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KELLY, JAMES. "The Worcester Affair," RES, 51 (February 2000), 1-23.
Winner of the first annual RES prize for an essay by a postgraduate student, Mr. Kelly examines the trial and execution of Thomas Green, captain of the English merchant ship Worcester, and two of his officers for piracy in 1705. The trial raised both English and Scottish passions because the Worcester was seized in reprisal for the taking of a Scottish ship, the Annandale, in England the year before. The loss of the Annandale had contributed to the failure of the Darien project in the New World, upon which Scotland's hopes for economic independence were based. The Worcester affair thus became a flashpoint that brought the two countries to the edge of war, threatening...