Blackbeard was a very famous pirate in North Carolina. His real name was Edward Teach and he was very fond of a spot on the Pamlico Sound near Ocracoke Island known as Teach's Hole. This is where he lost his head.
On November 22, 1718, Blackbeard and a skeleton crew of 18 were fighting with Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy and other soldiers. It is said Maynard had the element of surprise because the pirates were drunk. Blackbeard suffered 5 pistol shots and over 27 severe cuts. One of Maynard's crewmen actually cut off Blackbeard's head and Maynard tied it to the bow and threw the body overboard. Legend has it that the headless body of Blackbeard swam around the vessel seven times before sinking beneath the waters of the Pamlico. Some say on dark and lonely nights there is a light bouncing off the water and eerie noises as Blackbeard searches for his head.
The flaming ship of Ocracoke Island, N.C. has been around for more than 100 years. This is a tale of treasure, pirates and ghosts. During Queen Elizabeth's reign in England, there were a lot of German peasants that came to live there because of the war between the Protestants and the Catholics. King Louis the 14th has his army destroying the German countryside so the peasants escaped to England. Anyway, Queen Elizabeth had the idea for them to go to the new world to colonize to help with the strain on England's economy. Some of the passengers were not as poor as they had let on and the Captain of the ship was a former pirate and when he learned of the "booty" that some of the passengers had he wanted it and came up with a plot to get it. While the passengers were sleeping they were all killed and loot stolen on the first full moon in September. The Captain and his band of thieves set fire to the ship and began to row northeast on life boats to the island as to escape with their fortune. The fire spread quickly and there were deathly screams and the ship was headed straight towards the Captain and his crew and the ship hit the life boats and killed them all. They say every September on the first full moon if you look northeast toward the island you can see the flaming ship and hear the deathly screams of the murdered passengers.
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