Hey so I know Black Sails was a while ago and Iâm late to the pirate party but I desperately need your attention for a moment because Iâm losing my MIND.
Obviously the show is a fantastic no-holds-barred blend of history and fiction, but thereâs one historical connection that I thought was half my imagination at first, but every second I look at this shit Iâm sliding downhill into acceptance.
The Hamiltons and their complicated and scandalous relationship with a Naval officerâŠ..
âŠare based on the Hamiltons and their complicated and scandalous relationship with a Naval officer?
Yes, thatâs a picture of Horatio Nelson on the end. I know, and Iâm sorry. Please give me a chance to explain myself.
We have, right to left, Admiral Nelson, Sir William Hamilton, and Sir Williamâs wife, Emma Hamilton, mostly remembered for her extraordinarily blatant and scandalous affair with Nelson. It was a hell of a thing. There were contemporary rude cartoons about William Hamilton being so scholarly and oblivious that he didnât know his wife was openly carrying on with Nelson. Thereâs even a movie about it starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, for whatever thatâs worth.
But itâs a little ridiculous, the extent to which their torrid affair is remembered for having happened under William Hamiltonâs nose. Nelson lived with the both of them for extended periods, traveled across Europe with them, wrote incessantly to them. In fact, they referred to themselves fondly as the Tria juncta in unoâ that is to say, three joined in one.
Look me in the eyes right now.
 Letter from Sir William Hamilton to Lady Emma Hamilton
Burford, Eighty Miles from London.
Saturday Night, [July 27th, 1801.]
Here we are, my Dear Emma, after a pleasant dayâs journey! No extraordinary occurrence. Our chaise is good, and would have held the famous âTria juncta in Uno,â very well: but, we must submit to the circumstances of the times.
âŠ
Amuse yourself as well as you can; and you may be assured, that I shall return as soon as possible, and you shall hear from me often.
Ever yourâs, my dear Emma, with the truest affection,
My kindest love to my Lord, if he is not gone.
Iâm sorry but I donât know what else to tell you.
Excerpt, letter from Sir William Hamilton to Admiral Horatio Nelson
Palermo, May 26th, 1799
Above all, take care of your health; that is the first of blessings. May God ever protect you! We miss you heavily: but, a short time must clear up the business; and, we hope, bring you back to those who love and esteem you to the very bottom of their souls.
Sir William Hamilton ending a letter to his wife:
 Adieu, my dearest Emma! Yourâs, with my whole soul,
     W.H.
Sir William Hamilton ending a letter to Nelson:
  Adieu, my dear Lord! Your Lordshipâs truly affectionate, and eternally attached,
   Wm. Hamilton
This has been driving me completely bonkers wrt the attitudes of the historical accounts for a hot minute now, particularly since Emma became a social pariah for their highly-publicized presumed affair after Sir William, and then Nelson, predeceased her, but I honestly cannot, for a single eight-hundredth of a second, imagine that the concept of the Hamiltons and Lt. McGraw came about without some awareness of the self-proclaimed Tria of the actual married Hamiltons and their very dearly loved Naval hero.
And, for one final small item of infuriatingly minor but TOO CONVENIENT connectionâ Sir William Hamilton had been married once, prior to Emma, and was widowed by his first wifeâs early death. His first wife, with whom he was eventually buried, was named Catherine Hamilton, nĂ©e Barlow.
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