Dougal Douglas, or Douglas Dougal, or Dougal-Douglas (as he is variously known to his three employers), is the impetus behind the action of The Ballad of Peckham Rye.

Had Dougal not appeared on the Rye, Humphrey Place would never have thought to leave Dixie at the altar, Mr. Druce would never have seen the need to open Miss Coverdale's neck with a corkscrew, Nelly Mahone would never have lapsed from her native religion, and the absentee rate at both Peckham textile firms would have remained constant. A ballad—especially the border ballads of which Spark, from Edinburgh herself, is so fond—requires a largerthan-life character. Characteristically, Spark makes her hero an odd mix of the supernatural and the mundane: he may have the remnants of horns on his head, but he also cries when he is dumped by his girlfriend.

Like the hero of a Shakespearean...