by Caleb Wygal
Lucas and Darwin glanced at each other. “I am an archivist at the Natural History Museum in Raleigh,” Darwin said, “and I may have stumbled across something pointing to Blackbeard’s lost treasure.”
The man’s eyes went blank as he tried to process what Darwin said. “Oh, my,” he said. “We’ve had treasure seekers coming through here literally since Blackbeard died. Most were hopeful spelunkers, but few had anything to go on.”
The man regarded Lucas and Darwin for a moment before standing aside and saying, “Well come in, come in. You’ve piqued my interest. Let's all go up to the top deck and chat for a bit about pirates and scallywags.”
Lucas had spent some time on fishing boats at Summersville Lake growing up in West Virginia and been on a few outings on Lake Norman near Charlotte. Nothing he had been on compared to the yacht he and Darwin were now standing on.
They entered a companionway with walls made of glossy, light cherry wood and matching wood floors. A small galley with stainless steel appliances was on their left and a breakfast nook was on their right. A seating area with white leather seating was just past the dining area. A cockpit blended seamlessly with the galley.
Lucas assumed the deck below contained much of the same opulence. Probably his sleeping quarters.
They climbed a small stairway to a flybridge mirroring the instrumentation from the cockpit below, and had a seating area for passengers to bask in the sun—when it was out. Two fishing poles lay against a short wall on the port side. A red case holding bait and other fishing accessories sat nearby. An open cooler on the starboard side of the flybridge had a few long neck bottles of beer poking their heads out of the packed ice.
From the looks of the discarded bottles in a nearby trashcan, Lucas thought that Mr. Riddick had gotten a head start on the day.
He reached into the cooler and offered Lucas and Darwin a beer. Darwin abstained. Lucas wanted to show his graciousness to their host, and accepted the proffered light beer. He winced. He didn't care for light beers and preferred a more full-body offering. Life was too short to drink beers of an inferior quality. Casting his aversions aside, he cracked the beer open and held it up to the one Riddick had already half-downed and tapped the necks together in a toast.
“Salud!” Riddick said.
Lucas returned the salute, and took a long pull from the bottle. It was early in the day here in Bath, he thought, but it was five o'clock somewhere in the world.
They took seats around the bridge. Riddick pointed with his bottle towards the open water where the sun was still trying to poke through. “Looks like this tropical storm is finally starting to clear. Been a miserable few days.”
“Did you get a lot of rain here?” Darwin asked. “We got drenched in Raleigh.”
“Yeah, we did,” Riddick replied. “It was steady enough to wash out a few roads.”
“That must be what happened over in Chocowinity,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, heard there were a few over that way that got flooded over. They'll probably open them back up once the water abates,” Riddick said.
“So, are you a Blackbeard impersonator or something?” Darwin asked.
The bearded man nodded. “That I am, son. I've been a Blackbeard impersonator for over thirty years.”
“What got you into that?” Darwin said, leading the conversation.
He took a long drink on his beer before answering. “Well, just after college I joined my father in his shipping business. I'd guess you'd say I was fairly clean cut up until then. Then I spent some time at sea and cultivated this beard. Didn't really have much time to take care of my personal appearance while I was at sea.”
“How long would you be out there?”
“It varied. We shipped up and down the eastern seaboard, sometimes going to ports in South America. Although only rarely. Mostly, we delivered to Charleston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and New York. We'd be gone for several days a time. Many days, I'd just scrub some toothpaste across my teeth with my finger and spray on some deodorant – for little good that did.
“Anyway,” he continued, “I grew up here in Bath and was always around the legend of Blackbeard and the pirates that frequented the area. That's only a small part of the town's history, although even three hundred years later, the man continues to captivate people. Young and old alike.
“As a child, I was fascinated by Blackbeard's story.” Riddick took a sip of beer and then continued, “So, I went to a Halloween party in the mid 1980's during the time I was helping my dad with his shipping business. I already had this beard going,” he stroked it for effect, “and decided to get a pirate coat and matching hat and go as Blackbeard.”
