Somerville and Ross and The Big House Novel

‘Is it height – in this country of otherwise low buildings – that got these Anglo-Irish houses their ‘big’ names? Or have they been called ‘big’ with a slight inflection – that of hostility, irony? One may call a man ‘big’ with just that inflection because he seems to think the hell of himself.’  (Bowen)

The big house novel is one of the most fundamental genres of 19^th century Irish fiction. Written by mostly the protestant ascendancy, it is stereotypically viewed as ‘voyeuristic literature’, meaning it is written by a class of people observing their own society and commenting on their faults and flaws but also watching the lower classes and seeing them as lower people. Somerville and Ross were some of these critics. Critic John Cronin says ‘A healthy critical curiosity would surely concern itself...with exploring the dynamic nature of its essential tensions. Somerville and Ross were daughters of the ascendancy and their principal concern as writers is with their own class.’ (Cronin Pg 9) He later goes on to say that ‘Daughters of the ascendancy they were, and themselves part of the world of the Big House but they were never less than seriously critical of it all. In them the eye of love is also the eye of judgement.’ (Cronin, Pg 15)

In the early days of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy nothing was scarce and the ascendancy themselves were seen to be wealthy and powerful. But when cousins Edith Somerville and Violet Martin, who later changed her name to Martin Ross in honour of her family home, were writing their best known works, the ascendancy was quickly dying and their lives were thrown into uncertainty. Edith Somerville compared the position of daughters in impoverished Anglo-Irish households to that of their dogs: ‘permitted to eat of the crumbs that fell from their brothers’ tables if no crumbs fell, the daughters went unfed.’ (Lewis)

It is clear that Somerville and Ross were unlike much of their own society by which they were interested in the Irish people that they were living with, even if they did not necessarily belong with them. John Cronin argues that ‘It is certainly noticeable that the incidental, cultural activities of Somerville and Ross were strikingly similar to those of Synge and Lady Gregory. Like them, they attended classes in the Irish language – like them, they foraged among the country people in search of phrases and habits of speech. They had in common with the leading figures of the Irish literary Revival their ear for rich, fully-flavoured language.’ (Cronin, Pg 10) Somerville and Ross were not only interested in increasing their knowledge of their fellow countrymen for the sake of their literature but also for the sake of their own interest and well being. 

Big House families tended to keep their lives and affairs private and shared as little as possible when it came to their Irish neighbours and tenants. There was a definite barrier separating the Anglo-Irish big house families and the lower class Irish tenants, one that could not easily be rectified as the two societies had very little in common. Terence Dooley wrote ‘Few cultural bonds existed between the vast majority of Irish landlords and tenants. Big houses were not popularised as symbols of a common national history shared by all classes. And, above all, in Ireland they remained private homes until the late twentieth century, unopened to a public that was not as curious as the one in Britain to view their lavish surroundings or as appreciative of them as public repositories of works of fine art.’ (Dooley) However we have to question how realistic the peasant characters are portrayed in their work. Professor Oliver Macdonagh argues that the majority of the lower classes are not seen as proper people. ‘If the servant and peasant types such as Norry-the-Boat and Bid Sal are scarcely caricatures, neither are they full persons. They live, but only as ‘sub-people’, only as a species of animated background. Somerville and Ross did see the native population, but only as children are seen; not as developed individuals, but as having a partial, indeterminate existence on the outskirts of life.’ (Macdonagh) This is true of many peasant characters throughout all Anglo-Irish novels, being seen as people who need to be cared for by their land owners who seemingly cannot look after themselves and are not seen as realistic people.

 However, while they were both members of the ascendancy, they were both extremely active in Irish affairs, particularly in the Irish Literary Revival where they worked alongside both W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. Ross herself was a convinced and active member of the Irish unionists and both she and her brother Robert were well-regarded members of the literary circle in Irish unionism. Martin Ross was also a confident suffragette, being the vice-president of the Munster Women's Franchise League and it could be argued that this is perhaps a reason why Charlotte is such a strong, independent female character, much like the two authors themselves. 

Inevitably the Big House would not last after Ireland got its independence. Already a dying race, the ascendancy was quick to leave when its time was over. However their literature was an important development of the 19^th century and Somerville and Ross remain two of the most influential authors of Anglo-Irish literature.

  Bibliography

• Bowen, Elizabeth, ‘The Big House’ in Hermione Lee (ed). The Mulberry Tree. 1986. P. 26.
• Cronin, John ed., Somerville and Ross: A Symposium. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1969.
• Dooley, Terence. The Decline of the Big House in Ireland. Wolfhound Press, 2001.
• Lewis, Gifford. Edith Somerville: A Biography. Dublin, Four Courts, 2005.
• Macdonagh, Oliver. The Nineteenth Century Novel and Irish Social History: Some Aspects. Lecture, University College, Cork. 1970.