“tis a glorious thing to be a pirate king.”*
You may not agree with Gilbert and Sullivan, but pirates hold a special place among the swashbuckling figures of English literature.
Undoubtedly, the most famous pirate of them all was Blackbeard who has been part of North Carolina maritime lore since his ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, shipwrecked off the coast near Beaufort early in the 18th century. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of that event, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has launched a blog, “Blogging Blackbeard”, which follows the adventures of the most feared and revered pirate of piracy’s Golden Age (1689-1730).
Queen Anne’s Revenge was originally a French-owned slave ship, La Concorde, which Blackbeard captured, renamed and commandeered in 1719. Today a young woman from Greensboro, Courtney Page, serves as curator of the Blackbeard artifact collection, delving into its history and mystery at East Carolina University. Some of the fruits of her labors are recorded in Blogging Blackbeard, which offers information on the shipboard life of pirates as revealed in artifacts recovered from the shipwreck offshore near Fort Macon State Park.
A drawing of a vessel that resembles the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
“We can learn a lot about how the pirates and other seafarers lived from the shipwreck artifacts,” she says. “The Golden Age was a fascinating time, and piracy had a great influence on forming our nation and the world. We want to share that history with everyone.”
The blogs will appear regularly on the project webpage, www.qaronline.org, and on a new webpage, Blackbeard 300, dedicated to special events planned for the commemoration of the Blackbeard Tri-centennial.
For North Carolina State Fair-goers: Look for a traveling exhibit which will debut in October at the fair in Raleigh. In June 2018, the Blackbeard Tri-centennial will be the opening a new exhibit at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. For other Blackbeard events, call 919-807-7389.
*The Pirates of Penzance
Photos: N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources