The Black Arrow · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Dick Shelton
major
Also known as Dick, Master Dick, sweet Dick, kind Dick, Shelton, young Shelton, Cautiously Dick, young Master Richard Shelton, Master Richard, Richard, good Master Shelton, Master Shelton, Richard Shelton, Sir Richard Shelton, Sir Richard, Friend Dick, Dick—good Dick
Dick Shelton begins as Sir Daniel Brackley's ward, loyal to a guardian whose treachery he has not yet learned to see. When he weeps over a dead comrade and begs a priest for a dying archer, his raw decency collides with the cold politics of the Wars of the Roses. His early ride through Tunstall Forest, where arrows fly and companions fall, forces him to choose whom to trust — and whom to love — before he even knows the truth about his own name.
Sir Daniel Brackley
major
Also known as Sir Daniel, Brackley, Daniel, Sir Daniel goodwill, Daniel Brackley
Sir Daniel Brackley rules his corner of the Wars of the Roses by shifting allegiances and writing letters full of promises he has no intention of keeping. He needs a messenger sly enough and fast enough to slip past the outlaws in the wood, and his careful weighing of his own men shows a commander who trusts no one. As Dick's guardian and Joanna's would-be husband, he is the knot of obligation and betrayal that the early story pulls tighter with every scene.
Joanna Sedley
major
Also known as One Joan Sedley, Joanna, this Joanna, Joanna Sedley, Joan, Mistresse Joan Sedley, Joan Sedley, Joan The
Joanna Sedley travels as the boy Matcham, hiding from a forced marriage to a man she has never met — who turns out to be the very companion beside her. In the dark of Dick's chamber she confesses her identity and her love in the same breath, brave and quick-tongued even as Sir Daniel's men hammer at the door. Her disguise is both armor and cage, and the tension between what she is and what she must pretend to be drives the middle of the book.
Matcham
major
Also known as Master Matcham, Jack, Jack Matcham, good Jack, poor Jack Matcham, Jack ashore, Sir John Matcham, John Matcham
Matcham is the name Joanna Sedley wears when she flees Sir Daniel's household, and as Jack Matcham she teases Dick about his impending wedding to a girl neither of them has met. Her fear of capture is real, but so is her pleasure in Dick's company, and the friendship they build on the road is charged with everything she cannot say. When the disguise finally falls away, it is the trust earned as Matcham that makes the revelation land.
Will Lawless
supporting
Also known as Lawless, Will, old Lawless, dear Lawless, Friend Lawless
Will Lawless is a man who has survived so long by hardship that he can curl up and snore in a cell the night before his hanging. He offers Dick a string to his bow — the outlaw Ellis Duckworth — and pledges to swear for Dick's innocence even when swearing will do no good. His loyalty is the kind that costs nothing to promise and everything to keep, and it anchors Dick to the outlaw band that will shape his fate.
Bennet Hatch
supporting
Also known as Bennet, Hatch, Maister Bennet Hatch, good Bennet, poor Bennet
Bennet Hatch serves Sir Daniel with a soldier's blunt loyalty, but old Appleyard's warning that every man in Tunstall Forest would rather shoot him than not has clearly gotten under his skin. He is the practical arm of Sir Daniel's power — mustering men, holding the Moat House, teaching Dick the trade of arms — and yet his rough affection for Dick complicates his service. When the arrows start flying, Hatch is the first to show what loyalty costs in this country.
Ellis Duckworth
supporting
Also known as Duckworth, Ellis, Master Ellis
Ellis Duckworth commands the outlaw band that turns the greenwood into a hunting ground for Sir Daniel Brackley, and he draws young Dick Shelton into that feud. His pursuit of revenge has curdled into something like a sickness of the soul, so that when his enemy lies dead at last he prays in great disorder and confesses the devil is still strong within him. He matters because his fellowship gives Dick both a refuge and a moral education in what vengeance costs.
Lord Foxham
supporting
Also known as Foxham, the Lord Foxham
Lord Foxham is a nobleman of the old style, rich, proud, and accustomed to comfort, who finds himself bleeding in a foul ship among churls and broken men. Facing death, he worries less for his soul than for his secular interests, and he bargains with Dick to protect his ward and his following. His trust turns a gallant enemy into a patron and gives Dick the standing he needs to pursue Joanna.
Sir Oliver Oates
supporting
Also known as Sir Oliver
Sir Oliver Oates is the household priest at Tunstall, a discreet, soft-stepping man who has grown comfortable in Sir Daniel's shadow and profited by his crimes. When Dick presses him about the dying Carter and about old treacheries, the priest starts, drops his eyes, and hurries on with an inaudible benediction. He matters because his guilty evasions help convince Dick that his guardian's house is built on murder.
