The Macaroni Cauldron

Darly, M

Hand-coloured etching from a composite album of 97 folios (147 prints) of comic illustrations under the title Darly's Comic Prints of Characters, Caricatures, Macaronies &c., published by Mary and Matthew Darly in London in 1772. The verses written on the table cloth are a play on the well-known witch's song from Shakespeare’s 'Macbeth' (c. 1606). Together with the lines below the image, the text forms part of David Garrick's (1717-1779) epilogue to Arthur Murphy's tragedy 'The Grecian Daughter', which premiered at Drury Lane in January 1772. The print is a warning against the dangers of gambling.