Minor characters in the Blandings stories
Encyclopedia
The following is an incomplete list of the fictional character
s featured in the Blandings Castle
stories of P. G. Wodehouse
.
's many sisters, Lady Alcester is very fond of dogs (at one point she owns four Peke
s (one of which is called Susan), two Pomeranian
s, a Yorkshire Terrier
, five Sealyham
s, a Borzoi
and an Airedale
), making her an ideal customer for her nephew Freddie Threepwood
when he comes to England to promote his father-in-law Mr Donaldson's dog biscuit
s; much to Freddie's disgust, she feeds her many dogs on "Peterson's Pup-food".
The mother of Gertrude, in "Company for Gertrude
" Lady Georgiana disapproves of her daughter's liaison with "Beefy" Bingham, until she learns of his prospects, and is even more against the crooning tenor
Orlo Watkins in "The Go-getter
".
when, in "Company for Gertrude
", she is imprisoned at the castle to keep her away from her beloved, "Beefy" Bingham. Later, in "The Go-getter
", she becomes infatuated with Orlo Watkins, the tenor
, until she sees his weak, dog-fearing side.
, of undisclosed parentage, Allsop is a struggling musician, a pianist
, who visits Blandings in Galahad at Blandings
. The prospect of taking employment at the Girls' School run by Dame Daphne Winkworth worries him considerably, as does the idea of proposing to the Amazonian
Monica Simmons; his friend Tipton Plimsoll's advice that he steel himself with drink almost leads to his undoing, when nasty Huxley Winkworth spots him swigging from a flask, but he hides the evidence in the Empress
' feeding-trough, leading the prize pig to get herself a skinful. Helping his aunt Lady Hermione Wedge with a spot of burgling loses him his job, but his uncle Gally
gets him a post at a music publishing company owned by Plimsoll, allowing him to elope with his beloved.
's niece, a pretty girl with fair hair and blue eyes. On the death of her mother Jane, sister of Lord Emsworth and Connie
, Angela's money was put in trust until she reached twenty-five, the trustee being Emsworth himself. As a child, Beach
was very fond of her, and often amused her with his hippopotamus
impersonation.
Angela has long loved James Belford, who her Aunt Connie thinks unsuitable; when he goes away to work on a farm in America, she becomes engaged to Lord Heacham, but breaks it off on the return of her true love, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
". Her surname is never revealed.
's old pal Boko Bagshott, Sam is a struggling lawyer and poorly paid writer (occasional contributor to Tiny Tots, the Mammoth children's paper), who is brought to Blandings by Gally to mend a rift between himself and his girl Sandy. While in Market Blandings, Sam gets into trouble with the local police, after accidentally purloining Beach
's watch, and hitting the constable who subsequently chases him down. To keep him out of trouble, Gally inveigles him into the castle, in the guise of Augustus Whipple, the famous pig-expert, in Galahad at Blandings
.
, Bill Bailey does his good works in the East End
parish
of Bottleton East, where he chanced to meet and fall in love with Myra Schoonmaker. When she is taken to Blandings for safety, Uncle Fred
's assistance is needed to reunite them, and fortunately Fred's nephew Pongo Twistleton
is a good friend of Bailey from their Oxford
days (where Bailey boxed
three years running, and prior to which he attended Harrow
). Not the most attractive of men facially, Bailey's soul is clean and pure, and objects strongly to being blackmailed into stealing pigs, in Service With a Smile
.
, and features in many of the anecdotes Gally drops like leaves from a tree. A member of the Pelican Club, Basham once knocked "Stinker" Pyke
out cold when, having started off throwing bread in Romano's, he got a little carried away and moved on to a side of beef. His trouble was due to a custom of ordering quart
s where others would be satisfied with pint
s, an old Basham family trait.
His drinking was curtailed when, attending a wedding reception which became entangled with another wedding party being held at the same hotel, he was shocked to find himself seeing two brides. He swore off the booze, and was fortunate to find an appetising and stimulating teetotal beverage, by the name of Absinthe
. On another occasion, during a pheasant
-shooting weekend in Norfolk
, Galahad gave Plug a much-needed jolt by secreting a phosphorus
-painted pig in his bedroom. Basham was also present for the incident of "Puffy" Benger and the thunderstorm; pigs were involved once more, when Galahad and Benger borrowed "Old Wivenhoe"'s pig and put it in Basham's room, on the night of the Bachelor's Ball at Hammer's Easton.
Although described as "the late Major Basham" in Full Moon
, his nephew Jerry Vail states that he is in robust health, in Pigs Have Wings
.
's voluptuous niece – see Maudie Stubbs below.
living near the castle, who is on cordial terms with Lord Emsworth
, Belford had a somewhat wild youth and was sent to America for some unnamed transgression. Finding work on a farm in Nebraska
, he learns much, including the art of pig-calling. He returns to England after two years to find his childhood love Angela; although he has enough to live on, he requires some capital to buy a partnership. He uses his farming wisdom and knowledge of pig calls to endear himself to her uncle and trustee, Lord Emsworth, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
".
. He is 28 years old, has a high voice and wears tortoisesehell spectacles, giving him an appropriately artistic appearance. He inherited the gallery from his father, and struggles to maintain its respectability in the face of fake nude portraits by the famous French artist Claude Robichaux.
and fellow member of the Pelican Club, who features in many of his humorous anecdotes of life in the wild 'nineties. On one occasion, staying at a cottage in Somerset
shire for some fishing, with Galahad and "Plug" Basham among others, Benger's habit of telling outrageous lies came home when he described his girl as the fastest typist in England, and swore that she could play Chopin
's Funeral March in forty-eight seconds. He reproached Basham for suggesting that the lie was so outrageous that the house was in danger of being struck by lightning, saying that if it wasn't true, he hoped the house would be struck; which, of course, it promptly was.
We later learn that Benger let his guard down sufficiently to allow a girl to get him alone and reading romantic poetry; as a result, he hung up his glad-rags and became the father of a boy with adenoids and two girls.
, Admiral Biffen is a former Pelican. By the time we hear of him, his relations with bookies
have become so strained that he rarely leaves home without a false beard; in Full Moon
, he returns a particularly bushy one he has borrowed from Galahad, just in time for it to come in useful to Bill Lister (it made Biffen look like an Assyria
n monarch, but renders Lister somewhat frightening). He rented a small cottage for a time, just up the road from Blandings, shortly prior to the events of Pigs Have Wings
, but had to return to Piccadilly
, London
, on finding the country far too noisy.
in university days at Oxford
, where he took part in rowing (for which he nearly got his blue) and swimming (for which he did). A rather clumsy, bumbling chap with a big red face, who regularly finds himself spilling drinks or tangling himself up in small tables covered in china. He has a dog of uncertain parentage, named Bottles.
After university he became a curate
, and fell in love with Gertrude Alcester. He lacks an income to support her until, in "Company for Gertrude
", posing as a Mr "Popjoy" at Blandings and trying to ingratiate himself with Lord Emsworth wins him the living at Much Matchingham. The family, at first against the match, change their minds and become strongly in favour, on learning that Bingham is nephew and heir to a wealthy shipping magnate. Not normally a quick thinker, he knows how to stop a dog fight, a talent which comes in especially handy in "The Go-getter
".
. He appears in Pigs Have Wings
, making extravagant bets in the saloon bar of the Emsworth Arms on the forthcoming Fat Pig contest, but later spoils his own chances with a poorly-placed bottle of Slimmo. He has large ears, which frequently prick up in hopes of hearing something worth including in his memoirs.
's nickname for Bill Lister.
's secretary for a time in Heavy Weather
, and nephew to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe.
in Service With a Smile
, Miss Briggs is a tall young girl, with a cold, haughty eye, harlequin
glasses, and what her former employer Lord Tilbury
describes as "hair like seaweed". She becomes the bane of Emsworth's life with her haughty efficiency. Requiring capital to start her own typing business, her schemes to acquire it by stealing the Empress
get her fired from her job, but her friendship with Uncle Fred
sees her through.
and in the past Monty Bodkin
, to whom she was engaged for a spell, but when we first meet her in Summer Lightning
she has been fiancée to Ronnie Fish for some nine months.
Galahad Threepwood
, who adored her mother in his youth, has a fatherly affection for her, and aids her considerably in her hopes of marrying Ronnie; although his sister Julia at one point accuses Gally of being her actual father, in fact Dolly Henderson married Jack Cotterleigh, an Irish Guards
man, while Gally was in South Africa
. After her mother's death, they moved to America for a time.
, his shop being the main local outlet for the wonder-drug Slimmo, and is mentioned again in Galahad at Blandings
.
is in away America, Sandy is hired by Lady Hermione Wedge to be secretary to her brother, a fact that upsets the Earl considerably on his return, especially when he finds Miss Callender has tidied his study. Prior to coming to Blandings, Sandy was engaged to Sam Bagshott, but broke it off when he commented unfavourably on the spectacles she decided to wear to impress her new employer with her seriousness, and refused to take her advice to sell on a valuable sweepstake ticket. Thanks to Gally
's intervention, things are patched up, in Galahad at Blandings
.
; the two of them found a nightclub
, "The Hot Spot", just off Bond Street
, which goes bust, in part due to some after-hours trading.
Ronnie, before being taken off to Biarritz
by his mother Lady Julia to recuperate, insists on Hugo being given a job, so he becomes Lord Emsworth
's secretary, a few weeks before the start of Summer Lightning
. While at Blandings
, Hugo falls in love with, and becomes secretly engaged to, Millicent Threepwood, Lord Emsworth's niece. Their relationship runs into trouble, however, when Hugo visits London and takes his old friend Sue Brown out dancing, but all is later resolved, thanks to a purloined pig and the heroic Beach
.
Despite needing to work for Emsworth in the short term, Hugo's long-term security is assured, thanks to an inheritance due to him on the death of his uncle Lester Carmody. At University, he boxed in the light-weight division.
, Chesney has a letter of introduction from Freddie Threepwood
, but is quickly spotted by those in the know as a conman of the first water. A slender, well-turned-out young man of medium height, he fails to sell any of his oil stocks to his host Lord Emsworth
. He is later roped in by Vanessa Polk to help in her scheme to steal a painting, but is forced to leave the castle to avoid being recognised by John Halliday, who unsuccessfully defended him once. On his way back by night to receive the painting, he crashes his car, and is last heard of nursing a broken leg in a cottage hospital.
ing on trans-Atlantic liner
s, Cootes lost his profession when an irritable mark bit off the tip of his right index finger, a vital tool in that trade. The incident was part of a stream of bad luck that dogged Cootes ever since he lost his love, Smooth Lizzie. He finds her again while attempting to pose as poet Ralston McTodd, and is taken on as valet
for a time by Psmith
, in Leave it to Psmith
.
man, Cotterleigh married Dolly Henderson after Gally
was torn away from her to South Africa
, and became father to Sue Brown. They moved to America after Dolly's death.
man Donaldson is Donaldson's Dog-biscuits. He shares his Scottish
relation's rugged physique, but is taller, with a smooth, handsome face and an authoritative look in his strong, keen, level grey eyes; he would look much like a Roman emperor, were it not for his rimless glasses.
When we first meet him in "The Custody of the Pumpkin
", he does not consider himself a rich man, not even having as much as ten million dollars in the whole world, and is highly taken with his son-in-law Freddie Threepwood
, who he expects to be an asset to his dog-biscuit business; he is also a believer in Roosevelt
's New Deal
, under which he believes American dogs are eating more biscuits.
's wife – see Aggie Threepwood below.
. On the boat on the way over, she meets and falls in love with Jerry Vail, but on arrival at the castle finds Lady Constance Keeble
has lined up Orlo Vosper for her. A courageous and resourceful girl, she has no qualms about inventing family friends as an excuse for visiting Vail in London, and helps out her good friend Gally in various pig-related shenanigans; she is also friendly with Beach
, and spends much time sipping port
in his pantry.
, who in his youth had something of a dalliance with Lady Constance
(they "whispered together in dim conservatories"), which came to nothing as the Duke was shipped abroad in his youth, having made England too hot for him. By the time we first hear of him, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, Wiltshire
-dwelling Dunstable is somewhat overweight, bald of head and wears a moustache like a walrus
; Lord Emsworth
has disliked him, in a dreamy sort of way, for 47 years.
He is nevertheless a fairly frequent visitor to the Castle, having apparently been there the previous summer, and has no qualms about demanding special accommodation (he is put in the luxurious Garden Suite). He is working on a history of his family, and employs as his secretary Emsworth's former employee Rupert Baxter
, whom he treats with little respect, suspecting him of going on "toots", and directs his ill-temper towards whoever it may be who whistles "The Bonny Banks o' Loch Lomond
" outside his windows (on one occasion this is Baxter, who receives a well-aimed egg in the face). His sanity is questioned even by his old friend Connie, who calls in Sir Roderick Glossop to inspect him. He later has the Empress
kidnapped and hidden in his bathroom.
In Service With a Smile
, he once again comes up against Uncle Fred
, and once again schemes to take Emsworth's pig away from him, hiring Lavender Briggs to do the dirty work and hoping to make a tidy profit by selling her to Lord Tilbury
, whom he knows from younger days as "Stinker" Pyke. He is bizarrely befriended by George Threepwood, who is fascinated by the Duke's moustache, but despite George's help is once more scuppered by Uncle Fred.
He also appears in A Pelican at Blandings
, returning to Blandings after sn electrical fire left his house smelling of smoke. He tries to make money out of Wilbur Trout, by buying a painting he knows Wilbur wants, and is persuaded by Connie to propose to Vanessa Polk in writing, a move which puts him into the hands of the incomparable Gally
. We learn that in his youth he was soundly blackballed by the members of the Pelican Club, and that he broke off his engagement to Connie when the marriage settlement failed to live up to his expectations.
", the young lady known only by her relationship to her husband has an important influence on Lord Emsworth
's happiness while visiting America. A small, friendly and companionable girl, she is more than capable of fixing scrambled eggs
and finding bacon, coffee and even toast in a strange kitchen, and is attempting to raise money by selling richly-bound encyclopaedias of Sport. She hopes to raise money as Ed works in a garage and his pay won't stretch to extras, such as the baby she has due the following January, but keeps her career from her husband as he would have a fit. She finds the work tough going and suffers from blister
s, and is thus the instigator of Emsworth's brief career in sales.
Police force, Emerson has been in love with Aline Peters since he wore knickerbockers, a fact he never fails to point out to her when they meet, even when she is engaged to someone else. In Something Fresh
, Emerson is invited down to Blandings by Freddie Threepwood
, and uses his time there to press his suit with his host's fiancee.
Wodehouse's choice of the name George Emerson for this character was not accidental. A Room with a View
by E. M. Forster
was published seven years earlier than Something Fresh
in 1908, and was a well known novel then, as it is now. In A Room with a View
a character named George Emerson declares his love for Lucy Honeychurch to her even though she, like Aline Peters, is engaged to someone else. The events that follow in the two novels concerning both the George Emersons are closely aligned.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Emerson is an American from Pittsburgh
, a rising member of a New York
law firm; a fierce patriot, this Emerson loathes all things British and loves all things American.
