Captain Bellamy, raider of the maritime frontier. Art by Greg Manchess.
Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Aye, mates, and they’ve found Black Sam’s crew. All these years gone, and they’re much the worse, so they are. But… these dead men may yet tell their tale…
Black Sam Bellamy. Art by Greg Manchess.
From the Daily Mail:
America’s largest pirate mass burial site has been discovered – and is thought to contain the crew of the infamous Samuel ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy, more than 300 years after they went down with their ship.
More than 100 bodies have been found by archaeologists who are trying to piece together the story of the notorious sailor and those who traveled with him as he marauded at sea.
Black Sam is considered the most successful pirate of all time. During his short career he captured more than 53 ships and plundered loot that would have been valued at $130million in today’s money.
The ship Bellamy went down in, the Whydah Gally, held more than four and a half tonnes of gold and silver when he captured it in 1717 — the same year it sank off the coast of Cape Cod.
Of the 146 men on board, only two survived and many – including Bellamy himself – were lost at sea. Those who washed ashore in the following days were given a burial on land by locals who responded to the wreck.
Now a mass grave has been uncovered in the outer cape of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is thought to contain the bodies of Bellamy’s crew…
…In February investigators believed they had found the remains of Bellamy himself during an excavation of the Whydah’s wreck.
DNA from a living male descendant of the pirate is currently being tested against that of the remains.
Gives me chills, so it does.
Paul McNamee says
Cape Cod?
I need to pay more attention to local news.
JimC says
…And a bottle of rum.
Keith West says
We expect regular updates.
deuce says
This is very cool.
Manchess needs to illustrate the Black Vulmea tales.
JimC says
Right? PERFECT.
Keith West says
I second that motion.
Matthew says
This is really interesting. I don’t think Black Sam is as well known as Blackbeard, but he apparently was one of the most successful pirates ever. Funny how some people with great accomplishments aren’t real known.
deuce says
Exactly! Just look at how obscure Black Vulmea is. I’m sick of Blackbeard sucking up all of the notoriety.
JimC says
He certainly was NOT the most successful nor the most fearsome pirate of the era.
Matthew says
Do you mean Blackbeard or Black Sam?
I think that Blackbeard is mostly remembered because of his death.
JimC says
Yes. A dramatic one it was, too. The cannon matches in the beard were a nice touch, gotta admit.
Ordie_Rat says
An interesting fact is that the Pirates were the first to actually practice true democracy and gender didn’t play much of a roll determining who became a pirate either. Mary Reed and Anne Bonney are two very successful women pirates of the 17th Century.
Black Tyrone says
Hey who doesn’t like to read about perhaps the most pernicious {Patrick O’Brien’s term} group of people in the late 17th early 18th century. Finished Black Sails series.. portrayed Ann Bonney as most deadly and troubled, enjoyed. Read the Requiem Shark years back by Nicholas Griffin.. pretty good as I recall.
JimC says
I have to finish up Black Sails. Turned out to be really, really strong.
black tyrone says
agree ..very strong Requiem Shark featured Black Bart and was a bit of an adult pirate novel absent Johnny Depp and fantasy heads with shell fish as well as female beauties as pirates. OK for the juveniles But.. Got to see bad skin and teeth to be non Hollywood.. Try it. sorry for the run on sentence.
Jerry says
As the article noted, the Whydah exhibit came to Denver a few years ago. I spent at least half the day there mesmerized by the artifacts. Piles of blackpowder preserved from inside the loaded cannons, pirate ‘blinged’ pistols and swords, piles of silver doubloons, carefully carved gold artifacts from Africa and, after being warned by a small sign saying “human remains ahead,” a small leg bone fragment from a boy who elected to go off with the pirates after his parent’s ship was taken.
I always thought ‘whydah’ was a badass pirate take on “widow” but it was actually a purpose-built slave ship that picked up slaves from that location/tribe on the west coast of Africa…think “Exxon Valdez.” Bellamy took the slaver and converted it to a pirate ship because it could hold a larger crew.
Think four of the waterlogged pirates were captured and hanged. Cotton Mather tried to save a couple of souls first, but that didn’t commute the sentence. Bellamy’s pilot was an Indian from South America and he was sold into slavery. I’ve heard, but can’t corroborate, that the father of Abigail Adams bought him.
john roberts says
Bartholomew Roberts is generally rated the most successful pirate, having operated an actual pirate fleet. I fondly believe he’s an ancestor of mine. But, yeah, Blackbeard and Kidd get too much attention. But Teach was the pirate’s pirate, a man who fully understood the pure theater of piracy.
JimC says
We’re going with “descendant of Bartholomew Roberts” without question.
Black Tyrone says
Requiem Shark as mentioned is about Black Bart
Breaker Morant says
Off-topic, but I don’t think you mind too much.
Finished with the village visit. A highlight of the trip.
Surprisingly, my wife was invited into a cooking hut and got pictures. Also, beer and zebras around.
https://thesmokeofafrica.blogspot.com/2018/03/3-village-huts-inside-and-out-and.html
https://thesmokeofafrica.blogspot.com/