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Rum All Out!

Writer's picture: Julia WarrenJulia Warren


‘Such a day, rum all out*:⁠—Our company somewhat sober:⁠—A damn’d confusion amongst us!⁠—rogues a-plotting;⁠—great talk of separation.⁠—So I look’d 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.’

From the journal of Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard.


Blackbeard is one of those pirates with a mysterious past - little is known of Edward Teach’s early life; it is supposed that he was originally a privateer (so, a pirate acting officially on behalf of whoever happened to be on the throne at the time) - and having served during Queen Anne’s War, turned to piracy once there was no more fighting to be done.


By 1717, Blackbeard commanded his own ship, which he named Queen Anne’s Revenge -(in memory of his past service perhaps?) and soon proved himself the terror of the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast.


‘Captain Teach, assumed the cognomen of Blackbeard, 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 Ramillies wigs, 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 bandoliers; 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 a fury, from hell, to look more frightful.’

From: A General History of the Pirates by Captain Charles Johnson.


(A side note: Blackbeard is not recorded as having ever killed anyone before his final battle - perhaps he relied on his terrifying reputation preceding him....)


A woodcut of Blackbeard of date unknown


Eventually, the tide of fortune turned, and Blackbeard was chased down and ambushed at sea. According to Johnson’s account, ‘They were now closely and warmly engaged, the lieutenant and twelve men, against Blackbeard and fourteen, till the sea was tinctur’d with blood round the vessel; Blackbeard received a shot into his body from the pistol that Lieutenant Maynard discharg’d, yet he stood his ground, and fought with great fury, till he received five and twenty wounds, and five of them by shot. At length, as he was cocking another pistol, having fired several before, he fell down dead’.


Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1920)


The night before he died, with news that the navy was on his tail, his crew asked Blackbeard if his wife knew where his treasure was buried. He boasted that only he and the devil knew where it lay. The crew later described how once while on a cruise, they discovered that they had an extra crew member on board ‘such a one was seen several days amongst them, sometimes below, and sometimes upon deck, yet no man in the ship could give an account who he was, or from whence he came; but that he disappeared little before they were cast away in their great ship, but, it seems, they verily believed it was the devil.’ (Johnson, A General History of the Pirates).


Devils, smoking beards, buried treasure, phantom sailors - the story of Blackbeard is ripe with material for pirate literature, and it is hardly surprising to find him popping up in film, tv and books; one of the earliest appearances he made in literature is in ‘Blackbeard: A page from the colonial history of Philadelphia’, a novel by Matilda Douglas in 1835.

Since then he has appeared in or inspired Disney World attractions and Disney films (Blackbeard’s Ghost), TV series, and franchises. And naturally, a legend such as his would not be complete without tales of Blackbeard’s ghost - ‘Teach’s light’ is used to describe inexplicable lights seen at sea. Perhaps, like the Flying Dutchman, he sails the high seas for eternity - looking for his lost treasure perhaps?


*(P.S. - if you've been following our podcast, you will have heard Captain Lambert have a similar problem - with milk)



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