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At Wootton Bassett there was a tumbrel, which, until within the last few years, was perfect. The chair is still preserved by the corporation of that town. We give a drawing of it from the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. It will be seen from the picture that the machine, when complete, consisted of a chair, a pair of wheels, two long poles forming shafts, and a rope attached to each shaft, at about a foot from the end. The person to be ducked was tied in the chair, and the machine pushed into a pond called the Weirpond, and the shafts being let go, the scold was lifted backwards into the water, the shafts flying up, and being recovered again by means of the ropes attached to them. The chair is of oak, and bears the date of 1686 on the back. In some places, millers, if detected stealing corn, were placed in the tumbrel.
The wheels of a tumbrel are preserved in the old church of St. Mary's, Warwick, and the chair, it is said, is still in the possession of an inhabitant of the town.
At Kingston-upon-Thames ducking was not infrequent. The Chamberlain's accounts include many items relating to the subject. We are disposed to believe, from the mention of three wheels, in a payment made in 1572, that here the engine of punishment was a tumbrel. The following amounts were paid in 1572:
The making of the cucking-stool 8s. 0d. Iron work for the same 3s. 0d. Timber for the same 7s. 6d. Three brasses for the same, and three wheels 4s. 10d. —————— L1 3s. 4d.
In the London Evening Post, April 27th to 30th, 1745, it is stated: "Last week a woman who keeps the Queen's Head alehouse, at Kingston, in Surrey, was ordered by the court to be ducked for scolding, and was accordingly placed in the chair and ducked in the river Thames, under Kingston Bridge, in the presence of 2000 to 3000 people."
We have previously mentioned the fact that at Leicester the cucking-stool was in use as early as 1467, and from some valuable information brought together by Mr. William Kelly, F.S.A., and included in his important local works, we learn that the last entry he has traced in the old accounts of the town is the following:
1768-9. Paid Mr. Elliott for a Cuckstool by order of Hall L2 0s. 0d.
Mr. Kelly refers to the scolding cart at Leicester, and describes the culprit as seated upon it, and being drawn through the town. He found in the old accounts in 1629 an item:
Paid to Frauncis Pallmer for making two wheels and one barr for the Scolding Cart ijs.
Scolding Cart is another name for the tumbrel.
The latest example of Leicester cucking-stool is preserved in the local museum, and was placed there at the suggestion of Mr. Kelly.
The Leominster ducking-stool is one of the few examples still preserved. It was formerly kept in the parish church. We have an excellent drawing of it in that building from the pencil of the genial author of "Verdant Green," Cuthbert Bede. The Rev. Geo. Fyler Townsend, M.A., the erudite historian of Leominster, furnishes us with some important information on this interesting relic of the olden time. He says that it is a machine of the simplest construction, "It consists merely of a strong narrow under framework, placed on four wheels, of solid wood, about four inches in thickness, and eighteen in diameter. At one end of this framework two upright posts, about three feet in height, strongly embedded in the platform, carry a long movable beam. Each of the arms of this beam are of equal length (13 feet), and balance perfectly from the top of the post. The culprit placed in the seat naturally weighs down that one end into the water, while the other is lifted up in the air; men, however, with ropes, caused the uplifted end to rise or fall, and thus obtain a perfect see-saw. The purchase of the machine is such that the culprit can be launched forth some 16 to 18 feet into the pond or stream, while the administrators of the ducking stand on dry land. This instrument was mentioned in the ancient documents of the borough by various names, as the cucking-stoole or timbrill, or gumstole."
The latest recorded instance of the ducking-stool being used in England occurred at Leominster. In 1809, says Mr. Townsend, a woman, Jenny Pipes, alias Jane Corran, was paraded through the town on the ducking-stool, and actually ducked in the water near Kenwater Bridge, by order of the magistrates. An eye witness gave his testimony to the desert of the punishment inflicted on this occasion, in the fact that the first words of the culprit on being unfastened from the chair were oaths and curses on the magistrates. In 1817, a woman named Sarah Leeke was wheeled round the town in the chair, but not ducked, as the water was too low. Since this time, the use of the chair has been laid aside, and it is an object of curiosity, rather than of fear, to any of the spectators. During the recent restoration of Leominster Church, the ducking-stool was removed, repaired, and renovated by Mr. John Hungerford Arkwright, and is now kept at the borough gaol of the historically interesting town of Leominster.
The early English settlers in the United States introduced many of the manners and customs of their native land. The ducking-stool was soon brought into use. Mr. Henry M. Brooks, in his carefully written work, called "Strange and Curious Punishments," published in 1886, by Ticknor & Co., of Boston, gives many important details respecting punishing scolds. At the present time, in some parts of America, scolding females are liable to be punished by means of the ducking-stool. We gather from a newspaper report that in 1889, the grand jury of Jersey City—across the Hudson River from New York—caused a sensation by indicting Mrs. Mary Brady as a "common scold." Astonished lawyers hunted up their old books, and discovered that scolding is still an indictable offence in New Jersey, and that the ducking-stool is still available as a punishment for it, not having been specifically abolished when the revised statutes were adopted. In Delaware, the State next to the south of New Jersey, the whipping-post is an institution, and prisoners are sentenced to suffer at it every week. The Common Scold Law was brought from England to Connecticut by the Puritans and settlers, and from Connecticut they carried it with them into New Jersey, which is incorrectly considered a Dutch state. In closing this chapter, we may state that a Dalziel telegram from Ottawa, published in the London newspapers of August 8th, 1890, says that Miss Annie Pope was yesterday charged before a police magistrate, under the provisions of an antiquated statute, for being a "common scold." She was committed for trial at the assizes, as the magistrate had no ducking-stool.
FOOTNOTES:
[42] Boyle's "Hedon," 1895.
The Brank, or Scold's Bridle.
The brank was an instrument employed by our forefathers for punishing scolds. It is also sometimes called the gossip's bridle, and in the Macclesfield town records it is designated "a brydle for a curste queane." In the term "queane" we have the old English synonym for a woman; now the chief woman, the Queen. The brank is not of such great antiquity as the ducking-stool, for the earliest mention of it we have been able to find in this country is in the Corporation records of Macclesfield, of the year 1623. At an earlier period, we have traces of it in Scotland. In Glasgow burgh records, it is stated that in 1574 two scolds were condemned to be "branket." The Kirk-session records of Stirling for 1600 mention the "brankes" as a punishment for the shrew. It is generally believed that the punishment is of Continental origin.
The brank may be described simply as an iron framework which was placed on the head, enclosing it in a kind of cage; it had in front a plate of iron, which, either sharpened or covered with spikes, was so situated as to be placed in the mouth of the victim, and if she attempted to move her tongue in any way whatever, it was certain to be shockingly injured. With a brank on her head she was conducted through the streets, led by a chain, held by one of the town's officials, an object of contempt, and subjected to the jeers of the crowd and often left to their mercy. In some towns it was the custom to chain the culprit to the pillory, whipping-post, or market-cross. She thus suffered for telling her mind to some petty tyrant in office, or speaking plainly to a wrong-doer, or for taking to task a lazy, and perhaps a drunken husband.
In Yorkshire, we have only seen two branks. We give a sketch of one formerly in possession of the late Norrisson Scatcherd, F.S.A., the historian of Morley. It is now in the Leeds Philosophical Museum, where it attracts considerable attention. It is one of the most simple and harmless examples that has come under our notice. Amongst the relics of the olden time in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, York, is another specimen, equally simple in its construction. It was presented by Lady Thornton to the Society in 1880, and near it may be seen thumb-screws from York Castle; leg bar, waist girdle, and wrist shackles, worn by the notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, executed April 17th, 1739; and a leg bar, worn by another notorious highwayman, named Nevison, who suffered death on the gallows, May 4th, 1684.
