Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer

In Short

Herrick Johnstone’s 1897 dime novel Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer is an episodic nautical adventure set during the War of 1812. The narrative follows young Barney Blake as he signs onto the armed brigantine Queer Fish out of Boston. Over the course of a year-long cruise, the crew captures dozens of enemy merchant vessels, rounds Cape Horn, explores the South American coasts, and engages in wild escapades on land and sea. Driven by high-spirited action, broad humor, and maritime lore, the tale survives as a vivid artifact of late nineteenth-century American popular fiction celebrating historical naval romance.

The Story

The adventure opens in May 1813 along the bustling wharves of Boston. Barney Blake, a young merchant sailor out of work, encounters his old messmate Tony Trybrace. Tony convinces Barney to enlist aboard the Queer Fish, a swift, six-gun brigantine fitted out for privateering under the genial Captain Joker. As the vessel departs down the harbor to the cheers of the townsfolk, the crew discovers that an overly persistent Polish Jew peddler has delayed his departure; the captain jokingly threatens to carry him all the way to the Bay of Bengal before sailing onward.

Life aboard the ship is defined by constant practical jokes, strict naval drills, and immediate success in hunting enemy commerce. Soon after clearing port, the crew overtakes a British vessel and captures an eccentric English passenger, De Courcy. Captain Joker plays a trick by placing De Courcy in a small rowboat and pretending to abandon him, only to round to and rescue the terrified cockney once he learns his lesson in manners.

As the Queer Fish presses southward toward tropical waters, the crew faces dramatic natural encounters. In one notable episode, the massive ship's cook, Snollygoster, dives into shark-infested waters to slay a maneater with a knife, after which the crew fishes for the remaining sharks using putrid pork on a giant boat-hook. Crossing the equator brings the traditional visit of Father Neptune, complete with elaborate costumes, mock trials, and the mandatory ducking of novices like young Dicky Drake and the reluctant De Courcy.

In July, the vessel puts into the neutral harbor of Rio de Janeiro alongside a British warship, where the crew witnesses traditional bullfights. Sailing further south, the brigantine navigates the gloomy, frigid straits of Tierra del Fuego. A shore party hunting for firewood gets trapped by a pack of hungry wolves, forcing Barney up a tree until his shipmates scatter the beasts with musket fire. Off the Patagonian coast, the crew anchors to refill water casks, interacts with local native tribes, and goes hunting on horseback, where Dicky Drake hilariously attempts to capture a giant ostrich by riding its back.

Rounding into the Pacific, the Queer Fish stops in Chile, enjoying bizarre electric-eel hunts using thirsty wild horses, before heading north toward California and Acapulco. Along the way, they assist whalers, suffer the tragic loss and burial at sea of young cabin-boy Willie Warner, and witness strange atmospheric mirages of phantom fleets floating in the sky. After capturing thirty-six prizes in total, the Queer Fish survives a final brush with a British cruiser off the Bahama Banks and returns triumphantly to Boston in March 1814, leaving Barney and his shipmates flush with prize-money.

How It Unfolds

Setting sail from Boston Barney Blake meets Tony Trybrace on the docks and joins the crew of the privateer Queer Fish. The vessel leaves port under a gunpowder salute, inadvertently carrying off an unready peddler who missed the shore boat.

Pranks and ocean prizes The crew initiates Barney to forecastle pranks, including collapsed hammocks, before spotting their first target. They capture a British craft and haul aboard De Courcy, an easily rattled Englishman who becomes the prime target of Captain Joker's practical jokes.

Feats of strength and equator rites Near the tropics, the giant black seaman Snollygoster dives overboard to kill a shark in single combat. Shortly after, the crew celebrates crossing the equator with a theatrical Neptune ritual, putting the greenhorns through mock trials and ocean baths.

