Aarrrgh! Edward Thatch (or last name was Teach depending on which historian you talk to) was the notorious pirate, Blackbeard. He did in fact have a black beard. In Captain Charles Johnson’s 1724 book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates an almost mythological picture of Blackbeard appears. Captain Johnson described Blackbeard as being an imposing figure while in battle and that he would weave pieces of rope into his beard setting the pieces of rope on fire as they slowly burned. This created a smoke cloud around his head that he used to his advantage over his adversaries while fighting.
Blackbeard also had up to 14 wives although he was not legally married to all of them. 😲For being as notorious as he was, it was mostly only during a 2 year period, 1716-1718, that he wrecked havoc on the coastline of the Colonies and Caribbean. He was 38 when he was killed “with five shot in him, and 20 dismal cuts in several parts of his body,” this, according to Lt. Maynard, who eventually defeated Blackbeard.
Maynard displayed Blackbeard’s head on his ship on the way back to port to claim the bounty placed on Blackbeard by Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia. Blackbeard’s death quickly became mythologized. Legend grew that after the British sailors decapitated Blackbeard and tied his head to the bowsprit, they dumped his headless body into Pamlico Sound where it took several laps around the ship before finally disappearing from sight.
Resources/Links:
Great background info plus pictures of artifacts from Blackbeard’s sloop:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/last-days-blackbeard-180949440/?no-ist=&=&page=1
A recap of Blackbeard’s last days:
https://www.history.com/news/blackbeard-pirate-killed
6 minute Blackbeard video from Epic History TV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eyKPDsOyR8&fbclid=IwAR1SMN0KviMBA48Mf8ua-P23mO5TVF5jJd27kf6-BtEVBTO3wdqkosB4H8E