, is also the local Master of Hounds, but is not familiar with important local dignitary Lord Emsworth
. This fact is significant when, in the short "Sticky Wicket at Blandings
", Fanshawe mistakes the elderly Earl for a prowler, and has him locked in the coal cellar, requesting Emsworth come around in his capacity as Justice of the Peace
to pronounce summary judgement. He has a wife, and a spaniel
, of which he thinks the world.
to be 'a dish and a pippin', with her golden hair, blue eyes, and figure rendered slender and lisson by years of healthy country pursuits, Valerie would excite jealousy in any wife who found her husband showering the girl in gifts. Fortunately for Freddie
, her father's word is law at Marling, but Valerie is more than capable of talking him into the purchase of a new brand of dog-biscuits, in the short "Sticky Wicket at Blandings
".
's sisters, Lady Julia is "a handsome middle aged woman of the large and blonde type, of a personality both breezy and commanding". She has a resolute chin and china-blue eyes, and a patronizing good humour about her manner. In her childhood, her angelic appearance often fooled people into thinking her charming, until they realised she could be even more vicious than her sisters. She disapproves of her son Ronnie marrying chorus girls, and although her sister Connie
believes she can persuade Julia to allow such things, Julia herself is willing to take firm action. Her resolution trembles somewhat, however, on hearing that her late husband Miles' reputation is at stake, in Heavy Weather
.
, once described by Lord Emsworth
as the biggest fool in that regiment, is the late husband of Lady Julia Fish and father of Ronnie. Although by the time he married he was, even in Lady Julia's opinion, "stodgily respectable", in his youth he was known as "Fishy" Fish and had some wild moments, including, in the late summer of '97, riding a bicycle down Piccadilly
wearing only sky-blue underclothing, and in the early morning of New Year's Day
1892, trying to shoot a coal-scuttle with some fire-tongs, having drunkenly mistaken it for a mad dog, facts revealed by Gally
to keep Julia in line in Heavy Weather
.
and would-be entrepreneur Ronnie is good friends with Hugo Carmody, with whom he once ran a nightclub
(in Money for Nothing
). A highly jealous young man, in Summer Lightning
and Heavy Weather
he is in love with Sue Brown, and resents her long-time friendships with Carmody and past engagement to Monty Bodkin
.
Educated at Eton
and Cambridge
(where he got a feather-weight boxing blue), he is sensitive about his short stature and red face, drives a jaunty two-seater Austin Seven
and smokes his cigarettes in a long holder. Never known for the speed of his wits, he can act fast in a crisis, and is invariably well-informed on matters of the turf, a knack for which his good friend Beach
is regularly grateful. When he was a child, Beach played bears with him in the pantry and used to take him fishing on the lake; later, when Ronnie was an undergraduate at Cambridge, he borrowed five pounds from Beach to see him through to his next allowance.
For a time, he has a valet
, named Bessemer. He also has a cousin named George, whose father is a bishop and who, at the start of Heavy Weather, gets married in Norfolk
, with Ronnie as best man.
's tall and stately sisters, Lady Dora is the widow of Sir Everard Garland, and lives in an apartment on the fourth floor of Wiltshire House, Grosvenor Square, with her daughter Prudence, her three dogs (two spaniel
s and an Irish Setter
), and a butler named Riggs. She disapproves of her daughter's dalliance with Bill Lister, and sends her off to Blandings for safety, in Full Moon
.
, the late Sir Everard was the husband of Lady Dora and father of Prudence.
, Prudence is a rather small, pretty girl (though not as pretty as her cousin Veronica) with blue eyes. In Full Moon
she is in love and plotting an elopement with the artist Bill Lister, but is sent to Blandings to keep her away from him; there, in her despondent mood, she decides to bury herself in good works, much to the horror of her uncle Clarence.
, a large, beefy chap with red hair and a quick-temper. His mother, the Duke's sister, married beneath her, to one William "Billy" Gilpin, a member of the Connaught Rangers, who was a friend of Uncle Fred
; Billy, apparently, looked the dead spit of his son and had same hot temper - Fred often had to sit on his head. The muscular Ricky once cleaned up against three simultaneous Covent Garden
costermongers in five minutes. On another occasion, he rescued "Mustard" Pott from a gang of thugs bent on his destruction, and, on taking him home, met and fell in love with Polly Pott. His uncle disapproves of the match, and also of Ricky's plan to buy an onion-soup bar in Coventry Street off Piccadilly
from an American friend, despite its great financial potential. Ricky attended a ball
as Little Lord Fauntleroy
, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
.
. His dismissal causes a rift with his betrothed, Millicent Rigby, and he is for a time engaged to Myra Schoonmaker, even after Millicent forgives him and renews their engagement. He also needs £1000 to buy into Ricky's thriving onion-soup business, and is prone to tugging at his long hair in despair, but all is resolved by the twinkling Uncle Fred
in Service With a Smile
.
, visiting the castle with her uncle shortly after becoming engaged to Johnny Halliday. She objects to being roughly treated in court, but has strong motherly instincts when those she loves are hurt. Gally
, who works hard to smooth the way for the couple, refers to her as a 'popsy'.
area of London
, at the age of around twelve or thirteen Gladys visits Blandings Parva for the fresh air. She has a kind of wizened motherliness about her, and a fondness for flowers ("Flarze") which gets her into trouble with Angus McAllister; fleeing him, she hits him in the shin with a well-thrown stone. She has a small, freckled brother named Ern who she looks out for, and who bites Lady Constance
in the leg. These two leg-injuring incidents, as well as her skill at controlling large dogs, endear her to Lord Emsworth
in the short "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
".
who almost visits Blandings in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, where we learn that he was at school with Lord Emsworth
, and was known as "Pimples".
, his holy office often prevents him from putting into words the less kindly thoughts that may enter his head, particularly concerning Lord Emsworth
's ideas of hospitality; he nevertheless relishes hearing such thoughts aired by others.
, Eve first catches Psmith
's eye while sheltering from the rain under the awning of a coal merchant's opposite the Drones
; she has already smitten Freddie Threepwood
, who has got her a job at the castle, cataloguing the library (for the first time since the year 1885).
Eve's late father, a clever but erratic writer
, was not a wealthy man, but sent her to exclusive Wayland House school, despite barely having the money to buy himself tobacco. There she met Phyllis Keeble, later Jackson, stepdaughter of millionaire Joe Keeble, who she comes to pity when she falls on hard times; unlike Eve, Phyllis is a delicate plant not meant to struggle. Eve gets by on a small annuity from a late uncle, but frequently has to find work due to tempting but expensive hats, gloves and other necessities.
A highly attractive young girl, Eve is adept at deflecting proposals from young men like Freddie Threepwood
, but finds Psmith's approach more difficult to fend off. Capable and efficient, she works hard at her cataloguing job despite Psmith's attempts to lure her away; a faithful and reliable friend, she does much to help Phyllis get the money she deserves.
, who was best man at his wedding and was made godfather on the birth of his son Johnny. Halliday is famous for having knocked down the Duke of Dunstable with a cold turkey, during an altercation at Romano's about the apostolic claims of the church of Abyssinia
.
Like many of his fellow-Pelicans, Stiffy generally presented a rather weary aspect to the world, looking like he had slept in his clothes and hadn't had time to shave. Also like so many of his cronies, he didn't make it past his early forties, leaving Johnny to fend for himself, with Gally's capable help.
with a part-interest in a small art gallery
, who pays a brief visit to Blandings in A Pelican at Blandings
. He arrives in the persona of a psychiatrist, junior partner to Sir Roderick Glossop, ostensibly hired to analyse Lord Emsworth
but in reality hoping to press his suit with Linda Gilpin.
A neat, trim, fit, athletic-looking chap, his golf handicap
is 6 and he plays excellent squash racquets
. His London address is in Halsey Court, W1, where his landlady is known to all as "Ma" Balsam. He got his middle name from the nickname given to his father, and was at Oxford
with Linda's brother Ricky. Gally was instrumental in smuggling his godson into the castle, having been called on for help after an estrangement between the man and his beloved Linda, result of Halliday's zealous devotion to his duty as a lawyer despite his fiancee being a witness.
He is well known by some criminal types, such as Howard Chesney, who pushes him down the Blandings stairs in hopes of avoiding recognition; the bump on the head thus received is instrumental in restoring Johnny to Linda's favours.
landowner, who was for a time engaged to Angela. A solemn man in riding-britches, he upsets his potential father-in-law Lord Emsworth
with his disgraceful and rather violently-expressed malevolence towards pigs, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
". Despite his wealth and glamour, and the approval of Lady Constance
, he is rejected by Angela, much to Emsworth's pleasure.
ever loved. After they were forced apart by the family, Dolly married a Guardsman
named Jack Cotterleigh, and they had a daughter, Sue Brown. She died, however, shortly after which her husband and daughter moved to America. London is still apparently full of elderly gentlemen who become pleasantly maudlin when they think of her though.
. Phyllis is a pretty little girl with large brown eyes, a good friend of Eve Halliday from their days at Wayland House school. She incurred the wrath of Lady Constance
by refusing to marry swimmy-eyed Rollo Mountford, and instead eloping with Mike.
works both before and after his reign of terror at Blandings, Mr Jevons treats Baxter with respect and even obsequiousness. Baxter regretfully leaves his service when Mr Jevons decides to return to his native land, but after a spell with the Duke of Dunstable, the efficient secretary returns to Jevons employ, in America..
and sometime money-lender, trusted by many a young man in their hour of need, much as he is relied upon by Freddie Threepwood
to get him out of trouble in Something Fresh
. He is, however, a grasping and untrustworthy type, always with his eye on the main chance. His rather run-down offices are to be found somewhere near the Strand
; he is known to his friends as "Dickie".
's bossiest sister and chatelaine
at the castle.
's first husband, the doting stepfather of Phyllis is a short man with a round, grizzled head and a pink face. He made a large fortune in South Africa
n diamond
mines, and was already fairly elderly and a widower by the time he married Connie, some two years before the events of Leave it to Psmith
. Though their relationship is close and loving, Joe often regrets giving her the supervisory role over their mutual bank account, and worries that her valuable jewellery is vulnerable to thieves. He has a distinct dislike for the smell of heliotrope
. Keeble does not appear in subsequent novels, and passes away some time before Service With a Smile
.
as "Blister", Mr Lister is an artist, a large and muscular man (he was once a finalist in an Amateur Boxing
championship) with a face like a gorilla
, who is bizarrely adored by Prudence Garland and terrorises Tipton Plimsoll with his repeated appearances, in Full Moon
.
Lister's mother was a strongwoman on the music hall
stage, and his father a sporting journalist. His uncle owned the "Mulberry Tree" inn outside Oxford
, which Freddie Threepwood spent much time in as a student (it was in this period that he befriended Blister), and which Lister later inherits. Both Freddie and his uncle Galahad
, Lister's godfather, support Lister in his wooing of Prudence; when their planned elopement is scuppered by Prudence's mother, Lister makes his way to Blandings, under the name of "Messmore Breamworthy", on a commission to paint the portrait of Empress of Blandings
. He later poses as a gardener, wearing an impressive false beard provided by Galahad's friend "Fruity" Biffen, and later still takes on the name of Landseer in yet another attempt to be near Prudence by painting the pig. At Prudence's insistence, he plans to give up art to run the Mulberry Tree, but needs investment to modernise the place.
's eldest daughter, Lady Mildred appears in Something Fresh
. She has a personal maid named Willoughby and is married to a Colonel.
is in the Scots Guards
. He is a forthright man, highly critical of Lord Emsworth
's style of hospitality, and suspicious of the level of sanity exhibited by the inmates of Blandings during the events of Something Fresh
. He once twisted his ankle badly, during a hill campaign in the winter of '93.
, Ashe Marson is a young man from the village of Much Middleford, Salop., who as a youth, while playing truant from Sunday School
, became adept at imitating two cats fighting in a backyard. He later attended Oxford
, where he excelled more at athletics
than in intellectual pursuits. He took a minor degree and became for a time a private tutor, prior to taking up the trade he plies when we first meet him, as writer of the popular Gridley Quayle mysteries
, published by the Mammoth Publishing Company under the pseudonym
Felix Clovelly.
Meeting Joan Valentine stimulates him to broaden his horizons and take on something new and exciting, and he soon falls in love with her while masquerading as a valet
. An aficionado of physical fitness in all forms, and particularly Swedish
exercises, Marson despises ill-health in others, and cures his employer Mr. Peters' indigestion with a regime of cold baths, exercise and beautiful thoughts.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Marson is an American, born in Hayling, near Boston, Massachusetts; he later attended Harvard
, before coming to England to continue his studies at Oxford
under a Rhodes Scholarship
.
Head Gardener at Blandings in later stories, Thorne's successor is a similarly imperious man, with a sturdy, rugged, knobbly physique, large eyebrows, a wiry red beard and little respect for his alleged employer's ideas on gardening. The Glaswegian
's views on gravelling the famous Yew Alley are particularly appalling to Lord Emsworth
, and his ideas on hollyhock
s are nothing short of seditious, but his skill with flowers and pumpkins is admirable. His favourite sayings are "Mphm" and "Grmph", always delivered with a very Scottish expression on his face.
McAllister first appears in the background of Leave it to Psmith
, but takes centre stage in "The Custody of the Pumpkin
", when his "sort of cousin" Aggie Donaldson becomes engaged to Freddie Threepwood
, and McAllister withdraws his services as gardener just before the Shropshire Show. From then on, relations between McAllister and Emsworth continue to bubble away in the background of many stories.
McTodd is married to Cynthia, a friend of Phyllis Jackson and Eve Halliday, and is invited to Blandings by Lady Constance
, ever a supporter of the literary arts, in Leave it to Psmith
. A sullen, gloomy man with long, disorderly hair, he is a cigar-lover who likes to be the centre of attention, and to impress people with his epigrams. He rows with his wife frequently, and is insulted by Lord Emsworth's eccentric ways, spurning his invitation to the castle, thereby allowing Psmith
to impersonate him for a time. One of his verses, from the collection Songs of Squalor, begins with the line "Across the pale parabola of joy..."
's many domineering sisters, appearing only in the unfinished Sunset at Blandings
.
, although he may focus too much on this side of his business; the hardness and lumpiness of his beds proves too much for Jerry Vail in Pigs Have Wings
. Many previous visitors, however, have stayed there without complaint, and the inn is widely recognised as the finest in Market Blandings. His home-brewed ale is generally recognised as superb, instilling a mellow quality to all who sample it, a fact put to good use by Uncle Fred
in Service With a Smile
.
's neighbour and rival.
ess of the new school, Miss Peavey is invited to Blandings by Lady Constance
, who met and befriended her on a liner
, and while there sickens all with her pronouncements that the dew is like the tears of fairies. However, although a genuine poetess, she is also a crook, known to all as Smooth Lizzie, former fiancee of Edward Cootes. The two are reunited, and scheme to steal Connie's valuable necklace, in Leave it to Psmith
.
ese Prints, Horace's mother's maiden name was Hilsbury-Hepworth; though he inherited his large nose from his father's side, he has her fawn-like eyes. He had measles as a child, and soon after he shot up to a great height. When we meet him in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, he wears tortoiseshell-rimmed spectacles, and is not the most vivacious dresser, preferring tried and trusted styles, although he attended the Bohemian Ball at the Albert Hall dressed as a Zulu warrior, complete with assegai
. He dances, according to his fiancee Valerie Twistleton, "like a dromedary with the staggers", and takes lessons from Polly Pott, causing some strife between himself and his cousin Ricky. He worries that he may inherit his uncle's tendency toward loopiness, drives a jaunty Bingley, and lives 52 Bloxham Mansions, Park Lane
, where he has a man named Webster.
