Eye - 20 October 2023

From Found in fiction to Whirl and shake

Found in fiction

John Lampen, of Stourbridge Meeting, popped into Eye’s mailbag with a fictional Friend penned by Daniel Defoe.

He writes: ‘Your mention of a fictional Quaker about a warship in the eighteenth-century (1 September) reminded me of a forgotten but very entertaining book, The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton by Daniel Defoe, published in 1720.

‘Jack Singleton captures William, a Quaker doctor, in a raid and continues: “Come,” says I, “you will be a useful man to us, and you shall have very good usage among us.” So I unbound his hands, and first ordered all things that belonged to him to be restored to him, and our captain gave him a dram.

‘“Thou hast dealt friendly by me,” says he, “and I will be plain with thee, whether I came willingly to thee or not. I shall make myself as useful to thee as I can, but thou knowest it is not my business to meddle when thou art to fight.” “No, no,” says the captain, “but you may meddle a little when we share the money.” “Those things are useful to furnish a surgeon’s chest,” says William, and smiled, “but I shall be moderate.”

‘The novel goes on to tell how William gradually converts the captain and crew to nonviolent piracy and eventually respectable retirement! Happily, it is available to read, free of charge, at https://bit.ly/CptSingleton.’

Edward Garnett, whose commentary appears in the Gutenberg online version of the book, notes: ‘The character of William the Quaker pirate is a masterpiece of shrewd humour. He is the first Quaker brought into English fiction, and we know of no other Friend in latter-day fiction to equal him.’

John adds: ‘Your readers may like to know that Glenthorne is running a residential course on Quakers in fiction in July 2024.’