•v^i--:3^ -r'J ^^V,. ■- 'JrU iWif^^. ■ I iiiiii I iF i' I Ti ^mm III ~ r, . -• • •* M ^/ THE Chronicles of Twypord Being a New and Poptjlae HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF TIVERTON In Devonshire: WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF BLUNDELL'S SCHOOL Pounded A.D. 1604. BY FREDERICK JOHN SNELL, M.A. FOBMEBIiY BLUNDELL'S SCHOLAR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFOBD. Printbd and Published by Ga«(»OBY, Son, «& Tozkr, " Tiverton Gazkttk " Office, Tiverton LONDOX : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., Limited Stationers'-hail-court, E.G. (M- Q A 1 To One who On leaving Blundell's School Received a Book with this Inscription : roberto baker carew ANNIS XI APUD SCHOLAM BLUNDELLINAM QUAM OPTIME PERACTIS ABEUNTI HIC LIBELLUS H. S. 18 4 2 And who has ever worthily sustained The high traditions op his ancient and honourable line : An excellent clergyman, an able magistrate And a kind friend ; These pages Are by permission Dedicated. i •^ rREFACE Previous histories of Tiverton comprise : (1). A small duodecimo volume of about 66 pages, by Mr. John Bluudell, published in 1712. (.2). Some irregular memoirs written in a lar^e folio book by William Hewett, merchant, who was churchwarden in 1720. This book in 1790 was in the possession of the Rev. John Newte, and was consulted by Martin Dunsford. What has become of it, I cannot say. (3). Martin Dunsford, third of the name, published in 1790 Historical Memoirs of the Town and Parish— a work reflecting great credit on the author. (4). In 18i5 Lieut.-CJolonel Harding published a General History of Tiverton and a full account of the Lords of the Manor ; and in 1847, a second volume, crammed with valuable information relating to the Borough charities and local institutions," with biographical notices, abstracts of the charters, &c. The " Chronicles of Twyford," however, are not a mere supplement bringing down the narrative of events to the current year. The accounts both of Martin Dunsford and Harding have been amplified in many important details : and the whole has been re-written. The original bye- laws of the town, and the other documents copied in the appendices, have never before been printed; and a number of other sources have been drawn upon to impart variety to the contents, as well as to supply accurate information on points in which the inhabitants of Tiverton may be supposed to be interested. The title " Chronicles of Twyford " is not without precedent. Sixty years ago, when it was the fashion in country towns to write "squibs," a number of leaflets appeared in Tiverton, entitled "The First Chapter of the Chronicles of Twyford," "The Real Chronicles of Twyford," etc. This circumstance, and the fact that the word " Chronicles '' has come through association to express something less formal than history, suggested the name of the present volume. In gratefully acknowledging the assistance wliich has been given to me on all hands, I feel that special thanks are due to Mr. John Sharland, of Exmouth, a large part of the second chapter relating to the Georgian era being practically his work. The extensive knowledge which Mr. Sharland possesses of Old Tiverton was derived, in great part, from listening when a boy to the tales of his grandfather. With respect to f " I Tiverton races and other sporting topics, my cMef informant has been Mr. William Hooper, who acted as " starter " at the races for many years. I have also to thank Mrs. G. W. Cookram for permission to inspect valuable papers left by her late husband ; and Mr. R. F. Loosemore for giving' me access to his collection of political leaflets, &c. Mr. G. B. Cockram, whose efforts for the prosperity of the town have made him exceptionally well acquainted with modern developments, has not only revised and amplified important sections, but was also good enough to place in my hands a mass of valuable materials (collected by his late partuer, Mr. W. Partridge), out of which the narrative has, in many places, been constructed. Nor must I forget the information I have gleaned from the writings of the late Mr H. S. Gill, a recognized authority on numismatics aal ecolesiology. The sketch of the restoration of St. Peter's Church has been condensed from a contemporary account published by the Rev. J. B. Hughes, M.A. Acknowledgments are due to Mr. R. 1). Blackmore for permission to reprint some interesting passages of " Lorna Doone "' ; and to Dr. 8. Smiles for a similar favour. I have also to thank the following gentle- men for help rendered in various ways: the Rev. J. Dickinson, M.A. ; the Rev. D. M. Owen, B.D. ; Mr. H. J. Carpenter, M.A., LL.M. ; Mr. J. F. Ellerton; Air. W. H. Snell ; Mr. F. A. Payne; Mr. C. Marshall Hole; Mr. Thomas Clarke; Mr. Siddalls; Mr. W. Beck ; Mr. W. Davey ; Mr. Upton, &c., &c. Lastly, I must cordially recognize the ungrudging assistance of Mr. Alfred Gregory, through whose enterprise, mainly, the " Chronicles of Twyford " now see the light. At some future date, I hope to deal, in another volume, with Tiverton elections and electioneering "squibs." F. J. SNELL. Bampton, December 8th, 1892. Contents Chap. I. BEFORE THE CONQUEST II. THE MIDDLE AGES ... III. THE GREAT FIRES ... IV. THE EARLY STUARTS V. ROUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS VI. AFTER THE RESTORATION ... VII. THE GEORGIAN ERA (Part I) VIII. THE GEORGIAN ERA (Part II) IX. YESTERDAY ... X. TO-DAY Pages 1 — 14 15 — 46 47 — 80 81 — 112 113 — 144 115 180 181 — 218 2iy — 200 207 — 344 345 — 394 t BEFORE THE CONQUEST d* Before the Conquest c^j^K«r^GrE^EABLT with precedent, though doubtless for many of my readers the information will be superfluous, I begin this history by indicating the exact position of Tiverton on the map and its comparative distance from places of greater note. Be it known, then, that in respect to longitude the town is 3"29 degrees W. of Greenwich, while as to its latitude it is 50*54 degrees N. of the equator. It is in England, in the County of Devon, and in the N.E. section thereof. In Dunsford's time it was 176 miles W. of London, but Harding, writing about fifty years later, computes the distance at about 160 miles. As no geographical changes are on record to account for the discrepancy, we must assume that these writers used different methods of calculation, the former perhaps taking his measurement by the coach route, while the latter may have fitted a pair of compasses to a given scale, or, to use the good old phrase, may have reckoned "as the crow flies." Anyhow, by the Great Western Railway, the managers of which have particular reasons for being exact, the distance is 184 miles. I have to add that it is about 14 miles IST. of Exeter, the county town, 24 miles S. of the Bristol Channel, and nearly the same distance N. of the British Channel. It is situated at the confluence of two rivers — the Exe and the Lowman. This, however, I cannot but feel, is a stiff and pedantic way of entering on our subject. I venture, accordingly, on a new beginning. Geography, in school or out of it, is not a subject to be treated lightly, and before proceeding with the history, or, as I have chosen to call it, the chronicles of Tiverton, it is well b2 4 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED that we should make up our minds where Tiverton is. In a general way this has been done. We are now certified as to the longitude and latitude, and concerning other facts also we are not perhaps in such heathen darkness as we might have been but for the formal and uninspiring prelude above given. But while few persons are possessed by a passion for geography, it is a sports- manlike instinct to wish to know something of the surrounding country ; and the votary of nature, however idealist, will scarcely disdain an acquaintance with the names of places, which have caught his eye and rivetted his admiration. The question arises how it will be best to impart this information. There is ancient but perhaps not very reputable authority* for taking people up into an exceeding high mountain, from whose summit they may, as Doctor Johnson observes, Survey the world from China to Peru. Unfortunately in this case there is no exceeding high mountain, but only, as Mr. Carpenter says, " arching hills." We must therefore, make the best of what we have got, and 1 invite the reader to ascend with me in imagination to the top of Shortridge, about a mile-and-a-half beyond Seven Crosses,t where, it may be, he will see more things than he had hoped. Premising that it is a clear day — which in the spring and autumn can generally be obtained after showery weather — we gain, as we gaze over the *Sathanas. tWestcote, in his " View of Devonshire " p. 273, gives the following sage account of the origin of this name. Having stated that the Earl of Kichmond was the possessor of the Manor of Chumleigh and the Earl of Devon of the borough, he thus proceeds : " Of one of their noble ladies (which should be the Countess of Devon, for never can I find an Earl of Richmond inhabiting here) is left unto us this tale, (commonly spoken and constantly believed). A poor labouring man, inhabiting this town, had many children ; and, thinking himself overburdened by such a multi- plied blessiutj of God in that kind, intended by a politic natural course to avoid all such future charge, absented himself seven years together from his wife, and then returnincf again and accompanying her as formerly. She was within a year thereafter delivered of seven male children at one birth, which makes the poor man think himself utterly undone ; and hereby despairin^^, put them all in a basket, with a full intent to have drowned them; but Divine Providence follokwing him, occasioned a lady to be coming at this instant of time in his way, who demanded of him what he carried in his basket. The silly man, stricken dead well near with that question, answered they were whelps, which she desired to see ; and finding the lady was resolved, and by opposition became more earnest in her purpose, fell on his knees and discovered his intent, with all former circumstances ; which understood, the Countess went home with them, provides nurses, and all things also necessary. Ihey all live, are bred in learning, and being come to man's estate,gives each a prebend in this parish ; which I think are vanished, not to be seen ; but the Seven Crosses near Tiverton, set up by this occasion, keeps it yet in memory, unless they are appropriated to the free school there erected." BEFOEE THE CONQUEST 5 fertile Exe Valley, a distinct view of the sea off Exmouth, and by the aid of a pocket telescope vessels are seen wending their way in various directions. Plainly discernible also are the Warren and the still waters between it and Starcross ; and standing in bold relief the Exmouth tower, with its four pinnacles. Follow- ing the course of the sun from this point, our attention is first arrested by some very distant hills along the coast, but soon the remoter prospect is intercepted by the hill which rises over Bick- leigh Court Between this and Cadbury Castle, which is next in suc- cession, the heights of Haldon show themselves, with the Belvedere at their apex. Just beyond Cadbury Castle appears a part of the ridge called in the vernacular " Kaddon Tap," and well-known to the inhabitants of Poughill, who cross it perforce on their way to Exeter, Next is the Windmill Hill, in the parish of Cheriton Fitzpaine, and over this may be observed at an immense distance, the southern escarpment of Dartmoor, beyond South Brent, and at least forty miles away. Further to the right is a remarkable conical hill, which is, I am informed, Eippon Tor, near Ashburton; and apparently not far from this may be seen the double peak of Heytor. Hence to the northern extremity of the moor, near Okehampton, rise sharp and clear against the south-western sky three immense masses of primitive rocks, evidently upheaved by some mighty convulsion of nature. About five miles from Oke- hampton is one of the highest points of the moor, Cosdon or Cawsand Beacon. This tor is 1730 feet above the level of the sea, and from Shortridge is distinctly visible, overtopping its fellows. Further westward the view is not so distant, but still extensive. In this direction it appears to be bounded by Wither- idge Moor. To the N.W. is Templeton hill, church, and village ; next comes Gibbet Moor, and further northward and more remote are the highlands near MoUand and East Anstey. Then follow the far distant regions of Exmoor, Dunkery Beacon, and Brendon Hill. On the top of Dunkery, by the aid of a glass, may still be seen the ruins of five hearths, from which in perilous times blazed the beacon fires of our ancestors. This extraordinary hill does not seem so high as it really is owing to its gigantic base, which is twelve miles in circumference. It is, however, 1700 feet above the level of the sea. But I must not linger. To the east, just above Chevithorne Barton, appear some portions of the Quantock Hills, which stretch across West Somerset from Durston to Watchet. Further on, over Ilockworthy, we catch a glimpse of the same range, capped by a tovvei-. The next conspicuous feature in the horizon is Jilackdown with the Wellington monument. Beyond this the distant landscape is, for a short space, masked by a shoulder of Exeter Hill, near Gogwell Lane. Then, due east, appear the Scythe Stone Hills, full of "antediluvian remains" and fossil shells ; and, after these, the more distant range extend- ing from Honiton to the south coast. The break in this range 6 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTPOED which goes by the name of " Sidmouth Gap " cannot be seen from Shortridge, being concealed by an eminence called " Criss Crass " (Christ's Cross), over which lofty hill passes the old turnpike road from Tiverton to Exeter. To the right of " Criss Crass " are well-wooded heights, topped by an old hill-fort called " Woodbury Castle," and then the high ground round Budleigh Salterton brings us back to the point we started from. Dunsford dwells with just and loving appreciation on the woodlands, orchards, and pleasant pastures, tenanted by white sheep or red oxen, and the hill-sides, covered with wheat, barley, and oats, which environed his native town. Then, as now, the ancient tower of St. Peter's peeping out amid a group of tufted trees assured the wayfarer that here was a community of Christian men ; and what with the villages, seats, farms, and cottages, which dotted the landscape in every part, we must needs believe that Tiverton in 1790 was an earthly paradise, which only the pen of a Marmontel could describe. I will not disturb the illusion by seeking to enquire whether in very truth Tiverton ^vas such a beatific place at the date in question, but will content myself with observing that this record commences at a period very much earlier than 1790. At what period exactly the narrative does begin, it is difficult to determine, but it appears to take its rise in a great, dark, prehistoric past, from which only a few broken hints have come down to us, but which, we may be sure, was sufficiently unlike the present. Among other changes the lovely scenery, which so captivated the heart of honest Martin Dunsford, has been superinduced over a ground which in any other age would be deemed harsh and repellent. Carrington's hnes on Dartmoor (though the first limps a little) well describe such a landscape and its eifects on the unregenerate human soul : Devonia's dreamy Alps ! now I feel The influence of that impressive calm That rests upon them. Nothing that has life Is visible : no solitary flock At wide will ranging through the silent moor Breaks the deep-felt monotony ; and all Is motionless, save where the giant shades, Flung by the passing cloud, glide slowly o'er The grey and gloomy woods, etc. The Exe winding through narrow dales, almost approaching to glens, between hanging woods, and its little sister the Lowman, are perhaps the only features which have remained substantially unchanged since the time when ' wild in woods the noble savage ran ' ; and we are tempted to claim as the earliest inhabitant of these parts the delicate trout, whose attractions indeed, may have been the loadstar which drew the genus homo hither, to try their luck, as many generations have since done, with rod and line I have assumed that the aspect of Tiverton BEFOEE THE CONQUEST 7 in the earliest times is fairly rendered for us hj Exmoor and Dart- moor Forest as they exist now. This in any case could hardly be termed an extravagant supposition, but there is strong confir- matory evidence of its truth. At a distance of only five miles from the town is Gibbet Moor still in virgin freedom, and several local names — Pinnex Moor, Moorhayes, Cranmore, Cowleymore and Elmore — point to a time, relatively speaking, not so very distant, when a large part of the country immediately adjacent was an uncultivated heath. Even so late as the beginning of the eighteenth century Elmore was still in this condition, for as a preface to Blundell's Memoirs we find this very horrid '' poetry " : Within this County's Boieels lies a Moor Of Old calVd Ell Down ; from ivhose mountains roar Combined Fountains ; which, without delay. Towards the Ocean do their Streams display ; And, as if overtired, make their Graves Betwixt the Northern a7id the Southern Waves. West, a7id beneath this disinal Forest lies A fruitful Vale, in form triangle-wise ; Wherein stands Tiverton, etc. * The thing, therefore, as it seems to me, may be treated like a sum in proportion. If Tiverton, and especially Ell-down, was like this in the eighteenth century after Christ, what must it have been like in the eighteenth century before our era ? The answer, * It is possible that some, after digesting the above extract, may find themselves in the condition of Oliver Twist, desirous of more. Though I doubt the expediency of gratifying such a perverted taste, and though the original quotation was introduced solely in the way of business, I have decided to be indiscreet, and here produce the remainder : xvhose glorious State Has been much darkened by the Checks of Fate, But yet her Abbies and her Mon'ment Stories Are strong Assertors of her Ancient Glories Trading {the life of Places) here's to pull The finest Lock of all the Cornish Wool, Which into Yarn her People do convert. And other Tradesmen other-7vhere impart To make those famous Serges which are hurVd By Ships from England, thro' the boundless World. Yet, not the meanest part of Wool here brought, Is by herself into fine Kersies wrought ; Whose wonted Goodness in the strength of wear Needs not the Passport of the AUenger Her Suburbs, or Precincts, two miles do stretch, Upon the lOast and Westward four do reach : Three Miles upon the South she bra ncheth forth; And claims six Miles directly on the North. And 'bounds in Fishing, and fair Milages, Woods, WiiU'v, pleasant Groves, a?j^/ Tillages. Her grazing Pastures CarmfA-like for feeding ; Her Mountain-tops like liashan-liills for breeding. 8 THE CHEONICLES OF TWIPOED of course, must be to a certain extent conjectural, but from the paucity, or, as I think we may say, the complete absence of any primitive remains, such as flint weapons, etc., dug up from the site of the present town, we are forced- to the conclusion that in the youth of the world Tiverton was all Ell-down, all barren waste, and wood. Old, very old Tiverton, was on a hill, but our accounts of it are extremely vague, for the Dunmonians, who it is supposed, pre- ceded us in the occupation of the place, have left behind them few traces and absolutely no records. How then do we know that any such people existed or were domiciled in the locality ? In the first place, certain Greek geographers, Solinus, Ptolemy, and Heracleota have referred to them as inhabiting the western-most part of Britain, and in the Antonine Itinerary Isca (^Exeter) is named after them " Isca Dunmoniorum." Ptolemy mentions other towns, Voliba, Uxela, and Tamara, as belonging to the Dunmonians, but there is nothing in his writings to connect any of these names with Tiverton. In spite, however, of the want of any historical clue we have good reasons for believing that the Dunmonians had a settlement in the neighbourhood. Just as there are sermons in stones, so there are mute witnesses in mounds. When numerous and sporadic, they tell of some for- gotten battle ; arranged in a continuous line, they mark the limits of some ancient village or town. The unaccountable prejudice that the Eomans were the only people who had sense enough to Nor is she barren: For her sliallotvst Brook Affords rich matter for the Anglers Hook; Salmon. Trout, Peal, and luscious Fish With her's no Dainty, but a usual Dish. There store likewise of Fennish Fowl do sivint In Winter-tione, upon sweet Ex's britn : And other kind in Covies fly and hop From every Valley to each Mountain top. Her Fields and Woods yield liketvise noble Game; With Hawk and Hound her Hunters range the same. To start the Hare and rouse the fallow Deer, Pursue the Fox mth Ho ! See Ho I See Here .' Her ivell-fiird Channels, for the People' s use. Thro' every Street their chrystal Streams diffuse ; These palisaded, with revengeful poiver. The stony Pavement do most neatly scour Her Air without is u-holesome. A7id icithin Her hidden Boivels lie rich Mines of Tin ; And will, in little time, with Coals supply Her oxen Inhabitants and neighbours by. Advance then Tiverton, no longer lie InroVd in Sheets of dark Obscurity ; May Generations on thy Name insert Proper-shoiid Honour to thy gi eat Desert ; And when that envy dares to wound, thy Name Let her grow Leaner by thy rising Fame. BEFOEE THE CONQUEST 9 handle a spade, at any rate for military purposes, has led some excellent people to see in every instance of circumvallation, not indubitably modern, evidence of a Roman camp. (It happens, however, that the Roman camps were rectangular, whereas many of these enclosui'es are of a form which only a mathematician could describe). When compelled to give up the designation " Roman camp," they substituted for it " British fort," which, though more accurate as regards nationality, is also probably a misnomer. By this we mean that the enceinte was not, as the word " fort " would seem to imply, a kind of barracks devoted exclusively to soldiers. It is much more likely to have been the abode of the inhabitants generally. The Kelts, we know, are a very excitable race, and if we may draw an analogy from the con- dition of Ireland at the epoch of the English Conquest, and that of the Highlands of Scotland in still later times, there would have been no lack of feuds among the various tribes of Dunmonians, so that a rampart was almost a necessity. To what, it will be asked, do these observations tend ? Simply to the fact that we have on Skrinkhills, just above Collipriest, an example of such casti'a- mentation. Cranmore Castle, for by this name the encampment is known, is thirty-three acres in extent. Time and cultivation have done their work in wearing down the banks, which probably at one time reached a height of several feet, but the outlines are still distinctly traceable. In the centre dominating the camp is a circular mound, which was used most likely for a beacon. It was by no means an isolated town. Within easy reach of it is Cadbury Castle, and to the north of Tiverton, at Stoodleigh, Huntsham, and Bampton, are similar works. While, as has been said, the "fort " is not to be distinguished from the " town," it does not follow that all the inhabitants lived within this area The needs of a growing population — if indeed by the favour of Mars it did grow — would naturally lead to some members of the community making- homes for themselves outside, providing always that they were on amicable terms with the tribes their inmiediate neighbours. Thus, in the case before us, if I may hazard a guess, the space now occupied by the courts and alleys of Little Silver may have been used for a suburb, in which, during peaceful times, the redundant Cranmorians lived sans souci, but from which, on the lirst signal of alarm, they fled as a bird to the mountain. If this was so, all signs of their occupancy have long since disappeared, for the houses in that quarter, however venerable their look, are certainly later than tin; iJuiimonian era. I must add a few words on the names. Local etymology is, in many instances, such a tricky and " parlous" theme, that he wlio, first of men, undertook to enlighten us on the derivation and meaning of that truly remarkable word "Skrinkhills" deserves great honour for his industry and courage. It would appear that 10 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED the term " Skrink " is only the miserable remnant of a grand Cornu-British and Armoric word '' squirinak," signifying " long- legged." Harding observes that in British all names of hills " refer to the resemblance parts of the human frame " — a dogma which the printer may have assisted him to formulate, but which, notwithstanding, may find acceptance with some people, especially readers of Ossian. I learn from the same authority that "Cranmore" is compounded of two Keltic words, which mean either " green" or " stone moor." In this connexion it would be unpardonable should I fail to speak of the river, anciently •' Isca," then, convertibly " Ex " and " Aisse," now invariably " Exe." We cannot err in identifying the name with that of the Usk, and there seems to be no manner of doubt that the meaning of the word, which is British, was " water." Thus we have been able to eke out the testimony of the tumuli with the evidence of local names, which, surviving all changes, have served as a lasting memorial of those who bestowed them. The Britons, as we are all aware, were succeeded in the govern- ment of the island — at least, the southern portion — by the Eomans ; and one anxiously enquires whether any or what dis- coveries have been made tending to throw light on the limits of their conquest and the particular localities in which they settled. It would be foreign to the purpose of this work, even if the writer possessed the necessary stock of learning, to enter at large on this question It may, however, be stated, that there are satisfactory proofs, both in the testimony of authors and in architectural remains, of the presence of that imperial race at Exeter ; and that at various intervals along the valley of the Exe, at Cadbury, Bick- leigh, Tiverton, and Bampton, have been found Eoman coins. Here we must confine ourselves to the discovery which is naturally of special interest to ourselves. In detailing the nature of the treasure-trove and the circumstances under which it occurred I feel that it is but just to Colonel Harding, who was an able man and generally wrote sound English, to quote what he says. He thus writes : " In April, 1845, while some workmen were sinking a drain on Little Gornhay, in an orchard immediately behind the farm-house they discovered a large jar, about two feet below the surface, containing several hundred Eoman coins. They were chiefly copper washed with silver, and a few of them entirely so, all evidently of the third century. Several of these coins fortunately fell under the observation of Captain Shortt author of ' Collectanea Curiosa ' and of ' Antiquities of Exeter ' ; and a few are in my own possession. These chiefly were of Antoninus Pius, Severus, Alexander Severus, and Julia Augusta. Several of the washed or plated pieces are Quinarii ; and most of the coins are of the debased currency or pecunia majorina, which abounded in the age of Severus and his successors. They were generally in very good preservation." BEFOEE THE CONQUEST 11 So much for the " find." How these coins came to be hoarded at Little Gornhay is another matter, and one which offers a fine field for the exercise of the imagination. We picture to ourselves some hapless Briton, a Eoman in all but blood, hiding in trembling haste his accumulated gains, before embarking on his flight from the merciless Saxon, and vainly hoping to recover his store, when the victors were sick of havoc. This perchance is dreaming, but the passage will not be wasted on the reader, if it diverts his mind from a fallacy which the mention of Eoman coins is well calculated to suggest. We are not to assume, because Eoman coins have been met with in the neighbourhood, that therefore this part of Devon was completely within the sphere of Eoman organization, still less that the slopes of Skrinkhills were studded with Eoman villas in all the grandeur of tesselated pavements and artistic pottery. If villas of the sort had ever existed, the ruins would still remain. It is possible, no doubt, that such is the case, and that an accident similar to that which led to the discovery of the coins may reveal to us fragments of a genuine Eoman structure. Till then, and on the present evidence, we must adhere to our verdict of " non-proven." Before dismissing the subject I must refer to some theories regarding certain roads, which, in the opinion of a respectable antiquary, Mr. James Davidson, may con- ceivably be Eoman. One of these roads 1 have already mentioned as leading from Tiverton to Exeter. It passes, Mr. Davidson says, a " down " called Exeter Hill, where the road was named Long Causeway, and was well-paved for the distance of a mile. This causeway, he thinks, may have been a legacy from the Eomans. 1 am compelled to differ from Mr. Davidson. His conclusion was formed probably from general considerations; and although lam not in a position to state when and by whom the causeway was made, there are reasons which lead me to think that it was at no very ancient date. In 1678 a merchant of Tiverton, named John Lane, left 20s. per annum for the repair of the " long causeway between Tiverton and Butterleigh, in pitching and paving of it, and not otherwise to be therein employed." Now, on the face of it, it does not seem likely that in the year of our Eedemption sixteen hundred and seventy eight John Lane should hav(^ betrayed such tender sohcitude about a road which, supposing it to be Eoman, had been in existence for so many agL-s, and shown such an eminent capacity for taking care of itself. It appears much more probable that the causeway had been constructed within living memory for needs which had not then passed away, and that Lane, being generous and philanthropic, was anxious that the benefits which he had received from it should be ti-ansmittcd to succeeding generations. The other case to wliich Mr. Davidson alludes has reference to a branch of a great Eoman road from Taunton to Exeter, called the Portway, which is supposed to have struck oif at Leonard Moor, near Uffculme, and led, through Ilalberton, to 12 THE CHRONICLES OP TWTEOED Tiverton. Both these theories mai/ be correct, but as it is impossible to attain to any certainty on the subject, it is better, perhaps, to leave them where they stand, without further disputation. AH this time we have been referring to a state of things which existed before Tiverton, properly so called, came into being. Whatever arts or civilisation the neighbourhood may have boasted at an earlier period, there is reason to believe that, on the advent of the Saxons, everything was begun de novo ; and, if Dunsford's surmise is right, the new town arose, in the opposite direction, from a cluster of cottages round Tiverton Castle. The date of the first Saxon colonisation cannot be ascertained, but it can hardly have taken place before the first half of the seventh century. According to old writers, Marianus and Florentius, there befel A.D. 620, at Bahantune (Bampton), a great battle between the invaders under Kenegel, the first Christian king of the West-Saxons, and the Britons. Of the latter no less than 20,000 men are stated to have fallen. The magnitude of the slaughter sufiiciently attests the nature of the struggle. It was war to the knife, and, if a remnant of the Britons escaped, it was only that they might become hewers of wood and drawers of water to the victors. Their wives and daughters were no doubt appropriated by the Saxons. That Tiverton was founded by the Saxons is evident from the name, which is contracted from Twi-ford-town and obviously refers to the fords, which preceded the erection of bridges over the Exe and the Lowman. The name Lowman, unlike that of the sister stream, appears to be of Saxon origin, being derived from the loam, with which the bed of the river, over most of its course, is silted. The word is sometimes, though less generally spelt ' Loman,' which is, perhaps, slightly preferable, the other spelling being due to an irrational attempt to make sense out of a name, which has ceased to convey any meaning. By the Saxons, however, the stream was called ' Suning,' and it owed this description to its sluggishness, a quality which it still retains. Here it is well to confess that we know extremely little of Tiverton previous to the Xorman Conquest, and even for a considerable time after. It is not a bad remark of Dunsford, that the great fact we may be certain of is, that "successive genet ations lived and died." In the absence of any positive data we must be satisfied with the two sources of information which are alone open to us, inference and tradition. In the Domesday-book the hundred of " Tunvertone " or " Tavvetone " is quoted as forming part of the royal demesne : and it is stated to have been held by several persons in the reign of Edward the Confessor, as vassals of the king. It is possible, therefore, that Tiverton may have been one of the small towns or villages which were built or restored by King Alfred the Great after the war with the Danes. It is clear BEFORE THE CONQUEST 13 that, compared with other towns, Tiverton could not have been a place of any size under the Saxons, for while Exeter had 476 burgesses, Barnstaple 83, Lidford 69, Totnes 110, and Okehamp- ton 4, only 41 were left to be distributed over the remainder of this large county. The hundred was divided, for purposes of police, into twelve departments, or tythings. Each tything consisted of ten families, who were severally responsible for each other's good conduct and the preservation of the peace ; and the whole was under the government of a portreeve. Traces of this arrangement continue to a very late period, but it was practically superseded by the grant of a charter in the reign of James I. In 1002, according to tradition, the people of Tiverton took part in the general slaughter of the Danes, commanded by Ethelred the Unready. This dire event was fixed for Sunday, November 13, the festival of St. Brice, " when the Danes that were in the town of Twyford upon the river Isca or Aisse were massacred by the womnn with much secresy in the night " (Hewett's Memoirs). Kingsley in " Hereward the Wake"' thus criticizes the affair : " For a while they had been lords of all England. The Anglo- Saxon race was wearing out. The men of Wessex priest-ridden and enclosed by their own aristocracy quailed before the free Norsemen, among whom was not a single serf. The God-descended line of Cerdic and Alfred was exhausted. Vain, incapable, profligate Kings, the tools of such prelates as Odo and Dunstan were no match for such wild heroes as Thorkill the Tall or Olaf Trygvasson or Svend Forkbeard. The Danes had gradually seized not only their own Danelagh and Northumbria, but a great part of Wessex. Vase sums of Danegelt were yearly sent out of the country to buy off the fresh invasions which were perpetually threatened. Then Ethelred the Unready, or rather Evil-Counsel, advised himself to fulfil his name and the curse which Dunstan had pronounced against him at the baptismal font. By his counsel the men of Wessex rose against the unsuspecting Danes ; and on St Brice's Eve, A.D. 1002, murdered them all, man, woman, and child. It may be that they only did to the children as the fathers had done to them ; but the deed was ' worse than a crime ; it was a mistake.' The Danes of the Danelagh and Xorthumbria, their brothers of Denmark and Norway, the Orkneys and the east coast of Irehnid, n-'mained unharmed. A mighty liost of vikings passed from thence into England the very next year, under Svend Forkbeard and the great Canute ; and after thirteen fearful campaigns came the battle of Assingdon in Essex, wh(;re ' Canute had the victory ; and all the English nation fought against him ; and all thi; nobility of the English race was destroyed.' " THE MIDDLE AGES II The Middle Ages •'TJlf.HE condition of Tiverton at the time of the Conquest is set ji^nk forth in that conscientious and comprehensive work, the ''■^^ Domesday book. From this we learn that in the hundred of Tiverton there were twenty hides, that of these the King had in his own clear payment fifty-four shilhngs for nine hides, while the King and his Barons had in their demesne five hides and one virgate ; that of these the King had three hides and a half, and Gotselmus, half a hide, and Walter of Clavill, half a hide, and Odo, the son of Gameline, one virgate, and William the Doorkeeper one virgate, and Harmeric de Arcis, half a virgate. After this all the other hides and virgates are satisfactorily accounted for, but the reader shall be spared further details. The Domesday book, though a triumph of statistics, is unquestionably dry reading; and though the eye gleams with sudden interest at the mention of William the Doorkeeper, and one wonders who he was, and why he was called the Doorkeeper (it is to be feared we shall never knort')? this is poor compensation — a solitary grain among abundance of chaff. The truth is that these particulars can only be thoroughly enjoyed by a seasoned antiquary, who by dint of long practice has acquired a taste for them, and as this descrip- tion applies neither to the bulk of my readers nor to myself, we will take the liberty of skipping them. To prevent misconcep- tion, however, it may be as well to state that a hide is a measure of land, and a virgate, it is easily understood, is a fraction of the same.* * There has been considerable,(lispute as to the extent of a " hide " and its factors. Sir John I'hear, in a jiaper read before the Devonshire Association, 18'J1, sums up tlie matter as follows: " Tliere iamuch evid- ence to lead to the conclusion that as a rule in later Auglo-Su.\on days C 18 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYEOED The nature of this work forbids my presenting a finished biography, so far as one might be composed, of each Lord of the Manor, but it is proper that the reader should be possessed of the principal facts as regards the earlier incumbents of the office, and that for a sufficient reason. The distinction is now little more than titular, but in the beginning it was not so. Befoi-e the grant of a charter, the Lords of the Manor were the represen- tatives and vicegerents of the King, exercising a varying degree of power according to the circumstances of the time, but in the feudal epoch it was very great. Of this we shall have ample proof hereafter. At present we have to do with ' auncestrie ' ; our task is genealogical. The person, then, whom William the Conqueror invested with the lordship of Tiverton, as well as many other lordships up and down the county of Devon, was a certain Baldwin de Brionis. H,e was called also ' de Molis ' or ' de Sap,' for not as in these days, when a number of aliases, instead of buying favour, is apt to create suspicion, the possession of many names, intimating as many fiefs, was then esteemed an honour. In the case of Baldwin his name ' de Brionis ' was derived from his father's title of Brienne, a place in Normandy, while that of ' de MoHs ' had reference to the Castle of Mola in the same duchy, where he was born. He was a connexion, both by blood and marriage, of the Conqueror, his grandfather having been the natural son of Eichard, first Duke of Normandy, while he himself was married to Albreda, William's niece Baldwin was succeeded by his son, Eichard de Brionis, who died without male issue in 1137, leaving his inheritance to his sister Adehcia, styled Countess of Devon. It is not known whom she married, but she had a daughter AHce, who was wedded to a Eichard Avenell. The pedigree here points to an involuntary system of matriarchy, or, to use a term which has attained only to brevet rank in English literature, " petticoat-government." Sons would not be born. Thus Alice was the mother of Matilda, who, when she was come to years, became the wife of Eobert de Abrincis, or Aurancis, Lord of Eolkstone. By him she had three daughters, and having married en secondes noces Eobert Fitzroy, a natural son of Henry I., was blessed with a fourth daughter. The eldest, Hawisia, wedded Eeginald de Courtenay, grandson of Louis le Gros, King of France, and with her the succession of great heiresses ends. Her the quantity of cultivable arable land, or full family share was 120 acres, or thereabouts; the yardland (virgate) or quarter sliare being conse- quently thirty acres, and the ferling or fourth part of the yardland seven and a half acres, or fifteen half-acres." This is perhaps as near as we can get to the truth on this subject. It is bare justice, however, to Sir John to state, that he does not in any way commit himself, his next sentence beginning " But although thiswas so, yet, nevertheless, etc." In fact, he tells us that the expression " half a hide" is no real clue, so that we are about as well off as we were before. THE MIDDLE AGES Id son Eobert married Mary, the youngest daughter of William de Eedvers, Earl of Devon, and had issue a son, John de Courtenay. John was the father of Hugh de Courtenay, who in 127i was made Earl of Devon and received the Manor of Tiverton as part of his maternal inheritance. After this the lordship of Tiverton remained in the Courtenay family, with but slight interruption, for nearly three hundred years. In this account we have traversed a period of more than two centuries and have been in several ways anticipating. We must now hark back to the point from which we set out. The reader may have noticed— or if not, he may do so now — that Hugh de Courtenay inherited Tixevton from Ms motlier. She, as we have said, was the daughter of William de Eedvers, and therefore not a descendant of Baldwin de Brionis, whose posterity has been faith- fully traced. The conclusion is evident — that in some way the Manor of Tiverton had shpped out of their hands. This was most certainly the case. It would seem that Baldwin de Brionis had a brother, Eichard Fitz-Gilbert, who, doubtless for sufficient reasons, assumed the additional name of Eedvers or Elvers. Now Eichard was a favourite of Henry I., who being desirous to mark his esteem for him, bestowed Tiverton and the honour of Plympton upon him and created him Earl of Devon. How such a transaction was possible, seeing that Tiverton was already the property of his brother's family, is not explained, but the fact, being indubitable, must be taken on trust. If any shade of dishonesty attaches to the proceeding, it may be palli- ated perhaps by the constitutional maxim that the King can do no wrong, or, failing that, by the usual plea in such cases, that people in those days didn't know any better. The seat of Baldwin de Brionis had been at Exeter, where he had greatly enlarged the Castle, and his interest in Tiverton was chiefly of a monetary nature. Eichard de Eedvers changed all that and — such at least is the belief — was the founder of Tiverton Casth;. Here he took up his abode, and resolving to make himself comfortable, introduced to the astonished gaze of the inhabitants what was at that time the novel luxury of glazed windows. He likewise provided for his entertainment out of doors. In old numbers of the Tiverton Gazette it is common to find in the correspondence column the term "Park'' in inverted commas, a mode of treatment which, it is needless to say, was not intended as a coiiipUment. This was before the acquisition of the People's Park, and the name was applied to a somewhat steep, but very ordinary- looking field, which was traversed by a church-path and open therefore to the public. The writers of these paragraphs seem to have found no small difficulty in reconciling the aspect of the spot with their preconceived ideas of what a park ought in strict- ness to be, and from their own point of view may possibly have been justified in condeuuiing it. They appear to have imagined c2 20 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD that " the Park," as it then was, " was all for their delight," and that in the storied past some benevolent person had studied their happiness by throwing open to them the pleasant walk, and the very charming view which " the Park " affords. This account, how- ever, is not quite literal. The church-path we doubtless owe to the liberality of a former Lord of the Manor, but the Park itself was designed for the special gratification of the owner and his immediate friends. Originally it was on a far larger and more imposing scale, comprising one hundred and sixty acres.* On the other side of the town was Ashley Park, also belonging to the Castle and of even greater extent, covering as it did no less than six hundred and twenty one acres. Both these parks appear to have con- tained deer, evidence of which survived in a curious usage. The parish of Tiverton was formerly divided into four portions, Pitt, Tidcombe, Priors, and Clare. In addition to these, however, there was a fifth portion called " All Fours," which included the areas once occupied by Ashley Park and Castle Barton, and was subject to a modus, or compensation for tithes, which bore the singular name of " buck and doe money," being no doubt an equivalent for the yearly presentation to each rector of a buck and a doe. This modus must have been agreed to when the parks were destroyed. As a buck and a doe could no longer be given, an annual payment in money was substituted. As early as 1602 50s. per annum, or 12s. 6d. to each rector, was paid for Ashley Park, and 30s. for Castle Barton. The actual disparking, how- ever, appears to have taken place some time before. Cleaveland in his history of the Courtenay family ascribes it to Henry VIII., acting under the advice of Sir Richard Pollard. " The great park of Okehampton," he says, "Tiverton Park, and all the parks belonging to the Earls of Devon were destroyed by the King — an act which his Majesty is said to have afterwards much regretted." How these parks were destroyed, it is impossible to say — probably, however, by banishing the deer, felling the timber, and parcelling out the demesnes. According to a deed, dated February 2, 1624, one eighth of the " disparked park called Ashley Park " had been enclosed shortly before by Roger Giffard. The son and successor of Richard was Baldwin de Redvers, who entered upon his inheritance in 1107. This Baldwin appears to have been of a pious turn, and, to quote a classical analogy, was the Numa Pompilius of the dynasty. He built three monasteries, that of Christ-church in Hampshii'e, Querrarra in the Isle of Wight, and Lira in Normandy. What is more to the purpose, he founded near Exeter a priory in honour of St, James, and, that the monks might never want a plentiful supply of cash, endowed * At Bolham there was formerly a large stone called the " Earl of Devonshire's Stone," which has been supposed to mark the limit of the demesne. THE MIDDLE AGES 21 it with the ecclesiastical revenues of Tiverton. " Totam ecclesiam de Twivertona cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, per manum praedicti domini Eoberti Exon. Episcopi donavi et praesenti scripto confirmavi " are the words of the pact, and thereto Baldwin de Redvers set fast his seal. As might be expected, the result of this one-sided agreement was to introduce a world of confusion into parochial affairs, and although the discussion may be some- what tedious, I do not think a fitter place could be found for dealing with the subject than in this chapter. Before, however, we address ourseh^es to this somewhat formidable theme, we must say a few words about the church, since the mention of ecclesi- astical revenues evidently pre-supposes an edifice devoted to the worship of the Almighty. As the conversion of the English to Christianity took place some time before the Norman Conquest, it is requisite to imagine that even in those days Tiverton boasted a church, but whether of wood or stone, we cannot say. The existence, however, of such a building is purely a matter of infer- ence, all traces of it having long since passed away. As regards the present edifice, our first notice of it carries us back to the year of grace 1073, when Leofricus, first Bishop of Exeter, in the last year of his episcopate and his life, performed the ceremony of consecration. In the course of ages many additions have been made tt) it, and of the original fabric only a fragment remains. This is a Norman doorway close to the wing now occupied by the organ.* Its situation seems to refute Hewett's theory — we can hardly in such a case say testimony — that St. Peter's was at first a small building on the site of the present chancel. Its compara- tive insignificance, however — this we can readily believe. It is scarcely doubtful that the church was dedicated both to St. Peter and St. Paulf, though the honour of patronhood is now ex- clusively enjoyed by the former. Here we must pause for the moment, reserving any further obsex'vations on the building to the appropriate occasion. The deed which Baldwin had executed in 1146 was confirmed eleven years later by his son. Soon, we are not surprised to learn, a dispute arose between the Canons of Tiverton and the Prior and Monks of St. James respecting the church. In acoord- * Another relic, though there is naturally more doubt on tliis point, is tlie window at tlie east end of the South Aisle, which is believed to be one of the original windows of that aish;, the others having' been re- moved at the time of the enlargement bj' (ireenway. t This is vouched for by Willis, in liis " Notitia Parliamentaria," and by lii>don, in his ''Survey of Diivon." Moreover, by tlu! will of l)avid Ap Thomas, alias David l^helip, aliun John Weyber, bearing date the 1st of June, I'jlS, tlie reversion of certain lands was granted to John Prowse and John Ilowe, Churchwardens of the Parish Church of Saint Peter and Paul iit Tiverton, for certain objects therein mentioned. 22 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED ance with the original grant the monks claimed the whole benefice,but the Canons seem to ha^e been in no hurry to quit. To allay the disturbance Earl Hichard (for this was the name o£ Baldwin's son) made out a fresh deed, by which be assigned one half of the parish to the Priory, while the other was to maintain two clerks for the discharge of ecclesiastical functions on the spot. It is, however, to be noticed that in making this arrangement iiichard expressly stipulated that the rigbts of three persons — " William, brother of Alexander, formerly dean, William de Maneleche, and Scwacher, his brother," then in possession of the last moiety — were not to be disturbed. Here, then, we appear to have the germ of the peculiar division of Tiverton into four portions. As is evident from this instance, the decrees of the House of Redvers were by no means as the laws of the Medes and Persians, which could never be broken. These great nobles, it is clear, had a receptive mind, a heart susceptible to appeal, and an eye to wink at trifling infractions of tbeir sovereign will. The probability is, therefore, that as each of the canons above- mentioned died off, another succeeded to his office, and that in this way what was intended as only a provisional and temporary adjustment was perpetuated. By the year 1291 at any rate the system of four portions or prebends was full bloom, for we find mention of them in the record of a taxation by Pope Nicholas IV.* This document also appears to supply the key to the name of at least one of the prebends, which is there described as tbe " Porco Baronis de Clare,' the same individual being called elsewhere Bogo de Clare. The origin of the name " Prior's Portion " re- quires no explanation. It evidently refers to the Priory of St. James. How Tidcombe and Pitt portions came by their names is not so certain, but the likeliest solution is that suggested by the analogous case of Clare. They were probably in the first instance the names of incumbents (quasi ' Tidcombe's portion,' ' Pitt's portion ') which for some reason, probably from long possession of their benefices by the particular persons, " caught on." For whatever cause Pitt Portion took precedence of the others, Clare being second and Tidcombe third. In the Episcopal Register, July 11th, 1347, it is recorded that John Martyn was admitted by Bishop Grandisson " ad portionem principalem in Ecclesia de * The portion of the inventory referring to Tiverton reads as follows :— DBCANAT' DE TIVERTON. Porco Robti de Litelbiu' in Ecclia de Tiv'ton ... Porco Rici de Roffa, in eadem Porco Baronis de Clare, in eadem ... Prior Sci Jacobi juxta Exon, in eadem See Oliver's Monasticon, page 193 Ta JCA' no. Decima. & s. d. £ s. d. 7 1 14 li 7 9 2 14 11 7 1 14 li 4 3 8| 8 4i THE MIDDLE AGES 23 Tiverton Atte Pute vnlgaritev nuncupatam," (Pitt). His successor was Walter Kobert, the official of the Archdeacon of Exeter, concerning whom an interesting anecdote has been preserved. Eobert, it appears, had a dispute with one of his neighbours, followed by litigation which resulted in favour of the parson. By and bye the good mab died and was buried. When they came to read his last will and testament, they found in it the following curious clause : " And whereas a little time ago testator brought an action of law against Stephen Fouracre, and recovered from him ten marks, and perhaps went beyond the bounds of moderation, and made haste to revenue himself in the said action, and because the said Stephen is a poor man — although he brought a false charge, and that he did, so God knoweth — nevertheless, as in the fear of God, I leave him twenty shillings, but then he must give up the rancour he nourishes towards me in his heart, and keep a decent tongue in his head for the future, a thing which he has never been accustomed to do, or, at any rate, seldom." In the reign of Henry V. an Act was passed for the seizure of all alien houses which were not conventual, and this, so far as the Priory of St. James, Exon, was concerned, was the beginning o£ the end. Finally, King Henry VI. bestowed the priory and all its dependencies on King's College, Cambridge, and the Provost and Fellows enjoyed the privilege of appointing a ' perpetual ' curate. in my last chapter I shall show how these curious settlements were overthrown, and replaced by a more sensible arrangement, in the nineteenth century. Having given what is the historical reality with respect to the Tiverton portions, with just that amount of conjecture which is necessary to piece over an obvious difficulty, I will now quote the popular explanation of the affair, which arose through ignorance of the actual facts, and which at least has the merit of being piquant and amusing. My authority is Westcote and his words are these : " It is said, by common tradition, that in the tyme of Hugh. 2nd Earl of I )evon,of the Courtenay's (Edward 3rd) the then incumbent, on whom he had bestowed the living, being (^as it is to be supposed) of a generous and bountifuU disposition, would complain in generality, and som(»times in the presence of his Lord's Officers, that the profits of the rectory yielded not a sufficient maintaynance fur one of his place to keepe hospitallitye answerable to his call- ing. This oiten spoken, came at length to the Earl, his patron's eares, who, in convenient time, conferred with his chaplain to that purpose, telling him that he had heard of his speeches, and con- sidered thereof, and was purposed to use his best meanes to pro- cure him a living more proportionabk? to his minde, at least more convenient for him if hi; would resigne that. The incumbent tickled with these wordes and filled with the hope of higher promotion, was ready presently to resigne, and the noble Earle (a 24 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYPOED worke worthy his wisdome) divided it (as in these dayes might with faciUtye be done) into foure partes, or quarters. Prior, Tydcombe, Clare, and Pitt, intending to bestow it on foure divers men ; and with respect to his old chaplaine, offered him thechiefe, which he, (perceiving his Lordship's intent, and seeing no other preferment coming), gratefully accepted ; and thereby was fairely taught to live by a crowne that could not formerly live by a pound, and may advise others to be content when they are well. ' Nature's with little pleas'd, enough's a feast : A sober life but a small charge requires. But man, the author of his owne unrest, The more he hath, the more he still desires.' And this is now held a reasonable competency for three worthy learned men that supply the places, and the fourth is appropriated or impropriated to King's College, Cambridge." Under the year 1200 Dunsford, whom Harding copies, makes some inaccurate remarks on the extent of the town at that time. To judge from his description it was then substantially the same as it is now, with the exception of Westexe. He does not quote his authority, but in accordance with a not unusual practice on his part, refers us to a section of part iv., where again we are exhorted to apply to a certain place in part ii. We do so, but only to find that we have been sent on a fool's errand. Whoever may be primarily responsible, and we may be pretty sure that it is no one who was alive in A.D. 1200, there can be no doubt that Dunsford has gone astray in the wilderness. Harding's second volume was published in 1847, two years later than the first, and in the meantime he had made the striking discoveries that in 1598 i.e. nearly four centuries after the date specified by Dunsford and his own former self, Tiverton ended with Fore-street, that G-reenway's Alms-houses stood almost alone, and that in all proba- bility Grold-street was not built until after the fire of 1612. The reader will be interested to learn that the lower part of the town, between the said alms-houses and the Lowman, went, so late as the year 1662, by the name of ' Germanic.'* It is not easy to account for this. The best suggestion 1 can offer is that at some early period in the history of the town a body of Flemish settlers may have been quartered there, in connection with the woollen manu- facture. Other districts also have in the progress of time been re-christened. Fore-street as recently as 1731 was called High- street, and to the end of the last century Angel-hill bore the shorter and less ecstatic appellation of Oat-hill. There is, how- ever, no mystery about either name, the latter being derived from the oat market, held there, while the former was borrowed from * ^Apropos of this, it may be observed that, in consequence of a quaint rivalry between Westexe and the upper part of the town, the former is vulgarly called " Ireland," and its inhabitants " Irish." THE MIDDLE AGES 25 the sign of the neighbouring inn. Next, as to Westexe. In the earhest times it was a separate tything and for many centuries remained quite distinct from Tiverton proper. It had its own market, situated according to tradition in Wellbrook (rightly, Wild-brook). This leads us to speak of Exe-bridge. As we have already had occasion to remark, primitive Tiverton was unprovided with this convenience. When the bridge was first built, we have no means of ascertaining, but it was certainly anterior to the year 1448, for at that season Bishop Lacy granted an indulgence of forty days " to the truly contrite, who should contribute to the rebuilding of Tiverton bridge," In 1568 Walter Tyrrell (no connexion of William Eufus' assassin) left considerable funds to be expended '' in the buildinge and erectinge, repaireing and maintayneing, of the bridge in Twyverton, alias Tyverton, comonly called West Ex Bridge"; and Dunsford is of opinion that the bridge as I'estored by Tyrrell's trustees was the identical structure visible in ] 790. Since then the bridge has on several occasions been widened, besides undergoing various other alter- ations, so that the original features have in a large measure disappeared. We must now go back to the Lords of the Manor. The last whom w'e mentioned was Richard, son of Baldwin de Redvers. Richard was succeeded by his son Baldwin II., and Baldwin II. by his brother Richard. As both died without issue, their uncle, William de Vernon, obtained the inheritance, and then, following him, came Baldwin III. This, 1 am aware, is a slight and jejune account and one which, brief as it is, no grown-up person, and no child, except as a task, will ever commit to memory. Nor is there need. So far as I can learn, these four reigns were entirely inglorious and wholly without effect on the destinies of Tiverton. Now, however, the ladies appear on the scene, and the interest of the drama revives. Baldwin III . married Amicia, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, his step-father, and on his death, which occurred in 1245, his wddow laid claim to the manor and lordship of Tiverton as part of her dower. This for the time was allowed, but some years later proceedings were instituted which aii'ord striking proof how great was the power wielded in those days by the Lords of the Manor. Within certain bounds their sovereignty appears to have been absolute. Thus, in the case before us, when Amicia was summoned by a ([no warranto to prove her title to her possessions, among other privileges she vindicated her right to view of frank-pledge, assize of I)rea(I and beer, a gallows, a pillory, a weekly market, and three annual fairs. Let us thuik for a moment what this means. " View of frank- pledge " is the right of inspecting the pledge or surety for the conductor th(! freemen, under a system in which every member of the tytliing was answerable for the gootl b(4iaviour of the rest. " Assize of breaxi and beer " is the right of assessing the weight 26 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED or measure and price of those commodities. The terms "gallows " and " pillory " speak for themselves. In fact, the Countess of Devon claimed nothing less than the power to hang, draw, and quarter within her Manor of Twyford. The actual gallows seem to have heen erected at a spot called White-down on the road to Cullompton. Lastly, the woi'ds " market" and " fairs" represent the tolls which were levied on those who wished to traffic in them, and which formed part of the manorial revenue. The value of these privileges was estimated at sixty marks, but the statement conveys very little to our minds. A mark is equal to 13s. 4d. of our present money, but 13s. 4d. then went considerably further than it does now, or Amicia would have been poor indeed. Whatever the property may have been, it was secured to her during her life-time, and after her decease it was to descend to her grand- daughter Isabella, Countess of Albemarle. It is usually stated that Isabella, Countess of Devon, about the year 1250, made two gifts to the town — the Town Lake and Elmore. Harding, however, in his second volume maintains that Amicia was the donor. His arguments are not convincing, but the evidence for Isabella being the benefactress rests on a very slender foundation — in fact, on tradition. The only existing document which bears on the subject is the copy of an attes- tation in the Court of Chancery by John Deyman, Grentleman, dated 1624, in which it is stated : " The Earl of Devon (with the consent of Madam Alson de Eos and Symon her sonne, then Earl of Westmorland) long since (aboute the tyme of King Edward 1st) gave a certaine Eiverett or Brooke, commonlie called the Town Lake, to remaine to the use of the Inhabitants of the Towne of Tiverton for ever. ..." Blundell identifies this Madam Alsijn with Isabella de Fortibus, but even if thev were the same person, which is sufficiently doubtful, the gift is attributed to an Earl of Devon Can Hugh de Courtenay be meant ? Anyhow, if we are to place any reliance on this attestation, it disposes of Madam Alson and, with her, of Isabella de Fortibus, so far as the Town Lake is concerned, not, however, as regards Elmore. For in this identical document it is said, "And the same Madam Alson de Eos gave Elmore unto certaine freeholders of the said Towne to remayne for a Comon to the use of the poore Inhabitants of the Towne of Tiverton aforesaid forever." It is added with a nasty particularity, " the order was that if anie p(er)son did take awaye anie earth there for his buildinge or other Comoditie, then he shoukle bringe in soo manye seams of dongue or other good soyle to fill upp the pitt or pitts againe. And this hath byn the order tyme out of mynde." Who, then, was this Madam Alson de Eos, for we must needs believe that she had an existence? It is highly probable, I think, that she was the individual who is called Alis de Eoos, and of whom Pole says in his History of Devon that she held Chettis- THE MIDDLE AGES 27 combe and West Chedthorne in tlie time of Henry III. This explains why the Earl of Devon found it necessary to obtain her consent in presenting the Town Leat. It flowed through her property. If we need further confirmation of the theory, it is available in the words of the attestation, where it is stated " the water riseth in the lands sometyme the Earle of Devon's called Buckhayes and Whiddon, and by consent conveyoed (sic) over a p(ar)cell of the lands sometyme the Inheritance of y"^ Earle of Westmorland of the Manor of Chettiscombe."' It is singular that an explanation apparently so simple should not have suggested itself either to Dunsford or Harding. I shall refer to these donations, so different in their subsequent history, in the order in which they are named in the deposition. The name Whiddon in this document seems to be a provin- cialized form of White down, otherwise known as Norwood, the place in question being about fivt- miles from the town. Thence the stream makes its way to Chettiscombe, where, in accordance with the original provisions, it is tapped by a pipe two inches in diameter ; and there is a second diversion which, after passing ]\Ioorhayes and Pinnex Moor, enters Elmore and falls into the Lowman just above the Mill-head. The main current reaches Tiverton by what is termed par excellence Water-lane, which debouches at the junction of Bampton and Barrington-streets. The water is then distributed, by means of gutters, over the whole of the town. Several interesting customs used to be observed in connection with the Town Lake. The funds for preserving and purifying the stream were raised by voluntary contributions, apportioned by a rate made by the water-bailiffs, who were elected every year at the court of the manor or hundred. These officers had the power, on a warrant from the magistrates, of summoning anyone they pleased to attend personally or by deputy for the object of cleansing or repairing the water course, and removing obstructions. Here is a specimen of the form used : Mr. Roger Pitt BY Virtue of an Authority for that purpose ive do here- by give you Notice to attend with proper Tools and Materials at the Village of Chettiscombe within the Town or Parish of Tiverton aforesaid at Six o'clock in the morning, on Friday next to proceed under the Direction of the Water Bailiff, or one of them, to repair, imbank. Amend, Cleanse, and scour, during the continuance of that Day, the Ancient and jniOlic Water Course, Lake, and Stream of Water, which runneth from Norwood Common, through Chet- tiscombe, within the said Parish of Tiverton, into and through the streets of tlie Town of Tiverton aforesaid. Herein fail not. Dated the ninth day of December 1799. John Osmond | ,rr ^ r> -TiV 7,. 7 7 o, • } Water Badufs. Mtchard okmner \ •*' 28 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED The victims were generally those who had neglected to pay their quota, and failure to attend was punished as a misdemeanour, Every five or six years there is a solemn (?) perambulation. When this ceremony was instituted, there is no evidence to show, but it is probably very ancient, as it has certainly been very useful. Constant attempts have been made by farmers occupying adjacent lands to utilise the stream for purposes of irrigation, and but for this precaution the Town Lake might have shared the fate of Elmore and been wholly lost to the inhabitants. From the foundation of the Charity School in 1713 to its abolition in 1877, the Blue-coat boys (so called from their distinctive and very peculiar dress) formed an integral part of the procession. In the latter year, which it was thought would witness the death of this interesting and time-honoured custom,* the official order was as follows : — Four pioneers carrying a hatchet, a spade, a pick-axe, and a saw ; the bailiff of the hundred, with his staff ; charity boys carrying white wands with which to beat the stream ; the water bailiff ; the band of the Eifle Volunteers; the steward of the Lord of the Manor ; the borough surveyor ; the street contractors ; the inspector of police ; the town crier ; the policemen ; the members of the Town Council ; and the inhabitants of the borough. Many * On account of the completion of tlie Water-works. Since writing' the above I liave made the following- discovery as to the manner in which tlie perambulation was conducted more than a hundred years before. In a small manuscript book formerly in the possession of Mr. James JMills (and bearing- on the fly-leaf the inscription " .Matthew Talley, 1775 ") a record is given of a Town Leat Perambulation on September 1st, 1774, as copied from the Court Leet books in the custody of Mr. Henry Atkins, the then Steward of the Manor of Tiverton. The record is as follows ; — " A procession and survey of the ancient rivulet, watercourse, or town lake, running from a spring- rising near an ash pollard in, and at the head of a certain common called Norwood Common, within the said Hundred, Manor, and Borough to Coggan's Well, near the Market Cross, in the town of Tiverton aforesaid, belonging to tlie inhabitants of, and others his Majesty's liege subjects, living, sojourning, and residing in the town of Tiverton aforesaid, for their sole use and benefit, Avas made and taken by Mr. Martin Dunsford (Portreeve), Henry Atkins, Esq., (Steward), Thomas Warren and Philip Davey (water bailiffs), and the Rev. Mr. William Wood, Mr. Beavis Wood, Mr. George Cruwys, Mr. William Sanders, Mr. William Jenkins, Mr. Perry Dicken, Mr. George Dunsford, Mr. Bernard Besley, Mr. Francis Besley, Mr. Henry Burgess, Mr. George James, Mr. George Snell, Mr. Hugh Sweetland, Mr. John Weech, jun., Mr. Samuel Burgess, Mr. Robert Bryant, Mr. Abraham Mills, Mr Thomas Gill, Mr. George Wood, and Mr. Matthew Talley, and divers other persons, free suitors, tenants, and inhabitants of the said town parish, and hundred of Tiverton, by the order of the honourable Sir Thomas Carew, Baronet, Dame Elizabeth Carew, and Edward Colman, Esq., Lords of the Hundred, Manor, and Borough aforesaid, the first day of September in the yt^ar of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four. The Portreeve and Free Suitors having adjourned the Court Baron, which was this day held, proceeded from the Court or THE MIDDLE AGES 29 of the latter declined to be included in the procession, preferring (for reasons which will shortly appear) the part of spectators. The meeting-place was the Town Hall and the party first pro- ceeded to what was once Coggan's Well, in which sacred but vulgarly christened spot the tutelar divinity of Tiverton must be supposed to reside. Here the following proclamation was read : " O Tes ! O Yes ! ! Tes ! ! ! I do hereby proclaim and give notice that under and by virtue of all ^vills, gifts, Acts of Parlia- ment, rights by prescription and all other powers and rights, on behalf of this town and parish the Town Council publicly claim this stream of water for ever, for the sole use and benefit, and as the right of the inhabitants of the town of Tiverton, from the well called Coggan's Well to the head of the stream on ]N"orwood Common. God save the Queen!" After this the " fun " began. First one, then another of the perambulating crowd was pushed or tripped into the stream, the sufferers accepting their punishment good-humouredly, while the by-standers laughed heartily. Proper respect was of course paid to officials, and in connexion with this celebration neither Mayor, alderman, nor councillor was involuntarily immersed. It was not always so, and old inhabitants, whose memory went back to the Church House in the following order : — The Bailiff of the Hundred with his staff and a Iiasket of cakes; the children of the Charity School, and other poor boys two and two ; the two water bailiffs wifcb. white staves ; music ; Freeholders and Free Suitors two and two ; the Steward ; the Portreeve with his staff ; other gentlemen of the town, &c., wlio attended the Fortreeve on this occasion ; the Common Cryer of the Hundred, Manor, and ]>orougli aforesaid, as assistant to the Bailiff of the Hundred with liis staff. In this manner they proceeded at first to the Market Cross, and there at Coggan's Well the Cryer with his staff in the well, made the following proclamation in the usual and ancient form. — ' Yez ! O Yez ! ! Yez ! ! ! 1 do hereby proclaim and give notice, that by order of the Lords of this Hundred. Manor, and Borough of Tiverton, and on behalf on the inhabitants of this town and ])arisli, the Portreeve and other olHcers of this Hundred, Majior, and Borough, and other the inhabitants now here assembled. pul)licly proclaim this stream of water, for the sole use and benefit of the inhabitants of tiie town of Tiverton, and other his .Majesty's liege subjects there being and sojourning, from the Market Cross in Tiverton to Norwood Common.' They then pro- ceeded in tlie same order, through the Back Lane, in every part as it ran by and tlirougli tlie ancient path of the water bailiff's time out of mind, an.'ratitude to Him who gives increase and store, The lady in her thankfulness ponder'd her blessings o'er. " Out on the gratitude," she cried, " that spends itself in words, Let me give of my worldly goods ; my crops, my flocks, and herds ! " " But yet such benefits,' she thought, " will soon be spent and gone, Many not half so blest as I more for the Lord have done." " God's blessings we should imitate, they last for evermore, Cannot I give some temporal good, for ever to God's poor ? Where have I most been favoured, and where presseth need the most ? God's benefits are wdthout bound, and shall I count the cost? " Countess of Westmoreland, she passed that northern county o'er, Her barony of Skipton too, and each bleak Yorkshire moor. Nought in her sunny Isle of Wight bespoke her mission there ; She turned. Countess of Devon, to her westward manors fair. There, where the dark red-sandstone blends with rich emerald green ; There, where the lofty hedge-rows hide lane and all between ; There, where tall trees o'ershadow rich crops and lowing kine ; She cried, "God's choicest blessing, Fair Devon ! sure is thine ! " THE MIDDLE AGES 31 She saw that in the ancient burgh, or town, of Twyfordtown, Built on a hill, 'twixt rivers twain, of water thei"e was none; It mattered little to the rich, for them deep wells were sank, Eut the j)oor toiled down the weary hill for each drop that they drank. The lady paused and pondered long — " Here I can help the poor, And pour a crystal streamlet past each humble cottage door ; Just five miles off, in good Buckhayes, there riseth stron;? and clear A sprin?, the half of which will give water for ever here ! " Then she commanded that one half of that fair rivulet Be brought through Chettiscombe estate, without hindrance or let. And on, at her sole cost and charge, a water course was made Tliose five long miles to Twyfordtown, and there her band was stayed. Though years have passed, and much is changed, the streamlet still runs on, Though Twyfordtown has merged and sunk its name in Tiverton, Down through each street that lady's gift still pours its silver tide. And the townsfolk bless her memory, as they watch it onward glide. I now turn to the other branch of our enquiry. Great obscurity surrounds the history of" Ehnore Common. It is possible, as has been suggested, that Madam Alson de Eos did not give the lands, but only the proceeds. In any case the common was gradually enclosed. At some time — probably on the execution of Henry, Marquis of Exeter, and the confiscation of his property, 1538 — the lands passed to the Crown. On an appeal being made to the Government to restore to the poor the use of Elmore Common, the Crown in 1693 granted a lease to the Mayor and Burgesses of Tiverton for 99 years at the yearly rent of 20s. on condition that the whole of the 150 acres were redeemed. This was found to be impossible. After great efforts only 30 acres were redeemed, which were leased to a number of persons for the benefit of the poor. In the meantime we find that certain closes, plots, and quillets, notably Elmore Park and Elmore Meadow, were the subject of transactions between private individuals, being bought and sold in the open market. The lease granted by William and IMary expired in 1792 and another bearing date 10th December, 1800, was granted by the Crown to the Mayor and Burgesses of Tiverton, their successors and assigns, for 31 years, from the lOfch October, 1803, at 20s per annum, for the benefit of the poor of the town and parish of Tiverton not receiving parish relief. The lands had now dwindled from 30 acres to 17a. 3r. 27p., a difference which has not been accounted for, but which, it seems, must be set down to careless or interested administration. This may be inferi-ed from what happened after tin' i-enewal of the lease. All the lands were let by aiictiftn under tii(! direction of tht^ Corporation, except a i'ciw small parci'ls which were hit from year to year. So far as is known, no rent was ever paid to the Corporation for some of the 32 THE CHEONICLES OF TWIFOED gardens and orchards last mentioned, " and" says Harding, " they are claimed by their present possessors as their own property." The truth seems to be that these losses M'ere due to an abuse called " pepper-corn rents " The members of the old Corporation agreed among themselves that certain of their body should occupy lands rent-free on the understanding that they should be returned to the burgesses in an improved condition, but, instead of this being the case, the occupiers by prescription acquired a title to them. The amount of rent which was produced annually by the lands not so absorbed was <£49 14s., subject to deductions (about £5 8s. 5d. yearly) for land-tax, poor-rates, and church-rates, which were paid by the Corporation. The mode of distribution was as follows : — The members of the Corporation met on St. John's Day. After the various sums had been added together the amount was divided into as many portions as there were corpor- ators present. Each was informed of the sum thus placed at his disposal and he was instructed to distribute it to four poor persons of the town or parish, who were not in receipt of parochial relief. After the distribution each corporator handed to the Town Clerk a list of the persons to whom the money had been paid. On the expiration of the lease in 1834 the Corporation presented a memorial to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests for a renewal of it. This was refused, and the order was given " to sell by public auction the residue of Elmore lands, and the produce thereof to be invested for the benefit of the poor of Tiverton parish, which consisted of the parcels of meadow, pasture and arable lands and gardens before specified." Researches into the history of Elmore Common have brought to light an interesting fact. In various old deeds reference is made to a field at the foot of Exeter Hill, which had a tree in the centre. This field was called " The Butt " and the tree was used as a target for arrows. Again, in the list of Elmore lands which are included in the Crown lease of 1 806 we find mentioned a close of land called a " field to Butt"' (otherwise, Gilbert's close), obviously in allusion to the same practice. As I have not been able to lay hands on any local documents illustrative of the point, I must content myself with supplying general information. First, however, let me cite some memoranda discovered in 1799 by the Hector of Dartington, near Totnes. They appear to have belonged to some churchx^arden's accounts, but where he found them was in an old chest, which had stood for many years in an ale-house. " 1557. Item, payd to Richard Mowntege\\', for a sword for the warys, ijs. vvjd." " 1568. Item, pd. for iij. Calyvers & aw. Pikes, vis" " 1572. Item, pd. to John Twegges for riij. cases of Arrows ijSt iiijd." THE MIDDLE AGES. 33 " 1583. Item, pd, to the constable to the treynyng of the soldiers at Whitsintud, v/js. viijd. " 1600. A sword, with a basket hilt, girdles, hangings, and bandelers." In the olden times every man was a soldier. By the great statute of Winchester (13 Edw. 1. cap. 6), which was repeated and expanded on many subsequent occasions, it was enacted " That every man shall have harness in his house ; that every man between 15 years and 60 shall be assessed to armour according to the quantity of his lands and goods, that is, to wit, for fifteen pounds lands and forty marks goods a hauberke, a helmet of iron, a sword and a dagger. All others that may, shall have bows and arrows." By the same statute of Winchester it was enacted that constables should be appointed, two to every hundred in England,to see that every man was properly armed. The bow soon became the peculiar weapon of the English. As archery developed, regular practice was ordered and shooting became at once the drill and amusement of the people. Every village had its pair of butts; and magistrates, mayors, and bailiffs were required, under a fine of twenty shillings for each neglect of duty, to see that all able-bodied men appeared in the field on Sundays and holy-days to shoot at the mark as "valvant Enghshmen ought to do" (12 Richard II., cap. 6). It is a fact worthy of notice that when, as in the early days of Henry VIII., these manly sports were grow- ing into disfavour, the hardy character of the people sensibly degenerated When Lord Surrey was expecting the Duke of Albany to invade the northern borders in 1523, he complained in bitterness of heart of the " growing slowness " of the young men and of their preference for " dicing, dancing, and carding." But Henry re-enacted the Winchester statute with new and stringent provisions. In the preamble of the Act he " called to his gracious remembrance " how through their skill in archery, his subjects had " in times heretofore past reduced divers regions and countries to their due obeisance, to the honour of the realm and the terror of strange nations." Wherefore he commanded that every man under 60 years of age except justices, spiritual persons, &c. should " have a bow continually in his house to use himself in shooting " and that they " should learn and bring up their children in the same." So umch for military matters. As to police, in 1294 a constable and six "able "' assistants were appointed to serve as a uutcli. Their duty was to patrol the streets from Ascension- day to Miciiaelmas. They were to see that the water was kept running, and, in case of fire, they were to ring the market-bell. Lastly, if they met with any strayed revellers or disorderly persons in the course of their peregrinations, they were to arrest them. This was continued till 1802. Other items which may perhaps be iaaerted are the following : B 34 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD " In the Episcopate of Bishop Brantyngham, at an ordination celebrated in Tiverton Church by WiUiam Courtenay, Bishop of Hereford, on the 8th June, 1370, there were ordained 374 persons, of whom 163 received the first tonsure ; 1 20 were ordained Acolyths ; 30 Subdeacons ; 31 Deacons ; and 30 Priests," " On the 6th September, 1413, Bishop Stafford addressed a letter to Walter Robert, in which he observed that with the exception of the chancel, the parishioners of Tiverton were bound to keep the rest of the Church in repair and see that the churchyard was properly fenced in ; and yet they had been grossly neglectful in these points. He commissioned him to call a meeting of the parishioners, and to take information of what required repair, and to signify to them that they must even re- build their church, should this be found necessary." " On the 23rd August, 1419, Bishop Stafford issued a commission to reconcile the church-yard, which had been polluted by the effusion of human blood, in a recent affray between Matthew Eow and John Barnstaple. A similar occurrence took place, as we discover in Bishop Lacy's commission of 5tb November, 1450, between John Tydecombe and Michael Chaundler, on 30th October of that year." Hugh Courtenay, second Earl of Devon of that name, is commonly supposed to have founded a chapel situated on the north of St. Peter's, and here in 1419 his grandson and successor was buried. Eisdon, in his "View of Devonshire " (1630) thus refers to the subject : In the Churchyard is a chapel built by the Earls of this County, and appropriated to their burials (now demolished) under which Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and his Countess were interred, having their effigies of alabaster sometime sumptuously gilded ; and was about 40 years ago to be seen, and which, it lamenteth me to write, time hath not so much defaced as men have mangled that magnificent monument, which had this written thereon, as some have seen : "Hoe! Hoe! who lyes here? Tis I, the good Erie of Devonshire, With Kate, my wife, to me full dere, We lived together fifty-five yere. That wee spent, wee had That we gave, wee have ; That wee left, wee loste." This will form a fit introduction to the description of a splendid funeral pageant which took place about a hundred years later. As I prefer not to mar this account by attempting a paraphrase of my own, I give it nearly in the words of the old historian : " On Friday, the 15th of November, at eight o'clock in the even- ing, the Princess Catherine, youngest daughter of King Edward IV. and widow of William Courtenay, Earl of Devon and Lord of THE MIDDLE AGES 35 this Manor, died in the Castle of Tiverton. Her body being em- bahned, leaded and chested, it was conveyed from thence to the chapel and placed within a bar, covered with a pall of black velvet on which was a cross of white satin, and upon that another pall of cloth of gold, with a cross of silver tissue thereon, ornamented with six escutcheons of her arms. There it was attended day and night, with great funeral pomp, till Monday, the 2nd of Decem- ber, when, with a formal procession, it was brought to St. Peter's Church, under a canopy of velvet borne by six esquires ; at each corner whereof a banner of saints was carried by as many esquires, viz, of the Trinity, Our Lady, St. Edward, and St. Catherine, the bearers all in black gowns and hoods, and eight bannerets were carried by eight gentlemen, four on one side and four on the other. The chief mourner was the Lady Carew, assisted by Sir Peter Edgcombe ; her train was held up by one lady, followed by six others. " The corpse was received into the church by the Abbot of Montague (Montacute), attended by the Abbots of Torbay and Pord, who sprinkled it \A'ith holy water. Many others of high ecclesiastical rank also attended ; who, with the abbots and 100 gentlemen, had preceded the corpse in the procession, two and two, according to their rank, next after the holy cross. The corpse was placed under a hearse covered by a rich pall of cloth of gold and tissue ; upon it a cross of silver, with two branches of virgin wax ; after which a dirge was sung, and the funeral cere- monies performed ; when the company returned to the castle, in like solemn procession, according to their rank, to partake of the refreshments provided, leaving attendants on the body, lying in state under the hearse in the chapel, who remained there the whole night. " The next day, at seven in the morning, Tuesday, the 3rd of December, the company being come again into the church, in like solemn procession, the mass of the Requiem was sung and the offerings performed, when Dr. Sarsley preached from the words • Manus Domini tetigit me ' (the hand of the Lord hath touched me). Before the mass of the Requiem, the mass of Our l^ady was sung by the Abbot of Torbay, and his assistants ; and the mass of the Trinity was sung by the Abbot of Ford, and his assistants. The Abbot of Montague acted as principal on this ocsasion, by whom the mass of Requiem was sung, in which he was assisted by the most eminent choristers from Exeter, and other places adjoining ; also from every part of the country round about Tiverton, Offerings were made on this solemn occasion by all persons present, in n-gular relation, according to- their rank and stations, beginning with the chief mourner who offercid 6s, (Sd. The knights and gentlemen, the mayor and aldermen of Mxeter, the yeomen and other att(;n(lants, made thciir olfei'ings in pro- portion. Which done, and divine service being ended, the body 1)2 36 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD was let down into a vault under the hearse, in a chapel, on the east side o£ the north door of the church ; at which time her officers broke their staves. The Lord Suffrao^an, with all the other abbots and prelates in their pontificals, havino^ performed the office of burial, went into the castle where they had a splendid entertainment. This was a second dinner which is described to have been veiy magnificent and profuse ; a provision for 500 persons, and a dole of 100 marks, divided to 8000 poor people, two-pence to each, to pray for the soul of the deceased. " Jn memory of which noble Princess, Henry Coui'tenay, Earl of Devon, and Marquis of Exon, her only son, caused a tomb, with her image thereon, to be erected on the south side of the altar, in the said chapel ; in which were several other tombs and statues of the earls of Devon, their countesses and children ; a stately altar, and other curious ornaments : all of which were dt^molished at different times (as supposed) by the indiscriminate zeal of the reformers, in the reigns of King Edward VI. and Queen EHzabeth." The Courtenays used to reside at Okehampton in the summer and at Tiverton in the winter. About the middle of the sixteenth century, the Manor became broken up into a great many fractions, and the lordship, if we may use such a phrase, was put into com- mission. The first lord was Roger Giffard, the owner of the Castle, which was named after him " Giffard's Court." Blundell in his " Memoirs " gives this interesting notice of him : " The Castle of Tiverton aforesaid was afterwards purchased by Roger Gilfard, Esq. ; who was a Gentleman of elegant Form and comly Presence of Person ; but of much better Accomplishments and Endowments of mind. Here he settled himself and Family, and from his Habitation therein, it came to be called Giffard's Court. He had successively three Wives, and all rich Widow's, which greatly increased his Estate ; but he had no issue by the two former : Only by his last, Richord, Daughter of John Prouz, of Tiverton, he had Issue George, who had Issue Roger, whose daughter by her Marriage brought Tiverton Castle to her Husband, Robert Burgoin, Esq. : who had two sons Robert and William, who sold their Rights to the said Castle to Peter West, Esq. : whose Seat it now is ; a very Worthy and Loyal Gentleman, who has had the Honour to serve his Queen and Country in the Station of High-Sheriff, for the County of Devon." The present Lord of the Manor is Sir Walter Carew, of Haccombe, whose family have enjoyed the title since the year 1727. Most persons, however, will be more interested in the fortunes of the younger branch of the Carews, who have been settled at Bickleigh since the sixteenth century, and whose con- nection with Tiverton has been far more intimate. The founder of the line was Thomas Carew, who was a splendid specimen of English manhood, and whose gallant deeds well deserve to be THE MIDDLE AGES 37 cominemoratod. Thomas Carew, as we learn from Prince, was bora at Mohuiis Ottery, and was the second son of Sir Edmund Buiow Carew and his wife Catharine, daughter of Sir William Huddesfeild, Kt As to the date of his birth Prince is silent, nor can he inform us where or when this old-world hero died. Pull', whom Prince copies, says, " Humfrey Courtenay, a younger Sonne of Sit- Philip, dwelled at Bickleigh and left it unto Elizabeth lii.s daughter, whom Thomas Carew 2 sonne of Sir Edmund Carew, did marrye. This Thomas spent his tymes in the w arres, and over lived his wief, which had bestowed 0:1 him all her estate, and had by her issue, a son and a daughter." Prince has two anecdotes about Thomas Carew, both of which are worthy of insertion here. " The Scots " he remarks " tak- inij the advantage of King Hen. Sth's absence in France, invaded England, against whom Thomas Earl of Surry (whom the King had made his lieutenant in the north of his departure) raised a potent army of five and twenty thousand men ; unto whom, his son, the Lord Howard, Lord Admiral of England, having the King's navy at sea, brought a great supply of good Soldiers, well appointed for the war ; among whom \\as this Mr. Thomas Carew. The Earl marched his army from Newcastle, and pitched his boast beside a little town under Elodden Hill, a mountain lying in the North of Northumberland, on the borders of Scotland, betwixt the rivers of Till and Tweed ; on the, top whereof K. Jam. 4, with his Scottish forces, well near an hundred thousand men, lay so strongly encamped, that 'twas impossible to come near them without great disadvantage. Hefore the battle began, a valorous Scottish knight made a challenge to any English jrentleman, to fight with him for the honour of his country ; 1 suppose "twas the same, who by Mr. Speed is called Andrew Barton ; unto whom he tells us the Lord Admiral sent word he would in person justify his action against him and abide t(i the last di'op of blood in the van gard of the field. Mr. Carew begged the fav(jur of the Admiral, that he might be ad- mitted to the honour of answering the challenge It was granted him ; they both met in the place appointed; where to his high commendation and great endearment with the Lord Admiral ever after, >L\ Carew got the victory." Prince relates also the following story. " After the batt(d (of Elodden) was over my ]-(jrd 1 Admiral) taking Mr. Carew in company with him as he rode fi)ilii upon service, deserved a band of Scots coming towards tliem. The Admiral, at a very strait narrow passage of a bridg, was in danger to be entrapped and taken : to prevent which, Mr. Carew instantly entreated him to exchange his armour and martial attire with him, that by such means, if need were, he might make the (;asier escape ; to which the Admiral well con- sidering of soon consented to. The enemy coming on to this 38 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED narrow passage, Mr. Carevv, in his rich habit, well mounted, crossed the bridg with his horse ; and for a time so valiantly defended the same, that no man could pass ; that way gaining time, the numbers between them being very unequal, for the Lord Admiral's escape. However, Mr. Carew himself was at last taken prisoner." We have now to touch on what may be to some a less inter- esting subject, though for many generations it was incomparably more important than anything connected with the Lords of the Manor — the woollen trade -of Tiverton. It would appear that until the reign of Edward J II, the manufacture of wool, so far as England was concerned, was an unknown art That wise and politic monarch, in spite of the frequent wars in which he was engaged, well knew the value of commerce, and either at his invitation or at any rate with his full and free consent, John Kemp, a Flanders cloth-worker, settled in Kendal Green, West- morland. Others of same craft established themselves in Bristol, one of whom attained to so much celebrity that King Edward, it IS said, gave him the name of Webb. Another centre of the industry was Taunton, from which the woollen manufacture may have been introduced into Tiverton. This, of course, is only con- jecture, but the reader will do well to recollect in this connection the remarks which we made earlier in the chapter concerning " Germanic." So much enthusiasm was manifested for the pursuit in the reign of Edward 111. that it may be worth while to quote what Stowe in his Annals (p. :^o;->) has told us of it " In the same Parliament," he says, " 10 Edward III. A.D. 1336 (feast of Epiphanie) it was enacted, that no wool growing within the realm of England, should be transposed out of the same, but that it should be made into cloth in England, and that all Fullers, Weavers, and Cloath workers of everie degree, being sufficiently instructed, and cunning in their arte, from whatever country soever they come into England, shall receive and enjoy certaine priviledges, yea and moreover should live at the kinges charges out of the Exchequer, until they had provided commodiously to live by their art. Although this statute seemed at the beginning to be nothing profitable, yet in short times the art of Clothing increased so much thereby, that it was 20 times more used than before." Whatever, locally, may have been the beginnings of the woollen trade, in the early part of the sixteenth century (the period at which we obtain our first ghmpse of it) the manufacture had taken firm root in the town. The chief commodities were baize, plain cloth, and kerseys, and the enterprise of the merchants of Tiverton led them to form connexions, out of the British Isles, in Spain and Ireland. In this way some of the class arrived at great opulence, and, in particular, the wealth of John Greenway appeared to the inhabitants so fabulous that they could not THE MIDDLE AGES 39 account for it in an ordinary way, but ascribed it superstitiously to dream and treasure-trove. Greenway is called by Blundell a " Spanish Merchant." He adds:—" He was of very mean parentage, yet by the blessing of God and a diligent hand, he grew vastly rich. His particular employment at last was buying wool in Ireland and transporting it into England, which returned him a vast increase. A considerable part thereof, if not the whole, he laid out in works of piety and charity." In what these works consisted, I shall state presently. The charitable bequests and public donations of Tiverton form so extensive a list that 1 cannot in the present work hope to describe a tithe of them. In tiarding's supplementary volume we are treated to a discussion respecting them which occupies no less than two hundred and eighty pages ; and to this ample account I refer those of my readers who are desirous of fuller information than I can give. it w ould, however, be inexcusable were I com- pletely to ignore the charities, especially those which have been rendeied visible to the e\e in the form of buildings and exist as local features at the present day. The Town Lake and Elmore form a class apart both on account of their antiquity and peculiar characteristics. i have therefore assigned to them an inde- pendent notice. Possibly, however, I should have mentioned in conjunction with them the gift of the market tolls by Hugh Courtenay, second Earl, in the reign of Edward III. Like Elmore, this donation w as lost to the inhabitants for a time, but was eventually restored to them. First, then, as to the Gi'een^ay benefaction. John Greenway died in L')i^9, and by his will dated August 6, 21 Henry VIII., founded an almshouse in Gold-street, " for the habitation of five poor men, to have there continual abideing and habitation in the same, eveiy one of them to have in the house a siverall house and chamber by himself, and everyone of them to have weekly every week in the yere and yerely and weekly for ever, eight pence of good and lawfuU money of England, to pray dayley for me the said John Greenway, Johannah my wife, and for all Christian people."' His directions were that choice should be made of " such persons as be impotent and aged, not able to serve and get their livinge, and have not wherewith to iind themselves meat, drinke and cloths,"' On a vacancy arising the Church- wardens were charged with the duty of selecting a candidate from the inhabitants of Tiverton, or if there were none suitable, from the ad joining parishes : and for the support of the institution (ireenway beqiieathed a considerable property in lands and tenements. At the dissolution of religious houses in the time (jf Henry VIII. the Connnissioners drew up a report uhich, being a curiosity in its way, I reproduce verbatim el literatim : 40 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED " The yerelye value of all the landes and possessions belong- ing- or appertayning to the sayd Almeshouse called Greenway's Almeshouse, as by particular bookes thereof made more playnly appearythe . . . . . . xij xv x " For the almes of the sayd v poor men in II s. d. redye money at viiirf. ajDiece evrj'e weyke, yn the hole, by the yere, . . . . viij xiij iiij " For rente resolute yearly going owt of the sayd lands as well as to the Kings High- nes, xxiij,s. id., as to the Bay lyfE of the hundred there xij<^. in all by the yere, . . xxiiij j " For the keeping of one obyt yerelye . . iiij " For ye mayntenance of a lampe in the Churche of Tiyrton, . . , . v " For the rewarde of the Wardens Collec- tors of the sayd lands, according to ye tenor of ye foundation aforesaid, . . xx ■ X] VI V And so remayn clere to be used w* owt condition expressyd, xxix v " The value of the ornaments, Jewells, plate, goods, and chattals belonging or appertaining to the sayd Almshouse, as by particulare inventorys thereof made at large more playnlye shall appere." " xlijs. over and besyds a table of alabaster and one bell hanging in the west ende of the Chapel of the sayd almshouse." After the fire of 1731 three additional buildings were erected, and in 1841 ten more. The year following four fresh alms-houses were built by the Rev. Thomas Carew as a bonus for the exchange of a farm belonging to the charity for an estate of equal value elsewhere. Lastly, in 1888, a block, containing eight rooms, was erected.