"HOWLEY TUB!" EXETER, 1844.

"A flydriver named JAMES FAIRWEATHER, whose appearance indicated that reckless humour which often characterises the knight of the whip, was summoned for abusing Wm. Shipcott, an old hero of Waterloo, with a weather beaten face, white hair, and erect gait, which proclaimed an old soldier.

"The case arose from the following circumstances.The complainant has turned his sword into a wheel-barrow, and his spear into a basket of cherries; the ginger beer bottle has become his musket:  he 'seeks the bubble' in its mouth; his hand, familiarised to sharp-shooting discharges the flying cork; and his ear, accustomed to the 'hollow cannon's sullen roar' shrinks not at the sharp clear pop, which immediately precedes the tumultuous release of the excited liquid.  His ginger beer is excellent; and he ought not to be molested in dispensing so valuable a blessing to the citizens of Exeter.

"It was on the 18th of June, a day which,since the glorious victory in which our hero took part, has been hallowed in the memory of Englishmen, that he was going along the High-street, proud of his unrivalled ginger-beer, proud of the hard-earned laurels which adorned his button-hole, proud, it may be, of the Iron Duke, whose namesakes yet protecreed his shins - when he was overtaken by Fairweather, and a storm followed.   He was insulted and reviled, and made the mockery of a pack of lttle scamps, whose ragged shirts covered not one spark  of military or patriotic ardour, and the great hulking fly-man did not distain to lead them on, to hunt the old soldier through the streets clapping their hands, and shouting the words (unexplained but doubtless offensive) - 'Howley tub!'

"Mr. R Spencer, of St. Sidwells, who witnessed the disgraceful affair from his shopdoor, proved the charge; and the Mayor fined Fairweather 5s. remarking on the disorderly conduct of the fly-drivers generally.  They are certainly a most obstreperous class, and give the Bench a great deal of trouble  It may arise, perhaps, from the desultory nature of their employment, which gives them a great deal of lounging time on their stands, and tempts them to banish ennui by accosting any helpless passenger, especially such a one as, like our friend the soldier, has a little the appearance of a quiz."

William Shipcott was a quiz which is to say a person of an odd or eccentric appearance or character. The packs of little scamps in ragged shirts who scampered  up and down Exeter's  High-street were always ready to quiz a quiz if they could find one.   Especially if encouraged by one of that obstreperous class,  (neither The Times nor the mayor were ever slow to generalise), the fly-drivers.

It was the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in which William had fought and, if we can believe the report, he was wearing laurel leaves in his buttonhole in memory of that most famous battle.  Was this a custom that we have forgotten?

I don't believe William was wearing Wellington boots, but maybe!  Rubber wellies had not yet been invented.  My guess is that, having mentioned Waterloo and the duke, our reporter needed to write something about boots. 

William, the report tells us, sold home-made ginger-beer from a barrow and cherries from a basket.   He was old and odd and poor but was not going to let a mere knight of the whip get away with insulting an old soldier who had served with the Iron Duke.

Hollow cannons and bubbles:  I have written before that I like the way The Times assumes its readers know their Shakespeare.  

Pop was specifically ginger-beer at this time, in written form since 1812, but was soon to be applied to all fizzy drinks.. 

I like to think that this is the first time that 'Howley tub!' has appeared on the internet.   

Source: Western Times, 13 July 1844.

THE GENIUS AND FEELINGS OF ENGLISHMEN, EXETER, 1844.

The government's spies at the Post Office had been reading people's letters.   The Western Times, (5th July, 1844) was shocked.  At last it had been decided to investigate the 'nefarious system of letter prying'.   A committee of the House of Commons was to enquire into the matter. The Western Times commented: 

"We can say, with feelings of perfect truth, that no question ever appeared to us so painfully humiliating as this.  That England who had got rid of the alien act, who abominated the passport system, and held her head high among the civilized nations of the earth, for the personal liberty which her subjects possessed,  the freedom from restraint or observatiion with which they moved about - that this England, enjoying all this fine reputation should be detected in playing the paltry pitiful spy on foreigners deluded to her shores by the belief in the honesty and justice of her reputation - oh it is indeed humiliating!"

"Our government must effect its aims by honesty and straightforwardness - it must seek its friends and face its foes openly - and unless it can carry on the business of the State in the face of the day, it must give place to those who can adopt a system more consonant with the genius and feelings of Englishmen".

There you have it :  in 1844 there was a country called England which held its head high among the civilized nations of the earth.  The latter I suppose might include Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  In England, unlike in less happier lands, there was freedom from restraint or observation, and government was expected to be honest and straightforward.

