Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Bull, John, the name given to the English nation personified, is taken from Arbuthnot's satire, The History of John Bull, meant to ridicule the Duke of Marlborough. In it John Bull's mother is the Church of England, and his sister "Peg" is Scotland. The French in the same book are personified as Lewis Baboon, and the Dutch as Nicholas Froy.