DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0444
4i8 OLD WORLD MASTERS
The “Jessamy Bride” appears in a low-cut, white dress with blue
sash and a white cap with a peacock-blue bow and tied under her
chin with a narrow, black ribbon, or cord. A black spotted scarf is
thrown around her waist and draped over her arms. The com-
plexion is rosy, the eyes are brown, and the hair is powdered d la
mode.
Mary Horneck was the daughter of Captain Kane William Horneck
of the Royal Engineers and Hannah Mangles, known in her day as
“the Plymouth Beauty.” Both were painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Captain Horneck died in 1755, leaving his widow in comfortable
circumstances and she immediately removed with her three children,
Charles, Mary, and Catherine, to London. About 1769 the Hornecks
became acquainted with Oliver Goldsmith, who had three years be-
fore that date written The Deserted Village, which he dedicated to
Sir Joshua Reynolds, then President of the Royal Academy. Gold-
smith soon found appropriate names for the Horneck children. Mary
was the “Jessamy Bride”; Catherine was “Little Comedy” and
Charles was the “Captain in Lace.” They are all three mentioned
in Goldsmith’s acceptance to a dinner given by Dr. Baker to the
Hornecks and to which the Horneck girls sent an invitation to Gold-
smith in rhyme. Goldsmith’s reply was as follows:
“Your mandate I got,
You may all go to pot,
Had your senses been right
You’d have sent before night;
As I hope to be saved,
I put off being shaved;
For I could not make bold
While the matter was cold,
To meddle in suds,
Or to put on my duds;
So tell Horneck and Nesbitt
And Baker and his bit,
And Kauffman beside
And the Jessamy Bride,
And the rest of the crew,
The Reynoldses too,
Little Comedy’s face,
And the Captain in Lace—■
(By the bye, you may tell him
The “Jessamy Bride” appears in a low-cut, white dress with blue
sash and a white cap with a peacock-blue bow and tied under her
chin with a narrow, black ribbon, or cord. A black spotted scarf is
thrown around her waist and draped over her arms. The com-
plexion is rosy, the eyes are brown, and the hair is powdered d la
mode.
Mary Horneck was the daughter of Captain Kane William Horneck
of the Royal Engineers and Hannah Mangles, known in her day as
“the Plymouth Beauty.” Both were painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Captain Horneck died in 1755, leaving his widow in comfortable
circumstances and she immediately removed with her three children,
Charles, Mary, and Catherine, to London. About 1769 the Hornecks
became acquainted with Oliver Goldsmith, who had three years be-
fore that date written The Deserted Village, which he dedicated to
Sir Joshua Reynolds, then President of the Royal Academy. Gold-
smith soon found appropriate names for the Horneck children. Mary
was the “Jessamy Bride”; Catherine was “Little Comedy” and
Charles was the “Captain in Lace.” They are all three mentioned
in Goldsmith’s acceptance to a dinner given by Dr. Baker to the
Hornecks and to which the Horneck girls sent an invitation to Gold-
smith in rhyme. Goldsmith’s reply was as follows:
“Your mandate I got,
You may all go to pot,
Had your senses been right
You’d have sent before night;
As I hope to be saved,
I put off being shaved;
For I could not make bold
While the matter was cold,
To meddle in suds,
Or to put on my duds;
So tell Horneck and Nesbitt
And Baker and his bit,
And Kauffman beside
And the Jessamy Bride,
And the rest of the crew,
The Reynoldses too,
Little Comedy’s face,
And the Captain in Lace—■
(By the bye, you may tell him