December '05 - Blackbeard

When people hear this name, they instantly know what the talk is about: piracy. For Blackbeard was one of the most notorious pirates of his epoque, and he's still incredibly well-known now, long after his death.

He had a fierce reputation that survived nearly three centuries, though still, he's not considered to be a very successful pirate, for his life ended aprubtly and cruelly, in a fight. Though, isn't dying in a fight the best way to leave this life for a true pirate?

He was born in Bristol, England, around 1680, named Edward Drummond. He assumed the surname Teach, also spelled Thatch, Tache or Tatch, as a pirate. His more well-known nickname came from his enormous black beard and whiskers. Legends say that Blackbeard was a very tall man with broad shoulders, and to add to this already remarkable and impressive figure. But it wasn't enough for him and he wished to influence his enemies even more, scaring them with his un-earthy look. Before battle, he supposedly braided his whiskers into pigtails and tucked slow-burning matches amongst them or behind his ears, spending curls of smoke around his face. That would give him a really scary look.

His career of a pirate began during Queen Anne's War, as a privateer sailing out of Jamaica to attack French merchant ships. After the war ended in 1713, Blackbeard crewed for another pirate in the Bahamas. he captured the French slaver, Concorde, in 1717. When he was rewarded with its command, he renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge. At its largest, his force included four ships and 300 or more men. The fleet assaulted mariners from the Caribbean to New England. North Carolina's coast offered several hideouts from colonial and British authorities. An anchorage at Ocracoke is still called Teach's Hole. Bath was another Blackbeard haunt.

Blackbeard supposedly was semi-retired in November 1718 when he met his end at Ocracoke. In fact, some historians theorize the losses of Queen Anne's Revenge and a smaller sloop, Adventure, in June 1718, were intentional. Grounding the vessels in Beaufort Inlet might have been the pirate's way of "downsizing" his business.

Blackbeard was tricked into battle by Lt. Robert Maynard off Ocracoke Nov. 22, 1718, on a British sloop. According to legend, the pirate fought on even after being shot, stabbed and slashed across the throat, until he died while cocking a pistol.

sources pictures:

piraten.hobbysite.info