"I am, insooth, an interloper and smuggler.  In addition, I have enjoyed some small triumphs at freebooting.  However, I do allow my sweet Mother, who lives yet in Antwerp, her fantasy that I am a PRIVATEER."  That's how I had always described my cap-tinny, pie-ratty, naughty-cal character... but now I'm changing that last word.

My research had not been earnest enough.  Sure, I love the Patrick O'Brian novels, and I'd done other casual reading on the subject, but the real research is only beginning.  I have so little time for it, unfortunately.  I've recently started skimming a well-researched text on Elizabethan seafarers, politics, etc.

I have now learned that I should stop using the word "privateer" because that term did not come about until the 18^th century, and Captain Anton Eel lives prior to the invention of that word.

In earlier times, the legalized bullies and thieves did carry letters of reprisal (or letters of marque), but were not yet called "privateers."  Queen Elizabeth's illegal traders were called "pirates" or "rovers," with those terms used interchangeably.  The English use of the word "corsair" during the late 1500's seems to be on both sides of legality.

Below are a few useful, historical definitions that caught my eye thus far.  Of course, these are all in my own words, and are verified with multiple resources.

adventurer - any risk-taker, whether pirate, interloper, merchant, or financial entrepreneur.  "Gentleman adventurers" included Raleigh and Drake, while "merchant adventurers" included Gresham and Cecil.  "Merchants Adventurers" was a very powerful London company engaged in international trade, and should not be confused with "merchant adventurers."

booty - an English word with Dutch/German origins meaning goods seized by piracy.

brigand - a member of a band of highway robbers.  In other words, one who pillages with a gang on land, rather than at sea.

buccaneer - a Caribbean pirate after 1690.  ("Buccaneer" was derived from a word for "barbecuer" on the islands of Hispaniola and Tortuga.)

corsair - one who pillages under letters of marque, before the word "privateer" came in use.  Later, this word meant a romanticized, ostentatious version of the privateer.  It was originally a French proper noun, from 1144.

freebooter - an English word with Dutch origins meaning one who pillages, especially a pirate.

interloper - one who trades illegally in a foreign country, but not usually a pirate.

intermeddler - the same as interloper.

letters of marque - commission granted by the crown allowing a private citizen to capture ships and goods of unfriendly nation(s).  More specifically, the letters allowed one who had been robbed by a foreign entity in peacetime (or undeclared war) to recover his losses, but only after the victim attempted to get justice from the foreign country.

letters of reprisal - same as letters of marque.

letters patent - exclusive manufacture and/or trading rights granted by the crown for a limited time.

occupy - to have sexual intercourse.  Really.  That was one common use of this word during Elizabethan times.  I added it to my list to see who is paying attention.

pillage - to steal with open violence.  As a noun, it refers to the goods obtained by pillaging.

pirate - one who illegally pillages at sea or on the shores of a sea.

plunder - much the same as "pillage," verb and noun.

privateer - term came into use in the 1700's to refer to a private citizen or private vessel bearing letters of marque.

revenue-cutter - government's patrol vessel used to prevent smuggling.

rover - a sea robber or pirate.

rum-runner - one who smuggles liquor by a water route, especially from the Caribbean to the colonies.

sea dog - a seaman of long experience.

smuggler - one who imports or exports goods secretly and illegally.

swashbuckler - when the term appeared around 1560, it meant a swaggering, boastful bully.  It comes from "swash" (to make noise by striking) and "buckler" (shield).  The word originally meant one or both of the following:  (1) one who fought in the style of using a side-sword with a buckler in the weaker hand, which caused noise on the buckler, or (2) a mediocre swordsman who compensated by making a great deal of noise by banging his sword on his shield, or someone else's shield, while issuing challenges.  The word evolved to mean a flamboyant, daring, adventurous swordsman.

I'm still looking for a year for the first use of the term "privateer," because I'd like to be more specific than the 1700's.  Feel free to offer me more data and your favorite research URLs.

Stay tuned.  The probable subject of my next blog is: "Real pirates didn't wear culottes.  Or did they?"