's fiancée in Something Fresh
, Aline is daughter of the American millionaire J. Preston Peters, a gentle, kindly girl who dotes on her father to the extent of starving herself to support his struggle with dyspepsia
, and is in turn adored by George Emerson, who she finds too volcanic and superman
-ish for her tastes. Her old schoolfriend Joan Valentine thinks she has been spoiled by too much ease, and that having to fight a little for her independence would be the making of her; Emerson, on the other hand, thinks her perfect. She eventually realises her long-standing love for him, when he shows signs of weakness and brings out her mothering instinct.
, a forceful, self-made millionaire who as a boy made twenty dollars a week selling mint
to saloon keepers. After over-work gave him indigestion and led to a nervous breakdown, he took up collecting scarabs, and amassed a vast and prodigious collection. His indigestion has left him quick-tempered and an insomnia
c, during bouts of which he likes to be read to, ideally out of a well-thumbed cookbook
. His digestion is improved no end by the regime of exercise he is put on by Ashe Marson, in Something Fresh
.
's sisters whom Galahad
likes.
and Heavy Weather
.
's pigman, brought in to replace the treacherous Wellbeloved, he is in the job throughout Summer Lightning
and Heavy Weather
. A capable and reliable sort, Pirbright is a long lean, scraggy man, whose vocabulary is normally limited to the words "ur", "yur" and "nur", but when roused includes "Gur!" ("which is Shropshire
for, 'you come along with me and I'll shut you up somewhere while I go and inform his lordship of what has occurred'", according to Heavy Weather). He lives in a small cottage near the Castle, adjacent to the Empress' purpose-built new sty, first inhabited during Heavy Weather. Pirbright later moves to Canada
, to be replaced by Pott.
. He is a wealthy man thanks to having inherited a majority stake in "Tipton's Stores", a large and successful chain of shops, for which Freddie Threepwood
hopes to persuade Plimsoll to buy his "Donaldson's Dog-Joy" dog biscuits in Full Moon
. Plimsoll is in the midst of an epic bender celebrating his new-found wealth, when spots on his chest and the repeated appearance of the singularly odd face of Bill Lister persuade him to avoid alcohol for a spell; visiting Blandings, he at once falls in love with Veronica Wedge, and becomes jealous of Freddie's intimacy with the girl, especially when he hears of their past engagement. Plimsoll himself was once engaged to a girl named Doris Jimpson, a coincidence which leads him to the door of E. Jimpson Murgatroyd on discovery of his spots.
Plimsoll appears again in Galahad at Blandings
, which sees his engagement to Veronica once more under threat, and requiring further finess from Gally to smooth out; the two eventually elope to a register office
, avoiding the need for a large wedding, taking with them Wilfred Allsop and Monica Simmons, whom Tipton was instrumental in bringing together.
, having befriended Connie
on a boat over from America. The daughter of financial emperor J. B. Polk, he of the banks, railroads, mines etc., would always be welcome at the castle, and Connie encourages her friend the Duke of Dunstable the woo Vanessa. It later emerges that she is in fact J. B. Polk's secretary, her father being P. P. Polk of Norwich, once valet to an American millionaire who met his wife, then a housemaid at the castle, during a visit with his master and later moved to the U.S. with her, becoming a restaurateur.
Vanessa worked her way up the ladder to become the richer Polk's private secretary, helped by the coincidence of her surname, and a longing to see the castle her mother had spoken of so often led her to dissemble to Lady Constance to get an invitation. During her visit, she is approved of by Lord Emsworth
, who thinks she has sound views on pigs, and also by Wilbur Trout, an old fiancé of hers who comes to admire her strong independent nature. She elopes with Trout after an abortive attempt at burglary, prompting an all-important letter of proposal from Dunstable.
, an old friend of Uncle Fred
(who provided the money to set up his detective business), and father of Polly. In a long and varied career he also ran a club for a time, and was a minor Shakespearean actor; he has, in his time, been bitten by a pig (and a lamb). An incorrigible gambler and lover of soft marks, he is very skilled at the game known as Persian Monarchs (although not as quite good as the Duke of Dunstable), and can always deal himself an unbeatable hand at Slippery Joe. When we meet him, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, he lives at 6 Wilbraham Place, Sloane Square
, and disapproves of his daughter's affection for impoverished poet
Ricky Gilpin, hoping she may instead be persuaded to marry his wealthier cousin Horace.
's pig man in Full Moon
, Mr Pott is an elderly, gnome
-like man with a strong odour and no roof to his mouth. He is at one point required to remove his charge Empress of Blandings
from the bedroom of Veronica Wedge, where she has done sterling work bringing Miss Wedge together with Tipton Plimsoll, and is later bribed by Gally
to keep quiet about it.
He is also involved in capturing Bill Lister after he is mistaken for a burglar; Pott is able to hold Lister captive, despite Lister's size, thanks mostly to the unintelligible nature of his speech, and his advanced years. He leaves Emsworth's service after winning a considerable sum of money on the football pools
, to be replaced by Monica Simmons.
. In Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, she is in love with Ricky Gilpin, and causes some trouble by teaching dancing to, and attending a ball with, his cousin Horace; she later visits Blandings Castle
masquerading as Gwendolyne, daughter of Sir Roderick Glossop. She is chivalrously admired and assisted by Pongo Twistleton
, who finds her cosy and not too sophisticated.
's prize sow the Empress of Blandings
at the local agricultural show for several years, before being replaced by the far more challenging Queen of Matchingham.
was known in his younger days, used by both Galahad Threepwood
and Alaric, Duke of Dunstable.
around the time of Pigs Have Wings
. The Queen is a worthy rival to Empress of Blandings
, a pig of massive girth and eating power. She is the subject of several kidnappings, stashings and relocations, including a spell in Jerry Vail's kitchen, and finally has her chances of victory in the Shropshire
Agricultural Show scuppered thanks to the blunderings of Binstead and several gallons of Slimmo.
, at which time she is secretary to George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
, and visits Market Blandings in that capacity. While there, she picks up her relationship with Archie Gilpin, severed due to his rash behaviour, and their love is abetted by Uncle Fred
.
, owning the only taxi in the village. He crops up in many stories (in one of which he is referred to as "Ed. Robinson").
, and has in the past been romantically linked to both Jerry Vail and Orlo Vosper. A sporty type, she loves tennis and golf (she has a handicap
of 6 at St Andrews
) and objects to "Tubbby" Parsloe's physique, insisting he cut back on the pleasures of the table, much to his resentment. She later realises she cannot countenance marriage to a man with such chins, and runs off with Vosper, her true love.
, Schoonmaker was in his youth a sporting man, an All-America
n footballer
, and an old crony of Gally
(although he referred to him as "Johnny"), who mixed the finest Mint Julep in America. He also knew Uncle Fred
before that worthy's ascension to Earldom, at which time Schoonmaker was a junior member of a Wall Street
firm. By the time we hear of him, he has succeeded in business and made a considerable fortune, and become a large and impressive gentleman, with what the Duke of Dunstable describes as a "head like a Spanish onion", interrupted by tortoiseshell
glasses.
In Service With a Smile
, he has already become the object of Lady Constance
's affections, and is called to Blandings when Connie discovers that his daughter Myra is in danger of marrying a curate
. With help from G. Ovens' miraculous ale
, he reveals to his old friend Uncle Fred that he admires Connie, but considers himself unworthy of her; Fred's encouragement, and Connie's distress at seeing Myra and Bill Bailey elope together, help him screw up his courage, and the two are married in New York
, at the start of Galahad at Blandings
.
When Myra finally does make it to Blandings in Service With a Smile
, she is there by force, dragged away from a London season by Lady Constance to protect her from an unsuitable relationship. A proud, forceful girl, she breaks off her engagement to Bill Bailey several times, even at one point becoming briefly attached to the artist Archie Gilpin, before Uncle Fred
, who knew her as a young girl, frequently gave her her bath and consequently thinks of her as a sort of honorary daughter, manages to set things straight.
Miss Simmons is one of six daughters of a rural vicar, all of whom played hockey
for Roedean
. A graduate of an Agricultural College, she becomes Lord Emsworth
's pig-tender, first appearing in Pigs Have Wings
. She is at first viewed with some suspicion by Emsworth, mostly due to her being niece to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, his rival, but also in part thanks to her habit of referring to the mighty Empress
as a "piggy-wiggy", a term which later becomes rather comforting to his lordship.
She returns to the pen in Galahad at Blandings
, in which she is courted by the diminutive Wilfred Allsop, and must defend her charge from the devious Huxley Winkworth.
at the Castle, who rises considerably in the below-stairs social ladder thanks to being the bearer of some rare gossip, in Something Fresh
.
, Spenlow is better known to his near neighbour Freddie Threepwood
as 'The Timber Wolf', thanks to his having made his fortune in the lumber industry. His habit of inviting blondes to his house and throwing wild parties while his wife is away does not endear him to Freddie, but to Lord Emsworth
it seems a sign of a sportsmanlike nature, making him the target of the Earl's first stab at salesmanship, in the short "Birth of a Salesman
".
, who is very worried by Percy's highly embarrassing breach of promise
case in Something Fresh
. He is not the brightest young man, with an unfortunate susceptibility for pretty girls. His father suffers from gout
, especially when required to pay for Percy's mistakes, during bouts of which he repairs to Droitwich. Percy has a valet
named Ferris.
, Buffy was a member of the Pelican Club, whose unfortunate demise is frequently used by Galahad to illustrate the dangers of drinking tea
. Mr Struggles, after attending a Temperance
lecture and learning what alcohol does to the liver
, renounced drink and imbibed only tea, until a few days later he was run over by a Hansom cab
and killed (a fate which, Galahad asserts, he could easily have dodged had his system been kept alert with a healthy tipple or two).
was something of a bohemian
as a youth, and ran away from home to become a barmaid at the Criterion
, taking on the nom de guerre Maudie Montrose. During her time there, the voluptuous Ms Montrose was a popular girl, friendly with the likes of Galahad Threepwood
and "Tubby" Parsloe. She and Parsloe were engaged for a time, and planned a honeymoon in Paris
, but their plans fell through due to some confusion.
She later married a man named Digby, who owned a Detective Agency which she inherited on his death and continued to run in an administrative capacity, and later a man named Stubbs, who also died; she lived in "a neat little house in the suburb of Valley Fields". When she arrives at Blandings in Pigs Have Wings
, called in to keep tabs on the Empress
, she takes the name of "Mrs Bunbury" (after the character from Oscar Wilde
's play The Importance of Being Earnest
), and still bears a striking resemblance to Mae West
; notoriously anti-female Lord Emsworth
takes something of a shine to her, but she is finally reunited with and marries her old flame "Tubby" Parsloe.
, Thorne is an autocratic
Scotsman
with whom Lord Emsworth
frequently has to wrangle on the subject of flowers. He is succeeded in later stories by Angus McAllister.
's unmarried younger brother.
's eldest son and heir to the earldom, who we first meet in the flesh in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, though he is mentioned occasionally in earlier stories. A solid man in his mid-30s, with a pink face, Lord Bosham lives a secluded life in a remote corner of Hampshire
, with his wife Cicely and his two sons, George and James. Like his father, mental agility is not his strong point - he once bought a gold brick from a man in the street, and later gave his wallet to Uncle Fred
, at the time a complete stranger, "to show he trusted him". As a boy , he was frequently spanked by his aunt Connie
with the back of a hairbrush. He was once involved in a breach-of-promise case, and now he is married he misses the excitements of youth, particularly gambling
at cards, as he now only gets to play a little bridge. Like his brother Freddie Threepwood
, he loves reading thrillers.
in the classic short "The Crime Wave at Blandings
", although is quite unruffled by having it taken away from him for shooting Rupert Baxter
in the trousers-seat, as he also has two catapult
s in his drawer. He is back at Blandings during Service With a Smile
, and is given a camera
by his grandfather to keep him occupied; he puts it to cruel use, however, as a result of his strange friendship with the generally unpopular Duke of Dunstable.
's niece Millicent is a tall, fair girl with soft blue eyes and a soulful face, who radiates wholesome innocence. Though encouraged to marry Ronnie Fish by her Aunt Constance
, she prefers Hugo Carmody, although she is jealous of his friendship with Sue Brown. She has learnt that a direct approach can disconcert her aunts, believing that attack is the best form of defense.
at the Falls
. A "sort of cousin" of Angus McAllister, Aggie is first seen through a telescope, kissing Freddie Threepwood
in a small spinney down by the water-meadow
s in the short "The Custody of the Pumpkin
"; they later elope together, assisted by her father. An extremely pretty girl, her father-in-law Lord Emsworth
can never understand why such a charming young thing would want anything to do with Freddie, but is overjoyed that he has married a girl with a rich father. She and Freddie fall out briefly over his suspected dalliance with a movie-star, but are soon reunited.
's reminiscences in Heavy Weather
.
, after the Duke of Dunstable snaps up a painting Trout thinks reminds him of his third wife Genevieve. Red-headed Trout played American Football
in his youth, and has a prominent broken nose to show for it. He inherited his millions from his father, who was a big business man out in California
.
During his days as New York's foremost playboy, Trout was engaged to Vanessa Polk, but let her get away, and since then married widely but not wisely, mostly selecting blondes of limited intellect, with names including Luella and Marlene. His third wife, who he still feels pangs for, called roses 'woses' and left him for a trumpeter in a minor band. Despite his lingering love for her, he resents being forced to pay over the odds for the painting, and eventually realises how much more suitable a partner Vanessa would be.
at the Castle, Mrs Twemlow is a full-figured woman, who believes in the cheering power of a nice slice of buttered toast
in times of stress. She usually finds time to do a little knitting
in the afternoons, and likes to listen to the gramophone
to relax after a busy day's housekeeping. As dignified as Beach
himself, she holds a similarly lofty position in below-stairs society.
in times of peril.
and sister of Pongo Twistleton
, Valerie appears in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
, when she is engaged to Horace Pendlebury-Davenport, although she disapproves of his dancing style, and his having a detective ("Mustard" Pott) follow her to the Drones Club
weekend at Le Touquet. She has a quick temper, and eventually visits Blandings to get revenge on her uncle for worrying her Horace.
(they met on a boat coming over from America, whither Vail had gone in an attempt to sell some stories). Vail, like his old pal Orlo "Wasp" Vosper, is an Old Harrovian
; he hopes to buy a share in a health farm, which will enable him to marry his girl, and takes a job as secretary to Lord Emsworth
for a spell. He is nephew of "Plug" Basham, and has known Admiral Biffen for years, and hence has been warned about Gally
.
, Miss Valentine is a tall girl with gold hair and blue eyes, who went to school with Aline Peters and later lived in Paris
with her father, who died and left her penniless.
