Barquentine (Gormenghast)

Barquentine is a character in the first two books in the Gormenghast series, (Titus Groan and Gormenghast). He is the son of Sourdust, the Master of Ritual of Gormenghast castle. At first he lives a hermitic existence in an obscure tract of the castle. When he appears in the book he is 74 years old. He is a one-legged, hunchbacked dwarf with a bitter, vicious personality. He never washes and dresses in filthy rags; his hair and beard are long, tangled and dirty. He is frequently taunted by the castle's children, who sing "Rotten leg, rotten spine - ya! ya! Barquentine!"

Barquentine takes on the hereditary office following the death of his father in the first book. He takes Steerpike on as his assistant at the end of the first novel. In the second book, Steerpike murders him, and takes over the post of Master of Ritual.

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