The Adventures of Roderick Random

Strap

Also known as Hugh Strap · Monsieur d’Estrapes · Roderick’s old friend · Roderick’s servant · faithful valet · faithful squire

Roderick’s loyal friend and servant, who shares in his reunion with Don Rodrigo and is welcomed and rewarded for his past kindness to Roderick. After returning to Scotland, he marries Miss Williams, receives £500 to establish a farm, and becomes an overseer on Don Rodrigo’s estate.

Don Rodrigo

Also known as Roderick’s father · Roderick’s father, Don Rodrigo

Roderick’s father, who reunites with him in South America and returns with him to England and Scotland. He welcomes Strap, supports Roderick’s marriage to Narcissa, gives the couple a home and financial security, and purchases his ancestral estate in Scotland.

Roderick Random

Also known as Rory · Thomas Williams · John Brown · Mr. Randan

The first-person narrator and protagonist, reunited with his father and returned to England. He marries Narcissa, then accompanies Don Rodrigo to Scotland, where they buy and settle at the family estate.

Narcissa

Also known as the niece · young lady · my mistress · my charmer · my dear Narcissa · dear enchantress · angel · Mrs. Random

Roderick’s beloved, whom he marries after returning to England. She accompanies him and Don Rodrigo to Scotland, where she is welcomed at the family estate and expects their child.

Don Rodrigo’s major-domo

Also known as major-domo

Don Rodrigo’s household steward, whom he instructs to ensure Strap is treated with the utmost respect.

Mr. Thompson

Also known as Thompson · William Thompson · my friend Thompson · second mate

Roderick’s friend and former shipmate, now prosperous in Jamaica through the estate left by his deceased wife’s father. He introduces Roderick to his wife and helps Don Rodrigo prepare for the voyage to England; he also supports the imprisoned Dr. Mackshane, whom Roderick secretly assists with ten pistoles.

Mr. Thompson’s wife

Also known as his wife · apothecary’s widow

A sensible woman whom Thompson married after returning from the West Indies. She has two children with him and entertains Roderick and Don Rodrigo.

Captain Oakum

Also known as Captain Oakun · Roderick’s maternal uncle’s captain

The former commander of the Thunder, now dead. Thompson reports that Oakum secretly stole valuable prize goods with Dr. Mackshane’s help.

Dr. Mackshane

Also known as Doctor Mackshane · the doctor · the surgeon

The Thunder’s vindictive surgeon, now imprisoned for helping Captain Oakum conceal stolen prize goods. Though Mackshane had caused Thompson great suffering, Thompson supports him in prison, and Roderick secretly sends him money.

Captain Bowling

Also known as Lieutenant Bowling · Roderick’s uncle · Roderick’s uncle Tom Bowling

Roderick’s maternal uncle and a successful merchant captain. He carries Don Rodrigo and Roderick back to England, where thirty crew members are pressed into naval service after the ship reaches Spithead.

Jack Marlinspike

Also known as the sailor who went overboard

A sailor from the Vesuvio man-of-war who is found floating on a hen coop after falling overboard. Captain Bowling’s crew rescues him and later returns him to his ship.

Second mate of Captain Bowling’s ship

Also known as the second mate · our mate

An unnamed officer who joins Roderick in the boat sent to investigate a voice calling from the sea. He initially suspects the man on the hen coop is a devil.

Sailor who cries that the man overboard is Jack Marlinspike

Also known as one of the men upon the forecastle

An unnamed sailor who recognizes the voice from the water as Jack Marlinspike, believed to have fallen overboard.

Crew members pressed at Spithead

Also known as thirty of whom

Thirty members of Captain Bowling’s crew who are taken into naval service after the ship reaches Spithead.

Mrs. Sagely

Also known as Old woman who shelters Roderick · reputed witch · grave matron · hostess

A humane older friend who tells Roderick that Narcissa remains devoted to him and has moved to London. She declines his offer to live with the couple but accepts thirty guineas and his promise of an annual allowance.

Narcissa’s brother

Also known as the single lady’s nephew · young squire · the Savage · Narcissa’s brother · her brother · the foxhunter · Bruin · the savage · squire · single lady’s niece’s brother

Narcissa’s brother, who married Melinda and then neglected his sister, relying on their father’s will to threaten the loss of her fortune if she married without his consent. He refuses Don Rodrigo’s marriage proposal in a hostile letter signed Orson Topehall; after losing his estate, he is received kindly by Don Rodrigo.

Melinda

Also known as his mistress · Miss Melinda Goosetrap · Miss Goosetrap · Narcissa’s sister-in-law

A fashionable woman who married Narcissa’s brother and initially diverted his attention from Narcissa. She and her husband later quarrel openly, and she spreads malicious reports about Roderick and Narcissa’s marriage.

Lord Quiverwit

Also known as my Lord Quiverwit · his lordship · noble admirer · rival

An influential nobleman who pursued Narcissa while Roderick was abroad and tried to persuade her that Roderick was dead. After failing to win her, he married another woman, who soon left him.

Narcissa’s maid

Also known as Miss Williams · young lady Roderick courts · beautiful creature · the lady · Nancy Williams · fellow-lodger · my companion · she-friend · confidante · Narcissa’s maid

Roderick’s former sweetheart and Narcissa’s maid and confidante. She receives Roderick before Narcissa to prepare her mistress for his arrival, attends the wedding, and later marries Strap; Don Rodrigo gives them money to establish a farm and makes Strap an overseer.

Mr. Cadwallader Morgan

Also known as Mr. Morgan · Morgan · the first mate · descendant of Caractacus · Cambro Briton · the Welshman · fellow-mate · surgeon's first mate

Roderick’s Welsh friend and former shipmate, now an apothecary in Canterbury. He has married an apothecary’s widow and forgives Dr. Mackshane for his past malice, while expressing concern for Captain Oakum’s soul.

Morgan’s wife

Also known as Mr. Morgan’s wife · apothecary’s widow

The widow of a Canterbury apothecary whom Morgan married after returning from the West Indies. She welcomes Roderick when he visits Morgan.

Roderick’s father-in-law

Also known as his father-in-law

The deceased father of Narcissa and her brother, whose will appears to give the brother control over Narcissa’s fortune if she marries without consent. A codicil ultimately limits that restriction to her minority, allowing Roderick to recover her fortune.

Orson Topehall

Also known as the squire · Narcissa’s brother

The name Narcissa’s brother uses to sign his refusal of Don Rodrigo’s marriage proposal. He threatens to disinherit Narcissa if she marries Roderick without his consent.

Parson who performs Roderick and Narcissa’s marriage

Also known as parson · clergyman

An unnamed clergyman who performs Roderick and Narcissa’s private wedding at Don Rodrigo’s house.

Narcissa’s relations in town

Also known as her relations

Narcissa’s unnamed relations in London, who refuse to support her marriage to Roderick. She does not see them again after they spread malicious reports about the couple.

Don Rodrigo’s brother-in-law

Also known as his brother-in-law

The person with whom Don Rodrigo deposits Captain Bowling’s renewed will in favor of Roderick and Narcissa.

Proctor handling Roderick’s claim

Also known as proctor

An unnamed legal representative whom Roderick hires to pursue Narcissa’s fortune through the will and its codicil.

Mr. Roger Potion

Also known as Mr. Potion · Potion

An apothecary who once boarded Roderick but refused to support him when Tom Bowling was in trouble. Upon hearing of Roderick’s later success, he seeks to pay his respects, but Roderick refuses to see him.

Potion’s wife

Also known as landlady

Potion’s wife, who once told Roderick that her household could no longer support him. She later accompanies her husband to seek an audience with Roderick, who rejects them.

Mr. Crab’s executor

Also known as executor

An unnamed executor of the deceased Mr. Crab, to whom Roderick pays his debt with interest and from whom he retrieves his bond.

Roderick’s female cousin who visits Don Rodrigo

Also known as one of my female cousins · my cousin

One of Roderick’s formerly hostile female cousins, now married to an ensign who has spent her fortune. She visits Don Rodrigo in Scotland, but he orders her away after Roderick reminds him how she treated him in childhood.

Ensign married to Roderick’s female cousin

Also known as an ensign

The husband of the female cousin who visits Don Rodrigo. He has already spent her fortune.

Roderick’s other female cousin

Also known as her sister

The sister of the female cousin who visits Don Rodrigo. She had a child by her mother’s footman, whom she later married; they keep a small country alehouse.

Footman who married Roderick’s other female cousin

Also known as her mother’s footman

The former footman of Roderick’s aunt, with whom Roderick’s other female cousin had a child. He later married her and keeps a small country alehouse.

Roderick’s mother

Also known as Charlotte Bowling · Roderick’s mother, Charlotte Bowling

Roderick’s mother, who died after his birth. Don Rodrigo remembers her as his beloved Charlotte and plans to visit her grave in Scotland.

Foxhunter cousin who inherits Roderick’s grandfather’s estate

Also known as Roderick’s cousin and grandfather’s heir · the foxhunter · young squire

Roderick’s cousin and former tormentor, who inherited his grandfather’s estate. After ruining it and being forced to leave his home, he is received kindly by Don Rodrigo, who offers to buy him an army commission.

Mr. Syntax

Also known as the schoolmaster

The schoolmaster in the village where Roderick was educated. He delivers a Latin oration honoring Roderick’s family after the former schoolmaster has died.

Strap’s father

Also known as his father

Strap’s father, who joins Strap’s relations in honoring him when Roderick and Don Rodrigo visit the village.

Strap’s relations

Also known as relations

Strap’s family relations, who honor him and his benefactors when the party visits his home village.

Strap’s two liverymen

Also known as two men in livery

Two unnamed attendants who ride with Strap during the journey to Scotland.

Poor tenants on Don Rodrigo’s estate

Also known as poor tenants · men, women, and children

The estate’s tenants, who joyfully welcome Don Rodrigo, Roderick, and Narcissa when they arrive at the family home.

Gentlemen in the neighborhood

Also known as gentlemen in the neighbourhood

Local gentlemen, mostly relations of Don Rodrigo’s family, who visit after the family settles at the estate. One brings the foxhunter cousin.

Roderick’s eldest female cousin

Also known as the eldest and pertest of my female competitors

The eldest and most forward of Roderick’s female cousins, present at the reading of the will. She faints when told that there are no legacies.

Narcissa and Roderick’s unborn child

Also known as something to crown my felicity

The child Narcissa appears to be expecting at the end of the story.

Mr. Melopoyn

Also known as Melopoyn · the poet

An impoverished poet imprisoned in the Marshalsea, where Roderick befriends and supports him. He recounts repeated disappointments while seeking to stage his tragedy: influential patrons and theatre managers praise or promise support but delay, mislead, or reject him. After his landlord dies and his belongings are seized, he is left destitute and survives on fellow prisoners’ help.

Mr. Supple

Also known as Supple · the manager · patentee

A theatre manager who repeatedly promises to advance Melopoyn’s tragedy, first recommending it to Lord Rattle and later to Mr. Brayer. He sells his theatre patent to Brayer before Melopoyn’s play is staged.

Melopoyn’s landlord

Also known as landlord · good-natured man · tallow chandler

A London tallow-chandler who had sheltered Melopoyn and supported him when he was poor. He procures clothes for Melopoyn on credit and later dies, leaving executors who seize Melopoyn’s belongings for debt.

Lord Rattle

Also known as his lordship · my lord

A young nobleman who praises Melopoyn’s tragedy and repeatedly promises to use his influence to get it staged. He presses Melopoyn to revise the play, recommends it to managers and actors, and offers support, though his efforts do not secure a production.

Lord Rattle’s servant

Also known as one of his servants · servant

A servant who delivers Melopoyn’s play and Lord Rattle’s letter, instructing him to return in a week.

Actor who reads Melopoyn’s play for Lord Rattle

Also known as one of the actors · actor · player

An experienced but illiterate and overbearing actor who reads scenes of Melopoyn’s tragedy and objects to its wording. Lord Rattle gives him authority to suggest changes, which Melopoyn is made to accept.

Gentlemen at Lord Rattle’s reading

Also known as some gentlemen of his acquaintance · gentlemen present

Men of fortune who attend a reading of Melopoyn’s play at Lord Rattle’s lodgings. They applaud it overall and promise to support it.

Mr. Brayer

Also known as Brayer · the new manager · patentee

A theatre manager who receives Melopoyn’s tragedy after buying Mr. Supple’s patent. He repeatedly praises the play and promises to stage it, but delays reading it and ultimately defers to his partner, Mr. Marmozet.

Mr. Bellower

Also known as Bellower · actor · prime minister to Mr. Vandal

An actor and influential associate of theatre proprietor Mr. Vandal. He receives Melopoyn’s play on Lord Rattle’s recommendation, but delays reading it and returns it among a bundle of manuscripts.

Mr. Vandal

Also known as Vandal · proprietor of that theatre · manager

The proprietor of another theatre to whom Melopoyn submits his tragedy through Mr. Bellower and Mr. Marmozet. He eventually rejects it, giving objections Melopoyn considers groundless and unintelligible.

Earl Sheerwit

Also known as the earl · his lordship

A powerful nobleman reputed to be a great patron of the arts. He reads and praises Melopoyn’s tragedy and sends a copy to the actor Mr. Marmozet, asking him to act in it, but his influence does not secure its production.

Gentlewoman who advocates for Melopoyn

Also known as gentlewoman my friend · my friend

A woman who has influential social connections and helps Melopoyn’s cause. She conveys his tragedy to Earl Sheerwit and works to obtain a recommendation for it.

Young squire who supports Melopoyn

Also known as young squire of a great estate · young gentleman

A wealthy young squire and friend of Lord Rattle, asked to help Melopoyn. Unsure of his own influence with Mr. Marmozet, he seeks assistance from another nobleman.

Mr. Marmozet

Also known as Marmozet · celebrated player · favourite actor · joint patentee

A celebrated actor with great influence over his theatre and later a joint patentee with Mr. Brayer. He praises Melopoyn’s tragedy and promises to act in it, but later disavows knowledge of Earl Sheerwit’s approval and advises Melopoyn to seek another manager; Melopoyn’s friends accuse him of secretly undermining the play.

Nobleman who introduces Melopoyn to Marmozet

Also known as nobleman of his acquaintance · nobleman

A nobleman who introduces Melopoyn to Mr. Marmozet at the request of the young squire who is helping the poet.

Hot-headed friend who advises Melopoyn

Also known as a friend · my friend

An unnamed friend of Melopoyn who warns that Marmozet is evading his promise and later accuses him of sabotaging Melopoyn’s tragedy to favor a comedy he had bought. Melopoyn doubts the friend’s harsh accusations.

