The M(ur)r(a)ys; or the Thistle Blown (BM 1868,0808.3728)

Satire on the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. In the centre, Sir John Murray of Broughton kneels at a cannon his head protruding from its mouth and his naked buttocks at the rear; a quill behind his ear refers to his role as secretary or administrator to the Jacobites in Scotland. On the barrel of the cannon is a quotation from Dryden (originally linking Homer, Virgil and Milton), "Nature could no further go/To make a Third she join'd ye other Two" referring to Murray's connection with two other Jacobites, Samuel Maddox and Weir whose names appear in smoke coming from the touch-hole (Murray's anus). Two senior lawyers stand behind the cannon on the right one using a stick to fire the cannon. Murray threatens to impeach Tory members of parliament, at left, Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, identified by a paper lettered "Bashaw of North Wales", and the bulky figure of Sir John Hynde Cotton; three other gentlemen seem to slip away behind these. In the background a lawyer, holding a sealed document lettered "Strix", indicates a route out of the scene to a young officer, perhaps intended for the Young Pretender; a small greyhound beneath the cannon also runs towards the left. In the foreground a "Strong Box" is lettered "Plea of Surrender".
Etching