"You have heard o' John Paul Jones, Have you not? Have you not?"
Many folk in the American colonies were singing those words in 1777. Everyone had indeed heard of the daring young sea captain whose policy of "Surprise and attack!" had been adopted by the new United States Navy. The English called John Paul Jones a pirate, but the Americans loved him. On the sea he was helping to win the war for American independence.
Yet in the years before he became a famous commodore, he was not even known as John Paul Jones. Then his name was just Johnny Paul, and he lived far away on the western coast of Scotland. But always he was a "saltwater boy," more at home on the sea than on land.
Johnny lived on a salt-water farm, on the shore of the Firth of Solway. He could always see the blue waves of the firth and the sails of fishing boats putting out to sea. Johnny had to work, for all the big Paul family needed every copper they could earn. But he didn't want to be a farmer or a gardener's boy, helping his father and his uncle trim shrubbery and plant flowers for the Earl of Selkirk. He wanted to be old Tom McKenzie's helper and sail with the fishing fleet.
The day old Tom gave him a trial Johnny was so nervous everything went wrong. His fingers were all thumbs. He couldn't hoist a sail properly. He dropped every gall and net and knife he tried to pick up. He made one silly mistake after another. The old fisherman hired Johnny only because he seemed quick and willing. He said doubtfully that the boy was mighty small and had a lot to learn.
Johnny was small for his age—but no boy in the village could call him a shrimp without starting a fight. And in a fight Johnny Paul simply didn't give up. He was quick and daring, and he was willing. A boy who hoped someday to command a vessel, to be an officer in a fancy uniform with gold braid and buttons, was eager to learn seamanship. It was a big ambition for a poor Scottish gardener's son, though Johnny knew the sea and he had determination.
There were to be many adventures for him in Solway Firth before salt water brought him to a new country, to excitement, danger and glory. But the same determination that made young Johnny a good fighter was later to give a new Navy one of its famous war cries. And those first lessons of the sea helped make the battle between his ship, the Bonhomme Richard, and the English Serapis, one of the great naval engagements of history, the only battle in which a gallant ship was sunk by the ship she conquered.
Dorothea Snow, the author of Eli Whitney: Boy Mechanic, introduces another important character to the Childhood of Famous Americans Series. His interesting story suggests how the experiences and traits of a salt-water boy foreshadowed the achievement of our first great naval hero, John Paul Jones.
—from the dust jacket
Did you find this review helpful?