Fortune's Favourites: or Happiness in every Situation, 1786

Fortune's Favourites: or Happiness in every Situation, Robert Dighton, printed by Bowles & Carver, 1786, British Museum.

Dighton's cartoon shows all classes of society smiling and enjoying their day beneath a blindfolded Fortune, with one hand on a wheel (perhaps a spinning wheel?) and the other holding an overflowing cornucopia. A cobbler, butcher, shoeblack, and carpenter join the sailor in representing the lower classes. They are comingled with a decorated peer, a rich miser, and (according to the curators of the British Museum) 'a fat alderman eating from a bowl of soup inscribed "Turtle."'

The image is crowded, so the sailor is obscured by the miser.

Over his loose and flowing locks, our tar wears a cocked hat with the point forward and a large blue cockade on the left side. Around his neck is a red neckcloth, draped over his shirt and jacket. The blue jackets is fitted with open mariner's cuffs with white or silver buttons. Beneath his plain petticoat trousers is a wooden leg.

Courtship in Low Life, 1785

Courtship in Low Life, Thomas Rowlandson, 1785, Royal Collection Trust.

The curators at the Royal Collection trust suppose this print to have been acquired by Queen Victoria in the nineteenth century. It was originally accompanied by a matching print entitled Courtship in High Life.

The latter, shown above, depicts the future King George IV, the current Prince of Wales, courteously kneeling at the foot of a well dressed woman. The humorous contrast comes from the drunken tar in the former, pouring a glass of wine and winking at a woman "in a state of undress" as the curator so delicately puts it.

Our sailor wears a black round hat with the short brim slightly upturned, possibly a buck hat. His curly brown hair might be cut short, but it's hard to tell with the detail in this image. Around his neck is a yellow neckcloth dotted in red, or perhaps floral. Looking closely, it is easy to tell that the original engraving did not grant our tar a waistcoat. There are no lines, no pockets, and no buttons. Possibly Rowlandson wanted his sailor to be wearing a shirt alone, or maybe a smock tucked into his trousers. The red may have been an attempt by the colorist to impart a waistcoat on our mariner.

His trousers are striped, but this was also added by the colorist. With a wooden leg for his left, he wears a blue stocking on his one good foot, with a white metal oval buckle on his shoe. His jacket is blue with yellow metal buttons. Interestingly, the open mariners' cuff on his left wrist still bears the yellow buttons, so perhaps Rowlandson intended them to be non-functional.

Frost on the Thames, 1788-1789

Frost on the Thames, Samuel Collings, 1788-1789, Yale Center for British Art.

Thanks once more to Adam Hodges-LeClaire for pointing out this piece to me.

From the seventeenth through the early nineteenth centuries, when winters were colder than they are today, the Thames would occassionally freeze. On these occasions, Frost Fairs would be held. People of all classes would clamber across the ice and engage in various revelries.

Collings is depicting one of the last Frost Fairs, which occurred in 1788. In the background, a forest of masts clouds the Tower of London, frozen in port. Scattered among the common and classy folks of London (and even a Dutchman) are a number of sailors who have no work to do while they wait for a thaw.

Sitting atop a wicker basket, a sailor in a blue jacket, black neckcloth, and white trousers, smokes a clay pipe. He also wears a bob wig and cocked hat. Behind him is a sailor with his hands at his waist or possibly in trouser pockets. He wears a round hat with tall cylindrical crown, red jacket, black neckcloth, and white trousers.

This sailor keeps his hands warm in his trouser pockets. He wears a reversed cocked hat, black neckcloth, blue waistcoat, and red jacket.

Leading a mule, this beggardly peddler is perhaps a veteran of the sea. He wears petticoat trousers over his wooden leg, a stick is tucked under his arm, and his brown jacket is patched at the shoulder and elbow. Atop his head is a bushy fur cap, and gray whiskers cloud his chin.

The Dissolution of P___t, c1774

The Dissolution of P___t, artist unknown, c1774, American Antiquarian Society.

