British engraving, a political satire cartoon by isaac cruikshank, titled a new catamaran expedition!!!", 1805. It is a detailed scene with various speech balloons. An englishman (representing prime minister william pitt the younger) looks on from walmer castle, as a fleet of sailboats (not actually drawn as catamarans head out to attack a french fort across the english channel. The englishman is saying, "if this does not succeed i'll never catamaran again as long as i live. "
ship the bilingsgate cutter, in foreground, carries four fishwives (back then a shrewish woman stereotype) to terrorize the french. They are armed with a "potatoe magazine" (sack of potatoes, perhaps to throw) and two bottles of "royal gin" aimed like cannon. The women are shouting: "we'll pepper you scoundrels", "give it 'em well, my hearties. ", "yea ye dirty blackguards we'll soon be with you. ", and "look at our ammunition, you poltroons. "
coming from the french fort is the reply, "begar dese le catamarans wid a vengeance. " (apparently eye dialect for something like "bugger this, catamarans with a vengeance"). The point of the piece was to suggest that the unruly fishwives would be enough to defeat the french, and to shame the pm for inaction. Date: 1805.
Loading...
