O'Brien, the Irish Giant and William Ranken, Esq

In February 1803, when the Irish giant Patrick Cotter O'Brien was exhibiting in Edinburgh, he ordered a greatcoat from tailor Deacon Jollie. Standing over eight feet tall and weighing five hundredweight, O'Brien's coat became a sensation, drawing curious crowds eager to see the enormous garment. The mystery deepened when Jollie's small foreman, who took the measurements, refused to reveal his methods. Artist John Kay tried repeatedly to sketch the foreman for a print, even inviting him to taverns, but the modest tailor's assistant kept himself hidden behind shop screens to avoid immortalization. Frustrated, Kay substituted Convener William Ranken in the final caricature instead. O'Brien himself had jokingly predicted to the foreman that they might both end up featured in print shop windows, proving remarkably prescient about the public fascination their unusual pairing would generate.