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Passage Illustrated: Dr. Roach finds his entrance blocked and guarded

The night was falling as he once more ascended the steep and narrow causeway, which led to the old keep; and here, now, Kerry O'Leary was closing the heavy but time-worn gate, and fastening it with many a bolt and bar, as though aught within could merit so much precaution. The sound of wheels seemed suddenly to have caught the huntsman's ear, for he hastily shut down the massive hasp that secured the bar of the gate, and as quickly opened a little latched window, which, barred with iron, resembled the grated aperture of a convent door.

“You're late this time, any how,” cried Kerry. “Tramp back again, friend, the way you came; and be thankful it's myself seen you; for, by the blessed Father, if it was Master Mark was here, you'd carry away more lead in your skirts than you'd like.”

“What, Kerry? — what's that you're saying?” said the astonished doctor; “don't you know me, man?”

“Kerry's my name, sure enough; but artful as you are, you'll just keep the other side of the door. Be off now, in God's name. 'Tis a fair warning I give you; and faix if you won't listen to my son, you might hear worse;” and as he spoke, that ominous sound, the click of a gun-cock, was heard, and the muzzle of a carbine peeped between the iron bars. [Chapter XI, "Mistakes on All Sides," 95]

Commentary: The Chapter's Third Misapprehension

The faithful but none-too-bright O'Donoghue servant Kerry O'Leary fails to recognize the local physician, Dr. Roach, in the twilight. He misapprehends the mercenary physician, who is paying a second (unanticipated) visit, as a sheriff's bailiff who is serving a writ. Roach's second visit to check on Herbert O'Donoghue's recovery has been occasioned by a earnest request by the new neighbour, the wealthy English banker, Sir Marmaduke Travers. Roach all too readily accedes to the proposal that he pay a second call since the Englishman is quite prepared to make it worth his while. As he approaches the stout portal of the castle garden Roach tries to think of a plausible excuse, not wishing to reveal that the Englishman's promise of five hundred guineas and not his own professional solicitousness is responsible for his return visit. As we subsequently learn, in the dusk O'Leary had mistasken Roach for James Cassidy, the sub-sheriff. The moment realised is immediately before O'Leary clicks his carbine, as Roach blesses himself and, in his fright, falls on his knees to pray.

Phiz delights equally in depicting the cringing physician's terror and in the shaggy Irish pony that the parsimonious physician employs in the place of a regular carriage horse. But he executes with a romantic sensibility the ancient portal, the ruined walls, and the decaying manor house. He conveys a sense of the old-fashioned gig and the miserable pony who fails to apprehend the danger to himself and his driver.

Bibliography

Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.

Lever, Charles. The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago. With 26 engravings by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Dublin: William Curry, Jun., 1845.

Lever, Charles. The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. In One Vol. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: May 11, 2010.

Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter VIII, "Heretic Among Tories, 1844-1845." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 128-145.

Sutherland, John A. "Lever, Charles." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990, 372-374.

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Created 22 December 2023