Snarleyyow; or, The Dog Fiend was published by Henry Colburn in 1837 and is Marryat’s darkest and most original novel — a black comedy set aboard a revenue cutter in the English Channel during the reign of William III. Lieutenant Dorvelle (Vandeslooten in some editions) is a tyrannical bully whose only affection is reserved for his hideous, vicious dog Snarleyyow; the crew, who loathe both master and dog, make repeated attempts to kill the animal, which survives every assassination attempt with supernatural resilience.
The novel operates as both a straightforward adventure story (the cutter’s encounters with smugglers, Jacobite conspirators, and the Dutch) and as a darkly comic allegory of authority and resistance. The dog becomes the symbol of arbitrary tyrannical power — hated by all, apparently indestructible, protected by the captain’s authority. The crew’s increasingly inventive attempts to destroy it (drowning, poisoning, shooting, throwing overboard) become acts of rebellion against the system the dog represents.
Marryat’s tone here is notably darker than in his other novels: the comedy is savage rather than genial, the violence is real rather than cartoonish, and the portrait of life aboard a small vessel under a brutal commander has a claustrophobic intensity that anticipates the existential sea fiction of the twentieth century. The novel was less popular than Mr Midshipman Easy or Peter Simple but has attracted increasing critical attention as readers have recognized its originality and psychological depth.
Collecting Snarleyyow
First edition (Henry Colburn, London, 1837): Three volumes, cloth boards.
Market values:
- First edition (3 vols): $300–$800
- Victorian reprints: $25–$60