_
Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_
Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_
Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_
James Sutherland, _University College, London_
H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

INTRODUCTION

_A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ and its _Key_ (_Pudding and
Dumpling Burnt to Pot_) are typical satiric pamphlets which grew out of
the political in-fighting of the first half of the eighteenth century.
The pamphlets are distinguished by the fact that the author's level of
imagination and writing makes them delightful reading even today. In
_Dumpling_ the author displays a considerable knowledge of cooks and
cookery in London; by insinuating that to love dumpling is to love
corruption, he effectively and amusingly achieves satiric indirection
against a number of political and social targets, including Walpole. The
_Key_ is in many ways a separate pamphlet in which Swift is the central
figure under attack after his two secret visits to Walpole during 1726.
_Dumpling_ had a long life for an eighteenth-century pamphlet and was
published as late as 1770. Dr. F. T. Wood has even suggested that it may
have influenced Lamb's _Dissertation on Roast Pig_;[1] readers might
wish to test this for themselves.

_Dumpling_ and its _Key_ were first claimed for Henry Carey by Dr. Wood
(pp. 442-447). Carey (1687-1743) is generally thought to have been an
illegitimate scion of the powerful Savile family,[2] with whose name he
christened three of his sons. He was perhaps best known as a writer of
songs. "Sally in our Alley" is a classic, and he has even a tenuous
claim to the authorship of the English national anthem. Carey's
_Dramatic Works_ appeared in 1743, the year in which he met his death,
almost certainly by his own hand. Several of the plays were successful
and particular reference should be made to the burlesques
_Chrononhotonthologos_ (1734) and _The Dragon of Wantley_ (1737). The
latter even outran the performances of _The Beggar's Opera_ in its first
year. Not only do these plays show Carey's satiric bent, but so also do
a considerable number of his poems. In 1713, 1720, and 1729 Carey
publ