* The object in this instance was to provide for tiie widows of almsmen, who, on the death of their husbands, were formerly compelled to leave with little beyond parish pay for their support. Under the existing arrangement they are allowed to remain in undisturbed possession, while the new-comers who * This was effected by Messrs. Ellerton and Glendinning, the then Churchwardens, out of the accumulated income of the Charity. The conduct of tliese gentlemen compares favourably with that of two pre- decessors of theirs. I have in my possession Part I. of " A Complete List of All the Public Charities in connexion with the Borough aiul Parish of Tiverton," published in 18.j7. In this chronique scandcUeuse it is said that Mr. John Were and Mr, Somers were in succession elected Wardens, and that Mr. Were frequently remarked " The Almshouses cannot be erected, they injure my drying lofts." The writer adds, " being a tanner and a corporator the charity was more useful to procure bark and hide." As for Mr. Somers, he remarked "The houses for almsmen must be erected before I leave ofhce,'" but his Roman virtue went no further than words. THE :MIDDLE ages 41 would otherwise have ousted them are quartered in the eight rooms already mentioned. The modern buildings are situated at the back of the premises and do not call for description. The older portion, however, must not be passed over without some allusion to its architecture. We may say at once that it is not, at least the whole of it is not, the original fabric reared by John Greenway. The disastrous fire of 1731 played immense havoc with the Almshouses, which in 1732 were almost entirely re- built, and a third story was then added. Except for this a praiseworthy attempt was made to i-estore the building as much as possible in its ancient form. Some of the doorways and the figures of two saints, which had been rescued from the flames, were again placed in the building. One statue is that of St Peter, holding the keys of heaven, with the motto underneath " O, Snt Pt p for us " ; the other is St. Paul At the east end, apparently the original wall, is the figure of St. John the Evangelist . The general style of the building is Tudor. The chapel, which is in a good state of preservation, is 14 feet square and 17 feet high ; and the entrance is protected by a porch. The cornice, which is divided into twelve compartments, is ornamented with quatrefoil, each of which contains a device consisting of Green- way's arms, staple mark, and cypher; excepting the two last which bear the Courtenay arms and an eagle on the point of rising from a bundle of sticks. This emblem is understood to represent the phoenix. Beneath is inscribed the distich, Have Grace, ye Men, and ever pray For the sowl of John & Jone Grenwaye. The cornice of the porch is occupied by Greenway's staple- mark, below which the eagle and bundle of sticks are re- peated, together with the arms of England and of the Marquis of Exeter, who was Greenway's great patron. In the side of the building, under a Gothic niche is the abbreviated injunction : '• P ffor John and Jone Grw" ; and under the large window of the chapel is the inscription : Reste awhile ye that may, Pray ye for inc; nyite and daye. Greenway's excellent example was imitated by John Waldron. Waldronwas a merchant and born in the year 1520. Uidike Greenway, he seems to have been connected with a distinguished family— the Walronds of Bradtield, near Uffculme, whose pedigree dati.'S toth(' reign of Henry II. lie that as it may, he made a considerable fortune in trade, and in 1577 assigned part of his property to various trustees tor the benefit of eight poor persons, who were to receive twelve pence apiece weekly. As to 42 THE CHRONICLES OP TWrPORD the sort of persons whom Waldron wished to be elected, he leaves us in no kind of doubt. He declares that if they or any of them commit some notorious oif ence or cryme, or be of dissolute lyfe or dishonest conversation,' they are to be removed and replaced by others. In accordance with his directions Waldron's (or Western) Almshouses were erected in Wellbrook. As Waldron died in 1597 and there is an inscription on the building dated 1597, it is clear that at least part of it was erected during the life-time of the founder. The elevation is in style similar to Greenway's Almshouses, but the building is greatly disfigured by a plain wooden gallery which extends over the wh(jle of the front. (This was formerly the case with Greenway's Almshouses, but there the eye-sore has been removed). On the cornice was the following inscription : •' John Waldron, merchant, and Richord, his wife, Builded this house in the tyme of their life, At such tyme as the walls were fourtyne foote hye He departed this world even the eyghtynth of July, (1597), Since youth and life doth passe awaye And death at hand to end our dayes ; Let us do so, that men may saye We spent our goods God to preys." On the east wall is a wool-pack, having on it Waldron's staple- mark and a ship, and underneath is inscribed " Eemember the poor." Over the four doorways in the lower floor may be read, divided into four parts, this inscription : " Depart thy goods whyl — thou hast time, after— thy deathe they are not — thyne. God sav Queen Elizabeth.'' On the side of the steps is a quatrefoil containing in a shield Waldron's staple-mark and the words " Remember the poor." As regards size and appearance, the chapel is not very different from that in Gold-street. The cornice is composed of twelve parts, each of which bears Waldron's staple-mark or cypher, and beneath it is carved : " He that uppon the poore doth spende The goods that he hath heare. To God agen the same doth send. And paye the same with great increase." In front of the porch are the arms of Queen Elizabeth, with the letters E.R. ; and over the entrance-door of the Chapel are the founder's arms. There is a third alms-house in St. Peter-street founded in 1610 by George Slee " for the maintenance of six poor aged widdowes or maidens, of the Town or parish of Tyverton." The building is not known to possess any architectural beauty, but whatever charms it has are effectually concealed by an ugly, if convenient, wooden gallery. Before the Reformation Tiverton, considering its population, THE MIDDLE AGES 43 was certainly not badly off for places of worship. Apart from the Parish Church and its chantries there were no less than four chapels in the town : — that of St. Thomas in Fore-street, on the site of the Town Hall ; that of St. Andrew on the site of the former piison ; that of St. Peter, where the Independent Chapel now stands; and that of St. Mary on Exe-bridge. And within a short distance of the town were fourteen other chapels and oratories. Most, if not all of these, have long since disappeared, or, at any rate, have been converted to different use. AVith respect to St. Mary's Chapel we hear of its existence through an ancient deed executed in 1518 by David ap Thomas alias David Phelip, by which he left certain property to be expended in support of the lights and ornaments of the Parish Church and of the chapel of St Mary, on Tiverton Bridge, over the river Exe, and especially for the support and maintenance of the said bridge, that amongst its benefactors his soul might ever be re- membered in the bead roll of the said church and chapel. The subject of bridge-chapels is interesting. Other cases of the kind are those of London Bridge, Case Bridge, York, Salford, Bedford, Derby, Eotherham, AVakelield, and the great bridge of Swarkes- ton. Any one wishing for further particulars respecting them should consult Mr. Andrew's Old Church Lore. We have not yet done with John Greenway. He not only founded an almshouse, but a chapel and pqi'ch at St. Peters, as well as a considerable part of the south wall. Over the porch was formerly a sun-dial with the following mottoes : — "Every hour shortens life." "Nesciunt reverti — pereunt et imputantur." There also are carved the arms of Courtenay, quartering those of De Kedvers, impaling the arms of Catherine, Countess of Devon, youngest daughter of Edward IV. and surmounted by an eagle perched on a bale of sticks. The supporters are : dexter, a man in armour, having at his feet what would seem to be intended as a dragon ; sinister, a female figure. Harding, from whom most of these heraldic details are borrowed, observes that he is unable to draw any conclusion as to the meaning of them. At the risk of appearing rash, 1 cannot hcdp avowing my belief that they were designed to represent John and Joan Greenway. The motto is " In tyrae and space', god send Grace John Greenway to prforme yt yr hate begone." The frieze over the porch has six couipart- ments. Each is separated from the other by a figure, and in every compartment is carved some Scripture subject. One seems to be the conversion of St. Paul, another Christ rebuking the winds. 'J'iie whole of the front is embattled, while on the coi'bel line is a series of miniature carvings representing the life of Our Saviour. They occur in the folhjwing order : — Flight into Egy})t ; Christ in the Tt-mple among the Doctijrs ; Baptism of St. .John in the Kiver Jordan ; Our Saviour's Conunission to his Disciples; The Washing of Our Saviour's Feet by St. Mary Magdalen ; 44 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFOED Palm Sunday ; The Washing of the Disciples' Feet ; The Betrayal of Judas Iscariot ; Our Saviour in the Judgment Hall; The Buffeting ; The Clothing of Our Saviour in Mockery ; The Crowning with Thorns ; Judas carrying away the Thirty Pieces of Silver ; The Man of Cyrene bearing the Cross ; The Crucifixion ; The Descent from the Cross ; The Entombment ; The Deliverance of the Souls in Purgatory ; The Resurrection ; The Ascension. Throughout the front the mouldings are adorned with trade-emblems, interspersed with Greenway's arms, those of the merchant adventurers and drapers, st^iple-marks, cyphers, bales of wool, and galleys. At the east end of the chapel, slightly raised from the ground and shut in by iron rails are the arms and devices of Greenway and the Draper's Company. Over them is the motto " Whilst we think well and think t' amend, time passeth away and death's the end."' John Greenway founded this Chapel A.D. m d x v i i . Died A.D. mdxxix.* At the corner of the chapel are inscribed these mottoes : " God sped J.O." " Of your charitie pray for the Souls of John Grenway and his wyfe." " O Lord allway grant to John Grenway good fotue and gi'ace, and In heaven a place." So far the exterior. We now turn to the interior, from which the sacrilegious hand of the restorer has removed nearly all the interesting features. The epoch when this vandalism was perpe- trated was the year 1830, and Greenway's trustees, who were the authors of the mischief, were so insensible to their guilt that they put up their names in a niche. This must be regarded as small compensation for the treasures which the Chapel had con- tained. It is possible of course that the place was so dilapidated as to call for this interference, but as other old relics in the body of the church have similarly vanished, such a charitable construction would probably be undeserved. And now, as old writers used to say, " to work."' Originally the chantry was separated from the south ai.sle by a Gothic screen, on the top of which were iron spikes indicating, it has been supposed, the position of statuettes. It was full of curious carvings and, like the chapel, was richly gilt. Round the wainscoting is some handsome Gothic tracery, in the parcels of which there were formerly paintings, while on the wall was the following inscription : " To the honour of St. Christopher, St. Blaze and St. Anne, This chapel by John Grenwaye was began." * This inscription is evidently modern. THE MIDDLE AGES 45 The pictures may have been coeval with the chapel itself. Such a mode of decorating; churches was by no means uncommon in the Middle Ages, and specimens of the art still exist. In 1883 a List of Buildings Jiavinr/ Mxral Decorations was published by the Science and Art Department, and in the introduction to this the entire subject is discussed.* On the floor is a large stone which covers Greenway's vault. "This stone" remarks Dunsford "was ornamented with curious sculpture of animals, flowers, &c., and on the edges of it were fillets of brass, on which were engraved, in old characters, the following : ' Of your charite prey for the souls of Jone and Joan Grenwaye, his wife, which died and for their faders and moders, and for their friends and their lovers ; on them Jesu have mercy : amen. Of your charite say Pater-noster and Ave.' " The same stone bears brasses representing the founder and his wife in the costume of the period. Their hands are lifted in prayer and from their lips issued the words inscribed on brass labels which have long since been torn away : " O then to thee we praye, have mercy of John Grenwaye." And " then to thee we praye have mercy of Joan Grenwaye." There are marks showing that the chapel once contained another brass with an inscription, but to whom this referred we cannot say. At each corner were shields of brass, but the only one which remains is that bearing the Merchant Adventurers Arms with the words " Pray for John Grenwaye." Over the south entrance of the church is a carved representation of the Assumption or God blessing the Virgin Mary. Under the feet of the latter is a crescent or half-moon which is emblematical of the Virgin ; and on either side are the figures of John and Joan Greenway. Until the year 1820, or thereabouts, Greenway's Almsmen, as it was right and fitting for them, occupied places in his chapel. This work is not intended exactly as a guide-book, but as I have entered with some detail into the subject of the chantry, it would hardly be consistent if I were to conclude the chapter without some passing allusions to the church proper. Con- cerning this something has been already said in an earlier page, where, however, 1 touched only on the fabric. I have now to add a few particulars respecting the interior. Each of the four portions seems to have had a separate altar, and a stone slab which is now in the church may have formed part of one. The chancel was separated from the nave by a rich Gothic screen which Blundell says was the gift of John Greenway. At the west-end of the Church was a seat appropriated to the use of excommunicated persons. These are all the facts which 1 can * " TlH;re wore also " says Dunsford, " some good drawings hy Warwcll in tlip year 174'.i, particularly a portrait of St. I'eter, of natural size and well-executed, besides some Scripture sentences." 46 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD discover with regard to the furniture of the church in mediaeval times. In a later chapter I shall refer to the organ and the aspect of the church generally after the Restoration. In discussing pre-Reformation affairs I cannot omit to allude to the interesting subject of 'obits' or prayers for the dead. The reader, I think, will be grateful for the following excerpt from the last will and testament of William Selake, dated 10 August 1524. He requires of his trustees that they " doo cause in all godely hast an honest Chapelyn to be conductid and hired to synge and pray dailly in his masse to be said and songe att pytte awter in the pisshe Church of Seynt Peter att Tyvton f orsaid .... and if my said f eff eis and their heires heraf ter can fynde the menys, that a dayly masse of our blessed lady may be said and songe by note in the said Churche at a certyn howre w* the pristes and clerks of the said Churche for the tyme beyng and w* the orgones, to the honor of God, our blessed lady, and Seynt Peter, patron of the said Churche, and to pray for the helth of my saule, my fader, my moder, my wife, our childryn, and all christyn saules, for the sum of ten pounds sterling." Whit Sunday, 1549, is a memorable day in the annals of the Church of England, being the date fixed by an act of Edward VI. for introducing the Book of Common Prayer. This edict produced a great commotion in Devonshire, where the adherents of the Pope were unusually strong. It led indeed to actual insurrection. Exeter was besieged by the rebels who were only with difficulty suppressed. Tiverton also was the scene of con- flict. It seems that a dispute arose over the christening of a child at Sampford Peverell. The old men were in favour of the ancient rite, while the young men declared for the Protestant ceremony. Matters grew so warm that a battle royal was fought on Shrinkhills, and " the king's army taking several of them prisoners, many were hanged and quartered." The reign of Queen Elizabeth is notable, from a local point of view, for a remarkable increase in the population of the town. Whereas from 1560 to 1566 the inhabitants were about 2,500, at the beginning of 1591 the number has risen to 5,000 or double what it had been thirty years before. This, we can hardly doubt, implies a corresponding advance in the prosperity of the place. The last event to which I shall allude, before bringing this abnormally long chapter to a close, is the visitation of the plague in 1591. It is said to have been introduced by a pedlar bearing the appropriate name of Walker. At the end of the parish register (book I.) we find written " Note, dyed in the Plague 1591 about 500 people, page 145," and on the page in question the burials are headed " These same dyed of the Pestilence." To escape the disease hundreds fled the town, and as an old MS. has it " the grass grewe in the streetes and lanes." THE GREAT FIRES Ill The Great Fires YIY-IVERTON has experienced the misfortune on three ^kr^ separate occasions of being almost entirely burnt down. ''^^^ As two of these conflagrations occurred soon after the period of which I have just been treating, I propose to deal with them collectively here. Possibly it will add to the interest if, instead of giving a modern version of these tragic and calamitous events, I transcribe some contemporary pamphlets of which copies have been preserved, and in which the circumstances are described with a wealth of language and a vivacity of feeling which I should in vain seek to imitate. The date of the first great Are is 1598, that of the second 1612, while the third took place very much later, in 1731. Here, then, is a record of the first fire. Cjjc true lammtablc bi^cour^s^c of tfjc Ijutnmg of €cuccton in HDcuon-^tjirc tljc tf)irti Dap of ^Cpril Wt pa^t about tl)c tjoucr of one of ti^t €iotht in t\)t ^Hftcr-noone, being m}athct bap, 1598 At what time there was consumed to Ashes about the Number of 400 houses, with all the Money and goods that was therein ; and Fyftie persons burnt aliue through the vehemencie of the same Pyer. 50 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD €l)c lamentable ^^pople of €cucrton Tt is not unknowne to many and chiefly English Marchants that the Towne of Teuerton in Deuon-Shire, about ten Myles on this side Exceter, was the chiefe Market for Cloth, that is in all the West parts of England ; pleasantlye situate upon the cleere running Kyuer of Exe, garnished with manye costlye and goodlye buildinges, inhabited with diuers rich and wealthy Marchants ; and so well peopled, as no other Towne (of the same bignesse) in all those quarters, could compare therewith : And by reaso of y* Market kept therein every Monday for Cloth and other com- modities, it was greatly frequented of the Countrey people neere adjoyning, especially of Clothiers and such other persons as had any dealinges therein : where they were sure of sale, and to have present Money for their commodities were it neuer so much, where alwayes before dinner, they had their Coyne truely payde, which was no small benefit to all the poore Men of the West partes, as Weauers and Tuckers and such like : But such is the mutabilitie of fortune and the uncertaintie of our Mortall state : that no man can make assurance of that hee bathe nor warrant his owne welfare one minute of an bower, as by this following example, and many other like is manifest : Eor we may bee well assured, that the Third daye of Aprill last, when the rich Inhabi- tants of Teuerton rose in the Morning : Nay, when they were in the Market at Noone they little thought that before night their wealth should have been turned into such want : but now behold a thing more wonderf ull : he which at one a clocke was worth Eiue Thousand Pound, & as the Prophet saithe, * drunke his Wine in bowles of fine Siluer plate, had not by two a Clocke so much as a woodden dish left to eate his Meate in, nor a house to couer his sorrowfull head, neyther did thys happen to one man alone, but to many other, being neyther in danger of the crueltie of warrs, nor on the seas, where they might feare the furie of waters. But when they thought themselves secure, and farre from any imynent perill, in prime of the bright daye, not when their Towne was emptie, but when their streets swarmed with store of people, not when they were asleepe or naked in their beds, when tbey could not shift for themselves : but when they were awake, apparelled and fit for any businesse ; Lothen (I say) sodenly, as it were in a twinkling of an eye, came that great griefe upponthem, which turn'd their wealth to miserable want, & their riches to unlookt-for-pouertie : and how was that ? Mary Sir by Pyer. But no fier from Heaven, no unquenchable fier, such as worthily fell on the sinfull Citie of Sodome and Gomorra : but a * The author alludes to the Prophet Amos, vi. 6. "(Men) that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments ; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." THE GEEAT FIEES 51 sillie flash of fier, blazing forth of a frying pan, the circumstance whereof I will briefly shew you. The fier first began at the West end of the Towne, on the fardest side of the sayde faire Riuer, about one a clocke in the after noone : in the very prime, and chiefe of the Market when people were most busiest in the sale of their commodities. For there was dwelling in a little lowe thatcht house a poore beggarly woman, who hadde got a companion fit for her purpose, I meane another woman of the like condicion. And they together went to bake pan-cakes with strawe : for their abillitie and prouission was so good, that there was no wood in the house to doe it. And as they were busie about their cookerie sodenly the fier got into the Pan, which also caught present hould on the strawe lying hard by, by meanes whereof the house being very low', was by the high blaze of the strawe fiered in the verye roofe, which by the force of an extreame high wind which blew strongly in y'' West, kindled with such vehemencie that there was no help for the same, the fier wherof tooke hould of a certaine hay-house neere adjoyning, and from thence it paste to the Towne milles. The winde blowing still fiercely did driue the fier into the Towne, & by this meanes in less then halfe an hower the whole Towne was set on fier, and after burnt : except the Church and Court-house, which sometime belonged to the Earle of Deuonshire. But marke what followed : men would have thought, that upon a Market day, when euery street was so well replenisht with people, from all parts, there had been help enough quickly to have quencht the flame thereof, hauing also the commoditie of a ryuer neere adjoyning : But it came not so to passe : for they had neyther hookes nor buckets fit for such service, which all other wise and discreete Citizens doe politicquely prouide against such casualties, which might haue been a meanes of their preser- uation. Notwithstanding, it is sayd that the chiefe of the towne had often been in hand, to make such prouision ; but never brought it to effect, for housoeuer it was well motioned, it was ill remem- bred, the want whereof they now felt to their great sorrow and cost : for whether it were couetousnesse, or negligence, or both which in these dayes is the cause of great euil, it is certaine they vviire destitute of such engines, the misse whereof when they found, then all too late they bewailed their approued follie : which was undoubtedly God's iust Judgement for their iniquities : by the wliich let all other Townes take example. Whereby we may gather, it is not in Man's power to preuent with strength of hand, the least plague which y'= Lord doth purpose to bring on any place. For you shall understand that all that day the; wind being at West-8outh-west & blowing extreame hard, the power thereof was so great, high, and vehement, that it inforest the kindled flame to rise most fiercely, beating Ji2 52 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED the same toward the Towne in most outragious sort ; so that by the time the people with all expedition hadd gathered unto that place to quench the furie thereof, beholde ere they wist the fier had taken hould in the Principall place of the Towne, and by that time they came backe againe and got thither they perceaued other houses to burne in like manner : so that while manye were busie in helping their neighbours, their owne houses was in as ill a case. Then began the crie to growe most grieuous in euery part of the Towne, the mighty winde still increasing the furie of the inraged fier : here stood, one man crying for helpe, there another, another, and another : wringing their hands and making great la men- tation ; more and more the number increased, insomuch that the people were so amazed, they knew not which way to turne, nor where the most neede was. The fier increased so fast, grew so vehement, and spread so far, that at least there was about 400 houses on fier at once, so that euery man was glad to shift for himself e, and so nere as he could, to saue his owne life, but all in vaine, for he which euen now rested in hope, his house should escape the daunger, in the turning of a hand, had all on fier about his eares, the winde beating the flambe in their faces : all which came still so sodenly, that there was no remedy to be had for the same. Most dreadfull was the noyse which was then heard in euery corner and streete of the Towne, women piteously screeking, maydens bitterly crying, and children roaring out of measure, the mother running to saue her children, the husband for the wife, neighbor, calling for neighbor, friend, for friend, while they were beaten out of the towne with raging flames of fier. For so ex- treame, and outragious did the fier passe from house to house, there was no looking to saue their goods : no way to preserve them from destruction, for all the Cloth in the market, wares in their shops, goods and houshold stuffe, money, plate, apparell, and bedding, yea all was burnt and nothing sav'd and which is more to bee lamented, diuers townsmen did hazard themselves so farr within the daunger of the fier, to saue some part of their goodes, that they neuer returned backe againe, but were there most pitiously burned to death, and consumed to ashes : Diuers of them being of the best men of the Towne : Many children and other feeble persons was burnt in the houses, yea horses and other Cattell in stables and backe places, with all their corne and victuall. Among the rest there was an old blinde man burnte, named Nicholas Hartnell, whom his friendes hadd brought foorth of his bed, & layde him for his better saftie in the Market house, but while they were making shift for themselves in some other sort before they could returne againe, the poore man was by fier turned into ashes. THE GEEAT EIEES 53 There was in like manner one Land and his Wife which were founde lying in the streete arme in arme, burnt to death, but not quite consumed ; At what time there was founde lying between them fiue Pound in Gold with the which as it seemed they sought to flie away : But being smothered by the smoke and fiers flame, they hadde their passage wofuUye stayed : there was found the sculles and bones of many more. Likewise one Beeres wife a woman of good reputation, was burnt in y*^ street : And also one widow Prouse before she could get out of her owne doores suffred the like tormenting death. Then well apayd was that Man that had y^ benefit to keepe himselfe and his familie from danger : so that for the hast they made to get away into the fieldes, they ouerthrewe and tumbled downe one another in their passage forth. The Tyles by the heate of the fier, flew cracking from the houses, like as it had been a company of wel-charged Muskets ratthng against some sconce : * And againe to heare the houses cracke and the burned tymber fall down with might and maine, made the verye hearts of the people to shake for feare. When in shorte space after, they sawe whole houses tumbling to the grounde, after they had awhile stood tottering too and fro with the mighty blastes of the South- West winde. At what time it was hard to say, whether their sorrow or feare was greatest, when they behelde their goodes burnt to ashes and hearde the thundering noyse of the falling houses, which caused y^ firme earth to quake and tremble under theyr feet. Truely whosoever doth enter into consideration hereof, must needes acknowledge, their case to be most lamentable, and their sorrow unspeakable, during the time of this terrible fier ; the rage whereof lasted not aboue one bower and a halfe, and yet in that small space, had it burnt to ashes, (as I sayd before) above the number of Poure Hundred houses : most of them belonging to the wealthiest Men in the Towne, with all the goods that were in them, so that althesustantiall townsmen were constrained to lye in the fieldes with their wofuU wiues & children, and to lodge themselves on the cold ground, that in the morning had choyce of beds to goe unto : such was their sodaine wracke, and hard fortune. * Sconce means a fort or bulwark. " Such fellows are perfect in the great commanders' names, and they will learn you by rote where services were done ; at such & such a sconce at such and such a breach" — Shakespeare, Henry V. " Sconce call you it ? So you would leave battering, I had rather have it a head : an you use these blows lon(^, I must get a sconce for my head and ensconce it too ; or else I shall seek my wit in my shouiders." Comedy of Errors, Act II., Sc : 2. — The word is often, found in Shakea- peaxe. 54 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED Therefore it is a vaine thing to trust in the uncertaintie of worldlye riches, which being gotten with bravell, and kept with care, is notwithstanding sone lost, being in hazard of a Thousand dangers : And therefore most happy and blessed are they, which according to the counsaile of the holy Ghost, doe lay up their treasure in Heauen, where it can perish by no perrill, that can happen, but doth euer remayne safe in the sure keeping of the Lord God of hoastes. Before the fier was fully ended, and diligent search made, there was founde lacking as it is verye credibly reported an Hundred persons or there-about, of the which number (as 1 haue alredy mentioned) diuers were found dead in ye streets, shoppes and houses, I meane in the place where shoppes, and houses late be- fore stoode. The residue of the wofull people remaining yet aliue being ouerburdened with extreame sorrow, runs up and downe the fieldes like distraught and frantick men, being driuen (as before is mentioned) to shroud themselves under trees and hedges, lying on the bare grounde : Moreouer they are so greatlye distrest for lacke of food, that they seeme to each mannes sighte more liker spirits and Ghostes, then lining creatures : Likewise it is by wise men verilye thought that the losses of thys Towne, wil not be recouered againe, vnder Three or Four hundred Thousand Poundes, But you shall understande, that notwithstanding all the force of this consuming fier, there is yet some Twenty houses pre- serued, the dwellings of poore and sillie men : And certaine almes houses, which is a most rare and strange thing : For as divers Marchants of this Citie is creadibly certified by letters, that the fier inuiornd those sillie Cottages on euery side, burning other houses to the grounde which stood about them, and yet had they no hurt at all* Surely if wee shoulde enter into consideration hereof, we coulde not chuse but confess, that this was the ouely worke of God, to make his power manifest to men, as hee did in delyuering the Three Children out of the fierie furnace, euen so did he to pre- serue those poore persons with their houses and goodes, for some speciall cause best known to himselfe, according to that holy canticle sung by the blessed Virgin Marie : he hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he sent empfcie away. It is said of some y^^ this was a punishment of God brought upon that Towne, for their unmercifulnesse, and small regard of the poore, which were dayly seene to dye and perish in their * Dunsford saw in 1790 on the boards of a ruinous house in Elmore the date 1587. The houses in Elmore (one of the worst parts of the town) appear to have escaped aU the great fires. THE GEEAT FIRES 55 streets for lacke of reliefe : * poore Lazarus laye unregarded at the rich mans gate, and could not get one little morsell of meate to cherish his hungry heart : therefore (if it were so) y* was the iust iudgment of God, that they which through couetousness would not part from any thinge, should sodenly lose all : For there was not so much as one peece of Timber left, of all those Foure hundred houses, but all were consumed to ashes, except some few chimneys, and stone walles whych are monuments of the Towne's ruine. Whereby it is come to passe, that those rich Marchantes, that earst scornd to grace a poore mans house with his presence, is nowe glade to requeste his fauour for the worst cornere in their cottage, where they may remaine in this their misery ; which may bee a good warning for all other men of the like abilitie, how they contemne and dispise the poor members of Christ houlding them in disdaine, whom God hath oppresfc with pouertie. t O famous London, thou that flowest in wealth, and abound- est in Eiches : Thou which art the chiefe Lady-cittie of this Land, whose fame soundeth through al Christian Kingdoms, cast thy deere eyes on this ruinous Towne ; consider her fall, and pitie her distresse, learne by her calamitie to loke into thyself e, examine thy conscience and see whether thou hast deserued the like plague or no : giue thou example of true contricion, and as thou art chiefe in glorie, bee thou chiefe in grace, that God may long and many yeares uphould thy prosperous estate. Yea let all the goodly Cities and Townes, which beautifies the westerne plat of this florishing Hand, looke upon their wofull Sister Teuerton, \\ho lately did braue it wyth the best, and thought her selfe nothing inferior to the fayrest : But now she sittes clad in mournfuU weedes, having her faire heade couered with pale ashes, her bravery converted to beggerie, her glory to disgrace, and all her mirth into moane : So that there is nothing seen but lamentation and complainte. Oh Teuerton, well may thy friends crie ouer thee (as sometime J great kinges did over Babilon) saying, alas alas for that proper Town of Teuerton, that wealthie and rich Towne, for at one bower is thy judgment come : thy Marchants may now weep and morne for no man buyeth ware in thee anye more. Consider this thou faire citie of Exceter, thou which art next neighbor to this distressed Town, which has (as it were) the * Wyott iu his Diary (Book 1 p. 2:5.) corroborates this ; he says — " The report gocth, that the rich Men of the Towne were unmerciful to the poor and suffered them to die in the streets for want, and it might be digitus Dei." t This apostrophe to London is quite prophetic of " the like plague " which befel her on the 2nd of Sept. 1GG6. I RevelatiouBX'viii., 10, 11, 56 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED smoke of her fier, jet before thy face, and her lamentations rynging lowde in thy eares ; pitie her heauie happe, that knowes not what miserie hanges ouer thy owne head. And let me speake to thee, thou Towne of Plymouth, whose stately buildinges ouer-peareth the hilles, casting their prospects upon the mounting waues : take warning by Teuerton and turne thy many vices into vertues, least God turn from thee his great and mighty blessinges. Sinne is the cause of many sorrowes : and ungodliness ye ground-worke of aU intollerable griefe : yet if wee shoulde thinke that the people of Teuerton were the greatest transgressors, because they have suffered the greatest punishment, of the towne in the West : we shoulde think much amisse : For as our Sauviour Christ said unto the Jewes, suppose not that those on whom the Tower of Silo f ele, were greater Sinners then the rest, but except you repent you shall likewise perish. So say I to you and all other Citties and Townes in England, thinke not that the Inhabitants of Teuerton did surpasse all other in wickednesse, because they exceede all other in woe : but it hath pleased God to punish them for your instruction, that behoulding their fall you may feare to offende, and learne by theire miserie, your owne speedy amendment. For what is he which passeth by this Towne, and earst knew the florishing state thereof, seeing now her lamentable spoile : but many bee prouoked to crie with Jeremie, and saye of Teuerton, as hee * spoke of Jerusalem : Alasse, how desolate sitteth this towne, that sometime was full of people : how is shee become lyke a widowe sorrowful, heauie, and comf ortlesse, which lately was had in good regard, and famous among all her families, she weepeth sore in the night, and her teares run downe her cheeks in great abundance. But it is easie for all men to say this : to shake their heades and crie alack alack : But a hard matter to make benefit thereof, and to be warned by their neighbor's harmes : Notwithstanding let all distressed people know, that whosoeuer faithfully trusteth in God, shall neuer be forsaken : well may they sustaine sorrow, but they shall not be left in miserie. The Lord that brought them low, can rayse them againe aloft, as it is manifest by Jobes affliction. Therefore God graunt wee may take patiently those Fatherly corrections which He layeth upon us : knowing that all the miseries of this life, is not worthy of the least ioye, which is prepared in Heauen for the sonnes of men : Unto the which place Christ Jesus bring us, that by his blood so deerely bought us. > Amen. * Lamentations i., 1, 2. THE GEEAT FIEES 57 The Tiverton register thus records the occurrence : " These p(er)sons whose names heer following, were burned w*^ the fire iij day of Aprill A° dm 1598 in the f ourtieth yeare of our most gratious Queen Elizabeth's Mamies raigne." the daught^' of Georg James PhilHp Thomas Lande thelder Jone the wife of Thomas Land Nicolas Hartnoll thelder Mrs. Prowse, widdow Mary,the wief of Martyne Beere Mary, the wief of Jn" Ellis Jone, the daughf of Jn" West Katharin, the daughf of Jn° Lock Katherin Weaver, widdow Christopher, suant to Wm. Gregg Eichard Dyer, suant to the widdow Glover Mary Morrel, suant to Nicolas Hartnoll Christopher,thesonnof Edward Dalle Jone, the wief of Edward Sterton Thomas, the sonn of the widdow Sterton Elizabeth, the daughf of Francis Perkine William, the sonn of Jn" Ellis Jone, the daughf of William Eeed Their remains were collected and buried in the Church-yard in one grave. From Strype's Life of Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury we glean further particulars respecting this dire event. He tells us that 400 houses were destroyed, that goods were lost to the value of £150,000, that 900 householders were ruined, and that 50 " Christians " perished in the lire. The calamity excited universal horror and great efforts were made to relieve the sufferers. To this merciful object the Quetm contributed .£5,000, while the Arciibishop addressed a circular letter to the ]'ishops and Clergy bespeaking th(nr liberality on ])(ihali' of the unfortunat(^ people of Tiverton. The judges on circuit also exerted their powerful influence to procure help. The result must have been a hearty and generous response, for in a few years the eifects of the disaster had been completely wiped out, and Tiverton was again prosperous. Something, however, of this must be set down to Elinor, Slee Eaff e Frost, laborer Jone, the wief of Eaife Frost Ellen, the wief of Vincent Kingwell The old Alee, suant to the widdow Boubeer Thomas, the sonn of James Smyth Hugh, the sonn of Smyth Elizabeth, the daughf of Jn° Bellmye Thomas, the sonn of Tucker Alee, suant to Eobert Farmer Jone, the daughf of Wm. Chilcot Thomas, the sonn of the widdow Parker Jone, the daughf of Elizabeth Webber Hugh, the sonn of the widdow Parkhouse Tamsyn, the daughf of George Eamster 58 THE CHEONICLES OE TWYFOED the energy of her inhabitants, to her natural advantages (the two rivers supplying the motive power for driving the looms), and to her previous wide reputation. Like Penelope's web, all this work of repair was soon entirely undone. In 1612 another terrible fire occurred, of which the reader shall acquaint himself with the details from the following tract WOFVLL NEWES From the West-parts of England, TEIJERTON, IN DEUONSHIRB Vpon the fift of August last, 1612, Whereunto is annexed, the former burning of the aforesaid Towne, the third of April, 1598. • 59 THE ^Jamcutiibk §vKutttg OF TEUERTON ^i^^NGLAND (I am sure) (with griefe I speak it) hath not yet jlTJi^ forc^otten, the fore-passed lamentable spoyle of the towne -^"^ of Teuerton by fire, in the yeere of our Lord 1598. The Inhabitants whereof beinc^ scarse recovered of their losses then received, and the towne builded up againe to her former Estate, when a second sorrow, exceeding the first, hath now hapned through the fury-, of that mercilesse Element, that consuming seruant of the world, the subiect of man. Fire. I meane, which being kept under, without getting too rigorous a head, proues obedient to all our needful vses, (without which we could not liue) but obtaining the vpperhand, growes rebellious, and ruinates where it comes, as lately the tyranny thereof was shewed upon the now twice consumed towne of Teuerton, being the chiefe market in Deuon-shire for cloath, and meeting of Merchants. This Towne standeth some tenne miles from the Citie of Exeter, pleasantly situate upon the cleare running Riuer of Exe, garnished with many costly and beautifull buildings, as houses of Merchants and wealthy Citizens: peopled witli diuers sorts of Trades-men and Artificers, and furnished with such rich valewed commodities, as it rather seemed a Citie of Traffiquethen a Towne of ordinary iMarket. To say truth, no other Towne of the same bignesse, in all the Westerne parts might compare therewith : all which wealth statelinesse and beautie, had this goodly Daughter of England, decked her selfe with, since the afore-said subuersion, and now carelesse of the like mischance, (Jod in his anger, hath visited her againe, and with his briglit-burning instrument of wrath, conuerted and changing her brauest buildings to heapes of smoaking Ashes. This is the uncertaintie of our mortall Estate : Fortune (we see) is mutable, and no man is sure of one dayes prosperitie. But now to our wofuU discourse : and thus in ill time it hapned. (Jpontlie fift day of August last, 1012, being the day appointed by the King.^ Maiestie, to be kei)t holy, and spcMit in Prayer and other godly exercises, as in praysing the (iuidcir of all things, for his Ilighnesse moat happy proseruation, from Gowi-io's Con- 60 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYEOED spiracie : this being a day of Eecreation for Seruants, a resting time for young men from labour, and an afternoone of merry and honest meetings, which caused the young people of the Towne to flock together, challenging that day as their ovvne, with hopes of well-speeding pleasure, little fearing the lamentable and sodaine accident that foUowed, For, there dwelt in the aforesaid Towne of Teuerton neare unto a Bridge, called Exebridge, a certaine Dyer or Colour-maker, who (notwithstanding the celebration of the Holy-day) kept his Eornace going for the dying of Cloathes, and left the charge thereof unluckely to a Boy : which boy hauing more minde on play, then care of his Masters businesse, made more haste then good speede and purposing to be the sooner amongst his companions, hastned his fires exceedingly, and at one time put under his Tornace, too great a number of Furres, or Bauens, the quicklier to make it boyle : * but this post-haste had haplesse euent, and made too violent a flame, more then the Furnace could containe, an un- quenchable flame, a flame of confusion, a flame of subuerson, a spoyling flame, and an undooer of many hundreds of good people : for first, being past the recouerie of the carelesse or rather grace- less Boy, it sodainly tooke hold of the Dyers house, couered and thatched with straw, too much dryed by reason of this parching Summer, that it, as it were, euen yeelded itselfe as a fit and apt nourishment for the strengthening the quicke deuouring rage of this most tyranous Element. Thus the fire being increased, all with sparkling blazes ceazed upon the next house, then upon another, after that upon a fourth, and so upon many, to the great fright and amazement of all the inhabitants, consuming more and more beyond the help of man, such was the rigour and raging fiercenesse of this bright-burning and most terrible fire. This hapned not in the night 'Season, whilest men slept, nor when they were absent from their houses,t but in the very day time, when their streetes swarmed with people, when their youths were sporting, euen in the af ter-noone at foure of the clocke, and that in a moment, as it were in the tvvinckling of an eye, came this heauie griefe upon them, which turned their wealth into miserable want, their riches into unlookt for pouertie, and their mirth into sodaine sorrow. * Blundell, in his Memoirs p. 12. gives the following account of the origin of this fire. " As Patey's servant was dying of wool a Boy coming into the dye-house sat two dogs a fighting, which the servant minding, and carelessly neglecting the furnace, the fuel that was in the room caught fire, and got so much a head, that it could not be extinguished." f King James's brief says ; that it was the time of the assizes at Exeter, and that most of the principal inhabitants were there. THE GEEAT EIEES 61 Here beganne the wofuU cry of fire, fire : fire were the cryes o£ old and young ; no noyse thundred about the streetes, but fire, fire, in euery place were heard the voyces of fire : then, water, water, that contrary Element was called for, yet all in vaine, the fire preuailed, and iDootelesse were the labours of woe-tyred people then bestowed. Still burned house after house, building after building, and no succour, but wringing of hands, wailings, and feare-full out-cries by men, women, and children : woe was on euery side, and in euery mouth nothing but lamentations. And now (in griefe of soule) to speake truth, as the fire en- creased, the winde assisted, and boysterously blew it from street to street, consuming, wasting, and ruinating all as it went, with- out sparing eyther dwelling-house, ware-house, shoppe, cellar, barne, stable, or any other thing whatsoever, that might yeeld fewell to this outragious Consumer, which hke a commanding Tyrant, passed along the High-streete of the Towne, and there with his red-flaming fury, wasted both houses and goods, to the utter undoing of many Merchants, and Trades-men, their wires and children. Eich and poore lost all they possessed, yea, those which in the morning were worth thousands, by night, had neyther gold, siluer, plate, nor house there to goe unto : no, scarce a garment left to weare, but onely those upon their backes. In this streete it is truely reported, that the fire consumed in houses, houshold-stuffe, goods, and commodities, the valew of fiftie thousand pound. Oh losse without recouerie ! Oh griefe without comfort ! Oh dole without end ! how dost thou breede the owners cares and miseries ? Had the raging tempest of this sulphuring fire hei*e ended, though very great it was, yet reasonable had beene the burthen of this townes calamitie, but it unresistedly forraged diuers other streetes, being the seates and dwelling places of many wealthy householders, as saint Peters-streete, beautified with many costly and comely buildings, Bampton-streete, Barrington-streete, saint Andrewes-streete, with diuers other lanes, and backe-places, the capitall graces of this now decayed Towne : here, at one time burned they all : all in one fire, gaue light to the whole Countrie. This blazing beacon sunnnoned in neighbouring inhabitants for helpe, but helpe too late presented it selfe, and too lat(; lamented the wofuU ruine of blacke-burned Teuerton, which stood smoking in her firie-red mantle, like the blazing towers of destroyed Jllium. This was a day of heauinesse, a day of griefe, a day of moane, a day of destruction, when the owner saw his goods burne before his face, his estate brouglit to naught, and liis nuuiy yeeres of cares to gather for his w ife and children thus unhappily wasted. Oh what a griefe it was to relenfull hearts, to be made there the heauie witnesses of the burning of new built houses, ware-houses, and shops, stuffed full of cloath, all on fire, Garners of corne 62 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED flaming, rich houshould-stuffe, as bedding, linnen, woollen, silkes, veluets, brasse, pewter, and such unvaluable necessaries, all trans- formed to heapes of cole-black synders, spectacles of calamitie, and true prospects of this world's uncertaintie. If with the eye of pittie we can endure to behold this beautiful Towne turned into a Cbaos of confusion, without teare-bestained cheekes, wee shall be thought more hard-hearted than untamed Panthers : they by nature will rue at the hurts of their own kinde, and shall not wee being men, replenished with reason and understanding, and much more being Christians, mourne for the loss of these our neighbours, and Christian brethren, who ranne amazedly up and downe the streetes, proposing to helpe others, while in the meane time their own fired, and in short time lost the name of an house, and became nothing else, but a mixed heaps of ashes, synders, and tymber halfe burnte. Who could endure without heart grieving sobs to behold people in this ouer-toilesome labour, venter their hues desperately betwixt two houses, combating together with thundring flames of fire. And most assuredly great doubt there is, but that some haue lost themselues in the same adventer, and are become the careless sacrificers of their own Hues, but as yet none are knowne to be so cast away, yet diuers are missed, supposed to be trauelled abroad, which if such goode lucke be, wofull will be their returne, when they shall come to be eye-witnesses of their owne pouerties. But this is most certainly knowne, and credibly verified, by many sad beholders of that wofull accident that in the heate of the fire, and in the greatest rage thereof, one friend had lost another, the husband the wife, the wife the husband ; the father his Sonne, the sonne his father ; mothers crying fortheir children, and children for their mothers, amazedly running up and downe, neighbour calling for neighbour, friend for friend, till the heating flashes of the unruly flames had forced each of them to shifte for his owne life. But now returne we againe, to owr sorrowful subject, the true matter of lamentation, this consumed towne of Teuerton, this gallant market, and late glorie of Deuonshire, being brauely beauti- fied with a number of plentifull Orchards, and pleasant springing Gardens, the delights of Gentlemen, and people of best fashion. These ornaments of content (I say) had most of their fruits and flowers pitifully scorched, and put into the liuerie garment of this ruinating Tyrant, mercilesse fire. Was it not a sight of dole ; to behold the mossy barkes of fruit- full Trees, forcibly forsake their naturall colours, and their broad branches loaden with green leaues, and neere ripened fruits, withered and dryed up, through the extremitie of this flaming heate, the springing grasse, couering the lowly earth in Gardens, grasse-plots, orchards, and walking alleyes, had the like sable ornaments, and in dumbe sorrow, lamented the vigour of this THE GEEA.T FIRES 63 wasting conquerour, and leueller o£ Townes and towers ; yea, all things within the compasse of this unfortunate Teuerton, serued to feede the devouring flames of this outragious consumer. I must here call to minde many silly creatures, as Geese, Capons, Pigions, Duckes and Henns, with diuers other sorts of Pullaine, which being reasonlesse, knew not how to escape the fire, but were euen roasted alive, nay more, burned to ashes, and no signe left of their being, but onely emptie ayre, and void places covered with puddles of water, and ashes mixed together, wherein comfort- lesse people waded up to the knees, which was like unto a leastall of * filthy dirt. It is credibly reported, and very likely to be so, that many cattle, as horse, kine, and such like, were burned, with many fatted Beasts ready for the slaughter, and fit for the use of man. Oh lamentable misery ! Oh misery without compare, that in one day (through the sufferance of God), so much wealth should be wasted, as might haue maintained tenne thousand people in good estate for seauen yeeres. Great is their griefe, and generall the losse, for few or none their dwelling have escaped this fiery scourge, this flaming whippe, this red instrument of woe, this woe of all earthly woes, which benefiteth no Creature, not any one is bettered thereby : Euery one (I say to my soules sorrow) bare a part, it was shared amongst them : for the principall dwellings of the whole towne, from the one end unto the other, are quite consumed, and nothing left standing, but certaine Chimnies, and some wals, which are now the mourning monuments of this townes ruine, some twenty or thirty houses (we heare) of poore men have escaped, which was the onely worke of the Lord, to make his poore manifest to the world, which he preserued with their goods, for some speciall cause best knowne to himselfe, as he delivered the three Children out of the fiery fornace, Daniel out of the Lyons denne, and other such like. I must giue you likewise to understand, of the wonderfuU preseruation of a Schoole-house, (by the hand of God) with certaine almes-houses, which was a most rare and stranjre thinsr so hapning, and declares the great power of the Maker of heauen and earth : for in the fiercest time of this consuming tempest, when, the fire in the greatest fury flamed, invironing these silly Cottages on euery side, when helpe was supposed to be quite past, when other houses stood round about burning, they had no hurt at all, no not so much as scorched, therefore wee may * Leastall, Laystall, or Leystall, a dung-heap. " Scarce could ho footing find in that foul way. For many cor.ses. like a great liiy-Klall, ' or murdered men, which therein murdered lay." Spenser. 64 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYEORD now saj, it is the Lord that setteth by, and pulleth downe as himselfe pleaseth.* The aforesaid preserued Schoole-house, t that place of poore Childrens reUefe, and Schollei's comforts, may be likewise an example of Gods mercy, and a setled wonder for ensuing times : for the fire, as it were, f orsooke it, and flew houering ouer it, with a kinde of unwillingnesse to touch it, when others neere adioyn- ing, were all leuelled with the earthe, and not one sticke left standing upon another, to the admiration and amazement of all those who beheld it. These houses happy preseruation was (without doubt) the workmanship of heaven, and an eminent signe and token, that God will haue care of his beloved, and such as are brought up in good learning, that in time to come, some brought up in this place, may give true lustre from his word, to the world. But now by farther remembrances, I am againe forced to enter into our former course of sad descriptions, and tell of some few more pitifuU casualties happening in the afore-said towne : for being all at one time on lire, as 1 said before, past helpe and recouerie, the inhabitants thereof burthened with extreame sorrow, ranne up and downe the streets like distracted and franticke men, seeming (by reason of their long and wearisome labours) more like ghosts then men. Some there were, that, by good fortune, saued a few wares, goods, and household-stuffe from the fire, where carrying the same into the fields for better saftie, and returning backe, in hope to recouer more, were deceived of the former, which were borne away by purloyning Theeves, who had their hands rather prepared for thevery, than to helpe the distressed Townesmen, in this their great extremitie. Oh lamentable case ! where was conscience then ? that in the f ulnesse of misery would add woe upon woe, A.nd violently thrust one losse upon another. Thus what escaped the fire, stood in danger of stealing. Here was the true state of calamitie, safetie remained neither in towne nor fielde, and men knew not who to trust : for danger upon danger had forcibly compassed and beset them round. Upon the fift of August last (as 1 said before) the fire beganne about foure of the clocke in the after-noone, and continued in great extremitie, all that day following, with the ensuing night, for nineteene or twentie houres space, flaming to (Mens imaginations) up to the clouds, spreading forth such a fearfull light, as if the whole countrey had been fired. The light hereof strucke feare and amazement into all the adjoyning Townes and * Psalm Ixxv. 8. "God is the Judg-e: He putteth down one, and setteth up another." t The allusion is, doubtless, to Chilcott's Free School. THE GEEAT FIEES 65 Villages, as farre as Exeter, which is some tenne miles* from Teuerton, from all which places came people flocking in numbers, as it had beene to the greatest Faire or Mart in the Countrey. Indeed it was to a Mart of woe, to a Mart of heauinesse, where nothing was bought and solde but cares and griefe. Here, when these people beheld the braue Market-place flaming, Shops of (?loath, and Ware houses all on fire, Tyles, by ouer- heating, flye cracking from the houses, and like well charged Muskets, rattling in the ayre, houses cracke and burne asunder, timber falling downe with might and maine, with many other objects of remorse, it made their very hearts to shake, and euery part of their bodies to tremble with feare. All the night long the towne seemed like unto a burning moun- taine, shooting forth fiery comets, with streaming blazes, or like unto the Canopie of the world, beset with thousands of night- candles, or bright-burning Torches. Whosoever will enter into consideration hereof, must needes acknowledge their case to be most lamentable, and their sorrow unspeakable : for in the time of this burning battle, which was about twentie houres, the fire with his commanding power, made conquest and burnt into ashes, above three hundred houses, beside commodities, as corne and victuall placed in vawts and Cellars, which cannot be recouered againe, under many thousands of Pounds : was not this a most unhappy time, which constrained many of the wealthiest men in the towne, to lye in the fieldes, and under hedges, with their Wiues and Children, and as then to lodge themselues on the cold ground, that in the morning had choise of beds to goe unto : such was their sodaine wracke and hard fortune ? Is it not likewise a most pittifull case, that their ripened corne and grainc;, that this plentiful! haruest time lies unbrought home in the field for want of barnes and roomes to place it in, and not a shelter left against the drawing on Winter, to put their cattle in : no, not a Cottage to lodge themselves, their wiues and chil- dren in ? Therefore it is a vaine thing to trust in the uncertaintie of worldly riches, which being gotten with paines, and kept with cares, are soon(? lost, and subi(>ct to a thousand dangers, as for example it is now couk^ to passe by the occasicjn of this fire, that many rich Merchants, Trades-men, and Artificers, late abounding in wealth, prospering in this world exceedingly, as it were, tying prcjspc-ritie in a string, and slc(!ping, with good fortune, these men I say (the more is the pitie) who lately denyed to grace a poor mans house with their presence, and become comforts to their needy ni^cessities, an; now glad to request these poore mens fauours for tin; worst corner of their simple Cottage, where now they leiiiainfj in this their ludookt for mis(;ry. * iixeter is fourtoen miles from Tiverton by tho nearest road. I" 66 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED Tou have heard before that there were twenty or thirty poore mens houses preserued from the fire, the only remains of this ruinated towne, which are now made the abidings and dwellings of many of the aforesaid Merchants, and the name so peopled, as it is wonderfull to thinke on : many be trauelled to their kindred and friends, there to remaine, till it pleaseth God to upraise them againe, others to neighbouring townes and villages adjoyning, some to one place, and some to another : as for the multitude of those that be in necessity, the Gentlemen and Magistrates of the Countrey haue taken order for them, and in charitie allots them a reasonable maintenance of reliefe, not one, as it is knowne, but by the good mindes of well disposed people, are well provided for, till it pleaseth God to renew this decayed towne to her former estate of trading. The inhabitants whereof are numbred (as it is credibly reported) to be very neere two thousand people, whereof some twelue hundred haue suffered losse, and borne the burden of this heauie punishment, this punishment of much bitternesse, and heart-wounding terror. Here let us a little grieve at this Townes ruines, consider her fall, and pittie her distress. Let us learn by her calamitie to look unto our selues, lest the same sodaine misfortune fall upon us (as it lately did upon her) : let not a traveller passe by, but in relent- ing sort afford her one teare to bewaile her case : shee was one of the brauest Market Townes in all the flowrishing Westerne-parts ; shee had wealth and dignitie, and flowrished with all wished pleasures. Gentlemen delighted to see her. Trades-men liued richly in her, and Husband-men profited much by her, but now all this her brauerie is conuerted into beggarie, her statelinesse into disgrace, and all her mirth into moane : for now there is nothing seene in her but lamentations and complaints, no meet- ings at Markets, no buying and selling, nor scarse any name of Teuerton, but that here once stoode stately Teuerton, Teuerton, that braue Market of the West, and wealthy and riche town, for which now many a Merchant weeps and mournes, saying, oh woe are we for thee, for now thou sittest clad in mourning weedes, and thy faire head couered with pale Ashes. Then, what is he that passeth by this towne, late knowing the flowrishing estate thereof, and now beholding her lamentable spoyle, but in sorrow will shake his head, and cry, alacke, alacke, you distressed inhabitants, in regard hereof well may you weep day and night, and sit in solitary heauinesse without comforts of the world ? but such losses are sooner pittied then relieued, and it is an easie, but a good thing for men to say, The Lord which hath brought them low, can raise them up again, which he for his mercies sake grant. Amen. It would perhaps be too much to expect that the author of this highly-wrought, and, as Shakespeare would say, ' soul-fearing ' THE GEEAT FIEES Qf description should descend to statistics, though, towards the end, he does furnish an estimate of the extent of the mischief. In the brief, however, issued by James I. and addressed to all and sundry, it is stated that except afewpoor houses at the town'send, ti\(> alinshouses, two free-schools, and a large and beautiful church, " all the whole town " was burnt to the ground. Directly and indirectly the clothing trade of Tiverton had supplied work for 8,000 persons. At the lowest computation £2,000 had changed hands at the weekly market. From this happy condition of affluence the inhabitants were reduced to utter destitution, and the total loss, including goods, plate, ready-money, cloth, merchandize, andprovisions of every kind, was calculated at £200,000. Dunsford says that the number of houses destroyed was 600 not an improbable statement, only there is nothing to show on what evidence he bases it. Certainly in the range of its devastating effects the second great lire would seem to have eclipsed the first, and we are not surprised at the pessimism of King James, who expressed the belief that the inhabitants were not " likely again ever hereafter to recover their sad losses." The generous help, however, which was afforded, especially by the rich people of Devonshire, enabled the inhabitants once more to re-build the town and revive its industries. The parish register thus im- proves the occasion : " On the 5th of August, Anno 1612, the whole Town was again Fired and Consumed, Except the Church, one Parsonage house, the School-houses, the Alms-houses, and about 30 houses of the Poor People. They are blind who see not in this the Finger of God, wherefcjre Fear GocVs threatenings, Jer. 17, 2l and believe God's Pphet.s if ye ivill jn'osper, 2 Chro. 20, 20."* * In Tliom's " Anecdotes and Traditions," published by the Camden .Society, we find a reference to the Tiverton Fires, as well as an instruc- tive note on tluit famous book, "The Practice of Piety." "Tlie towne of Tivinton," says the writer, " is mentioned as a fearful example of God's judgment for tlie ])rophanation of the Sabbath (being twice Ijurnt), m a booke intituled "The i'ractice of I'ietie.' The I'ractice of i'ietie was written by IJayley, Bishop of Bangor, and published in KM). Tlie book went through 59 editions between that year and 1725, and was tram-dated into most of the languages of Protestant Kurope. Among the examples of " Gods judgment by fire," tJK^ learned Divine gives the following as regards Tivtsrton : — '' Teverton, in Devonshire ( whose remcinijrance makes my heart ble(;(l),was often times adtrioni>lied by her godly jueaclicr that God would sometime bring some lieavie judgiiHMit on t lie towne for tlieir horrible j)roi)lianation of the Lord's day occasioned chielly by their market on the day following Not long after ids death on the ;Jrd of A))ril, loljH, God in less than halie an honre consumed, with a sudden and fcarfuli tire, the whole towne, except only the chiircii, the court liouse, and the alm(%s-houses, or a fewpoore p(!0})l(('3 dwellings ; wliiire a man might have seene ioure hiuidred dwelling houses all at om-i; on lire, and about liftie j)ersons consumed wit,h the llames ; and nowe again since the former edition of this booke, on the 5th of August last, 1G12 (14 years since the former lire), the whole town r2 es THE CHEOmCLES OF TWYFOED In the year 1866 an anonymous writer contributed to the Tiverton Gazette a tale, the subject of which was the fire at Tiverton in 1612. On the whole the effort cannot be pronounced a success, but the author, as the following extract will show, was not devoid of talent. I have taken the liberty to make some omissions, and also to invent a title for the story. PETEE The old man was beside himself with anger ; but he had re- ceived such a shaking from the fall, that he had no strength left to retaliate, and he, therefore, vented his rage on the boy, who was busy with his horse, kicked the dog, ordered the other appren- tice to light the furnace fire, and as his other workman was still sick, he himself helped Tart to get open a cask containing walnut- peels, which had been a long time under water. Tart found his position worst of all, for his master's temper was so ruffled that he was in his most unreasonable mood, and the excitement of his mind caused him to do more harm than good in the work, and to blame his servant for every fault he committed. The two apprentices were mightily entertained by their master's wrathful mood, and diverted themselves at his expense. " By my faith " said Peter, "■ Surely our master is possessed. I wish Pincher would get out of sight — the old devil hath, 1 fear, done him much mischief by the kick ; and he will kick him again, if he gets in his way." " Thou thinkest more of the dog than thou dost of thyself, Peter," returned Bill. " But hearest thou what he now saith to Tart ? " he asked, suddenly stopping in his half completed sentence. " We must work on Wednesday — the day when all without distinction are to have a holiday, to seek enjoyment as they list — if the cloth of the worthy Master Wynn be not dyed by that time, till we have done the task ! Ho, my worthy master," pursued the boy in a whisper, "Thou wilt not find me so obedient a hawk as to remain in my perch on that day. I prefer to obey our honest lord the King for once." *' The tyrant " muttered Peter, '' He hath ever more work than can be done at holiday times." " Thou sayest true, Peter, but wilt thou be here during the holiday appointed by the King ?" was again fired and consumed, except some 30 houses of poore people, with the school house and almes-houses. They are blind which see not in this the finger of God. God grant them grace, when it is next built to change their market day and to remove all occasions of prophaning the Lord's day.' And being a third time burnt, and a brief procured, and a Devonshire man collector, the very memoire of the probable occasion of the former flames cooleth the charitie of many that remem- bereth the storie, and was objected to the collector, who replyed that there was no truth in it, and the ' Practice of Pietie ' had done them much wrong, which words bearing a double sense occasioned much laughter." THE GEEAT EIEES 69 " In sooth I must, whether I will or no." " Why ? " questioned Bill. '' Hast thou foi'gotten my uncle ? " " By all the saints, no Thou hadst better please thy niggard master, for he and thy uncle are warm friends." At this point in the conversation a friend of the dyer's entered the yard, and bore olf that worthy to join the cavalcade which had already started for Exeter. Eully confirmed in their deter- mination not to be left alone in the house while it was unpro- tected, the females of the household departed, as the evening drew on, escorted by the ever attentive William Dickson, and arrived safely, just as night was closing in, at Smith's Farm. The Sth of August had come, and the streets of the ancient town of Tiverton bore a much more lively appearance than they generally did. But it was in the afternoon that the festivity of the inhabitants was at its height. Men and women, youths and maidens, and all else were in a merry mood. Pageants were got up, pleasure parties were formed, a wealthy yeoman had an ox roasted whole and afterwards cut up for all who chose to fetch a steak of that favourite flesh on that day. Many a merry dance was going on in one or two of the neighbouring fields, for all ser- vants being liberated from work on that day, theyfwere determined to make the utmost possible use of their holiday for enjoyment. In a word, every body was merry, and a jocund expression sat on every face. Then in accordance with the custom of the day a bull was to be baited, to which amusement the young men and boys in particular looked forward with great glee. The bull's horns and tail were to be decorated with ribbons, and he was to be driven or led round the town and thence to a field in the suburbs, where he was to be placed within a strong wooden ring- fence, in w hich, exposed to the full view of the spectators, he was to be set upon by dogs, trained for the purpose, one at a time. We have said that all servants were liberated from work on that day, but we nmst except Tart and the apprentice Peter who were busy in the dyeing house. They had tried hard to " finish up " by noon, but their efforts had been vain ; there were still enough pieces to keep them from pleasure till six o'clock in the evening. They had done their best and had hoped above all things to be in time to see the bull-baiting in the afternoon, and to join in the principal games; and now they were disheartened, and many were the words of dispraise spoken by them at the expense of their master. Nevertheless, they were working with a will, in order to be able to join in the evening carousals, when, a little after three o'clock in the afternoon, Diller entered. " liy my faith," he cried on ent(;ring, " Ye are content to re- main here and work yourselves to death to please your niggard master ?" " Thou knowest we can't help ourselves, Diller," returned Tart. 70 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED " I must e'en keep in the good graces of our master, if I won't see my wife and children become beggars." " Well, Tart ? " said his comrade, turning to the latter, " a cock fight is being got up at the G-reen Dragon, We have a famous pit; but none, as far as I can see, will come up to thy birds. Master Templer, who is staying there, hath promised £1 to the owner of the best bird of the pit. Thou hast a good chance of winning it, an thou wilt take the trouble to bring thy best birds." Thus tempted. Tart arranged to leave his work for an hour, giving instructions to the boy Peter, to prepare a new lot of dye, promising to let him off to see the bull-baiting in return for working during his absence. This was part of the plot of Templer and his confederate for getting the dyer's house emptied of its inmates, in. order the better to carry out their diabolical designs. Templer was anxiously on the look-out for the arrival of Jjiller and his dupe, and his eyes brightened as they entered the yard together. " Capitally done so far," whispered he ; " but thou hadst better haste thee to finish the work so nicely begun. Methinks yonder gull, Tart, will not think of his work for an hour, at least. The boy, however, must now be attended to." " Trust me," returned Diller. This said, he left the premises, while Templer returned to witness the sport going on in the cock-pit. Diller, having left the Green Dragon, traversed the streets with rather a pre-occupied air, which he vainly tried to disguise. He had not been walking five minutes, inwardly regretting, if the truth must be told, having lent himself to so villainous a scheme as the one he had in hand, but which he now felt bound to carry through, when suddenly a column of smoke rose into the air in the direction of the dyer's house, accompanied a moment after by a fierce tongue of flame. Diller stopt suddenly short in horrified consternation. Here was the very crime which he had been meditating, and of which he would probably have been guilty in another hour, done ready to his hand, and by what agency ? "Was it possible that it could be other than supernatural ? Had the fiends then accomplished a work so congenial to them, and what would they demand for their work ? The wodd-be incendiary shook with fear as he had never quailed in his life, and turning round, almost demented in his fright, fled rapidly from the spot. We must now glance at the events which had in the meantime taken place in the dye-house, whereby the evil designs of those wicked men had been frustrated, or rather, we should say, supplanted by circumstances utterly beyond their control, and never contemplated by them. We have seen how the boy Peter was left alone in the dye-house, and his acquaintance, the young weaver on Angel Hill, who owned the stray dog of Saturday night, had noted this fact also, and thought it a capital oppor- THE GEEAT FIRES 71 tunity to pay a visit to his friend ; so whistling to Towser to accompany him, he made for the dyer's, his dog following close to his heels. ******* Peter was quite delighted at the news brought him by his friend. He felt sure his dog would win and that he should have the shilling. Pincher was growling loudly, his nose was wrinkled, and his teeth were showing, and the hair was standing upright on the ridge of his back, at the presence of the stranger on his particular domain ; while Towsers outside was just as forbidding on perceiving how unwelcome a visitor he was. No sooner did the boys notice the antagonistic attitude of the animals than the idea of setting them to fight for their amusement suggested itself, and was immediately caught at by both, Peter exclaiming, " Let me put in some more firing first to keep up the fire while our dogs be at it, and then we'll get 'em on." Hereupon he laid hold of a pick to feed the fire with some furze from a heap lying at a little distance from his furnace, in which the dye was almost boiling. In his impatience he did not disentangle a little from the heap at a time, as he would have done had he been cool, but drew a lot carelessly to the furnace's mouth, hastily pushing in what he thought enough to save him trouble for a little while, leaving a train of furze from the fire to the heap in the dye-house. Then reckless in their excitement the boys set their dogs at it, and the animals feU upon each other tooth and nail. The attention of their masters was so absorbed that they thought of nothing and perceived nothing, until a scorching heat at their backs made itself felt, accompanied by a loud crackling and roaring sound, while a suffocating smoke filled the room, and to their horror they saw that while they had been engaged with their dogs, the train of furze had caught fire from the furnace and communicating with the rest had ignited the whole heap of firing. Almost petrified with horror the boys stared open-mouthed at the flames, which were now spreading with fearful rapidity, until fearing for their personal safety, they instinctively rushed into the streets shouting " Fire ! fire ! " to the great consternation of a crowd of people who were beginning to collect to know the cause of the gathering smoke they had observed issuing from the dyer's premises. The third fire, which happened on the evening of Saturday, June 5th, 1731, was on a smaller scale than the two previous, but still sufficiently appalling. It had its historian in the Rev. Sainucil Hmith, master of the Grammar School, to whom later writers are indebted for most of the particulars ; but since his style, chastened by the study of the classics, has not that poignancy and abandon which lend such interest to the above- 72 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED quoted na'iVe recitals, I shall not do him the honour to reproduce him verbally. The fire commenced at a baker's shop in Gold- street, and spread with alarming rapidity. There had been a long spell of dry weather, and this, together with the strong wind then blowing, may account for its speedy progress. The fire engines were kept at the church, but owing to the prevailing confusion it was some time before they could be brought to the spot. It was then found that some of the apparatus had been forgotten. While it was being fetched, the fire attained such a height that it was hopeless for anyone to think of remaining. The engine was left to its fate, and, though full of water, was burnt. Mean- while nothing was done to arrest the flames. The inhabitants could only look on, oppressed by a feeling of horror and despair. The fire extended a quarter of a mile in length, and almost as far in breadth, and attacked three hundred houses, to say nothing of out-houses. Grold-street and a considerable part of Pore-street and Bampton-street succumbed to the flames. Most of the houses appear to have been thatched, a circumstance which helps to explain the swiftness of the disaster. At the west of Fore-street, however, and at the north of Bampton-street were the residences of some of the principal inhabitants. These houses were built of stone or brick, and had slate roofs, which rendered them less exposed to combustion. Great efforts were made to save them, and as the wind had now fallen, the fire was stayed at these points, ]t was then four o'clock in the morning. ^Apropos of this event, the following entry occurs in the parish register. " On the 5th day of June, Anno. 1731, a fire broak out in the house of one John Tucker, a Baker on Bans Hill, about 5 of the Clock in the afternoone, which burnt all the Houses on both Sides of the Street, from Loman bridge to Mr. Oliver Beard's house on the South Side, and Mr. William Heathfield's house on the North Side of High Street, with a great part of Bampton Street and Barring- ton Street, Germany, and all the Back Sides and Courtlages from the Same Streets ; but by God's mercy But one person, one Henry Murray, a poor man belonging to Mr. John Greenway's Alms-house, and in the same burnt." The case referred to is curious, Murray being the victim of his own obstinacy or superstition. He had been repeatedly warned of his peril, but refused to go away, saying, " Who ever heard of an alms-house being burnt ? " When at length he realised his mistake, it was too late, escape being impossible. On the evening of Sunday a committee was appointed to make out a list of the houses destroyed, their tenants, and the losses sustained. It was found that 298 houses had been burnt and 2,000 persons rendered homeless. The majority had lost all their worldly gear. Steps were at once taken to mitigate the distress, Exeter, as usual, being foremost in this good work. A subscription list THE GREAT FIRES 73 having been opened, in a few days the sum of £381 10s. 4d. was forwarded from the Ever-Faithful City to the scene of desolation. Meanwhile the inhabitants themselves had not been idle. With commendable promptitude the Mayor summoned a meeting of the Corporation, the Clergy, and the leading people to consider the situation and advise on the best method of restoring the town. A collection was at once made, and generous contributions were received, among others, from some who, though losers by the fire, still retained a portion of their wealth. The King sent £1,000, and the Queen and the Prince of Wales made ample donations. Sums were subscribed at London, Westminster, and Bristol, and the Bishop of Exeter in an encyclical to his clergy urged upon them the special exigency of the case. The losses occasioned by the fire were estimated at £58,976 14s. 9d. Of this large amount only £1,135 was covered by insurance, while the sum raised by subscriptions was £10,201 6s. 7|d., or one sixth of the damage. The committee who had been appointed to distribute the money, divided the sufferers into four classes. The first con- sisted of those who had lost everything ; the second, of those who had lost the bulk of their possessions ; the third, of those who stood in need of some assistance : while the fourth was composed of a number of individuals who did not want and declined to receive any share of the contributions. The committee, acting with rare discretion, drew up the following resolution : " That we will not, in making the distribution to the sufferers by the late dreadful fire, proceed by the rule of simple proportion, allowing so much in the pound to all whom we shall judge fit objects of this charity ; but due co'^sideration shall be had of the circumstances they are left in, and the state of their families; and their allowance shall be great or less, in proportion to their necessi- ties brought upon them by this calamity." In addition to this, bake- houses were erected near the workhouse or " hospital " for the benefit of the sufferers. One consequence of the fire must not be over-looked. It seems that at the time of this disaster there was an epidemic of small pox. Owing to the lack of shelter a great deal of overcrowding toolv place, and eight or ten families were huddled where previously there had been only one. Thus great facilities were afforded for the spread of the disease ; and pestilence completed the work which the fire had begun. After such a dreadful experience it was plainly the duty of the inhabitants to guard against its repetition. In 1732, therefore, an Act of Parliament was passed, which contained, among others, th(^ following enactments : — That all houses, outhouses, roofs, walls, and (;ther buildings, sliould be covered with lead, slate, or tile, and that a thatched house sliould be a nuisance. Any person guilty of such a nuisance;, and refusing to rectify or remove the same in the space of one month aftc^r notice being given by the Mayor or Justice, was subject to a penalty of five pounda for 74 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTPOED every month during which the grievance remained unredressed, and the costs of the action. Distillers, dyers, brewers, malt- makers, chandlers, soap-boilers, neadlers of brass or copper, and those engaged in any other dangerous trade were forbidden to exercise their occupations in or near the principal streets, nor was any stack or rick of hay, furze, wood, corn, or straw, or ajiy such combustible matter to be erected near the main thoroughfares. The Mayor and Justice, or two Capital Burgesses, were empowered to uncover or pull down houses, in order to prevent a fire from spreading, while compensation was to be made to the owners by a rate levied for that purpose by the Governor and Guardians of the Poor. A court was constituted for the object of settUng all disputes arising out of the great fire between the various pro- prietors and claimants. By the direction of the court any pro- prietor refusing to re-build within three years was required to sell his lands, the value of which was to be determined by a jury. The court was authorised also to make alterations in the streets and other places for the convenience of the public. If anyone felt aggrieved at the decision of the court, he must appeal within twenty-one days to the Judges of Assize, who might order a^com- mission for re-hearing the case, and the sentence of the commission was to be final. The following verses, preserved by Dunsford, were evidently written soon after 1731. As is often the case with these local poems, there are one or two stanzas which are not easy to con- strue, but taken as a whole they afford a picture of rural England worthy of the imagination of Morland. Summer's bloom now cheers the sight, Sporting where the winter frown'd ; Standing on the lofty height, We command the landscape round. Nature in the prospect yields Humble dales and mountains bold ; Meadows, woodlands, hills and fields, Yellow'd o'er with waving gold. On the uplands ev'ry glade Brightens in the blaze of day ; O'er the vales the sober shade Softens to an ev'ning grey. Sheep upon the mountain's brow, Feeding o'er the daisied lea ; Herds of redden'd hue below O'er the valley's pasture stray. Where the rill by slow degrees Swells into a crystal pool, Hanging banks and shelving trees Shoot and keep the water cool. THE GEEAT FIEES 75 On her waves the sunny beam Glitters in meridian pride, On proud Isca's rapid stream, Hastening to the restless tide. O'er the green a festal throng Gambols in fantastic trim, As the full cart moves along, Hearken ! 'tis their harvest hymn. Cheerful as the summer morn, Bounding from her loaded pad, See the maid presents her corn Smirking to the miller's lad. Where the mantling willows nod From the green bank's slopy side, Patient with his well-thrown rod. Many an angler breaks the tide. Where the stone cross rais'd its head, Many a saint and pilgrim hoar Up the hill was wont to tread. Barefoot in the days of yore. Solemn see the shaded brow. Where the Gothic pile appears, O'er the trembling group below Tott'ring with a load of years. Turn to the contrasted scene. Where beyond the hoary pile Streets appear mid shades of green ; Where the new built dwellings smile. Villages, farms, seats, and spires Scatter'd on the landscape lie, 'Till the distant view retires. Closing in an azure sky. APPENDIX. I annex some documents, hitherto unpubHshed, relating to legal proceedings under the Act of Parliament which was passed for the rebuilding of Tiverton. 