The Old Womans Complaint, or the Greek Alphabet

Thomas Tegg|Thomas Rowlandson

January 15, 1809 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

An elderly schoolmaster sits at left addressing an old countrywoman who faces him. Four boys stand behind her. The schoolmaster says: "Good woman you are always making complaints against my Scholars, what have they done to offend you now?" She answers: "Please your Honors Worship they followd me up and down—and said one to another—At her!—beat her! damn her!—pelt her!— and a great deal more that I do not recollect." The leader of the boys bows and says: "Indeed Sir, we were only repeating our Greek Alphabet, in order to get quite perfect—what the Old Woman heard was only Alpha—Beta— Gamma—Delta—and so on to the conclusion."

Artist

Thomas Tegg|Thomas Rowlandson

Date

January 15, 1809

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959