File:Coast watch (1979) (20650664862).jpg

Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_10 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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A gate-shaped tombstone in the Old Burying Qround rom the Grave Tombstones Tell Some Pretty Tall Tales By Jeannie Faris Norris • Photos by Scott D. Taylor .he ancient ritual of libating a grave is a symbolic way of bringing to life the person buried there. Memories and drink are raised in honor of the tomb's occupant. An old family friend keeps this ritual at the Beaufort grave of Otway Burns, one of North Carolina's greatest naval heroes in the War of 1812. A retired professor of philosophy and religion, he comes to Burns' grave to pour a little drink into the touchhole of its cannon. Then he and a compan- ion take drinks and recall some of Burns' legendary escapades, in effect bringing the privateer back from the grave. As a legalized pirate. Burns plundered 32 British merchant ships on behalf of the United States. He captured cargo and brought it back to Beaufort for auction. This way, Burns became wealthy and influential, launching his career as a state legisla- tor after the war. His fortunes, how- ever, turned for the worse later in his life. He died in 1850 a lighthouse keeper at Portsmouth — a position the state gave him out of appreciation for his earlier service. Burns is one of the more colorful and notable people buried in the old graveyard. His tomb is decorated with a cannon from the Snapdragon, his speedy seafaring schooner. But the Old Burying Ground is also full of wonder- ful stories belonging to people who led lives certainly less daring but every bit as interesting as Burns'. Their tombstones tell tales of love, tragedy and heroics. One tomb is reputed to contain a British soldier who was buried standing in the 1760s. The young Continued COASTWATCH 7

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