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Blackbeard Pirate Festival, June 2008 - Hampton, VA
Chapter 3rd - Saturday, Noonish - The author witnesses the death of Blackbeard, which is sort of amazing when you think about it; joins the wives of the crew at the tryal for some odd reason; describes the campsite and some of the denizens thereof ; talks about some skit of which there are no photos, so you'll just have to use your imagination. He also shamelessly adds some other photos of events he either did not witness or did witness but they occurred before this chapter, but he adds them to make the web page appear more interesting than it really is. This is what's known as Ye Olde Filler.
We went back to the dock where there was another exchange between Blackbeard on one ship and Lieutenant Maynard on the other. [Hampton Event Location Point Number 7 on the guide map below.] This was much easier to follow on the docks as the wind had died down. Of course, Blackbeard got his head handed to him (heh). I often wondered what Lieutenant Maynard looked like...
(Photo: Duncan McGuyver)
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(Photo: Duncan McGuyver)
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(Photo: Duncan McGuyver,
Crew of the Vigilant Site)
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(Photo: Duncan McGuyver,
Crew of the Vigilant Site)
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(Photo: Duncan McGuyver, Crew of the Vigilant Site)
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The procession of the remnants of Blackbeard's pirates (above left) and their pan-wielding wives (above right). The wives were most vocal.
My fellow carrier and I (for the other two assistants, to our astonishment -not- had
disappeared) set it up on a barrel by the stage where the tryal was to take place and
arranged the trinkets inside the chest for best viewing by spilling them over the sides.
It turns out that much of BBs treasure was made in China. He was a well-traveled man,
that Blackbeard. [Hampton Event Location Point
Number 9 on the guide
map.]
(Photo: Duncan McGuyver, Crew of the Vigilant Site)
At left you'll find Blackbeard's crew seated in part of a semi-circle.
Note the booty-strewn treasure chest that your ship's surgeon helped to haul up on that barrel.
Actually, the booty is not quite as strewn as I remember it. Huh.
There would be a photo of the women completing the semi-circle here if I could find one. I was seated with Blackbeard's crew's wives, who were doing a lot of hooting and hollering. They probably didn't take a photo because they were embarrassed for me. "Who's that nut sitting with all of BB's crew's wives?" they wondered.
A bunch of pirates were seated in a semi-circle around the stage with the crowd seated behind them in a semi-circle on benches. I didn't quite know what to do as the trial began, having finished my (top) heavy lifting, so I plopped on the ground next to a girl I had seen several times who was seated with several other girls. Seemed like a good idea at the time. However, it turns out I was sitting with the wives or wenches or some such of Blackbeard's crew. So I inadvertently became part of BBs crew's wives or wenches. (Let's just leave that one right there, eh?) It was a good seat, but I wasn't good at yelling about how unfair the trial was on me husband. At the end of the trial, all but Israel Hands was sentenced and the people on the stage started throwing the Chinese booty into the crowd. In fear of being trampled by hundreds of booty-seeking children, I went back to the campsite.
The campsites were pretty cool – they are all roped off so that the public can watch, but not walk through. [Hampton Event Location Point Number 10 on the guide map.] From the outside, it's a nice view of pirates doing everyday things in an encampment – eating, talking, smoking pipes and so forth. While the public is not really obnoxious, but it's nice to have your little space.
Below: scenes of relaxing while at camp. From left - Silkie and Abbington M. Normal cooling off; Sarah Sterling, Aminjiria/Jack, Cheeky Actress, Joshua Sterling; The Blackbeard Crew's site.
(Photo: Mary Diamond)
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(Photo: Mary Diamond)
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(Photo: Mary Diamond)
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I was then asked to carry a gun in another enactment on the docks. (Hampton Event Location Point Number 4) (There was a frightful lot of walking back and forth between the docks and the encampment/stage. My feeeeet!) I was to be a militiaman who breaks up a fight between a bunch of women attacking a guy who appears to have been too free with his amour. We finally arrested him for causing the spillage of rum. (Insert tired 'Alcohol abuse!' comment here.) Amanjiria was in charge of our militia, Keith and Michael Bagley were the other two members of the team. Cheeky played MC and, although I couldn't really hear her that well because the docks are at a different level than the crowd and the speakers, I understand she was quite good.
From there we went back to camp and I got a chance to check out the vendors. Several period correct vendors were a-vending including the Official PiP Period-Correct Vendor for 2007 – Greg from the Weeping Heart Trade Company. We chatted for quite awhile, I bought far too many things from him and I learned something tragic: the guy who makes the green onion bottles that are so popular at PiP committed suicide and Greg didn't have another source lined up. So I immediately bought one before I missed another chance to do so like I did at PiP. The rest of you can fend for yourselves.
After all this, I learned dinner wasn't for several hours and returned to the hotel to shower. (At last! Something with no locating point!) This event is a great deal more event-packed than Pirates in Paradise. Being in the middle of Hampton, it is also a very different environment with all the concrete, docks and the hundreds of people wandering about throughout the day.
(Photo: Cheeky Actress)
At some point during the festivities (when your old pal and surgeon Mission was off somewhere
drinking rum...ah, involved in important duties pertaining to the safety of the commonwealth),
our own Micky Souris/Michael Bagley got into a pitched sword battle with a scurrilous knave.
(Scurrilous knaves are known for wearing black shirts, see?)
Michael appears to put up a good fight...actually, looking at these photos...no he really doesn't appear to have...at any rate, the knave got the best of Michael. In the end, the lad conquered Mr. Bagley, orange feather waving victoriously in the breeze. Michael lay less-than-victorious, but probably put up one of those really hammy death scenes. You know, the type where he kicks his legs several times in death twitches.
(Photo: Cheeky Actress)
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(Photo: Cheeky Actress)
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