Andrew Barton

Sir Andrew Barton (c. 1466 – 2 August 1511) served as High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland. Notorious in England and Portugal as a 'pirate', Barton was a seaman who operated under the aegis of a letter of marque on behalf of the Scottish crown, and is therefore more widely described as a privateer. The letter of marque against Portuguese shipping was originally granted to his father John Barton by James III of Scotland in 1485. John's ships were attacked by Portuguese vessels when he was trading in Flanders. James IV revived the letters.^[1] Andrew Barton was cruising the English coast looking for Portuguese prizes when he and his ship the Lion were captured in 1511 after a fierce battle with Sir Edward Howard and his brother. He was subsequently beheaded, which was itself illegal because Barton possessed a letter of marque. However this fact was ignored by vengeful English nobles.

He is the subject of an English folk song entitled Sir Andrew Barton or Andrew Bartin, which is Child ballad number 167.

The most famous lines of this ballad are:

'I am hurt but I am not slain.

I'll lay me down and bleed awhile,

Then I'll rise and fight again.'

His story is also told in a Scottish Child ballad called Henry Martin (Child ballad number 250). Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story connected with Barton in his Puck of Pook's Hill series.

References

Additional sources

Claire Jowitt. (ed.), Pirates? The Politics of Plunder, 1550–1650. Pp. xii + 244. Basingstoke, London, New York: Palgrave Macmillan,

External links

• Andrew Bartin, two variants on the ballad
• [1], Story of the Bartons on Electric Scotland

This Scottish biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This privateer-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This naval article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e