Dickensians! discussion

Here is the thread to discuss The Tuggses at Ramsgate, which is our 8th Summer Read between 31st August - 13th September.

This read is hosted by Judy.

Welcome to our read of the story The Tuggses at Ramsgate, which is included in Sketches by Boz. Many thanks to Jean for setting up the thread. :)

I thought this summery story, about a Cockney family's holiday in the Kent seaside resort of Ramsgate, would be great for the end of the holiday period.

It's a later work than many of the stories and sketches in Sketches by Boz. It was published in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 March 1836, on the same day as the first double number of Pickwick Papers, the book that made Dickens a literary superstar. This was just a couple of days before Dickens and Catherine's wedding day, on April 2. 

The story originally had two woodcut illustrations by Robert Seymour, who also illustrated the first numbers of Pickwick before sadly taking his own life, and George Cruikshank illustrated it later the same year . I'll post those illustrations later when we get up to the relevant sections.

If you want to read the story online, an etext is linked below: https://www.thecircumlocutionoffice.c...
Or you can read it in Sketches by Boz at Project Gutenberg:https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/882

I'll post 3 summaries over the next few days. This one covers the opening of the story, up to the arrival at Ramsgate.

Summary 1

Joseph Tuggs and his family live in a narrow street close to London Bridge. The family includes Joseph, who is short and round, his wife, whose figure is described as "decidedly comfortable", his daughter Charlotte, also becoming plump.

Joseph's son, Simon, is the only member of the family who is not plump, with a long face and "that tendency to weakness in his interesting legs, which tell so forcibly of a great mind and a romantic disposition". Mr Joseph Tuggs is a grocer, and is teased by customers who claim he is mean with the quantities of food, but he and his family ignore this.

One day their life is thrown into turmoil when a stranger arrives at the shop from The Temple and announces: "We have been successful." At these words Simon Tuggs faints into his mother's arms.

The reason is that: "A long-pending lawsuit respecting the validity of a will had been unexpectedly decided; and Mr. Joseph Tuggs was the possessor of twenty thousand pounds."

After learning of this inheritance, the family shuts up shop for the day and they agree they will give up the business - with the young people also changing their names to "Charlotta" and "Cymon" and calling their parents "Pa" and "Ma" rather than Mother and Father.

They then decide to leave town during the summer as an "indispensable preliminary to being genteel," and discuss various possibilities which are "low" or unsuitable in various ways - they don't want to go to Margate and mix with tradespeople! In the end they decide on Ramsgate.

Two months on, the family is on board a steam boat heading for Ramsgate, dressed up in fine clothes. They meet a "military gentleman", Captain Walter Waters, and his wife, Belinda, a "black-eyed young lady". Walter appears to be jealous when his wife says that young men on board have been staring at her.

The couple flatter the Tuggs family by suggesting that Cymon "is very much like the Marquis Carriwini" and Charlotta and Mrs Tuggs also look amazingly like other aristocrats. They have soon struck up a friendship and Captain Walters accepts their invitation to eat cold pigeon pie and drink sherry on deck. When they arrive at Ramsgate, Captain and Mrs Walters arrange to meet the family on the sands in the morning.

A couple of quick thoughts about this opening section. The opening phrase, "Once upon a time there dwelt..." is the same as the beginning of some traditional fairy stories, including Hansel and Grete by the Brothers Grimm.

I was mystified by the mention of Simon/Cymon sitting on a "tub of weekly Dorset". Luckily, the Circumlocution Office website explains this - "A tub of weekly Dorset refers to a tub of butter, which was transported to London from the south-west English county of Dorset weekly at the time."

There are several great Dickens themes that would famously feature in his novels coming up already at the story's opening - the Londoners preparing to travel into the country, just as Mr Pickwick does, as well as a court case involving a will, and someone inheriting a fortune.

Below is a Fred Barnard illustration, taken from the Victorian Web, of the family meeting Captain and Mrs Waters on board the steamer. Mr Tuggs is made to look very similar to Mr Pickwick in this 1876 wood engraving.

I think overall this story feels light-hearted and warm, with lots of Pickwick-type humour, so I was surprised to see from the Victorian Web site that Dickens struggled with it while writing the story. He wrote to his fiancee, Catherine, in February 1836: "I wish to Heaven it would clear up. . . I never worked with so little pleasure" (I:125)

Fortunately, I think it is pleasurable to read despite this! Maybe he just had too much on as he was writing Pickwick Papers at the same time and preparing for their wedding as well.

