"Here was an End of that courageous Brute, who might have pass'd in the World for a Heroe ..."

I'm not sticking around to see what he wants.

Blackbeard.

The single most colorful, bizarre, and arguably well-known pirate there is today. His name is Edward Teach (or Thach, or Thatch), he was probably born in Bristol, England, and he was known to be courageous, uncommonly bold, and ruthless. A devilish attitude was cultivated through his looks and actions, but scholars believe these claims are exaggerated. Daniel Defoe tells us how he got his name.

"...so our Heroe, Captain Teach, assumed the Cognomen of Black-beard, from that large Quantity of Hair, which, like a frightful Meteor, covered his whole Face, and frightened America more than any Comet that has appeared there a long Time.

     This Beard was black, which he suffered to grow of an extravagant Length; as to Breadth, it came up to his Eyes; he was accustomed to twist it with Ribbons, in small Tails, after the Manner of our Ramilies Wiggs, and turn them about his Ears: In Time of Action, he wore a Sling over his Shoulders, with three Brace of Pistols, hanging in Holsters like Bandaliers; and stuck lighted Matches under his Hat, which appearing on each Side of his Face, his Eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a Figure, that Imagination cannot form an Idea of Fury, from Hell, to look more frightful." pp. 84-5

Blackbeard first began his pirating ways under the watch of Captain Benjamin Hornigold in 1716. Part of the Bahamas' Flying Gang of pirates and former privateers (legal pirates as established by a letter of marque from the crown), Captain Hornigold put Blackbeard in command of a sloop in the Caribbean and they sailed in consort from the Bahamas, to the coast of Virginia, and back again. Hornigold then accepted a King's Proclamation, which pardoned him from his illegal activities. The Flying Gang then split into two factions: one, those who accepted the pardon; and two, those who kept a-piratin'. Blackbeard was among the latter group.

His pirating ways eventually brought him to the coast of the Americas, specifically the Carolinas. Setting himself up by first blockading the port of Charleston, then getting in with the governor of North Carolina, Charles Eden, he becomes a part of the local village and was welcomed into their lives. This sent the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, into a rage, and he sent an illegal naval detachment of the HMS Pearl and Lime to rid the coast of Blackbeard. The first confrontation between Lieutenant Maynard, commander of the Pearl, and Blackbeard went as follows:

Blackbeard: Damn you for Villians, who are you? And, from whence came you?

Maynard: You may see by our Colours we are no Pyrates.

(Blackbeard bid him send his Boat on board, that he might see who he was; but Maynard replied that he could not spare his boat, but would come aboard with his Sloop)

Blackbeard: (took a glass of Liquor, and drank to him with these Words:) Damnation seize my Soul if I give you Quarters, or take any from you.

Maynard: I expect no Quarters from you, nor will I give you any. (p. 80)

And so a battle ensued around Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, with Blackbeard sustaining heavy wounds (five bullets and 20 slashes by sword) before he was ultimately beheaded by Maynard. The head was then hung from the boltsprit, and the body thrown overboard, which legend has it swam several circles before finally vanishing into the bay.

Now, let us get into the REAL reason behind this post: Blackbeard's flag! Here is the usual flag of Blackbeard, top, and my redesigned one, below:

Quite the difference. Blackbeard's flag is said to have a skeleton holding either a goblet (to drink to the Devil) or an hourglass (to remind you your time is running out) in one hand, a spear in the other, and a heart with three drops of blood.

I changed several things in the new flag. First, there was absolutely no evidence to support this skeleton with horns. Blackbeard was not depicting the devil, he was depicting a figure of death. The skeleton itself is also more lifelike and human, versus ... whatever the other one is supposed to be.

With conflicting sources on whether it was a goblet or hourglass, we decided on making it a goblet-y-looking-hourglass. The skeleton's hand, wrapped around the base, hides its true identity. The usual flag holds a goblet.

Third, the hand holding the spear became more lifelike. And fourth, the three drops of blood are actually dripping from the heart, instead of arranged around it. It makes more sense to have that, instead of spatters, as the drops of blood and heart are reminders of a slow, bleeding death. Lovely, right?

