“It’s better to swim in the sea below than to swing in the air and feed the crow”
BooksCultureNon-Fiction
”It’s better to swim in the sea below Than to swing in the air and feed the crow, Says jolly Ned Teach of Bristol”
- From the published poem “A Sailor’s Song”, now completely lost to time but for the last three lines above. Writte by then thirteen year old printer’s apprentice and to-be founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Written about the downfall of one of history’s most (in)famous pirates, Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard. Everything isn’t black or white in piracy, or life. Despite being hated by the powers that was he was mourned by the public. He was said to be a ruthless sea-borne thief and robber by some while displaying an unexpectedly compassionate side in some occations.
Read more in my book review of “The Republic of Pirates” by Colin Woodard.