Lewis Carroll gives "1872" as the date of publication.) Its somewhat darker mood possibly reflects changes in Dodgson's life. His father's death in 1868 plunged him into a depression that lasted some years. In 1876, Dodgson produced his next great work, "The Hunting of the Snark", a fantastical "nonsense" poem exploring the adventures of a bizarre crew of nine tradesmen and one beaver, who set off to find the snark. It received largely mixed reviews from Carroll's contemporary reviewers, but was enormously popular with the public, having been reprinted seventeen times between 1876 and 1908, and has seen various adaptations into musicals,
Boeing Duveen and The Beautiful Soup songs' lyrics were adapted from poems from "Through the Looking-Glass" by Lewis Carroll, and Carroll was credited as co-writer with Hutt. Hutt would later reflect "I'd learnt the guitar in the Fifties, but I couldn't write words". Hutt played sitar on "Which Dreamed It". Initial copies of the single featured a picture sleeve reproducing John Tenniel's original illustration of the Jabberwock. The band's name also comes from a poem by Lewis Carroll, "Beautiful Soup", from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Both sides of the single were included in the Rubble series - "Jabberwock" in the 14th volume and "Which Dreamed It"