Short Fiction · Chapter
Dickon the Devil explained
The narrator travels to Barwyke Hall, a neglected Lancashire estate inherited by two old maids, and hears from the steward Tom Wyndsour the eerie story of Squire Bowes's ghost abducting a boy named Dickon, who is later found an idiot, forev
What happens
The narrator travels to Barwyke Hall, a neglected Lancashire estate inherited by two old maids, and hears from the steward Tom Wyndsour the eerie story of Squire Bowes's ghost abducting a boy named Dickon, who is later found an idiot, forever haunted by the cry 'Bowes, the devil!'
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and the Uncanny
The ghost of Squire Bowes appears to abduct Dickon, and the idiot's haunting cry 'Bowes, the devil!' underscores the supernatural terror.
Folklore and Local Tradition
The story of Dickon and the ghost is presented as a local legend, with the innkeeper reluctant to discuss it and the steward sharing it as a cautionary tale.
Memory and Nostalgia
The narrator recalls hearing the story of Barwyke in his boyhood, and the landscape evokes a sense of melancholy and forgotten past.
Characters to notice
- Tom Wyndsour
The steward of Barwyke Hall, a jolly old fellow with a red nose, who tells the narrator the story of Dickon and Squire Bowes's ghost.
- Squire Bowes
The deceased former owner of Barwyke Hall, whose ghost is said to have abducted the boy Dickon, leaving him an idiot.
- Tom Pyke
A servant who witnessed the ghost of Squire Bowes carrying his brother Dickon out of the room.
- Dickon
The boy abducted by the ghost of Squire Bowes, found later as an idiot, wandering and crying 'Bowes, the devil!'
Key passages
“I had forgot that there was a lake at Barwyke; but the moment this caught my eye, like the cold polish of a snake in the shadow, my instinct seemed to recognize something dangerous, and I knew that the lake was connected, I could not remember how, with the story I had heard of this place in my boyhood.”
The narrator instinctively senses danger upon seeing the lake, linking it to a forgotten childhood story about the estate.
Foreshadows the supernatural tale of Dickon's abduction near the lake.
“‘Bowes, the devil! See him; see him; Bowes, the devil!’ An idiot they found him; and so he will be till God sets all things right.”
Dickon is found as an idiot, endlessly repeating the phrase 'Bowes, the devil,' and remains in that state.
Climax of the ghost story, showing the lasting psychological damage from the supernatural encounter.