The brank which has received the greatest attention is the one preserved in the vestry of Walton-on-Thames Parish Church. It bears the date of 1632, and the following couplet:—
"Chester presents Walton with a bridle To curb women's tongues that talk too idle."
It is traditionally said that this brank was given to Walton Parish by a person named Chester, who had, through a gossiping and lying woman of his acquaintance, lost an estate he expected to inherit from a rich relative. We are enabled to give an illustration of the Walton brank.
Dr. T. N. Brushfield described in an exhaustive manner all the Cheshire branks, in an able paper read before the Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society of Chester, and published in 1858. We are unable to direct attention to all the branks noticed by Dr. Brushfield, but cannot refrain from presenting the following account of the one at Congleton, which is preserved in the Town Hall of that ancient borough. "It was," we are informed, "formerly in the hands of the town jailor, whose services were not infrequently called into requisition. In the old-fashioned, half-timbered houses in the borough, there was generally fixed on one side of the large open fire-places a hook, so that, when a man's wife indulged her scolding propensities, the husband sent for the town jailor to bring the bridle, and had her bridled and chained to the hook until she promised to behave herself better for the future. I have seen one of these hooks, and have often heard husbands say to their wives: 'If you don't rest with your tongue I'll send for the bridle and hook you up.' The Mayor and Justices frequently brought the instrument into use; for when women were brought before them charged with street-brawling, and insulting the constables and others while in the discharge of their duty, they have ordered them to be bridled and led through the borough by the jailor. The last time this bridle was publicly used was in 1824, when a woman was brought before the Mayor (Bulkeley Johnson, Esq.) one Monday, charged with scolding and using harsh language to the churchwardens and constables as they went, on the Sunday morning, round the town to see that all the public-houses were empty and closed during divine service. On examination, a Mr. Richard Edwards stated on oath that on going round the town with the churchwardens on the previous day, they met the woman (Ann Runcorn) in a place near 'The Cockshoot,' and that immediately seeing them she commenced a sally of abuse, calling them all the scoundrels and rogues she could lay her tongue to; and telling them 'it would look better of them if they would look after their own houses rather than go looking after other folk's, which were far better than their own.' After other abuse of a like character, they thought it only right to apprehend her, and so brought her before the Bench on the following day. The Mayor then delivered the following sentence: 'That it is the unanimous decision of the Mayor and Justices that the prisoner (Ann Runcorn) there and then have the town's bridle for scolding women put upon her, and that she be led by the magistrate's clerk's clerk through every street in the town, as an example to all scolding women; and that the Mayor and magistrates were much obliged to the churchwardens for bringing the case before them.'" "In this case," Mr. Warrington, who furnished Dr. Brushfield with the foregoing information, adds: "I both heard the evidence and saw the decision carried out. The bridle was put on the woman, and she was then led through the town by one Prosper Haslam, the town clerk's clerk, accompanied by hundreds of the inhabitants; and on her return to the Town Hall the bridle was taken off in the presence of the Mayor, magistrates, constables, churchwardens, and assembled inhabitants."
In Cheshire, at the present time, there are traces of thirteen branks, and at Stockport is the most brutal example of the English branks. "It will be observed," says the local historian, Dr. Henry Heginbotham, J.P., "that the special characteristic of this brank is the peculiar construction of the tongue-plate or gag. It is about two inches long, having at the end, as may be seen in the engraving, a ball, into which is inserted a number of sharp iron pins, three on the upper surface, three on the lower, and two pointing backwards. These could not fail to pin the tongue, and effectually silence the noisiest brawler. At the fore part of the collar, there is an iron chain, with a leathern thong attached, by which the offender was led for public gaze through the market-place." It was formerly on market days exhibited in front of the house of the person who had charge of it, as a warning to scolding or swearing women. Dr. Heginbotham states that: "There is no evidence of its having been actually used for many years, but there is testimony to the fact, that within the last forty years the brank was brought to a termagant market woman, who was effectually silenced by its threatened application."
We are indebted to Mr. Alfred Burton for a drawing of the Macclesfield brank. Dr. Brushfield describes this as "a respectable-looking brank." He tells us that "the gag is plain, and the end of it is turned down; there is only one band which passes over the head, and is hinged to the hoops; a temporary joint exists at the upper part, and ample provision is made for readily adjusting it to any description of head. The chain still remains attached to the hoop. About the year 1858, Mr. Swinnerton informed Dr. Brushfield that he had never seen it used, but that at the petty sessions it had often been produced in terrorem, to stay the volubility of a woman's tongue; and that a threat by a magistrate to order its appliance had always proved sufficient to abate the garrulity of the most determined scold."
Towards the close of the first quarter of the present century, the brank was last used at Altrincham. A virago, who caused her neighbours great trouble, was frequently cautioned in vain respecting her conduct, and as a last resource she was condemned to walk through the town wearing the brank. She refused to move, and it was finally decided to wheel her in a barrow through the principal streets of the town, round the market-place, and to her own home. The punishment had the desired effect, and for the remainder of her life she kept a quiet tongue.
There are many traces of the brank in Lancashire. Mr. W. E. A. Axon informs us that his father remembers the brank being used at Manchester at the commencement of the present century. Kirkham had its brank for scolds, in addition to a ducking-stool. We find, in the same county, traces of the brank at Holme, in the Forest of Rossendale. In the accounts of the Greave for the Forest of Rossendale for 1691-2 is an entry of the true antiquarian cast:
Item, for a Bridle for scouldinge women, 2s. 6d.
In "Some Obsolete Peculiarities of English Law," by William Beamont, the author gives particulars respecting the Warrington brank. "Hanging up in our museum," says Mr. Beamont, "may be seen a representation of a withered female face wearing the brank or scold's bridle; one of which instruments, as inflexible as iron and ingenuity can make it, for keeping an unruly tongue quiet by mechanical means, hangs up beside it; and almost within the time of living memory, Cicily Pewsill, an inmate of the workhouse, and a notorious scold, was seen wearing this disagreeable head-gear in the streets of Warrington for half-an-hour or more.... Cicily Pewsill's case still lingers in tradition, as the last occasion of its application in Warrington, and it will soon pass into history."
The Rev. J. Clay told Mr. William Dobson that since his connection with Preston House of Correction the brank was put on a woman there, but the matter coming to the knowledge of the Home Secretary, its further use was prohibited, and to make sure of the barbarous practice being discontinued the brank itself was ordered to be sent to London. A second brank was kept in the prison, principally formed of leather, but with an iron tongue-piece.[43]
At the north country town of Morpeth a brank is still preserved. The following is a record of its use: "Dec. 3, 1741, Elizabeth, wife of George Holborn, was punished with the branks for two hours, at the Market Cross, Morpeth, by order of Mr. Thomas Gait and Mr. George Nicholls, then bailiffs, for scandalous and opprobrious language to several persons in the town, as well as to the said bailiffs."
Staffordshire supplies several notable examples of the brank. They were formerly kept at Hamstall Ridware, Beaudesart, Lichfield, Walsall, and at Newcastle-under-Lyme. The branks in the two towns last named are alluded to by the celebrated Dr. Plot, the old historian of the county, in an amusing manner. "We come to the arts that respect mankind," says Plot, "amongst which, as elsewhere, the civility of precedence must be allowed to the woman, and that as well in punishments as favours. For the former, whereof they have such a peculiar artifice at Newcastle [under Lyme] and Walsall for correcting of scolds, which it does, too, so effectually and so very safely, that I look upon it as much to be preferred to the cucking-stool, which not only endangers the health of the party, but also gives her tongue liberty 'twixt every dip, to neither of which is this at all liable, it being such a bridle for the tongue as not only quite deprives them of speech, but brings shame for the transgression, and humility thereupon, before 'tis taken off. Which, being an instrument scarce heard of, much less seen, I have here presented it to the reader's view [here follows a reference to a plate] as it was taken from the original one, made of iron, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, wherein the letter a shows the jointed collar that comes round the neck; b, c, the loops and staples to let it out and in, according to the bigness and slenderness of the neck; d, the jointed semicircle that comes over the head, made forked at one end to let through the nose, and e, the plate-iron that is put into the mouth and keeps down the tongue. Which, being put upon the offender by order of the magistrate, and fastened with a padlock behind, she is led through the town by an officer, to her shame, nor is it taken off until after the party begins to show all external signs imaginable of humiliation and amendment." This brank afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. founder of the Museum at Liverpool.
