The historical element in the Fairy Taled series is significant. For historical accuracy, I had to research places, periods, events, and details extensively. All those extra facts had to go somewhere. Plus, Rump had a few more things to say about his adventures. 😉
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THE BIG SHIP
Yo, Rump here.
In case you don’t know, I am the main character in the
Fairy Taled series. Against my better judgment, I’ve agreed to post about my
travels in this blog. I’m told it’ll bring more attention to the plight of
former fairy tale characters who didn’t have that happily-ever-after. Not that
we like people poking in our business, but we could use a little support. Most
of us have real issues to deal with and don’t spend our days prancing about in
fancy gowns. Just sayin’.
Anyway, contrary to popular opinion, I am not
impulsive. I don’t just drop people in random places. What kind of monster do
you think I am? I do all sorts of research ahead of time, being the voracious
reader that I am. In this space, I’ll share some of the interesting tidbits
I’ve picked up during this research, along with any observations from my actual
visits. Maybe you can use some of it while planning for your next vacation.
Whatever.
In A Vengeful Tale, the first book of the Fairy Taled series (have you read it yet? Best main character ever),
I teleport Rapunzel to the frosty deck of the RMS Titanic. Why there, you ask? She was quite hostile when I
floated the idea of a new story, so I wanted to give her the opportunity to
cool off. Plus, it was known as the “ship of dreams,” so I figured it went well
with the whole fairy tale theme.
I wasn’t there very long so my observations were
limited. The briny sea air was too freaking cold for my taste, but that didn’t
stop the passengers from hanging out on the decks. The vibe was magical, celebratory,
and highfalutin. Rapunzel could’ve taken some time to enjoy the atmosphere, but—let’s
be honest—the girl is quite high strung. I only spent a few moments on the
inside but was impressed by the craftsmanship, especially surrounding that
grand staircase. So many high-end finishes aimed at comfort and elegance, so
many details put into the making of that ship—it’s a real shame it went down.
Yeah, okay, onto the facts…
Simply put, the Titanic
was ginormous: eleven stories high and four city blocks long (882.5 ft),
weighed 46,328 gross tons, and had 66,000 tons of displacement. At full speed,
she could make twenty-five knots—not bad for a big girl. The ship used over 825
tons of coal per day and had over 10,000 lamp bulbs. It cost $7.5 million to
build and two workers were killed during its production.
The ship was launched in May of 1911 out of a Belfast
shipyard, and the next several months were spent perfecting all the elaborate
finishing touches. She arrived in Southampton for her maiden voyage to New York
on April 10, 1912. Among the provisions were forty thousand fresh eggs,
seventy-five thousand pounds of fresh meat, thirty-six thousand apples, and one
thousand bottles of wine. Thirteen couples aboard were on their honeymoon.
On April 14th, the Titanic hit the iceberg at 11:40pm, started sending out distress
calls at 12:15am, and sank at 2:20am. It took two hours and forty minutes to
sink. After being warned six times of icebergs in the area by other ships, two
lookouts in the Titanic’s crow’s nest
spotted the fateful iceberg and rang the bell three times, then called the
bridge. It took almost a full minute for the ship to start to turn, swinging to
port. The watchers initially thought it was only a close shave and didn’t
believe there to be actual damage. Many survivors reported hearing a faint
grinding sound, or felt a sudden shudder.
The Titanic held
2,207 people (1,316 passengers and 891 crewmembers) the day it sank and only
had lifeboats to carry 1,178 people. She was equipped to carry sixty-four
lifeboats but only had twenty—most inexplicably not filled to capacity.
The temperature of the sea at the time was 31 degrees.
Another ship, the Californian,
sat ten miles away, oblivious, waiting out the night in the same ice field. The
wireless operator on that ship didn’t know much about the equipment and hadn’t
wound the magnetic detector so he didn’t hear the distress calls that came in. Shockingly,
crewmembers of the Californian were
confused by all the rockets sent into the air and the odd way she floated in
the water, but did nothing to check in with the large ocean liner that had
passed them earlier in the night. Were these people dumb as dirt or what??
