We're all familiar with the dread pirate Blackbeard who terrorized shipping from the Virgina coast to the southern tip of the Caribbean. A determined Captain with a fiercely loyal crew, it took years for the British Royal Navy to finally hunt him down and trap in in the waters off the Carolina coast. Even then, it was a bitter fight to the end for Blackbeard. Known for tying hemp in his beard and setting it ablaze during a fight, the giant of a man welded a cutlass in one hand a pike in the other as the Royal Marines boarded his badly damaged schooner. The British Captain himself logged that Blackbeard died standing up with more than two dozen deadly wounds to him, and with the pirate legend went the end of piracy in the colonies.
Tidbits of Truth has now discovered a 300 year old document that sheds some new light on the life of Blackbeard. Discovered inside an old Sea Chest stored away in an attic in Wheeling, West Virgina, the T.O.T.'s team was called in to authenticate a ship's supply order signed by none other than Blackbeard himself. Samples of the decaying parchment verify the era of the date written upon it, "20th April 1714".
The few other samples that exist of Blackbeard's signature are in debate. What adds to the validity of this order is the delivery to "Ocracoke Island", which was the well known anchor of the Pirate Captain's ship, the "Queen Anne's Revenge". However, the curious section is a special note where there are seven different colors of Nail Polish to be "delivered directly to the Capt" for "his personal use". Did Blackbeard paint his nails?
Dr. Edward Kirkpatrick, in his book "The Pirate Life" written in 1934, refers to Blackbeard's vanity and fondness for "brightly colored nails". Many pirate experts have dismissed this note as a casual assumption made by Kirkpatrick due to the writers love of Escargot. However, T.O.T. feels that if this supply order is to be taken as one from Blackbeard himself, than the late Dr. Kirkpatrick is owed a few apologies and Blackbeard is owed some more thought by historians.
For more information about Blackbeard check out:
www.nationalgeographic.com/pirates/bbeard
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