Swindon fifty years ago,-more or less. Reminiscences ... of ye old Wiltshire towne ... reprinted from ye Swindon Advertiser

Front matter

SWI N D O N Fifty Years Ago (More or Less). K SWINDON Fifty Years Ago (More or Less). T7)eimm5ceiK:e5, Noles, 01 J Will^Kir6 To vne, EV MAtfpr#ViIIwm*Morrk. Author ot "France and the French" " Ireland and the Irish " In Search after Ozone and Oblivion " Out and Home Again by way of Canada and the United States" What a Summer's Trip told me of the People and the Country of the Great West, &c. &c. _ . _ „ j I liylll llyi I I'^ill fkjil I l J 1 1 fk^1 1 1 [_■ lfi l^J 1 1 l^l ij LJ IfL^j 1 1 k^ ' .;f^!*|(^](^j-^|ffi|ff|r^|^|^|^|(l^j^|l^|(l^||*%*ll%||l%| I^eprinIeJ from je Swindon JUver^er. : PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, AT THE "ADVERTISER " OFFICE, IO, VICTORIA STREET.

Introduction

. ■©-♦.o. I can add but little by way of preface to what may be found stated at the end of the first paper of the circumstance under which it was written. I had then no thought of writing other papers, although it had occurred to me that the old Date and Initial Stones on some other house fronts might be made the subject of a paper in connection with Swindon at some archæological meeting. But before I could make up my mind to deal with these old stones, the Ghosts of the neighbourhood seemed to meet me with a request that I would have a word or two about them. And, what was more, they seemed to plead that unless they were very shortly taken in hand by someone, they would pass out of memory altogether, for while, up to the time when cheap newspapers and books for the people came in, they were duly kept alive and handed down from generation to genera tion in the oral traditions of a town or village, they were in danger of losing their record and of being altogether snuffed out by that more active life which must follow in the trail of a Free Press, and a reading and writing education, if nothing more, of even the very poorest in the land.

And then they also seemed to tell me that the oral traditionary period was rapidly passing away, and that unless some of the facts of the common life of our fathers and grandfathers, as well as the tales and traditions in which they indulged, were at once Introduction VI set down in writing, they would pass away from men's memory, and be for ever lost. Entering into a kind of mutual compact with my interviewers, I thought it possible I might find material for three or four other papers, and I thus very innocently entered upon a work — I admit it has been a most pleasant and agreeable one — which has resulted in the production of the present volume. Each new sub ject has suggested others, until the one paper has found some forty or fifty companions. I need hardly add I have studiously avoided attempting anything like a formal history of the town.

There is abso lutely no material for such a purpose, and I could hardly have ventured to use it had it been forthcoming, for such an undertaking would have required more thoughtful research than I could have given it, whereas the papers as they now appear have afforded me week by week, as I wrote them for the columns of the Advertiser, a few hours of real enjoyment, which has been again and again heightened by the assurance that what I wrote was generally acceptable to a large body of readers, many of whom have been good enough to express a wish to see my weekly scraps and fancies placed between the two covers of a book. For the purpose of helping on or illustrating any par ticular subject, I have not hesitated to avail myself of the labours of those who have dealt with cognate matters, always, however, admitting the source of the extract.

The accounts of the Rioting in Wilts and adjoining counties by the agricultural labourers in 1830, and the trials of the prisoners, had previously appeared in newspapers and other publications, and more particularly in a series of letters in the Poole and Bournemouth Herald. Instead of attempting to go over the ground taken by the writers of the letters, and being anxious to bring some of the details of these terrible times before my readers in a permanent form, I have ven- Introduction VII tured to adopt the matter in one or two of the papers almost without alteration. The sketch of the Swindon Troop of Yeomanry Cavalry was compiled from the Orderly Book of the Troop, and therefore partakes more of the character of " veritable history" than some of the other papers can pretend to, and which are based principally on what I have myself seen and heard, or have gathered in conversation with those who have known the town and neigh bourhood longer than I have.

My object throughout has been to preserve and amuse, rather than to lecture and instruct; and in this I trust it may be found I have not altogether failed. What the changes of the next half, or even the next quarter, of a century may be the most ingenious must find it difficult to satisfy his own mind about, whilst to realise the changes of the past half century must be equally difficult, except to those who have passed the greater part at least of the period in active public life, and in direct contact with the people. In the all-important matter of the education of the people, in the enjoyment of political rights, in popular amusements, and social habits, not only of the poor, but of the well-to-do classes, the change has been as great as that from the darkness of mid-night to the brilliancy of mid-day.