At 59 years old, Captain Smith was set to retire after
the trip. It was his tradition to take the White Star ships on their maiden
voyage. Too bad the captain went down with his ship.
The wreckage now lies 12,600 feet below on ocean
floor.
Okay, as requested, those are some facts about the big
ol’ ship. I’ll end by saying that you might want to get a refund on that summer
cruise you had scheduled.
Rump out.
ARE GHOSTS REAL?
Yo. Rump again.
As I said before, I’m a stickler for research before
my teleporting adventures, so I’m back to share some tidbits about Amityville.
First, let me start by clearing the air. I DID NOT
BELIEVE IN GHOSTS WHEN I BROUGHT RED THERE in A Vengeful Tale! My Internet searches about the
Amityville house were a 50/50 mix of hoax theories and witness testimony. Who
you gonna believe?
The famous house located on Ocean Avenue in
Amityville, New York is a Dutch colonial revival, with three floors, six
bedrooms, and 4,100 square feet. It has a swimming pool, a boat house, and is
located on a river. With all that it has to offer, I thought it’d be a great
choice to expose Red to modern conveniences. My bad.
The house’s history is what made it famous. In 1974, six
people were murdered at the Long Island residence, thirty miles outside New
York City. Ronald J. DeFeo Jr., a 23-year-old mechanic, shot his parents and four
siblings while they were sleeping. Originally claiming a demon made him do it,
he was subsequently sentenced to six consecutive life sentences. I know what
you’re thinking, but people die in houses all the time. It doesn’t make the
houses haunted.
Thirteen months after the murders, the house was sold
to the Lutz family for only $80,000—a bargain! Except, they only stayed there
for twenty-eight days. Not exactly a great return on investment. Here are some
of their reported claims:
*saw slime oozing down walls and out of keyholes
*smelled strange odors
*cold spots in certain rooms
*a priest brought in to bless the house supposedly
heard a voice saying, “Get out.”
*doors slamming
*flickering lights
*front door would slam during the night
*unseen presence
*wife transformed into an old crone and levitated
*kids unable to move or leave their rooms
*a demon-eyed pig appearing in the window (see what I
mean about hoaxy?)
The family fled, but they also got a book deal and
then Hollywood made the famous movie. We all know what happens when Hollywood
gets a hold of something. If you’re looking for facts, would you trust
Hollywood?? Hell no. And remember that ROI I mentioned above? Well, the Lutzs supposedly
ended up with $300,000 from the book deal, so I’d say it worked out.
Lorraine and Ed Warren, paranormal investigators,
toured the house five months after the Lutz family left and believed there to
be legitimate paranormal activity and called the experience the
“personification of evil.” Ed was said to have been pushed to the ground by an
unseen presence, and they produced a photo of a ghostly child standing in the
home’s basement.
But nothing has ever been proven, and many people,
including the former lawyer of DeFeo, speculate that the ghost story was all a
money-making hoax. After all, the lawyer claims he tried to write a book with
the family first, coming up with stories over lots of wine, but they couldn’t
agree on how to split the money.
The biggest thing that made me think it was all a hoax
was the fact that the house has been sold five times since the murder and no
other families have reported any paranormal activity. It last sold in 2017 for
$605,000 (now listed with a new house number). To this day, only the Lutzs have
made the ghost claim.
Did Red and Gran have an encounter with a ghost there?
Yes. I believe my friend Red, and I believe what I saw in the Fates’ orbs. Beyond
that, the only provable fact is that six people were murdered in the famous
house back in 1974. We’ll never understand why.
Would I choose differently if given the chance?
Absolutely.
Rump out.
JACK THE RIPPER’S WHITECHAPEL
Rump again.
