1. John Gow was probably born in Wick, Caithness, to William John Gow, a merchant, and Margaret Calder.
11 Facts About John Gow
1. 2.
John Gow was raised in Stromness, Orkney, where he went to school and learned to sail a ship.
3.
John Gow failed to attract sufficient numbers and the effort went nowhere.
4.
In London, word spread about the attempt, so John Gow fled to Amsterdam, where he joined the Canary Islands-bound Caroline as second mate.
5.
Not realising that John Gow was the ring leader of the attempted mutiny, Freneau ordered John Gow to prepare arms to defend the crew.
6.
John Gow was running low on supplies, and the authorities were on his trail.
7.
John Gow was eventually recognised by a merchant passing through the islands, and his true identity was revealed.
8.
John Gow was tried alongside pirate Brigstock Weaver, whose crimes were unrelated to Gow's.
9.
John Gow served as the model for Captain Cleveland in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Pirate.
10.
John Gow was featured in some of the writings of George Mackay Brown.
11.
The factual account of the capture of John Gow was featured in the book The Real Captain Cleveland by Allan Fea, a distant relative of the pirate catcher, and published by Secker, London, in 1912.