Sumith Prasad
Paramount+’s Western series ‘1923’ follows the engrossing saga of the Dutton family during the 1920s, a period which is known for Prohibition and the Great Depression, which affected the state of Montana a decade earlier. In the first three episodes of the show, the Dutton patriarch Jacob “Jake” Dutton is threatened by Banner Creighton, the leader of the local sheepmen. When Jacob tries to prevent Banner from leading his flock of sheep to other ranchers’ property, especially when a drought has hit the state, the sheep herder takes his flock to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, taking the war to the Duttons. Since Banner speaks in an accent that is drastically different from the accent of the other characters, we have found more information about the same. Let us share our findings! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Banner Creighton’s Accent: A Touch of Scotland in 1923
Banner Creighton is from Scotland and he speaks in a Scottish accent. Although ‘1923’ doesn’t offer a detailed backstory of the antagonistic character, his accent makes it clear that the sheep herder ended up in Montana from Scotland, possibly looking for better living conditions and opportunities. Immigrants are an integral part of the ‘Yellowstone’ universe. In ‘1883,’ Shea Brennan meets a group of immigrants, mostly from Germany, who join him as they travel through the Great Plains looking for better living conditions. The immigrant group in ‘1883’ has real-life connections since several Germans ended up in the United States during the late 19th century.
Likewise, Banner represents the Scots who ended up in the United States or North America for that matter. Scots had emigrated to the United States ever since the early 18th century, which increased after the Jacobite rising of 1745. Since then, the United States and Canada became two of the prominent destinations of Scottish emigrants. In the 1920s, the period in which ‘1923’ is set, around 363,000 Scots emigrated to the United States and Canada. Through Banner, creator Taylor Sheridan depicts the heterogeneity of the American society of the 1920s, a period in which suffering was shared among different ethnicities.
In reality and fiction, the “American Dream” is something that lured individuals and groups from all over the world to the United States. Considering the real-life sagas of the Scottish emigrants of the 1920s, Banner might have come to the States in pursuit of the same, only to face obstacles in his way in the form of drought and the Great Depression. Furthermore, Banner isn’t the only one from the European continent to end up in the States to enhance their lives. Cara Dutton, the wife of Jacob, is Irish and she speaks with an Irish accent.
Although Banner is Scottish, Jerome Flynn, who plays the character, is English. The actor was born in the town of Bromley, located in the county of Kent, England. Flynn is known for portraying Bronn in ‘Game of Thrones’ and Bennet Drake in ‘Ripper Street.’ While Banner has a Scottish accent, Flynn in real life has an upper-class English accent.
Read More: Catholic School in 1923: Were American Indians Really Tortured in Schools?