Figured I better wrap up my Book One travels before
Book Two, A Tale of Atonement, hits the shelves. I’ve already touched on the Titanic and
Amityville. That leaves me Whitechapel, London. What a toilet bowl…
As I mentioned in A Vengeful Tale, I chose this place because
it has remained popular over the years, with Jack the Ripper tours still a
destination. Bernie had always said, lovingly, that I had the attention span of
a toddler sometimes, and I get bored easily. Whitechapel is not boring. And
contrary to what Godmother says, my intent was not for Cinderella to get
“sliced and diced” by the world’s most notorious serial killer. After all, Jack
the Ripper’s victims were all prostitutes. Fairy tale’s golden girl is most
definitely not a lady of the evening, so I felt that bought her a certain
amount of safety. I took a calculated risk. I mean, most nights Cinderella is
in bed by 9pm with a cup of chamomile tea and a cat on her feet. That doesn’t
fit Ripper’s victimology.
Anyway, on to the facts…
Whitechapel, London was a very dark place in the
autumn of 1888, when the killings began over a ten-week period. London’s East
End had some of the worst slums, highest poverty rates, and highest death
rates, with almost 55% of children dying before their fifth birthday.
Addiction, violence, disease, abuse, unemployment, overcrowding, gangs, and drunkenness
were commonplace. In the daily battle for survival, many women had to turn to
prostitution. Forgotten, shunned, and overlooked, they were especially vulnerable
to violence and lived in constant danger. After all, Jack the Ripper wasn’t the
only criminal or killer prowling the streets of London. He was just the most
notorious because of the brutal nature of mutilating his victims.
The legendary murders occurred in an area a little
more than one square mile. While eleven murders in Whitechapel had been
investigated, only five victims were conclusively tied to Jack the Ripper: Mary
Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly,
all killed between August 31st and November 9th, 1888.
I’ll spare you the gruesome details. Most shocking is the sheer number of
murders both before and after these five that occurred in the general area.
London was a dark place indeed.
The name “Jack the Ripper” originated from a letter
received by the Central News Agency and forwarded to the Metropolitan Police,
written in red ink and boasting of past murders while warning of future ones.
Within twenty-four hours of police receiving the forwarded letter, the double
murder of Stride and Eddowes occurred. Still, many investigators had concluded
it to be a journalistic joke. While the letter could never be proven as either
legitimate or hoax, the name signed at the bottom stuck. Multiple hoax letters
would follow.
Over the years, 2000 people were interviewed, 300 were
investigated, and 80 were detained. No one was ever charged. Modern methods to
test evidence is limited by contamination and the fact that many of the
records/items pertaining to the case were destroyed when Germany bombed the UK
during the World War II. Theories abound, including recent DNA testing on a
shawl found near one of the victims. It’s pretty safe to say we’ll never know
his true identity.
How did Cinderella fare on Ripper’s streets? Gotta
read the book to find out!
Rump out.
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A TANGLED WEB OF SPIES
If you’ve already read A Tale of Atonement, then you
know that Cinderella’s hubby became a spy for the American patriots during the
Revolutionary War. But did you know the man who led them, General George
Washington, was considered to be one of history’s greatest spymasters?
Washington’s Continental Army was greatly
understaffed, undertrained, and underfunded. He was going up against the
world’s greatest army in Britain and needed something to turn the tide in the
fight for independence. The astute general knew the only chance he had to
defeat a superior opponent was to outsmart them by gathering intelligence—something
he learned during his service in the French and Indian War. To do so,
Washington created a spy network of farmers, merchants, tailors, blacksmiths, printers,
and many other ordinary freedom-loving American patriots.
With orders from Washington, Thomas Knowlton organized
the first spy ring in 1775. The 130-person group became known as Knowlton’s
Rangers. Three years later, Benjamin Tallmadge, as director of military
intelligence, created another spy network that was rooted in New York. The
Culper Ring was very successful, gathering intelligence that guided many of
Washington’s decisions. Within this group, he became known as Agent 711. A
third major network, the Clark Spy Ring, gathered information in Philadelphia
as well.
