Author: EUNSON (George):
Title: The Ancient and Present State of Orkney, Particularly The Capital Borough of Kirkwall. To which are added, the Petty Tyrants; or Grinders of the Poor. The Characteristic New Year's Gift, of Lawrie's Elections, and Lastly, Free National Thoughts Upon Great Britain.
Description: Newcastle Upon Tyne, Printed for the Author. 1788. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. 12mo, 178 x 107 mms., pp. [5] 6 - 127 [128 blank], recent (or fairly recent) full polished calf, gilt borders on covers with thistle ornament at each corner, spine ornately gilt, red morocco label, all edges gilt; front joint slightly rubbed, but a very good to fine copy. George Eunson seems to have had a colourful career; I quote from Richard Platt's book, Smuggling in the British Isles: A History(2012: "Most of the smuggling on Orkney, though, consisted of illegal malting of Barley and stilling of whiskey, and many of the tales speak of how wiley Orcadians concealed their stills and steeping malt from the prying eye of the gauger. There are exceptions to this rule: the most renowned of Orkney's smugglers was probably George Eunson. He started his adult life as a cooper's apprentice, but soon became restless, and took command of a smuggling ship. He was too greedy, however, and soon the ship's owners were looking for a new master. For Eunson, there followed a succession of adventures, featuring besides smuggling, the press gang and privateering. Eunson eventually found himself back on Orkney, and embroiled in a political dispute which had divided the island. One faction contrived to have Eunson made officer of excise, and in this post he pursued the smugglers with all the vigour of poacher-turned-gamekeeper. His principal targets were the local magistrates, who were widely suspected of smuggling, and he made many enemies among the upper classes of the island. When he took one step beyond the law, the magistrates were quick to pounce, and Eunson was locked up for 10 weeks without trial. He later sued them for £2000 apiece, and wrote a diatribe against the 'Petty Tyrants, or Grinders of the Poor' which was published in 1788. Eunson did not stay revenue man for long: he returned to smuggling, with a lucrative side-line as a pilot. It was in this role that he died on a man-of-war." ESTC finds ten copies in the UK, but only one in North America, at the Huntington. There is also a copy at the University of South Carolina.

Keywords: topography exegesis prose


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