Nassau, surprising Benjamin Hornigold’s garrison, killing them all. They then fire the fort’s guns on Hornigold’s ship, sinking it. While Hornigold and Eleanor Guthrie scramble to try and figure out who is behind the attack, Vane and a small escort of men go into town. In a discussion with Eleanor, Vane reveals that he has taken the fort for himself, and threatens to sink every ship in the bay if attacked. Vane says he will not sink any ships or make any attempt to choke off trade if left alone. Furthermore, Vane demands Hornigold’s seat on the Consortium. Eleanor agrees, and Vane becomes the new Steward of the Fort and his crew the garrison. Vane then stops by the Inn with his men, and he places a black mark on Jack Rackham for his role in the betrayal and murder of Hamund and the other seven men who remained by their side, promising that Jack will never sail again[2]

Season Two[]

Vane and his men continue to garrison the fort. Jenks, one of the Baymen, has become Vane’s quartermaster. Vane frequently spars with his men, and ignores the summons to meetings of the Consortium[3]

Ned Low approaches Vane with ten percent of his crew's most recent haul as tribute so that Vane will stay out of his feud with Eleanor Guthrie. Vane and Jenks both agree that there is no benefit to them involving themselves in Eleanor's affairs. After Vane learns that Low is holding Abigail Ashe prisoner in order to ransom her to Lord Peter Ashe, her father and the Governor of Carolina, Vane leads his men in a nighttime assault on the Fancymassacring Low's crew. Afterwards, they take Abigail to the fort and Vane puts Low's decapitated head on a post and tacks a note beneath it that reads "I angered Charles Vane"[4]

Shortly thereafter, Flint returns to Nassau with a Spanish Man O' War and upon learning that Vane has possession of the fort, allies himself with Hornigold in order to oust Vane, fearing that Vane would try and extort him for the gold. Flint and Hornigold anchor their ship in a position that the fort's guns can't reach, and inform Vane that he has until sunrise to leave the fort, or they will attack[5].

Vane and the Baymen refuse and ride out the bombardment in the vaults below the fort[6]. Once Flint and his men land, Vane leaves to try and kill Flint, but is stopped by Eleanor. The three then sit down with Richard Guthrie and Miranda Barlow. Vane refuses to hand over Abigail so Flint can try and use her to reconcile Nassau and England in exchange for Flint calling off his assault[7]. However, Eleanor goes to the fort that night and seduces Vane before freeing Abigail. In retaliation, Vane has his men ambush Richard Guthrie on the road[8].

Vane and his men follow Flint to Charles Town, abandoning the fort and leaving behind Richard's crucified body and a note for Eleanor Guthrie[9]. They wait for nightfall before attacking Flint's ship at anchor in the bay. They kill about 20 members of the crew and capture the rest. However, they then receive word that Governor Peter Ashe has arrested Flint, who went ashore to return Abigail to him, and the pirates have until the trial's conclusion to leave, or their ship will be seized or sunk. Vane then resolves to rescue Flint, saying that Nassau cannot afford to have one of her most feared captains swing over Charles Town[10].

Vane leaves with half of his men to enact his rescue plan, leaving Jenks in charge of the remainder, most of whom think they should just flee. However, Jenks does not have sufficient men to sail the Spanish Man O' War on his own. While Vane allows himself to be arrested, the rest of his men take over portions of The Battery, turning the guns towards the town. When Vane gives the signal, they open fire on the city, allowing Vane and Flint to escape in the ensuing chaos. Meanwhile, Jenks tries to lead a mutiny and tortures John Silver for the names of captives who would be willing to help them escape. However, Billy Bones leads his men in overpowering their captors. When Flint and Vane return, he has Vane keep his men in line and orders the gun crews to destroy Charles Town[11].

Season Three[]

Baymen continue to serve under Charles Vane as members of his crew aboard his schooner. Vane leads them in capturing a Dutch Slaver, whose slaves are to be used for fort repairs, with promises from Jack Rackham that they will be treated humanely[12]

The Baymen in Vane’s crew remain by his side when the British forces under the leadership of the new Royal Governor, Woodes Rogers arrives and offers Royal Pardons to all the pirates save for Vane, upon whom a bounty of 10,000 pounds is placed[13]. They help him sail a fireship at Rogers' Fleet to break their line, allowing the Pirate Fleet to escape. The Baymen are then absorbed into Teach's crew aboard his ship[14].

As part of Teach's crew, they participate in the boarding of the Spanish Merchant Ship. The pirates are victorious, and discover a trove of intelligence from the Casa de Contratación[15]. The fleet then goes to Ocracoke Island. James Flint later arrives and tries to take command of the fleet. He and Teach duel while their crews watch. Before Teach is able to kill Flint, Vane intervenes, and Teach orders them both off the island[16].

After hearing of Vane's execution at the hands of Governor Rogers, Teach leads the Pirate Fleet to the Maroon Island, and they meet with Jack Rackham aboard the Walrus. They then attack Woodes Rogers' Fleet, defeating them and forcing them to flee[17].

Season Four[]

The Baymen continue to serve under Teach and Rackham aboard the Revenge. While the Pirate Fleet is defeated during the Invasion of Nassau, they are able to defeat Woodes Rogers' Three Sloops and return to Nassau to blockade the harbor[18]. They eventually leave to follow Woodes Rogers' ship in order to kill or capture him[19].

The Baymen are captured during the Boarding of the Lion, during which the vanguard is captured aboard the Lion and Rackham surrenders to save their lives. Teach is then executed via keelhauling, and prisoners placed in the hold of the Lion[20]. After learning of Nassau's fall, the Lion is left behind under the command of a lieutenant while Rogers races ahead to retake Nassau from the pirates. The Redcoats hold fight matches between unarmed pirates and a hulking Redcoat armed with a mallet named Mr. Milton. Ultimately, Anne and Jack are able to lead their remaining men in taking the ship over[21].

The Baymen continue to follow Jack after the Spanish Sack of Nassau to Philadelphia, where he negotiates a deal to depose Governor Rogers and end piracy, but he has to kill Flint to consummate the deal[22]. They travel to Nassau and after finding the last living member of Henry Avery's crew, they head to Skeleton Island[23].

At Skeleton Island, they defeat Rogers with the help of the Walrus Crew survivors. After Rogers' defeat, Flint is taken to Savannah, and Rogers is imprisoned while Featherstone becomes governor. Piracy is officially ended, but certain crews are allowed to remain on the Account in order to drive up prices for the merchants in town. Jack's crew remains one of the last active crews in Nassau[24].

Baymen[]

Quotes[]

"Wood sells well and we don't rely on the mercy of the sea."

Albinus to Charles Vane in VII.

"You were a strong crew once, proper pirates. Feared, as you should have been, before he dragged you away from the sea, before he convinced you to live here like animals."

Charles Vane to the Baymen in VII.

Trivia[]

  • While they are never directly referred to as Baymen, they are clearly (although somewhat loosely) based on the former pirates who settled the area of what is modern day Belize (they are portrayed in the show as settling in the Bahamas) after fleeing from the Spanish. They realized they could make a profit cutting and selling logwood, and made that their primary source of income and used slave labor to do so. One of the characters is even credited as the Bayman Lieutenant. In the show, the Baymen are more generic lumberjacks rather than specifically cutting and selling logwood, but like their real life counterparts, they rely on slave labor.
  • It is unclear what happens to the Baymens' slaves or women after Vane takes over. His crew is described as consisting of 40 men, and they seem to exclusively be the former pirates.

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

WP favicon Baymen on Wikipedia 

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