Page 5 - The 16th Percy French Festival: Our Great Disconnect

The Jarvey, 1889–1890: The Irish Punch?

Although it was not until the early 1890s that William Percy French embarked
on a career as a professional entertainer, for many years before this he had been
delighting family, schoolmates, his fellow university students, work colleagues and
a wide circle of friends and acquaintances with his versatility as a comic artist, with
amusing songs (usually accompanied by playing the banjo) forming a prom inent
part of his humorous repertoire. As several scholars have noted, French was much
keener on his comic performances than he was on his studies or the two main jobs
that he worked at after eventually completing his engi neering degree at Trinity
College Dublin, firstly as apprentice engineer on the Midland Great West ern Rail way
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and then as a Board of Works inspector of loans to tenants in Co. Cavan in the 1880s.
When visiting farms in Cavan as a self-styled ‘Inspector of Drains’ French often travel -
led by tricycle or bicycle. Using cycles allowed French and his friend, J. W. Weekes, to
visit more farms in a day than if they had relied on outside cars. French was also able
to save the 9d. per mile travelling expenses which the Board of Works paid its offi -
cials. The time that the two friends saved as a result of cycling was devoted to one
of their favourite pursuits, playing the fashionable game of tennis at country houses
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in Cavan. Cycling was more than a mere utilitarian activ ity for French at this time,
as evidenced by the fact in 1888 he also made occa sional comic sketches to Ireland’s
only cycling newspaper, The Irish Cyclist, which was edited by a man who was soon
to become a friend of French’s, Richard James Mecredy. Mecredy was obviously
impressed by French’s contribu tions, because when French approached him
towards the end of 1888 for a per ma nent post on The Irish Cyclist after his Board of
Works employment was termin ated, Mecredy respond ed instead by offering him
the position of editor of a new weekly comic paper that he was about to publish,
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which was to be called The Jarvey.

The first edition of The Jarvey was published on 3rd January 1889. (Illus. 1) Costing
2d., its contents consisted of one page of advertisements (many of which were for Illus. 1. The title page of the first issue of The Jarvey, 3rd January 1889.
publications produced by Mecredy and Kyle, printers of The Irish Cyclist), with the The Jarvey’s contents, opining that ‘there is an utter absence of that spirit of humour
rest consisting of a series of cartoons, drawings, jokes, comic poems and amusing which we think ought to actuate everything in its pages’, and added that ‘we hope
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comments on incidents of Irish life as well as events over seas. This set the general for better things from its conductors, who, if they look for success, must reduce the
pattern for The Jarvey for the two years of its existence. In order to drum up public ity, price from two-pence to one penny, give more local colouring to their references to
advance copies were sent to editors of the Irish national and provincial press. Several men and things, lighten its columns, and abstain from verbosity and cynicism’.
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of these responded by printing their favour able impres sions of the new publication,
thereby helping to publicise it, but not all responses were complimen tary. Sport’s This could not be seen as disinterested criticism, as it is likely that Irish Society’s
editor stated on 5th January that ‘Some of the jokes I have seen before, while some editor viewed The Jarvey as unwelcome competition. French was probably aware
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of the others I do not even see now’. However, he softened this by add ing: ‘All the of Irish Society’s negative comments, as The Jarvey later frequently poked fun at the
same, here is luck and long life to The Jarvey’. The most negative review came from contents of the former newspaper, which was thinly veiled as Irish Sassiety or Hirish
another Dublin publication, the society newspaper Irish Society, which was owned Sassiety. One cannot be certain of the impact of Irish Society’s negative review, but
by the publisher Ernest Manico. The editor recorded his disap poi ntment at it certainly did not help to make French’s publication attractive to its intended

•2• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL 2024 OUR GREAT DISCON N EC T •3•