"Barrett's Privateers" is a modern folk song in the style of a

sea shanty A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ...

, 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 Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual summer music festival in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. It is one of Canada's oldest continuous music festivals, having been staged every year since 1972 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

in Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The song describes a 1778 summer

privateering A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since Piracy, robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sover ...

journey to the Caribbean on a decrepit sloop, the ''Antelope'', captained by Elcid Barrett; when it engages in a failed raid on a larger American ship, the ''Antelope'' sinks and all the crew are killed except the singer, who returns six years later "a broken man", having lost both his legs in the disaster. 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 18th century. The song was released on the album '' Fogarty's Cove'' in 1976 and has since gained popularity as a

drinking song A drinking song is a song that is sung before or during Alcoholic beverage, alcohol consumption. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyri ...

, with cover versions by many bands. It also appears on later Stan Rogers live albums ''

Home in Halifax ''Home in Halifax'' is a 1993 in music, 1993 live album by Stan Rogers. It was recorded by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC during a concert Rogers performed at the Dalhousie Arts Centre, Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in City of Halifax, Halif ...

'' and '' Between the Breaks ... Live!'' The song makes use of

mixed meter A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

, regularly switching back and forth from to time. It is regarded as one of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

's unofficial anthems, the unofficial anthem of

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

and also often heard sung at many Atlantic universities including (west to east)

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, Saint Mary's University, University of King's College, St. Francis Xavier University,

Cape Breton University Cape Breton University (CBU) is a public university located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only post-secondary degree-granting institution within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and on Cape Breton Island. The university is enabl ...

, St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe), and Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Cover versions

The popularity of "Barrett's Privateers" has inspired cover versions by many bands, such as the pirate metal band Alestorm on their third album, '' Back Through Time''. This cover also features a guitar solo by Heri Joensen from

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

. The Australian band Weddings Parties Anything and the folk group Schooner Fare also covered this song. The song was recorded by the Scottish folk trio The McCalmans on their 1986 album Peace & Plenty (Song title spelled "Barratt's Privateers" on the album) Phil 'Swill' Odgers singer with the UK band The Men They Couldn't Hang has sung a solo version after learning the words and melody from Weddings Parties Anything. Covered by Canadian folk band The Irish Descendants on their 1994 album ''Gypsies & Lovers''. The Cornerboys performed a comedic rap version, the Dub Pub Club Mix version; this was included on their mooseTracks beer premium CD from Moosehead Breweries in the early 2000s. Covered by Fisherman's Friends on their 2002 album ''Home From the Sea''. Covered by the Corries and released on their 2006 album ''Barrett's Privateers''. In this version, the line "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now" is replaced with "I wish I was in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

now". Covered by Blackbeard's Tea Party on their 2011 album ''Tomorrow We'll Be Sober''. Covered by Alestorm on their 2011 album ''Back Through Time''. In 2012 the Kingston Trio recorded an a cappella version on ''Born at the Right Time'' and Celtic punk band the Real McKenzies covered it on ''Westwinds''. As part of a comedy bit on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

'' in July, 2022, both the host and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

sang the first verse together, neither of them knowing that the other knew the song. Stephen Colbert had sung the song before in March 2022 with

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

. The singer Jonathan Young also made a cover of the song with Caleb Hyles, annapantsu, Peyton Parrish, RichaadEB and Colm McGuinness in 2023. Ian Robb made a cover using different words under the title "Garnet's Home-Made Beer". The Longest Johns, a British folk music group, made a cover of the song in August 2023. Seth Staton Watkins covered the song on his album ''Songs of the Sea'' in 2023. The recording contains multiple harmonies, and he sings all of them. Paul Gross also covered the song in the series Due South, in the two-part episode, "Mountie on the Bounty".

References

External links

Lyrics on Stan Rogers's website

US Navy plays Barrett's Privateers while leaving Halifax
on YouTube {{authority control Stan Rogers songs Songs about fishermen Songs about pirates Sea shanties Privateering in the American Revolutionary War Drinking songs 1976 songs Songs written by Stan Rogers Canadian patriotic songs Songs based on Canadian history