Buccaneer Iconographer: Howard Pyle’s Pirate Visions
19th September 2026
Of the world’s “holidays,” Talk Like a Pirate Day (or, to use its full name, International Talk Like a Pirate Day) is probably not high on most people’s list. It was promulgated in 1995 by two guys in Oregon named John Baur and Mark Summers who were playing racquetball. One injured himself and said, “Aaarrr!” Given the associations of this phrase with stereotypical piratical conversation, the two decided that a day (September 19 was chosen) should be established in which all talked like pirates. What they mean, the scholars say, is to talk in the dialect of the West Country, meaning South West England.
Yet, whether it is widely celebrated is less interesting than its premise that we all know—or think we do—what pirates sound like. We also all think we know what pirates look like. Where did our images come from? They came from that genius of American art, illustration, and children’s fiction, Howard Pyle.