Barrett's Privateers
Encyclopedia
"Barrett's Privateers" is a folk
song in the style of a sea shanty
, written and performed by Canadian
musician Stan Rogers
, having been inspired after a song session with the Friends of Fiddler's Green
at the Northern Lights Festival Boréal
in Sudbury, Ontario
. Although Barrett, the Antelope and other specific instances mentioned in the song are fictional, "Barrett's Privateers" is full of many authentic details of privateer
ing in the late 18th century. The song was released on the album Fogarty's Cove
in 1976 and has since gained popularity as a drinking song
, with cover versions by many bands.
The song makes use of mixed meter, regularly switching back and forth from 4/4 to 5/4 time, which is unusual for a sea shanty
, as they are traditionally sung in a strict, unchanging meter. It is regarded as one of the Canadian Navy's unofficial anthems.
.
After describing the initial voyage to Jamaica
seeking American merchantmen and the problems with the Antelope, the unnamed narrator sings about how they finally found one, loaded down with gold. Unfortunately, the Antelopes main-mast is knocked down with one volley from the American vessel, and Barrett is killed.
The remainder of the song (and the chorus) conveys the narrator's disillusionment with privateering, and how he's a "broken man on a Halifax
pier, the last of Barrett's privateers". The last two stanzas reveal that he is only "in (his) twenty-third year", and lost both his legs in the battle six years earlier.
, when privateering was a common activity on both sides of the war. Rogers' choice of names, nautical terminology, and details of weapons and places all accurately reflect historical fact, with some exaggeration on the loss of life. The song mentions Halifax, Nova Scotia which is also historically accurate, as Halifax was a well-known port for privateer
s operating on the East Coast out of Nova Scotia at that time.
The song does contain a number of historical inconsistencies, including the refrain of "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now". The longing of the narrator for Sherbrooke conflicts with the date of 1778, as the town of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia
was not founded until 1815. This may reflect Stan Rogers' artistic license
in tribute to his family origins near Sherbrooke on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. Others believe that the line refers to the privateer brig Sir John Sherbrooke, one of the largest and most formidable privateers based in Nova Scotia. However, like the town of Sherbrooke, the Sir John Sherbrooke significantly postdates the American Revolution, having been built in 1813.
The song exaggerates the violence of privateering, since the nature of privateer warfare precluded bloody battles, as the aim was to capture an undamaged merchant ship. No privateer from Nova Scotia ever sank in battle or suffered such bloody losses in battle, although some such as the privateer Rolla were lost with all hands in shipwrecks. American Privateers, however, did meet with disastrous fates off Nova Scotia at the hands of the Royal Navy (see story of Young Teazer
as well as the Naval battle off Halifax
).
Many vessels of the time period bore the name "Antelope", including several in the British Royal Navy
named HMS Antelope
. As the name of a somewhat exotic animal
, the name conveyed a sense of the vessel's speed, although in this case it is an ironic
moniker.
Sloops were often used by privateers, good for short range assaults. Their range was extremely limited by their small size, although even a small sloop normally warranted a crew of at least thirty, so that there might be enough men to crew a captured prize. Given the Antelopes state of repair, the smaller crew could be taken to mean that it was difficult to recruit for such an obviously unreliable vessel.
The precise afflictions of the Antelope – listing to port, ragged sails, constant leaks, and an evidently incompetent crew – are all likely problems. Many ships damaged in storms, or barely seaworthy to begin with, had constant rotations of crewmen pumping out water. While stored, sails could be damaged by rats or insects. Without good maintenance, they might also become eroded in the normal course of use. The cook is described as being drunk; this was an all too common condition for undisciplined or inexperienced sailors. Additionally, the listing to port could also have been caused by poor ballast
ing by the crew.
The Antelope is armed with cracked "four-pounders", quite common privateer weapons. As smaller weapons, they allowed the privateer great speed, although it also meant that they lacked range. Given the poor armament of most merchantmen, a skilled captain could use them very effectively.
The assumed authenticity is often so great that other performers have either been confused by it or played off it to fool unsuspecting audiences. In one of their recorded performances of the song, famed Scottish folk singers The Corries
state during a preamble that the song is in fact from the 18th century. However they also claim that it is the story of a Scottish exile, changing the line "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now" to "I wish I was in Edinburgh now" even though no such references appear in the lyrics, and that the Antelopes captain was "Cid Barrett
" not the correct "Elcid".
on their third album, Back Through Time
. This cover also features a guitar solo by Heri Joensen from Týr. The Australian band, Weddings Parties Anything
and the folk group, Schooner Fare
, also covered this song.
Ian Robb
wrote a well-known parody of the song, "Garnet's Home-made Beer," which features Stan Rogers' brother Garnet Rogers
and a misbegotten batch of homebrew. It appears on Robb's From Different Angels album.
The song was also parodied in the webcomic Bruno the Bandit
.
