Commentary

January 25th, 2007

The Amazing “Long John Silver”

No one actor has established a character quite the way the amazing Welshman, Robert Newton did. Here are some priceless lines from the movie roles he absolutely owned (screenplay by Lawrence Edward Watkin, from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson):

" 'Awr-kins. 'Tis a proper seafarin' name too."
"Ah-hahahahah ... Lord love me, lad. Don't you know that them that sailed with Admiral 'Awrke 'ad no speakin' acquaintance with pirates ... 'less'n they boarded us! Ah-hahahahah. Ar, Jim, you're the spit 'n' image o' me when I was your age. 'Ead full o' pirates. But ye'll find, same as I, that the biggest satisfaction a man gets is doin' 'is duty."
"Sit ee down at table to starboard if ye kindly will, aaaaaarrrrrrrrr."
(To his parrot, Captain Flint:)"Ain't you the pretty one, swearin' blue fire in front of a gentleman."
"You're a smart one, Jim, smart as paint you are."
"If you clamps your deadlights on that there Black Dog again, repel boarders."
"That's my meanin', matey. You've got the word of Long John Silver. Shipmates."
Captain Smollett: "Unto Almighty God, we commend the soul of our brother departed and commit his body to the deep."
Silver, gravely: "Ar-men."
"There'll be no killin' till I gives the word."
"You'll get plenty o' cut an' rip when the time comes. But until I gives the signal, lay to."
" 'Try reasonin' first,' says I. I never was one to see poor seamen shot down needlesslike."
"You're a good man, Doctor. I never seen a better. And I'd 'ate t' see the likes o' you skewered on the end of a pike."
"So be it! But afore an hour's out, ye'll be beggin' 'elp from me. Them that die'll be the lucky ones."
"Truce be over! Cutlasses, you swabs! Slash 'em down!"
"After them, after them; board them, you scurvy swabs!"
"I thinks gold dust o' this 'ere boy. I took to 'im like pitch."
"You couldn't say more, not if you was my mother!"
"Poor rovin' seamen the likes o' you needs every scrap o' scripture 'e can get."
"Could 'e spare a minute afore 'e go topside again?"
"An' t' think, sir, that I 'ad some small 'and in savin' young Master 'Awrkins when 'e was within 'alf a plank o' death."
"Arrr ..."
"Bide 'ere a while till I gives the signal."
"Clap on sail and look sharp about it."
"Lay to and dispose o' them remains. Lively now!"
"Belay! Belay, I say! 'Ave ye all gone daft? Killin' yer own kind? The first man what makes a move can count amongst 'is treasure a ball from this pistol."
"Sometimes them what quotes the Bible has less Bible in their hearts than them what don't."
"Why you stupid squids. Can't you see? With Mendozer playin' ducks 'n' drakes w' that man o' war, now be our chance to take over this 'ere craft."
"Shiver my timbers, a landlubber I'll never be."
"He clings to you like pitch 'e does."
"Strike me, you're a smart one. Smart as paint I always said."
"You blasted wharf rat. Mutiny, will ee? You'll get what Flint gave the hands what went again' 'im. Them that died were the lucky ones!"
"Milk? I be poisoned! I've too harrowin' a tale to tell for milk."
"We've run afoul a diplomatic reef."
"Settlin' down?! Anchored at my time o' life?!!"
"Ha-harr! By the devil's twisted tail, they're safe."
"Fortune rides the shoulders of them what schemes."

"Arrr ..."

Robert Newton’s Disney portrayal has provided the template for most screen portrayals of pirates. Newton has even become the "patron saint" of the annual International “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” September 19th.