# Francis Ardry — Lavengro character guide

> Francis Ardry in Lavengro by George Borrow.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Frank, Frank, Francis, Ardry, Mr. Francis Ardry, Frank Ardry

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

A fiery, open-hearted Irishman whose taste for gaming houses and pleasure makes him the perfect opposite of his studious English friend Lavengro.

## Who they are

Francis Ardry is a young Irishman of fortune and fashion, met again by Lavengro in a London coffee-room under the watchful eyes of two guardians who want him to choose the army or the law. He burns through money, dodges every profession offered him, and temporises with the old men who hold his purse until he comes of age. His easy recklessness pulls the reflective narrator out of his books and into the playhouse and the gaming-room, giving the early story its first taste of worldly friendship and its first real temptation.

## In the story

### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxxii)

A tall, handsome young Irishman who enters the coffee-room, expresses frustration with his companions, and befriends the narrator over wine.

### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxxv)

The tall young Irish gentleman who introduces the narrator to various entertainments, including a gaming-house and a dog-fighting pit.

### [Chapter XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxxix)

Francis Ardry leads the narrator to meet Captain O'Donahue and discusses patriotism.

### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xlii)

Practices oratory under a tutor; reveals his guardians' plan for him to enter Parliament to support Catholic emancipation, but confesses his true passion is for Annette La Noire.

### [XLVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xlviii)

Visits the narrator, offers a loan of a hundred pounds, and proposes a plan to escort a Frenchwoman to Bagnigge Wells.

### [LVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/lviii)

Encountered driving a cabriolet with a beautiful female companion; expresses anger that the narrator intended to leave without telling him.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxvii)

Reunites with Lavengro at the inn, melancholy after being abandoned by Annette; discusses dog-fighting and great men, then departs for a lion fight.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxviii)

Departs from the inn at the beginning of the chapter.

### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxix)

Mentioned as the one who suggested Horncastle as a place to sell the horse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/characters/frank_ardry
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lavengro_se/characters