2-871-272 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

The Double Disaster, 1807. '...a rustic swain, whose philanderings have landed him in the midst of the perplexities of a double dilemma. It is seemingly 'washing day,' and the gallant intruder has effected his admission to court the graces of a pretty maiden...The pair have evidently been disturbed at the moment the lady was engaged in drawing a mug of ale for the refreshment of her admirer...the tap of the beer barrel is still left running, and all the maid's solicitude is centered in the position of her swain, who has incautiously taken refuge in the copper. A very disagreeable-looking old beldame is kindling a blazing fire in the stove, while a buxom wench is working away at the pump, which is pouring gallons of water into the unlucky Lothario's place of concealment'. From "The Watercolour Drawings of Thomas Rowlandson from the Albert H. Wiggin Collection in the Boston Public Library" with commentary by Arthur W. Heintzelman. [Watson-Guptill Publications, Inc., New York, 1947]