I am a bold undaunted youth, my name is John . . .

The narrator was sent to jail for attempting to elope with Mary Neal. While he was out on bail, they eloped again, on the "Maid of Erin" bound for Quebec. At Whitehead Reef in Gloucester Bay, they encountered a storm on the 21st of August. Forty-one people were washed overboard, including Mary Neal, but the narrator saved her. They had been married before leaving, by Captain Wilson. Mary's father wrote, offering him half his land, but he refused.; Mary gave him 5 pounds a week.Greenleaf & Mansfield no. 92, "Mary Neal"; Peacock vol I, p. 216