Before becoming editor of Home Gossip, an organ of the Mammoth Publishing Company, she worked at many things, including spells in a shop, doing typewriting, on the stage (it was in this era, during a run of The Baby Doll at the Piccadilly, that a young Freddie Threepwood
was so smitten by her that he bombarded her with juicy letters and poetry), as a governess, and as a lady's maid (during which time she picked up plenty of useful knowledge of life both below and above stairs).
A plucky, highly capable and unflappable young lady, she is relied on by her friend Aline and never lets her down, even when called upon to commit larceny
. She likes to win through on her own merit and not rely on the chivalry of others, but eventually realises the merits of chivalrous Ashe Marson.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Miss Valentine is an American, born in New York
.
who pays a visit to the castle in Pigs Have Wings
. A tall, superbly-built chap with a dark, Byronic beauty. Connie
hopes he'll hit it off with Penelope Donaldson, although Lord Emsworth
thinks him unsound on pigs (he yawned on being shown the Empress
). He was at school with Jerry Vail, who knew him by the nickname "Wasp", and later was romantically involved with Vail's friend Gloria Salt. He plays the piano, and has a pleasant baritone singing-voice.
at the castle, who first appears in Summer Lightning
. His large red ears are always alert for useful gossip being spilt in the back of his car. He owns a motorcycle, which he lends to Percy Pilbeam
in Heavy Weather
.
's sister who lives at Blandings as chatelain
e for a time after the death of his wife. She has a seemingly inexhaustible correspondence, and spends much of her time in her room writing letters, when she is not nursing a sick headache. She has a Persian cat named Muriel and a maid called Chester.
She appears in Something Fresh
, but by the time of Leave it to Psmith
has been replaced as chatelaine by her sister Connie
.
with whom Gertrude Alcester becomes infatuated in "The Go-getter
", Watkins is a rather weedy man, with ill-fitting clothes, awful ties and short, but distinct, side-whiskers. He is invited to Blandings by Art-loving Lady Constance
, but soon upsets Connie's sister Georgiana by working his warbling glamour on her daughter Gertrude, despite his only income coming from an occasional engagement with the BBC
. He has a dislike and fear of all dogs, a horror of rats, and isn't a fan of bats either.
's short and fat sister, who resembles a cook, albeit a passionate one. The wife of Colonel Egbert and mother of Veronica, Hermione has all her sisters' fear of one of the family marrying beneath them, and is incensed when Bill Lister, unsuitable suitor of her niece Prudence, mistakes her, as so many do, for a cook, in Full Moon
.
When we meet her again in Galahad at Blandings
, she is for a spell acting as chatelain
e at the castle, in the absence of her sister Connie
, but gives it up in the face of her brother's impossible ways; we learn that once, as a child, she struck Galahad
over the head with her doll
, laying him out cold.
's scattiness rather troubling, but has a secret admiration for Galahad
. A highly practical man, he is quick to action, as when spotting a potential burglar entering the castle, he fetches his revolver and tracks the fiend himself rather than waiting for the footmen; he also has a romantic side, and approves of Bill Lister's pluck in his wooing of Prudence.
A former member of the Shropshire Light Infantry
, Egbert has a godmother
living in Worcestershire
, whose birthday he never fails to attend.
. Veronica was once engaged to her cousin Freddie Threepwood
, which causes Plimsoll much jealous ire. She has a love of jewellery, which Plimsoll goes out of his way to satisfy, and despite some misguided efforts by her mother to split them up, she ends up eloping with her man to a registry office, at the climax of Galahad at Blandings
.
's first pig man, who we first meet off-screen, when his unfortunate imprisonment (fourteen days for being drunk and disorderly in the tap-room of the Goat and Feathers), leaves his charge the Empress of Blandings
off her food, in the short "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
".
A tall, red-headed man with a pronounced squint
, his drinking tendencies fail to scupper the Empress' bid for victory in the Fat Pigs competition at the 87th Shropshire
Agricultural Show. He later proves treacherous, abandoning the Empress to work for Parsloe-Parsloe by the time of "Company for Gertrude
". He is replaced by the capable Pirbright, and his behaviour is much criticised (though less so than that of his new master) in Summer Lightning
and Heavy Weather
.
His affairs are central to Pigs Have Wings
, when Parsloe bans him from touching the beer of which he is so fond, to keep him vigilant in protecting the new pig Queen of Matchingham. He becomes involved in the complex shenanigans concerning the theft of both the Queen and the Empress, and we learn that he was for a time a friend and drinking-partner of Admiral Biffen.
He returns to Blandings for a spell in Service With a Smile
, by which time he has acquired a broken nose during a political debate outside the Goose and Gander, a result of his support of communism
. He betrays his master once more, accepting a bribe to help steal the Empress, and is given the push once and for all. In Galahad at Blandings
, we learn he has inherited a pub in Wolverhampton
, and he returns briefly to the castle on visitors day, worrying his former master with his dire diagnosis of the Empress' condition.
("Old Fatty"). She has a particularly piercing scream.
's favourite book, The Care of the Pig. The writings of Mr. Whiffle (also known as Whipple) exert a soothing influence on his Lordship in times of stress, especially in "The Crime Wave at Blandings
", during the momentous events of which the Earl frequently requires Whiffle's soothing balm on his stretched nerves.
In Galahad at Blandings
(in which the name is Whipple once more), we learn that the great pig-expert is known to Gally
, who spoke to him while writing his memoirs to get details of Mr Whipple's grandfather, who grew a second set of teeth at the age of eighty, and used them to crack Brazil nut
s (he died at the age of eighty-two, from a surfeit of Brazil nuts). An elderly man with a thin, reedy voice, Mr Whipple is a member of the Athenaeum
club (where he once met Colonel Egbert Wedge), and is so impressed by what he hears of the Empress of Blandings
that he hopes to visit and see the mighty pig; thanks to Gally, however, he is put off and replaced with Sam Bagshott, but causes trouble by installing himself at the Emsworth Arms, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Empress.
who visits the Castle in Galahad at Blandings
.
, takes it into his head that the Empress
is overweight and needs exercise. A single-minded youth, he persists in his quest diligently, until, when he finally finds himself alone with the pig, she bites him firmly on the finger.
, is Percy, Lord Stockheath's cousin, which suggests that Bertie Wooster
may be a distant relative of the Threepwoods.
, she tries to upset the marriage by reporting on his visits to restaurants with movie stars. Though her scheme sees some initial success, it is eventually scuppered, and she and Aggie fall out, in the short "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s featured in the Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
stories of P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
.
Lady Georgiana Alcester
One of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's many sisters, Lady Alcester is very fond of dogs (at one point she owns four Peke
Pekingese
The Pekingese, or "Peke" is an ancient breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by the Chinese Imperial court, and its name refers to the city of Beijing where the Forbidden City resides...
s (one of which is called Susan), two Pomeranian
Pomeranian (dog)
The Pomeranian is a breed of dog of the Spitz type, named for the Pomerania region in Central Europe . Classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size, the Pomeranian is descended from the larger Spitz type dogs, specifically the German Spitz...
s, a Yorkshire Terrier
Yorkshire Terrier
The Yorkshire Terrier is a small dog breed of terrier type, developed in the 19th century in the county of Yorkshire, England to catch rats in clothing mills. The defining features of the breed are its size, to , and its silky blue and tan coat...
, five Sealyham
Sealyham Terrier
The Sealyham Terrier is a dog breed of the terrier type. The Sealyham Terrier was originally developed in Wales.- History :thumb|right|A Sealyham Terrier photographed in 1915....
s, a Borzoi
Borzoi
The borzoi is a breed of domestic dog also called the Russian wolfhound and descended from dogs brought to Russia from central Asian countries. It is similar in shape to a greyhound, and is also a member of the sighthound family.The system by which Russians over the ages named their sighthounds...
and an Airedale
Airedale Terrier
The Airedale Terrier is a breed of the terrier type that originated in Airedale, a geographic area in Yorkshire, England. It is traditionally called the "King of Terriers" because it is the largest of the terrier breeds...
), making her an ideal customer for her nephew Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
when he comes to England to promote his father-in-law Mr Donaldson's dog biscuit
Dog biscuit
A dog biscuit is a hard biscuit-based dietary supplement for dogs or other canine, similar to human snack food.Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry. Dog biscuits may be sold in a flat bone-shape...
s; much to Freddie's disgust, she feeds her many dogs on "Peterson's Pup-food".
The mother of Gertrude, in "Company for Gertrude
Company for Gertrude
"Company for Gertrude" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the September 1928 Strand, and in the United States in the October 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan...
" Lady Georgiana disapproves of her daughter's liaison with "Beefy" Bingham, until she learns of his prospects, and is even more against the crooning tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Orlo Watkins in "The Go-getter
The Go-getter
Cosmopolitan, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1931 Strand. Part of the Blandings Castle canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere , although the story takes place sometime between the events of Leave it to...
".
Gertrude Alcester
Lady Georgiana's daughter, a beautiful girl who is nevertheless miserable company for her uncle Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
when, in "Company for Gertrude
Company for Gertrude
"Company for Gertrude" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the September 1928 Strand, and in the United States in the October 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan...
", she is imprisoned at the castle to keep her away from her beloved, "Beefy" Bingham. Later, in "The Go-getter
The Go-getter
Cosmopolitan, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1931 Strand. Part of the Blandings Castle canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere , although the story takes place sometime between the events of Leave it to...
", she becomes infatuated with Orlo Watkins, the tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, until she sees his weak, dog-fearing side.
Wilfred Allsop
A nephew of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, of undisclosed parentage, Allsop is a struggling musician, a pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, who visits Blandings in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
. The prospect of taking employment at the Girls' School run by Dame Daphne Winkworth worries him considerably, as does the idea of proposing to the Amazonian
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
Monica Simmons; his friend Tipton Plimsoll's advice that he steel himself with drink almost leads to his undoing, when nasty Huxley Winkworth spots him swigging from a flask, but he hides the evidence in the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
' feeding-trough, leading the prize pig to get herself a skinful. Helping his aunt Lady Hermione Wedge with a spot of burgling loses him his job, but his uncle Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
gets him a post at a music publishing company owned by Plimsoll, allowing him to elope with his beloved.
Angela
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's niece, a pretty girl with fair hair and blue eyes. On the death of her mother Jane, sister of Lord Emsworth and Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, Angela's money was put in trust until she reached twenty-five, the trustee being Emsworth himself. As a child, Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
was very fond of her, and often amused her with his hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
impersonation.
Angela has long loved James Belford, who her Aunt Connie thinks unsuitable; when he goes away to work on a farm in America, she becomes engaged to Lord Heacham, but breaks it off on the return of her true love, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
"Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...
". Her surname is never revealed.
Samuel Galahad Bagshott
Son of GallyGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
's old pal Boko Bagshott, Sam is a struggling lawyer and poorly paid writer (occasional contributor to Tiny Tots, the Mammoth children's paper), who is brought to Blandings by Gally to mend a rift between himself and his girl Sandy. While in Market Blandings, Sam gets into trouble with the local police, after accidentally purloining Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
's watch, and hitting the constable who subsequently chases him down. To keep him out of trouble, Gally inveigles him into the castle, in the guise of Augustus Whipple, the famous pig-expert, in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Rev. Cuthbert "Bill" Bailey
A typically large and muscular curateCurate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
, Bill Bailey does his good works in the East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Bottleton East, where he chanced to meet and fall in love with Myra Schoonmaker. When she is taken to Blandings for safety, Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
's assistance is needed to reunite them, and fortunately Fred's nephew Pongo Twistleton
Pongo Twistleton
Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
is a good friend of Bailey from their Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
days (where Bailey boxed
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
three years running, and prior to which he attended Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
). Not the most attractive of men facially, Bailey's soul is clean and pure, and objects strongly to being blackmailed into stealing pigs, in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
"Plug" Basham
Major Wilfred Basham, known to all as Plug, was a good friend of Galahad ThreepwoodGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, and features in many of the anecdotes Gally drops like leaves from a tree. A member of the Pelican Club, Basham once knocked "Stinker" Pyke
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
out cold when, having started off throwing bread in Romano's, he got a little carried away and moved on to a side of beef. His trouble was due to a custom of ordering quart
Quart
The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
s where others would be satisfied with pint
Pint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
s, an old Basham family trait.
His drinking was curtailed when, attending a wedding reception which became entangled with another wedding party being held at the same hotel, he was shocked to find himself seeing two brides. He swore off the booze, and was fortunate to find an appetising and stimulating teetotal beverage, by the name of Absinthe
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
. On another occasion, during a pheasant
Pheasant
Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
-shooting weekend in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Galahad gave Plug a much-needed jolt by secreting a phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
-painted pig in his bedroom. Basham was also present for the incident of "Puffy" Benger and the thunderstorm; pigs were involved once more, when Galahad and Benger borrowed "Old Wivenhoe"'s pig and put it in Basham's room, on the night of the Bachelor's Ball at Hammer's Easton.
Although described as "the late Major Basham" in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
, his nephew Jerry Vail states that he is in robust health, in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
.
Maudie Beach
BeachSebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
's voluptuous niece – see Maudie Stubbs below.
James Bartholomew Belford
Son of a parsonParson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
living near the castle, who is on cordial terms with Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, Belford had a somewhat wild youth and was sent to America for some unnamed transgression. Finding work on a farm in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, he learns much, including the art of pig-calling. He returns to England after two years to find his childhood love Angela; although he has enough to live on, he requires some capital to buy a partnership. He uses his farming wisdom and knowledge of pig calls to endear himself to her uncle and trustee, Lord Emsworth, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
"Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...
".
Joe Bender
Art dealer and proprietor of the Bender Gallery, Joe Bender is a friend and business partner of John Halliday, who makes a brief appearance in A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
. He is 28 years old, has a high voice and wears tortoisesehell spectacles, giving him an appropriately artistic appearance. He inherited the gallery from his father, and struggles to maintain its respectability in the face of fake nude portraits by the famous French artist Claude Robichaux.
"Puffy" Benger
Puffy Benger was a good friend of Galahad ThreepwoodGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
and fellow member of the Pelican Club, who features in many of his humorous anecdotes of life in the wild 'nineties. On one occasion, staying at a cottage in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
shire for some fishing, with Galahad and "Plug" Basham among others, Benger's habit of telling outrageous lies came home when he described his girl as the fastest typist in England, and swore that she could play Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Funeral March in forty-eight seconds. He reproached Basham for suggesting that the lie was so outrageous that the house was in danger of being struck by lightning, saying that if it wasn't true, he hoped the house would be struck; which, of course, it promptly was.
We later learn that Benger let his guard down sufficiently to allow a girl to get him alone and reading romantic poetry; as a result, he hung up his glad-rags and became the father of a boy with adenoids and two girls.
Admiral George J. "Fruity" Biffen
An old friend of Galahad ThreepwoodGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, Admiral Biffen is a former Pelican. By the time we hear of him, his relations with bookies
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
have become so strained that he rarely leaves home without a false beard; in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
, he returns a particularly bushy one he has borrowed from Galahad, just in time for it to come in useful to Bill Lister (it made Biffen look like an Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n monarch, but renders Lister somewhat frightening). He rented a small cottage for a time, just up the road from Blandings, shortly prior to the events of Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, but had to return to Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on finding the country far too noisy.
