If I put on a Newcastle accent would you know I was being a "generic miner"?
It does follow that because Blackbeard was from Bristol then Stevenson was more likely to pick a West Country accent and it follows that in making the film they'd choose somebody with that accent. All that makes sense.
However, this does not mean that "generic pirate accent" existed before the film.
I am also not convinced that people would think of Pirates as having West Country accents since those in the know would realise they were not even mainly English. So, at the time of pirates, I would expect most people wouldn't have an accent in mind when thinking of a pirate.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 1 Jun 2012, 17:45, Reply)