Tithes for the Irish parson

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Robert Seymour
1798-1836
Tithes for the Irish parson
wood engraving
85 x 67 mm
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1900.
Peel 2120
Published: 
[London] : [William Strange], [ca. 1834]
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Probably detached from one of four issues of Whiggeries and waggeries, London : William Strange, 1834. This publication reprinted wood engravings by Robert Seymour, Robert Cruikshank, and others which had previously appeared-- with different captions-- in Figaro in London, also published by Strange. The identical image appeared in Figaro in London, no. 44, 1832, with the title Tithes for the Irish parsons.

Summary: 

Erin lies prone, one arm on her broken harp, under the weight of a big sheaf of corn inscribed "Poisoned". This is held in place by a ragged ruffian with a pitchfork; a constable peers out from behind it. The sheaf is surmounted by a skull and two tithe-pigs. In the background are a long gallows with a row of pendent corpses and a dilapidated church.

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