Washington’s networks worked hard to disperse false
information, such as size and location of troops, to fool the British. The
general also pored over intelligence his spies had gathered and compared the
messages from other spies, officers, and British deserters to make sure he
wasn’t being deceived or swayed by false information.
In 1780, the Culper Ring, under Washington’s direction,
overheard the British plan to intercept French troops and supplies in aid of
the Continental Army. Washington then released disinformation to divert the
British troops so the French could land safely. This was a big turning point in
the war.
America’s most famous traitor, Benedict Arnold, was
caught because of secret intelligence. The Culper Ring learned that Arnold had
secretly made a plan with British spy John Andre to surrender the American
garrison at West Point. West Point was a crucial outpost, controlling
communication and transportation between the rest of the country and New
England. After intentionally weakening the post, Arnold provided Andre with
troop information and other intelligence; however, a group of militia detained
Andre and discovered the plan before it could be completely carried out.
Hercules Mulligan owned a clothing emporium that
attracted wealthy New York loyalists and British officers. His clients trusted
Hercules and often shared sensitive information with him, or at least spoke
openly in his presence. He would then pass on the information to one of his
former boarding tenants: Alexander Hamilton. On one occasion, Mulligan learned
of a plan to capture General Washington, dispersing a warning to thwart the
plan at the last moment.
James Lafayette Armistead was an enslaved
African-American who served as a double agent. He pretended to be an escaped
slave who became an entrusted information of the British. Meanwhile, he
smuggled intelligence to the head of the French command aiding General
Washington. Intelligence he shared was crucial to the Americans winning the
battle at Yorktown—the battle that ended the war.
Washington’s spies used many methods, including
invisible ink. A physician in England provided Washington with a chemical
solution made out of tannic acid that they termed “sympathetic stain.” Secret
messages were written between lines of correspondence, in pamphlets, or on
receipts and then revealed by using another chemical reaction. Other acidic
remedies were also used—such as lime juice, milk, and vinegar—to create
invisible ink, where secret messages were revealed by holding the paper over a
candle.
Additional examples of how the crafty Americans used
spying during the Revolutionary War included the following:
*Spies used secret codes and ciphers in
correspondence, where letters and characters replaced other letters and could
only be decoded using a special code key or book.
*Information was exchanged by women hanging items on
their clotheslines. Black petticoats meant a message was ready for pick up. The
number of handkerchiefs hung alerted couriers as to the specific secret
location.
*Messages also were sewn into buttons and written on
hard-boiled eggs with invisible ink.
*They utilized “dead drops” to leave a message at a
specific location where another agent could pick it up.
*One of the spy rings uncovered the British plan to
tank the Continental economy by infusing it with counterfeit money.
The art of spying has gotten pretty sophisticated
these days. And while gathering intelligence is essential in protecting the
citizens of any given country, it is also sometimes weaponized against its own
innocent people—a practice that must stop. I’m sure the Fairy Tale Council
knows a little something about this.
I am happy to report that Prince Richard, Cinderella’s
husband, was successful in his bout as a spy. He helped deliver crucial
information about the travels of Cornet Francis Geary and his troops. This
allowed a small group of American militia to attack the British in what history
now calls the “Ambush of Geary” or “Amwell Skirmish.” Bravo, Prince Richy,
bravo. I knew you could do it.
THE UNTAMED WEST
Over the last few months, I’ve taken a lot of heat for
bringing Snow White back to 1858 and leaving her in a California gold mine in the second portion of A Tale of Atonement. For
those of you leaving overly rude comments on social media, lobbying the Fairy Tale
Council, or threatening to poison my porridge: I hear your concerns. I own that
mistake and am regretful. The Wild West was a brutal world fraught with danger
at every turn, and no place for a kind heart like Snow White. I’m glad she’s
back in Minnesota where she belongs, and last I heard, she’s still happily
dating what’s-his-face.
