the last days of black beard

[Dutchman]

mate, can you help explain the connection between Eden and Blackbeard? Why would gov. spotswood invade a bordering english colony?

[Matusalem]

mate, can you help explain the connection between Eden and Blackbeard? Why would gov. spotswood invade a bordering english colony?

Excellent question...and that is exactly the point I'm getting at.

I pretty much read the book Pirates' Pact, which is basically about the complicity of the pirates and the colonial governors. The basic story is the Board of Trade was complaining to the crown of the situation of piracy in the carolinas, in which Spotswoode had secretly appointed Captain Maynard to put an end to Teach, without Governor Eden's knowledge. Whether it was the directive of the British crown or the Board of Trade, I can't say exactly at this moment because I do not have the book presently in front of me. The BoT assumed correctly that Eden was closely tied with Blackbeard, and could not be trusted and therefore appointed an outsider (in this case Virginia Governor Spotswoode) to nail Blackbeard. Captain Maynard was a Carolinian wo was working closely with Spotswoode, and found paydirt when he found correspondence letters between Blackbeard and Eden in the Greatcabin of Blackbeard's ship after the pirate was decapitated....and also cargo to be delivered to Eden as a payoff.

If anybody wan't to dispute or verify this, I am only accounting for the passages in the abovesaid book.

[Dutchman]

so, blackbeard passed multiple colonial governors to get to Eden to accept the kings pardon. does anyone have any documentation of an edward teach/thatch (not "blackbeard") causing trouble in any colony before 1716? i'm having a moment- when was he associated with philly? 1717 i think???? if there was such an issue, why does spotswood not mention anything in the known colonial governors of virginia journals of edward teach known as black beard out a' pyrating before he sends maynard out. think about this. a normal investigation begins with receiving a complaint about a person- accomplices fall into place during the investigation. How could spotswood have received word of them both at the same time? Part of the art of being corrupt is doing it in secret. for a pirate to be so closely tied to a governor while only being in the colonies for but a few month- there seems to be a very intimate connection. can anyone help shed some light?

edit* kevin and i must have been typing at the same time. he posted immediately after me, so some of the above may be mute.

Edited October 22, 2008 by bbcddutchman

[LookingGlass]

I'm still hoping to find the time to satisfy Foxe's desire to see the circumstantial evidence linking Capt. James Beard to Black Beard. My reply will be forthcoming.

In the meantime, as for the squabbling between Spotswood and Eden--again, it's all outlined in my book. Neither governor left any written explanations so all we can do is read between the lines. Traditional historians don't like to do that so much, but I feel it's essential to advance our understanding of the story. So here goes.

Previous writers have stated that Spotswood had been alarmed by the large number of complaints coming from NC merchants of the abuses against them by the pirate Thatch and his accomplices. In reality, the records show there had been only one, Blackbeard's pre-dawn assault on Wm. Bell in the Pamlico River on Sep. 14, 1718. (BB, by the way, had been unable to subdue Bell on his own and had to call for the assistance of his 4 African oarsmen!) Weeks and months after Spotswood's incursion into NC it served the lieutenant governor's purposes to portray the crisis otherwise as he wrote of “the repeated Applications of Trading People of that Province." When I examined the politics and parsed their words closely, and considered their behavior after Brand and Maynard could only turn up one document linking the NC government with Black Beard, I came to the conclusion that the "Trading People" referred to in Spotswood's letters could only be the NC attorney, planter, merchant, former Speaker of the House and Surveyor General, Edward Moseley. Moseley was also the leader of the Popular Party and chief political rival of Gov. Eden and his Proprietors Party. Moseley's economic interests were directly threatened by the presence of pirates at Ocracoke Inlet. Moseley's landholdings and investments depended on his ability to safely ship his exports out of that inlet. As I wrote in my book, "the pirates had created a ‘nest’ of sorts, like wasps in a door jamb. They might not attack, but you could never be entirely certain."

