"Roach's Conveniency" — Phiz's ninth illustration for Charles Lever's "The O'Donoghue" (April 1845)

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Roach's Conveniency

Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)

steel engraving

12.6 cm by 9.9 cm (4 ⅞ by 3 ⅞ inches), vignetted

April 1845

Charles Lever's The O'Donoghue; A Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago, Chapter XIV, "The Comments on a Hurried Departure," facing p. 115.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: O'Leary's Dialectal Humour at the Carriage House

“Here it is, then,” said O'Leary, with the tone of one, whose courage was nerved by utter despair, while at the same time, he drew forth two wheels and an axle, the sole surviving members of the late vehicle. As he displayed the wreck before them, the ludicrous — always too strong for an Irish peasant, no matter how much it may be associated with his own personal danger — overcame his more discreet instincts, and he broke forth into a broad grin, while he cried — “'There's the inside of her, now!' as Darby Cossoon said, when he tuk his watch in pieces, 'and begorra, we'll see how she's made, any way!'”

This true history must not recount the expressions in which Roach permitted himself to indulge; it is enough to say, that his passion took the most violent form of invective, against the house, the glen, the family, and their retainers, to an extreme generation, while he stamped and gesticulated like one insane. [Chapter XIV, "The Comments on a Hurried Departure," 115]

Commentary: Dr. Roach's Reaction at being shown the Remains of his Gig

The comedy continues to be at the physician's expense as, not yet having seen that O'Leary has attended well to his shaggy pony, the phlegmatic Roach demands to see his gig. All that remains are the axel and one intact wheel, to which the incensed physician (right) reacts with "invective" whereas O'Leary's response to the ludicrous wreck is a broad grin. Sir Archy in the background, centre, smiles faintly as he cracks his joke about the doctor's now having little space for luggage. Phiz provides sufficient detail in the background to establish where the stable is relative to the main house (upper left).

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.

Created 23 December 2023