Declaration of Juan, Scottish Then in continuation there appeared present before His Grace the said senior Governor and Captain General Juan Liloston,(36) NOTE 36. The Scottish youth later signed his name as John Livingston, and thus was the only one of the three prisoners who could write (he was also the only one who did not come to Carolina as an indentured servant). who said his name thus, and who is native of the city of Edinburgo [Edinburgh], capital of the kingdom of Scotland, and one of the Protestants aforementioned in the said visitation, who, through the said interpreters, was sworn in before God and his law, aware of which, he promised to tell the truth, of whom were asked the following questions and cross-examinations: He was questioned when he came from his land, and in how many vessels, and what people came in them, and what port was the first land where they arrived,(37) NOTE 37. This seems to have been the governor's first opportunity to interrogate an actual Scottish resident of the colony on Santa Elena Island. and he said that it was two years ago that he left from Scotland in a ship with one hundred men with some women and children, and two gentlemen came as their leaders, and they arrived at the port of San Jorje and were there about one month, and then they passed on to settle the Island of Santa Elena, which they call in their language Vuenbi, and he has been there this time.(38) NOTE 38. Based on the contents of a March 1685 letter from the two leaders of Stuart's Town, Lord Cardross and William Dunlop (Insh, 1929), the 148 Scottish colonists sailed from Scotland in the 170-ton ship Carolina Merchant on July 21, 1684, and after a 10-week journey across the Atlantic, landed at Charles Town on October 2. After losing some of their number to illness during their month at Charles Town, the colonists arrived in early November 1684 to found Stuart's Town on Port Royal Island. The origin of the name Vuenbi, or Buenbi, is unknown. One of the gentlemen of the two leaders is mayor and justice of San Jorje,(39) NOTE 39. This passage may refer to William Dunlop, who participated in the government at Charles Town (McCrady, 1897: 215-216). and in this time another gentleman from San Jorje has come to visit them one or two times. He was asked whether they knew about it in San Jorje, or did the leaders of Santa Elena know, when the Yamases invaded the province of Timucua and carried off its Indians and burned a village and killed some people, and that in order to do it they gave them the weapons and munitions. He said that the said leaders of the Scottish who are on the said Island of Santa Elena, as he has said, gave up to thirty shotguns [escopetas] and cutlasses [alfanjes] to the said Yamases so that they might take them as the price for the said Indian slaves, and that they came and [f. 10,vto.] carried up to twenty-one Christian persons from the said province of Timucua, and likewise carried church furnishings and some chalices of silver, and they delivered them to the said leaders as payment for the said weapons, and [this witness] saw an Englishman come from San Jorje to buy some of the said Christian Indians and took them to the said town of San Jorje, but he does not know how many went, and they sold the rest of them to an Irish ship that came six months after having established the town with more people for the same town, and those that [the ship] left in it would be up to one hundred persons.(40) NOTE 40. This notorious incident has been described in some detail, and it is generally considered to have been the primary motive for the Leon raid of 1686. This slave raid, in which a group of some 50 Yamassee Indians under the leadership of their cacique Altamaha destroyed the Timucuan mission of Santa Catalina de Afuyca in February 1685, is discussed in the Overview. He was asked whether he knows that in San Jorje there are slaves and property from the sack of Vera Cruz or Campeche. He said that the times that this witness had gone from Santa Elena to the said town of San Jorje, he saw some slaves of Spaniards pass, but he does not know what ships brought them. He was asked whether he had heard it said that in San Jorje they had wanted to or would like to come to make war with this presidio. He said that he has heard it said in the said town of San Jorje that there are some persons who are to come to win St. Augustine, Florida, but he does not know when or how. He was asked whether he knows or has heard it said in the said towns of Santa Elena or San Jorje ifthere are some corsairs in order to come to this presidio or other Spanish presidios [f. 11] of the Indies. He said that he knows no more than only that the Monsiur de Agramon arrived at the port of Santa Elena two months and a half ago in his opinion with two vessels and put the launch on land with eleven men, and they gave him provisions, and then he went away, and he does not know what route he took nor to what place he went.(41) NOTE 41. The pirate Grammont had raided St. Augustine yet another time in the spring of 1686, but was engaged by Leon and defeated. His arrival in Stuart's Town to resupply in early July may have stemmed from this defeat. He was questioned about what fortification they have made on the said Island of Santa Elena, and how many [artillery] pieces it has. He said that [there is] a fortification of three [artillery] pieces,(42) NOTE 42. Although the Scottish colonists had petitioned the Carolinians for cannons soon after their arrival, it was not until November 1685 that the colony's proprietors ordered five unmounted cannons from Charles Town to be sent to Stuart's Town (McCrady, 1897: 215-216; Insh, 1929: 79-80). Based on the testimony of John Livingston, it seems that they did receive at least three cannons for their fortification, although they do not appear to have been used in defense of the town during the Leon raid. because they had suspicion that the Spaniards might go there, by being their lands, and this is what he knows, aware of the oath which he has made, and that