Author of the comedy bought by Marmozet

Also known as another author of established reputation · the author

An unnamed author whose comedy Mr. Marmozet reportedly purchased and hoped to stage for his own advantage. Melopoyn’s friend says Marmozet favored this comedy over Melopoyn’s tragedy.

Lady who sponsors Melopoyn’s play

Also known as lady of fashion · the lady who patronised it

A fashionable woman who uses her influence and enlists leading actors to press Mr. Brayer to stage Melopoyn’s tragedy. Brayer promises to produce it after revisions, but Marmozet’s becoming his partner blocks the arrangement.

Executors of Melopoyn’s landlord

Also known as executors

The executors of Melopoyn’s deceased landlord, who obtain a judgment against Melopoyn’s belongings and have them seized, leaving him destitute.

Bean Jackson

Also known as Mr. Jackson · Squire Jackson · John Jackson · the beau · beau Jackson

Roderick’s old acquaintance, imprisoned in the Marshalsea. He joins Roderick, Melopoyn, and Tom Bowling for supper after Roderick’s release, then asks Roderick for a shilling and receives a guinea.

Tom Bowling

Also known as Lieutenant Bowling · Roderick’s uncle · Roderick’s uncle Tom Bowling

Roderick’s maternal uncle, a respected seaman who has become a successful merchant captain. He pays Roderick’s debt, secures his release, and persuades him to sail as surgeon, giving him money and a share of the voyage’s trade; he also takes Strap on as steward.

Roderick’s barber after his release

Also known as another barber · barber

An unnamed barber whom Roderick summons to shave and trim him after Strap begins to lather him in an agitated state.

Captain Bowling’s chief owner

Also known as chief owner · owner

The shipowner who agrees to employ Roderick as surgeon after Tom Bowling brings him to negotiate a bargain.

Wholesale apothecary supplying the voyage

Also known as certain wholesale apothecary · apothecary

An unnamed wholesale apothecary whom Roderick is instructed to give a medicine list for the voyage; the apothecary is also to provide two qualified surgeon’s mates.

Roderick’s two surgeon’s mates

Also known as two well-qualified mates · mates

Two unnamed surgeon’s mates whom Roderick selects for the voyage; one later dies during the epidemic fever among the enslaved people and crew.

Banter

Also known as Mr. Banter · the painter’s companion

Roderick’s sharp-tongued friend and creditor. When Roderick appears in rich clothes before sailing, Banter jokes that he may have been robbing on the highway; Roderick asks him to repay borrowed money, which Banter avoids.

Captain of the merchant ship attacked near Guinea

Also known as the captain

The captain of Tom Bowling’s previous merchant ship, killed during an engagement with a French privateer; Bowling took command after his death.

French privateer captain and crew

Also known as French privateer · enemy

The crew of the French privateer that attacked the merchant ship commanded by Tom Bowling. Bowling sank the vessel after its captain was killed.

Captain Bowling’s old messmate

Also known as old messmate · commander

An English man-of-war commander and former messmate of Tom Bowling. He recognizes Bowling when their ships meet at sea, welcomes him aboard for dinner, and sends his barge for Roderick and the supercargo.

Supercargo

Also known as the supercargo

A member of Captain Bowling’s trading expedition, knowledgeable about the Guinea coast, its language, and its inhabitants. He lends Roderick Spanish books and travels with him to meet the English man-of-war commander.

Ship’s company on Captain Bowling’s voyage

Also known as whole ship’s company · crew

The crew of Captain Bowling’s merchant ship, which sails to Guinea and South America. Roderick orders them treated to prevent tropical fever; one sailor dies on the outward passage, and several later perish during an epidemic.

Captain of the English man-of-war

Also known as commander · old messmate

An old messmate of Tom Bowling who commands a forty-gun English warship disguised with French colors as a decoy. He welcomes Bowling’s ship and shares his hospitality with Roderick and the supercargo.

Don Antonio de Ribera

Also known as Don Antonio

A polite young Spanish gentleman and Roderick’s friend in Buenos Ayres. He invites Captain Bowling, Roderick, and their party to his country villa and introduces them to Don Rodrigo.

Don Rodrigo’s son who died in childhood

Also known as his son

The son Don Rodrigo believed he had lost; he tells Roderick that the boy would have been nearly his age, before learning that Roderick is his surviving son.

Spanish governor of the Rio de la Plata

Also known as Spanish governor · the governor

The governor who must authorize Don Rodrigo’s departure from the Spanish territories. Don Rodrigo says the governor is his friend and expects no difficulty obtaining permission.

Count who assists Don Rodrigo in France

Also known as a count

A count Don Rodrigo had known during earlier travels, whom he encounters after surviving a shipwreck off Normandy. The count accompanies him to Paris and helps recommend him as a tutor.

Young nobleman tutored by Don Rodrigo

Also known as young nobleman · my pupil

An unnamed young nobleman whom Don Rodrigo tutors in Paris and accompanies to the Spanish court. The pupil is recalled by his father after a year.

Father of Don Rodrigo’s pupil

Also known as his father

The unnamed father who recalls his son, Don Rodrigo’s pupil, from the Spanish court.

Spanish grandee who protects Don Rodrigo

Also known as a certain Spanish grandee

A Spanish grandee who takes Don Rodrigo under his protection after the young nobleman he tutored is recalled. He introduces Don Rodrigo to a nobleman who later becomes viceroy of Peru.

Nobleman who becomes viceroy of Peru

Also known as another nobleman · viceroy of Peru · my patron

A nobleman who takes Don Rodrigo with him to govern Peru and encourages him to trade. Don Rodrigo’s patron dies, leaving him among strangers without support.

Viceroy of Peru

Also known as viceroy

The Spanish official who appoints Don Rodrigo’s noble patron to govern Peru.

Don Rodrigo’s French friends

Also known as friends in France

Friends Don Rodrigo asks to investigate what became of Roderick. Their inquiries find only that he had gone abroad years earlier and was never heard from again.

Don Rodrigo’s servants

Also known as servants

The household servants whom Don Rodrigo orders to share in the celebration after discovering Roderick is his son.

Physicians treating Roderick in Buenos Ayres

Also known as physicians

The physicians called when Roderick becomes feverish and delirious after his reunion with Don Rodrigo. They treat him with bleeding and herbal baths.

Don Rodrigo’s guests from the neighborhood

Also known as gentlemen in the neighbourhood · company

The neighboring gentlemen whom Don Rodrigo summons to celebrate his reunion with Roderick.

English gentleman settled in South America

Also known as English Signor · the person in whose favour I had been prepossessed · Don Rodrigo

Don Rodrigo, an Englishman settled in the Spanish territories for sixteen years, admired locally for his conduct and known to be wealthy. He reunites with his son Roderick in Buenos Ayres.

Ship’s mate receiving Captain Bowling’s order

Also known as the mate

An unnamed officer aboard Captain Bowling’s ship who receives the captain’s order to send the steward, Strap, ashore to Don Rodrigo’s house.

Melinda’s mother

Also known as her mother

The woman with whom Melinda lives. She accompanies Melinda to the Bath ball, where Narcissa’s brother admires her daughter.

Mr. Freeman

Also known as Freeman · Roderick’s friend

A gentleman in Bath who supports Roderick and tries to counter the scandal spread about him. He encourages Roderick not to pursue Narcissa impulsively and later brings him Narcissa’s letter through Banter.

Lord Quiverwit’s footman

Also known as footman · his lacquey · servant

Quiverwit’s servant who delivers his challenge to Roderick and accompanies him to the dueling ground.

Servant who delivers the anonymous note

Also known as servant · messenger

A servant at the Long Room who gives Roderick an anonymous note demanding that he leave. Under Roderick’s threat, he identifies Narcissa’s brother as the person who sent it.

Lord Quiverwit’s other servant

Also known as servant

A servant who accompanies Quiverwit to the duel and helps raise him after he is wounded.

Narcissa’s brother’s mounted servant

Also known as servant on horseback

A servant in the squire’s livery who follows the coach carrying Narcissa away from Bath.

Melinda’s elderly male companion

Also known as elderly gentleman

An elderly gentleman accompanying Melinda and her mother at the Bath ball; the passage gives no further identifying details.

The nobleman who compliments Roderick and Narcissa

Also known as a certain nobleman · his lordship

A distinguished, influential nobleman who compliments Roderick and Narcissa at the ball and then speaks to her with apparent passion. His attentions provoke Roderick’s jealousy; he is not identified as Lord Quiverwit in this passage.

Roderick’s tailor

Also known as tailor

A tailor who discovers that Roderick sold suits bought on credit and arrests him over a bill of fifty pounds.

Bailiff who arrests Roderick

Also known as bailiff

A bailiff who arrests Roderick in the street for the tailor’s debt and takes him to the Marshalsea.

Bailiff’s follower

Also known as follower

The bailiff’s assistant who accompanies him when he takes Roderick to the Marshalsea.

Turnkey at the Marshalsea

Also known as turnkey

The gatekeeper who requires payment in advance for a prison room and rents Roderick a small chamber.

Jackson’s supposed wife

Also known as the blue lady · spouse · common woman of the town

A woman who deceived Jackson by pretending to be a wealthy heiress and marrying him to gain protection from arrest for her debts. Jackson says he was later imprisoned for debts she incurred.

Jackson’s wife’s bailiffs

Also known as bailiffs

Bailiffs whom Jackson’s supposed wife had arranged to arrest him for a debt she contracted.

Melopoyn’s father

Also known as his father · indulgent parent

A country curate who educated Melopoyn, encouraged his poetry, and died while Melopoyn was writing his first tragedy.

Melopoyn’s mother

Also known as his mother

Melopoyn’s mother, left in poverty after her husband’s death. She died after Melopoyn went to live with their farmer relation.

Melopoyn’s farmer relation

Also known as near relation · kinsman · cousin · farmer

A farmer and near relation who took Melopoyn and his mother into his household after his father died. He helped Melopoyn finish his tragedy and paid for his journey to London.

Tallow-chandler landlord who helps Melopoyn

Also known as landlord · good-natured man · tallow chandler

A London landlord who advises Melopoyn to seek a theatrical patron through a Catholic priest and lets him lodge and board without payment when he becomes poor.

Father O’Varnish

Also known as Mr. O’Varnish · the friar · good priest · confessor

A learned Catholic friar and the landlord’s confessor who approves Melopoyn’s tragedy and recommends him to the theatre manager Supple. He also encourages Melopoyn to seek work as a writer.

Mr. Supple’s eldest son

Also known as eldest boy

Supple’s eldest son, who takes Melopoyn’s manuscript from the dining room to the kitchen, where it is mistaken for waste paper.

Cook-maid at Mr. Supple’s house

Also known as cook-maid · negligent wench

A servant who mistakes Melopoyn’s manuscript for waste paper and burns some leaves while singing fowls.

Mr. Supple’s servant

Also known as servant

The servant who questions Melopoyn through the wicket and initially refuses him entry to Supple’s house.

Author consulted by a bookseller

Also known as another author

An unnamed author whose opinion a bookseller consults before rejecting Melopoyn’s pastoral poems.

Bookseller who rejects Melopoyn’s pastorals

Also known as eminent bookseller

A bookseller who reads Melopoyn’s pastorals and declines to buy them, saying they will not serve his purpose.

Bookseller who advises satirical or erotic verse

Also known as another person of the same profession

A bookseller who tells Melopoyn that the market is tired of pastorals and advises him to write satire or erotic verse.

Bookseller who seeks secret histories

Also known as third bookseller · dealer

A bookseller who asks Melopoyn for scandalous secret history, adventure stories, or conundrums for the plantations.

Translator employer who refuses Melopoyn

Also known as person who entertained translators · person said to employ translators

A prospective employer who tells Melopoyn that translations are oversupplied and rejects his offer to translate the classics.

Author of the Button Hole, Shockey and Towner, and The Leaky Vessel

Also known as author consulted by a bookseller

An unnamed writer whose works a bookseller recommends as examples of satire or erotic verse.

Publisher of halfpenny ballads

Also known as noted and vociferous printer · printer of ballads

A printer who gives Melopoyn work writing ballads for popular readers, pays him according to sales, and teaches him to simplify his style.

Ballad poet confined in Bedlam

Also known as one of his poets

A poet employed by the ballad printer who has lost his senses and is confined in Bedlam.

Ballad poet who drinks drams

Also known as the other poet

A poet employed by the ballad printer who has become dulled by drinking.

Monimia

The beloved addressed in Melopoyn’s elegy. The poem is presented as his work; Roderick associates her name with Narcissa, but the passage does not identify her as a real person.

Mr. Pope

Also known as Pope

A poet mentioned by Melopoyn as an example of an author who gained friends through pastorals.

Aristotle

Also known as Aristotle

An ancient philosopher whose Poetics Melopoyn cites in defense of elevating less interesting parts of a poem through diction.

Horace

Also known as Horace

An ancient poet whose works Melopoyn studied and whose poetic laws Roderick applies when assessing the tragedy.

Tibullus

Also known as Tibullus

An ancient poet whose style Melopoyn imitates in his elegies.

Managers of the playhouses

Also known as managers

The theatre managers to whom Melopoyn unsuccessfully offers his tragedy.

Weekly-paper author

Also known as author of a weekly paper

An unnamed author of a political weekly paper whom Father O’Varnish offers to approach on Melopoyn’s behalf.

Roderick’s tailor’s player customer

Also known as a player

A player who buys one of Roderick’s suits and wears it on stage, allowing Roderick’s tailor to discover the sale.

Melopoyn’s landlord’s confessor’s son

Also known as his son

The son of Father O’Varnish, identified as the theatre manager Supple.

Robinson Crusoe

Also known as Colonel Jack

A fictional adventurer named by a bookseller as an example of the sort of adventure story he wants Melopoyn to supply.

Earl Strutwell

Also known as Lord Strutwell · my lord

A courtier who promised Roderick a diplomatic secretaryship but never secured it. After the ambassador departed with a secretary of his own choosing, Roderick reproached him in a letter for having given him false hopes.

Lord Straddle

Also known as my Lord Straddle

The young nobleman who introduced Roderick to Strutwell and vouched for him. Roderick confronts him for misrepresenting Strutwell’s character; Straddle responds with anger and equivocation.

Miss Snapper

Also known as my mistress · Miss

Banter’s kinswoman and the daughter of a wealthy Turkey merchant; she has a £20,000 fortune managed by her mother. Witty and outspoken despite her sickly, deformed appearance, she travels with Roderick to Bath and becomes his intended target for marriage, but rebukes his premature declaration of love.

Miss Snapper’s mother

Also known as Mrs. Snapper · the old woman · grave matron

Banter’s kinswoman and guardian of her daughter’s £20,000 fortune. She accompanies Miss Snapper to Bath, watches over her closely, and eventually invites Roderick to visit them there.

