Poem about an anti-Negro riot at Hard Scrabble or Hardscrabble, a suburb of Providence, R.I., in 1824.
Notes:
In form, a parody of the nursery rhyme, "O! dear, what can the matter be". The two characters, Pomp[ey] and Phillis, are mentioned on p. 15-16 of Hard-Scrabble calendar (Providence, 1824), which refers to the "shuffling" dances performed in that neighborhood as "the zig zag movements of Pomp and Phillis, when engaged in treading the 'minuet de la court'" (Joseph L. Tillinghast, for the defense in the ensuing trial)
Printed in two columns divided by line of advertising with type ornaments at each end: Sold wholesale and retail at No. 152, Ann-Street--Boston. The printer may have been William Rutter.
Broadsides are single-sheet publications, often issued as ephemera or announcements. The Harris Broadsides Collection is a comprehensive collection of American poetry published in broadside format from colonial times to the present. The collection offers materials covering a broad spectrum of …
