October 31, 2024 • 15 mins
Edward Teach was a massive man and when he took to the seas he became a legend know to all from the Carolinas to the Caribbean as Blackbeard. His reign of terror ended when the English Governor of Virginia ordered Captain John Maynard to hunt him down and kill him. Their battle was waged off the coast of North Carolina and is legend is true, Blackbeard fell to Maynard's sword and has since haunted the area.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, folks, this is Jonathan Phoenix, the Carolina Storytellers, coming
to you with an important important message. Okay, this is
an adult podcast, so it shouldn't be listened to by children.
And if you're listening to this, I assume that you're
an adult. And if you're not an adult, that's bad
because some of the things that we cover on this
podcast are topics that really younger ages shouldn't be listening to.
(00:25):
There's murder, there's death, there's blood, guts, and core things
that really they don't want to be exposed to. So
as an adult, I'm gonna ask you to keep the
kids away, but I don't think every one of you
is doing it, So I'm gonna have to do something
to curb this behavior. If you don't stop, maybe I'll
tell your kids where sin is real address this, or
maybe I'll tell them where babies come from, or how
(00:47):
to get a hold of the Easter Buddy and the toothberry,
or maybe I'll just tell them why the mailman always
brings the birthday presents and why Daddy is really mad
about it. So remember, keep the kids away from the
adult material and enjoy the show. This is the Carolina storyteller.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
In the dark ones for shadows, creep stories rise as
the camp art reads.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Jot the voice of haunts and thrill.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
With every sale he bends on will and goes whispered
to night's saute by the fire light, our fierce color light.
The Caerla storyteller Joy through the spell came of thosand
five fangles of darknessing night in the rise of the
(01:44):
night seals a frightened tread. Every heartbeat a path we tread.
Seed expenses were about.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
You ever are, Just look at how things are going
and think to yourself, I should have been a pirate.
I certainly do. Sometimes I think that if I had
been around the time of piracy, I most definitely would
have been a pirate. Not because I'm criminal and everything,
but because pirates were honestly free men. A lot of
(02:23):
people look at pirates and like, oh, they did these
horrible things. And yes, a lot of them did horrible things.
But a lot of what piracy was was going against
the crown. And there is one pirate who has always
stood out above all others, a pirate who his name
itself drove people away from the waters on the coasts
(02:47):
of Eastern America. And the Caribbean. I'm talking about none
other than Edward Teach, or as he was known on
the seas, Blackbeard. I'm Jonathan Phoenix and this is The
Carolina Storyteller. Welcome back to the show. Today, we're going
to be talking about my favorite pirate of all time
(03:10):
and honestly a pirate that is probably vastly misunderstood, the
one and only Blackbeard. Yes him, Yes, we're going to
be talking about him. But before we get into the story,
I want to remind you guys that you can support
this show and this and my other projects as well
(03:30):
by going to patreon dot com forward slash the Carolina
Storyteller Patreon dot com forward Slash the Carolina Storyteller. Yes,
that's right, we are going to discuss Blackbeard. It's Halloween night.
This is the season finale twenty twenty four for The
Carolina Storyteller. And that's right, we're going to talk about Blackbeard.
(03:55):
Edward Teach. This pirate was around in the early seven
teen hundreds. He was pre Revolutionary War and everybody thinks
of Edward Teaching Blackbeard as a pirate of the Caribbean,
but no, the pirates of the Caribbean technically made it
all the way up to Florida and the Carolinas. In fact,
(04:15):
Blackbeard famously and I say famously, took the Queen Anne's Revenge,
sailed into Charleston Harbor and held Charleston hostage until they
gave him the medicine he needed to help his crew
cure cases of chlamydia that they pick up in another port.
(04:35):
Kid you not, this is what Blackbeard did. But here
is what's interesting. Well, Blackbeard is considered one of the
most ruthless, vicious, and dangerous pirates. When you look into
a lot of his battles, you don't see that he
killed a lot of people. Blackbeard showed up with the
Queen Anne's Revenge forty guns, one of the biggest ships
(04:58):
out there, and his crew showed up and they were
armed to the teeth. Blackbeard had this thing of when
he would board a ship that he was taking. He
would board the ship and he would run can infuses
into his beard, into his long black beard and light them.
He would strap at least ten pistols to himself and
(05:20):
twenty cutlasses, and he would walk onto the ship, this
menacing figure, armed to the teeth, weapons just draining from
him and demand their surrender, and they'd surrender, because what
are you going to do against that, this opposing massive figure.
Black Beard wasn't a short small guy. He was six four. Okay,
(05:45):
the average male heights back then was around five foot eight.
