The Maid of Sker · Chapter
A Breathless Disinterment explained
Davy and Jerry Toms, convinced that Parson Chowne murdered two children and buried them in Braunton Burrows, lead a party to dig.
What happens
Davy and Jerry Toms, convinced that Parson Chowne murdered two children and buried them in Braunton Burrows, lead a party to dig. After a day of rabbiting, they discover the supposed bodies are actually two large Dutch dolls.
Themes in this chapter
Truth and Narrative Reliability
Davy and Jerry's certainty about the murder is undermined when the 'bodies' turn out to be dolls, highlighting the unreliability of appearances and narrative.
Superstition and Religion
The solemn, almost religious disinterment contrasts with the mundane discovery of dolls, blending superstition with mock-heroic irony.
Characters to notice
- Davy Llewellyn
Narrator and chief digger; leads the disinterment and identifies the dolls.
- Jerry Toms
Davy's companion; argues about Parson Chowne's guilt and helps dig.
- Master Heaviside
Organizes the rabbiting party; anxious about his wife's dog Snap.
- Snap
Madame Heaviside's pet dog; gets trapped in a rabbit hole and is rescued.
- Sir Philip Bampfylde
Mentioned as not in the mood for sport; his hat is found during the dig.
Key passages
“Jerry went even beyond my views, as was sure to be, because he knew so much less of the matter; he would have it that Parson Chowne had choked the two children without any aid, and then in hatred and mockery of the noble British uniform, had buried them deep in Braunton Burrows, wearing a cockade for a shovel hat, purely by way of outrage.”
Jerry, knowing less than I, insisted that Parson Chowne alone strangled the children and buried them in Braunton Burrows, wearing a cockade on his hat as an insult to the British uniform.
Davy contrasts his own measured view with Jerry's more extreme theory about Parson Chowne.
“For suddenly my spade struck something soft, something which returned no sound, and yet was firm enough to stop, or at any rate to clog the tool.”
My spade hit something soft and silent but solid enough to block it.
Davy describes the moment of discovery in the sand.
“Ye pure and stainless souls, I cried, hovering even now above us, in your guardian angel's arms, and appealing for judgment on your icy-hearted murderer, pardon me for thus invading, in the sacred cause of justice, the calm sleep of your tenements.”
I called out to the innocent souls, asking forgiveness for disturbing their graves in the name of justice.
Davy's dramatic address to the supposed dead children.