Rev. Rupert "Beefy" Bingham
Beefy Bingham is a big, strapping fellow, who became a friend of Freddie ThreepwoodFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
in university days at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he took part in rowing (for which he nearly got his blue) and swimming (for which he did). A rather clumsy, bumbling chap with a big red face, who regularly finds himself spilling drinks or tangling himself up in small tables covered in china. He has a dog of uncertain parentage, named Bottles.
After university he became a curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
, and fell in love with Gertrude Alcester. He lacks an income to support her until, in "Company for Gertrude
Company for Gertrude
"Company for Gertrude" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the September 1928 Strand, and in the United States in the October 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan...
", posing as a Mr "Popjoy" at Blandings and trying to ingratiate himself with Lord Emsworth wins him the living at Much Matchingham. The family, at first against the match, change their minds and become strongly in favour, on learning that Bingham is nephew and heir to a wealthy shipping magnate. Not normally a quick thinker, he knows how to stop a dog fight, a talent which comes in especially handy in "The Go-getter
The Go-getter
Cosmopolitan, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1931 Strand. Part of the Blandings Castle canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere , although the story takes place sometime between the events of Leave it to...
".
Herbert Binstead
Butler to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe at Matchingham Hall, Binstead is a thin man, lacking the magnificent dignity of a BeachSebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
. He appears in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, making extravagant bets in the saloon bar of the Emsworth Arms on the forthcoming Fat Pig contest, but later spoils his own chances with a poorly-placed bottle of Slimmo. He has large ears, which frequently prick up in hopes of hearing something worth including in his memoirs.
Blister
FreddieFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
's nickname for Bill Lister.
Montague "Monty" Bodkin
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's secretary for a time in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, and nephew to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe.
Lavender Briggs
Secretary to Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, Miss Briggs is a tall young girl, with a cold, haughty eye, harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
glasses, and what her former employer Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
describes as "hair like seaweed". She becomes the bane of Emsworth's life with her haughty efficiency. Requiring capital to start her own typing business, her schemes to acquire it by stealing the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
get her fired from her job, but her friendship with Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
sees her through.
Sue Brown
A chorus girl, Sue is the daughter of Dolly Henderson. A tiny thing, mostly large eyes and a wide smile, she has a dancer's figure and catches the eye of many a man, including Percy PilbeamPercy Frobisher Pilbeam
Percy Frobisher Pilbeam is a fictional character in the works of P. G. Wodehouse. A journalist turned detective, he is a rather weak and unpleasant man, generally disliked by all...
and in the past Monty Bodkin
Monty Bodkin
Montague "Monty" Bodkin is a recurring fictional character in three novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a wealthy young member of the Drones Club, tall, slender and lissom, well-dressed, well-spoken, impeccably polite, and generally in some kind of romantic trouble.-Stories:Monty...
, to whom she was engaged for a spell, but when we first meet her in Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
she has been fiancée to Ronnie Fish for some nine months.
Galahad Threepwood
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, who adored her mother in his youth, has a fatherly affection for her, and aids her considerably in her hopes of marrying Ronnie; although his sister Julia at one point accuses Gally of being her actual father, in fact Dolly Henderson married Jack Cotterleigh, an Irish Guards
Irish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
man, while Gally was in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. After her mother's death, they moved to America for a time.
Percy Bulstrode
The chemist in Market Blandings, Mr Bulstrode figures in a minor way in Pigs Have WingsPigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, his shop being the main local outlet for the wonder-drug Slimmo, and is mentioned again in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Alexandra "Sandy" Callender
A red-headed young girl, Miss Callender used to work for Chet Tipton, and so has a poor opinion of his nephew Tipton Plimsoll's likelihood of getting married. While Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
is in away America, Sandy is hired by Lady Hermione Wedge to be secretary to her brother, a fact that upsets the Earl considerably on his return, especially when he finds Miss Callender has tidied his study. Prior to coming to Blandings, Sandy was engaged to Sam Bagshott, but broke it off when he commented unfavourably on the spectacles she decided to wear to impress her new employer with her seriousness, and refused to take her advice to sell on a valuable sweepstake ticket. Thanks to Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
's intervention, things are patched up, in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Hugo Carmody
A tall and lissome man with light hair, a keen and talented dancer and a confirmed gossip, Hugo Carmody is an old friend of Ronnie Fish, with whom he first appears in Money for NothingMoney For Nothing (novel)
Money for Nothing is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 27 July 1928 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 28 September 1928 by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
; the two of them found a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
, "The Hot Spot", just off Bond Street
Bond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...
, which goes bust, in part due to some after-hours trading.
Ronnie, before being taken off to Biarritz
Biarritz
Biarritz is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers....
by his mother Lady Julia to recuperate, insists on Hugo being given a job, so he becomes Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's secretary, a few weeks before the start of Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
. While at Blandings
Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
, Hugo falls in love with, and becomes secretly engaged to, Millicent Threepwood, Lord Emsworth's niece. Their relationship runs into trouble, however, when Hugo visits London and takes his old friend Sue Brown out dancing, but all is later resolved, thanks to a purloined pig and the heroic Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
.
Despite needing to work for Emsworth in the short term, Hugo's long-term security is assured, thanks to an inheritance due to him on the death of his uncle Lester Carmody. At University, he boxed in the light-weight division.
Howard Chesney
A suspicious character visiting Blandings in A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
, Chesney has a letter of introduction from Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, but is quickly spotted by those in the know as a conman of the first water. A slender, well-turned-out young man of medium height, he fails to sell any of his oil stocks to his host Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
. He is later roped in by Vanessa Polk to help in her scheme to steal a painting, but is forced to leave the castle to avoid being recognised by John Halliday, who unsuccessfully defended him once. On his way back by night to receive the painting, he crashes his car, and is last heard of nursing a broken leg in a cottage hospital.
Edward Cootes
A crook formerly specialising in card sharpCard sharp
A card sharp is a person who uses skill and deception to win at poker or other card games...
ing on trans-Atlantic liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
s, Cootes lost his profession when an irritable mark bit off the tip of his right index finger, a vital tool in that trade. The incident was part of a stream of bad luck that dogged Cootes ever since he lost his love, Smooth Lizzie. He finds her again while attempting to pose as poet Ralston McTodd, and is taken on as valet
Valet
Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
for a time by Psmith
Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
, in Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
.
Jack Cotterleigh
An Irish GuardsIrish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
man, Cotterleigh married Dolly Henderson after Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
was torn away from her to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and became father to Sue Brown. They moved to America after Dolly's death.
Mr Donaldson
Father of Aggie and a relative of Angus McAllister, New Jersey CityJersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
man Donaldson is Donaldson's Dog-biscuits. He shares his Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
relation's rugged physique, but is taller, with a smooth, handsome face and an authoritative look in his strong, keen, level grey eyes; he would look much like a Roman emperor, were it not for his rimless glasses.
When we first meet him in "The Custody of the Pumpkin
The Custody of the Pumpkin
"The Custody of the Pumpkin" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It first appeared in the U.S. in the 29 November 1924 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and in the UK in the December 1924 issue of Strand Magazine...
", he does not consider himself a rich man, not even having as much as ten million dollars in the whole world, and is highly taken with his son-in-law Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, who he expects to be an asset to his dog-biscuit business; he is also a believer in Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, under which he believes American dogs are eating more biscuits.
Niagara "Aggie" Donaldson
Who becomes Freddie ThreepwoodFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
's wife – see Aggie Threepwood below.
Penelope Donaldson
Younger daughter of Mr Donaldson, sister of Aggie, Penelope pays a visit to the castle in Pigs Have WingsPigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
. On the boat on the way over, she meets and falls in love with Jerry Vail, but on arrival at the castle finds Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
has lined up Orlo Vosper for her. A courageous and resourceful girl, she has no qualms about inventing family friends as an excuse for visiting Vail in London, and helps out her good friend Gally in various pig-related shenanigans; she is also friendly with Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
, and spends much time sipping port
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
in his pantry.
Alaric, Duke of Dunstable
Ill-tempered, irascible, and in the opinion of many quite insane, Dunstable is an elderly peerPeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, who in his youth had something of a dalliance with Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
(they "whispered together in dim conservatories"), which came to nothing as the Duke was shipped abroad in his youth, having made England too hot for him. By the time we first hear of him, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
-dwelling Dunstable is somewhat overweight, bald of head and wears a moustache like a walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
; Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
has disliked him, in a dreamy sort of way, for 47 years.
He is nevertheless a fairly frequent visitor to the Castle, having apparently been there the previous summer, and has no qualms about demanding special accommodation (he is put in the luxurious Garden Suite). He is working on a history of his family, and employs as his secretary Emsworth's former employee Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
, whom he treats with little respect, suspecting him of going on "toots", and directs his ill-temper towards whoever it may be who whistles "The Bonny Banks o' Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
" outside his windows (on one occasion this is Baxter, who receives a well-aimed egg in the face). His sanity is questioned even by his old friend Connie, who calls in Sir Roderick Glossop to inspect him. He later has the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
kidnapped and hidden in his bathroom.
In Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, he once again comes up against Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
, and once again schemes to take Emsworth's pig away from him, hiring Lavender Briggs to do the dirty work and hoping to make a tidy profit by selling her to Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
, whom he knows from younger days as "Stinker" Pyke. He is bizarrely befriended by George Threepwood, who is fascinated by the Duke's moustache, but despite George's help is once more scuppered by Uncle Fred.
He also appears in A Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
, returning to Blandings after sn electrical fire left his house smelling of smoke. He tries to make money out of Wilbur Trout, by buying a painting he knows Wilbur wants, and is persuaded by Connie to propose to Vanessa Polk in writing, a move which puts him into the hands of the incomparable Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
. We learn that in his youth he was soundly blackballed by the members of the Pelican Club, and that he broke off his engagement to Connie when the marriage settlement failed to live up to his expectations.
Mrs Ed
In the short "Birth of a SalesmanBirth of a Salesman
"Birth of a Salesman" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 26 March 1950 issue of This Week magazine...
", the young lady known only by her relationship to her husband has an important influence on Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's happiness while visiting America. A small, friendly and companionable girl, she is more than capable of fixing scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs is a dish made from beaten whites and yolks of eggs . Beaten eggs are put into a hot pot or pan and stirred frequently, forming curds as they coagulate.-Sample preparation:...
and finding bacon, coffee and even toast in a strange kitchen, and is attempting to raise money by selling richly-bound encyclopaedias of Sport. She hopes to raise money as Ed works in a garage and his pay won't stretch to extras, such as the baby she has due the following January, but keeps her career from her husband as he would have a fit. She finds the work tough going and suffers from blister
Blister
A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma...
s, and is thus the instigator of Emsworth's brief career in sales.
George Emerson
Second-in-command of the Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
Police force, Emerson has been in love with Aline Peters since he wore knickerbockers, a fact he never fails to point out to her when they meet, even when she is engaged to someone else. In Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, Emerson is invited down to Blandings by Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, and uses his time there to press his suit with his host's fiancee.
Wodehouse's choice of the name George Emerson for this character was not accidental. A Room with a View
A Room with a View
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
by E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
was published seven years earlier than Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
in 1908, and was a well known novel then, as it is now. In A Room with a View
A Room with a View
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
a character named George Emerson declares his love for Lucy Honeychurch to her even though she, like Aline Peters, is engaged to someone else. The events that follow in the two novels concerning both the George Emersons are closely aligned.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Emerson is an American from Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, a rising member of a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
law firm; a fierce patriot, this Emerson loathes all things British and loves all things American.
Colonel Fanshawe
The master of Marling Hall, near neighbour of Blandings CastleBlandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
, is also the local Master of Hounds, but is not familiar with important local dignitary Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
. This fact is significant when, in the short "Sticky Wicket at Blandings
Sticky Wicket at Blandings
"Sticky Wicket at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared, under the title "First Aid for Freddie", in the United States in the October 1966 issue of Playboy magazine, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1967 issue of Argosy...
", Fanshawe mistakes the elderly Earl for a prowler, and has him locked in the coal cellar, requesting Emsworth come around in his capacity as Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
to pronounce summary judgement. He has a wife, and a spaniel
Spaniel
A spaniel is a type of gun dog. It is assumed spaniels originated from Spain as the word spaniel may be derived from Hispania or possibly from the French phrase "Chiens de l’Espagnol" . Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of dense brush. By the late 17th century spaniels had become...
, of which he thinks the world.
Valerie Fanshawe
The attractive Miss Fanshawe is daughter of Colonel Fanshawe. Acknowledged by Galahad ThreepwoodGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
to be 'a dish and a pippin', with her golden hair, blue eyes, and figure rendered slender and lisson by years of healthy country pursuits, Valerie would excite jealousy in any wife who found her husband showering the girl in gifts. Fortunately for Freddie
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, her father's word is law at Marling, but Valerie is more than capable of talking him into the purchase of a new brand of dog-biscuits, in the short "Sticky Wicket at Blandings
Sticky Wicket at Blandings
"Sticky Wicket at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared, under the title "First Aid for Freddie", in the United States in the October 1966 issue of Playboy magazine, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1967 issue of Argosy...
".
Lady Julia Fish
One of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's sisters, Lady Julia is "a handsome middle aged woman of the large and blonde type, of a personality both breezy and commanding". She has a resolute chin and china-blue eyes, and a patronizing good humour about her manner. In her childhood, her angelic appearance often fooled people into thinking her charming, until they realised she could be even more vicious than her sisters. She disapproves of her son Ronnie marrying chorus girls, and although her sister Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
believes she can persuade Julia to allow such things, Julia herself is willing to take firm action. Her resolution trembles somewhat, however, on hearing that her late husband Miles' reputation is at stake, in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Sir Miles Fish
Major General Sir Miles Fish, C.B.O. of the Brigade of GuardsBrigade of Guards
The Brigade of Guards is a historical elite unit of the British Army, which has existed sporadically since the 17th century....
, once described by Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
as the biggest fool in that regiment, is the late husband of Lady Julia Fish and father of Ronnie. Although by the time he married he was, even in Lady Julia's opinion, "stodgily respectable", in his youth he was known as "Fishy" Fish and had some wild moments, including, in the late summer of '97, riding a bicycle down Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
wearing only sky-blue underclothing, and in the early morning of New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1892, trying to shoot a coal-scuttle with some fire-tongs, having drunkenly mistaken it for a mad dog, facts revealed by Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
to keep Julia in line in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Ronald Overbury Fish
Lady Julia's son, DroneDrones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
and would-be entrepreneur Ronnie is good friends with Hugo Carmody, with whom he once ran a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
(in Money for Nothing
Money For Nothing (novel)
Money for Nothing is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 27 July 1928 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 28 September 1928 by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
). A highly jealous young man, in Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
and Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
he is in love with Sue Brown, and resents her long-time friendships with Carmody and past engagement to Monty Bodkin
Monty Bodkin
Montague "Monty" Bodkin is a recurring fictional character in three novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a wealthy young member of the Drones Club, tall, slender and lissom, well-dressed, well-spoken, impeccably polite, and generally in some kind of romantic trouble.-Stories:Monty...
.
Educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(where he got a feather-weight boxing blue), he is sensitive about his short stature and red face, drives a jaunty two-seater Austin Seven
Austin Seven
There were four Austin Motor Company cars to use the Seven name:* A single cylinder car produced in 1909* The 1922-1939 Austin 7* The original Mini* The launch title of the Austin A30...
and smokes his cigarettes in a long holder. Never known for the speed of his wits, he can act fast in a crisis, and is invariably well-informed on matters of the turf, a knack for which his good friend Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
is regularly grateful. When he was a child, Beach played bears with him in the pantry and used to take him fishing on the lake; later, when Ronnie was an undergraduate at Cambridge, he borrowed five pounds from Beach to see him through to his next allowance.
For a time, he has a valet
Valet
Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
, named Bessemer. He also has a cousin named George, whose father is a bishop and who, at the start of Heavy Weather, gets married in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, with Ronnie as best man.
Lady Dora Garland
Another of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's tall and stately sisters, Lady Dora is the widow of Sir Everard Garland, and lives in an apartment on the fourth floor of Wiltshire House, Grosvenor Square, with her daughter Prudence, her three dogs (two spaniel
Spaniel
A spaniel is a type of gun dog. It is assumed spaniels originated from Spain as the word spaniel may be derived from Hispania or possibly from the French phrase "Chiens de l’Espagnol" . Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of dense brush. By the late 17th century spaniels had become...
s and an Irish Setter
Irish Setter
The Irish Setter , is a setter, a breed of gundog and family dog. The term Irish Setter is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognized by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred Red Setter recognised by the Field Dog Stud Book....
), and a butler named Riggs. She disapproves of her daughter's dalliance with Bill Lister, and sends her off to Blandings for safety, in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
.
Sir Everard Garland
A K.C.BOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, the late Sir Everard was the husband of Lady Dora and father of Prudence.
Prudence Garland
Daughter of Lady Dora and niece of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, Prudence is a rather small, pretty girl (though not as pretty as her cousin Veronica) with blue eyes. In Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
she is in love and plotting an elopement with the artist Bill Lister, but is sent to Blandings to keep her away from him; there, in her despondent mood, she decides to bury herself in good works, much to the horror of her uncle Clarence.
Alaric "Ricky" Gilpin
The nephew of the Duke of Dunstable, Ricky Gilpin is, despite being a poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, a large, beefy chap with red hair and a quick-temper. His mother, the Duke's sister, married beneath her, to one William "Billy" Gilpin, a member of the Connaught Rangers, who was a friend of Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
; Billy, apparently, looked the dead spit of his son and had same hot temper - Fred often had to sit on his head. The muscular Ricky once cleaned up against three simultaneous Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
costermongers in five minutes. On another occasion, he rescued "Mustard" Pott from a gang of thugs bent on his destruction, and, on taking him home, met and fell in love with Polly Pott. His uncle disapproves of the match, and also of Ricky's plan to buy an onion-soup bar in Coventry Street off Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
from an American friend, despite its great financial potential. Ricky attended a ball
Ball (dance)
A ball is a formal dance. The word 'ball' is derived from the Latin word "ballare", meaning 'to dance'; the term also derived into "bailar", which is the Spanish and Portuguese word for dance . In Catalan it is the same word, 'ball', for the dance event.Attendees wear evening attire, which is...
as Little Lord Fauntleroy
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886...
, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
.
Archibald Gilpin
Cousin of Ricky and another nephew of the Duke of Dunstable, handsome, long-haired Archie is a struggling artist, once employed by the Mammoth Publishing Company but fired for drawing a satirical portrait of Lord TilburyGeorge Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
. His dismissal causes a rift with his betrothed, Millicent Rigby, and he is for a time engaged to Myra Schoonmaker, even after Millicent forgives him and renews their engagement. He also needs £1000 to buy into Ricky's thriving onion-soup business, and is prone to tugging at his long hair in despair, but all is resolved by the twinkling Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Linda Gilpin
Niece of Alaric, Duke of Dunstable and sister of Ricky, Linda is a pretty, slim young girl with blue eyes and chestnut hair, who appears in A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
, visiting the castle with her uncle shortly after becoming engaged to Johnny Halliday. She objects to being roughly treated in court, but has strong motherly instincts when those she loves are hurt. Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, who works hard to smooth the way for the couple, refers to her as a 'popsy'.
Gladys
A small girl from the Drury LaneDrury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
area of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, at the age of around twelve or thirteen Gladys visits Blandings Parva for the fresh air. She has a kind of wizened motherliness about her, and a fondness for flowers ("Flarze") which gets her into trouble with Angus McAllister; fleeing him, she hits him in the shin with a well-thrown stone. She has a small, freckled brother named Ern who she looks out for, and who bites Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
in the leg. These two leg-injuring incidents, as well as her skill at controlling large dogs, endear her to Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
in the short "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 23 January 1926 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the February 1926 Strand...
".
Sir Roderick Glossop
A prominent loony-doctorPsychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
who almost visits Blandings in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, where we learn that he was at school with Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, and was known as "Pimples".
The Bishop of Godalming
A relative of the Threepwoods who visits Blandings during Something FreshSomething Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, his holy office often prevents him from putting into words the less kindly thoughts that may enter his head, particularly concerning Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's ideas of hospitality; he nevertheless relishes hearing such thoughts aired by others.
Eve Halliday
In Leave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
, Eve first catches Psmith
Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
's eye while sheltering from the rain under the awning of a coal merchant's opposite the Drones
Drones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
; she has already smitten Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, who has got her a job at the castle, cataloguing the library (for the first time since the year 1885).
Eve's late father, a clever but erratic writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, was not a wealthy man, but sent her to exclusive Wayland House school, despite barely having the money to buy himself tobacco. There she met Phyllis Keeble, later Jackson, stepdaughter of millionaire Joe Keeble, who she comes to pity when she falls on hard times; unlike Eve, Phyllis is a delicate plant not meant to struggle. Eve gets by on a small annuity from a late uncle, but frequently has to find work due to tempting but expensive hats, gloves and other necessities.
A highly attractive young girl, Eve is adept at deflecting proposals from young men like Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, but finds Psmith's approach more difficult to fend off. Capable and efficient, she works hard at her cataloguing job despite Psmith's attempts to lure her away; a faithful and reliable friend, she does much to help Phyllis get the money she deserves.
J. D. "Stiffy" Halliday
A prominent member of the Pelican Club, "Stiffy" Halliday was a close friend of Galahad ThreepwoodGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, who was best man at his wedding and was made godfather on the birth of his son Johnny. Halliday is famous for having knocked down the Duke of Dunstable with a cold turkey, during an altercation at Romano's about the apostolic claims of the church of Abyssinia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
Like many of his fellow-Pelicans, Stiffy generally presented a rather weary aspect to the world, looking like he had slept in his clothes and hadn't had time to shave. Also like so many of his cronies, he didn't make it past his early forties, leaving Johnny to fend for himself, with Gally's capable help.
John Halliday
John Stiffy Halliday is a barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
with a part-interest in a small art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, who pays a brief visit to Blandings in A Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
. He arrives in the persona of a psychiatrist, junior partner to Sir Roderick Glossop, ostensibly hired to analyse Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
but in reality hoping to press his suit with Linda Gilpin.
A neat, trim, fit, athletic-looking chap, his golf handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
is 6 and he plays excellent squash racquets
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
. His London address is in Halsey Court, W1, where his landlady is known to all as "Ma" Balsam. He got his middle name from the nickname given to his father, and was at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
with Linda's brother Ricky. Gally was instrumental in smuggling his godson into the castle, having been called on for help after an estrangement between the man and his beloved Linda, result of Halliday's zealous devotion to his duty as a lawyer despite his fiancee being a witness.
He is well known by some criminal types, such as Howard Chesney, who pushes him down the Blandings stairs in hopes of avoiding recognition; the bump on the head thus received is instrumental in restoring Johnny to Linda's favours.
Lord Heacham
A wealthy ShropshireShropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
landowner, who was for a time engaged to Angela. A solemn man in riding-britches, he upsets his potential father-in-law Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
with his disgraceful and rather violently-expressed malevolence towards pigs, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
"Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...
". Despite his wealth and glamour, and the approval of Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, he is rejected by Angela, much to Emsworth's pleasure.
Dolly Henderson
A one-time star of the music-hall stage, Dolly was serio at the old Oxford and the Tivoli, and the only girl GalahadGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
ever loved. After they were forced apart by the family, Dolly married a Guardsman
Irish Guards
The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...
named Jack Cotterleigh, and they had a daughter, Sue Brown. She died, however, shortly after which her husband and daughter moved to America. London is still apparently full of elderly gentlemen who become pleasantly maudlin when they think of her though.
Phyllis Jackson
Nee Keeble, Phyllis is the daughter of Joseph Keeble, who is married to Mike when we first meet her at the start of Leave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
. Phyllis is a pretty little girl with large brown eyes, a good friend of Eve Halliday from their days at Wayland House school. She incurred the wrath of Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
by refusing to marry swimmy-eyed Rollo Mountford, and instead eloping with Mike.
J. Horace Jevons
The Chicago-born millionaire for whom Rupert BaxterRupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
works both before and after his reign of terror at Blandings, Mr Jevons treats Baxter with respect and even obsequiousness. Baxter regretfully leaves his service when Mr Jevons decides to return to his native land, but after a spell with the Duke of Dunstable, the efficient secretary returns to Jevons employ, in America..
R. Jones
An extremely fat and wheezy man, with sleek grey hair and a mauve face, ever-jovial Mr R. Jones is a bookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
and sometime money-lender, trusted by many a young man in their hour of need, much as he is relied upon by Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
to get him out of trouble in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
. He is, however, a grasping and untrustworthy type, always with his eye on the main chance. His rather run-down offices are to be found somewhere near the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
; he is known to his friends as "Dickie".
Lady Constance Keeble
Later Schoonmaker, Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's bossiest sister and chatelaine
Chatelaine
Châtelaine has the following meanings:*Châtelaine, a woman who owns or controls a large house ....
at the castle.
Joseph Keeble
Lady Constance KeebleLady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
's first husband, the doting stepfather of Phyllis is a short man with a round, grizzled head and a pink face. He made a large fortune in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
mines, and was already fairly elderly and a widower by the time he married Connie, some two years before the events of Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
. Though their relationship is close and loving, Joe often regrets giving her the supervisory role over their mutual bank account, and worries that her valuable jewellery is vulnerable to thieves. He has a distinct dislike for the smell of heliotrope
Heliotropium
Heliotropium is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. There are 250 to 300 species in this genus, which are commonly known as heliotropes ....
. Keeble does not appear in subsequent novels, and passes away some time before Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
William Galahad Lister
Known to most as Bill, but to Freddie ThreepwoodFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
as "Blister", Mr Lister is an artist, a large and muscular man (he was once a finalist in an Amateur Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
championship) with a face like a gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
, who is bizarrely adored by Prudence Garland and terrorises Tipton Plimsoll with his repeated appearances, in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
.
Lister's mother was a strongwoman on the music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
stage, and his father a sporting journalist. His uncle owned the "Mulberry Tree" inn outside Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, which Freddie Threepwood spent much time in as a student (it was in this period that he befriended Blister), and which Lister later inherits. Both Freddie and his uncle Galahad
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, Lister's godfather, support Lister in his wooing of Prudence; when their planned elopement is scuppered by Prudence's mother, Lister makes his way to Blandings, under the name of "Messmore Breamworthy", on a commission to paint the portrait of Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
. He later poses as a gardener, wearing an impressive false beard provided by Galahad's friend "Fruity" Biffen, and later still takes on the name of Landseer in yet another attempt to be near Prudence by painting the pig. At Prudence's insistence, he plans to give up art to run the Mulberry Tree, but needs investment to modernise the place.
Lady Mildred Mant
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's eldest daughter, Lady Mildred appears in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
. She has a personal maid named Willoughby and is married to a Colonel.
Colonel Horace Mant
Husband of Lady Mildred, the ColonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
is in the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
. He is a forthright man, highly critical of Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's style of hospitality, and suspicious of the level of sanity exhibited by the inmates of Blandings during the events of Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
. He once twisted his ankle badly, during a hill campaign in the winter of '93.
Ashe Marson
The hero of Something FreshSomething Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, Ashe Marson is a young man from the village of Much Middleford, Salop., who as a youth, while playing truant from Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
, became adept at imitating two cats fighting in a backyard. He later attended Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he excelled more at athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
than in intellectual pursuits. He took a minor degree and became for a time a private tutor, prior to taking up the trade he plies when we first meet him, as writer of the popular Gridley Quayle mysteries
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
, published by the Mammoth Publishing Company under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Felix Clovelly.
Meeting Joan Valentine stimulates him to broaden his horizons and take on something new and exciting, and he soon falls in love with her while masquerading as a valet
Valet
Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
. An aficionado of physical fitness in all forms, and particularly Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
exercises, Marson despises ill-health in others, and cures his employer Mr. Peters' indigestion with a regime of cold baths, exercise and beautiful thoughts.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Marson is an American, born in Hayling, near Boston, Massachusetts; he later attended Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, before coming to England to continue his studies at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
under a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
.
Angus McAllister
The ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Head Gardener at Blandings in later stories, Thorne's successor is a similarly imperious man, with a sturdy, rugged, knobbly physique, large eyebrows, a wiry red beard and little respect for his alleged employer's ideas on gardening. The Glaswegian
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's views on gravelling the famous Yew Alley are particularly appalling to Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, and his ideas on hollyhock
Hollyhock
Alcea , commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt...
s are nothing short of seditious, but his skill with flowers and pumpkins is admirable. His favourite sayings are "Mphm" and "Grmph", always delivered with a very Scottish expression on his face.
McAllister first appears in the background of Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
, but takes centre stage in "The Custody of the Pumpkin
The Custody of the Pumpkin
"The Custody of the Pumpkin" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It first appeared in the U.S. in the 29 November 1924 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and in the UK in the December 1924 issue of Strand Magazine...
", when his "sort of cousin" Aggie Donaldson becomes engaged to Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, and McAllister withdraws his services as gardener just before the Shropshire Show. From then on, relations between McAllister and Emsworth continue to bubble away in the background of many stories.
Ralston McTodd
The "Singer of Saskatoon", Canadian poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
McTodd is married to Cynthia, a friend of Phyllis Jackson and Eve Halliday, and is invited to Blandings by Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, ever a supporter of the literary arts, in Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
. A sullen, gloomy man with long, disorderly hair, he is a cigar-lover who likes to be the centre of attention, and to impress people with his epigrams. He rows with his wife frequently, and is insulted by Lord Emsworth's eccentric ways, spurning his invitation to the castle, thereby allowing Psmith
Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
to impersonate him for a time. One of his verses, from the collection Songs of Squalor, begins with the line "Across the pale parabola of joy..."
Cuthbert Meriweather
A name used by Bill Bailey when he visits Blandings incognito.Lady Florence Moresby
Another of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's many domineering sisters, appearing only in the unfinished Sunset at Blandings
Sunset at Blandings
Sunset at Blandings is an unfinished novel by P. G. Wodehouse.-Publication history:The book was first published in the United Kingdom on November 17, 1977 by Chatto & Windus, London and in the United States on September 7, 1978 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. The book was republished by...
