"This porter's name for Gruffanuff," seventh illustration by W. M. Thackeray for "The Rose and The Ring" (1855)

This porter's name for Gruffanuff

W. M. Thackeray

1855

Wood engraving, probably by William Linton

10.2 cm high by 7 cm wide (4 by 3 inches), partially framed

Seventh illustration for Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring, p. 307.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated

When the Princess Angelica was born, her parents not only did not ask the Fairy Blackstick to the christening party, but gave orders to their porter absolutely to refuse her if she called. This porter’s name was Gruffanuff, and he had been selected for the post by their Royal Highnesses because he was a very tall fierce man, who could say ‘Not at home’ to a tradesman or an unwelcome visitor with a rudeness which frightened most such persons away. He was the husband of that Countess whose picture we have just seen, and as long as they were together they quarrelled from morning till night. Now this fellow tried his rudeness once too often, as you shall hear. For the Fairy Blackstick coming to call upon the Prince and Princess, who were actually sitting at the open drawing-room window, Gruffanuff not only denied them, but made the most odious vulgar sign as he was going to slam the door in the Fairy’s face! ‘Git away, hold Blackstick!’ said he. ‘I tell you, Master and Missis ain’t at home to you;’ and he was, as we have said, going to slam the door.

But the Fairy, with her wand, prevented the door being shut; and Gruffanuff came out again in a fury, swearing in the most abominable way, and asking the Fairy ‘whether she thought he was a going to stay at that there door hall day?’

‘You are going to stay at that door all day and all night, and for many a long year,’ the Fairy said, very majestically; and Gruffanuff, coming out of the door, straddling before it with his great calves, burst out laughing, and cried, ‘Ha, ha, ha! this is a good un! Ha — ah — what’s this? Let me down — O — o — H’m!’ and then he was dumb! ["IV. How Blackstick was Not Asked to the Princess Angelica’s Christening," pp. 306-7]

Commentary: Even Minor Characters are Caricatured

Thackeray now introduces the conventional confrontation of the fairy and the royal family at the christening of the newborn infant. However, in this pantomime version, the fairy, Blackstick, finds her way blocked by an obnoxious porter who delights in giving tradesmen the brush off. She does not hesitate to transform him into a brazen door-knocker. Descriptive headline: "Don't You Think She Served Him Right?" (307).

Bibliography

Furniss, Harry. The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.

Titmarsh, M. A. [W. M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring. London: Smith, Elder, 1855.

Created 17 July 2022