Origins of the pirate accent

[Molly O'Mally]

I be the first to admit that I likes ter use text-based-pirate-dialect in me posts. I'll also admit that I'm not very good at it LOL

I've been reading through the posts today and I have to say that I'm very impressed by some members use of the piracte accent in their posts.

This got me wondering about the whole pirate accent thing, and where it originated.

Even in many movies, especially the older ones, the pirates had the accent that many of us use in our posts.

Here in England, the pirate accent would be pinpointed to the Somerset/Cornwall areas - Counties which are predominatly inland with coastal fringes. Which makes one wonder how the accent reached the high seas in such abundance.

Are we to believe that the majority of pirates originated from Inland Cornwall /Somerset/Devon?

Even during the Golden Age of piracy, English accents were deep rooted, varying greatly from one town to another - All of them very different, and yet this minority inland accent appears to have been adopted universally as pirate "talk".

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ever wondered about this. Or am I? LOL

Any thoughts/opinions?

[CaptainSatan]

I always thought that Robert Newton had a lot a lot to do with what we perceive to be a pirate accent.

-CS

[Molly O'Mally]

True! Treasure Island was certainly a box office success at the time of it's release, and it has stood the test of time.

Could it be that all other actors merely copied the accent of Long John Silver?

Could it be that Robert Newton is the reason why so many of us use the "accent" to this day?

Interesting theory, and quite an accolade, if true!

[Pirate Seika]

Interesting ...

i think today's depiction of pirate lingo is really just the result of Hollywood's spin on pirates... After all pyracy was not an anomaly.. it was worldwide... spanning from b4 the beginning of recorded history to present day.... and of course pirates from their own areas of the world would have spoken in their own accents and dialects... i think WE (meaning English speaking)choose the English pirate accent as the accepted.. seeing that for us it obviously is the easiest to replicate...

just my thoughts...

[Molly O'Mally]

I agree. It appears that Hollywood has been influencing the world for decades

[Matusalem]

The Robert Newton accent is generally from the southwestern England counties of Devon/Cornwall/Somerset, particularly around the city of Bristol.

So-called "Rhotic English", see this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_no...-rhotic_accents

You figure it was probably typical for sailors to hail from the seaports, which are generally on the west side of the UK, sometimes south like Portsmouth.

Incidentally, many Virginians speak a certain dialect that is a rhotic version of a British accent, particularly around the Tidewater region. Except the stereotypical pirate "arrr" sounds more like "Or" as in the famous Maryland dialectical expressions "warsh yer teeth" (instead of brush your teeth)

Pirates came from all over the UK & Ireland, and I would suspect many did not suffer from Robert Newton-tongue.

[Molly O'Mally]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys - I had a strange vision of you all telling me that I had too much time on my hands thinking about pirate accents!

[Silkie McDonough]

I nil know wot dialect yer tallkin uv. I simply speake mae motter tung o'Irish Gaelic n'wots known as Anglish.

[Molly O'Mally]

I nil know wot dialect yer tallkin uv. I simply speake mae motter tung o'Irish Gaelic n'wots known as Anglish.

**takes notes to practice later**

[Pirate Seika]

amazin the useless bits of flotsam and jetsam that be floatin around in me noggin block most days.. if it's been of some help.. so be it..lol

i'll be jarrin my jawbone in nasty Hollywood pirate English till a floggin ensues

[Captain J. Savage]

I'm a double-posting machine today...

[Captain J. Savage]

I agree with all of the above; Robert Newton is what made the "accent" so common today.

Being new to the whole "pirate subculture" I've been researching the dialect and I can't cite this at the moment... but I read it is theorized that only Blackbeard and one other pirate may have spoken like that. I want to say Morgan, but I'm not sure... I'll have to surf through my favorites and skim through my book to figure out the other one later tonight.

Regardless the fact that only two pirates may have spoken like this, the "accent" is one of the things that makes the general idea of piracy fun these days just like many other romanticized ideas... plank walking, parrots as pets not cargo, burried treasure, wide spread black flags etc etc...

[Pirate Seika]

i can't imagine Morgan speaking like that considering his background...

i'd have my doubts any upper rank Royal navy/privateer/or educated man/woman would have spoken in pirate slang ... like most variations in language.. if it did at all exist it would likely have grown out of the lower class sailors and phonetic attempts at translations...

interesting that there seems to be very little credible evidence of a pirate language or dialect outside of literature and film... but... again... just because it isn't recorded doesn't mean it didn't exist... and although the academic side of me wants to poo poo the notion of a pirate lingo.. the archaeologist side of me wants to believe the proof is out there somewhere just waiting to be found.....

[Pirate Seika]

and since i've now exposed me true pyratical GEEK colours.. i shall sail off into the foreboding storm ahead and keelhaul me self into oblivion

[Pew]

This got me wondering about the whole pirate accent thing, and where it originated.

'Tis laziness m' dear.

Who actually says "the"? Folks are more apt to say "th'". Most words are like that, in today's colloquial slang that is.

