Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Manke.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you had been alive in the early 1800s, you almost certainly would have been familiar

with the cartoons of George Crookshink.

In fact, if you're alive now, you're probably familiar with them, even if you don't know

his name.

Crookshink became most famous doing illustrations for the books of his friend Charles Dickens.

He was the one who did the first edition of Oliver Twist.

But Crookshink initially rose to prominence with political cartoons he did for the satirical

periodical, The Scourge.

He did one cartoon in 1816 that's particularly interesting, featuring Ernest Augustus, the

Duke of Cumberland, after he requested an increased salary from Parliament and at request was rejected.

Ernest was the fifth son of King George III and if you're trying to place him in the

grand line of British monarchy, he's also the uncle to Queen Victoria.

In the Crookshink drawing called the Financial Survey of Cumberland, the Duke is being thrown

out of the Parliament building with a firing cannon.

The cannonball hit him square in the rear, ripping the seat of his pants.

A little piece of parchment with his request for the 6,000 extra pounds flutters in the

smoke.

In the background of the cartoon, the Duke's new wife Fredrika is wearing a skimpy yellow

dress that struggles to contain her zafdig figure.

In polite society, the new Duchess was of, shall we say, questionable morals.

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