“I take it that it went well,” Darwin said.
Riddick’s bushy brows arched. “Yes, it did. Thought I looked good. Others did as well. Someone approached me after the show and asked if I could appear at a town parade the next month as Blackbeard.”
“And the rest is history,” Darwin said.
“Pretty much,” Riddick said, taking a long pull on his beer. “I studied some old pirate movies and worked on a West Country accent to try to make it sound as though my pirate persona grew up in England.”
Lucas sat off to the side listening to Riddick as he went through his narrative. He sounded intelligent and spoke with an accent developed from an Ivy League school with some of that West Country English accent mixed in. His distinctive voice no doubt stood out in a crowd.
“So, do you add in all of the 'walk the plank', 'yaargh', 'keel haul', 'shiver me timbers' and other pirate lingo?” Darwin asked.
Riddick waived his hand dismissively. “No, pirates didn't talk like that.”
“They didn't?” Darwin said.
“No,” Riddick said. “Those are nothing more than a theatrical construct. There was a movie in the early fifties called Blackbeard the Pirate. An actor by the name of Robert Newton portrayed Blackbeard in that movie. He added the pirate speak to make his character more endearing and stand out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, other writers, actors and impersonators saw how well that came across, and it didn't take long for 'pirate talk' to be adopted everywhere. I try to be as accurate as I can, and therefore abstain from the use of it. I want for the people who see when I make appearances to get a performance as close to the real Blackbeard as I can.”
“So, in your own way, while you're there to entertain, you're also trying to educate at the same time?” Lucas asked.
Hugo made another salute with his now near empty bottle of beer. “Exactly. I feel as though I'd be doing a disservice otherwise. Been doing it ever since.”
“That's cool,” Darwin said. “Did you continue with the shipping business?”
“Oh, yes,” Hugo laughed. “Being an impersonator pays in peanuts compared with shipping. There's no way I could earn a decent wage being Blackbeard exclusively. So, the business grew enough that after my dad retired, we were able to hire a few people to take over the day-to-day operations while I worked at growing our influence.”
“How is that working out for you?”
A satisfied smile crept across his face. “Quite well, actually.”
“Are you married?” Darwin asked.
“That is one area where Blackbeard and I differ. While he had at least fourteen wives, with our local Mary Ormond being the last, I have never been married,” he smiled. “I've had my fun, although I never found a woman who could tolerate me for too long.”
“Why is that?” Darwin asked.
Riddick leaned away from Darwin, as though taken aback by the question. “Well, because I'm a pirate.”
“You mean you act like a pirate sometimes.”
Riddick gave the bigger Darwin a frank look. “If you want to believe that, go ahead.”
There were no threats in what he said. No menace. The man owned a successful shipping business and built it to the point that he was able to let others take the reins. Then, he became a Blackbeard impersonator.
Lucas and Darwin had just met him and had never seen him take on that alter ego. To play a role such as Blackbeard, even if it were a PG version of a cutthroat pirate, Lucas imagined Riddick would have to get into character like any good actor or actress beforehand. To be a good actor, a person had to try to get inside the mind of the persona they were playing as best they could.
How far did Riddick take it? How far into Blackbeard’s personality did he delve? When Lucas and Darwin stepped onto Riddick’s boat, the man appeared as though he were a few articles of clothing away from going out to an event as Blackbeard.
Over the years, how difficult had it become for Riddick to break character?
Riddick was giving the much bigger Darwin his most intimidating stare. Not being intimidated, the much younger man returned the gaze. Lucas’s eyes swept to and from the two as they locked glares.
Eventually, Riddick grew a crooked grin and gave a deep belly laugh. He clapped Darwin on the knee and said, “Had you going there for a minute, didn’t I lad?”
Darwin returned the smile. “You did.”
