roles major-general stanley ( comic baritone ) the pirate king ( bass-baritone ) samuel , his lieutenant ( baritone ) frederic , the pirate apprentice ( tenor ) sergeant of police ( bass ) general stanley 's daughters : catherine ferguson ( kate ) , nellie briercliffe ( edith ) , and ella milne ( isabel ) , 1920 ruth , a piratical maid of all work ( contralto ) chorus of pirates , police and general stanley 's daughters synopsis ; act i on the coast of cornwall , at the time of queen victoria 's reign , frederic celebrates the completion of his twenty-first year and the end of his apprenticeship to a gentlemanly band of pirates ( '' pour , oh pour the pirate sherry '' ) .