I have suggested that there may have also been more to the relationship between Moseley and Spotswood than history has preserved. As described in The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate: "Moseley lived in Chowan Precinct, which had a good road leading northward into Virginia’s Nansemond County and the ferries which crossed the James River to Williamsburg. No record confirms the event, but it makes sense that sometime after the adjudication of the French ship by the Vice-Admiralty Court and the robbery of William Bell in September, Moseley traveled to Williamsburg and discussed these scandalous events with Lt. Gov. Spotswood. The issue was not one that could be easily addressed within a letter. Historians have postulated that Spotswood was ever eager to extend his control and influence over his southern border, which he never considered to be far enough south. And in the early autumn of 1718, Edward Moseley and William Bell provided the Virginia chief executive with what appeared to be an open invitation."

Furthermore, it is not inconceivable that Moseley may have been favored with special privileges for the export of his tobacco through Virginia’s ports, which was normally prohibited by Spotswood’s policies, especially considering Moseley practically served to Spotswood Black Beard’s head on a platter.

When Maynard arrived in Bath from the engagement at Ocracoke with only the letter from Tobias Knight to Black Beard (addressed to "My ffriend"), which was written in such veiled language as to confuse writers and historians for centuries, Spotswood's men and allies--Brand, Maynard and Moseley--knew that they did not have enough to incriminate Eden. Even the presence of the casks of sugar in Eden's and Knight's storehouses was insufficient evidence without written proof. So, on the day after Christmas 1718, Moseley risked his career, reputation and honor by breaking into the house where the colony's official papers were kept and with 3 friends nailed the doors shut in order to search the repository for written proof that Eden had been in collusion with pirates. Twenty hours later, Moseley and his cohorts emerged empty handed. All of the documents that must have been generated during the many interactions between the NC and Black Beard's company--Vice-Admiralty proceedings for the sloop Adventure and the French sugar ship, affidavits from the pirate's surrender and pardons in July, receipts for the consignments of sugar--every single piece of paper proving the presence of the pirates in NC in 1718 had vanished. Even to this day, not a scrap of a record concerning the pirates can be found in the archives of NC. Moseley was arrested and charged with armed unlawful entry and sedition. It was a high stakes game, indeed.

What was the ultimate purpose underlying Spotswood's scheme? Admittedly, it is conjecture on my part but the only sensible explanation is that Moseley and his followers in NC, and Spotswood too, hoped to see the Lords Proprietors lose their charter and cause North Carolina to become a royal colony. Ten years later, it did just that.

Kevin Duffus

author, The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate

[TheBlackFox]

This kind of conversation is what I live for. . . . like the drooling-pyrate-geek that I am.

[Dutchman]

blackfox, you're just a geek that drools all over himself. jusk kidding mate. missed you the other week. you going to be with us in november???

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I just want to say that I think it highly ironic that all the "scholars" that teach critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills will turn around sharply and citicize those who actually apply these same skills combined with real data and research. Call it conjecture, or reading between the lines, or whatever, but some things not written become clear when you think outside the books. Lookingglass, I commend you for your efforts and look forward to the day when I am graduated and have time to read books of my own choosing again. Yours will be on the "to read" list.

Bo

[LookingGlass]

Thanks Capt. Bo. You get it! To elaborate further, here's a little sample of what I wrote in my book:

©2008 Looking Glass Productions, Inc.

"How do we seek history’s forgotten truths when records are silent or never existed, relics and artifacts have vanished, memory has eroded like so many ancient places that wash into the sea?

In the case of the true identity of Edward Thatch, alias Blackbeard, there is no cemetery to visit where we may press our ears to the portals of his tomb. Bronze bells, cannon or gold dust raised from the ocean’s floor are of little help. There is no extant family Bible which contains his carefully detailed family relations; there are no census records, birth certificates, pension records, nor DNA evidence. Is it possible for the man who terrified colonial America, and for a brief time became the obsession of the King’s Privy Council, the Lords of Trade and Plantations, Royal and proprietary governors and Royal Navy captains, to have vanished without a trace from the face of the earth?

In his wake, the pirate left behind an unaccountably enormous legend, which has been transformed into someone who would not have been recognized by his friends and contemporaries. Blackbeard casts a long shadow over the centuries, but despite the shadow’s shape we are still unable to peer through its blackness and see who he really was, or learn from where he came.

