On Tuesday 26th January 1841, while the Mayor of Exeter and the other magistrates were dealing with the larcenies of the week at the Guildhall, the two constables on duty in the portico had occasion to disturb His Worshipful and the lesser worshipfuls as reported by The Western Times. (30th January 1841):
"JAMES JONES, a one-legged man, was here hurried into the Magistrates' room by Ginham and Lascelles, charged with creating a disturbance at the door, and with threatening to 'pare' the latter officer.
"His conduct was excessively impertinant before the magistrates, and he was ordered to find two sureties in £10., to keep the peace.
"On being taken away, in default of bail, he triumphantly shouted aloud, 'Thank ye, my boys, this is all I wanted - I only wished for grub and lodging without cost.'"
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The constables in Exeter were so few and so well-known to the readers of The Times that this report (and many others) simply uses their surnames.
James Jones' cunning plan was hardly original. Many poor men must have preferred to seek prison rather than suffer cold and hunger on the winter streets but not many had so much fun in the process of being committed as he, apparently, did. Nor were others so excessively impertinent and upbeat as to call the officers of the court 'my boys'. James must have been quite a character. I wish we knew more about him. The granite columns must have quivered!
To pare someone is new to me. It sounds rather nasty - death by a thousand cuts?
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