The Sad Story of Captain Kidd, Whose Ghost Protects His Treasure

Bright Side

Captain Kidd was a famous pirate who sailed the seas in the late 1600s, looking for treasure and adventure. He was eventually caught and executed for piracy, but legend has it that he buried a massive treasure somewhere before he was captured. People have searched for his hidden loot for centuries, but no one has found it yet. Some say his ghost guards the treasure, scaring off anyone who gets too close. It's a spooky tale that keeps treasure hunters dreaming and digging!  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00Just like Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Captain Kidd was a pirate who sailed around looking for treasure.

00:10Only he was less charming and more dangerous. As the legend goes, he was so protective of his loot that he is still out there, guarding it as a ghost.

00:21William Kidd, who became famous as Captain Kidd, was born around the 1650s. He told people his birthplace was Dundee, Scotland, but many people think it was a lie.

00:35When he was a young man, Kidd settled in New York City. He became friends with powerful people, including three governors.

00:43Some stories suggest he started his maritime adventures as a rookie on a pirate ship before becoming a well-known sailor.

00:51By 1689, Kidd had already become part of a pirate crew. When they were sailing in the Caribbean, Kidd and other men on the ship rebelled.

01:01They overpowered the captain and renamed their ship Blessed William, making Kidd the new captain.

01:07Kidd gained experience and even assisted certain countries during battles.

01:13Once, the governor didn't pay the crew for their services, and Kidd and his team attacked a French island, Marie Galante, and looted it, collecting a huge amount of money.

01:24In 1691, Kidd married a woman named Sarah Bradley, who was one of the richest women in New York.

01:31She had been married twice before him and was a widow. Her money came as an inheritance from her previous husbands.

01:41A few years later, the man in charge of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire asked Captain Kidd to go after some pirates.

01:49This wasn't just any request. It had the support of the king and carried a lot of importance.

01:56If Kidd had said no, people would have thought he was disloyal and looked down on him.

02:02This was the start of the journey that made Captain Kidd famous as a pirate and a character in stories.

02:09This trip was funded by a few noble lords, who were some of the most powerful people in England at that time.

02:16The king himself signed a letter that gave Kidd permission to be a privateer, which is basically a pirate who can do all piratey things with a legal license.

02:26This letter said that 10% of the treasure he may find would go to the king.

02:31To get some extra cash for the trip, Kidd had to sell one of his ships, the Antigua, and for his special voyage, Kidd got a new ship called the Adventure Galley.

02:41It was perfect for chasing pirates, with 34 cannons, oars, and a crew of 150 men.

02:49The oars were handy because they let the ship move even when the wind wasn't blowing.

02:54Kidd was very picky about his crew, choosing only the best and most loyal officers.

03:03But as the Adventure Galley sailed, something strange happened.

03:07Kidd was expected to salute a navy yacht, but he did not.

03:12So, the navy yacht fired a shot to show Kidd he needed to pay respect.

03:17But Kidd and his crew decided to do the opposite.

03:21They turned around and slapped their backsides in disrespect.

03:25After this, the navy captain got angry and took many of Kidd's crew members to work for the navy, even though privateer crews were usually free from this obligation.

03:35Kidd, short of men, sailed to New York, where he captured a French ship.

03:40To replace his lost crew, he hired a lot of known criminals, some of whom were likely former pirates.

03:47In September 1696, Captain Kidd set sail for the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

03:54His journey faced troubles right from the start.

03:57Cholera caused many of his crew to get sick and pass away.

04:00Even worse, their brand new ship started to have lots of leaks.

04:06Kidd was also on a mission to catch some pirates in the Indian Ocean, but he couldn't find them.

04:14As his big plan started falling apart, Kidd got desperate to make money to cover his costs.

04:20The worst happened a few months later.

04:23Kidd attacked one of his own crew members because the man wanted to board a Dutch ship.

04:27But it would have been considered an act of piracy.

04:31The man passed away due to his injury.

04:33Things were going downhill fast for Kidd, and a Royal Navy officer declared him a pirate.

04:39Kidd changed his ship's flag to look like it was French and captured a big Indian ship called the Quedig Merchant.

04:46It was loaded with valuable stuff like silk, gold and silver.

04:51Kidd decided to keep the Quedig Merchant and sailed to Madagascar.

04:55There he met another pirate named Robert, who had taken Kidd's ship years ago.

05:00There are two different stories about how it went.

05:03One says Kidd was nice to him, and the other says Kidd was scared and wanted to wait for his backup to attack.

05:09But whatever the case, most of Kidd's crew left him to join Robert.

05:17Kidd decided to give up and go back home.

05:19He left his old ship, the Adventure Galley, behind as it was falling apart.

05:24Before he set it on fire, he took all valuables from it and boarded the Adventure Prize.

05:30The British authorities had a law that offered pardons to pirates in the Indian Ocean, but they made sure Kidd couldn't get one.

05:37They didn't want to forgive him because he was connected to some powerful people in England.

05:42Kidd found out he was wanted as soon as he reached Anguilla, and he couldn't use the pardon.

05:47The government had changed, and new leaders wanted to use him to make their rivals look bad.

05:53They thought Kidd would spill the beans about his powerful supporters.

05:57However, Kidd refused to reveal any names, believing that his friends would come to his rescue, but they failed him.

06:05Some say he might have escaped punishment if he had talked, but he didn't.

06:09Kidd was sent to London to stand trial before the High Court of Admiralty.

06:13They accused Kidd of piracy on the high seas and the accident with a crew member.

06:19While he waited for his trial, he was locked up in the notorious Newgate Prison.

06:26They found him guilty on all counts and sentenced him to public execution, though many questioned if the evidence was enough for such a harsh verdict.

06:36He was executed on May 23, 1701.

06:39His body was displayed over the River Thames for three years as a warning to anyone thinking about becoming a pirate.

06:47Some of Kidd's crewmen were supposed to be punished in the same way, but they were set free before their executions.

06:54The loot Captain Kidd had collected over the years made people believe he must have hidden it somewhere.

07:01This sparked loads of treasure hunts in different places.

07:04Some people say that Kidd might have hidden the treasure on the Rahway River in New Jersey, just across from Staten Island.

07:12Evidence suggests that Captain Kidd hid a small stash of treasure on Gardner's Island, near New York.

07:19It was supposedly found and sent to England as proof against Kidd in his trial for piracy.

07:25Around the Bay of Fundy, people have been looking for Kidd's treasure since at least 1875.

07:31They believed he hid it there during his time as a privateer.

07:35There's a place on the island called Money Cove because of these stories.

07:42Considering how Kidd met his sad and unfair fate, it's not surprising that people have claimed to see the ghost of Captain Kidd.

07:51Some people reported spotting him at Trinity Churchyard as if he was searching for his own grave.

07:57There's also a story of two men who tried to look for Kidd's jewels in 1825.

08:03They actually found a treasure box.

08:05But before they could crack it open, the ghost of Captain Kidd himself rose up from the ground next to the treasure chest.

08:13This sight was so terrifying that it made the men pass out.

08:17Both of them claimed to have seen a truly creepy figure emerge from the earth.

08:22It breathed out sulfur fumes and seemed to glide over the ground.

08:27Thankfully, there is no solid evidence that confirms these ghost stories.

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