The officer in the stagecoach

Also known as son of Mars · gentleman of the sword · soldier · captain · lieutenant · warrior · champion

A blustering army lieutenant who boasts of his bravery and service at Dettingen, including recovering a regimental standard, but shows fear when highwaymen appear. Roderick takes his pistols to face the robbers, and the officer later threatens the lawyer who mocks him.

The lawyer in the stagecoach

Also known as lawyer · barrister · counsellor

A stagecoach passenger who offers legal commentary and trades witty barbs with the officer. He is frightened by the highwaymen, then jokes at the officer’s expense and accompanies Roderick at breakfast.

The precise lady in the stagecoach

Also known as prim gentlewoman · grave lady · prude · reserved lady · person of honour · old lady

A prim passenger who objects to the officer displaying his pistols and condemns Roderick for confronting the highwaymen. She is later recognized as the wife of a valet-de-chambre serving a nobleman and leaves the coach with her husband.

The highwaymen

Also known as two men on horseback · robbers · thieves

Two mounted robbers who approach the stagecoach near Hounslow, then flee when Roderick confronts them. One escapes; the other is thrown from his horse and captured with money stolen from a farmer.

Footman who helps pursue the highwaymen

Also known as gentleman’s servant · servant

A gentleman’s servant who arrives with a horse and accepts a crown from Roderick to help pursue the highwaymen. He helps capture one of them.

Farmer robbed near Hounslow

Also known as farmer · countryman

A farmer who identifies the captured highwayman as the man who robbed him of twenty pounds. The stolen money is found on the prisoner.

Coachman on the Bath journey

Also known as coachman · driver

The driver of the stagecoach carrying Roderick and the other passengers to Bath. Roderick and the lawyer bribe him to interrupt the others’ breakfast.

Nobleman whose dinner is diverted

Also known as a certain nobleman · his lordship

A nobleman whose party has reserved the food at an inn on the route to Bath. Roderick persuades the landlord to give the ladies some of the meal instead.

Husband of the precise lady

Also known as her husband · gentleman · valet-de-chambre · complaisant husband

A valet-de-chambre to the nobleman whose coach is at the inn. He is the husband of the precise lady, who introduces the stagecoach officer to him and secures him a place at dinner.

Landlord at the dining-place

Also known as landlord

The innkeeper at the coach’s dining stop who has reserved the available food for a nobleman. Roderick bribes him with wine to provide the ladies with a meal.

Mr. Nash

Also known as Nash · master of the ceremonies · beau Nash · the celebrated Mr. Nash

Bath’s celebrated master of ceremonies, who tries to mock Miss Snapper by asking the name of Tobit’s dog. She answers with a sharp insult that turns the room’s laughter against him.

The single lady

Also known as Narcissa’s aunt · the aunt

Narcissa’s aunt and former employer of Roderick, whom Roderick previously knew as an eccentric single woman. She has married the parish schoolmaster and is now at Bath, ill with dropsy and consumption.

Parish schoolmaster who married Narcissa’s aunt

Also known as schoolmaster of the parish · her husband

The parish schoolmaster who marries Narcissa’s aunt. They live near Bath, where she is receiving treatment for her illness.

Sir Timothy Thicket

Also known as Sir Timothy · Roderick’s rival

A wealthy local knight who had tried to assault Narcissa and falsely accused Roderick of assault and robbery. He confessed the truth to Narcissa’s brother before dying of a second apoplectic attack.

The single lady’s deceased former mistress

Also known as former mistress deceased

The deceased former employer of Miss Williams who recommended her to Narcissa’s household.

Lord Stair

Also known as my Lord Stair

The allied general to whom the stagecoach officer claims he delivered a captured French standard after the battle of Dettingen. The officer says Stair promised to reward him but did not secure his advancement.

Testy old English gentleman at the ordinary

Also known as old gentleman · English politician · morose associate · English champion · trusty patriot

An irritable Englishman at a coffee-house ordinary who disputes the French-leaning company’s praise of France. He warns Roderick that Banter is a rake who may ruin his money and reputation.

Mr. Medlar

Also known as the testy gentleman · the peevish annuitant · crusty gentleman · old gentleman

A surly, single man with a considerable annuity who lives at the coffee-house ordinary. He warns Roderick about Banter, though Roderick suspects that Medlar’s judgment may be colored by Banter’s mockery of him.

Mr. Wagtail

Also known as Dr. Wagtail · the doctor · physician · my companion

A ceremonious, learned physician with a whimsical appearance who befriends Roderick and introduces him to fashionable company. He describes Banter as a gentleman of family and fortune, a scholar and wit, while admitting that Banter’s extravagance and satire have earned him enemies.

Mr. Chatter

Also known as Chatter · Billy Chatter · Master Billy Chatter

A fashionable young man in Wagtail’s circle who gossips about social events and introduces Roderick to women. He helps Roderick stage a prank on Melinda by pairing him with Miss Gripewell, but the deception damages his standing with both women and other acquaintances.

Miss Biddy Giggler

Also known as Miss Biddy Giggler

A good-natured young woman with a pretty fortune whom Dr. Wagtail says attended Lady Flareit’s dinner.

Mr. Tomlins

Also known as Tomlins · the surgeon · surgeon aboard the Lizard

The Lizard’s surgeon, an old acquaintance of Roderick. He treats Roderick kindly, defends him against Crampley’s slanders, and dies after Crampley confines him to his cabin.

Mr. Launcelot Crab

Also known as Mr. Crab · Crab

A town surgeon who employs Roderick and becomes dependent on him to manage his business. When Crab’s maidservant claims to be pregnant, he tries to arrange for Roderick to leave with money and a letter of introduction, apparently hoping to make him bear responsibility for the child.

Strap’s London friend and schoolmaster

Also known as friend · schoolmaster · Mr. Concordance · Monsieur Concordance

A Scottish schoolmaster related to Strap, who helps Roderick obtain work with a French apothecary. After Roderick is framed for theft, he believes the accusation and cuts off correspondence with Strap; Mrs. Gawky’s sworn statement later helps restore Roderick’s reputation with him.

French apothecary

Also known as Mr. Lavement · Lavement

An elderly French apothecary who hires Roderick as a journeyman. He dismisses Roderick after he is framed for stealing medicines, but later accepts his innocence when Mrs. Gawky gives a sworn account of the conspiracy.

Mr. Lavement’s daughter

Also known as miss · master’s only daughter · Mrs. Gawky

Lavement’s wealthy and beautiful daughter, who resented Roderick and conspired with her husband to frame him for theft. Later, reduced to poverty, she visits Roderick, confesses that her husband forced her participation, and helps clear Roderick’s name; he forgives her and persuades her father to provide her an annuity.

Jeremy Gawky

Also known as Gawky · Squire Gawky · Captain Gawky

Roderick’s former school ally, who married Lavement’s daughter and conspired with her to frame Roderick for theft. He later abandons his wife and their infant after being disowned by his father, and is last reported to have been dismissed from the army for misconduct at Dettingen.

Mr. Staytape

Also known as Staytape

A tailor to whom Cringer refers Roderick as a prospective source of clothes on credit. Thompson says Staytape may favor a customer who entertains him with politics and conundrums.

Mrs. Gawky

Also known as Mr. Lavement’s daughter · Miss Lavement

Lavement’s daughter and Gawky’s wife, who formerly conspired with her husband to frame Roderick for theft. Abandoned and destitute, she seeks Roderick’s help, confesses the plot under oath, and is forgiven; Roderick persuades her father to grant her a small annuity.

Melinda’s Irish suitor, Rourk Oregan

Also known as Rourk Oregan · Captain Oregan · Mr. Oregan

A poor Irish former lieutenant who challenges Roderick over Melinda, though she has never admitted him or answered his letters. He gives up his suit after Roderick offers him two guineas, becomes his friend, and accepts clothes; he had served in the German army against the Turks and was commissioned for his conduct at Belgrade.

Mr. Gahagan

Also known as Gahagan

Oregan’s friend, who advised him to seek his fortune through marriage and falsely assured him that Melinda’s promise could be inferred from her inability to resist his appearance. Oregan introduces him as a philosopher and political schemer.

Counsellor Fitzclabber

Also known as Counsellor Fitzclabber

One of Oregan’s two impoverished companions, whom Oregan says is compiling a history of the kings of Munster from Irish manuscripts.

Irish footman in Melinda’s family

Also known as Irish footman

A servant in Melinda’s household who tells Oregan that Roderick is her chief favourite, prompting Oregan to challenge him.

Corporal commanding the arrest party

Also known as corporal · commanding officer

The corporal who leads the musketeers Strap brings to arrest Roderick at the duel site. After Roderick explains that the quarrel has been settled, he accepts a crown and releases him.

Musketeers with Strap

Also known as file of musketeers · party

The soldiers Strap brings to arrest Roderick after seeing him load his pistols. They surround him and take his weapons before releasing him when the duel is explained.

Miss Biddy Gripewell

Also known as Miss Gripewell · Miss Biddy

A rich heiress whose fortune came to her after her pawnbroker father died intestate. Newly wealthy and vain, she is courted by Roderick while he poses as a marquis, but rejects him when she learns he is not a nobleman.

Biddy Gripewell’s father

Also known as her father · the old man

A deceased pawnbroker who left his entire estate to his daughter by dying intestate. During his life, he made her live and work like a servant.

Poor Scottish lord seeking Miss Gripewell

Also known as a certain poor Scottish lord

A lord who is trying to be introduced to Miss Gripewell, the newly wealthy heiress.

Notable lady managing Miss Gripewell

Also known as notable lady

A fashionable woman who has taken Miss Gripewell under her protection and arranged her match with a lieutenant of foot, without telling the heiress.

Lieutenant of foot promised Miss Gripewell

Also known as a lieutenant of foot

A distant relation of the lady managing Miss Gripewell, to whom the lady has arranged to marry the heiress.

Banter’s barber

Also known as the barber · metamorphosed barber · poor shaver

A vain barber recently arrived from Paris whom Banter recruits for Roderick’s prank on Melinda. Dressed in Banter’s clothes and passed off as a wealthy traveler, he courts Melinda at an assembly; his later confession exposes the deception.

Miss Sparkle

Also known as my incognita · unknown admirer · correspondent

A wealthy young woman Roderick believes is sending him love letters under the name Miss Sparkle. The identity proves to be a deception: the letters are sent by her elderly governess, Miss Withers.

Sir John Sparkle

Also known as Sir John Sparkle

A wealthy widower whose beautiful only daughter is kept from suitors under strict supervision. His daughter has an independent inheritance of twelve thousand pounds from an uncle.

Miss Sparkle’s governess, Miss Withers

Also known as Miss Withers · Withers · Miss Sparkle’s correspondent

An unmarried woman over seventy who serves as governess to Sir John Sparkle’s daughter and has accumulated enough money to live comfortably. She writes love letters to Roderick under the name Miss Sparkle, hoping to win his affection and marry him; he courts her briefly in hopes of meeting her ward, then abruptly leaves.

Old governess guarding Miss Sparkle

Also known as old governante · duenna · state governante

Miss Withers, the unmarried governess to Sir John Sparkle’s daughter. She controls access to her charge and disguises her identity in romantic correspondence with Roderick.

Sir John Sparkle’s only daughter

Also known as only child · fine young lady · Miss Sparkle

A beautiful young woman whose father keeps her under the strict supervision of his governess. Roderick mistakes her for the author of Miss Sparkle’s love letters, which were actually written by her governess.

Milliner forwarding Roderick’s letters

Also known as the milliner

A milliner near Bond Street who receives and forwards Roderick’s correspondence with the woman he believes to be Miss Sparkle.

Chairman carrying Roderick’s letter

Also known as chairman

A chair bearer who carries one of Roderick’s letters from the milliner to the Sparkle household, where it is delivered to a waiting-woman.

Waiting-woman at Sir John Sparkle’s house

Also known as waiting-woman

A servant who receives Roderick’s letter from a chairman at the Sparkle household.

Young woman at Sir John Sparkle’s window

Also known as beautiful young creature

The beautiful young woman Roderick sees at a dining-room window and assumes is his unknown correspondent. She is Sir John Sparkle’s daughter, not the author of the letters.

Two young noblemen, Lords Straddle and Swillpot

Also known as Lords Straddle and Swillpot

Young noblemen whose fathers have influence at court. They befriend Roderick, who pays for their meals and midnight outings; Straddle introduces him to Lord Strutwell, while Banter says Straddle lives by borrowing and procuring companions for fellow peers.

Lord Swillpot

Also known as Swillpot

A young nobleman who promises to use his influence for Roderick, though he admits he has not spoken to his father in three years.

Fathers of Lords Straddle and Swillpot

Also known as their fathers

Noblemen with influence at court whom Roderick hopes will secure him government employment. Swillpot is estranged from his father, while Straddle says his father is unable to help after opposing the minister.

Minister who appoints the ambassadorial secretary

Also known as the minister · Premier · a certain person who ruled the roast

The minister said by Lord Strutwell to have accepted his recommendation and promised Roderick a secretaryship at a foreign court. Roderick never receives the promised appointment.

Lord Strutwell’s porter

Also known as porter · grim janitor · Cerberus

The porter at Strutwell’s house who initially blocks Roderick’s entrance and lets him wait only after Roderick gives him a crown.

Lord Strutwell’s footman

Also known as footman · lacquey

A servant who tells Roderick that Strutwell is not yet awake and then admits him after receiving half a crown.

Lord Strutwell’s valet-de-chambre

Also known as valet-de-chambre

Strutwell’s valet, who looks angrily at Roderick and later tells him that the earl is indisposed. Banter says the valet had been Strutwell’s favored lover.

Roderick’s gaming companion

Also known as old Gascon

An elderly Gascon gambler who demands that Roderick continue playing after losing money to him.

Jew who accuses Roderick at the gaming table

Also known as a Jew · Israelite

A gambler who accuses Roderick of using trickery to win, claiming he has noticed greasy divisions on the table. Roderick forces him to retract the accusation and apologize publicly.

Tall man at the gaming house

Also known as tall raw-boned fellow

A fierce-looking man with a hooked nose and black pigtail wig whom Roderick accidentally steps on while leaving the gaming house. He threatens Roderick and refuses to fight when challenged.

Owner of the gaming house

Also known as worthy Scotch lord · owner

A Scottish lord who runs public gaming tables under the privilege of his peerage and hires people to keep order and settle disputes.

Door-keeper at the gaming house

Also known as grim fellow · door-keeper

The armed doorkeeper who takes patrons’ swords at the gaming house and returns Roderick’s sword when he leaves.

Strutwell’s other noble suitors

Also known as two other noblemen

Two noblemen who, according to Strutwell, were competing to recommend their own friends for the diplomatic secretaryship.

