Barrymore

Barrymore’s role in the account is defined by misdirection: his recognizable black beard makes him seem to be the man following Sherlock Holmes and Watson, but that apparent identification is a red herring, and the pursuer is Stapleton wearing a false beard.

Identity and Introduction

Barrymore is identified as the caretaker at Baskerville Hall. The account supplies this occupation and his black beard as the details that connect him to the London pursuit; it gives no further personal history or actions of his own.

The False Identification

When Sherlock Holmes and Watson are followed in London by a man in a coach, the man’s black beard encourages the reader to suspect Barrymore, since he is the other person known to have one. The resemblance is the whole basis of the suspicion: it offers an apparently concrete link between the caretaker and the pursuit without establishing that Barrymore is involved.

Revelation and Narrative Function

The pursuer is revealed to be Stapleton, who has put on a false beard. Barrymore therefore functions as a red herring rather than as the person tracking Holmes and Watson. The disguise exposes how an identifying detail can misdirect both characters and readers: the beard seems to settle the man’s identity, but is precisely what makes the false conclusion persuasive. The evidence does not attribute knowledge of the disguise or any part in the pursuit to Barrymore.