Letters of Marque

"As the BBC fellow described it: "A letter of marque was the license issued allowing a privately owned vessel to attack those of an enemy nation. Quite a lot of this went on in England's war with Spain during the sixteenth century when the privateers literally indulged in official piracy." Everyone in the band stretches out and takes a solo on this one." (Reaching For The Uncommon Chord, p. 35)