Having a brain cramp now.... I can't think of the term for legally sanctioned piracy. It's a historical term used to sanction one's naval actions (confiscating boats, personnel, and property for state profit) that would otherwise be seen as actions of illegal pirates if not sanctioned by the captain's respective leaders of their country.
I believe England and Spain had been known to use this legally sanctioned practice in the 15 and 16th centuries, if not later as well. And no. I'm not making a political statement. I'm just looking to remember the actual term the used to describe the legal status of the ship's captains.
Oh the year was seventeen seventy eight I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
A letter of marque came from the King
To the scummiest vessel I've ever seen God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
Oh Elcid Barrett cried the town, I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
For twenty brave men, all fishermen, who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew, God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
The Antelope sloop was a sickening sight. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
She'd a list to port and her sails in rags,
And a cook in the scuppers with staggers and jags. God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
On the King's birthday we put to sea. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
We were ninety-one days to Montego bay,
Pumping like madmen all the way. God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
On the ninety-sixth day we sailed again. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
When a bloody great Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four-pounders we made to fight God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
The Yankee lay low down with gold. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
She was broad and fat and loose in stays,
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
Then at length we stood two cables away. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
Our cracked four-pounders made an awful din,
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in. God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
The Antelope shook and pitched on her side. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs,
And the maintruck carried off both me legs. God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
So here I lay in my twenty-third year. I wish I were in Sherbrooke now!
It's been six years since we sailed away,
And I just made Halifax yesterday. God Damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers.
They were known as privateers. They received a document from a government, a document known as a letter or marque. It authorized them to attack the shipping of the enemies of the nation issuing the letter. It only covered attacks on the shipping of that nation's enemies, and attacking any other shipping made them pirates. This was not uncommon. John "Calico Jack" Rackham was the quartermaster on a privateer (the name was used for the ship, as well), and when the crew mutinied, thinking their captain a coward, he was elected the new captain, accepted, and they became pirates.
Captain William Kidd was an even more extreme example. He had long been a successful privateer, operating out of New York, and admirers became backers, and financed the construction of a ship for him in order for him to pursue his privateering (it is a verb, too). Kidd took that ship, Adventure Galley, to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, ostensibly to hunt pirates. There, the crew insisted he turn pirate, and threatened mutiny and his murder if he did not comply--that, at least, was Kidd's story. Kidd also had killed a petty officer when he struck him in the head with an iron-bound bucket, complicating the issue. There can be no doubt, however, that Kidd in began practicing piracy.
I believe England and Spain had been known to use this legally sanctioned practice in the 15 and 16th centuries, if not later as well.
The United States used Pirates (or is that Privateers) in the Revolution (and I think in the war or 1812). Our government issued letters of marque for privateers that would target British merchant ships.
The US Constitution specifically grants Congress the power to issue letters of marque.
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