1 venture to think they will " number good intellects.'' At a Court held the Tenth day of May One Thousand Seven Hundred and fforty ffour at the Guildhall of the Town of Tiverton In the; County of Devon in pursuance of an Act of Parliament made in tho llifth year of the iloign of his present Majesty Entitled an Act for the better and more easy rebuilding of the Town of Tiverton in the County of Devon 76 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD and for determining differences touching Houses and Buildings Burnt Down or Demolished by reason of the late dreadfull ffire there and for the better preventing dangers from ifire for the ffuture, Before Peter Bartow, Esq., Justice, Mr. Leonard Blagdon, Mr. William Burridge, Mr. John Cannington, Mr. ffrancis Mathews, Mr. Thomas How, Mr. Clement Govet, Mr. John Davey, and Mr. Henry Hodge being Nine of the Comissioners appointed by the said Act of Parliament Cometh John Mardon, of Tiverton aforesaid, Ropemaker, and Informeth the Court that by the late dreadfull ffire in Tiverton aforesaid two Several Messuages and Dwelling Houses with all the outhouses and Buildings belonging thereunto, scituate lyeing and being in and near Bampton Street and Gold Street, in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid, formerly in the several possessions of Aaron Smith, sadler, and Robert Thomas or their Tenants and lately in the possession of Benjamin Farkhouse, John Humjahrys, and John Murch as Tenants at a Rack Rent were Burnt Down and destroyed and demolished and that the proprietors and Owners thereof (To Wit) Bartholomew Davey, who is Intitled to a Moyety of one of the said Messuages and Dwelling houses And of the Shop Chambers, Stable, Linney, Courtlages, and Garden thereunto belonging and ajapertaining which was formerly in the possession of the said Aaron Smith for the Remainder of a Term of One Thousand years therein yet to come and unexpired, Tliomas Birchinsha and ffrancis Shobrook, Gentlemen, who are Jointly Intitled to be ffee Simple and Inheritance of the one ffourth part purporty and portion the whole in ffour parts to be divided of the said Messuage or Dwelling House and premises formerly in the possession of the said Aaron Smith, Thomas Rudd. who is Intitled Co the Moyety of the said Messuage or Dwelling House formerly in the possession of the said Robert Thomas as ass^l for the Remainder of a certain Term of Two Thousand years therein yet to come and unexpired. And also lawfully and Rightfully seized in ffee of the one ffourth part of the said Messuage or Dwelling House (formerly in the possession of the said Robert Thomas) and Elisabeth Newton widow, who to also Intitled to two eighth parts of the void or Vacant Plotts of Ground whereon the said two Several Messuages Dwelling Houses and premises were lately standing and being for the Remainder of a certain Term or Terms of Two Thou- sand years therein yet to come and unexpired Any or either of them or any person or persons Claiming under them any or either of them had not Laid the ffoundation of any House or Houses to be rebuilt in the space thereof Notwithstanding Three years and upwards have past since the said ffire It is therefore ordered and decreed by this said Court that the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha, and ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Rudd and Elisabeth Newton or some or one of these do or doth within the space of one Month lay the ffoundation of the said Houses in order to the Rebuilding thereof and Rebuild and finish the same within the Space of Twelve Months then next following, according to the true Intent and meaning of the said Act of Parliament and the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha, ffrancis Sho- brooke, Thomas Rudd, and Elisabeth Newton have forthwith Notice of this order and decree. Peter Bartow, Leonard Blagdon, Wm. Burridge, John Cannington, Francis Matthews, Thomas How, Clem*- Govet, Jn^- Davey, Henry Hodge. Whereas John Mardon hath entred his Complaint in Writing before the Comissioners appointed by an Act of Parliament made in the ffifth year of his present Majesty King George the Second, to determine Differences touching Houses and Buildings Burnt Down or Demolished by reason of the late dreadfull fl&re in Tiverton against you for not THE GEEAT FIEES 77 Rebuilding a Vacant plott of Ground Scituate lyeing and Being in and near Bampton Street and Gold Street in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid, now iu your possessions haveing or Claiming a Kight thereto or some part thereof These are, therefore, to give you Notice that the Comissioners appointed to put the said Act in Execution will hear the Matters of the said Complaint on Monday, the Eleventh day of June next, by five of the Clock in the afternoon, at the Guildhall in Tiverton aforesaid, when and where you may severally attend to make your respective defences to the said Complaint if you think proper. Dated at the Guililhall of Tiverton aforesaid the Tenth day of 3Iay, One Thousand Seven Hundred & fforty ifour. To Mrs. Elisabeth Newton Mr. Bartholomew Davey Air. flfrancis Shobrooke Mr. Thomas Birchinsha And Mr. Thomas Rudd John Nicolls Secretary. The Proprietors. At a Court held the Eleventh day of June One Thousand Seven Hundred and fforty ffour at the Guildhall of the Town of Tiverton in the County of Devon in pursuance of an Act of Parliament made in the ffifth year of the Reign of his present Majesty entitled an Act for the more Easy Rebuilding the Town of Tiverton in the County of Devon,and for determining differences touching Houses or Buildings Burnt Down or Demolished by reason of the late dreadfull Aire there and for the better preventing dangers from ffire for the ffuture, before Peter Bartow Esqe. Mr. Leonard Blagdon, Mr. William Burridge, Air. Oliver Peard, Mr. Peter Bartow, Junr- , Mr. John Caunington, Mr. ffrancis Matthews, Mr. Robert Glass, Mr. Thomas How, Mr. Clement Govet, Mr. John Davey, 3Ir. Thomas Birchinsha, Mr. Henry Hodge, and Mr. Peter Carthew, being ffourteen of the Comissioners ap- pointed by the said Act of Parliament Be it remembered that the sevl persons who have hereunto Respectively Subscribed their Names, and whose names are herein Inserted (to wit) George Land, Richard Downe, Thomas Paddon, John Noble, William West, JohuHaris, Thomas Beck, John Palmer, .John Laugworthy, Richard Gully, John Duckham, Thomas Shanand, honest and lawful men of the Town of Tiverton aforesaid, having been duely Impanneled Summoned and Sworne as Jurors by and before the Comissioners above named pursuant to the said Act of Parliamt Find that by reason of the late dreadfull ffire in Tiverton aforesaid five several Messuages and Dwelling Houses with all the outhouses and Buildings belonging thereunto, Scituate lyeing and being in and near Bampton Street and diold Street, in the Town of 'liver- ton aforesaid, fformerly iu fche several possessions of x\aron Smith Sadler and Robt- Thomas, and lately in the possessions of Benjamin Parkhouse, John Humphreys, and John Murch, as Tenants at a Rack Rent, were Burnt down, destroyed, and demolished And that Elisabeth Newton, of Tiverton aforesaid, Wiuow, Bartholomew Davey, of Tiverton aforesaid. Tallow Chandler, ffrancis Shobrook, of Tiverton aforesaid, Gentleman, Thomas Birchinsha, of Tiverton aforesaid, Apothecary, and Thomas Rudd, of Tiverton aforesaid, Mercer, or some or one of them are or is lutitled to the same premisses or some part, thereof lor the Remainder of Two Thousand years or one Thousand years or such like long Term of years absolute or are Seized in ffee of the same premises or some part or parts thereof. And that they, the said Elisabeth Newton, Bartholomew Davey 78 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED ffrancia Shobrooke, Thomas BircMnslia, and Thomas Rudd, or any or either of them or any person or i^ersons claim inji under them or any or either of them have not laid the ffoundation of any House or Houses to be rebuilt in the place;thereof Notwithstanding Three years and upwards have past since the said ffire And the said Jurors do think fitt and Assess the f>um of Seventy Pounds of lawfull money of Great Britain to be awarded and paid unto the said Elizabeth Newton, Bartholomew Davey, ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Birchinsha, and Thomas Rudd, and as a recompense for their every and either of their Respective Rights and Interests therein by any person or persons undertaking to be the rebuilder or Rebuilders thereof. George Land William West John Langworthy Richard Downe John Harris Richard Gully Thomas Paddon Thomas Beck John Duckham John Noble J. Palmer Thos. Sharland At a Court held the Eleventh day of June One Thousand Seven Hundred and fforty fEour at the Guildhall of the Town of Tiverton in the County of Devon in pursuance of an Act of Parliamt made in the ffifth year of his Present Majesty entitled an Act for the more Easy re- building of the Town of Tiverton in the County of Devon and for Determining Differences touching Houses and Buildings Burnt down and demolished by reason of the late dreadfuU ffire and for the Better preventing dangers from ffire for the fEuture, Peter Bartow Esqe. Mr. Leonard Blagdon, Mr. William Burridge, Mr. Oliver Peard. Mr. Peter Bartow, Jun'-. Mr. John Cannington, Mr. ffrancis Matthews, Mr, Robert Glass, Mr. Thomas How, Mr. Clement Govet, Mr. John Davey, Mr. Thomas Birchinsha, Mr. Henry Hodge, ami Mr. Peter Carthew being {fourteen of the Comissioners appointed by the Said Act of Parliament Be it Remembered that whereas at a Court held the Tenth day of May last past John Mardon, of Tiverton aforesaid, Ropemaker, came and Informed the Court that by reason of the late dreadful ffire in Tiver- ton aforesaid two Several Messuages and Dwelling Houses with all the outhouses and Buildings belonging thereunto Scituate lyeing and being in and near Bampton Street and Gold Street, in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid, formerly in the several possessions of Aaron Smith, Sadler, and Robert Thomas or their Tenants (.and lately in the possessions of Benjamin Par khouse, John Humphreys, and John Murch as Tenants, at a Rack Rent), were Burnt down, destroyed, and demolished. And that the proprietors or owners thereof (to wit) Bartholomew Davey, who is Intitled to the Moyeiy of one of the said Messuages or Dwelling houses and of the Shops, Chambers, Stable, Linney, Courtlage, and Garden, thereunto belonging and appertaining, which was formerly in the possession of the said Aaron Smith for the Remainder of a Term of One Thousand years therein yet to come and unexpired, Thomas Birchinsha and ffrancis Shobrooke, Gentlemeu, who are Jointly Intitled to the ffee Simple and Inheritance of the one fourth part purporty and portion (the whole in four parts to be divided) of the sai i Messuage or Dwelling House and premisses formerly in the possession of the said Aaron Smith, Thomas Rudd, who is Intitled to the Moyety of the said Messuage or Dwelling House formerly in tbe possession of the said Robert Thomas as aforesaid for the Remainder of a certain Term of Two Thousand years therein yet to come and unexpired, and also lawfully and Rightfully seized in ffee of the Ground whereon the said two several Messuages, Dwelling Houses and premisses were lately standing and Leting for the Remainder of a certain Term or Terms of Two Thousand Years therein yet to come and unexpired any or either of them or any THE GEEAT FIRES 79 person or persons Claiming- under them Any or either of them- had not laid the ffoundation of any House or Houses to be rebuilt in the place thereof Notwithstanding Three years and upwards have past since the said fare It was therefore ordered and decreed by thb said Court that the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha, and ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Rudd, and Klisabeth Newton, or some or OL.e of them should within the Space of One Month lay the ffoundation of the said Houses in order to the Rebuilding thereof and Rebuild and finish the same within the space of Twelve Months then next following, according' to the true Intent and meaning of the said Act of Parliament and that the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha and ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Rudd, and Elizabeth Newton, shoukl forthwith have Notice of this order and decree And it appearing unto this Court that the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha and ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Rudd, and Elisabeth Newton have Respectively had Notice of the said order ana decree, and that they or either of them have not within the Time Limittedby the said Court as aforesaid laid the ffoundation of the said Houses in order to the Rebuilding thereof, but have respectively made default therein, and the said John Mardon hath undertaken and doth hereby Submitt and promise to Thomas Rudd and Elisabeth Newton for their respective Rights and properties therein And this Court haveing heard the said parties and their several Allegations and having also Impannelled and Summond a Jury before them of Honest and lawfull Men of the Town of Tiverton aforesaid pursuant to the Directions of the said Act of Parliament, whose names are herein inserted (to wit) George Land, Richard Downe, Thomas Paddon, John Noble, William West, John Harris, Thomas Beck, J. Palmer, John Langworthy, Richard Gully, John Duckham, Thomas Sharland (to whom the oath required by the said Act hath been duely administred), who upon their Oaths Aaministred to them by this Court have thought fitt and assessed the Sum of ."-^eventy Pounds of lawfull money of Great Britain to be awarded and paid unto the said Bartholomew Davey, Thomas Birchinsha, and ffrancis Shobrooke, Thomas Rudd and Elisabeth Newton for and as a Recompence and Satisfaction for their respective Rights and Interests therein with Verdict or Assessment of the Jurors aforesaid entred previous hereto among the Records and proceedings of the said Act of Parliament Now this Court doth award, order, adjudge, and decree that the said John Mardon who hath undertaken to be the Rebuilder as aforesaid y the {lowcr ami Authority of the said Act of Parliament dispose of. Assign, and Api)oint the said Houses so to be rebuilt and the soil thc^reof and all Courts, yards. Backsides, Gardens and other appurts thereunto belonging to the said John Mardon his Heirs Exec«- and A.ssi«- And this Court doth 80 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFORD further order, adjudge, and decree that the said Houses so to be Rebuilt and the Soil thereof and all Courts, yards, Backsides, Gardens, and other appurtenances thereunto belonging shall for ever hereafter be and Remain unto the said John Mardon his Heirs, Executors, and Assigns for ever. Peter Barlo7V Leonard Blagdon William Burridge Oliver Peard Peter Burlon\ Junr. John Cannington ffraricis Matthews Robt. Glass lliomas Honi (Jlemt. (Jovet John JJarey Thos- Blrehinsha Henry Hodge Peter Carthew THE EARLY STUARTS e IV The Early Stuarts 'HE rei^n of James I. opens auspiciously for Tiverton with tlie foundation of Blundell's School. Peter Blundell, who was born at Tiverton, 1 520, is a kind of local Dick Whitting- ton. Of humble parentage, he was accustomed as a boy to run errands, and later on he became an ostler. Extravagant profits were then realised on kerseys, as much, it is said, as a hundred per cent., and Blundell's first venture was to invest his savings in a kersey which he entrusted to a carrier. The latter charged him nothing for the carriage, and on his arrival at London sold the kersey for a considerable sum. He was faithful to his trust and made over the profits to Blundell, who, encouraged by his success, continued to speculate in the same way, and at last he purchased enough kerseys to load a horse. After this he himself went to London, where he found employment in the kersey trade, and where he remained until he had acquired a sufficient capital to commence the manufacture of kerseys on his own account. He then returned to Tiverton. Here he established that business which afterwards proved so lucrative, though he seems also to have bought from other clothiers, and from time to time he re-visited London, the market for his goods. For some years before his death he permanently resided in the metropolis. He died April 18, 1601, and was buried in the Church of St. Michael Eoyal, This church was destroyed in the fire of London, 1666, and Blundell's monument, if any existed, must have perished at the same time. Although mercantile considerations led Blundell during the later peri(jd of his life to exile himself from his native town, he did not cease to feel an interest in its welfare. This is shown by his will, dat(;d th(; 9th of June, 1599. In it he directs hia executors that " with all convenient speede upon a fytt and con- venient plott and piece of ground© in Tiverton aforesftid, by my •2 84 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED executors for that purpose to be purchased and procured, they shall erecte and buyld a faier School House to conteyne for the place for teaching only in length one hundred footeand in breadth tower and twenty foot, a hawle, buttery, and kitchen, all of con- venient space and biggness to be joined unto it, with fit and con- venient roomes over the same hawle, buttery, and kitchin, all the windows well and strongly glassed and barred with iron barrs and well covered, the floor of the school to be well plancked with plancks of oke, &c., and to be devided on or neere the middest with some fit partition of fower foot in height, or thereabouts, and to be strongly wainscotted round abowte, to extend abowte five or six foot above the settles or formes, &c. The hawle to be alsoe plancked or paved and also wainscotted round abowte, and to have in the hall and chamber over the same one or other chimney, and in the kitchen one faier great chimney with an oven and a chamber over the kitchen with a chimney therein ; and that there shall be adjoining to this school-house a convenient garden and woodyard, with a fit house, &c., uppon or as near the river of Ex there, or Loman, as may be, and the whole to be rounde aboute well walled and inclosed with a strong wall, the going in and forthe to be at one only place with a fair stong gate with a little dore, as is usual, &c. and that the whole may be substantially done, my will is that my executors shall bestowe therein twentie four hundred poundes within the least." He directs further " that in the said schooles shall not be taushte above the number of one hundred and fiftie scholers at any one tyme, and those from tyme to tyme of children born, and for the most parte before their age of sixe yeares brought upp in the towne or parrish of Ty verton aforesaid ; and if the same number be not filled upp, my will is that the wante shall be supplyed with the children of forreyners ; and those forreyners only to be received and admitted, from tyme to tyme for ever, with the assent and allowance of such tenne householders of the said towue of Tyverton aforesaide, as for the tyme beinge shall be most in the subsidie bookes of our sovereigne Lady the Queenes majesty and of her successors for ever, and not otherwise. And my meaning and desier is, that they, from tyme to tyme, will make choice of the children of such forreyners as are of honest reputation and feare God, without regarding the riche above or more than the poore ; and that there shall bee noe scholar bee or continue in the said schoole, as a scholer, but boyes, and none above the age of eighteen yeares or under the age of sixe yeares, and none under a grammar scholer." The Master was to have the use of the buildings " and yearely for ever fiftie poundes," while the usher had to be content with " one chamber to himself only in the saide buiklinge " and a salary of twenty marks. " And my hope and desier and will is that they hould themselves satisfied and contente with that recompense for THE EAELT STUARTS 85 their travell, without seeking or exacting any more either of parents or children, which procureth favour to givers, and the contrarie to such as do not or cannot give ; for my meaning is, y* shall be a free schoU and not a schole of exaction." Blundell, moreover, left £2,000 for the maintenance of six students in divinity in the University of Oxford or Cambridge or both for ever. Payment is to be made "from their first corainge to the Universities untill they severally shall be, or by the order and constitution of their howses might bee, bachilers in divinitie, or otherwise shall be fellowes of any howse or howses, or shall be beneficed in the country. And as they shall be soe, or in the like manner, severally preferred or promoted, or as they in the mean tyme shall fortune to die, my will is that their several places shall for ever be supplied with scholers, to be elected by the feoffees, or the most parte of them, with the advise of the scholemaster there for the tyine being, out of the saide grammer schoole of Tyverton, and not elsewhere, and that of the aptest and most to- warde in learninge, and such as of themselves or parents or other- wise, are lest able to mainteyne themselves in the said ministrie." Such was Blundell's dream, the fulfilling of which he left to his ' righte deare and honorable friende, S'' Jobn Popham, K', Lord Chiefe Justice of England.' Let us see how the latter acquitted himself of his trust. First, as to the edifice. The founders wish was so far respected that his school was built at the south east of the town near the Lowman. The original intention was no doubt to secure the school to the inhabitants, who for various reasons have scarcely reaped that benefit from it which it was in Blundell's heart to confer. For the sake of the minority of my readers who have no knowledge of the locality I may here anticipate a little by stating that in 1880 the school was removed to Horsdon, a distance of one mile from the town, and the old premises were converted into dwelling-houses. In describing the place, there- fore, my narrative nvist partly run in the past tense. There were two school-room-!, the hi^^her and the lower. The former was 55 feet long by 2 t wide, and the latter 48 by 24. Both were floored and wainscotted five feet hii^h with oak. Between them was a passage, leadin'^ to the usher's ab ).le. Over the entrance to each school was carved in oak or chestnut " P. 16:)4. B." The walls are 18 feet in h^j.jht an I th ; rooF ',i6. The latter is said to have been copied from a chapel of Frithelstock Abbey near Torrington. There are two porches, one having; been the entrance to the schools, while the other led to a dining-hall, 135 feet long, in which the Head-master's board(3rs usiid to take their meals. At the extreme end of the building towards the north was a library. Thus, on a front view, the edifice is seen to consist of three divisions. The total lHn:jth is 17i) feet and the width 3') feet. There is a tradition that m my of the timbers were from the wreck of the Spanish Armada, with the relics of which, twelve or 86 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD fourteen years before the building commenced, the coast of Corn- wall was strewn. Agreeably with the founder's wish a play- ground was formed. Round it was built a strong wall about 10 feet high, and it was shut in by double wooden gates pierced by a wicket. In 1695 these, having become much decayed, were removed, and there were substituted for them the present iron gates. At the same time the porters' lodges were erected, but Harding is in error in stating that the lime trees surrounding the Green on three sides date from this period. In reality they are not much more than a hundred years old. Over the outer gate were the following inscriptions : " Hospita disquirens Pallas Tritonia sedem Est Blundellinae percita amore Scholae. Ascivit sedem, placuit, cupiensque foveri, Hospes, ait, Petre sis, qui mhi fautor eris."* " This Free Grammar School was founded at the only cost and charge of Mr. Peter BlundeU, of this town, .some time clothier. Ann. Dom. 1604, Aetatis Suae 81." Dunsford observes (1790) "few alterations have taken place since these buildings were first erected." In 1836 and 1837, however, some additions were made to the Masters' residences, and in 1840 the roof was surmounted by a new cupola and bell. The dial also was removed from its former position over the entrance of the upper school to where it now stands. The bell was originally hung in the cupola about the year 1613, and it has been once or twice re-cast. When the building was turned into private houses, the windows were lowered for the convenience of the occupants, an alteration which rather enhances the architectural effect, and the interior was so entirely re-modelled that few traces remain of its ancient state. We now return to consider the way in which Chief Justice Popham carried out his mission. One of his first duties was to appoint a head-master, and in 1601 he offered the post to Hall, who afterwards held the sees of Exeter and Norwich and gained a name as one of the most famous of English divines. Hall, how- over, declined it. His account of the matter which is given in his autobiography (vol. i. p. xvii., Oxford, 1837), is interesting and deserves to be quoted : "There was at that time a famous school erected at Tiverton *These verses have been the despair of translators. Among' the many versions which have been attempted the following perhaps conveys the sense as well as any, while in smoothness it far surpasses the original : ' When wand'ong Pallas sought some sweet retreat, In Blundell's school at length she fix'd her seat ; " Peter." she said, " beneath thy roof I'll rest And at thy table sit a well-pleas'd guest.' F. THE EARLY STUARTS 87 in Devon, and endowed with a very large pension ; whose goodly fabric was answerable to the reported maintenance ; the care whereof was, by the rich and bountiful founder, Mr. Blundell, cast principally upon the then Lord Chief Justice Popham. That faithful observer, having great interest in the master of our house (i.e., Emmanuel College, Cambridge), Dr. Chaderton, moved him earnestly to recommend some able, learned, and discreet governor to that weighty charge ; whose action should not need to be so much as his over-sight. It pleased our master, out of his good opinion, to tender this condition unto me ; assuring me of no small advantages, and no great toil ; since it was intended the main load of the work should be upon other shoulders. I apprehended the motion worth the entertaining. In that severe society our times were stinted ; neither was it safe or wise to refuse good offers. Mr. Dr. Chaderton carried me to London; and there presented me to the Lord Chief Justice, with much testimony of approbation. The judge seemed well apaid with the choice. I promised acceptance ; he, the strength of his favour. No sooner had I parted from the judge, than in the street a messenger presented me with a letter from the right virtuous and worthy lady, of dear and happy memory, the Lady Drury, of Suffolk, tendering the Rectory of her Halsted, then newly void, and very earnestly desiring me to accept of it. Dr. Chaderton, observing in me some change of countenance, asked me what the matter might be. I told him the errand and delivered him the letter ; beseeching his advice : which when he had read ' Sir ' quoth I, ' methinks God pulls me by the sleeve ; and tells me it is His will I should rather go to the east than to the west.' ' Nay,' he answered, ' i should rather think that God would have you go westward, for that He hath contrived your engagement before the tender of this letter ; which therefore coming too late, may receive a fair and easy answer.' To this I besought him to pardon my dissent ; adding that I well knew that divinity was the end whereto I was destined by my parents ; which I had so constantly proposed to myself, that I never meant other than to pass through this western school to it ; but I saw that God, who found me ready to go the farther way about, now called me the nearest and directest way to that sacred end. The good man CKJuld no further oppose ; but only pleaded the distaste, which would hereupon be justly taken by the Lord Chief Justice, whom I undertook fully to satisfy : which I did with no great difdculty ; commending to his lordship, in my room, my old friend and chamber-fellow, .Mr. Chohaley ; who, finding an answerable acceptance, disposed himself to the place ; so as we two, who cami; tog<;th man's generosity and forethought, but evidently this was not Blundell's opinion. 'JMu^ benefit of his fellow-creatures, especially those of his native town, seems ever to have been uppermost in his mind, a fact wliich one is tempted to ascribe to his being a bachelor. Lord Bacon's ideas on this subject are well-known : " Certainly, the best works and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from tlie unmarried or childless men. which, botli in affections and means, have married and endowed tlie public." (Kss/n/.s; viii.j Besides the donations which he lavished on the school, Blundell bestowed three other gifts on tlie to\\ n. The first wiis for apprenticing poor boys. With his usual care Blundell in his will gives strict and precise directions what is to be done. '' As much as the true Laboure and exercise of Husbandry is a thinge very pr()fit:i])le in the Common Wealthey and acci'[»tahie and [)leasinge to Almightiu 9BJ THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFORB God, and yet at this present in most places much neglected and decaied, my will and desier is that twentie powndes yearly shall bee ymploied and disbursed by the said Feoffees yearely for ever, as followeth, that is to saie, the sume of five powndes yearly for ever of such fower poore boys born and for the most part brought up in the saide Towne or Parish of Tiverton, of the age of fifteen years or under, as to the said tenne Inhabitants for the tyme being for ever shall be thought meetest, whose parents shall be dwellinge in the saide Towne or Parrish, to be bounde to serve in Husbandry for seaven yeares or upwards, the saide five powndes to be delivered to the Master he shall soe serve, with allowance to be taken by the saide Clarke for repayment as followeth, that is to saie, to the servante yf the same seaven yeares service or more bee by him duely and truely done with the saide Master or his Assignes. And yf the same bee not done accordingly in the servants default, in every such case the same five powndes to be repaid and bestowed towards the relief of poor Householders in Tiverton I'owne aforesaid, at the discreation of the said tenne inhabitants or the most parte of them ; and yf the same service bee in parte done accordingly, and then the said servante happen to die in the saide service within the tyme agreed of, then to goe to the Executors and Assignes of the same servante, with that I doubte not but the master of the same servante, will, dureing the tyme he hath the said monie, ymploye the same to some good and godly uses for the said Servant's benefitt, as my meaning is. And if in the saide parish of Tyverton there shall not yearly goe forth in the service of Husbandry soe many as aforesaide, then the want to bee from tyme to tyme of forreyners of and in other places adjoining as to the said feoffees or the moste part of them shall be thoughte meete, the same order and course to be obtained of the same forreyners as is before limited of the others. And my will and meaninge is that the said feoffees for the tyme beinge, or the most parte of them shall from tyme to tyme, make abolish and set down such Orders, Laws, and directions, both touching the Schole and matters of Husbandry, and all matters and circum- stances thereof." In harmony with these directions every Easter Monday four poor boys used to be bound apprentice to farmers. The custom seems to have been observed down to the year 1841. About this time the apprenticeship system as applied to agricultural pursuits went out of fashion. The apprentices were bound by parish indentures until they were twenty one, when they received from their master a sum of £5 with interest, for which he had previously given a bond on being paid that amount by the trustees. Blundell's second gift was " fower hundred powndes to the marriage of twentie poor maydes in Tiverton, borne there, and to THE EARLY STIJAETS 97 them that their fathers have dwelled tenne years in Tyverton Towne, to the discression of my Executors equally to be divided amongst them." Thirdly and lastly he gave " to the Maior, Bailiffs, and Cominalty of the Citie of Exon the sume of nyne hundred powndes." Of this £500 was to be devoted to poor artisans of the City of Exeter. " And touchinge the saide four hundred pounds, residue of the said stocke of nine hundred pounds, the saide Maior, Bailiffs, and Cominalty, for the time being, or the most parte of them as aforesaid, shall also on the Wensdaie next after the feast of St. Michael th' Archangell aKvaies forever put forth the same fower hundred powndes alsoe forever untill the said Wensdaie nexte before the fovverthe feast of St. Michael, that is to sale, for fower years lacking six dales, as aforesaid to twenty Artifficers, Weavers, and Tuckers of the said towne of Tyverton, and in default of such, to others thei'e of other honest trades and misteries of honest name and reporte and reputation willing to take the same, being also dwellers and householders in the said towne of Tyverton, that is to wit, to each of them twentie poundes, each of them taking such good aud sufficient assurance as well for repayment of the pryncipal, and for and after the rate of eighte poundes by the yeare forever for the said fower hundred poundes, &c." The amount was to be repaid " on the Wensdaie next before the said fowerthe feaste of St. Michael th' Archangell next after the putting forthe thereof as aforesaid, between the howres of one and fower of the clocke in the afternoon."* I have quoted so much of Peter Blundell's will that the reader may like to see the ending. It is as follows : " Subscribed the day and year first above written, in the presence of those whose names are subscribed to this my last will, which contayneth in all fourteene sheets of paper. I say fourteen sheets of paper — written by me Peter Blundells owne hand writinge. " Pbtek Blundell." Blundell had a nephew, Eobert Chilcot or Comyn, son of Eleanor his only sister, who was married to John Chilcot, of Eairby. llobert was his uncle's clerk, whence in no disparaging sense he is often termed a " servant." He succeeded to Blundell's business and realised a large fortune. Chilcot did not live at Tiverton, but at Isleworth in Middlesex, and there in all proba- bility hti died in 1609. He had ere this been appointed by lilundell in his will as one of the overseers of his property, and it has been beli(;v^ed by some that the iiionc^y with which Chilcot's Sch(jol was erected was Utjit for that purpose by liis uncle. Jf so, there is no acknowledgment of the circumstance in Chilcot's * The interest of tliis raoiu-y is now supplied to the Infirmary. I have been unable to find what has become of the two other legacies. H 98 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFORD will. This instrument was executed on the 25th of August, 1609, and contains some quaint provisions. Thus the schoolmaster was to be a celibate : "No married man or any that hath any childe or children shall at any time be schoolmaster in the saide schoole ; " and in the same inexorable way he lays down that " no maydes or girls shall be taught in this schoole." The number of scholars was not to exceed a hundred, but if less than a hundred boys from the town and parish attended the school, that number might be made up by " foreigners." If, on the other hand, there were in the school more than a hundred " men children," natives of the place, then the schoolmaster with the consent of the feoffees was to " put out of the saide schoole such men's children as there parents are best able to paye for there Schooling in another place." The master was to be appointed by the feoffees " with the allowance of the Bishoppe of the Diocesse for the time being," and he was to have as his salary <£20. With this he was expected to be satisfied, his only perquisite being a fee of sixpence from each scholar for register- ing his name. The master had, of course, the use of the school- house, and this was no doubt one of the reasons why so many of the teachers transgressed Chilcot's strict injunctions as to marriage. It appears to have been the rule for the feoffees to elect single men to the office, and not to interfere with them if in the exercise of their own discretion they afterwards became married. To go back to the will — the sum of ^400 was to be spent on the building and an annuity of £90 was left for the maintenance of the school. £3 a year was to be paid to a " perfect Gierke " for keeping the accounts of the charity. The school was to be free and the pupils taught " onely to read englishe and to write." The original endowment has been somewhat increased by later donations. Thus in 1790 Benjamin Gilberd, already men- tioned as one of the benefactors of Blundell's School, bequeathed .£300 to Chilcot's foundation. This was invested in consols, and the interest was added to the master's salary. Again, in 1802 Kichard Davis gave by will £50, the interest of which was to be employed in the purchase of books for the six most deserving boys. The actual building was erected in 1611. The style is EHzabethan, and as the school fortunately escaped in the fires of 1612, 1731, and 1794, it has preserved its ancient features intact. Over the gate of the building is the inscription : Robert Comin als Chilcot, borne in this Towne, founded this Free English Schoole, and indowt" it witJi maintenance for ever, Anno Dni 1611 THE EAELT STTJAETS 99 We come now to an event o£ the highest importance. Hitherto the town had been under the rule of the Portreeve, who, as we have seen, was a subordinate of the Lord of the Manor. This arrangement answered very well so long as Tiverton was com- paratively small, and, so to speak, a mere appanage of the Castle, iiut now with increasing prosperity and a population which in sixty years had nearly trebled, such a mode of government was felt to be not merely an anachronism, but a grave inconvenience. This fact had been emphasised in the recent fire. Though the inhabitants generally may have been guilty of great negligence in not taking adequate precautions against such a calamity, especially after their previous warning, still the accident must be largely attributed to the want of properly constituted authorities^ whose business it should be to frame suitable bye-laws and to see that they were duly carried out. In the year 1615 Tiverton had a population of 6,u00 souls and the total value of the property was estimated at =£350,000. As a matter both of interest and dignity, therefoi*e, it was felt that a change should be made. The inhabitants petitioned for a Charter. The claim being eminently reasonable, the King, James I., found no difficulty in acceding to it. Among other reasons assigned in the pi'eamble it is stated that Tiverton was an ancient town and that the poorer people " flying slothf ulness and idleness (being the root of all evil) " devoted themselves to the making of cloth, whereby they escaped the penalties of the law and added considerably to the revenue. INIoreover, it seems, King James had been credibly informed that the inhabitants " to their perpetual pi'aise and glory " had performed " divers good and acceptable services both to himself and his progenitors and predecessors," though in what these services consisted, he has been graciously pleased to with- hold. On the grounds, therefore, of public policy and private gratitude he vouchsafed " to make, ordain, constitute and create the same inhabitants into one body corporate and politic, by the name of Mayor and Burgesses of the town and parish of Tiverton." Here I must interpose a remark both as to what this measure did signify and what it did not signify. Many of my readers will no doubt have formed their ideas of municipal government on existnig institutions, but in the present instance these are hardly a safe guide. What the first charter granted by James I. — and for that matter the second and third charters also— tZ^tZ mean was that the town was to be under local oilicials vested with power and responsibility. It did not mean representation. The first appointments were made by the Crown and all subsequent ones by co-optation. So far, therefore, from having a voice in their own ail'aiis, the bulk of the inhabitants were no better off than they were before, and the "Kadical" jjortion of the community, as we shall see, regarded their exclusion as a first-rate gi'ievance. h2 100 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD And indeed one does not need to be strongly tinged with Radicalism to perceive that this close corporation was not the happiest con- trivance for the good of the town. If any one thinks otherwise, he may turn back to my chapter on mediaeval Tiverton, where the way in which the corporators kept guard over the local charities receives painful illustration. However, I am omitting to state the actual constitution of the body. First of all there was the Mayor, and under him were twelve "capital burgesses" and twelve assistants, who together formed the Common Council. The Mayor was elected annually, on the Tuesday after the feast of St. Bartholomew, between nine and twelve in the morning, and he was sworn a fortnight later before the Mayor, his predecessor, and the capital and assistant burgesses. Should the Mayor happen to die, one of the capital burgesses was chosen in his stead by the majority of the Council, and after being sworn before ten or more of the members, held office for the remainder of the year. The chief burgesses and assistants before entering on their duties were sworn before the Mayor. Their appointments were for life, but misconduct subjected the offender to removal. If a capital burgess died, the vacancy was supplied by one of the assistants, while on the death or removal of an assistant, the Mayor and Council were empowered to elect one of the discreetest and honestest inhabitants of the town and parish in his place. It was not^ altogether a matter of choice whether one became Mayor, capital burgess, or assistant, for any one refusing to act in these capacities was liable to a fine, and he was committed to gaol until the fine was paid. The Mayor and Council were permitted to make statutes and ordinances for the government of the town and impose punishments in the shape of fines and imprisonment. It was stipulated, however, that their statutes, fines, pains, and penalties should be reasonable, and not contrary to law. There was also a Recorder, and a Town Clerk, as well as a Deputy Recorder, and all three were sworn before the Mayor. The Recorder was a justice of the peace in the town and parish, as was also the Mayor for one whole year after his term of office. The Mayor, Recorder, and Justice, or any two of them, might hold sessions in any county of England for the purpose of investigating such crimes and misdemeanours as were committed within the town and parish, and might punish the offenders, but their powers did not extend to cases of felony. All felons and persons sus- pected of felony were sent to the county gaol. It was provided in the charter that the Mayor and burgesses should have a prison for offenders, or such as should be arrested, and that the Mayor should be the keeper of the prison. "A court of record " was to be held every Tuesday fortnight by the Mayor and Recorder, or Deputy Recorder, for dealing with debts, trespasses, and personal actions, within the town and parish, for any sum not exceeding £100 ; and the defendants might be compelled to plead either by THE EAELT STUAETS 101 arrest of their persons or seizure of their goods and chattels. The latter duty devolved on the Sergeants-at-Mace, two of whom, appointed by the Mayor, attended on him like a small body-guard and were continued during his will and pleasure. They carried maces of gold or silver engraven with the king's arms. Without leave of the Mayor no Sheriff of the county of Devon or any bailiff or minister of the king might enter the town or parish or the liberties thereof, to execute anything belonging to their office. On the other hand warrants directed to the Sergeants-at-Mace could only be executed within the liberties and precincts. Accord- ing to Martin Dunsford the Sergeants-at-Mace were entitled to 10s. 8d. for every arrest beyond what he calls the out-bounds of the town. These limits are stated to have been as follows : LowMAS Bridge ; and no further up Elmore than opposite and adjoining Lowman-bridge. Great gutter at the town's end. Red gate at the head of Frog {i.e., Castle) Street, which is adjoining the town-leat. Little-Silver-bridge. Barnstaple Inn at the higher end of Westexe. A gutter at the lower end of Westexe, which comes from Mr. Hodge's court, just above Mr. Gorton's mills. N B. Well-brook and the leat are not in the town. Some of these land-marks have unfortunately disappeared, but it is possible to gain from this statement a very fair notion of what was considered the " town," as distinct from the parish, of Tiverton. Finally, by the charter of 1615, the Mayor and Burgesses were privileged to return two members to Parliament. In connexion with the present agitation for paid members the following passage will be read with interest : " And the same Burgesses so elected and chosen, we will have them to be present and continue at the Parliament of us, our heirs and successors, at the costs and charges of the aforesaid Mayor and Burgesses of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, and their successors, during the time that such Parliament shall happen to ho kept, in like manner and form as othc^r Burgesses of the Parliament, for any other places, cities, boroughs, or towns whatsoever within our Kingdom of England, they do or have used to do." The liist Mayor was Richard IJill, alias Spurway, a merchant of Tiverton bi-longing to the younger branch of a family which had been domiciled at Oakford since the tiiiu; of Henry II. It is possible* that he lived in Barrington-striiet, where there was iormerly an ancient building called " Spurway's house." For various reasons Kichard Hill is an interesting personage. It appears that in January, 1 r)S3, he married Wilinot, second daughter of John Ooinin or Chilcot, who was sist' Burridge Peter Bartow^ Jun^ Thom^ HeatlifieM What he paid for his privilege is not stated on the document itself, but is believed to have been over t\\enty pounds, and doubtless went to the expenses of the Corporation dinners. Mr. Sharland tells an interesting anecdote of this worthy Jobn Mardon, who happens to have been his great-grandfather, so that we may rely on its being authentic. Mr. Mardon's premises were situated at the corner of Eampton-street and Gold-street, where he had a " rope walk." In addition to rope-making he carrit;d on a large business as a seedsman and a powder and shot merchant. On a certain evening after dark a customer sent for some article, either connected with the rope or seed department, and Mr. Mardon sent an apprentice up the yard, at the back of what is now the Post Ofllce, to fetch it. When the bo}^ cam(> in, his master asked him wluit hi; had done with the candle, "Oh," said the boy, '• 1 forgot it ; I stick'd un in the turnip seed," Mr. Mardon stood aghast for a moment, then walked to the shed where the candle was still burning, stuck in a barrel of gunpowder ! Tremblingly spreading two fingers, he carefully took the candle out, returned indoors, and fainted. To return to the Corporation. Wlien the members of Parliamc-nt came down, as they usually did once a year, they were feted and dined by their constituents, and then it was that the corporators who had sons to provide; for \\vm\v the most of their opportunity, and occasionally secured very comfortable bertlis for their budding offspring. One instance is recorded in which the son 106 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOEU of a member of the Tiverton Corporation was appointed governor of a distant island, w hich up to that moment he had never heard of, and which he certainly never visited, though he continued to draw a very handsome salary from the post. Considering the many advantages, direct and indirect, which a seat on the Corporation produced to the holder, the initial fee of £30 (for the Wine Fund) can hardly be termed exorbitant. On their . extinction in 1835 the Corporation left few or no effects to their successors. They had sold the " Mayor's Tenement " and the furniture of the Mayoralty room, and the remainder of their stock of wine they distributed among their own worshipful selves. In 1623 John Berry, among other benefactions, left £60 "to be employed towards the setting up and continuance of a Lecture in Divinity, in Tiverton, if the same be permitted." I have been unable to discover whether Berry's desire was ever carried into eifect— probably not : but as the institution was a peculiar one and particularly obnoxious to the High Church party, some of my ecclesiastically minded readers may like to hear more of it. Heylin, in his " Life of Laud," suppUes the following account : " Lectures upon week dayes were not raised upon this founda- tion {i.e. that of the Eeformation) but were brought in after- wards, borrowed by Traversand the rest, toward the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, from the new fashions of Geneva ; the Lecturer being superadded to the Parson or Vicar, as the Doctor was unto the Pastor in some foreign Churches. Nor were they raised so much out of care and conscience, for training up the people in the wayes of Faith and Piety, as to advance a Faction, and to alienate the people's mindes from the Government and Forms of Worship here by law established. For these Lecturers having no dependence upon the Bishops, nor taking the oath of Canonical obedience to them, nor subscribing to the doctrine and established Ceremonies, made it their work to please their Patrons, on whose arbitrary maintenance they were planted, and conse- quently to carry on the Puritan interest, which their Patron drove at. A generation of men, neither Lay nor Clergy, having no place at all in the Prayers of the Church, where we find mention only of Bishops, Pastors and Curates ; nor being taken notice of in the terms of Law, as being neither Parsons nor Vicars ; or, to speak of them in the vulgar proverb, neither flesh, nor fish, nor good red herring. No creatures in the world so like them as the Bats or Eeremice ; being neither Birds nor Beasts, and yet both together. H ad these men been looked upon in time, before their numbers were increased, and their power grown formidable, before the people went a madding after new inven- tions, most of the mischiefs which have thence ensued might have been prevented." This being the spirit in which lectureships were regarded THE EAELT STUAETS 107 by a powerful section of the Church, we can understand why John Berry thought it necessary to attach a con- dition to his bequest and to arrange for a diiferent employment of the money. The rubric of the Book of Common Prayer enjoins one sermon or homily on the mornings of Sundays and holy-days for the benefit of the older people and catechising in the after- noon for the instruction of the children; and something like this seems to have been the practice in Tirerton down to the year 1820, when, probably through the influence of the Evangelical move- ment, Sunday evening " lectures" were introduced, the preacher on the first occasion being the curate of Prior's Portion. Notices relating to local events during the early part of the reign of Charles 1. are unfortunately very sparse. We learn, how- ever, from the manuscript diary of Farmer Robert Roberts, of Xorth Combe, in the parish of Stockley Pomeroy, that on October 13th, 1625, there was a great flood at Tiverton and that, fifty-three houses collapsed. In 162L) as Exeter was suffering from tlie plague, the Assizes were held at Blundell's School, Tiverton. According to Farmer Roberts, the name of the Judge was Dinham, and one Master Fry was High Sheriff of Devon. A Dutch- man having been convicted of robbery and a Chevithorne man, named Comins, of sheep-stealing, both were hanged at White-down, about two miles on the road to Cullompton. The local pronunciation of the word " White-down "' is " Whid-down, " and the place was supposed to be haunted. Even within the recollection of persons still living, people wereafraid to pass the spot, which certainly looks desolate enough, after nightfall ; and horses, it was said, would instinctively start and plunge on approaching the fatal cross-road. The following report of a magisterial enquiry was discovered some years ago by Mr. H, S. Gill. The exaicon (examination) of John Staddon, of Tyverton, in the Countie of Devon, ffuller. Taken before Peter Blundell, gent., Maior of the Towne and Parrishe of Tyverton, aforesaid, and Vallentyne HartnoU, gent., two of the Kinges Majesties Justices of the peace within Uw said towne and parisshe, the Three and Twentieth dale of November, 1G27. The exaiate (examinate) confesseth that on Mondaie last was a month he sould threescore and two pounds of ridgewasht wool to one Thomas Cornishe, of Tyverton, aforesaide, Clothier, for eleven pence and three farthings a pound. And being demanded where he had the same woole, sayeth that he bought part of the same woole about six weeks since in the Markett of Tyverton aforesaid, for eleven pence and three, but howe muchc he knoweth not, and where he had the rest of the Baide woole he refusuth to discover. 108 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED The exaiate (examinatel further confesseth that after he had the same woole, and by all the tyme before he sould it unto the said Thomas Cornishe, he left the same in his father's woodhouse, and hid it under strawe there. Petee Blundblle, Maior Valentine Kartnoll. In conclusion, Hewett's MS. contains this entry: " 1630, John Francis, of Chevithorne, Esq., he was the first person that did keep a coache in this parish of Tiverton." APPENDIX. The First Set or Bye-laws, A.D. 1627. ORDINANCES MADE AND RATIFIED by Arthur Culme, Esq. Mayor of the Towne and Parish of Tiverton in ye County of Devon and the Capitall Burgesses and Assistants of the said Towne and Parish being the common Counsell there, the ffoure and Twentyeth Day of March Anno Domini 1627. In The Third Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles by the grace of God of England, Scotland, and ffrance and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith &c. And the Same day and year aforesaid Examined and approued by Sr John Walter Kt, Lord Chief Barron of the Court of the Exchequer, and Sr John Dyiiham Kt one of ye Barrens of the same Court, the Justices of Assize of and for the said County of Devon according to the forme of the statute made and Provided. IMPRIMIS If any Merchant. Tradesman, or artificer, dwelling or in- habiting within the prcints of this Liberty shall open or cause to be opened any Shop Windows within ye Towne of Tiverton to Sell or put to Sale any goods or Wares vpon the Lords; day, he shall forfeit & pay for every time so doing Two Shillinges and ffoure pence, to be levyed by distress to be taken of ye Goods and chattels of ye offender or offenders. ITEM If any Butcher or Victuler within the said Towne or Parish of Tiverton by himselfe or his Servante shall Kill any Beast vpon the Lords Day with ye intent to put ye same to Sale, he shall fforfeit and pay for every Bullock ffive Shillings, and so for every other Beast so killed, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is also agreed, ordered, and established that if any of the Capitall Burgesses or Assistants here being by the Mayor's Command Summon'd to ye Election of ye Mayor of ye said Towne and Parrish do make Default at such Election to be made, haueing no reasonable excuse for his absence, That every person so offending contrary to this Act and ordinance shall forfeit for every Default twenty Shillinges, to be levied of his goodes and chatties by way of distress as aforesaid. ITEM It is ffarther agreed and ordain'd that if any of ye Capitall Burgesses or Assistants shall not attend here vpon Summons given to attend by the Mayor here for ye time being at ye Guild Hall here or any other Convenient place within the said Towne and parrish appointed by ye Mayor for the time being, either for ye Service of his Majtie or for mattars or basiness touching ye Estate and welfare of this Towne and THE EAELT STUAETS 109 Parrish and ye good Government of ye S'ame, but do make default, having no reasonable excuse to ye contrary, he shall forfeit and lose for every such default three ShilJings ffoure Pence, to be levied of his goods by distress aforesaid. ITEM To ye intent that ye Capitall Bui'gesses and Assistants here for ye time being' may hereafter be seen in decent and Gomly Habit accord- ing to their degree and Calling, It is ordered, decreed, and concluded vpon that every one of ye said Burgesses and Assistants here vpon all Sundays and at all other the principall festivall dales in ye year and at all other their Solemn and Special Assemblies vse and ware a decent and Comly GrOWNE and that every one of ye Said ffellowship doing to ye contrary to be there Sensured by ye Mayor and Capitall Burgesses or ye greater part of them for ye time being, whereof ye Mayor for the time being, shalle every one fforfeit and lose for every Such default Three Shillings and ffoure Pence, to be levied of his goods by distress. ITEM It is further ordered, ordained, and agreed that no inhabitant or dweller within the said Towne and Parish shall accept recieue, entertaine or take into his or her house or houses or any part thereof any vnder tennant or Inmate, or Suffer more ffamilies or households but his owne to be in his or her house without ye consent and agreement of ye Mayor and Capitall Burgesses here, or ye greater pait of them for ye time being, vpon paine to fforfeit Ten Shillinges for every Moneth that any Such so accepted, receiued & taken vndertenuant, inmate, or family as aforesaid contrary to this agreement Shall dwell or inhabit in any Such house or houses vntil such vndertenuant, inmate, or family as aforesaid be againe put away. Provided that this order and agreement do Extend only against ye acceptance, receipt, and taking of Strangers and fforainers. ITEM It is further ordered and agreed that no Inhabitant or reseant within ye said Towne or parish or any other person or persons shall within this Towne or parish out of ye Burrough build, or erect, or cause to be made, builded, or erected any manner of cottage for habitation or dwelling, nor con/ert or ordaine any building or houseing made or here- after to be made to be vsed as a Cottage for habitation or Dwelling or maintaine, Convert, or vphold any such Cottage I'h-ected or ordained as aforesaid for habitation and dwelling without ye Consent or agreement of ye Mayor and Capitall Burgesses here for ye Time Beir.g, vpon paine that every such offender against this ordinance shall for every such making. Building, erecting, or Converting & ordaining as aforesaid pay ffive Poun les k for eury Moneth that Such Cottage shalbe by him or them upholden, maintained, and continued Twenty Shillinges. ITEM It is likewise further ordered, ordained, and agreed vpon by y Generel Assent that no Inhabitant or dweller within the said Towne or any other person or persons shall witliin this Towne or jiarish henceforth accept, receive, or take to keep for a more or less time what- soever either to nurse or table any Bastard or I'astards Childe or Children, or any other Childe or Children not borne witliin ye snid Towne or parish wheh shall be likely in ye judgeint of yc Mayor for yc 'J'ime bi'ing to be Chargeable to ye said Parrish without good Securyty alowed by ye Mayor first giuen to discharge the said parish of Tiverton of all damage that may hap[)en or accrue to them l)y or in respect of such Childe or Children, or without ye Consent or agreement of ye Mayor, Justices, or Capitall Burgesses here for ye time being therevnto first had, procured, and obtained, vjjon paine to forfeit and pay for every such Bast.u-d or I5;istards Cliilde or Children so t.-iken and kept centrary to the intent and true meaning nf this ordinance IVoiirtye Shillings for every .Moneth that he or they shall su taUeuml keep any sucii Uastard or Childe contrary to ye purport and true meaning of this onler. 110 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYEOED ITEM It is ffiirther ordered that ye Sonne of any ffreeman being a Merchant, Haberdasher, fEeltmaker, or retailer of wares in any Kind of Merchandise whatsoever not being the Eldest Sonne shall pay for his ffreedora at or before he sell or proffer anything of his trade to be sold within ye T(jwne of Tiverton aforesaid Six Pence, and every such Person refuseing the same and so Sellin.' for every moneth's Default of pay- ment shall fforfeit Two Shillings, to be levied by way of Distress of the goods and Chatties of ye offenders. ITEM It is ffurther ordered that every apprentice of every such ffreeman made as aforesaid, being a Merchant, Mercer, Haberdasher, ffeltmaker, or retailer of wares in any kind of merchandise wtsoever (having served Seven Years) shall pay before he tell or proffer any wares to be Sould as before Sixpence for ye lurolling of his JVame, vpon paine to forfeit Twelve Pence for every Moneth's Default or non paymt of ye said Sume of Six pence, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM That the Son or Apprentice of any ffreeman, having served Seven Yeares, being a Tannar, Shoemaker, Glover, Smith, Sadler, weaver, white Tawer. Leatherman or any such like handy-craftsman shall pay ffor his ffreedom Six Pence before he sell or proft'er any commodities to be Sold, vpon paine of Twelve Pence for every Moneths default or non- payment of ye said Summe of Six Pence, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM If any one being the Sonne of any ffreeman shall claime a ffreedome within this Towne or parrish professing none of the former Trades or Sciences before spoken of, he shall pay for his freedome Two Shillings Six Pence, vpon paine to forfeit fl&ue Shillings, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM That if anyone being a Stranger and in the Towne inhabiting and not free shall desire to be made free, it shalbe done by ihe Consent of the Mayor and Burgesses and Assistantes there for the time being, or ye greatest Number of them, or otherwise he sliall not be ffree. ITEM, that every ffreeman or person being made ffree and having his name registered in the Common Book by the Town Clarke and being particularly Summon'd by the Mayor or ye Sergeants or others being the knowne officers or officer of ye Towne or Parish or any other person authoriz'd by ye Mayor in writing under his hand, to appear or be at any Court or Sessions of ye Peace to be holdenfor or within the said Libbertie, or at any publick meeting of the said Mayor and Burgesses for mattars concerning ye publick good of the said Towne, if he then inhabit within the said Towne or parish, shall make his personall appearance at every such general sessions of ye peace to be holden within and for this Towne and Parish being openly made knowne, or other public Meeting for ye cause aforesaij. and having no reasonable cause of excuse which shalbe alowed by the Mayor or greater part of ye Capital Burgesses and Assistants then present, vpon paine of Three Shillinges and ffoure pence to be fforfeited by every severall ffreeman for every such default, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered that if any Inhabitant or dweller within ye Prycincts of this Towne shall permit or suffer his or her Hoggs or Piggs, or any of them, wilfully and negligently to goe abroad in ye streets of the Towne or in the Churchyard of ye said Towne, that then every such inhabitant or dweller being owner of such Hoggs or Piggs shall fforfeit and pay for every time for every such Hotg and Pigg so straying, wandering, or going abroad as aforesaid, Three Pence to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered and established by ye general consent that if any Inhabitant or dweller within the Pcincts of this Liberty shall at THE EAELT STTJAETS 11 any time hereafter by him or her selfe or his or their Servant or Ser- vants wash any Clothes, wooll, or any other thing- such may give offence in ye Towne lake wch floweth or runneth through ye streets of ye said Towne, or so nere therevnto as may give cause of offence in abusing or annoing ye said water, or shall suffer his or their dye water to runne, flow, or come into any Street within ye said Towne, that then every such Person so offendini:; shall forfeit and pay for every time so therein offending Three 5?hillings and f oure Pence, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered, agreed, and ordained that if any Inhabitant or dweller within ye jjcincts of this Liberty shall hereafter divert or turne the said Towne lake out of his right and ancient course or shall suffer ye Breast channel or Banks of ye said Towne lake adjoyning thereunto, lying or being before or adjoining to his or her Dwelling house or ground to be ruinous or in decay, whereby the said water course or any part thereof shall runne out of his ancient course, and shall not Sufficiently repair and amena the same within Ten dayes next after notice thereof to him. her, or them given by ye Said Maj'or appointed, that then every such Inhabitant for so doing and suffering, and not re- pairing and mending after notice as aforesaid, shall fforfeit and pay for every such offence Six Shillings Eight Pence. ITEM It is further ordered and agreed that every inhabitant or dweller within ye pcincts of this Liberty shall from henceforth every Tuesday in ye forenoon and every Saturday in ye afternoon cause ye Street lying or being before his or her dwelling house, Yost (.') or ground within ye said Towne of Tivertcm, by all the length or breadth of his house or ground to ye middle of ye Street, to be clean swept and cleansed and shall not at any time from henceforth suft'er any Dounge, dirt, soyle, or any other noisome thing to lye in ye same Street before his or her dwelling house or ground, but shall remove or carry the same within one day next after notice hereof being given by the Mayor or any officer by ye said JNIayor Appointed, vpon paine to forfeit or Jose for every Such offence Twelve Pence, to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered and established that none of ye Capitall Burgesses or Assistants of ye said Corporaiion shall in their publick meetings and assemblys speak to every mattar to be in-opoundcd in ye said >olemn assemblies but uncouered, to induce a better respect to their solemn assemblies and meetings, tending to ye good Government of ye Corporation, and also that no person then present do interrup the Mayor, Recorder, or his deputie, or any other of yc Burgesses & Assistants Dureing the time of their discourse to ye Mattars in question, vpon paine to fforfeit & lose for every time so doing to ye Contrary hereof Twelue pence to be levied as aforesaid. ITEM It is ffurther ordered, agreed, and established for ye avoiding of ye Danger of Fire that if any Dyer, Clothier, Colour Maker, Baker or Brewer dwelling or inhabiting within ye Tdwne !c parish of Tiverton shall lay. Set, or put, or suffer to lie or be placed in ye Same Koome of his or her dwelling house in Tiverton aforesaid, where his or licr oven or ffurnace now is, or standeth, or hereafer shall be or stand, vjjou any such oven or ffurnace any ffurse, wood, or other fewell except only such as there shalbe present vse for ye same to burne, that then every sucli inliabitant so offending for every time that he or she shall so lay, set, or put, or suffer such wood, ffur.se, or other il'ewel! to lie or l)e in such of his or her Room or Rooraes as aforesaid, contrary to the true meaning of this Order or ordinance, shall fforfeit. lose, and pay the suinc of six shillings eight i)ence, to be levied by distress, as aforesaid. And for yc better pvencon tlierof it shalhe lawfull for yc Mayor for ye Time being by his oiIicer.s to make scarcii in any man's house within 112 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD ye said Towne of Tiverton, if any inhabitant do offend therein, when & so often as he shall think fRt. ITEM It is further ordered and establishpd that every inhabitant within ye said Towne of Tiverton shall from Time to time & so often as it shall be needfull SufBciently repair and maintaine by all tlie leng-th & breadth of his house vnto ye middest of ye streets the PAUEMENT of the Street, lying before his or her dwelling house or ground in ye said Towne, vpon pain to forfeit and pay for every week that the same shalbe decayed and not amended, after ten days' warning given by the Mayor or his officer, Twelve pence, to be levied by distress as aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered and established that no Inhabitant within ye said Towne or parish shall hereafter wth ffire heat any woUen or other cloth at any Rack or Racks standing or being within eighty ffoot of any Dwelling or other house, or any Rick, Mow, or Stack of ffurse, feme, wood, Hay, or Corne, or any mud wall which shalbe Thatched with Reed or Straw on j e top of ye Said Wall within the Said 'I'owne or parish, under pain of Three >hillings ffoure pence to be fforfeited and lost for every time So doing. ITEM It is further ordered and established that no inhabitant within ye said Towne of Tiverton shall BREW in ye night time within his or her dwelling house lying in ye Same Towne of Tiverton vnless it be before Eight of ye Clock at neight or after Three of ye Clock in ye Morning, vpon pain to forfeit and lose for every time so doing Six Shillings Eight pence, to be levied as'aforesaid. ITEM It is further ordered, established, and agreed that if any Person inhabiting or resident within the said Towne being aboue the Age of Eighteen Yeares & vnder the Age of Threescore shall vpon command given them by the Mayor, Justices, Constables, or Tything men of the Saide Towne, parish refuse to WATCH, or being appointed therevnto shall dej^art from his place of watching be- fore the time Limitted Such pson, or psons, so refuseing or de- parting, haveing no lawfuU cause of excuse to be allowed by ye Mayor for ye Time being ifor every such refusal or departure shall fforfeit two Shillings and Six pence. ITEM It is further ordered, established and agreed, for the better relief and setting the POOR on work, and for ye J5etter Incourgment of them to worke, that no person inhabiting or residing within the said Towne, parish Shall pay or satisfy any Spinster or Carder with any \v'^ares, Victualls, or other Commodities but only with ready Money vpon pains to fforfeit for every offence against this ordinance flfiue Shillings. ITEM It is ffurther or lered, established, and agreed if any person that is SUMMON'D to appear at ye Sessions of ye peace for this Towne Parish to serue in ye GRAND JURY or in ye office of a Constable shall come to such Sessions without their Cloak (if they have any) in a decent and Civill mannar. every such person shall fforfeit for every such ofEence contrary to this ordinance Two Shillinges. ITEM It is further ordered, agreed, and established that every person of the said Towne and Parish of Tiverton which now is, or hereafter shalbe, Mayor there, within Three Monetbsnext after he shalbe out of his Said office of Mayor shall make a true and perfect account before ye Mayor, Burgesses and Assistants, or the greater part of them for the time being, of and flor all Such Seuall Sume or Sumes of money as such Mayor hath recieved, for or by virtue, colour, or reason of his said office of Mayor, and of the Imployment of the Same, vpon paine to fforfeit Ten Poundes for every monetli that he shall not performe the Same, being not lawfully hindred therein according to the true Meaning of this ordinance, to be levied as aforesaid. Roundheads and Cayaliers Roundheads and Cavaliers WTKHE year 1 642 is famous for the commencement of the Great wK\^ Rebellion. The inhabitants of Tiverton, it is evident, ^-^^ were not of one mind on this subject. A section favoured either party. But a priori one would say, Tiverton being a trad- ing and manufacturing centre, that the majority were Sound- heads. This much is certain, that at the outset of the struggle the Parliamentarians were the masters, and had a garrison here under Colonel Weare. This arrangement, however, was not destined to continue. As is well known. Fortune at first smiled on the Eoyalists, and Tiverton was early a victim of her caprice. In August, 1643, a troop of the King's dragoons, led by Sir Allen Apsley and Major Buckingham, left Exeter and captured the town by surprise. Sir Allen, I may mention, was a brother of Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson, wife of Colonel Hutchinson, and authoress of the celebrated memoirs ; and he was commander of Barnstaple at the tiuK,' of its surrender to the Parliamentarians. Whether any or what amount of resistance was offered by Colonel Weare and his men, does not appear, but the mob, waxing valiant, pelted the soldiers as they rode up Gold-street with a choice miscellany of stones, brickbats, &c. The troopers, irritated at this recep- tion, discharged their pieces, placing a large number of their assailants hors de combat. The rest thereupon dispersed. The Cavaliers, however, were not satisfied with this easy victory. Doubtless by way of example, they seized .John Lock, a miller, and executed him at the sign of the White Horse in Gold-street, which ceremony being enacted, th(,>y proceeded to plunder the town. I may add that the Colonel Weare who was thus caught napping was no soldado, or professional fire-eater, of the Dalgetty type, but a local hero — John Weare, of Halberton. ior two years the Eoyalists remained in undisturbed possession, i2 116 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOKD and during this time, it would appear, the ordinary municipal functions were suspended. Tiverton, besides being under martial law, was saddled with a most merciless tyrant in a certain Colonel Connocke. The true name of this person was Fiennes. He was a son of Lord Say. He had been formerly a colonel in the Parliamentarian army, and was governor of Bristol when that city capitulated to the Eoyalists. He had been tried on that occasion for cowardice and sentenced to lose his head. Fortunately for himself, though not so fortunately for the general community, he succeeded in evading the penalty. After that he transferred his allegiance to the Eoyalists. His conduct at Tiverton must certainly have been very bad, the proof being that when in 1645 he attempted to join Fairfax at Axminster, Sir Thomas for that reason refused to have anything to do with him. " The General " says Spragge (" Anglia Eediviva," pt.ii. c. 3) " understood of his cruel conduct to the country, whilst he was governor of the place, in torturing people and burning them with matches and otherwise cruelly using both men and women (in such manner as is not fit to be mentioned)" and as the sequel " he was required to depart the quarter of the Parliament or to be proceeded against as a spy." In September, 1644, Lord Goring and Sir John Berkley united their forces at Tiverton, and Berkley's horse, engaging the enemy in or near the town, forced them to beat a retreat. The possession of Tiverton was just then of considerable value to the King, forming as it did one of regular stages for the royal forces in their march from Plymouth. It would appear also to have been important from a strategic point of view, being, to use the phrase then current, " upon a passe." Whilst these events were in progress, a new disaster loomed on the horizon. This was the plague or sweating sickness. Cases of the sort had occurred in the two previous months, but the epidemic was most virulent in October. In this month alone 105 persons are recorded to have died. The total number of victims was 450, and largely on account of this visitation the town was almost forsaken. The hasty burial of so many corpses in a few feet of earth afterwards excited fears lest the pestilence should return, and the south and east parts of St. Peter's Churchyard, where most of the interments took place, were raised much above their original level by heaps of earth which, in the hope of pre- venting infection, were thrown down there. The market was held in a field (which from that circumstance received the name of Shambles) near the two-mile-stone on the Halberton road ; and it has been conjectured that Little Silver, which is said to have been colonized as a harbour of refuge during a time of pestilence, may have sprung up at this period. Certainly what with cavalry skirmishes, the oppressions of Colonel Connocke, and the plague, Tiverton was then no very enviable spot to dwell in. ROUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 117 Next year Sir Richard Greenvil, descendant as well as name- sake of the famous Elizabethan sea-dog, got into trouble with the Royalists (the party to \^'hich he adhered) through his negligence. It was his duty to look after the commissariat. This, however, he conspicuously failed to do. Complaints were rife that the garrisons of Dartmouth, Barnstaple, and Tiverton were both badly provisioned and inadequately supplied with arms and ammu- nition. Representations were made on the subject by the county gentlemen who, under the name of Commissioners, had charge of the royal interests ; but Sir Richard successfully com- batted all attacks. This would have been all very well, but in January, Essex had been succeeded in the command of the Parliamentarians by Sir Thomas Fairfax, a far abler man, who might be expected before long to put his opponents' preparations to the test. Meanwhile the Prince of Wales (afterwards Charles II.) appeared in the West as a mediator. After settling the vexed question of contributions he gave orders that detachments should be forwarded to Sir Richard Greenvil at Tiverton from Dartmouth, Exeter, and Barnstaple. The Exeter company obeyed; but the Dartmouth and Barnstaple contingents, a report reaching them that Lord Goring had retired from Taunton, abandoned the march, whereupon Sir Richard Greenvil, we are told, " took occa- sion to exclaim against the Prince and his Commissioners." Towards the end of the same month of August, 1645, in which these events occurred, the Prince of Wales held a council of war at Exeter. It was resolved that the infantry should proceed to Tiverton and the cavalry to the east of Exeter, and that on the arrival of the indispensable Sir Richard Greenvil, the entire army should advance ta the relief of Bristol. The fall of that place, which was announced the following month, negatived the last proposal ; otherwise there was no change in the plan of campaign. According to Clarendon it was the intention of the Royalists *' that, if the enemy gave time, the force of both counties (i.e. Devon and Cornwall) should be drawn to Tiverton and upon that pass to fight with the rebels." However, the retreat of Lord Goring ruined these calculations. It was in these circumstances, apparently, that Connocke, with the instinct of the proverbial rat, desc^rted. lie was not alone in his poltroonery. The governor of Tiverton Castle was Colonel Amias Pollard, but he had no stomach for the fight, and on the approach of Genciral Fairfax threw up his command. The person whom the Prince of Wales commissioned to succeed him was Sir Gilbert Talbot. Sir Gilbert, J should say, tliough not a griiat man, had a very distinct personality. Ife (Hd not coin(! to Tivcu'ton with an absolutely clean rticord, but his loyalty at all events was unimpeachabl(\ Previous to this he had rendered himself chiefly famous by some extraordinary proceedings in the Levant, where, he had attempted to confiscate the effects of the English 118 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOEI) merchants to the sole use of His Majesty King Charles I. The merchants, however, by liberal bribes Lo the Grand Vizier managed to defeat the scheme. Good or bad, Sir Gilbert Talbot deter- mined to hold his own. On Tuesday, October 14, Fairfax marched to Honiton from Chard. On Wednesday his vanguard reached Cullompton. Here the Koyalists had 300 dragoons and a body of infantry, under Lord Miller. They attempted, however, no kind of stand, and incontinently evacuated the place. The Parliamentarians pursued and took some of them prisoners. The others, it was ascertained, had retreated to Tiverton. At a council of war which was held the same night, it was decided that Major-General Massey with the cavalry and a brigade of infantry should advance on Tiverton and besiege the Castle. On Thursday he marched. Eeaching his destination he drove the enemy before him and compelled them to take refuge in the Castle and Church. In an assault on the Castle, Massey appears to have sustained a repulse. On Thursday, Fairfax had paid a visit to Bradninch, but on receipt of this intelligence he hastened to Tiverton, where he arrived on Fri- day, the 17th, and called on the enemy to surrender. They refused, and Fairfax commenced a regular investment of the place. The contest was no doubt very unequal. Talbot states that his cavalry were mutinous, that the garrison included only 200 infantry, and that some of his principal officers were disaffected. All this may easily be believed. The Royalists found great difficulty in paying their men, provisions ran short, nor was it unlikely that the examples of the virtuous Colonel Connocke and the valiant Colonel Pollard should have influenced other chiefs of the party. In so far then as Talbot's asseverations relate to him- self and his resources, they may, 1 think, be implicitly received. As regards the enemy his estimate is clearly exaggerated. He puts them down at two and twenty thousand men. If this were correct, the proportions would be those of a fairy tale. As a matter of fact Fairfax had about six thousand under his command, and we know of what thev consisted — Weldon's brigade of infantry, six companies of foot which had formed part of the Chichester garrison, an equal number from Lyme, and a division of cavalry ranging from 1800 to 2000. Friday and Saturday were spent in the erection of batteries over against the Castle. Massey had already, before Fairfax's arrival, commenced this necessary work, and now, under the supervision of both generals, it was prosecuted with so much energy that by Saturday afternoon the batteries were complete. There has been much discussion as to where these batteries were placed. Tradition says, near the present site of the Black Horse Inn, Bampton - street, and, taking all the cir- cumstances into account, it would be difficult to hit on a more plausible situation. The reader must beware of sup- EOUNDHEADS AND CAVALIEKS 119 posing that Newport-street then presented at all a similar appear- ance to what it does now. The term " Works," applied to the open space adjoining St. Peter's Churchyard, must often have perplexed strangers who, seeing no signs of industry thereabouts, may have jumped to the conclusion that the name was imposed arbitrarily, on the Incus a non lucendo principle. The description, however, has reference to an earlier state of things, to a period that is to say, when the area in question was enclosed by the outworks of the Castle. One flank, it seems, extended along Newport-street as far as Castle-street, while the other ran parallel to it from the northern end of the Castle to the juncture of William-street, Castle-street, and Bartow's-causeway. Castle- street is the " causeway " (the only specimen still left in the town) which Dunsford describes as leading to the eastern gate of the Castle, and which, though now cut off from it, was doubtless the regular approach. At the south-east angle was the outer gate, from which Newport-street (Fr. parte " a gate ") derives its name. This gate was surmounted by a Gothic arch ; and a wall, with battlements and small stone arches, guarded the causeway. Moreover, two other gates, under like arches, at intervals of eighteen feet, helped to fortify the entrance, " the whole of which was thirty-six feet long and fifteen feet wide, divided by the gates into equal parts, the ceilings of each of them strongly arched with stone to support the building over, and branches of hewn stone in the Gothic style, sprung from the angles and sides to the centre, where they were united beneath the Lancastrian rose " {Dunsford). Both the north and south walls were defended by deep and wide moats. According to tradition there was a drawbridge connecting the round tower, which still exists, with the churchyard, and this may well have been the case. But it seems necessary, as it is certainly natural, to believe that there was another drawbridge between the outer gate, which, as we have seen, was elaborately fortified, and Newport-street. After this amount of explanation which the reader, I am sure, will not deem superfluous, I return to my narrative. On Saturday afternoon the garrison seems to have become aware of their desperate situation, and a man was let down from the Castle by means of a rope. The manoeuvre, however, was observed by the Parliamentarian sentries, who promptly arrested the fugitive. Nothing of importance was found on him, but, stimulated by threats, he confessed that before his capture he had thrown a missive of which he was the bearer " by the water-side." It is not clear wliat is meant by this enigmatical phrase — either the moat or the River Exe may be intended — anyiiow the letter was found. It proved to be a despatch from Sir Gilbert Talbot to Sir John B(;rkl(;y, the governor of Exeter, entreating aid and promisini,^ to hold out to the last. On Sunday before daybreak Fairfax had mounted his guns, and at seven o'clock his artillery 120 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFOED began to play. It is evident that he did not expect any immediate result, for a council of war was being held at Blundell's School, when a lucky shot broke the chain of the drawbridge. From that moment all was over. A panic seized the garrison, and, without a thought of their other lines of defence, they fled into the Castle and the Church. The Eoundheads, on their part, did not wait for instructions, but poured into the works. Finding that the enemy had locked the doors, they broke through the windows of the Church, and stripped their adversaries to their shirts. Sir Gilbert Talbot now thought that the time was come for capitulating. He shut himself up in his room and hung out a flag of truce. No notice was taken of this, but the Castle having been seized, quarter was freely given. " We tooke in the Castle " says Vicars, (" Parliamentary Chronicle " p. 300.) " Sir Gilbert Talbot, Governour of the place, above 20 other Officers and Gentlemen of note and quality, and among them, one Master Kemp, a grand Malignant Priest, above 200 Common Souldiers, foure Pieces of Ordnance, thirty Barrels of Powder, 500 Armes, and store of other Ammunition, Provision, and Treasure, good prey for the Souldiers paines who so well deserved it." The same authority ascribes the capture of the Castle to a miracle, and he does not forget to cite the nameless archer who drew a bow at a venture and killed Ahab. Without adjudicating on the subject of special acts of Providence, it is hardly irrelevant to remark that a great deal depends on our point of view. Though, as we shall shortly see, Anglicans as well as Puritans were fond of interpreting extraordinary events as arising from Divine inter- position, the Eoyalists could scarcely be expected to accept Vicars' theory in regard to the drawbridge. To them the affair must have seemed diabolical rather than providential. Officially, however, Talbot preferred a simpler explanation, attributing the loss of the Castle to the treachery of Major Sadler. This account, though not quite accurate, involved no injustice to Major Sadler, who would have betrayed the garrison if he could. He had formerly served in the Parliamentary army and promised, if his desertion were pardoned, to supply valuable information. His offer was rejected, and after the taking of the Castle he was sentenced to death. Having escaped to Exeter, he was placed under arrest by the Royalists, who had also a grudge against him for seeking to betray their cause, tried by court-martial, and executed. Such was the end of Major Sadler, who cannot be congratulated on playing his cards well. A curious episode is recorded to have happened during the siege. A Mrs. Cunick, Sir Gilbert's nurse, was in the round tower holding his child. Suddenly a cannon shot entered, killing her, but sparing the child. What the moral may be, I am unable to say. Another anecdote is this. It was the custom for farmers EOUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 121 to bring into the town large quantities of wool which was deposited for sale under the church-house in a place called " the Chapel." This wool appears to have been appropriated by the garrison as a means of defence against the shot, and after the siege the church- yard was strewed with it. Now for the pith of the story. A John Salter told Dunsford that as no one claimed the property, his (Salter's) grandfather gave some men sixpence to drag one of the bags to his bouse. His example was generally followed and in this way the wool was gradually cleared off. One is certainly not disposed to vilify Salter for his part in the matter, but what are we to say of the denseness, the almost incredible denseness, of those who, when such an admirable opportunity presented itself for " self-help," went thus out of their way to serve another? , caecas hominum mentes ! pectora dura ! It has been conjectured, without any great probability, that some members of the garrison may have escaped by a subterranean passage constructed for the purpose, and beheved to have had its other embouchure in the centre of the town. It is possible of course that there may have been such a passage, though all attempts to explore it have so far ended in failure. Moreover, it is likelv even then to have been long disused. Tet a man will overlook minor inconveniences when he is in danger of being put to the sword, and this is just the moment when the thought of topographical investigation most readily occurs to him» As the subject is a pleasing one, a brief note on subterranean passages generally may prove not unwelcome. Until people became acquainted with them in the vulgarized form of underground railways, a world of romance encircled these dark mysterious thoroughfares. The imagination naturally turned to kobolds and gnomes, who, it might be supposed, would indignantly resent this intrusion on their legitimate domains ; and the reader is not likely to have forgotten the use which Horace Walpole makes of such a passage in his " Castle of Otranto." Victor Hugo, again, in " Les Miserables" lights up with a lurid interest the unpoetical and unsavoury regions of the Paris sewers. J3ut subterranean passages have a claim on the attention of the antiquary and historian, so numerous are the traiHtions concerning them. Let me quote a few. Thus a passage under the earth is said to have connected Shrewsbury Castle with Lyth ; and Broughton Castle, the seat of Lord Saye and Sele, is stated to have been similarly furnished. At IJury JIall, Edmonton, "there is in one of the cellars the opening of a subterranean passage, now blocked up, said to lead to the cliurch, a mile distant." At Wakelield a tradition formerly prevailed that th(!re was a passage extending from Laudal Castle to Wakelield Church, a distance of about a mile and a half. To come nearer home a subterranean passage is supposed to have run from Hampton Castle to tin' Church. Legendary lore has clustered round some of these remains. At 122 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOJRD Pendeen in the parish of St. Just, Cornwall, the story goes that an Irish lady, dressed in white, with a red rose in her mouth, is to be found on a Christmas morning at the entrance of a cave, where she confides to the visitor tidings brought from her native land through the submarine recesses connected with it. The reader will not fail to have noticed the element of un- certainty pervading these instances. Every subterranean passage is said to have led to this place or that; but from whatever cause — whether from the fear of meeting the same fate as Bishop Haddo or from a reasonable dislike to noxious gases, fetid smells, and cob- webs — no man seems to have adventured himself within their pre- cincts, so that he might announce to a grateful world whether these things were so. At Tiverton, however, in 1773, a half- hearted attempt was made to find out the truth of the matter. Some Cornish miners, who had been enhsted in the 31st Eegiment, were persuaded to excavate a garden at the back of a house in Eore-street. They dug to a depth of 30 feet, but all they could discover were some lumps of tin ore. It has been surmised that these, even, did not come there by nature. In an old number of the Tiverton Gazette appears a tragic tale. As it relates to this period and seems to be founded on a legend, I insert it here, with apologies to the author for changing the title : UNDIVIDED ! A few ivy-clad ruins are all that now remain of the once noble Castle of Tiverton ; a castle which loyal to its King, held out bravely, but unsuccessfully, against the besieging army of Fairfax. Gray ladies, brave cavaliers once dwelt beneath its roof and under its protection ; the courtyards once resounded with the neighinf and prancing of gaily caparisoned steeds ; and its banqueting-hall was often the scene of mirth and enjoyment. Those times have passed away ; age and decay, helped by destructive man, have laid their withering touch on the old castle ; and all which they have left are a few crumbling stones, which seem almost held together by the ivy which envelopes them, and which barely mark the spot where the castle once stood. These ruins have seen many a strange sight, and if they could but speak, would tell, doubtless, many a startling tale. They were witnesses, and the only witnesses now extant, which can bear testimony to the following which in this age, when antiquity is looked upon with a certain degree of reverence, may perchance be interesting to some. It was in the year 16 — that a gentleman whom we will call Sir Hugh Spencer was the Governor of Tiverton Castle, a fine, straightforward Englishman, a little proud, perhaps, of his descent which he could trace back as far as the time when William the ROUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 123 Conqueror subdued England, but in all other respects a brave and worthy man. His wife had died, and his only r aild was a beautiful girl, by name Alice, who was just verging on her twenty-first birthday. Alice Spencer was a perfect Saxon beauty, light hair, and blue eyes, and with such a sweet temper and charming disposition, that she was beloved by her father and respected by everyone else. As may be naturally supposed, there were many suitors for the hand of this young lady, but the one selected by Sir Hugh as the future husband of his daughter was Sir Charles Trevor, a man many years older than Alice and possessed of great wealth. In those days the lady had veiy little choice in the matter, and undoubtedly Sir Hugh considered that in marrying his daughter to a man with plenty of money, he was in every way doing his duty as a parent. But, Sir Charles Trevor was decidedly what might be termed a disagreeable man. His countenance was far from pleasing, he was of a sour disposition and frequently burst into violent passions on the most trifling matters. He had long black hair and a very black moustache, which, ending in a twirl, gave him a fierce expression of countenance. In short, everyone agreed that had Miss Alice's feelings been the least consulted in the matter, he was the last man she would have chosen as her partner through life. But she had not as yet resisted the will of her father, and whether she loved or hated Sir Charles Trevor was known to herself alone. There was only one other inhabitant of the Castle whom we need describe by name : this was Maurice Fortescue, a young man of noble blood, who possessing a hand- some face, a fine figure, and an excellent disposition, was a general favourite. His father had died and had left him but little property and one large mastiff. Vulcan, for that was the name of the dog, was faithfully attached to his master, and his master was equally fond of him, so much so indeed that they were generally to be seen together. Living in the same castle with Alice, the intimate friend of her father, and with a heart not made of stone, Maurice Fortescue fell deeply in love with her. lie loved her with all the fervency of iiis nature, and yet such was his higli sense of honour that knowing Sir Hugh would expect the husband of his daughter to be a man of great wealth, he never breathtul his love for her, but kept it a secret wrapt in the inmost recesses of his heart; nay more, he tried to quench it, although he felt how utterly impossible it wcjuld be to do so. Sir Jlugh Spencer trusted him implicitly, and gave him the managiMuent ovi-r the whole castle ; thus his life was a happy one till Sir Charles Trevor came as a suitor for th(f hand of Alice Spencer, and was accepted by her father. Then the heart of ^laurice l'\)rtescue was cruelly tortured ; he saw that it was impossible that one so young and beautiful aa AUce could have any aii'ection for a man 124 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED like Sir Charles, and yet he could not, dared not interfere, but must stand by and see her absolutely sacrificed and bound to a man with the temper of a demon. Think not, gentle reader, that it was from jealousy. Maurice Fortescue knew not what that was, but he, nevertheless, imbibed a hatred of Sir Charles Trevor, which was as unaccountable as it was lasting, Vulcan joined his master also in this respect, for sundry kicks received from Sir Charles had made that gentleman anything but a favourite with the faithful dog. This then was the state of feel- ing between the various parties. Sir Charles Trevor hating Maurice on account of his honest disposition and good temper, while the latter returned the hatred from the very bottom of his heart. It was on a lovely May day, when the foliage had once again made its appearance, the trees were in their summer attire, and the flowers shedding abroad their fragrance, that Sir Charles Trevor was meditating as he walked in the beautiful grounds of Tiverton Castle. To him nature had no particular charms ; he cared not for the lovely scenery which surrounded him on all sides : the subject which occupied his mind was how easily he had gained his suit, and how he would tame his wife to his will. Alice had shown him no attention, he thought ; she certainly did not seem to care much for him, but that was no consequence. A sudden thought struck him : perhaps she might be in love with Maurice Fortescue. That idea seemed to please him, and he muttered aloud " Well, if that be the case, I will marry her directly. Ere a week passes, she shall be Lady Trevor. I wonder how that will please our gallant Fortescue. Arrogant young Knave, I hate the fellow !" He had flung his handsomely embroidered cap on the ground during his soliloquy, and was pacing up and down, laughing at the feelings Maurice would have at seeing Alice Spencer married to another man, when Vulcan came bounding along and seeing the cap lying on the grass took it in his mouth and playfully shook it to pieces. Sir Charles turned round, saw its fate, and in an instant the fiery demon of passion took possession of his mind, he drew his sword, and ran its blade through the body of the poor animal. Maurice Fortescue, who was a little way behind, saw his favourite thus cruelly treated. The dog which had been so faithful, so affectionate to him, crawled towards him bedewing the turf with his life's blood ; and looking into his master's face as if to wish him farewell, immediately died. Maurice Fortescue lost all self-possession, he sprang forward, and with one well-directed blow, felled Sir Charles Trevor to the ground. That gentleman slowly arose and simply addressed him in these words : " Mr. Fortescue will perhaps give me the satisfac- tion of treating him as I did his dog, at seven o'clock this evening, in the wood near the river." This speech, gentle reader, in the present day would seem absurd. Now if Brown insults Jones, EOIJNDHEIDS AXD CAVALIERS 125 and Jones is of a quick temper, he, to use tlie language of the P.E. " lets out straight from the shoulder," and makes what may be termed a marked impression on Brown ; hut it was not so in the old time, and therefore, when ^laurice heard these words from Sir Charles he knew that at seven o'clock, in the little wood near the river, he would have to fight for life or death and that the weapon used was to be the sword. He well knew that Sir Charles was a most skilful swordsman, and that he was well experienced in the art of duelling. He himself was a good hand at it, but he had neither the practice nor the skill of Sir Charles, and, though he had quite as much courage, he felt that his chance of life was poor indeed. In four short hours he might be a corpse, and then Alice would be left without a single friend to protect her from Sir Charles Trevor. This thought drove him almost to madness, and he determined to seek her and wish her good-bye. He rushed through the grounds of the castle, but nowhere could he see her ; at last, after a long search he found her in the wood, where in such a short time his fate, one way or the other, was to be decided. His heart beat painfully loud as he approached her. " ]\Iiss Spencer," he said, " I have come to ask you, as my greatest friend, to do me the favour of taking care of this little locket for me, which was given to me by my mother," " Mr. Fortescue," she said smiling, " I am sure that 1 am not your greatest friend : that title belongs to Vulcan." " Vulcan is dead," he replied. " Dead " ? she said, and seeing then that something serious was the matter, she quickly added : " I beseech you, tell me how it happened, for he was a great favourite of mine." He told her all, told her how for a trivial offence Sir Charles Trevor had killed his faithful dog, how, stung with madness at the sight of his dying favourite, the only being that loved him, he had struck its murderer to the ground, how, of course, he had con- sented to give him satisfaction, and how little chance he had of surviving, and then he told her how madly, hopelessly, and deeply be had loved her, how he could not help seeking her to wish her good-bye, and how he hoped that if she really loved Sir Charles she would forgive hiin for insulting him. You may judge, gentle reader, of his unspeakable joy, when, with a flushed cheek, but in a determined voice, slie replied : " Maurice Fortescue, if in the duel with this wicked man you fall, the heart of Alice Spencer dies with you." Here, reader, let us leave them ; in a moment the fervent wish of many long years has been gratified, and when on the point ol lighting for his life, he has discovered that Alice Spencer loves him. It is seven o'clock ; the birds have hushed their song, the rooks are wending their way hcjiiie, and Sir Ciiarlcs Trevor walivs alone in the small wood near Tiverton Castle. The river Exe, swollen by 126 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYEOED the previous day's rain, flows more rapidly and not so clear as usual ; pieces o£ wood and stick dash past borne downwards by the current to the sea. Another personage makes his appearance : it is Maurice Fortescue. With a bold step he advances to meet his opponent. " I am come true to my word, Sir Charles,"' he said, " and ready to avenge the death of Vulcan." Sir Charles Trevor sneered, and, pale with rage, told him to draw and defend himself. The swords clash, each a trusty blade, each wielded by an arm strengthened by the fearless heart within ; the weapons flash in the setting sun, the passes are rapid, each fighting for his life — his honour. See, blood is trickling down the arm of Sir Charles staining his embroidered sleeve ; they become more and more excited and fearfully in earnest. Long the contest remains uncertain, till at last, oh ! awful sight, skill has the victory, and Maurice Fortescue has fallen pierced through the neck. His con- queror bends over him, a ghastly smile flits o'er his face as he beholds his prostrate victim, he lifts him in his arms and, though he is not yet dead, hastens to the river. Oh, heavens ! surely he is not going to drown him while yet breathing ? Can such base- ness, such wickedness be in man ? He reaches the bank, and hurls him into the flooded river. He looks round to see that there is no witness of his treachery. A white dress may be seen in the distance rapidly nearingthe stream, he rushes madly towards it — a plunge, alas ! he is too late, and the same Exe which carried down with it the body of her lover, bore the gentle spirit of Alice Spencer to her last long home. Since the days of the Cavaliers Tiverton Castle has ceased to justify its name. A modern castellated building was added some twenty years ago to the only habitable part of the old structure, but the term " castle " seems to imply preparations for war, not merely solid masonry and mediaeval architecture. The following poem, therefore, written by Mr. H. J. Carpenter of this town, which has been pronounced by a competent judge a worthy echo of " In Memoriam," has a special appropriateness in this place. THE RUINS OF TIVERTON OASTLE. A Prize Poem, Read Before the Tiverton Debating Society, March 12th, 1885. I sit upon the arching hills That look on I sea's winding wave, And rising as from out a grave. The long gone past my spirit thrills. As musing there on thought intent I gaze towards the town I love ; And still shall love where'er I rove, Until this earth with earth be blent. ROUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 127 And gazing there, methinks a stream Of pageants mirror'd on my soul Doth through my tranced vision roll, With all the swiftness of a dream. They gather round thy crumbling towers. They people thy deserted shades, They wander through the leafy glades That crown thy slopes with waving bowers. Thou relic of the days long past, Of chivalry's forgotten pride. Of heroism proved and tried, Aye ready at the trumpet's blast. Old mystery of childhood's hour. How oft I longed that veil to raise, That hides thy tale from mortal gaze ; Armed with some fabled wizard's power, To summon from their silent sleep, Those who once trod thy stately halls, Where now no sound of footstep falls. And naught but ghostly shadows creep. Yet now obedient to my call, The centuries their course repeat ; And phantom forms, with noiseless feet, Hasten toman thy mouldering wall . Once more, amid the glittering throng The neighing horses proudly prance ; And warriors charge with quiv'ring lance, While beauty waits to crown the strong. Once more, in festal time throughout The livelong night thy walls resound With mirth and laughter circling round To greet the mummers' sportive rout. While Yule-tide fires their ruddy light Cast through tht; muUioned window pane. To mock the splash of drifting rain And pierce the darkness of the night. Yet other scenes before me rise. And other sounds ring in these ears, Rending the misty veil of years ; And rivals strive before mine eyes. A clash of swords, a fatal blow, A shriek tliat tells a Ijrokm heart, A leap— to meet when; none sliall part ; 'Tis o'er — and on the waters How.