Collection: Rumpole of the Bailey

Overview

The 1978 collection Rumpole of the Bailey by John Mortimer introduces Horace Rumpole, a wry, obstinate London barrister who defends clients at the Old Bailey with an affection for claret, poetry, and the odd cigarette. Rumpole is an archetype of the clever, humane advocate who mistrusts authority, delights in courtroom tactics, and measures success by saving a client from conviction rather than by social approval.

Mortimer combines courtroom maneuvering with comic observation, creating a cast of recurring figures: the formidable wife Hilda, whom Rumpole calls "She Who Must Be Obeyed, " ambitious judges and prosecutors, and a gallery of marginalised or eccentric defendants. The tone mixes warm satire with a genuine moral seriousness about justice and human fallibility.

Plot and Structure

The book is structured as a collection of linked short stories or episodes, each presenting a different case that showcases Rumpole's method and temperament. Each tale opens a window into the rituals and hierarchies of the British legal system, then releases the pressure with a clever reversal or an implausible yet satisfying acquittal engineered by Rumpole's unorthodox logic.

Although self-contained, the episodes accumulate character detail and recurring jokes that build a coherent portrait: Rumpole's professional pride, his uneasy marriage, his disdain for pompous colleagues, and his sympathy for underdogs. The episodic form allows Mortimer to vary tone from farce to quiet indignation while keeping the courtroom as the central arena.

Horace Rumpole

Rumpole is a champion of the overlooked. He approaches each trial as a combination of performance and excavation, unearthing forgotten facts, humiliating authorities with a dry quip, and appealing to juries with earthy humanity. He loves the old cases, the precedents and the poetry that keep him tethered to the craft of advocacy rather than to careerism.

His domestic life provides a comic counterpoint. Hilda, more socially ambitious and stern than he is, represents the respectability Rumpole resists. Their interactions, laced with mutual exasperation and affection, reveal a marriage that is both a battleground and a refuge, emphasizing Rumpole's stubborn individualism.

Style and Tone

Mortimer writes with brisk clarity and affectionate irony. Dialogue and courtroom speech are the engines of the narrative, propelled by Rumpole's barbed asides and Mortimer's ear for legal banter. The prose is economical yet richly observed, turning small theatrical moments into revealing judgments about character and class.

Humour is seldom merely comic relief; it is a moral instrument. The laughs are earned through surprise, verbal dexterity, and the exposure of hypocrisy. Beneath the wit, Mortimer cultivates empathy: his humour keeps the reader close to Rumpole's standpoint without allowing the comedy to trivialise the stakes of justice.

Themes

Central themes include the tension between law as an institution and justice as a human practice, the dignity of the marginalised, and the corrosive effects of ambition and snobbery. Rumpole's victories are often victories for common sense against legal formalism or social prejudice, suggesting that moral clarity can come from experience rather than from rank or rhetoric.

There is also a sustained meditation on professional integrity: Rumpole defends not just people but the principle that the legal advocate should serve truth and the vulnerable. Mortimer's sympathy for the flawed and the fallen turns each case into a miniature moral inquiry about responsibility, chance, and mercy.

Significance and Legacy

Rumpole of the Bailey launched a beloved series that crossed media into a successful television adaptation, helping to popularise courtroom fiction that combines humour with social critique. The character of Rumpole became an enduring figure in British culture, emblematic of the crafty, humane barrister who refuses to be co-opted by establishment values.

The collection remains a touchstone for readers interested in legal comedy and moral storytelling, admired for its lively portraits, sharp dialogue, and humane outlook. Mortimer's creation endures because it marries the pleasure of courtroom drama with a compassionate defence of human imperfection.