It is pleasing to record the fact that there is only trace of one brank belonging to Derbyshire—a circumstance which speaks well for its men and women. The latter have for a long period borne exemplary characters. Philip Kinder, in the preface of his projected "History of Derbyshire," written about the middle of the seventeenth century, alludes to them. "The country-women here," says Kinder, "are chaste and sober, and very diligent in their housewifery; they hate idleness, love and obey their husbands; only in some of the great towns many of the seeming sanctificators used to follow the Presbyterian gang, and on a lecture day put on their best rayment, and doo hereby take occasion to goo a gossipping. Your merry wives of Bentley will sometimes look in ye glass, chirpe a cupp merrily, yet not indecently. In the Peak they are much given to dance after the bagpipes—almost every towne hath a bagpipe in it." "The Chesterfield brank," says Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, "is a remarkably good example, and has the additional interest of bearing a date. It is nine inches in height, and six inches and three-quarters across the hoop. It consists of a hoop of iron, hinged on either side and fastening behind, and a band, also of iron, passing over the head from back to front, and opening in front to admit the nose of the woman whose misfortune it was to wear it. The mode of putting it on would be thus: the brank would be opened by throwing back the sides of the hoop, and the hinder part of the band by means of the hinges, C, F, F. The constable, or other official, would then stand in front of his victim, and force the knife, or plate, A, into her mouth, the divided band passing on either side of the nose, which would protrude through the opening, B. The hoop would then be closed behind, the band brought down from the top to the back of the head, and fastened down upon it, at E, and thus the cage would at once be firmly and immovably fixed so long as her tormentors might think fit. On the left side is a chain, D, one end of which is attached to the hoop, and at the other end is a ring, by which the victim was led, or by which she was, at pleasure, attached to a post or wall. On front of the brank are the initials 'T.C.,' and the date '1688'—the year of the 'Glorious Revolution'—the year of all years memorable in the annals of Chesterfield and the little village of Whittington, closely adjoining, in which the Revolution was planned. Strange that an instrument of brutal and tyrannical torture should be made and used at Chesterfield at the same moment that the people should be plotting for freedom at the same place. The brank was formerly in the old poor-house at Chesterfield, and came into the hands of Mr. Weale, the assistant Poor-law Commissioner, who presented it to Lady Walsham. It is (August, 1860) still in the hands of Sir John Walsham, Bart., and the drawing from which the accompanying woodcut is executed was kindly made and furnished to me by Miss Dulcy Bell, Sir John's sister-in-law."[44]
The Leicester brank is similar to the one at Chesterfield. At the back of the hoop is a chain about twelve inches long. It was formerly kept in the Leicester borough gaol.
In the year 1821, Judge Richardson gave orders for a brank to be destroyed which was kept ready and most probably frequently used at the County Hall, Nottingham. We gather from a note furnished by Mr. J. Potter Briscoe a curious circumstance in connection with this brank—that it was used to subdue the unruly tongues of the sterner sex, as well as those of noisy females. James Brodie, a blind beggar who was executed on the 15th July, 1799, for the murder of his boy-guide, in the Nottingham Forest, was the last person punished with the brank. During his imprisonment, prior to execution, he was so noisy that the brank was called into requisition, to do what he refused to do himself, namely, to hold his tongue.
Here is a picture of a brank formerly in the possession of the late Mr. F. A. Carrington, the well-known antiquary. It is supposed to belong to the period of William III. Mr. Carrington could not give any history of this curious relic of the olden time.
At Doddington Park, Lincolnshire, a brank is preserved, and is of a decidedly foreign appearance. It will be noticed that it bears some resemblance to the peculiar long-snouted visor of the bascinets, occasionally worn in the reign of Richard II. No historical particulars are known respecting this grotesque brank.
In the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, a curious brank may be seen. It is not recorded in the catalogue of the collection by whom it was presented, or where it was previously used; it is described as "a gag or brank, formerly used with the ducking-stool, as a punishment for scolds." It will be noticed that a chain is attached to the front of this brank, so that the poor unfortunate woman, in addition to being gagged, had the mortification of being led by the nose through the town. The gag is marked a, and b is the aperture for the nose.
A curious engine of torture may be seen in the Ludlow Museum, and we give an illustration of it. It belongs to a class of engines far more formidable than branks. A description of this head-piece appears in the Archaeological Journal for September, 1856, from the pen of Mr. W. J. Bernard Smith. "The powerful screwing apparatus," says Mr. Smith, "seems calculated to force the iron mask with torturing effect upon the brow of the victim; there are no eye-holes, but concavities in their places, as though to allow for the starting of the eye-balls under violent pressure. There is a strong bar with a square hole, evidently intended to fasten the criminal against a wall, or perhaps to the pillory; and I have heard it said that these instruments were used to keep the head steady during the infliction of branding." A curious instrument of punishment, belonging to the same class as that at Ludlow, is described at some length, with an illustration, in "Worcester in Olden Times," by John Noake (London, 1849). The picture and description have been frequently reproduced.
Several Shropshire branks remain at the present time. The one at Shrewsbury does not appear to be of any great antiquity. Its form is simple and its character harmless. This bridle was at one time in constant use in Shrewsbury, and there are those yet living whose memories are sufficiently good to carry them back to the days when the effects of the application of the brank in question were to be seen, rather than, as now, imagined. The year cannot be ascertained when this brank was first worn, but it is known to have been last used in 1846.[45]
At Oswestry are two branks, one belonging to the Corporation, and the other is in the store-room of the Workhouse. The Rector of Whitchurch has in his possession a brank, which was formerly used by the town and union authorities. At Market Drayton are two branks: one is the property of the Lord of the Manor, and the other formerly belonged to the Dodcot Union. The Market Drayton brank, and also the one at Whitchurch, have on each a revolving wheel at the end of the gag or tongue-plate. In bygone times, the brank was frequently used for correcting unmanageable paupers.
At Edinburgh, in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is a brank said to be from a town in East Fifeshire, having a rowel-shaped gag. In the year 1560, it was decided by the Town Council of Edinburgh, that all persons found guilty of blasphemy should be punished by the iron brank. In North Britain, it appears to have been used for punishing persons guilty of immorality. On the 7th October, the Kirk-Session of Canongate sentenced David Persoun, convicted of this offence, to be "brankit for four hours," while his associate in guilt, Isobel Mountray, was "banisit the gait," that is, expelled from the parish. Only a week previously, the same Kirk-Session had issued a proclamation that all women found guilty of this lawlessness "be brankit six houris at the croce."
We close this chapter by directing attention to the Bishop's brank, kept at St. Andrews, respecting which a singular story is told. A woman in a humble walk of life, named Isabel Lindsay, stood up in the parish church of St. Andrews, during the time of divine service, when Archbishop Sharp was preaching, and declared that when he was a college student he was guilty of an illicit amour with her. She was arrested for this statement, and brought before the Kirk-Sessions, and by its members sentenced "to appear for a succession of Sundays on the repentance stool, wearing the brank."
FOOTNOTES:
[43] Dobson's "Preston in the Olden Time," 1857.
[44] "The Reliquary," October, 1860.
[45] Morris's "Obsolete Punishments of Shropshire."