My height, I'm average male heights. Still, they were shorter
back then, I say five eight, but I'm pretty sure
they were much shorter back then. And black Beard was
and he's covered in weapons from head to toe, and
he looks down at you and he tells you to surrender.
(06:08):
What do you think you're gonna do? You're gonna surrender.
Blackbeard was definitely a legend of the Seven Sees, and
he was feared from North Carolina to Cuba, and his
name was known all the way over in England and France.
They all knew who Blackbeard was. Now. Oh, granted, there
(06:32):
are some who say Blackbeard was a privateer, So there
were some who knew his name as a bad guy,
but some who knew his name has a good guy.
Because remember, just because they were considered pirates, that just
meant that they went against the English, and as you know,
we went against the English too. Just about fifty years
after Blackbeard's supposed death. Now I say supposed to death,
(06:55):
because there are rumors that Blackbeard died a very old man,
living in a house, enjoying the wealth that he had accrued.
His entire crew died wealthy and comfortable, having gotten so
much from being pirates that they only made it look
(07:15):
like they were taken in battle. But today we're going
to talk about that last battle. We're going to go
back to Okra Cooke Island. Now, if you remember, Okra
Coke Island is where the Flaming Ship sails. Well, it's
also the site of what was known as Teacher's Hole.
You're wondering why those sailors were going for Ocracoke Island,
(07:39):
It's because Teacher's Hole was where Blackbeard would hold up
in between sailing around. It's where his men would gather.
It's kind of like his base of operations. It was
a perfect spot for him to lie in wait. He
loved to anchor his ship there. It was like his
home away from home. Anyway, as he was robbing from
(08:00):
the West Indies to the Carolinas, people got pissed about it,
and the European or should I say, the English Governor
of Virginia Alexander Spott Woods commanded a ship crewed by
John Maynard, sailed down to North Carolina, tracked down Blackbird
(08:21):
and kill him. Maynard spent months trying to track down
the pirate, trying to figure out where he was, where
he was going to ground, and finally he discovered Teacher's Hole.
So when Blackbird Blackbeard had made anchor, Maynard's crew sailed
up and sailed up quietly and then launched their attack
(08:43):
on the ship. Supposedly, the battle was ferocious, and as
Blackbeard only had a skeleton crew anchored with him at
Teacher's Hole because everybody else was off having a good time,
he was vastly outnumbered in the battle. They say Blackbeard
had been shot no less than five times while fighting back.
(09:05):
They say he was stabbed more than twenty and yet
never went to ground until Maynard and him had this
massive sword fight like what you see in the movies,
and with one swift Maynard took his head off. Blackbeard's
body was thrown over board off of Maynard's ship and
(09:28):
his head was placed on the Bowspirit bow Spirit, which
is kind of the front part of the ship. As
Maynard sailed home with his trophy. It was said that
Blackbeard's body swam around the ship three times before finally
sinking into the waters of the Atlantic, and now ever
(09:53):
since then, it's been said that Blackbeard's ghost haunts the
spot known as Teacher's Hole. Many have seen light moving
beneath the water of the cove, and they believe that
it's Blackbeard's spirit swimming through the waters looking for his
missing head. They've even heard what they believed to be
Blackbeard's voice on quiet nights, screaming out in an angry voice,
(10:16):
wor's my head? Which I mean I'd be doing too.
And while the reign of terror that Blackbeard held wasn't
isn't necessarily as long as people think it was usually
they put it from seventeen fifteen to seventeen twenty one,
when the Battle of Mawith Maynard happened, what is inarguable
(10:38):
is that his spirit and his legacy has lived on forever.
The discovery of the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge
just a few years ago has allowed archeologists to study
this time and realize that there's a lot we didn't
know about pirates, like that pirates with democratic institutions, and
that the captain was elected by the crew and was
(10:58):
selected basis of his competence and fairness. And this means
that Blackbeard was admired and loved by his crew. They
wanted to follow this man, they never feared him, and
that Blackbeard also pulled in many freed slaves. In fact,
many pirates were slaves who were freed and said that
(11:19):
they could join the pirate crew and get a fair share.
And you know, while many pirates did kill, Blackbeard is
only known for killing on one occasion, at least in
the mainstream. He's only known for killing on one occasion,
and that was this battle, this battle where John Maynard
(11:43):
and his crew went after black Beard. Even with his
bloodthirsty murdering reputation, the only time that he was actually
bloodthirsty was when he was defending the Queen Anne's revenge
against Maynard, where he lost his life. And it has
said that ever since then, Blackbeard's ghost stays on Okatee
(12:06):
Island and teaches hole back in the hidden cove, you
can see him walking around, You can see his ghost
in the water, you can hear the spirit's voice. Kind
of makes me want to go visit teaches whole I
mean Edward teaches kind of hero of mine. I know,
having a pirate for a hero isn't a thing, But
Blackbeard did everything that he did with theatricality by going overboard.