Members of Parliament are making haste on a special coach designed explicitly to carry them to their 'Corrupted Boroughs' in this satirical piece. Scattered in the street are papers representing their offensive acts against America: the 'Boston Port Bill,' 'General Warrants,' and 'Quebec' (undoubtedly referring to the Quebec Act).

The scattered commoners about the street speak derisively of the failed public servants. Among them is a sailor turned beggar, who tries his hand at a groan inducing pun. 'Ah, rot such Members, my Members are better,' meaning his wooden legs, one of which is broken.

He wears a reversed cocked hat, bob wig, a single breasted jacket, and torn breeches fitted tight to his wooden legs.

Chairing the Member, 1754-55

"Chairing the Member," William Hogarth, 1754-55, Wikimedia Commons.

© Sir John Soane’s Museum, London

"Chairing the Member," William Hogarth, 1754-55, Sir John Soane's Museum.

This chaotic scene is typical of the famous satirist Hogarth, and part of series "Humours of an Election." Scholars have spent much ink in analyzing the many, many layers of Hogarth's work, but we'll focus on the Jack in the center of the image, swinging a cudgel at some fellow who swings his own weapon in reply

Wikimedia Commons

© Sir John Soane’s Museum, London

The wooden legged sailor wears a light red cocked hat trimmed in a white tape, cocked over his right right with an orange cockade. It's a very unique hat, and I've yet to see its equal in any other period images of sailors. The nearest I've seen is the red hat worn by a salty tar at the center of John Collet's "A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant."

With the shine that Hogarth gives to the cocked hat of the tarpawlin at the center of his painting, it may be that these hats are painted, or perhaps treated leather. The red is bright and shows no sign of weathering on either figure, so it might be too much to presume that these are for weatherproofing. At that, two images out of the over 300 I've examined so far hardly indicates a widespread trend.

Our fighting sailor wears a white bob wig. His dotted neckcloth hangs down over the back of his blue jacket, which cuts off below the waist, and is triple vented. The cuff might not have a slash cut to them, but at this angle it is difficult to tell. His trouser legs end right at the bottom of the calf, rising high with his stride. Our sailor's one good leg is clad in a gray stocking and black shoe with a rectangular brass buckle.

A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant, 1767 and 1768

A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant, Butler Clowes after John Collet, 1768, British Museum.

A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant, Butler Clowes after John Collet, 1768, Walpole Library.

A Rescue, or the Tars Triumphant, John Collet, 1767, Open Art Collection.

Clowes' print of Collet's painting was a popular one. Copies of these prints exist in the British Museum, Yale University Lewis Walpole Library, the Royal Collection Trust, and the Yale Center for British Art. The original painting was sold at auction in 1998, but I have yet to determine precisely where it is housed. A private collector may be in possession.

The May 1767 edition of Gentleman's Magazine thought well of a recent exhibition that included John Collet's works, specifically this painting and his "Recruiting Serjeant."

Mr Collet imitates the manner of Hogarth with great success; he has shewn a great deal of humour both in his recruiting serjeant and the Rescue, or the Tars triumphant; he is very much improved in his colouring, since the last exhibition. 

Collet's chaotic scene is one of sailors fighting off lawmen to rescue an attractive young woman and her retinue. On the ground is a man with a brand new concussion, reaching toward a warrant issued for "J. Seale." Presumably, J. Seale is the woman being lifted from the carriage by the wooden legged tar. I have not yet determined if J. Seale is an actual person, or simply a character invented for the scene. A portly constable points to his tipstaff, but is a rather inexperienced chap: out of his back pocket sticks an instructional pamphlet entitled "The Compleat Peace Officer."

Starting on the left, we begin with a sailor giving a kiss to a woman who feigns an insincere protest, while lifting the tarpawlin's watch. He wears a black cap and his hair is cut short. The neckcloth is patterned, but the exact pattern is difficult to make out. His double breasted blue jacket with white metal buttons and white piping ends below the waist and is made with flap pockets at the waist and open mariner's cuffs. Otherwise, he wears slops/petticoat trousers, white stockings, and pointed toe shoes with white metal rectangular buckles. In his right hand is a short stick.

