Sam Redlark

  image generated by Grok Fishguard Latin was the spoken language of English pirates (and a great many pirates from other nations) between the mid 1400s and the early 1700s. Its rise and fall mirrored the sweeping arc of that disreputable profession's golden age. Despite having common Latin roots, the tongue bears only a fleeting resemblance to its cloistered ancestor. Fishguard is a lively, tonal language where a single word can have wildly different meanings, depending upon cadence and where the emphasis is placed. It is near impossible to speak it without coming across as floridly poetic. Waves become “the flexing sinews of the ocean,” while surf is described as breaking on the shore in “sheering strophes.” Many attempts have been made to produce a written version of the language, which suffers under the restraint of captivity on the printed page, where its bright light dims. The nuance which lies at the heart of Fishguard, is evident in the traditional pirate greeting – a heart...