Verse of eighty-four lines, describing the severe shortages and economic conditions which existed in Marblehead and other coastal towns between 1776 and 1780; first line: Our best beloved they are gone.
Author from final couplet: Molly Gutridge composition ...
"Probably printed by Ezekiel Russell ..."--Tapley. Salem imprints, p. 333. One of the cuts illustrating this broadside poem was also included in the Downfall of justice (Evans 14740) printed by Russell in 1776.
Dated [1778] by Tapley, [1779] by Ford, and [1779?] by Bristol. In 1779 Russell was printing at Danvers, Mass.
Text in two columns divided by a single rule; printed area measures 31.8 x 18.9 cm.
Two woodcut illustrations, the first showing a domestic interior with a seated woman and three children with the figure of Justice with scales in the background, the second showing a woman in a tricorn hat bearing a rifle and powder horn.
N-YHS copy slightly mutilated, with some loss of text.