Our next subject is a right salty tar! Wooden legged, scarred, and scowling, he clutches the woman while staring down what might be a constable or sheriff. He wears a red round hat (possibly treated leather) with wide brim, short hair or bob wig, and a blue neckcloth. His red jacket is trimmed in a light colored tape with white metal buttons, and waist pockets without buttons. There is a single vent in the back of his jacket. His waistcoat is almost the same length as the jacket or perhaps even longer. The front of the waistcoat is striped in red, and is backed in a plain brown fabric. Our jack wears slops and a blue stocking. The pointed toe shoe with a rectangular buckle at his foot steps on the wig of the fellow with the head wound.

Above the scene and cheering the fray is a jolly tar waving his plain black cocked hat. Though like his mates his hair is short, it looks like he's got a rather nasty case of hat hair. The neckcloth at his chest is white and striped in red. His brown jacket is double breasted and lined, with white buttons, and open mariner's cuffs. Beneath it is a red single breasted waistcoat, leading to his white trousers with thin blue stripes running vertically. White stockings lead into pointed toe shoes with rectangular white metal buckles.

The most aggressive sailor takes the portly officer by his collar. The sailor wears a particularly neat cocked hat, trimmed in thick tape of gold. It bears no cockade, but a large button and loop on the right side. A bob wig ends well above the collar, showing off the red neckcloth with white dots that he wears. The waistcoat is single breasted with horizontal red stripes. He wears a fairly nice blue jacket, trimmed in white, double breasted, with waist pocket and slash open cuffs, as well as white buttons. Behind his cudgel we see that, unlike his mates, he wears a pair of red breeches. His stockings are black, but we don't get a good view of his shoes or buckles.

At the far right we see another sailor actively involved in fighting off the watch. He wears a cocked hat trimmed in white tape, and a dark colored bob wig. His neckcloth is red and the jacket is trimmed like the others with has slash cuffs, though has no waist pockets. It appears that his jacket is double vented. Once more, he wears white stockings and slops.

The Proclamation of Proclamations, 1763

The Proclamation of Proclamations or the most glorious and memorable Peace that ever was proclaimed in this or any other Metropolis throughout the World, Jeffereys Harnett O'Neall, 1763, Lewis Walpole Library.

The Proclamation of Proclamations or the most glorious and memorable Peace that ever was proclaimed in this or any other Metropolis throughout the World, Jeffereys Harnett O'Neall, 1763, British Museum.

Yet another crowded political cartoon, this one lampoons the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that ended the French and Indian/Seven Years War. O'Neall was, to use our modern parlance, a hawk. Staunchly opposed to the end of the war, he composed this piece that was not only anti-peace, but anti-Scottish. Twelve lines of verse elaborate on O'Neall's position, as if the caricature was not enough:

So here Fellow-Subjects, (so fine and so pretty!) A Show that not long since was seen in the City, With Marshals and Heralds and Horse-Grenadiers, And Musick before 'em to tickle our Ears, To tell us proud Sawney has patch'd up a Peace, That our Foes may take breath and out Taxes increase, Oh! who could have thought we should ever see the Day, When a Scotchman should over the English hold sway, Thus bully and swagger, and threaten and dare, Till the credulous Lyon falls into the snare? But though Coward-like form his Post he has fled, Let's hope yet his Lordship won't die in his Bed.

"Sawney" is a now obsolete epithet against the Scottish, and in this case refers to Lord Bute. Bute was the first Prime Minister from Scotland since the 1707 Act of Union combined England and Scotland into a single government. The Treaty of Paris was wildly unpopular among the English public and contributed greatly to Bute's eventual downfall, but that is another story.

Among the many crowded figures in this piece, we can see a pair of sailors on the far left in the foreground. The tarpawlin on the right raises his fist to strike a Scotsman, saying, "You a Commisioner! yes, I'll soon make a Commisioner of you; but it shall be in Hell first." This angry jack is joined by his mate, looking rather worse for wear, who declares "Splice my old Timber! I shall have the Freedom of the City for me and my Heirs for ever."

