| Citation |
PC.769.037
27 Feb-6 Mar 1769:411, 412 (112)
From the London Chronicle. To the Printer.
Rara est concordia fratrum. [signed] Ovid
From the beginning of time, no persons upon earth have been
so apt to quarrel as brothers. . . [9 lines]
There is one family which of late years has made a very
distinguished appearance on the political theatre. -- It
consists of three brothers, and a brother-in-law; but for
the sake of brevity I shall call them the four brothers,
viz. Bouncing Will, 'Squire Gawky, Gentle George, and Jemmy
Trimmer.
This fraternity, sir, would be ever standing up in the
grand dance of state, and extremely fond of it they were,
always at it, in and out, crossing and turning, zig-zag,
right-hand and left.
But I do not know how it happened, they were generally
divided, two in one set, and two in another: they never
could agree about calling a tune, nor about the true method
of footing.--In short, every step of theirs seemed to be a
fling aimed at the opposite set, and all their motions
tended to obstruct each other: Bouncing Will had gone over
to Hanover, where he learnt a new dance called the
Allemande, which he performed with great applause from the
boxes along with his brother 'Squire Gawky, and so fond was
he of this foreign jig, that he publickly declared he
preferred it to all the country dances he had learnt in his
youth. Emboldened by so great success, he wanted to open
the next ball with a Spanish fandango, but he gave himself
such intolerable airs, that brother George and the rest of
the set would not suffer him to proceed; on which he and
Gawky in great dudgeon flounced out of the house, swearing
they would soon make it too hot for them.
George being now master of the ceremonies made the music
play just as he pleased; and one night (after an extra dose
of cyder) he swore he would exhibit to the company a dance,
which had never been attempted but in North-America.--T'was
in vain that his friends, observing the state of
intoxication he was in, endeavoured to dissuade him from the
attempt; George was obstinate as a mule, and called aloud
to the musick to play up Yanky Doodle, but the fiddlers not
playing fast enough, he roared and stamped at such a rate,
that some boards in the flooring gave way, and down he went
like a ghost in a tragedy. Bouncing Will became once more
master of the ceremonies; upon which 'Squire Gawky went off,
and joined brother George, whilst Jemmy Trimmer stuck close
to Bounce, still keeping up the equal division of the
brotherhood, two against two.
In this manner things have continued for some time; but
at last, common fame reports, that there is likely to be an
unitas fratrum, a general reconciliation of all the four,
and that this grand partie quarre, after dancing the Hayes
most amiably in the county of Kent, will sacrifice to the
Goddess Concord in the county of Bucks. . . [24 lines,
signed] Quidnunc.
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