.
G. Ovens
The landlord of the Emsworth Arms, Mr Ovens brews excellent aleAle
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
, although he may focus too much on this side of his business; the hardness and lumpiness of his beds proves too much for Jerry Vail in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
. Many previous visitors, however, have stayed there without complaint, and the inn is widely recognised as the finest in Market Blandings. His home-brewed ale is generally recognised as superb, instilling a mellow quality to all who sample it, a fact put to good use by Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's neighbour and rival.
Aileen Peavey
A drippy American poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
ess of the new school, Miss Peavey is invited to Blandings by Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, who met and befriended her on a liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
, and while there sickens all with her pronouncements that the dew is like the tears of fairies. However, although a genuine poetess, she is also a crook, known to all as Smooth Lizzie, former fiancee of Edward Cootes. The two are reunited, and scheme to steal Connie's valuable necklace, in Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
.
Horace Pendlebury-Davenport
Son of the Duke of Dunstable's late brother, who collected JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Prints, Horace's mother's maiden name was Hilsbury-Hepworth; though he inherited his large nose from his father's side, he has her fawn-like eyes. He had measles as a child, and soon after he shot up to a great height. When we meet him in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, he wears tortoiseshell-rimmed spectacles, and is not the most vivacious dresser, preferring tried and trusted styles, although he attended the Bohemian Ball at the Albert Hall dressed as a Zulu warrior, complete with assegai
Assegai
An assegai or assagai is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron.-Iklwa:...
. He dances, according to his fiancee Valerie Twistleton, "like a dromedary with the staggers", and takes lessons from Polly Pott, causing some strife between himself and his cousin Ricky. He worries that he may inherit his uncle's tendency toward loopiness, drives a jaunty Bingley, and lives 52 Bloxham Mansions, Park Lane
Park Lane (road)
Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London.-History:Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards, offering both views across Hyde Park...
, where he has a man named Webster.
Aline Peters
Freddie ThreepwoodFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
's fiancée in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, Aline is daughter of the American millionaire J. Preston Peters, a gentle, kindly girl who dotes on her father to the extent of starving herself to support his struggle with dyspepsia
Dyspepsia
Dyspepsia , also known as upset stomach or indigestion, refers to a condition of impaired digestion. It is a medical condition characterized by chronic or recurrent pain in the upper abdomen, upper abdominal fullness and feeling full earlier than expected when eating...
, and is in turn adored by George Emerson, who she finds too volcanic and superman
Übermensch
The Übermensch is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra ....
-ish for her tastes. Her old schoolfriend Joan Valentine thinks she has been spoiled by too much ease, and that having to fight a little for her independence would be the making of her; Emerson, on the other hand, thinks her perfect. She eventually realises her long-standing love for him, when he shows signs of weakness and brings out her mothering instinct.
J. Preston Peters
Father of Aline, Peters is an American from Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, a forceful, self-made millionaire who as a boy made twenty dollars a week selling mint
Mentha
Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
to saloon keepers. After over-work gave him indigestion and led to a nervous breakdown, he took up collecting scarabs, and amassed a vast and prodigious collection. His indigestion has left him quick-tempered and an insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
c, during bouts of which he likes to be read to, ideally out of a well-thumbed cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
. His digestion is improved no end by the regime of exercise he is put on by Ashe Marson, in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
.
Lady Diana Phipps
The only one of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's sisters whom Galahad
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
likes.
Percy Frobisher Pilbeam
Head of the Argus Private Inquiry Agency, who visits Blandings in Summer LightningSummer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
and Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
James Pirbright
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's pigman, brought in to replace the treacherous Wellbeloved, he is in the job throughout Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
and Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
. A capable and reliable sort, Pirbright is a long lean, scraggy man, whose vocabulary is normally limited to the words "ur", "yur" and "nur", but when roused includes "Gur!" ("which is Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
for, 'you come along with me and I'll shut you up somewhere while I go and inform his lordship of what has occurred'", according to Heavy Weather). He lives in a small cottage near the Castle, adjacent to the Empress' purpose-built new sty, first inhabited during Heavy Weather. Pirbright later moves to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, to be replaced by Pott.
Tipton Plimsoll
A tall, thin American, Plimsoll wears horn-rimmed spectacles and is the nephew of the late Chet Plimsoll, an old friend of GalahadGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
. He is a wealthy man thanks to having inherited a majority stake in "Tipton's Stores", a large and successful chain of shops, for which Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
hopes to persuade Plimsoll to buy his "Donaldson's Dog-Joy" dog biscuits in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
. Plimsoll is in the midst of an epic bender celebrating his new-found wealth, when spots on his chest and the repeated appearance of the singularly odd face of Bill Lister persuade him to avoid alcohol for a spell; visiting Blandings, he at once falls in love with Veronica Wedge, and becomes jealous of Freddie's intimacy with the girl, especially when he hears of their past engagement. Plimsoll himself was once engaged to a girl named Doris Jimpson, a coincidence which leads him to the door of E. Jimpson Murgatroyd on discovery of his spots.
Plimsoll appears again in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
, which sees his engagement to Veronica once more under threat, and requiring further finess from Gally to smooth out; the two eventually elope to a register office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
, avoiding the need for a large wedding, taking with them Wilfred Allsop and Monica Simmons, whom Tipton was instrumental in bringing together.
Vanessa Polk
A friendly and charming young girl, Miss Polk visits the castle in A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
, having befriended Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
on a boat over from America. The daughter of financial emperor J. B. Polk, he of the banks, railroads, mines etc., would always be welcome at the castle, and Connie encourages her friend the Duke of Dunstable the woo Vanessa. It later emerges that she is in fact J. B. Polk's secretary, her father being P. P. Polk of Norwich, once valet to an American millionaire who met his wife, then a housemaid at the castle, during a visit with his master and later moved to the U.S. with her, becoming a restaurateur.
Vanessa worked her way up the ladder to become the richer Polk's private secretary, helped by the coincidence of her surname, and a longing to see the castle her mother had spoken of so often led her to dissemble to Lady Constance to get an invitation. During her visit, she is approved of by Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
, who thinks she has sound views on pigs, and also by Wilbur Trout, an old fiancé of hers who comes to admire her strong independent nature. She elopes with Trout after an abortive attempt at burglary, prompting an all-important letter of proposal from Dunstable.
Claude "Mustard" Pott
Double-chinned Mr Pott, "a stout, round, bald, pursy little man of about fifty", is a private detective and former Silver Ring bookieBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
, an old friend of Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
(who provided the money to set up his detective business), and father of Polly. In a long and varied career he also ran a club for a time, and was a minor Shakespearean actor; he has, in his time, been bitten by a pig (and a lamb). An incorrigible gambler and lover of soft marks, he is very skilled at the game known as Persian Monarchs (although not as quite good as the Duke of Dunstable), and can always deal himself an unbeatable hand at Slippery Joe. When we meet him, in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, he lives at 6 Wilbraham Place, Sloane Square
Sloane Square
Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the fashionable London districts of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The square is part of the Hans Town area designed in 1771 by Henry...
, and disapproves of his daughter's affection for impoverished poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Ricky Gilpin, hoping she may instead be persuaded to marry his wealthier cousin Horace.
Edwin Pott
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's pig man in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
, Mr Pott is an elderly, gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
-like man with a strong odour and no roof to his mouth. He is at one point required to remove his charge Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
from the bedroom of Veronica Wedge, where she has done sterling work bringing Miss Wedge together with Tipton Plimsoll, and is later bribed by Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
to keep quiet about it.
He is also involved in capturing Bill Lister after he is mistaken for a burglar; Pott is able to hold Lister captive, despite Lister's size, thanks mostly to the unintelligible nature of his speech, and his advanced years. He leaves Emsworth's service after winning a considerable sum of money on the football pools
Football pools
A football pool, often collectively referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of top-level association football matches set to take place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, with the potential to win huge money. Entries were traditionally...
, to be replaced by Monica Simmons.
Polly Pott
A small and extremely pretty girl with soft grey eyes, Polly is the daughter of "Mustard" Pott, and, having spent her holidays at Ickenham when a child, is well known to and adored by Uncle FredUncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
. In Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, she is in love with Ricky Gilpin, and causes some trouble by teaching dancing to, and attending a ball with, his cousin Horace; she later visits Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
masquerading as Gwendolyne, daughter of Sir Roderick Glossop. She is chivalrously admired and assisted by Pongo Twistleton
Pongo Twistleton
Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
, who finds her cosy and not too sophisticated.
The Pride of Matchingham
A fat pig, owned by Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, the Pride is the biggest rival to Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's prize sow the Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
at the local agricultural show for several years, before being replaced by the far more challenging Queen of Matchingham.
"Stinker" Pyke
A name by which George Alexander Pyke, Lord TilburyGeorge Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
was known in his younger days, used by both Galahad Threepwood
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
and Alaric, Duke of Dunstable.
The Queen of Matchingham
Another fat pig owned by Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, the Queen is successor to the Pride of Matchingham, brought in from KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
around the time of Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
. The Queen is a worthy rival to Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
, a pig of massive girth and eating power. She is the subject of several kidnappings, stashings and relocations, including a spell in Jerry Vail's kitchen, and finally has her chances of victory in the Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
Agricultural Show scuppered thanks to the blunderings of Binstead and several gallons of Slimmo.
Millicent Rigby
Miss Rigby appears in Service With a SmileService With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, at which time she is secretary to George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...
, and visits Market Blandings in that capacity. While there, she picks up her relationship with Archie Gilpin, severed due to his rash behaviour, and their love is abetted by Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
.
Jno. (John) Robinson
Driver of the Market Blandings station taxi, Mr Jno. (John) Robinson holds a monopolyMonopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
, owning the only taxi in the village. He crops up in many stories (in one of which he is referred to as "Ed. Robinson").
Gloria Salt
An attractive and athletic young girl, Miss Salt is engaged to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe at the start of Pigs Have WingsPigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, and has in the past been romantically linked to both Jerry Vail and Orlo Vosper. A sporty type, she loves tennis and golf (she has a handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
of 6 at St Andrews
St Andrews Links
St Andrews Links in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, is regarded as the "home of golf". It is one of the oldest courses in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century...
) and objects to "Tubbby" Parsloe's physique, insisting he cut back on the pleasures of the table, much to his resentment. She later realises she cannot countenance marriage to a man with such chins, and runs off with Vosper, her true love.
James Schoonmaker
An AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Schoonmaker was in his youth a sporting man, an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n footballer
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, and an old crony of Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
(although he referred to him as "Johnny"), who mixed the finest Mint Julep in America. He also knew Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
before that worthy's ascension to Earldom, at which time Schoonmaker was a junior member of a Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
firm. By the time we hear of him, he has succeeded in business and made a considerable fortune, and become a large and impressive gentleman, with what the Duke of Dunstable describes as a "head like a Spanish onion", interrupted by tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell material
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced mainly from the shell of the hawksbill turtle, an endangered species. It was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s in the manufacture of items such as combs, sunglasses, guitar picks and knitting needles...
glasses.
In Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, he has already become the object of Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
's affections, and is called to Blandings when Connie discovers that his daughter Myra is in danger of marrying a curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
. With help from G. Ovens' miraculous ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
, he reveals to his old friend Uncle Fred that he admires Connie, but considers himself unworthy of her; Fred's encouragement, and Connie's distress at seeing Myra and Bill Bailey elope together, help him screw up his courage, and the two are married in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, at the start of Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Myra Schoonmaker
James' pretty daughter, who is of the "small, slim, slender type". She is kept away by a telegram from Ronnie Fish. Her Aunt Edna is dead and her Aunt Edith is paralysed, facts of which Sue Brown is of course unaware when she impersonates Miss Schoonmaker at Blandings.When Myra finally does make it to Blandings in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, she is there by force, dragged away from a London season by Lady Constance to protect her from an unsuitable relationship. A proud, forceful girl, she breaks off her engagement to Bill Bailey several times, even at one point becoming briefly attached to the artist Archie Gilpin, before Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
, who knew her as a young girl, frequently gave her her bath and consequently thinks of her as a sort of honorary daughter, manages to set things straight.
Monica Simmons
The AmazonianAmazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
Miss Simmons is one of six daughters of a rural vicar, all of whom played hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
for Roedean
Roedean School
-Roedeanians in fiction:* Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward * Dawn Drummond-Clayton * Emily James...
. A graduate of an Agricultural College, she becomes Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's pig-tender, first appearing in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
. She is at first viewed with some suspicion by Emsworth, mostly due to her being niece to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, his rival, but also in part thanks to her habit of referring to the mighty Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
as a "piggy-wiggy", a term which later becomes rather comforting to his lordship.
She returns to the pen in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
, in which she is courted by the diminutive Wilfred Allsop, and must defend her charge from the devious Huxley Winkworth.
Slingsby
A chauffeurChauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
at the Castle, who rises considerably in the below-stairs social ladder thanks to being the bearer of some rare gossip, in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
.
George Spenlow
A resident of a large white house with a pleasant flower-filled front garden in suburban Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, Spenlow is better known to his near neighbour Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
as 'The Timber Wolf', thanks to his having made his fortune in the lumber industry. His habit of inviting blondes to his house and throwing wild parties while his wife is away does not endear him to Freddie, but to Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
it seems a sign of a sportsmanlike nature, making him the target of the Earl's first stab at salesmanship, in the short "Birth of a Salesman
Birth of a Salesman
"Birth of a Salesman" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 26 March 1950 issue of This Week magazine...
".
Percy, Lord Stockheath
A cousin of Freddie ThreepwoodFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, who is very worried by Percy's highly embarrassing breach of promise
Breach of promise
Breach of promise is a former common law tort.From at least medieval times until the early 20th century, a man's promise of engagement to marry a woman was considered, in many jurisdictions, a legally binding contract...
case in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
. He is not the brightest young man, with an unfortunate susceptibility for pretty girls. His father suffers from gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
, especially when required to pay for Percy's mistakes, during bouts of which he repairs to Droitwich. Percy has a valet
Valet
Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
named Ferris.
"Buffy" Struggles
An old companion of GalahadGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, Buffy was a member of the Pelican Club, whose unfortunate demise is frequently used by Galahad to illustrate the dangers of drinking tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
. Mr Struggles, after attending a Temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
lecture and learning what alcohol does to the liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
, renounced drink and imbibed only tea, until a few days later he was run over by a Hansom cab
Hansom cab
The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn cart designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety cab, it was designed to combine speed with safety, with a low...
and killed (a fate which, Galahad asserts, he could easily have dodged had his system been kept alert with a healthy tipple or two).
Maudie Stubbs
Born Maudie Beach, the niece of Blandings butler Sebastian BeachSebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
was something of a bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
as a youth, and ran away from home to become a barmaid at the Criterion
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
, taking on the nom de guerre Maudie Montrose. During her time there, the voluptuous Ms Montrose was a popular girl, friendly with the likes of Galahad Threepwood
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
and "Tubby" Parsloe. She and Parsloe were engaged for a time, and planned a honeymoon in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, but their plans fell through due to some confusion.
