Everything you thought you knew about pirates is wrong
Many legends and stories still swirl over the seas about Blackbeard the Pirate, some of them erroneously furthered by the likes of People Magazine and National Geographic. In fact, they seem to be getting worse because no one bothers to fact-check these days.
For example, a 2023 issue of People claimed that “Blackbeard was a real-life pirate who sailed the West Indies and Caribbean in the late 1600s.”
Except Blackbeard was an infant in the late 1600s.
Also, the legend that Blackbeard stuck lighted fuses or matchsticks in his beard to look threatening is highly unlikely. Shoving burning fuses under your hat on a windy, wave-pitched deck of a ship as you boarded with dozens of other marauding pirates would be ill advised.
Records also show he was cordial and social, even polite in dealing with ship captains.
According to North Carolina research historian Kevin Duffus, very little of what you’ve read about Blackbeard is true. He also said that we “definitely shouldn’t learn history by watching movies.”
The biggest surprise about Blackbeard
Would you believe he was a well-educated man who could read and write, even poetry?
We have evidence.
Captain Robert Maynard killed Blackbeard (unlawfully, by the way, since the pirate had been granted a pardon from England) off the coast of Ocracoke Island in 1718. Blackbeard had not preyed on a single ship in the waters off the Outer Banks during his 23-month career as a pirate. His camp at Ocracoke, consisting of fifteen men, were not a threat to anyone. Most likely they were pawns in an attempted political coup.
Maynard also pocketed much of the booty, also unlawful. Apparently one of the Royal Navy captains ripped a page containing what appears to be a poem from Blackbeard’s journal. The intentional line breaks are the biggest poetic clue.
It sounds remarkably like something a pirate might write after a long day at the office:
Such a Day, Rum all out:
– Blackbeard the Pirate, aka Edward Teach (also spelled Thache or Thatch)
Our Company somewhat sober:
A Damned Confusion amongst us!
Rogues a plotting;
great talk of Separation.
So I looked sharp for a prize;
such a Day took one, with a great deal
of Liquor on Board,
so kept the Company hot, damned hot,
then all Things went well again.
Writing Love and Other Incurable Ailments has given me an excuse to become interested in all things Ocracoke, including its pirate history, since the story is set there. So naturally, Serenity has a few pirate-related conversations with the locals, including the eternal question: Why did pirates wear eye patches?
Or did they? You’ll have to read the novel to find out what the characters think! You can learn more here and preorder the book.
Sorry, I won’t tell you whether 12-year-old Raf’s answer is historically accurate.
