Forty years of 'Spy'

by Sir Leslie Ward

MY WIFE.

During the latter part of our honeymoon we joined my wife's people at Monte Carlo, where rather an amusing incident occurred à propos of my cartoon of Kruger. Mrs. Raby Watney (my wife's mother) received a letter from her brother, Mr. Marshall Hall, in which he said that a drawing of Kruger, which had just appeared in Vanity Fair, was much appreciated, and that the reproduction, enlarged and reflected on a screen, appearing nightly at the Palace Theatre, was creating quite a sensation. He added, "Tell Leslie he mustn't allow himself to be cut out by other artists." So Mrs. Watney wrote back to him, "Look at the signature, 'Drawl,' and read it backwards."

As I have said before, it is my rule never to place my signature "Spy" under a drawing I have not made from observation of the subject himself, but so anxious was the editor to publish a cartoon of Kruger that to test my powers of imagination, and with the addition of a description of his personal appearance from one who knew him, I made it and sent it in to the office.

But the most amusing comment of all occurred in the reviews of the bound volume of Vanity Fair. As usual they were most polite and complimentary to "Spy," who was declared to be quite up to his standard, but they added, "We must confess the best drawings in the volume are by a man who signs himself Drawl," and one paper proceeded to describe the new caricaturist in full, and among other details said that he was a Dane.

On our return to London we looked about for a house and found it very difficult to find a suitable one with a studio attached, so eventually we decided on a house in Elizabeth Street, and I to keep on my old studio at 177, Bromfield Place, Pimlico Road, which I had occupied for fifteen years.

In June, 1900, there appeared in Vanity Fair the drawing of Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, whom I sketched in helmet and khaki, with a suggestion of Oom Paul introduced in a boulder in the background. This cartoon, on account of the subject, beat the record for popularity, and its sale exceeded that of all other cartoons in Vanity Fair. Later on, when the Commander-in-Chief came to my studio to give me a sitting for the drawing which appeared in The World, he told me that copies of this Vanity Fair cartoon had come to him from all parts with a request for him to sign it.

In the Christmas number of Vanity Fair Lord Roberts was prominent again as the central figure of "A General Group," which contained portraits of Sir Redvers Buller, Lord Kitchener, General Hunter, General French, General Pole-Carew, Sir George White, Lord Dundonald, General Baden-Powell, Colonel Plumer, Sir Frederick Carrington, and General Hector Macdonald. It was a difficult subject to imagine, but it worked out satisfactorily as I was familiar with nearly all in the group.

About this time I made my mental notes for the Vanity Fair drawing of Archbishop Temple in St. Paul's Cathedral. The prelate had then become almost blind, and had to be conducted to and from the pulpit.

Some years later I went to Lambeth Palace to sketch the present Archbishop (Dr. Randall Davidson). I was received by his charming wife, and when I got into conversation with the Archbishop he talked to me of his old friend, and said, "One of the best portraits I have ever seen of Archbishop Temple is that one hanging on the wall; I don't know who did it." "Oh, I'm so very pleased that you think that," I replied, "because you will find my signature there, and I did it entirely from observation after a visit to St. Paul's."