Mrs. Gawky’s infant

Also known as the infant · her child

The child Mrs. Gawky bore four months after her marriage to Jeremy Gawky. Her parents turned her out with the baby, who died soon afterward.

Mr. Lavement’s friend

Also known as his friend

A friend who accompanies Lavement to visit Roderick after Mrs. Gawky’s sworn statement clears Roderick of the theft conspiracy.

Lady whose footman fails to bring her chair

Also known as the lady · my charmer · her ladyship

A handsomely dressed woman whom Roderick meets after a play and offers to escort. Though she claims to abhor strong liquor and mentions her husband, Sir John, she is drunk on gin and angrily demands that Roderick pay her coach fare.

Sir John

Also known as her husband

The knight said to be the husband of the woman Roderick escorts from the theatre. She says his temper is easily vexed and that he has gone to bed.

Footman of the lady at the theatre

Also known as her footman

The servant whom the lady had ordered to have a chair ready for her, but who does not appear.

Five or six fashionable young men at the playhouse

Also known as young fellows of fashion

Men who watch the woman Roderick escorts; one appears to wink at her and the group laughs as they pass.

Foreign ambassador at the ordinary

Also known as the ambassador · supposed ambassador · fiddler belonging to the opera

A richly dressed man who argues for Spain’s claim to Austrian lands in Italy and is later revealed to be an opera fiddler, not an ambassador.

Young gentleman in the green frock

Also known as chevalier in green · supposed young prince · young prince · dancer at one of the theatres

A young man who defends the French king’s breach of the Pragmatic Sanction and praises the French government. He is later revealed to be a theatre dancer, not a prince.

Blustering former general at the ordinary

Also known as the general · the officer

A talkative ex-general who boasts of military service, criticizes the British ministry and allied commanders, and claims the French value able officers. Roderick learns he has been removed from the service and lives on a pension.

Doctor at the ordinary

Also known as the doctor · Roman Catholic priest · physician · captain

A Roman Catholic priest who poses at times as a military officer or physician and uses persuasive arguments to convert people. He adjudicates a dispute about the battle of Dettingen against Roderick, and the old Englishman says he has previously been prosecuted for his practices.

Mr. Bragwell

Also known as Bragwell · the champion · the hero

A boastful, quarrelsome gentleman in Wagtail’s circle who brags of fighting but avoids real danger. He objects to Roderick dancing with Melinda, then backs down when confronted; he later pays a woman who falsely accuses Wagtail of fathering her child.

Mr. Ranter

Also known as Ranter · the player · the actor

A player who mimics Roderick and Wagtail, helps stage the false accusation against Wagtail, and provokes a quarrel between Roderick and Bragwell. He escapes the tavern after Bragwell prods him over Roderick’s sword.

Mr. Slyboot

Also known as Slyboot · the painter · the painter in Wagtail’s circle

A painter who mocks Dr. Wagtail with elaborate fabrications and joins in the staged accusation against him. He tries to provoke a quarrel between Bragwell and Roderick.

Lord Hobble

Also known as my Lord Hobble

A lord who accompanies Roderick, Chatter, and Wagtail to the Hampstead assembly.

Melinda’s admirer, Tom Trippit

Also known as Tom Trippit

A man with whom Bragwell says he had a quarrel at a previous assembly over a woman.

Messenger from Bragwell

Also known as person I did not know · bearer

An unidentified person who carries Bragwell’s demand that Roderick give up dancing with Melinda.

Chandler’s widow

Also known as tallow chandler’s widow · Strap’s inamorata

A stout woman of about thirty-six who tells Strap she would marry him and is said to own a well-furnished house and a brisk business. She gives birth to a child within a fortnight, and creditors seize her household goods.

Strap’s false friend

Also known as friend of Strap · brother footman

A fellow footman who tells Strap that the chandler’s widow is wealthy and available to marry, while concealing that she is pregnant. He disappears after the child is born.

Infant of the chandler’s widow

Also known as her bantling · the child

The chandler’s widow’s baby, whose birth reveals that Strap’s supposed marriage prospect is already pregnant.

Roderick’s former schoolmate and patron’s visitor

Also known as Squire Gawky

Roderick’s old schoolfellow Jeremy Gawky, who visits Cringer in fashionable clothes and receives a warm invitation to dinner.

Tom Tossle

Also known as Tossle

A person present when Roderick courts Melinda and loses money at cards. He tells Banter the details, which Banter uses to tease Roderick.

Melinda’s lover, described by Bragwell

Also known as Tom Trippit

A man Bragwell says he once fought over Melinda at an assembly.

Doctor’s alleged child

Also known as the infant

The unborn child in the fabricated accusation against Dr. Wagtail; the woman claims he is its father, but the company treats the charge as a joke.

Melinda’s former suitor

Also known as Banter’s former self

Banter implies that he once made advances to Melinda and was rebuffed.

Fat widow who kept a public-house at Islington

Also known as the fat widow

A woman Medlar allegedly courted; Banter claims she discarded him after a rumor about his virility.

Three bastards allegedly at nurse

Also known as three bastards

Children Banter claims to have invented as a story to reconcile Medlar with the fat widow.

Doctor’s landlady

Also known as his landlord’s household

The landlord who orders Dr. Wagtail to leave after a fire damages the floor of his apartment.

Melinda’s other admirers

Also known as her herd of admirers

Young men whom Banter says Melinda encourages as admirers for the sake of vanity.

Lady Flareit

Also known as my Lady Flareit

A lady of quality whose dinner Dr. Wagtail claims to have attended, along with several other fashionable guests.

Lady Stately

Also known as Lady Stately

A fashionable guest whom Dr. Wagtail says was present at Lady Flareit’s dinner.

Lady Larum

Also known as my Lady Larum

A fashionable guest whom Dr. Wagtail says was present at Lady Flareit’s dinner.

Mrs. Dainty

Also known as Mrs. Dainty

A fashionable guest whom Dr. Wagtail says was present at Lady Flareit’s dinner.

Sir John Shrug

Also known as Sir John Shrug

A man whom Dr. Wagtail says attended Lady Flareit’s dinner.

Mr. Cohorn

Also known as Monsieur Cohorn · the famous engineer

An engineer said by the blustering former general to have declared that Namur could not be taken.

Prince of Vandemont

Also known as the Prince of Vandemont

A prince cited in the former general’s story as proposing that Namur could be taken by an epaulement.

Mareschal Boufflers

Also known as Mareschal Boufflers

The French commander whom the former general says capitulated at Namur after an epaulement was put into effect.

Solomon

Also known as the wise prince

The biblical king invoked in a joke about a supposed Greek manuscript and a fictitious remedy made from tinder.

Paracelsus

Also known as Paracelsus

A physician named in the company’s invented story as the recipient of a secret recipe for tinder-water.

Homer

Also known as Homer

The ancient poet whose description of Nestor drinking is cited by Roderick in a learned exchange with Dr. Wagtail.

Nestor

Also known as Nestor

The ancient Greek hero whom Homer is said to describe drinking.

Anacreon

Also known as Anacreon

The ancient poet whose use of Greek drinking verbs is cited by Roderick.

Moll King

Also known as Moll King

The proprietor associated with the coffee-house where Bragwell goes after the tavern.

Hungry women at Moll King’s

Also known as hungry whores

Women whom Bragwell kicks at Moll King’s coffee-house after the night’s drinking.

Roderick’s servant who seeks a carriage

Also known as my servant · Strap

Strap, Roderick’s loyal companion and valet, whom Roderick sends to fetch a chair or coach for the woman he meets at the playhouse.

Single lady who hires Roderick

Also known as my lady · mistress · maiden of forty years

A wealthy unmarried woman of about forty, known for her learning, eccentric beliefs, and disordered habits. She writes poetry and invites Roderick to praise it.

Cookwench

Also known as the cookwench

A kitchen servant whose affection for Roderick sparks jealousy and quarrels with the dairymaid. She courts him with food and imagines they could run an eating-house together.

Dairymaid

Also known as the dairymaid

A dairy servant who competes with the cookwench for Roderick’s attention. She courts him and says she would prefer him to the substantial farmers who might marry her.

The cookwench’s lover

Also known as their lovers

A man courting the cookwench who joins the gardener in planning revenge against Roderick.

The dairymaid’s lover

Also known as their lovers

A man courting the dairymaid who joins the coachman in planning revenge against Roderick.

Coachman in the single lady’s household

Also known as the coachman · former challenger

A household coachman courting the cookwench. He challenges Roderick to a boxing match, but backs down after Roderick threatens him.

Gardener in the single lady’s household

Also known as the gardener

A household gardener courting the dairymaid. Alarmed by Roderick’s success with the servants, he conspires with the coachman against him.

Chambermaid in the single lady’s household

Also known as the chambermaid · waiting-maid

A servant who tells Roderick that Narcissa praised his verses and asked for a copy. She also tells the single lady and Narcissa about his confrontation with the coachman.

Celia

The woman addressed in Roderick’s poem, titled “On Celia, Playing on the harpsichord and singing.” Roderick says the verses were inspired by his love for Narcissa.

Miss Thicket

Also known as Sir Timothy Thicket’s sister · his sister

Sir Timothy’s sister, whom the young squire had promised to marry. Narcissa visits her before Sir Timothy accompanies her home.

Smugglers who take Roderick to Boulogne

Also known as armed men · ruffians · desperadoes · gang

A group of smugglers who seize Roderick by the seaside and carry him to France, suspecting he is a spy. They debate whether to kill him or set him ashore, then rob him of his pocket money, hat, and wig.

Smuggler who demands payment

Also known as one of the smugglers · the outlaw

A smuggler who demands payment for Roderick’s forced passage and takes the money from his pocket, as well as his hat and wig.

Dutch sailors who shipwrecked with Bowling

Also known as five Dutch sailors · Dutchmen

Five Dutch sailors at a Boulogne public-house, where they breakfast after being shipwrecked with Tom Bowling. Bowling says they refused to help him after spending the money he had shared with them.

Daniel Whipcord

Also known as ship-chandler in Wapping

A London ship-chandler whom Tom Bowling believes might lend him money and extend credit for lodging, liquor, and clothes.

Ben Block

Also known as old Ben Block · honest Block

A deceased landlord in Deal who taught Tom Bowling seamanship. Bowling says he would have helped him if he were still alive.

Scottish priest in Boulogne

Also known as reverend priest · the priest · old father · friar · father

A Scottish Catholic priest who recognizes Roderick and Tom Bowling as fellow Scots and proves to know Roderick’s family, including his grandfather. He offers to help Roderick make his fortune in France, urges him to convert, proposes a novitiate at his convent, and eventually arranges letters of recommendation and travel to Paris with a Capuchin.

Frere Balthazar

Also known as the Capuchin · capuchin · fellow traveller · mendicant

A jovial, heavyset Capuchin friar who accompanies Roderick toward Paris, enjoying food, drink, and women. He arranges Roderick’s encounter with Nanette, then steals his money and abandons him near Amiens.

Nanette

Also known as amiable Nanette · the host’s daughter

A handsome young woman, daughter of the peasant who hosts Roderick and Frere Balthazar. She spends the night with Roderick after Balthazar says she is attracted to him.

Nanette’s sister

Also known as the other daughter · host’s other daughter

The other daughter of the peasant who hosts Roderick and Balthazar. Balthazar admits he has been intimate with her and says he divides his attention between the sisters to keep peace in the family.

Peasant who hosts Roderick and Balthazar

Also known as landlord

A peasant near Abbeville who provides Roderick and Frere Balthazar a meal and a place to sleep. His two daughters visit them during the night.

Innkeeper at Noyons

Also known as host

The keeper of the Coq d’Or at Noyons, where Balthazar falsely says he will wait for Roderick. He dismisses Roderick’s complaint about the theft and turns his attention to arriving guests.

Well-dressed young gentleman at Noyons

Also known as young gentleman

A richly dressed man accompanied by a valet and two liveried servants. When Roderick tells him he has been robbed, he asks what Roderick expects him to do and then leaves.

Valet of the well-dressed young gentleman

Also known as valet de chambre

A servant accompanying the well-dressed young gentleman who arrives at the Noyons inn.

Two servants of the well-dressed young gentleman

Also known as two servants in livery

Two liveried servants accompanying the young gentleman who arrives at the Noyons inn.

French recruiting sergeant

Also known as sergeant · commander

A French sergeant who befriends Roderick while his regiment’s soldiers and families dance and eat outdoors. He persuades Roderick to enlist in the Picardy regiment.

Captain of Roderick’s company in the Picardy regiment

Also known as captain

The captain who receives Roderick into his company, gives him a crown, and arranges clothes, arms, and equipment for him.

French soldier who duels Roderick

Also known as my comrade · Frenchman · old Gascon · Gascon · antagonist

An elderly, one-eyed French soldier in Roderick’s regiment who boasts of serving Louis the Great. He quarrels with Roderick over the king, wounds and disarms him in a duel, then is defeated by him after the battle of Dettingen.

Irish drummer in the French army

Also known as Irish drummer

A drummer who offers to teach Roderick swordsmanship after hearing of his defeat by the old Gascon. He is motivated by jealousy over the French soldier’s relationship with his wife.

Wife of the Irish drummer

Also known as his wife

The wife of the Irish drummer, who is involved in a correspondence with the French soldier.

Louis the Great

Also known as Louis

The French king whom Roderick’s soldier comrade says he served and whose glory he claims to have helped establish.

Mareschal Duc de Noailles

Also known as Mareschal Noailles · Duc de Noailles

The French commander whose army Roderick’s regiment joins in Germany before the battle of Dettingen.

Duc de Grammont

Also known as Duc de Grammont

The French commander who leads the troops at Dettingen. He abandons a defensible position, crosses the defile, and attacks the allied army.

Earl of Stair

Also known as Lord Stair

The allied commander at Dettingen, whose judgment an old French officer questions. The passage says he was overruled and opposed the move that put the allied army in danger.

King of Great Britain

Also known as king of Great Britain

The British king who personally leads the allied forces at Dettingen. Roderick says his forces did not pursue the fleeing French.

English, Hanoverian, Austrian, and Hessian allied forces

Also known as the Allies · allies

The allied forces under the Earl of Stair, opposed to the French at Dettingen.

Old French officer at Dettingen

Also known as old officer

A French officer who tells another officer that Lord Stair’s conduct at Dettingen is surprising, then explains that Stair was overruled.

Another French officer at Dettingen

Also known as another officer

An officer speaking with the old French officer before the battle of Dettingen.

Marquis who assists Strap

Also known as the marquis · nobleman

A nobleman who values Strap for his fidelity to his late master. At Strap’s request, he uses his influence to obtain Roderick’s discharge from the Picardy regiment.

