The Maid of Sker · Chapter
The Coroner and the Coronet explained
The chapter describes the arrival of the English coroner, Crowner Bowles, to hold an inquest on five black men found dead after a shipwreck.
What happens
The chapter describes the arrival of the English coroner, Crowner Bowles, to hold an inquest on five black men found dead after a shipwreck. He refuses to sit on 'black men' until he learns of a white infant with a coronet on its pinafore, which he then treats as a separate case. Davy Llewellyn mistakes the dead child for Bardie, but is relieved to find her alive. The scene also depicts the local people scavenging the wreckage on the sands.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Identity
The coroner's treatment of the dead is dictated by race and class: he refuses to sit on black men but eagerly takes the case of a white infant with a coronet.
Truth and Narrative Reliability
Davy's mistaken belief that the dead child is Bardie highlights the fallibility of perception and memory.
Superstition and Religion
The local people's reactions to the coroner's swearing and the mention of 'far-going Baptists' show religious and superstitious undercurrents.
Characters to notice
- Davy Llewellyn
Narrator and observer of the inquest; mistakes the dead child for Bardie, then discovers she is alive.
- Bardie
Believed dead by Davy, but found alive and well; her voice and presence comfort him.
- Crowner Bowles
English coroner who initially refuses to hold inquest on black men, but changes his mind upon discovering a coronet on the infant's clothes.
- Stradling Williams
Clerk of Newton Church and head of the jury; expresses relief that the coroner will not sit on black men.
- Evan Thomas
Mentioned as unable to assert his wreck claims due to the affliction of the shipwreck.
Key passages
“The law requires no Christian man to touch pitch, and defile himself.”
The law does not force a Christian to handle something unclean.
The coroner uses this to justify refusing to examine the black bodies.
“A coronet! he cried, stamping about; a coronet on my young lord's pinafore, and you stupid oafs never told me!”
He shouted angrily that a coronet was embroidered on the baby's clothes, indicating noble birth, and blamed the locals for not informing him.
The coroner's attitude shifts dramatically upon discovering the infant's noble status.
“Old Davy, I 'ants 'a. Old Davy, 'hen is 'a coming?”
Bardie asks for Davy in her childish speech, wondering when he will come.
Davy recalls Bardie's affectionate and playful manner.