John Hobbs, John Hobbs sung by Mr. Lovegrove with unbounded applause in "Any thing new" at the Lyceum Theatre, Strand / [graphic]

"Lovegrove as Jeremiah Babble stands hat in hand before a solid rail, behind which is a grotesquely fat woman, dressed in her best, with a rope round her neck, at whom he points. Three other men stand by, one with a hand on Lovegrove's shoulder, the others inspecting the woman. The verses relate that Hobbs, 'a jolly Shoe-Maker', having 'caught a Tartar' for his wife tried to sell her at Smithfield, but the wife-dealing fellows, were all of them 'sellers'., Hobbs thereupon tried to hang himself with the rope, but his wife cut him down and: They settled their troubles, like most married couples, John Hobbs, John Hobbs, Oh, happy shoe-maker John Hobbs. Such wife-selling was a common practice, popularly believed to be a legal method of divorce (and so reported by foreign visitors). 'Any Thing New' was a musical farce by Pocock, first played by the English Opera Company at the Lyceum on 1 July 1811. The song illustrated was the chief hit, being twice encored, then a remarkable event; it is printed in full in the 'Europ. Mag.' lx. 43."--British Museum online catalogue