Posting in Scotland

James Gillray’s satire depicts the hazards of travelling ‘the old ways’ and zig-zag roads of the Highlands and finds humour in the meeting of different worlds, making fun of tourists and the local population alike. Playing on contemporary stereotypes, the Highlanders are barefoot and bare-bottomed, wearing pointed blue bonnets and what resemble tartan legwarmers. The accompanying text enjoins the coachmen to ‘hald your Haund Mun’ lest the ‘Muckle Laird’ should ‘coup his Creels’ (‘tumble head over heels’).