Hi Rick, a Privateer would have the permission ( a license or a letter of Marque) of their respective governments to plunder & pillage any vessels flying a flag of a nation hostile to their own or even to the point of streching it to a nation sympathetic to a hostile nation. Stan's song shows a Canadian vessel with a letter of Marque trying to pluder American vessels, this is privateering not piracy. Captain Kid started off, in his "Adventure Galley" of 34 guns, as a privateer (a very unsuccesseful one) he did turn to piracy in the taking of one large quarry a ship under a French passport. He tried like hell to clear himself stating he'd recieved permission to pluder ships of unfriendly nations (unfriendly towards the British). The Queen & then government for political reasons found it better not to back his claim & declear him a pirate, in Boston the merchants wanted & did claim any & all valuables they could get their hands on & to then quickly ship him in irons to England, broke & unable to mount a fair defense, where the people were ripe for a good old time hanging, they did have to hang him twice & then left his body to rot in a gibbet for 2 years. Privateering didn't pay (except maybe in Drake's case) where as priacy seemed to pay better. Barry