The Legend of Blackbeard: Pirates in Bristol

Blackbeard's Flag

          I hope y'all are ready for some history because this week we'll be talking about accents and, drum roll please...... Pirates! That's right ye scallywags, Bristol has tons of pirate history and I'll be talking about the history of Blackbeard.

         So to start off with, I just want to say that England has a TON of accents. Every city basically has it's own dialect. Bristol is considered to be West Country so the people here sound similar to people from Devon or Somerset. Weirdly though, they sound totally different than people from Bath which is only a 15 minute drive from here. Here is a map of most of the regional accents:

Pirates in movies are often portrayed with a Bristolian Accent. Here is my friend Jake giving you an example of his accent and some pirate phrases:

Pirates in Bristol:

          Because of it's convenient location on the water, Bristol has always been a major trade center. But, because it is surrounded by lots of coves and places to hide ships, it was also a major center for pirates. During the peak of pirating in the 17th-18th centuries, known as the Golden Age of Pirating, lots of pirates made their way through Bristol's harbors. Even some famous writers made their way through the city. Ever heard of the book "Robinson Crusoe"? Well it is based off of a man named Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk was a pirate who ended up stranded on an island in the Pacific after a disagreement with the captain of the ship he was on. He was stuck there for five years until a guy named Woodes Rogers rescued him and brought him back to Bristol. Selkirk stayed in Bristol and one day met Daniel Defoe, the author of "Robinson Crusoe", and told him his story. As a matter of fact, this supposedly happened at the pub near my house called the Hatchet Inn. Another famous pub, the oldest in Britain, is Llandoger Trow. This was apparently Blackbeard's favorite pub.

 

The Hatchet Inn. Built in 1606.

 

Llandoger Trow

Who was Blackbeard

          Blackbeard, born Edward Teach, was an 18th century Pirate. We aren't sure exactly when he was born or if Teach was even his real last name, but we do known that he was born to a good and well-off family. At the time of Teach's birth, Bristol was Britain's second largest city with a long history of being a port for trade. So, when Teach got older, he began to sail the seas around the West Indies and the American colonies, making a name for himself. Apparently he used to stick lit fuses into his beard so that he would have smoke coming off of him. The goal was to terrify the people on the ships that he was about to attack. He is said to have had a massive black beard (hence the name) that went all the way up to his ears and covered his whole face almost up to his eyes. He apparently would often braid it and put ribbons in it which doesn't sound scary to us now, but back in his day he was a terrifying pirate.

 

A portrait of Blackbeard 

How to Become a Pirate

          By 1706 Teach was a sailor based in Jamaica where he probably arrived via a merchant ship. He moved on from there to New Providence, an island in the Bahamas, and got involved in some piracy. His first partner in crime was Captain Benjamin Hornigold who also operated from New Providence. In 1716, Captain Hornigold put teach in charge of small boat that Teach had conquered. In 1717, Teach won his most famous boat, the Queen Anne's Revenge. It was originally a French trading boat, but Teach and his crew took it. In 1718 he gave himself the rank of Commodore (the rank above a ship's captain) and decide to up his pirating game and target the American Colonies, a bold move at the time.

 

Drawing of the Queen Anne's Revenge

Blackbeard's Downfall 

          Blackbeard's move to the colonies was a bad idea and eventually led to his death. His first interaction with the colonies was when he arrived at the port of Charleston, South Carolina. He and his crew robbed every boat that sailed past them. Blackbeard, having officially shown how scary and dangerous he was, demanded that the South Carolina government must give his crew medical supplies.  Eventually, the government agrees to his terms and Teach sent three fellow pirates to collect the medicine. Teach released his prisoners and asked that the Governor of North Caroline pardon him for his crimes. This could have been the end of Blackbeard's pirating career and he could have lived a long and wealthy life in North Carolina, but he soon returned to pirating and met his brutal end.

          The Governor of Virginia at the time managed to figure out where Blackbeard was and sent a small army to capture him. There was a battle between the pirates and the army, and the governor's army eventually won by taking the pirates by surprise. Blackbeard was captured and was executed by the Governor and his forces (I won't go into the details). And that was it:  the end of Blackbeard and his terror.

Did you know: There is a phrase in the U.K. saying "Shipshape and Bristol Fashion". Can you guess what it means? Well the term "shipshape" has been used for around 200 years to describe something that is nice and tidy. As you know, Bristol is on a harbor and harbors have tides. When the tides go out, the boats end up laying on their sides if they aren't tied down properly. It became known as "shipshape and Bristol fashion" when all the boats were tied up neatly in the harbor so that they wouldn't fall over. Nowadays you can use it to describe when anything is nice and tidy. Next time you clean your room you can tell your parents that it's "shipshape and Bristol fashion".

These boats are shipshape and Bristol fashion since they aren't tipped over 

This boat is not. See how it's tipped?

 In a couple weeks I'll be sharing an interview with a middle school student here in England, so comment any questions that you'd like me to ask!