The mine I brought her to was pretty representative of
those in the latter part of the century. I figured she’d get a taste of what
her mining brothers went through on a daily basis, but I had no idea how
structurally unsound the shaft actually was. Fans of Discovery channel’s Gold
Rush need to understand that mining in the 1800s makes what Parker Schnabel
and Tony Beets do look like child’s play.
Did you know that all it took were a few shiny flakes
in a river and the world was changed forever? I’m sure the poor schmuck at
Sutter’s Mill wishes he would’ve kept his mouth shut, but once the cat was out
of the bag, people rushed to California like a monkey on a cupcake. Ironically,
the man who owned the property where gold was first discovered, John Sutter,
ended up broke. Gold seekers overran and destroyed his land, and Sutter spent
the rest of his life trying, unsuccessfully, to sue the government to reimburse
him for his losses.
By 1854, more than 300,000 immigrants had arrived in
California to try their hand at prospecting, coming from countries like China,
Australia, and Europe. While the romanticized view of “striking it rich” is
what we think of today, reality was that people didn’t have many options for
safe work in those days. With choices like coal mining, sea faring,
railroading, or working in a steel mill—all carrying significant risks—can you
really blame them?
Unfortunately, many walked away with little or nothing
for their labors, while others didn’t walk away at all. If disease and violence
didn’t claim them, cave-ins, asphyxiation from poor ventilation, explosions,
fires, accidents, and boiling pockets of geothermal water often did. Dirty
water, starvation/malnutrition, and poisoning by mercury and cyanide also
increased the death toll.
And if all that wasn’t enough, they had to throw drug
addiction into the mix. Opium had long been used in medicines at the time;
however, laborers arriving from China to mine or help build railroads brought
with them opium smoking pipes. It didn’t take long before the abuse of opioids
had spread across the Wild West, creating an estimated 250,000 addicts by the
1890s.
Price gouging was a real issue. Budding entrepreneurs who
catered to miners were often the ones who struck it rich, especially when they
sold a carton of eggs for $3—an equivalent of $105 today—or a pound of butter
for $20, today’s equivalent of $700. A
shovel was $1,200 in today’s money. As ridiculously expensive as groceries are
today, I guess we have it good compared to the miners back then.
I’m sure when many of you think of the Wild West, you
think of duels or shootouts. In order to curb gun violence, many towns enacted
a law where you’d have to check your gun in with the local sheriff before you
could enter. He’d give you a token, which you could exchange back for you gun
when you left.
A typical dinner in 1853? Calves’ head, calves’ feet,
or boiled mutton. No thanks.
The whiskey tasted like gasoline. Here are some
popular whiskey names to confirm how bad it was: coffin varnish, mountain
howitzer, and tangle-leg.
Don’t stop at the Benders. Believed to be America’s
first serial killer family, the Benders owned a cabin, corral and general store
in Kansas. After eleven people turned up missing while visiting the Bender
property, an investigation began. Unfortunately, the creepy family disappeared
before their arrest and the remains of some of the missing were found buried in
their orchard.
In the mid-1800s, the Texas government imported
seventy-five camels to help transport goods westward.
If you lived in Dodge City, Kansas, from 1876-1885,
you had a one in sixty-five chance of being murdered.
Personally, I found my time there to be dirty, dusty,
and loud. A stray bullet nearly took me out on the way to the saloon, and the
whiskey was the worst tasting crap I ever had. I later learned alcoholic
beverages weren’t regulated until 1897, so they put all sorts of junk in there.
But damn that sarsaparilla was boss! Too bad Godmother and her posse arrived
before I could finish it. That killjoy ruins everything…
MY BRUSH WITH BLACK DEATH
**Spoiler alert. Perhaps finish reading A Tale of Atonement before you read this post**
As you may have noticed, I’ve been gone for a while.
That’s what happens when you’re infected with a plague that few people survived
during medieval times. Physically, it took weeks to recover; mentally, I’m
still working on that.
