BLACKBEARD'S WANDERING GHOST AND LOST TREASURE THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
Although there is no historical record of the pirate
Blackbeard (sometimes called Bluebeard) ever having
ventured past Capes Henry and Charles in the Chesapeake
Bay, local lore says Blackbeard sailed as far as the
Choptank River.
There he is supposed to have dropped an oak treasure chest
overboard. Smith and Tangier islands, which lie in the
middle of the Bay, are rife with stories of Blackbeard's
treasure. And more than a few retired watermen spend their
time trying to retrieve treasure believed to have been
dropped by the pirate. According to a story still told on
Tangier Island, many years ago there lived a very poor man
who had a large family.
One day, he was at the local store listening to watermen
talking about pirates. They spoke about the Blackbeard
legend and how the legendary pirate had captured many ships
and taken their gold. Just before he was captured, he
buried his treasure, and his spirit still wandered the
island trying to find someone to tell where the treasure
was because his spirit couldn't rest until he had given it
away. On his way home one night, the pauper had to pass a
deserted house. He heard a whining and moaning in the
trees, and a voice whispering to him. "Can I speak with
you?" it asked. Scared out of his wits, the man stopped and
stuttered, "What do you want with me?" The voice explained
that he must divest himself of his treasure before he could
have eternal rest. The pauper was so terrified he ran off
home. But he decided he should meet again with the voice.
He met the voice the next Saturday but again ran away
terrified. It happened that the pauper had a retarded son
who wandered the woods by day. The boy started bringing
gold coins home each evening. When the boy was quizzed he
admitted a dark man with a blue beard gave him the coin. It
was then that the pauper realized the boy had met
Blackbeard and that his son had retrieved the treasure he
was too terrified to seek. Vernon Pruitt, a retired
waterman from Tangier Island who has heard the story, says
he can always find trinkets of treasure at low tide,
especially after the Bay wind has been blowing. "He's
always looking to find Bluebeard's treasure," says his
wife, Grace. "He's always out combing the beaches, and he
has found some old coins."
Could the history books be wrong, perhaps?
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