Black Sam recognized at the Fair" — forty-fifth illustration engraved by the Dalziels for the 1852 Chapman and Hall edition of The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne). Chapter LXXIII, "The Rore," facing 649. 9.4 cm by 17.5 cm (3 ⅝ by 6 ⅞ inches) vignetted. This is the sixteenth vertically oriented plate in the two-volume novel. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Black Sam apprehended at a village fair
It was not without reason that they were thus moved; since Meekins, who hitherto rarely or never ventured abroad, had, on that morning, gone to the fair of Graigue, a village some few miles away, where he was recognized by a farmer —— an old man named Lenahan —— as the steward of the late Mr. Godfrey. It was to no purpose that he assumed all the airs of a stranger to the country, and asked various questions about the gentry and the people. The old farmer watched him long and closely, and went home fully satisfied that he had seen Black Sam, —— the popular name by which he was known on the estate. In his capacity of bailiff, Black Sam had been most unpopular in the country. Many hardships were traced to his counsels; and it was currently believed that Mr. Godfrey would never have proceeded harshly against a tenant except under his advice. This character, together with his mysterious disappearance after the murder, were quite sufficient, in peasant estimation, to connect him with the crime; and no sooner had Lenahan communicated his discovery to his friends, than they, one and all, counselled him to go up to the doctor —— as Grounsell was called on the property —— and ask his advice.
The moment Grounsell heard that the suspected man called himself Meekins, he issued a warrant for his arrest; and so promptly was it executed that he was taken on that very evening as he was returning to “The Rore.” The tidings only reached the little inn after nightfall, and it was in gloomy confabulation over them that the two priests were now seated. The countryman who had brought the news was present when the police arrested Sam, and was twice called back into the parlour as D'Esmonde questioned him on the circumstance. [Chapter LXXIII, "The Rore," 649-650]
Commentary: The Book's Most Irish Scene
Phiz had a great appreciation of Irish characters such as Dark Sam, and Irish scenes such as market-day at Graigue. However, in The Daltons (1852) this has really been his first opportunity to realise either. This and the next three illustrations which conclude the program resolve the old mystery of Godfrey Dalton's murder, and of Eustace D'Esmonde's relationship to the Dalton family, and his parentage. But who is "Dark Sam," and why has Lever introduced this shadowy figure so late in the story? The answer probably lies in the episodic nature of the Victorian novel generally, and the need to maintain reader interest until the close of the narrative. The author has resolved problems of the continental Daltons through Frank’s release as a prisoner of war and Kate’s release from engagement to the Russian nobleman. Lever has continued to develop the complex, subversive character of the arch-Catholic plotter Eustace D'Esmonde after his role in the first Italian War of Independence, and now translates him back to his homeland, Ireland. This change in geographical setting permits Lever to discuss the problems of his homeland in the context of the mysterious murder of Godfrey Dalton all those years earlier.
Meanwhile, Meekins (the present name of "Black Sam") has returned to his homeland, and has been positively identified as the former steward, Samuel Eustace. Here, the well-dressed but secretive-looking stranger slinking away from the market-place must be the notorious steward. After Grounsell has sworn out a warrant for his arrest, Meekins is apprehended on the spot, before he can return to his inn, and incarcerated at Kilkenny. He has told Rev. Michel Cahill, D’Esmonde’s intimate friend, the old story about Peter Dalton’s having hired a n’er-do-well named Noonan to murder his brother-in-law, "Mr. Godfrey," for the family estate (which is now in the hands of Lady Hester Onslow). Conveniently, Noohnan had perished in a slave-trading expedition, and Meekins had supposedly been absent from Europe at the time of the murder, serving in a South American campaign with the rebels supporting Simon Bolivar. Now all is about to come to light.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Browne, John Buchanan. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1978.
Downey, Edmund. Charles Lever: His Life in Letters. 2 vols. London: William Blackwood, 1906.
Fitzpatrick, W. J. The Life of Charles Lever. London: Downey, 1901.
Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Lever, Charles. The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life. Illustrated by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, 1852, rpt. 1859, and 1872. [Two volumes as one, with separate page numbers in the 1859 volume, after I: 362.]
_______. The Daltons and A Day's Ride. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). Vol VI of Lever's Works. New York: P. F. Collier, 1882. [This large-format American edition reproduces only six of the original forthy-eight Phiz illustrations.]
Lever, Charles James. The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life. Vol. 2. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32062/32062-h/32062-h.htm
Skinner, Anne Maria. Charles Lever and Ireland. University of Liverpool. PhD dissertation. May 2019.
Stevenson, Lionel. Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. New York: Russell & Russell, 1939, rpt. 1969.
_______. "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.
Created 5 June 2022