I don’t remember much of what happened once the fever
set in. As pain seeped into all my joints and muscles, I descended into a world
of delirium with a fog so thick I couldn’t see or breathe. The horrid smell of
infection still visits me in phantom whiffs now and then, making my body
shudder. Lonny’s soft voice, ghostly renditions of the monks singing, and the
gong of the church bell reside at the corners of my memory. I haven’t been able
to work in Bernie’s flowerbeds, because digging in dirt brings me crashing back
to the graveyard where I raced with Lonny to keep up with the corpses. And an
overcast or humid day leaves me melancholy in a whole new way. I’m hoping time
will ease the effects of what I went through.
Meanwhile, here are a few facts about the medieval
plague known as Black Death:
It all started with infected fleas. The bacterium
known as Yersinia pestis lived in the intestines of infected
fleas. Fleas would bite their host—rats, humans, camels—and regurgitate the
infection into their bloodstream. With this, the bubonic plague was born.
The plague of 1347, known as Black Death, originated
in China. Thanks to the Silk Road—a network of trade routes connecting China
and Europe—the plague traveled with the caravans, infecting people in villages
and ports along the way.
While the plague spread two kilometers a day on land,
it spread all across the world by sea as rats with fleas took shelter on boats.
Dense cities with large populations and unsanitary conditions became the
perfect breeding ground for rats and their disease-carrying fleas.
It’s believed that Mongols attacking the city of Caffa,
a Crimean port of the Black Sea, catapulted infected corpses over the walls in
an instance of biological warfare, spreading the plague to their enemies.
What later became known as Black Death wiped out close
to half of Europe’s population, almost 25 million people, and over a third of
the population of the Middle East.
It affected cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs, killing
off livestock. This wiped out the meat supply and soon there weren’t enough
laborers to work in the fields for agriculture, causing a food shortage for
survivors.
The plague racked victims with fever, chills, headache,
diarrhea, vomiting, swollen tongues, aches and pains, and the trademark “black
boils” or buboes that would show up on the neck, armpits, and groin. Sometimes
the swelling lymph nodes would get as large as an egg and would leak blood and
pus. Once in the lymph system, the infection gets in the blood and lungs. Eighty
percent of infected people died, usually within two to seven days.
With the plague raging, mass hysteria ensued. People
abandoned sick family members, trying to flee the sickness but there was
nowhere the fingers of death didn’t reach. Many believed God was punishing them
for their sins. A group of hooded men
calling themselves Flagellants would march through European towns whipping
themselves until bloody to atone for their sins as a public penance. Other odd
beliefs about why the plague began included: overindulgence in fruits,
proximity to swamps, lack of sunshine, and alignment of the stars and planets.
Mobs of crazed people inexplicably began blaming
lepers and those of Jewish descent. Soon an antisemitic movement was born and
entire Jewish communities were murdered. The king of Poland offered the
persecuted Jews a safe haven and many migrated to Poland and Lithuania.
The freaky costume the healer in A Tale of
Atonement wore was real. Doctors and healers at the time tried to cover
themselves head to toe with leather or oil cloth robes. They wore a wide
brimmed hat, gloves, and a mask that usually had glass eyes and a beak-like
structure protruding from the nose area, which included nostril holes filled
with flower petals or other herbs. Not exactly the hazmat type suits I
encountered in that Atlanta hospital.
Mindboggling “cures” included: strapping a live chick
to buboes to draw out the disease, rubbing dead snakes on buboes, eating
crushed emeralds, drinking a concoction called Four Thieves Vinegar, drinking
theriac (which contained opium), and “clearing the air” with flowers and herbs.
They also used bloodletting and leeches.
A modern bubonic plague can now be treated with
antibiotics and has a fatality rate of 11%.
Whatever they used in that Atlanta hospital did the
trick, ridding my body of an invader that took millions of lives. One thing is
for sure…I will never look at a flea the same way again.
