[Captain Audio]

Many years ago a now defunct local paper carried a very good comic strip about a 17th century adventurer. IIRC he was from Scotland and more or less an exile.

Only clear memory I have of this strip was his conversation with a French companion. The Frenchman said he could not see why the Scotsman was eating oatmeal for breakfast, in France they fed oats to their horses.
The Scotsman replied "that's why France is known for their strong horses and Scotland is known for it's strong men".

The strip was not about pirates per se' but they spent a lot of time at sea.

[crashryan]

I think you may be referring to Kreigh Collins' Kevin the Bold. I read it in The Menomonee Falls Gazette back in the 70s but I haven't seen it since. The Toonopedia description is here:

http://www.toonopedia.com/kevinbld.htm

The hero is Irish and the sidekick Spanish, but as I recall their relationship was like you describe.

[Captain Audio]

Kevin the Bold is it alright.
Not long after I posted the question I began to remember he was Irish instead of a Scot. Though I think he had some tie in to the Scots troubles with the English, Irish and Scots putting aside differences to oppose the English was pretty common for several centuries.

I remember reading this strip in the fifties, about as soon as I first learned to read in fact.