Part I of _the Merry-Thought: or, the Glass-Window and Bog-House

Miscellany was almost certainly published for the first time in 1731. Arthur E. Case (Bibliography of English Poetical Miscellanies, 1521-1750) notes that this pamphlet was listed in the register of books in the Gentleman's Magazine_ for October 1731. An instant success with the reading public, second and third editions of the pamphlet, the third "with very Large Additions and Alterations," were also published in 1731. Because, as its title-page declared, the third and last edition was the fullest of the three, a copy of that edition has been chosen for reproduction here.

Red-Lyon at Stains.

My Dear Nancy P---k---r I sigh for her, I wish for her, I pray for her. Alas! it is a Plague That Cupid will impose, for my Neglect Of his Almighty, Dreadful, Little Might. Well, will I love, write, sigh, pray, sue, and groan Ah! where shall I make my Moan! T. S. 1709.

John Crumb, a Bailiff, as he was carrying to his Grave, occasioned the following Piece to be written upon a Window in Fleet-Street, 1706.

Here passes the Body of John Crumb, When living was a Baily-Bum T'other Day he dy'd, And the Devil he cry'd, Come Jack, come, come.

In the Tower.

Though Guards surround me Day and Night, Let Celia be but in my Sight, And then they need not fear my Flight. L. N. & G. ]

The title-page of Part I of The Merry-Thought states that the contents of the pamphlet had been taken from "Original Manuscripts written in Diamond by Persons of the first Rank and Figure in Great Britain" and that they had been "Faithfully Transcribed from the Drinking-Glasses and Windows in the several noted Taverns, Inns, and other Publick Places in this Nation. Amongst which are intermixed the Lucubrations of the polite Part of the World, written upon Walls in Bog-houses, &c." These statements suggest one of the principal leveling strategies of the pamphlet as a whole: the nobility and the rich, whatever their advantages otherwise, must, like the lowest amongst us, make use of privies; and, in the process, they are just as likely as their brethren of the lower classes to leave their marks on the walls of those conveniences.

A number of the verses included in the pamphlet continue the leveling process. One in particular (p. 20) adopts the principal strategy employed on the title-page:

From the Temple Bog-House.

No Hero looks so fierce to Fight, As does the Man who strains to sh-te.

Others suggest that sexual relations are essentially leveling activities. Here (p. 24) is an example:

Toy, at Hampton-Court, 1708.

D---n Molley H---ns for her Pride, She'll suffer none but Lords to ride: But why the Devil should I care, Since I can find another Mare?

L. M. August.

Another target of the pamphlet was The Spectator in general and Addison in particular. In his dedication, J. Roberts first insists that the graffiti in his collection are notable examples of wit. He next goes out of his way to associate the contents of The Merry-Thought with The Spectator:

But I may venture to say, That good Things are not always respected as they ought to be: The People of the World will sometimes overlook a Jewel, to avoid a T--d.... Nay, I have even found some of the Spectator's Works in a Bog-house, Companions with Pocky-Bills and Fortune-telling Advertisements....

In a series of essays in The Spectator (Nos. 58-61; May, 1711), Addison had earlier, of course, been at pains to distinguish between "true wit" and "false wit." Particularly abhorrent to him was the rebus. The first part of The Merry-Thought alone contains seven rebuses from "Drinking-Glasses, at a private Club of Gentlemen" (pp. 12-13), as well as several examples of other kinds of "wit" which Addison would have disdained.

During the twenty-five years that followed the publication of the Merry-Thought series, a few additional pieces of graffiti were published in England and America. In 1761 The New Boghouse Miscellany appeared, but the contents of this book had little in common with the Merry-Thought pamphlets. Only the scatological humor of the subtitle:

A Companion for the Close-stool. Consisting of Original Pieces in Prose and Verse by several Modern Authors. Printed on an excellent soft Paper; and absolutely necessary for all those, who read with a View to Convenience, as well as Delight. Revised and corrected by a Gentleman well skilled in the Fundamentals of Literature, near Privy-Garden

and the generally anti-intellectual thrust of its preface were reminiscent of the Merry-Thought pamphlets. Not until the last half of the twentieth century would the graffito in English receive the kind of attention that had been paid it in England in the 1730s.

