Paul Green & Blackbeard

Many of our readers know of Paul Green (1894-1981), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author of  "The Lost Colony," the Outer Banks' outdoor drama that has been regularly produced since 1937. Green's work inspired numerous other historical outdoor dramas, and is the longest-running of them all.

Only recently did I discover that Paul Green, with his wife, Elizabeth Lay, wrote an earlier one-act play about Blackbeard and Ocracoke Island. I have been unable to locate a copy of the Blackbeard play, but I did discover the words to a song in that production. It is sung by Bloody Ed, tailor and cook aboard Blackbeard's sloop the Adventure.  

Bloody Ed’s Song

In a winding shroud of green sea weed
    There many a dead man lies---
And the waves above them glitter at night
     With the stare of the dead men’s eyes.
No rest, no sleep, ten-fathom deep
    They watch with their glittering eyes.

Forever washed by the deep sea tides
    With the hanging coral sands,
For their treasured gold in their own deep graves
     They search with their bony hands.
No rest, no sleep, ten fathom deep
    They dig with their bony hands.

Hoping to secure a copy of the play one day!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be notified when we publish a new post simply add your email address in the box at the top right and click "submit."