* * A legend of the Castle. 128 THE CHKONICLES OF TWYFORD The centuries roll on, and now, Unwilling slave to tyranny, Yet ever longing to be free. Thou rearest there thy sullied brow Beneath their sway whose paltry worth Could hold a despot's smile above The faith, the fealty, the love, They owe the country of their birth.* And now these phantoms fade, yet still Thou standest there a ruin grey. Shrouded in silence deep as they Who lie beneath this grassy hill :t To ds, immortal, changing naught, To us, the creatures of a day, To us, who hymn thee in a lay. With inspirations faintly caught From memories which thy towers awake. Links in the chain that binds the past To that which is, and o"er us cast A magic spell we could not break ; To us, immortal — yet to thee But, as it were, of yesterday Sweet river rushing on to pay Thy tribute to the changeless sea ; Who wast ere yet the Norman's might Raised by the wave yon castle proud, Who wilt be when oblivion's cloud Hath wrapt his name in starless night. A last word on Sir Gilbert Talbot. On being taken prisoner he was sent first to Lyme and afterwards to Weymouth. Having been released in exchange he joined the King (whom he says he had not seen since his return from Italy), at Oxford. After the Eestor- ation Talbot was employed as an envoy at the court of Denmark, where he concluded an alliance with the King against the States ; and subsequently he was appointed the King's jeweller. He is described in the " Flagellum Parliamentarium," a contemporary lampoon, as " a great cheat at bowls and cards, and not born to a shilling," but, as little or no weight attaches to this authority, we will hope that the first accusation at any rate is untrue. The latter charge, though Sir Gilbert with his aristocratic connec- tions may have found it hard to bear, is of no importance. General Massey's inclinations were naturally somewhat difiierent. * The Castle was held by the Royalists. t A battle was fought on Skrinkhills in 1549 and bones have been dug up there. EOUXDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 129 Among the many pamphlets which issued from the press at this time was one with the extraordinary title : A TRUE AND STRANGE RELATION OP A 9 Who was entertained by the Devill to be servant to him with the consent of his Father, about Crediton in the West, and how the Devill carried him up in the aire, and shewed him the torments of Hell, and some of the Cavaliers there, and what preparation there was made for Goring and Greenvile against they came. Also, how the Cavaliers went to rob a Carrier, and how the Carrier and his Horses turned themselves into With a Coppie of a Letter from Major General Massie, concerning these strange and wonderfuU things, with a certaine Box of Reliques and Crucifixes found in TIV ERT ON 0I1UR0H. The letter of which a " coppie " was ins(?rted was addressed to Mr. Davenport, a Cheshire gentleman residing in TiOndon, and ran as follows : Sir, I lately n'ccived your Letter wherein you give hk; notic(! tliat my businfjss is much retracted, and hath not obtaincid that liappie issue which 1 expected it should have done. We have no news K 130 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD at present, but such as I suppose is already come to your eares, only this wonder here enclosed, the true relation whereof I re- ceived from Mr. Cullum, of Cannon's Lea, a Gentleman of approved integritie and estimation in this County : I have sent you by this bearer a Box of Eeliques, with a great Crucifix, found in Tiverton Church, in the wall which the Cavaliers had there built for the strengthning of the porch, which may serve as a sufficient argument to convince your wives good opinion, which she formerly conceived of those champions of Antichrist the Cavaliers. Tou shall doe me a favour, if you please to hasten Mr. East, about the finishing of my Watch, and send me halfe a pound of the best sealing wax. I remaine Tour faithful Friend, Edward Massie. The allusion which this letter contains to a box of reliques reminds us of another act of spoliation which probably took place at this period and which, for the thief, had a lamentable ending. In " a Discourse on the Impiety of Tithe Stealing " which was published by the Eev. John Newte, Rector of Tidcombe, in 1711, the matter is thus referred to : " A person named William Hill, of Tiverton, who, in the beginning of the Parliament's Rebellion, heard that some were demolishing the Earl of Devonshire's Chapel, which stood in the Churchyard, and were carrying away from it what they could. He came thither upon the same wicked design, and found that they had broke to Pieces a Stately Monument made for the Earl and his Countess, and carried away the materials, and the orna- ments within, and the Lead at Top, and, upon which, he lamented his misfortune for coming so late, and said, ' Now they have taken away all before 1 came, there is nothing left for me.' But looking up, he saw a Bell at the end of it, which they called the Saints Bell. ' Oh ' says he, ' I'll have this.' And getting a Ladder, he goes up to take it down, and so letting it slip through his Hands, the Brim of it cut off his Toes on both Feet, by which means he became a Cripple, and wasting his substance and a small ' Tenement he had in the cure of his wounds, he became miserably Poor and unfit for Business, went about a Begging upon his Heels with a Crutch and an underhand staff, and so he continued several years, till a gentleman gave him a little Horse, that he might ride farther off and beg abroad ; and he did for some time, till at last in the Parish of Anstey in this County, he and his Horse were found Dead together in a Ditch. A dismal end of a Sacrilegious Person." There is some fear that this story may be apocryphal, as Risdon (who wrote circiier 1630) speaks of the chapel as already demol- ished, but if it is not true, it is at least hen trovato. k2 EOTJNDHEADS AND CAVALIEES 131 On receiving the news o£ the fall of Tiverton, the House of Commons passed the following resolutions : " Ordered that on the next Lord's day, whereon thanks are ordered to be given unto God for the many successes it hath pleased God to give the Parliament's forces, this great blessing, of God's delivery into the hands of the Parhament of Tiverton and the Castle, may be remembered, and thanks given God for this blessing also ; the manner of taking thereof being very remark- able. " Ordered, that the committee of the West do forthwith pay unto the two messengers that brought this good news of the taking in of Tiverton, the sum of .£15 : to the messenger that lives at Blandford the sum of =£10 ; and to the other £5." After this the much-afflicted town entered on a period of com- parative quiet, but individual citizens who had the misfortune to differ either in politics or religion from the constituted authorities did not find their lot a pleasant one. As we have already shown, Tiverton was governed by a close Corporrtion, not necessarily in sympathy with the general inhabitants. The members of that body still retained their respect for the first estate of the realm, and in 1649, the date of the " martyrdom" of the King, courageously changed their scarlet robes for black. They do not, however, appear to have openly flouted their masters, as at Exeter. There the Mayor refused to proclaim the usurpers, and withheld the customary honours from the judges on circuit. For this show of independence he was midcted in a fine of £200, and the assizes were removed to Tiverton. "The judges" names" (says Blundell) " were Lord Chief Baron Wild and Mr. Justice Eigby." I learn from the same writer that the scene of their labours was Blundell's School, Wild adorning with his presence the Fives' Court in the Green, while Eigby presided at the desk in the PTigher School. A section of the Corporation seem to have per- sisted in their contumacy, and in 1655, when the Eoyalists made a feeble attempt at a rising, the Mayor received the following billet from Desboroujrh : *o* Mr. Meayor. Sir, T have received sundry informations against John Deyman, Aquila Skinner, George VValdron, Tliomas Prowse, and Thomas Ilartnoll, Members of your Corporation, wherein they are scandalous in their Lives or Enemies to the Commonwealth, which indec^d is a Dishonour to God, or Scandal to this Covernment, and a Burden to the well-alTected : For the ])revention of w hicli I am to remove such whithersoever (sic) I find them, either in magistracy or in Places of Trust. And being unwilling to make them public examples, I thought a privatt; Disiiiis.sion litter. \Vli(,'refore pray signify this unto them, and that you may make Choice of others in their Eooms or Places, as the Act of Purlia- 132 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTEORD ment directs you thereunto. And if any of the Persons above mentioned do refuse to yield Obedience hereunto, then you are to give me Account thereof that I may take an effectual Course for the same. Being all at present from Your affectionate friend John Desborowe. Desborough was then Lord-lieutenant of the County, and the letter is dated " Exon, March 16th, 1655. Some of the members expelled bore honoured names, and as the accusations brought against them are loose and general, we may easily infer, reading between the lines, that they were the victims of party spite. Possibly, also, the narrow inquisitorial spirit, so characteristic of the Puritans, may have detected little indulgences, which served to give colour to the extravagant censures " dishonour to God " and " scandal to the Commonwealth." So far as Prowse is concerned, there is evidence which strongly supports this view — ■ that he was not really a bad man. At the Restoration he was re-instated in his municipal honours, and in the parish register amongst the burials is this obituary notice, "August 17,1661, The Right Worshipful Thomas Prowse, Mayor of the Town and Parish;' so that he must have died in office. In 1653 an alteration was made in the marriage laws, whereby a civil ceremony before the mayor, or a justice of the peace, might be substituted for the religious office. Among other persons who made themselves useful in this capacity was Daniel Cudmore, the Puritan Master of Blundell's School. The result of this change was an immediate rise in the number of marriages. It is possible, however, that this increase may be more apparent than real, since it is likely that by the new law people were pre- cluded from going out to Cove to be married, a favourite resource both before and after the Commonwealth. Indeed it is not too much to say that Cove was the Gretna Green of Tiverton. In a note appended to a list of benefices in Devon in the time of Elizabeth it is stated that " by reason of many lewd marriages the chapel at Cove is called a lawless Church." The person chosen as registrar was Henry King, and the first marriage after his appoint- ment is thus entered in the parish register : "Joshua Fursley and Margaret Holbiamthare contract of marriage ware (sic) published in our church or meeting place three severall Lordes dayes, viz. the nynth October, 16th, and 23rd, and noe exception nor opposition against the said contracte, they ware married 24th day of October, by the Right Worshipfull William London, Maior, in the presence of John Hatswill, Robert Smyth, Joane Multon, and me, Henry King." In this singular entry the word " opposition " is written over " contradiction," the latter being cancelled. In other respects King was not a good penman, his letters being small and the ink EOFNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 133 poor. To those, therefore, who are unacquainted with the crabbed cahgraphy of the period, the writing is rather difficult to decipher. In the larger number of notices the same words are employed as in the case cited, but occasionally the form varied. Here is a speci- men of one of the entries, given verbatim : " William Langford of the Parish of Washfield, Clothier, and Elizabeth Morrish, of Tiverton, thare contract of marriage was three severall markitt dayes following published in our Markitt place, viz., October the 30th, November the 6th and 13th. And there was no opposition nor exception against the saide contract, thare marriage was solemnized the 20th of November, 1654, by the Eight Worshipfull John Deyman, Maior." In 1649 a market-cross was erected in Eore street not far fi'om Coggans Well. This building appears to have been des- troyed in the fire of ]78I. In its place a new edifice was raised at the expense of a merchant named Upcott, who, says Dunsford, placed a marble slab in front of it bearing this inscription IN MEMORY Of that dreadful fire, which, on the fifth day of June, A.D. 1731, by God's permission, burnt down near one half of this i^opulous town, whereby the damage sustained amounted to the sum of (50,000(?. And to the immortal honour of those well-disposed Christians, who at several voluntary contributions collected upwards of 11,000^ to the relief of the unhappy sufferers ; particularly of those worthy persons of this town, who, by disclaiming any share in the charity, though sufferers themselves, became generous benefactors. May this marble stand as a lasting monument of our gratitude and repentance, till the general conflagration. Glory be to God, who in the midst of his judgments remembers mercy. Amen. W. Upcott, P. The donor's oddly expressed desire was not destined to be fulfilled, for in 1783 the structure was taken down and the materials sold to a builder. The meat and fish shambles, which extended from that point as far almost as St. George's Church- yard, were also removed. Like the famous Temple Bar, the Market Cross and its adjuncts may have been somewhat of a hindrance to traffic, but it is impossible not to feel some regret at the loss of this interesting memorial. The sentiment of the inhabitants seems to have been anytliing but unanimous on the subject. One effect of the change was a (iiminution in the tolls, to which allusion is made elsewhere. Two pillars of the Market Cross were in 1847 still to be seen at the entrance of a JMrs. lirewer's shop in Lampton street. The reader may recollect that the fires of 1598 and \6V2 were looked upon as visitations of Divine wrath on account of tiu^ impiety of the inhabitants of Tiverton in preparing on Sunday lor the market which was held on the Monday. 'i'his statu of things was remedied during the Conunonwealth, Jiy a grant from Oliver Cromwell, dated 15th November, 1G55, the market 134 THE CHROISriCLES OF TWrFORD day was changed from Monday to Tuesday. This arrangement was confirmed by Charles II. in a document bearing date the 14th August, 1674, and has been continued to the present time. It is now time for me to speak of the rehgious changes which marked the period of the Commonwealth. One of the rectors was the Rev. Eichard Newte, who was a pluralist and held both / Tidcombe and Clare portions. The name is said to be Danish, being identical with Canute or Knut. For several generations the Newtes were an important factor in the ecclesiastical life of Tiverton. Thus Richard was followed by his son John, who was rector of Tidcombe, and also of Clare portion. John again was succeeded in the Tidcombe living by his nephew Samuel (1716), whose son, also called Samuel, combined Tidcombe and Pitt (1742). Finally John IN'ewte was rector of Tidcombe from 1782 to 1795. Thus for more than 150 years continuously members of the Newte family were rectors of Tiverton. To return to Richard JVewte. He was the son of Henry Newte, Town Clerk of Tiver- ton, and he was educated at Blundell's School and at Exeter College, Oxford. His life reads like a chapter out of " John Inglesant " ; and from any point of view he must be regarded as one of the best clergymen who ever officiated in Tiverton. He was in Italy at the time of the siege, and on his return in 1646 he found his parsonage in ruins. It stood on the site of Clare House, which, however, except for a short time by the Rev. Henry Venn, has never been used as a rectory. In 1815 the property was sold for the redemption of the land tax ; and the present edifice was built in 1816. The plague was still raging when he returned, but Newte was indefatigable in discharging his duties. He preached at St. Peter's as long as there was anyone to hear him, and then held services in a field. His courage, however, went for nothing. He was a loyal adherent of the King and in theological matters a firm believer in Anglican doctrines. He had already, when in Italy, defended those doctrines against Roman Catholics, and an animated controversy with some members of that communion affected, it is said, his plans of travel. One of the party, beaten apparently in argument, observed that he would give Newte an answer if they met at Rome. The Rector of Tiverton had intended to visit the Eternal City, but he was too well versed in the ways of the world not to perceive the covert threat. . Accord- ingly he turned his steps homewards — not however, in the direction of peace. In England, in his own parish, he was con- fronted by a new set of dangers. The Government had appointed certain '' tryers, " whose office it was to investigate the orthodoxy of the clergy according to presbyterian and republican standards. As may be imagined, Newte with his staunch Anglicanism did not come well out of the ordeal. A deputy, Mr. Lewis Stukely, was forced upon him, and at length he was deprived of both his livings. EOUNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 135 Preaching in St. Peter's for the last time before his expulsion, Newte observed that his doctrine was good, but had the misfortune to fall among thorns. Walker in his " Sufferings of the Clergy " refers to Newte in tbe section devoted to parish priests. He relates the following anecdotes : " Either at this or some other time of his appearance before the Committee, a Godly Sister of the Toivn Lockt the Door upon her Ilushaad and would not suffer him to go out, when she understood he was to be an Evidence on Mr. Neivtes behalf. And yet Mr. Newte had attended this very Woman, at a time when no one else would venture to do it, and when she stood most in need of such a Charitable Visit ; being not only seized with the Plague, in the time of that Common Calamity, but under some Disturb- ance of Mind also " In the meantime, as the Committees performed their Part, so the Soldiers and Rabble were not wanting to play theirs, and by all the Methods of Violence and Outrage which they could think of, endeavoured to worry him out of his Possession as long as he continued to defend it. To this end they Order d sometimes Ten sometimes Twelve Soldiers to Quarter on him, and took care to pick out such among them as were the Lewdest and most FrojUgate Villains, and the greatest Enemies to the Olergij in the whole Regiment ; and when he was at length forced by these and other Methods to abscond, his Wife was threatened by the Commissioners in the Town, to be Thrown out of Doors, with her Tender Infants, into the Highwai/, if they would not Depart ; and the Mob of the Town were encouraged to make Alarms all Night at the Gates and Doors of the House several times, to Weary and Frighten her out by their perpetual Disturbances ; all which, with many more Indignities too tedious to Relate, the poor Centle- woman bore for a long time with a great deal of Patience and Courage ; but at last she was forced to Remove, though even then she refused to deliver up the Possession, and stoutly told tlii'm, she knew no Right they had; and if they entered there, it should be like Eogues as they were. However, when at length they broke in, notwithstanding this Provocation, they shewed her, as it must be owned, such a Piece of Mercy, as was not connnon in those Times : For they only threw the Corn out of the Barm into the Court which, it seems, they had no occasion for till the next Harvest, and some of it into the High-way, in the Midst of Winter : Whereas they used, either to give it their Horses, or secure it for the Intruder "While he was in Possession of thatOilice,* the Lecture-Dag once * A lecturoHhip at Ottcvy St. M.-ii-y of the value of £2U a yoar, which hu obtaiuod after hia ojeetiou i'roui Tiveitou. 136 THE CHRONICLES OE TWYFOED happen'd to be Coincident with that of Christmas ; and Mr. Newte who was so bold as to Preach on the Subject of the Nativity, in Prosecution of his Discourse, happen'd to mention that Text of St. Jolm, Abraham rejoiced to see My Day, and he saiu it, and tvas glad : upon which a Fellow in the Congregation cried out aloud (as the fashion then was to disturb a Godly, as well as a Malig- nant Minister, \\i they did not like his Doctrine) What ! doth he make Abraham a Christmas-man ? And, in truth, it was such Preaching as this which occasioned his Removal from that place , " These were some of the Troubles which this Excellent Person met with from the Hands of the Reformers ; but all of them can- not be recovered at this distance of time ; only in general, it is further to be added, that he was forced in the whole, to remove his Eamily no less than Seven times : and more particularly had once been certainly Murtherd, had not the Providence of God prevented him from going to Tiverton (the Parsonage-House, where he lived, lying about a Mile out of Town) at that time to Officiate, as he had intended : for a Eellow who afterwards con- fessed it on his Death-Bed, had Waylaid him, with a full Reso- lution to have Murther'd him. Nor will it be thought that the Villain would in the least have Scrupl'd to perpetrate this Wicked Design, when it is known that he had Murther d a Man before in Tiverton. Tho' the Reader may well be amazed to hear, that he had proposed to Bathe his Hands in the Blood of Mr. Newte also, when he is informed, that the Fellow being Try'd and Condemned for the Murther which he had accomplished, was saved from the Oallotvs, by the Interest of Mr. Newte, and his Eldest Brother, who procured his Pardon. How fit a Match this Fellow was for the Woman before mentioned, is easie to observe : But 'tis not so easie to Parallel those Circumstances of Mr. Newte's Troubles, from the Hands of one, whose Life he had Saved ; and of another, to save whom he had ventured his ow7i Life:'' Newte, it is clear, had a good deal to contend with, and once at least was exposed to actual destitution. At the Restoration both livings were returned to him. He re-built Tidcombe Rectory, and there after his stormy life he remained quiet and secluded. He died, August 10, 1678, at the age of sixty. " He was a learned man and particularly skilled in the Eastern languages, as also in French and Italian. He had a high character for piety and meekness — a polite preacher, an accomplished gentleman, an excellent scholar and a good divine. " Not a bad panegyric to have pronounced on one. Still more eloquent testimony is that supplied by the epitaph which his son Peter, in a spirit of filial piety, but surely unnecessary self-abasement, caused to be inscribed on a white tablet still visible in the outer wall of St; Peter's chancel : " Peter Newte, an unworthy son of the right worthy EOUNDHEADS A.ND CAVALIERS 137 Eichard Newte, dyed June the loth, 1720."* No members of the family are now living in Tiverton, but the name is preserved in connection with Newte's Hill on the road to Cullompton, and the Newte Exhibition at Blundell's School. *The epitaphs of the Newte family are generally more stately, and in Latin. Here are some : 3n sr^cmoriam. I. Henrici Newte Geneeosi, qui sum- ma Industria & Aequitate, per BIENNIUM, HUIUS OPPIDI PrAE- TUEAM EGREGIE GESSIT & OBIIT Anno Aetat. Suae (52 Annoq ; dom. 1670. octobris d. 21). & Aloisiae UxoRis Suae proba- TAE VIRTUTIS MA- tronae. Peincipis & juris non obseruantior alter UTQ ; SUUM REGI SIC DEBIT ILLE DEO. II. SiSTE Viator, Paucis te volo. Prudentia, Pietate & Doctrina insigxis vir RiCHARDUS Newte, A.M. per 37 Annos Huius ecclesiae Rector. Qui juventutem in Schola nostra munikicentis- siMA Peovectiorem Aetatem & Virilem Studiis versatus Oxonii excoluit Coll. Exon. Socius. Theologia, Linguis, omniq; Politiori Literatur- A DIFFICULTER ImITABILIS, TANDEM, QUASI CA- PACIOREM Animum Ingenia Beittania non Ex- pleeent, Aestuante Bello intestino exteras Gkn- TES visuEUS, Pari virorum praeclaeissimorum Consoetio, Eueopam peeagravit. Rediens Ecclesiae FIT Benignus & ExiMius Pastor, Pestil- ENTIA VIGILANTISSIMUS, ReGI FFDELISSIMUS ; UTRI - USQ ; OFFICII CONSCIUS NEQ ; EXPECTAVIT PRAEMIUM NEC ACCEPIT. SERKNISSIMO GaROLO 2 do E SACRIS Ordinariis; Maritus Charissimus, Patee Dominus & Amicvs Clementissimus ; vitaeq; omnibus inculpatae [admieandum exemplar. Demum non tam Senectute quam Mokbo La- BOllANS, AETHRITIDK COKKKPTUS, PIAM CLAU8IT, BK- ATAM VITAM INCHOAVIT 10 DIE AUG. Anno Domini 1078. Aetat. Suae GO. E CONJUGE ThOMASINA KKLICTA 10 LiBEIlOS SU8CKPIT, K QUIJtU.S HkNUICUH, KaTIFAIMNA & SU- SANNA, i'lilVH .MoUTI SUCCUKl'KUK, KlCllAltUrM Johannem, Eduaudum, Tiiomam, I'lniiiM, HkNUICUM &. CHRISTIANAM SUPKHHTITKH l{KMliUIT, 0MNK8 Maeiientks tanto Paxikntk Uuiiatoh. I'IKTATIS cSc AmOIIIS KllGO JouANNKH (IN K(;(;lksia inuignub Succkhsor) No- M.1NI ttUO MONUMKNXUM. PoNi CuaAVix. JuxTA aixus Kax. 138 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED The Anglicans, however, had not the monopoly of good men and it is only fair that, having referred to Rev. Richard Newte, I should allot some space to the Puritan incumbent who at the Restoration had to make room for him. Theophilus Polwhele was a Cornishman by birth and educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, where he had as his tutor Sancroft, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, and where he became a Fellow. He was one of the committee for ejecting scandalous ministers in Cumberland and Durham, but having been appointed rector of Tidcombe and Clare, was himself ejected in 1660. In 1664 the Conventicle Act was passed, whereby meeting houses were declared illegal, and anyone convicted of attending them was subject to various penalties — fines, imprisonment, or exile — according to the quality of the offence. Polwhele was now to learn not only the instability of fortune, but, a still more bitter lesson, the treachery of man. One of his co-religionists during his time of prosperity was a merchant named Foot, but now that the wind no longer sat in his sail, his quondam acquaintance veered round, and became his most violent persecutor. This was particularly the case when Foot was Mayor. He interrupted Polwhele's sermons, called upon him to come down, and gave him in custody to the Sergeant. This hard usage however he survived, and in 1687 after King James's proclamation of freedom, opened a meeting house on the site of the Congregational Chapel. Mr, Polwhele was the author of several works of a devotional and controversial nature. He died at a great age in 1689. I may fitly conclude this portion of my narrative by referring to a peculiar custom, not unlike that of Guy Fawkes' Day, which was formerly kept up here with great vigour, but owing to the " rowdy- ism " connected with it has within the present century been suppressed. This custom was a reminiscence of the time of which I have just been speaking, and in order that the reader may form a just conception of it, I think I cannot do better than quote from a graphic description which appeared, in 1853, in the Leisure Hour. This is what the writer says : " In the year 1810, and of course for many generations III. QVANDOCVNQUB DeO OpT. MAX. UlSUM FVERIT, SePELIENDOS ESSE Statvens Marmoe, Hoc Samuel Newte M. P. Ipse etiam Voti Compos, Podagra Aliisq ; Mor- bis diu vexatus, et per totos menses, nb dicam Annos (supra forsan quam quod CUIQ; crbdibilk fuerit) vix unquam Somno Ogulos dbclinans Pabalysi tandem lassatus, Hic Requiem invenit 270 MAB. MABI 1742, ABTAX: 57. EOUNDHEADS AND CAVALIEES 139 previously, the 29th of May was as complete a holiday in this town as it could ever have been in any part of England since the first year of the Restoration. At early dawn the whole town was awakened by the furious clanging of church bells, and instead of rising to pursue their usual occupations, they had to turn out and sally forth into the neighbouring fields, woods, and hedgerows, where they set to work felling huge branches of oak from the trees, with which the locality abounded, and which they brought into the town on their shoulders to decorate the fronts of their houses. Woe to the luckless or drowsy tradesman who by the usual time of opening shop had not metamorphosed his shop-front into a green bower ! Oak-apples which had been carefully collected for many days previous were gilded or silvered and worn in the hat or button-hole by all who could procure them. " King Charles was personated by a rosy boy of two or three years of age, dressed in white, and decorated with ribbons or flowers, with a crown on his bead, and sitting in a compact bower made by interlacing oak branches, open in front, and carried by two men without coats or waistcoats, their shirt sleeves and hats decorated with ribbons ; on each side were his body guards, dressed in a similar way and armed with cudgels, with which they would repel the attacks of Cromwell, who, ever and anon, advanced to- wards the bower, yelling like a wild beast in search of his prey. " The exhibition usually halted at the houses of those most likely to contribute to the royal treasury, which was for very good reasons taken charge of by his Majesty in person ; a box being placed on the seat beside him for that purpose. The bower provided with legs was placed opposite the door or window, and the guards in broad Devonshire dialect struck up a song, known by every school boy — ' It was in tha year of forty and wan, When the meddaws an veealds wur all in thur bloom,' &c. The whole town was delivered up to the mercies of the mob. It was a day on which ruffianism may be said to have been at a premium ; the greatest rulfian being invariably selected from among a hundred or two of candidates to enact the part of Oliver Cromwell. " This historical personage made his appearance upon the stage about eleven o'clock in the day, by wbicli time it was supposed that all unavoidable business might be transacted ; and no female dared venture forth after that hour. The appearance of Oliver was th(;g<^neral .signal for light, whenever he came. Imagine a brawny six-foot man, iiis t'aci; begrimed all over with a mixtures of lamp black and oil, and surmounted by a ])rodigi()us shock of hair drii)|)ing with gn.'ase, tlie lank locks of wbicli bung dangling over bis savage eyes ; his b(jdy, lik(; tliat of a pi'ize-figbter, .sdiin- times naked to the waist, round which was tied a bag containing 140 THE CHliONlCLES OF TWTFOKD several pounds of the mixture with which his own skin, so far as it was visible, was anointed. This was Oliver Cromwell, and his mission was to catch hold of anybody and everybody that he could overtake, and, by forcing their heads into his capacious bag, make them free of the commonwealth, if they refused to come down with a ransom, the amount of which he fixed at his own discre- tion, according to the circumstances of his captive. As a fleet and powerful fellow was invariably chosen to play Oliver, it was of course necessary to take measures to prevent him from becom- ing, in the excitement of the chase, too indiscriminate in the bestowal of his favours. As he was pelted by the mob, and plentifully swilled with water, of which there are running streams in most of the streets, it is no wonder that he should lose his temper, and become really savage, after having played the tyrant and the target for a few hours. By way of restraint, therefore, he was tied round the waist with a stout rope about fifty yards long, the end of which was in charge of his Cabinet Council, con- sisting of half-a-dozen congenial spirits, who probably shared his profits, and who, if they chose, could moderate his pace or pull him up suddenly when in pursuit of unlawful prey— such, for instance, as the parish doctor on a visit to a patient, or a magis- trate amusing himself with a sight of the popular sport. That they were not very particular in these exceptional cases may be gathered from the fact that we once saw the Reverend Caleb Colton, the author of ' Lacon ' and the ' Sampford Ghost,' who was a clergyman of Tiverton, and perfectly well known to every individual in the town, made captive by Oliver, The reverend gentleman sufi:ered hideously from the grasp of the Protector, and only escaped a dive into the grease-bag by the prompt payment of a guinea. " It is not easy to imagine all the circumstances presented by this unique and disgraceful spectacle ; the uproar and tumult which swarmed round Oliver wherever he went — the panic which seized the pursuing multitude when he turned and pursued them — the insane yells and cries of encouragement \\hen he had caught some unlucky or obnoxious individual — and, above all, the hideous a])pearance of the wretch himself, when worn out with the toils of his disgusting occupation, and savage with the jeers and injuries of the mob. Between the green boughs that covered every house front, the windows were filled with spectators, among whom women and children looked on in safety upon a spectacle little calculated to inculcate the social or domestic virtues. " In our time Oliver held undisputed possession of the town until five o'clock in the afternoon, when his reign was at an end, and he was led oif to retirement to count, and enjoy if he could, the fruits of his labours. After he disappeared, the more respectable inhabitants were at liberty to come forth from their dwellings." ■ ROrNDHElDS AND CAVALIEES 14! " On the transportation of ' Eouser* ' who had been the rough representative of Cromwell for so many years, the vvhole drama languished. Some feeble attempts were made to revive it, but the taste of the populace for such sports was on the decline ; and a few indiscreet applications of ' smut ' brought magisterial authority to bear upon ' Old Oliver,' who, together with the E-oyal Charles, has altogether disappeared from these realms, " It may seem surprising at the first glance, that a custom so sillv and puerile in its origin, and so hateful and immoral in its opei'ation, should have survived in all its completeness through five or six generations, and lasted until our own day ; but the force of precedent will keep alive even greater abuses." I may add, what is perhaps less well known, that down, I believe, to the advent of the present Head Master it was the practice to hold the Blundell's Sports on the 29th of May, and " Oliver Cromwell," as a privileged person was regularly present on the occasion. In 1S12, however, doubtless much to his chagrin he was refused admittance. On the same day the boys rose early in the morning for the purpose of stripping the hedges in order to adorn the masters' desks with greenery, all in allusion to the same event, the hiding of Charles II. in an oak-tree after the battle of Worcester. * I have attempted to learn something more respecting this interesting character, but my efforts have not been very successful. His real name was Joseph Rousewell, and his occupation was cutting up meat for butchers. He was of medium height, but very powerfully built, with dark hair and a not unpleasiug cast of countenance. He was accustomed to sleep at the Workhouse, and during an altercation drew a knife on the master, a Mr. CoUard. This led to his transportation, which seems to have been for life, as Tiverton saw him no more. I may further supplement the account in the Leisure Hour by stating that King Charles's body-guard wore white shirts and trousers, and sivord.i; and that the gentleman who held th(! rope attached to the person of Rouser, was known by the name of " Tater-bag." APPENDIX. When, in February of this year, an announcement was made in the Antiquani that the ])resent work was in course oi" preparation, the Kev. Mr." Fletcher, Vicar of St. Micliael's, Shrewsbury, wrote to me suggesting that in former histories of the town the Newtes had not received due attention. lie enclosc^d a pctdigree of tlic family, which, as the nami; fre(|uently occurs in these pag.-s, I gladly copy. 142 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFOED PEDIGREE OF Henry Town Clerk of Visitation of Devon, Henry Newte = Alice of Tiverton, gent. ; b. 1609, d. 27 Oct. d. 20 Oct. 1670. 1668. I Henry d. young. I Katharine d. young. Susannah d. young. Richard Newte =- Sarah dau. Gent: of Duval. of Roger Coleu]an,d. 6 Jan. 1678. I Rev. Samuel Newte M.A.,Ball.Coll.,Oxon; rector of Tiverton, d. 1742. Isabella sister of Theodore Taner of Clyst- St George. Rev. Francis Huyshe, M.A. Sarah b. 1678; d. 1747. Rev. Samuel Newte = M. A.. Oriel Coll., Oxon; rector of Bow, 1742 ; & of Tiverton ; b. at Tit- terton, Co. Denbigh, 1718; d. 18 Feb., 1781. I Samuel Newte Anne dau. of William Williams M.D., of Exwick, d. 1794. Holwell=Isabella John Pitnian=Mary rector of Broadclyst. Florence = 4th dau. of Sir Hugh Courtenay, Kt. Rev. John Newte = M.A.,ofC.C.C.Oxon; rector of Tidcombe 1782;d. 9 Dec, 1792. Elizabeth dau. of Sarah Cross. Thomas Newte := Amelia dau. of Tiverton, of Paris, & of Co, Glamorgan. of Robert Johnson of Gower-st. EOTJNDHEADS AND CAVALIERS 143 THE NEWTES. >'ewte Tiverton at the 1620 (cf. Haii. Soc vi., 333.) Christopher Newte b. Kill. Rev, Eichard Newte = Thomasin M.A., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford ; rector of Tiverton and Chaplain to Charles ii. ; bapt.24 Feb. 1612—3; d. lOAus^. 1678. dau. of Humphrey Trobridge. Christian b. Kill. Rev. John Newte Editha Edward Thomas M.A., Fellow of dau. of Balliol Col.,Oxford ; rector of Tiverton ; b. 1656 ;d. 7 March 1715—6, William Here of Farring- don ; d. 13 Feb. 1704. Peter Henry of Hillands d. 15 .lune, 1710. I Christiana I I Joseph Veal=Mary Hardeu= Martha Thomas Newte of Gower Street, London ; d. 1S08 or 180'J. Widow of Tiifnell.' The lit. Hon. Sir = = Eliza (.'oloTlcl Julia James Lewis d. 27 Ufikcly. Knight- l{r lice. April Vice-Chuucellor of lb 66. England ; d. 7 Nov. 186G, 144 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD Charles Frederic = Louisa Caroline= Lewis Bruce Newte Charles Weston Knig-ht- Bruce, Captain in Newte dau. of B.A., J.P. ofRoe- the army; b. 1828 ; d. .• •••••■•■• hampton Priory, d.l8....a3t35. 26 May, 1889 Weech, Capt. 62nd Regt. Surrey, b. 1820. I I Harold Edgar Horace Rose Ellen Rowena Gwendoline Evelyn Violet m. Nov. 1S87 Frederica Rev. Frank AVoolcott rector of Louisville, Pens, U.S.A. AFTER THE RESTORATION VI After the Restoration ■"y.X what light the return of Charles 11. to his country and ^1? throne was regarded by the majority of the inhabitants "^ of Tiverton, or whether any popular demonstrations attended the event, 1 have not been able to ascertain. In fact, the whole of my information is summed up in four entries in the church- wardens' accounts, viz : 1659 " Paid the Kingers for Einginge when News was broughte to Towne that the L. Monke was made Gen. &c. and being urg'd by severall of the Towne of tiood Acct. to set about it." Us. vid. 1660 " Paid for Kinging when his .Matie was proclaymd " vs. vid. " Pd. for Kinging when his Matit^ came into England'' vs. " Paid for Kinging the Thanksgiving Daye " vs. The readers of these memoirs will think that they are never to hear the last of the Tiverton iires. These tragedies were such orthodox occurrences in the history of the town that we have thought fit to devote a whole chapter to the most memorable of them. Tb<^ ri-udi-r, howmt-r, musL by no means suppose that the account which lias been there given is exhaustive ; and if his patience is tried by the old story cropping ui) again and again, let him reflect what the- actual experience nujst luive bi-en Owners and occupiers, .to say n(jthing of those who were expected by band.soine subscripticjus to make; up for other people's carelessness, must have found these episodes rather worse than monotonous. Some of the more nervous, orui cannot help thinking, must have lived in perjit-tual (htad of being burnt aUve, or, if their fears did not extend so far, of losing a large part of their income or stock- l2 148 THE CHEONICLES OF TWrFORD in-trade through the machinations of Vulcan. However that may have been, in November, 1661, the cry of " Fire " was again heard in the town. As in 1598, the origin of the mischief was in Westexe, and whether she was to blame for it or not, the fire broke out in the house of a certain good dame, named Camp, who, we also learn, was a widow. This was at one o'clock in the morning, and as there was a high wind blowing, in less than three hours, forty five dwelling houses, besides out-houses and work- shops were burnt to ashes. Westexe was then, as it is now, chiefly inhabited by working people— fullers, weavers, cloth- workers and others — and the loss in tools, household goods, &c., was estimated at over .£2,770. The King, following the good example of his grandfather, issued a brief, and large subscriptions were made for the benefit of the sufferers. In 1676 a similar disaster befel, which, though less serious as regards the destruc- tion of houses, was attended with fatal consequences to the inmates. Blundell (p. 18) thus records the event : " Among the rest of these sad accidents which happened this year, many also claim a share in our pity ; for about the month of September, another fire happened near the pound, on the south side of Gold street, which broke out in the night time in the house of one William Jones, which burnt his house, and two others adjoining, as also two of the said Jones's children." This appears to be the most suitable place for alluding to trade tokens, which were freely circulated in Tiverton during the period of the Commonwealth and the first eighteen years of the reign of King Charles II. The earliest date on the Devonshire tokens is 1651, and one of them, as will be seen by the list, was possessed by Tiverton. So far as is known, there were issued in this county 325 varieties, of which 55 were half-pence, and the rest farthings, there being no pence, but in London and some counties of England the latter were issued, and in Ireland they greatly predominated. Tiverton had seven kinds of half-pence. Very few of the farthings had their value impressed on them, but every half- penny had, the latter part of the word been generally spelt with one N. We may observe in passing that the same antiquated style of spelling is still retained in every " Book of Common Prayer " printed at the Oxford University Press, even to the latest editions. The word Peny (so spelt) occurs in the gospels the fourth Sunday in Lent and the 23rd Sunday after Trinity. Although now called Trade tokens, they were not only issued by those engaged in retail trade and innkeepers, but by the large manufacturers of that day, doubtless for the payment of wages, and even, occasionally, by persons in a higher sphere of life. For instance, one was struck for Sir Charles Sedley, Lord of a Manor in Kent ; another for Joseph Sayer, rector of Newbury. This good man had the appropriate device of an open Bible on his AFTER THE EESTORATION 149 token. Two of the Tiverton ones were issued by Mayors of the borough. The letters J and U are never found on any of the tokens, but as in the case of other coins, their places are always suppUed by I and V. ' When there are three initials on a local token, the second is that of the wife's Christian name ; when only two, it may be pre8umt>d that the issuer was either a widower or a bachelor. We do not know how far those tokens circulated out of their own locality, but probably like local five pound notes at the present day, they would pass as money in any neighbouring places where their issuers were known. Tiverton tokens have been found at Exeter, and a few years ago a Cullompton token was dug up in St. Peter's Churchyard. In 1672 a stringent proclamation was published ordering under heavy penalties that no more tokens should be coined or circulated, and what was very much more to the purpose, a large quantity of copper half-pence and farthings were issued by the Government sufficient to supply the whole kingdom. These new coins, being neansr the intrinsic value for which they were issued (one of the farthings weighing down nine of Charles the First's), quickly superseded the private tokens, which from that time have been confined to museums and the cabinets of virtuosi. With the exception of Exeter and Plymouth, Tiverton, owing perhaps to its staple-trade of cloth mak- ing, issued more local tokens than any other place in the county. Honiton comes next with twelve varieties. In the following list O means obverse, R reverse. It will be observed that some are not dated, perhaps for want of space. TIA^ERTON TOKENS. 1. O. TnoMAS . Alldread — the Clothworkers' Arms. R. O I' . Tiverton. 1667 — lIis hali' pkny .. .]d. A descendant of this family was living a few years ago, who could remember his father being in the cloth- trade, which was ruined by thc^ first Na[)<)le()n ])l()clva(ling the ports of Holland, lie spelt the name " Aldred " 2, O. Francis . Bellamy — A fleece. R. Ok. Tiverton. (16)64— F.B. .. .. .|d. :i. O Richard . Bkllamy — A fleece. K. Ok. Tiverton. 1661— R.II.B. .. .. |d. Doubtless from the device, these two issuers were woollen manufacturers. 1. O. Fames . Clarke — IIis halk pbny. \{. In.Tivi;rt<.v. 1666 -I. E.C. .. .. U\. I.e. was (Jliurcliwardcii '. Tiverton— T. A. S. .. .. .. ^d. He was acting churchwarden in 1669. 19. O. Aquila . Skixner — Three fleurs-de-lys. E. Of. Tiverton. 1651— A.C.S. .. .. ^d. 20. O. Aquila . Skinner— Three fleurs-de-lvs. R. Of.Tyverton. 1651— A.C.S. ."'. .. |d. A.S. was churchwarden in 1637, and a mercer. 21. O. EicH . Steangar . Tallow — A man making candles. R. CiiANLEE . IN . Tiverton— R.P.S. . . . . ^d 22. O. loHN . Vpcott— 1657. R. Of . Tiverton -I. V. .. .. .. ]d. He was churchwarden in 1045. His family afterwards removed to CuUompton and took their trade of clothiers with them. 23. O. William . Waeebn . of- -W.T.W. E. Tiverton . Meecee. 1664 — His . Half . peny |d. The old register informs us that his wife's name was Thomasin. 24. O. Thomas . Webbee . in R. TIVEETON.1666-T.K.W. .. .. .. ,]d. We learn from the Church Itegister that he was a clothier. 25. O. Thomas . Whicuae — A diamond. R. Of.Tiveeton. 56— T.K.W. .. .. id. 26. O. RiCHARi). Wood— 10G3. R. In.Tivruton— R.E.W. He was churchwarden in 1670. Harding: gives a slightly different account of the first of these tokens, and, as I think it possibh; that my authority may have bet'n mi.sled by the fact of AUdrcad's de.sctuuhmts having been clothiers, 1 will state also the former's opinion on the nubjcct. He (Icscribos the token as bearing on a sliield a chcjvron charged with five cloves between two coiiii):i.s.seH or calli|)er.s, dilated, and a pine apple erected. His friend, Cajjtain Short's verdict on the point was brief and emphatic — " (evidently a grocer, i)n)hal)ly a dealer in all sorts of wares." Then expanding in tht; genial society of Captain Short, or moved by a |)aHsing reminiscence of his own youthful days, Harding goes on in a strain very unusual 152 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD with him, to refer to the joWal days of the Eoyal Charles, of Buckhurst, Eochester, and other Court rakes, of the smiles of Castlemaine, and the tiny room of Nell, of the bewitching Stewart, the blushing Bagot, and tender-eyed Temple ; when, it is said, the term " grocer " had many ramifications. The more ancient grocers, it appears, were called " pepperers " from their selling drugs and spices. Meanwhile the Test Act had been passed, and in 1682 some thirteen members of the Tiverton Corporation rendered them- selves obnoxious to it by not taking the test and corporation oaths and attending the sacrament before entering on their duties. They were, however, pardoned. The next year the Corporation surrendered their charter to the King, on the plea of receiving from him a new grant. They had their desire, His Majesty appointing Henry Blagdon, Mayor, Henry Monk, Duke of Albemarle, Eecorder, while several new members were added to the Corporation. In a MS. written by Oliver Peard it is stated that for three years after this the Corporation wore black gowns. It is rather difficult to get at the meaning of all this mummery, but it certainly seems as if the Corporation had not been entirely re-assured by the forgiving conduct of King Charles towards the erring members, and to show that they were good churchmen and loyal subjects voluntarily placed themselves at bis disposal. ' It is possible, however, that the King had made a formal demand to this effect, in accordance with a large scheme for sapping the independence of the people and getting the whole of their insti- tutions into his own hands. Certainly this case did not stand alone, and the spirited resistance offered by the Corporation of London to the King's claim to nominate their officers is one of the most memorable events of the year. The black gowns, I suppose were the modern equivalent for sack-cloth. It is a far cry fi'om municipal penance to the state of the river, but the average local history shows a marked tendency to be abrupt. Moreover, it is not every winter, nor one winter in a century, which is so severe as that of 1683, when for ten weeks people were able to cross the Exe dry-shod. I doubt if the river has ever been frozen so long, at any rate since the glacier period. The year 1685 is notable as the date of Monmouth's rebellion. Whether any of the inhabitants of Tiverton took part in this business, is uncertain, but for the gratification of the loyal and the terrorizing of the disloyal, the head of a Dissenting Minister who had been executed at Taunton was conveyed to the town. It was here fixed to the Market Cross and four quarters appertaining to other rebels were exposed on poles erected, one near the work- house, another at Waldron's Almshouses, a third in Westexe South, and a fourth on the road to Bampton. Such a happy and civilised mode of dealing with disaffected subjects might have AFTEE THE EESTOEATION 153 been expected to bear fruit in warm and zealous attachment to their lawful sovereign, but, strange to say, it did not. In 1688 the Prince of Orange landed at Torbay, and notwithstanding that he came with the avowed intention of dispossessing his Eoyal father-in-law, was speedily joined by many noblemen and gentlemen of the neighbourhood. A number of the inhabitants of Tiverton also testified to their dislike of autocracy and the Church of Eome by rallying to the Prince's standard. Soon after this a troop of calvary belonging to the invading army came to Tiverton under the command of Captain Cunningham, and one of his first acts was to order the removal of the festering human remains and their decent burial in St. Peter's Churchyard. If the poor minister and his friends had been hanged expressly ^'•pour encourager les autres,'' the result would hardly have been different. The supporters of civil and religious liberty at any rate were not discouraged, for, as we all know, the end of this matter was that the grim and saturnine James had to make the best of his way out of the Kingdom, and, after lording it for a short time in Ireland, to accept a pension from King Lewis of Prance, and finally, to die in exile. For the rest of the acts of King James, are they not written in Macaulay's " History of England " ? The second visit of the deliverers to Tiverton was not quite of such a pleasant description, being indeed little better than a raid. It seems that the Prince of Orange was in need of horses and despatched a messenger to the neighbourhood to make enquiries on the subject. As a solatium for his trouble this emissary pocketed a guinea, which he may be fairly said to have earned, for no less than a hundred horses were driven off for employment in the army. As for the owners, their feelings do not seem to have been much respected. They either received nothing, or merely a nominal sum, or promises lighter than vanity. In connection with this foray (I trust it is no breach of military etiquette to call it so) a good story is told of an ancestor of Mr. Anstey, late of Jurishayes. He had missed a fine horse, and on sending his servant to Tiverton, was informed that some soldiers of the Prince of Orange had taken it. Thereupon he hastened into the town and on arriving at the " Old Bow," a public house near Slee's Almshouses in St. Peter-street, found his good steed, together with many others in charge of the soldiers. He applied to the officer, who said " Oh ! it is your horse is it ? AVcll, if you come to E.\(;ter next week, you shall be paid for him in ducatoons." (A ducatoon is a large Hutch coin, value about five shillings). The ofiicer did not speak very good English, at any rate he did not succeed in making himself understood, for Mr. Anstey, who had never heard of ducatoons, replied " I wish you luck with the horse ; it is not worth my whih; to be going into Exeter for a duck or two," and immediately took his leave. 154 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED In 1691 the parishioners were called upon to raise 108 foot- soldiers and 50 cavalry. A similar claim had been made in 1650, during the time of the Commonwealth, and possibly in the interim. These two instances, however, are vouched for by ancient parchment rates in what was formerly the Hospital chest. The documents also show how the cost was distributed. Every- one possessing an -estate in lands or houses of the value of .£50 annually or =£600 in goods or chattels was compelled to raise and provide for one foot-soldier. A person who had less property or rental was required to unite with his neighbours, and they, out of their joint possessions, which wei'e not to exceed the sum mentioned, had likewise to support a foot-soldier. Each district had a principal, who was answerable for the amount in question. Thus anyone rated at £3 2s. 6d. contributed yV^h of the cost of supporting one foot-soldier, and the happy owner of =£225 stock, six times that amount. The cavalry were provided, in the same proportion, by estates in the country. The year following the tradesmen of the town formed a guild or union, for which they obtained a charter from William and Mary. It was granted to them in terms, which, while flattering to their self-importance, required perhaps in some cases an interpreter to be understood : Uecv et Regina erexerunt quoddani Corpus corporatiim et politicum per nomen de le Masters, Wardens, Assistants, and Commonaltif of Mercers, and Wollen and Linnen Drapers in Tiverton, in Com. Devonia, Originalia, Anno Jf. Rotulo Jf.. The acts and ordinances of the fraternity were submitted to the Lord Chief Justice, Sir John Holt and Chief Baron Turton, and having been approved by them, received their seals, 25th July, 1692. Among other regulations were the following : Courts to be kept Monethlt ob Optener. It is Ordayned, Ordered, Agreed and Established, that there shall be holden once in every Moneth at least, or oftener if need soe require, one Courte or Sessions of and for the Assembly of the said Master, Wardens, & Assistants, or the Major of them, for hearing, deciding, and determineing of all Controversyes, and Debates, of or concerneing the said severall Artes, Trades, or Mysteries, and for making free, bindeing, presenting, turneing over of Apprentices, and for the good continuance and execution of the lawf ull and good Orders, Ordinance and Hules of the same Fraternity, and for the lawfuU punishment or Correction of Misdoers, Offenders, and Breakers of the same Orders, Eules and Ordinances. Fob, a Festivall to bee kept on the Fifth or November ts evert Teabe. It is Ordeyned, Ordered, Agreed, & Established, that on the Fifth Day of November in every Yeare, there shall be a Festival AFTEE THE RESTOEATION 155 kept by the said Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the said Company, who for that purpose are to bee summoned together by the Beadle at the Cost and Charges of the Stocke of the said Company ; to bee kept in such place and manner as the Master, Wai'dens, and Assistants for the tyme being, or the Major parte of them shall appoynte. For Taking op Apprentices. It is ordered, ordeyned, agreed, and Established, that noe Grocer, Mercer, Linnen and Woollen Draper, nor noe Freeman that is or hei-eafter shall bee Free of this Company, shall have, lletayne, or keep in his or theire service above the number of Two Apprentices at any one tyme untill the Eldest of the said Apprentices shall have served Five Teares at the least from the tyme of his being bound Apprentice or one of the said Two Apprentices shall bee beyond the Seas in the service of his Master, nor shall have or take any Apprentice that was not Borne within the King and Queen's Obeysance. Nor shall keep in his, her, or theire Service any Pei'son unbound to doe the Service of an Apprentice above the space of Three Montbs. Nor shall any member of the said Company take or bind to himself e any person that is marryed. And whosoever shall offend in any parte of this Ordeynance shall Forfeit and pay to the said Master, Wai'dens, and Assistants to the use of the said Fraternity the Sume of Five Shillings per Diem, of lawfull Money of England for Every such Offence, to be in default of payment thereof recovered and Levyed in such manner as is hereinafter appoynted. For making Free by Purchase or Ebdemption. It is ordered, ordeyned, agreed, decreed, and Established that if any person or persons useing or following any of the Trades of Grocer, Mercer, Linnen or Woollen Draper shall bee desirous to bee made free and admitted a member of this Company, not having served his Apprt- nticeshipp of Seaven Yeares ; That then in such Case by the advice of the Master, Wardens, and Courte of Assistants held for that purpose, the saide Courte of Assistants may order and appoynte such ]i('rson or persons to be admitted a Freeman, and xUember of the; said Company, such person or persons soe to be admitted, payeing or causeing to be paid unto tb(> Master for the tyme being, to and for the use of the said Company or Fraternity, such suiiie as shall be appointcid by the said Master, Wardens, and Assistants not exceeding Forty Pounds. For Makeing op Frbembns Sonns Free of this Corporation. It is ord(;red, agreed, ordeyn(;d, decreed, and established that all and every S(jnn and Sonns of Freemen of this Company, being 156 THE CHEONICLES OP TWTEOED of the Age of One and Twenty Yeares (not haveing served an Apprenticeshipp) shall be admitted into the Freedome of this Company, upon the reasonable request of such Freeman's Sonn, and thereby to Injoye all the Imunityes and Privelidges, that any other Member of this Company doth or may Injoye and have, payeing for such Admission the Sume of Forty Shillings to the Master for thetyme being, to goe and bee to the PubliqueStocke of the said Society or Company. Foe Misbehaviour in Court. It is ordered, agreed, ordeyned, decreed, & established, That if any Person or Persons, Members of the said Fraternity, shall unfittingly or undecently behave himselfe in the Courte of the Fraternity upon any Assembly, either by Words or Actions, such Person soe offending, shall forfeite to the Master, Wardens, and Assistants for the tyme being any Sume not exceeding the Sume of Tenn Shillings to bee Levyed as hereafter is expressed. The Oath or the Master. You shall be True to Our Sovereigne T^ord and Ladye, King William and Queen Mary. You shall be good and true unto the Fraternity of Grocers, Mercers, Linnen and Woollen Drapers, whereof You bee now Master, And shall truely and indifferently governe all the Brethren and others of the said Fraternity whereof you bee now Master for the tyme being, to the best of your power and skill. You shall keep, mainetaine, and put in exe- cution, all the good and lawfull Acts and Ordinances of the said Fraternity and all the Breakers of the same You shall as farre as justly you may, correcte and punish, with the Advice of the Wardens and Assistants of the said Fraternity for the time being, according to the Quallity and Quantity of his and theire severall Offences ; And the Fines and Penaltyes imposed, or ordeyned upon such the Breakers thereof, You shall doe your best Endeavour to be duely levyed and raised. You shall cause all the Eents and Revenues and Profitts due to the said Fraternity, which you shall receive in the tyme of your Mastershipp, together with all the payments for and on behalfe of the said Fraternity, to be truely written, and true Accompt thereof You shall give to' your Successor, Master of the said Fraternity, upon the Day that shall be appoynted for the delivery of the said Accompt, together with all Charters, Deeds, Writeing Escripts, Muniments, the Common Seale, and all other Goods and Chatties belonging to the said Fraternity, You shall deliver to your Successor, Master of the said Fraternity. And all other Things that to your office as Master of the said Fraternity belongeth. You shall doe and perform to the best of your Wisdome and Discretion, Sob Help You God. AFTER THE EESTORATION 157 The officers of the guild were appointed annually, but the institution was short-lived, the " orders, ordinations, agreements, decrees, and establishments " proving too stringent for the test of actual experience. In a previous chapter I announced mv intention to give some account of St. Peter's Church as it appeared after the Restoration ; and I now proceed to redeem my promise. It is very evident that at this period the interior underwent many alterations, and not a few of the additions which were then made have since been removed. When I last referred to the subject, I omitted to state that the church was embellished by a variety of armorial bearings, some of which remain ; but Westcote, in addition to these, mentions those of Bohun, St. John, Spencer, Camoys, Brian, Copleston, Clavel, Champernoun, and others, most of them impaled \\ith the Courtenays. He adds " all those foregoing appear ancient ; those that follow are lately set up " i.e. the arms of Walrond, Frauncis, Sharpe, Pycott, Cholmley, Dimont, West, Acland, etc. These coats of arms were removed during the restoration of 1819, and with them a number of ancient and interesting epitaphs. At the same time the groined ceiling in the north and south aisles was destroyed, the older part of which dated from the time of Charles II. The pulpit also belonged to this epoch and was a notable object. It was decorated with the arms of distinguished families painted in separate squares, and on the sounding-board was a representation of the archangel blowing the trumpet at the last day. At the west end of the church was a large gallery, built in 1657, over which was a curious old paint- ing of the inside of a church. In the centre of the picture was the face of the clock. Another gallery was erected in 1700, It was situated over the main entrance and occupied by the masters and boys of Blundell's School. It was called, I think, the " Latin School Gallery." At the east end of the south aisle was an old pew with railings where " useful books for the common people to read or hear read " were kept. Thus Dunsford. As a matter of fact, however, we hear of only one book. Fox's " Book of Martyrs " which was left by Richard Capron of Tiverton, clothier, to be chained or kept in some convenient place in the parish church for the sake of those who were well disposed and desirous to reap benefit and comfort thereby. Dunsford, in recording the bequest, adds the following note : "Tradition tells us that Mr. Fox's book of Martyrs was frequently read from the desk on the right side of the chancel door of the parish church, by the direction of the donor, to the peo])le assembh^d before it, which proved an excellent antidote to popery." At Winsliam Church, Somerset, a curious old black-lett(;r co])y of the iirtst edition of Fox's work is chained, evini to this day, to a pedestal in the chancel. From the ro(jf of the niiddU; aisle of St. I'eter's hung in Uunsford's time, a large candelabrum, which he describcis as 158 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFORD very curious and magnificent. It was presented to the parishioners by Mr. Nathaniel Thorne, Churchwarden, in 1707. Its weight was 7 cwt. 1 qr. and its cost, including carriage, gilding, and iron-work, £70 14s. lOd. Until their removal in 1820, the Corporation seats, commonly called " the old twenty four," were on the north side of the church. They were erected by Oliver Peard as church- warden in 1710. It seems to be generally assumed that before this the august body mingled with the ordinary congregation. This, I think, is a mistake. The technical phrase applied to the Corporation in t heir churchgoing capacity was " the Company," and, unless I am very much deceived, I have met with the term more than once in a book of churchwardens' accounts which I unearthed at St. Peter's last year, and in which all or most of the items are anterior to the eighteenth century. Where the original seats were located, I have no means of knowing — not improbably on the north side of the church. Bounding the churchyard on the east and south-east, says Dunsford, were the wool-chapel, charity schools, and church-house. It would appear, however, that these were not separate buildings. The wool- chapel, as I had occasion to remark in my last chapter, was a repository for wool and woollen yarn which were brought there every market day for purposes of sale. The " church-house," strictly so called, consisted of two rooms, situated over the wool- chapel, one of which was used for meetings of the parishioners. The other was appropriated as a school-room for the charity children, but as this is a subject which will claim our attention presently, I forbear to allude to it here. The organ was purchased by subscription in 1696 and was placed in the rood loft. It was opened on the I3th of September, when the Rev. John Newte preached a sermon which he afterwards published under the title of " The Lawfulness and Use of Organs in the Christian Church." His text was taken from the latter part of the 4th verse of the hundred and fiftieth Psalm : " Praise him with stringed instruments and organs." It is evident from the will of William Selake (see p. 46) where mention is made of the " orgones " that instrumental music had been pro- vided at an earlier date, but it seems likely that the misguided zeal of Puritan iconoclasts had relegated the " orgones" to limbo. The instrument subscribed for in 1696 probably had three manuals, but it is summarily dismissed by Dunsford as '' an organ of common metal pipes." It has been variously ascribed to Jacob Snetzler, to Christian Smith, and to Bernardt Schmidt, better known perhaps as Father Smith. Formerly the name on the organ was " Snetzler "* but there is nothing to show when it was inscribed there. Newte in an appendix to his sermon makes the following statement: — "The organ was built by Mr. Christian * Now the worda are " Built A.D., 1696, by Bernardt Schmidt." AFTER THE EESTOEATION 159 Smith, of Hart Street, Bloomsbury.' This seems plain enough, but Harding suggests as one way of reconciling the discrepancy that the organ was purchased from Mr, Smith and that he placed it in the church. This is extremely probable. If Newte had written later and had not been personally interested in the affair, one would have been tempted to believe that there was some confusion between the names Christian Smith and Bernardt Schmidt, for there is evidence that at least part of the work is that of the celebrated maker. It is remarkable, however, that in one of the stops in which his name has been identified (the stopped diapason in the great organ) a good deal of sapwood has been employed; a circumstance which is inconsistent with his reputation for careful- ness in the selection of his materials. Father Smith came over to England about 1660 from Germany, and after making a great many organs for London, the principal cathedral cities, some of the colleges in both Universities and several country churches, died in England A.D. 1708. Burney in his " History of Music" says, " he was so tender of his reputation as never to waste his time in trying to mend a bad pipe either of wood or metal, but if it had any radical defect, he instantly threw it away and made another," This in a measure accounts for the equality and sweet- ness of his stops as well as the soundness of his pipes to this day. In 1776 the organ was thoroughly repaired and the front pipes regilded. In 1826 it was removed to a gallery at the west end of the church, and in 1842 it became a pedal organ by the addition of a pedal stop 16 ft. open diapason. In 1845 the whole instru- ment was carefully repaired and re voiced by a Mr. Bishop, of London. A few years later the gallery was removed and the organ was placed on the floor under the Tower arch, where it was heard to great advantage. At the memorable restoration in 185o- 56 it was again removed, this time to a chamber built for the purpose in the North Aisle. In 1867 it was carefully examined by Mr. Henry Willis, an organ-builder of London, who recommended the entire replacement of its mechanism and the introduction of the more modern features of organ-building. Accordingly in that year the instrunumt was completely re-constructed. It is not known when the chancel was first built, but the ab- sence of any piscina near the altar niakcs it probable that this part of the church is comparatively modern. Tin; b:iltleiiieii1s, at any rate, were added by the Bev. John Newte, in 170!). Kacli compartment contained emblems and mottoes, the order being as follows: 1. Primo quaerite liegnum Coeloruin. 2. Achievement of the Bev. John Newte : Femme,or, a bend azure, b(;aring tliree (l(;urs-de-lys of the field. y. Arms of the liev. Bichard Newte : impaling, arg.nt, a bridge embattled, gules, with a staff and pennon, or Motto, *' Bugilom claraverat," 160 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED 4. An open book, having on the two leaves " In verbo tuo — spes mea." 5. A death's head and cross bones. Motto, " Eesurgamus." 6. A celestial crown. Motto, '• Vincenti dabitur." 7. Achievement of the Kev. John Newte. Motto, " Dabis et aggressu Laer Legis neo F." 8. Memento quattuor novissima. 9. Dom : H. P. S. John Newte, hujus Ecclesiae Sector, 1709. Mr. Newte also by his will dated lOth January, 1715, bequeathed one hundred books in folio, fifty in quarto, and a hundred smaller volumes to form the nucleus of a parish library. These works were all of a very solid character, but none of them particularly rare. The library, however, contains one extremely valuable book ■ — an illuminated missal. In Harding's time it was a mystery what had become of this treasure, and as the catalogue states that it was kept out of the church by the clerk to be shown to strangers, it was feared that it had been lost beyond recovery. Quite recently, however, thanks to the Eev. G. D, Shenton, who has taken great pains to set the library in order, the missing MS. was brought to light. It was found in the vestry, where the rest of the volumes lie ranged on high shelves only accessible by a ladder. This disposal of them, though highly inconvenient, is not the result of malice j)re2iense, the vestry having formerly consisted of an upper and lower room. Mr. Shenton gives the following account of the missal, which was the gift of Walter Collis, precentor of Exeter, who added thereto 100s. for the benefit of the Church : " The volume is a quarto, and a note in pencil at the end says it was ' repaired by Clerk Sharland in 1830.' At intervals there are to be seen pencil-marks from one to thirteen, probably in Sharland's hand, and denoting the order for binding. This makes it seem likely that the MS, was in a very loose state before it was bound. This is also attested by the fact that, although these numbers are placed generally at an interval of eight leaves, yet there are three leaves missing, and two places, i.e., between v. and vi. and between vi. and vii. below, where it is possible that a whole set of eight leaves has been lost. The contents are roughly as follows : I. A Table of Eclipses of Sun and Moon, a Calendar, and a Diagram of the signs of the Zodiac. II. The Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but with a leaf lost at beginning, and commencing with the hymn Quam terra ponius III. The Seven Penitential Psalms. IV. Litany. V. Vigils of the Dead, ending abruptly with Ps. cxix. 15. VI. Eight leaves containing Prayers in a lighter ink. VII, The Abbreviated Psalter of St. Jerome, ending with Ps. cxliii. Then two prayers, a shortened and paraphrased account of the Crucifixion, St. John xix., and a prayer. There is a paper gummed on the covers at the beginning, in AFTER THE EESTOEATION 161 modern writing, giving a less full table of contents, and with this statement : ' At the beginning are prefixed the Ivalendar and portions of the tables of the eclipses of the sun and moon by John Somour, written by William of Worcester at the instance of Eichard Roper (to whom the book most probably originally be- longed), and dated 14 August, 143S. The book is imperfect at the beginning and the end, and the ' Horso ' are preceded by some offices in irregular order. Executed in England between 1435- 1440. (Signed) E. L.' ' E. L.' stands for Edward C. Leiron, one of the librarians of the British Museum. He obtains his infor- mation about the date from a footnote to the table of eclipses, which runs (if I read it right) : ' Exemplarium Calendarie . . (?) fratris Johanni Somor, scriptum Bristolae per manum Willim Worcestre ad instantian Ricardi Roper, Anno Domini 1438.' But there must be something wrong about it, for William of Worcester was only twenty-three years old in 1438, and had never yet been to Worcester, so could not very well have been called anything but plain Botoner. He had left Cambridge, I believe, where he ' scientia astronomica praesertim inclaruit,' so it was natural that Roper should have employed him at the MS., but he cannot have been called Worcester then. How can this be explained ? The tables of the eclipses extend from 1433 to 1460 (sun), and 1439 to 1462 (moon)." Among the features of interest which have disappeared from the Church are a number of tables describing the public dona- tions. These were fixed to the pillars of the middle aisle, in 1688, by one of the Churchwardens, Mr. Nathaniel Cleaveland. Originally attached to the organ-loft, but afterwards removed to the wall of the belfry, was another table, referring to the internal arrangements of the Church itself. As the particulars which it contained are curious, I append a full copy of them, transcribed by Colonel Harding : The (Justomes of the towne and parish of Tiverton, as they have been delivered time out of mind, and confirmed by the parishioners of the said parish at a pul)lique meeting for sale of seats the first day of November, 1(J(J2, as followeth : IMPRIMIS That whoever shall break the ground in the church for a burying-place shall pay to the churchwardens five shillings for the use of the church. ITEM That all scats in the parish's hand shall be published in the church three times three several days before the day of sale, which day is to be liubliciy made knowne in the churcli. ITEM That all seats put to sale shall be openly sold by the Church- wardens at the tombe-stone wiiere the best proferer shall be heard. ITEM That whosovtsr shall buy a seat as aforesaid, shall enjoy the same their life, they liveing in the parish. ITEM That the party whose life the seat is held by is the proper owner, and not tiio partie y^ shall contract for yo same when held by another life. M 162 THE CHRONICLES OF TWrFOED ITEM That if any who hath a seat for his or her life shall depart out of our said parish, and be an inhabitant elsewhere one year and a day, his or her seat is forfeited, and the Churchwardens may put the same to sale again, Vnless the partie be unmarryed or rated to the poor of our parish for such may keep their seats notwithstanding. ITEM That a man deceasing having a wife and have one or more seats in the church, she shall enjoy what seate she shall choose of her husband's during her life, if she be a parishioner, or rated to the poor. ITEM That a woman can claim but one seat by her husband, though she may have had more than one h usband. ITEM That any person having a seat in our Church may yield it into the parish, and the Churchwardens may sell the same, and the partie is to have halfe the money. The system was not found to work at all well. Dunsford, in whose time it was still kept up, observes with reference to the middle aisle — " the seats in this part of the Church are miser- ably bad and irregular and not likely to be much improved till the annual custom of selling them on lives is abolished." No small part of the Churchwardens' accounts is taken up with this trafficking, the section being headed " Seats yielded in." The entries are all very similar, so that one specimen will serve : " Eecd. of George Drew for a Room of the Wido Bradforde yielded in, No. 6 in the outer Ranks before the Chappell for his own life." By order of the Bishop the scandalous yearly auction was abolished in 1813, but the other practice of letting the seats for life was continued until 1832, when a stop was put to that also. It was resolved on the 15th of March of that year at a parish vestry, first, " that the present mode of setting, letting, and otherwise appropriating church seats is illegal, and that from and after Easter, 1833, the same shall be discontinued " : and secondly, " that in order to prevent unneccessary confusion, the present occupiers of seats shall continue to enjoy the same, free of all charges whatsoever, and in case any persons shall be in possession of more sittings than is necessary for the accommo- dation of themselves and families, the churchwardens shall allot them, and other vacant sittings, according to station," &c. An amendment was moved to the effect that no alteration should take place. The law, however, appeared sufficiently clear on the subject, and the motion was negatived without a division. On September 4th, 1833, a meeting was called for the purpose of re- considering this arrangement. It was stated that by the existing allotment of seats " the parish lost nearly ^200 ayear ; which sum had been invariably applied in aid of the church rate since the year 1662 (and time out of mind before that period)" ; and as the system involved " a breach of faith with those who purchased their life interest and a greater evil to those who attended St. George's Chapel and dissenters " the resolution was passed " that the principle of free sittings should be abolished and the sittings AFTEE THE EESTOEATION 163 let as usual." Several attempts were made to carry this reso- lution into effect, but as the law was opposed to the order of the vestry, it was impossible to enforce comphance. For many years, therefore, the seats remained free. The rise of Nonconformity in Tiverton, or, at any rate, its external recognition, may be traced to the year 16S7, the date of King James's Declaration of Indulgence. It is evident that ever since the Eeformation there had been a strong leaven of Puritanism in the town, but Puritanism and Nonconformity are not by any means synonymous terms. The Puritans, no less than the Anglicans, were determined to have their own way with the nation and were not very scrupulous as to the means. Every one wlU remember the lines of the royalist Butler on the Puritans, those errant saints, whom all men grant To be the true Church Militant ; Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun ; Decide all controversies by Infallible artillery ; And prove their doctrine orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks, etc. Nonconformity, on the other hand, was a defeated force. In- stead of attempting to establish itself as the national religion, it was glad to accept toleration for its members. In my last chapter I referred to the foundation of the Steps' Meeting-house in St. Peter-street, in 1687. Here the Independents had their habi- tation; and the society must have prospered, for in 1699 the building was enlarged, so as to be capable of accommodating 500 persons. Dunsford says that in his time the congregation was of a very miscellaneous character, Trinitarians, Arians, and Unitarians, Calvinists and Arminians, Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, Independents, and Methodists, all worshipping under a common roof and bound together by no better tie than that of dissent. In 1700 there seems to have been a kind of schism among the Independents, and a part of the congregation, under the direction of a Mr. John Moore, set up a separate meeting-house in Back-lane, Westexe, from which, later on, they removed to a similar place in St. Peter-street. On the death of Mr. Moore in 17-36, the Peter-street Meeting-house, as it was called, was turned into a pound-house for cider, &c., and it was aftt-rwards used as a theatre for strolling players. In 1781 it was purchased and re-built l)y a Mr. John Holmes, by whom it was once more devoted to religious purposi^s, services b(!ing conducted by members of the (Jalvinist pcTsuasion. On the 9th of April, 1817, the building was registered at the Bishop's Court at I'.xeter as a (Jnitarian Oliapel, hut two y(!ars later it was aban- doned as a meeting-lious(; and again converted into a theatre. The building was finally destroyed in 1814, and a private house m2 164 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD was erected where it had stood — about the middle of the west side of St. Peter-street. The Baptist Society at Tiverton is the oldest of the kind in the West of England and was originally Dutch. Some of the old Dutch people were strong Arminians, for Arminius was living at the time and exerting great influence in Holland. The English Baptists, on the contrary, were Calvinists, and whenever they met, the rival parties went at it tooth and nail. From an old manuscript it appears that the Association of Baptist Churches always met at Tiverton, because they never held a meeting there without a quorum. It is believed that the Baptists had a meeting-house on the site of their present chapel as long ago as 1 687, but a more con- venient building was erected in 1730. Previous to King James's Declaration of Indulgence there was no regular minister, all the duties being carried out by the elders ; and even after that date they seem to have assisted by preaching, &c. The name of the first pastor was Roger Haldanby, appointed in 1687. He officiated in the old house to which we referred for about two years, when he went to Plymouth and public service was again conducted by the eldest members, chiefly by Tristram Trewren, a poor tradesman of Tiverton, but a man of reputable character. Other changes took place in the ministry, and in the year 1714 James Sampson was chosen and ordained pastor of the congregation. He officiated for fourteen years. It is said of him " he appears to have been a sensible man and a good preacher," but having adopted religious opinions different from the leading principles of his flock, they separated, and Mr. Sampson preached in the Meeting-house, Back-lane, Westexe. He was followed by many of the congregation, who attended his ministry until he left Tiverton in 1737. The same year he died on his ''voyage" to London. Those who continued to worship in the " old house " were served for some time by occasional ministers — notably by one William Foot, who came in 1728 from Plymouth and officiated in this place of worship for two years. During that time, it seems, he was much employed in raising subscriptions to build the new house. Whilst this work was in progress, the people worshipped in the dwelling-house of Mr. Thomas Dunsford, serge-maker, in Bampton-street, which was licensed for the purpose. In 1731 Henry Terry came from Mortonhampstead in exchange for Mr. Foot, but was not ordained pastor of the congregation until the year 1733. This gentleman officiated in the meeting-house about twenty-eight years, and died in 1759. His body was interred in St. Peter's Churchyard. After Mr. Terry's death somewhab frequent changes occurred in the ministry and the Society must have suffered reverses for years, for at a later period — 1819 — we find that the Eev, E. Webb, who was in that year appointed pastor, preached his first sermon to a congregation of only sixty AFTER THE EESTORATION 165 persons. The society which invited him did not numher more than eighty, and the male membership consisted of just twenty one individuals. In 1854 the chapel was enlarged at a cost of £560 and a few years later £1,660 was expended in the erection of school buildings, &c. At the close of the first sixteen years of his pastorate Mr. Webb reported that 257 members had been added to his community. The same prosperity marked the remaining years of this gentleman's ministry. He was succeeded in the pastorate by the Eev. J. P. Carey, and the chapel being incon- veniently small it was decided to erect a more commodious and modern structure. Besides the Steps, the Peter-street, and the Baptist Meeting- houses there was a fourth " conventicle " known as the Pitt Meeting-house. The establishment of this place of worship is attributed to the Rev. Richard Saunders, M.A., one of the old Puritans, who was ejected from his living at Loxbeare on Bartholomew's Day, 1662. In 1671 he commenced to hold meet- ings at Tiverton ; and in 1682, having been stopped in his dis- course at the house of a Mr. Wood, he was brought before the Mayor and convicted as a conventicler. A fine was inflicted on him and on the house he had been preaching in, and he was sent to Exeter Gaol for six months. In 1672 he had opened a meeting-house in Hack-lane, Westexe, where he continued to preach tiU the Pitt Meeting-house was erected in 1687. It was situated below Angel Hill, on the east bank of the Exe, and the congregation originally consisted of Presbyterians. According to Dunsford, however, after a lapse of fifty years or so the old Calvinistic doctrines were exploded, and the congregation betrayed a tendency to Unitarianism. In 1787 they united with the Independents, and in 1815 the Pitt Meeting-house was sold for £300 to pay for repairs to the Independent Chapel. The Methodists made their appearance at a later period, and will receive due notice at the proper time. In 1698 an Act was passed for erecting hospitals and work- houses in the parish of Tiverton for the better employing and maintaining the poor thereof. Previous to this the poor had been the exclusive charge of the Churchwardens and it seems that in certain cases individuals had been licensed to beg, such privileged persons being distinguished by a badge on the right shoulder. There was, of course, no " casual ward " in those days and anyone passing through the town who happened to be short of money seems to liave applied of riglit to the Churchwardens for assistance. Th(; number of Irish who thus claimed relief is quit(; extraordinary and in the Churchwardcais' account for 1659 we find such entries as these, following in quick succession : " Paid a poore Irish woman, having two small childr with her." vid " Paid a poore passenger travelling to Tanton." iid 166 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTEOKD "Paid a poore Irish Grent. travelling to London hav- inge a sicke Childe with him." vid. " Paid to evade a Collection Mr. Maior being from home to one Thomas Tidgerombe, of Buckland, near Plymouth yt had bin lately taken by Spanish man of warre and Im- prisoned with his wife and little Child five months at Calice having lost thereby as was certified on's Certif. 