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THE REAL BLACKBEARD
Yo-ho it’s pirate’s life for me.
It’s Rump again. Actually, I have zero interest in
becoming a pirate, but after my experience with Blackbeard during A Villainous Tale, and with all the
research I did, I understand the pull a lot better than I did before.
When I went into that jail, I expected an
eighteenth-century buccaneer version of Satan. What I found was a tall and
muscular man with a neatly trimmed gray beard who seemed more poised to whoop
you in a chess match than a sword fight. Was this because Blackbeard was past
his prime? I don’t think so. I’m more inclined to believe that history had
worked hard to paint a skewed picture of the man, and because Edward Thache
knew when to put on a façade and when not to.
The second point is an easy one: Blackbeard understood
the value of appearances. In his case, the act of intimidation. If he could use
fear and intimidation to make other captains and crew surrender without a
fight, he didn’t have to lift a finger. He could put on a fierce show and then sit
back and enjoy the spoils. When not playing the part, he presented himself as
an intelligent, charismatic, and fair man that had earned the respect of his
crew—a crew he treated well, giving them all an equal vote and equal share of
the plunder. Also, some of his closest
mates were men he’d freed from slavery.
My original point—about how history had gotten him so
wrong—was by design. During the Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1730), colonists and
many of their governors eagerly traded with pirates, not only getting goods at
a more favorable price, but doing so at the expense of the government that
oppressed them. For years the Crown and the British Board of Trade sat back and
largely ignored piracy, as long as it was directed at Spanish or French ships.
However, once British merchant ships became fair game, disrupting their
commerce, the Crown stepped in to change the narrative. The seed of rebellion
was beginning to take root in the colonies, and they needed to squash it in its
tracks. Newspapers and pamphlets soon began to push the propaganda of the
Crown. Witness accounts of Blackbeard encounters were exaggerated and
embellished, and now the story of a bold and fearless pirate captain became one
of a devil who tortured and killed at will. Never mind the fact that historian
and pirate experts to this day have not uncovered one proven instance of death
at the hands of Blackbeard until the day of his murder, when he was illegally
attacked by men hired by the Virginia governor trying to make a name for
himself. I say “illegally” attacked because Blackbeard and his crew were
residing off the coast of North Carolina, not within the Virginia governor’s
authority, and they had recently received a pardon. Oh, those nasty details.
Given my challenges with Godmother and the Fate sisters, you know where I stand
on power-hungry authorities overstepping their bounds.
One more note on the effort to smear Edward Thache’s
name… Over the years it’s been reported that Blackbeard had been married up to
fourteen times, including to a sixteen-year-old girl from Bath Town, NC. Some
have claimed Blackbeard brought this young bride onto his ship and watched as
she was gang raped by his crew. Reality: there is not one record anywhere of a
single marriage or firsthand account from any of his crew to confirm this.
Further, there is proof that he had love in his heart for only one woman—a
Swedish beauty who lived in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Before his untimely
death, Blackbeard had planned to use his pardon from the king and seek a
commission as a privateer in St. Thomas for one year to legitimize himself.
Once that was over, he had planned to give up the sea for good and marry his
sweetheart. Does this sound like the man history molded and shaped into the
“devil, a demon, the enemy of all mankind”? Hell, they couldn’t even get his
last name right.
I know what you’re thinking…robbing/thievery and
intimidation with threat of harm is wrong in any form, and I do not condone
that. Ever. But in regards to crime we are a society obsessed with motive, and
motivation matters when we seek to judge others. Current Blackbeard experts
reveal a side to Thache previously either misunderstood or purposely skewed.