She later married a man named Digby, who owned a Detective Agency which she inherited on his death and continued to run in an administrative capacity, and later a man named Stubbs, who also died; she lived in "a neat little house in the suburb of Valley Fields". When she arrives at Blandings in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, called in to keep tabs on the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
, she takes the name of "Mrs Bunbury" (after the character from Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's play The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
), and still bears a striking resemblance to Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
; notoriously anti-female Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
takes something of a shine to her, but she is finally reunited with and marries her old flame "Tubby" Parsloe.
Thorne
The Head Gardener at Blandings in Something FreshSomething Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, Thorne is an autocratic
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
Scotsman
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
with whom Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
frequently has to wrangle on the subject of flowers. He is succeeded in later stories by Angus McAllister.
Galahad Threepwood
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's unmarried younger brother.
George Threepwood, Lord Bosham
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's eldest son and heir to the earldom, who we first meet in the flesh in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, though he is mentioned occasionally in earlier stories. A solid man in his mid-30s, with a pink face, Lord Bosham lives a secluded life in a remote corner of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, with his wife Cicely and his two sons, George and James. Like his father, mental agility is not his strong point - he once bought a gold brick from a man in the street, and later gave his wallet to Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
, at the time a complete stranger, "to show he trusted him". As a boy , he was frequently spanked by his aunt Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
with the back of a hairbrush. He was once involved in a breach-of-promise case, and now he is married he misses the excitements of youth, particularly gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
at cards, as he now only gets to play a little bridge. Like his brother Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, he loves reading thrillers.
George Threepwood
Lord Bosham's second son, who resents having to have tutors during the summer holidays, considering the idea "a bit off". He is the proud owner of an air gunAir gun
An air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...
in the classic short "The Crime Wave at Blandings
The Crime Wave at Blandings
"The Crime Wave at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in two parts, in the October 10 and October 17, 1936 editions of the Saturday Evening Post, and in the United Kingdom in the January 1937 issue of the Strand. It was included in the...
", although is quite unruffled by having it taken away from him for shooting Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
in the trousers-seat, as he also has two catapult
Catapult
A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during...
s in his drawer. He is back at Blandings during Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, and is given a camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
by his grandfather to keep him occupied; he puts it to cruel use, however, as a result of his strange friendship with the generally unpopular Duke of Dunstable.
Millicent Threepwood
Lancelot's daughter, Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's niece Millicent is a tall, fair girl with soft blue eyes and a soulful face, who radiates wholesome innocence. Though encouraged to marry Ronnie Fish by her Aunt Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, she prefers Hugo Carmody, although she is jealous of his friendship with Sue Brown. She has learnt that a direct approach can disconcert her aunts, believing that attack is the best form of defense.
Niagara "Aggie" Threepwood
Nee Donaldson, daughter of the Donaldson of Donaldson's Dog-biscuits fame, Aggie got her name thanks to her parents having spent their honeymoonHoneymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
at the Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
. A "sort of cousin" of Angus McAllister, Aggie is first seen through a telescope, kissing Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
in a small spinney down by the water-meadow
Water-meadow
A water-meadow is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries...
s in the short "The Custody of the Pumpkin
The Custody of the Pumpkin
"The Custody of the Pumpkin" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It first appeared in the U.S. in the 29 November 1924 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and in the UK in the December 1924 issue of Strand Magazine...
"; they later elope together, assisted by her father. An extremely pretty girl, her father-in-law Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
can never understand why such a charming young thing would want anything to do with Freddie, but is overjoyed that he has married a girl with a rich father. She and Freddie fall out briefly over his suspected dalliance with a movie-star, but are soon reunited.
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
A publisher who is after GalahadGalahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
's reminiscences in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Wilbur Trout
A much-married American millionaire, Trout visits the castle in A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings
A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
, after the Duke of Dunstable snaps up a painting Trout thinks reminds him of his third wife Genevieve. Red-headed Trout played American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
in his youth, and has a prominent broken nose to show for it. He inherited his millions from his father, who was a big business man out in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
During his days as New York's foremost playboy, Trout was engaged to Vanessa Polk, but let her get away, and since then married widely but not wisely, mostly selecting blondes of limited intellect, with names including Luella and Marlene. His third wife, who he still feels pangs for, called roses 'woses' and left him for a trumpeter in a minor band. Despite his lingering love for her, he resents being forced to pay over the odds for the painting, and eventually realises how much more suitable a partner Vanessa would be.
Mrs Twemlow
HousekeeperHousekeeper (servant)
A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids...
at the Castle, Mrs Twemlow is a full-figured woman, who believes in the cheering power of a nice slice of buttered toast
Toast
Toast is bread that has been browned by exposure to radiant heat. This browning reaction is known as the Maillard reaction. Toasting warms the bread and makes it firmer, so it holds toppings more securely...
in times of stress. She usually finds time to do a little knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
in the afternoons, and likes to listen to the gramophone
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
to relax after a busy day's housekeeping. As dignified as Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
himself, she holds a similarly lofty position in below-stairs society.
"Uncle" Fred Twistleton
Frequent saviour of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
in times of peril.
Valerie Twistleton
A spirited young girl, niece of Uncle FredUncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
and sister of Pongo Twistleton
Pongo Twistleton
Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
, Valerie appears in Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
, when she is engaged to Horace Pendlebury-Davenport, although she disapproves of his dancing style, and his having a detective ("Mustard" Pott) follow her to the Drones Club
Drones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
weekend at Le Touquet. She has a quick temper, and eventually visits Blandings to get revenge on her uncle for worrying her Horace.
J. B. Underwood
The late first husband of Lady Florence, a wealthy American businessman.Gerald Anstruther Vail
A struggling writer of thrillers, Mr Vail is a former admirer of Gloria Salt who is secretly engaged to Penelope Donaldson in Pigs Have WingsPigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
(they met on a boat coming over from America, whither Vail had gone in an attempt to sell some stories). Vail, like his old pal Orlo "Wasp" Vosper, is an Old Harrovian
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
; he hopes to buy a share in a health farm, which will enable him to marry his girl, and takes a job as secretary to Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
for a spell. He is nephew of "Plug" Basham, and has known Admiral Biffen for years, and hence has been warned about Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
.
Joan Valentine
The heroine of Something FreshSomething Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, Miss Valentine is a tall girl with gold hair and blue eyes, who went to school with Aline Peters and later lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with her father, who died and left her penniless.
Before becoming editor of Home Gossip, an organ of the Mammoth Publishing Company, she worked at many things, including spells in a shop, doing typewriting, on the stage (it was in this era, during a run of The Baby Doll at the Piccadilly, that a young Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
was so smitten by her that he bombarded her with juicy letters and poetry), as a governess, and as a lady's maid (during which time she picked up plenty of useful knowledge of life both below and above stairs).
A plucky, highly capable and unflappable young lady, she is relied on by her friend Aline and never lets her down, even when called upon to commit larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
. She likes to win through on her own merit and not rely on the chivalry of others, but eventually realises the merits of chivalrous Ashe Marson.
In Something New, the U.S. version of the book, Miss Valentine is an American, born in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Orlo, Lord Vosper
A handsome nobleman who looks like a matinee-star, Lord Vosper is an Old HarrovianHarrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
who pays a visit to the castle in Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
. A tall, superbly-built chap with a dark, Byronic beauty. Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
hopes he'll hit it off with Penelope Donaldson, although Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
thinks him unsound on pigs (he yawned on being shown the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
). He was at school with Jerry Vail, who knew him by the nickname "Wasp", and later was romantically involved with Vail's friend Gloria Salt. He plays the piano, and has a pleasant baritone singing-voice.
Alfred Voules
A chauffeurChauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
at the castle, who first appears in Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
. His large red ears are always alert for useful gossip being spilt in the back of his car. He owns a motorcycle, which he lends to Percy Pilbeam
Percy Frobisher Pilbeam
Percy Frobisher Pilbeam is a fictional character in the works of P. G. Wodehouse. A journalist turned detective, he is a rather weak and unpleasant man, generally disliked by all...
in Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
Lady Ann Warblington
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's sister who lives at Blandings as chatelain
Châtelain
Châtelain was originally merely the French equivalent of the English castellan, i.e. the commander of a castle....
e for a time after the death of his wife. She has a seemingly inexhaustible correspondence, and spends much of her time in her room writing letters, when she is not nursing a sick headache. She has a Persian cat named Muriel and a maid called Chester.
She appears in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
, but by the time of Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
has been replaced as chatelaine by her sister Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
.
Orlo Watkins
A crooning tenorTenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
with whom Gertrude Alcester becomes infatuated in "The Go-getter
The Go-getter
Cosmopolitan, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1931 Strand. Part of the Blandings Castle canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere , although the story takes place sometime between the events of Leave it to...
", Watkins is a rather weedy man, with ill-fitting clothes, awful ties and short, but distinct, side-whiskers. He is invited to Blandings by Art-loving Lady Constance
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, but soon upsets Connie's sister Georgiana by working his warbling glamour on her daughter Gertrude, despite his only income coming from an occasional engagement with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He has a dislike and fear of all dogs, a horror of rats, and isn't a fan of bats either.
Lady Hermione Wedge
Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's short and fat sister, who resembles a cook, albeit a passionate one. The wife of Colonel Egbert and mother of Veronica, Hermione has all her sisters' fear of one of the family marrying beneath them, and is incensed when Bill Lister, unsuitable suitor of her niece Prudence, mistakes her, as so many do, for a cook, in Full Moon
Full Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
.
When we meet her again in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
, she is for a spell acting as chatelain
Châtelain
Châtelain was originally merely the French equivalent of the English castellan, i.e. the commander of a castle....
e at the castle, in the absence of her sister Connie
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
, but gives it up in the face of her brother's impossible ways; we learn that once, as a child, she struck Galahad
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
over the head with her doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
, laying him out cold.
Colonel Egbert Wedge
Lady Hermione's husband, a soldierly sort of man who finds his brother-in-law Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's scattiness rather troubling, but has a secret admiration for Galahad
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
. A highly practical man, he is quick to action, as when spotting a potential burglar entering the castle, he fetches his revolver and tracks the fiend himself rather than waiting for the footmen; he also has a romantic side, and approves of Bill Lister's pluck in his wooing of Prudence.
A former member of the Shropshire Light Infantry
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. The KSLI was amalgamated with three other county light infantry regiments in 1968 to became part of The Light Infantry...
, Egbert has a godmother
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
living in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, whose birthday he never fails to attend.
Veronica Wedge
The daughter of Lady Hermione and Colonel Wedge is a spectacularly attractive girl, a fact which never ceases to amaze her doting father and attracts scrums of fashionable photographers whenever she appears in public. She has a direct way about her, and invariably follows her parents' instructions to the letter, even when it comes to falling in love. Her extreme beauty is matched by her extreme simplicity of mind, a fact which does not put off Tipton Plimsoll when he meets her shortly before her twenty-third birthday, in Full MoonFull Moon (novel)
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...
. Veronica was once engaged to her cousin Freddie Threepwood
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, which causes Plimsoll much jealous ire. She has a love of jewellery, which Plimsoll goes out of his way to satisfy, and despite some misguided efforts by her mother to split them up, she ends up eloping with her man to a registry office, at the climax of Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
George Cyril Wellbeloved
Wellbeloved is EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's first pig man, who we first meet off-screen, when his unfortunate imprisonment (fourteen days for being drunk and disorderly in the tap-room of the Goat and Feathers), leaves his charge the Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
off her food, in the short "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
"Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...
".
A tall, red-headed man with a pronounced squint
Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...
, his drinking tendencies fail to scupper the Empress' bid for victory in the Fat Pigs competition at the 87th Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
Agricultural Show. He later proves treacherous, abandoning the Empress to work for Parsloe-Parsloe by the time of "Company for Gertrude
Company for Gertrude
"Company for Gertrude" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the September 1928 Strand, and in the United States in the October 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan...
". He is replaced by the capable Pirbright, and his behaviour is much criticised (though less so than that of his new master) in Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
and Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
His affairs are central to Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
, when Parsloe bans him from touching the beer of which he is so fond, to keep him vigilant in protecting the new pig Queen of Matchingham. He becomes involved in the complex shenanigans concerning the theft of both the Queen and the Empress, and we learn that he was for a time a friend and drinking-partner of Admiral Biffen.
He returns to Blandings for a spell in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, by which time he has acquired a broken nose during a political debate outside the Goose and Gander, a result of his support of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. He betrays his master once more, accepting a bribe to help steal the Empress, and is given the push once and for all. In Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
, we learn he has inherited a pub in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, and he returns briefly to the castle on visitors day, worrying his former master with his dire diagnosis of the Empress' condition.
Marlene Wellbeloved
A barmaid at the Emsworth Arms, Marlene is niece to George, the pig man, whose lightning wit she finds a constant pleasure, particularly his nickname for BeachSebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
("Old Fatty"). She has a particularly piercing scream.
Augustus Whiffle
The author of Lord EmsworthLord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's favourite book, The Care of the Pig. The writings of Mr. Whiffle (also known as Whipple) exert a soothing influence on his Lordship in times of stress, especially in "The Crime Wave at Blandings
The Crime Wave at Blandings
"The Crime Wave at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in two parts, in the October 10 and October 17, 1936 editions of the Saturday Evening Post, and in the United Kingdom in the January 1937 issue of the Strand. It was included in the...
", during the momentous events of which the Earl frequently requires Whiffle's soothing balm on his stretched nerves.
In Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
(in which the name is Whipple once more), we learn that the great pig-expert is known to Gally
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, who spoke to him while writing his memoirs to get details of Mr Whipple's grandfather, who grew a second set of teeth at the age of eighty, and used them to crack Brazil nut
Brazil Nut
The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seed.- Order :...
s (he died at the age of eighty-two, from a surfeit of Brazil nuts). An elderly man with a thin, reedy voice, Mr Whipple is a member of the Athenaeum
Athenaeum Club, London
The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall, London, England, at the corner of Waterloo Place....
club (where he once met Colonel Egbert Wedge), and is so impressed by what he hears of the Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
that he hopes to visit and see the mighty pig; thanks to Gally, however, he is put off and replaced with Sam Bagshott, but causes trouble by installing himself at the Emsworth Arms, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Empress.
Dame Daphne Winkworth
Dame Daphne is headmistress of a girls' school in EastbourneEastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
who visits the Castle in Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Huxley Winkworth
Son of Dame Daphne, Huxley is an unpleasant young lad, always out to get others into trouble, who while visiting Blandings in Galahad at BlandingsGalahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
, takes it into his head that the Empress
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
is overweight and needs exercise. A single-minded youth, he persists in his quest diligently, until, when he finally finds himself alone with the pig, she bites him firmly on the finger.
Algernon Wooster
Wooster, a keen player of billiardsBilliards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
, is Percy, Lord Stockheath's cousin, which suggests that Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
may be a distant relative of the Threepwoods.
Jane Yorke
A friend of Aggie Threepwood, Jane lacks her friend's physical beauty, being too short, too square and too solid to be attractive, with too determined a chin and hair of a nasty gingery hue. She has a brother, who she always hoped Aggie would marry, and having seemingly lost her to FreddieFreddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
, she tries to upset the marriage by reporting on his visits to restaurants with movie stars. Though her scheme sees some initial success, it is eventually scuppered, and she and Aggie fall out, in the short "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
"Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the June 1926 Strand Magazine, and in the United States in the 5 June 1926 issue of Liberty...
".