Were it possible for us to meet in promiscuous assembly our grandfathers and grandmothers, with their uncles and aunts, all the editions of " Who's Who" and " What's What" ever published would not suffice to explain. There may never again be a period in the whole range of English history between now and the time when the New Zealander takes his view of the ruined St. Paul's, in which, in so few years, the changes will be so marked as those which belong to the last fifty years, and that being so, anything which will serve to make these changes understandable cannot, I venture to think and hope, be otherwise than acceptable. Introduction VIII It will be noticed that I have occasionally travelled slightly outside the Swindon parish boundary. But I have done this principally for the purpose of illustration.

I might have looked to some of the neighbouring parishes for altogether new, as well as supplementary, material, and I have felt some difficulty in restraining myself from doing this. Within the last twenty-five or thirty years it has occasionally fallen to my lot to write sketches of some of the neighbouring parishes — principally on the occasion of the restoration of the parish church — for publication in my paper, and I have been urged by many kind friends to add these sketches to the present volume. This, however, I could not well do and keep it within reasonable compass. Should, however, the public favour accorded to this volume justify it, I shall be pleased to prepare a second or supplementary volume to the one for which I would now ask from those into whose hands it may fall a kindly consideration and a generous allowance for the circumstances under which it has been produced.

WILLIAM MORRIS. "Advertiser" Office, io, Victoria Street, Swindon, August, 1885. c ontents. A MASONIC RELIC, 1704. PAGE. The " Bull" — The Smithies — Street Nomenclature — The Architecture of the Squatters — Struggling through the Lime-wash — On the Scent — The Relic Disclosed — Land at Last — Still a Mystery — What can it Mean ? — More Mystery — An old Gem with a History 1-13 GHOSTS AND GHOST LAYING. Gallows Gate — Suspense — The Explanation — The Man whose Ghost Walked — The Ghost Obdurate — The Ghosts in the Old Passage — Serious Complications — The Ghost that defied the Clergy — A Practical Ghost — Imploring for Mercy 14-24 SOME OLD HOUSES. Before the Printing Press— The Old Builders— The Old Manor House— The Old Trade Mark— The Old Dutch Hostelries— Bellarmines — The Drink of the Dutchman — Public-House Signs — Smuggled Goods — Royal Licences — The Trade of the Smuggler — Some other Stones — An Old Inhabitant's Tomb — Oral Tradition 25-39 FLEMISH CLOTH WORKERS.

Potters' Marks — The Productions of the Loom — Wool and Wool- Stapling — Flemish Cloth Workers — The Cloth Workers' Mark or Token — The River Avon and its Treasures — Sailors Propitiating the Gods— All the World Clothed from English Wool— Wool : England's Principal Export — The Merchants of the Staple — The Founders of Noble Families 40-51 Contents. X PAGE. BUSH HOUSES. Ale-House or Tavern Signs — " Aspiring to the conceite of a Sign" — The Red Lattice — The Green Lattice — The Chequers — The Cat and Fiddle— The Bull and Gate— The Bush Inn— The Old Fiddler— The Delight of the Rustics— Thicken or Thuck'en . 52-63 TURNPIKE GATES. Turnpike Trusts — How Turnpike Tolls were Let — Gatemen and Gatewomen — Rival Gatemen — "I'll have a Pound" — Shrewd, Hard-headed Men of Business — The Risk and Responsibilities of Gatemen . . 64-71 NEWSPAPERS.

How Newspapers were sent into the Country — Mrs. Browning and her Clock Case Reckoning — The London Newspaper Agent — The County Newspaper — Enormous Properties — " Publicola " and the " Dispatch" — The Taxes on Newspapers — The Starting of the "Advertiser" ......... 72-80 THE OLD WORKHOUSE. The Pernicious Spirit called Gin — Pitfalls of Debauchery — Sir Robert Walpole in Disgrace — The Old Cellar at the Workhouse — The Sheep-stealers' Hearth and Home — Amy Ponting bidding the Officers do their worst — The Old House in Cricklade Street — Underground Mystery — Akerman's Tales — The Keeper and the Poacher — The Blister on the Chest — Wiltshire Moonrakers — Desperate Characters — Smugglers and the Excise — Royal Proclamations 81-96 A WILTSHIRE ROYAL RESIDENCE. Aldbourne Chase — John of Gaunt — Waylen's History of Marlborough —King John at Marlborough — Old Miriam Brind — The Ghosts of Impecunious Tenants — The Old House at Upper Upham — Sir Christopher Wren — John Goddard, of Aldbourne — Old Coins found on the Downs 97-107 THE WILTSHIRE DOWNS AND THE THAMES VALLEY.

