thebaldian
Ixtebe Pellot was born in Hendaye in 1756 and he was the last known Basque buccaneer.
He was known by his nickname Le Renard Basque (The Basque Fox) .
At the age of 13 he became a cabin boy and by the age of 23 he was a commanding officer. Under French protection, he plundered Spanish and English ships.
He wasn’t the bloodthirsty type. He was actually quite a popular character, even amongst said enemies, while imprisoned in Cork he received many visitors and food and drink every day.
His escapes soon became escapades of legend. He would disguise himself as a soldier, a pilgrim… he was a huge thorn in the side of the Spanish and English prison services. A price was put on his head in the year 1812.
He was also quite a dab hand at breaking his men out of prison it seems. In 1812, he dressed up as an ambassador, walked into the prison in Bayonne and liberated four of his sailors.
Napoleon asked him to join the French Navy. The English Admiral Wellington (his sworn enemy for 40 years) offered him the chance to do the same with him. He refused them both.
He was Lord Mayor of Hendaye from 1815 to 1826. He died at the ripe old age of 91 in the year 1856.
There is a street in Hendaye named Beltzenia where a gravestone in his honour can be found, and every January, when Hendaye celebrates its patron saint, children dress up as pirates and parade through the streets, to pay homage to the return of Ixtebe Pellot.
He was known by his nickname Le Renard Basque (The Basque Fox) .
At the age of 13 he became a cabin boy and by the age of 23 he was a commanding officer. Under French protection, he plundered Spanish and English ships.
He wasn’t the bloodthirsty type. He was actually quite a popular character, even amongst said enemies, while imprisoned in Cork he received many visitors and food and drink every day.
His escapes soon became escapades of legend. He would disguise himself as a soldier, a pilgrim… he was a huge thorn in the side of the Spanish and English prison services. A price was put on his head in the year 1812.
He was also quite a dab hand at breaking his men out of prison it seems. In 1812, he dressed up as an ambassador, walked into the prison in Bayonne and liberated four of his sailors.
Napoleon asked him to join the French Navy. The English Admiral Wellington (his sworn enemy for 40 years) offered him the chance to do the same with him. He refused them both.
He was Lord Mayor of Hendaye from 1815 to 1826. He died at the ripe old age of 91 in the year 1856.
There is a street in Hendaye named Beltzenia where a gravestone in his honour can be found, and every January, when Hendaye celebrates its patron saint, children dress up as pirates and parade through the streets, to pay homage to the return of Ixtebe Pellot.