I no longer hear about England.  Perhaps it no longer exists.  This week the Americans are said to be worried that Britain might soon become a Muslim state with nuclear weapons.   I don't think they need worry too much but, every now and then, I see videos of  English policepeople invading Englishmen's homes, usually the homes of citizens who have broadcast rude things about Muslims or who have suggested that certain crimes might have been perpetrated by Islamists.  Apparently one can be sent to prison for a long time for this kind of thing.  I have even heard that there is a movement to bring back the blasphemy law but I can't believe this!    Still, it does seem that there is more restraint about and more Big Brother style observation of the wicked public every day.

As for facing our foes openly:  is there an England to fight for?  We apparently have no soldiers. I doubt that many of our Muslim 'countrymen' will swell the ranks, rather they may find that England's difficulty is Islam's opportunity.   Oh well, if we can't go to war openly, let's just stick to fighting proxy wars. 

 

 

PLASHING IN COOL STREAMS, EXETER, 1844.

"We regret to see that the Exeter public are to be deprived of the pleasure of bathing above Head Weir.  We think, with a beautiful stream like the Exe, some provision should be made for the encouragement of this healthful recreation.  Mr. John Carew, whose delicate eyes are offended by the occasional spectacle of a few naked boys, dancing with joyous glee on the green grass, or plashing in the cool streams at three or four hundred yards distance - Mr. John Carew threatens therefore to spike the river and impale the naked little boys.  We will not horrify Mr. John Carew with the sight of the agonised victims of his spiking propensities - because we are sure that he is far too good natured a man to carry his threat into execution.

"Many a grey-headed man remembers with delight the pleasures of his bathing time, and we feel assured that the Exonians will not surrender a prescriptive right to get at the cool stream - no, not even if Mr. John Carew were to shoulder his pike with a little boy impaled upon it, writhing in agony - and to stand a grim sentry at the Head Weir to scare them off.

"If Mr. Carew really wants to get rid of an annoyance he could easily do so by projecting a society for promoting and regulating public bathing - that would put a "spike" into the nuisance, without planting a thorn in his legal pillow.  For if he really were to use the pike in a moment of unguarded wrath, his kind heart would repent it in bitterness and sorrow for the rest of his days."

It is no surprise that only little boys would get naked and plash in the Exe.

Plash is the original form.  Splash just makes it sound spashier.

I have to suppose some people did spike rivers to stop children from bathing.

I suspect The Times' columnist did not understand the first meaning of 'impale'.  - that would be an image too far.

Happily the area above Head Weir continued to be a bathing ground for Exonians for another half century.

John Carew  had been mayor of Exeter (1841) and was at this time the city's Registrar.

A SHOE CLOSER ON THE TRAMP, EXETER, 1844.

 "On Tuesday evening a large pane of glass, valued at from £4 to £5, was broken in the shop window of Mr. Adams, silversmith, High-street.  A person named Williams, a shoe closer on the tramp for work, was seen to throw a stone at the window by several persons in Martins-lane.

"He was seized , and said that he had done it to procure a night's lodging - an object which he attained by being taken to the Station-house.

"He was brought before the Magistrates at the Guildhall next morning, when the Bench, considering that he might have purchased one night's lodging by breaking a sixpenny pane, sent him to the House of Correction for two months".

This was a harsh sentence on poor Williams who must have been truly desperate when he chucked the brick.  As usual the Times' reporter gives the impression that everybody in Court, including the prisoner, was having the time of his life and enjoying every moment of the session, . It can't have been like that! 

None of my dictionaries gives 'shoe closer' but  the shorter OED had 'boot-closer' as 'one who sews together the upper leathers of boots.' - self-evident I suppose!  The division of labour was marching on.

Source: The Western Times, 27th April 1844. 

''l on nothing a year. 

  

SPIRITUAL PUTREFACTION, EXETER, 1844.

 In the edition of The Western Times of 4th May, 1844, this letter 'addressed to the editor' appeared:

"It is now six weeks since I entered your ancient city,  but only three things have particularly struck my attention, viz. the great number of churches,  the great number of unfortunate females on the town, and a pair of stocks on consecrated ground.

"Now sir, there is something paradoxical in the fact, that in the cities and towns where churches abound, prostitutes abound also.  Should any of your readers doubt the correctness of this statement, I would advise them to visit Oxford or Cambridge, or York and Leeds, (that famous town where the tories catch small fish with a large 'Hook') and they will be satisfied that my statement is founded upon fact.

"But how is this to be acounted for?  'The church is the salt of the earth', to keep the people from spiritual putrefaction.  The Bible, daily read in our churches is 'a light to our feet and a lamp to our path'.  How then can we account for such a fearful mass of iniquity abounding in this our highly favoured land? and especially in Exeter where there is so much consecrated ground, and clergy of all degrees 'with gowns so black, and bands so white, and caps so orthodox'

"How is it that we see these things.  I hope the attention of some of the reverend gentlemen will be called to such matters.  Neither prostitutes nor stocks ought to abound on consecrated ground.  They are a sad hindrance to

"APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION"

I think this must be a fake letter, perhaps one written by a Times reporter to fill space and to discomfort the church party. 

