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Many myths have been written about this colourful character, often referred to as Johannes Fripp.    Legends say he was a privateer who was granted a strip of land on St. Helena Island, by King Charles II, for his help in defeating the Spanish.    However, no mention of this grant, or the name Johannes, has ever been found on existing records.    John Fripp arrived in South Carolina 1670-90, and purchased land on Edisto Island in 1696.   By 1701, he was High Sheriff of Colleton County.   His cotton plantations prospered and the Fripp family became one of the wealthiest and most influential in the area.    His true English ancestry has yet to be established, but in 1836 his Gt Gt Grandson, William "Good Billy" Fripp, visited England and met Edward Bowles Fripp, whose cousin, William Fripp Jr., was then Mayor of Bristol. This prominent family included the artists, George & Alfred Fripp, and Alfred's son, Sir Alfred Downing Fripp, the King's Surgeon.