British Museum copy without colorization

Walpole Library copy with color

Both figures wear blue short jackets and cocked hats. Their jackets are slightly off in color, with the fellow on the left in a darker shade. His jacket has a mariner's cuff with an odd pattern to it, something like scalloping, but on the sewn edge. It could be that these are meant to represent buttons, but they are very numerous and closely spaced for that. At the rear, the wooden legged tarpawlin shows a triple vent ot his jacket. His mate's jacket is single breasted. One wears a black neckcloth, the other yellow.

The tar on the right wears his hat backward over bob style hair with the curls off center, and loose fitting long legged trousers. Our wooden legged mariner wears the point of his hat forward, with petticoat trousers/slops hanging down from his one good leg. Both sailors wear white stockings, and the fellow on the right has pointed toe shoes with rectangular buckles.

Gamaliel Pickle Observes Commodore Trunnion and Lieutenant Hatchway Duel at the Inn, 1769

Gamaliel Pickle Observes Commodore Trunnion and Lieutenant Hatchway Duel at the Inn, Henry Fuseli, 1769, British Museum.

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollet was a popular comedic novel first published in 1751. Peregrine Pickle, the titular character, is something of a prodigal son. Smollet follows Pickle from his youthful dalliances and failings to ultimate redemption and maturity. Early in the story, Pickle is neglected by his family and taken in by Commodore Trunnion. Smollet describes the Commodore as a man who

has a power of money, and spends it like a prince—that is, in his own way—for to be sure he is a little humorsome, as the saying is, and swears woundily; though I'll be sworn he means no more harm than a sucking babe. Lord help us! it will do your honour's heart good to hear him tell a story, as how he lay alongside of the French, yard-arm and yard-arm, board and board, and of heaving grapplings, and stink-pots, and grapes, and round and double-headed partridges, crows and carters. Lord have mercy upon us! he has been a great warrior in his time, and lost an eye and a heel in the service. Then he does not live like any other Christian land-man; but keeps garrison in his house, as if he were in the midst of his enemies, and makes his servants turn out in the night, watch and watch as he calls it, all the year round.

By examining the above image, a frontispiece to the 1769 edition, I'll be departing a bit from the usual focus of this blog. Commodore Trunnion and Lieutenant Hatchway are old sailors, but former officers in the Royal Navy. With a fortune and servants, Trunnion and his cohorts are not common sailors. Even so, they show the rough edges that all men who follow the sea share. By examining their dress and posture, we can say something about how mariners in general were viewed.

As a note, I will not be tagging the clothing of any of the figures in this image except the character who is explicitly described as a common sailor: Tom Pipes.

Trunnion is a globular fellow. His coat is trimmed with turn back cuffs. At his neck we can make out a cravat over the striped shirt or waistcoat beneath. His breeches are bound with buckles beneath the knees, As a nod to the character's description, Trunnion is depicted with a darkened eye, but not a patch as I might expect. Using his crutch, he parries the attack of Lieutenant Hatchway.

Mr. Hatchway strikes at Commodore Trunnion with his wooden leg, but does so with enough of a swing to avoid the punch bowl. He wears a cocked hat bound along the brim, and a neckcloth bunched up about his neck. His coat has open mariner's cuffs, revealing a checked shirt beneath. Hatchway's breeches are tied below the knee, not unlike many mariner's breeches we've seen before. All of this, combined with Hatchway's bob style hair, give us a set of clothes more akin to that of a common sailor than a gentleman.

Tom Pipes is an old boatswain's mate who followed Commodore Trunnion from the sea. Given employment in Trunnion's manor, Pipes finds himself rounding up and herding the servants for their "watch and watch."

Tom is a man of few words, but an excellent hand at a song concerning the boatswain's whistle, hustle-cap, and chuck-farthing—there is not such another pipe in the county—so that the commodore lives very happy in his own manner.

Hustle-cap and chuck-farthing are both simple gambling games.

