What nickname did pirate Samuel Bellamy use during his career?

Pirate Samuel Bellamy was known by the nickname Black Sam.

Bellamy was an English pirate active during the early eighteenth century. He became captain of the Whydah Gally after pirates captured the ship in 1717. Bellamy’s career was brief, but his crew captured a large number of vessels while operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

The nickname “Black Sam” is generally connected with Bellamy’s preference for wearing his long dark hair tied back rather than using the powdered wigs fashionable among wealthy men of the period. He was also sometimes called the Prince of Pirates because of his reputation and relatively generous treatment of some captives.

Bellamy’s career ended when the Whydah sank in a storm off Cape Cod in April 1717. The wreck was discovered in 1984 and became one of the best-known identified pirate shipwrecks. His nickname is sometimes confused with Black Bart, the name commonly used for Bartholomew Roberts.