"Ukridge's Dog College" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeev ...

, which first appeared in the United States in the April 1923 issue of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', and in the United Kingdom in the May 1923 ''

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline *Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa *Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street, ...

''. It features the irrepressible

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge ( ) is a fictional character in comedic stories by author P. G. Wodehouse. Ukridge appears in one novel and nineteen short stories. Ukridge is a charismatic opportunist who will do anything to increase his capita ...

and was included in the collection ''

Ukridge Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge ( ) is a fictional character in comedic stories by author P. G. Wodehouse. Ukridge appears in one novel and nineteen short stories. Ukridge is a charismatic opportunist who will do anything to increase his capita ...

'', published in 1924.

Plot

Ukridge is introduced to the reader as a childhood friend of the narrator, later revealed to be James "Corky" Corcoran, who having been expelled from school for sneaking out of the school grounds to attend a fair has travelled the world undertaking all manner of enterprises. He is now, much to Corky's surprise, living with his wealthy

aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

near

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

and dressing smartly. All this soon ends, however, when Ukridge appears in Corky's

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

apartment, dressed after the old manner and accompanied by half-a-dozen

Pekingese The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Peking (Beijing) where the Forbidden City i ...

dogs. He announces to Corky that he plans to run a school for dogs, training them up as performers for the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

, and promptly departs for Sheep's Cray in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Some weeks later, Corky receives an urgent telegram from Ukridge, and travels to Kent. There he finds Ukridge in his usual state of financial embarrassment and returns to London to ask a mutual friend George Tupper for the necessary funds. Tupper coughs up happily and forms a plan to approach Ukridge's Aunt Julia in order to gain capital to fund Ukridge's scheme. Corky returns to Kent, where he finds Ukrdige enraged that his landlord, angered at not being paid, has kidnapped Ukridge's dogs. They visit the landlord, and pay him the money, but he finds the dogs have escaped, and in his contrition at having ruined Ukridge's business, agrees to refund Ukridge's rent and pay his remaining debts to local tradesmen. Ukridge and Corky return to Ukridge's house, where they find the dogs, Ukridge having secretly retrieved them overnight. They are about to decamp when Corky breaks the news about Tupper's plan, at which Ukridge quivers with shock: the dogs were in fact purloined from Aunt Julia. Upon hearing Aunt Julia's voice inside Ukridge's cottage, Corky slips away and leaves Ukridge to face the music alone.

Characters

, the irrepressible entrepreneur *

Jimmy Corcoran James J. Corcoran (May 1, 1820 – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born laborer and well-known personality among the Irish-American community of the historic " Corcoran's Roost" and the Kip's Bay districts, roughly the area near 40th Street and ...

, Ukridge's writer friend ** Bowles, Corky's landlord, an ex-butler * George Tupper, an old schoolfriend of Ukridge and Corcoran * Mr Nickerson, Ukridge's rural landlord

Publication history

In ''Cosmopolitan'', the story was illustrated by T. D. Skidmore. In the ''Strand'', it was illustrated by

Reginald Cleaver Reginald Thomas Cleaver (died 1954) was a British cartoonist notable for his work for ''Punch'' and ''The Daily Graphic ''The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper'' was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was ...

. The story was included in the 1932 collection ''Nothing But Wodehouse'', edited by

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

and published by Doubleday, Doran & Company, New York. It was included in ''The Most of P. G. Wodehouse'', a 1960 collection published by Simon and Schuster, New York. It was featured in the collection ''The World of Ukridge'', published in October 1975 by Barrie & Jenkins, along with the other Ukridge short stories. The story was included in ''A Wodehouse Bestiary'', a 1985 collection edited by D. R. Bensen and published by Ticknor & Fields, New York.

Adaptations

The story was adapted for radio in 1940 and broadcast on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

, as one of four Ukridge episodes produced by Peter Creswell and adapted by Helmar Fernback. The radio drama featured Malcolm Graeme as Ukridge, William Hutchison as Corky, Gladys Young as Aunt Julia, Charles Mason as George Tupper, William Trent as Bowles, and

Howard Marion-Crawford Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 19 ...

as Nickerson. In 1968, the story was adapted for television as "The Dog College", the second episode of the second series of ''

The World of Wodehouse ''The World of Wodehouse'' is a comedy television series, based on the Blandings Castle and Ukridge stories written by P. G. Wodehouse. The series, which followed the television series ''The World of Wooster'', was shown on BBC Television. It c ...

''. It was adapted for radio as the fourth episode of ''The Adventures of Ukridge'' (1992–93), a series of six 30-minute radio dramas based on Ukridge stories. The episode featured

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for h ...

as Ukridge,

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Corky,

Adam Godley Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...

as Tupper, Simon Godley as Beamish, Dougal Lee as Bowles,

Julian Dutton Julian Dutton is an English comedy writer and performer, principally for television and radio, whose work has won a British Comedy Award, a BAFTA, and a Radio Academy Gold Award for Best Comedy. He is the author of five books. He is the co-cr ...

as The Great Verdini and Nickerson, and

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for ''The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

as Aunt Julia and Mrs Steerforth.

References

;Notes ;Sources * {{P. G. Wodehouse Short stories by P. G. Wodehouse 1923 short stories Works originally published in Cosmopolitan (magazine)

Plot

Characters

Publication history

Adaptations

See also

References