Painting of Dominie with umbrella

Old Dominie (oil on canvas) by John Burr [1831-93].

The Old Dominie depicts the advance of an old clergyman down a side street, watched by two small children. The title’s pedagogic implications explain the clergyman’s stance and the boy’s polite but frigid pose. He appears to be both scared and awed by this dark figure, who advances with crooked yet dogged slowness. His little sister pokes her head round his body, exhibiting a more brazen curiousity. The clergyman’s black appearance extends to his umbrella, which is secured under his arm, and protrudes like some hooked weapon. They presumably regard the dominie as a dreadful presence who must be allowed a generous amount of room in which to manoeuver.

At the time depicted the spokes of the umbrella would probbaly have been made of whale-bone.