Thomas Fraser (a natural)

Category

Library Item

Item no

13520

Title

Thomas Fraser (a natural)

Description

An Edinburgh man stands with one foot raised and holds a glass in one hand as he touches his cap with his other. He has a broom under one arm and his clothes are tattered and torn. He stands beside a woman who is holding a bottle and is wearing a long plaid skirt, a shawl and bonnet.

Artist / maker

Kay, John

Date

1784

Size

9 x 5.5 cm

Type

Etching

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The accompanying text in the volume begins as follows:
"This is another of these 'characters' for which Edinburgh was so much famed some fifty or sixty years ago. Tom was a thorough mountaineer, and, extremely fond of the 'dew'. He would do anything for a sip of his favourite beverage - dance, sing, run, fight, carry a load or perform any thing at all, only promise him 'a dram and a sneeshin'. He is here represented as in possession of what seemed to him the very essence of human bliss - a glass of whisky - bestowed by his kind hostess, to whom his attitude and eye are significant of the most heartfelt gratitude."

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Textiles > Tartan

People > Adults > Men

People > Adults > Women

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Sport and leisure > Activities > Eating and drinking

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