Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Pirates
Pirate

John Gow

Calf of Eday, Orkney

An Orkney pirate who came home to raid his own islands.

John Gow led a mutiny in 1724, took the ship and renamed her the Revenge. He sailed home to Orkney and began raiding houses on the islands.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open John Gow on the mapReport a sighting here
When
1725
Where
59.2300, -2.7100
Group
Pirates

Visiting

Eday is reached by ferry from Kirkwall.

Cover of Blood and Gold by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

Blood and Gold

Sixteen true stories of mutiny, mercy, treasure and the gallows from the Golden Age of Piracy: Henry Every, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, Edward England, Howell Davis, Christopher Moody, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Calico Jack, Edward Low, Captain William Kidd and Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy. Where the record is uncertain, the book says so.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries