“Ne sutor ultra crepidam”: Political Cobblers and Broadside Ballads in Late Seventeenth-Century England 1

McShane, Angela

doi:10.4324/9781315568652-12

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“…29 From at least the late seventeenth century, shoemaker culture fostered a sense of national identity based on military prowess, applauding Protestant heroes like William of Orange, and articulating an overtly masculine vision of Britain. 30 Indeed, this muscular patriotism was the source of craft pride in a political ballad of 1710, The Gentle Craft's Complaint. Blaming the decay of this "noble ancient Trade" on high taxation and the exportation of leather, the ballad eulogized the "Honour of Shoe-makers"-their readiness, as "brave Boys by free Consent," to form combinations and petition Parliament-in the same language as it lauded 1 1 2…”

Section: 6mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clamoring for Liberty: Alehouse Noise and the Political Shoemaker

Denney

2017

Eighteenth-Century Life

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In 1794, as the Pitt government was cracking down on the popular reform movement, an anonymous Loyalist pamphleteer published a brief history of one of the political clubs and societies that had become radicalized in Britain in the wake of the French Revolution. 1 The focus of the account was the apparent vulgarity, or incivility, of the club, as exemplified by the derogatory toasts and rancorous conversations of its members. But the club had not always been disreputable. According to the pamphleteer, it began as a "convivial society" of great "respectability," and only after the French Revolution did members become "politically mad," wishing to "subvert" the established order. With this shift, the status of the members also changed, as gentlemen left the society and artisans took their place. Intriguingly, such downward mobility was registered in acoustic terms, with intemperate, aggressive, plebeian discussion replacing a model of polite discourse based on equanimity, moderation, and courtesy. 2 The current chairman was a tailor, whose "overbearing" speeches violated basic standards of decorum. Similarly, the leading spokesman was a shoemaker, a follower of Tom Paine with a misguided belief in the power of his own eloquence, as if supposing that the conversations of the workshop provided adequate preparation for engaging in political debate. As the Loyalist pamphleteer opined:

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Section: 6mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clamoring for Liberty: Alehouse Noise and the Political Shoemaker

Denney

2017

Eighteenth-Century Life

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“Ne sutor ultra crepidam”: Political Cobblers and Broadside Ballads in Late Seventeenth-Century England 1

Cited by 1 publication

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Clamoring for Liberty: Alehouse Noise and the Political Shoemaker

Clamoring for Liberty: Alehouse Noise and the Political Shoemaker

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