Chapter XIX · CLUBS.
Reading edition
Origin — October Club — Calves Head Club — Kit Cat Club — Other clubs — Suggested clubs.
Discite justitiam moniti, & non temnere Divos. Virg.
London.
Printed, And Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster. 1703.'
The author tells the history of the club as follows: 'Happening in the late Reign to be in the Company of a certain active Whigg, who in all other Respects was a Man of probity enough; he assured me, that to his Knowledge, 'twas true, That he knew most of the Members of that Club, and that he had been often invited to their Meetings, but that he had always avoided them: Adding, that according to the Principles he was bred up in, he wou'd have made no scruple to have met Charles the First, in the Field, and oppos'd him to the utmost of his Power; but that since he was Dead, he had no further Quarrel to him, and looked upon it as a cowardly piece of Villany, below any Man of Honour, to insult upon a Memory of a Prince, who had suffer'd enough in his Life Time.
'He farther told me, that Milton, and some other Creatures of the Commonwealth, had instituted this Club, as he was inform'd, in Opposition to Bp. Juxon, Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Hammond, and other Divines of the Church of England, who met privately every 30th of January; and, tho' it was under the Time of the Usurpation, had compil'd a private Form of Service for the Day, not much different from that we now find in the Liturgy....
The following 'Anthem,' if not the most refined of the series, is, at least, the most spirited and characteristic:—
An Anthem on the 30th of January 1696. There was a King of Scottish Race, a Man of Muckle might a, Was never seen in Battels Great, but greatly he would sh—— a; This K. begot another K. which made the Nation sad a, Was of the same Religion, an Atheist like his Dad a: This Monarch wore a Picked Beard, and seem'd a Doughty Hero, As Dioclesian Innocent, and Merciful as Nero. The Churches darling Implement, but Scourge of all the People, He Swore he'd make each Mother's Son Adore their Idol Steeple: But they perceiving his designs, grew plagy shy and jealous, ☞ And timely Choppt his Calve's head off, and sent him to his fellows. Old Rowly did succeed his Dad, such a King was never seen a, He'd lye with every nasty Drab, but seldom with his Queen a. His Dogs at Council Board wou'd sit, like Judges in their Furs a, 'Twas hard to say which had most Wit, the Monarch or his Curs a. At last he died, we know not how, but most think by his Brother, His Soul to Royal Tophet went to see his Dad and Mother. The furious James Usurp'd the Throne, to pull Religion down a; But by his Wife and Priest undone, he quickly lost his Crown a. To France the wand'ring Monarch's trudg'd, in hopes relief to find a, Which he is like to have from thence, even when the D——'s blind a. Oh! how shou'd we Rejoyce and Pray, and never cease to Sing a, ☞ If Bishops too were Chac'd away, and Banished with their King a: Then Peace and Plenty wou'd ensue, our Bellies wou'd be full a, The enliven'd Isle wou'd Laugh and Smile, as in the days of Noll a.
Perhaps one of the now best-known clubs of Anne's time was the Kit Cat, which derived its peculiar cognomen (so Addison says) 'from a Mutton Pye.' Attempts have been made to attribute its origin to a political gathering of Whig noblemen and gentlemen, but contemporary authorities all agree that it was founded by Jacob Tonson, the bookseller; and Sir R. Blackmore (a member of the club), who wrote a poem called 'the Kitcats' in 1708, may be considered as knowing something about what he wrote. Whether the pieman's name was Christopher Cat, or Christopher, living at the sign of the Cat and Fiddle, does not much matter: certain it is that the pies from which the club was named were called Kit Cat's pies.
Various domiciles have been given to the club, but Sir R. Blackmore says it was held at the Fountain in the Strand, a site now occupied by the Cigar Divan, as is denoted by the name of Fountain Court.
On the fair Strand by which with graceful Pride,
Unrival'd Thamis rolls his alternate Tyde,
Between the Courts which most the People awe,
(In one the Monarch reigns, in one the Law.)
A Stately Building rear'd its lofty Head,
Which both the Thames and Town around survey'd.
Here crown'd with Clusters Bacchus kept his Court,
Where mighty Vats his chearful Throne support;
High o'er the Gate he hung his waving Sign,
A Fountain Red with ever-flowing Wine.
........
One Night, in Seven, at this convenient Seat,
Indulgent BOCAJ[330] did the Muses treat,
Their Drink was generous Wine, and Kit Cat's Pyes their Meat.
Here he assembled his Poetic Tribe,
Past Labours to Reward, and new ones to prescribe;
Hence did th' Assembly's Title first arise,
And Kit-Cat Wits sprung first from Kit-Cat's Pyes.
BOCAJ the mighty Founder of the State
Led by his Wisdom, or his happy Fate,
Chose proper Pillars to support its Weight
All the first Members for their Place were fit
Tho' not of Title, Men of Sense and Wit.
They showed they had sense at all events, for in the summer they went into the fresh air, and held their meetings at the Flask at Hampstead.
Or when Apollo like, thou'rt pleas'd to lead
Thy Sons to feast on Hampstead's airy Head;
Hampstead that now in name Parnassus shall exceed.
Another proof, if it were needed, that Tonson was the founder of the club, is that forty-two of its members presented him with their portraits, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, to adorn his house at Barn Elms. As the room was not lofty enough to admit of their being the regulation size, special canvases were had (36 × 28 in.), and this is still called Kit Cat size. These portraits are still in existence, and were all shown at the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester, and some at the International Exhibition of 1862. This club was famous for the toasts engraved on its drinking glasses, many of which have survived to this day; and this gave rise to Dr. Arbuthnot's epigram—
Whence deathless Kit-Cat took his name, Few Critics can unriddle: Some say from pastry cook it came And some from Cat and Fiddle. From no trim beaus its name it boasts, Grey statesmen or green wits, But from this pell mell pack of toasts Of old Cats and young Kits.
Steele, in Tatler No. 9, gives an amusing and graphic account of a club, held at a tavern called the Trumpet, in Shire Lane; and, to show how prevalent the establishment of clubs was in this reign, the following are some suggested ones (of course only in fun) to be found in the Spectator: The Amorous, Chit Chat, Everlasting, Fox hunters, Fringe glove, Hebdomadal, Henpecked, Lazy, Lawyers, Mohock, Moving, Rattling, The Romp, Sighing, Spectator's, Street, Twopenny, Ugly, Widows; and the Guardian supplies a list of supposed clubs of little men, and the Short, Silent, Tall, and Terrible Clubs.