500Z and more." His, The last instance suggests that the Churchwardens may have been deceived sometimes by " travellers' tales " ; since they seem to have thought Thomas Tidgerombe's story and certificate sufficient reasons for disbursing to him far more than the usual amount. However, under the Act of 1698 the management of the " hospital " and the disposal of the funds for the relief of the poor were delegated to a new board created for the purpose. It was composed of fifty-two members including the Mayor, the Eecorder, the Capital and Assistant Burgesses, and the Portreeve, who had a right to be present e-v officio ; and with them sat twenty five of " the ablest and discreetest inhabitants " elected by the ratepayers. A Governor, Deputy-Grovernor, Treasurer, and twelve Special Assistants, six of each class of guardians, were chosen annually until the year 1769, when these arrangements were superseded. The "' hospital "' erected on the site of the present workhouse, was begun in 1699 and was not finally com- pleted till 1704. In 1700, however, the building was in a sufficiently forward state to accommodate sixty persons, who were accordingly admitted. In 1699 also was built a Corn Market House in Bampton-street. This was burnt down in the great fire of 1731 and soon after the present structure was erected. In 1700 occurs the first mention of a friendly society in Tiver- ton, it was founded by wool-combers for their mutual support in sickness or old age, and appears to have lasted till the close of the century. On the whole it was an excellent institution and clearly not deficient in funds. This is proved by the fact, that on several occasions, when trade was bad or the workmen were involved in disputes, the whole society was maintained out of the deposits. To such members as were about to travel, whether in search of employment or for some other reason, it was customary to issue certificates, or as they called them, " blanks." The " blank '' shewed that the individual in question was a member of the society, and he had only to produce it to become entitled to assistance from any similar society, in alliance with that of Tiverton, throughout the kingdom. But there is a dai'k side to this picture. The members of this society seem to have enter- tained a lively dread of " malingering," so they made it penal to be ill or old too long. Any one who exceeded a certain term of illness or old age, was docked of some part of his weekly allow- ance. In 1704, the farm labourers of the parish started a kindred AFTER THE EESTOEATION 167 Society, but, as we hear of farmers in connexion with it, there seems'to have been an element of patronage in the labourers' club. The following were some of the rules of the artisans' society : I. IMPRIMIS It is agreed that such of us as shall be admitted into, or become members of this Society, shall and will, at their first admit- tance, pay the full sum of One Shilling. And from and after that time , on Wednesdays: Monthly, and every Month pay the sum of Six Pence, to be laid up in the Hands of such Trustees and Supervisors, as shall by us, or the major part of us, be appointed, for the time being, to make a Book, Common-Stock or Purse, for the Relief and Benefit of such of us as shall have been Contributers, or Payers to the same, for the space of One whole Year. II. ITEM It is also agreed, That none shall be admitted into, or become Members of, this our said Society, that are above Fifty Years of Age, and those of a Loyal and Honest Reputation. III. ITEM It is also agreed, That the Time of our Meeting shall be between the Hours of 6 and 8 of the Clock in the Afternoon, on Wedneadays Monthly in the Summer, and between 4 and 7 of the Clock in Winter; and then to pay the sum of Six Pence each, and to spend Two-pence in the Meeting Room, and no more. IV. ITEM It is also agreed. That if any of our said Society, at the time of our said Monthly Meetings, shall Curse, Swear, Blaspheme God, speak Reflecting on the Government, or Cause any Disturbance, shall, for every such Offence, forfeit and pay into the said Stock or Purse, the sum of One ShilUny ; and that such of us so offending who shall refuse to pay the same immediately, or at our next Monthly Meeting, shall be excluded from being a Member of our said Society. ITEM It is also order'd and agreed upon, that from and after the payment of the aforesaid sum of One ShilUny for Admittance, and monthly sum of Six-pence for the space of One whole Year, that such of our said Society as shall be visited with Sickness, so as to keep his I'xhI, shall have and receive from the Trustees and Supervisors appointed for the time being, after One Week such Sickness, the sum of Six' Shillinyn weekly, and every Week, during so long as he or tliey shall k(;i!p their ]'><■(], ami no longer; and 7hree Shilli nys wi'ok]y, to be paid out of our said Stock or Purse 'till he or they shall be able to follow their Labour. And that such of Us as shall be hurted or receive any Mis- f(jrtunc, provided it is in his Lawful Jimployment, and so that he cannot follow the same, shall also have and receive of the said Trustees or Supervisors, as aforesaid, the Sum of '/'hire Shil/inys, W(M'kly, and Every Wei'k, 'till he shall lie ul)le to follow his J niployment. iJut such of us as shall receive any .Misfortune or Hurt liy any Uecrcation as FiioI-IkiII. Jiiitls-aiul-iJudyelxy llunliny, or other such like Exercise, no SubsistauCQ Hhali be allowed. 168 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYTOED VI. ITEM It's also agreed, That if any of our said Society shall travel out of our said Parish, and sojourn elsewhere, provided he doth duely pay the said monthly sum of Six-pence, shall be continued, owned, and esteemed to be a Member of the same and have and receive the Allow- ance and Subsistance as aforesaid. But he and they that shall neglect the Paying the same for the space of 3 Months, together with the sum of T7i}o-pence per Month (order'd to be spent at our monthly meeting) shall be excluded our Society. VII. ITEM It is also agi-eed. That such of our said Society as have been Members of the same, as aforesaid, for the space of One Year, shall, when God call them hence by Death, have allowed towards their Funeral Expenses the sum of Tieenty ShilUngs, and I'en SliiUlngs for a Funeral Sermon, out of the said Stock, and his widow Six Shillings. VIII. ITBM It's also agreed. That such of this our said Society as shall have been Payers thereto, for the full space of Seven Years, when, through weakness or Old-Age, they shall become uncapable to get his, or their. Maintenance, shall have and receive, out of our said Stock, the sum of Two Shillings, Weekly and Every Week, for and during his Natural Life ; if the Trustees and Supervisors for the Time being, or the Major Part of them shall think fit. About this time the weather seems to have caused a good deal of trouble at Tiverton. On September 8, 1692, the shock of an earthquake was felt in Westexe, but it must have been a very mild kind of earthquake, as we hear of absolutely no damage being done. On December 8, in the same year, the River Exe trans- gressed by pervading the lower parts of the town and standing two feet high in the houses. All the historians of Tiverton, Blundell, Hewetfc, Dunsford, and Harding, seem greatly impressed by the case of Grace Vanstone, a child of four, who, at the time of this flood, was carried bodily through a subterranean gutter thirty six feet long and then, after twenty feet more gutter in the open air, into the River Exe, where she caught hold of a wear- stake, and, having been lucky enough to attract the notice of certain people, was saved. Three years later the River Lowman transgressed by overflowing its banks, and the Blun- dellians of that generation rowed about the Green in tubs. After ' the earthquake and the two floods came a stormy wind and tempest. This was in 1703, and by all accounts it was a bona fide and most sensational affair, though we do not hear of old ladies being wafted through alleys or shop-windows, or indeed of anything distinctly miraculous and providential. Blundell writes very " sympathetically " about this storm . QUEEN ANNE. " (1703). Friday, November 27, will deserve no small place in our Remembrance, if we seriously consider the Providence of AFTER THE EESTOEATION 169 God, in 80 wonderfully preserving us from such imminent Dangers that then threatened us by a dreadful Tempest. It began about 10 o'Clock at jN'ight, and violently increasing, was in the height of its Fury at 3 next Morning, when its raging Blasts were most frightful and amazing, and sufficient to convince any Mortal, even an Atheist, that had not these Winds been ruled by an Almighty Power, they would undoubtedly, not only have shook the Foundations of the Earth, but have destroyed the whole Fabrick, and bury'd the Inhabitants thereof in its dismal Euins. The Morning Light soon made visible the horrid Marks of its Fury; for Trees of vast Bulk were blown up by the Roots ; Churches and Houses uncovered and many thrown down ; and daily Xews arrived of wretched Shipwrecks, insomuch that a great number of dead Bodies were cast upon our Coasts from Hull to the Lands' End. And the Town of Tiverton had no small Share in this Calamity, most of the Houses thereof being un- covered, many Trees blown down, and a great deal of other Damage done. " It's observable, that a West India Bird call'd a Petrel was taken up next Day warm from the Ground in an Orchard, belong- ing to the Widow Bemj in Bariton-strect. They are generally called by our Seamen Foul Weather Birds, their appearance pre- saging a Storm. When a Ship is under sail, they will hover close under her Stern, in the Wake or Smoothing, which she makes in her passage on the Sea ; where, as they fly gently, they pat the Water alternately with their Feet as if they walk'd upon the same ; whence in Illusion {sic) to St. Peter's walking on the Lake of Gennazareth, they are call'd Petrels. They are something like our Swallows, but smaller, having a short Tail, and black all over, except a white spot on the Rump ; their manner of Flying is also the same." On the first of May, 1706, some uproarious woolcombers were tried in the Town Hall before the High Sheriff of the County, the Mayor, the Recorder, and an Esquire. It is not known what made them uproarious, or what means were taken to calm their excitement, but it is on record that it cost the Guardians o£l<) 5s. yd. in fees to the Town Clerk, who would have liked £2;j 4s. 9d., but the people at the " Hospital " thouglit this exactly £12 19s. 6d. too much, and his account was taxed accordingly. Thi; same year the Treasurer of the " Hospital " saw lit to encourage drunkenness in the town by distributing three barrels or hogsheads of beer on the "rejoicing-day " for the victory obtained by the Duke of Marlborough at the battle of Rainilies. In 1707 Alstone's Almshouses in Birchin Lane, Westexe, were built. By his will dated March 2, 1(196, John Alstone, who was a clothier, of Tiverton, had left c(Ttaiii property for tht* bnnelit, ajj he expressed it, of '* six poor shear men " {i.e. " i'ullers "j, but 170 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD the arrangement was not to be carried into effect until after the death of one William Chambers and his wife Elinor, These almshouses were in a very ruinous state in 1788, when, and for years afterwards, the ground was let to private individuals. The rent, however, was devoted to the relief of six fullers, as devised by the testator. There are still almshouses in Birchin Lane, but they are occupated by superannuated employees of Heathcoat and Go's lace factory. We now come to the subject of Parliamentary election, which, as we have seen, was vested in the Corporation. If we may rely, however, on certain old manuscripts which are not official, the potwalladers, or — wallopers, of the town sometimes elected the members. In Hewett's Memoirs, under the year 1604, we find the following statements : " Two burgesses did serve in Parliament for the borough of Twyfordton ; they were chosen by the votes of the potwalliners (^sic), before Tiverton was incorporated." " Note. The inhabitants of Westex, they have no votes in such election." The same thing is represented as having occurred in 1687, but. no record exists of such an election, and Colonel Harding is dis- posed to reject the story as fictitious. How matters were arranged on previous occasions, we have no evidence to show, but in all probability the members of the Corporation were tolerably harmonious. In 1710, on the contrary, party feeling ran high and the result was a contest. The sitting members, Thomas Bere, of Huntshara, and Eichard Mervin, Esquires, were attached to the Whig interest, while the candidates put forward by the Church party were Sir Edward Northleigh, Attorney General, and .John Worth, Esquire, of Worth. The latter were successful. Blundell, evidently a staunch Tory, i-eports the occurrence in a way suggesting that his sense of propriety had been fully satisfied : " The Whiggist and Presbyterian interest was clearly overthrown, in the due election of those worthy and honourable gentlemen aforesaid, Sir Edward Northleigh, Knight, and John Worth, Esquire, of Worth." In 1713 a Charity School was established for sixty boys, and the following year a similar arrangement was made for fifty girls. The institution was at first supported by subscription, and an annual collection at church. The scholars were taught in the church-house, and in return for the instruction they received were required to be diligent church-goers, both Sundays and week- days. Voluntary contributions continued to be asked for the school until 1802, by which time, apparently, owing to various benefactions, it had become self-supporting. Thus, in 1716, a Mr. Henry Blagdon left a sum of money which he intended to be used in providing instruction for the children at the Hospital, but which was ultimately appropriated to this charity. Donations AFTER THE RESTORATION 171 were made to the school by Mr. Peter Thawte in 1719, Mr. John Tristram in 1724, Mrs. Mary Peard in 1777, and Mr. Benjamin Gilberd in 1783 ; and out of the funds of the estabHshment the trustees in 1842 decided to erect new premises now used for the Middle Schools in Castle-street. Till then, during the whole of the 130 years since the school was first instituted, it had never migrated from its original nidus, the Church-house. The school was finally broken up in 1877, It was generally known as the Blue Coat School as the children were given a suit of clothing of that colour and of very coarse material, once a year ; and shoes and stockings, the latter also blue, twice a year. The cut was that of the early part of the eighteenth century — a long coat with brass buttons, tight knee-breeches, and a flat cloth cap, for the boys, who, I am afraid, were often the objects of derision to other working-class boys dressed a la mode. The girls' attire \vas more becoming. This work could scarcely be deemed complete without some notice of that very romantic character — Bampfylde-Moore Carew. The short account here given is drawn from a quaint eighteenth- century book entitled : " An Apologt for the Life of Mr. Bampfijlde-Moore Careiv, commonly call'd The King of the Beggars. Being An impartial Account of his Life, from his leaving Titebto^' School, at the Age of Fifteen, and entering into a Society of Gipsies, to the present Time ; wherein the Motives of his Conduct will be explain'd, and the great number of Characters and Shapes he has appeared in thro" Great Britain, Ireland, and several other Places of Europe be related ; with his TRAVELS twice through great Part of America. A par- ticular account of the Origin, Government, Language, Laws and Customs of the Gipsies ; their Method of electing their King, &c., and a Parallel drawn after the Manner of Plutarch between Mr. Bampfylde-Moobe Carew and Mr. Thomas Jones. The Seventh Edition." Toius Jlundus agit Histrionem. Bampfylde- Moore Carew was the son of the Rev. Theodore Carew, Rector of liickleigh, near Tiverton, and born in the month of July, 1693. His baptism is said to have been an event. Ladies and gentlemen of the first rank and quality in the West of England were present, and his sponsors were the Hon. Hugh Bampfylde and the Hon. Major Moore, both of whose names he bore. A dispute arose between these worthy gentlemen as to which name should precede, and argument being inettectual, recourse was had to the con- venicmt method of " throwing up a Piece of Money." The toss was won by Mr. Bam|)fylde, who, in commemoration of the triumph, presented his god-child with a large piece of plate bearing in large letters the inscription — Bampfyldk-Moohi.: Cakew. At twelve years of ago Carew was simt to Jilundell's School, when; he is stated to have loniied th(! actiuaintance of "young (Jentlenien of the first Rank in Somersetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, and 172 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED Dorsetshire." A boy so reared and possessing so many incentives to adhere to the beaten paths of convention was the very last whom we should suspect of a taste for low company or amusements, but cliacmi a son gout. This, at least, may be said for him, that, having chosen his Hne, he pursued it without faltering, and to those who believe in the virtue of a good " having" Carew is one of the best proofs of its efficacy. He out-gipsied the gipsies and rose without an effort, by a sort of natural law, to be their King. Whilst he was at Tiverton, Carew made good progress with his studies, and in after days, when, among his numerous disguises, he assumed the character of a clergyman, he retained a sufficient stock of learning to be able to quote tags of Greek and Latin, by means of which his preten- sions passed unquestioned. It was in sport, however, that he chiefly excelled. He had a " remarkable chearing Halloo to the Dogs," which is said to have been of great service in the chase, and to have been peculiar to himself. And, we are farther told, he discovered the secret " hitherto unknown to any but himself " of enticing any dog whatever to follow him. At this time the boys at Tiverton School had a fine pack of hounds, and among the subscribers were John Martin, Thomas Coleman, and John Escott, all young men of good family, with whom Bampfylde- Moore Carew was naturally on terms of the closest intimacy. Coleman, whose erratic temperament afterwai'ds led him into much the same adventurous courses as Carew, was the son of the Squire of Grornhay. It happened one day that a fai'mer in the neighbourhood, who was a great sportsman and a sort of " whipper- in" to the enterprising Blundellians, waited upon them with the information that there was a fine deer on his farm, with a collar round his neck. This was " nuts " to the Blundell scholars who forthwith set out in a body, with Martin, Coleman, Escott, and Carew at their head, to hunt the animal. The time of this event was shortly before harvest, when there was much standing corn in the fields, and as the chase was hot and lasted several hours, considerable damage was done to the crops. The " field " however, succeeded in killing the deer, which, from the inscription on its collar was found to belong to Colonel Nutcombe, of Clay- hanger. Meanwhile the farmers and landowners, for whose interests the youthful Nimrods had shown such a princely disregard, wended their way to the Rev. Mr. Rayner, the head-master, and demanded vengeance. An inquiry was instituted and the culprits, foreseeing the result, deemed it expedient to be " aeger." On the following day they chanced to visit Brick House, an inn situated about half a mile from Tiverton, where they fell in with a company of gipsies, feasting and carousing. The gipsies were seventeen or eighteen in number and of both sexes. They had met there for the purpose "of Merriment and Jollity ; and after a plentiful meal upou fowls, ducks, and other dainty dishes, the AFTER THE RESTORATION 173 flowing cups of October cyder, &c., went most chearfully round, and merry songs and country dances crowned the Jovial Banquet." The boys were so captivated by the scene that they at once resolved to enlist, to join the gipsies for good and all. The latter at first received the announcement with incredulity. From their appearance and bearing, the youths evidentl}^ belonged to the higher classes, and it was difficult to believe that they could be in earnest. As, however, after a night's reflection their purpose remained unchanged, it was determined to admit them as members of the fraternity. The necessary ceremonieg were gone through, the proper oaths administered, and Bampfylde-Moore Carew was a duly accredited gipsy. Among other accomplishments supposed to pertain to this singular people is a knowledge of divination, and Carew in his new character was speedily in request as a necromancer. A Mrs. Musgrove, of Munkton, near Taunton, having heard of his fame, sent for him on a matter of considerable moment. She strongly suspected that somewhere near her house was buried a large quantity of money and she v^anted Carew to tell her exactly in what spot it lay, promising if he did so, to bestow upon him a handsome reward. The offer was tempting, and Carew rose to the occasion. Although he could not find the real or imaginary treasure, he managed to pocket the fee. The ruse which he employed was as follows. He aft'ected to consult the mystic art and after a becoming delay informed the lady, that the gold she coveted was concealed under a laurel tree, but that she must not seek for it until a particular day and hour, when her good planet would be in the ascendant. The worthy soul took it all in, and Carew on his departure was a richer man by twenty guineas. At the time appointed the lady dug below the roots of the laurel tree, but — alas ! there was no treasure there. One of the most interesting episodes in the life of this extra- ordinary man was his marriage, which was in the highest degree romantic. It was a love-match, the lady whose name was Gray, being the daughter of a Newcastle apothecary, Carew, who was a tall handsome fellow and of excellent address, was just the sort of man who would be likely to make his way with ladies, and he was shrewd enough to suppress what might have proved an insuperable obstacle to his success — his connexion with the gipsies. He passed himself off as an officer on board a merchant vessel, and as the lady — whatever her friends might tliiidi — was well satisfied with his position and prospects, and more than satisfied with his person and accomplishments, she agreed to elope with him They sailed for Dartmouth, proceeding thence to Jiath, where the wedding was celebrated with every circumstance of splendour. Jt is an amiable feature in Carew's character that throughout his wild life he was always constant to this trustful, loving, imprudent girl During th(; voyage to Dartmouth he had confessed his secret, by which, it appears, Misa Gray was a good 174 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFORD deal upset, but she was reconciled to her fate on being told the actual condition of her lover, his descent from one of the most distinguished families in the "West of England. Carew, however, did not immediately resume his gipsy life. He and his bride spent some time at Bath, busied with the ordinary round of fashionable dissipations, and the objects of no small curiosity to the gossips and quidnuncs who frequented the mineral springs. By and bye these amusements began to pall on them. They left for Bristol and after some stay there travelled through Somerset and Dorset into Hampshire, where Carew had an uncle, a benevo- lent and sensible man in holy orders. This excellent divine used every argument he could think of to induce his nephew to forsake his disreputable career, but a relapse was inevitable. Arrayed in a long loose black gown, a band, a large white peruke and a broad-brimmed hat, he made an incursion among the clergy, to whom he represented himself as an ejected non-juror, and then with equal success be passed over into the opposite ranks of the Quakers. His histrionic talents won immense admiration from his own community, the Gipsies, as indeed from everybody else with whom he came in contact, even those who had suffered by his rogueries readily forgiving him in return for the excellent entertainment he afforded them. When, therefore, the King of the Gipsies was on his death-bed delivering, in patriarchal fashion, a valedictory address to his obedient followers, the expectation of the brotherhood pointed to Carew as his successor. It appears, however, that among this interesting people so important an event as the choice of a new ruler was not allowed to pass without fit ceremonies and safeguards. A few days before the election, balls, one white, the rest black, corresponding to the number of candidates, were given to each elector ; and on the day of election there were set out as many boxes as there were candidates, with the name of the particular candidate on the box appropriated to him. These boxes were quite closed, except for a small aperture at the top, which was locked every night, so long as the election lasted, under the seals of each of the candi- dates and of six of the oldest men of the community. The elector put a white ball into the box of the candidate of his choice and blank balls into those of the other candidates, and when all had voted, the boxes were opened, in the presence of all the competitors and as many electors as cared to attend, by the venerable gipsies before mentioned. Whoever had the largest number of white balls was chosen. On the present occasion that fortunate person was Carew. He exhibited to the electors such a long list of bold and ingenious stratagems successfully carried into effect, and was besides so handsome and prepossessing a man, that his claim was irresistible. He was hailed by the whole assembly king of the mendicants, the public register was confided to him, and homage was paid him as their sovereign lord by the AFTER THE RESTOEATION 175 entire body. These solemn acts were followed by feasting and revelry, and, in conclusion, an inaugural ode was sung by the electors, viz. : Ca9t„your nabs* and Cares away, This is Mantxler'nf Holiday : 111 the World look out and see, Where's so happy a King as he ? II. At the Crowning of our King, Thus we ever dance and sing ; Where's the Nation lives so free, And so merrily as we ? III. Be it Peace or be it War, Here at Liberty we are : Hang all IIariiienhechs\ we cry. We the Cu(fin Quervs\\ defy. IV. We enjoy our Ease and Eest, To the Field we are not prest : And when the Taxes are iucreas'd, We are not a Penny cess'd. Nor will any go to Law With a Munndcr for a straw ; All which Happiness he brags. Is only owing to his Hags. Enough perhaps has been said about Bampfylde Moore Carew, but before closing the recital, it will perhaps gratify my readers, if 1 relate two charactei'istic incidents in the life of the well- known vagabond. It happened one day, when he was in Soutli- molton, that he was insulted by a little big official commonly known a>( the Bellman. Carew determined to be revenged. Not long before a gnnUeinan of the town had died, and it was currently reported that his ghost walked the cliurch3'-ard. Now it was one of the duties of the bellman to cross the chiu'chyard at the hour of 1 a.m. Carew, availing himself of this superstition, * Hats or caps. t A beggar. X ConHtiibloH. II Juaticea of the peace or churLs. 176 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED entered the burial ground, divested himself of his coat and waist- coat, so as to display his white shirt, and lay down on the gentle- man's grave. In due course the bellman arrived, when what was his horror by the glimmering light of the moon to see a figure slowly rise from the tomb in question, and advance towards him ! In his consternation he made as rapidly as possible for the gate, but, blind with terror, stumbled over graves and tomb-stones, was badly bruised and knocked about, and finally dropped his bell, which Carew afterwards seized as a trophy of victory. About a year later Carew was again in Southmolton and the bellman who had by this time recovered from his fright, repeated his old offence. The Gipsy King, resolving to punish him yet more severely, arrayed himself in a black robe and a large fur cap, and posting himself in the churchyard on an exceptionally dark night, awaited the bellman's arrival with a brand lighted at both ends in his mouth and a heavy rattling chain. If the officer had been terrified on the former occasion, he was doubly so now. He verily believed that the grim object which he perceived vomiting flame was none other than his Satanic Majesty, and the miserable man rushed panic-stricken from the spot, nor, after that, could anything induce him to resume his nightly rounds. The other anecdote I insert not so much for its intrinsic interest as for the reference which it contains to Tiverton. I quote from the " Apology ": " Some Time after this, he called upon the Miss Hawkers, of Thorn, near Yeovil, who treated him very hospitably, and enquired what News he heard, it being in the time of the late Eebellion. Whilst he was talking with them, he observed a new House almost opposite, and enquiring who liv'd there, they told him one Parson Mai-ls, a Dissenting Teacher ; upon which, taking leave of the Ladies, he steps over the way, and knocks boldly at the Door, which was soon opened by Parson Marls himself ; Sir, says Mr. Car'ew, pulling off his Hat, and accosting him with a demur Countenance, I came two Miles out of my Road on purpose to wait upon you ; I believe, Sir, you are acquainted with my brother, Mr. John Pike, of Tiverton, Teacher of a Dissenting Congregation in that Place ; and you have undoubtedly heard something of his brother lioijer Pike, which unfortunate Man I am, having been taken Prisoner coming from Boston in Netv England by the French Privateers, and carried into Boulogne, where we were cruelly treated. Alack, alack, says the Parson, pray walk in, good Mr. Roger ; I am indeed very well acquainted with that very worthy Servant of God your Brother, Mr. John Pike, and a gracious Man he is ; I have likewise heard him men- tion his brother Roger. He then ordered some Victuals and Drink to be brought out for good Mr. Roger Pike ; while he was eating he enquired, How he got from Boulogne ? He reply'd that Twenty-fiye of them had broke Prison, and seiz'd upon a Vessel A.FTER THE EESTOflATlOlN 177 in the Harbour, by which they had got safe to the EnrjUsli Coast. "Well, Mr. Rorjer, says the Parson, what Xews did you hear in France'l It is reported there, replies he, that the Eebels are very pjwerful in Scotland, and that great IN'umbers are gone to them safe from France. Stop a little, cri-s the Parson, Mr. Eoger, and running upstairs, soon after came down with a Letter in his Hand, which he read to Mr. Pike, wherein it was said, the Eebels were wonderfully powerful. Then shaking his head very sorrowfully, cried, indeed, Mr. PiJce, I can't be at Ease, for they say they will make us Examples on Account of the 30th of Januarif. Never fear then. Sir, said Mr. Carew, we shall be a [Match "for them in Devonshire and Cornwall. I am afraid not, cries the Parson, shaking his Head again, I have had no Eest for thinking of them several Nights past. After some further Dis- course, he fetch'd Mr. Pike a good Holland Shirt, and clap'd half a Gruinea into his Hand, entreating him to take a Bed with him that Night, for that he should be heartily welcomed ; but he desired to be excused, and took his Leave with many Thanks, returning to the ]Miss Haivkers again. Well, Mr. Carew, cried the Ladies, you have had a long Conference with the Parson. Ay, ay, replies he, and to good purpose, too ; for this Shirt and half a Guinea are the Fruits of it ; and then told them in what manner he had deceiv'd the Parson, which madt; them laugh very heartily; they then gave him a Crown, and promis'd to keep Mr. Pike's Secrets for a Day or two. A few Days after the Parson was going over to see the Ladies, they ask'd him if a poor Seaman had been at his House ? ' Yes,' replied the Parson, ' it was one Eoger J'ike, whose Brother has a Congregation at Tiverton, and whom 1 am very well accjuainted with.' ' And did you give him any- thing 5*' ' Yes, 1 gave him a Shirt and half a Guinea' — ' And we gave him a Crown,' said the ladies, ' not as being Roger Pike, but as Mr. Dampfiilder- Moore Carew.'' At which thi; Parson was in a very great Hurry, and would scarce be convinced but that it was old Roger Pike" Our hero, after his many travels, in the course of which he twice visited America, died at his native village and was buried 2">tli Juni'. iT-'jS at the south-east end of liickleigh Church. .\PPENDIX 1. 'i'he tablets recording the borougli charities were rang(,'d within th<^ memory of persons still living, in the vacant spaces between tin; windows of the clerestory. The benefactions wt;re inscribed in gilt letters, and over them, in a sort of apse wt-ri- the hi-ad and wings (^f a d(jve. Aihlitional tablets appear to have been set up during the churchwardenship of Martin 178 THE CHRONICLES OF TWrFORD Dunsford, who was elected to that ofRce in 1780 and again in 1783. The tablets are now in the belfry. The following is a copy of the inscriptions, for which I am indebted to Mr. Samuel Arch. 1.S70. Hugh de Courteney, Kt. Earl of Devon, gave the profits of the markett of this Towne for the benefit of the poor. 1568. Walter Terrill, of this Towne, Draper, gave 10 pounds I3s. yearly to 6 poor men, unto each of them 8d. the weeke ; allsoe he gave the overplus above 40 pounds of the issues and profits of Exe bridge to be distributed among all to (?) of this Town and parish. 1 582. Roger Richards, of this towne, gave 12 pounds for ever to be lent unto poor Artificers. 1582. Thomas Deyman, of this Towne, Gen*. 12 pounds for ever to be lent yearly unto poor Artificers. 1583. Humphry Bonville, of this Towne, gave 20 i^ounds to be lent yearly for ever unto -1 Honest householders of this town and parrish. 1584. Hugh Attwell, Parson, of Calwoodly, gave 17 pounds for ever unto poor inhabitants of this town. 1592. Humphrey Cogan, of this Town, mercer, gave 10 pounds for ever to be lent unto poor craftsmen on security to pay at 2 years end. 1598. Edward Prouse, of Pilywell, within this parrish, gave 20 pounds for the benefit of the poor. 1618. Gabriel Barber, aliotterer, gave to the i30or inhabitants of this towne 40 pounds, 10 pounds whereof forthwith to be distributed, and 30 pounds remaining to be lent to said poor for ever. 1619. Elisabeth Berry, of tHis towne, widow, gave 20 pounds for ever to be lent at the end of every 2 years unto 10 weavers of this Towne, each 40 shillings. 1621. Robert Reed, of this Towne, Clothier, gave 100 pounds for ever to be lent on security to 20 Weavers and Tuckers of this Town, to each 5 pounds for 2 years. Alsoe he gave 100 pounds, the profits thereof to be bestowed in bred for 12 Old poor people, each of them a 3d. loafe weekly. 1623. John Berry, of this Towne, Clothier, gave for the benefit of this Towne andi)arrish40 pounds to be lint on Security to ijoor weavers and Tuckers. And alsoe 60 pounds to the then mayor & burgesses to purchase lands, the profits thereof to be imployed towards the setting and continuance of a lecture in divinity if the same could be obtained, else to be employed to charatable iises at discretion of the mayor and burgesses, or in case of their disolution by the Church. 1623. John Berry, of Kentisbeer, gave unto this Towne and parrish one tenement at Chevithorne, the jDrofits thereof to 4 poor men, whereof two to be husbandmen, one a fuller, and the other a weaver. 1624. The Lady Craven, of London, widow, gave 50 pounds to the uses of the poor of this parrish. 1629. George Lutterall, of dunster, Esq., gave 20 pounds for ever for the use of the poor of this parish. 1673. Thomas Leigh, Junr., of this Towne, Gen*, gave profits of the 8th parte of this market yearly, to be given the 26th of December by the mayor and burgesses unto poor ]people borne and reciding in this Towne. AFTEE THE EESTOEATION 179 John West, of Thorverton. Esq., gave to the benefit of this Towne and parrish the 4th part of this market after the death of himselfe and Edith, his wife, viz., ^s. a weeke in bred to 15 poor people, 4 pounds per Anm in g-ownes, 4 pounds per An'n to husbaudmen.the overplus to be lent unto weavers and fullers. 1679. Robert Chattey, of this Towne, mercer, gave 10 pounds yearly issuable out of tenement in this parrish to be distributed to 20 poor men of this Towne and parrish that have been laborious and paineful. IGSO. John Lane, of this Towne, merchant, gaveamedow in buckland and 250 pounds to his Trustees to purchase an annuity on an estate in fee, upon trust that out of the issues and profits thereof, to pay three shillings the month to 8 poor , whereof G to be of this place and 2 of CuUorapton, 20s. per Ann™ towards repairing the long Causeway leading to Liutterleigh, and 20s. per Annm in bookes for poor .Scholars at the English Schools. 1687. George Ching, Jr., of this Towne. Mercer, gave 10 pounds yearly to be distributed unto 8 poor people of this Towne. In the year of 1704 was given by an unknown hand half a Field at Shrink- liills. which yields 3ns. per Annm Rent, to be bestowed yearly for ever by the rectors of this Church in devotional Books for poor Families. WARDENS Martin Dunsford. 1780 Nathl Cook. 1050. W. Spurway, Gent, gave for the sum of 40 pounds the profits of one eighth part of the Market of Tiverton for the benefit of the poor Inhabitants. 16.54. Sir John Trelawney, Bar*, gave for the sum of G5 pounds the profits of the one half part of the Market of Tiverton for the benefit of the Inhabitants. 16."j7. Pr- Atkins, Gent, gave 10 pounds #" Ann for ever for the benefit of the poor inhabitants of Tiverton. 1671. Thos- Maunder gave £1 5s. 4F A.nn for ever to be distributed equally among the poor persons of Clare and Pryors quarters of Tiverton. 1088. Jno- Lovell, Yoeman, gave 20s. if** Ann for ever to be dis- tributed among 5 poor people of Pryors quarter in Tiverton. 100;!. King William & Qn Mary granted a lease (for 99 years) of the .Manor of IClmore, containing 1.50 Acres to the Mayor and Corpora- tion of Tiverton for the benefit of the poor. 1720. Peter Ncwte gave for ever several estates of Land, now produc- ing about 20 pounds prr Ann to supjjort the Charity School in and about Tiverton, and to buy devotional Books for the poor in the adjacent villages. 1740. R. Hooper, Weaver, gave 20s. per Ann for the benefit of ceitain poor people of Tiverton. 1747. Samuel Lewes, Merchant, gave £200 to certain Trustees to pay K pounds if'' Ann tlie Interest thereof to 6 poor personw at their discretion. 17.... Dr Berry gave 40s. IK Ann for the benefit of the poor of Tiverton. 17.... Unknown Donor gave 10 pounds 'If'' ann for the benefit of till' Tiverton, distributed by the Jtlayor and Corporation annually. 180 THE CHEONICLES OF TWrFORD WARDENS Martin Dunsford. 1783 John Baker. 1724. John Tristram, of Tiverton, Sergemaker, gave by will his Estates at Ashley, worth 30 pounds #* ann to ihe use and benefit of the Xew Church and Charity Schools on certain conditions mentioned in the said wiU. 1736. Thos. Enchmarch, of Tiverton, Merchant, gave by will 5 pounds per Ann for ever to 8 poor men, inhabitants of John Waldron's Almshouses, to be paid yearly in November, out of certain monies vested in Trustees for that purpose. 17G1). Mary Peard, of Tiverton, gave 1,000 pounds to purchase Lands to be vested in Trustees, the Rents and Profits of tne said land to be laid out in repairing St. George Chapel and tomb in the Chapel Yard. 1777. She also gave 1,550 pounds in the same manner towards the support and maintenance of the Charity Schools, Tiverton, 40 pounds towards a new Clock in the Tower. 1780. By her will gave 100 pounds to the poor of Tiverton, to be dis- tributed by her executors. 1784. Richd. Cosway, Esq., Native of Tiverton, painted and gave the Alter piece in this Church. APPENDIX II. The word "room" as applied to the letting of seats at St Peter's must be understood literally as a " vacant space." The seats themselves were as much private property as the cushions and hassocks are now, and this accounts for the irregularity of many of them. The seat-holder, if he chose, might be his own architect, and no one had a right to complain, unless something very outrageous was attempted. After the abolition of pew-rents the church expenses were defrayed by a Church-rate, and seats were as.^igned by Churchwardens. Between the present organ-loft and the vestry-door was the north gallery, and here certain seats were appropriated to particular faims, .eg. Castle Barton. The poor people, as they were not contributors to the Church-rate, sat on forms placed back to back in the middle aisle and in front of the Chancel. The Charity School children used to be accommodated in a gallery over the screen, the boys on one side and the girls on the othei', under the supervision of the master and mistress ; while Dr. Dicken and Mr. Ley conducted the " young hopefuls " of BlundelFs School to the Latin School Gallery. The evening lectures were free. Pew- rents were re-established after the restoration of the Church (1854-57). THE GEORGIAN ERA (First Pabt) VII The Georgian Era (First Past) l^T seems that, towards the close of the reign of Queen Anne, _l? there was u general expectation on the part of the inhabi- ■^ tants that another Act of Uniformity would be passed ; and in order to afford room for the numerous Dissenters, who, in that case, would have to attend church, it w^as decided to build a chapel-of-ease. This was the beginning of St. Greorge's Church, the foundation-stone of which was laid by the Rev. John Newte, in the presence of several hundred spectators, on the 1st of December, 1714. It was imagined, no doubt, that Queen Anne's successor would be a member of the Stuart dynasty, and when George I. came to the throne, with Whig counsellors at his elbow, the zeal of the promoters of this new scheme sensibly cooled. Although Mr. Newte set a good example by sub- scribing o£100, and Mr. Henry Blagdon a still better example by subscribing .£500, the general state of the funds did not allow of tht; building being completed, and Mr. Oliver Peard, merchant and chjthier, used it for several years as a warehouse for his wool. In 1727, a number of inhabitants, scandalized at this neglect, resolved to make a fresh start, and opened a subscription list with the following heading : '• Whereas several W(!ll-disposed piM'sons, with great concern and trouble, have seen the building of the new church unhappily at a stand for sevtiral years; and upon that account, sh(;w them- selves very willing to raise new subscriptions for the accomplishing of the said pi(ms work. N^ow, up^n encouragement lately given us by the present Lord Hishcjp of the Oi()C(;s(', that he will grant us license for the performance of Divine Service in it as soon as linislied. We, who-ie names are subseril)e(l, being very desirous to promote this good design, do promise to pay the several sums 184 THE (JHEONICLES OF TWYFOED written over against our respective names, to the Treasurer of the said Church, leaving, as in the first subscription, the pro- viding materials and ordering other matters requisite for the further carrying on of the pious design to the discretion of the fifteen highest subscribers, and such others as shall subscribe equally with any of the said fifteen, or to the major part of them, provided that our new subscription money shall not be applied to the payment of any old debt of the Church, but towards finishing the building, that it may be made fit and convenient for Divine service as soon as possible. Witness, &c., 8th ]S"ovember, A.D. 1727." Here follows a list of thirty-three names, and the amount subscribed was £1,304 9s. This time the effort was successful. In 1730, the edifice was completed, and on the 11th October, 1733, it was consecrated by Stephen Weston, Bishop of Exeter. In the same year, an Act of Parliament was obtained "For making a Chapel in the Town of Tiverton, in the County of Devon, a perpetual Cure, and for providing a maintenance for the Ministers who shall ofticiate therein." By this Act it was arranged that there should be no separate chaplain, but that the three Rectors and the Curate of Prior's Portion should perform the duties in rotation. For their services each was to receive a stipend of =£15, and this and all other expenses connected with the Church were to be borne by the parishioners. 1 should state that Mr. Blagdon, in addition to his donation of £500, left a further sum of <£1,000 to be spent on the erection of tSt. George's Chapel, Tiverton, but with the proviso that it should be built according to a model supplied by a Mr. James, surveyor, subject to such alterations ns " would tend to advance the strength, commodiousness, and beauty of the said building, and not otherwise." Here, then, we seem to have the names of the cul- prits who are answerable for the hideous structure, with its " Turret and Steeple for one Bell," which incubates at the corner of Fore- street. Within, its appearance is not more engaging than without. On three of its sides is a gallery, and both this and the pulpit and the " Ionic pillars," and the severe-looking tables con- taining the Ten Commandments, seem to have been expressly contrived to mar the spirits of those Dissenters who should be unwillingly fetched home to the flock. Part of the land on which the church is built was given by Sir William Wyndham, Lord of the Manor of Pool Anthony, in the Parish of Tiverton ; and the communion-plate was presented by Mr. John Upcott, of Tiver- ton, merchant, " with a Patin affixed to the altar of the new church, which was sent him by a gentleman unknown, who desired that his name might be for ever concealed." Another benefactor of the church was Mrs. Mary Peard, a niece of Mr. Blagdon, who, by her will dated 20th May, 1769, left £1,000 for the repair, especially, of the roof. THE GEOEGIAN ERA (I.) 185 The first half of the eighteenth century was not a haIc_7on time of peace and prosperity. The artisans seem to have Uved in a state of chronic discontent and I have ah'eady recorded an instance in which some malfeasance on their part brought them within the clutches of the law. This, however, was only a pre- lude to three serious riots, of which the first occurred in 1720. The origin of the dispute was an attempt on the part of the merchants to economise by getting their worsted ready-made from Ireland and d^'eing in piece instead of in wool. The materials could be purchased more cheaply in Ireland owing to the low scale of wages in that country ; and there was the further advantage of the wool having already undergone one course of combing. This system, as it appeared to promise a considerable saving, greatly commended itself to the Tiverton manufacturers, but it did not seem at all admirable to the wool-combers, who, finding that their craft was in rlanoer, protested most vigorously. Words would probably have been wasted on the acquisitive clothiers, who, merely as a question of law, were no doubt strictly \\'ithin their rights ; so the workmen, tortured by a sense of out- raged humanity, resolved to show them by rough methods that, at any rate from a Socialistic point of view, the thing was iniquitous. Large numbers having assembled, they attacked the stores of the principal importers, dragged the objectionable yarn into the streets, and destroyed it. They appear, however, to have kept back some to be hung as trophies on the sign-posts, and there part of it remained for nearly twelve months. Thus far it is impossible to refuse the combers some measure of sympathy. They had been threatened with the loss of their livelihood, merely that rich men might grow richer, and they would not have been human if they had endured without a murmur the callous, unneighbourly, and unpatriotic conduct of their employers. Unfortunately they were not content with this rather violent expression of their views, and their next step was decidedly revo- lutionary. They broke into the residences of those who first introduced the foreign worsted, and looted them. Two manu- facturers, ]\rr, (xeorge Thorne and Mr. Thomas Enchmarch, who lived near each other in Hainpton-street, were warned of what was coming and agreed to sally out with their servants to the a.ssi.stancp of whiclu'vcr was attacked first. By this time the magistrate's hud assembled a number of constables and the rioters were attacked on Angel-hill. A battle royal ensued. The combers seized a liors(!-Ioad of wood which happened just then to be coming into the town, broke it up into chibs, and for a long time the contest remained e(pial. In the end, the constables prevailed, and several of the rioters were taken prisoners. These Were re>cued ff)r a time, but were again captured by tlie constables witii the liel|) of the military. They were conveyed to the county gaol, and tried for their lives, but appear to have escaped punish- 186 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYE^OEB ment. I may add that soon after the use of Irish thread was given up, not on account of this disturbance, but because it was manifestly inferior to the home-made article, and ill adapted to the cane sleas (whatever they may have been) then in vogue. The next considerable riot took place in May, 1738, and was caused by the enormities of one Grimes, a publican. Grimes, who was evidently no believer in the proverb that a cobbler should stick to his last, saw his way to carrying on a neat little trade as a middle-man. His mode of operations was as follows : he bought up all the serges which were returned by the merchants to the manufacturers (I presume, in consequence of some defect), and re-sold them to the same merchants at a lower price than they would otherwise have had to pay for them. In this way Grimes proved himself an extremely handy fellow for the merchants, but to the manufacturers he was an Old Man of the Sea. They could not get rid of him, for if they did, what was to become of their unsaleable wares ? On the other hand, the effect of his inter- meddling was a reduction in the prices of many good and saleable wares, the quality of which, but for him, would never have been excepted to. The workmen employed in this industry seem to have entertained a shrewd idea that the diminution in profits brought about through Grimes's agency would mean in the louic run less wages for themselves, and to avert this catastrophe they tried force. Contingents arrived from Bampton, Uffculme, Silverton, Bradninch, Culmstock, &c., and, when all was ready, they proceeded to the " Red Lion " in Gold-street, the inn where Grimes resided, and commenced an attack on the place. An entry was soon made and all the serges found on the premises were thrown into the street. Some were dragged about the town, some hung on Grimes's own sign-post, and some were torn up. Grimes himself was discovered, of all places in the world, in the oven of a bake-house, at the bottom of Gold-street. He was promptly " horsed " on a pole, and carried through the streets of the town as a public gazing-stock. Finally he was deposited at the Mayor's door in St. Peter-street. The Mayor ordered him to be removed, and here, as far as Grimes was concerned, the incident terminated. Mean- while fresh constables wei'e sworn in, and several of the rioters were taken and shut u;d in prison, the intention being to confine them there for a few hours only. Their comrades, however, were so enraged at the occurrence that a pitched battle took place between them and the constables. The workmen were defeated and compelled to beat a retreat. The conflict was renewed on Exeter-hill, when one man was killed and many others were more or less seriously injured. Such was the end of Biot No. 2. The third, and by far the most dangerous, outbreak occurred in 17-19. Previous to this, however, in the spring of the same year, there was a second edition of the Grimes episode. The villain in THE GEOEGIAN ERA (I.) 187 this case was Thomas Beedle, the keeper of an alehouse in AYater-lane, who, it appears, had been guilty of the same evil practices as the landlord of the " Red Lion." It was resolved by the artisans to execute summary justice on him. They went in a body to Water-lane, stormed his house, '• made hay " of his furniture, dragged his chains and worsted about the road, and turned on his taps, till the place stood ankle-deep in beer. Beedle himself they could not find, but one of his combers named Moses Quick, who had vainly secreted himself in a vat, was seized and made to serve as his deputy. He was hoisted on a pole, dragged through some pools of water, plunged in the mill- leat in Westexe, until he was more dead than alive, and then taken to the wool-combers' club, where he was I'estored with cordials. The rioters then dispersed to their homes. It is said that in the course of these proceedings they tried to break the man's thumbs, so as to prevent his ever combing again. After such a trying experience, it is not likely that Moses Quick resumed his connection with Beedle & Co. The grand contest, howevei', was reserved to the close of the year, and took the form, not of a day's outing, but of a prolonged and embittered strike. As to the merits of the quarrel there is room for a difference of opinion. The Rev. William Daddo, Head-master of the Grammar School, who is credited with advanced views on politics, sided with the men, and a pamphlet entitled " The Tiverton Wool-comber's Defence," printed in London, 1750, was supposed to have come from his pen. The facts appear to have been these. Owing to the competition of certain Norwiph firms, the Tiverton serges were being gradually ousted from the Dutch market, where they had previously (>njoyed almost a monopoly ; and to recoup their losses the traders of Tiverton fell back on an old expedient, that of using Irish worsted. Serges made of this material were not suitable for exportation, but apparently the manufacturers hoped to lind new openings for business at home. As before, the wool-combers do not seem to have regarded this action as legitimate. As soon therefore as they heard that weavers were engaged in making serges of the foreign product, they removed the " pads '* (the iron stands on which the combs were fixed while the wool was being drawn out) from the Cfjmb-shops, and declarc.-d they w(nd(l never comb again until the Irish woi'sLcd was quite discardt^d for the purpose of manufacture. Moreover, a special meeting of their club was called, at which a resolution was passed that they would live on their club-money until the weavers were starved, or the manufacturers and serge- makers capitulated to their demands. Th(; weavers for tli(;ii- part resolved to die rather than give up the manufacture with Irish worstefl. Things remained at tliis pass until the wool-combers' funds wenj almost (ixliausted, and there was still not the slightest hope of a cimipromise. x\ilairs thi^i took a darker tinge, and 188 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOKD letters were dropped about the town, in which the writers threatened to murder some of the merchants and to burn their houses over their heads. The authorities were now seriously alarmed, and a company of soldiers was drafted into the town. On the arrival of the military, Tiverton was restored to its normal quiet, and nothing particular happened, till one day, when the combers were assembled in full club at their house, the " Half Moon," in Fore-street, a body of weavers passed by. As might be expected, the rival parties exchanged compliments. From words they fell to blows, and vary soon a riot of the first magni- tude was inaugurated. The terrified shop-keepers put up their shutters and Fore-street was abandoned to the rage of the comba- tants. It was a lively scene — stones and glass-bottles flying, clubs and bats swaying, with the inevitable result that many poor fellows had broken heads, aching limbs, and bleeding faces, and the less excitable must have wished themselves well out of the melee. .'\mong the last was, no doubt, William Carrow. He was a weaver, but refused to soil his hands with Irish worsted, and sided in the present dispute with the combers. His fellow-workmen, hating him as a renegade, got hold of him and threw him over Lowman Bridge ; and he was dragged through the river till he was nearly dead. For this barbarous usage he afterwards prosecuted his assailants and recovered damages from them. In the midst of the hurly-burly his Worship the Mayor appeared, armed with the Riot Act, but anarchy was now supreme, and he was not per- mitted to read it Finding himself impotent and the mob dangerous and insulting, he took the only course open to him and called out the military. Under their protection he read the Act and in a few moments the soldiers would have received the com- mand to tire. The rioters, however, thought prudence the better part of valour and dispersed, vowing vengeance on each other. An effort was then made to accommodate matters. The merchants and serge-makers signed a written agreement to limit the Irish manufacture to twenty pieces a week, and to abandon even this, on evidence being produced that it was detrimental to the interests of the Tiverton combers. In order that the artisans of Tiverton might have constant employment, the masters promised to keep in the town a certain amount of work which they had formerly put out to the surrounding villages. There certainly appears to have been much reason in this offer and it is strange that the combers did not at once close with it. Whether, how- ever, they suspected the motives of the manufacturers and regarded their proposal as being merely an attempt to introduce the thin end of the wedge, or, on the contrary, thought it a sign of weakness and a proof that by holding out they would gain all that they had been contending for, certain it is that they rejected the overture. As their attempts at conciliation were not well re- ceived, the employers now hardened their hearts, believing, as THE GEOEGIAN EEA (I.) 189 Dunsford has it, that any further concessions " would be meanly submitting to a mob and a foundation for further disputes." The men stuck to their colours and rather than accept the proferred terms, left for other centres of industry in search of employment, but not finding that things were very much better elsewhere, they gradually returned to their old quarters and made the best of their hard lot. Whatever we may think of the justice of the case, one fact is evident — the masters won the day. The sympathies of the House of Commons were clearly with the employers. Immediately on account of these disturbances, a clause, which bore the name of the " combination clause,"' was introduced into an Act of Parliann^nt (22 George 2. c. 27) rendering it felony to ill-treat, destroy, or injure either person or property. The penalty was seven years' transportation. Nor was that all. If any workmen should be convicted of combining, under the influence of any bye-laws, rules, or orders made at any unlawful club, he was to be imprisoned in the House of Correc- tion and kept to hard labour for any term not exceeding three months. This law was repealed by 6 George 4, c. 129. The last time 1 alluded to the Corporation of Tiverton, it was in connection with a contested election. The differences of opinion which provoked that contest showed no signs of healing as time went on — in fact, they grew worse, until the body, as such, committed suicide. This painful occurrence took place in 1723, on the occasion of Mayor-choosing. Samuel Burridge, who then held the office, and certain other members, out of animosity to the rest, absented themselves. Unable to enter the hall, their opponents assembled on the stairs and elected John Tristram. As a demonstration, this was no doubt very fine ; it proved that the burgesses were free and independent, and would act as they thought proper, without any reference to Samuel Burridge or any great concern whether he was absent or present, llather awkwardly for them the presence of the chief magistrate was essential in order that the election might be valid ; and to make matters worse, the Corpcjration, not having fulfdled tlu^ con- ditions specified in the charter, was ij>so fucio (\issoivv.d. Whether the members ariticipat(;d this result and were I'iding, so to speak, for a fall, it is too late to enquire ; such, at any rate, was the law. The Corporation having ceased to exist, the government of the town reverted to t\u; iiord of the Manor, the Portreeve, ;uul the County Magistrates, However, the leading personages were not inclin(;d to ac<|uiesce in this slaU' of tilings as a permanency, and efforts were soon made to obtani a new Cliarter. With this object they addressed themselves to the inhabitants and invited them to sign a petition. To be (piit(! accurate, there were two ])etitions, one being pi'omoted by Samuel I'urridgi! and Nathaniel 'I'liorne, the chiijfs of the Conscrvativt; or Church j)arty, and the other by John Upcott and th(! Libta-als. The design of the latter 190 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFORU was to secure for the freemen generally the right of electing representatives to Parliament, or, failing that, to prevent any Chai'ter whatever being granted and to merge the municipality in the county. The Conservatives, on the other hand, were in favour of the renewal of the old Charter. In spite of this they seem to have been successful in persuading the inhabitants that their aim was exactly that of their opponents^the extension of the franchise ; and although, as Harding remarks, it is difficult to see how this cajolery can have been practised, there is no doubt that large numbers of people signed the petition got up by Messrs. Tborne and Burridge in the full belief that they would thenceforward exercise a vote in the Parliamentary elections. It was not until 1728 — the date of the next general election — that they were undeceived, and then there was a pretty hubbub. The voteless folk seem never to have become reconciled to their dis- appointment ; they cherished a belief that there was some mistake, or that persons in high quarters had taken advantage of some technicality to exclude them from a privilege which was justly theirs. The truth is that in the new Charter no mention was made of Parliamentary representation, but, as it was virtually a restoration of the old Charters, the authorities continued to act as before and to limit the franchise to the corporators. The com- munity in general, however, persisted in thinking that there had been a vile conspiracy, and in 177S counsel's opinion was taken on the subject. The person selected was Mr. Sergeant Glynn, and the points submitted to his decision were as follows : (i.), whether the right of voting at elections was vested in the Mayor and Corporation only ; (ii.), whether, if the right was extended to the inhabitants by the Charter, their claim was forfeited by prescrip- tion ; (iii.), whether the Corporations of other towns exercised a similar privilege ; and (iv.), vA'hat steps he would recommend them to pursue. His reply was that the grant of the Charter was to the inhabitants, and that, if the Charter had stopped there, it would have been an incorporation of all the inhabitants ; but it did not stop there, the establishment was of two burgesses to be elected by the Mayor. Capital burgesses and Assistants, and a franchise might be granted to a large community and be exercised by a select part. He did not consider long usurpation would destroy a right, although usage had great force in the construction of any- thing doubtful in the Charter. He concluded by saying that there were many towns of a similar constitution, and that he considered in tbis instance the expense of litigation would be entirely thrown away. This exposition of the law, though hardly satis- factory to Mr, Glynn's clients, was an effectual discouragement to any action based on the assumption that the conduct of the Corporation was illegal. It did not, however, quiet the aspirations of the people of Tiverton for a share in the election of the repre- sentatives. In 1782, four years after Sergeant Glynn's pronounce- THE GEOEGIAN ERA ( I.) 191 ment, a public meetinsf was held in the Church-house and yard, at which Mr. Martin Dunsford, the future historian of Tiv^erton, took the chair. The proceedings were tolerably harmonious, for on a petition for electoral reform being produced and read out, the Kev. William Wood, Curate of Prior's Portion, was the sole dissentient. The petition was then taken from house to house, and, as shewing the unanimity of the inhabitants, not ten men exclusive of the Corporation refused to sign. The following is a copy : •' The humble petition of the Grentleraen, Merchants, Traders, and Manufacturers, inhabitants of the borough of Tiverton, in the County of Devon, sheweth, " That your Petitioners have been deprived of the great privilege of being represented in Parliament ; that a Corporation of 24 men only (many of them not resident and placemen chosen by themselves) elect two representatives for this borough, containing upwards of 5,000 inhabitants ; an exclusive advantage, of which there are few (if any) examples besides in the Kingdom. " Your Petitioners most humbly beg leave to observe, that a representation so confined and dispropordoned, is not only injurious to themselves, but a great national grievance ; insufficient to procure in future the blessings of a free constitution, and unlikely to speak the voice of the people. " Your Petitioners do.therefore, earnestly intreat this House to consider the subject of this Petition, in humble confidence that this House will seriously attend to their complaint and grant them such redress, in common with their fellow subjects through- out the kingdom, as the wisdom of this honourable House shall approve. " And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c." The petition was presented by Mr. James Townsend, Alderman of the City of London and member for Calne. It was opposed by the representatives of the '."urporation, and ordered to lie on the table with other documents of a .similar tendency. In 1724, however, all this was still in th(^ bosom of the future and the people welcomed their Charter with an effusiveness wiiich was strangely at variance with the actual circumstances of the case. On the 24th of December the precious script was brought from London by Counsellor Manning, and the VVelling- t(jn-road near (iornhay was blockcil for a distance of a quarter of a mile by a crowd of eager spectators assembled to witness his arrival. Th(i ('hart(n- having been duly delivered to the Town Clerk at Hunt's JIou,se, it was escorted by a procession into the town. At the head rode a party of horsemen, v\ho discoursed sweet music with truiii[)ets, French horns, and kettle-drums. .\ext to them rod(; the To^vn Cl(M-k, Mr. J(jlin Richards, dres.sed in a blue cloak trimmed with gold laci; and so ample as almost to envelope his horse. He carried the Charter on tlie horse's neck, 192 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD in a box wbicli was covered with velvet and edged with gold lace. Following him came Counsellor Manning in his carriage, and other coaches (whether occupied or not, is not stated) also attended. Many hundreds of horsemen and the crowd of spectators before mentioned brought up the rear, in this order the procession made its way up Grold-street to the Three Tuns (now the Palmerstoii Hotel); then turning up into Bampton- street, it paused b(;fore the house of the new Mayor, Mr. Nathaniel Thorne, when three cheers were given and drink was supplied to all wlio cared to partake of it., A similar scene was enacted before the house of the late Mayor, Mr. Samuel Burridge, in St. Peter-street, after which the company proceeded to the Town Hall, where the Charter was read out in Latin. For the rest of the day, and, indeed, the greater part of the following week, the town gave itself up to feasting, little dreaming of the disappointment in store for it. Some, however, were better informed. It is recorded that Mr. Shobrooke, an attorney, observed, as he listened to the shouting populace, that the inhabi- tants would yet curse the day when this Charter was granted. It is to be regretted that no account has been left to us of the election of 1728, although it is very evident from Dunsford's remarks that it did not pass off without considerable friction. On the other hand, we do happen to possess some particulars of the election of 1754, which may therefore serve as a pattern. The membei's of the various uorking-men's clubs and the labouring people generally were obstinate in believing that they had as much right to vote as any member of the Corporation, and it would seem that a Mr. Ballaman, who is described as an " eminent attorney,"' and who, if anyone, ought to know the law on the subject, had a great deal to do in confirming this impression. Two months before the date of the election the artisans wrote a letter to Sir Dudley Byder, who was then one of the representa- tives of Tiverton, setting forth their claim and attempting to shew the reasonableness of it No misconduct, they maintained, on the part of their forefathers and predecessors could possibly affect their electoral privileges, which they besought him to use his influence to restore. On the dissolution of Parliament being notified to them, the members of the societies before mentioned — wool-combers, weavers, scribblers, and the like - met at their respective clubs daily, to consult as to the best means of achieving their end. Whether by any device of mortal man they could have succeeded in getting votes, may be doubted, but they certainly aired their grievance and made themselves a distinct nuisance. They held nocturnal assemblies, and beat brass pans partly as a signal for their own members, and partly to strike terror into their natural enemies, the Corporators. The result was as we might expect. The Corporation were greatly alarmed and the Mayor, in particular, is said to have been horribly THE GEORGIAN EEA. (I) 193 frightened. Not feeling himself safe, he applied to the War Office for protection, and soon after a troop of the Inniskilling dragoons, under the command of Lieutenant Suttie, rode into the town with drawn swords and with all the pomp and circumstance of war. Their arrival, however, produced very little impression on the people. They were still determined, if possible, to prevent the members of the Corporation going to the Town Hall on the day of election or taldnt^ any steps, unless their votes were included ; and they waited impatiently the appointed time, which was purposely kept secret. On the 17th of April a false report was circulated that the election was to come ofl: on that day. Thereupon working men assembled in the Castle-yard, churchyard, and sheep-pens, their usual rendezvous ; and seven or eight hundred of them walked in procession, with the colours of their different societies, to the house of the Mayor, adjoining St. George's Chapel. One of them sent in a paper, but as the answer was not satisfactory, the crowd became demonstrative. Whether he was ill or afraid, the Mayor kept indoors. The Justice behaved with more spirit. He sent for the Town Clerk and caused him to read the E-iot Act in his presence, at the Mayor's door. The procession was then re-formed and the people marched through Fore-street, without any harm being done, to the Three Tuns, this being the head-quarters of the military. Here the dragoons were drawn up in line. The word " huzza " may mean anything in Dunsford, but taking the word in its ordinary acceptation, the people went by cheering and waving their colours. The conduct of the Justice at this point was, to say the least, eccentric. As far as can be made out, he seems to have set himself to provoke a breach of the peace, or rather he assumed that such a breach existed, whereas up to the present the crowd had been most orderly. It was no doubt extremely inconvenient to have large bodies of men parading the town for the purpose of stopping the election, but he might at any rate have had the decency to wait for some overt act of aggression before resorting to extremities. Instead of doing so, he bustled over to the Three Tuns and ordered the Town Clerk, who had accompanied hiui, to read the liiot Act a second time. After this he told the officer of the dragoons that now was the time to execute his office. The soldii-rs thereupon prepared to attack, and rode about the town witli drawn swords. Meanwhile it had leaked out that the election was not to be held on that day, and th(j working men adjourned to the Casth; and Church-yards to refresh themselves with ont; or two hogsheads of cider which they had sufjscribed for and brought to tlie spot. IJy this time they numbered at least a thousand. The Justice heard what was going on, and dreading th(; consequences of their drinking, went up to the sheep-pens with the Town Ch^rk and had the Kiot Act read a third time. He then tried to get the people to disperse, but in o 194 THE CHKONICLES OF TWYFOED vain. They said they would lose their lives rather than their birthrights, meaning, of course, the right of election. They now walked in procession with the object of celebrating the victory of Culloden, and carried before them was a large silk flag, display- ing on the one side the Duke of Cumberland, and George II. on the other. The Justice on his part returned to the Three Tuns, whither he was followed by a crowd of workmen, hurrahing and clapping their hands. Certain of the dragoons then proceeded to the sheep-pens and attempted to make some arrests. This occasioned general resistance, and, after some bloodshed, the soldiers retreated without having effected their purpose. Whilst the Justice was engaged in swearing in additional constables at the Three Tuns, the people again formed in pro- cession and marched, with their half-pikes and colours, from the sheep-pens by way of St. Peter-street to Fore-street. Here the dragoons, summoned to arms by beat of drum, were drawn up on horse-back, with their swords drawn and their bayonets fixed, waiting for the word of command. The people, who must either have been intolerably dull or drunk with their potations of cider, quite failed to realise the serious aspect of things, and, in passing the soldiers, broke out into cheers. The ofiicer, seeing them press forward, ordered his men to prevent them from doing any mischief, and shortly after, gave the word to attack. No provocation had yet been offered, and the responsibility for this very questionable act must be divided between the Justice and the officer in charge of the military. There is no doubt that Lieutenant Suttie instigated the Justice to order the attack. He was heard to say " Give me leave, sir, to order the men to fire, and you shall see the fellows hop like peas." On the other hand, it is perfectly evident that the Justice did not need to be instigated, and, being an older man, he ought to have restrained the subaltern's impetuosity. However, the soldiers were let loose. They began by knocking down a number of people with their muskets. Then they rode through the streets hacking with their broadswords and stabbing with their bayonets wherever they perceived the least sign of resistance. Those who fled were pursued, their colours taken and cut to pieces. A good many people were severely wounded and went home covered with blood. Among others a man named Henry Woodrowffe, a fuller, was terribly injured. He afterwards employed Mr. Cannington, an attorney, who had witnessed the affray, to assist him in recovering damages ; and the Justice and officers of the dragoons were so uncertain of their conduct that they agreed to make ample reparation for the hurts the people had sustained. One incident in the contest must on no account be passed over. While the troopers were dashing about in the execution of their orders, some women seized Lieutenant Suttie by the collar and took away his sword, which he never recovered. This was a sore blow to his THE GEOKGIAN EEA (I.) 195 pride, and a favourite subject of banter on the part of his friends who, very cruelly, would not allow him to forget his skirmish with the women and the inglorious loss of his weapon. If Lieutenant Suttie was in the wrong, and there is little doubt that he was, he certainly succumbed to a nemesis, which, though grotesque, was yet the exact fulfilment of poetical justice. After this the Corporation appear to have proceeded with the election of their representatives, undisturbed. The name of the Mayor who played such a sorry part in this affair was INIr. Oliver Peard. As I have already mentioned, he was Churchwarden in 1714, when the Corporation seats were erected. At the time of his mayoralty, therefore, he must have been rather advanced in years and in judging his conduct at this crisis, we ought perhaps to make some allowance for age and infirmity. He is said to have been the greatest merchant who ever lived in Tiverton. This, of course, was before the days of ^Iv. Heathcoat, whose enormous concern quite eclipses all previous enterprises. For the first sixty years of the eighteenth century, however, Mr. Oliver Peard was virtual King of Tiverton. Besides his house in Fore-street he had another at Bolham, which was a kind of retreat. It was he who planted the rows of lime-trees, which, with a Dutch regularity, line the road to Bolham ; and he also enclosed a part of Bolham-hill with a stone wall for a paddock and fishponds, which wall is still in existence to bear witness of the fact, but the paddock and fishponds are no more. He made likewise what Dunsford calls " an elegant canal " at the entrance of the village, but, the canal having been converted into a ditch, all its elegance has disappeared. In consequence of these improvements Bolham became a very popular resort, and not many years ago the stump of a tree was still standing near Hartnolls, in which was an iron ring said to have been used in bear-baiting. The death of Mr. Peard in 1765 caused a profound sensation, as being likely to produce disastrous effects on the commerce of the town. It was not known at the time that his family would continue the business, and among all the merchants of Tiverton no one seemed adequate to take his place. The same year died two other traders of note, Mr. John London and Mr. Veysey ; and thus three vacancies were created among the Capital Burgesses. Whether the inhabitants usually took much interest in these elections or were absorbed by th(; question of the Parliamentary franchise, is not very evident, but on this occasion, when the prosperity of the place was at stake, the people were wrought up to a state of frantic excitement, and behaved with a ferocity of which they had good reason to be ashamed. The explanation is as follows : ^5everal of tho woollen manufacturers were desirous that one of the vacancies in the Corporation should be filled by Mr. Charles Baring, a merchant of Exeter, who had taken a house in yt. Peter-street some little time previously and had shown o2 106 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED a practical interest in the place by giving orders for goods to various firms in the woollen trade. It was considered that if he were elected to a seat in the Corporation, he would be willing to extend his business very considerably, and thus the loss of traffic which was apprehended through the death of Mr, Oliver Peard would be made good. A number of persons, thei'efore, waited on the Mayor and Corporation, requesting them to elect Mr. Baring. The majority of those present engaged to do so, and the Mayor promised to call a hall for the purpose on the 12th of June. The artisans, on receiving this assurance, were immensely elated, as they had been under fears, that owing to a scarcity of work they would have to leave their wives and families and travel about in search of employment. These fears were now set at rest, and, in their jubilation at the brighter prospect which had opened out before them, they organized a grand procession and after march- ing round the town, with the colours of their respective societies, returned in the same peaceful manner to their homes. In the meantime the Mayor and his confreres seem to have thought over the matter at their leisure, and various considerations presented themselves which made them regret the decision they had arrived at. Conflicting accounts are given of what actually took place. One report says that the Mayor was guilty of higgling over the election and tried to make the best bargain he could for himself. Another version is that Mr. Baring's claims were exorbitant. He wanted to have the other two vacancies supplied by his brother and a friend. A still more ambitious scheme was attributed to him. It was alleged that his design was to lay the members of the Corporation under obligations to him in business, to monopolise all power and influence over that body, and, on this foundation, to obtain the receivership of the land-tax in the County of Devon. Finally, either himself or his brother was to be one of the representatives of the borough at the next Parliamentaiy election. The Mayor and his party declared that they could not admit a man who entertained such views to their board. If they did, they would revert to the position of subserviency which they had occupied during the life-time of Mr. Oliver Peard. It was argued also that if Mr. Baring obtained the receivership, he would use the large sums passing through his hands as private capital and would destroy the other manufacturers, who, with their limited resources, would have no chance of competing with him. The raison d'etre of the Corporation, it is clear, was to look after their own glorious selves. (Subsequently it became known, a propos of the receiver- ship, that the interest of the Corporation was given to the individual appointed for an annuity of £80 and a pipe of port wine yearly !) Unable to obtain from Baring the premium required, the Mayor refused to call a hall on the day fixed. His decision greatly enraged the weavers and wool-combers, who had been THE GEORGIAN ERA (I.) 197 given to understand that the majority of the Council were in favour of Mr. Baring. They determined, therefore, if possible, to com2)el his Worship to call a hall for the election immed- iately. Now the Mayor, Mr. Webber, lived at Bolham. On "^his coming into the town, on the 12th of June, he was beset by a crowd of artisans who followed him through the streets to the Angel Inn, and surrounding the hotel Hke famished wolves, insisted that he should vote for Mr. Baring. At length, growing impatient, they broke into the inn through the windows, the greater number of them being women. Then, dashing into the room where the Mayor was, they insulted him by pulling off his wig, striking him, and threatening to kill him, if he did not at once comply with their demands. These were that he should sign a paper, which they produced, binding him to vote for Mr. Baring and to call a hall within eight days for the purpose of electing him. Under these circumstances, and, believing that his Hfe was in danger, the Mayor signed the paper and swore to perform faithfully all that was there written. They then visited in succession other members of the Corporation, insulted them in hke manner, and by threatening their lives and property, forced them to sign the paper. The Mayor now issued a notice that he should hold a meeting on the 17th of June for the purpose of electing three Burgesses and three Assistants to fill the vacancies in the Corporation This occurred on the 14th, while he was still labouring under the effects of his recent perse- cution. He was, however, no more convinced of the desirability of having Mr. Baring in the Corporation than before ; and two days later, not thinking himself accountable for a promise thus violently wrung from him, he ])lucked up courage and determined to tight it out. Without regularly withdrawing the notices, he sent his beadle to the members of the Corporation to say, that he could not be present at the hall the next day ; and he despatched the following note to the Town Clerk : Bolham, June 16, 1765. Sir, I desire you will immediately recall the notices that have been given out to the gentlemen of the corporation, requiring their attendance, to fill the corporation, on Monday, by ten o'clock, as 1 am obliged to be out of town ; and bring me fresh notices to be delivered out w hen 1 return to hold the court on 'JViesday next. John VV^ebber, Mayor. Whetlier the Beadle and the Town Clerk failed to carry out their instructions or the " gentlemen of the corporation " too vividly remembered the threats and intimidation of the mob to bravi! a furtln-r dcnionstration— at any rate on the 17th of June, in coiifoniiity with the Mayor's notices, sixteen members of the council appeared at the Town llouae, and of these uo fewer than 198 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD fourteen signified their intention to vote for Baring. It was impossible, however, in the absence of the Mayor, to proceed with the election. Meanwhile the artisans had assembled, to the number of three hundred and more, first in the Oat-market on Angel-hill and then in the Churchyard, where more suo they con- sumed some hogsheads of cider. Having heard that the Mayor kept away, and that consequently any proceedings of the Corpor- ation would be invalid, they resolved, if they could, to find him, drag him to the hall, and compel him to hold the election willy- nilly. In point of fact, it was already too late in the day for the election to take place, but inflamed with cider and patriotism, the weavers and wool-combers searched several houses in the town, menaced the absconding functionary with death, and offered a reward for his discovery. A.s these efforts proved of no use, they set out for Bolham, where they smashed the windows of the Mayor's dwelling-bouse, broke open the doors, demolished the furniture and drank several bottles of wine and rum. They assaulted the servants, ruined the garden, and greatly injured the house itself ; broke down and destroyed five cloth-racks or tenters, the property of Mr. Webber, in a field hard by, and almost completely wrecked a large weir, three hundred feet long and nearly twenty wide, in the river Exe, by which water was conveyed to some fulling mills belonging to the Mayor. The houses of several of his tenants also were attacked and much injured ; and in the evening threatening billets were scattered about the village. These blood-curdling and mystical missives read as follows : " If any person shall lay any information against any person or persons when the northen storm fell at Bolham, distruction, yea, inevitable ruin, shall attend them." Previous to these outrages the artisans adopted another method, commonly known in our day as " boycotting." They had held frequent meetings at their clubs, and as the result of their deliberations, had written to several members of the Corporation informing them that unless they voted for Mr. Baring, they would have no one to work for them. In like manner they put up notices in various parts of the town, that, if anyone traded with such members, the combers and weavers and their families would renounce all dealings with him. To add to its stringency they imposed a fine on any member of their societies who should break this resolution. The consequence was that the business of several members of the Corporation was brought to a standstill and remained in this state until some time after the election. Mean- while where was the Mayor ? I am afraid history returns no answer to this question, but his reasons for being out of town are less doubtful. He had foreseen what a disturbance would ensue when his refusal to hold a court became known, and as he had no doubt the same regard for his life as other mortals, preferred not to court "distruction, yea, inevitable ruin" by remaining THEl GEORGIAN ERA (I.) 199 when such a course could do no possible good. But he had no intention as yet to resign the town to the workpeople. He put himself in communication with the Secretary for War, and on the 18th of June about two hundred men of the 23rd Regiment, or the Welsh Fusiliers, marched into the town. By some sort of backstairs influence, also, he seems to have got a member of the Corporation who was in the army, removed, while another who was in the War Office, and who had been away from the town for twenty years, promised to vote on the Mayor's side. Four resident members who had agreed to elect Mr. Baring were now converted to the opposite course. What induced them to recant, it is impossible to say. Dunsford thinks money, or Hquor, or both, but it IS conceivable that they may really have been hostile to Mr. Baring from the first, and only dared to give expression to their views when under military protection. Having in this way pre- pared the ground, the Mayor gave notice that a common hall would be held on the first of July to fill up the vacancies in the Corporation. On the 30th of June, the day preceding the election, the town was in a great commotion. The artisans still stuck to their demand that Mr. Baring should be elected, and there was a rumour that they were to be re-inforced by thousands more from other places, and that by means of their combined efforts the Corporation would be terrified into submission. Nothing of the sort, however, occurred. The fateful day arrived, the three vacancies were filled, and Mr. Baring was not chosen. The successful candidates were Messrs. George Lewis and Richard Enchmarch, merchants, of Tiverton, and Mr. John Duntze, merchant, of Exeter.