The Captain of the Coin and the Lord Admiral

By Don Falloon

The year is 1594. Sea Dogs and Sea Rovers rule the seas, laying claim to the riches to be had from Spain's gold- and silver-laden ships traversing the oceans.
The Sea Dogs are Privateers, lording over the sea under the authority of England's Queen Elizabeth. Armed with fast ships and heavy guns, they carry with them Letters of Marque giving them tacit permission to plunder Spanish ships on behalf of the Crown to enrich English coffers.
Sea Rovers, a self-acclaimed title for those known and despised as Pirates, are the thieves, cutthroats, and murderous rogues, who pillage and plunder ships with little regard for life. Some are glorified as seagoing Robin Hoods, but their exploits as robbers of the seas are on behalf of only themselves.
Two dedicated sea commanders, the Rover known as the Captain of the Coin and a Lord Admiral serving in Her Majesty's Navy, both highly respected by their peers and crews, have and will again encounter the other on the high seas. The cat-and-mouse game between the renegade Pirate and the decorated Privateer is driven by both resentment and respect while spawning personal battles with destinies and memories. This is the tale of seagoing heroes on opposite sides of maritime law, steadfast in their loyalties, and far more alike than they could admit or would have imagined. (Contains some adult language)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Falloon
• Release date: Jan 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215711187

Don Falloon

Born in and raised all around Sacramento, CA, despite my many travels, I tend to base my novels here in the Golden State. I have many eclectic interests and experiences (race announcer, radio deejay, tour guide, car restorer, motorcyclist, and more) that are reflected in my stories, and are the reason I haven't restricted my writings to any single genre. Be it Historic NASCAR (Hiding Behind Thunder), auto racing (SPECTRUM: A Hero of a Different Color), playing a pirate at many a Renaissance Faire (The Captain of the Coin and the Lord Admiral), or simply my skewed sense of humor (Heart of Ezdar), I take whatever sparks my creativity and run with it. Enjoy the ride!

Book preview

The Captain of the Coin

and the Lord Admiral

Don Falloon

© Don Falloon, 2023.  All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously.

Also by Don Falloon:

HIDING BEHIND THUNDER (2011)

Heart of Ezdar (2012)

SPECTRUM – A Hero of a Different Color (2017)

To Hornsby, Mad Sal, Jolly Jo,

and those mates who dare the fortune:

the Rogues of the Golden Coast and Rogue’s Cove.

Now and then we had the hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.

- Mark Twain

When the king asked him what he meant by infesting the sea, the pirate defiantly replied: The same as you do when you infest the whole world; but because I do it with a little ship I am called a robber, and because you do it with a great fleet, you are an emperor.

- Saint Augustine

Chapter 1

Sea Dogs and Sea Rovers

The year is 1594. Sea Dogs and Sea Rovers rule the seas, laying claim to the riches to be had from Spain’s gold- and silver-laden ships traversing the oceans.

The English Sea Dogs are Privateers, lording over the sea under the authority of England’s Queen Elizabeth. Armed with fast ships and heavy guns, they carry with them Letters of Marque and Letters of Retribution giving them tacit permission to plunder Spanish ships and ports on behalf of the Crown to enrich English coffers. Some will be revered as heroes to their homeland, their names to be etched in history, their sins ignored as long as their loyalty and duty remains to the Crown.

Privateers were not limited to Her Majesty’s warships. English merchants and fishers welcomed the potential for a greater income and, subsequently, a higher profit than could ordinarily be obtained in their usual seagoing self-employment. Many had, at the Crown’s request, contributed their ships and personnel to those of the English fleet in 1588 when Spain’s Invincible Armada attempted to invade England in Prince Philip II’s quest to take over the country and return the masses to the Catholic faith. The civilian sailors were significant players in Spain’s eventual defeat later that year. Many of those ships and their crews continue to serve the Crown as privateers well after the Armada was crushed, devoting themselves to the constant harassment of the Spanish long after the war was decided.

Admirals and captains of the Royal Navy who led their crews in successfully vanquishing the Spanish Armada, and then later oversee the capture and lucrative plunder of Spanish vessels, become favorites of Queen Elizabeth and King James. They share in the profits and are often rewarded with promotions in rank, lordships, and knighthoods. They are prized and acclaimed by the Royal Family, and they continue to be a perpetual thorn in the side of Prince Philip II. It is the dogged Spanish who ordained the Queen’s privateers as Sea Dogs, the titling far from complimentary.

Sea Rovers is a title both apt and as a euphemism for those far better known and despised as Pirates. Their victims see them only as thieves, cutthroats, and murderous rogues who also pillage and plunder ships and ports, some ruthlessly and with little regard for life. Some are glorified as seagoing Robin Hoods, but their exploits as robbers of the seas are on behalf of only themselves. They are not beholden to any country nor do they serve to enrich any sovereignty, their targets consisting of any and all that fall within their reach, regardless of what land they call home. They are a mishmash of national origins; Irish, Dutch, French, English, and even black men who can only experience acceptance and freedom as members of a ragtag pirate crew.