The Wiltshire Downs — The Valley of the Thames — The Elevation of the Downs— How the Chalk was Formed — The Watershed of the Thames Valley — Sun Worshippers — Remnants of the Sacrificial Fires — The Grand Panorama of Natural Scenery — The English Sabbath — Seeing Scenes with the Mind's Eye .108-118 THE POPULAR AMUSEMENTS OF OUR GRANDFATHERS. Bull Baiting — William Cobbett at Swindon — The Wilts and Berks Canal— Amusements for the Navvies— Sports in the Days of Good Queen Bess— Bear-Baiting before the King — Ancient - - Rights and Privileges-^Disgusting Brutalities .. ... .119-127 Contents. XI PAGE. THE POPULAR AMUSEMENTS OF OUR GRANDFATHERS. Young Gamesters and Old Gamesters — Blood to Run One Inch — The Scouring of the White Horse — Old English Sport and Modern Recreation— Wroughton and Stratton Feasts — The Beginning of Better Things — Practising Accuracy of Aim — Wilts versus Somerset— " Aldhelm and Ethelfled " — The Renowned Robert Blackford — The Last Great Bout at Swindon — The Stocks and Pillory ' . . .128-140 IN-DOOR AMUSEMENTS— THE MUMMERS.

The Mummers' Play — The Wiltshire Mummers — The Dialogue — The Cumberland Version — The Cornish Version — Shoeing the Colt — Gloucestershire Mummers — The Popularity of the Mummers' Play 141-150 YEOMANRY CAVALRY AND NIGHT WATCHMEN. Drying Gunpowder on the Hob — The Call to Duty — A Ludicrous Scene — Night Watchmen — A Great Discovery — His Majesty from Below — The Occasion and the Opportunity — Drawing the First Blood 151-158 THE OLD PARISH CHURCH, THE OLD MILL, AND THE MANOR. The Architecture of the Old Church — Wiltshire Landholders — The Domesday Survey — Value of Church Property — The Old Yew Trees — The Old Church and the New — The Seignorial Mill — Church Well — The Mill of Domesday — The Dedication of the Church — Canon Jackson's History of Swindon — The Conqueror's Sponge — The Goddards at Swindon — Restoration ofthe Old Church *: 59**73 THE OLD CHURCH.

The Great Bell Period — What was believed in the Parish — The Old Church as seen by John Aubrev — The Inside View of the Old Church— The Church Choir — The Old Clerk — What a Box of Blair's Pills did — An After-Dinner .Amen — The Parish Registers — "Bonny" Noad — Curious Memoranda — A Small Item— The Book of Church Goods— The Old Vicar of My Childhood — The Changes of Forty Years — The New Church on the Hill — The New Churches of St. Paul's and St. John's — Mr. Baily leaves Swindon 174-192 LIST OF PERSONS INSTITUTED TO THE RECTORY AND VICARAGE OF SWINDON, from 1302 to 1885. .193-194 SWINDON WORTHIES. William Pike — The "Wonders of Geology"— The "Penny Encyclopædia — The Father of Geology— A Distinguished Company — John Britton's Account of William Smith — The Wilts and Berks Canal— Artesian Wells— Dr. G. A. Mantell— Robert Sadler— The Author of "The Melancholy Man" — A Deep-thinking Man — Real Suffering and Affected Misery 195-208 Contents.

XII PAGE. SOME OTHER WORTHIES. Licenses to Preach — The Squire's Judgment Seat — Mr. Stubbs, the Minister of Wroughton — The Conventicle Act — A Marlborough Bye-law — Newport Street Chapel — Mr. James Strange — The Rev. T. Mantell — The Nonconformists of the Neighbourhood — The Death of Mr. Strange— The Old Chapel in Newport Street — The Ministers of the Newport Street Chapel — Sturdy Nonconformists 209-222 TOWN AND TRADE OF SWINDON. The Characteristics of Richard Strange — The Morning Pipe — Waiting for the Inevitable — The Marvellous Escape — The "Square" — The Stocks and Pillory — The Parish Supplying Bread — The Cost of Pauperism in 1801 — Swindon Manufactories — The Leather Breeches of our Grandfathers — Documents Saved from Burning — William the Third's Poll Tax — Swindon in 1662 — Charles the First's Ship Money — A Census of 250 Years Ago .223-238 TOWN AND TRADE OF SWINDON (Continued).