Riding the Stang.
The ancient custom of riding the stang still lingers in some remote parts of the country. Holding delinquents up to ridicule was a favourite mode of punishment practised by our forefathers, and riding the stang was the means generally employed for punishing husbands who beat their wives, or allowed themselves to be henpecked, or were profligate in their conduct. There are various designations for the custom. In Yorkshire, riding the stang is the name used; in Scotland the same term is applied; in the South of England skimmington-riding is the title generally employed, and on the Continent it is known by other appellations.
The mode of carrying out the ceremony is as follows: A man having beaten his wife, the young men of the village assume the attitude of public censors, and arrangements are made for riding the stang three nights in succession. A trumpeter blows his horn loud and long as day gives way to night, and the villagers are brought together. A pole or a ladder is procured, and the most witty man in the village is placed thereon, mounted shoulder-high, and carried in great state through the streets. In one hand he has a large key or stick, and in the other a dripping-pan, and leads the music of the crowd. Men, women, and children join in the fun, and beat kettles, pans, pots, or anything else that will make a noise; tin whistles, horns, and trumpets are blown, the noise produced being better imagined than described. As soon as all is ready, a start is made, and about every fifty yards the procession stops, and the mounted man proclaims at the top of his voice a rhyme suited to the nature of the offence, somewhat as follows:
"Ran, tan, tan; ran, tan, tan, To the sound of this pan; This is to give notice that Tom Trotter Has beaten his good woman! For what, and for why? Because she ate when she was hungry, And drank when she was dry. Ran, tan, ran, tan, tan; Hurrah—hurrah! for this good wo-man! He beat her, he beat her, he beat her indeed, For spending a penny when she had need. He beat her black, he beat her blue; When Old Nick gets him, he'll give him his due; Ran, tan, tan; ran, tan, tan; We'll send him there in this old frying-pan; Hurrah—hurrah! for his good wo-man!"
We have an example noted at Sutton, near Hull, in August, 1877. It was given with great spirit by a youth, mounted after the customary manner on a ladder, to the evident enjoyment of a large gathering of the inhabitants, who were enraged at the brutal treatment of a woman by her husband:
"Here we come with a ran, dan, dang: It's not for you, nor for me, we ride this stang; But for ——, whose wife he did bang. He banged her, he banged her, he banged her indeed: He banged her, poor creature, before she stood need. He took up neither tipstaff nor stower, But with his fist he knocked her backwards ower; He kicked her, he punched her, till he made her cry, And to finish all, he gave her a black eye. Now, all you good people that live in this row, We would have you take warning, for this is our law: If any of you, your wives you do bang, We're sure, we're sure, to ride you the stang."
"Last night," says the Sunderland Daily Post of March 1st, 1887, "some excitement was caused in Northallerton by the celebration of the old custom of 'riding the stang,' which is to expose some one guilty of gross immoral practices, and of a breach of sacred matrimonial rights. Some hundreds of people followed the conveyance, in which two effigies were erected and exhibited through the principal streets. At intervals, a person in the conveyance shouted out in rhyme their object, and said they fully intended to make a complete celebration of the custom, which is to 'ride the stang' three nights in succession, and on the last night to burn the effigies on the green near the church."
The stang was ridden at the ancient town of Hedon, 18th, 19th, and 20th February, 1889.
The house of the culprit is visited several times each night, and the proceedings kept up three nights in succession, and a circuit of the church is also made, as it is believed that those taking part in the ceremony will not be amenable to the law, if they do not omit this part of the custom. If the offence is a very serious one, the offender is burnt in effigy before his own door. In the olden days, the offender himself was often compelled to ride the stang.
Several of the old poets refer to this ancient usage. Allan Ramsay, in one of his poems, published in 1721, says:
"They frae a barn a kaber raught And mounted wi' a bang, Betwisht twa's shoulders, and sat straught, Upon't and rade the stang On her that day."
Mr. Geo. Roberts, of Lyme Regis, forwarded to Sir Walter Scott some interesting notes on skimmington-riding. He informed Sir Walter that in the South of England: "About dusk two individuals, one armed with a skimmer and the other with a ladle, came out of some obscure street attended by a crowd, whose laughter, huzzas, etc., emulate the well-known charivari of the French. The two performers are sometimes in a cart, at other times on a donkey; one personating the wife, the other the husband. They beat each other furiously with the culinary weapons above described, and, warmed by the applause and presence of so many spectators (for all turn out to see a skimmington), their dialogue attains a freedom, except using surnames, only comparable with their gestures. On arriving at the house of the parties represented in the moving drama, animation is at its height: the crowd usually stay at the spot some minutes, and then traverse the town. The performers are remunerated by the spectators: the parties who parade the streets with the performers sweep with brooms the doors of those who are likely to require a similar visitation."
Dr. King, in his "Miscellany," thus refers to the subject:
"When the young people ride the skimmington, There is a general trembling in the town; Not only he for whom the party rides Suffers, but they sweep other doors besides; And by the hieroglyphic does appear That the good woman is the master there."
According to Douce, skimmington is derived from skimming-ladle, used in the ceremony.
In Butler's "Hudibras," considerable attention is paid to the custom. A few of the lines are as follow:
"And now the cause of all their fear, By slow degrees approached so near, Of horns, and pans, and dogs, and boys, And kettle-drums whose sullen dub, Sounds like the hooping of a tub; . . . And followed with a world of tall lads, That merry ditties troll'd and ballads. . . . Next pans and kettles of all keys, From trebles down to double base: . . . And at fit periods the whole rout Set up their throat with clamorous shout."
A notice of an old Welsh ceremony appeared in the Liverpool Mercury on March 15th, 1887, and it will not be without interest to reproduce it. "That ancient Welsh custom," says the writer, "now nearly obsolete, known as riding the ceffyl pren—Anglice, 'wooden-horse'—and intended to operate as a wholesome warning to faithless wives and husbands, was revived on Saturday night in an Anglesey village some three miles from Llangefni. The individual who had drawn upon himself the odium of his neighbours had parted from his wife, and was alleged to be persistent in his attentions to another female. On Saturday night a large party surrounded the house, and compelled him to get astride a ladder, carrying him shoulder-high through the village, stopping at certain points to allow the womankind to wreak their vengeance upon him. This amusement was kept up for some time until the opportune arrival of a sergeant of police from Llangefni, who rescued the unlucky wight."
Index.