Some Rover captains purchase their ships and hire crews in order to ply their trade. Others acquire their ships and crews through mutiny, while still others simply steal ships and offer an open invitation to any men wishing to engage in piracy under their command. Regardless of their origins or personal reasons for embarking on the pirate life, without regard to their successes and whatever riches they might obtain, few survive long enough to enjoy the spoils of victory. It is a life lived in search of adventure and untold riches, but in reality, is fraught with danger and hardships, their lives often lost to bloody battles, their bodies swallowed by unforgiving seas, and their names lost to time. When these lawless rogues are captured, their verdicts are oft decided in rushed trials with little hope of acquittal, an executioner’s rope waiting to rob those judged as guilty of their final breaths. But the allure of adventure and the spoils of their trade is too great, and even the shortest-lived rovers with their brief careers might one day be recognized as legends.

Two such dedicated sea commanders, a Rover Captain and a Lord Admiral serving in Her Majesty’s Navy, both highly respected by their peers and crews, have and will again encounter each other on the seas. The engagements of the renegade Pirate and the decorated Privateer spawn both introspection and retrospection, and foster a begrudging mutual respect. This is the tale of seagoing heroes on opposite sides of maritime law, inimical in their loyalties, but who are far more alike than they could admit or would have imagined.

Chapter 2

The Coin

Late May, 1594

In Irish lore it was known as Bonn Beannaithe Naomh Adhamhnáin – the Blessed Coin of St. Adomnán.

It was but an inch and a half in diameter, thick as a doubloon, as round as the sun and with little glitter or shine to its faces. The front or favored face of the coin was adorned with the images of the sun and crescent moon and a pair of open hands with all-seeing eyes in the palms. Beneath was inscribed in Gaelic, ‘IS É’, meaning ‘It is’, while the reverse displayed a skull atop a winged skeletal torso hovering over the word ‘NÍ HÉ’, or Gaelic for ‘It is not’. 

To the casual eye it appeared as but a trinket, yet the pewter used in the casting of the coin was said to have been blessed nearly a millennia ago by St. Adomnán of Iona, the Irish saint known and respected for his gift of prophesy. In the tales of legend, a turn of the coin could decide between yes or no, fight or flee, and was even said to possess the power to decide life and death.

The coin was said to possess mystical powers, but the worthy Irish hand that held it was not obligated to strictly adhere to the reply of the coin. Its real value was as a means of divine council. And in accordance with its creation, it was meant to be passed on from its esteemed possessor to the next man deemed meritorious of the coin’s guidance. According to lore, only ten of these coins were said to be cast, and over the millennia half of those were destroyed in one form or another. The whereabouts of four of them remained vague or unknown.

But one such coin – and very likely the only one that now existed – had been passed down from a well-respected Irish sea captain to the next person he believed was worthy of its powers. Without ceremony, he handed the coin to a young sailor deemed true to his heart and a man of his word who the captain believed would be a great and fair leader. That Irish lad forged a life with the sea and had himself grown to become a respected captain and notorious sea rover. Or, as the English preferred to describe him and men like him, a pirate.

A pirate who had weeks ago resigned his command, leaving his ship and crew behind to face heart-wrenching pain unlike any he had known before. Forever dreading this moment, he now stood over the grave of his beloved wife, struggling to not let his eyes erupt in a flood of tears. The whole of his body trembled as he fought to restrain the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. He was tempted to consult his coin but knew he would be unsuccessful at completely bottling up his feelings even if the coin encouraged him to do so.

As if all strength had suddenly been sapped from his body he dropped to his knees and gave in to his pain, finally letting the swell of tears escape his eyes. They formed rivulets that trickled down his face, collecting in his short chin beard for the briefest of moments before raining onto the small headstone bearing testament to the woman who had once made his life as whole as she could under the circumstances.

Cascading tears peppered the marker of Eliza Wallis, a lovely Irish lass who never bore children and lived a life of relative anonymity. She could not even bear her husband’s name for fear of retribution should it be learned that she was the devoted wife of a sea rover.  Born in 1560, she had died shortly after the new year of 1594 had been ushered in, just shy of the age of 34, after years of surviving the famine at the hands of English forces in Ireland whose primary tactic was the destruction of Irish farmlands. Yet by all accounts she remained proud and defiant until she succumbed to illness that struck while her notorious pirate husband was at sea, and no coin, no matter how storied and legendary, could have foreseen nor prevented it.

