Dead Ned: The autobiography of a corpse who recovered life within the coast of Dead Ned and came to what fortune you shall hear

Dead Ned

by John Masefield

John Edward Masefield OM was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems The Everlasting Mercy and "Sea-Fever".

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Masefield was born in Ledbury, a rural area in England to George Masefield, a solicitor and Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only 6 and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his Aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield’s love for story-telling grew.

In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather. Upon reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship.

In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, where he was able to find work as an assistant to a bar keeper.

For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by Trilby, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley.

When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a perfect match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).

In 1930, due to the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield’s humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication.

On 12 May 1967, John Masefield died, after having suffered through a spread of gangrene up his leg. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Later, the following verse was discovered, written by Masefield, addressed to his ‘Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns’:

Let no religious rite be done or read
In any place for me when I am dead,
But burn my body into ash, and scatter
The ash in secret into running water,
Or on the windy down, and let none see;
And then thank God that there’s an end of me.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Dead Ned when I was just learning English – it was one of my first books read in this language. I’ve taken this novel in the regional scientific library and it had been presented to the Russian people by the Russian War Relief Fund – American agency for foreign war relief during the WWII – and the back cover was stamped “Checked by NKVD”. The tale belongs to the genre of adventure novels for the young readers and it is written in the bright and flowery language. The book turned to be pretty arresting and it was a great help in my studies.

[Mary Welham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit Leon Garfield and unsurprisingly a bit Box of Delights.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, quite a dark read when you think that Puffin recommended it at time of publication in 1974 for readers 11 and over! To me it seems like an 18th century novel written by a time-travelling Dickens, and although I found it hard to put down (I wanted to know what happened next!) I was all the time wrought with foreboding!

Will definitely want to read the sequel, but I see another reviewer has recommended the Heinemann hardback as the Puffin version was abridged. Call me old-fashioned but I hate it when children's books have been tinkered with, so before I order from one of the on-line behemoths, I'll beetle over to Hay on Wye to see if I can track down a copy in the late Richard Booth's famous bookshop. If anyone will have one surely I'll find it in that Eldorado of second-hand books!

What a fascinating life story Masefield had - intending to read that too!

[Jonas Lindmark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part 1 is a (very) long introduction of a young man working as a doctor in 18th century London, who is thrown by fate into adventure. Written like a Dickens novel, but 150 years later. Too long, too unrealistic