2-704-266 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

John Gilpin gallops through a village, 1878, (c1918). John Gilpin, with wine bottles attached to his belt, clings on as his horse tears down the road chased by dogs and scattering geese. The turnpike-man, thinking it's a race, has opened the gate. 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]