Strap’s deceased English master

Also known as English gentleman lately deceased · master

An English gentleman whom Strap served in France. He died at Rheims after illness and left Strap his possessions, money, and recommendations to people of distinction.

Swiss porter at the general officer’s gate

Also known as the Swiss · porter

The porter who tells Roderick that the gentleman he saw with the marquis is Monsieur d’Estrapes, formerly a valet to a recently deceased English gentleman.

Roderick’s servant at d’Estrapes’s lodging

Also known as servant of the house · valet

The servant who tells Monsieur d’Estrapes that a soldier is requesting an audience with him.

English gentleman to whom Strap is valet

Also known as English gentleman lately deceased · Strap’s deceased English master · master

The Englishman whom Strap served in France, who died at Rheims and left Strap his property and recommendations to people of distinction.

Roderick’s uncle’s former captain

Also known as captain of the ship to which Bowling belonged

The captain of the French ship on which Tom Bowling served as a quartermaster. The passage does not name him.

Custom-house yacht crew

Also known as custom-house yacht

The crew of a yacht that chases the smugglers carrying Roderick; fog prevents them from capturing the vessel.

Monsieur D’Antin

Also known as Monsieur D’Antin

The commander of a French squadron to which Tom Bowling transfers as a quartermaster.

Capuchin friar accompanying Roderick to Paris

Also known as Capuchin · fellow traveller · Frere Balthazar

Frere Balthazar, the Capuchin friar who travels with Roderick toward Paris and later robs him near Amiens.

Sergeant who gives Roderick a berth

Also known as sergeant · grateful halberdier · my friend the sergeant

A soldier whose broken nose Roderick had treated. He gave Roderick his airy berth during a fever and is present when Roderick recovers.

Jack Rattlin

Also known as honest Jack · Jack

A sailor and Roderick’s loyal friend aboard the Thunder. After losing his left hand in battle, he is bound for Greenwich Hospital when Roderick leaves the Thunder.

Mr. Mackshane

Also known as Doctor Mackshane · the doctor · the surgeon

The Thunder’s vindictive surgeon, who leaves the ship with Captain Oakum and is absent from the events that follow.

Crampley

Also known as the midshipman · lieutenant

Roderick’s former antagonist, now a lieutenant aboard the Lizard. He slanders Roderick, abuses his authority, and, after becoming captain of the Lizard, confines the surgeon Tomlins until he dies; during a shipwreck, he fights Roderick, who wounds him before an unknown assailant knocks Roderick unconscious and the crew robs him.

Captain Whiffle

Also known as Captain Fifle

A foppish, delicate new commander of the Thunder, who recoils from Morgan’s tobacco smell and makes elaborate rules about dress and access to his cabin. He relies on his personal surgeon, Mr. Simper, and his peculiar conduct prompts scandal among the crew.

Captain Whiffle’s attendants

Also known as attendants · servants

Captain Whiffle’s attendants, who rush to his aid when Morgan’s smell makes him faint. They include a valet-de-chambre and several footmen.

Captain Whiffle’s valet-de-chambre

Also known as valet-de-chambre · Vergette

Whiffle’s valet, who supports him, applies smelling salts, and tells Roderick that Whiffle should lose only a small amount of blood.

Captain Whiffle’s footmen

Also known as footmen

Whiffle’s servants who tend to him after Morgan’s visit; one pushes Morgan out of the cabin, while another applies Hungary water and a third sprinkles lavender spirits.

Mr. Simper

Also known as Simper · the doctor · Mr. Simper

Captain Whiffle’s personal surgeon, a delicately mannered young man who diagnoses Whiffle’s distress as nervous and prescribes medicine instead of bleeding. Whiffle has a cabin made for him beside the state room.

Admiral commanding the fleet

Also known as the admiral · Sir C— O—gle

The admiral who orders that one surgeon’s mate from each large ship bound for England must remain in the West Indies. He arranges Roderick’s appointment as surgeon’s mate of the Lizard.

Admiral’s surgeon

Also known as the admiral’s surgeon

An officer who informs Roderick and Morgan that one of them must stay in the West Indies, and oversees their choice. He secures Roderick’s warrant for the Lizard.

Captain of the Lizard

Also known as captain

The commander of the Lizard sloop-of-war, who receives Roderick aboard as a surgeon’s mate. He later promotes to a larger ship.

Gunner of the Lizard

Also known as the gunner

An officer who recommends Roderick to a Jew who buys his ticket. Later, on the voyage to England, he warns Crampley that the ship is in soundings, is confined for protesting, and ultimately saves the stranded vessel by waiting for high tide.

Master’s mate aboard the Lizard

Also known as the master’s mate · my friend the master’s mate · Brayl

A Lizard officer named Brayl, who is Roderick’s companion during the voyage to Port Morant and commands a captured prize. He treats Roderick with great kindness and later rises to officer rank.

Jack Rattlin’s fellow sailor from the Thunder

Also known as honest Jack Rattlin

Roderick’s old friend Jack Rattlin, who is bound for Greenwich Hospital when Roderick transfers from the Thunder.

Jew who buys Roderick’s ticket

Also known as a Jew

A person in Jamaica who buys Roderick’s ticket at a discount of forty percent.

Sixteen wounded Spanish and English prisoners

Also known as wounded Spaniards as well as Englishmen · patients

Wounded men from the captured Spanish barcolongo and its English prize, whom Roderick is sent to care for ashore at Port Morant.

Four Lizard sailors assigned to the hospital

Also known as four of the ship’s company

Sailors appointed to attend the wounded at the makeshift hospital in Port Morant and obey Roderick.

Rich planter

Also known as a rich planter

A wealthy Jamaican planter who entertains Brayl and Roderick at his house in the country. He is Thompson’s employer.

Rhode Island schooner’s master

Also known as Robertson

A North Briton who captains a Rhode Island schooner. He recognizes his old schoolfellow Thompson after rescuing him from the sea and helps him find employment in Jamaica.

Thompson’s employer’s only daughter

Also known as only daughter · amiable young lady

The daughter of the wealthy gentleman who employs Thompson. She returns his affection, and Thompson hopes her parents will consent to their marriage.

Thompson’s employer and his wife

Also known as a gentleman of fortune · his lady · gentleman with whom I have lived

A wealthy Jamaican landowner and his wife, who are in Kingston while Thompson manages their plantations. Thompson says he is favored by them and hopes for their consent to marry their daughter.

Two stout negroes escorting Brayl

Also known as a couple of stout negroes

Two men Thompson orders to escort Brayl back to the ship after dinner.

Captain of the Lizard who dies on the voyage

Also known as our captain · old man

An elderly captain who succeeds Whiffle as commander of the Lizard. He dies at sea after treating gout and gravel with Holland gin, and Crampley takes command.

Purser of the Lizard

Also known as the purser

The purser whose cabin and rum are plundered by the crew during the shipwreck. He condemns the theft and prays that the crew will not perish for Jonas’s sake.

Carpenter’s mate

Also known as plunderer

A sailor who hews into the purser’s cabin during the shipwreck to get at his rum, saying they should enjoy themselves while they can.

Jonas

Also known as the plunderer

The name the purser gives for the carpenter’s mate who breaks into his cabin to steal rum.

Sailors who plunder the officers’ chests

Also known as sailors · ship’s company · crew

The crew members who, fearing the ship will founder, break open officers’ chests, put on their clothes, and drink their liquor. They abandon the stranded vessel in the boat, then rob Roderick after he is knocked unconscious.

Unknown assailant who knocks Roderick down

Also known as incensed barbarian

An unidentified crew member who strikes Roderick on the back of the head during his fight with Crampley, leaving him unconscious and vulnerable to robbery.

Gunboat crewman who cuts the boat loose

Also known as some one wiser than the rest

An unnamed sailor who cuts the boat loose from the stranded sloop before it can be sunk by the crowd trying to board.

Countryman in the barn

Also known as clown

A frightened villager named Dick, who enters the barn with a pitchfork and mistakes the wounded Roderick for a ghost or devil.

Dick’s father

Also known as old man · senior · vather

An elderly villager who sees Roderick in the barn and fears he is a supernatural being. He and Dick flee before an old woman intervenes.

Dick

Also known as the young peasant

A countryman who discovers Roderick hidden in a barn and flees in terror, knocking his father over in the process.

Farmer Hodge

Also known as goodman Hodge

A farmer whose house Roderick is taken to in a wheelbarrow. He refuses to help and sends him to the parson.

Parish vicar who refuses Roderick aid

Also known as the parson · the vicar

The local clergyman whom Hodge sends Roderick to for charity. He threatens to excommunicate the people who brought Roderick unless they remove him.

Old woman’s husband

Also known as my husband · lieutenant

A poor army lieutenant whom the old woman secretly married against her wealthy parents’ wishes. He was sent to Flanders and killed beside his friend at the battle of the Wood.

Old woman’s parents

Also known as my father · my mother

Wealthy parents who disowned their daughter after she secretly married a poor lieutenant; her mother affirmed the rejection in a letter.

Old woman’s husband’s friend

Also known as another officer · friend and confidant

An officer who was the old woman’s husband’s longtime friend. He was killed beside him at the battle of the Wood.

Old woman’s companion

Also known as wife of another officer · companion

The wife of the officer who was the old woman’s husband’s friend. She and the old woman became close companions after both were widowed and lived together until her death two years before the story.

Old woman’s deceased companion’s cat

Also known as tabby cat · favourite

A tabby cat with a collar, cherished by the old woman’s deceased companion and kept by the old woman.

Squire Bumper

Also known as Squire Bumper

A local gentleman invited by the young squire to join a fox chase with Sir Timothy Thicket.

Waiting-woman in the single lady’s household

Also known as waiting-woman · maid

A servant who introduces Roderick to the single lady and later tells him about her eccentric behavior.

Maids in the single lady’s household

Also known as maids · fellow servants

The household servants who welcome Roderick and explain his duties. They tell him about the single lady’s unusual habits and Narcissa’s role in caring for her.

Cook maid in the single lady’s household

Also known as cook maid

A servant employed in the single lady’s separate apartment.

Footman in the single lady’s household

Also known as footman

The single lady’s former footman, whose livery Roderick inherits after his death.

Fox hounds

Also known as hounds

The hunting dogs whose noise disturbs the single lady and makes her imagine that she is a hare pursued by hunters.

Narcissa’s aunt’s pet cat

Also known as cat · puss

The cat the single lady imagines herself to be when she is in one of her fanciful states.

Roderick’s deceased ship’s captain

Also known as captain

The elderly commander of the Lizard who dies during the voyage to England, allowing Crampley to take command.

Mad patient who attacks the captain

Also known as madman · maniac · patient

A patient who attacks Captain Oakum and Mackshane after being released from restraint. Treated as a prisoner, he later escapes by leaping overboard.

First lieutenant of the Thunder

Also known as first lieutenant · lieutenant who commanded the ship

The Thunder’s first lieutenant, who persuades Oakum to spare the patient and supports Roderick and Morgan’s decision to treat Rattlin’s broken leg without amputation.

Boatswain

Also known as the boatswain

The Thunder’s boatswain, who says he cannot spare men to carry Rattlin below during the storm because the ship is in danger.

Boatswain’s mates

Also known as boatswain’s mates

Sailors who help manage the Thunder during the storm by calling orders and working the ship.

Two sailors lost in the storm

Also known as two sailors

Sailors thrown from the mainyard into the sea when a brace breaks during the hurricane; they perish.

Mackshane’s servant

Also known as his own servant · the surgeon’s servant

Mackshane’s servant, who carries surgical instruments and gives evidence against Morgan at the captain’s hearing. Morgan later suspects him of stealing provisions from his chest.

Master-at-arms

Also known as master-at-arms

The ship’s officer who arrests Roderick and Morgan, fastens them in irons, and later returns Morgan to confinement after Captain Oakum hears them speak against him.

Two corporals who guard Morgan

Also known as two corporals · corporal

The corporals who escort Morgan to the poop and attempt to fasten him in the same irons as Roderick.

Captain Oakum’s clerk

Also known as clerk · attorney’s boy

Oakum’s clerk, a former attorney’s boy, who conducts a biased hearing against Morgan and Roderick and offers absurd legal interpretations of the evidence.

Boy of Roderick’s mess

Also known as boy of the mess · boy

The Thunder’s mess boy, whom Mackshane bribes with clothes to give false evidence against Roderick and Morgan. After confessing, he is dismissed from their mess.

Sentinel who reports Roderick and Morgan

Also known as sentinel

The sentinel guarding Roderick who reports the men’s private criticism of Oakum and Mackshane to the captain.

Two sailors pretending to speak Greek

Also known as two modern Greeks · two foremast men

Two foremast men who falsely claim to know Greek in order to support Mackshane’s case against Roderick. One later reveals that their supposed Greek conversation was actually in Irish.

Officer of marines killed in battle

Also known as officer of marines

A marine officer standing near Roderick during the battle whose head is shot off by enemy fire.

Drummer killed in battle

Also known as a drummer

A drummer who is struck by a cannon shot while approaching Roderick, then falls dead across him.

Chaplain aboard the Thunder

Also known as the chaplain · parson

A chaplain aboard the Thunder who assists the surgeon during battle, becomes delirious after drinking rum, and later visits Roderick during his fever to urge confession.

Purser aboard the Thunder

Also known as the purser

A purser who assists in the cockpit during battle, panics under fire, and laments leaving his former work as a brewer in Rochester.

Captain Oakum’s cousin

Also known as well-beloved cousin

Mackshane is described as Captain Oakum’s cousin.

Captain Oakum’s new captain

Also known as our new captain

A new captain takes command of the Thunder after Oakum and Mackshane leave for another ship; the passage introduces him without further identifying details.

Two French men-of-war

Also known as French men-of-war · four sail

French warships encountered by the British fleet near Jamaica. Two are engaged through the night before Oakum ends the fight.

French commodore

Also known as French commodore

The commander of the French ship Oakum visits after the night-long engagement, when he claims he mistook the French for Spaniards.

Spanish soldiers at La Quinta

Also known as body of Spaniards

A group of Spanish soldiers who offer faint resistance as British troops land at La Quinta.

Spanish enemy forces at Carthagena

Also known as Spaniards · the enemy

The Spanish forces defending Carthagena, its forts, and the harbour. They abandon Bocca Chica after the British attack and later resist the assault on the castle of St. Lazar.

General commanding the land forces

Also known as our general · our chief

The British general who leads the land forces at Carthagena and orders the failed assault on the castle of St. Lazar.

Mackshane’s bribed witness

Also known as one of the two modern Greeks

One of the sailors who falsely claims to speak Greek; after quarrelling with his accomplice, he reveals that Mackshane arranged their fabricated Greek dialogue.

