Catalogue Number
NMLH.1993.372.18
Object Name
Print
Title
FREEDOM. RULE BRITANNIA BRITANNIA RULE THE WAVES/BRITONS NEVER SHALL BE SLAVES ... 1794
Place
England & UK
People
Workers & metal workers
Events
war & Napoleonic
Date
1794
Description
There seems to be an ironic point being made in this poitical print of 1794: playing on the refrain of the English national anthem 'Rule Britannia', British naval power might 'rule the waves' and 'Britons never shall be slaves', but there is little freedom for its citizens in the workshop. Here skilled metal workers, perhaps tinplate workers, are being hard-pressed by their workshop owner, who appears to be bawling at the men. The words of 'Rule Britannia' the national were composed by the poet James Thomson and were put to music around 1740 by Thomas Augustus Arne. In 1794 Britain was still at war with France. However, it was only with the Nelson's victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 that the British navy was to 'rule the waves'. This was immensely important for Britain as it was the world's leading manufacturing and trading nation.
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