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Two Scotsmen flying on a witch's broomstick from Edinburgh to London; representing Scots usurping the positions of southerners under the government of Lord Bute. Etching by P. Sandby, 1762.

  • Sandby, Paul, 1731-1809.
Date
Sept. 1762
Reference
38090i
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About this work

Description

A caricature of the influx of Scotsmen arriving in England after the Earl of Bute was appointed First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister) in May 1762 by his former pupil, King George III. Gunn (op. cit.) identifies a poem by Charles Churchill as the source for the two Scotsmen shown by Sandby: The prophesy of famine: a Scots pastoral, which Churchill was working on in 1762, intending to dedicate it to John Wilkes. One of the Scotsmen in Sandby's print holds the poem Fingal (Fingal, an ancient epic poem in six books) attributed to Ossian, the first part of which had been published in 1761

Publication/Creation

[London] : Publish'd according to Act of Parliam.t. [by P. Sandby?], Sept. 1762.

Physical description

1 print : etching ; platemark 27.8 x 23.8 cm

Contributors

Lettering

The flying machine from Edinburgh in one day, perform'd by Moggy Mackensie at the Thistle and Crown. On broomstick by old Moggy's aid. Full royally they rode. And on the wings of northern winds Came flying all abroad. Hopkins junr. The garden of Eden in before them and behind them a desolate wilderness" Joel Chap. 2. ver 3.

Notes

A smaller cut down version of the figures also exists in the Wellcome Library

Creator/production credits

"Hopkins junr." may be intended as reference to Matthew Hopkins, witch-finder general

References note

James Peller Malcolm, An historical sketch of the art of caricaturing, London 1813, p. 95 ("a very ludicrous print")
British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, no. 3859
Alexander Koch, Hexen: Mythos und Wirklichkeit, Wolfratshausen: Edition Minerva, 2009, p. 111
Ann V. Gunn, 'The fire of faction: sources for Paul Sandby's satires of 1762-63', Print quarterly, 2017: 400-418 (pp. 411-413)

Reference

Wellcome Library no. 38090i

Type/Technique

Languages

  • English

Subjects

Where to find it

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