If anyone would like to know more about the Kent resort of Ramsgate, where most of the story is set, here are some links - who knew that Van Gogh lived here briefly in 1876?
https://www.visitramsgate.co.uk/
https://www.visitramsgate.co.uk/history/
http://muswell-hill.com/business-webs...

I love the historical photos of Ramsgate, Judy. Thanks for sharing them.

You've found some great information for us already! Thanks Judy.

This story is such a lovely contrast to The Drunkard's Death :) We need that!

really good website links Judy! thank you!

Just wondering about Cymon and Charlotta now calling their parents Ma and Pa? Is that really more genteel than Mother and Father or are they just confused?

I know that "mama" and "papa" were considered more genteel, and a good example was the snobbish Mrs. General insisting on these titles in Little Dorrit. But I thought "ma and pa" were just affectionate, for any class. My mum and dad always called my grandma "Ma".

Great question, Janelle. I was wondering about Ma and Pa as well - in Little Dorrit, Fanny always calls her father 'Pa' and she is quite insistent on seeming genteel.

But I'd forgotten that, as you say, Jean, Mrs General says it should be Papa and Mama. I did just google this but only found information about MA degrees!

On "Cymon", Dickens clearly delights in the pretentious new spelling of his name. This reminded me of Morleena Kenwigs in Nicholas Nickleby, whose parents made up her first name!

Connie wrote: "I love the historical photos of Ramsgate, Judy. Thanks for sharing them."

Thank you Connie! Also thanks to Jean and Laura, glad you enjoyed the links.

Mother and Father sounds so much more formal to me!

The pretentious new spellings of their names was so funny.
I think they should’ve changed their surname too, maybe Tuggsbottom? 😂

Summary 2

At Ramsgate Pier , a crowd of people meet the passengers as they arrive, with many rival offers of a "fly" - i.e. a lightweight covered carriage drawn by one horse. Joseph Tuggs chooses a dingy fly and they set off to search for lodgings. 

As they stop outside various houses, Mrs Tuggs calls out to the seaside landladies, who all suggest their rooms are far grander than they really are. Eventually they settle on "a dusty house, with a bay window, from which you could obtain a beautiful glimpse of the sea - if you thrust half of your body out of it..."

They have shrimps for supper, and the conversation shows how the snobbish Cymon and Charlotta are now worried their parents seem too common, or "vulgar". Cymon reveals he has fallen under the spell of Mrs Waters, describing her as "an angel of beauty" and speaking jealously about her husband.

The next morning, the family heads for the sands, which are heaving with people. They watch a group of young ladies and another of young gentlemen going into the sea with "bathing machines" (wheeled huts pulled to the edge of the sea so that people could change inside them without being seen.)

Captain Walter Waters and Mrs Belinda Waters arrive and suggest having lunch at Pegwell, a nearby bay and beauty spot. 

"I should like that very much,"   interposed Mrs. Tuggs. She had never heard of Pegwell; but the word 'lunch' had reached her ears, and it sounded very agreeably.

It's decided that Mr and Mrs Tuggs and the captain should travel there in a chaise and the young people ride donkeys, which prove to be unmanageable.

On the way, Belinda expresses herself to Cymon suggesting in high-flown romantic language that she is aware of his feelings for her and might have shared them if she hadn't been married already.

At this point, Cymon's donkey rushes off and arrives at the lunch venue, "sagaciously pitching him over his head into the very doorway of the tavern". Fortunately he isn't injured and they all enjoy their lunch before going to the bottom of the cliff to look around, and then returning to Ramsgate.

This great illustration, from the Victorian Web, shows Belinda and Cymon on their donkeys - it is by Sol Eytinge, Jr from 1867.



There is also an illustration on the Victorian Web by Robert Seymour, which appeared with the original publication in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 March 1836, showing the Tuggses meeting up with the Waterses on the sands:

Janelle wrote: "The pretentious new spellings of their names was so funny.
I think they should’ve changed their surname too, maybe Tuggsbottom? 😂"

Oh yes! Or to whatever the French for Tuggs is maybe?

I think the surname is probably meant to suggest little tug boats - I remember Pancks is compared to a steam-tug in Little Dorrit.

Cymon being thrown off his donkey was very funny but I think my favourite line was :

“Five guineas a week, ma’am, with attendance,’ replied the lodging-house keeper.  (Attendance means the privilege of ringing the bell as often as you like, for your own amusement.)”

If anyone wants to know more about bathing machines, here are a couple of links:
https://janeaustensworld.com/2009/08/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathing...

