A companion print to bmsat 9228. Outside a country ale-house ruffians are practising their weapons at close range on the effigy of a british soldier which is spiked on a spear (left): helmet, coat stuffed with straw, top-boots. One man levels a spear, another fires a misshapen pistol, a third, who is bare-legged, with a headsman's axe in his belt, fires a blunderbuss whose large bullets fall to the ground. In the foreground (right) a woman turns the handle of a grindstone on which a man sharpens a sword; on the ground is a pile of weapons: swords, daggers, spears, muskets, and a pistol. Behind (right) men with pikes and spears gather round the inn-door, which is inscribed 'true french spirits'. They drink; the landlord fills a glass from a small keg. All wear tricolour cockades. The (pictorial) sign over the door is 'tree of liberty' (see bmsat 9214, &c). In the background are a broken paling, trees, and a mountainous sky-line. 13 june 1798
hand-coloured etching and aquatint. Date: 1798. Dimensions: Height: 192 mm; Width: 261 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. United Irishmen in training. (BM 1851,0901.924)
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