John Bull is the name used for England and the English people, just as Uncle Sam stands for the United States and its people. The nickname John Bull was used in the 1600’s. But John Arbuthnot, a Scottish writer, fixed the popular idea of John Bull. In 1712, Arbuthnot published pamphlets advocating the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. The pamphlets were republished in 1712 as The History of John Bull. In this book, John Bull, representing England, appears as a jolly, honest, plain-dealing, hot-tempered farmer.
Sir John Tenniel, famous cartoonist of Punch magazine in the 1800’s, pictured John Bull as a dignified gentleman. The John Bull usually seen today appeared in the drawings of Sir Francis Carruthers Gould, published in the Westminster Gazette in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Gould pictured John Bull wearing a “tile” hat and swallow-tailed coat. His trousers are tucked into riding boots, and the British flag sometimes appears on his waistcoat.
