Coloured cartoon from the Northern Looking Glass 9 January 1826, the first of a series of cartoons depicting events in Glasgow at Hogmanay. Entitled "Scene First" it depicts the scene of misery at 5.30pm as would-be revellers fight their ways through the busy and rain-lashed streets on their way to dinner.
A dandy in brown is in danger of losing his teeth owing to the careless handling of a ladder by a drunken "leary" (lamplighter) and the dandy's lady friend has her voluminous flounces set alight by the leary's torch. The drunken sedan chairmen have knocked down a man and woman, and the man's tray of sweetmeats has fallen in the gutter. The sedan chair passenger screams with fear. Drunken coachmen quarrel in the background and the driving sleet and snow contribute to the dreariness of the scene.
Reference: Sp Coll Bh14-x.8
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
children, coachmen, dandies, drunkeness, drunks, Glasgow Looking Glass, Hogmanay, ladders, lamplighters, learies, lithographs, New Year's Eve, Northern Looking Glass, rain, sedan chairmen, sedan chairs, sleet, snow, streetscenes, sweetmeats, sweets, women