Some pirates spoke better English than others and, of course, their speech was colored by the time in which they lived, but I just love the quirky and colorful way they talked! Sometimes they used very ornate speech because I think they thought that was elegant and refined...
Hector Barbossa: "I be disinclined to acquiesce to your request, Missy, --- means no."
Pintel: "It's macabre; it is."
Or, those pirates who were just plain so beautifully forward in their speech that it stuck in history like a sort of glue ---
Edward Teach, who we all know as Blackbeard, as recorded in Charles Johnson's "A General History Of The Robberies & Murders Of The Most Notorious Pirates": "Damn you for villains, who are you?... Damnation seize my soul, if I give you any quarter of take any from you!"
Bartholomew Roberts: "Damnation to anyone who would wear a halter!"
Sam Bellamy: "Damn you for a pack of crafty rascals, and them who serve you for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls!"
I positively love this ( :D ) from Rafael Sabatini's novel "Captain Blood": "That pimple, James..."
Actually, so many pirates were of English origins and from port cities such as London or Bristol that their accent was like people from, the stews, or the harshest part of those cities. (Blackbeard, Edward Teach, was from Bristol.)
Here's some delightful bits of low English piratespeak ---
--- Maybe it be time fer an acksie-dent to be 'appenin' ta 'im.
--- Makes me spine jump like a porpoise.
--- Pray, might I prevail upon ye to accept me 'ospitality.
--- The cap'n ain't one ta run afoul o'. Iffin he be nay be 'ungry, he be thirsty. I best be gettin' ta rum.
--- Shut yer scuppers, get out o' me bloomin' way!
--- That be mighty 'andsome o' ye, mighty 'andsome! Me hearty thanks!
--- I ought ta pickle ye in brine!
--- I dinna like strangers comin' onboard sudden-like.
--- What blasphemy be ye spoutin' now?
--- I took 'is treasure an' gave 'im the point o' me cutlass.
--- The creak o' ta timbers, the lap o' ta waves, --- that be music, mates!
--- Ye be dancin' a jig on air afore ta day breaks.
--- Silence a 'tween ta decks!
--- What name be ye called by?
--- Be double quick 'bout it, now!
--- We got ta blackhearted double crosser dead ta rights!
--- Ta evil wretch slipped 'his cable for good an' all.
--- Iffin ye nay deigns ta dine wi' us ye be tastin' our steel.
--- Ah, ta sound o' doubloons ringin' in me pocket be fine music!
--- I might just be liable ta let ye be.
--- Ye shaggy sea bugs!
--- Let 'im be scratched a by a little cat, boys! (A cat of nine tail, a flogger, or whip of nine braided ropes with knots or even little metal balls at the ends)
--- Haul yer wind and hold yer water!
--- N'er spit upwind. 'T will come back in yer face. Always spit downwind, tat hawker be sailin' like a gull!
--- Sit ye down on yer binnacle.
--- Dinna worry about being tossed to the sharks. They could nay get a decent meal off ye.
--- Ye be young and spry, but I be old and sneaky an' I could outsmart ye in a dingley minute, so mind yerself right smart, ye nasty little weed!
--- Ye weensy treasure snipes, I be keelhaulin' ye next!
--- The cat has kittened in me mouth!
--- She be a right fancy flashpacket, a pearl o' woman-ware, but she be poxin' ye, sure.
--- Hemp be a rope and a mate can die o' "hemp fever", hanging sorrowful at Execution Dock.
--- Pour me a gulper. Will ye, Mate? I be as dry as a piece o' hardtack.
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