Blackbeard is big business in North Carolina. National Geographic even wrote an article about him (you know you're big when that happens!). Here are some related links that you may find of interest:

• Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea (National Geographic)
• Blackbeard the Pirate (North Carolina Maritime Museum)
• Coastal North Carolina, home to Blackbeard (Local area)
• Rewriting Blackbeard's History (Article published a day ago in NC)
• The Legend of Blackbeard (Tour in Beaufort, NC)
• Teach's Hole (Pirate Specialty Shop and Blackbeard Exhibit) 
• Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge (Facebook)

Captain Ned Low and his "red Anatomy of Death"

Capt Edward Low in ye Hurricane
which He and All the Crew had
Like to Perish'd by J. Nicholls
and James Basire, hanging in the
National Maritime Museum in London

The date is March 19th, 2009. I'm sitting beside Professor Stephen O'Neill, the associate director and curator at Pilgrim Hall Museum, at the Jones River Landing in Kingston, Massachusetts, listening to Professor Len Travers from UMass Dartmouth speak about "Pirates in New England." He's focusing on Captain Ned Low, in consort with Captain Charles Harris, and their battle with the HMS Greyhound off of Block Island in Rhode Island in late May/early June of 1723. Professor Travers examined the days-long engagement through primary sources, as the capture of pirates was big news for the newspapers of the time. Captain Low, in his sloop the Fancy, escaped the Greyhound and left his consort Harris, in the sloop Ranger, as a sacrifice. It was an act of cowardice on Low's part, but he turned it around and swore oaths of vengeance against the British Man-o'-War, and continued to uphold his reputation as one of the most terrifying, ruthless pirate captains of the Golden Age for capturing and torturing other ship captains and their crews. Cowardice turned villainy.

Before moving on, I must make a mention of pirate ship names (it will be a short one, as an entire blog could be devoted to just that subject). As previously mentioned, Low's sloop (a small, one or two masted sailing vessel known for its lightness and speed in the water) had the good fortune (where is the sarcasm font when you need it) of being named the Fancy. Low was not the only one to name his vessel such a terrifying name, as there are at least three other pirate ships named Fancy. And in truth, most pirate vessels did not have terrifying names ... no, they were called such things as Bachelor's Delight and Happy Delivery,--a euphemism if I've ever seen one--or Mocha and Mary Anne, even Rose and Pearl. Yes, names that would strike fear into the hearts of their victims!! Riiight.

But the reason I bring up the "Pirates in New England" lecture is Professor Travers, when talking about the execution of Captain Harris and 25 of his men in Newport on July 19th, 1723, mentioned something that caught my attention so fiercely, I had to hold back the urge to yell out, "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" and had me gawking and gaping at my companion in a rather stupefied manner. Reading from a primary source, the Boston News-Letter, Professor Travers said that their flag of indigo color was draped over the men after they were hung. Cue the reaction of Scooby Doo proportions; I'd been designing all of the flags with BLACK backgrounds! And everywhere we looked, the sources stated they were BLACK flags! Oh my God I have to change everything?!?!?!

*graphic designer perishes under the immense weight of a new workload*

As it turns out, it was more probable for the flags to have been dyed with indigo. In the 18th century, black as a dye was:

1. very expensive;
2. very hard to come by and rare; and
3. faded extremely quickly.

The likely source of these supposed "black flags" was lots and lots of indigo dye, that from far away looked black. Or, had been dyed over and over to be so dark that they were black, but then faded to the indigo/blue color, which out on the open ocean was extremely likely to happen. And thus, we decided to not change the backgrounds, especially since there was only one source about indigo flags, and the flags started out dyed to look black, right?

Right.

So let's take a look at Captain Low's flag, the with the "red Anatomy of Death." I did not have to do any real redesigning of the flag; instead, I had to make it look meaner and more menacing, as well as more realistic. I mean really, how mean and menacing and realistic does that skeleton look? Not so much. It's just a goofy looking head floating on a body that is probably more apt to make you laugh then scare you into submission.

It's also a guess, really, as to what was meant by an "anatomy." Sure, there's the literal definition of the word, but in the 18th century an anatomy usually referred to the skeleton figure or a skull, as seen on many gravestones from the time period and previous centuries. So, do we do the typical skull and crossed bones, in red instead of white? Or should we go for the full monty?

Of course, we went for the full skeleton. There are absolutely no records stating that the skull and crossed bones ever appeared in red. It was only natural that we assumed Captain Low would have used a full skeleton. It's meaner, it's gnarlier, more menacing, and a great way to remind your potential victims that you're gonna get them, and they're gonna die. I'd be contemplating throwing myself overboard if that flag appeared on a vessel headed straight towards mine.

Interested in my source for these posts? Then you must get your hands on A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe (it can also appear under the name Captain Johnson, but is the same thing). You can get it for as low as $8.32 on Amazon!