(12:31):
He literally is regarded as being one of the most
vicious and murderous pirates, but at the same time he
left plenty of survivors. Generally, Blackbeard was so popular and
so famous because he was such a scary and fearsome presence,
(12:52):
and the members of his crew that went on to
go on to other crews still said that he was
the best captain and best pirate on the seas up
until the day he died. And legend still says that
black Beard didn't die in that battle, but instead remained
on that very island until the day that he died,
(13:14):
living off of his wealth as just a normal man.
It was another head that Maynard sailed off with, and
Blackbeard just enjoyed a quiet life for the remainder of
his days because he was so rich because he was
such a good pirate. And whether black Beard died in
the battle or died on Okracoke Island many years later
(13:39):
as an old man, there's still no question that his
ghosts still haunts the shorts there. There's even rumors that
his ghost even makes its way down to Charleston sometimes.
Maybe it's just a notoriety in his legend that lives
on so well. Anyway, folks, that's our story for today,
(14:00):
and I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope you
have a happy and safe Halloween. I hope that you
guys have a wonderful holiday season coming up. Of course
we're gonna have some holiday episodes, but for the most part,
as you know, November first, I cut off the spooky,
I start going towards you know, the food eating, then
(14:21):
the gift given season. It's just what happens. That's who
I am. It's been great this year. We've had a
lot of great times, and next year is going to
be even better. So remember, you can support this show
and support the podcast by going to The Carolina Storyteller
ford slash. I'm sorry, I just messed that completely up.
(14:42):
You can go to the de Carolina Storyteller dot com.
The website is currently under construction, but it will be
back up shortly. Or you can go to Patreon dot
com Ford Slash The Carolina Storyteller and join our family.
You get ad free episodes, you get early releases, You
get access to Valmont fifteen days earlier than when it releases,
(15:05):
so November fifth for Patreon members, and it goes live
everywhere December first. Valmont the Audio Drama has a great cast,
and we're really looking forward to bringing this show to you.
That's our show for today, folks. I really hope that
you enjoyed it. Thank you guys so much for being
here on this ride with me. Twenty twenty five is
going to be even better. I'm signing off now, so
(15:30):
as always, stay spooky, my friends. We'll see you next time.
Hi, folks, this is Jonathan Phoenix, the Carolina Storytellers, coming
to you with an important important message. Okay, this is
an adult podcast, so it shouldn't be listened to by children.
And if you're listening to this, I assume that you're
an adult. And if you're not an adult, that's bad
because some of the things that we cover on this
podcast are topics that really younger ages shouldn't be listening to.
(00:25):
There's murder, there's death, there's blood, guts, and core things
that really they don't want to be exposed to. So
as an adult, I'm gonna ask you to keep the
kids away, but I don't think every one of you
is doing it, So I'm gonna have to do something
to curb this behavior. If you don't stop, maybe I'll
tell your kids where sin is real address this, or
maybe I'll tell them where babies come from, or how
(00:47):
to get a hold of the Easter Buddy and the toothberry,
or maybe I'll just tell them why the mailman always
brings the birthday presents and why Daddy is really mad
about it. So remember, keep the kids away from the
adult material and enjoy the show. This is the Carolina storyteller.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
In the dark ones for shadows, creep stories rise as
the camp art reads.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Jot the voice of haunts and thrill.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
With every sale he bends on will and goes whispered
to night's saute by the fire light, our fierce color light.
The Caerla storyteller Joy through the spell came of thosand
five fangles of darknessing night in the rise of the
(01:44):
night seals a frightened tread. Every heartbeat a path we tread.
Seed expenses were about.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
You ever are, Just look at how things are going
and think to yourself, I should have been a pirate.
I certainly do. Sometimes I think that if I had
been around the time of piracy, I most definitely would
have been a pirate. Not because I'm criminal and everything,
but because pirates were honestly free men. A lot of
(02:23):
people look at pirates and like, oh, they did these
horrible things. And yes, a lot of them did horrible things.