In the Due South
episode Mountie on the Bounty, Fraser
sings "Barrett's Privateers" during dinner on board the Henry Allen. By the last verse, the crew is so caught up in the song that Ray Kowalski is able to slip away to inspect the suspect's cabin.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
song in the style of a sea shanty
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
, written and performed by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
musician Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, having been inspired after a song session with the Friends of Fiddler's Green
Friends of Fiddler's Green
Friends of Fiddler's Green is a Canadian folk music group based in Toronto. The original members of the group for its first recording, The Road to Mandalay, were Grit Laskin, Tam Kearney, Ian Robb, Laurence Stevenson, David Parry, and Jeff McClintock on keyboards...
at the Northern Lights Festival Boréal
Northern Lights Festival Boréal
Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual folk festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's oldest music festival, in continuous operation since 1972...
in Sudbury, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Although Barrett, the Antelope and other specific instances mentioned in the song are fictional, "Barrett's Privateers" is full of many authentic details of privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
ing in the late 18th century. The song was released on the album Fogarty's Cove
Fogarty's Cove
- Track listing :#"Watching The Apples Grow"#"Forty-Five Years"#"Fogarty's Cove"#"Maid on the Shore"#"Barrett's Privateers"#"Fisherman's Wharf"#"Giant"#"Rawdon Hills"#"Plenty of Hornpipe"#"The Wreck of the Athens Queen"#"Make and Break Harbour"...
in 1976 and has since gained popularity as a drinking song
Drinking song
A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...
, with cover versions by many bands.
The song makes use of mixed meter, regularly switching back and forth from 4/4 to 5/4 time, which is unusual for a sea shanty
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
, as they are traditionally sung in a strict, unchanging meter. It is regarded as one of the Canadian Navy's unofficial anthems.
Plot
"Barrett's Privateers" is sung from the point of view of a young fisherman who enlisted on Elcid Barrett's ill-fated Antelope. The Antelope is described as the "scummiest vessel [he'd] ever seen", and the song describes the many faults of the decrepit sloopSloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
.
After describing the initial voyage to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
seeking American merchantmen and the problems with the Antelope, the unnamed narrator sings about how they finally found one, loaded down with gold. Unfortunately, the Antelopes main-mast is knocked down with one volley from the American vessel, and Barrett is killed.
The remainder of the song (and the chorus) conveys the narrator's disillusionment with privateering, and how he's a "broken man on a Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
pier, the last of Barrett's privateers". The last two stanzas reveal that he is only "in (his) twenty-third year", and lost both his legs in the battle six years earlier.
Historical authenticity
From the very opening line of the song, Rogers paints a plausible and mostly authentic image of a privateering vessel. He sets the tale in 1778, at the height of the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, when privateering was a common activity on both sides of the war. Rogers' choice of names, nautical terminology, and details of weapons and places all accurately reflect historical fact, with some exaggeration on the loss of life. The song mentions Halifax, Nova Scotia which is also historically accurate, as Halifax was a well-known port for privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s operating on the East Coast out of Nova Scotia at that time.
The song does contain a number of historical inconsistencies, including the refrain of "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now". The longing of the narrator for Sherbrooke conflicts with the date of 1778, as the town of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia
Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia
Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia is a Canadian rural community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia.Sherbrooke is nestled between Sherbrooke Lake and St. Mary's River...
was not founded until 1815. This may reflect Stan Rogers' artistic license
Artistic license
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
in tribute to his family origins near Sherbrooke on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. Others believe that the line refers to the privateer brig Sir John Sherbrooke, one of the largest and most formidable privateers based in Nova Scotia. However, like the town of Sherbrooke, the Sir John Sherbrooke significantly postdates the American Revolution, having been built in 1813.
The song exaggerates the violence of privateering, since the nature of privateer warfare precluded bloody battles, as the aim was to capture an undamaged merchant ship. No privateer from Nova Scotia ever sank in battle or suffered such bloody losses in battle, although some such as the privateer Rolla were lost with all hands in shipwrecks. American Privateers, however, did meet with disastrous fates off Nova Scotia at the hands of the Royal Navy (see story of Young Teazer
Young Teazer
The Young Teazer was an American privateer schooner that the 74-gun third rate trapped in a naval battle off Chester, Nova Scotia during the War of 1812. Young Teazer was under the command of William D. Dobson and Hogue was under the command of Captain Thomas Bladen Capel...
as well as the Naval battle off Halifax
Naval battle off Halifax
The Battle off Halifax took place during the American Revolutionary War involving the American privateer Jack and a Royal Naval brig Observer off Halifax, Nova Scotia. The American privateer was commanded by Captain John Ropes and the Observer by John Crymes...
).