Sensing the conversation was off course, Lucas tried to get the conversation back to the topic at hand. “Okay, Mr. Riddick, we don’t want to take up too much of your time today. Tell us about the real Blackbeard. What led to him becoming a pirate?”
Riddick sat back and said, “Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard, has a background shrouded in mystery. Not much is known of his origins before his rise to infamy. While most believe he hailed from Bristol, England, there have been others claiming he came from Accomack County, Virginia and even here in Bath. I believe he came from Bristol.”
“Alethia agreed with that,” Darwin said.
Riddick nodded. “Yes, there are those from the old guard around here who hold on to the claim he was born here. There are still several families in and around Bath who have resided here since before the founding of the town. Since Blackbeard was a resident here just before his death is one thing that brings attention to this town. The old-timers want him to have grown up here, gone abroad, made a name for himself being a scourge of the seas, and come home for his final days.
“It’s worth pointing out,” Riddick continued, “that his birthplace has never been proven, although I think based upon what we know, he was from England. That’s what I believe.”
“Okay, so he came from England,” Lucas said. “How did he get into pirating?”
“I figure he began his career in the Caribbean as a privateer in the early 18th century.”
“What exactly is a privateer?” Darwin asked.
Riddick waived his hand dismissively. “Bah, they were really nothing more than officially sanctioned pirates. During the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, European nations were busy trying to colonize America. Explorers would arrive over here and claim a piece of land in the name of whatever nation they represented. The English, Dutch, and Spanish were constantly skirmishing with each other during this land-grab. Independent ship owners or captains could request a “letter of marque” from their government allowing them to attack enemies of the state on the high seas during times of war. Any cargoes or treasure won during these battles got split between the ship captains and the government.”
“So, basically they were pirates who paid their taxes?”
“More or less,” Riddick said. “Then over the years, the different factions of privateers from the different nations went to war with each other. The battles raged from Europe to South America. This is likely where Teach learned his pirating ways. There is some belief that Blackbeard’s father was a privateer captain himself.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Riddick answered. “Nothing substantiated though. They say the farther returned to Bristol following the Dutch Wars around 1680. This was about the time many think Teach was born.”
“Teach was carrying on the family tradition?” Darwin asked.
“Maybe. Bristol was a big, busy port. Being from there, he would have been well educated—an advantage he would have over many he came across during his days of piracy. He probably saw and heard many stories as a youth of adventure from sailors returning from the Caribbean. There are stories that his stepfather beat him as a youth. When Blackbeard was in his early teens, a tale came from Bristol stating he nearly beat his stepfather to death during one such confrontation. He fled and went down to the docks and signed on with the first ship he could as a cabin boy.”
“So, violence was a part of his life even at an early age?” Darwin said.
“Aye, it was,” Riddick said. “Life was brutal back then in the area where he grew up. He was likely accustomed to seeing all sorts of brutality and treachery even at an early age.”
“If he signed on with a ship headed out of Bristol,” Lucas ventured, “wouldn’t there have been a record of which ship he left on?”
“Not necessarily,” Riddick answered. “Back in those days, there wasn’t much paperwork done. Most of the sailors were either semi-literate or illiterate. They’d sign their names with an X or just shake the captain or quartermaster’s hand. So, if Teach did leave from there, he wouldn’t have necessarily had to fill out paperwork to do so.”
“Gotcha,” Lucas said. “So, Blackbeard got his start in the Caribbean?”
“Possibly. He could have sailed to the South Seas and around Cape Horn at the southern tip of Africa first. Then, sometime around 1697 he arrived in Port Royal, Jamaica. The slave market opened up in western Africa the following year. That kept ships busy as they made a triangle with slaves loaded in their holds between the African coast, Europe and North America.”
“That’s interesting,” Darwin said. “I wouldn’t have thought slavery would be involved in piracy.”