Aberdeen, jougs at, 180
Abusing a mistress, 179
Admiralty of the Humber, Court of the, 3-5
Adultery, 232-241
Alban, burnt to death, 98
Aldbury stocks, 200
Alfreton, 143
Alive, gibbeted, 58, 76-77
Altrincham, 284
American punishments, 206-207, 274-275
Anglo-Saxon punishments, 41, 186
Applegirth, jougs at, 183
Aram, Eugene, 53-55
Argyle, Earl of, 132
Ascham, R., 177
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, finger pillory at, 171-172
Ashton-under-Lyne, 174
Athens, books burnt at, 159
Attempted murder, last execution for, 38
Attwood, Wm., 169
Balmerino, Lord, 115
Banishing women, 250
Bank note not to be imitated, 33
Bank Restriction Barometer, 35
Barnsley, whipping at, 216-217
Barrock, gibbet at, 58
Battle Abbey, abbot of, 1
Bawtry, saddler of, 12
Baynard's Castle, 95
Beaudesart, finger-pillory at, 173
Becket, murder of, 227
Beggars' Litany, 118
Beheading, 4, 108-117
Bellman at Newgate, 12
Benefit of Clergy, 139
Beverley stocks, 193
Bewick's gibbets, 78
Bible burnt, 160
Bierton, gibbet at, 55
Black Isle, penance at, 241
Blasphemer in the pillory, 156
Boiling to death, 106-107
Bolas, Robert and William, 46-48
Boleyn, Anne, 109, 111
Boleyn, George, 111
Bowl, St. Giles's, 11
Bradford ducking-stool, 259
Bramhall stocks, 199
Branding, 138-142
Brandreth, Turner, and Ludlam, execution of, 81-85
Brank, or scold's bridle, 276-298
Bridlington jougs, 181, 184; pillory, 152
Brigg, inhabitants of, petitioning against a gibbet, 73
Broadwater ducking-stool, 255
Broughton, Spence, gibbeted, 67
Bullingham Court, 225
Burnham, 218
Burning books, 159-175
Burning to death, 98-105
Bury St. Edmunds, curious epitaph at, 31; execution at, for robbery, 31
Cambridge, ducking-stool, 247; trials at, 89
Candles, flogging with, 209
Canterbury, More's head buried at, 111; pillory, 150
Cart tail, whipping at, 210, 219, 221, 222
Carted out of the town, 182
Cato Street conspirators, 85
Charles I. beheaded, 108
Cheapside pillory, 147, 148
Chelmsford, gibbeting at, 101
Cheshire branks, 279
Chester cucking-stool, 244; thewe, 245
Chesterfield brank, 290; ducking-stool, 262
Chevin, near Belper, gibbets on, 72; set on fire, 72
Children, whipping, at executions, 224
China, Cang in, 157-158
Chippenham, gibbet at, 60
Clever Tom Clinch, 13
Clipping coin, hanged for, 2
Clova, jougs at, 184-185
Cobham, Eleanor, penance of, 228-230
Coffins conveyed with criminals to the gallows, 37
Coleshill whipping-post, 222-223
Colleen Bawn, 17-18
Collingbourne, 161
Collingham, gallows at, 1-2
Congleton brank, 279
Constable, gibbeted at Hull, 43
Cook, James, last man gibbeted, 75
Cornhill pillory, 146
Cornwall, 244
Cost of an Execution, 23-24
Coventry ducking-stool, 252
Cromwell, Thomas, 111
Cruikshank on executions, 31-34
Crusaders punished by drowning, 95
Cucking-Stool, 244
Dame's school finger pillory, 174-175
Danes, mutilation under the, 135
Daventry ducking-stool, 251
Defoe, Daniel, 166-168
Deplorable conduct of hangman, 29
Derby, trial for high treason at, 80-85; curious story, 58; ducking-stool, 262; gibbet, 57-58
Derbyshire, gibbets in, 42; women, 289
Devil's punch bowl, 61
Devonshire, 215
Diary of a lady of quality, 224-226
Dinners after executions, 25
Ditton, penance at, 238
Doddington Park, brank at, 293
Doncaster whipping-post, 115
Dowe, Robert, 12
Driffield, pillory at, 152
Driven in own carriage to execution, 16
Drowning, 95-97
Drummed out of a town, 181
Drunkard's cloak, 201-208
Drunkards put in stocks, 191-198
Ducking-Stool, 243-275
Duddingston, jougs at, 185
Dudley, Lord, 109
Dumfries, hangman's dues, 25-29; jougs at, 179
Dundee, 240
Durham, penance at, 232
Duval, Claude, 13
East Ardsley ducking-stool, 259
East Clevedon, penance at, 238
Edinburgh branks, 297; penance at, 240
Essex, Earl of, 113
Executed for leaving open a gate, 2-3
Exeter, executions at, 2-3
Farewell address, strange, 22-23
Feasting at funerals, 24
Fenwick, jougs at, 183
Ferrers, Earl, 17
Finger-Pillory, 171-175
First Book of Discipline, 239
First instance of hanging, drawing and quartering, 80
First private execution, 38
Fisher, John, 111
Floyde, Edward, 148
Forest laws, 135
Galashiels, jougs at, 183
Galston, 182
Gardner, Ralph, 202
Gaveston, Piers, 223
Germany, drunkard's cloak in, 205
Gibbeted alive, 58, 76-77
Gibbet and gallows in Ogilby's book, 39
Gibbet, cost of, 56
Gipsies, 138
Glasgow brank, 276
Gloucester, Duke of, 228
Godly butchery, 79
Gretton stocks, 195
Grey, Lady Jane, 109
Grinrod's ghost, 51-53
Haddon Hall, curious relic at, 208
Halifax gibbet, 118-127
Hanging, 1-38
Hanging, drawing, and quartering, 79-86
Hanging in chains, 39-78
Hangman's dues, 25-29
Hardwick, forest of, 118-127
Harris, Phoebe, 104
Harvest workmen and stocks, 200
Hayes, Catherine, 101
Hedon, riding stang at, 303; thewe at, 245
Helsby Tor, gibbet on, 64
Henry II., penance of, 226
Henry IV. of Germany, 228
Henry VIII., hanging reign, 3
Hereford, executions at, 30
Hertfordshire, gibbets in, 42, 50
Hind Head, gibbet at, 61-63
Holinshed's Chronicle, 118-119
Holland, drunkard's cloak in, 205
Horne, W. A., 16
Hornsea pennels, 55
Howard, Katherine, 109, 111
Hoyle's drawing of Halifax gibbet, 124
Hull ducking-stool, 256; gibbet, 43; Mayor, 4; penance, 232; pillory, 151; Prayer Book burnt, 163
Humber, Admiral of, 4
Insufficiency of pillory, action for, 157
Ipswich ducking-stool, 262-264, 265
Jarrow, gibbet at, 73-75
Jedburgh, 240
Jeffreys, Judge, 217
Jews hanged, 2
Johnson, Dr. S., 243
Jougs, the, 176-185
Keach, Benjamin, 164-166
Killed in the pillory, 156
Kilmarnock, Earl of, 115
Kilmaurs, jougs at, 183
King of the Peak, 5
King's Lynn, boiling to death, 106-107; burning to death, 99; ducking-stool, 266
Kingston-upon-Thames ducking-stool, 270
Kirkby ducking-stool, 261
Kirkham brank, 285
Kirton-in-Lindsey whipping-post, 223-224
Knaresborough Forest, Aram gibbeted at, 55
Labienus, 160
Lancaster Castle, 140
Last person burnt, 104
Last public execution, 38
Laud, Archbishop, 114
Leeds ducking-stool, 257
Legend of the hare, 8
Leicester brank, 292; cucking-stool, 244; ducking-stool, 271; gibbet, 75
Leighton, Dr., 162
Leominster ducking-stool, 271
Lesmahagow, jougs at, 182
Lichfield brank, 287
Lilburne, 163
Lincoln, burning to death at, 100
Lingard, Anthony, gibbeted, 68-71
Littlecote Hall, finger-pillory at, 172
Liverpool ducking-stool, 268
Lochcarron, penance at, 242
London, jougs at, 177
Lovat, Lord, 116-117
Ludlow brank, 295
Lynch law, 5
Macclesfield brank, 276, 282, 284
Mails, gibbeted for robbing, 60, 64, 70, 72
Manchester brank, 285; ducking-stool, 268; pillory, 152
Maritime laws, 3-5
Marlowe, Christopher, 161
Market Drayton brank, 297; stocks, 194
Mary Queen of Scots, execution of, 109
Melton Ross, gallows at, 8-11
Merrington, gibbet at, 44
Merton, jougs at, 183
Methven, Paul, 240
Midgley, Dr. S., 124
Miles's gibbet, 64-67
Milton's books burnt, 162
Misson on the ducking-stool, 246
Monasteries and the poor, 209
Monmouth, Duke of, 115
More, Sir Thomas, 111
Morley brank, 277; ducking-stool, 259
Morpeth brank, 286
Morton, Earl of, 128-131
