Henry Morgan

A while ago I was wondering if anyone read Steinbeck these days, then wanted to know when he lived etc. (1902 - 1968) so looked him up in Wickipedia and discovered that his first novel was called "Cup of Gold" which was set in the 17th Century and featured the Welsh pirate, Henry Morgan. The book had to do chiefly with Morgan's attack on Panama.
When I looked up Henry Morgan I discovered that if I had lived when he was alive, he would have been a neighbour of mine since he was born in Llanrumney, close to where I live now. I don't think I'd have liked him as a neighbour he being one of the most ruthless of pirates. Of course, like a lot of men with violent pasts, he "reformed" and was eventually knighted and sent to the Carribean where he became governor of Jamaica.
There has always been a lot of hearty, laddish, great-guy admiration for this thoroughly callous man and there is, I feel, a little of that tone of affection if not admiration in a poem by John Masefield called "Captain Stratton's Fancy":

Oh some are fond of red wine and some are fond of white,
And some are all for dancing by the pale moonlight;
But rum alone's the tipple and the heart's delight
Of the old, bold mate of Henry Morgan's.