* Eleven votes were recorded for them, and ten for Mr. Baring, who was thus left out in the cold. The fury and indignation of the people, when the result was announced, were indescribable. Before the Corporation had time to emerge, a large crowd attacked the Town House with a shower of stones, beat down the windows, assaulted the Mayor and those members of the Corporation who had not voted for Mr. Baring, as they came out of the hall, and pelted them in the streets on their way home. * In 1834, on the occasion of the "Corporation Enquiry," a certain shorthand writer — I believe it wan the late Isaac Latimer — attended to take notes for Mr. Heathcoat. The old Town Clerk, Air. Wood, was unrler examination, when an interesting discovery was made. A scrap of paper was found in the archives of the Old Corporation, which a sense of decency should have leil them to destroy l)efore the commission was opened in the town. The paper was to tlie following effect : " The undersigned recommend to .Mr. I'itt the appointment of Sir .fohn Duntze as Surveyor-General of Ta.ves tor South l>evon ; and the condition on which they recommend him is, that he shall reside and keep his offices in Tiverton: and that he shall pay to the.Corporatiou eighty pounds a year and a pipe of wine 1 " When the siiorthand writer got hold of tli« 'IVeasurer's book, one of the Corporatfirs sprang forward in a fury of uppreheuaion, which indicated plainly enough the pain which the expo- 200 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED On the 2ad of July information was received against several persons who had taken part in the riot at the Mayor's house at Bolham. Two of them, named John and Francis Lock, were arrested and ordered to be sent, under proper guard, to the county gaol. As they were being escorted out of the town, a crowd assembled with the intention, it was supposed, of rescuing them. The officers, therefore, requested the attendance of the Mayor, to prevent violence being attempted. The Mayor complied, but the crowd were in an angry humour. Some of them declared that the prisoners should not be conveyed to Exeter, and the conduct of a Eobert Gooding was particularly threatening. ' He seems to have constituted himself the ringleader, and to have called energetically for a rescue. In the height of his audacity he actually collared the Mayor, while stones were thrown both at the magistrate and the guards. For the moment there seemed every probability of some wild work. The Mayor, however, acted with promptitude. He ordered Gooding to be taken into custody with the others and committed him to prison for attempted rescue. It was then about nine o'clock in the evening ; and some of the rioters, observing the firmness of the guard, returned to their homes. Others of them hastened to Silverton, through which place the detachment would have to pass, and warned the inhabitants. Silverton, like Tiverton, seems to have been largely dependent on the woollen manufacture, and consequently there was complete sympathy and solidarity between the industrial classes in the two centres. The Silverton weavers and wool- combers, therefore, prepared a warm reception for the escort whenever it should make its appearance. The guard, it should be said, was a mixed one, consisting of ten constables and twenty -four soldiers. On their approaching Silverton the constables appear to have gone on before to obtain quarters, while the soldiers halted at the head of th^ town in charge of the prisoners. To the devoted ten it was like walking into a hornet's nest. People shut their doors in their faces and they were obliged to remain all night in the streets, where they were beaten and bruised, wounded and shamefully handled by the enraged sure would bring upon them. This paper, addressed to Mr. Pitt, was signed by the " whole boiling " of them. The Minister sent it back, requiring the Corporation to make their own terms with the object of their patronage. It was beneath his dignity even to know that such things were done at Tiverton. The bargain was made in part. Sir John paid the £80 and the pipe of wine, but slipped out of the restriction as to domicile, and resided in the house which is now the office of the Wcster?i 'rimes, at Exeter. The money and wine were duly delivered till Joseph Hume, making the tax consumers the object of his persistent attention, the honourable baronet first dropped the £80 and subsequently the wine was not given, Finally the story came out in the enquiry, as haa been stated. THE GEORGIAN EEA (I.) 201 multitude. The soldiers, hearing of the state of things in the town and wishing to avoid bloodshed, made a detour through some fields and reached Exeter, with their prisoners, early the next morning. A month later the defendants were put on their trial at the assizes, and, having been found guilty, were sentenced to a tine of 13s. 4d. each, and, in addition, six months' imprison- ment. There is extant, bearing upon this affair, an order of vestry dated July 21st, 1765 : " Whereas an anonymous letter without any date was yester- day found in the garden belonging to the dwelhng-house of Mr. George Cruwys, of Tiverton, aforesaid, threatening to Fire his house or JMurder him, if he did not put the sum of 12 guineas under his back door between the hours of 12 and 2 to help the Prisoners : " Ordered that application be forthwith made to one of the Secretaries of State to request his Majesty's pardon to any Accom- plice or Accomplices of the person that write or placed the letter in the said Garden, or to any other person or persons that will discover the Author or writer of the said letter, so that he, she, or they may be convicted thereof (excepting the person thereof who write and dropt the same). And it is likewise ordered that the Churchwardens should pay such person or persons as aforesaid the sum of £50, which said money to be paid again by the Parishioners." At first, perhaps, the authorities intended to treat the two Foxes, with their companion Gooding, as scape-goats — the reader must forgive the " bull ", if there is one — but subsequently fresh warrants were issued. The worthy artisans, who were the sub- jects of these instruments, when they came to realise all that they imported, made very wry faces. Besides having to leave their wives and families, a proceeding which they had always dishked, they were kept for a long time in suspense as to their ultimate fate, and generally, were shown no consideration whatever by the representatives of the law. The consequence was that the hearts of the wool-combers sank within them, and down, at any rate, to the year 1790, there were no more outbreaks of the sort. Some of the persons against whom warrants were issued must have absconded and remained away a considerable! time. This is evident from a notict; addressed by the Clerk of Assize to the Constable of the Hundred and others, calling on them to " apprehend the bodies of Elizabeth Saunders, late of the parish of Tiverton, sjjinstcr, and .John J)oe, who stand indicted for an assault on.lolm \V<'bl)('r, Mayor, of the borough of Tiver- ton." The notice is datt^d 1771, and signed " .1. Koiw.KTT, Clerk of Assize." During the summer of 1766, the yeai- following these dis- turbances, Mr. Webber's houBe at Bolhum was burnt to the 202 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED ground. The occurrence may, of course, have been accidental, but, bearing in mind the repeated threats of the mob, it is more likely to have been the result of vindictiveness on the part of his enemies, who, afraid any longer to act openly, adopted this clandestine method of making him smart. Between 1726 and 1788 a succession of fires occurred at Tiver- ton. The great fire of 1731 has been noticed elsewhere. Apart from this the most serious outbreaks were in 1730, 1762, 1785, and 1788. On the first mentioned date about fifteen houses were burnt down in Newport and Castle-streets. The event happened on a Sunday, when the respectable inhabitants were at church or chapel. Suddenly, while the Eev. William Mervin was preach- ing someone burst into St. Peter's with a cry of " Fire." Great consternation was caused, and the service having been closed, the congregation devoted themselves to the task of suppressing the flames. In May, 1762, a fire broke out on Angel-hill which was subdued with some difficulty after twenty houses had been destroyed. On May 14th, 1785, a still worse conflagration oc- curred. It began in the house of Matthew Marshall, a mason living in Westexe-south, and during its progress it consumed forty-seven houses, not including out-houses and stables, and eight houses were pulled down to check its advance. The fire lasted from ten o'clock in the evening till three the next morn- ing, and occasioned a loss estimated at £2,000. Three years later, on" the anniversary of this event, a fire broke out in the house of Moses Carter, a baker, who lived on the west side of St. Peter-street, and close to the churchyard gate. As the result twenty houses were destroyed. In 1741 there was an epidemic of "spotted fever" in Tiverton, and 636 persons, or nearly a twelfth of the entire population, perished of the disease. It was no uncommon thing for ten or eleven funerals to meet in the churchyard, and, to prevent unnecessary alarm, the tolling of the bell was omitted. About this time there appears to have been a good deal of distress in the manufacturing districts, and consequently the prisons were crowded. This, and the disgraceful neglect then usual in such places, generated gaol fever, the eifects of which were by no means confined to the first and most obvious victims. A writer in the Gentleman s Magazine for the year ] 743, in giving some particulars of the plague, states that it was a most fatal disease " of which 100 died, in one prison at Exeter, in the space of a year, and which killed thousands in the county (as set foi'th in a petition from Halberton), between Taunton and Exeter, particularly at Tiver- ton, in which town 700 died in fifteen months, and the parish was at the expense of 500 coffins." In 1744, the Mayor, T. Cholwich, Esq., and the Corporation were displeased with the Town Clerk and determined to remove him. There seems to have been no difficulty in this, as they were armed with full powers by the THE GEOEGIAN ERA (I.) 203 Charter, but wishing to proceed in due form, they obtained counsel's opinion on the subject, and the obnoxious clerk was dis- missed. In 1745, the year of the Jacobite rising, the Mayor, Corporation, Clergy, and principal inhabitants of the town sent a loyal address to his Majesty King George II. through Sir William Tounge, member for Honiton. It was introduced by the liight Honourable Earl Cowper, one of the Lords in Waiting, and his Majesty received it very graciously. The address was as follows : To the King's most excellent Majesty, — We, your Majesty's most dutiful Subjects, the Mayor, Corpor- ation, Clergy, and principal Inhabitants of all denominations of the Liberty of Tiverton, in the County of Devon, with hearts full of loyal affection for your Majesty's sacred Person, and with a grateful sense of the many and great blessings which are secured to us under the present Government, as established in your Eoyal House, humbly beg leave to assure your Majesty of our utter abhorrence and detestation of that unnatural Rebellion lately begun in t^cotland, and now raging in the North of England, in favour of a Popish abjured Pretender, tending with hasty steps towards the subversion of all that can be dear to Britons, our Religious and Civil Liberties. May the Almighty Providence which is the only true Guardian and Protector of Religious Princes and States, prosper your Majesty's endeavours in support of your own lawful Rights and the defem^e of a Eree People. But that we may not only contribute towards this happy event by our good wishes : We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, have voluntarily and readily associated ourselves, and do most heartily unite in the defence of your Majesty's Person and Government, and in the mutual support of each other, to the hazard of our lives and fortunes, against all domestic Rebels and foreign Invaders : And we do jointly and severally oblige our- selves to carry this association into execution, in such manner and under such regulations, as your Majesty shall be pleased to direct. November 21st, 1/45. In 1750 the Rev. John Wesley arrived in Tiverton. Appar- ently this was his first visit in a preaching capacity, but it is quite likely that he had been here before, as his brother, the Rev. Samu(d Wesley, was head master of the Grammar School from 1734 tol7'W. The latter did not like Tiverton. Writing to his Ijrothcr Charles, who had gone as a missionary to Indians and colonists in (ieorgia, he says: — "I am in a desert, as well as you, liaving no conversable creature but my wife, till my mother came last week." Liki; other jiiciiibers of his family Saiimel Wesley had a turn for verse composition and was the author of the following sonorous lines on Peter Blundell : 204 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD " Exempt from sordid and ambitious views, Blest with the art to gain, and heart to use ; Not satisfied with life's poor span alone, Blundell through ages sends his blessing down. Since worth to raise, and learning to support, A patriarch's life-time had appeared too short ; While letters gain esteem in Wisdom's eyes, Till justice is extinct, and mercy dies : His alms perpetual, not confined by time. Last with the world, and end but with mankind (eheu /J." Samuel Wesley, who was the eldest brother of the Founder of Methodism, bore the reputation of a sour-tempered man. Eeally he was kind and generous, especially to his brothers, to whose needs during their college days he contributed most liber- ally. He did not at all approve of their theological beliefs and vainly attempted to convince them that they were in error. Samuel Wesley died comparatively young, in 1739, and a monu- ment was erected to his memory in St. George's Churchyard, where it yet stands. To return to John Wesley : he seems to have delivered addresses in the open air in various parts of the town, but his head-quarters were the Corn Market in Bampton-street. On the occasion of Wesley's first visit no opposition was offered to his preaching, but in 1751, when the same eminent divine again appeared in the town, a different feeling prevailed. His second visit took place in September, during the Blundell Celebration ; and a number of gentlemen's servants happened to be in Tiverton in attendance on their masters. As these Jeameses found the time hang somewhat heavy, they tried to work up a little excite- ment by organizing an attack on the Methodists. Preceded by drum and fife, and accompanied by a large crowd of on-lookers, they made their way to the Market-House, where Mr. Wesley was holding forth, and by their persistent interruptions obliged him to stop. It would appear that this apostle of evangelicalism was in considerable danger of personal violence and only escaped injury through the kindness of a gentleman in helping him to depart. After this the Methodists were the objects of continual persecution, and the people of the town, both high and low, lost no opportunity of shewing them that they were not wanted. Dunsford has recorded two rather interesting anecdotes relating to these attempts. " In the course of these violent proceedings some time near the latter end of the year 1752, the Mayor of Tiverton, in company, asked a respectable gentleman, who sat near him, what he thought of the Methodees and their religion ; and whether he did not think it right that they should be driven out of the town and be obliged to shut up preaching their non- sensical stuff here ? — ' I think, Mr. Mayor, you had much better follow the counsel of Gamaliel to the Jews, and leave them and their religion to themselves.' — ' What ! do you think so. Sir ? Do you consider, Sir, what little reason there is for any new THE GEORGIAN ERA (I.) 205 relis^ion in Tiverton? Another way of going to Heaven, when there are now so many ? You know, Sir, there is the Old Church and the New Church, that is one rehgion : then there is Parson Kiddell's, at the Pitt Meeting ; Parson Westcott's in Peter- street ; and the Old Parson Terry's at the Meeting in Newport- street. Pour ways of going to Heaven already. Enough, in conscience, I think, and if they won't go to Heaven by one or other of these ways, by G they shan't go to Heaven at all whilst I am Mayor of Tiverton.* " The other anecdote is this : " A Methodist preacher, named Wildbore, about this time, was distinguished by his active zeal to gain proselytes in the villages of Halberton, Sandford, and other places in the neighbourhood of Tiverton. The attention paid to this man by multitudes which flocked daily to his preaching, gave great offence to some clergy- men and gentlemen living in or near those villages, who felt themselves neglected in proportion to his success ; they, therefore, encouraged such abusive attacks and interruptions as above described, to make him desist from preaching ; but finding these schemes ineffectual, two of them (I think in the commission) determined to make the law an engine of oppression and to drive him by it out of the country. The better to complete their purpose they applied to Mr. Henley, rector of Up-Lowman, Justice of the Peace, and brother of Lord Chancellor Northington, to assist them in the prosecution ; and represented to him the necessity of so doing, to prevent the common people from wholly neglecting the Churches, their daily labour and necessary duties of life. To this application Henley replied^ ' 1 have read in the New Testament that St. Paul fought with wild beasts at Ephesus; and if you cannot fight with one Wild Boar, by G 1 will not help you.' " The leading spirit in these attacks seems to have been a clergyman, named Ward, who, by his misconduct had succeeded in getting himself " unfrocked," or, at any rate, had lost all chance of obtaining active employment in the Church. So, having nothing better to do, he was induced to go to Tiverton for the purpose of preaching down the Methodists. His visit, however, was productive of anything but this result. His sermons, the profanity of his conversation, and the bad company he kept, led many persons who were not previously interesttjd in the subject, to look favourably on the i^Iethodists, and to suspect that after all their efforts in the cause of reform were not altogether needless. Finding that preaching would not do, Ward turned to the law, and more than thirty Dissenters were indicted, one unfortunate and |j(;rfectly innocent female, for assault, and the rest for fre- quenting conventicles, unlawful assemblies, etc. The Recorder, Richard Par!nint<^r, Esq., declared that thesis indictments were illegal and did all in his power to discourage such prosecutions. Mr. Parminter was evidently very much in earnest. It is stated 206 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD that he shook his head at the Mayor, as they sat on the bench, to show how gravely he disapproved of his conduct and that of his confederates. At length, after fifteen months of molestation and abuse, the Methodists were left to themselves.* In 1757 the first local preacher, William Roberts, was appointed, and the following year a meeting-house was opened at the back of some cottages in St. Peter-street. The present chapel in St. Peter-street was commenced in 1814, the nucleus of the building fund being a legacy of .£500 left by Mr. Bere, of Puddington, for the benefit of Methodism in the county of Devon. The whole of this legacy was absorbed by Tiverton. As it was built in war times the chapel was very costly, and the Eev. James Jones (Superintendent of the Circuit in 1816) undertook an almost Herculean task in collecting funds in order to relieve the trustees of the Methodist property from their financial difficulties. No " Chapel Fund " was then in existence, nor was there any " standing order " prohibiting collections for local objects being made anywhere. James Jones travelled from north to south and from east to west, and happily succeeded in realizing about £500, which saved the trustees from a financial collapse, and a sojourn more or less lengthy with which they were threatened in the debtors' gaol. But James Jones, good as he was at begging, was hardly so good in his theology. He became involved in mists respecting Divine prescience, resigned his ministry, and died in obscurity. In 1880 the chapel was re-seated, an organ-loft was built, a rostrum was substituted for the pulpit, and the gallery front was painted in cream, white, and gold. It would be interesting to know what the trustees of 1816 would say, could they rise from their graves, to the present * Mr. Wesley did not feel much admiration for his congreg-ation. His diary contains the following entry: "The place where the Tiverton Methodists hold their preaching service, is only equalled in dulness by the dulness of the people themselves." At first, he stayed with his brother Samuel, and afterwards at a house in Gold-street, formerly occupied by Mr. Ferris, where, until very recently, there was a window with Wesley's name inscribed on one of the panes by a diamond. During his later visits he resided at Hayne, his host being a Mr. Gamlin. Wesley, among his other whims, was strongly opposed to tea-drinking, and so impressed Mr. Gamlin with his views on this subject, that the latter promised his son and daughter a sovereign if they would not drink any tea for a year. Wesley, it is well-known, was a great auto- crat, and ruled his preachers as if they were school-boys. This trait in his character is illustrated by his inquisitorial conduct towards Roberts. This worthy man after a speU as an itinerant preacher, returned to Tiverton, where he espoused an enterprising dame who kept a shop. Wesley appears to have thought that he was entitled, as his spiritual chief, to catechise Mr. Roberts as to his accounts. Accordingly, he wrote to him as follows : "Have you not a large business, and don't you put away £100 a year after paying all expenses ? " History is silent aa to the reply. THE GEORGIAN EEA (I.) 207 interior of the building which cost them so much toil and anxiety. It is clear that they themselves were not wholly indifferent to art. On the wall in the rear of the pulpib was a painting illustrative of the rising sun chasing away the morning clouds. We hope it was not intended to suggest sun-worship, but rather to excite in the congregation a yearning for brighter and more penetrating beams. The painting, however, gave place in time to a text of Scripture — 1 Timothy i., 15 — peeping out from between half-drawn curtains as if ashamed to show its grand simplicity. That yielded to another text, by no means an improvement, and the old rising-sun long hidden under paint, was utilized with questionable taste to represent the Descent of the Spirit. Now an organ gallery fills up the space. On the 12th of October, 1753, the Lowman rose to a greater height than had ever been remembered, and Mr. John Hurford, a serge-maker, in attempting to ride through the water, was drowned. In 175G an endeavour was made to find coal in the neighbourhood. A company was formed with a capital of £500 in j£10 shares, a shaft sunk about a hundred and fifty feet deep at Howden, and a drain made of equal length for drawing off the water; but the speculation was unsuccessful. In January, 1757, the Exe flooded Westexe. Several mills were swept away by the torrent, and the inhabitants were forced to take refuge in their bedrooms, where they remained in fear of their lives for a con- siderable time. In 1758, turnpike roads were started in Tiverton and the adjoining parishes, a Highway Act having been procured for that object. Near the wooden bridge leading to Mrs. Ley's residence, at the lower end of Elmore, there was formerly a stone, commemorative of this event, with a date inscribed, but it is now, I believe, removed. (Turnpikes were abolished in 1883.) In the same year, 1 758, the militia were called out for service and the local contingent marched from Tiverton on the 5t)i of July. Apparently the same thing occurred in 1770, when the following warrant was issued relating thereto : — Tiverton Liberty To the Constahles, Sfc. These are in his Majesty's name, to will and require you to provide for and impress from any person or persons within the said Liberty an able pack-horse with a man to drive th(! same, whi;rc\\ith to convey th(i Laggage of one Company of the Northern Regiment of the Devonshire Militia from Tiverton, afon.'said, towards Winkley, in the said County, making such allowance as the law directs. Hereof fail not, as also to make return at your peril. Given, Ac. 2, June, 1770. B. Dickinson, Esq., Mayor. 208 THE CHRONICLES OF TWrFOED Under date 1760, Dunsford has the following entry : " The first post-chaise, for hire, in Tiverton, was set up this year, by Thomas Haydon," and this is all the information that can be gleaned either from him or Harding respecting the means of transit before the period of railways. Through the kindness of an old inhabitant, whose business brought him into daily contact with roadsters, I am enabled to add to this short notice some interesting particulars. There were two mail-coaches, one having its head-quarters at the Angel Hotel, of which Mr, Joseph Cannon was for a great number of years the proprietor ; while the other started from the Three Tuns, where the hostess was a worthy lady, Mrs. Grace Hawkes. The former of these coaches was known ]yar excellence as the "North Devon Coach" and travelled to Southmolton via the " Rackenford Bell," where the horses were changed. This first stage in the journey was eight miles long and occupied an hour. The route taken by the other coach was in the direction of Witheridge, and the first halt was at No-Man's-Land, The coachman and guard of the mail coaches wore the King's livery — scarlet coats with gold lace around their collar andsleeves — and they always appeared in a fresh suit on the first of May. In the winter when they were necessarily exposed to the utmost severity of the weather they donned great coats with two or three capes. In their way — Tom Westcombe, of the North Devon Coach, is the best remembered of them — they seem to have been smart fellows, and the guard, perhaps more than his successor on the railway, expected to be liberally " tipped." The London mail started from the Angel and proceeded by stages to Wellington, Taunton, and Bridgwater, where another coach awaited the passengers. These mail coaches were not exactly Grovernment institutions. They seem to have been run by a syndicate. Thus one of the persons who was in partnership with Mr. Cannon was a Mr. Whitmarsh, a wine and spirit merchant of Taunton. The fare to London was 24s. on the outside. As the coach started at noon and took twenty-four hours in accomplish- ing the journey, the unlucky passengers spent the night on the top of the fast conveyance, doubtless shivering with the cold. The shoeing was all done by contract. Every morning the smith examined the horses and saw that they were in a fit condition for the journey. In winter they often required to be "corked." One day an employe of a Mr. Stevens (who, I am told, reaped a rich harvest from these contracts), was leading a blind horse through the market, then held in Fore-street, when someone struck it with a whip. The spirited animal plunged into a boot and shoe shop, and, as the real culprit could nob be found, Mr. Stevens was made chargeable for the damage. It was not at all an uncommon thing for blind horses to be used in this service : indeed the pace at which they were driven seems to have had a tendency to produce this complaint. Usually there were four THE GEOEGIAN EEA. (I.) 209 horses attached to a coach, but occasionally, when the traffic was heavy, there were six, the two first being called " the leaders, " one of which was ridden by a postillion. ^A projwn of this an anecdote has been told me illustrative of the danglers of stage coach travelling. Before the widening of Lovvraan Bridge it was a frequent occurrence, in times of flood, for a strong current to be diverted towards the wall of Blundell's School. Outside the pavement adjoining the wall was a clumsy wooden railing, and beyond that again an open ditch. This was the condition of affairs when one day the stage coach turned the corner of Pound- hill. The driver, taking in the situation at a glance, shouted to the postillion to keep as near as possible to the side opposite to the school. Whether the man was intoxicated, or mistook the directions, or the force of the stream was too much for the horses, certain it is that the " leader " on the right drifted across the road and stumbled bodily into the ditch. From this awkward position it was a hard matter to extricate him, both man and horse were well " soused," and for some time the coach was in imminent danger of being upset. On another occasion this actually occurred. It happened on this wise. A drain had been made under the street near the Three Tuns, and the ground, it would appear, had not been properly " rammed." The conse- quence was that on the coach passing, the weight of the vehicle occasioned a subsidence, and the outside passengers were precipi- tated into the street. Over and above the mail coaches, there were several private conveyances of the same description, and the competi- tion between them was exceedingly brisk. A Mr. Lake, who lived opposite the Town Hall, ran a coach three times a week between Tiverton and the County town, and the journey, including a halt for refreshments at the " Ruffwell," took two hours in its accom- plishment. The scene at the top of the coach was varied and interesting. Besides the ordinary passengers there were pauper lunatics, prisoners on their way to " Botany Bay " with irons on their legs, and the like. On turning each corner the guard was required to sound his horn as a warning to pedestrians and drivers to " clear the road, " and th(i strains are said to have been lively and exhilarating, and, when the performers were competent, some- thing more, positively delightful music. Nevertheless, they did not always answer their purpose, as an instance is recorded of an old man being cruelly run down in the middle of Fore-street. As showing the high static of intelligence to which the horses were brought by training, I may mention the following circum- stance. At th(; Angel tliere was always at a certain hour a relay, and as the time approached, the hors(!s stood ready harnes.sed and waiting the signal to depart. The moment the guard blew his h(jrn at the corntjr of Wcstcx*;, the noble animals, of tlicir own accord, left the stables and cros.sed the yard to the; halting-place. Among the private coach owners I may mention Mr. William P 210 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED Paine, who himself frequently occupied the box and whose stables were in Birchin - lane. Mr. Paine conducted also a large business as a wine and spirit merchant, and as all persons engaged in the sale of spirituous liquors are forced to have, if not to obtrude, a sign of some kind, he chose as his emblem a Four-in-Hand. Some of the coaches were perfect works of art — notably the " Tally-ho ! " which had its head-quarters in Exeter. On the " boot " of this vehicle was displayed the figure of Eeynard going at full speed, v^ith a white tip to his tail. Goods were conveyed in heavy waggons which occupied, I am told, a week in getting to London. I have, however, an advertisement card referring to Dallimore's " original vans " in which it is stated that starting from the " Swan," Doctors' Commons, they arrived at the Mermaid Yard, Exeter, after a journey of only forty hours ; and one of these vans daily called at Tiverton. I omitted to say that several 'busses used to ply between Tiverton and Exeter in the summer especially, for the benefit of excursionists, and the children in the street had a ditty which they used to bawl after he happy holiday makers : " All the way to Exeter In old Thos. Allen's 'bus," On the ninth of June, in the year 1767, Henry Hooper and William Symons were sent to prison for three months under the combination clause of 1749, on the information of one Robert Kippon, for that they, being members of the Journeymen Weavers' Club, " did on the 13th of April last, act in and make a certain bye-law, rule, or order of the aforesaid club to the intent that no Master or Journeyman should or shall take any Girl to be an apprentice in the Art of weaving ; " and another to the effect " that no Journeyman Weaver should or shall work for any Master Weaver or Sergemaker, within the Liberty, that employed or should employ the said Eobert Eippon in the business of weaving." In 1771 a new clock was placed in the tower of St. Peter's at the cost of <£80 17s. 6d. ; and during the same year the tower was declared to be in danger from the Eiver Exe, which for many years had been gradually changing its course and now washed the foot of the hill on which the tower is built. An order of vestry was made relating to the subject on the 6th of August, but nothing seems to have been done to remedy the mischief until 1794. On the 24th of July in that year, at a vestry meeting, it was resolved to obtain counsel's opinion, whether the parish had power to compel Sir Thomas Carew, the Lord of the Manor, to build a wall as a protection from the en- croachments of the river. In accordance with the advice then received a wall was erected by the parish at a cost of <£90 10s,, which was defrayed by a church-rate. Since that time the whole of the slope from the churchyard wall to the river has been THE GEOKGIAN EEA (I.) 211 claimed by the parish. The declivity is generally known as " Chorl " and was formerly clothed by a number of splendid trees, I am not sure whether oaks or beeches. These trees were felled within living memory on the ground that their roots might in some way endanger the foundations of the tower. As, however, ExeleighHouse was being built about this time it has been suggested that the real reason for this very wanton destruction was to throw open a view of the tower and church (the former would have been visible in any case) to the new residence. Be that as it may, " Chorl" was let by the Churchwardens to Mr, Heathcoat. So much Harding relates ; but he does not mention the rent — £3 per annum ! On the 8th of Xovember, 1783, there was instituted at Tiverton " The Fullers' Friendly Society." According to the statutes each member was to pay eightpence, of which twopence was to be spent by the president in " Ale and Necessaries." Other rules were — " That the Society's flag shall have the Fuller's arms painted on one side, and his Majesty George the 3rd on the other " ; " That the Beadle shall have a Cloak, laced Hat, and a long staff with the Fuller's Arms painted thereon, to use and wear when he shall walk before this Society at any pubhc rejoic- ing, and at Church on the 29th of May in each year, or other- wise at the command and direction of the present steward and Committee "; " That this Society shall provide a Scarlet Cloak trimmed with fur for the president to wear when he joins the procession on rejoicing days ; also two staffs with the Fuller's Arms to be painted thereon for the Stewards, and six long white rods for the Committee to bear on rejoicing days, and to be arranged in the following order : The Beadle, the Steward, the Flag-bearer, the President, the Committee 3 and 3, the Society by pairs, and the Clerk last." There were altogether seventeen of these rules, for the non-observance of which the penalty was .£50 in the case of each defaulter. Most of those who take an interest in old-world newspapers are familiar with the travelling quack doctors who frequented the various market towns disposing of " infallible remedies " for all the ills that flesh is heir to, and displaying on their stalls mysterious bottles containing tape-worms, small lizards, &c., as in the shop of Romeo's apoth(,'cary. The species is by no means extinct even now, but to-day these peripatetic medicos are a degfmerate race : their glory has departed. Rsrhaps the best representative of them in Hnglisli liction is Whyte-Melville's Katerfelto, who spent part of his time in town and the rest in touring through the provinces. He appeared, it may be remeui- b(;red, among other places, at Dulverton. Before the demolition of the Market Cross at Tiverton in 1783, it was not unusual to find on a market day in front of the buikling what was then known a.s a" High German Doctor." This individual, dressed in a fantastic costume, harangued the crowd on the subject of his p2 212 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED wonderful pills and other medicines, and not unf requently adminis- tered gratuitously some stimulating potion to one of his credulous audience, who, feeling for the moment the eifect on his system and spirits, failed not to publish among his friends its extraordinary virtues. The quack was always accompanied on these occasions by a jester, who combined with that office the care of the property, securing the cash from the sales, driving the carriage, &c. In connection with one of these itinerant doctors a singular story once came to light, which 1 will repeat, without apology, inasmuch as it may have occurred, for aught I know, in front of the old Market Cross. There resided in a certain town a learned medical practitioner of great repute, who w-as of the Hebrew persuasion. He had a large and lucrative practice, but like Dr. Sangrado in Gil Bias, he had one special remedy warranted to cure the patient who partook of it, and though the majority of these soon found their way to the churchyard, he was wont to declare that their death was solely due to their not taking enough of it. The doctor had an assistant pupil, who was supposed to be instructed in all the Esculapian mysteries possessed by his master. The grand secret, however, concerning that one particular drug, or whatever it was, the doctor kept to himself, to the great chagrin of his. pupil, whose period of service, or apprenticeship, had now expired. Determined to possess a secret which he thought would make his fortune, as it had his master's, he agreed for a certain sum to buy it, and the contract was made ; but the stipulation was, on the part of the seller, that for a certain number of years the purchaser should not practise in the same locality, and that the sealed packet containing the recipe should not be opened for a certain time, or within a certain distance of the town. In due course the young practitioner, who by this time had set up as a " High German Doctor," felt at liberty to open the priceless packet, which was to fill his pockets with gold. Breaking the seals and unfolding sundry wrappings he came upon a piece of parchment, inscribed with Hebrew characters, to which were affixed in wax the arms and crest of the Jewish doctor. The young man, not being himself a Jew, was indebted to a learned friend for an interpretation of the mysterious scroll, which to his amazement read thus — " Conceit can kill, conceit can cure ! " The young doctor could not see the fun of it, as his friend did, but, nevertheless, carefully preserved the packet and the secret to remind himself of his credulity. Many years had passed and he had travelled much with his carriage, his jester, and his various medicines, arriving at length in the town wherein, though now an old man, in feeble health and out of practice, still dwelt the Jew. It happened that among the crowd who stood listening to the new comer and the jokes of his clown, was the old Jew himself. Our " High German " friend soon " spotted" his old master and a happy thought struck him. > THE GEOEGIAN ERA (I.) 213 Fixing his eyes upon him, and with his finger pointing him out, he said, " There stands an old gentleman who suffers much here " — indicating the complaint which he knew his master was subject to — " and I possess the only remedy that will eradicate it. I purchased it many long years ago from a lineal descendant of one of the old Hebrew Prophets. Unless he takes this medicine he will die a horrible death in a very short time," &c. The effect was just what he anticipated — a private interview and a fee. The exact amount which the Jew had demanded twenty years before from his old pupil, was paid, and the Jew, with, as he hoped, a fresh lease on his life, hastened home, opened the little box, and discovered his own Hebrew secret, " Conceit can kill, conceit can cure ! " In 1784 the following letter was addressed by Mr. Richard Cosway, R.A., to the Clergy, Gentry, and Inhabitants of Tiverton : Gentlemen, I have the honour to request you will accept at my hands the picture representing "The Angel delivering St. Peter from Prison" (intended for the Altar of St. Peter's Church), as a small token of the respect I have for you, and of the affection I shall ever re- tain for my native town ; to the prosperity and splendour of which it will always be my ambition, by every means in my power, to contribute. I am, Gentlemen, With the highest esteem. Tour obedient and devoted Servant, Richard Cosway. Mr. Martin Dunsford, who was churchwarden at the time, sent a fitting acknowledgment, and on November 4th, 1784, the paint- ing was placed over the altar. Apparently Cosway did not accompany his gift with a frame, and the expenses incurred by the parish on this occasion amounted to £20. Twenty-two years later Mr. Cosway presented an altar piece to Bampton Church, The subject of the picture is " Christ bearing the Cross," and I am sorry to say that its present condition does no credit to the parishioners. Richard Cosway was a native of Tiverton, being the son of a master of Elunchiirs Sclionl. He was born in 174(), and at the age of lifteen took the; lirst prize ever given by the Society of Arts. He became the most notable miniature ])ainter of the age. He was very eccentric, and beli(;ved in Swedenl)orgianism. He said h(i had conversed with more than one Person of the Trinity, and that h(i could talk with his wife at Mantua through a fine vehicle of sense, as ordinary p(;ople speak to a servant downstairs through an car-pipe. His wife, whose name was Maria Cecilia Louisa liodliuld, was not a whit behind him either in singularity or 214 THE CHEONICLES OE TWYFOED genius. The remarkable pair have never been more effectively hit off than in a charming sketch by Mr. Joseph Grego. The article, one of a series, appeared in the GrapMc, February 13, 1892. Here are some choice extracts, illustrating the life of this Tiverton man in the great world of London : " The romantic Maria came of an adventurous stock. Hadfield pere is said to have been of Irish parentage, though a native of Shrewsbury ; he sought change of air and fortune abroad, and, it is stated, combined both, by keeping an hotel at Leghorn for the entertainment of British tourists ; there Maria came upon the scene . . . When the paternal Hadfield died, her mother wished to carry to London Maria, with her sister and brother, both gifted with equal enthusiasm for the Arts, but of less promise. Maria was for quitting the vain world for the cloister, and it needed all the friendship of Angelica Kauffman, also a fervid Catholic and at that time regarded as a phoenix among female artists, to dissuade her from taking the veil. Here in town at the top of the tide of Court and princely and fashionable favour was E-ichard Cosway, the smallest edition of dapper humanity, already a Royal Academician. Smiled upon by ladies of rank and men of prominence, his dainty pencil conveyed subtle flatteries and his handling was so dexterous that in three sittings of one hour his brilliant portraits were brought to completion and paid for at the highest tariff until his miniatures from ' being fashionable became the fashion itself.' " The painter, patronised by princes and the elegant personages who followed in the train of Royalty, set up an almost regal style of living on his own account. His house was the marvel of London, and its costly contents were extravagantly appraised ; the wily diplomatist enshrined himself in splendour and received his sitters surrounded with art-treasures and articles de vertu, and probably found the profession of art-dealer more lucrative than even the golden harvest which poured in on the first of minia- turists. " Maria had studied art and loved it, doubtless, no less than Cosway, and being a person of ultra refinement as well as talent, became the vogue ; it is stated that she successfully supported her family by the exercise of her artistic proficiency. Here were two stars of one firmament ; so it happened that the greater luminary absorbed the lesser. Cosway was united to Miss Hadfield, and the bride was given away by no less a celebrity among collectors than Charles Townley, who had met and appreciated Maria in Italy. " Cosway had long smarted under the sarcasms aimed by his disgusted and envious professional brethren at his flattering like- nesses and his art pretensions, his aptitude for making money, his apish person and his frantic dandyism and quality airs ; now should the world recognise his personal ascendancy ; the erst monkeyfied mannikin of their poisoned sneers leading to his gilded palace the THE GEORGIAN EEA (I.) 215 most admired, accomplished, and affectedly self-conscious divinity of the age ! " Elevated in feeling, drawing her artistic inspirations from Spenser, Shakespeare, Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, and other poets, copying in facility of execution the ethei'eal sketches of her hus- band \^'ho boasted despatching in the course of his working hours some dozen sitters— all of the first quality — the presence of Mrs, Cosway, who was as addicted to finery and gorgeous- ness as the deservedly popular miniaturist, her husband, added hugely to the success of the establishment. " The pair installed in Berkeley-square, conducted their house- hold on a scale of lavish splendour surpassing their noblest clients ; both slaves of toil, devoid of dignity, scheming to dazzle the world of fashion and frivolity, and pass for the airiest trifles — mere butterflies. Meanwhile they plotted, contrived, and flattered, advertising themselves by trickeries, toadyism, and the reputation for eccentric folly ; both clever, yet neither doing justice to art nor to their own abilities ; Cosway vaunting his mechanical celerity to which everything else was subordinated ; his most successful likenesses too often mere tinted sketches, while his wife's productions were meretricious to a fault. " Sunday evenings were devoted to her concerts, when all the more frivolous aristocracy, distinguished foreigners, musicians, and adventurers of all kinds and of both sexes, crowded the splendid receptions. The stars of the opera were there, but Maria Cosway was the chief performer. " The field of Berkeley-squai'e was too obscure, the mansion too small : nothing less than the historic Schomberg House in Pall Mall would suffice, situated between St. James's Palace and Carlton House, the Prince's brand new palace, so conveniently adjacent. Pall Mall alone could contain the carriages, chairs, and lackeys of their guests, the linkboys, and sedan claairmen block- ing the thoroughfare on their weekly assemblies. " The Heir Apparent was Cosvvay's patron-in-chief : had not the artist commemorated the graces of the Prince's personality and the moni redundant charms of Mrs. Fitzherbert ? and his princely admiration for art extended to its professors. His Koyal Highness was fair, with aa air about him — indeed Cosway's miniatures make him remarkably attractive. With the Prince in Lbe days of his brilliancy came the world of fashion, of beauty, distinction, and art ; the elegant hostess, all sympathy and fascination, had I'or intimates her Clracc; of Devonshire, (njorgiana Spencer, fair arbitress of fashion, who I'ollowed too fondly in the Prince' .s train ; the Hon. Mrs. Damer, an accomplished amateur sculptor ; the Countess of Aylesbury ; the Marchioness of Townshend, famous for her dashing care(?r ; wiusouu! Lady (V^cilia Johnstone, and the; fair celebrities who led the Ion ; thither, too, came Horace Walpole, foremost of dilettanti^ attracted by the 216 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED surroundings, the gorgeous art-treasures, the Eoyal Highnesses, famous beauties, the Italian vocalists (' Rubinelli warbling at the extravagant rate of ten guineas for one song'), the on dits, and delightful scandals, which formed such appetising copy for those MS. letters, some day to see the glories of type. " These glories were soon destined to fade ; Cosway became more eccentric, aifected to see visions, to raise the dead, and to receive the honour of sittings from the Virgin Mary in person. After this, mere worldly patrons withdrew. Next the vagaries of the French Revolution raised his enthusiasm, and farewell to princely favours ! When his Eoyal patron departed, away fled the fashionable following. Maria, the sympathetic art-enthusiast, found that commissions called her abroad ; her demented husband was left behind. Tor a while she was a dazzling figure in art circles, finally living in Paris and copying pictures in the Louvre, but still surrounded with splendour and luxury, the idol of an admiring Court. Anon retiring to a convent, when spiritual cravings gained the ascendancy, overwhelmed with grief for the loss of her only child, she, in 1804, is described at Lyons as the superior of a religious seminary, at intervals one of her many ambitions ; there she was still in a mixed atmosphere of art and fervour, not divorced from mundane sanity, walking before her pupils to the cathedral ' with a long ivory cross in her hand, draped in a sky-blue robe spotted with velvet stars.' In 1821, on the death of Cosway, she was living in London, but has the credit of returning later to Lyons and her seminary to end her days." Cosway died in London in 1821 and his tomb may be seen in Marylebone Church. Cosway, I suppose, is the greatest light Tiverton has produced. But the town is not so strong in original geniuses that we can afford to overlook the lesser lights, and among the latter is certainly Mrs. Hannah Cowley, poetess and dramatic writer. Dunsford must, I think, have had this accomplished woman in his mind, when he wrote in such flattering terms of the ladies of Tiverton. After a hundred years no one can say that the fair sex of the town have fallen off in literary attainments, seeing that we claim for our own the authoress of the " Peasant Speech of Devon," and the writer who prefers to be known as " Alan St. Aubyn." Hannah Cowley was the daughter of Mr. Philip Parkhouse, whom Dunsford describes as an " eminent bookseller." She was born at Tiverton March 14th, ] 743. Her father, who is said to have been a man of considerable attainments, bestowed great care on her education, and he must have been hugely pleased with the result. Miss Parkhouse married above her station, her bride- groom being Captain Cowley, of the East India Service ; and, although her fame was ephemeral, the admiration of her contemporaries must have been very flattering to her feminine THE GEOEGIAN ERA (I.) 217 vanity, especially as she could not know that her fame was ephemeral — that she was " wearing but the garland of a day." In 1776, when her first drama " The Runaway " was produced, the public danced to her piping, and she was so much encouraged thereby that she wrote several successors to it. About the year 1780 she composed a tale entitled " The Maid of Aragon," and dedicated to her father. In 1789 she lost her daughter, Maxy Elizabeth, on receiving a lock of whose hair she penned the following lines, which, if not the fine flower of poetry, are yet not without a certain grace of their own : " Yes, time, Elizabeth, shall tell How like a flow'ret pluck'd you fell ; As gently it unfolds its bloom. In early Spring, unknown its doom, And to the Morn reveals its sweets But Noontide radiance never greets." Hannah Cowley died at Tiverton, 11th March, 1809, and was buried in St. George's churchyard, where her monument now stands. In 1785 at the instance of the Churchwarden, Mr. Martin Dunsford, a vestry-meeting was held for the purpose of establish- ing Sunday Schools, not only in connection with the Establish- ment, but with other religious bodies. The idea was favourably entertained, and the necessary funds having been raised, accommo- dation was provided in nine schools for two hundred and forty children. APPENDIX. The Blundbll Cblebeation. It has not been ascertained when the anniversary of Blundell's School was first celebrated. It has been inferred, however, from certain intimations to be found in divers okhnanuscripts, that the custom dates back almost to the foundation of the school, though, as far as I can learn, it was never observed with any degree of regularity until the close of the last century. On one occasion the ticket of admission was designed by Hogarth, but some doubt exists as to when it was first used. Mr. Kankilor, one of the masters of the school, in a paper read before the Devonshire Association, (1891), gives the following account of the matter : "In 1725 was celebrated the first anniversary of the school, when the sermon was preached by the Rector of Tiverton, and by him dedicatfid to the ' Master of Tiverton School, and to his much-honoured (the (;pithet will bear a double construction) friends and school-fellows.' There is some doubt as to whether Hogarth's w(;ll-known ' Ticket of Admission to the School Feast' was produced J'or this occasion, or in 1740, the date which the engraving bears. The former date seems more probable, for 218 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED the reason that Hogarth did most of his copper engraving between 1718 and 1726, on the commission of booksellers generally. After the latter date he took up portraiture, and speedily acquired reputation and wealth. Of the engraving in question, two copies may be seen in the present Register, one of which was presented in 1825 by the Eev. W. Toms, of Southmolton, to the Eev. AUdersey Dicken, then head-master ; the second, vastly inferior, was inserted in the Register, together with an autograph letter of Lord Palmerston's, in 1859. The principal figure in the engraving is Minerva, sitting near a well- filled bookcase, and indicating to a child standing at her knee the school buildings in the distance. Near her Mercury is water- ing a shrub, to the apparent edification of another small boy ; on the left are two children reading, and near them again is an old man, possibly a schoolmaster, to all appearance in the act of discoursing — in a casual way — to a somewhat inattentive audience, — not an altogether unusual experience, perhaps. Motto : ' In patriam populumque fluxit utrique unus et ex uno stemmate surgit honos.' Below the engraviug, in bold lettering, is a note of invitation, followed by the names of the Stewards. Under- neath all, in smallest italics, and yet important as a lady's postscript, 'Pay ye Bearer 10s. 6d.' At the School Feast in 1728, the sermon was preached by the Rev, John Jones, O.B., who afterwards became head-master. It was published at the request of the stewards, to whom it was dedicated. A copy of this pamphlet was presented to the school library in 1887 by a well-known member of this Association, H. S. Grill, Esq., J. P." After its revival in 1790 " Old Boys' Day " was kept annually till 1849. It was again revived in 1874, and since then, except in one year (1875), it has been observed without interruption to the present time. The old order was as follows : The past and present pupils assembled in the school green, where a procession was formed. The Town Band, playing lively airs, lead the way ; then came the gate keeper in a long cloak of pale blue turned out with black velvet, and carrying a silver headed mace ; next the boys, then the masters, and last of all the Old Boys, two and two. They first walked to St. Peter's Church, where they were received with merry peals, and the preacher selected was always an Old Boy. After the invention of the camera, the next item was the taking of a photograph of the party. The "Old Boys" then lunched together in a thoroughly convivial manner, and the after-dinner speeches were often of the wittiest description. In the evening a ball was held, first at the Angel Hotel, and latterly at the Athenaeum — a very gay affair, as it still is. Of late years the programme has been amplified by the addition of cricket-matches, a concert, etc., and Speech-day also is included in it. Old Boys' Day used to be kept in August, but it is now always held on the Eriday preceding St. Peter's Day. THE GEORGIAN ERA (Second Part) VllI The Georgian Era (Second Paet). >S might be expected from the former history of the place, the cause of the French Eevolution found many sympa- thisers in Tiverton. The interest in that event was greatly accentuated by an agitation then going on for the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, by which Protestant Dissenters and Eoman Catholics were alike disqualified from holding public appointments. In 1787 a motion had been brought forward in the House of Commons for abolishing these Acts, but was lost by 73 votes. In 1789 a similar motion was defeated by a narrow majority of 23. These eiforts for widening the basis of popular liberty were followed with the utmost anxiety in the constitu- encies, and in Exeter and Tiverton meetings of delegates were held during the early part of 1700 for the purpose of petitioning Parliament in favour of repeal. The close connection between this very mild propaganda and the larger movement on the Continent is illustrated by the fact that, when in May, 1793, one of the strongest supporters of these meetings was invited to subscribe toward the emigrant French clergy, then in great dis- tress, he replied " that he declined on account of universal benevolence, believing the priests to have stirred up a violent opposition to the cause of the lievolution in France, which, in his opinion, would be productive of the greatest good and promote the happiness of mankind." In recording this circumstance, IIar/Jin<; sighs over the contradictions of human nature. " Such princijjles," he says, "could only be expressed by a confirmed revolutionist ; and yet it is but just to observe, that th(! author of them had the character of a conscientious and charitable man, of regular and religious habits, and respected by his neighbours." He does not tell us who he was. 222 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOKD Amon^ the half -playful seditious leaflets which circulated in the town at this time was the following : TIVERTON LIBERTY. At an Uncommon Council holden on Thursday, the 15th of February, 1793, the following sai^ient resolutions were entered into almost unanimously. Resolved. That our original Resolutions and Denunciations were made on the 1 0th of December in Compliance with strict Orders received from above, and contained no/aZse Concords, or personal invectives, and that whoever represents them as an insult on the Inhabitants ought to be Muzzled, or wear the double hit political Bridles lately invented and greatly recommended. That as the Inhabitants of Muzzle-Town still refuse to follow the disinterested advice and bright Example of We their Governors Pain be desired immediately to ride the Pretty Mare for further directions how to Act. That to check the prevailing dangerous inclination to Refoem (which night and day grieveth us) We recommend Loyal Lectures to be read at the Inquisition every Monday, and that there be a Concert after, to which Barbers, Taylors, and every class of the Municipality be admitted; and that Bowser be pressed to give the Stiff-Neck'd and perverse one of his Lectures on the present alarming Crisis of Affairs, when We and the Association Bream with the dread of Insurrections. Resolved. Moreover that, if the infection of REFORM should unfortunately reach us from the Paddy Country, We shall have to lament the direful loss of our Places and Pensions, our fond and pleasing hopes will be blasted and many of us become chargeable to the Parish. That for these and other cogent reasons. Ecclesiastical and Civil, We firmly resolve to use every means in our power, as is our honnden duty, to check and prevent all NavgMiness whatsoever, and that whoever shall Speah or even Think seditiously, shall be immediately prosecuted by the Star Chamber- Resolved. That JACK RATTLE be earnestly requested to make these Resolutions as public as possible, and that he will give a Copy to each of the Spy Clubs. BVNYAN, Sec. The war with France had the worst possible effect on the commercial interest of Tiverton, since the prosperity of the town depended very largely on its exports to Holland, and the route to that country was now closed. One proof of the badness of the times is to be found in the increase of the poor-rate, which, during the half-year ending September 28th, 1794, was .£800 in excess of the highest amount ever known over the same period. This, of course, is attributable to the labouring classes being out of work. On the 27th of January in the following year, a meeting was convened by the Mayor, in order to petition for the restora- tion of peace, and a resolution to that effect was carried by a large majority. In the spring of 1797 the merchants of Tiverton assembled at the Angel Inn to consider the best mode of export- ing their manufactured goods to Holland, under the difficult circumstances which then existed. All this is evidence of an THE GEOEGIAN ERA (II.) 223 acute crisis in the woollen trade of Tiverton, which, to tell the truth, was now verging on its complete and final extinction. Meanwhile, a number of petty and some very serious occur- rences diverted the attention of the inhabitants from the impending fate of their staple industry. As I shall have to find room in this chapter for some interesting subjects at which Harding does not even glance, I shall be compelled to pass by some of the very " small beer," which Colonel Harding sees fit to chronicle in dealing with this period. There is, however, no harm in stating that on the 24Lh of January, 1790, about twelve o'clock in the day an effigy of Tom Paine, author of the " Eights of Man," " The Age of Eeason," and other edifying and instructive lucubrations, was drawn through the town in a cart, dressed (i.e. Tom Paine, or rather, his effigy) in canonical costume and supported by a man on each side. A mock trial took place on Angel-hill and about three o'clock the same effigy was again carried round the town. This time he was accompanied (such, at least, is Harding's account, though the combination of offices seems rather singular) by a person representing a clergyman and a hangman. A gibbet was erected, twelve feet high, opposite the gate of St. George's Church, and a mock execution was performed. Later on, in the evening, the effigy was burnt by some boys at Greenway, a flat piece of ground below Howden, bordering on the Exeter-road. On the 21st of May, 1814, the religious maniac Joanna Southcote, who was a native of Thorverton, was treated to a similar honour, only, instead of the effigy being hanged, it was burnt — might we say ? — alive. In 1793 a large cotton factory was opened by Messrs. Dennis, Lardner, and Co. at the bottom of Westexe. In celebration of this event (it did not turn out such a wonderful boon to the town), the firm gave a dinner to about fifty guests in the Mayoralty room. In his MS. journal Mr. Martin Dunsford gives a very appetising account of this banquet. There were four turbots, he says, four haunches of venison, four necks ditto, ten brace of partridges, with abundance of other things in proportion, accompanied by a profusion of excellent wines. Passing over the accident to Mr. Staddon — on the 4th of April, 1794, an Act was passed " for paving and otherwise improving the town of Tiverton in the County of Devon." Herein was set forth the improper manner in which the town was i)aved and cleansed, and the number of obstructions and encroachments existing in different parts of the town to the annoyance and inconvenience of the public. Among other eyesores there were buildings on Angel-hill, u here the lamps are now, as well as along the south side of St. Peter's Churchyard, besides numerous hovels in Westexe. The houses on Angel-hill were removed in 1807. The direction and management of the improvements wi-re left to certain persons named in the Act, since called " Paving Com- 224 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED missioners." and they were specially empowered to remove the pound of the Hundred and Manor of Tiverton, situated at the lower end of Gold-street " and to lay the scite thereof into the public street or highway adjoining thereto, and to erect another such pound on the waste of the Lords of the Manor in Lowman green, near the east end of the foot-bridge over the river Lowman." Among the first improvements effected by the Commissioners was the conversion of this same " foot-bridge " into something wider and more substantial. One of the bye-laws which was very offensive to many of the townspeople, was the following : " Every Inhabitant of the said Town shall repair and amend the street before his or her Dwelling House home to the Middle of the Gutter, or shall forfeit for every Ten Days' neglect after Notice 3s. 4d." Conformably with this regulation the authorities in 1797 prosecuted several persons for refusing or neglecting to repair the street opposite their respective premises, whereat great indignation arose. In 1813 there seems to have been the same kind of default on the part of the inhabitants, and, as a corrective, the following stringent notice was issued : Whereas many Inconveniences and Delays have arisen from the neg- lect of the Inhabitants of this Town, to repair their Streets.— It is there- pore ORDERED. — That all Defendants on Indictments or Presentments for Public Nuisances, for the Neglect of the Repairs of the Streets and Highways within the said Liberty, who shall omit to appear on Summons, shall have issues levied upon their Goods and Chattels, at the next Sessions after such Indictment or Presentment, and shall have Judg- ment against them at the same Sessions at which the Conviction took place, and Executions shall immediately Issue for levying the Sum Assessed by such Judgments.— It is further ordered.— That the Execution on all Judgments for such Nuisances shall be suspended only once, unless it shall appear that the Defendants have used all due Diligence, and could not previous to the second Application for a Suspension put the Street or Highway Indicted or presented in complete Repair, and that in no case whatever shall such Execution be suspended more than twice.— It is also ordered. — That the Execution on all such Judgments shall be issued not only in the iirst instance, but also after the Expiration of the time for which they are suspended, as a matter of Course, unless a Suspension be specially Ordered, or further continued.— It is likewise ordered. — That the Clerk of the Peace shall regularly issue Process of Distringas after Execution or Judgment, ad infimtvm, until such Nuisance shall be proved to have been removed. — And it is further ordered. — That Forty Skillings Issues be levied on the first Distringas, and such Issues be afterwards increased to Five Ponnda on the second Distringas, Ten Pounds on the third, and Twenty Pounds on the Fourth, and every other Distringas issuing against any Person on Indictments or Presentments for Public Nuisances. — And it IS ALSO ORDERED. — That no Indictments or Presentments in future shall be discharged or abated without the Evidence of one disinterested viva voce Witness, stating that the Street or Highway, or Nuisance, has been viewed by the Person or Persons giving such Evidence, and that such Street or Highway is then in Repair or such Nuisance abated. By order of the Coitrt. Ouildhall, 15th Novtmler, 1813. RiCHD, H. Strong. Clerk of the Peace. THE GEORGIAN ERA (II.) 225 If anything could bring the recalcitrant Tivertonians to a sense of their duty, one would think that the reading of this attractive and lucid admonition — " bonny writer words," as Andrew Fairservice observed, " amaist like the language of huz gardeners and other learned men " — -would have had that effect. We come now to the inevitable fires. On the 30th of June, 1794, a terrible conflagration occurred about two or three o'clock in the afternoon. It commenced in the shop of Humphrey Rendle, a hot-presser in Westexe, and as the roofs of the neighbouring houses were of thatch, it spread with great rapidity. Very soon both sides of Westexe, the whole of Bridge-street, and several buildings in Wellbrook were burnt to the ground. As there was a strong south-west wind, sparks were blown across the Exe, and a number of houses on Angel-hill, as far as the " Old Bow," next to Slee's Almshouses, in St. Peter-street were burnt, but the *' Angel Inn " was saved through the exertions of the landlord, Mr. Hawkes. At one time there seemed every prospect of the whole town being reduced to ashes. Houses were on fire both in Fore-street and in Bampton-street, and the oak spire supporting the vane over the Corn-market was burnt. The authorities, however, acted with energy and pulled down a house in Fore- street, in accordance with the provisions of the so-called Fire Act, of which mention has been made previously. This timely measure and the arrival of the fire engine from Cullompton put a stop to the flames. About a hundred and twenty houses were destroyed, the damage being computed at £7,^99 16s. If we add to this the loss of other property, stock, and household furniture, the total amount was not far short of £15,000, of which only two-thirds was covered by insurance. A meeting was called by the Mayor, and subscriptions were invited for the relief of the poor, many of whom were wandering about the fields in a state of almost complete destitution. In response to this appeal the sum of .£214 17s. was contributed, which was divided among the sufferers, after a strict investigation, in proportion to what they had lost. For this purpose tickets were issued, of which the following is a copy : " Tiverton Fire, 30th June, 1794." " WiUiam Chilcott, or the bearer, is entitled to receive the sum of .£8 OS. as a dividend of 5s. 6'd. in the pound (for an admitted loss of £30), on the sum of .£215, received by subscription for the sufferers admitted to have a share." " Signed, " Tiverton, 22nd July, 1792r « H. Dennis." The Parish Register contains the following notice of the disaster: "This day happened a dreadful fire in Westexe. It brrjke out between 2 and 3 in the afternoon at the House of Humphrey Rendle, Hot-presser. It burnt all the Houses on both 226 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED sides from Birchin-lane to Wild-broke. It burnt with such fury that some of the flashes set fire to the Houses on Angel- hill, and consumed several more Houses in the lower end of Peter- street, and the beginning, or west end of Fore-street. It is computed that 130 dwelling houses have been destroyed, or upwards, but happily no lives lost." On April 2nd, 1795, another fire broke out in Back-lane, Westexe, by which eight houses were destroyed; and on the 24th of November, 1797, a still more serious conflagration took place on the west side of St. Peter- street. Twelve or thirteen houses were burnt down, and it is probable that the mischief would have been still greater, had it not been for the efforts of some French prisoners of war, who prevented the spread of the flames by cutting off communication between the burning houses and those near them. The inhabitants themselves are reported not to have behaved well on this occasion, preferring the part of idle spectators to that of active and disinterested helpers. Turning to mihtary matters, I find that on the 4th of March, 1797, in consequence of 1200 Frenchmen having landed at Fishgard, in Pembrokeshire, 300 men of the 29th Eegiment, with two field pieces, marched into Tiverton ; and on the 20th of July, 1799, the South Devon Militia, about 600 strong, arrived in the town, under the command of Lord Eolle. It was not a very uncommon circumstance for regiments of militia to be quartered here. For instance, in 1795 the Tork Militia, under the com- mand of Captains Torr and Hayes, were stationed at Tiverton, and the men made themselves useful by assisting to put out the fire in Westexe. Lord EoUe, however, was connected not only with the Militia, but also with the Teomanry, and every year he brought his regiment to Tiverton for their eight days' training, an arrange- ment highly acceptable to the inhabitants, as it ministered alike to their amusement and profit. This was especially the case with the publicans. The regiment used to parade in Fore-street, and on these occasions Lady Eolle would appear on horseback with an ofilcer's jacket, belt, sabre-tache, and plumed busby, exactly similar to those of her husband. Many persons, particularly those whose studies have not been specially directed to the condition of England during the Great War, naturally look upon the Volunteer movement as characteristic of the present reign. This view is in one sense correct, as it is only during the last thirty years or so that the force has established itself as a permanent branch of the national defences, but historically speaking, there were Volunteers in England before 1859. Thus in 1797 it is recorded that the first meeting took place of the Tiverton Volunteer Cavalry on the 10th of July. They consisted of one troop, commanded by Mr. Worth. Their dress was scarlet and gold lace ; but not being fully accoutred, they had short sticks instead of swords. THE GEOEGIAN ERA (II.) 227 In January, 1799, the following notice was circulated by order of the Lord Lieutenant of the County : Coimti/ of Devon, Hundreds of Tiverton, Halberton, and Bampton. " By Virtue of Instructions from the Lord Lieutenant of the said County for Carrying into Execution the Act for providing for the Defence and Security of the Eealm during the present War, and certain arrangements tending to unite the force of this County and to prevent Confusion in the Case of Invasion ; the Inhabitants of the several Parishes, in the said Hundreds, are requested to select Competent Persons as hereinafter mentioned, to act as GrUiDES in pursuance of the said Act and Instructions, in lieu of those already returned. Such Persons to be Young Men, quick sighted, bold Eiders, and from their Occupations or Amusements, accustomed to know the Parish Eoads and Country adjacent, to be mounted on hardy Horses, habituated to the Eoads and Stony Lanes, and each of such Persons to be provided with a light Fowling Piece, a few Bulletts, and a Powder Horn, and such other Accoutrements as may be deemed necessary. — A Corps of Guides of this description may perform all the Services of the Old Dragoons, and should they at their leisure amuse themselves with firing at Marks, so as to understand the quantity of Powder requisite for the Charge of their Gruns, they may fully supply the place of Eiflemen.— Such Guides will be entitled to all the Privileges mentioned in the said Act, and it is hoped that this measure will be found agreeable to Persons of every descripton, as they are united in Defence of what is equally valuable to them all. — And such Competent Persons willing to offer their Assistance may present themselves to the Deputy Lieutenant at the TJiree Tuns, in the Town of Tiverton, on Tuesday, the 22nd Day of this Instant January, at Ten o'Clock in the Forenoon. " 5lh Daij of January, 1799 P Passing to the year 1803 we find that in consequence of the threatened invasion, all the loyal inhabitants of the parish of Tiverton were called on, by virtue of an Act of Parliament (43 George III.), to register their names and to state what duty they would be able and willing to undertake for the public defence. The notification ended : N.B. The several services required are : Ist. Bearing Arms when an Enemy has landed. 2nd. Pioneers. 3rd. Guides. 4th. Engaging to supply Waggons and Carts. 5th. Millers to supply the Army. 6th. liakers to do the same. Moreover, all farmers were direct(;d to enter their names and the amount of live and dead stock in the possession of each, that ti2 228 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED they might be indemnified by the Government for any losses sustained through the enemy or necessitated by the needs of the country. The returns were as follows: 216 oxen; 909 cows ; 906 young cattle and colts ; 6,397 sheep ; 1,655 pigs ; 148 riding horses; 336 farm horses; 20 waggons; 117 carts; 571| quarters of wheat ; 92| quarters of oats ; 587| quarters of barley ; 5 quarters of beans and peas ; 2,306 loads of hay ; 149 loads of straw ; 838 sacks of potatoes ; 120 sacks of flour ; 48 quarters of malt ; and 5 tons of cheese. In 1804 a Tiverton corps of infantiy volunteers was formed. It was under the command of Sir John Duntze, and consisted apparently of six companies, as there is an item in the parish book referring to a grant of £30 to six sergeants, being at the rate of 2s. 6d, per day to each for forty days " for instructing the men in the use o£ arms." The money was to be paid by the overseers out of the poor rate ; and the order is dated Sunday, 1 9th August. The name of the local regiment of volunteers was the " Tiverton Fencibles." Although Sir John Duntze is stated to have been in command, his position seems to have been in some degree an honorary one. Anyhow, the actual duties were carried out by a retired oiScer of the line named Ferguson, who resided then and for a great many years afterwards in St. Peter-street. A Mr. William Talley, of Prescott, though a civilian, and knowing nothing of military discipline, was appointed lieutenant, or ensign, and, therefore, to the day of his death rejoiced in the name of " Captain Talley." Of this worthy yeoman's miUtary life at this time the following anecdote is reported. The men having assembled in their drill-ground " The Works," adjoining the Old Church, he was deputed by Captain Ferguson to put them through their drill. They were supplied with rounds of blank cartridge and a " Brown Bess," together with a bayonet. On the occasion referred to he ordered them to load, make ready, and present. Then, to ensure precision, he shouted, " Now, gentle- men, shet, shet (shoot), and all to-wance." It happened one day that a panic was caused throughout Devonshire and Somerset owing to some mischievous person having set fire to one of the beacons. After the affair had been explained, there was a good deal of boasting on the part of the " Fencibles " as to what they would have done if Bonaparte liad landed, and some war-songs were composed in allusion to the matter. Here is a verse of one of these effusions, which were, clearly, very broad and popular : Oh, Sergeant Bright has told me right, I cut a pretty figure. Why shouldn't I in battle try ? Sure, I can pull a trigger ; If I should kill great Boney-parte, my country would be befriended; 'Twould be a thunder-bolt for France, and make the war be ended. As, however, the Government placed greater reliance on a properly organized body of Militia, Fencibles and similar bodies THE GEOKGIAN EEA (II.) 229 were dissolved, much to the regret of those who were liable to be drawn for the Militia when the annual ballot took place. If a tradesman had the ill-luck to have his number drawn, he must either suffer considerable loss and inconvenience through periodical absence from his business, or pay for a substitute. The sum of £40 was not thought too much to obtain immunity from this heavy burden. About this time the greatest alarm prevailed. Business was at a standstill. The Mayor and Corporation assembled one day in the Mayoralty Room in the utmost consternation at the news that the French had effected a landing somewhere on the coast of Devon or Somerset. The general belief was that Torbay or Plymouth would be made their base of operations. As a measure of precaution, therefore, beacon fires were prepared on various heights, that the signal might be given in case of a descent. These beacons were composed of immense ricks of wood, so prepared that they could be fired instantly, on the first intimation of danger. Each beacon was placed in charge of a man who was supplied with a telescope and who was instructed to apply the match to his rick if he saw the flames rising from another beacon, in whatever direction it might be situated. One such beacon was formed three or four miles from Tiverton, in the neighbourhood of "Christ's Cross," on the spot which is known to this day as " Fire Beacon." There were other causes of excitement besides the lighting of beacons. On one occasion a press-gang from Plymouth suddenly put in an appearance, producing the utmost alarm, especially among the class usually pounced on by these fierce unscrupulous sailors. Their object was to capture and carry off any who might not be sober enough to prove that they did not enlist, but were " impressed," whether they would or not. By some means also the whereabouts of many men who had passed a part of their lives at sea became known, and as one experienced sailor was worth more to a commander than half-a-dozen raw pressed men, such were specially hunted up. Now it happened that at this time there resided in Tiverton a very worthy and well-to-do tradesman, named Orson Trent, who carried on a large painting and plumbing business opposite the White Ball Inn. The early life of this individual was spent on board a king's ship as some kind of pftty ofriccr, but whether he deserted or not, certain it is that ll.li.Il. th(j Prince Kcgtint about this time had great need of Mr. 'JYent, whose residence in Tiverton seems to have been found out. Orson, however, was equal to the occasion, for wh(;n the gang appeared and demanded him in the Prince's name, his wife told the midshipman in command that he had gone away, sIh! did noL know where : he had left the neighbourhood, in fact. After the gang had quitted Tiverton, Orson is said to have been found in a loft over one of the workshops. 230 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED During the long war preceding the banishment of Napoleon to Elba so many prisoners had been captured through the English naval victories, that the prisons devoted to their custody were found totally inadequate, and the officers of the captured French vessels, as well as those of the Army, were located in different towns, and allowed their liberty on parole, subject to certain restrictions. Tiverton consequently came in for a share of these gentlemen who were billeted on the inhabitants in a manner suited to their position and rank. With scarcely an exception these officers conducted themselves in such a way as to win the esteem and regard of their hosts, and in many instances, lasting friendships were formed with them. After the establishment of peace in 1815 some of the prisoners, rather than return to their country, preferred to settle in England. Among these was Monsieur Alexandre Lamotte, who chose Tiverton as his place of abode, acquired property there, and gained much respect as French master at Blundell's School. Not a few of the Frenchmen were very clever and ingenious, and were wont to reheve the tedium of enforced leisure by arranging various games peculiar to their country, whilst others occupied themselves with carving wooden toys, making miniature models of their respective vessels, and in similar ways. Mr. Sharland is the possessor of a memento of one of these prisoners in the shape of a tiny beam and scales, and a box to fit them in. They were made of hard wood with no other tool than a pen-knife. An incident occurred at this time which wounded the feelings of the officers, as it seemed likely to shake the faith of Tiverton people in their honour. This was the escape of two of the prisoners, who left the town by night, walked to Torquay, or some place in that neighbourhood, stole a small boat, and made off, bub whether or not they reached France was never known. Among the more distinguished prisoners of war stationed at Tiverton was Admiral Dumanoir, who in 1806 received a visit from Sir Sidney Smith. Another was General Boyer, concerning whom the following anecdote has been preserved. At the window of a coffee-room in Tiverton had been posted a notice to the effect that two thousand Turks had been murdered in cold blood at Jaffa by order of General Buonaparte, Boyer, who happened to have had a command in Egypt, read this bulletin, and with true French sang froicl took out his pencil and altered the words " two thousand " into " three thousand five hundred." As some proof of the interest taken by the inhabit- ants in the prisoners, I may quote the following entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts for the year 1796 : " Richard Hawks, 4 quarts and 1 pint of brandy for the French prisoners ■£! Os. 3d." Evidently this alludes to the rank-and-file. On the 5th of December, 1797, a hundred and eighty of the latter, under an THE GEOEGIAN ERA (II.) 231 escort of the Wiltshire Militia, were marched to Stapledon Prison, near Bristol. Their departm-e was much regretted.* In 1801, there was something like a famine in Tiverton. The price of wheat ranged from 18s. to a guinea a bushel, potatoes were from lis. to 21s. a sack, and bread was so scarce that in some instances it could not be bought for money. On the 5th of December, 1805, by order of the Privy Council, a general thanksgiving took place for the victory of Trafalgar ; and a sermon was preached at St. Peter's by the Rev. C. Colton, curate of Priors Portion, of whom more hereafter. On the 3rd of February, 1810, a new flag having been presented to their society by Mr. Matthew Wood, the wool- combers celebrated the occasion by parading the streets. With regard to this flag, it is stated that the ground was of blue silk, and that it bore on the one side a representation of Bishop Blaize, while on the other were figured a shepherd and a shepherdess, accom- panied by a lamb and a dog. On the 27th of June, in the same year, the weavers walked in procession for the purpose of displaying a new flag which had been given to them by Captain George Darby, of the Guards, who was a native of Tiverton, and had himself been brought up as a weaver. Thus far Colonel Harding. To judge from his rather meagre description one would suppose that these were quite isolated occurrences, but such was not the case. The period just before Christmas was known in the woollen trade as " Blaize Time," i.e. the time of the year when the official known by the name of Bishop Blaize was annually chosen. What his duties, privileges, and emoluments consisted in, I have not been able to ascertain, but that he was a personage regarded with respect by all branches of the industry is beyond a doubt. Much feasting and a general settling of accounts took place at " Blaize Time," and on the day when the Right Rev. Bishop for the year took the oaths and was handed his crozier, a large procession of the various clubs marched from some part of Westexe, through the principal streets to St. Peter's Church, where a sermon was preached. The Town Band and a drum and fife Band usually accompanied them. An old inhabitant from whom I have gathered these particulars, says he recollects one of their banners as being a fine work of art. It was a large flag of yellow silk with a beautiful picture of a shepherdess with a lamb on her lap, and a shepherd with his crook standing near. Other ilags belong- ing to the various sections of the woollen trade had each some appropriate device emblematic of their craft. My informant .states that he knew the last of the Blaizes. On the occasion of his elevation to the episcopate the annual sermon was preached by * At eif^ht o'clock every evening durinf^ thft time that (lie French pri.sonci-rt were here ou their parole, the bell wan rimy at St. George's, to warn them that they must bo within the turnpike gates by that hour. 232 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED the Eev. John Pitman, who took for his text 1 Tim. iii., 1, " This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work." In his old age the worthy dignitary fell on evil days. He was known as " Old Wyburn," and earned a precarious livelihood by hawking salt fish. Sic transit gloria mundi. I may here refer to some other customs of a less agreeable nature which were formerly in vogue at Tiverton. The popular name of the place was " Whipshire," a description which has puzzled etymologists, and has led to occasional discussions in the news- papers. There seems to be no doubt, however, that the explana- tion of the term is as follows. The reader must have heard the expression "the fellow deserves a flogging at- the cart's tail." There is an allusion in the phrase to a form of punishment inflicted on rogues and vagabonds in the last century. It was none other than tying the evildoer's two hands together and fastening them to a " cart's tail " by means of a rope. The cart was then driven round the town, a " whipper " running beside the culprit and administering strokes from time to time. It seems incredible, but this punishment was actually ordered by the magistrates, and was in such favour with them that the town acquired an evil notoriety as " Old Whipshire," and any of the inhabitants migrating to another place might expect to be " chaffed " on the subject. The last man to be punished in this way was named Galliver. He had been convicted of steahng sticks. Starting from the usual place, the Bridewell, he was whipped up St. Andrew-street, and then around the town, as far as the old Town Hall. Here a gentleman was standing, with a gold-headed cane in his hand. On catching sight of the party, he shouted to the officer, Christopher Facey, " Give it to hmi, Facey ! give it to him, Facey ! " and finding that his admonitions did not produce the desired effect, he went into action with his gold-headed cane. This he had no right to do, and perhaps he owed it to his position that he was not called to account for his conduct. Besides this, however, there was a rough sort of justice meted out by the artisans themselves. I have recorded some instances of popular vengeance in the foregoing chapter, but there were at least two standing institutions of the sort. Anyone who is at all acquainted with the town, knows where the "Mill Leat" is situated. It extends from a point beyond Loughborough, runs parallel for a time with the factory yard, and after supplying a flour mill, discharges itself into the Exe a little above Exe-bridge. At a certain part of this leat, near the factory gate, disgraceful scenes were enacted under the name of " cold staving," a penalty incurred a hundred years ago or more by Benedicks, whose unfaithfulness to their spouses rendered them particularly obnoxious to their fellow-workmen. It consisted in securing the offender, seating him astride on a long pole, one end of which THE GEORaiAN ERA (II.) 233 was held by a man on one side of the leat and the other end by a man on the other side. They then commenced to jerk the pole with the object of shaking the culprit into the stream. After the shaking, whether or not the result was a ducking, the offender was allowed to go free. This institution was confined exclusirely to the combers and weavers and existed long before the establish- ment of the lace industry. Down, however, to the year 1820 a still more scandalous performance was winked at by the authorities. It was commonly known as " Skimmington Riding," and was designed as a punishment for the same class of offenders as those before mentioned. The spectacle was of this kind : — A donkey was procured and two fellows were engaged to ride on it back to back, one of whom was dressed in a gown and bonnet to represent the erring fair one, while the other took the place of the Lothario. Each was furnished with a long ladle or other domestic implement, with which from time to time they pre- tended to strike each other. In this manner, with a drum and fife in front, and youths beating frying pans, etc., behind, they were followed through the streets by a noisy mob of, perhaps, a thousand in number, until they finally stopped at the houses of the guilty parties where the shouting and rough music were redoubled. The ducking-stool was by the leat, and the stocks in front of St. George's Church . The latter were in use down to about 1830, the last occupant being a well-known character named John Henson, but more generally called by his sobriquet of " Jack Pickaxe." He was a half-witted and eccentric creature and the subject of great amusement to the rising generation, who affected to sympathise with him in his involuntary detention. On the occasion in question Jack was heard to remark that after such an indignity " he should never respect himself."* The jubilee of George III., which fell in the year 1810 was observed with great festivity at Tiverton. The Mayor and Corporation, accompanied by the Yeomanry and the Rifle Company, the Weavers and Woolcombers, etc., with their flags and banners, marched in procession to St. Peter's ; and a very happy day was spent. The poor were regaled with beef and pudding ; and bullocks were roasted whole both in the factory yard and in a field near the Bampton turnpike gate. A curious relic of the " olden times " was discovered recently in the form of a manuscript note-book containing a description in verse of men and tbings at the beginning of the present century. 1 insert a few of the stanzas here. I well rememb(;r good old tiracs, When old men wore hug wigs, When three-cocked hats their heads adorn'd, And fancy hose their legs. * On the demolition of the old prison the stocks were bought by Mr. Beck, builder, and after remaining in his yard for some years, were sold as old timber. 234 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTPOED And he wlio had a goodly calf With well-turned ankle bones, Might show them as he tripp'd along To Church upon the stones. The waistcoat then, both neat and clean, Was made of ample size ; And he who wore it, found he had Its pockets on his thighs ! The coat well fitted to the shape Came down, both straight and long, With flowing skirts and pocket flaps, And buttons large and strong ! A Holland shirt then always had A frill well plaited in, And fastened neatly in the pleats With a gold bosom pin 1 Then white as blossom was each wig, For all might freely wear, Without the burden of a tax, Fine powder in the hair. The tail, too, then so neatly tied All round with ribbon black, Hung flowing gracefully behind, And quite adom'd the back I| Whilst silver chain, and seal, and key, As everyone might see, Came dangling on his breeches down, Almost down to the knee ! To this but add a stately cane, With head of virgin gold ! And then you'll see how gentlemen Were dressed in days of old ! The writer proceeds to enumerate some of the celebrities of the town at the time of which he wrote, mentioning among others Good old Mr. Follett who Of parsons was the best, Whose breeches were of Florentine, And Florentine his vest. All the characters in the poem — whether good, bad or in- different — seem to have been snuif-takers. The writer says : No greeting then was deemed sincere. No chatting thought enough, That didn't end with an " Oh dear I Come 1 take a pinch of anufE." THE GEOEGIAN ERA (II.) 235 Perhaps the municipal authorities of the present day might get a hint or two for the next " Mayor's Sunday " from the following description of the Corporation going to church : Oh what a turn out then you saw, With Sergeant Needs and Brenston, Whose three-cock'd hats were trimm'd with gold, And waistcoats made of crimson. And then the Mayor and Aldermen In scarlet robes attir'd, With twelve assistant Burgesses Walk'd forth to be admir'd I* The writer, who endorses his MS. with the words " Finished 4th August, 1841," concludes with a promise to prepare another list, By setting down the lives Of such as ought to shine in verse, Among the maids and wives. This task, however, as might have been expected, proved tod much for him, and was never accomplished. In 1810 great excitement was caused in Tiverton and the neighbourhood by some extraordinary proceedings at Sampford Peverell, a village about five miles distant from the town. The affair will always be wrapt in a certain amount of mystery, although the prevailing belief was, and still is, that it was the result of some conspiracy ; and suspicion points to the Eev. Mr. Colton, who certainly took a great interest in the matter, as the arch conspirator. I refer of course, to the well-known story of the " Sampford Ghost." The scene of the tragedy or comedy — there seems to have been something of both — was a very ordinary house,t having a shop and kitchen below, a single staii'case, com- municating with the upper story, and in the latter a small ante- room or landing, and two rooms one leading into the other. The * The Corporation used to attend Church on the last Sunday in each month. They were preceded by three mace bearers — Caleb Adams, William Adams (brothers) and a man called Melhuish — whose livery was as follows : three-cocked hats, trimmed with gold lace ; long blue coats, also trimmed with gold lace ; red waistcoats ; dark plush breeches ; white stockings ; and silver-buckled shoes. The Mayor wore a scarlet robe ; all the rest black robes. t This is true, so far as the exterior and general arrangements are con- cerned. On the windows, liowevcr, arc some curious inscriptions, cut in the glass. Thus over the date 17()7 arc the words "Oh Lord, forgive them for they know not what tliey do." On another pane the names " Thomas and lOlizabotli Bellamy" and the date " 171)5 " are engraven ; while on a third pane is to Jjc found tlie apothegm " Many estates arc spent in the getting of sense." None o£ these inscriptions aecms to have any reforonco to the ghost. 