“It’s really not an element of history spoken about much. Actually, many pirates, when they captured a ship with slaves on board, took the slaves to their next port and set them free,” Riddick said. “Some of Blackbeard’s most trusted crewmen were black.”
“Wow,” Darwin said.
“Yeah, they say that when he crashed his flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, half of his crew at that time was black. As he captured ships, he sometimes gave selected slaves the opportunity to remain on board with him. They weren’t treated as well as their white peers, although it was a better life than what waited for them on the cotton plantations.”
“That’s true,” Darwin said with him being the only black person in the group. The topic of slavery created a momentary uncomfortable silence.
Each of them took a few drinks from their slowly emptying bottles. Riddick twisted the cap off another beer. Lucas looked out over the water and saw a flock of seagulls making their way out to the Outer Banks. He asked, “Why did he wreck it? The Queen Anne’s Revenge?”
“He wanted to seek a pardon from Governor Eden,” Riddick answered. “If he didn’t have the Revenge that would have shown the world he truly wanted out of pirating. There were only a few of his crew who knew this, including fellow pirate captain Stede Bonnet. He was past the date the king had given pirates in which to surrender or be hanged. Blackbeard, as it turned out, felt he had the means to persuade Eden to let him and his crew live, although they had not met at that point. Blackbeard had just laid siege to Charleston, and the Royal Navy wanted him dead.
“In June of 1718, I believe, Blackbeard and his flotilla of four ships entered the area around Beaufort, North Carolina. Four ships. Three sloops and the Revenge. They all sailed into the narrow Topsail Inlet. It wasn’t much wider than a couple football fields across and not very deep either. They carried more sail than they needed to, meaning they were going too fast for that area. The helmsman, without warning, turned the ship sharply to starboard and hit a sandbar.”
“Did that sink it?” Darwin asked.
“No, it could have probably been salvaged at that point.”
“What happened?”
“Blackbeard hailed Israel Hands, who captained the Adventure, one of the other sloops, and had him
toss over a tow rope.”
“So, Hands tried to pull the ship off the sandbar?”
Riddick shook his head. “Nope. The opposite in fact. The Adventure managed to drag the Revenge further onto the sandbar, damaging the keel and lower hull. This was after the main mast was broken during the initial crash. By then, the Revenge was dead. The Adventure ran on shore in the maneuver, crashing it beyond repair.”
“What happened to the other two ships?”
“He sent Stede Bonnet, to Bath Town to meet with Eden and ask for pardon in one of the flagship’s longboats presumably. Blackbeard intended to use the failed pirate captain as a guinea pig of sorts. Eden did pardon Bonnet and his crew, although that took about a week. At the time, it took about three days to sail from the crash site to Bath. A six-day round-trip. He ended up being gone about two weeks before returning.
“While Bonnet was gone, Blackbeard and his men set up camp on a small island away from civilization, and had all of the remaining plunder transferred to the smaller of the two ships. He had promised the other sloop, the Revenge, to go back to Bonnet upon his return. Blackbeard had that ship stripped of anything useful: guns, ammo, plunder—you name it—while Bonnet was gone. He chose about forty men to crew the small sloop. They set sail, abandoning some two-hundred or so pirates.”
Lucas and Darwin shared a surprised look. “Just left them there? On an island?”
“That he did,” Riddick said. “Look, he was a cunning, vicious, intelligent pirate. If he had to sacrifice two hundred or a thousand men to see to it that his plans came to fruition, he wouldn’t have batted an eyelash before giving the order. I mean, if he really wanted everyone dead, he could have blasted the camp with cannon fire. At least he wasn’t that brutal.”
Lucas knew that although there were other pirates in the water, none was as notorious and as feared as Blackbeard was. There were pirates more successful than the iconic pirate was. Bartholomew Roberts–also known as Black Bart–earned far more money, capturing five times more bounty than any other pirate. Henry Every had the single biggest conquest when he captured a ship filled with the treasures of an Indian prince.
