Barrett's Privateers

"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 privateering in the late 1700s. 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 such as the Australian band Weddings Parties Anything and the folk group Schooner Fare. This song is a favourite in the Canadian Navy, and is often sung when naval troops are marching.

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 sloop. It is unknown whether Stan Rogers was referring to a sloop-rig, which is a vessel with a single mast which also can set a jib, or to a sloop-of-war (which could be a brig or a ship rigged vessel smaller than a Frigate).

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 "Antelope"'s 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 at the age of 22 he's a "broken man on a Halifax pier", having lost both his legs, "the last of Barrett's privateers".

Historical authenticity

From the very opening line of the song, Rogers paints a very plausible and mostly authentic image of a privateering vessel. He dates the tale as taking place in 1778, at the height of the American Revolution, when privateering was a common activity from all 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 "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. However, the "Antelope" has many faults; she lists to port, and constant pumping is needed to keep her from gaining water. The "Antelope"'s 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 "HMS Antelope"s in the British Royal Navy. As the name of a somewhat exotic animal, the name conveyed a sense of the vessel's speed, although in this case it's 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 "Antelope"'s 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 ballasting 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 nature of privateer warfare precluded bloody battles as the aim was to capture an undamaged merchant ship. No privateer from Nova Scotia ever suffered such losses in battle, although some were lost with all hands in shipwrecks.

Use in popular culture

* 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.
* The song was also parodied in the webcomic Bruno the Bandit [ [http://brunothebandit.com/d/20071008.html Bruno the Bandit] ] .
* 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.

References

* [http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~jacktar/barretts.html Is the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers" true?] Dan Conlin, 1997 A detailed line by line examination of the song and its historical context.