'n=in

's=is

th'=the

'bout=about

'tis= it is

Mebbe 's all 'n 'ow y' pernounce 't.

[SilasTalbot]

I'd have to guess it's mostly due to Robert Newton as well. IMDB lists him as having been born in Dorset...he probably just did what came naturally, but amped it up for his characters. I'm curious what he sounded like as Bill Sykes in "Oliver Twist". Haven't seen that version.

Talk about leavin' yer mark on the world...

[Matusalem]

FYI, listen to the late comedian Benny Hill, who was born in Southampton and grew up in Bournemouth, this is not a tue Irish brogue:

[callenish gunner]

aye morgan would have spoken with a welsh accent to his english ...when i grew up in the heberdises we could tell within 20 miles or so where most people came from in britain but just like a lot of america the mobility of folks over the past few decades has done some confusion to the accents and the locale of their familiar patterns of speech .....the pirate dialect for a lot of film pirates came from actors who grew up in inland areas and worked in studios that were also located in inland areas ....and to world or american ears at the time they just sounded as an accent and so became the accepted as what pirates must have sounded like

[Salty]

verra interesting topic lass.........barring the idea that hollywood gave us o wot pyrates said an how they said it......i add the question of how many terms and words that pirates were to have spoke are just as much hollywood and not actual dialects. i.e. avast, hearties, etc.

pirates came from all over the world and like wise as in the mobiltiy of people things , ideas, and words get jumbled to gether imagine would happen even more so aboard ship......

ok lost the train o thought fer the moment.....but has been interesting to see where folk be thinkin on the subject

[Pirate Seika]

perhaps there should be an official unoffical pyracy pirate lingo thread..

where we can post all ARRRR piratey terms and such for all to learn...

just a thought...

[hurricane]

i can't imagine Morgan speaking like that considering his background...

i'd have my doubts any upper rank Royal navy/privateer/or educated man/woman would have spoken in pirate slang ... like most variations in language.. if it did at all exist it would likely have grown out of the lower class sailors and phonetic attempts at translations...

Morgan would have spoke with a Welsh accent if anything, certainly not English and definitely not Spanish.

True to his character, I've begun to learn some Welsh in preparation for PiP. Even if Morgan spoke English in Port Royal, which of course was almost certain, I'm sure he would have drifted between that and using some Welsh phrases, particularly when angered.

I'm always amazed at the number of Cockneys are at ren faires. Seems the King's English has taken a bit of a drubbing as of late at these events. Hardly the accent of a schooled gentleman or lady.

-- Hurricane

[Cheeky Actress]

I'm always amazed at the number of Cockneys are at ren faires. Seems the King's English has taken a bit of a drubbing as of late at these events. Hardly the accent of a schooled gentleman or lady.

LOL! Right you are Hurricane!

It was many years ago when I performed at the Sterling Ren. Faire up in Oswego, NY. All the members of the staff had to take classes on proper speech of the time. So depending on your character and class status, your speech and diction fit your persona. Worth the 6 weeks of instruction!

[Pirate Seika]

Yes... we had the very same type of classes at ORF (Ontario Renn Festival)as well... thankfully I played a gypsy and or pirate on most occasions so i wasn't subject to having to speak in upper class English.. except of course when i play good ol' lizzy the oneth.. and it's upity all the way... lol

[LongTom]

Maybe I've just imprinted on the Robert Newton performance, but try reading Treasure Island. There is something in the turn of phrase that Robert Louis Stevenson employs when Long John Silver speaks, that suggests something very like how Newton played it.

I would expect that the accent of the average deckhand would be one from the lower classes. There are a lot of those to choose from, not just Robert Newton speak. The simple answer is, decide where your persona came from, then learn to talk like that.

As to the sorts of words pirates would use, it makes sense that they would sprinkle their conversation with nautical terms and analogies that reference those terms. Jargon is common in any subculture. For us wannabes, learning the workings of of the ship, and dropping those terms into our patterns of speech is unlikely to go amiss.

[Bilgemunky]

I only just ordered my own copy, so can't put the potential wisdom therein to use in this discussion, but The Pirate Primer just came out. 480 pages, all dedicated to pirate-ese.

From the Amazon description:

The Pirate Primer is the first and only comprehensive guide to the world of pirate language. A complete course in pirate vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and syntax.

This is the authoritative work on the subject, containing every distinctive term, phrase, usage, and speech structure uttered by or attributed to pirates in film, television, literature, and historical accounts over the last three centuries. Every entry in the Primer is accompanied by an illustrative historical example of pirate speech, allowing you to see the contents of the Primer deployed in context by actual pirates. Discover over 100 pages of pirate threats, curses, insults and epithets; 31 types of pirate drink; 60 different pirate terms for "woman"; 67 kinds of pirate torture; 44 definitions of "Arrgh"; and more.

The Pirate Primer is perfect for pirate enthusiasts, fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, people interested in pop culture, language aficionados, history buffs, and anyone who fancies themselves a modern-day corsair.