"Dogs." Georgina Bowers's illustration at the beginning of Chapter VIII (D'Avigdor 77). Bowers was also known for her skill in drawing dogs, and has depicted quite a variety of breeds here. She is bringing to life the boast of one of the characters in the chapter, who says that his dog imitated the parson once and acted as if he was delivering a sermon:
"You'll hardly believe me, but there was Spry, sitting on the top of his kennel, howling and yelping like fury, and every now and then throwing his paws about. All round him in the yard were the village dogs — terriers, and pointers, and pugs, and I don't know what more — staring at him and listening. Old Spry had watched the parson, and thought he'd try a sermon."
"Oh! I say!" said Fred, "that's a little too strong."
"True, I assure you," asseverated Bluff.
"It's a good one, anyhow," said another. [87]
The scene conjured up by this tall story is rather irreverent!
Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. 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. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Bibliography
D'Avigdor, Elim Henry. A Loose Rein. London: Bradbury, Agnew, 1887. Illustrated by Georgina Bowers. Internet Archive. Contributed by the Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine. Web. 15 July 2017.
Created 15 July 2017