22 November: Blackbeard

On this date in 1718 Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies, was killed at Ocrocoke Inlet on the North Carolina coast. Here are some things you might not know about the famous pirate.

1. Not much is known about his early life at all. He was probably born around 1680, in Bristol, England. At that time, Bristol was an important sea port involved in the slave trade, and the second biggest city in England. Not surprising then that a young man from there would go to sea. It's thought he saw action in English privateers during Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), where he did well but wasn't placed in command.
2. There is some doubt as to whether Edward Teach was even his real name. There are several spellings of his surname anyway - Thatch, Thach, Thache, Thack, Tack, Thatche and Theach, with Teach being the most commonly used. It wasn't unusual for pirates to use aliases so as not to tarnish the family name. The fact that he could almost certainly read and write (when he died he had a letter in his possession from the Chief Justice and Secretary of the Province of Carolina, Tobias Knight, addressed to him) which suggests he came from a wealthy and respectable family so it's quite likely he'd have changed his name. There have been suggestions his real name was Drummond, but no evidence has been found to support the claim.
3. Despite his fame and reputation, Blackbeard's career as a pirate captain only lasted two years, from 1716 to 1718.
4. It's not known exactly when or why he became a pirate but at some point he joined the crew of another well-known pirate captain called Benjamin Hornigold, who saw his potential, promoted and mentored him, eventually giving him his own ship. The two often worked in partnership capturing ships full of cargo around the Caribbean. On one occasion, all they took from one ship was the Madeira Wine - the rest of the cargo was scuttled with the ship.
5. Hornigold eventually accepted a pardon and Blackbeard set out on his own. He formed another partnership with a man named Stede Bonnet, who wasn't a pirate at all. Bonnet was a gentleman from Barbados who had a large estate and didn't need the money - he just fancied the idea of being a pirate captain. He had a ship built, rather than capturing one, and told the ship builders he was intending to use it to hunt the pirates down. Only when he'd set sail in the Revenge did he raise the pirate flag. However, Bonnet was actually pretty useless as a captain. When he engaged with another ship, sometime in 1717, Revenge came off a lot worse. Bonnet himself was injured and they limped into port in Nassau, where Blackbeard also happened to be. Bonnet's crew approached Blackbeard and begged him to take over. Since Revenge was a well-appointed ship after repairs, he agreed. It seems Blackbeard was happy enough to have Bonnet on board - Bonnet spent his time reading and wandering the deck in his dressing gown.
6. Blackbeard has the reputation of being vicious and ruthless - but there is no evidence that he ever killed anyone who surrendered to him. Other crews often did surrender without a fight because Blackbeard created a fearsome image for himself. He was tall and broad-shouldered to begin with, so making himself look intimidating wasn't too difficult. He grew the namesake thick Black beard which he braided and sometimes decorated with ribbons. He wore knee-length boots, dark clothing, a wide hat and a long coat of brightly coloured silk or velvet. He wore a sling over his shoulder with several pistols. As if that wasn't enough, he had an additional party trick - he'd light a slow burning fuse and put it under his hat before going into battle, so his enemy would see what looked like a smoking demon from hell. Hardly surprising then, that most of them surrendered. If they did so, he generally treated them fairly, often letting the ships go after looting them. However, he was more harsh towards any English merchant ship, and any ship from Boston, because that city used to hang pirates. The sight of his flag alone would intimate most other captains - a skeleton spearing a bleeding Heart while toasting the devil.
7. Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, started life as a French slave ship called La Concorde. Blackbeard captured it in November 1717. Archaeologists believe they have found her wreck off the coast of North Carolina.
8. There is no truth to the claim that Blackbeard had fourteen wives. He was certainly a ladies man, and often in port he would pick up a woman and bring her on board his ship and have his first mate perform a fake marriage ceremony, presumably before Blackbeard slept with her. Although it's unlikely anyone present believed these marriages were real, that is likely where that myth originated. There is evidence to suggest he did have one legal wife, a girl from North Carolina called Mary Ormond. The Governor of North Carolina himself, Charles Eden is said to have performed the ceremony, but there is no record of what became of Mary afterwards. Nor is it true that Blackbeard had a cabin boy who was secretly a girl. This story was introduced into a 2006 docu-drama about Blackbeard produced for the National Geographic Channel. The character, "Frenchie", was completely made up, but because of the National Geographic Channel's reliable reputation, a lot of people thought it was true.
9. In 1718, Blackbeard decided to retire from piracy. He grounded his flagship and transferred the loot to another ship which took off. Blackbeard went to Charles Eden to seek a pardon but they ended up making a deal. Blackbeard would carry on pirating in an officially licensed ship and Eden would take a cut. While it appeared to be a scheme that would make both of them rich, it led to Blackbeard's downfall. The local merchants became furious that a pirate ship was operating in their patch and that they had no power to stop it. Eventually they complained to the Governor of Virginia, an enemy of Eden's. He gave them two ships under the command of one Lieutenant Robert Maynard, who set off in search of Blackbeard. They found him, boarded his ship and a bloody battle ensued during which Blackbeard was killed, beheaded by a cutlass. His head was attached to the bowsprit of Maynard's ship as it sailed home to collect the reward. The rest of Blackbeard's body was thrown overboard.
10. Blackbeard's reputation has led to some superstitions, legends and ghost stories. One legend claims that his headless body swam around his ship as many as seven times, looking for his severed head. Any unexplained lights spotted at sea during the night are often referred to as "Teach's light", and said to be Blackbeard still roaming around looking for his head. There's also a tale from North Carolina which says Blackbeard's Skull was used to make a silver drinking chalice which was allegedly still in use in the 1930s.

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