The Rebellion of 1821, or Political Humbug, cartoon
TitleThe Rebellion of 1821, or Political Humbug, cartoon
ReferenceFRAMED/284
Date
1821
Production date 1821 - 1821
Scope and ContentFrom Catalogue of political and personal satires preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: volume 10
"M'c Cleary Nassau Street Engraving (coloured impression).
Oafish-looking soldiers (r.) crouch behind a barricade which an artisan with a hammer is completing. They are in un-soldierly attitudes, but have fixed bayonets, a cannon, and cannon-balls. Their stout elderly officer kneels to look through a telescope at a witch on a broom-stick (l.). She advances through the smoke which ascends from a giant 'Bottle of Smoke' which stands on the ground. Flourishing a crutch and grinning she bestrides her broom; before her is a grotesque fledgling bird; behind, two skeletons, a dummy-like figure, a 'blue devil', and a little blue demon. The officer's words are engraved below the upper margin: "to Arms! to Arms! make the Barriers Bum-proof, O Lord! O Lord! we shall be all ruined! O! such a multitude of cursed Rebels & Radicals, the roads are thick with them, the mountains covered, all armed with swords & Muskets, marching in hollow squares to attack the Barrier, see, see, the clouds of dust & smoke, we are all undone to a certainty, there, there, look, by the Lord they have got Flying Artillery, with Bomb-bardiers all mounted & Flying to Action, now my brave comrades prime, load & make ready for Actual Service, your Venerable Commander expects every Man will do his Duty".
In the autumn and winter of 1821 agrarian disturbances broke out in Ireland, with many outrages, especially in Limerick, and the country was honey-combed by secret societies. The bottle is an emblem of scare-mongering."
"M'c Cleary Nassau Street Engraving (coloured impression).
Oafish-looking soldiers (r.) crouch behind a barricade which an artisan with a hammer is completing. They are in un-soldierly attitudes, but have fixed bayonets, a cannon, and cannon-balls. Their stout elderly officer kneels to look through a telescope at a witch on a broom-stick (l.). She advances through the smoke which ascends from a giant 'Bottle of Smoke' which stands on the ground. Flourishing a crutch and grinning she bestrides her broom; before her is a grotesque fledgling bird; behind, two skeletons, a dummy-like figure, a 'blue devil', and a little blue demon. The officer's words are engraved below the upper margin: "to Arms! to Arms! make the Barriers Bum-proof, O Lord! O Lord! we shall be all ruined! O! such a multitude of cursed Rebels & Radicals, the roads are thick with them, the mountains covered, all armed with swords & Muskets, marching in hollow squares to attack the Barrier, see, see, the clouds of dust & smoke, we are all undone to a certainty, there, there, look, by the Lord they have got Flying Artillery, with Bomb-bardiers all mounted & Flying to Action, now my brave comrades prime, load & make ready for Actual Service, your Venerable Commander expects every Man will do his Duty".
In the autumn and winter of 1821 agrarian disturbances broke out in Ireland, with many outrages, especially in Limerick, and the country was honey-combed by secret societies. The bottle is an emblem of scare-mongering."
Extent1 framed item
Physical descriptionDimensions (H X W): 41cm X 53cm
SubjectCartoons, Rebellions
Conditions governing accessOpen
Levelfile
Normal locationD Plan Chest Drawer 2 (Room 12)