I've also just read a section about them in another book I'm reading at the moment, The Perfect Summer: Dancing Into Shadow In 1911 by Juliet Nicolson - she says there were still quite a lot of them around in 1911 and mentions that there were usually attendants to lift you into the water once you had changed inside the machine.

Thanks for the Wikipedia link Judy. I have always found bathing machines and Georgian/Victorian/Edwardian bathing suits so interesting

Great links! Thank Judy.

We also discussed bathing machines in our read of Our English and French Watering-Place a couple of weeks ago. Here is more information - and pictures - one of Queen Victoria's own private bathing machine!

LINK HERE (Ann's post 180 and my post 182).

Oh thank you for the links, Jean, that's great. Must confess, I'd only read Our English Watering-Place so need to read Our French Watering-Place and catch up with the posts!

Here is another illustration of Cymon on the donkey, again gratefully lifted from the Victorian Web - this is a wood engraving by by A. B. Frost which was included in the 1870s Household Edition of Sketches by Boz.



I'd have to say I think Cymon looks a little old in this illustration!

I've been looking to see if I can find anything about the history of riding donkeys at the seaside, but haven't found any very relevant links to share as yet. I did find a site about Regency seaside traditions which briefly mentioned that visitors used to hire donkeys as far back as the 1770s - from other Googling, donkey rides for children seem to be something that came in later, in the late 19th century.

Looking at the irrepressible donkeys in this story and the ones in David Copperfield who dismay Aunt Betsy, I wonder if a donkey ever ran away with Dickens or one of his family!

I'm loving these illustrations Judy! Thank you so much.

I have such happy memories of riding donkeys at the seaside. I had a favourite called "Polly", who I saw every year when I was little. And they were treated very kindly at Scarborough (N. Yorkshire) - like pets :)

Aunt Betsey's aversion to donkeys was based on a real person ... but you're right, it makes us wonder if Charles Dickens had a difficult experience too!

I love the illustration!!

This paragraph reminded me of why I love Dickens! The phrase "the sea, dancing to its own music" stopped me in my tracks on my first read.

Silently and abstractedly, did that too sensitive youth follow his revered parents, and a train of smock-frocks and wheelbarrows, along the pier, until the bustle of the scene around, recalled him to himself. The sun was shining brightly; the sea, dancing to its own music, rolled merrily in; crowds of people promenaded to and fro; young ladies tittered; old ladies talked; nursemaids displayed their charms to the greatest possible advantage; and their little charges ran up and down, and to and fro, and in and out, under the feet, and between the legs, of the assembled concourse, in the most playful and exhilarating manner. There were old gentlemen, trying to make out objects through long telescopes; and young ones, making objects of themselves in open shirt-collars; ladies, carrying about portable chairs, and portable chairs carrying about invalids; parties, waiting on the pier for parties who had come by the steam-boat; and nothing was to be heard but talking, laughing, welcoming, and merriment.

Jennifer, I can just picture the scene from the quote you included! I liked the end of the quote where he surprises us by using the words "objects" and "portable chairs" again.

Judy, the donkey illustrations are great. I agree that Cymon looks too old in the last illustration, but he looks like he's barely hanging on!

Thanks everyone! I like the dog in that illustration, chasing after the donkey.

I've been looking for pictures of the beauty spot that the Tuggses and Waterses visit, Pegwell Bay. Here is a lovely painting by William Dyce on the Tate Gallery site, which is of people gathering shells at the foot of the cliff:
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/...

This blog also has some lovely images of Pegwell Bay from the 19th century, as well as images showing how it looks now.
http://oldramsgate.blogspot.com/2006/...

That is really interesting. Thanks for the links Judy

Lovely!

Love that William Dyce painting and the old postcard pics!

Summary 3 (to the end of the story)

After returning from Pegwell Bay, the Tuggses and the Waterses meet up at the library in the evening, and find it crowded with ladies and gentlemen, who are playing "games of chance".

"Mrs Tippin, of the London theatres" arrives and sings, accompanied by Mr Tippin, who then performs a comic song. The evenings continue in this way all summer, for six weeks.

"Sands in the morning -  donkeys at noon—pier in the afternoon—library at night—and the same people everywhere."

Six weeks on, in the evening, with the moon shining brightly, two figures are seen sitting forlornly on a wooden bench. They are Cymon and Belinda. Cymon says that Walter will return tomorrow and expresses regret, saying this one week of "chaste delight... Platonic love" has been too much for her.

She says they must part forever, a thought which moves Cymon to tears. Belinda warns Cymon that her husband is extremely jealous and asks "Would you be assassinated before my eyes?"

