Dobbes

DOBSON'S DRIE BOBBES (1607)

This neglected picaresque novel (the title means 'ironic tricks') was printed in 1607. The author is unknown and only two copies of the book survive, but all his characters actually existed in and around Durham Cathedral. Dobson himself was a chorister in 1557-58, and his fellow-chorister Raikebaines, his uncle Thomas Pentland and Batte Midforth, a well-known Durham citizen, all lived in Durham 1558-68. Unlike other tales of scamps and their exploits, like those of Skelton or John Peele, Dobson operates in a clearly-defined locality, having named churches which still exist, as do Witton Gilbert, Bearpark and Moorhouse in Chapter 12 (Elvet Moor House).

The work seems to draw very little from the contemporary jest-books, and its elaborate style is nowhere near the tortuous euphuistic style so often found with the Elizabethans. The chapter headings give an idea of what the reader may expect to find e.g. 'How Dobson deceived his friend Raikebaines of a pudding, and how he shut him up in the candle-cupboard'; 'How Dobson caused his uncle's horse to be impounded, because he denied to let him go with him into the country.'

The modern edition is by E.A. Horsman, lecturer in English, University of Durham, from whose introduction this entry has been compiled.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
DOBSON'S DRIE BOBBES (1607) This neglected picaresque novel (the title means 'ironic tricks') was printed in 1607. The author is unknown and only two copies of the book survive, but all his characters actually existed in and around Durham Cathedral. Dobson himself was a chorister in 1557-58, and his fellow-chorister Raikebaines, his uncle Thomas Pentland and Batte Midforth, a well-known Durham citizen, all lived in Durham 1558-68. Unlike other tales of scamps and their exploits, like those of Skelton or John Peele, Dobson operates in a clearly-defined locality, having named churches which still exist, as do Witton Gilbert, Bearpark and Moorhouse in Chapter 12 (Elvet Moor House). The work seems to draw very little from the contemporary jest-books, and its elaborate style is nowhere near the tortuous euphuistic style so often found with the Elizabethans. The chapter headings give an idea of what the reader may expect to find e.g. 'How Dobson deceived his friend Raikebaines of a pudding, and how he shut him up in the candle-cupboard'; 'How Dobson caused his uncle's horse to be impounded, because he denied to let him go with him into the country.' The modern edition is by E.A. Horsman, lecturer in English, University of Durham, from whose introduction this entry has been compiled.
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