Posted on 01/17/2011 3:51:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Could this partly gilded hilt have held Blackbeard's sword? There's no way to know for sure, though it was found amid the North Carolina wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the infamous 18th-century pirate... After running aground on a sandbar in 1718 near the town of Beaufort, the ship was abandoned but likely remained intact and partly above water for as long as a year before collapsing and disintegrating... The newfound hilt may have been left behind because it was unwanted, or it may have been inaccessible, according to Moore's colleague Wendy Welsh, a conservator on the project. Blackbeard's brief career as a pirate lasted only about two years, but during that time he became one of history's most feared outlaws.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
Looks like he went for Martinis.
Although his main claims to fame are Anne Bonney and Mary Reade, I like Calico Jack Rackham’s flag, the one they used in “Pirates” as the flag of the Black Pearl.
A fighting cutlass/sword/rapier would have more protection for the hand and an ergonomic grip less likely to slip in a wet/sweaty hand 
.
Yes, someone as flamboyant as a Blackbeard would want a gilded cutlass but as a fighting man, he would first want his weapon to be practical. That stag handled sword is not what a fighting man of the era would have worn in battle.
IIRC....Supposedly, Blackbeard removed the booty and sunk that ship. Maybe the sward was part of the booty that got left behind.
Commonly, yes. But not always. Bone, stag horn, ivory and other materials were often used for grips. Also, some hilts used a loop of chain instead of a solid basket. This one appears to have used a loop of chain.
I want one of those. ARRrrr.
True but fighting grips or decorative grips?
Also, some hilts used a loop of chain instead of a solid basket. This one appears to have used a loop of chain.
Might the eye have been for a decorative tassel?
Stag makes a very good functional and ergonomic handle even today when compared with modern materials.
The little nubs give a good grip in wet conditions and the sweep of the antler fits the hand. Stag antlers are right and left-handed depending on the side they come off the deer, BTW.
I would submit that "decorative" or "display" swords are much more a modern artifact than they were in centuries past. Back then, there was precious little difference. Sure, people hung swords on the wall in the 17th century, but they were still the real thing.
Might the eye have been for a decorative tassel?
Lots of things are possible, but tassels would typically have connected at the pommel, nomatter what sort of hilt the sword had.
A chain guard would look like this: 
Another one here, but they won't hotlink: http://landandseacollection.com/id645.html
Keep in mind that the basket hilt (or chain hilt) was not just for protection of the hand-- in fact that would've often been a more secondary purpose. The hilt (and pommel) was used for punching and striking an opponent. Like brass knuckles. You wouldn't intentionally try to parry with the hand guard. Most parrying with a cutlass would've been done either with the flat of the blade-- or better yet-- a dagger, belaying pin, or buckler in the other hand.
Or, maybe he was planning to make a booty call, but the law caught up to him before he got back.
An old Zap Comix aficionado salutes Cap’n Pissgums.
Shiver me timbers.
Thanks Ramius.
I'd like to do a metallurgical analysis of some of the uncorroded steel to see if it was weapon's grade or bling grade.
Perhaps I should have used the term trophy sword taken as booty. It came from Blackbeard's ship and may have been Blackbeard's but I suspect it wasn't his primary boarding cutlass.
Of course, these are things we'll never know with certainty.
Pathos on the High Seas, below decks...
There’s no way to know if this was Blackbeard’s personal weapon or not. Most likely not. But... it’s a nice piece.
So would I.
true, that.
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