Loading a Smuggler. (caricature)

Published in 1801 by J. Howett and illustrated by S.W. Fores, under the pseudonym Giles Grinagain, this print depicts a woman, wearing a petticoat and bonnet, being loaded with smuggled goods by a sailor. A barrel inscribed ‘GIN’ and an upside down bottle is attached to her front, while a large canister inscribed ‘HYSON’ (referring to a type of tea) is tied to her backside by the sailor. He wears red striped trousers and a blue coat. On the side table are more clothes and a blue hat. Underneath the hat is more cargo, inscribed ‘COFFEE’. The woman says, ‘Avast! D–m me! Jack don’t ship any more Cargo or I shall founder like a shot. I’m a streak too deep already’. The sailor responds, ‘There my little tight one. I think you’ll loom as square as any first rate. Mind now and keep clear of the cruizers for you’re too deep to make much way. You don’t leak forward do you? I believe we havn’t choak’d your pumps and your rudder seems to work free enough so you may bend your canvas and get under sale as soon as you please.’ Inscribed beneath the image with the title and publication line: ‘Loading a Smuggler / Giles Gringagain in et / Published January 2 1804 by J Howett No.6 Panton Street’.

This print demonstrates the smuggling issues experienced during the Napoleonic Wars. Parliament had raised import duties on high-demand items such as tea and alcohol to fund the war. As a consequence, there was increased smuggling activity to avoid these taxes. As this print shows, women were involved in the smuggling trade, often as carriers of the cargo, hidden underneath their garments. This print satirizes the role of women in smuggling by using nautical terms to compare the woman to a ship that is about to set sail. The language used also invokes sexual innuendo.