A scene outside the Bell Inn in which a country girl, Moll Hackabout, just arrived on the York Wagon, meets an extravagantly dressed bawd (Mother Needham); a clergyman on horseback fails to notice the encounter, but a lecherous old gentleman (Colonel Charteris) eyes the girl with anticipation. In the lower right the girl's initials "M.H." (M[ary?] Hackabout) are on her portmanteau, next to which is a basket with a goose with a note around its neck, "For my Loving Cosen in Tems Stret in London", presumably the person who has failed to meet her. In the background a woman hangs out her laundry on a balcony
Description:
Title engraved below image., State, publisher, and date from Paulson., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., 1 print : etching with engraving on laid paper ; plate mark 31.7 x 39.2 cm, on sheet 45 x 56 cm., and Leaf 2 in: Album of William Hogarth prints.
Publisher:
Wm. Hogarth
Subject (Name):
Charteris, Francis, 1675-1732.
Subject (Topic):
Prostitution, Carriages & coaches, City & town life, Clegy, Horses, Lust, Parables, Prostitutes, Signs (Notices), Taverns (Inns), and Young adults