"Satire on the end of Lord Rockingham's administration shown as a dance at court. The verses below describe the protagonists who have been numbered in pen and ink: in the centre, Princess Augusta (1) dances with Lord Bute (2) their joined hands holding a leading string attached to Pitt (3) with a gouty leg who leans on his crutch, adorned with a coronet, as he converses with America, a half naked native American woman holding a bottle of rum. To the left of the Princess, stand Charles Townshend (4), holding a weathercock, beside his partner Britannia standing on her head, her shield and spear fallen on the ground. Further left, Lord Northington (5) robed as Lord President of the Council holds a glass of wine towards his elaborately dressed young woman (6; identified by Stephens as Betty Careless, although she had died in 1752). On the right, Henry Fox (7) dances with the devil; behind him are a Frenchman saying he will not pay the Canada Bills recompensing Britain after the Seven Years' War, and a Spaniard saying he will not pay the Manilla Ransom, a sum of two million dollars offered to Britain by the governor of Manilla when the city was captured. At far left, the king (8) plays the fiddle accompanied by two Scottish bagpipers. Wilkes (9) flies above, a copy of his Essay on Woman in his pocket, bound for Paris on a broomstick with a witch who says she will take him anywhere but to Scotland; he defecates on the head of Lord Bute. In the foreground stand four politicians: Temple (10) saying that he will get Francis Hayman to paint the scene for his garden at Stowe; Newcastle (11) wearing spectacles; Rockingham (12) wearning boots and carrying a riding whip; Winchilsea (13). Verses below in six columns, each with the chorus, "Doodle doodle doo""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
New country dance as danced at Court July the 30th 1766
Description:
Title etched at bottom of image., "The devil seems to have been inspired by the work of Jefferyes Hamett O'Neale and other facial types echo those in prints designed by him"--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalogue registration no.: 1868,0808.4386., Publication date based on advertisement in The Public advertiser, Sept. 4, 1766., Description based on an imperfect impression; sheet trimmed within plate mark at bottom resulting in loss of text below image, including distribution information and price from lower right corner. For missing text, see British Museum online catalogue., Figure numbered '6' is most likely a depiction of Fanny Murray., and Mounted to 28 x 43 cm.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Name):
George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820, Augusta, Princess of Wales, 1719-1772, Charles III, King of Spain, 1716-1788, Louis XV, King of France, 1710-1774, Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 1713-1792, Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778, Holland, Henry Fox, Baron, 1705-1774, Townshend, Charles, 1725-1767, Northington, Robert Henley, Earl of, 1708?-1772, Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of, 1693-1768, Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquis of, 1730-1782, Temple, Richard Grenville-Temple, Earl, 1711-1779, Winchilsea, Daniel Finch, Earl of, 1689-1769, Wilkes, John, 1725-1797, Murray, Fanny, 1729-1778, and Hayman, Francis, 1708-1776.
Subject (Topic):
Influence, Britannia (Symbolic character), Alcoholic beverages, Brooms & brushes, Crutches, Devil, Eyeglasses, Prostitutes, Symbols, Weather vanes, and Witches
