Solo — L-ord B—c-nsf-ld
Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910)
1881
Wood engraving
Punch (12 March 1881): 111
“She wears a splendid jewel in her crown,
Can-da-har!
Expensive Afghan jewel in her crown
Can-da-har!
If we give it up, there’s Quetta,
(Lytton owns) as good or better;
But then–where's our Imperial renown?
Can-da-har!
But then–where's our Imperial renown?”
Sambourne’s caricature of Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) as a music hall performer on stage while Britannia looks on from the wings depicts him performing against a map of South Asia while he’s being pelted by what seem to be vegetables (cauliflower stalks?) rather than flower bouquets. Verses beneath the cartoon emphasize the supposed importance of Candahar (Khandahar, Afghanistan) to the British Empire, which is encountering Russia’a own imperial designs.
Image capture and text by George P. Landow.