The Bunter's Wedding

£250 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

ESTC records four undated (supposedly) 18th-century printings of this slip song which all survive in a single copy. The printer, John Pitts, was active trading between 1802-1844 working as a printer stationer and print seller but also selling toys (see the British Book Trade Index. “Goo [sic] people atted, I’ll discover a wedding that happened of late, I cannot tell why we should smother The weddings of poor more than great Twixt Ben of the Borough so pretty Who carries a basket ’tis said. And daint plump Kent-street fair Kitty A coney wool cutter by trade“ Johnson’s Dictionary defines “bunter” as “A cant word for a woman who picks up rags about the street; and used by way of contempt, for any low vulgar woman” . In this entertaining slip song Kitty, the “bunter” in question, is married to Ben in front of a wedding party comprised of “Levi the Jew”, “Fanny the pretty matchmaker”, “Nan the tub-woman out of Whitechapel” and “squinting black Molly”. One of the most notable aspects of the song is the celebration of food and drink - which would no doubt have been scarce on any other normal day. The guests enjoy “plenty of porter and gin” and “ox cheek” for dinner. When the wedding party pass through Borough market they are greeted by, “With their marrow bones and cleavers, the butchers they run ’em a peal”.

• Year: 1820

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