2-704-261 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

John Gilpin sees his family off in a chaise-and-pair, 1878, (c1918). Mrs Gilpin, her sister and their children set off for Edmonton. There is no room in the carriage so Gilpin will ride there on his horse. The spire of St Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside in the City of London is clearly visible behind them. John Gilpin was the subject of a comic ballad of 1782 by William Cowper entitled "The Diverting History of John Gilpin". The ballad, based on real-life character, describes how, on a journey to Edmonton (north in London), Gilpin, a draper, became separated from his wife and children after losing control of his horse, and ended up in the town of Ware, ten miles away from his intended destination. From "The Diverting History of John Gilpin", by William Cowper. [Frederick Warne and Co., London & New York, c1918]