by Christopher Anstey

An Introduction with notes on the text by Gavin Turner, the Bath Press, Bath, 1994.

The New Bath Guide comprises the memoirs, in a series of poetical epistles, of a party of visitors from the North of the country to Bath in 1766. The letters contain a humorous account of the customs of Bath and of the amusements and acivities of those who resort there for the purposes of health, fashion or society. The group of visitors consists of a young squire Simkin, and his sister Prudence, who have both been ordered to Bath for the benefit of their health; accompanying them are their cousin Jenny and maid Tabitha Runt.

The characteristic feature of the fashionable life in Bath... was that it was lived in public. Simkin observes that ’Persons of Taste and true Spirit, / Are fond of attracting the Eyes of Mankind.’ (X:3-4). It was a deliberate policy, initiated by Beau Nash and promoted by an active building development, to encourage visitors to go out and meet in public places. The Parades, Pump Room, Assembly Rooms and many churches, all places of meeting and assembly, were constructed during the eighteenth century; in addition across the river Avon there was the Springs Gardens where public breakfasts could be held. By stressing the importance of meeting in public, Nash, the Master of Ceremonies in Bath for more than fifty years, did much to regulate the behaviour of visitors. A daily routine for them was thus established of which Jenny gives a hint in Letter IX:

O the charming Parties made!

Some to walk to the South Parade,

Some to LINCOMB’s shady Groves,

Or to SIMPSON’s proud Alcoves;

Some for Chapel trip away,

Then take Places for the Play.

(IX:55-60).

The consultation with the doctors enables some satirical verse to be composed at their expense and they are revealed to be more interested in their fees and in discussing the state of the nation than in the cure for Simkin’s wind:

‘This Stamp-Act, no doubt, might be good for the Crown-

‘But I fear ‘tis a Pill that will never go down-

‘What can Portugal mean? - is She going to stir up

‘Convulsions and Heats in the Bowels of Europe?

‘’Twill be fatal if England relapses again

‘From the ill Blood and Humours of Bourbon and Spain’.

(IV: 19-24).

This passage illustrates some particular features of Simkin’s writings. Much of his verse is topical, as the reference to the Stamp Act indicates; but the satire is mild.... His use of words is frequently idiosyncratic. Thus ‘Pill’, ‘Convulsions’, ‘Bowels’, ‘Relapses’, and ‘Blood’, whilst appropriate to the persons speaking them (the doctors), are somewhat unusual in the particular context chosen, a discussion of domestic and European politics.

Having satirized the doctors, the proceedings at the baths are humorously considered. Simkin watches the mixed bathing at the baths with a combination of incredulity and lechery:

‘Twas a glorious Sight to behold the Fair Sex

All wading with Gentlemen up to their Necks,

And view them so prettily tumble and sprawl

In a great smoaking Kettle as big as our Hall.

(VI: 46-49).

......recalling a diary entry of Samuel Pepys made almost exactly one hundred years earlier questioning the hygiene at the baths, ‘methinks it cannot be clean to go so many bodies together in to the same water’.

So while little TABBY was washing her Rump,

The Ladies kept drinking it out of a Pump.

(VI: 113-114).

All the welcoming courtesies associated with Nash’s reign in Bath, and extended to visitors on their arrival in the city, are observed by Simkin. These include the peal of Abbey bells and the visit of the musicians to the lodgings, the announcements of arrivals in the newspaper and the requests for subscriptions, and all are designed to make the visitor feel important.... Payment for these courtesies is of course required, a form of taxation levied by the local residents:

Yet despite the absurdities and the trivial nature of many of the activities, ‘Nash did perhaps as much as any other person even in the eighteenth century to civilise the neglected manners of mankind’....There is still much admiration for the civilising influence of Nash...