Hi, Jed! Nice ballad. What's its name?

I too would strongly suggest reworking the ballad so you can avoid the term "privateer" even if it does rhyme nicely; you'll avoid unnecessary broadsides from the more nautically sophisticated. As I recall "the horrible old Leopard" (be nice to get that line in somewhere) was a fourth-rate, a 50-gun heavy frigate. Good luck!