Pirates and Privateers

The mercenaries of the age of sail came in two stripes. Depending on your point of view, they could be pirates or privateers.

The secluded coves and inlets of the Maritimes, in Nova Scotia were perfect hiding places for pirates avoiding detection by a king’s navy. And with the huge fishing industry, the Maritimes were a perfect hunting ground for supplies, ships and new recruits. Pirates and Privateers introduces the viewer to several notorious and wealthy pirates who plundered Atlantic Canada and tells a story that recalls the blunderbuss, the cutlass, evil deeds and buried treasure.

For many eastern Canadians, privateering was a significant social and financial force in times of war, whether against the Spanish, the French, or the Americans during the War of 1812. Pirates and Privateers explores how this wartime business worked, as practiced in one of Canada’s most successful privateering centers, Liverpool Nova Scotia.

Pirates and Privateers will premiere on CBC Television’s Land & Sea on Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 12 Noon, AST.
Following the broadcast, the documentary can be viewed on the CBC TV website.

Photo of the privateer, Lynx by Audrey Hutchinson