But a lot of what piracy was was going against
the crown. And there is one pirate who has always
stood out above all others, a pirate who his name
itself drove people away from the waters on the coasts
(02:47):
of Eastern America. And the Caribbean. I'm talking about none
other than Edward Teach, or as he was known on
the seas, Blackbeard. I'm Jonathan Phoenix and this is The
Carolina Storyteller. Welcome back to the show. Today, we're going
to be talking about my favorite pirate of all time
(03:10):
and honestly a pirate that is probably vastly misunderstood, the
one and only Blackbeard. Yes him, Yes, we're going to
be talking about him. But before we get into the story,
I want to remind you guys that you can support
this show and this and my other projects as well
(03:30):
by going to patreon dot com forward slash the Carolina
Storyteller Patreon dot com forward Slash the Carolina Storyteller. Yes,
that's right, we are going to discuss Blackbeard. It's Halloween night.
This is the season finale twenty twenty four for The
Carolina Storyteller. And that's right, we're going to talk about Blackbeard.
(03:55):
Edward Teach. This pirate was around in the early seven
teen hundreds. He was pre Revolutionary War and everybody thinks
of Edward Teaching Blackbeard as a pirate of the Caribbean,
but no, the pirates of the Caribbean technically made it
all the way up to Florida and the Carolinas. In fact,
(04:15):
Blackbeard famously and I say famously, took the Queen Anne's Revenge,
sailed into Charleston Harbor and held Charleston hostage until they
gave him the medicine he needed to help his crew
cure cases of chlamydia that they pick up in another port.
(04:35):
Kid you not, this is what Blackbeard did. But here
is what's interesting. Well, Blackbeard is considered one of the
most ruthless, vicious, and dangerous pirates. When you look into
a lot of his battles, you don't see that he
killed a lot of people. Blackbeard showed up with the
Queen Anne's Revenge forty guns, one of the biggest ships
(04:58):
out there, and his crew showed up and they were
armed to the teeth. Blackbeard had this thing of when
he would board a ship that he was taking. He
would board the ship and he would run can infuses
into his beard, into his long black beard and light them.
He would strap at least ten pistols to himself and
(05:20):
twenty cutlasses, and he would walk onto the ship, this
menacing figure, armed to the teeth, weapons just draining from
him and demand their surrender, and they'd surrender, because what
are you going to do against that, this opposing massive figure.
Black Beard wasn't a short small guy. He was six four. Okay,
(05:45):
the average male heights back then was around five foot eight.
My height, I'm average male heights. Still, they were shorter
back then, I say five eight, but I'm pretty sure
they were much shorter back then. And black Beard was
and he's covered in weapons from head to toe, and
he looks down at you and he tells you to surrender.
(06:08):
What do you think you're gonna do? You're gonna surrender.
Blackbeard was definitely a legend of the Seven Sees, and
he was feared from North Carolina to Cuba, and his
name was known all the way over in England and France.
They all knew who Blackbeard was. Now. Oh, granted, there
(06:32):
are some who say Blackbeard was a privateer, So there
were some who knew his name as a bad guy,
but some who knew his name has a good guy.
Because remember, just because they were considered pirates, that just
meant that they went against the English, and as you know,
we went against the English too. Just about fifty years
after Blackbeard's supposed death. Now I say supposed to death,
(06:55):
because there are rumors that Blackbeard died a very old man,
living in a house, enjoying the wealth that he had accrued.
His entire crew died wealthy and comfortable, having gotten so
much from being pirates that they only made it look
(07:15):
like they were taken in battle. But today we're going
to talk about that last battle. We're going to go
back to Okra Cooke Island. Now, if you remember, Okra
Coke Island is where the Flaming Ship sails. Well, it's
also the site of what was known as Teacher's Hole.
You're wondering why those sailors were going for Ocracoke Island,
(07:39):
It's because Teacher's Hole was where Blackbeard would hold up
in between sailing around. It's where his men would gather.
It's kind of like his base of operations. It was
a perfect spot for him to lie in wait. He
loved to anchor his ship there. It was like his
home away from home. Anyway, as he was robbing from
(08:00):
the West Indies to the Carolinas, people got pissed about it,
and the European or should I say, the English Governor
of Virginia Alexander Spott Woods commanded a ship crewed by
John Maynard, sailed down to North Carolina, tracked down Blackbird
(08:21):
and kill him. Maynard spent months trying to track down
the pirate, trying to figure out where he was, where
he was going to ground, and finally he discovered Teacher's Hole.
So when Blackbird Blackbeard had made anchor, Maynard's crew sailed
up and sailed up quietly and then launched their attack
(08:43):
on the ship. Supposedly, the battle was ferocious, and as
Blackbeard only had a skeleton crew anchored with him at
Teacher's Hole because everybody else was off having a good time,
he was vastly outnumbered in the battle. They say Blackbeard
had been shot no less than five times while fighting back.