Waggons and Waggoners — " Wooset- Hunting "—The " Skimmington " — Going to Bath for the Fashions — The Little Guard and his Big Trumpet — A Remarkable Day — The Navvies — The Wonderful After-glow as seen in the "Sands" — Mischievous Boys and the Irate Old Man — Old Town Characters — The Wonderful Bit of Garden Ground — Phlebotomy, or Blood-Letting . .239-251 TRADESMEN'S TOKENS. Swindon Tradesmen's Tokens — Small Silver Coins : Leaden Tokens — The Prerogative for Coining and its Abuse — "Token" Orthography — Trade Companies' Tokens — Canting Heraldry — The Number of Wiltshire Tokens — Swindon in 1806 and in 1885 .252-260 BANKS AND BANKERS. Mr. Mountford, the Bank Manager — Joint Stock Banks — More Banks — Wootton Bassett before Swindon — The Bank of England Charter — Seizing a Corpse for Debt — Mr. Strange and the Coach — The Coachman and the Fourpenny Pieces, — An Explosion .261-270 OLD TOWN CHARACTERS.

War and its Results — Mellowed Sight — Nanny Kernel — The Ghoul of Mill Lane— Old Tom Marcham — Old Tom and his Wounds — The Old Crow in Peacock's Feathers— Jenny Simmonds and 'Ria Ladd — The Old Parcels Women — The Mother and Daughter— Billy Noad and Bobby Wood— The " Pitch-Plaster Business 271-283 MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS. Dame Schools — Recollections of a Convalescence — Lessons from a Sick Room — The Schoolmaster of Fifty Years Ago — The Newport Street School — Old Mr. Turvey — The Old Exciseman as Schoolmaster — Mr. George Nourse — Sad Ending to a Life's Work 284-293 Contents. XIII PAGE. MARKETS AND FAIRS— MARKETS. Swindon Market in 1272— The King, Lord of Marlborough— The Swindon Charter — A Gin-and-Water Market — A " Pitched" Market Established— The Town Hall and the uses to which it was put— The Central Market Company— A Candle and Lantern Cattle Market— Up in the Morning Early— The Business of the Sale Yard ..." 294-304 MARKETS AND FAIRS— FAIRS.

The Swindon Charter of 1627 — Strutt's Sport's and Pastimes — The Origin of Wakes and Fairs — Hiring Fairs— Standing in the Market Place for Hire— Cattle and Horse Fairs— The Blind Horse Dealer — The Great Wiltshire Fairs — Courts of Pie- Powder — Lynch Law and the Pick-Pocket . . . •3°S*3IS THE TROUBLOUS TIMES OF 1830. One Pauper to every Nine Inhabitants — The Poors' Rate of Sixty Years Ago — The Maintenance of Bastard Children — Surplus Labourers — What the Poor Cost Then and Now — The Wages of Fifty Years Ago — A Pound of Bread per Day — Midnight Conflagrations — Cock and Bull Stories ..... .316-325 THE TROUBLOUS TIMES OF 1830— THE TURNING OF THE WORM. The Inventor of the Thrashing Machine — Threatening Letters signed "Swing" — Rioting at Andover — A Melancholy Wreck — A "Warm Reception" not Bargained for — A Fatal Encounter with the Rioters — The Riot Act Read — The Effects of Machine Breaking — "The Guards" to the Rescue — A Terrible Reckoning 326-335 THE TROUBLOUS TIMES OF 1830— RETRIBUTION.

The Commission opened at Winchester — The Charges to the Grand Jury — The Personal Appearance of the Prisoners — The Charges Stated — A Verdict of "Guilty" — Several Hundred Prisoners on their Trial — Death Recorded against 95 Prisoners — 130 Berkshire Prisoners on Trial 337*345 THE TROUBLOUS TIMES OF 1830— THE TRIALS OF THE WILTSHIRE PRISONERS. The Wilts Commission Opened — A Demand for Two Shillings a Day — Sacking a Woollen Factory — 330 Prisoners at Salisbury — The Dread Sentence Passed — A Scene not to be Described — A Most Painful Scene — The Terrible Cries of the Prisoners — The Parting of Prisoners and Friends — Opening of the Commission at Dorchester — More Convictions — Cooper and Cooke Executed — Lush and Withers Respited — Rents Lowered; Wages Raised .346-360 Contents. XIV PAGE.