Soldier who saves Roderick from suffocation

Also known as sergeant

The sergeant whose berth gives Roderick fresh air during his fever. He is the same grateful soldier whose nose Roderick treated after the previous engagement.

Bailiff in the Marshalsea episode

Also known as bailiff · catchpole · Mr. Vulture

A bailiff who mistakenly arrests Miss Williams under a writ for Elizabeth Cary and takes her toward the Marshalsea. Her acquaintances establish the mistake, and he pays her compensation to settle the matter.

Bailiff’s followers

Also known as followers · myrmidons · terrible fellows

The men accompanying Mr. Vulture who surround Miss Williams and handle her roughly during her arrest. One is sent to call a coach.

Elizabeth Cary

Also known as the person whose name is on the writ

A woman known to Miss Williams’s acquaintances whose name appears on the writ. Miss Williams is mistakenly arrested as her.

Miss Williams’s two acquaintances

Also known as two of her acquaintance · two evidences · ladies

Two women who come to the Marshalsea at Miss Williams’s request and offer to testify that she is not Elizabeth Cary. She shares half of her compensation with them.

Miss Williams’s landlady

Also known as landlady · old jade

A landlady who gave Miss Williams credit and had a writ issued against her for the debt. Mr. Vulture blames her for misinforming him about the woman’s identity.

Mrs. Coupler

Also known as serviceable matron · lady

A woman Miss Williams meets in Bridewell who takes her in and supplies clothes in exchange for a share of her earnings. Jealous of Miss Williams’s success, she spreads a rumor that ruins her reputation and has her arrested for debt.

Gentleman dressed like an officer

Also known as captain · gallant · adventurer · confederate

A man who spends the night with Miss Williams at a tavern, then escapes through a closet window with the silver tankard and posset-bowl, leaving her to be arrested as his accomplice. He later confesses to the theft and clears her.

Waiter at the tavern

Also known as waiter

The tavern waiter who enters Miss Williams’s locked room and discovers that the supposed captain has escaped through the closet window.

Justice who commits Miss Williams to Bridewell

Also known as justice

A justice who mistakes Miss Williams’s confusion for evidence of guilt and commits her to Bridewell. He urges her to turn evidence against the man who stole the tavern’s silver.

Master of Bridewell

Also known as the master

The prison official who tells Miss Williams that the thief has been caught and she is to be discharged.

Bridewell prisoner who attempts suicide

Also known as one of the prisoners

Miss Williams, during her imprisonment, attempts to hang herself but is stopped by two women and then punished with thirty stripes.

Two women who stop Miss Williams’s suicide attempt

Also known as two women

Two women in Bridewell who stay awake and prevent Miss Williams from hanging herself.

Miss Williams’s fellow prisoners

Also known as fellow-prisoners · prisoners

The other inmates who rob Miss Williams while she is unconscious and later hear about her suicide attempt.

Mrs. Coupler’s justice

Also known as a certain justice

A justice whose connivance Mrs. Coupler had failed to reward, leading to her indictment and imprisonment in Bridewell.

Sea-lieutenant who helps Miss Williams

Also known as sea-lieutenant · benefactor

A naval lieutenant who pays Miss Williams’s debt and bailiff’s expenses, gives her five guineas, and becomes her companion. He later dies in a storm at sea.

Miss Williams’s companion and maid

Also known as companion · maid

A woman who helps Miss Williams pose as a wealthy heiress, lends her clothes, and later helps her flee from creditors. She previously knew Horatio and acts as Miss Williams’s maid in the scheme.

Horatio

Also known as old keeper

Miss Williams’s former lover, who reappears as the intimate friend of the man she is about to marry. He recognizes her but promises not to expose her.

Miss Williams’s intended husband

Also known as adorer · admirer

A man who courts Miss Williams while she is posing as a wealthy heiress and sets a wedding date. He introduces Horatio to her as an intimate friend.

Miss Williams’s first directress

Also known as directress

The older woman who first guides Miss Williams into earning money by entertaining men. She later abandons her for a new opportunity.

Porters at certain taverns

Also known as porters

Tavern porters who arrange customers for Miss Williams in exchange for a share of her profits.

Tavern customers who abuse Miss Williams

Also known as company · gallants · sons of mirth and riot

Men who visit Miss Williams while she works in taverns; their drunkenness and brutality expose her to abuse and humiliation.

Miss Williams’s first judge target

Also known as a certain judge

The judge whom the older woman initially introduces to Miss Williams as a target for their deceit.

Mrs. Coupler’s customers

Also known as customers · company

The men who frequent Mrs. Coupler’s house and shun Miss Williams after Mrs. Coupler spreads a rumor that she is diseased.

Miss Williams’s landlady at Park Street

Also known as landlady

The landlady who rents Miss Williams a genteel apartment while she poses as an heiress. Miss Williams and her companion flee without paying her.

Tradespeople owed by Miss Williams

Also known as several tradesmen

Local tradespeople to whom Miss Williams and her companion owe money when they flee their lodging.

Old schoolfellow commanding a coasting vessel

Also known as old schoolfellow

A former schoolmate of Roderick’s who commands a small coasting vessel in the river. Roderick considers asking him for help but is press-ganged before he can do so.

Press-gang leader

Also known as squat tawny fellow

A sailor carrying a hanger and cudgel who approaches Roderick at Tower Wharf and orders him to come along. He leads the party that presses Roderick into naval service.

Sailor who seizes Roderick

Also known as another sailor · assailant

A sailor who grabs Roderick by the collar during the press-gang attack and is knocked unconscious by him.

Sailors in the press gang

Also known as ten or a dozen more · opponents

The sailors who surround and overpower Roderick during the press-gang encounter, wounding him before carrying him to the tender.

Roderick’s fellow captive who sells his handkerchief

Also known as fellow captive · unfettered captive

A captive on the tender who takes Roderick’s handkerchief and sells it to a bumboat woman for gin instead of dressing his wounds.

Bumboat woman

Also known as a bumboat woman

A woman aboard the tender who sells provisions and liquor to sailors and buys Roderick’s handkerchief from a fellow captive.

Midshipman who mistreats Roderick

Also known as the midshipman · my oppressor

A midshipman on the tender who refuses to have Roderick’s wounds dressed, spits tobacco at him, and later beats him aboard the Thunder. After Roderick reports him, he is confined in the bilboes.

Mate who guards the pressed men

Also known as mate

The ship’s mate who escorts the pressed men to the Thunder and has Roderick’s handcuffs removed so he can board more easily.

Sailors who mock Roderick aboard the Thunder

Also known as some of the company · shipmates

Crew members who make jokes about Roderick’s wounds and bloodied hair as he boards the Thunder.

Surgeon aboard the Thunder before Dr. Atkins

Also known as the surgeon

The Thunder’s surgeon who has one of his mates dress Roderick’s wounds and, at Thompson’s recommendation, takes Roderick on as an assistant. He secures Roderick’s warrant and gives him clothes before leaving for another ship.

Surgeon’s mate who dresses Roderick’s wounds

Also known as one of his mates · surgeon’s mate

The surgeon’s mate sent to dress Roderick’s wounds aboard the Thunder; he is revealed to be Thompson.

Young acquaintance who alerts Thompson to his warrant

Also known as a young fellow

A young man known to Thompson who tells him that a warrant has been made out in his name at the Navy Office.

Clerk of the cheque

Also known as clerk of the checque

The official who musters Thompson aboard the Thunder after he arrives at Chatham.

Ship’s steward

Also known as steward

The Thunder’s steward, who distributes provisions and records what each mess receives. Mr. Morgan accuses him of serving damaged food, but the steward denies causing the foul smell.

Quartermasters aboard the Thunder

Also known as quartermasters

Ship’s quartermasters who pass through the berth. One explains to Roderick that the boatswain’s mates’ morning call summons the larboard watch.

Sailor who asks Morgan to treat his messmate

Also known as sailor · tar

A sailor whom Morgan sends to fetch a doctor’s prescription and urge him to keep a sick messmate alive. He returns to report that the man has died.

Morgan’s sick messmate

Also known as his messmate · the sick man

A sailor so gravely ill that Morgan is summoned to prepare medicine for him, but he dies before Morgan can arrive.

Surgeon’s first mate

Also known as first mate

The Thunder’s first surgeon’s mate, who is on shore on duty when Roderick arrives. Thompson describes him as proud and quick-tempered but basically honest.

Roderick’s fellow mate who treats Crampley

Also known as one of the master’s mates · fellow-mate

A mate who helps stop the fight between Roderick and Crampley and treats Crampley’s dislocated arm.

Doctor Atkins

Also known as Dr. Atkins

The Thunder’s surgeon before the captain replaces him. He visits the sick and prescribes their treatment; Thompson praises him as good-natured and indolent.

Captain Oakum’s surgeon

Also known as surgeon of his own country

The surgeon Captain Oakum brings aboard to replace Doctor Atkins. His name is Mr. Mackshane, and Roderick describes him as ignorant, cruel, and vindictive.

Captain Oakum’s steward

Also known as captain’s steward

A countryman of Morgan who hurries him out of Captain Oakum’s cabin before their argument escalates.

Poor sailor recovering from a fever

Also known as first patient · poor fellow

A sailor who has just recovered from a fever and can hardly stand. Mackshane declares him fit for duty, and he collapses before the boatswain’s mate can flog him.

Sailor with a quartan ague

Also known as second patient

A sailor with a recurring fever who appears pale and emaciated. Mackshane declares him fit for duty, and he dies during a later chill.

Sailor with a pleuritic stitch

Also known as third patient

A sailor who is coughing blood and suffering chest pain. Mackshane orders him to exercise at the pump, and he soon suffocates from bleeding in his lungs.

Sailor with dropsy

Also known as fourth patient · unwieldy wretch

A sailor with severe dropsy who can scarcely breathe. Mackshane mistakes his condition for fatness and orders him aloft; he falls into the sea but is rescued by a sailor in a boat.

Boatswain’s mate who administers punishment

Also known as executioner · boatswain’s mate

A boatswain’s mate ordered to give a sick sailor a dozen lashes for supposedly feigning illness.

Boatswain’s driver

Also known as driver

A sailor ordered to whip the sick man with the cat-o-nine-tails to force him aloft.

Sailor who rescues the man with dropsy

Also known as sailor in a boat

A sailor in a boat alongside the Thunder who keeps the man with dropsy afloat until he can be hoisted aboard.

Waiter who testifies about Morgan’s patient

Also known as one of the waiters · witness

A ship’s attendant who says he pulled the mad patient away from Morgan’s mate after the patient had nearly strangled him.

Morgan’s doctor’s mate attacked by the patient

Also known as doctor’s mate

A doctor’s mate whom the patient allegedly knocked down and nearly strangled before a waiter intervened.

Ship’s company sick with disease

Also known as sick · patients

The Thunder’s sick sailors, crowded into a dark, filthy hospital berth. Captain Oakum and Mackshane order them examined and send many back to duty, causing several to collapse or die.

Navy Office secretary

Also known as secretary

The official who receives and reads Roderick’s qualification letters, then tells the candidates that there are no vacancies. Other candidates say they pay him presents to improve their chances.

Navy Office candidates

Also known as companions · company · each of them

The other qualified candidates who accompany Roderick to the Navy Office. Each says he has a recommendation to a commissioner and has set aside money for the secretary.

Chandler and lodging landlord

Also known as landlord

The honest landlord who worries when Roderick does not return and welcomes him back to his lodging.

Strap’s barber master

Also known as his master

The master who gives Strap leave to search for Roderick.

Blacksmith’s apprentice

Also known as blacksmith’s ’prentice · blacksmith

A blacksmith’s apprentice who tricks Strap into believing Roderick is being taken to Tyburn, then fights him when Strap takes offense.

Porter questioned by Strap

Also known as porter with a burden

A porter whom Strap asks for news of Roderick; he answers with a curse.

Alehouse spectators

Also known as mob · multitude · spectators

The crowd that forms a ring to watch Strap fight the blacksmith’s apprentice and laughs when Strap discovers his clothes have been stolen.

Tailor recommended by the schoolmaster

Also known as the schoolmaster’s tailor

A tailor who gives Roderick credit for a suit, to be repaid from his first wages.

Irish captain’s servant

Also known as servant of an Irish captain

A servant who lodges in the first floor of Lavement’s house; furniture from Roderick’s room has been moved to a garret for the servant’s convenience.

Mr. Lavement’s wife

Also known as mistress · Mrs. Lavement

Lavement’s English wife, who competes with her daughter for Captain O’Donnell’s attentions. She joins her daughter and Gawky in accusing Roderick and urges his prosecution.

Captain O’Donnell

Also known as Squire O’Donnell · the captain

An Irish captain lodging with the Lavements, who has an affair with Mrs. Lavement and is suspected by Roderick of stabbing him. Roderick confirms the suspicion by matching a broken sword tip to the fragment removed from his wound, then tricks O’Donnell into an ambush and revenge beating.

Maids in Lavement’s household

Also known as maids

The household maids who tell Roderick about Lavement’s daughter and wife and their rivalry. They dine with Roderick in the kitchen.

Captain O’Donnell’s servant

Also known as his own servant

O’Donnell’s servant, whom O’Donnell robs of nearly everything before fleeing.

Watchmen who find O’Donnell

Also known as watch

The watchmen who pick up O’Donnell after Roderick and his companions strip and beat him, and take him to the round-house.

Two of Strap’s acquaintances

Also known as two of his acquaintance · associates

Two acquaintances of Strap who help Roderick carry out his revenge on O’Donnell.

Roderick’s livery-clad associate

Also known as associate in livery

An associate of Roderick who delivers the false appointment letter that lures O’Donnell to the ambush.

Apothecary’s wife in Chelsea

Also known as apothecary’s wife · the Chelsea apothecary’s wife

A woman whose name Roderick uses to sign the false letter luring O’Donnell to a meeting. She is married to a Chelsea apothecary and is not involved in Roderick’s scheme.

Chelsea apothecary

Also known as the apothecary

The husband of the woman whose name Roderick uses on the false letter to O’Donnell. He sues a printer for defamation after the letter is published.

Female author of scandal

Also known as certain female author · the author

A scandal-writing female author who obtains O’Donnell’s letters, embellishes them, and publishes them.

Printer sued by the Chelsea apothecary

Also known as the printer

The printer sued by the Chelsea apothecary for defamation over the published letters.

Strap’s prospective employer

Also known as gentleman

A gentleman who offers Strap a position abroad as his valet-de-chambre.

Footpads who attack Gawky

Also known as company of footpads

The footpads who rob and beat Gawky and another man in the street.

Roderick’s former lodging landlord

Also known as the person with whom I had formerly lodged

The landlord with whom Roderick stays briefly after Lavement dismisses him.

