Merrylegs Character Analysis in Black Beauty

Merrylegs is a fat gray pony owned by Miss Jessie and Miss Flora at Birtwick. He’s wise and old, at 12 years old, and has been at Birtwick for five years when Black Beauty arrives. Black Beauty quickly befriends the pony. Merrylegs makes a point to carefully care for and train his young riders, but he also believes that part of this is teaching visiting boys not to be cruel and abuse horses. So, when the boys beat him with sticks and try to make him gallop, Merrylegs ejects the boys to teach them not to do that. Dumping mean riders gently, though, is as much as Merrylegs is comfortable doing to make his point. Though Ginger suggests she’d kick cruel boys, Merrylegs believes he’d be sold into horrible work if he ever kicked, bit, or was anything but a gentle and reliable horse for children. When his friends discuss how cruel people can be to horses and dogs, Merrylegs doesn’t disagree—but he also suggests it’s inappropriate to talk about such things when they’re so well cared for at Birtwick. Squire Gordon sells Merrylegs to the vicar when he moves to Europe, on the condition that the vicar never sell Merrylegs and that Merrylegs should be humanely shot when he’s too old to work. Black Beauty never discovers whether this happened or not.

Merrylegs Character Timeline in Black Beauty

The timeline below shows where the character Merrylegs appears in Black Beauty. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Horse Care, Abuse, and Neglect Theme Icon

...himself to the fat gray pony in the next stall. The pony introduces himself as Merrylegs; he carries the young ladies and pulls a small cart. Merrylegs asks if the narrator... (full context)

...this, a chestnut mare pops her head over the wall of the stall next to Merrylegs. She spits that the narrator has evicted her from her stall. The narrator apologizes—he didn’t... (full context)

The narrator assures Merrylegs he only bites food, and he notes that he has no idea why Ginger likes... (full context)

Class, Transportation, and Victorian England Theme Icon

...keep step together well, which pleases John. Before long, Ginger and Black Beauty are friends. Merrylegs soon becomes a close friend as well. Black Beauty also gets to know Justice, a... (full context)

...vicar Mr. Blomefield sometimes brings his children to play with Miss Jessie and Miss Flora. Merrylegs gets a lot of work when the kids visit, as they all take turns riding... (full context)

Merrylegs says it’s the boys that need to be broken in, just like young colts. He... (full context)

Merrylegs says the boys aren’t bad and don’t want to be cruel, but they needed to... (full context)

...Gordon often chooses him. Squire Gordon rides Ginger, while Miss Flora and Miss Jessie ride Merrylegs and Sir Oliver. Black Beauty believes Mrs. Gordon prefers him because his mouth is still... (full context)

...toward men for the first time. Ginger says men are “brutes and blockheads.” Just then, Merrylegs wanders up from the apple tree and insists that “blockhead” is a bad word. Ginger... (full context)

...middle of their heads, since humans think they can do better than God. At this, Merrylegs says that he believes John doesn’t approve of blinkers. But he suggests they all cheer... (full context)

...before James leaves. He’s too short to groom Ginger or Black Beauty, so James uses Merrylegs to teach him. Merrylegs complains about being “mauled about” by Joe, but he eventually says... (full context)

...that. He has a fever and is sensitive to noise, so John moves Ginger and Merrylegs out of the stable. One night, Tom helps John give Black Beauty medicine. Then they... (full context)

...Squire Gordon begins dismantling his estate. Miss Jessie and Miss Flora leave first and hug Merrylegs. Then, the horses learn that Squire Gordon is selling Ginger and Black Beauty to the... (full context)

The next morning, Joe hitches up Merrylegs and says goodbye to Ginger and Black Beauty before driving to the vicarage. John then... (full context)

...owners are happier than he was at Earlshall. Once, he sees a gray pony like Merrylegs trying to pull a heavy cart while a boy whips him. Merrylegs was never supposed... (full context)