Thus Dear **** from all that has occur’d, you must conclude me a Tory in every Thing, but my Principle, which is yet as unmoved, as, that I am,
Yours, &c.
This Letter, his Tale of a Tub, and in a Word, all his Invectives against Enthusiasm and Priestcraft, plainly prove him to be no Tory; and if his Intimacy, not only with Sir **** himself, but most of the prime Men in the Ministry, cannot prove him a Whig, I have no more to say.
FINIS.
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T he Author is Night and Day at Work (in order to get published before the Spaniards have raised the Siege of Gibraltar) a Treatise, entituled, Truth brought to light, or D—n S——t’s Wilsden Prophecy unfolded; being a full Explanation of a Prophetical Poem, called Namby Pamby, which, by most People, is taken for a Banter on an eminent Poet, now in Ireland; when in Fact, it is a true Narrative of the Siege of Gibraltar, the Defeat of the Spaniards, and Success of the British Arms. The Author doubts not in this Attempt to give manifest Proof of his Abilities, and make it apparent to all Mankind, that he can see as clearly through a Milstone, as any other Person can through the best Optic Martial or Scarlet ever made; and that there is more in many Things, not taken Notice of, than the Generality of People are aware of.
[ NOTES TO DUMPLING]
| Pp.[ii].2-[iii].25. | The information on Brand, Braund, and Marsh is confirmed by records in the Willesdon Public Library and by Lyson’s County of Middlesex. |
| P.2.30-31. | Carey also attacks the Freemasons and Gormogons in Poems, ed. Wood, p. 118. |
| P.5.3. | Old Mr. Lawrence is mentioned several times (see particularly Key, pp. 16-17). There was a farmer Lawrence of 70 in Willesdon at the time, but I have found no direct connection with an antiquary, with Swift’s Namby Pamby talk (see OED under Namby Pamby) and his Wilsden Prophecy; nor with Jonathan Richardson (see note to Key, p. 17). On another level, the laziness attributed to Swift (Key, p. viii) and the gridiron here connected with the Kit Cat club are both commonly associated with Saint Lawrence. |
| P.6.11-12. | “Bull and Mouth” refers to a tavern known as the Boulogne Mouth (John Timbs, Clubs and Club Life in London [London, 1872], p. 529). |
| Pp.6.13-9.6. | Knight of the Gridiron: Walpole was a member of the Kit Cat club, which originally met at the pie shop of Christopher Cat in Shire Lane. The “Second Edition” probably refers to the fact that the Order of the Bath was reintroduced for Walpole’s benefit in June 1724. (See also Key, p. 19.) There is intentional confusion with Estcourt, who as providore of the Beefsteak club wore about his neck a small gridiron of silver and was made a Knight of Saint Lawrence. The Knights of the Toast were an associated group. The gridiron is a symbol both of gormandizing and of the roasting of Saint Lawrence. |
| P.9.9. | J[acob] T[onson], the publisher, founded the Kit Cat club which also met at Tonson’s home in Barns Elms, and in Hampstead (which was only a few miles northeast of Willesdon). |
| P.11.15-18. | King John is reputed either to have been poisoned or to have died from overeating at Swineshead Abbey (18-19 October 1216). |
| Pp.14.15-16.24. | See also Key, pp. 25-26. King Harry, at this point, would appear to be George I, with either Walpole or Marlborough as Sir John Pudding. Nevertheless, there are carefully interpolated overtones regarding Falstaff and Hal. “One knows not where to have him” (Key, p. 25) is one of several apt Shakespearian allusions in the work. |
| Pp.17.25-18.26. | In Dumpling, pp. 17-18, and Key, pp. 26-27, the references are to the writers Sir R[ichard] B[lackmore] and C[harles] J[ohnso]n; opera in the hands of Nicolino, Senesino, Handel, Buononcini and Attilio; the high-church idol, Sacheverel (d. 1724); the Craftsman (founded to attack Walpole) and the Occasional Writer (Bolingbroke’s 4 pamphlets of Jan/Feb. 1727); and finally the discredited music printer, Cluer. Carey’s relationship to opera was ambivalent, but in Mocking is Catching he strongly attacked Senesino. |
| P.24.5-29. | Matt. Prior (d. 1721), despite his aristocratic pretensions, had been earlier associated with the Rummer Tavern. He was a member of the Kit Cat club until he became a Tory for Dumpling. |
| P.[32].28. | E[dmund] C[url] of the “ADVERTISEMENT” was a publisher notorious for stealing material. Carey complained frequently of his writings having been “fathered” by others. |