Did George visit Samuel Whitebread’s brewery, the event was duly recorded:
“Now moved the King, Queen, and Princesses, so grand,
To visit the first Brewer in the land;
Who sometimes swills his beer and grinds his meat,
In a snug corner christen’d Chiswell Street;
But oftener, charmed with fashionable air,
Amidst the gaudy Great of Portman Square.”
Popular as such verses were, and wide as was their circulation, they were easily eclipsed in both respects by those in which the stupidity of the King was chronicled, and people, being so much amused by them, forgot that the foundation of truth was often so built upon as to obscure it. “Peter Pindar” was in his element poking fun at George’s ignorance, as shown when looking through Lord Pembroke’s treasures at Wilton House.
“ ‘Who’s this? Who’s this? Who’s this fine fellow here?’
‘Sesostris,’ bowing low, replied the Peer.