Author: RUMP SONGS. [BROME (Alexander], editor:
Title: A Collection of Loyal Songs Written against the Rump Parliament, Between the Years 1639 and 1661. Containing A great Variety of Merry and Diverting Characters of the Chief Sectaries, who were the Principal Actors in that whole Scene of Affairs. With an Historical Introduction to the Whole. In Two Volumes.
Description: London: Printed for J. Stone..., and sold by G. Srahan..., J. Jakcson..., 1731. 2 volumes in 1. 12mo, 162 x 95 mms., pp. [xiv], 288; [vi], 264, early 19th century quarter sheepskin, speckled boards, olive morocco label; text a bit brown, joints worn, spine rubbed, ex-library, but a reasonable copy. The poet and lawyer Brome (1620 - 1666) wrote and collected these songs and poems, and they were published under the title, Ratts Rhimed to Death; Or, The Rump-Parliament hang'd up in the Shambles in 1659. Perhaps this reprint, for which the publisher Stone was chiefly responsible, changed the title to protect Irish sensitivities: according to Robert Nares (1753–1829), the philologist and clergyman, "The fanciful idea that rats were commonly rhymed to death, in Ireland, arose probably from some metrical charm or incantation used there for that purpose" (A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions). Mark S. Jenner: "The Roasting of the Rump: Scatology and the Body Politic in Restoration England," Past & Present (2002).

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