Treasure maps don’t talk

I had a meeting in Columbia and plugged the address into the GPS in my car. I like the GPS Lady, she has such a soothing voice. She said, “in one mile, merge onto I-26.” She is obviously oblivious to the four lanes of semi-trucks and speeding cars that are determined to keep me from merging. Later on, she said, “ten miles ahead, slow traffic.”

While sitting at a complete stop in “slow traffic,” I started thinking about maps and how they have changed.

There are all kinds of maps — road maps, nautical maps, maps of the stars — both Hollywood stars and heavenly stars. Now, we have talking maps that can tell you things a paper map can’t, like how many miles to the next rest stop, or a good place to stop and eat lunch, but the GPS Lady can’t tell you where Blackbeard buried his treasure. Paper maps can’t talk, they can keep a secret, and that is why pirates used them for guarding the hiding place where they buried their gold and jewels.

Many scholars believe that there are treasures buried in South Carolina. Gold and silver was hidden by both the Union and Confederate armies — and “X” marks the spot. The South Carolina coast attracted several notorious pirates and it is rumored they buried their pirate treasure all along the coast.

Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard the Pirate, would burn candle wicks in his beard to make him look more fearsome. His pirate ship had 40 guns and was crewed by more than 300 men. He once blockaded the port of Charleston and held the port for ransom.

Anne was an Irish lass who lived in Charleston. She fell in love with James Bonny, a sailor who was quite poor. Her father not only disapproved, he disowned her, and kicked her out of the house. She retaliated by burning his house down (allegedly). She was known to have a temper.

She and James Bonny got married anyway and moved to Nassau, a haven for pirates, and that is where Anne met a pirate named Calico Jack. When James refused to divorce her, she just ran off with Calico Jack and they spent their days looting ships.

Then, there was Jack Murrell and his band of pirates. They would lie in wait for merchant ships and attack them. Gossip says that he buried most of his loot in the marshes around Murrell’s Inlet.

Obviously, pirates couldn’t deposit their plundered treasures in the local bank, so they buried it — and made a map of the location. There are treasure maps hidden in attics, concealed in old trunks, and secreted between the pages of ancient books, just waiting to be discovered.

Paper maps can’t keep their secrets quiet forever. It is up to us to find them and make them spill the beans, or perhaps the diamonds.

Old maps are considered quite valuable themselves, even if they don’t lead you to a treasure. Henry Mouzon’s map of North and South Carolina, published in 1775 by Sayer & Bennett, beautifully illustrates the swamps, marshes and sandbanks along the coast, and is listed at $14,000. Mouzon’s map was so geographically detailed that it was used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

If you happen to run across an old map stuffed in a battered trunk, examine it carefully, it may lead you to a pirate’s treasure — or maybe the real treasure is the map itself.