Snook's Lives of Celebrated Men: Flobby MacSquelsh, 1846
10 pages
"Snook's Lives of Celebrated Men: Flobby MacSquelsh" are sketches narrating the life of Flobby Macsquelsh, the fictional profligate son of a Barbados planter. The story is told on 10 pages (22 x 32 cm) and divided into 11 parts, each part consisting of an ink sketch and a paragraph of text.
MacSquelsh is referred to as the "hero" in the story. He is depicted as a fat man known for his "intense gluttony." As a child, witnessing the whipping of a slave brings Flobby "intense delight." As an adult, he visits Europe and is placed in the distinguished 179th Highland Rifles corps. He engages in heavy drinking, attends balls, and meets a woman but later has "deserted and undid her." He is unfit for hunting, as he loses control of his horse, kills two hunting hounds, and even loses his umbrella. The story ends with Flobby returning to Barbados, where he successfully proposes marriage to a "Lady of Colour" and inherits his father's plantation property. This satirical story is likely a commentary of the behaviors of the planter elite in the West Indies after the abolition of slavery.