Charleston has a long history with pirates. Pat and I went on a “pirate tour” with Captain Eric, a costumed tour guide, a two-hour walk through the old part of the city. Captain Eric regaled us with pirate stories and lore, showed us the major landmarks, and generally gave us a good show. He told us why pirates wore eye patches (aside from those who actually lost an eye)—when pirates took a ship, they needed to go below decks to where the good stuff was as well as any lingering defenders. Below decks on a sailing ship was a gloomy place, so an eye patch was worn to accustom one eye to darkness. When the “gentleman of fortune” went down, he shifted the patch to the other eye with night vision, and helped himself to the goodies. Earrings, Captain Eric said, were something of an insurance policy in case the pirate died on land—anyone finding a dead pirate was to use the silver or gold earrings to pay for a decent burial. Huh. (I read somewhere that pierced ears were useful in helping a sailor see in the dark; Earlobes correspond to pressure points used in acupuncture for night vision—go figure).
Capt Eric told many stories of pirate lore and legend, especially those related to Charleston. Blackbeard, aka Edward Teach, used Charleston as a place to fence his ill-gotten gains. In cahoots with the Royal Governor, he would land his plunder dockside near a tunnel under the streets. The tunnel lead to a modest home where the stolen goods would be sold at bargain prices with a cut going to the governor and several prominent merchants. The house and at least parts of the tunnel exist to this day. Capt Eric recalled speaking with an elderly lady who grew up in the house in question and spent many happy hours playing in the pirate tunnels as a child. When her horrified mother found out, mom had the tunnel entrance bricked up. The tunnels are still there.
Blackbeard was not above extorting his favorite town—in May 1718, he captured eleven ships and blockaded the entry to the port, until his demand for medical supplies was met. Most of his crew was down with malaria and syphilis and he demanded quinine and mercury which was used as a treatment for “Cupid’s itch”. To further induce the burghers of Charleston to comply, Blackbeard had over 20 wealthy citizens as captives and threatened to kill them one-by one until his demands were met. Charleston gave in.
According to Capt Eric, most historians claim that Blackbeard never really killed anyone (well, hardly ever). A head taller than most men (well over 6 feet) of that era, with a wild shock of black hair and long flowing beard, he specialized in psychological warfare. Before boarding a potential prize, Blackbeard would plait long slow-burning cannon fuses into his hair and beard and light them. Wreathed in a cloud of gunpowder smoke, Blackbeard appeared to his victims as a fiend from Hell. Capt Eric related that, as he chased the terrified defenders around the deck, screaming threats, his crew would plunder the vessel unmolested. I can visualize the scene now:
Blackbeard: Aargh! I’ll have yer guts for garters, ye scurvy dogs! You’ll all walk the plank to a watery grave! Booga, booga, booga and other scary sounds!
Crewman (tapping him on the shoulder): Uh, captain?
Blackbeard: What?
Crewman: Sir, we’re done plundering. We can go now.
Blackbeard: Oh, right. Cheerio, chaps! Have a nice day. Booga, booga.
Well, maybe not exactly, but something along those lines.
Blackbeard and his crew were eventually hunted down in North Carolina’s Ocracoke Inlet by a young Royal Navy Lieutenant under the authority on Virginia’s Governor Spotswood. Blackbeard was killed in the fight and his head was lashed to the bowsprit to be brought back to Virginia. Some accounts claim his headless corpse swam around the ship seven times before striking out to sea. At least one historian pooh-poohs this because a quick extrapolation of tide charts for the area and date puts the time of Blackbeard’s death at slack low tide, with the ship sitting on the bottom in less than a foot of water.
Some say his skull was plated with silver and turned into a goblet by pirates who drank toasts to his ghost.
1 comment:
Excellent, me hearty!
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