Argh! Beaufort to be invaded by pirates

Unlike on June 14, 1747, the town of Beaufort is now prepared for - is even welcoming - an invasion along its shores.  

A multitude of visitors is expected to complement a horde of invited pirates and their crews this weekend as the 2008 Beaufort Pyrate Invasion finds port in this seaside village.

The last such large-scale assault against the town was held June 23, 1983, capping a then 23-year history of the annual event.

The first such offensive - the one from which the re-enactment weekend is drawn - occurred more than 250 years prior when a small fleet of Spanish privateers, acting with government sanction, harvested several ships from Beaufort's harbor. The town's 13-man militia could do little to protect the area.

Later, on Aug. 26, according to a history of the event detailed at beaufortpyrateinvasion.com, the privateers returned to take the town.

These events were first commemorated under the direction of local historian Grayden Paul in 1960. Although Paul had hoped the staging would be a highlight of the town's 250th founding celebration, it was not until the 251st birthday tribute that the event's first cannon would be fired.

Today, the N.C. Maritime Museum has documented much of the town's pirate history in a new exhibit, "Knights of the Black Flag." The display premieres Saturday to coincide with town events.

With funding from the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the exhibit is more detailed and more interactive than previous transitory displays.

"It's an opportunity to get something in our temporary gallery that has a little more substance to it," said Mike Carraway, historian, Beaufort native and exhibit curator. "And pirates are always popular."

And maybe more than a little misunderstood, said the museum's information officer, Michelle McConnell.

"Some people will walk in and they probably won't know that that's Blackbeard's flag," said McConnell. "Or that Blackbeard was only a pirate for two years."

Visitors will also learn the differences between officers and crew from full-size mannequins dressed in period clothing, and will have the opportunities to views weapons, pirate booty and paintings of the era.

The often inglorious daily diet and lives of those people who served aboard pirate ships will also be displayed.

"We're hoping to educate people and show this was not a glamorous life," McConnell said.

Yet in an example of living history, it is a way of life that continues today.

"We have a section on modern piracy," McConnell said. "So people know it's still going on."

To sample the lives of pirates, then and now, "Knights of the Black Flag" is open free to the public seven days a week.

 2008 Beaufort Pyrate Invasion Schedule

Pyrate Encampment: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Beaufort Historic Site, 100 block of Turner Street, free

Conspire with the Pyrates: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Beaufort Historic Site, $15

Pyrate Procession: 1 p.m. Saturday, Turner and Front streets, free

Pyrate Invasion: 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 700 block of Front Street, free

Buccaneers Ball: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, North Carolina Maritime Museum, 315 Front St., $25 in costume, $30 if no costume

‘Knights of the Black Flag'

A new exhibit at North Carolina Maritime Museum, 315 Front St., Beaufort, will detail the lives and times of the 18th-century's Golden Age of Piracy. The exhibit includes life-sized pirates dress in period clothes, costumes visitors can wear, replica cannons and weapons, interactive history lessons about the daily lives and habits aboard a pirate ship and large-scale paintings by Don Maitz and Donna Nyzio. "Knights of the Black Flag" opens Saturday and will remain on display through Dec. 28. Admission to the museum and exhibit is free. For more information, call (252) 728-7317 or visit www.ncmaritimemuseum.org.