Blackbeard
The most notorious pirate of all, Blackbeard was born Edward Teach in Redcliffe, Bristol in about 1680. He was a brutal psychopath feared as much by his own crew as he was by his enemies…
In the 1724 book A General History Of The Robberies And Murders Of The Most Notorious Pyrates, Catain Charles Johnson describes Blackbeard thus…
‘Teach, the most colourful and well-known of all the pirates, is a never-dying legend. He was a massive man noted for his boldness, fiendish appearance and roguish ways. With cutlasses and three brace of pistols slung about him, he resembled a walking arsenal. His long black beard was twisted with brightly coloured ribbons and turned about his ears. All this, together with his fierce and wild eyes, made him such a figure that imagination cannot forman idea of a fury from hell to look more frightful.’