Richard of Gloucester
supporting
Also known as Crookback Dick o' Gloucester, the Crookback, Crookback Dick, Gloucester, Crookback, Richard Crookback, Richard, Meanwhile Gloucester
Richard of Gloucester appears in the wars as a small, dark, ambitious leader who demands that all things be done exact to his commandment and kills those who fail. Yet his men follow him gladly, for he is as liberal of his own blood as of theirs, always in the first front of battle and the last to sleep. He matters because his cold favour raises Dick to a perilous command and because his sour inspection of Joanna nearly rewrites her fate.
Alicia Risingham
supporting
Also known as Mistress Alicia Risingham, the nowise loth Alicia
Alicia Risingham is Joanna's friend and companion in Sir Daniel's house, a girl who can mimic a paladin's boasts one moment and offer bold counsel the next. She teases Dick about driving lions like mice, yet she is the one who draws him out and keeps Joanna's spirits from sinking. She matters because her nerve and humour help carry the two girls through the dangers of the wedding eve, and because her own marriage closes the story's comic account.
Earl Risingham
supporting
Also known as Risingham, V Earl Risingham Earl Risingham, Lord Risingham, my good Lord Risingham
Earl Risingham belongs to the great Lancastrian party that shelters Sir Daniel and Lord Shoreby, and his household becomes a fortress of sentinels and posted men as the outlaws close in. He is a man of rank and consequence whose alliances place him squarely in the path of Dick's rising fortunes. He matters because his cause and his kin tie the private feud of the greenwood to the larger wars of York and Lancaster.
Selden
minor
A loyal servant of Lord Foxham who accompanies Dick on missions.
Gossip Arblaster
minor
Also known as Gossip, Arblaster, gossip Arblaster, Even Arblaster, Skipper Arblaster
A shipmaster whose vessel Dick commandeers; later seeks revenge.
Hugh Ferryman
minor
Also known as Hugh
The ferryman who transports Dick and Matcham across the fen.
Tom Cuckow
minor
Also known as Tom, Cuckow
A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed during the skirmish.
Appleyard
minor
Also known as old Appleyard, Old Appleyard, poor Appleyard
An old archer killed by a black arrow early in the story.
John Carter
minor
Also known as Carter, good Carter
A servant of Sir Daniel who is killed by a black arrow.
Greensheve
minor
Also known as brother Greensheve
One of Ellis Duckworth's outlaws who aids Dick.
Clipsby
minor
A man who gives Dick information about Sir Daniel's plans.
Catesby
minor
A retainer of Richard of Gloucester who delivers messages.
John Amend-All
minor
Also known as John Amend, John Amend - All, John, Jon Amend
An alias used by Ellis Duckworth for his outlaw band.
Lord Shoreby
minor
Also known as old Lord Shoreby himself, the Lord of Shoreby, Shoreby
A Lancastrian nobleman who is killed by Dick.
Master Pirret
minor
Also known as Pirret
A servant of Sir Daniel who guards the Moat House.
Hawksley
minor
One of Ellis Duckworth's outlaws.
Lady Brackley
minor
Also known as Brackley, old Lady Brackley
Sir Daniel's mother, a harsh old woman.
John Capper
minor
Also known as Capper, John
A servant of Sir Daniel who assists in the plot against Dick.
Condall
minor
A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed.
Dickon
minor
Also known as Friend Dickon
A nickname for Richard of Gloucester used by his followers.
Rutter
minor
A sailor on the Good Hope who is killed.
Throgmorton
minor
A man who brings news to Sir Daniel.
Sir Harry Shelton
minor
Also known as Harry Shelton
Dick's father, whose murder by Sir Daniel sets the plot in motion.
John-a-Fenne
minor
Also known as John - a - Fenne, John Fenne, John
A spy for Sir Daniel who is killed by the outlaws.
Sir John Hamley
minor
Also known as Hamley, this Hamley
A knight who appears at the battle of Shoreby.
Old Nicholas
minor
Also known as Nick, old Nicholas the bowman, old Nick
An old bowman who serves Sir Daniel.
Brother Martin
minor
A friar who helps Dick and Joanna in the abbey.
Simon Malmesbury
minor
A priest who is killed by a black arrow.
Abbot of Holywood
minor
Also known as The good Abbot of Holywood, Holywood
An abbot who shelters Dick and Joanna.
Kettley
minor
A man who gives Dick information about Sir Daniel.
Lord Wensleydale
minor
A Lancastrian lord killed at the battle of Shoreby.