His motivations to plunder were likely political in nature. As the son of a
wealthy landowner originally from Bristol but moved to Jamaica, and as an
educated former officer with the Royal Navy, Edward Thache Junior abhorred
entitlement. He believed in making his own way and even generously signed over
his inheritance to his stepmother so she could care for his three younger
halfsiblings. As a sea-loving man, he became a privateer for a while but grew
discouraged by the abuse and mistreatment of sailors and the common man. He
also admired the Jacobite cause and was fascinated by the rebellious spirit
brewing in the colonies as they fought back against the domineering nature of
the British motherland. Influenced heavily by the beliefs of his young pirate
friend Sam Bellamy, Thache soon viewed himself as a Robin Hood of the sea. He
strived to take from the governments of Britian, France and Spain, and from
elitist merchants, using these goods to trade to the young “Americans,” at a
much more favorable price for the fledging group. Even his famous beard—which indeed
was unruly and wild—was as much a rebellious middle finger to the Crown who
demanded a clean-cut look as it was to intimidate his victims.
So was he a good man? Nope. Thugs be thugs. He also
nearly destroyed my chance at freedom with his wild ways. But Blackbeard wasn’t
the man history so desperately wanted you to think he was. There’s still a lot of
that propagandized grooming of other historical figures and events going on
today. Lesson is…be careful what you believe.
VIKINGS HELMETS DIDN’T
HAVE HORNS
I hate getting mixed up in other people’s crap.
Whatever was going on between the English and the Vikings wasn’t any of my
business, but sometimes you just get dragged into the fight. Literally. Gah.
My experience with the Vikings was intense, to say the
least. I don’t want to give away too much for those who haven’t read the fourth
and final book yet, but I wanted to give you some background info. We know from
the blurb of Book Four, A Tale So Timeless, that at least part of the story takes place during the Viking Age.
While I won’t touch on how I got there—have I mentioned how much I hate those
Fate sisters?—I will reveal the significance of the time period. England 1003
was a tinderbox of a time. On November 13th, 1002, English King Aethelred
gave the order to execute all Danes residing in England based on his belief
that there was a brewing plot to assassinate him. Historians differ on how many
people were murdered and even who was specifically targeted, but clearly many
unsuspecting Danes were killed and this sparked vengeance, especially after
Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard’s sister was among the victims.
It’s important to note that while the time leading up
to the attack was considered mostly peaceful, there were some Viking raids
combing across the land. Still, many Danish farmers and traders had settled in
England, forming families with Angelo Saxons. King Aethelred himself had
married Emma of Normandy, whose mother was a Dane named Gunner. After the St.
Brice’s Day attacks, all hell broke loose. And you guessed it…that’s when I
plopped onto the scene. Timing is everything, right?
I’ll give you a few more tidbits about the Norse
people, who were actually more skilled and more civilized than history
portrayed them. Imagine that…history painting only one side of the story to
create a certain narrative. True, groups of them were savage, but the people as
a whole were so much more than that. Norse people were superior shipbuilders
and navigators, known for their sleek and super-fast longboats. With their
expertise, they were able to navigate shallow/narrow waters and open oceans in
a way others were not. While a small number were very skilled warriors (these
were the pillaging Vikings), most Norse people were farmers and traders who
worked hard for the good of their families. Teachings and beliefs included
stressing values such as courage, honor, truth, fidelity, industriousness,
self-reliance, discipline, and perseverance. They believed in being faithful
and loyal to their gods, their family, and to themselves. For those who weren’t
involved in pillaging, or discovering other lands, they remained on the
homeland and believed in hospitality—treating others with respect and dignity. Doesn’t
exactly sound like the “heathens” history likes to portray. I will repeat that
there definitely were some of those barbaric warriors (especially those violent
berserkers who lived to intimidate), but is it fair to paint the entire Norse
people with one narrow brush stroke? I think not.
Did you know that in English, we got our days of the
week from the Danes? Woden was another name for Odin, from which we get Woden’s
day. In English, this is Wednesday. Thor’s day is Thursday and Frey’s day is
Friday. So next time you’re paging through your calendar, think of those Viking
gods and goddesses.
Also, don’t think that because I’m being generous here
with my historical tidbits that I didn’t run into some of those lunatic
warriors. I did. I won’t soon forget them.
