The Boy Who Sailed With Blake

The Boy Who Sailed With Blake

This is an illustrated serial novel by William H. G. Kingston, published in the eleventh edition by the National Sunday School Union. The narrative follows a young protagonist named Ben, the son of Captain Roger Bracewell, living in the coastal town of Lyme in Dorsetshire during the English Civil War. When bells signal the arrival of Colonel Robert Blake with five hundred troops to defend Lyme against an approaching Cavalier force of twenty thousand under Prince Maurice, Ben and his friends Lancelot Kerridge and Dick Harvey join the townspeople in hastily constructing fortifications—earthworks, trenches, batteries, and barricades.

Colonel Blake becomes acquainted with Ben's father, a former seafarer, and meets Ben himself with encouragement for future service. The preface frames Blake as a conscientious, God-fearing Parliamentarian defending civil and religious liberty against Stuart tyranny. The serialized narrative promises adventures at sea and in military campaigns alongside Blake's historical exploits.