Red Legs Greaves

"Red Legs" Greaves was allegedly a Scottish-Barbadian buccaneer active in the Caribbean and the West Indies during the 1670s. His nickname came from the term Redlegs used to refer to the class of poor whites who lived on colonial Barbados.

Although considered a successful pirate during his alleged career, most notably his raid of Margarita Island in the mid-1670s, he is best known for his escape from prison during an earthquake.

His story does not appear in historical records of the era and he may have been fictional.

Authenticity Greaves’ story does not appear in period accounts of Margarita, pirate trials, or other documents. It first appears in A. Hyatt Verrill's 1923 In the Wake of the Buccaneers, but no sources are cited. Verrill included Greaves in several of his later books, and Philip Gosse repeated the story in his Pirates' Who's Who (1924). Verrill travelled widely in the West Indies, and conceivably came across this story, perhaps as a folk tale traveledor local legend, but he also has a reputation for fictionalizing and inventing material. Verrill's and Gosse's works appeared only two years after Rafael Sabatini’s popular novel Captain Blood, and Gosse’s description of Greaves parallels Sabatini's Captain Blood closely.

The early life of Greaves Greaves' parents had been tried for treason for their participation during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and were sent into servitude, as were many Royalists and Covenanters. He is thought to have been born in 1649 in Barbados.

Born a short time after his parents' arrival in Barbados, Greaves became the servant of a kindly master. However, his parents and master died a short time after another, and the orphaned boy was sold to another man who was claimed to have been violent and to have often beaten Greaves as a teenager.

Around 1675, he captured Margarita Island off the coast of Venezuela. After capturing the local Spanish fleet, he turned their guns against the island's coastal defenses and successfully stormed the town. After taking a large number of pearls and gold, he soon left without further looting the town or harming the inhabitants.

Capture and escape After the raid, Greaves was able to retire from piracy and settled down to the life of a gentleman farmer in Nevis. However, after being recognized by one of his former victims, he was turned into authorities to collect the reward offered for his capture.

Greaves was found guilty of piracy, and despite his reputation, no leniency was shown towards him. He was sentenced to be hanged in chains. While imprisoned in the prison dungeon to await his execution, the town was submerged by an earthquake. Greaves was one of the few survivors and was eventually picked up by a whaling ship.