The Sailors' revenge or the Strand in an Uproar

This print records events in the Strand on 2nd July 1749, when a group of sailors ransacked a brothel, having been robbed there the night before. A young sailor named Bosavern Penlez was hanged for causing the riot.

The street is packed with sailors, prostitutes and assorted passersby, who comment on the situation with varied emotions. In the middle of the throng, a man, evidently suffering from syphilis, observes 'Had this been some years ago I'd sav'd my nose'. A portly quack doctor, at the far left, grumbles 'O villains I shall lose all my patients'. One of the prostitutes complains 'Now must I pyke to Goodmans Fields again'. And, at the far right, a scantily-clad girl, obviously ejected from the brothel, seeks protection from the sailor's captain - 'Dear Capt. protect me from your tars' - and has her breasts fondled in return.

The general tenor of the print is unsympathetic to the prostitutes' plight. Most of the bystanders express approval - 'A joyful riddance' and 'Those beds won't wag again in haste' being typical comments.