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by Beach Bum

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I'll wager that the spirit in a surfer's body would be something less without a shot of pirate blood. That the word for pirate is derived from the ancient Greek phrase that implies "finding luck on the water" is proof, if proof were needed of the bond.

Here in Cornwall, where I reside, there's a love affair with things piratical that's getting almost feverish. A bit of swash and buckle always ticks the boxes when a company or venture wants to sell that edgy, dangerous feel. We've got Pirate FM on the radio and Cornish Pirates on the rugby field.

And rather bizarrely, the stereotypical pirate speak, owes much to the accents of the West Country. It was the Dorset born actor, Robert Newton, who put the "arr!" in pirate when he stole the show as Long John Silver in the screen adaptation of Robert Louis Stephenson's Treasure Island, thereby framing the template for Pirate performances ever since.

There's even, matey, a "Talk Like A Pirate Day" as I discovered trawling through a plethora of websites for plundered Pirate links and booty. I found myself mugging along to the "they're so bad they're good" chat up lines in Pirate speak that include such gems as "that's some treasure chest you've got there" and "they don't call me Long John because my head is so big".

Now a sense of humour is unlikely to have been a job requisite for your actual Pirates of the plundering and pillaging variety. It wasn't that long ago that the coastlines and sea lanes from Cork to Cornwall and beyond were seen as rich pickings for a motley crew of pirates from Europe and North Africa. The infamous Barbary Pirates were responsible, it has been claimed, for the capture and subsequent slavery of over a million Europeans.

As an example, take the story of how the villagers of Baltimore in Co.Cork were rounded up like cattle by Algerian Pirates. Some ended up as galley salves, some in the harem. I'm guessing the colleens ended up in the harem and the men in the galleys.

And of course, the popular image of a Pirate has become so familiar that the eye patch could be classed as a fashion accessory. About the only good thing about losing an eye is the opportunity it would give to wear one. I mean consider these one-eyed hombres. There's Jack O'Neill who's built a global surf brand with the panache that any Pirate would be proud of. And Moshe Dayan, with his womanizing and rapacious military tactics suggests that Pirate blood was flowing in his veins.

Any discussion of Pirates wouldn't be complete with reference to one Mr. Depp who has taken the pirate and turned him into an object of desire for many young (and older, ahem) women. I noted that the "hot date" under profiles for two of our local lifeguards would involve a bit of cut and thrust with Johnny D. OK, so what's he got that I haven't apart from charm, hair, wit, intelligence and a sack full of doubloons?

Learn more about this author, Beach Bum.

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