Murphy, last person burnt, 105
Mutilation, 134-137
Nayler, Jas., 138-139
Neglecting to attend church, 183
Nevison, 278
Newbury stocks, 197
Newcastle-on-Tyne, brank at, 202; cruel magistrates, 204; drunkard's cloak at, 201-205; pillory, 150
Newcastle-under-Lyme brank, 287-288
Norfolk, Duke of, 112
North Aston, penance at, 234
North Briton, the, 169
North Cave, penance of Vicar, 232
Northallerton, riding stang at, 302
Northampton, branding, 141; hanging, 37; woman burnt to death, 101
Northumberland, Duke of, 112
Norwich ducking-stool, 264
Not raising his bonnet, 178
Nottingham brank, 292; ducking-stool, 265; funeral sermons, 34; hanging, 16; whipping, 219
Numa Pompilius, 159
Oates, Titus, 149
Ockam in the pillory, 145
Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, 239
Ordeal of touch, 7
Oswestry brank, 296
Oxford brank, 294
Paisley, books burnt, 170; execution, 25; penance at, 241;
Parish registers at Halifax, 125
Paulmy, pillory at, 145-146
Peine forte et dure, 87-94
Pendleton Moor, gibbet at, 51-53
Pentrich, plot planned at, 80
Pepys, S., 148
Pillory, the, 143-158
Pirate gibbeted at Hornsea, 55
Plymouth ducking-stools, 266-268
Popish plot, 149
Prayer Book burnt, 163
Prayers at St. Sepulchre's Church, 13
Pressing to death, 87-94
Preston brank, 286; pillory, 152
Prynne, W., 163
Public executions, 38
Public penance, 227-238
Punishing Authors and Burning Books, 159-170
Pythagoras, 159
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 113
Ratcliff Highway, 247
Refusing to plead, 87-94
Repentance stool, 239-242
Riddle, a grim, 58
Riding the stang, 299-306
Ridware Beaudesart brank, 287
Rioting at executions, 14-16
Rizzio, murder of, 131
Rochester, Bishop of, 106-111
Rochford, Viscountess, 111
Rome, books burnt at, 159
Romilly, Sir Samuel, advocates humane reforms, 86
Roose boiled to death, 106
Ross, Sir William, 9
Rothesay, 179
Roxby, penance at, 233
Rugby ducking-stool, 254
Rushmere Heath, burning to death on, 103
Rye, gibbeting at, 48; pillory 154
Sabbath-breaking, 190
Sack-cloth, 239
Saddler of Bawtry, 12
Salisbury, Countess of, 112
Sancton, penance at, 237
Sandwich, drowning at, 96; ducking-stool, 248
Scarborough ducking-stool, 262-263
Scotch pedlars whipped, 216
Scotland, drowning, 96; gibbeting, 43; stocks in, 190
Scottish Maiden, 128-133
Scrooby, gibbet at, 59
Second statute of labourers, 187
Selby ducking-stool, 258
Servants, whipping, 224-226
Seymour, Lord, 112
Shakespeare and the stocks, 188-189
Shelley on an execution, 84
Shooting at a gibbeted man, 59
Shore, Jane, penance of, 230-232
Shrewsbury brank, 296
Shropshire Assizes, 136; gibbet, 46
Shrouds of condemned criminals, 34
Silken rope, 17-18
Sixteen-string Jack, 14
Skimmington-riding, 303
Skipton ducking-stool, 260; stocks, 198
Slaves branded, 138
Slight offences, executions for, 30
Somerset, Duke of, 112
Southam ducking-stool, 251
Splicing the rope, 25
St. Andrews, boy punished, 178; brank, 298
St. Paul's Churchyard, books burnt in, 160
St. Giles's bowl, 11
Stafford, Viscount, 114
Staffordshire branks, 287
Stanfield, Philip, 43
Stanningley stocks, 196
Stockport brank, 282; stocks, 200
Stocks, the, 186-200
Stokesley, penance at, 235-237
Stow, penance at, 241
Strafford, Earl of, 114
Strangeways, Major, 92-93
Stubbs, 161
Suffolk, Duke of, 112
Surrey, Earl of, 112
Sutton, riding stang at, 301
Swimming a witch, 50
Taylor on Halifax law, 122; on whipping-posts, 211
Thewe, 245
Thurlow, Lord, on the pillory, 155
Tolbooth, Edinburgh, 129
Tower of London, 110
Tring, gibbet at, 50-51
Tudor manners, 177
Tumbrel, 268
Tutor's Assistant, drawing by Cruikshank, 226
Tyburn, 11
Tyrwhitt, Robert, 9
Uckington Heath, gibbet on, 46
Upton Common, gibbet, 63
Vagrancy, 210
Vernon, Sir George, 5
Wakefield ducking-stool, 258; jougs, 184; penance, 234; whipping, 220
Wallingford pillory, 244
Walsall brank, 287, 288
Waltham Abbey whipping-post, pillory and stocks, 211-214
Walton-on-Thames, brank at, 278
Wardlow, gibbet at, 71
Warrington brank, 285; museum, 67
Warton, 165
Warwick, tumbrel at, 270
Wedding clothes, executed in, 17
Welsh customs, 305
West Calder, 239
Whip-cord, torturing with, 89
Whipping Act, 210
Whipping and Whipping-Posts, 209-226
Whiston stocks, 192
Whitchurch brank, 297
Whitfield, notorious highwayman, 58
Wigtown, hangman at, 18; last execution at, 21; jougs, 179
William the Conqueror introduces beheading, 108
Williams, bookseller, 169-170
Wilson, Alexander, 170
Winchester, coiners punished at, 135
Wirksworth, penance at, 233
Witchcraft, 50; burning to death for, 99
Wolsey, Cardinal, in the stocks, 193
Women drowned, 95; whipped, 218
Wootton Bassett, tumbrel at, 268-269
Worcester, 115, 217-218, 296
Worsborough ducking-stool, 259
Yarmouth, pirate gibbeted at, 67
"Mr. Andrews' books are always interesting."—Church Bells.
"No student of Mr. Andrews' books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good stories."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
* * * * *
England in the Days of Old.
BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.,
Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.
This volume is one of unusual interest and value to the lover of olden days and ways, and can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. It recalls many forgotten episodes, scenes, characters, manners, customs, etc., in the social and domestic life of England.
CONTENTS:—When Wigs were Worn—Powdering the Hair—Men Wearing Muffs—Concerning Corporation Customs—Bribes for the Palate—Rebel Heads on City Gates—Burial at Cross Roads—Detaining the Dead for Debt—A Nobleman's Household in Tudor Times—Bread and Baking in Bygone Days—Arise, Mistress, Arise!—The Turnspit—A Gossip about the Goose—Bells as Time-Tellers—The Age of Snuffing—State Lotteries—Bear-Baiting—Morris Dancers—The Folk-Lore of Midsummer Eve—Harvest Home—Curious Charities—An Old-Time Chronicler.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:—The House of Commons in the time of Sir Robert Walpole—Egyptian Wig—The Earl of Albemarle—Campaign Wig—Periwig with Tail—Ramillie-Wig—Pig-tail Wig—Bag-Wig—Archbishop Tilotson—Heart-Breakers—A Barber's Shop in the time of Queen Elizabeth—With and Without a Wig—Stealing a Wig—Man with Muff, 1693—Burying the Mace at Nottingham—The Lord Mayor of York escorting Princess Margaret—The Mayor of Wycombe going to the Guildhall—Woman wearing a Scold's Bridle—The Brank—Andrew Marvell—Old London Bridge, shewing heads of rebels on the gate—Axe, Block, and Executioner's Mask—Margaret Roper taking leave of her father, Sir Thomas More—Rebel Heads, from a print published in 1746—Temple Bar in Dr. Johnson's time—Micklegate Bar, York—Clock, Hampton Court Palace—Drawing a Lottery in the Guildhall, 1751—Advertising the Last State Lottery—Partaking of the Pungent Pinch—Morris Dance, from a painted window at Betley—Morris Dance, temp. James I.—A Whitsun Morris Dance—Bear Garden, or Hope Theatre, 1647—The Globe Theatre, temp. Elizabeth—Plan of Bankside early in the Seventeenth Century—John Stow's Monument.