Advertising doctor

Also known as advertising quack

A doctor who takes Miss Williams’s money for treatment and leaves her in worse condition.

Miss Williams’s father

Also known as her father · eminent merchant

An eminent merchant who retires to a country estate after substantial losses. He raises Miss Williams there, grieves over her disappearance, and dies before she can return to him.

Miss Williams’s mother

Also known as her mother

Miss Williams’s mother, who dies when her daughter is twelve.

Miss Williams’s aunt

Also known as aunt

A rigid Presbyterian who boards and educates Miss Williams in town, and alerts her father when she becomes a freethinker.

Miss Williams’s freethinking acquaintance

Also known as one of her own sex · friend

A woman Miss Williams meets in town who urges her to reject her aunt’s religious influence and read freethinking writers.

Drunken squire who assaults Miss Williams

Also known as a certain drunken squire · squire

A drunken squire who accosts Miss Williams in a wood and tries to assault her. Her rescuer overpowers him and disarms him.

Miss Williams’s rescuer

Also known as courteous stranger · young gentleman · eldest son of a wealthy gentleman

A young gentleman who rescues Miss Williams from the drunken squire and becomes her lover. He seduces her, abandons her, and marries another woman; Miss Williams calls him Lothario.

Lothario’s father

Also known as his father · avaricious father

A wealthy gentleman who disapproves of his son’s relationship with Miss Williams and arranges his marriage to another woman.

Lothario’s wife

Also known as his young wife · bride

The woman Lothario marries after abandoning Miss Williams. She suspects that Miss Williams has a secret grievance against him.

Two footmen at Lothario’s house

Also known as two footmen

The servants who seize Miss Williams and prevent her from attacking Lothario with a poniard.

Old woman attending Miss Williams

Also known as old woman

A woman who attends Miss Williams after she faints at Lothario’s house and tells her that he has called her mad.

Stranger who befriends Miss Williams

Also known as stranger · Horatio

A man who claims to seek revenge on Lothario and wins Miss Williams’s confidence. He falsely claims to have fought Lothario in a duel, then abandons her after her father dies.

Lothario’s father’s friend who visits Miss Williams

Also known as gentleman who dined at her house

A visitor who tells Miss Williams that Lothario is about to leave for London with his bride.

Mr. of Gray’s Inn

Also known as Mr. — of Gray’s Inn

The person named in a newspaper advertisement as the contact for information about Miss Williams’s disappearance.

Old gentlewoman who recruits Miss Williams

Also known as matron

An older woman who befriends Miss Williams after Horatio abandons her, then persuades her to earn money by entertaining men and sharing the profits.

Judge targeted by Miss Williams

Also known as a certain judge

A judge whom the old gentlewoman introduces to Miss Williams as her first target when she begins working as a woman of the town.

Miss Williams’s father’s heir

Also known as stranger

A person to whom Miss Williams’s father leaves his fortune after she disappears.

Periwinkle

Also known as old Periwinkle

A drunken tinker whom Roderick and Strap used to prank when they were schoolboys.

Jonathan Wild

A person the schoolmaster invokes as a comparison while fearing that association with Roderick will ruin his reputation.

Milkwoman

Also known as the milkwoman

A woman who arrives while Roderick and Strap are hungry, enabling them to buy milk and bread.

Surgeon who treats Roderick

Also known as surgeon

A surgeon summoned by the people at a roadside alehouse after Roderick is stabbed; he dresses the wounds and says they are not mortal.

People at the roadside alehouse

Also known as people

The people at a solitary alehouse who hear Roderick groan, take him in, and send for a surgeon.

Patient’s servant

Also known as a patient’s servant

A servant who brings a prescription to Lavement while he is making up a draught.

Chairman who brings Roderick home

Also known as chairman

The chair bearer who supports the wounded Roderick into Lavement’s house.

Joey

Also known as the waggon driver · driver · waggoner

The driver of the Newcastle-to-London waggon. He explains that the supposed apparition was the innkeeper’s father following his tame raven.

Landlord’s father

Also known as old man

The innkeeper’s elderly father, who has been an idiot for years. He follows his tame raven into Roderick and Strap’s room and asks for it by the name Ralpho.

Ralpho

Also known as the raven · tame raven

The landlord’s tame raven, which wears bells and wanders into Roderick and Strap’s room at night.

Member of parliament Mr. Cringer

Also known as Mr. Cringer · Cringer

A member of parliament whom Roderick approaches with a letter of recommendation from Mr. Crab. He is an unscrupulous patron who favors well-dressed applicants, expects bribes, and sends Roderick to Mr. Staytape.

Carman

Also known as the carman

A carman whom Roderick and Strap ask for directions to Mr. Cringer’s home. He insults them as Scottish guards and drives off.

Hackney coachman

Also known as coachman

A coachman who deliberately splashes Roderick and Strap with mud while driving past them.

Compassionate passerby

Also known as one

A passerby who sees Roderick and Strap are strangers and advises them to go into an alehouse to dry themselves.

Alehouse wag

Also known as wag · wit · brawny fellow

A brawny man in an alehouse who mocks Roderick and Strap for being Scottish and provokes them into a fight. Roderick knocks him down, and he declines to continue fighting, citing a recent illness.

Mr. Cringer’s footman

Also known as footman · particoloured fraternity

Cringer’s servant, who first turns Roderick away and later admits him after Roderick gives him a shilling. He gives Roderick and Strap deliberately misleading directions to Cringer’s lodging.

Highland sign snuff-shop keeper

Also known as shopkeeper · countryman

A Scottish shopkeeper in London who tells Roderick that Cringer lives elsewhere and provides a letter of introduction to a chandler who rents them a room.

Cook at the diving cellar

Also known as cook · woman

The cook in the cellar dining room. Strap knocks her over as he descends, spilling soup that scalds a drummer.

Foot-guards drummer

Also known as drummer

A drummer in the foot-guards who is scalded when the cook falls. Roderick advises washing off the salt applied to his burn, which eases his pain.

Diving cellar landlady

Also known as landlady

The landlady of the cellar dining room, who insists that the drummer pay for a pewter pot he crushed.

Mr. Cringer’s neighbor

Also known as person in the next house

An unseen resident of the house next to Cringer’s who pours a vessel onto Strap when he loudly knocks at Cringer’s door.

Decent man who returns Roderick’s coin

Also known as decent sort of a man · stranger · new acquaintance

A stranger who pretends to return a half-crown Roderick has not dropped and uses the encounter to draw him and Strap into a gambling scam.

Money-dropper’s accomplice

Also known as the other stranger · person in the house

A confederate of the money-dropper who joins the card game and wins Roderick’s money.

Mrs. Staytape

Also known as Mrs. Staytape

Mr. Staytape’s wife, whom Cringer asks after when greeting him.

Mr. Staytape’s young ladies

Also known as the young ladies

The young women in Mr. Staytape’s household, whom Cringer asks after; no further details are given.

Mr. Staytape’s friend

Also known as friend who lived over the way

A friend of Staytape who advises and helps Jackson disguise himself to look older before the examination.

Navy Office messenger

Also known as messenger

The messenger who receives Roderick’s letter to the Navy Board and says he can expect an order the next day.

Navy Board clerks

Also known as clerk · secretary

The clerks and secretary who process candidates’ examination letters and warrants. Thompson says candidates commonly pay the secretary a present to secure a warrant.

Surgeons’ Hall clerk

Also known as clerk at Surgeons’ Hall

The clerk who registers Roderick’s name after receiving his examination letter and a shilling.

Surgeons’ Hall examiner who rebukes Roderick

Also known as Mr. Snarler

An examiner who berates Roderick for having served only a three-year apprenticeship and mocks his Scottish origins.

Plump examiner with a skull

Also known as fat gentleman · corpulent gentleman · brother

A kind examiner at Surgeons’ Hall who reassures Roderick and tests his knowledge of surgery. He disputes another examiner’s claim that all intestinal wounds are fatal.

Facetious examiner

Also known as wag · facetious member

An examiner who jokes about surgical cases, including a patient whose head has been shot off, while questioning Roderick.

Examiner who disputes treatment of intestinal wounds

Also known as pert gentleman · sufficient member · antagonist

An arrogant examiner who insists that all intestinal wounds are fatal and argues fiercely with the corpulent examiner.

Surgeons’ Hall chairman

Also known as chairman

The chair of the examining board who orders Roderick to withdraw when the examiners’ dispute grows loud.

Surgeons’ Hall beadles

Also known as beadles · beadle

The beadles who collect fees at Surgeons’ Hall and take Jackson into custody after he is exposed as an impostor. One dismisses Jackson after being paid a bribe.

Old woman who sweeps Surgeons’ Hall

Also known as old woman

A woman who sweeps the hall and receives a shilling from Roderick.

Footman who dines with Jackson

Also known as footman

A footman who dines with Jackson at a cookshop. Jackson claims the man introduced him to his prospective bride through the footman’s sweetheart.

Jackson’s supposed prospective bride

Also known as certain lady · dear charmer · five thousand pounder

A wealthy woman whom Jackson claims he is about to marry. He shows Roderick a letter signed ‘Clayrender,’ but the passage gives no independent confirmation of the engagement.

Jackson’s supposed bride’s woman

Also known as her woman

The servant of Jackson’s supposed prospective bride, whom he says is the sweetheart of the footman who introduced them.

Clayrender

Also known as the supposed bride · Dear Kreeter’s correspondent

The purported author of a comically misspelled love letter that Jackson presents as evidence of his engagement.

Bean Jackson’s lender

Also known as friend in the city · gentleman

A city lender who advances Jackson small sums at fifty percent interest after Jackson signs over his naval wages and effects as security.

Jackson’s Chatham contact

Also known as friend in that place

A contact in Chatham whom Jackson says he has commissioned to collect his naval pay.

Broad Street paymaster

Also known as paymaster

The official or office at Broad Street where naval crews are paid; Jackson says he missed his pay there.

Drummer in the diving cellar

Also known as drummer belonging to the foot-guards

A foot-guards drummer whom the cook’s spilled soup scalds. Roderick advises treatment that brings him relief.

Surgeons’ Hall candidate

Also known as young fellow

A young candidate who emerges from examination pale and shaken, prompting the waiting applicants to ask about the questions.

Two examiners disputing intestinal wounds

Also known as two disputants

The two examiners who argue over whether wounds of the intestines can be treated successfully, disrupting the examination board.

Tavern keeper, Jackson’s friend

Also known as Jackson’s friend · friend who kept a tavern

A friend of Jackson who keeps a tavern across from Surgeons’ Hall and hosts Jackson and his companions after the examination.

Women at the night-house

Also known as nymphs · two or three nymphs · ladies

Women at the night-house who lavish attention on Jackson while he buys them punch. Two sit beside him when he discovers his purse is missing.

Night-house keeper

Also known as good lady at the bar · landlady

The keeper of the night-house who accuses Jackson of defaming her establishment and summons the constable after he claims he has been robbed.

Night-house drawer

Also known as drawer

An employee of the night-house who leaves at the keeper’s whisper and returns with the constable and watch.

Constable

Also known as Mr. Constable

The constable who arrests Roderick, Jackson, and others at the night-house. He privately explains the keeper’s influence and negotiates a settlement, then tells the justice what happened.

Night watch

Also known as watch

Watchmen who enter the night-house with the constable and help take the company into custody.

Mrs. Harridan

Also known as the keeper · our adversary

The keeper of a notorious night-house who accuses Jackson and his companions of causing a riot after Jackson claims he has been robbed. She is protected through payments to local justices.

Justice near Covent Garden

Also known as his worship · certain justice

A justice who initially mistakes Roderick for a repeat offender named Patrick Gaghagan and threatens to imprison Jackson. After hearing the constable’s account, he dismisses the group and claims his threats are intended to deter young people from debauchery.

Justice’s clerk

Also known as clerk

The clerk whom the justice orders to write a mittimus for Roderick under the false name Patrick Gaghagan.

Patrick Gaghagan

The name the justice falsely assigns to Roderick, whom he mistakes for an Irish repeat offender. It is not Roderick’s actual name.

Lord Terrier

Also known as my Lord Terrier

A lord whose early morning levee Cringer says he must attend; Cringer claims the lord will then visit the minister.

Minister attended by Lord Terrier

Also known as the minister

A minister whom Lord Terrier is said to visit between eight and nine in the morning.

Scotch member who recommends Thompson

Also known as Scotch member

A Scottish member of parliament who recommended Thompson to a Navy commissioner and promised him a warrant.

Navy commissioner who promised Thompson a warrant

Also known as commissioner

A commissioner who, along with a Scottish member of parliament, promised Thompson a warrant for the first vacancy.

Secretary who was bribed for Thompson’s warrant

Also known as secretary

The Navy Office secretary whom Thompson says he bribed to obtain his warrant after being told there was no vacancy.

Thompson’s relatives

Also known as relations

Thompson’s relatives, who initially reproach him when he asks for money, then reconcile with him after his naval service.

Elizabeth

Also known as the Elizabeth

The ship on which Jackson says he served as surgeon’s second mate.

Watchman at the night-house

Also known as constable and watch

A member of the watch who arrives with the constable when Mrs. Harridan calls for help.

Surgeon’s Hall surgeon examiners

Also known as surgeons

The surgeons who examine candidates and seal their qualifications in letters for the Navy Board.

Neighbor who calls the constable

Also known as lady at the bar

The night-house keeper, Mrs. Harridan, who summons the constable after Jackson accuses her establishment of robbing him.

Roderick’s schoolmaster friend’s French apothecary acquaintance

Also known as French apothecary

A French apothecary to whom the London schoolmaster friend recommends Roderick for work as a journeyman.

Crab’s wife

Also known as Potion’s wife and Crab’s wife

Crab’s wife, who suffers under his abusive treatment. Roderick earns her esteem by tending to her when she drinks too much and by mocking Potion’s wife.

Crab’s maidservant

Also known as maidservant · the girl

Crab’s servant, who tells Roderick she is pregnant and initially claims he is responsible. Roderick persuades her to tell Crab that he is the father; she refuses Crab’s attempt to make her take abortion-inducing medicine.

Three young keelmen

Also known as three young fellows of his acquaintance

Three young men who worked on the keels with Strap after his first master died. They are mentioned as his former companions.

Newcastle inn ostler

Also known as ostler

The ostler at the Newcastle inn where Roderick stays. He advises Roderick to take a collier to London rather than walk.

Newcastle barber

Also known as young man

The young barber in whose shop Roderick is being shaved when he recognizes him as a fellow Scot and asks whether he is Rory Random.

Hedge alehouse landlord

Also known as landlord

The landlord of the roadside alehouse where Roderick and Strap lodge with a pedlar. His daughter entertains the travelers.

