A scene at Glasgow, or - Sir Donald Dictate in the dumps.
[London] : Pubd. Octr. 17th, 1783 by W. Wells, no. 132, Fleet Street.,
[1783]
Satirical broadside relating to banking in Scotland in the 1780s.  From BM catalogue description: "A procession of men moving slowly from left to right led by a stout, plainly dressed man holding a thread which is attached to the noses of some of those who follow him, the others being onlookers, except for a man immediately behind the leader. The labels from the mouths of the characters are a prominent part of the design."
In the speech labels there are references to an Edinburgh and a Paisley bank and also a reference to the United States. The Edinburgh bank may be the Royal Bank of Scotland which opened a branch in Glasgow in 1783, and the Paisley bank is probably the Paisley Banking Company, founded in the same year with financial support from the Royal Bank. The reference to the USA may refer to the heavy buying of goverment bonds in 1783 by speculators in anticipation of the ending of the American war of independence and the releasing of government funds previously intended for the military campaign. The identity of 'Sir Donald Dictate' is possibly David Dale, the cotton and linen manufacturer, who became the first Glasgow agent of the Royal Bank thanks to his father-in-law being a director of the bank. He is possibly the stout man on the far right of the broadside. The identity of the other 10 men depicted in the broadside is not known.
BM Satires 6332
Banks and banking
England London.