University of California

Los Angeles

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The Merry-Thought: or, The Glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany is reproduced from a copy of the third edition in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. A typical type page (p. 20) measures 173 x 87 mm.

The

MERRY-THOUGHT:

or, the

Glass-Window and Bog-House

MISCELLANY.

Taken from

The Original Manuscripts written in Diamond by Persons of the first Rank and Figure in Great Britain; relating to Love, Matrimony, Drunkenness, Sobriety, Ranting, Scandal, Politicks, Gaming, and many other Subjects, Serious and Comical.

Faithfully Transcribed from the Drinking-Glasses and Windows in the several noted Taverns, Inns, and other Publick Places in this Nation. Amongst which are intermixed the Lucubrations of the polite Part of the World, written upon Walls in Bog-houses, &c.

Published by HURLO THRUMBO.

Gameyorum, Wildum, Gorum, Gameyorum a Gamy, Flumarum a Flumarum, A Rigdum Bollarum A Rigdum, for a little Gamey.

Bethleham-Wall, Moor-Fields.

The Third Edition; with very Large Additions and Alterations.

LONDON:

Printed for J. ROBERTS in Warwick-Lane; and Sold by the Booksellers in Town and Country. [Price 6 d.]

N. B. Some Pieces having been inadvertently inserted in the Second Part of this Miscellany, whoever it is that shall hereafter send any Thing which reflects on the Character, &c. of any Person, whether it be a Nobleman, or a Link-Boy, shall receive no Favour from our Hands.

The

DEDICATION

To The

Honourable and Worthy Authors of the following Curious Pieces.

Gentlemen and Ladies,

Would it not be great Pity, that the profound Learning and Wit of so many illustrious Personages, who have favoured the Publick with their Lucubrations in Diamond Characters upon Drinking-Glasses, on Windows, on Walls, and in Bog-houses, should be left to the World? Consider only, Gentlemen and Ladies, how many Accidents might rob us of these sparkling Pieces, if the industrious Care of the Collector had not taken this Way of preserving them, and handing them to Posterity. In the first Place, some careless Drawer breaks the Drinking-Glasses inscribed to the Beauties of our Age; a furious Mob at an Election breaks the Windows of a contrary Party; and a cleanly Landlord must have, forsooth, his Rooms new painted and white-wash'd every now and then, without regarding in the least the Wit and Learning he is obliterating, or the worthy Authors, any more than when he shall have their Company: But I may venture to say, That good Things are not always respected as they ought to be: The People of the World will sometimes overlook a Jewel, to avoid a T--d, though the Proverb says, Sh - tt - n Luck is good Luck. Nay, I have even found some of the Spectator's Works in a Bog-house, Companion with Pocky-Bills and Fortune-telling Advertisements; but now, as Dr. R----ff said, You shall live; and I dare venture to affirm, no Body shall pretend to use any of your bright Compositions for Bum-Fodder, but those who pay for them. I am not in this like many other Publishers, who make the Works of other People their own, without acknowledging the Piracy they are guilty of, or so much as paying the least Complement to the Authors of their Wisdom: No, Gentlemen and Ladies, I am not the Daw in the Fable, that would vaunt and strut in your Plumes. And besides, I know very well you might have me upon the Hank according to Law, and treat me as a Highwayman or Robber; for you might safely swear upon your Honours, that I had stole the whole Book from your recreative Minutes. But I am more generous; I am what you may call Frank and Free; I acknowledge them to be YOURS, and now publish them to perpetuate the Memory of your Honours Wit and Learning: But as every one must have something of Self in him, I am violently flattered, that my Character will shine like the Diamonds you wrote with, under your exalted Protection, to the End of Time. I am not like your common Dedicators, who fling out their Flourishes for the sake of a Purse of Guineas on their Dedicatees; No, Gentlemen and Ladies, all I desire is, that you will receive this kindly, though I have not put Cuts to it, and communicate what sublime Thoughts you may chance to meet with to the Publisher, J. Roberts, in Warwick-Lane, Post paid, for

Your Most Humble,

Most Obedient,

Most Obsequious,

Most Devoted,

And Most Faithful Servant,

HURLO THRUMBO.

THE

MERRY-THOUGHT.