IT’S an international phenomenon that for one day a year celebrates all that is swashbuckling pirate fun.

And Oxford’s Story Museum was ambushed as it took part in the annual Talk Like A Pirate Day.

The buccaneers enjoyed rousing sea shanties, games, flags and grog, as well as author Philip Pullman’s portrayal of Long John Silver in the Pembroke Street museum’s exhibition 26 Characters.

Steve Wood, 30, a game designer from Cowley Road, took part and said: “Talk Like A Pirate Day is a great excuse for having fun and doing an accent.

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“I’ve seen the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, but that wasn’t my only inspiration.

“There are a host of literary references like Treasure Island.

“I find actual historical facts and myths about pirates interesting as well.”

Talk Like A Pirate Day was launched in 1995 by Americans John Baur and Mark Summers in what they describe on their website as “a moment of temporary insanity” that turned into “an international phenomenon”.

The pair started speaking in pirate slang during a game of racquetball and thought it would make a great national holiday, choosing Summers’ ex-wife’s birthday as the date they could remember.

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