Manners & Cvstoms of ye Englyshe: Drawn from ye QvickDoyle, Richard
General
Manners & Cvstoms of ye Englyshe: Drawn from ye Qvick
Doyle, Richard
Caricatures and cartoons -- Great Britain; England -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works
Sandwiches of the Size of the Triangles of EUCLID his _Geometry_, which
did think shabby. Expected Chicken and Lobster Salad, with Champagne,
and Oysters and Ale and Stout, but disappointed. Home in a Cab, at Two
in the Morning, much wearied and little pleased; and on our Way Home,
spying a Tavern open, did go and get me a Pint of Beer, and the same to
my Wife; for we were both athirst, and she in an ill Humour about the
Beauty I had danced with, and I because of the bad Supper; and so very
ill-contented to Bed.
[Illustration: _YE FASHONABLE WORLDE TAYKNGE ITS EXERCYSE IN HYDE
PARKE._
TUESDAY, _March 27th, 1849_.]
This Day to the Ring in Hyde Park for a Walk to get me an Appetite, and
look at the fine Folks and People of Fashion riding in their carriages,
which it do much delight me to behold. But, good Lack! what a strange
Notion of the Pleasure of a Drive; with the Carriages in a close Line
jammed all together, and sometimes coming to a dead Stop like the
Omnibuses in Fleet Street of an Afternoon, and seldom moving on faster
than Mourning Coaches at a Funeral. Did see many mighty pretty young
Ladies; and one sitting in a Landau with a Coronet on the Panel, upon
whom I did smile, but perceiving that she did turn up her Nose at me, I
did look glum; howbeit, another comely Damsel that I smiled at did blush
and simper, which gave me Joy. It was as good as a Play to watch the
young Guardsmen, with their Tufts and Mustaches, riding straight-legged,
and them and the other Bucks taking off their Hats and kissing their
Hands to the charming Belles as they passed them by. But it was rarer
still to behold a Snob that strove to do the same Sort of Thing, and did
get laughed at for his Pains. Then what Sport to observe the fat
Coachmen, in their Wigs, something like Bishops', sitting on their
Boxes, and the Footmen behind with their parti-coloured Liveries of drab
and green, and red and yellow Plush, and gold-laced Hats, Shoulderknots
and Cockades, bearing their Canes, and their Noses to the Sky, holding
their Heads as high as Peacocks for Pride in their Frippery and plump
Calves! These Fellows are as fine as Court Cards, and full as
Ridiculous, and they do divert me in the Extreme: only their bepowdered
Pates do offend me, for I think the Fashion an uncleanly one; and after
all, I wonder how their Masters and Mistresses can delight in dressing
them out so much like Mountebanks. Did note divers Noble Lords and
Gentlemen of the House of Commons whom I did know either by Sight or
from the Caricatures in the Shop-Windows. From four to five o'Clock
around the Ring and up and down by the Serpentine to make my
observations. Methought how jolly these fine People must be, and how
happy they looked compared to a Beggar Boy whom I did spy squatting on
the Grass: yet no Doubt many of them have Troubles enough, and some may
be even short of Cash to pay for their Vanities. After that, to the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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