However, there may be a way.

Perhaps we can seek Edward Thatch’s true identity by not looking directly at him but instead, by analyzing the seemingly unimportant details of his life, parsing his words and the records of his story, piecing together fragments of information about his relationships, behaviors, choices, travels and actions which have been deemed by historians to be accurate. We can pursue the authentic Edward Thatch by examining the events of his time that may have had an influence on his life. We can also turn to the people who surrounded him, his shipmates, and those who occupied the same place and time in history but who appear to not have had a connection to the pirate. Somewhere, hidden among seemingly unrelated records we may find a clue, a connection, a faint thread of evidence that will lead us in the right direction so we may discover who Blackbeard really was.

Our detective work will require us to entertain inferences, suppositions, and circumstantial evidence—uncertain waters that tend to make some historians and scholars queasy. However, it is not as if conjecture has not been a constant presence within the reams of books and papers written about pirates, and Blackbeard in particular. Historians have been willing to accept the singular statements presented by the mysterious Capt. Charles Johnson, like Edward Thatch’s Bristol roots, without definitive sources and references. We know Johnson published numerous errors and missed some crucial facts such as Blackbeard’s grounding on Brant Island Shoals, or Lt. Maynard’s approach to Ocracoke from the west (and there will be many others we will reveal soon enough). So, why should we not employ powers of intuition and deduction, weigh circumstantial evidence, open our minds to the subtle whispers of the past?

We can start with something curious Blackbeard once said..."

[Fox]

I must confess to being immediately intrigued by "something curious Blackbeard once said"... What did he say and what's the source?

I'm also intrigued a little by the question of when his crew were tried which you raise. You mention that by February 1719 Spotswood noted the pirates had been "brought hither and tried", and this raises three questions: where was Spotswood writing from? Does he specify which pirates he's talking about? And what's the source/context?

I ask this because here is a good example of the dangers of trying to overturn established history on the slimmest of evidence.

That the trial of Blackbeard's crew took place in March is quite well recorded in the Executive Journal of the Council of Colonial Virginia (vol III. p.496), and while at first glance this appears to be at odds with Spotswood's letter, it isn't necessarily so. In 1719 the new year was still taken as beginning on March 25th as often as January 1st, thus an event taking place in February 1719 (such as the writing of a letter) might be dated in the documents themselves as "February 1719", "February 1718", or frequently "February 1718/19". Without knowing more about the document in question it might well have been written in what we would now call February 1720 (11 months after the March trial), even though it was apparently dated a year earlier. Any date written between January 1st and March 25th must be taken with a pinch of salt, unless it forms part of a continuous source (like the Virginia Journal). To take it a step further, if we accept that Spotswood's letter might have been written in 1720, and it doesn't detail which pirates, then it might not even apply to Blackbeard's men at all, but might be related instead to the four unnamed pirates who were hanged and gibbeted that year in Virginia.

Of course, this might not fit in with a given hypothesis...

[LookingGlass]

Regarding what Blackbeard once said:

Boston News-Letter 23 Feb.-2 Mar. 1718/19

“...and when they came in hearing of each other, Teach called to Lieutenant Maynard and told him he was for King George...”

Regarding the trial of the white pirates captured alive and taken to VA for trial:

The Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood, Volume I., Spotswood to Lord Cartwright, February ye 14th, 1718 [1719]

Refers to “one Capt. Thatch [variously spelled within the same letter as Thache and Tach], a Notorious Pyrate,” and how Spotswood’s “Sloops, fitted with Men and Officers from the King’s Ships, Came up with Tach at Oecceh [Ocracoke] inlett on ye 22nd Nov’r last, and after an obstinate Resistance, wherin Tach, w’th nine of his men, were killed, and nine more made prisoners, and took his Sloop, w’ch was mounted w’th 8 guns, and in all other respects fitted rather for piracy than Trade. The Prisoners have been brought hither and Tryed...”