The
Antelope "The Antelope" is described in the song as a sloop, with a total of 20 crew, all of whom were formerly fishermen. She is armed with several "cracked" four-pounder cannons. The Antelope has many other faults: she lists to port, and constant pumping is needed to keep her from gaining water. The Antelopes sails are described as being "in rags", likely the result of poor upkeep.Many vessels of the time period bore the name "Antelope", including several in the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
named HMS Antelope
HMS Antelope
Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Antelope, after the Antelope:*Antelope was a galleass carrying between 38 and 44 guns. She was launched in 1546, rebuilt three times and was burned by parliamentarian sailors at Hellevoetsluis in 1649....
. As the name of a somewhat exotic animal
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
, the name conveyed a sense of the vessel's speed, although in this case it is an ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
moniker.
Sloops were often used by privateers, good for short range assaults. Their range was extremely limited by their small size, although even a small sloop normally warranted a crew of at least thirty, so that there might be enough men to crew a captured prize. Given the Antelopes state of repair, the smaller crew could be taken to mean that it was difficult to recruit for such an obviously unreliable vessel.
The precise afflictions of the Antelope – listing to port, ragged sails, constant leaks, and an evidently incompetent crew – are all likely problems. Many ships damaged in storms, or barely seaworthy to begin with, had constant rotations of crewmen pumping out water. While stored, sails could be damaged by rats or insects. Without good maintenance, they might also become eroded in the normal course of use. The cook is described as being drunk; this was an all too common condition for undisciplined or inexperienced sailors. Additionally, the listing to port could also have been caused by poor ballast
Sailing ballast
Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing. If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of...
ing by the crew.
The Antelope is armed with cracked "four-pounders", quite common privateer weapons. As smaller weapons, they allowed the privateer great speed, although it also meant that they lacked range. Given the poor armament of most merchantmen, a skilled captain could use them very effectively.
The assumed authenticity is often so great that other performers have either been confused by it or played off it to fool unsuspecting audiences. In one of their recorded performances of the song, famed Scottish folk singers The Corries
The Corries
The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
state during a preamble that the song is in fact from the 18th century. However they also claim that it is the story of a Scottish exile, changing the line "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now" to "I wish I was in Edinburgh now" even though no such references appear in the lyrics, and that the Antelopes captain was "Cid Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
" not the correct "Elcid".
Use in popular culture
The popularity of "Barrett's Privateers" has inspired cover versions by many bands, such as the metal band AlestormAlestorm
Alestorm is a folk metal band from Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterized by a pirate theme, and as a result have been dubbed a "Pirate metal" band at a popular heavy metal related website....
on their third album, Back Through Time
Back Through Time
Back Through Time is the third studio album by Alestorm. It was released on 3 June 2011 by Napalm Records and is the first Alestorm recording to feature Peter Alcorn on drums. The album is available in jewelcase, digipack, LP, and Special Edition Boxset formats which includes two bonus cover songs...
. This cover also features a guitar solo by Heri Joensen from Týr. The Australian band, Weddings Parties Anything
Weddings Parties Anything
Weddings Parties Anything were an Australian folk rock band formed in 1984 in Melbourne and continuing until 1998. Their name came from The Clash song and musicologist Billy Pinnell described their first album as the best Australian rock debut since Skyhooks' Living in the '70s.-Formation and...
and the folk group, Schooner Fare
Schooner Fare
Schooner Fare is a local Maine folk band, consisting of the late Tom Rowe , Steve Romanoff , and Chuck Romanoff . Schooner Fare plays primarily original maritime, socially conscious, and traditional folk music...
, also covered this song.
Ian Robb
Ian Robb
Ian Robb is a well-known English-born folk singer, currently based in Ottawa, Ontario. He was a founding member of Friends of Fiddler's Green, and a columnist for Sing Out!. He is also a member of the Canadian folk trio Finest Kind....
wrote a well-known parody of the song, "Garnet's Home-made Beer," which features Stan Rogers' brother Garnet Rogers
Garnet Rogers
Garnet Rogers is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He began his professional career working with his brother, folk musician Stan Rogers, and arranging Stan's music.-Career:...
and a misbegotten batch of homebrew. It appears on Robb's From Different Angels album.
The song was also parodied in the webcomic Bruno the Bandit
Bruno the Bandit
Bruno the Bandit was a webcomic drawn by Ian McDonald about an incompetent bandit in a fantasy setting. The strip began on July 20, 1998, and a new strip was posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until October 23, 2009. It is published online by Keenspot, and in print by Plan 9 Publishing...
.
In the Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
episode Mountie on the Bounty, Fraser
Benton Fraser
Constable Benton Fraser is a fictional character in the television series Due South. He is a constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who works in the American city of Chicago, Illinois as Deputy Liaison Officer. He lives in a dangerous neighbourhood at the fictional address of apartment 3J...
sings "Barrett's Privateers" during dinner on board the Henry Allen. By the last verse, the crew is so caught up in the song that Ray Kowalski is able to slip away to inspect the suspect's cabin.