Hedge alehouse landlord’s daughter

Also known as young landlady · Betty

The buxom daughter of the roadside alehouse landlord, who entertains Roderick and his companions and is the highwayman Rifle’s lover. She helps reassure Rifle about the travelers and later probes whether they suspect him.

Sawney Waddle

Also known as the pedlar · pedlar

A Scottish pedlar lodging with Roderick and Strap at the roadside alehouse. After overhearing Rifle confess his robbery, he escapes through a window with his goods.

Rifle

Also known as the highwayman · the robber · the thief · the formidable hero

A highwayman who boasts to his lover about a failed coach robbery and threatens Roderick and Strap after suspecting they heard him. He shoots at Strap, is captured, then escapes from a locked garret.

Smack

Also known as the coachman

The coachman Rifle accuses of giving information to another robber. Rifle says Smack’s actions spoiled his chance to rob a coach.

Officer whose pistols Rifle stole

Also known as holiday captain · the captain

An officer from whom Rifle stole a pair of pistols during the coach robbery. After encountering a nobleman, he gets the nobleman’s servants to help pursue Rifle; he falls from his horse during the chase.

Nobleman who sends servants after Rifle

Also known as a nobleman · his lordship

A nobleman whom the officer meets on the road after the robbery. He lends the help of his servants to pursue Rifle.

Three armed servants of the nobleman

Also known as company of horsemen · his lordship’s servants · the servants · followers · attendants

The nobleman’s armed servants who assist in pursuing Rifle. One remains with Roderick and Strap after their encounter, while two continue the chase.

Sorrel

The officer’s horse, which rears when urged forward and then bolts, throwing him to the ground.

Recruiting sergeant

Also known as fellow lodger · honest gentleman · the sergeant

A recruiting sergeant who shares an inn room with Roderick and Strap. Believing two recruits have mutinied, he speaks threats in his sleep and frightens the other lodgers.

Recruiting drummer

Also known as the drummer

A drummer accompanying the recruiting sergeant. He appears nearly naked during the commotion at the inn because his shirt is being washed.

Two men recruited by the sergeant

Also known as two country fellows · the recruits

Two country men whom the recruiting sergeant has enlisted. He fears they have mutinied, though the passage does not show them directly.

Recruiting sergeant’s landlady

Also known as our landlady

The landlady at the inn where Roderick and Strap stay with the recruiting sergeant. She rushes into the room during the nighttime alarm dressed in her husband’s breeches.

Recruiting sergeant’s landlord

Also known as her husband

The husband of the landlady at the inn where the recruiting sergeant lodges. During the alarm he appears wearing her petticoat.

Latin-speaking schoolmaster

Also known as the schoolmaster · old gentleman · host · pedant

An elderly schoolmaster who runs a roadside alehouse and welcomes Roderick and Strap warmly because they know Latin and Horace. He charges them an exorbitant bill, while his daughter summons two stout men to enforce payment.

Biddy

Also known as the schoolmaster’s daughter · daughter

The schoolmaster’s daughter and only domestic, who serves Roderick and Strap and calculates their bill. She brings two stout men into the alehouse when the travelers dispute the charge.

Two stout men at the schoolmaster’s alehouse

Also known as two stout fellows

Two men who enter the schoolmaster’s alehouse under the pretense of taking a drink, apparently to intimidate Roderick and Strap into paying their bill.

Captain Weazel

Also known as the captain · Billy

A diminutive, blustering army ensign who travels in the waggon with his wife. Formerly a valet-de-chambre to Lord Frizzle, he boasts of courage but hides when a supposed highwayman appears; Miss Jenny and Joey repeatedly mock him.

Mrs. Weazel

Also known as his lady · his wife · Mrs. Weazle · Abigail

Captain Weazel’s affected wife, formerly the woman he kept while serving Lord Frizzle. She quarrels with Miss Jenny, is accidentally drenched by her husband, and helps sustain his pretensions to courage.

Miss Jenny Ramper

Also known as Miss Jenny · Jenny · Jenny Ramper · Miss Ramper

A lively young woman travelling in the waggon, whom Joey identifies as a woman of the town. She exposes Weazel’s cowardice, tricks Isaac Rapine into paying her five guineas after a bed mix-up, and recognizes Jack Rattle.

Isaac Rapine

Also known as Isaac · the usurer · the old usurer · money-broker

An elderly money-broker travelling in the waggon. After Strap accidentally enters the wrong room, Isaac mistakes the situation and accuses Jenny of trapping him; he pays her five guineas to avoid prosecution.

Waggon master

Also known as master of the waggon · master

The master of the waggon who mediates disputes among the passengers and arranges their travel. He tries to calm Captain Weazel and invites him to share a room after the nighttime mishap.

Innkeeper on the waggon route

Also known as innkeeper · landlord

The innkeeper who has prepared a meal for the waggon passengers. When three newcomers try to take it, he gives up his own dinner to prevent a fight.

Three gentlemen who claim the passengers’ dinner

Also known as three strangers · three gentlemen

Three travelers who insist that the waggon passengers should give up their reserved meal. They draw swords when Joey defends the food, but accept the innkeeper’s offer of his own dinner.

The gentlemen’s servants

Also known as their servants · one of the gentleman’s servants

Servants accompanying the three gentlemen who claim the passengers’ meal. One recognizes Captain Weazel and tells Joey about his past.

Jack Rattle

Also known as my dear Jack Rattle

One of the three gentlemen who claim the waggon passengers’ dinner. Jenny recognizes him and chooses to dine with him.

Gentleman’s servant who impersonates a highwayman

Also known as the horseman · stranger

A servant known to Joey who agrees to pretend to be a highwayman as a joke, revealing that Captain Weazel hides in the waggon during the staged scare.

Tom Rinser

Also known as Tom

The name Captain Weazel gives for the servant who pretends to be a highwayman. Joey says the man was christened John Trotter, exposing Weazel’s false claim to know him.

John Trotter

Also known as Tom Rinser

The gentleman’s servant who participates in Joey’s staged highwayman scare. Joey identifies him as John Trotter, despite Captain Weazel claiming his name is Tom Rinser.

Lord Frizzle

Also known as my lord

A nobleman who employed Weazel as his valet-de-chambre while living apart from his wife. After reconciling with her, he arranged Weazel’s marriage and procured him an army commission.

Lord Frizzle’s wife

Also known as his lady

Lord Frizzle’s wife, who insisted that Weazel and the woman he kept be dismissed when she reconciled with her husband.

Weazel’s former mistress

Also known as the woman he kept · his Mistress

The woman Captain Weazel kept while he served Lord Frizzle as a valet. Lord Frizzle proposed that she marry Weazel and arranged an army commission for him.

Lord Trippett

Also known as my lord

A lord whose table Captain Weazel claims to have attended and where he says the horseman Tom Rinser served Burgundy. Joey’s joke about the man’s real name casts doubt on Weazel’s claim.

Squire Bumpkin

A squire whom the vicar visited after he drank himself into a high fever at the assizes. He is mentioned by the vicar.

Vicar at the inn

Also known as rosy son of the church · doctor · old rascal

A prosperous, pompous vicar with two livings worth four hundred pounds a year. He keeps Betty, his poor kinswoman, as housekeeper and employs a poorly paid curate to do much of his work.

Betty, the vicar’s housekeeper

Also known as Betty · the vicar’s housekeeper

The vicar’s pretty, poor kinswoman and housekeeper, whom he visits and keeps in his household. The curate hints at an intimate relationship between them.

Curate who cheats at cards

Also known as curate · parson Shuffle · Shuffle · the musician · the clergyman

An underpaid curate who cheats farmers at cards, plays the fiddle, and leaves without paying his share of dinner. The exciseman says he learned scraps of learning while serving Lord Trifte and obtained his position through his skill as a pimp.

Two farmers

Also known as countrymen · boors · partners

Two farmers who play cards as partners against the curate Shuffle and an exciseman, losing their money. One protests the cheating and challenges the exciseman for withholding what he knows.

Exciseman

Also known as the exciseman

A card player who partners with the curate Shuffle to fleece two farmers. He later admits Shuffle is a skilled cheat but refuses to return the farmers’ losses.

Young Lord Trifte

Also known as his lordship

A young lord whom Shuffle served at university, according to the exciseman. He is mentioned as the source of Shuffle’s limited learning.

Squire Tattle

Also known as Squire Tattle

A squire whose valet-de-chambre was the exciseman. The exciseman calls him an intimate companion of one of Shuffle’s former noble employers.

Shuffle’s noble employer

Also known as my lord

A lord whose clothes Shuffle pawned while serving him, leading to Shuffle’s dismissal. The exciseman says the lord used his influence to get Shuffle ordained and appointed curate.

Rifle’s sweetheart

Also known as his mistress

The landlady’s daughter at the roadside alehouse, who is identified in the conversation as Rifle’s sweetheart. She urges him to calm down after his failed robbery and helps him believe the travelers are harmless.

Captain who guarded the coach money

Also known as the captain

The captain in charge of the money carried by the coach Rifle tried to rob. Rifle says he took loaded pocket pistols from him and found a gold watch concealed in his breeches.

Quaker robbed by Rifle

Also known as a quaker

A passenger whose shoes contained ten Portugal pieces, which Rifle says he stole after the Quaker reviled him.

Pretty lady robbed by Rifle

Also known as a pretty lady · the lady

A passenger whose gold snuffbox, with a picture inside its lid, Rifle claims he stole from the tail of her smock.

Lord Diddle

Also known as my lord

A lord whom Mrs. Weazel invokes in one of Captain Weazel’s stories about his supposed exploits and her supposed pregnancy.

Squire Gobble

Also known as Squire Gobble

A squire who, according to Mrs. Weazel’s story, once sent her a love letter.

Miss Jenny’s recruiting officer

Also known as a recruiting officer

A recruiting officer who took Jenny from London to Newcastle in a stagecoach and was later arrested for debt. Joey says she returned to her former way of life after he was imprisoned.

Justice of the peace who would hear Jenny’s complaint

Also known as the justice

A local justice whom Jenny threatens to summon when Isaac refuses to pay her. The threat persuades Isaac to settle with her.

Strap’s former master

Also known as his master

The master for whom Strap worked before moving to Newcastle; he died before Strap’s apprenticeship ended.

Roderick’s grandfather

Also known as the old gentleman · the old judge · the judge · old Bluff

A wealthy, influential judge who disowns his youngest son for secretly marrying a poor relation and treats Roderick and his mother harshly. He leaves his entire estate to his heir.

Highland seer

Also known as the attentive sage

A seer consulted about Roderick’s mother’s dream; he predicts that her firstborn will travel widely, face dangers, and return home to prosper.

Old maidservant

Also known as old servant

A loyal servant in the grandfather’s household who helps deliver Roderick’s mother in a garret, despite risking the grandfather’s displeasure.

Roderick’s uncles

Also known as my uncles

Roderick’s paternal uncles, whom some people suspect of involvement in their brother’s disappearance because his death would benefit their inheritance. The narrator says people of judgment consider this suspicion unfounded.

Roderick’s female cousins

Also known as female grandchildren · female cousins · young ladies

The grandfather’s granddaughters, who join together in hostility toward Roderick and keep him from visiting him. Five are present when the will is read; two later live in town with their widowed mother.

Schoolboy who insults Roderick

Also known as another boy

A schoolmate who insults Roderick’s poverty; Roderick strikes him on the head with the board attached to his hand.

Stammering carpenter

A carpenter who falsely persuades the schoolmaster that Roderick fired a gun into his window.

Roderick’s school usher

Also known as usher · our usher

An usher who advises Roderick and helps him advance in his studies; he had served Roderick’s father during his travels. He later recommends university education to Tom Bowling.

Roderick’s school faction

Also known as adherents · associates · competitors · shipmates · boys

The schoolboys who follow Roderick in his faction and conflicts with other boys; two of them, Jeremy Gawky and Hugh Strap, are individually identified.

Apprentices’ leader

Also known as one of our adversaries

An apprentice who pursues Roderick and his school faction with a ninepin bowl, breaking one boy’s leg.

Roderick’s cousin and grandfather’s heir’s tutor

Also known as tutor · preceptor · chaplain

The heir’s tutor, who also serves as parish clerk and encourages him to hunt Roderick. Roderick knocks out four of his front teeth with a pebble.

Jowler

One of the heir’s dogs, killed by Tom Bowling when it attacks him.

Caesar

One of the heir’s dogs, struck down by Tom Bowling when it attacks him.

Three servants at the grandfather’s house

Also known as attendants

Servants who come armed with pitchforks and flails to help the heir after Tom Bowling kills the dogs, but retreat into the house.

Female cousin at the window

Also known as one of my female cousins · young woman

A female cousin who opens a window during the confrontation between Tom Bowling and the heir and asks what is happening.

Roderick’s grandfather’s executor

Also known as one of his executors

An executor who promises Tom Bowling that Roderick will receive justice and arranges for the will to be examined in the family’s presence.

Parish parson

Also known as parson · zealous pastor

The parish clergyman, one of the grandfather’s executors and his spiritual adviser. He rebukes Tom Bowling for irreverent remarks about the grandfather’s death.

Potion’s apprentice

Also known as landlord’s apprentice

Potion’s apprentice, who helps Roderick fire a volley from an attic window at the young gentleman waiting to ambush him.

Roderick’s two female cousins in town

Also known as my cousins

Two daughters of Roderick’s late uncle who live in town with their mother and share their father’s fortune. They resent Roderick, try to use his poetic talent, and plot against him.

Widowed mother of Roderick’s two cousins

Also known as their mother

The mother of Roderick’s two wealthy female cousins, with whom they live after their father’s death.

Poor collegian

A poor university student whom Roderick’s cousins hire to write insulting verses about his poverty and parents.

Young gentleman whose mistress was lampooned

Also known as enraged lover

A young man whom Roderick’s cousins deceive into believing Roderick lampooned his mistress; he plans to ambush and duck Roderick with two companions.

Two companions of the young gentleman

Also known as his companions

The two men who wait with the enraged young gentleman to ambush and duck Roderick.

Roderick’s friend and confidant

Also known as companion and confidant

A companion who betrays Roderick by telling his cousins about his small love affairs, which they then exaggerate and publicize.

Roderick’s landlady

Also known as landlady

The landlady at Roderick’s lodging who tells him that Potion has received a letter about Tom Bowling and that he can no longer support him.

Gentleman who offers Roderick friendship

A man who has repeatedly offered Roderick friendship while he was comfortable, but rejects him when he asks for help after Tom Bowling’s misfortune.

Crab’s eldest apprentice

Also known as young apprentice

Crab’s eldest apprentice, who died amid strong suspicions of foul play caused by Crab’s brutality.

Crab’s two drinking companions

Also known as two more

Two men drinking with Crab at a public house when Roderick is summoned to meet him.