There was a second trial for the African crew members captured alive on March 11, 1718/19. Historians have always assumed that this trial included the entire surviving crew members but I found primary source evidence that at least one of the men listed on Charles Johnson's list of those hanged was back in Bath before the end of January 1718/19. At least two others believed to have been hanged according to Johnson appear in the Bath records in the years to follow. The conclusion I reached was that all of the pirates captured in Bath and who were not part of the engagement at Ocracoke received the King's second offer of pardon. The six survivors of the engagement at Ocracoke were probably not eligible for the pardon on the basis that they had borne arms against the King's sailors. The logs of the HMS Pearl indicates that on Jan. 28, 1718/19 two condemned pirates had arrived from Williamsburg and taken to Hampton to be hanged, "which about 1/2 past 11 was done accordingly. The four Africans, Blake, Gates, White & Stiles were hanged after their Mar. 11 trial. Again, historians have always relied on Johnson for the facts on the fate of Black Beard's crew. Johnson did not have accurate information. Being tried and convicted doesn't automatically mean they were also executed.

Now, why were Black Beard's men captured at Bath eligible for the second pardon? Black Beard himself would have been pardoned had he not fired on Maynard's sloops first. Here is how the two pardons were worded.

First Pardon Issued in 1717

“...we do hereby promise, and declare, that in Case any of the said Pyrates, shall on, or before, the 5th of September, in the Year of our Lord 1718, surrender him or themselves... every such Pyrate and Pyrates so surrendering... shall have our gracious Pardon, of, and for such, his or their Pyracy, or Pyracies, by him or them committed, before the fifth of January next ensuing [January 1718].”

Second Pardon Issued in 1718 and which arrived in VA about 3 weeks after the engagement at Ocracoke:

“We do hereby Promise and Declare, That in case any the said Pirates shall, on or before the First Day of July, in the Year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and nineteen, Surrender him or themselves... every such Pirate and Pirates, so Surrendering... shall have Our Gracious Pardon of and for such his or their Piracy or Piracies, by him or them Committed before such time as they shall have received Notice of this Our Royal Proclamation.”

Edited October 23, 2008 by LookingGlass

[blackjohn]

Regarding what Blackbeard once said:

Boston News-Letter 23 Feb.-2 Mar. 1718/19

“...and when they came in hearing of each other, Teach called to Lieutenant Maynard and told him he was for King George...”

What's the Boston News-Letter's source?

[blackjohn]

Our detective work will require us to entertain inferences, suppositions, and circumstantial evidence—uncertain waters that tend to make some historians and scholars queasy.

Some? I dunno... how about all. Trained historians are supposed to feel queasy about those things for a reason... because "inferences, suppositions, and circumstantial evidence" are not history.

[Dutchman]

well all historians and researchers must start somewhere. so again.... where did johnson come up with ed teach from bristol?

[blackjohn]

Dunno. He's dead, so I can't grill him about his sources.

[Dutchman]

ohhhh i see.......

[Fox]

But one might equally ask why you're so sure he wasn't from Bristol?

[Dutchman]

wow, thats a good arguing point ....... i never said he wasn't. he could be from Bath, Bristol, or as one person suggests from Germany and name was Titschki.

what we know and can all agree on- - a pirate known as blackbeard died in ocracoke nov 22, 1718.

The whole issue is this... for 290 years I know of no one who has been able to document the full truth of the legend- simply because it has yet to be found. So we have two options. trust the word of someone who was of the era, but who's work we can punch many holes in about a name that does not appear before this time frame. -or- look at documents gathered that dispel various myths and legends about the entire incident. as a result the further back we go in the time frame we are left with fewer options about what really happened.

As historical reenactors/ armchair historians/ snotty critic/ whatever/ it would be a great injustice to Blackbeard himself to allow the blatant misrepresentations, such as the number of pirates hanged or the size of the invading ground troops from virginia (one man and his servant does not equal a force, sorry) to continue. we may never have an absolute end to this story, but to debunk one persons atleast partially documented work and theory, when the earliest source can do no better and in some cases is completely contraindicated, is just sad.

