Arguments for Captain Kidd’s Innocence

The Scotsman published an excellent article about the potential innocence of one of Britain’s most notorious pirates: Captain Kidd. The article was triggered by a Member of the Scottish Parliament tabling a motion to have Kidd exonerated, and the Scotsman explains why Kidd was potentially innocent of both piracy (confusion and a stitch-up by the government) and murder (he was within his rights to discipline a mutineer, even if things went lethally wrong). Much of the material comes from a forthcoming book ‘The Most Innocent of Pirates; the Quest for Captain Kidd's Lost Treasure Ship’, which has a title both intriguing (the Innocent bit) and depressing (searching for treasure seems to all too often run counter to good history). Oh yes, and in one final twist, the Scottish Member of Parliament? He’s called Bill Kidd, but is no relation.