In November 1745 the Jacobite army made a dramatic and rapid descent through England. Hogarth’s satire shows the English guards gathering at Tottenham Court Road turnpike, north London, before heading on to Finchley to meet the expected Jacobite threat (which never materialised, the Jacobites retreated from Derby on ‘Black Friday’, 6 December). The central guardsman is torn between the attentions of two lovers, symbolising the choice facing Britons. On his right, the younger pregnant woman has a print of the Duke of Cumberland in her basket; on his left, the older, angry woman is selling newspapers with Jacobite titles. Although Hogarth pokes fun at the soldiers – worse for wear after a drunken night – it is clear where his sympathies lie. In the background, the foreground chaos resolves into ordered columns of marching troops.