When all six are assembled in order, they read:
what is a
merry man
lett him doe
what hee can
to intertaine
his getsse
with wine and
merry jests
but if his
wife doe frown
All merryment
goes downe

Both round and shaped examples of plates inscribed with the popular rhyming couplets can be dated between 1682 and 1752, although complete sets are rare. An octagonal plate inscribed with verse 4 similar to the present example but without the lines outlining the basin is in the Glaisher Collection at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University (no. 1351) A circular set dated 1721 is in the collection of Temple Newsam, Leeds (16.484/47). An circular set painted with a surround similar to the present set and with variations in spelling but undated was sold at Sotheby's London, June 16, 1981, lot 92. Another set was in the Thomas Greg Collection.

Cf. Bernard Rackham, Catalogue of The Glaisher Collection of Pottery and Porcelain, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1935, plate 89C;
Peter Walton, Creamware and Other English Pottery at Temple Newsam House Leeds, Leeds, 1976, no. 16