Captain William Kidd was born in Dundee in 1654.

He served as a buccaneer with a number of crews before becoming a respected privateer in the days when it was accepted that such officials could reap the rewards of loot confiscated from enemy ships.

He was later commissioned by Lord Bellomont to travel to the West Indies with a crew and attack French ships and pirate vessels, with any treasure seized split between Kidd, his men and his backers.

However, they found few ships to attack and a number of Kidd's men died from illness and he faced mounting pressure from his remaining men to make the journey worth their while.

In early 1967, he steered the Adventure Galley towards Madagascar, a stopping point for many pirates who made their living on the Indian Ocean.

In January 1698, he caught sight of the Quedagh Merchant rounding the tip of India. It was an Armenian ship carrying gold, silk, spices and other treasures, but they were part owned by a minister at the court of the Indian Grand Moghul.

The minister had powerful connections and when he heard of Kidd's attack he complained to the East India Company, the large and influential English trading firm.

Kidd was then named as a wanted criminal and later arrested in Boston and shipped back to England.

He was hanged on May 23, 1701, but only after a failed attempt when the rope snapped beneath him. His body was hung in a cage and left to rot above the River Thames as a warning to would-be pirates.

To add to the intrigue, Kidd is believed to have buried some of his treasure before his death, understood to be the inspiration behind Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.