Peter Love

Who was Peter Love?

Peter Love was an English pirate, said to have been born in Lewes, Sussex. He was the captain of the Priam, and for a time occupied a base on the island of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, when he entered into an agreement with the Hebridean outlaw Neil MacLeod. From his base of operations on Lewis, Love captured numerous ships and seized their cargo. MacLeod, however, betrayed Love, and handed him over to the Scottish authorities. As a result, Love and several members of his crew were found guilty of piracy and condemned to be hanged, in 1610. MacLeod did not much outlive Love, since he was betrayed by his kinsman, Rory Mor MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan, and executed for high treason three years later.