Boatswain's Mate Tom Pipes wears a barge cap with an upturned front. A similar cap is seen in the collection of the National Maritime Museum belonging to a member of Admiral Lord Hood's barge crew. The Hood barge cap is wooden, and laid over with velvet. Given the way Pipe's cap appears stiff and unyielding, we might assume that his cap is likewise covered wood.

Around Pipes' neck hangs a string bound around a cylindrical object. This might be a bosun's whistle, but looks nothing like the originals I have seen thus far. It could well be that the artist is unfamiliar with bosun's pipes. If that is the case, it strikes me as odd that the artist is familiar with barge caps, but not bosun's pipes. Regardless, Pipes wears a jacket without collar and slit cuffs. Hanging from the corner of his mouth is a clay tobacco pipe.

The Greenwich Pensioner, 1790

The Greenwich Pensioner, Charles Dibdin, 1790, Walpole Library.

Greenwich Hospital provided a safety net for the sailors who kept Britain safe and flourishing. Deductions from the pay of merchant and naval sailors helped to provide for their care when they were disabled, as is this man. Dibdin created this piece (which was published by Carrington Bowles) to commemorate those sailors who gave everything for the nation, and to celebrate the way the nation cared for them.

Our pensioner claims to have sailed on the Rover, a ship that I am fairly certain was invented for this song, as a quick search hasn't turned anything up on an eighteenth century ship rigged naval vessel by that name prior to 1790.

Jack doesn't wear his slop clothes anymore, but a suit of clothes that hint at his former profession.

A nice cocked hat bound in tape is cocked very far to one side, or perhaps worn backward. The balding pensioner's wile waist is still worn rather short, and he is clearly balding. About his neck is a checked neckcloth, tucked into a single breasted waistcoat. The sleeves of his coat (for it is too long to be called a jacket) end with mariner's cuffs which are also bound in tape.

As you would expect of any good sailor (retired or not), our pensioner carries a stick under his arm and a pipe between his fingers.

The most interesting detail of the entire piece is his finely carved wooden leg. A sort of scoop is fitted atop it to cradle the back of his stump. From there, a belt wraps around his thigh to hold it in place. It is a well turned piece of dark wood. His good leg is fitted with a pain stocking and pointed toe shoe with large rectangular buckle.

A New Way to Pay the National-Debt, 1786

A new way to pay the National-Debt, James Gillray, 1786, British Museum.

King George III, accompanied by Queen Charlotte, smiles broadly as money pours from his breeches. He is heralded by musicians who are likewise festooned with gold guineas, and a gentleman who offers a fat sack of cash. This is juxtaposed against a quadriplegic sailor who sits with his empty round hat between wooden legs.

Unlike virtually every other sailor featured on this blog, this poor tarpaulin wears a beard. Beards were generally frowned upon in the eighteenth century, with the English in particular being opposed to any facial hair. The fact that this destitute man sports a full white beard is a testament to his helplessness.

The sailors wears a yellow and red plaid neckcloth over his double breasted blue jacket, which ends at his waist and sits over the plain pair of slops/petticoat trousers that cover his thighs. Blue breeches run down to his wooden legs.

Charity Begins at Home, c.1780

Charity Begins at Home, Robert Sayer, c.1780, British Museum.

Echoing the parable of the Good Samaritan, a pompous reverend turns his nose up at a begging sailor and ignores the needy woman and child beyond them, all while raising a flask to his lips. Such a message hardly requires any further reading. The metaphor is surface level and effective.

At the center of the piece, and drawing the first tug of sympathy, is a ragged sailor.

Jack holds out his round hat with a very narrow brim for a few spare coins. Interestingly, the tar's head is not bare; he wears a workman's cap. His single breasted short jacket ends just below the waist, is lined in white, with open mariner's cuffs. Beneath is a waistcoat without a cutaway that ends at the waist. Our tarpawlin's slops are torn to shreds, but enough to cover him all the way to below the knee. From there we see his peg leg, and a black stocking on his one good leg. In his opposite hand he holds a cane or cudgel.