A carefully prepared Index enables the reader to refer to the varied and interesting contents of the book.
"A very attractive and informing book."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"Mr. Andrews has the true art of narration, and contrives to give us the results of his learning with considerable freshness of style, whilst his subjects are always interesting and picturesque."—Manchester Courier.
"The book is of unusual interest."—Eastern Morning News.
"Of the many clever books which Mr. Andrews has written none does him greater credit than 'England in the Days of Old,' and none will be read with greater profit."—Northern Gazette.
"Valuable and interesting."—The Times.
"Readable as well as instructive."—The Globe.
"A valuable addition to any library."—Derbyshire Times.
* * * * *
The Bygone Series.
In this series the following volumes are included, and issued at 7s. 6d. each. Demy 8vo., cloth gilt.
These books have been favourably reviewed in the leading critical journals of England and America.
Carefully written articles by recognised authorities are included on history, castles, abbeys, biography, romantic episodes, legendary lore, traditional stories, curious customs, folk-lore, etc., etc.
The works are illustrated by eminent artists, and by the reproduction of quaint pictures of the olden time.
BYGONE BERKSHIRE, edited by Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A.
BYGONE CHESHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE DEVONSHIRE, by the Rev. Hilderic Friend.
BYGONE DURHAM, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE GLOUCESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE HERTFORDSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE LEICESTERSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE (2 vols), edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE MIDDLESEX, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE NORFOLK, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE NORTHUMBERLAND, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, by William Stevenson.
BYGONE SCOTLAND, by David Maxwell, C.E.
BYGONE SOMERSETSHIRE, edited by Cuming Walters.
BYGONE SOUTHWARK, by Mrs. E. Boger.
BYGONE SUFFOLK, edited by Cuming Walters.
BYGONE SURREY, edited by George Clinch and S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A.
BYGONE SUSSEX, by W. E. A. Axon.
BYGONE WARWICKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
BYGONE YORKSHIRE, edited by William Andrews.
* * * * *
Literary Byways.
BY WILLIAM ANDREWS.
Demy 8vo., cloth gilt, 7s. 6d.
CONTENTS:—Authors at Work—The Earnings of Authors—"Declined with Thanks"—Epigrams on Authors—Poetical Graces—Poetry on Panes—English Folk Rhymes—The Poetry of Toast Lists and Menu Cards—Toasts and Toasting—Curious American Old Time Gleanings—The Earliest American Poetess: Anne Bradstreet—A Playful Poet: Miss Catherine Fanshawe—A Popular Song Writer: Mrs. John Hunter—A Poet of the Poor: Mary Pyper—The Poet of the Fisher-Folk: Mrs. Susan K. Phillips—A Poet and Novelist of the People: Thomas Miller—The Cottage Countess—The Compiler of "Old Moore's Almanack": Henry Andrews—James Nayler, the Mad Quaker, who claimed to be the Messiah—A Biographical Romance: Swan's Strange Story—Short Letters—Index.
"An interesting volume."—Church Bells.
"Turn where you will, there is information and entertainment in this book."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"The volume is most enjoyable."—Perthshire Advertiser.
"The volume consists of entertaining chapters written in a chatty style."—Daily Advertiser.
"A readable volume about authors and books.... Like Mr. Andrews's other works, the book shows wide out-of-the-way reading."—Glasgow Herald.
"Dull after-dinner speakers should be compelled to peruse this volume, and ornament their orations and per-orations with its gems."—Sunday Times.
"An entertaining volume.... No matter where the book is opened, the reader will find some amusing and instructive matter."—Dundee Advertiser.
"Readable and entertaining."—Notes and Queries.
"Mr. Andrews delights in the production of the pleasant, gossipy order of books. He is well qualified, indeed, to do so, for he is painstaking in the collection of interesting literary facts, methodical in setting them forth, and he loves books with genuine ardour."—Aberdeen Free Press.
"We heartily commend this volume to the attention of readers who are in any way interested in literature."—Scots Pictorial.
* * * * *
The Church Treasury of History, Custom, Folk-Lore, etc.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.
Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d. Numerous Illustrations.
CONTENTS:—Stave-Kirks—Curious Churches of Cornwall—Holy Wells—Hermits and Hermit Cells—Church Wakes—Fortified Church Towers—The Knight Templars: their Churches and their Privileges—English Mediaeval Pilgrimages—Pilgrims' Signs—Human Skin on Church Doors—Animals of the Church in Wood, Stone, and Bronze—Queries in Stones—Pictures in Churches—Flowers and the Rites of the Church—Ghost Layers and Ghost Laying—Church Walks—Westminster Wax-Works—Index. Numerous Illustrations.
"It is a work that will prove interesting to the clergy and churchmen generally, and to all others who have an antiquarian turn of mind, or like to be regaled occasionally by reading old-world customs and anecdotes."—Church Family Newspaper.
"Mr. Andrews has given us some excellent volumes of Church lore, but none quite so good as this. The subjects are well chosen. They are treated brightly and with considerable detail, and they are well illustrated.... Mr. Andrews is himself responsible for some of the most interesting papers, but all his helpers have caught his own spirit, and the result is a volume full of information well and pleasantly put."—London Quarterly Review.
"Those who seek information regarding curious and quaint relics or customs will find much to interest them in this book. The illustrations are good."—Publishers' Circular.
"An excellent and entertaining book."—Newcastle Daily Leader.
"The book will be welcome to every lover of archaeological lore."—Liverpool Daily Post.
"The volume is of a most informing and suggestive character, abounding in facts not easy of access to the ordinary reader, and enhanced with illustrations of a high order of merit, and extremely numerous."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"The contents of the volume are very good."—Leeds Mercury.
"The volume is sure to meet with a cordial reception."—Manchester Courier.
"A fascinating book."—Stockport Advertiser.
"Mr. Andrews has brought together much curious matter."—Manchester Guardian.
"The book is a very readable one, and will receive a hearty welcome."—Herts. Advertiser.
"Mr. William Andrews has been able to give us a very acceptable and useful addition to the books which deal with the curiosities of Church lore, and for this deserves our hearty thanks. The manner in which the book is printed and illustrated also commands our admiration."—Norfolk Chronicle.
* * * * *
A Book About Bells.
BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A.,
Author of the "Historic Dress of the Clergy," etc.
Crown, cloth extra, 6s.
CONTENTS:—Invention of Bells—Bell Founding and Bell Founders—Dates and Names of Bells—The Decoration of Bells—Some Noteworthy Bells—The Loss of Old Bells—Towers and Campaniles—Bell-Ringing and Bell-Ringers—The Church-Going Bell—Bells at Christian Festivals and Fasts—The Epochs of Man's Life Marked by the Bells—The Blessings and the Cursings of the Bells—Bells as Time-Markers—Secular Uses of Church and other Bells—Small Bells, Secular and Sacred—Carillons—Belfry Rhymes and Legends—Index of Subjects, Index of Places.
THIRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES.
"A most useful and interesting book.... All who are interested in bells will, we feel confident, read it with pleasure and profit."—Church Family Newspaper.
"A pleasing, graceful, and scholarly book.... A handsome volume which will be prized by the antiquary, and can be perused with delight and advantage by the general reader."—Notes and Queries.
"'A Book About Bells' can be heartily commended."—Pall Mall Gazette.
"An excellent and entertaining book, which we commend to the attention not only of those who are specially interested in the subject of bells, but to all lovers of quaint archaeological lore."—Glasgow Herald.