regarding what he has been questioned about if they expect more people to settle the Island of Santa Catalina and others, he said that every day they are awaiting more people for the said Island of Santa Elena, but that he does not know if it is in order to settle other islands,(43) NOTE 43. Although Livingston indicated ignorance of such plans, Cardross and Dunlop wrote in March 1685 that they "went near to Saint Catharina, which we hear the Spainards have desarted on the report of our setling here, and we desyre this summer to vew it and tak possessione of it in his Majesties name for the behove of the lords proprietors" (Cardross and Dunlop, 1685: 75). Although they stated that they would need a royal patent, recognizing that it had been Spanish territory, their plans seem to have specifically included Santa Catalina, as Governor Marquez Cabrera suspected. and that this is the truth, and he knows no other thing more than what he has declared, and he signed it, and is of the age of seventeen years. His Grace and the said interpreter Carlos Robson signed it. John Livingston Carlos Robson Juan Marquez Cabrera Before me, Alonso Solana Public and Governmental Notary [f.ll, vto.] In St. Augustine, Florida, on the said day, month, and year, His Grace the said senor governor and captain general, for the said declarations, commanded to appear before him Samuel Yanque, who said his name thus, and who is of the English nation, native of Old England, and of Protestant law, who, by means of the said interpreters, was sworn in before God and his law, and having done so, aware of it, he promised to tell the truth, to whom the following questions were made. He was asked from what port he left from England, in what ship, what captain and people came in it, and to which port in the Indies did he come. He said that he left from London four years ago in a ship for San Jorje with the governor who is at present, who is called Jose Morton, who has been Governor for a year and a halfand had governed before when he went to England and left here some country haciendas of his,(44) NOTE 44. Joseph Morton was installed as Governor in May 1682, and although he was replaced in April 1684, he was reinstated for a second term in September 1685 (McCrady, 1897: 194, 201, 210). and this witness was in one of them until the piraguas captured him and brought him to this city. He was asked whether in that time he has gone sometimes to San Jorje. He said that in the said four [f. 12] years he had served in the said haciendas by having been sold for twelve years in servitude,(45) NOTE 45. Like Catherine Havena, Samuel Yankey was also an indentured servant. and that in this time he has not gone to San Jorje more than one time, which was two and a half months ago. He was asked whether in that time that he went, or in another time, he has heard it said or seen that some corsairs have entered or left from San Jorje, and ifhe has heard it said that they came to take this post or wanted to take it. He said that three years ago he heard it said that one or two ships had left, and that they said they came to take and sack St. Augustine, and that when they returned from the said voyage they said that they had taken it, and that they were there some time until they spent what they took.(46) NOTE 46. At least one ship originating out of Charles Town is known to have participated in both the 1683 Grammont raid and the 1684 Jingle raid (Wright, 1960: 136-137). This may have been the ship of either Captain Thomas Jingle or Captain Jacob Everson, both of whom were pirates who evidently had houses in Charles Town. In the said time that he went to San Jorje, he heard the people of the place say that they wanted to come to take St. Augustine like they had done another time, and he also heard this said in the house of the Governor by his servants, and that the vessels which were to leave for this were to join with others in a place, but [this witness] does not know where. In the said time of the two months and a half, he heard it said that the Monsur [Monsieur] de Agramon had arrived at that port, and went away later, but he does not know if they gave him provisions or not.(47) NOTE 47. This matches the testimony of John Livingston, who reported that Grammont arrived to take on provisions two and a half months before (see above). [f.12, vto.] He was asked whether some Englishmen have come forth through the interior for this province in order to discover lands. He said that one year ago, a little more or less, Captain Enrique left from San Jorje with ten Englishmen with an order from the governor to discover lands towards this province, but he does not know if he has returned.(48) NOTE 48. During the summer of 1685, Dr. Henry Woodward made his first trading journey to the Apalachicola province on the lower Chattahoochee River. Despite two Spanish expeditions dispatched from Apalache that fall and winter to catch the English traders, Woodward returned to the interior in the spring of 1686, and was indeed still in the interior at the time of this declaration (see Crane, 1956). He was asked whether he knows if he who governs the town of Scotsmen which is on Santa Elena, an island which belongs to the Spaniards, is subject to the governor of San Jorje, or if they have communication and business with them. He said that he only knows that if something is necessary, the governor of Santa Elena sends to San Jorje for it, and that he does not know anything else about this question. He has come to understand that the said governor of San Jorje is afraid to receive letters that he is awaiting from his King, but he does not know for what occasion, nor does he know anything else to be able to declare, aware of the oath which he has made, in which he affirms and ratifies according to his law, and he is of the age [f. 13] of twenty years. He did not sign by not knowing how. His Grace the said senor governor and one of the said interpreters signed it. Carlos Robson Juan Marquez Cabrera Before me, Alonso Solana Public and Governmental Notary