So i challenge folks with this. take the timeline from The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate and go on a field trip. visit the places and see what it was like. could Blackbeard have really seen Maynards rigging from the opposite side of Ocracoke Island as described? Why would any sensible pirate crew want to be there in november? Visit the homesites, see what they saw. I wish i could say visit a cemetery, but blackbeard is in hiding and i'm not about to tell where his possible relatives are resting. I'll see you at the point in 28 days.

[blackjohn]

what we know and can all agree on- - a pirate known as blackbeard died in ocracoke nov 22, 1718.

Hmmm... also known as December 3, 1718 in more Catholic parts of the world.

[Dutchman]

cant see the trees for the forest --- i'll still offer to see you there in 28 days.

Edited October 24, 2008 by bbcddutchman

[Dutchman]

Pirates return to Ocracoke to honor their dead

…WITH SLIDE SHOW

By SUNDAE HORN

The steady, slow drumbeat accompanied the marchers as they paraded down Lighthouse Road. Sometimes they sang in unison, and sometimes they marched in silence, with only the sounds of their leather boots striking pavement to accompany the drum. Although photographers swarmed around them, and spectators openly gawked, the marchers never broke ranks or even broke into a smile. It was a solemn occasion, a funeral march, and they kept to their paces, seemingly oblivious to the spectacle they were making.

Pirates had returned to Ocracoke to honor their dead.

Blackbeard’s Crew, a piratical living history troupe based in Hampton, Va., teamed up with Blackbeard historian Kevin Duffus of Raleigh to organize a “Pirate Memorial,” an event that they hope will be the first of many. Fifty-eight men and women in period costumes joined together on Nov. 22 to commemorate the 290th anniversary of the Battle of Ocracoke – that infamous day when Blackbeard the pirate met his match in Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy.

Down Lighthouse Road, to the entrance of Springer’s Point the pirates marched. The captain led the way through the forest trail, twisting and turning among the ancient live oaks, until the they reached the sandy beach overlooking Teach’s Hole. Named for Blackbeard himself, a.k.a. Edward Teach, Teach’s Hole is a small, but surprisingly deep part of Pamlico Sound off the southwest shore of Ocracoke. It’s a popular fishing spot today, but 290 years ago, Teach’s Hole was an infamous anchorage for pirates and subsequently host to the bloody Battle of Ocracoke on Nov. 22, 1718.

The pirates were gathering to pay tribute to their fallen brethren. With mournful sea chanteys and eloquent elegies they eulogized the long dead souls of the battle’s victims. A cannon was fired to commemorate Blackbeard, followed by the firing of small arms for the 11 pirates and 11 Royal Navy sailors who also died that day.

A huge crowd, of mostly Ocracoke residents, followed the pirates out to Springer’s Point and down to the beach at Teach’s Hole. This was in spite of the fact that Ocracoke was experiencing unseasonably frosty weather, with a wind chill factor well below freezing. People huddled together against the bitter cold and strained to hear the pirates above the whipping of the wind. Although there was some talking among the crowd, the atmosphere was mostly serious. People behaved as you would expect them to behave at a memorial service. The onlookers were respectful, but dry-eyed. The pirates, by contrast, were a bit choked up, although they might try to say it was the wind blowing sand in their eyes that made them so teary.

When the service was over, the pirates marched back through the woods, down the road and right up to their lodgings at – you guessed it – Blackbeard’s Lodge. Then they crossed the street to the Back Porch Restaurant, where they memorialized their fallen brethren in the time-honored nautical way – by toasting them with vast quantities of good ale and rum.

“We believe what we did today was a first – the first time that the Battle of Ocracoke has been commemorated,” said Kevin Duffus, who was sipping a fine single malt Scotch. He believes Blackbeard was actually of Scottish descent, not English as many people assume, and chose his drink in solidarity with the pirate.

“We hope everyone in the community here was pleased,” Kevin added. He was happy with the day’s turnout and relieved it went off so well. He needed permission from the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, which owns Springer’s Point, and from other property owners, and couldn’t make final preparations for the ceremony until just last week when everything fell into place. He hopes that in the future the Pirate Memorial will find support and participation from local organizations.

“It’s got a lot of potential,” he said, comparing it to the World War II British Cemetery memorial service held on Ocracoke each May.

