One can argue that Blackbeard's end was a fitting one for a pirate of his stature. After all, any rogue worth his salt wouldn't dare go down without a fight, any more than he'd lay claim to the virtue of shooting fish in a barrel. Black-beard had a heroic death, the stuff legends are made of, and it was befitting for a pirate who fought so hard to make a name for himself. That said, one might find it intriguing to know that the minor complication of Blackbeard's decapitation failed to end his worldly presence — or so it's alleged.

Almost fifty years ago, author Robert I. Nesmith wrote about his friend and colleague Edward Rowe Snow in a collection of tales entitled Dig for Pirate Treasure. In it, he relates a night that Snow, himself a prolific writer of New England pirate lore, summoned him to his home in Cape Cod on a dark and stormy night to see something very exciting that he'd acquired. What Snow revealed to Nesmith was a box that contained what Snow believed to be the “silver-coated” skull of Edward Teach. According to Snow, the skull was retrieved by a man in Bath, where Blackbeard's head ended up on display after it was removed from the Jane. After being covered in silver, it began a journey of ownership from a college fraternity through several generations of a tavern owner's family where it made occasional appearances in the tavern — as a drinking cup. As a matter of chance, Snow learned of its existence and purchased it for himself. Nesmith was skeptical, but Snow, an entirely sober individual, insisted it was Blackbeard himself — especially given the fact that it spoke to him. The skull was donated to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, when Edward Snow passed away in the 1980s. To this day, many individuals remain hopeful that it will one day be authenticated.