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Poaching
Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)
steel engraving
13 cm high by 10 cm wide (5 ⅛ by 4 inches), vignetted.
June 1862
Ninth serial illustration for Charles Lever's Barrington (Chapter XVI), p. 134.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Now for the last emblem of our craft, — can you reach it?”
“Oh, easily,” said Conyers, as he raised his eyes to where the little tin fish hung glittering above him. The ladder, however, was too short, and, standing on one of the highest rungs, still he could not reach the little iron stanchion. “I must have it, though,” cried he; “I mean to claim that as my prize. It will be the only fish I ever took with my own hands.” He now cautiously crept up another step of the ladder, supporting himself by the frail creepers which covered the walls. “Help me now with a crooked stick, and I shall catch it.”
“I'll fetch you one,” said she, disappearing within the porch.
Still wistfully looking at the object of his pursuit, Conyers never turned his eyes downwards as the sound of steps apprised him some one was near, and, concluding it to be Miss Barrington, he said, “I'm half afraid that I have torn some of this jessamine-tree from the wall; but see here's the prize!” A slight air of wind had wafted it towards him, and he snatched the fish from its slender chain and held it up in triumph.
“A poacher caught in the fact, Barrington!” said a deep voice from below; and Conyers, looking down, saw two men, both advanced in life, very gravely watching his proceedings. [Chapter XVI, “Coming Home,” 134]
The illustration indicates that Fred has fully recovered from his mishap earlier, for he is now agile enough to retrieve the metal fish that hangs above the door of "The Fisherman's Home," proclaiming that it is an inn. At Dinah's instigation, the "inn" is to become a private house since it has never turned a profit as a public house. The plate's title refers to the frequent nocturnal thefts from the Barringtons' river of their salmon. Watching with amusement are Peter Barrington and his attorney from Dublin, Withering, visually distinguished as "gentlemen" by their beaver hats. Since Fred is, of course, not "stealing" the inn's symbol, the caption is somewhat whimsical. The reference to "poaching" is, however, pertinent, as the repeated and large-scale theft of salmon has resulted in the inn's lack of profitability.
Lester, Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Lever, Charles. Barrington; Tales of the Trains. Illustrated by 'Phiz'. Twelve monthly parts. London: Chapman and Hall, 1863.
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.
Sutherland, John A. "Barrington." The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford U. P., 1989, rpt. 1990. 48-49.
Created 9 August 2002 Last updated 12 October 2026