(09:05):
They say he was stabbed more than twenty and yet
never went to ground until Maynard and him had this
massive sword fight like what you see in the movies,
and with one swift Maynard took his head off. Blackbeard's
body was thrown over board off of Maynard's ship and
(09:28):
his head was placed on the Bowspirit bow Spirit, which
is kind of the front part of the ship. As
Maynard sailed home with his trophy. It was said that
Blackbeard's body swam around the ship three times before finally
sinking into the waters of the Atlantic, and now ever
(09:53):
since then, it's been said that Blackbeard's ghost haunts the
spot known as Teacher's Hole. Many have seen light moving
beneath the water of the cove, and they believe that
it's Blackbeard's spirit swimming through the waters looking for his
missing head. They've even heard what they believed to be
Blackbeard's voice on quiet nights, screaming out in an angry voice,
(10:16):
wor's my head? Which I mean I'd be doing too.
And while the reign of terror that Blackbeard held wasn't
isn't necessarily as long as people think it was usually
they put it from seventeen fifteen to seventeen twenty one,
when the Battle of Mawith Maynard happened, what is inarguable
(10:38):
is that his spirit and his legacy has lived on forever.
The discovery of the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge
just a few years ago has allowed archeologists to study
this time and realize that there's a lot we didn't
know about pirates, like that pirates with democratic institutions, and
that the captain was elected by the crew and was
(10:58):
selected basis of his competence and fairness. And this means
that Blackbeard was admired and loved by his crew. They
wanted to follow this man, they never feared him, and
that Blackbeard also pulled in many freed slaves. In fact,
many pirates were slaves who were freed and said that
(11:19):
they could join the pirate crew and get a fair share.
And you know, while many pirates did kill, Blackbeard is
only known for killing on one occasion, at least in
the mainstream. He's only known for killing on one occasion,
and that was this battle, this battle where John Maynard
(11:43):
and his crew went after black Beard. Even with his
bloodthirsty murdering reputation, the only time that he was actually
bloodthirsty was when he was defending the Queen Anne's revenge
against Maynard, where he lost his life. And it has
said that ever since then, Blackbeard's ghost stays on Okatee
(12:06):
Island and teaches hole back in the hidden cove, you
can see him walking around, You can see his ghost
in the water, you can hear the spirit's voice. Kind
of makes me want to go visit teaches whole I
mean Edward teaches kind of hero of mine. I know,
having a pirate for a hero isn't a thing, But
Blackbeard did everything that he did with theatricality by going overboard.
(12:31):
He literally is regarded as being one of the most
vicious and murderous pirates, but at the same time he
left plenty of survivors. Generally, Blackbeard was so popular and
so famous because he was such a scary and fearsome presence,
(12:52):
and the members of his crew that went on to
go on to other crews still said that he was
the best captain and best pirate on the seas up
until the day he died. And legend still says that
black Beard didn't die in that battle, but instead remained
on that very island until the day that he died,
(13:14):
living off of his wealth as just a normal man.
It was another head that Maynard sailed off with, and
Blackbeard just enjoyed a quiet life for the remainder of
his days because he was so rich because he was
such a good pirate. And whether black Beard died in
the battle or died on Okracoke Island many years later
(13:39):
as an old man, there's still no question that his
ghosts still haunts the shorts there. There's even rumors that
his ghost even makes its way down to Charleston sometimes.
Maybe it's just a notoriety in his legend that lives
on so well. Anyway, folks, that's our story for today,
(14:00):
and I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope you
have a happy and safe Halloween. I hope that you
guys have a wonderful holiday season coming up. Of course
we're gonna have some holiday episodes, but for the most part,
as you know, November first, I cut off the spooky,
I start going towards you know, the food eating, then
(14:21):
the gift given season. It's just what happens. That's who
I am. It's been great this year. We've had a
lot of great times, and next year is going to
be even better. So remember, you can support this show
and support the podcast by going to The Carolina Storyteller
ford slash. I'm sorry, I just messed that completely up.
(14:42):
You can go to the de Carolina Storyteller dot com.
The website is currently under construction, but it will be
back up shortly. Or you can go to Patreon dot
com Ford Slash The Carolina Storyteller and join our family.
You get ad free episodes, you get early releases, You
get access to Valmont fifteen days earlier than when it releases,
(15:05):
so November fifth for Patreon members, and it goes live
everywhere December first. Valmont the Audio Drama has a great cast,
and we're really looking forward to bringing this show to you.
That's our show for today, folks. I really hope that
you enjoyed it. Thank you guys so much for being
here on this ride with me. Twenty twenty five is
going to be even better. I'm signing off now, so
(15:30):
as always, stay spooky, my friends. We'll see you next time.
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