Now with no wife to retire to and no reason to ever set foot in his home county again, his very soul filled with bitter anger for the English, the Irish sea rover had but one passion left to him should the fates allow. Should the coin turn in his favor, he would dedicate himself solely to his trade and seek reinstatement to the captaincy he held until the loss of his loved one called him away from the sea. He knew the coin could not and would not control the decisions of the pirate council as to what verdict to apply. He drew a long breath and flicked it into the air.

It felt like forever as the coin hovered in the air until gravity drew the tumbling disk earthward, falling into his open palm before being slapped onto the back of his left hand. He lifted his right hand to reveal the coin’s prophetic reply...

‘IS É’,

While the coin’s judgement could not guarantee his reinstatement to the captaincy, his heart swelled with confidence that he would receive an affirmative vote by the council once he returned to the rover vessel Golden Falcon, to again take to the seas as The Captain of the Coin.

Chapter 3

Before the Council

Early June, 1594

The weather that late evening was clear, the air chilled slightly by the barest of breezes wafting through the harbor. Save for the select few needed as lookouts to ensure their safety while at anchor, all hands were huddled together below the main deck attending the pirate council. Candles, lanterns, and the body heat of the congregation of 80 sailors generated warmth in the confines of the makeshift council chamber, while the soft strumming of a stringed instrument fluttered in the air.

Typically, there would be a trio of the highest-ranking sea rovers onboard the Golden Falcon sitting at a table while the crew remained standing. As heads of a council gathering, their duty was not to cast a verdict, but to define the purpose of the assembly, maintain order, and count the votes of the crew when a decision was called for. If the vote was too close to call, the lookouts currently on the poop deck would be polled to break the tie so that a final verdict might be rendered. 

Tonight, only one man stood in place of the council table to oversee the event. John Riley was one of the most respected and feared men on board the Golden Falcon. Twice he had been nominated to serve as captain in the past, but had declined in favor of lording over those who were responsible for, in his words, blasting the shite out of any vessel that dare challenge my ship. But he served as commander of the ship whenever the captain or quartermaster slept.

Called Preacher by the crew, Riley was not a true man of the cloth. However, he was well-known for putting the fear of God into many a sailor should they fall short or fail in their duties. As the ship’s Master Gunner he demanded military-like precision of those operating the cannons and their exacting maintenance before and after battle.

At 6’5" he towered over the majority of the crew. His very size, booming voice, shock of silver hair, and the dark circles beneath his eyes only added to his ominous presence. Those dark circles were said to be proof that Preacher never slept, which had many a man looking over his shoulders day and night.

In this instance, Preacher stood as the sole head of the council opposite the two other men who would normally be lording over the occasion, as those two men were the reason behind the need for a verdict to be cast.

Ahoy all ye buckos, hearties, picaroons and rapscallions, he began. We be gathered this fine June night to welcome back our brother, fighter, and fine-spun man who has led us to many a successful capture of vessels and booty. He has always been intelligent, trustworthy, and honorable... which is far more than ye bilge rats deserve.

Chuckles and chortles floated among the assembly. Preacher continued.

But also being a humble man, Augustus Blackheart did not return with the expectation of being restored as captain. Nay, he seeks our votes of confidence once more. He be nominated to again assume command by our current commander, Captain Hartwick. Captain, does ye wish to speak on Mr. Blackheart’s behalf?

I be honored to do so, Mr. Riley.

The soft music faded. Captain Bartholomew Hartwick leaned his 5-string Spanish gittern against a supporting timber, then stepped forward into the unoccupied center of the gathered crew.

He was tall, with dark eyes that continually surveyed his surroundings, even as he might strum his instrument during one of the precious few quiet moments a rover might experience between raids and restocking of supplies. He possessed a square jaw supporting a mouth where the corners of his lips were always turned slightly shy of breaking into a smile. His long hair was black as night and neatly tied back in a black bow. He put his arms behind him and slowly surveyed the crew.

As the lot o’ ye know, I was Captain Blackheart’s nominee for the position of Captain in his absence. As his quartermaster me authority among ye equaled his. But in me second duty as First Mate, he always gave me opportunities to learn what it takes to be the leader among a ship manned by such fine lubbers as ye.

He abandoned us! barked a gravelly voice from the crowd.

Abandoned? Methinks far from it, Hartwick replied to the disembodied voice. Our captain received heart-wrenching news. His wife in Ireland had died. The worth of the Golden Falcon was as important to him as was the very love of his life, and she had passed on. As he told every one of ye when he nominated me to take his place before the council, he feared his grief might cause ill consequences in his decision making, his prophetic coin or no. As our captain he has allowed members of this crew to take leave or resign entirely so that they might return to their families or attend to other matters. And why should such a fine captain not receive the same relief as any one of ye?

A muted grumble could be heard, the tone hinting of affirmation.

"He be but human, yet without fail has always been a man of his word. Mayhap that be what makes him such a fine commander among us. I