236 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED manifestations took place in the two upstair rooms. At first the ghost, or whatever it was, visited the place by day as well as by night and made known its presence by sundry kickings and stampings — very unghostlike conduct, but all the same, very alarming. The further particulars shall be given in the words of Mr. Colton. " These phenomena" he observes " continued almost incessantly for about five weeks, when they gradually gave place to others still more curious and alarming. Whatever females slept in either of these apartments, experienced, some of them all, and all of them some, of the following sensations. They were most dreadfully beaten, as by-sfcanders may hear and witness; and 1 am quite certain that I have heard myself more than two hundred blows given in the course of a night. The blows differed in violence; at times they can be compared to nothing but a very strong man striking with all the force he is master of, with a closed fist on the bed. They leave a great soreness, and visible marks : I saw a swelling at least as big as a turkey's egg on the cheek of Anne Mills, a servant of Mr. Chave's. When these blows and noises have been most violent I have placed myself close to the bed, and when they were at their height, without changing my position, have desired one or other of the party to rush in with a candle kept ready lighted on the outside of the door for that purpose, but we could discover no cause. Every plan we could think of has been practised to frustrate or foil artifice or design. I have seen a sword, when placed in the hands of a woman, repeatedly and violently wrested out of them, and thrown with a loud noise sometimes into the middle of the room, and sometimes still more violently against the wall. This sword I have heard it take up, and with it beat the bed ; by ifs shaking the handle in a particular manner, I have been aware of it's taking it up. I have placed a very large folio Greek Testament, weigh- ing about eight or ten pounds, on the bed : it has been repeatedly thrown in the centre of the room. It is a curious circumstance that this same Testament has been thrown with great violence and a loud noise from the foot to the head of the same bed, inclin- ing in its direction a little to the right. I have often heard the curtains of the bed most violently agitated, accompanied with a loud and almost indescribable motion of the rings. These curtains, to prevent their motion, were often tied up, each one of them in a large single knot, and in this state every curtain in that bed was agitated, and the knots thrown and whirled about with such rapidity, all at the same time, that it would have been by no means pleasant to have been in their vortex, or within the sphere of their action. I have heard, in the presence of several witnesses, footsteps repeatedly walking by me, and round me, when sitting at times by the light of one or two candles, and could see nothing. I have been in the act of opening a door which was already half open, with a candle in one hand, when a violent and THE ftEOEGIAN ERA. (II.) 237 sudden rapping was produced on the opposite side of the same door. I paused a moment, but while the rapping continued, I drew the door which was before half open, suddenly open ; not a second could have elapsed, yet I can swear that I could then see nothing ! although I had a lighted candle in my hand, nor can I at this moment conjecture the cause of that violent knocking. I have been in one or other of the two apartments that are so much disturbed, more than once, but particularly in the one which has a large modern window, when from the noises, knockings, blows on the bed and rattling of the curtains, I did really begin to think the whole chamber was falling in. Mr. Taylor, sitting on a chair in the same room, while I was standing close by him, observed, ' I thought it was sufficiently terrible last night, but this is more than I ever heard it.' " One night the two servants were so much agitated that they refused to sleep any longer in their apartment ; Mr. Chave per- mitted them, in the dead of night, to bring their bed and bed clothes into the room where he slept with Mrs. Chave; after they had been quiet about half an hour, and the light was put out, a large iron candlestick began to move most I'apidly over the whole room, producing by its motion a noise exactly resembling the grinding of a malt-mill. Mr. Chave was in the act of ringing the bell, to call up the 'prentice boy, when the candlestick was violently thrown at his head, which it narrowly missed; but after striking the head of the bed, fell upon the pillow. " Mr. Searle, late keeper of the County Gaol, informed me of his intention of going to Sampford to find out the grand trick that was there exhibiting. He informed me, after his visit, however, that the blows were extremely loud and violent on the bed in which a single female slept (Ann Mills), even while he was sitting on one side of the bed and his friend on the other. The sword before mentioned was placed, he positively assured me, on the bed where a large folio Ti;stament was placed over it, thus by its weight pressing down the sword ; they then resumed their position on each side of the bed, so as to be able to ascertain the slightest motion of the person who occupied it. The sword was in a very short space of time hurled with the greatest violence from the bed against the opposite wall — a distance of about seven feet. He was quite certain the female in the bed neithcu' moved hand or foot. It seems that in Mr. Searle's absence from this room, a few minutes, his friend struck at something and blood was evident on th(; knife, but as this circumstanci; took place without any witness, 1 do not consider it worthy of umch atten- tion. " As the following fact has beim sworn to in the presence of Captain Jontis, myself, ;ind othc^rs, J may venture to relate it, Mr. Taylor deposes that in going into the room in consequence of the shrieks of the women, the sword that before was lying on the 238 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFORD floor was clearly suspended in the centre of the room, with its point towards him ; he drew back and contemplated this wonderful object with amazement and terror, when after the expiration of about a minute, it fell to the ground with a loud noise. He also deposed to his perfect ignorance of the cause of the phenomenon. " Last Thursday night, September 13th, the family, with one exception, were not much disturbed, nor were they some nights previous to that ; but Anne Mills deposed on oath, on Friday morning, before Mr. Sully and myself, that she was beaten so violently on that night that she hesitated whether she should run out of bed or strike a light ; in the act of doing the latter, she received a very severe blow on the back, the effects of which she deposed were very visible, and the tinder box was forcibly wrenched out of her hands, and thrown into the centre of the room by the same agent that gave the blows. Lastly, two servants belonging to the place, Mary Dennis and Sally Case, in the presence of a Mr. Sumpter, bore witness to the following very extraordinary occurrence : That on Sunday morning at half- past seven o'clock they were violently beaten while in bed ; that the bed in which they slept was opposite to the large modern window before described ; that while nothing interfered between them and the light but a thin sheet, they distinctly saw a large arm suspended over the bed, without any body attached to it. The possibility of such a phenomenon if it was to be seen, I have convinced myself of." An affair of such mystery was sure to attract attention on the part of many persons who were not disposed to accept a super- natural solution. Among those who attempted to get to the bottom of the secret was Mr. Marriot, editor of the Taunton Courier. In Colton's narrative we frequently meet with the name of a Mr. Taylor, and Marriot affirmed his belief that he, and no one else, was the veritable ghost. Taylor, he said, had studied necromancy under the " celebrated Moon," and had turned his knowledge to account in producing these remarkable effects. Taylor, however, made an affidavit before J. Govett, Esq., the Mayor of Tiverton, denying these allegations, and couched in the following terms : , " That he never saw Mr. Moon exhibit but three times in his life ; that he was never in his company but twice in his life ; that he never was under Mr. Moon's tuition one hour. Sworn before me, 27th September, 1810, " J. Govett, Mayor of Tiverton." It would seem that the house in question had been occupied at an earlier date by a Mr. Bellamy, during whose tenancy it was believed to have been used for the purpose of secreting smuggled goods. " In the corner," says Mr. Colton, " of the second room, where strangers usually sit during the night, there is a large hole THE GEOEGIAN EEA (II.) 239 about two feet square and sis feet deep." Commenting on this admission Mr. Harriot averred tliat it was only a part of the truth, that instead of there being one communication with the upstair rooms, as Mr. Colton had stated, there were actually three, a circumstance which " Mr. Chave studiously concealed from the numberless visitors who have been drawn by curiosity from all parts of the country to attend the ghostly lectures." It does not appear what answer Mr. Colton made to this, but on another point in which his case was attacked, he successfully maintained his ground. Mr. Marriot stated that on a visitor named Talley going into the inner room " he was much surprised to observe a man named Dodge, a cooper, sitting on the bedside half-concealed by the curtain." To this very damaging assertion Colton rejoined " Mr. Talley himself now admits he recollects he did not see any man half-concealed behind a curtain for the plainest of all possible reasons, there were no curtains to that bed on which he saw Mr. Dodge sitting." Marriot, however, went on to say " that Mr. Talley then took the precaution to lock all the doors ; and taking the keys with him in the servants' room. On the following morning Mr. Talley went into the chamber where Dodge was, who could not quit his room till he had let him out of it, he having taken the key." " This," says Mr. Colton, " is rather miraculous, as I shall now make it fully appear that the door of this identical chamber where Mr. Dodge slept, on that memorable night, with the apprentice boy, hath never had since its formation either key-hole, lock, bolt, bar, or anything to secure it, but a very common thumb latch, even the catch of which was gone." While elementary facts like this were disputed, it was hopeless to expect that the mystery would be ex- plained ; but it is now certain that the whole of these seances were arranged by Mr. Colton, with the help of two accomplices. Seeing that this was the case, his boldness in challenging enquiry is positively amazing. No man ever acted a part with greater ability. In the appendix to his "Hypocrisy," published in 1812, he makes the following reference to the subject, which seems at first sight utterly inconsistent with his guilt and shews a con- Bummate reliance on his own skill in bafiling detection : " If these nocturnal and diurnal visitations are the effects of a plot, the agents are marvellously secret and indefatigable. It has been going on more than three years. And if it be the result of human machination, there irmst bi; more than sixty persons con- cerned in it. Now I cannot but think it rather strange that a secret by which no one can possibly get anything should b(; so well kf'pt ; particularly, when i inform the public what the ncws- papiTH would not, (jr could not ac(juaint them with ; naiiifly, that a Reward of two hundred uiuljifli/ I'ounds has hecn advertized for anyone who can yive such information as may lead to a discovery. 240 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED Nearly two years have elapsed, hut no claimant lias appeared. I myself, who have been abused as the dupe at one time, and the promoter of this affair at another, was the first to come forward with one hundred pounds, and the Mayor of Tiverton has now an instrument in his hands, empowering him to call on me for the payment of that sum, to anyone who can explain the cause of the phenomena. ... A gentleman who commanded a company in the Hereford Militia was stationed at Sampford; his curiosity was much excited, and he sat up in Mr. Chave's house at different times, thirty nights. I dined with him at Ottery Barracks ; his brother officers were anxious to know his opinion of that affair. He immediately replied, ' Mr. Colton, who sits opposite, has engaged to give one hundred pounds to any person who can discover it. If he hand me half a guinea across the table, I engage before you all to pay the money instead of him, whenever he is called upon.' I did not take his offer. A clear proof that neither of us thinks a discovery the most probable thing in the world." I should add that the Mr. Talley, who has been so often mentioned, was the individual whose military proclivities have already gained him a place in these pages. It seems that he was the owner of some property at Sampford, and this led him to take an official interest in the proceedings. Accompanied by the Eector of Sampford and several other people he entered the haunted house, and, striking an attitude, shouted " Come forth, if thou hast aught to say ? " The ghost, however, declined to appear. Colton, in his satire, thus alludes to the circumstance : Here blust'ring Marplots, like Glendower, bawl, At Sampf ord's vasty Pond for goblins call ; Be not deceived, my Friends, 'tis all a Hum, Roar as he may, and rant, iVo Gliost will come. In conclusion I will adduce a contemporary poem written in the ballad style and clearly the work of an unbeliever, though the name of the author has not transpired. I have omitted a word or two in the opening stanza for the sake of the metre. THE SAMPFORD GHOST. Old men and beldams in the street, Do prophesy upon it dangerously. Terrific Muse, whose chief delight. Amidst the darksome shades of night, When nature sinks to rest, Is to ailright some luckless wights With horrid sounds and dismal sights, Of forms in terrors drest, THE GEORGIAN ERA (II.) 241 Thee I invoke — arise and sing The fears that from the noises spring Of Sampford's hellish ghost ! Who from some dark and dreary grave Starts forth to haunt the rooms of Ch — ve, -\nd scare a mighty host ! * Altho' its sounds have long been heard, No ghostly form has yet appeared In mild or fierce array ; A man lieroic, stout of heart, Has said, " Come vorth whoe'er thou art, If thou hast ort to zay." A Priest wav'd round his uprais'd hand. As if by force of magic wand Or some enchanting spell, And said — " Declare at my command, If Spirit thou art or Goblin damn'd. With air from heaven or hell ! " From distant hamlets, villas, towns. Squires came, as well as rustic clowns, And wildly stared about. The Chancellor t sat and heard it knock Three hours and more by Sampf ord clock, And try'd to smoke it out. \ No spectre comes, with terrors crown'd, But still is heard the horrid sound Throughout the haunted room ; Deluded fools ! to reason blind, Who even startle at the wind, A mopstick or a broom. With glasses mounted on her nose, Eacli village witcli and beldam goes W'ith superstitious ken To view the Spectre's dark abode. And mark the room where it hath trod, liy mortal eye unseen. With ojicn mouth and staring eyes, in council deep these dames surmise Some great event at hand ! in labour thus a mountain stood Witli wond'ruuH consternation view'd Hy all throughout the land ! • The number of people which the Huperstitious tale of this imaginary being haH collected together, may witli propriety be termed a host. t \ bravo SharpHhooter, X This man actually sat for tlm above iicriod in the rf>om, whttrin this HtipjiOHed gboHt perforiHH his itraiikw, tliijiking, it is naiii, by tin; cllliivia of tobacco to Htilio or otherwise drive the infernal Uobliu from the place of its abode. U 242 THE CHEONICLES OP TWTFOED But while they trembling eye'd the rock, Expecting some tremendous shock, To light a dormouse came. § Like them look on, ye silly fools, Well taught in error's mystic schools, And ye shall see the same ! , Meanwhile this maxim let me prize, " That good may out of evil rise, " Its truth I doubt no more ; Since now oppressed with hopes and fears, Old women knuckle down to prayers, Who never pray'd before. Tiverton, June 9th, 1810. The interest excited by the Sampford Ghost had hardiy sub- sided when another incident, not precisely of the same kind, but having to do with the world of spirits, provided the people of Tiverton with a congenial topic of conversation. In 1814, the daughter of a farmer living at Landfoot was taken seriously ill, and at length supposed to be dead. The doctor, however, observ- ing certain circumstances, which made him suspect that she was in a trance, declined to certify that life was extinct, and after a fortnight she revived. She then confided to her relatives an account of an extraordinary vision which had happened to her, and requested that it might be taken down in writing and printed. To pacify her, her friends pretended that this had been done, but she disbelieved them, and after threatening to return and haunt them unless her wish was complied with, she expired. The details of the vision were so wildly extravagant, that up to the date of her funeral no steps were taken for carrying her injunc- tion into effect. While the mourners were waiting for the hearse and coaches, a voice was heard from the adjoining room, saying, " Father, it is not printed." The company were horror- struck, and ever afterwards Mr. Tom Taylor, who devoutly believed both in the vision and the ghostly warning, caused the former to be re-printed every seven years in accordance with what he understood to be his sister's command. The Rev. William Vowles, who made the incident the subject of a sermon at " Steps Meeting, " Tiverton, June 26th, 1814, was of opinion that the mysterious voice was due to the vagaries of a servant maid. A third story relates to a somewhat earlier period. In 1872, when some old manuscripts were being turned over, there was found a portion of an old diary kept towards the end of the last century, by one William Gover. Here is the story given in his own words and not very accurate orthography : — " In July 21st, 1797, died an ancient gentleman in Bartow's Causeway, Mr. Sampson by name. He was a consell (consul) for § The noise which has excited so much consternation no doubt pro- ceeds from a cause equally frivolous. THE GEOEGIAN EEA (II.) 243 England to Algeeres, and by some means narrowly iscaped his life in that county, For his service to Government he had £500 a year. Charitable, well disposed gentleman. Towards his latter end he agreed with his shurgon (surgeon), Mr. Guffett (Govett), after his death to lay in his bed for six dayes and nights by his order and desire. The above shurgon to viset him evcyy day, to examine if there was any life in him, and at the expiration of six days and nights by his order and desire, his head was to be taken from his shoulders, which was done at the time desired. Then he was put in his coffin and buried in a plot behind his house, in the orchard belonging to him. He had two thorns planted where his grave was to be made, the one at the head and the other at the foot. He was received into the grave by a strange dissenting minister, which made a very fine prayer on that occasion, and sung two hymns at the grave. There was no other reason to be given, only mistresting the Hand of Providence for fear he should come to life after he was laid in his grave. P.S. — For the certainty of this act I myself heard Mr. Martin Duns- ford (the historian) say he had the gentleman's head in his hand after it was taken off. Attested by me, William Gover." To this we may add that for years after Sampson was buried, his ghost, it is said, refused to be " laid " and his head having been kept by the doctors for scientific purposes, old Sampson used to wander headless at night in search of it. Lastly — about eighty years ago there lived " on the Leat," as it was then called, and near the Factory, an old man of the name of Jarman. The history of this individual was involved in some obscurity, but enough of his antecedents was known to make him an object of suspicion to his neighbours and the towns- folk generally, whilst to the juveniles he was a source of terror. Mothers would quiet unruly children and send them to sleep by the threat of " Old Jarinan shall come for thee." Of what par- ticular crimes he had been guilty was not remembered with any certainty, but rumour suggested some of the blackest. At any rate he was said to have acquired a certain amount of wealth through the direct agency of the devil, who, as in the case of Faustus, merely stipulated that when his dupe finally undressed to take to his bed for the last time, he (old Nick), should have him, body and soul. As the poet says : " To these conditions both consented, And parted, perfectly contented." Now whatever old Jarman might have been, he was certainly not a fool, and was, therefore (so th(! report ran), perfectly aware that as long as he went to b(!d without entirehj undressing, he was safe from any visit frtjin the enemy of mankind. Years rolled by, and old Jarman lived on, doing neither harm nor good that we wot of, but feared and avoided by his neigh- b2 244 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED hours. Daily he pursued his usual avocations, and nightly did he retire to his rest—" and thereby hangs a tale " ; for, in order to cheat the devil, he never took off the garment which Sir Walter Scott's Miss Griselda describes as " that part o' a man's habili- ments, the vvhilk it does na become a leddy to particulareeze." Although the days we write of were not those of shoddy and cheap clothing, yet the effluxion of time brings everything to an end, and so it fell out that old .Tarman's " unmentionables " be- came worn out, and had to be replaced by new ones. These were brought, and the old man on retiring for the night had denuded himself of the old ones, and was engaged in admiring the cut and texture of the new, when suddenly there was an awful smell of brimstone, and in a moment Old Nick was at his side to claim the fulfilment of his bargain. " Half-kill'd with anger and surprise, ' Art come again ?' old Jarman cries ! " It was too true, but a lucky thought suggested itself — " Wait a minute," quoth he, and taking good aim, flung his big turnip of a watch at the devil's head. While the latter, nonplussed by the blow, was whisking his tail about, Jarman seized his nether garment, and jumping into it, bade defiance to the enemy. After this episode in his history, there occurs a blank, so " How long he lived, how wise, how well, How roundly he pursued his course, And smoked his pipe at the " White Horse " Historians do not tell." My informant, however, says he can just remember — for it was more than half-a-century ago — a strange funeral emerging from a small house, near what is now known as " Pinkstone's Corner," followed by a gaping crowd (mostly women), this being a sample of their gossip : — " Bless-ee a zold ez zel to Belzebub years ago, and than he waz ebble to build thik row of eight housen. No- body cude zleep in tha room way un, and they do zay az how there's nort but stones in the cofiin and that Nick hath got the body o' en." I must now give some particulars of the Eev. C. Colton, A.M. Cantab. Collef/ii Regalis Socius, as he was wont to inscribe him- self — in plain English, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Although he did small credit to his cloth, and was, in fact, the very reverse of a model clergyman, he was nevertheless a man of versatile talents. He wrote books, sported, gambled, and finally, committed suicide. He was the Curate of Prior's Portion, this living having been bestowed on him about the year 1805 by the Provost and Fellows of King's, and in ability as a preacher he far outshone the rest of the clergy of the town and neighbourhood. Consequently when it came to his turn to occupy the pulpit at St. THE GEOKGIAN ERA (II.) 245 Peters, the building was always crowded, a large part of the con- gregation consisting of strangers who had come on purpose to hear him. His sermons were not marked by any peculiar doctrinal opinions, but they were scholarly and epigrammatic, and he was noted for his scathing manner of denouncing hypocrisy and formalism. I have already mentioned his satire dealing with the former subject. It is a long and rather stilted composition, and by no means so well known as his prose work " Lacon." The latter is a series of reflections on life and morals, set out in paragraphs and showing profound thought as well as consider- able power of language. His general habits, however, were more those of a sportsman than a student. He lived in a small house on the east bank of the Exe, the approach to which lies through a garden in St. Peter-street. He was unmarried, and his household consisted of himself and a domestic, who was house- keeper and servant combined. One Sunday afternoon when he had retired to the vestry for the purpose of changing his surplice for the black gown in which he always preached, he was observed hastily to emerge, and, crossing the chancel, to leave the church by the little door. At first people thought he must be ill, but just before the conclusion of the hymn he re-appeared, and, mounting the pulpit, delivered his discourse. The explanation came out the next day. On arriving at the vestry he found that he had forgotten to bring his sermon, and as extempore preaching was not in his line, he had no alternative but to hurry home for it. Here, however, a new difficulty presented itself, for his worthy housekeeper after carefully shutting up the house had gone to church. But Colton was not to be foiled. He forced open a window, got into the house and having secured his manuscript, ran at the top of his speed back to the church, where he arrived in the nick of time. On another occasion Mr. Colton had his horse waiting for him at the gate as soon as service was over, and a servant with his gun, &c. ; for wishing to be in time for the game on the following morning, he thought it expedient to ride to Dulverton the Sunday evening. It is even said that he once did duty with a scarlet coat concealed under his gown, in ordcn' that he might be able to start for the " meet " on Exmoor immediately after the service, but this may not be true. Again, one of the Hectors lent him a terrier, and as Colton did not return the animal within a reasonable time, a warm discussion ensued. The dog's name hajjpened to be " Pomp," and as it was Colton's turn to preach the next Sunday, he announced with great gravity as his text, " Neithfu- shall his pomp follow him." At length having received the gift of a living nearer London, he quitted Tiverton, and his subsequent career is very painful to rf-arl of. L havi; already spoken of Colton's t!;!imbling propensities. After his removal t(j his ikjw s|)h(;re lu; became associated with the notorious gang— Thirkell, Hunt, and Probert — who were tried later 246 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED on for the murder of a Mr. Ware, The latter was reputed to be rich, and at the time when this trio conspired against him, a sum for a bet was owing to him, or he had a good deal of money on his person. However that may be, Thirkell agreed to drive Mr. Ware in his gig to Probert's, a lonely villa some ten miles or so from London, where gamblers held their nocturnal orgies and spendthrifts were often lured to their ruin. Before, however, they quite reached their destination, a bullet from Thirkell's pistol served as a quietus for Mr. Ware, and with the help of the two other scoundrels, the body was sunk in a pond behind the cottage. " Murder," it is said, " will out," and these facts having become known, the three gamesters were arrested and tried. Probert turned King's evidence, Thirkell was hanged, and Hunt transported for life. There is nothing whatever to connect Mr. Colton with this crime. 8ince his departure from Tiverton, he had plunged into the wildest excesses, and had long ago been compelled to sever all connection with the church, but it is pretty clear that he had nothing to do with this dastardly act. How- ever, on the apprehension of his associates he thought it safer to make his escape to France. Here he continued his vicious courses, and at last, in a fit of despair, cut his throat. The author of the " American in Paris," thus refers to this melancholy event : " I have just fallen accidentally upon the story, which everybody knows, of the unhappy Colton. He wrote books in recommenda- tion of virtue and critiques in reprobation of vice, with admirable talent. He was a clergyman by profession, and yet became a victim to this detestable passion. He subsisted by play several years amongst these dens of the Palais Royal, and at length fall- ing into irretrievable misery, ended his life here by suicide. One feels a sadness of heart in looking upon the scene of so horrible an occurrence ; one owes a tear to the error of genius, to the weakness of our common humanity." Turning aside from the tragic and portentous to comparatively humdrum issues — the "trivial round and common task" of parochial life: — About this time there appears to have been con- siderable distress among the poor. In 1811, 3,770 bushels of wheat were bought by the parish and sold at a reduced price to the needy. The cost to the ratepayers was <£231 6s. did. Next year a meeting was held in the Town Hall for expediting relief. The sum of £250 was subscribed, and wheat, barley, and potatoes were bought and sold to the poor at less than the current prices. In the month of July potatoes were so scarce that for a fort- night not a single specimen was to be seen in the market. — In 1812 it was resolved by the Turnpike Trustees to cut two new roads ; one to Exeter over Cherry Tree Hill, and the other to Bampton and Dulverton by the course of the Exe. The former of these roads was completed about three years later. Several of the main entrances to the town date from the present century. THE GEORGIAN ERA (II.) 247 The approach from Rackenford formerly led past Broomfield, the section of road^between the Factory and Shillands having been adapted for the purpose as recently as 1831.* The Station-road was cut at the opening of the railway ; the old London- road is on the other side of the line.t — Oii the 12th of May, ]813, the inhabitants were perturbed by the appearance of a water-spout. This occurred during a violent thunderstorm, but not a drop fell from the celestial siphon, which passed immediately and most considerately to the north. After a while the water- spout broke into two parts, one of which took a' north-easterly direction. What became of the other is not recorded. It is evident, however, that something happened, for in about an hour the Exe I'ose five feet and did a great deal of mischief, but this time Father Exe may be excused, as it was all the fault of the water-spout. On the 10th of January, 1814, it was rather cold. The thermometer was ten degrees below freezing point " in a warm room." On the 11th there was a heavy fall of snow, whereby travelling was rendered impossible for several days ; but, by way of compensation, on the 13th the Exe was frozen so hard that skating was rendered possible. The Rev. C. Colton was very much alive on this occasion. He caused a table and forms to be deposited on the ice, and sat there drinking punch with certain of his " pals." After this he amused a gratified public by skating and letting off Roman candles. On the 16th of May, preliminaries of peace having been signed, the poor were regaled with 2,987 lbs. of meat and puddings and cider. The rejoicings — processions, sham-fights, feasfcings, and other delights — were kept up till the 20th. On the 1st of July peace was proclaimed at Tiverton. The 7th was a thanksgiving day, and marked in the evening by illumi- nations. On the 25th of August the first barge laden with coal arrived by the canal, and the price of coal was reduced, in conse- quence thereof, 3d. a bushel. The Grand Western Canal, how- ever, is a subject which must not be dismissed too lightly. The line was surveyed and estimates prepared in the year 1795, and, * At the time whoa the foundry was built a canal was cut from the Leat to Shilland's Quarry, near Broomfield, and flat-bottomed boats used to ply on it. There was a foot-bridge over the leat opposite the Worth Arms, whence a path led to Loughborough, where there was another foot-bridge, and thence to the old Turnpike Gate. t Before the cuttin<>t, which fate has giv'n to you ; Such is the spot to which we bid adieu. 258 THE CHEONICLES OP TWYFOED Tiverton, however, was destined to possess for a number of years a regular theatre of its own. In speaking of the rise of Nonconformity in Tiverton I had occasion to refer to a Unitarian Chapel in St. Peter-street which was converted about the year 1820 into a theatre. The agree- ment between the manager, Mr. Henry Lee, and the lessor was that the former should'rent if for a few months in the winter, while the owner should retain possession of it during the remainder of the year, and devote it to any object he pleased. Mr. Lee was already the occasional, and probably the only, tenant of the theatres of Taunton, Bridport, Dorchester, and other towns, where he and his company were usually received with much favour. In his early days he is said at the Gloucester Theatre to have played Falstaff to Kean's '' Prince Hal," a thing which he could do without padding, being even then remarkable for his corpulence. He wrote a play entitled " Caleb Quotum," which, through the friendship of Kean or Garrick, was placed on the London boards. It fell flat, however, and was soon withdrawn. Ill luck seems to have been usual with Lee. Once when he and his company paid their customary visit to the town, he was arrested for debt and consigned to the "Debtors' Prison," a wretched den under the old Town Hall. This place is stated to have been worse than a "condemned cell" at Newgate — a dark, damp dungeon, infested with insects. As a special favour, and through the interest of the late Mr. George Barne, Lee was allowed out for an hour at a time on his parole, when he might have been seen pacing to and fro before the Old Bank. Previous to the chapel being used by the company, it underwent an entire trans- formation, and was thoroughly fitted up as a theatre with pit, boxes, orchestra, gallery, dressing-rooms, stage, and every neces- sary convenience for the production of stage plays. Lee was well supported by his wife, and several daughters, the eldest of whom always took the leading parts and did so creditably. After a few years the management fell into the hands of a Mr. Davis, but the Lee family (minus the old gentleman who was seen no more) still formed part of the company on their occasional three months' visits to the town. Among other members of the com- pany was a decayed gentleman named Heathcote, of whose ante- cedents little was known, except that he had been reduced from comparative afiluence to seek a livelihood on the stage. Whilst with the company at Tiverton he conceived and executed the design of making the siege of Tiverton Castle and certain exciting incidents connected therewith the subject of a three-act play. In furtherance of this object, and to render the piece more attractive, the late Mr. Elford E-eed, a local artist of great skill in painting, produced a "drop scene" representing the town, castle, and church as they appeared at the time of the siege. At length the night of the first performance arrived. As may be THE GEORGIAN EEA (II.) 259 supposed, the house was crammed, and the author on being called before the audience at the close, received a well-deserved ovation. It was played, of course, a few times more, and several hundred copies of the piece were sold, but as it was never put on any other provincial stage, it is to be feared that the author reaped but small advantage from his work. About this time a Major Johnson came to reside in Tiverton. He was an Irishman and a major on the retired list. On each visit of Mr. Davis' company to the town the gallant major, when- ever the role of an Irishman had to be played, offered his services to the manager, and not unfrequently would sing a comic song between the play and the farce, which in those days always came after the four or five-act piece. Although he was ah amateur only, his appearance on the boards always elicited rounds of applause, as he seemed " to the manner born." Mr. Davis, with a generous wish to cater for the entertainment of his patrons, en- gaged, at an expense he was not justified in incurring, London " stars."' Among these was Mrs. Nisbet and her sister ; the former was to take the leading parts for the two nights of her en- gagement, while the latter was to perform as singer and danseuse. An amusing incident occurred while the latter was singing one of her songs. The subject was love, and it had a chorus with the words " Why don't the men propose ?" This, pronounced with emphasis, the stamping of a little foot, and an appealing look to the boxes, was irresistible ; and to the consternation of the audi- ence, a young fellow who had been dining, suddenly sprang from his seat, and saying, " D d if I don't i)ro pose,'' rushed behind the scenes. Some noise and confusion followed, and he was quietly escorted to the Angel Hotel, where he was staying as a com- mercial, and Luld to "pop the question" the next day. On another occasion the renowned Miss Foote was had down from London to play three nights for =£15 a night as " a very great favour" to the manager. Her three parts were "Portia," " Rosalind," and " Lady Macbeth," but although the prices were doubled and no half-prices allowed, her visit failed as a financial speculation. During the Christmas holidays it was usual to put " George Larnwell'" on the stage. On one occasion the leading lady was unable from some cause to take her part, and a substi- tute had to be found at tlie last hour. Will it be behoved that the part of the fascuiating and beautiful, but worthless, courtesan Millwood was taken by old Mrs. Lee, a dame of seventy sunnners, who usually took such parts as " Meg Merrilies," " Hecate," etc. ; and her (jwn son app(;ared as '' Barnwell " ? The building was pulled dcnvn in LS4 J,and since thou Tiverton has had no theatre properly so called, the Athentoum first, then the Heathcoat Hall and Drill Jlall doing duty instead. My readi.TM will, no doubt, be pleased to see a specimen of the old play billa. h2 LAST NIGHT OF THE PILOT.' THBATBE, TIVERTON. On WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2l8t, 1835, will be presented the Grand Nautical Drama called the 9 A Tale of the Sea, THE SCENERY PAINTED BY MR. HOLLIGAN, (Of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). This admirable Drama is founded on the weU known Tale of THE PILOT, written by Mr Cooper, the American Novelist, and was performed upwards of Two Hundred Nights on its first production. The Tale posseses considerable spirit, energy, bold- ness of character, and colouring, that mark an original Genius. The highly wrought Character of Long Tom Co-ffin is a theme of universal admiration : — the deep-toned Passion and Romance of his Nature, blended as it is with his rich Nautical Humour and Phraseology, com-plete the Picture of a Sailor, which every one pronounces perfect. The half-Yankee, half-Cockney, Capt. Boroughcliffe, a Gallimaufry of Amorousness, Cowardice, and Military Swagger, and his attendant Sergeant Drill, are very entertaining personages ; and;such is the deep interest and humour attached to the whole Tale, both in character and subject, that all concur in awarding it unqualified praise. The Pilot Barnstable Mr. CHAPMAN. Colonel Howard ... Mr. BISHOP Capt. Boroughclifle (a | j^^ WEBR regular Yankee) f '■^^- ^^^^• Sergeant DriU ... Mr. SENNETT. And Long Tom Coffin(every inch a Sailor) Mr. HERBERT LEE, Lieut. Griffith (ivith ] j^^. jjODSWORTH song) ... ) American Captain Mr. Dighton. Young Merry Master Davis. John ... Mr. SMITH. American Soldier Mr. BALSON. Mr. DAVIS, wlio will introduce a Yarn entitled "THE SAILOR'S CONSOLATION." Cecm& (with a Song) ... Mrs. DAVIS. | Irish Pedlar Woman ... Miss BROWNE And Kate Plowden ... Mrs. SENNETT. SUCCESSION OF SCENERY, dx. The Ocean off the American Coast— Ship & Schooner sailing in the distance.— Room at Col. Howard' s.— Another apartment of the Colonel's.— Through the Balconi/ is perceived A VESSEL LABOURING WITH THE STORM ! DECK OF THE ARIEL. Boom at Col. Howard's.— Song b>j Boroughcliffe, •' YANKEE DOODLE."- Quarcl House. — Pilot and Griffith rescued by Long Tom Coffin disguised as an Irish- woman. — Kate Ploughman's Apartments. — She corresponds with Barnstable by Signals from the Balcony. ROCKY PASS.-BROAD SWORD COMBAT, By Mr. DAVIS, and Mr. SENNETT, as Long Tom, and Sergeant DriU. Q£CK OF THE ARlElm.— Long Tom narrowly saved from drowning, half mad with exhaustion and excitement, gives a fearful description of an imaginary Storm.— State Room at the Colonel's. — Barnstable condemned to death.— The Pilot's inystcrious interview with the Colonel in his behalf.- QUARTER DECK OF THE ALACRITY. -Barnstable on the eve of Execution.— Long Tom's noble intercession .—Arrival of the Ariel.— General Attack.— The American strikes.— British Flafi triumphant.— And the Curtain descends to the air of "RULE BRITANNIA." A FAVOURITE SONG BY MR. DODSWORTH. A much admired GLEE, called. " Hark, Apollo strikes the Lyre." By Mr. d- Mrs. DAVIS, and Mr. BISHOPF. •' My Grandfather was a wonderful Man " by Mr. CHAPMAN. " THE GHOST OF A SHEEP'S HEAD " by MR. WEBB. The whole to conclude with a NEW FARCE (now performing at the Theatre Royal, Drm-y Lane,) called MR. AND MRS. PRINGLE, Or, THE FAMILY PARTY. Mr. Peter Pringle ... Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. John Brush ... Mr. DAVIS. Timothy ... Mr. CHAPMAN. Charles Robin, .. Mr. BISHOFP. Henry Robinson ... Mr. DODSWORTH. Billy Robinson ... Master DAVIS. Tommy Robinson ... Master SINNETT. Clarence Robinson ... Miss GROVE. Mrs. Bustle ... Miss BROWNE. Kitty ... Mrs. DAVIS. And Mrs. Pringle ... Mrs. SINNETT. Boxes,— 2s. 6d. Pitt,— 2s. Gallery,— Is. Second Account at half past Eight. Boxes, 2s. Pit, Is. 6d. Half Price to the Box, Pit and Gallery, at Nine o'Clock. Doors to be opened at Six, and begin at Seven o'clock. Tickets to be had of Mr. SALTER, Printer, and at the usual Places. Season Tickets to be had of Mr. Herbert LEE. *j* No Admittance behind the Scenes. The Grand Melo Drama of " The BRIGAND," also, " The WRECK ASHORE " are in active Preparation. Stflfle Manager, Mr, OSBOBNE. THE GEOKGIAN EEA (II.) 261 The most notable event in 1821 was the celebration of the coronation of George IV. In addition to the usual procession of the clubs, the richer inhabitants took part in their carriages, and the trades were represented by craftsmen at their employment. Britannia was there in all her glory in the person of the tallest woman in Tiverton, a Mrs. Banbury. The Town Band and the inevitable drums and fifes were also conspicuous, as were also the charity boys and girls and a number of young women, two and two, in ribbons and white frocks. Interest, however, was chiefly centred on the " Herald," whose tabard, gorgeous dress, and gold laced head-covering was a sight to behold. This important official was represented by Mr. CoUard, a much respected hatter of Pore-street. He possessed a portly person and a sonorous voice which was well adapted to bis office of reading the proclamation in various parts of the town. A liveried page on each side of his caparisoned charger added to the imposing effect. The next loyal celebration was on the occasion of the coronation of King William and Queen Adelaide, when Mr. Collard again acted as "Herald," and Mrs. Banbury mounted once more a milk-white steed, and, as before, was attended by a boy page on each side. At the coronation of Queen Victoria Mr. Collard was no longer visible in the procession, his increasing age rendering his voice unequal to the strain of reading the "Herald's" proclamation. His place was filled by Mr. Quick, the then master of , the Boys' Blue- coat School. The loyalty of the inhabitants of Tiverton was again shown on the marriage of the Queen with Prince Albert. Once more the shops were closed, the bells rang out, there were public dinners, and oceans of wine and beer accompanied the loyal toasts on the joyous occasion. The poor were not forgot- ten, and even the inmates of the workhouse participated in the good things which were freely supplied to them. To return, however, to the coronation of George IV. Colonel Harding states that though the bells rang, there was little rejoicing among the lower orders, who reserved "all demonstrations of loyalty to the 2Ist of August following, the day of Queen Caroline's funeral, when much display was made by the different societies in Tiverton, and some rioting and confusion was the con- sequence." This is hardly in agreement with the account pre- viously given, which has been furnished by an eye-witness, and which I have every reason to believe cori-ect ; but there is no doultt that there waH a considerable amount of discontent in the placi;, and that it did not wait till the 21st of August to break out. The date of tht; coroiiaticm, I should say, was July 19th, and some of the inure convivial (jf the inhabitants resolved to have a luncheon, or, as Harding calls it, " a cold collation," in the iScliool (Jreen. The charge; was 38. 6d. per head, and about thr<'c huii(h-(;(l peoplii took part. Now then; happened to be at this time a good many J acobins, or as we should now describe them, 262 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFOED Radicals, in the town, who themselves held aloof from the festivities and were not content that their neighbours should enjoy themselves. While, therefore, the more loyal Tivertonians were making their post-prandial speeches and regaling each other with song, the envious " Rads.," lurking in secret places, deter- mined to pay them out. As may be easily imagined, on an occa- sion of this sort the joyous citizens put aside all suspicion and made full use of the " flowing bowl." Consequently they were hardly in a condition to dei^end themselves, when, on emerging late in the evening from the School gates, they found they had to run the gauntlet of their political opponents drawn up in battle array. As they came out, one after another, they were seized and hustled about, and when at length they were released, pre- sented a pitiable spectacle — hatless, with torn coats, and bleeding heads. There were no police in those days, and the two or three constables, who were the sole representatives of order, were powerless to interfere. Very few events of any interest occurred at Tiverton during the reign of George IV. In August, 1822, the foundation stone of Pitt Parsonage in St. Andrew-street was laid under the direc- tion of the Eector, the Rev. J. Spurway, About this time also Mr. Gr. Cosway rented a small factory in Westexe, where for many years he carried on a successful trade in blankets. In 1823 there was a contest between the clergy and the pai'ishioners respecting the right of the former to appoint one of the church- wardens. Hai'ding seems to imply that the clergy had usage on their side, but a reference to Dunsford will shew that this was not the case. The privilege of electing churchwardens, indeed, had long been the subject of a triangular duel between the parish- ioners, the clergy, and the Corporation ; and the older historian in his notes invariably alludes to any interference on the part of the two latter as an aggression. Here are his instances : — " 1675. Thomas Keene, Zachary Bidgood. — This year the members of the Corporation claimed the right of electing church- warden (sic) for the town of Tiverton, and nominated Wm. Powell to that office. They were resisted by the parishioners at large, who elected Thomas Keene. The matter was carried into the Bishop's court at Exon, which determined the right of elec- tion to belong to all the parishioners paying scot and lot, by the majority of those assembled ; and that the claim of the Corpora- tion was usurped and contrary to law. Mr. Keene was conse- quently returned and sworn into office." "1771. William Jenkins, Hugh Sweatland.— The election of Hu.fh Sweatland was the first instance of the clergy of this parish interfering in the choice of churchwardens ; and they then nominated Mr. Sweatland." " 1782. Greorge Dunsford, Nicholas Dennys. — The ministers again interfered, and nominated Mr. Dennys to the office of churchwarden." THE GEOEGIAN ERA (II.) 263 " 1784. Martin Dunsford, George Besley.— This year the members of the Corporation interfered, and employed the influence of that body, in concert with those landowners who had begun the suit at law in the Inquisitional Court at Exon, to have one of their adherents chosen churchwarden. They were opposed by the parishioners in general, paying scot and lot, that is, towards the parochial rates and taxes, who nominated Mr, Dunsford. The greater part of the ratepayers in the parish were polled regularly, and j\Ir. Dunsford was returned duly elected by the majority of 60 to 36. It is supposed that more than 3,500 people were collected in the church house and yard on this occasion." " 1785. Martin Dunsford, Eobert Wright. — This year the clergy again interfered, and nominated George Besley for church- warden. The parishioners opposed their claim, and nominated Eobert Wright for the country. Caveats were entered by each party in the Ecclesiastical Court against the nomination of the other, so that Mr. Dunsford was the sole warden sworn at the visitation. Both the others were sworn a few weeks after at the Bishop's Court in Exon, by a mandamus from the Court of King's Bench. The cause was not litigated further at this time, but Mr. Wright received and paid monies oflacially, and was esteemed the only warden for the country by the parishioners, who objected at the time of the election against any nomination of the clergy exclusively, because contrary to custom immemorial, and at a future (sic) vestry meeting impowered their attorney legally to support the choice of the parishioners." " 1786. Martin Dunsford, Nathaniel Cook. — This year the churchwardens were elected by the parishioners unanimously. Two of the ministers of the church objected to the election, because they had not the exclusive nomination of either ; and entered a protest against it on the vestry journal, but did not think proper to nominate any other person, or legally oppose the election, at this time, nor have they attempted it since." The fact is that at Tiverton the rules for the election of churchwardens were somewhat complicated. The practice was, and is, that one should represent the country and the other the town, but down to the year 1789 there was a further limitation as the wardens had to be chosen from each of the four quarters, Pitt, Clare, Tidcombe, and Prior's, in rotation. — Revenons a nos moutoiis. In the year 182.'i the clergy nominated George Barne, Esq., the parishioners Mr. Joseph Chilcott and Mr. James Munday. A caveat was at once entered against any other appointment than the last, and formidable preparations were made for the legal (ml'orcement of the claim. The clergy, how- ever, were not disposed to go to law on the subject and the elec- tion of Ijoth wardens has remained ever since in the hands of the parishioners. Oa the 16th of September, 1823, on the occasion of Mi-. 264 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED Heathcoat's return from Finance, his employees got up an ovation — a compliment which Mr. Heathcoat re-paid by giving his work- people, to the number of sixteen hundred, a dinner in the factory- yard. The menu appears to have included beef, mutton, pork, baked and boiled puddings, beer, ale, and cider, and the provision was no doubt thoroughly enjoyed. The feasters then formed a procession and perambulated the town with flags, bands, &c. It is pleasing to add, there were no " rows." — In an old Exeter paper dated April 4, 1824, I find the following account of a tragedy, which, though nearly seventy years have elapsed, is still remembered by old inhabitants : " A frightful accident occurred at Tiverton in the afternoon of Monday last. Several boys and lads had ascended the tower of St. Peter's Church and in the midst of their holiday gambols one of them (a fine boy, 9 years of age, son of Mr. Perham, brick-maker), leaning over the battle- ments, over-balanced himself, and dreadful to relate, fell to the ground, a height of above one hundred feet. The poor fellow, it is needless to say, was killed on the spot. The body presented a most distressing spectacle, being full of dislocations and bruises." A tombstone was erected to the memory of the unfortunate boy in St. George's churchyard against the east wall of the church. — - At a meeting on the 28th of November, 1825, it was decided to remove a house belonging to a Mr. Bryant close to the Town Hall, and to throw the space covered by it into St. George's churchyard. A question having been raised as to whether the rectors or parishioners had the disposal of the ground, towards the close of the year counsel's opinion was taken on the subject. The verdict was in favour of the parishioners, who proceeded to demonstrate their victory by having vaults made of two sizes and letting them, the larger for ten and the smaller for eight guineas. The ground thus added remained unconsecrated till 1836. In 1829 the churchyard was enlarged still further by the inclusion of a garden to the south of the chapel, the interior of which had undergone various alterations — especially the singing loft, in 1826. The Mr. Bryant,whosename I have mentioned, was a "character." '• Argus," in one of his VVhipshire papers, gives the following account of him :— "A portion of the present graveyard of St. George's Church, adjoining what is now Mrs. Bond's shop, was the site of a house and shop occupied by a very worthy and re- spected, but most eccentric tradesman, named Bryant, described by his contemporaries as ' Old Franky the Saddler,' for such was his trade and occupation. He had many apprentices — all out-door boys, and these were expected, as all such were in those days, to be at the shop at 6 a.m. sharp. Now Franky Bryant had carried on his business with credit to himself and probably with satisfac- tion to his customers, for half-a-century or more, and felt a natural wish to indulge a little in the morning, especially in the winter, and, therefore, felt it a hardship to dress and let in his THE GEOEGIAN EEA (II.) 265 apprentices at that early hour, so a happy thought was evolved from his fertile brain. Outside his bedroom window and just over the shop he affixed a box on the principle of a pigeon-trap , in which, on retiring to his virtuous couch, he deposited the key of the shop door with a string depending from it long enough to reach the ground. As soon as he heard a certain apprentice's knock in the morning, he would jump out of bed, and letting down the string, retire to bed again. A slight pull at this would cause the box to open and drop the key. After a time, however, he adopted the plan of dropping the string when going to bed, and this becoming known to certain practical jokers, he found one morning that during the night his premises had been entered, and though nothing was missing, his stock-in-trade was in the wildest confusion, and the contents of his larder cleared, together with some choice old wine on which he prided himself. " It was, however, for his idiosyncrasies and marvellous delusions that he became so widely known. That he sincerely believed all he told, no one doubted, but — ' In his brain, Which was as dry as the remainder biscuit After a voyage, he had strange places cramm'd With observations, the which he vented In mangled forms.' " Numberless were the wonderful things he had seen and done, scarcely exceeded by those of Baron Munchausen himself. I will not intrude on your space with more than one or two of these. He had a gun with a bent barrel, which, he said, was an invention of his own for the purpose of ' shooting round the corners,' and that on one occasion standing at one side of a corn rick he had brought down 40 birds at one shot ! A more amusing assertion, however, was made by him in the writer's presence on the occa- sion of a balloon ascent from the Cathedral-yard, Exeter, about the year 1825, by Mr. Grreen, the then celebrated aeronaut, who was accompanied by a gentleman of the name of Cuthum. A number of Tiverton people, myself among them, went to a field on the summit of ' Seven Crosses,' from whence it was surmised a sight of the balloon could be had if the wind should be blowing in that direction; nor were we disappointed, for it soon became plainly visible to the naked eye, and a good telescope might even discern the car witli its occupants. ' Franky,' of course, was there with a telescope wliich, as he assured us, was superior to any before invented. Addn^ssing the late Mr. Wotton, the attorney (who also had a glass in his hand), he said, ' Do you know, sir, that with my glass 1 could bring the object near enough to see the car and those within it, and even to h(!ar what they said?' 'Indeed,' said Mr. W., 'and what did they say .^' ' Oh,' said Franky, ' one said to the other, ' See yonder field near Tiverton, what a number of people are gazing at us.' 266 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTEOED Farewell, Baron Munchausen, with thy harmless and amusing stories ! Well do I remember thee on one Sunday morning as 1 walked behind thee, and saw thee telling some marvellous tale to the late Henry Dunsford, the banker, on the way to church." Lastly, I may refer to some local superstitions which prevailed about this time. Near Ashley lived an ancient lady, generally known as " Old Dame Beck." She wore high-heeled shoes with buckles, and, as she was reputed a witch, people were afraid of her. The neighbourhood was supposed also to afford two magic springs. In a field near the Hobby Horse Mills was a very small pool about the size of a man's hand, and about knee-deep. The water of this pool was thought to be medicinal, and credulous persons went with their bottles to procure a supply. It was afterwards proved, on the diversion of the Lowman, that the water came from the river, having soaked through the interjacent gravel. A similar instance was to be found in Dunswell Copse, situated at the base of the hill near the Park, but on the other side of the road. Here was a large square pond, and patients resorted to it for washing their bad legs. The virtue, however, quickly departed from this pond, when it was shewn that the water was derived from the Town Lake, a portion of which had been used for irrigating the Park. The following cure for the King's Evil is said to have been successfully applied to a boy, who is still alive to tell the tale. He paid a visit to a man named Marley, of Oakford, who was the seventh son of a seventh son. The latter gave him a small box of ointment, and told him to dip a pin's head in it and strike the wound nine times each way. He was then to catch a toad, cut off one of its hind legs, put the leg in a calico bag, tie the bag up to the wound, and let the toad go away alive ; and as the toad died, the wound would heal. Another interesting recipe is the following : " Take a one-ounce stone, put it in a quart of water, place in first blood- stained rag in the bottle, stop it down with lead, turn it every morning, and say the Lord's prayer : and this will cure a cut." YESTERDAY IX Ye ESTERDAY ^^^NTIL the year 1830 the markets at Tiverton were held ^Jj^-K in the streets. Hints to this effect occur in earlier ^'-^ pages of this work, but as it is not certain what arrangements were made in former times for all depart- ments of trade, it will be convenient to state at this point the condition of affairs immediately preceding the erection of the new market-place. This information has been given me by an old inhabitant of the town, Mr. William Davey, to whom I am indebted for a good deal of quaint gossip concerning a past generation, some of which has been incorporated in this work. The earthenware market was held in Bampton- street between the Boar's Head Inn and the National Provincial Bank. Planks were laid across the gutters, and on the planks the vendors placed their wares. For the clothiers, temporary stalls were erected between the market gates in Bampton-street and the Corn Market, and traders came from Frome, selling broad-cloth. The pig market was in front of the Boar's Head inn ; hence the sign. The sheep market was in the " Works," the bullock market in Newport-street. Angel-hill has been considerably lowered near the Congregational Chapel, where the pathway was called " th(^ Steps." Between the Steps and the road was a vacant plot, and here the potato market was held. The bags containing the potatoes were rested against a number of piTiiianciit posts. The meat market was held in Fore- street. Every week temporary stalls were carried on men's shoulders fVoiii Back-way and arranged in two rows from St. George's Church to the middle of thi; street. From this |)oint as far as Bampton-street was the poultry and butter market. The market weights were placed before the shop now occupied by 270 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOKD Mr. Strawson. Two uprights were driven into the ground as a support for the scales ; and near them was a kind of sentry-box, where a man in Uvery gave out tickets certifying the weight of the commodities. The Tiverton hvery was a gold-laced hat, a red cloth waistcoat, a blue coat trimmed with gold lace, and kerseymere breeches and leggings. About 1825 people became sensible that these primitive arrange- ments were not the most convenient that might be devised, and at a public meeting of the inhabitants it was resolved to apply for an Act of Parliament authorising a change. A Bill entitled " An Act for removing the markets held within the town of Tiverton and providing a market-place within the said town, and regulating and maintaining the said markets," received the Eoyal assent on the 10th of June, 1825 ; and on the 6th of July fol- lowing a meeting was held of the persons empowered to carry it into effect. It does not appear, however, that any steps were taken for this purpose until the spring of 1829, when another meeting was convened, and measures were adopted for purchasing various properties in the middle of the town, part of which had formed the site of the old Bowling Green. The total cost of the undertaking was .£8,392. This was covered by £50 shares, one of which was to be paid every year with interest, until the whole of the borrowed capital was liquidated. After that the proceeds of the market were to be devoted to the use of the Market Trust. Yearly sums of £218 15s. and .£31 5s. were also payable as equivalents for the old tolls which, as we have seen, had been given many centuries before to the poor. The part of the market assigned to butchers, poultry-dealers, and gardeners, was opened on the 8th of June, 1830; the cattle market on the 14th of June, 1831. In 1876 the buildings were in a very bad state, and were prac- tically re-built, at a cost of about .£2,000. This was probably a necessity, as the Trustees seem at no time to have had a superfluity of funds. In 1888 they were threatened with a Chancery suit in vindication of the claims of creditors from whom money had been borrowed to build the market. These creditors, or their representatives, are known as " deed poll holders " ; and the sums due to them, if calculated in full, amounted in 1888 to £7,821 principal, with arrears of interest to the extent of £17,486, making a total indebtedness of over .£25,000. The income from the market consisted of £350 per annum paid by the lessee for the right of receiving the tolls ; and the greater part of this was expended in repairs and cost of maintenance, or handed over to the charitable trust. Mr. G. E. Cockram, acting for the majority of the creditors, offered to surrender all claims for overdue interest, wipe out the original debt by one-half, and reduce the rate of interest for the future from 5 to 4 per cent, j a sinking fund of one per cent, for the final TESTEEDAY 271 extinction of the debt being established with a view to the markets being the property of the town and freed from tolls. The indebtedness of the market trustees would thus be brought down to £3,900, the interest of which would be met out of the revenue, still leaving a substantial sum for the charities. The questions thus raised, however, are at this date (1892) still unsettled. On Tuesday, August 28th, 1888, Mr. Arthur J. Ashton, barrister-at-law, on behalf of the Royal Commission on Markets and Fairs, held an inquiry at the Tiverton Town Hall relative to the markets and fairs of the borough. The appointment of the Commission was in conse- quence of a speech made in the House of Commons by Mr. Bradlaugh, who declared that the tolls in private markets were excessive, and that the whole matter was a fit subject for official investigation. From the evidence of Mr. John Williams, who had . been lessee of Tiverton market for thirty-one years, it appeared that there had been a progressive decline in the revenue. He stated that he had taken the market in the first place by public tender, and that on several subsequent occasions there had been auctions. He was then paying £350 per annum ; when he first took the market, he paid £524. The receipts had been materially re- duced by the opening of the railways and the decrease of butchers, stalls. Where he used to take from butchers £5 or £6 a day, he now received] only 30s. A vast amount of trade, which used to take place in the market, was now done in shops. Other evi- dence referred to the corn market. This, it was stated, was in another part of the town, was private, and in the hands of an independent body of trustees. The corn tolls were very small, business being done principally by sample at the hotels. There was less said about the fairs, possibly because there was no ques- tion involved, as was the case with the markets. In May, 1869, however, by an Order in Council the fair-days were changed, for the sake of convenience, from the second Tuesday after Whitsunday and Michaelmas-day to the first Thursdays in June and October. The fairs, itvcn more than the markets, have been shorn of their glory, and proposals have lately been made for abolishing them, the cattle fair in particular, which is held in the streets, being regarded in thi; light asa public nuisance. Sixty or seventy years ago, before the erection of the mark(;t, the entu'e fair was held in the streets. There was a row of stalls on each side of the full length of Fore- street, half-way down (i old-street, and in Bampton-street to a point a littl(! above tin; ])i'cs('tit market entrance. The various hruiich<'H of trade (;ach liad its locality assigned to it. The cloth and woollen stalls were in I'ampton-street; the scythes, reap- hooks, sheep-shears, Hhu^kdown scythe-stones, etc., near Ford s Jii-fwery. This side; of J'^onvstreet was devoted to the sale of fruit and new and second-hand clothing. Leather goods adapted to agricultural pursuits, and consisting of furzing gloves, gaiters, 272 THE CHEONICLES OF TWSTOED bridles, halters, and the like, furnished many of the stalls. On the north side, from the " Tuns " to the Angel, was a continuous row of sweet-meat and toy stalls. In those days Tiverton Fair and its attractions drew hundreds, and, indeed, thousands, from the towns and villages within a radius of fifty miles. The horse- fair in Lowman Green was, perhaps, the best attended in the county. IS'ot the least of the attractions on these occasions wei-e the shows, which were pitched some in Bampton-streefc, some in the Boar's Head Inn yard, also the inevitable Cheap-Jack, and generally a dramatic company. For the farmers' daughters and their swains " the fair " had romantic associations, as it afforded an excellent opportunity for courtship. If chance some fairins; caught her eye, The ribbon gay or silken glove, With eager haste he ran to buy For what is gold compared with love ? Ever since the year 1615, when the Charter was granted, it has been the invariable custom in Tiverton, as in other towns and cities publicly to " proclaim " at the hour of noon. During the reign of the Old Corporation the display, which was made on these occasions, did great credit to the inhabitants and marked the respect which they felt for one of the charters of their liberties. The Mayor, accompanied by all the Aldermen and Councillors, in their official garb, together with the beadles and constables, marched to Coggan's Well ; and the charter was read either by his Worship himself or the Town Clerk. This duty is now delegated to a policeman, and it is seldom that more than five or six out of the twenty-five members of the Corporation think it worth while to attend the ceremony. After a hasty recitation of the Charter and the pronouncement of " God Save the Queen " ! a derisive shout is given by half-a-dozen small boys, who are usually the sole witnesses of the proceedings, and then with down-cast looks the " procession " returns to the Mayoralty Room, where his Worship endeavours to cheer their spirits with a glass of port, and the toast of " Success to the Tiverton Fair " is drunk in solemn silence. The proclamation on these occasions is as follows : BOEOIJGH OF TIVEETON. O YEZ! O YEZ!! O YEZ!!! The Right Worshipful the Mayor of this Borough hereby proclaims and makes known that this present Fair is commenced, and will endure and continue for this day ; and that all manner of Persons coming to and from this Fair shall have free coming and going with all manner of Goods, Cattle, Wares, and Merchandizes, paying their Toll, Custom, Stallage, Piccage, Finis, and Coverage to the same appertaining, without any let or trouble, except for Felony, Murder, or Breach of the Peace, or for Contracts or other things done with this present Fair ; and that there be not bought or sold any Merchandizes, Wares, Cattle, or other things brought to this Fair, to be bought and sold, but only in the open TESTEEDAT 273 Fair, and at the place and places therefor respectively and usually ap- pointed, and not elsewhere ; and also the Mayor doth in Her Majesty's Name charge and command that all Persons coming-, resorting, and being in this Fail-, do keep Her Majesty's Peace, and that no Person do any Act to the Breach of the same upon pain of Imprisonment, and further to be punished and Fined accordino- to their offences. And that all Foreigners and Strangers bringing Wares or Merchandizes to be sold in this Fair, do at the end of the said Fair close their Booths, Shops, and Stalls, without putting any manner of Wares, or Merchandizes to sell, after the said Fair is ended. — God save the Queen. For "finis," in the above declaration \\e ought, perhaps, to read " fines," but the whole form is now such a farce that officials know little, and care less, as to what is being read. It has been the practice in some towns for many ages to notify the commencement of the fair by the hoisting of a large glove*. This ceremony is enacted with no little pomp at Exeter at the Lammas Fair, while at Barnstaple a glove suspended on a pole decked with dahlias, is placed before the oldest building in the town — the Quay Hall, where it remains during the Fair. In the Western Times of October 2, 1847, 1 find the following reference to a similar usage at Tiverton : — " There is a custom here of exhibiting a white glove at the end of a pole, decorated with flowers and evergreens, in some conspicuous position in the fair ; walking thoughtfully on, as our custom is, it caught our eye, and we asked what it meant. We were told it was the ' hansel f glove,' and then we got into an antiquarian train of contemplation, and recollected that a glove anciently signified possession or investiture, and were satisfied that this must be the origin of our custom." At Tiverton the custom is now discontinued. The following letter addressed by a townsman to the Tiverton Gazette in June, 1890, has reference to a curious relic of bye-gone days, known as " Churchyard fair " : -"8ome of the inhabitants of Tiverton will be surprised to learn that there are more than two fairs held in the town during the year. As a matter of fact there are four. On Whit Monday and Easter Monday the children of the town (some of them at any rate) resort to the ' Works,' where two or thret; old people set up stalls for the sale of those peculiar kinds of ' refreshment ' (save the mark !) which ♦ " It was part of the royal prerogative to set up markets, and fairs were estubli.shcd by virtue of the King's glove, which was the authority under wliich any free mart or market was held. The glove was ordinarily displayed as u token of security undtir which trade might be carried ou uninterrupted, and was emblematic of the power to maintain order of the King who sent it."— From Crlovc.i, their Annals and Angodations, by S. WiLLiA.M Beck, F. 11.11. S. f I/aiiurl (jirobably //and Sal(\ or Iland.sd, a New Year's Gift) the moiH'y taken upon tlie lirst part sold of any commodity or first iu the morning (JJalU-y). t 274 THE CHEOXICLES OF TWYFOED are seen" only on fair days, and in which the said children indulge and yet survive. This is known as Churchyard fair. Not long ago it was quite a merry pleasure fair, but now it does not seem Hkely it will outlive the few aged stall-keepers who have not for- gotten the tradition. In the authoritative work on ' Gloves ; their annals and associations,' by Mr. S. W. Beck, occurs the fol- lowing paragraph : — 'The fair in the first place originated in the congregation of devout worshippers, on the festal day of the saint to whom some church was dedicated. From occasional business being done between people who rarely met at any other time, it became usual to frequent the church festivals for the sake of meet- ing customers ; the church authorities exacted payment for the privilege, and often gave over the churchyard or some part of the precincts to the traders. After this practice had been unavail- ingly forbidden by proclamation, an Act of 13 Edward II. was passed for the purpose of preventing any further holding fairs on sacred ground.' From which it would seem that Tiverton church- yard fair is a very interesting thtmgh illegal survival." With reference to the bowling-green which was supplanted by the present cattle market, I may say that, being always well kept, it was a favourite rendezvous on fine mornings for the gentlemen of the town and neiijhbourhood, who met there as much for friendly intercourse as for the game of bowls. ^A propos of this, I may mention that in 1890 the Eev. Donald Owen pre- sented a set of bowls to the Tiverton Park, and these may now be used on payment of a small fee. At the end of the last and the beginning of the present century there was a club, consisting of tradesmen of the town, which included, among other objects, a weekly game of fives. This was performed on Saturday after- noons against the north side of St. Peters tower, the ball, a light one, being struck, not with a bat, but with the hand, whence the name " Fives," referring to the five fingers. Attached to the " Elmore Bell," a respectable tavern kept by a Mrs. Hartley, was some ground whei-ethe same class of people played at quoits. The bull-ring was opposite the canal. At one time, as is intimated in the story of " Peter," the bull was led round the town, decorated with ribbons, and preceded by a fife and drum band, but various qld Tivertonians whom 1 have questioned on the subject, can only remember the sport as a '" stolen bliss." 1'he Crediton shoemakers having arrived with the dogs, and a space having been roped in, the bull was introduced, his horns being protected with iron. The dogs, held between the knees of their owners, were let slip one at a time, and attempted to seize the bull by the nose. If the attempt was successful, the bull would, of course, make desperate efforts to shake him off and stagger round the ring, the dog swinging at his nose. If the bull endeavoured to get out, he was beaten back by the sticks of the spectators, and the dog which held on longest obtained the TESTEEDAT 275 prize. Sometimes it was the dog which came by the worst, and he was tossed by the enraged bull as high as a house. The shoe- maker would then rush forward to catch his beloved doe and prevent his being injured by the fall. Any dog which " chattered " when going to the bull was disqualified. Early in 1831 the principal people of the town started a project for the erection of a pubhc hall, reading and billiard rooms. The spot chosen was over the entrance to the market in Fore-street, and negotiations were speedily entered upon with the market- committee for the acquisition of the premises. The committee expressed their willingness to part with the site, but stipulated that the shareholders of the new enterprise should provide gates at the market-entrance. Xo difficulty was found in acceding to these terms and in due time the building was erected at a cost of about £3,000. For many years it bore the imposing name of " The Athenaeum,'"" and it is now the " Technical, Science, and Art School." In 18-13 the property passed into the hands of Mr. Heathcoat : and in 1884 it was purchased by the Science and Art Committee. In September, 1831, there were serious disturbances among the lace-workers. The grounds of the quarrel seem to have been two- fold. In the first place, the price of lace having fallen, Mr. Heathcoat decided on a proportionate reduction in the oper- atives' wages. A great sensation was caused by this announce- ment, the consequence being that on Monday, October 3, there was a general strike. For three weeks the men continued firm. Every morning and evening they met together on the top of Exeter-hill and debated on the situation, after which they returned in procession to the town. Apart from the lowering of their wages the workpeople were deeply exasperated with one of ilr. Heathcoat's managers, Mr. Benjamin Wood, lie had never been popular with them, and an impression prevailed that his counsels had a great deal to do with the disagreeable state of things then existing. The magistrates sought in vain to reconcile the parties ; and Mr. Heathcoat, fearing that in the present temper of his employees there would be a breach of the peace, went in person to Lord Ebrington, the Vice-Lieutenant of the County, and requested his interference. His Lordship hastened to the spot, but previous to his arrival, an affidavit having been made by the parish officers, the authorities swore in a number of special constables, besides taking other measuri's atlapLed to the circumstanc»;s. By this time the funds of the operatives were alino>-t exhausted ; and, on hearing of the precautions which were being adopted, they becime excessively angry. ISeizing an oppor- tunity, when Lord Ebrington had left for Stoodleigh, they as.semb!ed in large numbers and, with effigies and torches, pro- ceeded to Leat-street, when; wa'^ the residence of the hite noir. Before they arrived, Mr. Wood and his family had taken the 12 276 THE CHKONICLES OF TWYFOED alarm and retreated to the factory, where they remained in safety. Meanwhile the crowd burnt the effiaiit's in front of his door, smashed the windows, and broke into the house. They destroyed all the furniture, a e;ood deal of it being thrown into the leat, and then searched for the owner. As he could not be found, they gradually dispersed to their homes. The riot occupied a considerable time, but, in spite of all that had been done to meet such an emergency, the mob were allowed to work their will almost without hindrance. Isolated members of the Corporation and others did indeed use their influence to induce the people to desist, but at a crisis of this sort force is the only remedy. Warned by what had happened, the authorities now acted with energy. The streets were patrolled by special constables during the night, and on the next day the Yeomanry were sent for. They, and their commander. Colonel BuUer, arrived in the evening. Orders were given to the troopers to turn out at seven o'clock a.m. and by ten o'clock they were mounted and parading in " the Works." This show of promptitude prevented further outrages, and several of the ringleadeis in the disturbance were arrested, and sentenced at the following assizes to various terms of imprisonment. The dispute, however, between Mr. Heafchcoat and his workpeople still continued, and the former was on the point of engaging new hands under the protection of the military, when the workmen suggested that the average wage in similar factories should be ascertained. The offer was readily accepted. Mr. Heathcoat nominated one deputy, and the men another, while two others were appointed by the Corporation to act as referees if the former should happen to disagree. One after another Barnstaple, Taunton, Chard, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Derby, Loughborough, Leicester, and Tewkesbury were visited, and a table was drawn up shewing the average remuneration in each of the places named. The infor- mation thus acquired was presented to the public, when it was found that the current wage in most of the departments was con- siderably below the figure originally proposed by Mr. Heathcoat. As, however, the enquiry had been made at the instance of the men themselves, they w ere compelled to abide by the result. This with some grumbling they did, and work at the factory was re- sumed. I should add that subsequently Mr. W(}od made a claim on the parish for compensation. The Paving Commissioners, to whom the question was referred, were at first disposed to resist the claim, and a committee was appointed to obtain counsel's opinion on the subject. On after-thoughts, however, they con- cluded that it would be better to compromise the affair, and, to avoid litigation £52 12s. was paid to Mr. Wood out of the liberty rate. In March 1832 — for the first time in the history of the town — gas lamps were lighted. Gas works had been erected in 1822, YESTERDAY 277 but on too limited a scale to be of much service for general purposes. In 1^31 a compan}' was formed for lighting the whole town with gas. The capital at the outset amounted to ,£1,100 in a hundred and ten £10 shares, and an arrangement was effected with Mr. Heathcoat, the proprietor of the works, for the due supply of gas. 'L'he price was at first 15s. per thousand feet, but successive reductions were made until in 1843 the charge was 10s., two-third only of the original sum. Further reductions have since brought it down to 3s. lid. per thousand feet. The example of the Paving Commissioners in illuminating the streets with gas was quickly followed by shopkeepers and, after them, by private residents. Now. I presume, it is destined to be superseded by the electric light. Perhaps the saddest lot that ever fell to a human being was to be bound as a parish apprentice, and the following regula- tions passed in 1833 will help to explain why this was the case : — The fine for refusing to take an apprentice being fixed by law at £10. that snm is followed as the amount of inconvenience in imposing- a parish apprentice. Farms, Fields, and Tithes. Every £100 of yearly value to take one apprentice. Every £50 and under £100 to take one apprentice, and to receive a contribution of '2s. in the pound from .smaller tenements, with which it may be classed to make up £100 value. Farms and Fields under £50 yearly value to con- tribute and not take an apprentice except willing to do so, on receiving a contribution of t."> only from other properties. Farms to take a second apprentice when the number of children shall exceed one for each £100, and so on. Houses. Every dwelling house or other building of the value of £7 and under £14, to be liable to take hti/f an. apprentice, ov contribute £5 to any occupier under £14 rated value, taking an apprentice. Kvery dwelling bouse, k.c., not beinr; a farm house, value £14 and not exceeding fSO, one apprentice. Every .£20 above the first £30, one apprentice. No lodger to take an apprentice, and only one to be bound to the same person in each year. All persons refusing to abide by this scheme to take an apprentice. The.se arbitrary enactments aroused considerable opposition and, as the authorities neglected certain forms in distributing the apprentices, the circumstance wa,s turiu^d to account by insti- tuting an appeal. The attempt was successful and the cu.stom of hinding-out poor chilch'en was soon afterwards abandoned. In October iH.'il, soon aftd- tlic; burning of tlic Houses of l*arliam(;nt, the people of I'ivciton were startled by a report that one of their runnher had been coiniiiit ted to the 'I'ower for a criiiK! njsembhng that whicli has gained for (iuy Pawkes his unenviabh* iminortaht.y. J^ater intelligence! shewed this to be an exaggeration — the person in (juestion had only been suhp(pnaed as a witness. It seems that shortly bcifon; this event he had occa,sion to go up to town for the- purnose of consulLing a gentle- 278 THE CHKONICLBS OF TWSTOED man of the long robe, who, as a relative of his own, had been entrusted with his private affairs. Having transacted their busi- ness, the two friends parted with the understanding that the Tivertonian should dine with his lawyer in the evening. In the meanwhile, as he had nothing pai'ticular to do, he turned his steps in the direction of St, Stephen's, and, as he was being shown over the House of Lords remarked to the attendant on the excessive heat. The attendant explained that the heat arose from the burning of Exchequer talleys, and was not greater than usual. The visitor did not say more, but he could not get rid of the impres- sion that there was something gravely amiss. In the evening when he was sitting at table with the lawyer, the latter noticed a glow in the eastern sky, and the Tivertonian at once exclaimed " Depend upon it, it is the House of Lords on fire." He then mentioned the circumstances which had aroused his suspicions in the afternoon, and his host, who was, naturally, not a little curious, turned to the footman and told him to go out and make enquiries. The man soon returned with the news that the gentleman's fears were only too well-grounded — the House of Lords was on fire. During a subsequent examination before Lord Brougham, the same Tivertonian was asked " Are you a member of the establishment ? " The witness, thinking perhaps of the Popish plot, did not at first comprehend the question. It was explained to him that the Court was not concerned with his religious beliefs ; — had he any official connexion with the build- ing ? The deponent was able to reply in the negative. The Tivertonian, whose evidence was considered very important in elucidating the origin of the mischief, was none other than Mr. John Snell, my grandfather. The chief event in 1835 was the passing of the Municipal Eeform Bill, the first elections being held on December 25th. The last acts of the Old Corporation were quite worthy of its general career ; the members, whenever they did sin, sinned stoutly. After the passing of the E-eform Bill in 1832, Lord Harrowby and his brother, having lost their Parliamentary interest in the borough, withdrew from the Corporation, and the members of that body felt that they must do something to repair the loss. There was a clause in the charter which enabled them, if occasion should arise, to recruit their ranks by force ; but so long as the Ryder family, with their wide political influence, con- tinued to dominate the Council, a seat on the board was a coveted prize, and the clause remained inoperative. Now, however, that they felt themselves beginning to sink, the Corporation seized on this straw and fixed on three unoffending residents, utterly unam- bitious of the honour, to serve on the board. These persons were not freemen, and two of them at least — Messrs. Edward Lawson and Eobert Bovill — derived no advantage from the town, being private gentlemen living on their means. The third, Mr. YESTERDAY 279 Ambrose Brewin, was one of the chief lieutenants of Mr. Heath- coat, but as yet be was not in the enjoyment of the freedom of the borough. The Corporation, which included no less than six lawyers, decided that the distinction was not material, and they accordingly imposed a fine of £50 on each recusant. On receipt of tliis information, Mr. Brewin resolved to litigate the affair, while Messrs. Lawson and Bovill, wishing to save them- selves trouble, and being instructed that there was no precedent for the circumstances, paid the fine, conditionally on the money being refunded, if Mr. Brewin should succeed in establishing his immunity. A lawsuit was begun, but before much progress had been made with it, a case was discovered, which negatived the right of the Corporation to inflict penalties on other than freemen for the refusal of office. Thereupon the proceedings were abandoned by the Corporation, and Messrs. Lawson and Bovill applied for a restitution of the fines. As the money was not returned, the aggrieved parties addressed a memorial to the Lords of the Treasury, with what result 1 have been unable to learn. Very soon after, however, the Old Corporation ceased to be. , They were succeeded by a new elective body, composed of the same number of members, but possessing a different constitution. The Corpora- tion now comprises six Aldermen and eighteen Councillors. The Mayor is chosen annually, but his tenure of office may be prolonged at the discretion of the Corporation. The Aldermen, also elected by the Corporation, retire every six years, while the Councillors, six of whom ai'e allotted to each of the three wards — • Lowman, Castle, and Westexe Wards — are elected for three years. Until quite recently the care of the lighting and paving of the town portion of the borough within what is known as " the half-mile radius," was vested in a body called the " Town Improvement (or Paving) Commissioners." By an Act of Parliament passed in 1875, this body was improved out of existence and their functions merged in those of the Corporation. The change from thi^ Old Corporation to the New did not com- mend itself to all the inhabitants. Not a few of the latter con- sidei'ed it to be most in accordance with the fit.ness of things, that they should be governed by men like Sir John Duntze, to whom the ordinary tradesman could touch his hat without any Kense of indignity. Evidence of this feeling may be found in a skit on th(; 'i'own Council, which appeared in a serio-comic paper, the Olla J'odriiJa, published in Llie year IS-l^}, to which the Masters and scholars of Jilundell's School are said to have contributed. On TliurHdiiy last a H])C(;ial mcctinf^ of the Town Council was held at the Guililliall, and the notice hcin;^ for ten f)'clock i)r{!ciscly, several of the uieinliiTS attended aH early an lialf-p:ist twelve. Tlie Mayor being' caUeil to I he cliaii', the 'I'own (.'jerk was called on to make liiti re])ort as to tiie Hite of tlie new ^^aol, hut excuHtid hiiuHclf inaHinuch aw he liad miiiluid a moHt impoitant document, viz., the turnpike ticket of one of 280 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED the carriers who had been employed in drawing sand, and although he had already removed nine cart-loads of papers from the table and floor of his oflfice, he had not yet been able to recover it, but hoped by employing an extra clerk and the most remitting diligence, to be able to put his hand on it in a few months. A long and very interesting discussion then arose as to the size of the drain for carrying off the waste waters from the prison, some of the Council recommending that it should be seven inches wide, whilst others characterized that plan as a most extravagant one, and strongly advocated six inches and three-quarters. Mr. Hugh, in particular, patronized the lesser size. He had been used to water-works all his life ; he had always practised economy, and always would. He was elected by the burgesses to carry out re-trenchment — (cries of " beef and beer.") He cared for none of these sneers ; he was an independent representative of the lower orders— a man sprung from the people. He should be ashamed of himself, if he was guilty of such infamous extravagance as to consent to a drain being made of that enormous size, which some gsntlemen wished, merely to gratify their own pride at the expense of the poor suffering burgesses. He told them plainly that Lowman Ward would never consent to it ; the people (especially the Elemorians) would rise in one united body against it, and he couldn't blame them for doing so, as he considered the scheme concocted entirely to spend the public money uselessly. He would, therefore, move that the drain should not be more than six inches and three-quarters wide — (great cheers from the crowd led off bj^ Mr. Facey). Mr. Thomas Pleasure was most happy to second the truly important motion of his very eloquent friend in the blouse, and without any dis- paragement to the no doubt independent burgesses of the Lowman Ward, he must say that his own constituents, who were some of the finest fellows that ever chewed little apples, would never consent that he, their own darling, their pet chicken, their dear darling representative, should sit mum-chance in this grave assembly, and give a silent vote on this momentous question. Six inches and three parts was wide enough for any drains to be paid for out of the public purse, and if gentlemen wished to indulge themselves with an aristocratic one of seven inches, he would suggest to them whether they ought not to pay for it them- selves. Mr. Martial said to be sure they did. About nine years ago he let fall a half pint in at the Half Moon, and there being no company there to make a collection, he was obliged to pay for it out of his own pocket. Mr. Thomas Breadall would like to ax the Mayor how wide he made the drains in his gert banging fields. He know'd somethink about it hisself, and had improved his own Manor of Claypit, and he thort six inches and three quarters a plenty. He couldn't use gert fine words like Tommy Turnpike there, but his vote was as good as t' others and he'd stick to the right side. Mr. G. H. Voicey, after the truly interesting debate and unused as he was to public speaking, coald not refrain from a few observations. Ever since he had the honour of seconding his noble friend Lord Viscount Palmerston, Esquire, Home Secretary of the Foreign Department, he had been entrusted with the suffrages of hia fellow burgesses ; and he wasn't ashamed to meet his constituents. He should be glad to see them all on former occasions, and he should go home without voting at all. After a few straggling remarks the Mayor put the question, which was carried by nine to six. Mr. Justice Coals hav- ing invited himself to Bolham to dinner, and Mr. Breadall having asked the price that pigs were like to fetch at Exeter to-morrow, the meeting broke up. The following fictitious address (undated) exhibits the same spirit of good-humoured raillery. The signature appended was YESTEEDAY 281 that of a butcher known to be one of the most corpulent men in the town : — To the Free and Independent Burgesses of Westexe Ward, Fellow Townsmen, At the solicitation of numerous influential parties in the Ward, I beg respectfully to offer myself as a candidate for your suffrages at the api^roaching' municipal election. To those unacquainted with my innate modesty and retiring habits, this may be considered a some- what presumptuous step, but when we look at the manner in which this Ward has lately been represented, and the Burgesses' interests so shamefully abused, I trust you will consider, from the iveight 1 shall be able to carry in the Council, I shall be found the right man in the right place. To the licensed victuallers I confidently appeal. They may at all times rely on my warmed sn/jporf, and I shall take the earliest opportunity of waiting upon each of them personally. As this is my first appearance in public, you have not had an opijortunity of judging of my abilities as an orator, — suffice to say that I am a sincere admirer of Lamb, and shall copy him as closely as possible. I shall not, therefore, trouble you with any further remarks on that score, bearing in mind the maxim of the immortal Will Shakspeare — " Brevity is the soul of wit " If elected, I pledge myself to take my seat in the Council Chamber on thoroughly independent principles — leaning neither to the right nor to the left ; and in a business point of view I flatter myself I shall be found worthy of your support. My qualifications — having long been a '• knight of the cleaver " in this ancient borough — will, I doubt not, be considered sufficient for the high honour to which I aspire. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, W. N My committee meet every evening at the 'Live and Let Live," where I shall be hapi^y to meet the electors, and answer any questions. The precise period when horse-racing was begun at Tiverton is somewhat doubtful. It is, however, generally believed that the practice commenced in the middle of the last century. The earliest race-bill of which a specimen can be obtained, is dated 1815, by which time it is evident that the Tiverton race-meeting was an established institution. Even then the event was a very popular one, attracting thousands of spectators, and the course* during the intervals of the racing, had the appearance of a large picnic and pleasure-fair " rolled into one," The meeting increased in popularity and importance year by year, until in I8l^)5 Lord Palmer.ston became one of the memb(!rs for the borough. lie had as his colleague Mr. Heathcoat, and by their united patronage and support and by the very liberal subscriptions both of the townsp(;ople and of many noblemen and gentlemen of the county, it, was rendered one of the most attractive and best attended race- meetings in the West of England. Jt was held on the last Thursday and J"'ri(lay in August. These two days, following imm(;diat(;ly on the hlundell Celebration, which naturally drew a good many strangers to the town, were entirely given up to the * The course was situated in a field about a mile from Tiverton on the road to liampton. 