Pirate request

[tahnan]

So I know I've got a few pirates of various stripes reading my LJ. (At least one, maybe two or more, who sang pirate shanties at Brown; at least one who's part of a Bosnian lesbian pirate cult. Possibly even a member of the crew of the Coward.)

Mark Liberman, over at Language Log, asks a very reasonable question: where did all the "pirates say arrr" stuff come from, anyhow?

I figured a pirate on my friendslist might know. Can't hurt to ask.