"The book is well printed and artistic in form."—Manchester Courier.
"'A Book About Bells' is destined to be the work of reference on the subject, and it ought to find a home on the shelves of every library."—Northern Gazette.
"The task Mr. Tyack has set himself, he has carried out admirably, and throughout care and patient research are apparent."—Lynn News.
"We heartily recommend our readers to procure this volume."—The Churchwoman.
"An entertaining work."—Yorkshire Post.
"'A Book About Bells' will interest almost everyone. Antiquaries will find in it an immense store of information: but the general reader will equally feel that it is a book well worth reading from beginning to end."—The News, Edited by the Rev. Charles Bullock, B.D.
"An excellent work."—Stockton Herald.
"It is a well-written work, and it is sure to be popular."—Hull Christian Voice.
"Covers the whole field of bell-lore."—Scotsman.
"Most interesting and finely illustrated."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
* * * * *
Historic Dress of the Clergy.
BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B.A.,
Author of "The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art."
Crown, cloth extra, 3s. 6d.
The work contains thirty-three illustrations from ancient monuments, rare manuscripts, and other sources.
"A very painstaking and very valuable volume on a subject which is just now attracting much attention. Mr. Tyack has collected a large amount of information from sources not available to the unlearned, and has put together his materials in an attractive way. The book deserves and is sure to meet with a wide circulation."—Daily Chronicle.
"This book is written with great care, and with an evident knowledge of history. It is well worth the study of all who wish to be better informed upon a subject which the author states in his preface gives evident signs of a lively and growing interest."—Manchester Courier.
"Those who are interested in the Dress of the Clergy will find full information gathered together here, and set forth in a lucid and scholarly way."—Glasgow Herald.
"We are glad to welcome yet another volume from the author of 'The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art.' His subject, chosen widely and carried out comprehensively, makes this a valuable book of reference for all classes. It is only the antiquary and the ecclesiologist who can devote time and talents to research of this kind, and Mr. Tyack has done a real and lasting service to the Church of England by collecting so much useful and reliable information upon the dress of the clergy in all ages, and offering it to the public in such a popular form. We do not hesitate to recommend this volume as the most reliable and the most comprehensive illustrated guide to the history and origin of the canonical vestments and other dress worn by the clergy, whether ecclesiastical, academical, or general, while the excellent work in typography and binding make it a beautiful gift-book."—Church Bells.
"A very lucid history of ecclesiastical vestments from Levitical times to the present day."—Pall Mall Gazette.
"The book can be recommended to the undoubtedly large class of persons who are seeking information on this and kindred subjects."—The Times.
"The work may be read either as pastime or for instruction, and is worthy of a place in the permanent section of any library. The numerous illustrations, extensive contents table and index, and beautiful workmanship, both in typography and binding, are all features of attraction and utility."—Dundee Advertiser.
* * * * *
The Miracle Play in England,
An Account of the Early Religious Drama.
BY SIDNEY W. CLARKE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW.
Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. Illustrated.
In bygone times the Miracle Play formed an important feature in the religious life of England. To those taking an interest in the history of the Church of England, this volume will prove useful. The author has given long and careful study to this subject, and produced a reliable and readable book, which can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. It is a volume for general reading, and for a permanent place in the reference library.
CONTENTS:—The Origin of Drama—The Beginnings of English Drama—The York Plays—The Wakefield Plays—The Chester Plays—The Coventry Plays—Other English Miracle Plays—The Production of a Miracle Play—The Scenery, Properties, and Dresses—Appendix—The Order of the York Plays—Extract from City Register of York, 1426—The Order of the Wakefield Plays—The Order of the Chester Plays—The Order of the Grey Friars' Plays at Coventry—A Miracle Play in a Puppet Show—Index.
"Mr. Clarke has chosen a most interesting subject, one that is attractive alike to the student, the historian, and the general reader.... A most interesting volume, and a number of quaint illustrations add to its value."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"The book should be useful to many."—Manchester Guardian.
"An admirable work."—Eastern Morning News.
"Mr. Sidney Clarke's concise monograph in 'The Miracle Play in England' is another of the long and interesting series of antiquarian volumes for popular reading issued by the same publishing house. The author briefly sketches the rise and growth of the 'Miracle' or 'Mystery' play in Europe and in England; and gives an account of the series or cycle of these curious religious dramas—the forerunners of the modern secular play—performed at York, Wakefield, Chester, Coventry, and other towns in the middle ages. But his chief efforts are devoted to giving a sketch of the manner of production, and the scenery, properties, and dresses of the old miracle play, as drawn from the minute account books of the craft and trade guilds and other authentic records of the period. Mr. Clarke has gone to the best sources for his information, and the volume, illustrated by quaint cuts, is an excellent compendium of information on a curious byeway of literature and art."—The Scotsman.
* * * * *
Legal Lore: Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.
Demy 8vo., Cloth extra, 7s. 6d.
CONTENTS:—Bible Law—Sanctuaries—Trials in Superstitious Ages—On Symbols—Law Under the Feudal System—The Manor and Manor Law—Ancient Tenures—Laws of the Forest—Trial by Jury in Old Times—Barbarous Punishments—Trials of Animals—Devices of the Sixteenth Century Debtors—Laws Relating to the Gipsies—Commonwealth Law and Lawyers—Cock-Fighting in Scotland—Cockieleerie Law—Fatal Links—Post-Mortem Trials—Island Laws—The Little Inns of Court—Obiter.
"There are some very amusing and curious facts concerning law and lawyers. We have read with much interest the articles on Sanctuaries, Trials in Superstitious Ages, Ancient Tenures, Trials by Jury in Old Times, Barbarous Punishments, and Trials of Animals, and can heartily recommend the volume to those who wish for a few hours' profitable diversion in the study of what may be called the light literature of the law."—Daily Mail.
"Most amusing and instructive reading."—The Scotsman.
"The contents of the volume are extremely entertaining, and convey not a little information on ancient ideas and habits of life. While members of the legal profession will turn to the work for incidents with which to illustrate an argument or point a joke, laymen will enjoy its vivid descriptions of old-fashioned proceedings and often semi-barbaric ideas to obligation and rectitude."—Dundee Advertiser.
"The subjects chosen are extremely interesting, and contain a quantity of out-of-the-way and not easily accessible information.... Very tastefully printed and bound."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"The book is handsomely got up; the style throughout is popular and clear, and the variety of its contents, and the individuality of the writers gave an added charm to the work."—Daily Free Press.
"The book is interesting both to the general reader and the student."—Cheshire Notes and Queries.
"Those who care only to be amused will find plenty of entertainment in this volume, while those who regard it as a work of reference will rejoice at the variety of material, and appreciate the careful indexing."—Dundee Courier.
"Very interesting subjects, lucidly and charmingly written. The versatility of the work assures for it a wide popularity."—Northern Gazette.
"A happy and useful addition to current literature."—Norfolk Chronicle.
"The book is a very fascinating one, and it is specially interesting to students of history as showing the vast changes which, by gradual course of development have been brought about both in the principles and practice of the law."—The Evening Gazette.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Corrections to the Index have been made without note.
Significant changes to the text are listed below.
p. 21, 'Frazer' changed to Fraser.
p. 35, 'detroyed' changed to destroyed, 'Fictitious Capital and False Credit destroyed.'
p. 37, '12th' changed to 15th, 'Monday, the 15th of March.'
p. 85, 'On same night ...' changed to On the same night ...
p. 125, 'empanneled' changed to empanelled (twice).
p. 155, 'Mr. Llewellynn Jewitt' changed to Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt.
p. 160, 'Dioletian' changed to Diocletian.
p. 271, 'Scolding-car' changed to Scolding Cart, 'Scolding Cart is another name ...'
p. 294, 'described as a "a gag or brank ..."' changed to described as "a gag or brank ..."
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