The Black Joke, sometimes spelled Black Joak, was a bawdy song heard in London around 1730.

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...

referenced the song in the Tavern Scene of

A Rake's Progress ''A Rake's Progress'' (or ''The Rake's Progress'') is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–1734, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series ...

. Grose's dictionary of the vulgar tongue notes that the refrain of the song was ''"Her black joke and belly so white"'', with black joke referring to female genitalia. Historical fiction writer

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

, in ''

Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in t ...

'' (the first of his 21-novel Napoleonic War series, originally published in 1969) referenced the ditty being sung aboard a sloop, the Sophie, that—in this fictional account—was in the service of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1800. The lyrics and tune apparently gave rise to variations from 1730 onwards, such as the ''White Joak'' and so forth. The tune was later known as ''The Sprig of Shillelagh''. Thomas Moore (1779–1852) wrote the song "Sublime was the warning which Liberty spoke" to the tune. Muzio Clementi wrote "Black Joke for keyboard in C maj" with 21 variations in 1777 (published 1780). In 1913 Cecil Sharp, Herbert MacIlwaine and George Butterworth published "Morris Dance Tunes" set 2, containing the tune Black joke. Sharp had collected the tune in April 1912 from Michael Handy, a dancer with Ilmington morris. In 1976 John Kirkpatrick recorded it on the album "Plain Capers" (Topic TSCD458).

Vessels

*During the

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the

employed several hired armed cutters that bore the name ''Black Joke''. *During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, ''Black Joke'' was a nickname for the highly successful Nova Scotian

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Liverpool Packet ''Liverpool Packet'' was a privateer schooner from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, that captured 50 American vessels in the War of 1812. American privateers captured ''Liverpool Packet'' in 1813, but she failed to take any prizes during the four months bef ...

''. *In 1827 the British captured the

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

''Henriquetta'' and renamed her HMS ''Black Joke''. She went on to become one of the most successful anti-slavery vessels in the

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

or "Preventative squadron".

Notes

External links

* (lyrics and background) Irish songs 18th-century songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown {{folk-song-stub