He escorts her to her lodgings and enters the building to bid farewell, but there is then a knock at the door. Belinda hears her husband's voice and urges Cymon to hide behind a curtain. He hesitates to do so, as he has done nothing wrong, but she says "You will be murdered!" This persuades Cymon to hide. 

Captain Walters enters, together with the rest of the Tuggs family and another military man, Lieutenant Slaughter. The captain asks for brandy and cigars, and the room fills up with smoke, which makes Cymon cough in his hiding place.

Slaughter finds Cymon hiding behind the curtain.

"Your sabre!," roared the captain. "Slaughter - unhand me - the villain's life!"

Cymon and all the ladies faint with horror.

The story is wrapped up very quickly in a long final paragraph,  After threats and negotiations, Cymon recovers from a nervous disorder to find that his father has had to pay fifteen hundred pounds to the captain - a very large sum of money at that time. 

The money was paid to hush the matter up but it got abroad notwithstanding; and there are not wanting some who affirm that three designing impostors never found more easy dupes, than did Captain Waters, Mrs. Waters, and Lieutenant Slaughter."

I felt a bit sorry for the Tuggses at the end. They weren’t the nicest people when they were shopkeepers but I’m not sure they deserved to be ripped off by all around them once they were nouveau riche. And the scammers just got away with it!

Yes, I agree, Janelle. I was interested to see how similar the scam was to some I've come across in detective stories - the whole idea of the couple conning someone into a fake romance in order to get money out of them is a popular trick.

This is Robert Seymour's illustration, from the Victorian Web site. "Vengeance of Captain Walter Waters and Lieutenant Slaughter. Mr. Cymon Tuggs discovered behind the curtains, at the Waters's lodgings."



I've also now managed to add Seymour's earlier illustration of the beach in message 16 above.

This has been my favorite summer selection because of the layers of humor which I thought was well done. I wonder if Dickens' trouble with it was from trying to get all the humor just right? Or perhaps he was trying to get the scenes with Cymon and Belinda to work without becoming offensive? Great selection Judy, and thanks for the extra material.

Good to hear you enjoyed it so much, Sam, and thanks for the kind comments. Even though we know Dickens found it a struggle to write this, I don't think you would know from the humour, which I agree is wonderful.

I think Sketches by Boz tends to be thought of as an early work, pre Pickwick Papers, but in fact he worked on later stories like this one at the same time as Pickwick - and later on he was writing Pickwick and Oliver Twist at the same time, and then Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Amazing how he fitted it all in and still wrote with such high power.

George Cruikshank also illustrated the climax of The Tuggses at Ramsgate, when the story was published in Sketches by Boz. The scan of this picture on the Victorian Web is a bit dark and blurry, but there is a beautiful scan of it on the V&A Museum site where you can see every detail. There is a copyright notice on the page so I will link to it instead of copying it - click on the image on the web page to see a bigger version.
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O6...

I love this one by George Cruikshank! Thanks for searching it out, Judy :)

Glad you like it, Jean! I've always liked Cruikshank - the first Dickens novel I read was Oliver Twist in an old hardback which had full-page prints of his illustrations.

I love Cymon behind the curtains in that picture.

Just a minor point... earlier in the story, the Tuggses and the Waterses share pigeon pie. I think this may be a sign to the reader that the Waterses will "pluck" the Tuggses like pigeons. I vaguely remember coming across comparisons of victims of con artists to pigeons in other 19th-century stories, and I see Thackeray wrote a story called "Captain Rook and Mr Pigeon", which may be one of those that I'm thinking of!

That is really interesting Judy. I hadn't come across that comparison before!

Today is the last (official) day for this read.

Thank you so much Judy, firstly for choosing such a fun read by Charles Dickens, and also for your excellent leadership, finding all the extras to enrich it for us (your final comment about the symbolism was inspired!)

For anyone who hasn't yet read this treat, it will remain in the current folder for couple of days, and then be moved to our short reads folder, remaining open for future comments :)

Judy, thank you for leading us in this lighthearted satire. I enjoyed the comments and illustrations.

Thank you Judy!!

Thank you very much to Jean for setting up the threads and all the support, and to everyone who has taken part!

I just got round to reading The Tuggses at Ramsgate, and then reading through this wonderful discussion. So sorry I missed out on it in real time. Thank you Jean for keeping it available to late comers. And thank you Judy for leading such a great read.

As everyone has commented, I loved the humor in this story. One of my favorite parts is when the four Tuggses sit in the "rush-bottomed" chairs, in the sand, and sink down two feet. But that's just one of many times I laughed aloud!

:)