The Black Joke, sometimes spelled Black Joak, was a bawdy song heard in London around 1730.
William Hogarth referenced the song in the Tavern Scene of
A Rake's Progress. 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, in ''
Master and Commander'' (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 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
Royal Navy employed several
hired armed cutters
Cutter may refer to:
Tools
* Bolt cutter
* Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife
* Cigar cutter
* Cookie cutter
* Glass cutter
* Meat cutter
* Milling cutter
* Paper cutter
* Side cutter
* Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...
that bore the name ''Black Joke''.
*During the
War of 1812, ''Black Joke'' was a nickname for the highly successful Nova Scotian
privateer ''
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 ''Henriquetta'' and renamed her
HMS ''Black Joke''. She went on to become one of the most successful anti-slavery vessels in the
West Africa or "Preventative squadron".
Notes
External links
* (lyrics and background)
Irish songs
18th-century songs
Year of song unknown
Songwriter unknown
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