There Be Pirates Here…

Or,

there used to be. The Golden Age of Piracy lasted from around 1690 to 1730. Those scallywags loved our southeastern coast with inlets, rivers and harbors for hideouts and uninhabited islands for hiding buried treasure! Many were in cahoots with local officials, smuggling in contraband at prices far lower than the merchant ships offered. The rulers obviously objected to this, sending the Royal Navy to pursue pirate ships and stop the illegal trade. Even the town merchants tired of the pirates’ shenanigans and free ways of living that some found offensive. As the pirates were killed or disappeared, their heyday faded away.

Pirate escapades fascinate people today and not only for their swashbuckling seamanship. The likes of Blackbeard, Calico Jack, Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonny (yes, a female pirate) roamed our waterways freely. Blackbeard (Edward Teach from Bristol, England), began his career as a sea merchant. He worked on a privateer preying on French vessels during the Queen Anne’s War, then captured a ship he renamed Queen Anne’s Revenge. Calico Jack, a nickname for John Rackham, was a quartermaster on a pirate ship when he met Anne Bonny on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. She had married James Bonny, a pirate, then met Calico Jack and left Bonny to steal the sloop William to pirate in the Caribbean, then the Carolinas.

Stede Bonnet, “The Gentleman Pirate,” was a sugar plantation owner in Barbados who ran away from a shrew of a wife to become a pirate. He actually commissioned a new sloop Revenge and hired crew to sail the Virginia and Carolina coasts plundering ships. He and Blackbeard joined forces, taking part in the siege of Charleston in May 1718. Bonnet left his ship in Blackbeard’s care and headed to Bath, North Carolina to be pardoned. Blackbeard sailed off with all the booty, leaving an empty Revenge.

Blackbeard met his demise at the hands of Lieutenant Robert Maynard off Ocrakoke Island. There, Teach’s Hole has a Blackbeard exhibit including a short documentary on his life and scale models of his ships (teachshole.com).

Beaufort, North Carolina hosts the Pirate Invasion, a two-day event where pirates freely roam the streets and the harbor (beaufortpirateinvasion.com). Beaufort is also where the wreck of Blackbeard’s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge was found. A salvage team is raising the ship and some of its artifacts are in the NC Maritime Museum.

Now kids can dress like pirates and play on a pirate ship at the Children’s Museum of Wilmington. Everyone can enjoy a pirate sail to a barrier island (capefearnaturalist.com), or view shipwreck artifacts at the NC Underground Archaeology Center at Fort Fisher.

Charleston, South Carolina, is rich in pirate lore. A walking tour led by Eric Lavender in full pirate dress and his blue and gold macaw, Captain Bob, on his shoulder is very entertaining (charlestonpiratetour.com).

Savannah, Georgia was another pirate haunt. The Pirates’ House opened in 1753 as an inn but soon became a pirates’ hangout. The 15 dining rooms exude a compartmentalized ship-like atmosphere. It is recognized by the American Museum Society as an historic house museum, or catch the Pirate’s Walk tour along the riverside for more pirate lore (pirateswalk.com).

St. Augustine, Florida offers the Pirate & Treasure Museum—an interactive adventure tour—as well as Black Raven Pirate Ship tours and the annual St. Augustine Pirate Gathering.

The pirates are gone, but they most certainly haven’t been forgotten. Argh!