A Mad, Mad World

September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day — one of those wonderful absurdities that has taken hold of many a lover of piracy legend and lore.

For an entertaining collection of real and fantastical English pirate language read “The Pirate Primer – Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues” by George Choundas.

The stereotypical pirate speech pattern is based on the English coastal dialect made famous by actor, Robert Newton in his role as Long John Silver.

Truth is, the languages spoken by the pirates who plied the waves of the North Atlantic seaboards and Caribbean during the 17th & 18th centuries were as diverse as the mariners themselves. Sailors spoke Scottish, Irish and Manx, Welsh, Breton, French, Spanish, many African languages, indigenous tongues of the people in the new world, and many more, all laced with nautical lingo and a salty twist. I imagine many sailors were polyglots by sheer necessity especially on pirate crews.

Luck t’ye and a fair wind,

Mad Mags

“They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only one difference, they rob the poor under the cover of the law and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage.” — Captain Bellamy

Share

Aye, my hearts, today is Talk Like a Pirate Day (Thanks to Miguel for reminding us.)

And seeings as our upcoming CD has to do with piratical riff-raff and adventures on the high seas, I enthusiastically encourage you to delve into you inner buccaneer.

There is not one way to sound like a pirate. Those who plied the waves came from all over — Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, continental Europe, colonial America, Africa, the Carribean, the Crimea, the Far East. The sounds of the language on board were much more diverse than “Aaargh, mateys”!

What we think of as pirate talk today is based largely on one particular actor’s interpretation of Long John Silver. (“Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson.) That be Robert Newton, a native of Dorset, England who became famous in the 50s for his work as Long John Silver for Walt Disney films and later in a TV series.

Newton was familair with the accent of nearby Bristol from whence the character Long John Silver hailed and he used that accent to infuse his characterization of the one-legged, story-telling, salty dog.

Enjoy a clip of Robert Newton’s now classic portrayal.

more about pirate language
a tribute to Robert Newton

Share