THE G.W R. BROUGHT THROUGH SWINDON. The Population of Neighbouring Towns — The Great Western Railway Projected — The "Hooter" and the Pheasants — Landlord Restrictions on Enterprise — The Opening of the Railway — A Modest Claim for Damages — The First Excursion Train . .361-368 PIONEERS OF NONCONFORMITY. Cennick, the North Wilts Evangelist — Cennick Visits Swindon — A Spectacle of the Utmost Shame — Cennick Visits Stratton — "Persecuted, but not Forsaken" — Taking a Thorn from an Assailant's Foot — The End of the Wicked — A Prophetess whose Disciples had Fits — Cennick's Early Youth — What Contemporary Events say about the Matter — Mural Testimony — North Wilts and " Sour Theology " — Jackson's Life of Wesley — The Curate of Devizes — "The Devil's Infantry" — Conversion of the Mayor's Son — The Old Serpent — A Drunken and Enraged Multitude — Wanted : A Promise — Fierceness and Diabolical Malice — Worship, Thanks, and Blessing 369-390 THE WESLEYANS.

The Early Days of Wesley — George Pocock, of Bristol — A Novel Machine — The First Chapel Built — How Methodism Established Itself — The Wits of Wanborough — Mr. Thomas Bush, of Lamboume — A Vow, and what became of it — Martyrs for Conscience Sake — A Weakness for Making Vows — The First Preacher Appointed — No Money to Spend — The Request to Send in " My Little Bill "—Mr. Bush's Last Will and Testament— The Centenary of Methodism — The Wesleyan Jubilee as Kept at Hodson — Swindon and Wesleyanism both Growing — Wanted, More Chapels .......... .391-409 PIONEERS OF NONCONFORMITY— THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS. Old Chapels Discarded : New Ones Built — The Veteran of the Circuit — The Prospect Chapel — The Establishment of the First Mission — The Brinkworth Circuit — Services at a Public House — Hugh Bourne Visits Swindon — More New Chapels — Opening Services — How the Money is Got Together — The Golden System . .410-421 THE SWINDON TROOP OF YEOMANRY CAVALRY.

The Swindon Troop Called to Purton — Wheat, £3 12s. ; and Flour, £5 per Sack — The Muster Roll — Joining the Yeomanry to Escape the Militia — Peace Proclaimed — The Thanks of Parliament — Withdrawal of the Government Allowance — Unusual Activity — A Peaceful Time — Militia Riots at Devizes — The Muster Roll for 1824— Busy Times for the Yeomanry — Royal Honours for the Yeomanry — A Rest from Active Duty — Wootton Bassett Peace Preservers — The Marlborough Troop . . . .422-438 Contents. XV PAGE. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. The Parish Handy-Man — The Man in the White Hat — Mrs. Page and Her Illumination — Wiltshire with 37 M.P.'s — The Cricklade Election Case — The Cricklade Constituency in 1790 and in 1880 — The Wootton Bassett Constituency — Notorious Bribery at Cricklade — An Act to Prevent Bribery — My First Election Experiences — Refreshments for the Voters — The Nomination Day — The Wootton Bassett Election Scene — Chairing the Member — An Impertinent Questioner — Mr. Goddard Turns Tail — The Etymology of "Pot Walloper" — A Wootton Bassett Election Bill — Malmesbury and its Elections 439-458 THE SWINDON JUSTICES.

The Execution of Watkins — The Rose and Crown — The Swindon Magistrates — Old Tom Tinson — Old Tom and the Chairman — The Old Blind House — Court Houses and Police Stations — Taking Care of a Prisoner — The Swindon Quarrymen — How News about the Railway was Received — The Old Farmer who had seen a Post Chaise 459-470 SPRINGS, WELLS, AND WATER SUPPLY. No Water below the Hill — A Band of Quicksand — The Springs - Church Well— Wroughton Road Spring — Holy Well Spring — The Minor Springs — The Iron left Behind — Quicksand a Bad Foundation — The Wells and their Varying Depths — The Shrine Well' of St. Anne— Holy Wells and Health Springs -The Pilgrims' Path — Chalybeate Springs 471-484 SWINDON HILL AND ITS LESSONS. An Enthusiast with " A Find"— Looking out from Liddington Castle — The Out-look, East, South, and West — The Blowhole in the Mud — The Swindon Quarries — The Portland Sands — The First Navigators — Fossil Remains— A River Running over Swindon — Swindon's Earliest Inhabitants — Kangaroos and their Food — A Fossil Tree — The Vitality of Buried Seed Icebergs at Swindon 485-499 SCRAPS. Selling a Wife— Old Superstitions — Superstitious Beliefs . . 500-504