South American adventures After anchoring in Rio de Janeiro to observe bullfights, the brigantine braves the desolate cliffs of Tierra del Fuego. Barney survives a wolf attack while trapped in a tree, and the crew later hunts ostriches and guanacos along the Patagonian shore.

Pacific pursuits and return home The brigantine sweeps up the South American coast, witnessing eel hunts in Chile and exotic wildlife in California. After mourning a fallen cabin-boy and seeing optical mirages at sea, the ship outruns a British warship and returns to Boston laden with wealth.

The People

• Barney Blake: The young narrator and titular "Boy Privateer." Formerly a merchant seaman, he is observant, brave, and deeply attached to his shipmates. He seeks fortune and maritime adventure, surviving wolf attacks and rough seas to return home rich with prize-money.
• Captain Joker: The cheerful commander of the Queer Fish. He combines strict seamanship with an irrepressible love for practical jokes and prize-money, maintaining high morale through humor and unexpected generosity toward his prisoners.
• Tony Trybrace: The merry boatswain who recruits Barney in Boston. Bold and lively, he leads shore parties, blows the boatswain's whistle for prize chases, and organizes the crew's daily work.
• Snollygoster: The ship's heroic black cook and musician. Possessing immense physical strength and fearlessness, he repeatedly dives into the ocean to battle sharks, rescue entangled sailors, and play the violin for evening dances.
• Dicky Drake: A green, naive young sailor from Salem. Eager but clumsy, he serves as the constant target of forecastle pranks and lighthearted mishaps, such as trying to catch a running ostrich by hand.
• De Courcy: A pompous British passenger captured at sea. Utterly out of his element, his constant complaints and refined affectations make him the perfect foil for Captain Joker's outrageous pranks.

In Its Own Voice

"She's a splendid ship!" I exclaimed. "What name does she go by?" "The Queer Fish," was the reply. "She has six guns--eighteen-pounders--three on each side--with the prettiest thirty-pound brass swivel at her starn, this side of Davy Jones."

Barney first views the sleek brigantine anchored in Boston Harbor alongside his friend Tony.

"Dis nigga nebber see'd de fish he was afeard of."

The heroic cook Snollygoster casually dismisses the danger after plunging into the ocean with a knife to slay a giant maneating shark.

"Do you know, I henjoyed hit himmensely," he exclaimed.

The captive Englishman De Courcy attempts to save face after being dunked over the stern during the ship's equator-crossing ceremonies.

What It's Really About

Beneath its rapid-fire maritime exploits, Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer celebrates nineteenth-century American nautical pride and youthful ambition. Written during the late Victorian era but set in the War of 1812, the novel treats privateering not as lawless piracy, but as an honorable, lucrative, and patriotic trade. It showcases an ideal of democratic shipboard camaraderie where merit, humor, and physical courage matter more than formal naval rank.

The story continuously contrasts American resourcefulness and good cheer with foreign stiffness, represented by the hapless British captive De Courcy. Beneath the broad physical comedy lies a fascination with the expanding world, exotic landscapes, and the romantic freedom of the high seas, framing the ocean as a space of endless self-reliance and opportunity.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in American popular culture, nineteenth-century dime novels, or historical sea fiction will find Barney Blake, the Boy Privateer a brisk, entertaining curiosity. It offers a clear, unfiltered glimpse into the formulaic pulp literature that captivated young readers in late nineteenth-century America. The narrative moves at a breakneck pace, packed with colorful sea dialect, eccentric characters, and absurd set-pieces—from shark fights to ostrich rides.

Readers should be prepared for the literary conventions of its era. The dialogue relies heavily on phonetic dialect writing, including exaggerated cockney and period racial representations that reflect the stereotypical tropes of 1890s popular publishing. The plot is episodic rather than tightly structured, reading more like a series of travel anecdotes connected by a voyage than a complex psychological novel.

For those willing to engage with it as an artifact of its time, the book delivers a lightweight, buoyant adventure that captures the sheer exuberance of classic high-seas melodrama.