"The Duchess of Gordon runs in profile to the left, pursuing a bull which gallops away, out of reach. She holds out a ribbon inscribed 'Matrimony', tied in a bow, in which she wishes to noose the bull. She is stout, florid, and handsome, with tartan draperies hanging from her hair and looped about her dress. A slim daughter (Lady Georgiana) runs beside and behind her, saying, "Run, Mither! - run! run! O how I long to lead the sweet bonny Creature in a string! run! Mither! run. run." The Duchess cries: "De'el hurst your weam, ye overgrown Fool, what are ye kicking at? - are we not ganging to lead ye to Graze on the banks o' the Tweed, & to make ye free o' the Mountains o the North? - Stop! - stop! ye silly Loon ye! stop!, stop, stop." The scene is a bare and slightly mountainous moor. In the middle distance three other daughters of the Duchess dance hand in hand: one is in back view, half of her petticoats removed to show breeches, inscribed 'Manchester Velvet', indicating that she is Susan, who married the Duke of Manchester in 1793, and that she dominates her husband (cf. BMSat 8983). One (right) has a broom thrust through her sash to indicate that she is Louisa, m. Viscount Brome, 17 Apr. 1797. Beside the third (left) dances a spaniel attached to her waist by a ribbon inscribed 'K. Charles Breed', showing that she is Charlotte, who married Col. Lennox, see BMSat 7594 (afterwards Duke of Richmond). The Duchess was renowned for her match-making, in acquiring three dukes and a marquis for four of her five ill-dowered daughters. See Wraxall, 'Memoirs', 1884, iii. 391 ff.; 'Corr. of Lord G. Leveson Gower', 1917, i. 68, 73, 76. The pursuit of the Duke of Bedford was not at first successful, but Lady Georgiana was believed to have been engaged to him shortly before his death in 1803 (ibid. i. 336-7), after which she married, as his second wife, his brother and heir, the 6th Duke."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Bonny duchess hunting the Bedfordshire bull
Description:
Title etched below image., Temporary local subject terms: Match-making -- Matrimony -- Allusion to the Duke of Manchester -- Allusion to Col. Lennox -- Allusion to Viscount Brome -- Dogs: King Charles's spaniel -- Bulls -- Brooms -- Duchess of Manchester -- Viscountess Brome., and Mounted to 31 x 47 cm.
Publisher:
Pubd. April 19th, 1797, by H. Humphrey, New Bond & St. Jamess [sic] Street
Subject (Name):
Gordon, Jane Gordon, Duchess of, 1748-1812, Bedford, Georgina Gordon, Duchess of, 1781-1853, and Richmond and Lennox, Charlotte Gordon, Duchess of, 1768-1842
"Lennox leans back on a sofa, his pistol in his hand, looking up with a melancholy expression. A lady (left) holds a smelling-bottle to his nose; the Duke of Richmond (right), leaning on one end of the sofa, regards his nephew anxiously. Lennox says: "I had been happy, if the Gen'ral Camp Foot-soldiers, all, had pull'd my Nose in private, So it had not been told; O, now for ever Farewell the Plumed Troops & the big War, The spirit-stirring Drum & the ear piercing fife, The Royal Banner & all quality, Pride, Pomp, & Circumstance of glorious War Farewell! Your Hero's reputations gone!" The lady, Lady Charlotte Gordon (who married Lennox, see BMSat 7594), says: "O my dear shiv'ring L. .. . x [These words have been ostensibly obliterated by cross-hatching which leaves them legible and makes them conspicuous.]! do compose yourself, for the sake of your dear Charlotte! Ah! that hot-blooded-fellow has fright'ned him into an Ague - come do take a sniff at your Charlotte's smelling-bottle, the Bonny Duchess says that my smelling Bottle is a nice Thing to raise a Man's courage, I long for you to take hold of it, my dear L ... x. [These words have been ostensibly obliterated by cross-hatching which leaves them legible and makes them conspicuous.] Richmond says, "Don't fret yourself my dear Nephew, [These words have been ostensibly obliterated by cross-hatching which leaves them legible and makes them conspicuous.] you have behaved like a Man of Spirit & Honor; - your putting up with a public Insult when you could have resented it, shews your magnanimity! your pretending not to remember the words of the insult, shews your harmless disposition! - your Letters to the Club, your good-sense! - their being sent a week before the Duel, your want of malice! as it gave his Highness's friends an opportunity to secure him from your resentment, by putting you under arrest! - your firing first, proves your spirit! - your not waiting to be shot at, your discretion! - & your being satisfied with only attempting the life of the son of your **** proves your Loyalty, & generosity! - therefore, my dear Boy, take comfort, get the better of this Ague, which you are thrown into by pulling the trigger, &, if you are kick'd out of one Regiment, Nunkle will beg another for you, as a reward for your Gallantry & good-will to the house of Hanover!!!" Pitt (left) looks round a door, saying, "Heav'ns L . . . x [These words have been ostensibly obliterated by cross-hatching which leaves them legible and makes them conspicuous.] what's the matter? I hope you've succeeded in lessening the number of my Plagues.""--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Scene immediately after the duel
Description:
Title etched below image; the word 'coward' has scratched out with numerous etched lines but is still legible., Printmaker from British Museum catalogue., "Price 1 sh./6 plain.", Sheet trimmed within plate mark., Temporary local subject terms: Military uniforms: lieutenant-colonel, 35th Foot -- Duels: Duke of York and Lt.-Col. Lennox -- Guns: pistols -- Medicinal: smelling bottles -- Furniture: sofas -- Charlotte (Gordon), Duchess of Richmond, 1768-1842., Watermark: Armorial shield with fleur-de-lis above and monogram LS below., and Mounted.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 29th, 1789, by J. Aitken, Castle Street, Leicester Fields
Subject (Name):
Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1764-1819, Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806, Richmond and Lennox, Charlotte Gordon, Duchess of, 1768-1842, and Pitt, William, 1759-1806
