The city rout

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 1776. A rout can refer to a formal social gathering as well as a disorderly crowd, or disturbance of the peace. A picture in the background reads ‘S.P.Q.L’, which stands for 'Senatus populusque Londoniensis' (‘the Aldermen and Commoners of London’).