Note THE DOWNFALL OF PIRACY — Chapter III
Reading edition
Page 48. The Downfall of Piracy. This is thought to be one of the ballads referred to by Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography. He says: "I now took a fancy to poetry, and made some little pieces. My brother, thinking it might turn to account, encouraged me, and put me on composing occasional ballads. One was called 'The Lighthouse Tragedy,' and contained an account of the drowning of Captain Worthilake, with his two daughters; the other was a sailor song on the taking of Teach (or Blackbeard) the pirate."