William Cobbett dressed as a farmer marches out of step towards the sea behind a recruiting serjeant and a drummer-boy. Etching by J. Gillray, 1809.

One of a set of eight plates

Cobbett had tried to join the Navy in 1782 but was rejected on the (false) supposition that he was trying to escape a forced marriage with a girl he had seduced. He did enlist under Fitzgerald's 54th regiment (not 51st as suggested in the text below) but was discharged in 1791

London (27 St. James's Street) : H. Humphrey, 29 September 1809.

1 print : etching ; platemark 27.5 x 22 cm.

The life of William Cobbett, written by himself. Js. Gillray inv & fec ... Lettering continues below the design, on a separate plate, with text describing Cobbett's attempt to become a hero as a soldier under Lord Edward Fitzgerald when he embarked for the plantations Bears number: "359", in top right

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. VIII, London, 1947, no. 11373

Wellcome Collection 603148i