Mr. Lambkin . . . foolishly dashes into dissipation
George Cruikshank
1844
Steel-engraving
9.7 cm high by 8.8 cm wide, framed
Fifteenth illustration for George Cruikshank's The Bachelor’s Own Book; Or, The Progress Of Mr. Lambkin (Gent.), in the Pursuit Of Pleasure And Amusement (page 30).
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Mr. Lambkin, finding that he has been variously and thoroughly befooled, foolishly dashes into dissipation to drown his distressful thoughts — He joins Jovial society and sings "The right end of Life is to live and be jolly!" [page 30]
Again, Cruikshank has arranged the pair of illustrations on the engraved plate in a cause-and-effect sequence. In the first, the "cause" illustration, Lambkin drinks to excess and belches out comic songs with his five cronies. The inebriates smoke cigars, drink porter and wine, all the while keeping their hats on and nearly falling off their chairs as a steady servant phlegmatically observes their antics. In this illustration Cruikshank anticipates his later 1840s companion series of social criticism, The Bottle (1847), with five scenes of domestic alcoholism, and The Drunkard's Children, in the latter of which public intoxication occupies three of the eight plates as a manifestation of Cruikshank's animated critique of mid-nineteenth century alcoholism. But here the drinking to excess occurs in a private home rather than a public house, beer shop, bar, gin-shop, or free-and-easy club.
Although the song title that Cruikshank cites is not extant, it seems to suggest such lyrics as "Let's be jovial, fill our glasses":
Let's be jovial, fill our glasses Madness 'tis for us to think, How the world is ruled by asses, And the wife are swayed by chink. Never let vain cares oppress us, Riches are to them a snare; We are all as rich as Croesus While our bottle drowns our care. [http://www.americanrevolution.org/songs/songs-drinking/ds14.jpg]
Detail of the embedded sporting pictures above the drinkers.
Cruikshank captures the moment when the besotted company of six are belting out the lyrics of the anacreontic song with boozy enthusiasm. The sporting pictures on the wall, of pugilists and horse-racing, establish the raucous tone of these bachelor apartments. The race pictured may in fact constitute a topical allusion since the four-mile Grand National handicap steeplechase at Liverpool had just been established in 1839. Although by the 1840s many of the traditional bloodsports such as cockfighting and wagering on sporting events had sharply declined as a result of new legislation and changing mores, horse-racing and boxing remained immensely popular, continuing to attract thousands of spectators.
Cruikshank may not have a particular pugilistic match in mind, and may simply be alluding to the popularity among Londoners of bare-knuckle prize-fighting exhibition matches such as the heavyweight championship bout in February 1841 between James Burke (1833-39) and Ben Caunt (1841-45). As a result of losing the match on a technical disqualification, Caunt (known as the "Torkard Giant" and "Big Ben") became the former champion.Perhaps the most celebrated re-match of the period was that in May between Caunt and Ward which went ninety-three rounds before Caunt was disqualified for going down without getting hit.
Left: Cruikshank's group study of large-scale gin consumption in Sketches by Boz (1836-39), The Gin Shop. Right: Cruikshank's view of a tonier drinking establishment, The Free and Easy, cancelled illustration for Sketches by Boz (1836-39). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Above: Cruikshank's large-scale glyphograph of low-life of the metropolis, Between the Fine Flaring Gin Palace and the Low Dirty Beer Shop, the Boy Thief Squanders and Gambles Away His Ill-Gotten Gains (1848). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
"Ben Caunt (22 March 1815 – 10 September 1861)." Wikipedia. Accessed 24 May 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Caunt
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.
Sandiford, Keith A. P. "Sport." Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia, ed. Sally Mitchell. New York and London: Garland, 1988. Pp. 748-49.
Last modified 25 May 2018
