Mr. Lambkin, having cut those Bachelor Parties, determines to seek the refined pleasures of Ladies' society
George Cruikshank
1844
Steel-engraving
11.5 cm high by 8.9 cm wide, framed
Illustration for George Cruikshank's The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin (Gent.), in the Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Mr. Lambkin, having cut those Bachelor Parties, determines to seek the refined pleasures of Ladies society. He, with the Lady of his affections, joins a Pic-nic, endeavours to be exceedingly amusing, and succeeds in making himself "Very ridiculous."
Lambkin's cross-dressing seems consistent with the Bacchanal rites of Dickens's Greenwich Fair in Sketches by Boz. The Victorian pic-nic was not, apparently, entirely a "family-friendly" affair, but rather an unchaperoned fête champêtre of young adults enjoying a meal al fresco and some freedom from the behavioural sanctions of Victorian parlour etiquette. This middle-class and English interpretation of the French nobility's "pastoral festival" or "country feast" seems to have featured imbibing, jokes, and moderate horseplay. Such a Sunday outing could be relatively innocent, if one credits Fred Barnard's interpretation of Greenwich Park in Dickens's London Sketches in which the gentleman whom Barnard describes looks somewhat foolish, as he squeezes the lady's hand, and fees a fortune-telling Gipsy liberally. Even unmarried couples might undertake such an afternoon's adventure; for example, Thomas Hardy's "Where the Picnic Was" recalls such a double-date in a melancholy reverie about lost youth, blighted hopes, and lost love.
Picnicking was uncommon at the beginning of the nineteenth century in Great Britain, but rapidly gained in popularity among the rising middle classes after the Napoleonic Wars, as the nation became increasingly industrialized and urbanized. As more and more Victorians went to live in the new industrial cities of Manchester, Liverpool, and Greater London, labour became an indoor affair, as workers toiled during the week in offices and factories. No wonder then that young people began to feel the need to get back to nature, or at least enjoy some time out-of-doors in the English summer, especially on the one leisure day available: Sunday. Many larger cities in Great Britain began to accommodate pic-nicing by setting up suitable groves in municipal parks.
As Cruikshank's illustration of Mr. Lambkin at a picnic suggests, this new phenomenon permitted young members of the burgeoning middle class to avoid, if only temporarily, the the Victorian strictures implicit in parlour etiquette. However, picnics did have certain moral standards and anticipated behaviour, given in the household management manuals of the period. The activities involved in a Victorian picnic were supposed to illustrate one's good breeding, and rules governed appropriate food, clothing and games, as well as the degree of intimacy to be accorded unmarried couples. John Leech's Punch cartoon of the Dickenses and their friends picnicking near Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1849 — Awful Appearance of a "Wopps" at a picnic offers an amusing glimpse into the socializing of young upper-middle class Victorians, and to the operation of these rules of dress and conduct. The congenial gathering includes illustrator Hablot Knight Browne (foreground, wearing a straw hat), Charles and Catherine Dickens (the husband, waving a butter-knife at the gigantic "wopps," attempts to protect his wife), artists Frank Stone, John Leech, and painter Augustus Egg — a rather more Bohemian and animated group than that depicted by Cruikshank.
Above: Cartoonist John Leech's humourous wood-engraving for Punch Magazine of the best-selling author, family, and friends picnicking on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1849, Awful Appearance of a "Wopps" at a picnic. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
Cruikshank, George. The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin, In The Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement. Glasgow: David Bryce, 1844, rpt. 1880.
Last modified 18 May 2018
