Isles of Shoals Association
(Unitarian Universalist), Inc.
About the Association
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Lore and LegendPirates of the...er...Isles of Shoals?Even before the death of Spain's Charles II, better known as the Hapsburg King of Spain, Philip (son of Louis XIV), Archduke Charles (later to be Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI) and Joseph Ferdinand (electoral Prince of Bavaria) became the principal figures in the challenge for succession. Not overjoyed with the prospect of either Austria (Hapsburg) or French Bourbon extending their power into Spain, the British backed Joseph Ferdinand by way of a plan known as the First Partition Treaty. In a nutshell, the treaty gave! the crown to Joseph Ferdinand and several Spanish territor! ies to the Austrians and French. There was of course only one problem. Joseph Ferdinand died before old Charles II. So before his death, Charles named the Duke of Anjou, the grandson of Louis, as his successor. In 1700, he was crowned Philip V and England, Austria and most of Germany declared war on the French. This war would be called The War of Spanish Succession. During this war, both sides would employ a tactic known as privateering. This was a form of legalized piracy against ships flying the colors of enemy nations on the high seas. If a ship was taken, the cargo, crew and the ship itself would be sent to the nearest home port where the capturing crew would be granted a commission or prize, as it was known. During this time, Edward Teach (or possibly Thatch, no one knows for sure) had worked his way up from able seaman to ships master on a frigate. The ships master was more or less the pilot of the ship. The captain was in command. However it was the pi! lot who gave the orders to the crew with regard to sailing the vessel. At some point in time, Teach ran a foul of the officers of the ship he was serving on and decided that taking all the risks for some of the bounty was not good business and he decided "all the risks, all the booty." Almost immediately after that he became known as Blackbeard. He also became the most wanted man on the high seas. Teach realized the obvious early on, being a privateer could get you hanged just as easily as being a pirate, depending on how the battle came out. Most privateers broadened their efforts to include not just enemy shipping, but any ships not in the alliance. So if three quarters of the world were seeking your head, what did it matter if the rest joined in the hunt? He also realized that in the eighteenth century world, it was a big ocean and not so difficult to keep hidden from tough odds. Blackbeard has had, over the years, the reputation of being the true embodiment o! f piracy. Reportedly, he went into battle with smoldering ! strands of hemp braided into his thick black beard. This gave him the appearance of a six-foot, sword swinging, demon from the underworld. This was exactly legend he wanted spread around the Caribbean. It made the surrender of Dutch merchant ships much easier. A ship was of no value if you sank it. But, first and foremost Teach was a sailor and by all accounts an excellent one. While most of the other legendary pirates were concerned with gold and ransom, he looked at all ships and cargo as valuable. He was also constantly changing vessels to improve his survivability and profitability. It was known that he changed ships at least five times. But, members of crews that were boarded claimed as many as eight different ships under the command of Blackbeard. He seemed most partial to British ships of the line, judging from the number he stole. Maybe this was because of his earlier service for the admiralty, he felt comfortable on them. But, he did steal at least! one French Corvette while in the Caribbean. In the early Eighteenth Century, there were three powers building warships. The Spanish had been building on previous successes with galleons by designing larger more imposing galleons. Despite the excellent workmanship and massive firepower of the Spanish warships, their glory days were fading to French and British designs. The galleons had an impressive armament, but they were top heavy and lacked the speed to run down all but the slowest of Dutch ships. The French were having great success with a new theory of faster, more responsive warships. By Blackbeard's time they were just starting designs that would be known as the Corvette in future years. The last would be the British Frigates (although they wouldn't call them that for ten more years). Frigates were fast enough to outrun and maneuver the superior firepower of the galleons and still able to outgun the corvettes. The main quarry of Pirates would be the Dutch! merchantmen sailing to and from the West Indies. The Dutc! h had a harebrained notion that if they took off all the gun decks, more cargo could be loaded on the ships. This also might have something to do with their invention of insurance, rather than tying up warships by turning them into cargo ships. On at least a dozen occasions, Teach deliberately fought battles with British or French warships. This may have been for the acquisition of a new vessel or it could have been for the likelihood of finding treasure on these ships. But, most believe it was simply because he truly enjoyed taking on an evenly matched opponent and beating him. But, the Dutch ships proved much more profitable. In the typical Pirate legend, gold, Spanish silver, and doubloons are what most romantics think of when imagining booty. But, some of the most profitable cargo would be molasses, sugar and rum. It would be one of these cargoes that would first lead Blackbeard to the Isles of Shoals in 1711. The problem with being wanted by everyone is that y! ou don't have many people you can trust. If you have stolen rice from South Carolina, it would be embarrassing to try to sell it back to the people you stole it from. Such was the dilemma of Blackbeard. On the other side of the coin, in the Isles of Shoals, there would be a fiercely independent, isolated community looking to trade with no questions asked. The Pirates could effectively trade with Portsmouth without being bottled up in the Piscatiquas River. The residents of the shoals could benefit from the trade of goods they might not be able to get otherwise and if they had ideas of turning the pirates in, there was still Blackbeard's reputation as a man who would not hesitate to burn the small community to the ground. Contrary to common myth, pirating was not entirely a man's occupation. There were at least two female pirates who gained legend as superior fighters and seafarers. Both, managed to escape hanging in Portsmouth, England by becoming pregnant, thus exer! cising an eighteenth century legal loophole forbidding the ! hanging of women with children. But, women were not uncommon in other capacities on board ship. On the typical pirate ship there would be five or six women attending to many domestic and congicle duties for the crew. On one of Blackbeard's trips to the shoals he decided to hide a portion of his loot on one of the islands. To safeguard this treasure he left his woman behind. Whether she was his actual wife or merely one of a long line of women he had and discarded is a source of controversy. But, from all accounts she had feelings for Teach and he must have trusted her to some degree or he wouldn't have given her the whereabouts of the treasure. In either case, he left her behind with the promise that he would come back. This promise has since become one of the most enduring traditions on Star Island. It is only on rare occasions that visitors are not treated to the cheer of "You will come back, you will come back," when leaving Star Island. Old Shoalers arr! iving proclaim their arrival with the call "We did come back." Alas, our eighteenth century couple were not as fortunate. Blackbeard's wife failed to survive the winter, falling prey to pneumonia or any number of diseases that dogged residents of the Isles of Shoals. But, death seems not to quell her enthusiasm for Blackbeard's return. Many have claimed to see an apparition wandering the island crying, "He will come back." Not to be outdone, Teach was cornered and forced to fight it out with the Royal Navy. By all accounts he was having a great time enjoying the battle on the deck of his ship when a random bullet dropped him, which ended the battle and his reign on the high seas. His corps was decapitated, as was the custom in the Royal Navy, so they could bring back his head for identification in England. They tossed his body overboard, which according to the official Admiralty report, swam around the ship three times before sinking below the waves. His hea! d, or skull, can be seen in the Virginia Maritime Museum in! Newport News, Virginia. As for the treasure, in nearly three hundred years there has only been one discovery that could be attributed to Blackbeard's treasure. When building the breakwater between Cedar and Star, a handful of silver bars were discovered. As for myself, I don't think piracy was that lucrative. Haven't they ever heard of the expression "Spending like a drunken sailor?" Dave Brown |