# Ralph Stout > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Stout > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ralph_Stout.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stout > Source revision: 1299288535 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English pirate (died 1697)}} '''Ralph Stout''' (died 1697) was a pirate active in the [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean). He is best known for rescuing fellow pirate [Robert Culliford](/source/Robert_Culliford) after each of them spent separate 4-year periods in [Mughal Empire](/source/Mughal_Empire) prisons. ==History== [James Kelley](/source/James_Kelly_(pirate)) had been a sailor aboard the ''Batchelor’s Delight'' with [George Raynor](/source/George_Raynor_(pirate)) and [Edward Davis](/source/Edward_Davis_(buccaneer)). In 1692 he was given command of the captured ship ''Unity'' but was arrested along with Ralph Stout and several others while ashore in [India](/source/India).{{cite web|last1=Ossian|first1=Rob|title=Ralph Stout|url=http://www.thepirateking.com/bios/stout_ralph.htm|website=www.thepirateking.com|accessdate=3 July 2017}} They remained in prison until early 1696 when they stole a small boat and made their way to [Bombay](/source/Bombay). There they signed aboard the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) ship ''Mocha'' under Captain Edgecombe. A few days later Stout led a mutiny, murdering Edgecombe and renaming the ship ''Defence'' (some records still refer to it as ''Mocha'').{{cite book|last1=Rennie|first1=Neil|title=Treasure Neverland: Real and Imaginary Pirates|date=2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|location=Oxford|isbn=9780191668654|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VXUMAgAAQBAJ|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} Stout was elected Captain for his role in the mutiny.{{cite web|last1=Romano|first1=Heidi Bosch|title=Pirate History: Famous Pirates, Privateers, Buccaneers, and Corsairs J-L|url=http://www.privateerdragons.com/pirates_famous4.html|website=www.privateerdragons.com|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} Off of [Burma](/source/Burma) they captured a ship with [Robert Culliford](/source/Robert_Culliford)’s crew aboard, who had only recently staged their own escape and mutiny.{{cite book|last1=West|first1=Matthew|title=The Pirates|date=2015|publisher=New Word City|location=Bradenton FL|isbn=9781612308968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VshPCgAAQBAJ|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} Near the [Nicobar Islands](/source/Nicobar_Islands), Stout picked up the rest of the crew and Culliford himself, who had been marooned when prisoners on Culliford's captured ship rebelled and ejected the pirates. Stout gained a reputation for cruelty,{{cite book|last1=Office|first1=Great Britain Public Record|title=Calendar of State Papers: Colonial Series ...|date=1905|publisher=Longman|location=London|page=366|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7IMAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} one occasion trapping prisoners in their ship and burning them alive, on another mutilating a captured [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_people) priest. Later in 1696 Stout was sailing alongside [Richard Bobbington](/source/Richard_Bobbington) and later [John Ireland](/source/John_Ireland_(pirate))’s ship ''Charming Mary'', looting a dozen ships. They separated soon after. ''Mocha'' attacked the East India Company ship ''Dorrill'' in early June 1697 but was repulsed with heavy casualties after ''Dorrill'' put up a stiff fight.{{cite book|last1=Grey|first1=Charles|title=Pirates of the eastern seas (1618-1723): a lurid page of history|date=1933|publisher=S. Low, Marston & co., ltd|location=London |url=http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/documents/1D30004CA384A81381DD3C8F45CAE3B216713B01.html|accessdate=26 June 2017}} Stout took the ''Mocha'' to the [Laccadive Islands](/source/Laccadive_Islands), where he was killed in the summer of 1697. Conflicting reports have him either slain by angry natives, or by his own crew when he announced he wanted to retire from piracy.{{cite book|last1=Biddulph|first1=John|title=The Pirates of Malabar: And An Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago|date=1907|publisher=Smith, Elder|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/piratesmalabara01biddgoog/page/n58 32]–34|url=https://archive.org/details/piratesmalabara01biddgoog|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} Robert Culliford was given command of the ''Mocha'' after Stout's death, later sailing alongside [Nathaniel North](/source/Nathaniel_North) and [Dirk Chivers](/source/Dirk_Chivers),{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Captain Charles|title=A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE PYRATES|date=1724|publisher=T. Warner|location=London|page=124|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40580/40580-h/40580-h.htm|accessdate=18 June 2017}} and meeting [William Kidd](/source/William_Kidd).{{cite book|last1=Defoe|first1=Daniel|title=A General History of the Pyrates (annotated edition, vol 1 and vol 2)|date=2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|location=Mineola NY|isbn=9780486131948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLbCAgAAQBAJ|accessdate=3 July 2017|language=en}} ==See also== *[Richard Glover (pirate)](/source/Richard_Glover_(pirate)) - Former captain of the ''Charming Mary'' *[William May (pirate)](/source/William_May_(pirate)) - Future captain of the ''Charming Mary'' ==References== {{reflist}} {{pirates}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stout, Ralph}} Category:Year of birth missing Category:17th-century pirates Category:English pirates Category:1697 deaths Category:Piracy in the Indian Ocean --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ralph Stout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stout) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stout?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.