The stocks were still in use in Exeter but that was on the unconsecrated ground of the Guildhall.  Where and why were they on consecrated ground?    

"Females on the town," is a curious euphemism, widely used in these years.  I don't imagine Exeter had more females on the town than many. 

Find the odd man out:  Oxford, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds!  Leeds!?     The ' Hook' is surely Walter Farquar Hook,  the Anglican Vicar in Victorian Leeds, but  I can't see why Walter and Leeds should be here. There may be some long lost joke.

Entitlement (to all sorts of self-serving mattters) through Apostolic succession  was Bishop Phillpotts' constant claim, one which laid him open to the contempt and ridicule of many. 

   

THE HAPLESS TENANTS OF THE YARD, EXETER, 1844

 From The Western Times of 13th April 1844:

"ST SIDWELL'S. - We are happy to hear that the Parish of St, Sidwell's, are at last about to settle with the Dean and Chapter, the purchase of a piece of ground behind the Church, to increase the burying ground,

"This extension has long been imperatively called for.  The present yard, from its crowded state, is not only a disgrace to the parish, but a nuisance to the city.  Its crowded graves frequently led to the most revolting exposure  of the half decomposed remains of the hapless tenants of the yard, and threatened to overwhelm the city with a pestilence, according to the statement of bodies of local knowledge and publically proclaimed before the Commissioners of Improvement." 

St. Sidwell's churchyard , it might be argued, is still a disgrace to the parish and the city but, at least, there are, as far as I know, no half decomposed remains to revolt the passer-by.  

There is a true whiff of Victorian Gothic about this description of the churchyard, don't you think?

The citizens of Exeter feared pestilence like the plague! (joke!)   They well remembered the horrors of the cholera epidemic of 1832 and the smallpox of 1837 and yet there were clearly dramatic examples of uncleanliness at St. Sidwell's and no doubt elsewhere.

 

NORTHERNHAY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, EXETER, 2025.

 Tomorrow the citizens of Exeter and visitors to Exeter will be permitted to walk in the Northernhay Gardens again.  The gates have been locked for the last seventy days, only being opened when the temporary owners of the people's park were ready and able to 'entertain' the many funfair-friendly.  Many of those seventy days the Gardens were a 'construction site' where only members of the incomer workforce were welcome.

It is a scanadalous irony that the overweight Mayor of Exeter and other civic dignitaries dressed up and marched in procession to the Gardens to set down their poppy wreaths with all due ceremony, solemnity, dignity and maybe a little pomposity, to confirm to the city and the world that 'we shall remember' the city's and the county's dead, this on Remembrance Sunday, only to lock the gates against the citizens before dawn on Remembrance Monday so that no-one could visit the memorial, except after weeks of 'construction' when they were allowed in to the overwhelming funfair to find Exeter's fine memorial closely guarded by plastic santas and rudolfs &c.

Seventy days is practically a fifth of a year and by the end of this year the Council will probably have closed the Gardens again; perhaps another street-food 'fest' (not on a street!) to take the bread out of the mouths of local traders.  These closures do the Gardens no good!  The damage done is heart-rending.  Exeter City Council lives up to its long-standing reputation as a gang of Philistines.

What's to be done?  The City, no doubt, needs a space for such 'events'  but not Northernhay which is the jewel in Exeter's crown.  Such events require hard-standing. The Castle Yard was once the place for balloon-ascents and other such jollities but, alas!, the Council has sold it.  There must be an answer!

(And, incidentally, I hold this conspiracy theory:  I suspect that the reason why the path through the Castle wall between Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens has not been opened for the last five years is merely because the City Council likes to lock whenever, wherever, whatever it can and because this closure makes it easier for damaging, polluting, lowest-common-denominator 'events' to be inflicted on Northernhay.   I suspect the whole 'unsafe walls' narrative might be fake news.)

This blocked passage between the Gardens is an injury and a reproach to the city. What is sad is that there is a failure of imagination when it comes to a unified Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens.  With the ancient castle walls and moats and the magnificent trees and the glorious lie of the land they really are a remarkable asset   No other city has anything like them.  

In today's Britain, gardens can be powerful magnets.  Already many people visit Exeter hoping to enjoy the Gardens. (and many were disappointed throughout the past 70 days).  If Northernhay were gardened and advertised as an attraction (A public garden since William Shakespeare was writing!)  ("The most romantic walk in all Europe!" as The Western Times was once able to claim) they would add to the reputation of the city and bring many thousands of visitors to Exeter of the kind who spend money freely on the High Street.  If the Council needs cash and the people need circuses there must be nobler ways to make money and to entertain the children than to trample Northernhay.