Origin of "Great Unwashed Masses"

Good Lord but I’m having a dickens of a time finding the origin of this phrase.

Any help guys?

Thanks :slight_smile:

According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:

I assume the reference is to Edmund Burke. The term was originally just “the great unwashed” (sometimes capitalized).

Strange that this is the $7 question on the new answers.google.com site.

See: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121310

The concept was around far longer than the actual term. Our pal Shake definitely comes close at one point, in Julius Caesar:

Power to the people!

SHUSH on the Google Answer thing… I’m lookin’ for the 7 buckolas!

Off I go to offer untold riches for “the whole nine yards”:smiley:

Ever smell any large crowd of people?