"An elderly Scots bonnet laird or farmer stands repeating the song, which is a complaint of the extravagance and misconduct of his wife. He wears a round Scots bonnet and a tartan plaid over his coat, long stockings, and shoes tied with strings, tattered gloves from which his fingers protrude; a cane is suspended from his left wrist. He holds in his left hand a small tankard with an open lid indicating in London 'a dram', or gin. In the background is a small house, partly visible on the left, outside which stands the wife, drunk and flourishing a similar tankard; a wine-bottle lies at her feet, a man leans from the window. On the right is a farm building with a horse, two cows, and a broken fence. In the foreground (right) is a large thistle."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Wholly and fairly
Description:
Title from caption below image, Illustration to a song in Scots engraved beneath the title with the refrain: 'O! gin my Wife wad drink Hooly and Fairly'., Verse in three columns below title begins: "Oh what had I ado for to marry My wife she drinks naithing but Sack and Canary ...", Numbered "581" in lower left corner., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., No. 36 in a bound in a collection of 69 prints with a manuscript title page: A collection of drolleries., and Bound in half red morocco with marbled paper boards and spine title "Facetious" in gold lettering.
Publisher:
Printed for & sold by Carington Bowles, No. 69 St. Paul's Church Yard, London