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 Rory Mor MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan, and was executed for high treason three years later.

Background Peter Love was stated to have been born in Lewes, Sussex, England, some time in the 16th century. He was a notable pirate of his era; his ship was called the Priam. Bearasaigh is located at: .

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.

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. to the authorities. According to Mackenzie accounts, MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan had only taken MacLeod to Glasgow under the pretence of taking him to the king. In the end, MacLeod was found guilty of high treason and hanged in April 1613; his son was banished to England.