Lord Dundreary is a character of the 1858 British play ''

Our American Cousin ''Our American Cousin'' is a three-act play by English playwright Tom Taylor. It is a farce featuring awkward, boorish American Asa Trenchard, who is introduced to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family e ...

'' by

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

. He is a good-natured, brainless aristocrat. The role was created on stage by

Edward Askew Sothern Edward Askew Sothern (1 April 182620 January 1881) was an English actor known for his comic roles in Britain and America, particularly Lord Dundreary in ''Our American Cousin''. He was also known for his many practical jokes. Life and career ...

. The most famous scene involved Dundreary reading a letter from his even sillier brother. Sothern expanded the scene considerably in performance. A number of spin-off works were also created, including a play about the brother. His name gave rise to two

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

s rarely heard today - “Dundrearies” and "Dundrearyisms". The former referred to a particular style of facial hair taking the form of exaggeratedly bushy sideburns, also called “dundreary whiskers” (or “Piccadilly weepers” in England) which were popular between 1840 and 1870. The latter eponym was used to refer to expanded

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...

s in the form of twisted and nonsensical aphorisms in the style of Lord Dundreary (''e.g.'', "birds of a feather gather no moss"). These enjoyed a brief vogue.

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

wrote an essay entitled, "Speech of Lord Dundreary in Section D, on Friday Last, On the Great Hippocampus Question", a parody of debates about human and ape anatomical features (and their implications for evolutionary theory) in the form of a nonsensical speech supposed to have been written by Dundreary.Charles Kingsley (1861) "Speech of Lord Dundreary in Section D, on Friday Last, On the Great Hippocampus Question"
/ref>

References

* Michael Diamond, ''Victorian Sensation'', London: Anthem, 2003, , pp. 266–268 Characters in plays Male characters in theatre Comedy theatre characters Fictional British people Theatre characters introduced in 1858 Fictional lords and ladies {{fict-char-stub