Blackbeard's Ghost

A North Carolina Ghost Story 

retold by

S. E. Schlosser

The nefarious pirate Blackbeard (who's real name was Edward Teach) was a tall man with a very long black beard that covered most of his face and extended down to his waist. He tied his beard up in pigtails adorned with black ribbons. He wore a bandolier over his shoulders with three braces of pistols and sometimes he would hang two slow-burning cannon fuses from his fur cap that wreathed his head in black smoke. Occasionally, he would set fire to his rum using gunpowder, and he would drink it, flames and all. Many people thought he was the Devil incarnate.

For twenty-seven months, Blackbeard terrorized the sailors of the Atlantic and the Caribbean, ambushing ships and stealing their cargo, killing those who opposed him, often attacking in the dim light of dawn or dusk when his pirate ship was most difficult to see. He would sail under the flag of a country friendly to the nationality of the ship he was attacking, and then hoist his pirate flag at the last moment. When prisoners surrendered willingly, he spared them. When they did not, his magnanimity failed. One man refused to give up a diamond ring he was wearing and the pirate cut the ring off, finger and all. Once Blackbeard blockaded Charleston, South Carolina with his ships, taking many wealthy citizens hostage until the townspeople met his ransom. Later, Blackbeard ran one of his ships - the Queen Anne's Revenge - aground. Some say he did it on purpose because he wanted to break up the pirate fleet and steal the booty for himself.

In November of 1718, Blackbeard retreated to his favorite hideaway -- called Teach's Hole -- off Ocracoke Island. There, he hosted a wild pirate party with drinking, dancing and large bonfires. The party lasted for days, and several North Carolina citizens sent word to Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia. Governor Spotswood immediately ordered two sloops, commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy, to go to Ocracoke and capture the pirate.

On November 21, 1718, Maynard engaged Blackbeard in a terrible battle. One of Maynard's ships were between Blackbeard and freedom. Blackbeard sailed his ship - the Adventure - in towards shore. It looked like the pirate was going to crash his ship, but at the last second the ship eased through a narrow channel. One of the pursuing Navy ships went aground on a sand bar when they tried to pursue the Adventure. Blackbeard fired his cannons at the remaining ship and many of Maynard's men were killed. The rest he ordered below the deck under cover of the gun smoke, hoping to fool the pirates into thinking they had won. When the pirates boarded the ship, Maynard and his men attacked the pirates.

Outnumbered, the pirates put up a bloody fight. Blackbeard and Maynard came face to face. They both shot at each other. Blackbeard's shot missed Maynard, but Maynard's bullet hit the pirate. Blackbeard swung his cutlass and managed to snap off Maynard's sword blade near the hilt. As Blackbeard prepared to deliver the death-blow, one of Maynard's men cut Blackbeard's throat from behind. Blackbeard's blow missed its mark, barely skinning Maynard's knuckles. Infuriated, Blackbeard fought on as the blood spouted from his neck. Maynard and his men rushed the pirate. It took a total of five gunshots and about twenty cuts before Blackbeard fell down dead.

Maynard seemed to think that the only way to ensure that Blackbeard was dead was to remove his head. They hung the head from the bowsprit and threw the pirate's body overboard. As the body hit the water, the head hanging from the bowsprit shouted: "Come on Edward" and the headless body swam three times around the ship before sinking to the bottom.

From that day to this, Blackbeard's ghost has haunted Teach's Hole, forever searching for his missing head. Sometimes, the headless ghost floats on the surface of the water, or swims around and around and around Teach's Hole, glowing just underneath the water. Sometimes, folks see a strange light coming from the shore on the Pamlico Sound side of Ocracoke Island and know that it is "Teach's light". On night's that the ghost light appears, if the wind is blowing inland, you can still hear Blackbeard's ghost tramping up and down and roaring: 'Where's my head?

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You can read more North Carolina ghost stories in Spooky South by S.E. Schlosser.

Swept Over: Ghosts of the Lower Falls

Sended by Mac Eleven

 Excerpted from Spooky Yellowstone

Retold by S.E. Schlosser 

     Today the water drums of the Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park beat strongly, just as they did back in 1870 when the story which became a legend first took place.  In those days, a group of five militia men and their Crow guide who decided to explore the little known Canyon of the Yellowstone.  The explorers penetrate deep into the canyon region, keeping an eye out for signs of gold while they explored.

     On the morning of April 2, the expedition paused in the foothills to sink a hole into a likely spot, having seen promising signs of ore. When their Crow guide told them there was a small band of Native Americans he identified as Sheep Eaters were camped four miles upstream, they were not unduly distressed. They had plenty of advanced weaponry among them, enough to take on a small native band if it decided to attack.

That night, the Native American tribesmen ran off with the explorer’s pack horses. When the theft was discovered at daylight, the white men pursued the thieves into the precipitous mountains. The tribesmen had a four-hour head start on the explorers, but the white men were fewer in number and gained rapidly on their quarry. 

After three hours of hard riding, the explorers came suddenly upon the tribe. They were crossing the river just above the Lower Falls aboard a hastily constructed raft of driftwood held together with thongs made of buckskin and buffalo robes. A circle of men sat with their weapons at the center of the unwieldy raft while the women paddled desperately for the opposite shore with wide pieces of bark. The stolen pack horses were swimming beside the raft, which was swept precariously downstream in spite of the rowers’ best efforts.

The watching explorers realized that the river current was too strong for the unwieldy craft. The paddlers were fighting a losing battle to reach the opposite bank. The horses had a better chance of success. Four of them were already climbing the bank on the far shore. Beside the explorers, the Crow guide calmly raised his rifle and fired at the retreating band. One of the braves gave a yell of pain, and an explorer cried, “For God’s sake, boys, don’t murder them—they are bound to go over the falls!” 

At that moment, the raft was caught in an eddy and sank an inch or two below the surface so that the men and women aboard her appeared to be sitting on top of the river like water spirits or the ancient gods. It was an eerie sight. The spell was broken when a brave fired an arrow through the arm of the Crow guide. With an angry yelp, the Crow guide fired again into their midst, wounding a second warrior. The explorers had to tie up their guide to prevent him from shooting more members of the doomed band. 

The raft moved swiftly toward the edge, carrying the wailing women and the unmoving braves, who began chanting a soft death-song. The warriors gazed calmly toward the lip of the falls, where the water disappeared so abruptly with a roar like thunder. Their courage in the face of sure death silenced the watching explorers. One by one, the white men raised their hats in salute to the brave warriors below as the raft, still intact, sailed out over the lip of the falls and disappeared into the roaring white foam with its human cargo.

In that heart-wrenching moment, two large eagles flew over the roaring mouth of the precipice, screaming their defiance as the water thundered like drums on the jagged rocks far below. It was a fitting tribute to the bravery of the dead tribesmen below. With many backward glances, the white explorers turned their horses away from the river and rode away.

To this day, people who stand on the platform at the brink of the Lower Falls of Yellowstone sometimes hear the voices of the chanting warriors singing their death song.  And the river water sometimes flows with a red tinge, like that of blood.

Read more Yellowstone ghost stories by S. E. Schlosser in Spooky Yellowstone.