Did most English pirates really talk with a West Country accent?
Did pirates in history really ooh and 'arr? BBC History Revealed takes a closer look at pirates' accents…
Published: January 17, 2022 at 12:56 PM
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One of history’s most famous pirates almost certainly had a West Country twang: Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, born in Bristol around 1680. Devon and Cornwall accents would probably also have been common in the Caribbean, the region most known for pirate activity in the late 17th century, because of those counties’ strong maritime links.
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However, many of the best-known British pirates and buccaneers weren’t English at all. Henry Morgan and Bartholomew Roberts were Welsh, Anne Bonny came from Ireland and Captain Kidd was born in Dundee.
- Listen | Dr Rebecca Simon responds to your questions on the 17th-century golden age of piracy. Plus, how accurate are pop culture portrayals of pirates?
When Dorset-born actor Robert Newton played the archetypal pirate, Long John Silver, in Walt Disney’s 1950 film version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, he adopted a preposterous but unforgettable Cornish brogue, later reprising it in Blackbeard the Pirate (1952) and Long John Silver (1954). The accent has been indelibly linked with piracy ever since.
This content is part of our series of pirate myths – read the rest in the series:
- Did any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs?
- Was walking the plank a real pirate punishment?
- X marks the spot: did pirates bury their treasure?
- Did real pirates fly the Jolly Roger?
- What is the origin and meaning of the pirate expression ‘shiver me timbers’?
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This article was taken from BBC History Revealed magazine
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