Meanwhile, the partying pirates were suitably boisterous and enjoying the authentic meal that the Back Porch chefs had concocted -- pork barbeque and baked fish -- which was readily consumed by pirates then and now. The house specialty was a recipe researched just for the pirate dinner -- salmagundi. The name comes from French and means “a disparate assemblage of things” and to 18th-century pirates that meant a salad-like mixture of meats and anchovies and veggies and nuts and capers and lemons and, oh, anything else the cook had lying around. Top it all with some oil and vinegar, and you have pirate cuisine.

The Back Porch staff got into the spirit of the evening and looked the part of tavern wenches.

“They’ve been fun to work with,” said Lisa Landrum, manager of the Back Porch. “We had a great time planning the menu, but trying to figure out who’s who when they use their pirate name and then their real name and then their pirate name again has been tricky.”

The pirate who contracted with the Back Porch identified himself as “Cookie,” Lisa said.

“They want everything to be authentic, but we’re communicating through email,” she said with a laugh.

The pirates stayed in character as much as possible.

Pern Taylor, “Captain Pern” to Blackbeard’s Crew, is the elected leader of the pirate troupe. He explained that not all the pirates at the party were official members of the Crew. Some were honorary members, and some were special guests for the Pirate Memorial weekend.

“We’re inducting a new member later tonight,” he said during dinner. “It’s a solemn ceremony.”

It takes about a year and a lot of effort, Captain Pern said, to become a member of the Crew. That tradition goes back to the Crew’s beginnings in 2000, when the troupe was founded for OpSail 2000. That was also the first year of the Hampton Pirate Festival, where the Crew are regulars. Now they travel up and down the East Coast, appearing at festivals and parties and visiting schools and museums. This Pirate Memorial coincided with their year-end meeting, when they induct new members, elect new officers (i.e., “Wench Master” and “Press Gang Master”) and give awards for MVP (Most Valuable Pirate.)

It’s not all just swashbuckling fun and games. Blackbeard’s Crew is a non-profit organization, dedicated to educating the public about the true history of pirates, a mission they take seriously.

“We’re all about authenticity,” Pern said. “We want to teach people about actual history, to focus on real pirates, and get away from the movie fantasy.”

Kevin Duffus also wants to focus on the real history of pirates, so much so that he decided to reject all the known “facts” about Blackbeard and do his own research. After years of hunting down original sources and developing new theories, Kevin compiled his research into a book published earlier this year. From East Carolina court records to the British National Archives, Kevin followed the elusive trail of the fabled Blackbeard. His search led him to a conclusion, which, although perhaps impossible to prove beyond doubt, makes a great deal of sense.

“The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate” posits, among other things, that the rogue wasn’t really named Edward Teach after all. His last name, says Kevin, was Beard. Kevin suspects that Black Beard was not, as has always been assumed, a native of Bristol, England, but, in fact, a homeboy from Bath, N.C., as were many of the men in his crew. He makes a strong case that Blackbeard’s killer, Lt. Robert Maynard, approached Teach’s Hole by sailing down Pamlico Sound rather than through Ocracoke Inlet.

Kevin also believes that the 23 men, including Blackbeard, who died in the Battle of Ocracoke were buried in a mass grave on the shore near Springer’s Point, where this year’s Pirate Memorial took place.

“I think of those lost souls,” Kevin said. “I hope to think their spirits appreciated what we did for them today.”

[Dutchman]

http://www.wral.com/entertainment/video/2804291/#/vid2804291

just found this video of kevin.

[LookingGlass]

Yeah, the problem sometimes with media reviews is that they rarely read the book. The captions says that I claim that Black Beard was born in North Carolina. Never have I made that statement. Although, I believe that Bristol is an even less likely birthplace.

Kevin Duffus

[blackjohn]

Good interview. Maybe I'll buy the book.

[LookingGlass]

Call me during business hours EDT, M-F, at 800-647-3536 to order one and I'll sign it for you. The 2nd printing of the hardcover is nearly gone. Softcover is coming soon.

Kevin

[Fox]

Any sign of it becoming available in the UK yet?