282 THE CHKONICLES OF TWTFOED races,_ being observed as general holidays, and the Kace Fund Ball in the evening was always largely attended. So great on those days was the influx of visitors by road, that the yards of the local inns and hotels were unable to accommodate half the vehicles. The only resource, therefore, was to remove the horses from the shafts, place them in the stables and leave the carriages in the streets. It was no unusual thing to see a line of carriages of every description extending from the " ThreeTuns" to the entrance of the market in Fore-street, and in St. Andrew- street from the Angel Inn to the gates of the Pitt Parsonage, while the other inns and hostelries were equally well patronized. At the period to which we refer, the nearest Railway-station was at Bristol, and the race-horses, with their trainers and jockeys, travelled from one meeting to another by road. It was, however, not an unfrequent occurrence for valuable high-class horses to be transported in horse-boxes similar in construction to those now in use on the railways. These vans were drawn from town to town by four post-horses, which were ridden by postillions. On the course the carriages were ranged in a closely packed double row quite half-a-mile in length. Among them were many " swell " drags and fours-in-hand from Exeter and other places, containing officers from the barracks and their friends, both ladies and gentlemen. These used to enter the town with key bugles, playing the popular tunes of the day, and driven by "toffs" in their fashionable driving-coats with pearl buttons as large as small cheese-plates. On the opposite side of the course, in a line with the river Exe, was a neat and capacious grand stand and saddling paddock, with weighing and dressing tents for the use of the jockeys. From the gallery of the grand ■ stand, to which admission was obtained on payment of half-a- crown, could be had an uninterrupted view of the course and its surroundings. At a short distance from the grand stand, but in a line with the river, was erected a rank of neat wooden booths, generally from eight to ten in number, belonging to the various innkeepers of the town, who were granted permission to sell refreshments, both eatable and drinkable, during the two days' racing. Over each booth was a covered gallery of seats, from which, on payment of sixpence, a good view of the racing could be obtained, away from the crush of the crowd and under shelter from the sun or rain. In the intervals of racing the Town Band promenaded the course for the delectation of those who were fond of music and did not object to an al fresco dance. All pedestrians were admitted to the course free, but carriages were subject to a charge varying from half-a-guinea to half-a-crown, and depending on the number of horses attached to them, and whether they had four wheels or only two. Although Lord Palmerston kept a rather large stud of race- horses, trained by John Day, of Danebury, and was himself a TESTERDA.Y 283 regular attendant at the Tiverton Eaces, his popular colours — green jacket and orange cap — were never seen here until Mr. Scobeirs horse, CracTcsman, beating the best horses that could be brought against him, had won the Tiverton stakes, 120 sovereigns, two years in succes.sion. It was in connection with these victories that one of Palmerston's political opponents taunted him, jokingly, on not having any horse in his stables good enough to come and run for the prize. He smiled and said, " I will make a note of it, and 1 dare say John Day will look out something good enough to run for your Tiverton stakes another year." Accordingly the next year he brought down that good mare Iliona, winner of the Cesarewitch stakes in 1841 : and IVwaa was the first and the rest nowhere. Palmerston laughed outright, and said, " I thought Day would find something good enough to win at Tiverton"' ; but with his usual generosity, he added, " I will make the Committee a present of the money to form the nucleus of the prizes for another year." After that his colours were often conspicuous here, notably on his good horses 'foothill, Eomse;/, named after his seat in Hampshire, and DucJcfhorii a very nice horse, probably the best horse Lord Palmerston ever had, and certainly the best he ever bred, his sire having been Venison and his dam Zeila. The following account of Lord Palmerston as a racing man, taken from Day's "Eeminiscences of the Turf,"' will, doubtless, be read with interest :--" Lord Palmerston kept horses with my father about the year 1817, and had several good ones. Amongst his early possessions may be mentioned Enchantress, lianvilles, Biondetta, Luzborourjh, Black and All Black, Fox-bur y, and Grei/ Lerj ; and later Toothill, Iliona, Zeila, liomsey, Dactijl, and Buclcthorn. But I think that in racing circles he will be better known as the owner of Iliona than by any other. The name of Priam's daughter, on her first appearance in public, caused a sensation among the most learned orthoepists. . . . But a greater sensation was created when she won for Lord Palmerston the Cajsarewitch. In early lite his lordship was ahvays credited with being poor; and, until he married, anything like a substantial cheque was acceptable to him .... Backtliorn was a nice horse, rather above the average of the Venisons, and, like his father, stayed well. He was probably the best horse his lordship ever had, and certaiidy the best he ever bred, being by Venison out of Zeila. As a two-year-old he ran second to Little Savage for the two-year-old stakes at Winchester, third to Elcot and Flirt for the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom, and not placed in the New Stakes at Ascot, won by Ilohliie Noble. As a three-year-old, he ran nine timcjs and won livi;, and cantered over for tlie Wiltshire Stakes, dividing the forfeit with Mr. Winch's Proudfoot. He won at tlif.' f(jlIowirig provincial incf'tings : Stockbridge, VViiiches- tt;r, Salisbury, and at his lordship's favourite meeting, Tiverton. His lordship never interfered at all with the management of his 284 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFORD horses. He used to say to my father, ' Run them where you like and when you think best. Only let me know when they are worth backing, or that you have backed thera for me.' He seldom saw one tried or run. If he did, it would be at Tiverton when he was on a visit to his constituents for electioneering purposes .... Lord Palmerston was abstemious in his eating and drinking. A glass or two of sherry at dinner was all that he generally partook of. When the dessert came on the table, he would retire to his library or study, leaving her ladyship to do the honours of the table. He read or wrote from ten o'clock at night until two o'clock in the morning, standing at a high desk, as he thought such a position preferable, for the sake of his health, to leaning over a low one. He rose early, and in the country breakfasted at nine o'clock, reading before doing so. He was fond of many sports, though he seldom indulged in any except racing. He was extremely proud and vain of his person, which possibly gained him the soubriquet of 'Cupid.' He con- sidered himself, and indeed was, a thorough ladies' man, and only married late in life. When at Broadlands, his place in Hampshire, he used to ride over to Danebury, to see his horses, mounted on a thoroughbred hack, and his groom on another ; and starting from his own front door, gallop all the way until he reached his destination. Indeed, on arriving at Danebury he would go round the yard once or twice, gradually reducing the pace, until he could pull up. This may seem ludicrous, but it is no exaggeration, for I have seen him do so myself. He used to wear dark trousers, and a dress-coat of the same hue, the latter unbuttoned and of course, flying open, gave him a strange appearance in riding so fast. 1 never knew him partake of any repast at Danebury, not even a glass of sherry or a cup of tea, and doubt very much whether he ever entered the house. Immediately after seeing the horses, and chatting matters over with my father, he would ride back just as fast as he came. The reason he gave for riding so furiously was that it was, as he said, such ' capital exercise.' " Conducted as they were under such distinguished auspices, no wonder the Tiverton Races went on flourishing and growing in importance year after year. It is not easy to describe the spectacle presented by the place during the two days' carnival. Dense masses of people crowded about the course mingled with all manner of vehicles. Included among the latter were shows con- taining monstrosities of various kinds calculated to attract eager sight-seers — caravans with wild beasts, both alive and dead, swing-boats, roundabouts, shooting-galleries, and boxing-booths. Figuring on the course, also, were three-card-trick men, pea-and- thimble sharpers, race-card sellers, vending " c'rect cards " and lists of the names, weights, and colours of the riders, itinerant musicians, nigger minstrels, ballad singers, gipsies, etc., etc. YESTERDAY 285 Altogether the scene was most animated, and the anniversary thoroughly enjoyed, as the Races generally produced exciting finishes. I regret to add that there wrre some features in the affair which the most indulgent of critics could not hring himself to approve, and with which the more respectable patrons — such as Mr. Heathcoat — vvho regarded the meeting more in the light of a social function than anything else, had nothing to do. One such feature was the roulette tables, which were placed in tents guarded by a brace of powerful bullies, whose office it was to prevent any attempt at robbery, to which the heaps of gold pieces presented an exceptional inducement. Occasionally also the betting was exceedingly high, and quite beyond the means of those who indulged in it. The result was in some cases disastrous, and one gentleman, whose name need not be mentioned here, was so gravely embarrassed by his losses that he was obliged to mort- gage his estate, which had been in the possession of his family ever since the Conquest, and which was ultimately sold in the open market. These facts are tolerably well known, but few, perhaps, are aware of the precise circumstances of the wager. The gentleman in question had a favourite horse named Grimace. This horse was trained by a man named Harris, and the jockey he employed bore the singular name of Weediniron. The enthusiastic squire, having great confidence in the merits of the colt, backed him heavily, and during most of the race the animal seemed likely to justify his good opinion. His disappointment and chagrin may be imagined when, just in sight of the goal, horse and rider came in contact with the distance post, and the prize went to a rival. x\mong local men two notable supporters of the Races were Mr. William Westaway, an enterprising tailor, of Fore-street, and " "Torney Tom Rendell." The former rode his own horses, of which he generally kept four or five. A gentle- man rider was Mr. Basset, of Watermouth (Jastle, who won the first steeple-chase, in 1864, with his horse tSma.'iher. After Lord Palmerston's death the races began to decline, his successor, the Hon. George Denman, taking but little interest in sporting matters. He, however, appeared on the course, and in spite of his admitted ignorance, was once called on to act as judge. This was on the second occasion on which he ever visited a rac(;-course, and in forming his decision he was assisted by a committee of racing men. Bcjsides this, other reasons concurred to lessen the interest which had so long been felt in the Tiv(;rton and Xorth Devon Jiaces. Otliiir race- meetings, aided by ch(!ap excursion trains, arose in dilTi-rent |)arts of the country, nearer the great training establishments and giving richer iiKMiey |)ri/,e,s than Tiverton could afford ; and after 8(!veral spasmodic; at,teiii|)t,s to rest,ore their /iros/if/c, they collapsed The [)aniphernalia of th(! course, [)iuMock, and llttings, ropes and stakes, fittings of the grand-stand, saddling and startuig- 286 THE CHEONICLES OF TWrFOED bell, rooting, &c., were sold by auction on the 23rd May, 1885, in the yard of the Boar's Head Inn. The new Poor Laws came into operation in the year 1835, and Tiverton became the centre of a union including twenty-seven parishes. A fresh work-house was built at a cost of =£8,800, and was first occupied at Michaelmas, 1 838. The money required for this object was borrowed and re-paid by instalments. The relief of the poor in the parishes of the Union is administered by a Board of Guardians comprising 38 elected members, and the county justices within the ar"a. The Guardians representing the parishes of the Union outside Tiverton constitute the Rural Sanitary Authority. The year 1837 witnessed the completion of the Independent buildings in St Peter-street. The chapel, commenced in 1829, had been finished the following year at an outlay of nearly £2,210, and it was now desired to erect a school and a house for the minister on the adjoining site. With this view the trustees approached the Improvement Commissioners and requested leave to remove the steps leading from St. Peter-street to Exe-bridge. Permission was granted, and the Commissioners on their part undertook to complete the road and foot-path over a part of the way and to take all the available materials. The total cost to the congregation of this undertaking (including the chapel) was £4,184 lis. lid. The chief credit for these achievements is due to the Rev. Mr, Heudobourck, through whose efforts the Elmore Chapel also was erected at a cost of £800. Mr. Heudobourck was a rara avis among Nonconformist ministers, as he was possessed of ample means, drove a carriage and pair, and kept a man in livery. He was, therefore, in a position to assist with his purse, as well as by his exceptional abilities, the congregation over which he presided. He was held in great respect, and during his ministry and that of his successors, Kev. H. Madgin and Rev. W. R. Noble, the independent community enjoyed a period of unexampled pros- perity. The next pastor was the Rev. E. S. Bayliffe, B.A., who resigned in 1879. He was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Cooper, who had previously officiated for some years as a preacher in the United States. While Mr. Cooper was in Tiverton, unfortunate disputes, culminating in legal proceedings, arose between him and some of the leading members of his congrega^ tion, and a secession took place to a temporary structure in Barrington-street. When Mr. Cooper left in 1890, the seceders returned to St. Peter- street, and a new era of harmonious work- ing ensued under the pastorate of the Rev. Thomas Webster. On Tuesday, 6th September, 1836, the foundation stone of the Roman Catholic Church of St. John was laid by the Right Reverend Dr. Baines, assisted by Miss Eliza Chichester. The erection of this building was due to the Rev. Jean Mare Montier, au emigre French priest, who in 1823 accepted the office of TESTEEDAT 287 Chaplain to the Chichester family Mr. Montier, who died in 1833, left instructions in his will for the building of a Catholic Chapel and the appointment of a resident priest, to attend to the needs of poor Koman Catholics in the neighbourhood of Tiverton. In 1840 an obelisk was erected on A.ngel-hill. This inter- esting object cost =£70, the money being raised by sub- scriptions. It was removed in 1878 to make room for an ornamental lamp-stand, the gift of Mr. John Lane. — The Tithe Commutation Act, which was passed in 1837, made it necessary that every parish should be survey-ed. On the 14th of l^^ebruary, 1841, it was resolved that the tender of Messrs. Williams, Reed, and 8t. Aubyn, of Hay Ladock, Cornwall, should be accepted on condition that they should provide '• one accurate second class map and book of reference of such parts of the parish of which the owners have no maps, &c., at 3d. per statute acre ; revise and average all correct maps existing, so as to form one complete map, at 2d. per acre; and add all houses, buildings, gardens, streets, 'ow 1 will maintain you to be correct in all these conclusions. I assert that the Master, with his Wife, and seven or eight Children, and a Servant 6' tf«7<^ hive no occasion, for those Thrkk "fit and convenient" Chambers,— that one, or at most two, was quite enouHii for the whole of them, and the other sufficiently coiiiinodious for the stowage of five or six score Foreigners. 1 contend witli you that tlie (Jhatiilxu- Windows were never fitted up with " Iron I'.ars,'' or the premises suironiided with a "strong Wall,"' to prevent the Master from gelling out, l)ut 1 should rather think were designed to jjrevent the poor simple Natives from getting in. As this has, however, been accomplished by other laudable means, I would go on to observe, that one " fair Great Chimney," and an 302 THE CHRONICLES OF TWrFOED Oven too I for a man, his wife and family, mud have been perfecthf monstrous. It Must have been intended for a Boardintj; School. It is evident that Blnndell meant that the Master should keep his Wood-yard well stocked, and that the Boarders, whether fifty or a hundred should ia the cold winter evening's con over their books in this great chimney cirner whilst those who raig'ht be incommoded for want of room should make themselves comfortable in the oven! Blundell, who was a man of the kindest heart, thus provided for the comforts of the Foreigners both up stairs and down ; although I wonder how the Master who was cautioned against '• seeking or enacting any more, either of parents or children " could manage out of this £.50 a year to keep either the chimney smoking, or the oven heated. Oh ! my dear Sir, if Blundell had at first as many gi-atef ul sons pour- ing in from all parts of Devon and Dorset, and Somerset and Cornwall, as there have been since our recollection, and if those sons, sticking up for their rights, paid nothing from year to year, but used this as " a Free-school and not a school of exaction," eating of the fattest, and drinking of the strongest, and all at free cost, I am sadly afraid the Master must have wished the "great fair Ohimney " considerably lessened, and the Oven stoppe 1 up altogether. The Usher must in those days have had the best of it, for having "one chamber to himself only," his Boarders (since the Master had some, of course, the man must also', were no doubt made free of the aforesaid Chimney and Oven, and in fact permitted to eat. drink, and sleep, in commonalty with the others ; he, on his part fetching water and chopping wood occasionally, or periiaps making up the dough, or putting in the batch, with all the perquisites of cookery in flattering perspection. Again, as to the Gardens,— the large extensive Gardens— you, as "the erudite expounder of Blundeirs Will " are perfectly at a loss to imagine how they should be deemed necessary for the Master's family alone ; and so am I ; and so must any man in his senses. No. No It's as clear as noonday that Blundell or Popham intended the Gardens for the Forelijners also! He wished their bee-hive condition indoors of an evening to be agreeably contrasted by a run in the Gardens to stretch their limbs of a morning, here to crop a flower, or there to pluck a gooseberry ; to-day to taste a plum, to-morrow to take a peep at the apricots, and next day to cull the choicest product of the vine, so that having improved their acquaintance with these natural objects of taste, they might go back to school with a greater relish for latin and greek, and whilst luxuriating in their Chimney accommodations or Chamber enjoyments, learn to despise and contemn those poor unlucky ones who were shut out by the "strong gate" of the inexorable donor from a participation in all or any of the inestimable rights and privileges. .... As it is understood that the Feoffees have now a surplus income of about £r>00 a year, how can they commence the application of it better than by papering the school-room, and ordering a new Turkey Caipet for the Green I I must, in conclusion, also congratulate you on the capital style in which you have come over the Tradesmen. You see there is a public meeting called about this school, — 1 and you will go together, and if you can only make your paper good, and get the meeting to believe that these " families " (like the one of seven gry tis-coloured sons) " that have made Tiverton their residence for the sake of the benefits to be derived," should not be allowed to send their children as d ly scholars, insomuch as, they are not Foreigners (for we have clearly shewn that all Foreigners are Hoarders ! ) — we shall then succeed in ousting these families alto- gether, and increasing the number of Boarders, which is, you know, our paramount object, and indeed all we wish to do. Now would'nt this be a capital thing for the Tradesmen I See what a deal more money is YESTERDAY 303 spent by 70 or 80 Boys at the School, than there is by the same number of families resident here I Can any one in his sober senses believe but what the custom of a little hobbledehoy for skipping ropes and penny whistles is much more valuable than that of his father and mother, his brothers and sisters ? — To be sure it is. Our Salvation rests on the Boarders. They shall hound away all the Day-boys, leer at the Master, quiz the Usher, bamboozle the Porter, thrash the Tailor, chaunt " God save the Queen !" till all's blue, and write to her Majesty again for a fortnight's longer holiday I I am, with all due deference, yours devotedly, ANOTHER GRATEFUL. *Query. Great Fool l—PrinteT'n Dec'd. The best rejoinder to this manifesto is an eloquent speech by the Kev. H. F. Yeatman, who presided at. a dinner of the Old Boys — the last which was held for many years — in 1850. There is a fine old-fashioned flavour about it, like that of crusted wine, doubtless part of the repast ; and though a few symptoms betray themselves of conscious worth, these may easily be forgiven to an upriiiht English gentleman, grieving over the destruction of his ideals, but constant even in defeat : I rise to propose a Toast which must be considered to be. beyond all doubt, the toast of the evening ; and especially because that toast is con- nected with the great object of our meeting in this place, that object being to do homage to the Menwrif of our Iiiinwrtfil Founder, the illustrious " Peter Blundell."' (Loud cheers). In offering to you that toast I confess that I address you under feelings of considerable depression, and of great and unconcealed embarassment, for I do not perceive the usual array of those who, in happier times and bygone years, attended in this place — " To swell the triumph, and pdrtake the gale " when all was peace, prosperity and repose ; nor can 1 recite to you the flattering annunciations of additional Honors, greater tlian tliosc of " the olden time," conferred upon the existing race of Blundell's Scholars assembled within his walls, or of numbers increasing to an extent sufficient to prove or shew that the great object of our Noble Founder has been happily accomplished ! You, (ientlemen, are aware of the effect produced by the stern and mistaken decree of the late Vice-Chancellor of England — a decree which 1 fearlessly proclaim to have been in oppo- , sition to the letter and the spirit of Peter lilundeirs will: at all events, most certainly in opposition to the external ecidenee of this case, which had not been attended to, and considered as it ought to have been, prior to the judgment given. (Clieers). It has been decided forsooth, that Boarders shall no longer be received within the walls of Bhuuhdl's School, — although the Will of that Good Man declares, that ''Foreigners,'' (which means " the sons of persons not born or befon; six yciirs of age brought uj) in the town of Tiverton,") shall be admitted to the School, and of course admitted to efjual right-*, if anil provided one hundred and fifty Bogs (cannot be found duly (lualitied for admission to the School, who are born or have been brought \\\) within the Town of Tiverton, unci are tlie sons of piirents domiciled in this town. Wlu-re then arc these Fore'gners to reside except within tiie walls .' WJicre are they to sleep, except in the dormitories of the school, which were laid out and erected on the Old Foundation JJHJ ycirs ago .' erected too, iimuedlately from and after the death of our illustrious Founder ; thus shewing the long perscriptive use, and the right of admission, so far as Boarders are con- 304 THE CHRONICLES OF TWTFORU cerned, from IfiOl, down to the date of the Decree which I complain of, and which about five years ago degraded this school to the level of a Charity School by the exclusion of these boariers. (Cheering). And here, Gentlemen, I beg to ask, in favour of the trustees of Blundell's School, (who, be it observed, have acted only in accordance with immemorial or accustomed us:ige,) who was the expositor of Blundell's Will 1 Who approved of the Ground Plans and Elevations of the present *chool. including Dormitories for Boarders, and a Banquet Room for meals ? Who but Lord Chief Justice Popham, who lived at the abo/e distant period, a man of great Legal Learning : a bosom friend of Peter Blundell -a Man who is styled in the Will of that Good Man nnd terni^d " his right dear and iionourable Friend," and who 1 presume must have been as good an expositor of the wishes and intentions of Peter Blundell, as the Vice-Chancellor of En rland in 184(), who undertook the office of Expositor just 245 years after the death of our Illustrious Founder — (Loud and continued cheers). I do not pause for the purpose of shewing that our opponents are alarmed at the effect produced by the operation of this Decree, as I could easily do ; that tJic Tradesmen of this town, who were so clamorous for litigation, are now mourning the loM of Thomtaiids per annum expended by these boarders in prouder and happier days, in the shops of the town of Tiverton ; nor do I advert to the great mass of evidence which we still possess, and shall hereafter use when tlie proper period arrives, for the puipose of causing a recon- sideration of the erroneous Decree of which all, without exception, (Respondents and Appellants,) are undoubtedly complaining. But I pass on to smooth and soften the surprise of those who seem amazed that in these days of so-called Liberality, persons should be found calling on a Judicial Tribunal io narrow and contract the opening liand of generous and expanded charity— to shut close the wide-opening doors of our Illustrious Founder — to " hide under a bushel," the burning lights of ingenuous education, and to throw bach the suppliants who ask for permission to slake their thirst at our Castalian springs, and who dam them up, so as to prevent them from irrigating the barren landl — (Loud cheers). This surprise, Gentlemen, might be natural, but it argues a sad ignorance of the weakness of human nature. Let us open the page of History for a moment — of History which has been termed " The Phllosophij of Experience,'' and what is it that we read ? Is it not there recorded, that in all ages of the World Men have been found of a rest- less and impatient spirit. Men of little minds, of contracted under- standings or ungenerous dispositions, whosn object has been to pull down the " Powers and Principalities " of the World, and to undermine the Institutions and Establishments of Society ; I say to pull them down to the humble level on which they themselves are placed " to fret their little hour upon the stage of life," and to bury them in that " lower deej/' in which they themselves are doomed to stru.'gle, apart from Mightier Spirits— Spirits of a refined and exquisite construction ; of minds united to lofty and grand conceptions, and whose hearts beat in unison with the wants, the requirements, and necessities of their weaker fellow creatures I —(Continued cheers). I say. Gentlemen, that in all ages of the world and in the darker periods of our history such things have been and will be again, until the time shall come when the mellow influence of Religious feeling and Education shall soften and subdue the soul, and drive away its weaker and more sordid propensities; and till the blessed moment shall arrive when God's purifying grace shall elevate the human heart and cleanse ib of its weakening passions, and make us more alive to the Christian duties of forgiveness and of love ; and to all the generosities of a spiritualised and exalted disposition: — remembering (as we desire it to be remembered) — that the sous of Blundell are ready and ever have been — to extend the hand of fellowship to thoae who are YESTERDAY 305 disposed to reverence his name, and to carry out to their fullest possible extent, the views and wishes of that distinguished Philanthropist- that we desire to exchange the Cypress for the Olive Branch, and to effect an honourable adjustment of existing differences and misunderstandings — believing and knowing as I do, that precedents can be produced from the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, (many of which are now in my possession), sufi&eient to shew that the Scholarships and Exhibitions of this School have been awarded strictly in unison with those precedents ; that for the time to coiue the objects of our great Founder, and the interests of this town (which were the especial objects of our Founder's regard) can only be promoted by a reconciliation based on mutual and wise concessions, and believing also, that the time is hastening on when every son of Blundell, and every inhabitant of the West of England will be found rising as on.e Man to demand a reversal of that suicidal decree which has turned the tide of victory on the part of our opponents into any thing but that " Flood" which " leads on to fortune,'' which has turned their ovation '" ' into mourning, lamentation and woe," and " made their Diviners Mad ; "—and when the mistaken inhabitants of the town of Tiverton, above all, will be seen striving to do homage to the exalted name of Blundell ;— a name which they can celebrate with truthful praise as having been, and being to them especially — " Clarmn et venerahile Nomen, Multum quod nobis, et nostrieprofuit Vrbi!" With these sentiments I have the honour to propose to you the " liiMOKTAL Memory op Peter Blundell." (Loud and repeated cheers). The immediate effect of the Vice-Chancellor's decree was to reduce the number of scholars by one-half. Years afterwards, when the School had recovered a good deal of its ancient i^restige, the Rev. J . B. Hughes, the then Head-master, at a compli- mentary banquet to the present Bishop of London, referred to the condition of things in 1848 and after. He said : — " It may, and I hope, will be interesting to you, if I briefly sketch the history of the school during the last 20 years. 1 will then, by your leave, put back the clock for 20 years and ask you to enter this room on the first school day after the Boarders were swept away. It was a cold February morning : a more dreary sight I never witnessed. In this spacious room were scattered 17 boys — rari nantes. A large number soon arrived for whom a commer- cial education was better suited than what we had. to offer — th(;re were no funds for modern masters then : they soon left us, another class succeeded, and the school would probably have risen in numbers and importanc(* had not the consent for admission been refused to any foreigners likely to do credit to us. This was a terrible difficulty. At lengtli it was sur- mounted, and boys were coming to us from various (juarters, but I was left practically single-iuuuled to teach them. Acting, however, upon a permissive hint of the rev. Chairman, I obtained on my own risk, and I am proud to recollect I did so obtain, the aid of an assistant master, Kev. U. Duckworth, who has been with us, 1 am glad to say, ever since. Our numb(;rs increased. The great difficulty now was where to board them. Another and a X 306 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED more profitable course was open to me, but 1 felt it was my bounden duty to set aside all personal considerations, and for the sake of the school to improve the position of a valuable master, and so retain his services. Accoi'dingly, I counselled Mr. Jjuck- w'orth to open a boarding-house, and it is a source of satisfaction to me that I then and ever since exerted every influence I possessed to fill it and keep it full. The result, I rejoice to know, has not been disadvantageous to himself, while his house has been a kind of seed-plot to the school and has retained among us one whose power as a teacher of Mathematics I have never ceased to acknowledge at home and abroad." Mr. Duckworth's connection with Blundell's School extended over a term of 25 years, and terminated in 1879, wheh be resigned in consequence of the changes involved in the removal of the School to Horsdon. He then conducted a private school in Tiverton until 1882, and in that year he removed to Weston-super-Mare, where he died in December, 1887, at the age of 59. The testimony of his contemporaries is that he was a born teacher, having a perfect knowledge of his subjects and a singular capacity for imparting that knowledge to others. In 1847 there were serious food riots at Tiverton. On Friday, the 29th of April, rumours were circulated of an intended meet- ing of the operatives of the town on the evening of that day, and imperfect reports having arrived of disturbances at Exeter and Cullompton, some excitement was manifested. By eight o'clock several groups had collected, consisting principally of boys, near Lowman Bridge, but to all appearance they had no specific object or nefarious purpose in view„ After they had thus loitered for half an hour, a bell was procured and one of the mob gave notice that the meeting was adjourned to the following night, when the bakers, millers, and corn dealers were politely requested to attend. The few men present, followed by a troop of boys and women, then proceeded through the streets, reading at intervals the above announcement. As the evening grew darker, the mob waxed bolder ; and, as each baker's shop was passed, a furious yell was uttered, accompanied by a shower of stones. Scarcely a baker's window was left untouched. At nine o'clock a cry was raised that they should proceed to Mr. Chappie's, Gornhay, he being supposed to have a large stock of wheat. On their way thither, the mob attacked the shop of Mrs. Dinham, an aged widow, breaking the glass and carrying off the " penny puddings " and other eatables in triumph. With the prestige of victory attached to them they arrived at Gornhay, the residence of Mr. Chappie, about a mile and a half from the town. They commenced operations by demolishing the windows, but the discharge of a fowling-piece and the attack of a couple of ferocious dogs having cooled their ardour, they listened to the remonstrances of some gentlemen from Tiverton and returned YESTEEDAT 307 home. Having gratified themselves with a few more yells they dispersed. On Saturday a large number of special constables were sworn in, and in the afternoon the Tiverton troop of Teomanry arrived. No disturbance of any note occurred until the following Tuesday. At noon on that day about two hundred men employed on the Tiverton branch railway entered the town and marched through the streets to the market-place, but without committing any acts of violence. The result was an immediate panic. The butchers packed up or hid their meat, tradesmen closed their shops, and all business was suspended. The police were instantly on the alert. The special constables were assembled, and the Mayor and magistrates, having placed them- selves at their head, commanded the " navvies " to leave the town. They appeared indisposed to comply, and one fellow, who seemed to be the ringleader, was taken into custody. The rest, after a little hesitation, returned by the same way they had entered, closely followed by the police and special constables, who seized and compelled any stragglers to join the main body. They were thus marched outside the turnpike gate — looking very discon- certed. A number of large sticks were taken from them, and there is no doubt that they came with the intention of creating a disturbance. Late in the afternoon, tidings arrived that the expelled " navvies" were stopping the people on their way home from market, and the Yeomanry being now ready for action, they started for what was expected to be a field of battle. In about two hours they returned, not having been able to find the enemy, who had fled upon hearing the " sodgers " were coming. It was, however, currently reported that blood was shed on the occasion, a gallant trooper having pricked with his sword one of the flying foe who was escaping over a hedge. Another incident in connection with these riots concerned a farmer, named Gill, of Bickleigh. It was the general belief among the poorer classes that the high price of provisions was the result, not of any scarcity of grain, but of unprincipled speculation. The farmers, it was sup- posed, were hoarding up their corn in order to obtain famine prices for it, and the story having gone the rounds that Gill was selling wheat which was uniit for human consumption, at 8s. 6d. a bushel, the utmost indignation was expressed. A number of people attacked the farmer, threw about his grain, and would have inflicted serious injuries upon him, if he had not taken refuge in an inn, where he was protected from his assailants. He was compelled to remain there for several hours, and when he emerged to go home, he was guarded by policemen. In the meantime a meeting was held in the Town-hall " for the purpo.se of devising the best means of alleviating the prevailing di.stre.ss, arising from the present unusual high price of provisions." There was a large attendanci-, the Mayor, Mr. J. W. T. Tucker, being in the chair. The greatest sympathy fur their destitute x2 308 THE CHKONICLES OF TWYFOED fellow-townsmen pervaded the meeting and generous donations were made, upwards of .£550 being subscribed in the Hall. In 1848 a Public Health Act was passed, and in the follow- ing year a petition was presented to the G-eneral Board of Health, signed by two hundred and sixty of the inhabitants of Tiverton, including the professional men and principal shop-keepers, who desired that the provisions of the Act should be applied to the borough. In consequence of this appeal Mr. T. W. Rammell, Superintending Inspector, commenced an enquiry on the 26th of November, 1850, at the Town Hall, which lasted till the 2nd of December ; and he also made a tour of inspection through the town, the inhabitants having been certified of his intention by a printed circular issued by the Mayor. "The results of this enquiry were embodied in a rather bulky pamphlet of 70 pp, which is full of instructive matter as to the sanitary conditions then obtaining. Among other statements occurs this interesting note : " The back parts of the town consist, for the most part, of courts, entered by covered ways from the streets, and not being thoroughfares. The dwellings which they contain have, in the great majority of cases, no back-door or through ventilation. The evil effects of this arrangement of the habitations of the poorer classes may be readily conceived. It appears that this system of building grew out of the requirements of the old staple manufacture of the place. The master-manufacturer surrounded his residence with the dwellings and workshops of the artisans in his employ, leaving a centre court, or square, for the purpose of carrying on the process called ' warping the chains ' which is necessarily performed in the open air. As the woollen manu- facture declined, and these courts passed into other hands, the weaving shops became entirely converted into dwelling houses. The increase of the town of late years, which has been very considerable, has been accomplished almost entirely by filling up the vacant spaces in these courts," The Inspector concluded with the recommendation that an order should be made by the Honourable Board for applying the provisions of the Pubhc Health Act to the Borough of Tiverton, The proposal was viewed with the greatest possible disfavour by a large section of the inhabitants, who, moreover, disputed the accuracy of many of the Inspector's statements. As the average person may be at a loss to conceive what objection could be taken to the application of so salutary a measure as the Public Health Act, it may be well to instance some of the apprehensions entertained concerning it. It was supposed that the Town Leat would be covered up and diverted altogether to purposes of house drainage ; that the cost of the sanitary improvements under the Act would be fabulous : that the local board would be overridden by the General Board of Health, who would interfere, in a grandmotherly sort of way even in the most trifling concerns. It was maintained also that TESTEEDAT 309 the agitation in favour of the scheme was an interested one, having originated with the medical men of the town, M'ho expected to find employment under the Act ; that already the Improvement Commissioners possessed the necessary powers for raising funds and constructing scientific drains ; and, lastly, that if the Inspector's report, depicting such an awful state of things, was suffered to go forth without any attempt to contradict it, a world of harm might be done to the town by frightening away strangers who would otherwise have been disposed to settle here. Accordingly on Wednesday, the 10th of June, 1851, a general meeting of the ratepayers was held at the Town H all, and an emphatic protest was drawn up and forwarded to the Honour- able the Commissioners of the General Board of Health. A counter petition was signed by the original promoters of the scheme and their supporters ; but it does not appear that any Order in Council was made for the application of the Act to Tiverton. When the Act of 1848 was superseded by that of 1875, the principle of " local option " was discarded, and the Act, being made of universal application, as a matter of course took effect in Tiverton. The beneficent institution now known as the Tiverton Infirmary and Dispensary had its humble beginning about this time. The Dispensary was established at Kiddell's Court, Tiverton, in the year 1852 for out-patients only, mainly through the exertions of Dr. James P)enuett Clutterbuck, for the relief of the sick poor who were not in receipt of parochial relief. Here, during a period of 16 years, no less than 7,090 persons were treated as out-patients. In 18G5, through the generosity of Mrs. Caroline Brewin, premises in Bampton-street were purchased, ami by means of a Building Fund, which was raised by private subscription, additional wards were built, and the whole con- verted into an Infirmary for the reception of patients, to avoid the long journey to Exeter Hospital.* in 1891 the Institution was enlarged by the annexation of the adjoining house at a cost of £550, the purchase-money being generously given by Mr. Henry Septimus Gill, J. P. The buildings comprise a male (John IlHathcoat) ward, a female (Caroline Brewin) ward, a chil- dren's ward and an isolation room, containing 18 beds altogether; receiving, operating and out-patients' rooms ; a dispensary store and bath-room, and accommodation for a resident House Surgeon * The chief donations and bequests are the following : — 18G7, Mrs. Caroline I'.rcwin, £l,2.')0; Sir Jolm II. iIeathcoat-.\mory, Bart. £250; Thomas Ilallain. E>.i„ CTJO ; Miss Kloisa Ileathcoat, LS(»0 ; The Kij^'ht Hon. Viscount I'alinerstoii, £lOO. ISdl), Miss .Sarah (Jartwrifjrlit. £l(H); 1H72, John UoodlM^' I'hillips, Ksq., £100; 1><77, .\i rs. Elizahcth Holc,£l80; Miss Elizaheth Gihi>s, £l()(i; IHSI, Miss .Mary Dunsford, £100; 18S2, Edward llallam, Esq., £100; 188."), .Mr. John Hatswell, £500; 1887, Mr. John Laae, £100. 310 THE CHRONICLES OF TWYFORD and Matron, and nursing and domestic staff. The Infirmary received its first in-patient in February, 1868, An Endowment Fund was commenced in 1865, which has slowly increased by bequests and donations, and now exceeds £5,000 ; the income from the endowment, however, is not suflicient to pay the wages and salaries of the indoor staff. For the remaind er of the working expenses the Institution is dependent on voluntary contributions. In 1882 the Committee decided to admit at their discretion severe surgical and medical cases, or cas^s requiring operations, as in-patients. In 1889 they instituted a separate fund for the supply of trusses, and added to the Infirmary buildings, a mortuary which has since been made available for public purposes. With these additions the institution is conducted upon its original lines, and the number of patients treated, steadily increases each year. Its services are given without charge of any kind. The late Mr. John Heathcoat was President of the Institution from its commencement until his death in I860, when he was succeeded by his grandson, Sir John Heathcoat Heathcoat-Amory, Bart., the present President. The rules of the Institution, drawn up in 1852, were revised and amended in 1867, 1874, and in 1890. In 1853 a vacancy occurred in the office of Vestry Clerk. I am not aware that any serious interests were at stake, but the question of succession to the post caused some excitement in the town and produced the following " squibs." "THE FORWARD MAN," A Narrative prom Real Life ; respectfully inscribed to the Ratepayers of Tiverton. July's bright month, has past his prime, When that which I will put in rhyme, Transpir'd to human view. The incidents I'll briefly state, And, as 'tis facts that I relate. Attention give thereto, A Parish Oifice chanced to be In which " appeared " a vacancy To his half -clouded mind : He look'd again, and found 'twas so, And then his Tender in did go. And thus far him we find. Eesolv'd to make appointment sure, A thousand bills, or maybe more, Were handed through the town, But not yet certain of success. He treats his friends, now growing less, To " Baccy " and Nut Brown, YESTERDAY 811 He, having wetted these right well, Thought his opponents now to quell And from them all be freed : So, thinking of no other plan, He soon the " Squibbing " dodge began, And Squibbing 'twas indeed. For when an author has no wit, Then what he writes can't have a bit. And thus 'twas with our friend : Address and Squib were both the same, In point of style as poor and lame As ever school-boy penn'd. But passing on, to next relate The sad, the hopeless, hapless fate — Which raised a heavy sigh — What disappointment must have been, To find the Tender he sent in Just Twenty Pounds too high ! How sorely now did he repent The Beer and Baccy he had spent, The Office to have won ! Quite undecided how to act He asks his friend " the Tiger Jack," Who says, " My boy, you're done." "And that I am," our friend replies, " But what, old chap, would you advihe With luck,— so awful poor?" " I should advise you to w.thdraw, For all your Irish* friends well know That two and two make four. " We'll tell them Twenty Pounds is nought To have the work done as it ought, We'll do the job just so ! 1 say, old chap, we'll gull them all," " And if we don't— then to the wall " Says Jack, " you surely go." All words that I could add to these. Would merely prove redundancies, And HO I'll finish up With an old proverb, which is " that There's many a slip will surely hap Betwixt the lip and cup." CONVERSATIO.\ BETWEEN THE "WITCH JONES" AND HIS TIGER "JACK" OVER THEIR CUPS. W. I say. Jack, some of the Tivortouians put down that Squib, which came out last night as my composition. J. So I hear Sc)rne one HUggost,(H)i) francs), lie has gone to establish himself in a comfortable studio, such as all London artists have. 'I'his was certaiidy tlx^ course naturally pointed out ; it was, bo to speak, a necessity imposed by the 334 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED custom, for there, if an artist means to succeed, he must make an appearance and display to strengthen even a success ; he must have an extensive studio, or rather a hall with ceiling enriched with trophies, shelves and tiers of shelves of curiosities, marbles, plasters, frames, sketches — in a word, all the knick-knacks of amateur artists. An English artist who esteems himself and respects tlie public must have a professional cut, a long loose coat, a studying cap, and embroidered slippers. Of course, it is very necessary that he should paint with talent, but in the meantime he must paint in ruffles. "Alas! instead of acceding to the customs and habits of the public, on whom his future depended, my simple-minded and careless companion had fixed his domicile with a small tradesman of the name of Smith, who kept a shop in the city. It was there that he received the celebrities who enquired after the ' new man ' — smoking his big pipe before a little fire, in the dark back room of his merry companion Smith. '' They thought he was mad. But what was more natural for Cross ! His ambition had never assumed the common form ; he wished to acquire talent and glory, but he thought that his irarret in the street of the ' Three Brothers' and his studio at Montraartre could lodge talent and glory as well as the salons of his London fellow-artists. " He was blamed for not taking the tide of fortune at its ebb, and immediately preparing a second triumph. But what will men have ? He had absolute need of rest. He took advantage of fortune's having treated him like a spoilt child to let his mind and body enjoy repose. He lived simply and naturally, without calculation, till some fresh order, till he had well ruminated over his work as he had ruminated over his hopes. It was his natural disposition and habit. " Perhaps there was one way still left of saving himself from the position in which his too 'shocking ' simplicity placed him. His manner of life had impressed many of his compatriots with the idea that he was a great original — a thing which many of them would, in their case, have worked well to their advantage. But Cross was not the man to take advantage of such a circumstance ; he would no more have recourse to the quackery of eccentricity than he had to the quackery of display. "Nevertheless, the success of 'Kichard Coeur deLion' con- tinued ; an intelligent public still found in it qualities of colour and effect suitable to the English style, united with the style and character borrowed from the French school. The Commission of Fine Arts in London popularised this painting by having it engraved at their own expense. " Before he set himself again seriously to work, he made a reduced copy of his ' Richard at the Siege of Chalus ' for Mr. Heathcoat, the proprietor of the English manufactory at St. TESTEEDAT 335 Quentin, in which his father was foreman, and in which he had begun his apprenticeship in his childhood. The kind assistance of Mr. Heathcoat did not stop there. He ordered of him a ■< companion piece to the above, an original painting representing ' Lucy Preston begging forgiveness of Queen Mary for her father.' To judge from the photograph which alone we know, the subject is well interpreted, perhaps after a simple and theatrical manner, but as amends there is found even there emotion and expression. The talent of Cross, who was familiar with the roughnesses of life, had grown supple and soft, tender and delicate, before he could have painted that pathetic scene in which there are scarcely any figures but young women. " The first composition that Cross finished, after Richard, is known at St. Quentin ; it was the painting of 'Edward's Children,' exhibited two years ago at Fervagues : it represents John Tyrrell ordering the bodies of Edward and Richard to be buried at the Tower staircase. This painting had not an undisputed success in London. It was, we are bold to confess, inferior to the first ; there was not that high character in it — that serious and well-reflected character which was marked in Richard and even in Thomas-a- Becket. The thought was too apparent ; the intention was too marked ; the contrasts too glaring. But with this critical reserve, we may say that it was painting, real painting, which left far behind that false and illegitimate art which consists in dashina: historic water-pauitings on large canvas. " From the day that the painting of ' Edward's Children ' was exliibited, a reaction set in again.st the new painter, strengthened by his rivals who envied and hated him. In fact, there was an organized coalition against him, which personally gave him much pain. The shocks of such antagonism he felt on every side, but especially with reference to an important order given by a rich private gentleman for two paintings, which we know only by hearsay, and which, according to the opinion of competent judges, shewed great qualities : the first represented William of Normandy making Harold swear on some relics that he would renounce all pretension to the English throne, the second represented Edward the Confessor pointing out Harold as his successor. "Cross then entered upon a period of bitterness, grief, and dis- couragement, such as he had not till then known. His circum- stances bi-cami^ limited ; his resources dimiiiislicd as his family in- crea.sed; lie had to give lessons in |);iiii1 iiigand paiiiL likenes.si\s I'or a living. 1I(! had not, however, lost all (•(uii-age ; besidesthis inglorious toil he f(;und time; to ])aint his 'Assassination of the Ai-clibishoi) of Canterbury,' of which we spoko al)ov(!. H(! ])aiiit(Hl it in that serious style which suited the subject, but which r(Hluc(Hl the; number of purchasers ; and the j)ainting, exliihiti^d in London and in most of the largo towns, was not sold. J lis last work was tho 336 THE CHEONICLES OF TWIFOED ' Coronation of William the Conqueror.' William is in the atti- tude of a king who has a crown to defend, for a riot has disturbed the assembly; a herald has just announced that the riot is quelled. The value of this original composition, the merit of the execution, inspired great hopes. Cross, therefore, expected with this painting the same success as with the first. He was not altogether deceived. Thi.s work raised his reputation for a little while even in the prejudiced opinions of other painters. Unfortunately Government alone could buy this painting, and the sale failed in that quarter. Cross was again thi'own into difficulties and discouragement. One might have feared that thi.s would have been his coup de grace. After the supreme sacrifice made to produce this remarkable work he had no other resource than to give lessons in a boarding-.school. " The strongest will must have fallen before such rude and repeated shocks. Still, in spite of the ravages of the disease which had been w^^aring him out for more than two years he always managed to rise above the discouragement into which every mistake and every misfortune plunged him. The man suffered, sometimes groaned ; the artist always recovered himself. A fortnight before his death he meditated a new composition. He wrote to one of his companions in Paris to desire him to go to the Mazarin Library in Paris for information which he could not get in London. He always had in his heart that strong faith which a long martyrdom, after a short triumph, had raised and ennobled. He might, perhaps, not always have had the strength of a just ambition as an artist ; he always had the courage of an artist and, if he died, without attaining the aim of his life and his studies, his ivill at least cannot be blamed." In order to assist the family of the dead artist, a meeting was held on March 9th, 1861, at the residence of Mr. J. H. Foley, E.A., when it was resolved to raise a fund by subscription for the purchase of one or more of his unsold works, (viz. : " The Burial of the Princes in the Tower," " The Death of Thomas a Becket," and " The Coronation of William the Conqueror") for presentation to some public institution. A committee was formed including some names of great eminence in the world of art— e.^. Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, P.R.A. ; Samuel Cousins, E.A. ; W. J. Armitage, W. P. Frith, E.A.; P. Maclise, E.A. ; D. G. Eossetti, J. E. Millais, A.E.A. ; John Tenniel, G. F, Watts, etc., etc. ; and the Eev. J. B. Hughes, Head Master of Blundell's School, consented to receive subscriptions in Devonshire. The result of these efforts was the purchase of the painting representing "The Death of Thomas a Becket," which was presented by the Committee to Canterbury Cathedral on condition of its being hung near the scene of the martyrdom. Another picture " The Burial of the Two Princes in the Tower " was presented by public subscription in 1868 to the Devon and Exeter TBSTEEDAT 337 Albert Memorial Museum ; while " The Clemency of Coeur de Lion,"' which won the prize of the Royal Commissioners, now hanojs in a committee -room of the House of Lords. The pictures painted for Mr. Heathcoat are in the possession of Sir John Heathcoat Amory, Bart., at Bolham-house, Tiverton. Two important works — '' The Coronation of William the Conqueror" and "The Storm Scene from the Antiquary" remain unsold, and hanWnk with the opening:, in 1864, of a new Town-hall. Thebuild- ''^^^ ing which had previously served that purpose, was not large enough to accommodate all the public offices under one roof, and in other respects also it was inadequate to the requirements of the Borough. Accordingly in 1862 the Town Council advertised for plans for a new Town Hall, to be erected partly on the site of the old building, partly on the approach to St. Andrew-street, and partly on land bought by the Corporation from Mr. Cannon, proprietor of the Angel -hotel. Sixty-two designs having been sent in, the first prize was awarded to Mr, Lloyd, of Bristol, the architect under whose superintendence th(! work was carried out. Many difficulties presented themselves owing to the nature of the ground. These, however, were successfully overcome by the architect, who was able not only to provide for the re(juirements of the Council, but also to produce a building which for originality of design and architectural skill may be pronounced one of the most striking edifices in the; West of P]ngland. It only requires (as do so many other fine public buildings) a larger open spac<^ before it, in ordca' to display its admirable proportions to full advantage. Th(! style adoptcni was Venetiano-ltalian, and the principal feature in the design is an octagon tower which rises to a height of nearly a hundred feet. Th»i roof terminates in a s«juare surmounted with cast-iron galvanized cresting, from which springs a handsome weather-vane. In the centre of the octagon tower is a S(Mni-circular pediment, in which provision w;is made for an iUuiuinated clock. On four sides of the octagon roof are circular louvres. The roof is covered with cut slates of different colours. On each side of the octagon tower are massive chimney stacks in freestone, with moulded caps 348 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFOED and bases, and at each angle of the first and second compartments of the tower are detached cohirans of red Devonshire marble, with richly carved, fohated, Corinthian capitals in freestone, together with appropriate entablature and consoled cornice, also in free -stone. The main entrance to the building is at the base of the octagon tower facing Fore-street and opening into a large hall or vestibule. There are also two entrances in St. Andrew-street ; and towards that thoroughfare the building terminates in a square tower, in which is a stone staircase leading into the hall and communicating with the passages to the cells, so that prisoners can be taken to and from the court without interfering with the public. The principal fronts of the building in the direction of Fore-street, St. Andrew- street, and Angel-hill are faced with grey pennant ashlar, with freestone quoins and arches to the windows and doors. The base is appropriated to the Magistrates' offices. County-court offices, Borough Accountant's and Borough Surveyor's offices. Committee- room, Muniment-room, Town Clerk's office, police office and lock-up cells. The hall is on the second floor, where are also a mayoralty room, grand-jury room, ante-room and other offices. Over the grand-jury room at the north end of the hall is a large gallery, between which and the dock tiers of seats were erected in 1892. The hall itself is spacious and lofty. It is fifty feet long, thirty-two feet wide and twenty-seven feet high. A handsome stained-glass window just behind the Mayor's chair was presented by Mr. Alderman Lane in 1887. The walls are adorned with several portrait paint- ings. The most prominent are those of his Majesty George the Third in his robes, and Viscount Palmerston. The former is the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds and is supposed to have been presented to the town by Lord Harrowby. The portrait of Lord Palmerston was executed by Mr. Roden — -one of the tvvo pictures exhibited by him in the International Exhibition of 1862. It is considered an excellent likeness of his lordship. Its only fault is that it represents him with rather too careworn an expression. In the central compartment of the side of the hall hangs a portrait of Mr. Heathcoat— an admirable likeness, presented to the Mayor and Corporation by the inhabitants. Another portrait is that of Mr. Frank Hole, J. P., who filled the office of Mayor on many occasions : this picture was the gift of Lord Palmerston. In 1865 a bust of Lord Palmerston, executed by Mr. Morton Edwards, of London, was presented to the Hall by Mr. W. North Row, the then Mayor : and in 18G7 a Mayoralty Chair was sub- scribed for by the Mayor and Magistrates of the Borough. In the grand-jury room 'hangs a portrait of Mr. G. W. Cockram, which was presented to him by the Magistrates and Corporation at the close of his term of office as Mayor (1875, '76, '77) and given by him to the Town Hall. About the same time TO-DA.T 349 the Right Hon. W. X. Massey, M.P., gave to the town a presentation portrait of himself (by Charles Mercier), and it hangs in the hall. There is in the ante-room a curious old print of Tiverton Castle as it appeared in 1734, and in the grand-jury room is a painting of the Eoyal Arms dated 1G61. The other and smaller pictures consist chiefly of presentations which were made during the time of the old Corporation. The Mayoralty-room is forty-six feet long, twenty-eight feet wide, and sixteen feet high. Over it is a large octagon room, forming the upper compartment of the octagon, in which are the works of the clock, and also a valuable collection of geological specimens, antique books, &c., presented to the borough iu 1890 by Miss Crocker, of Newton Abbot. In the basement are capacious cellars for stores and coals, and apparatus for heating. The cost of the building was about £8,000. The Town Hall was opened on the 19th May, 1864, by the Hon. George Denman, M.P., accompanied by Lord Fortescue, who acted as deputy for Lord Palmerston. The day was observed as a general holiday. The church bells rang, and the band of the Rifle Volunteers poured forth melodious strains. The houses in the principal streets were decked with flags and evergreens, and large contingents arrived from the neigh- bouring towns and villages to manifest their good-will and ^hare in the festivities. About mid-day a procession was formed in the following order : — The Supenntendent and tbree officers of the police force, the band, the town crier and his staff, two policemen, carrying the maces, and all the members of the Town Council. Tbe party proceeded to the Three Tuns Hotel to escort the Hon. Mr. Denman and Lord Fortescue to the new building, whither the Mayor had already gone to receive them. Then followed the inaugural ceremony. Tbis was of the simplest possible character. The Mayor advancing to the window intro- duced Mr. Denman to the waiting multitude below, and Mr. Denman declared the building open. After tbis tliere were speeches in glorilication of the town of Tiverton and its illustrious member. Lord Palmerston. At three o'clock there was a banquet in the hall of the new ediflce, at which about two hundred and sixty gontl(;men sat down. More speeches were delivered full of sympathetic allusions to tht; veteran statesman who was then seriously indisposc^d and approaching, it was feared, liis latter end. In the (!V<^ning tljcre was :i ball in the Atlu'riajuin ; and dinners wen; pnjvided lur tin- workmen who had been employt-d on the building. Out-door amusements took place iu the evening in Fore-street, and among tin; milder diversions was a temperance "gala " in an (jrchard adjoining Mr. (lard's Hotel, a tea-meeting in Bampton-stre(;t and an(jther at tSt. Paul's, all of which are said to have been well attended. 350 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFORD It has been stated that in the design of the Town Hall provision was made for an illuminated clock. The clock itself was a thing of later birth, being supplied in 1869 through the generosity of Mr. John Lane, the then Mayor of Tiverton. It is an excellent piece of mechanism. Its chief merit is, in technological languaije, its " gravity escapement." As the meaning of this expression may not be self-evident, I quote, for the benefit of my readers, an admirably clear and doubtless faultlessly accurate statement from the Cambridge Philosophical Transactions : "For many years past the great problem of clock-making has been the invention of a simple gravity escapement, which will give a constant impulse to the pendulum, and without any friction capable of sensibly affecting the arc of vibration, for if that can be done it is evident that all mechanical cause of disturbance of the time of vibration will also be removed ; and if the escapement can also be made so that its effect on the pendulum will still remain the same, notwithstanding any small variation of arc which may arise from changes in the density of the air, or any accidental causes, then the pendulum (so far as it depends on the escapement) must remain isochronous so long as it is kept going at all." The spectacle of this rare clock, new and resplendent, inspired a modest bard (signing himself " F.T.") to pen the following lines : THE CLOCK IN THE NEW TOWN HALL DEDICATED TO THE WORSHIPFUL DONOR. Ah ! blind indeed the man who'd stroll an hour Through Tiverton and not admire the taste Which raised, as if by talismanic power, So fair a pile on that unsightly waste ; At first sight pleasing ; then on drawing nigh There's a light elegance, an airy grace- Nought mars the outline or offends the eye, A grand achievement on so small a space. ****** And now to make the whole complete, behold The useful and the beautiful combined — A noble clock, its beauties manifold The graceful offering of a thoughtful mind. A boon indeed, for now in darkest night All can behold its joleasant radiant face, Beaming with useful information. Bright Asa young planet wandered down from space, And may its truthfulness this lesson teach — Use well the moments, dearest friends must sever, Accept Time's blessings while within thy reach, For ev'ry moment past is past for ever. In 1865, St. Peters Churchyard was levelled. Previous to this alteration the ground presented a very irregular and undulatory appearance. Complaints were made at the time that the change TO-DAY 351 was carried out without proper regard for the dead, the church- yard being very full, and that skulls and other bones were thrown with the soil into the " Chorl." This, however, was officially denied. In the autumn of 1866 the town suffered from a visitation of cholera. The first cases were attributed to the eating of too many mussels, but the multiplication of victims soon forced people to recognize the presence of the dreaded scourge. Exaggerated reports were current in the neighbouring towns and villages as to the extent of the misfortune. It was alleged that people were dying here at the rate of 10 or 20 a day. The total number of deaths as shown by the register was twenty. During the prevalence of the epidemic an Exeter clergyman, the Kev. H. Gr. Tomkins, caused a pamphlet to be printed for private circulation, entitled " The fear of burying the living in times of cholera and its remedy." In this pamphlet occurred the following paragraph relating to Tiverton : " Mrs. Ellicombe, of Higher Polsloe Farm, near Exeter, states to the writer, that at Tiverton, ' at a former visitation of cholera, a little boy, Isaac Hunt, was taken ill. The illness was pronounced cholera. After being put in his coffin, he was to be buried that night. The parents watched with the coffin — the lid lightly put on. They put off the funeral till the morning, and in the night each of them heard a thump- ing. The mother said, ' It is little Isaac' They lifted the coffin-lid and he raised both his hands in the air. They took him out and he was restored; and was living as a grown-up man five or six years ago at Tiverton. His father was ostler at The Three Tuns ; his name was Isaac Hunt (as well as the son's). Mrs. Ellicombe, of Higher Polsloe Farm, knows the truth of these particulars of her own personal knowledge ; the father served his apprenticeship with her father.' Oct. 6th, 1866. (Signed) S. ELLICOMBE." Will it be believed that the whole of this circumstantial account was fictitious ? Very careful nisearches were made, as the state- ments were calculated to alarm the public mind, and the result showed that, however plausible, the story was a pure invention. At Olive Cottage, Cowley moor — quite; a little journey from the town — about this time lived a certain brick-maker. At a late hour on Tuesday night, 25th July, 186.5, or rather on the Wednes- day morning, (for he gave the time as between one and two), the brick-maker was homeward bound. There was nothing to distin- guish the occasion in the way of external manifestations. True, the hour was late, and there was no moon, but though 'J'he sky was dull, and low, and gray. And a light wind swept moaning by. One might have answered with a sigh, still there were around him the old familiar objects — the outline of th(; njad, tli(! houses, few and .sparse, dimly visiblf in the summer night, but otherwisi; jurst as he had known them for many a year. Nothing was farther from his thoughts than the 352 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYTORD supernatural, when suddenly as he entered Cowleymoor-lane, he became conscious he was not alone, and lo ! at his side he discerned an object which chilled the very marrow in his bones, A black horse was stalking by him in the darkness, bearing on its back the ghastly form of a headless rider. The spectral steed had a short tail and a white fat eye rolled in its head. Its rider was clothed in white drapery finished with a frill round the head- less neck, the garment was tight ab the wrists, and the ghostly hands were furnished with long and rounded finger nails. The poor man's 'cute observation proved that the ghost was a modern one, as it wore boots with patent tops. The affrighted man walked rapidly on, his unwelcome companion keeping close by his side to the very entrance of the brick-yard. There, speechless and horror-stricken, he bolted into his house and went to bed, forgetting in his terror to shut the front door. When questioned he unhesitatingl7 affirmed that he could hear distinctly the trot of the horse and the creak of the saddle, (from which it would appear that the headless ghost was of some substance and not " light as air"), and that when near Monfcserrat, the spectre was not more than two inches from him. That the narrator himself believed this story most firmly and implicitly, there is not the shadow of doubt. He declared that he would rather go miles round than pass the same place at so late an hour, and he also protested vigorously that he was not intoxicated ! The following is taken from Notes and Queries, of about this period : — "Jt may perhaps be worth chronicling that in some parts of Devon the apocryphal correspondence between Our Lord and Abgarus, King of Edessa, is looked upon as a preservative against fever. In a cottage at Bolham, a small village near Tiverton, hanging over a fireplace in an old wooden frame, I found these letters, printed in large type. They were surmounted by a rough wood-cut of Our Lord's head, purporting to be a reproduction of the likeness imprinted on the handkerchief at Veronica, under which was a detailed description of Our Lord's person : middle height, blue eyes, fair curls, &c. I begged to be allowed to take the whole thing home to copy, but, to my surprise, I found the owner looked upon the idea as sacriligious. She bid me read what was printed below the letters, which had escaped me before. This proved to be a declaration (puc into Our Lord's mouth), that in whatsoever house those letters hung fever should never come. The old woman did not know where the charm came from, or anything about it, except that her husband's grandfather had said that it was brought to the house when newly built, and, she added, had always kept fever away. She utterly refused to hear a w ord against it." In 1868, chiefly through the exertions of Col. Troyte, of Hunts- ham Court, St. Peter's Society of Change Ringers was founded, and the entire management of the bells of St. Peter's Church, TO-DAT 353 Tiverton, was committed to them. The condition of the belfry was then anything but creditable to the parish, and a few months before, theseventh bell had become cracked, thus render- ing the whole peal useless. The Society undertook the re-casting of this bell, and the thorough repair of the belfry at a cost of ^200. The tower contains eight bells, bearing the following inscriptions : 1st, Glory to God in the highest ; 2nd, And on Earth Peace ; 3rd, Good will toward Men ; 4th, Prosperity to all our Benefactors ; oth, Wm. Evans of Chepstow cast us all ,; Gth, (re-cast in 1791 by T. Belbie, CuUompton), Mr. Bartholomew Davey and Mr. James Cross, Churchwardens ; 7th, Mr. Clement Govett and Mr. Thomas Anstey, Wardens* ; 8th, George Osmond, Esq., Mayor, 1736. In the Churchwar- dens' Accounts are frequent entries respecting the bells, which seem to have given a great deal of trouble formerly and often required to be re-cast. In 1736, the six old bells were cast into eight, by William Evans, of Chepstow (hence the inscription on No. 5). It would appear from an entry in the parish register (April, 1727) to the effect that Thomas Boyne was killed by a fall of the chimes, that there were chimes in the tower at that date, but nothing more seems to be known about them. In 1875 Mr. Charles Herbert Mackenzie presented a set of chimes to the tower, but they are not used now as they are understood to injure the bells. Ln the year 1883, a valuable clock, costing £211, with mechanism for striking and chiming changes, was presented to St. Peter's Church by Mr. Henry Septimus Gill, J. P., and placed in the Tower. The outside dial could not be fixed until October, 1884, it being necessary to obtain a faculty from the Bishop for the purpose. Considering its importanca as the centre of a rich agricultural district, Tiverton fully deserved the honour of a visit from the Devon Agricultural Association in May, 1876. The Show was held on the identical site occupied by the exhibition of the Bath and West of England Society twenty-one years before ; and a Flower Show, organized by a local committee, was held on Shillands. Elaborate preparations had been made for this event. Triumphal arches were erected in the main streets ; while Venetian masts, decorated with flags and emblazoned with shields, were planted on each side of thtj tlioroughfares leading to the show- yard. On the whole perhaps the town was never so well decor- at(;d as oti this occasion. ft was transFo.-ined from its every- day self to a kind of \'aiiity Fair. Nearly all the shops were decked with laurel, and tbe tradesmen vied with each other in the extent and ingenuity of their displays. Flags, over- greens, porches composed o\ laurel, ornamental tubs in which * Mho the following,' : Recast by St. Peter's Society of Change Ringers, C. A. W. Troyto, I'roaident, 18Gb. 354 THE CHEONICLES OF TWTFOED were small fir-trees, flowers— these were the chief features, but one or two of the decorators were especially enterprising. Mr. Boyne had a unique contrivance in the shape of a " cuckoo," which was perched in a fir-tree, and by the aid of machinery was made to imitate the notes of the original ; while over the shop- window of Mr, Burgess was the model of a Wellington boot, with an inscription in very legible characters wherein the hope was expressed that all the world would tread under their feet the manufacture with which Mr. Burgess is identified. — The total number of persons admitted to the show during the three days was 20,898, and the total receipts, (including £71 35s. for privilege tickets), were £1,124 9s. Id. The Baptist Chubch. A noteworthy addition to the places of religious worship in Tiverton was made in 1877, when a new Baptist Chapel, erected at a cost of more than £4,000. was opened. As indicated in a previous section (page 164) the Baptist community in Tiverton dates back to the times of the Stuarts, the Church having been founded in 1607, and the first meeting-house built about 1687. A chapel followed on the same site in 1730 ; and this was enlarged in 1354, but proved inadequate to the needs of a growing congregation. Stimulated by a munificent offer of £1,000 from Mr. John Lane, J. P., a retired draper of the town, Tiverton Baptists resolved on a new, commodious, and handsome edifice. A site adjoining the old chapel was purchased for £237 ; Mr. G. S. Bridgman, architect, of Torquay, prepared plans and specifications ; and the contract for the building was entrusted to Messrs. Barrons & Son, of Tiverton. The edifice is in the Classic style of architecture, boldly and freely treated ; and the internal arrangements are marked by the greatest regard for the comfort both of speakers and hearers. The Chapel forms a large parallelogram, 81 feet long by 45 feet wide, with spacious galleries, sitting accommodation being provided for about 900 persons. The stone4aying ceremony took place on Monday, April 17th, 1876. The proceedings of the day commenced with a devotional service in the old chapel, conducted by the Rev. J. P. Tetley, of Taunton. Luncheon was served at the Half Moon Hotel at one o'clock ; and in the afternoon at three o'clock, in the presence of a thousand spectators, Mr. J. Lane laid the memorial- stone with a silver trowel, presented to him for the occasion. Tea followed, at which about 400 persons were present ; and in the evening there was a crowded and enthusiastic meeting in the Wesleyan Chapel. Sir Morton Peto, Bart., presided, and con- gratulatory speeches were made by the Eev. J. P. Carey (pastor), Eev. G. W. Humphreys, Mr. D. Powell, and others. Twelve months later— on Thursday, April 19th, 1877— the opening ceremony took place. In the morning there was a TO-DAl 355 dedicatory service, conducted by the Eev. J. P. Chown, of Bloomsbuiy, and tittended by the Mayor and Corporation in state — this being the first visit ever paid to a Nonconformist Chapel by the Tiverton Corporation in its civic capacity. At the luncheon which followed, the Mayor (Mr. G. W. Cockram, J. P.) made an allusion to the event, which is thus reported in the current number of the Tiverton Gazette : — " His worship humorously remarked that he had sometimes thought of writing a History of Tiverton, and if ^Ir. Lane would give him £500 to begin with, he would undertake to write a full, true, and impartial History of Tiverton, which they must remember they had never yet had. He should certainly put down as a red-letter day in Tiverton, the day when the Corporation of the Borough, the Mayor robed, with the mace before him and the man carrying the pole, went to the opening of the Baptist Chajjel. and there were some people there who had never been in a Chapel before." Later in the day there was a tea in the Heathcoat-hall, to which 550 sat down ; and in the evening Mr. Lane presided over an enthusiastic meeting in the new chapel, at which (thanks to Mr. Lane's generous olfer to give half the amount of the remaining debt, if the rest could be made up by others), the whole of the money required to open the edifice without encumbrance, was practically provided. A few months later a fine organ, built at a cost of £450, was added ; and other improvements have since been effected, in addition to which, in 1891, a village chapel was built at Ash Thomas, Halberton, chiefly- through the liberality of Tiverton Baptists. An endowment for the maintenance of the Tiverton Baptist Chapel in good repair was bequeathed by Mr. Lane at his death, which occurred in 1887 at the advanced age of 87. A brass in the sacred edifice thus perpetuates his good deeds : " Thrice Mayor and many years an Alderman, he was an earnest worker in the civic life of Tiverton ; nevertheless his deepest interest centred in the life of the Baptist Church, and nowhere was his generosity so nobly displayed as in the place where this memorial is raised to his memory." Another name honourably associated with the history of the Jiaptist Church is that of Mr. Daniel Powell, for many years a trusted and confidential employee at the head of the counting- house in Messrs. lleathcoat & Co.'s lace factory. Mr. Powell's death in April, 1890, at the age of 57, evoked expressions of regret thnmghout the whole town ; and his funeral assumed the dimensions of a public demc/nstration. A brass memorial'plate in the Baptist Chapcd states that " For upwards of 47 years he devoted the untiring energies of a more than ordinarily well-endowed nature to the furtherance of Christ's Kingdom in this i)lace. Ah a teacher and supcrintendont of tlio Sunday School, choirmaster, (hsacitn, secretary and treasurer of the Church, he sought to serve man and liou5, engaged the services of a Mr. Lawrence, who conducted a series of experiments with a " divining-rod " in the form of a piece of spring steel bent in the shape of a horse-shoe. Mr Lawrence, holding this instrument in his hands, and with his elbows close to his sides, walked over the field; and when the steel became violently agitated he intimated that water would be found by boring below. A London newspaper (2Vu monthly from " Anna Maria Turner's Charity," besides other sums from " Elsie Besley's Charity," and " Mary Marshall's Trust." To every occupant in the above almshouses there are given annually 3 cwfc. of coals (of which one-third comes from the Custom-Wood Charity). The custodians of the almshouses and their endowments are the Churchwardens for the parish of Tiverton. In the year 1892-3, for the first time for a long period, the offices of Churchwarden and Mayor were united, Mr. V. A. Payne, .I.P., having been ai)pointed Churchwarden in April, 1892, and Mayor in November of the same year. Modern Philanthropy. Among the members of the Heathcoat family, whose names will not readily be forgotten in Tiverton, mention must he made of Mrs. J3rewin, the youngest ilaughter of Mr. John Heathcoat, who was married in IH33 to Mr. Ambrose Brewin, a member of the firm of Heathcoat & Co. Mrs. Brewin, whose numerous bene- factions to the town have been already mentioned, died in May, 1877, her husband having pre-deceased her by 22 years. Mrs. Brewin's elder sister. Miss Eloisa Heathcoat, for many years re- ceived at Ikt liouHi' at Bolhani orphan girls to be trained as dome.stic servants ; and subsc(jucntly she gave board, lodging, and education to a number of young ladies in reduced circumstances, with the view of (pialifyitig tlieiii t(j sn|)port thcmscdves as govc^r- nesses. Miss llcatiieoat dii-d in December, l.SSU, at th(> age of 7;"). Beautifully situated on the slope of a lofty bill overlooking the Exe Valley is a farm house, known as {''in-bt^acon, which has bi-eii fitted up as a Home for children afflicted with incurable disease. 390 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD A skilled and tender-hearted nurse, trained in Dr. Stephenson's " Children's Home," Bonnor-road, London, acts as matron ; and under her care the little inmates— eight or ten in number — enjoy all the alleviations and comforts that love can suggest. This beautiful work of charity was instituted and is maintained at the sole expense of Mrs. Unvvin, wife of Mr. W. C. L. XJnwin, of Hayne, who was Mayor of Tiverton in 1891-2. An important addition to the almshouses of the borough was made in 1891 by Mr. Thomas Ford, who erected on a site near Lovvman-Green a substantial block of buildings, called " The Homes," and containing twelve sets of spacious rooms, to accommodate 24 inmates. For each pair of occupants there is a living-room and bed-room, with cupboard, offices, &c., on the most approved principles ; and an elegantly-appointed chapel is provided on the first floor. In 1891 an effort was ma'le by the Tiverton Debating Society to collects funds for the formation of a Public Library in Tiverton. About £150 was raised by subscriptions (the chief donor being the late Mrs. Heinagle, £50) ; and this amount has been invested in the names of trustees, until a suitable opportunity for carrying the project further presents itself. Sir J. H. Heathcoat-Amoey, Baet. Jn the annals of modern Tiverton no name occurs more frequently than that of Sir John Heathcoat Amory, Bart., grandson of Mr. John Heathcoat (whose daughter married Mr. Samuel Amory, of London). No apology need be offered for a brief record of the principal passages in a life so eminently useful. Born in 1829, and educated at IJniversity College, London, Sir John (then Mr.) Amory married on April 6th, 1863, Miss Henrietta Mary XJnwin, a lady who by her personal charms and amiable disposition has won the hearts of all classes of society. The wedding was celebrated at St. James's, Piccadilly, by the Lord Bishop of Oxford ; and in Tiverton the event was observed by public rejoicings and addresses of congratulation. In the year 1868, as already mentioned, (see page 343) Mr. Amory was returned to Parliament, in conjunction with the Hon. George Denman, as member for the borough. The confidence thus bestowed was never withdrawn so long as Tiverton continued to enjoy a separate Parhamentary existence ; and in 1885 he was pressed by many in the Tiverton division to come forward as a candidate. After seventeen years in Parliament, however, Sir John thought he might be allowed to retire ; he, therefore, declined to be nominated. During his Parliamentary career it was not often that he indulged in a speech and it is to be regretted that some of the Solons who pour forth a flood of doubtful eloquence cannot see their way to follow his example. Those who are acquainted with Sir John Amory and have been associated with TO-DAT 391 him in public offices will be the first to testify that this reluctance to intrude himself on the notice of the country did not arise from incapacity for business or inability to formulate his ideas. The conferment of a baronetcy is not always a criterion of merit, but in this case, it will be allowed, the honour was thoroughly deserved. The lace factory, in which about one-tenth of the population of the town find employment, is a noticeable instance of the way in which masters and men can co-operate without the slightest friction, even in Limes of depression, when the employees are convinced of the honour and sympathy of the proprietors ; and it is needless to observe here that in the firm of Heathcoat & Co. Sir John Amory has by far the largest share. He is also one of the chief landed proprietors in this part of Devonshire, besides owning a great part of the town of Tiverton, and the Tiverton Gas Works. At an early age Sir John became a member of the Tiverton Town Council, and he retained the position of Alderman until the year 1892. Previous to his entering Parlia- ment he had been Mayor ; and his eldest son, Mr. Ian Amory is at this moment a member of the Corporation. Sir John Amory is on the Commission of the Peace for Devonshire, and he is a deputy-lieutenant for the county. He is also Chairman of the Governors of Blundell's School ; and a trustee of the market and of nearly all the local charities. Every charitable and philan- thropic institution of the town finds in him a generous friend ; and as an illustration of his munificence it may be mentioned that in 1891 the parish church of Chevithorne (at which the Knight- shayes household worship), was renovated at Sir John Amory's sole cost, at an expense of about £1,200. The interest taken by the inhabitants of Tiverton in the fortunes of Sir John Amory's family was strikingly manifested on the occasion of the coming of age of Mr. Ian Murray Heathcoat Amory in 1887, when four distinct presentations were made to him: — one, by the Town; one, by the sportsmen accustomed to hunt with Sir John's pack of harriers, of which Mr. Ian is the master; one, by the tenantry of Kiiight.shayes ; and one by the workpeople of the lace factory. A similar manifestation of friendship occurred in 1891 on the marriage of Sir John's eldest daughter. Miss Muriel Amory, to Mr. (Jharles Carew, the eldest surviving son of the Kev. It, B. Carew, of Hickleigh. Sir John Amory's Devonshire seat is Knightshayes Court, Tiverton, a largo (Jothic mansion begun in 1869 and completed three years later. Ih; luis also a moor in Scotland and a fishing-river in Norway. The Expansion ov Titeuton. The population of Tiverton in 1871 was 10,02t; in 1881, 10,4.00; and in IM'JI, 10,877. These figures shew that the town grows, though not very rai)idiy. Tiio limits of the borough it must bo reuieinbored, include a large agricultural 392 THE CHEONICLES OF TWYFORD area, and the tendency of the agricultural population here, as elsewhere, has been to decline. The falling - off in this respect, however, has been more than made up by what may be termed " the expansion of Tiverton " as a residential town, attributable chiefly to the growing prosperity of Blundell's School on its new site. As long ago as 1874 the need of more houses for would-be residents of the middle and upper classes was recognised ; and local shareholders combined to form the Tiverton Land and Building Society, which carried on operations for about eleven years. The management, however, was not very energetic ; and although the directors secured an excellent and extensive site, only six semi-detached houses (known as St. Aubyn's Villas) were built, and ultimately the Society was wound up, its assets realised, and the capital returned to the shareholders to the extent of about lis. in the £. An enterprise on a larger scale and with more successful issues, was initiated in 188H by the late Mr. William Partridge, in conjunction with his partner, Mr. George Edward Cockram, by the purchase from Sir J. H. Heathcoat Amory of the " Lodge Estate," com- prising about seventeen acres, most conveniently situated, close to the Railway Station and Blundell's School. Having paid ,£3,000 for this property Messrs, Partridge & Cockram proceeded to lay it out with roads, sewers, water mains, and other necessary works at a cost of about =£1,500 ; and they then offered portions of it for sale on easy terms. The result was a very marked stimulus to building in Tiverton ; and by 1892 some forty excellent houses stood where previously there was only one. Nor after his partner's death did Mr. Cockram's enterprise relax. In 1889 he bought and laid out (at a cost of some £3,000) another site at Horsdon, about eight acres in extent, upon which a number of houses have since been erected. Simultaneously with these improvements, new residences have been built by Mr. Barrons at Eedlands, and elsewhere ; by Mr. W. H. Lloyd on the St. Aubyn's estate ; and others too numerous to particularise. If the cost of Blundell's School and its adjuncts, and also the new railway station be included, the amount spent on bricks and mortar in Tiverton in the decade ending 1892, cannot be less than £100,000 : while the additions to the rateable value of the town during the same period amount to £3,000. Pundits in Council. The Devonshire Association for the Promotion of Literature, Science, and Art, founded in 1862, held their annual gathering in Tiverton in 1865 ; and again in 1891, when Mr, E. N. Worth, F. G. S. was President of the Society, The learned disquisitions of the membei's, and the jaunts by which their proceedings were enlivened, are duly recorded in the transactions of the Society. TO-DAY 393 Street Improvements. . Coincident with the growth of the town has been a marked improvement in the appearance of the main streets. In many phices mean and dihipidated structures have been replaced by substantial buildings. Prior to 1873, the lower part of Bampton- street,-near to its junction with Fore-street and Gold-street, was inconveniently narrow ; but in 3Iarc)i, 1873. five small houses were burnt down, and the Town Council taking advantage of the opportunity to widen the thoroughfare, the whole of that part of the street was rebuilt. In St. Peter-street, adjoining the Wesleyan Chapel, stood for many years a group of cottages in the last stage of decay — an eye-sore to the chief residential thoroughfare of the town. In 1875, these cottages were bought by the Trustees of the Wesleyan Chapel, and cleared away ; and in place thereof spacious Sunday School premises were built, followed in 1885 by a Minister's house, the cost of these improvements being about £2,000. Again in 1891, a similar improvement was effected in VVestexe-nortb, where a site occupied by four old cottages was bought, the cottages swept awav, and a Mission-hall erected, the total cost being about £730. Many other instances might be given did space permit. The Temperance Movement. Under the management of a Committee representing all sections of temperance workers in Tiverton, a " Blue ribbon '" mission was held in the grounds of "Wilderness ITjuse, from August 10 to 24, 1882, a large tent capable of seating ],20u people being erected and fitted up for the purpose. The mission was conducted by 3Iajor & Mrs. Evered Poole. No less than 2,300 persons donned tbe blue ribbon in token of total abstinence from alcoholic liquors; and of this number l,r)00 represented new pledges. Although many of these afterwards fell away, there is no doubt tliat tlie mission bad a distinct and lasting effect. It is worth noting that in the ten years following, the number of licensed houses in the town was reduced from 4G to 40. In 1882 the public-houses of the borough were in tlu^ proportion of 1 to every 227 inhabitants ; in 1892 the proportion was 1 to 272. Dev(jn County CouNciiy, The privilege of being represented on the Devon County Council by two members, was accorded to Tiverton on the formation of tliat body, and tht; first representatives of the boroui,'li elected caily in 1S^9 were Sir John llealhcoat Amory and Mr. T. Ford, jun. On the election of Sir J. Amory as a County Alderman, Mr. Henry llaydon was elected a County Councillor in his place. In 1^92 Mr. Ford and 'Slv. llaydon declined to Keek re-election ; and Mr. (I. l). Cockram and Mr. .). F. Ellr-rton were returned — the former for the East ward of the borough, and the latter for the WcHt ward. 394 APPENDIX DISTINGUISHED BLUNDELLIANS. In the list of Blundellians, more or less distinguished, the following names of living persons may find a place : — The Right Rev. Frederick Temple, D.D., Bluuclell's scholar at Balliol, ]838 (afterwards Fellow and Tutor) ; Head-master of Rugby, I808-6S ; Bishop of Exeter. 18(38-1885 ; Bishop of Loudon, 1885— Lieut.-Geueral .^ir George Tomkyns Chesney, K.C.B., &c., M.P. for Oxford, member of the Indian Co-ancil, and author of " The Battle of Dorking." Sir Walter Medhurst, Kent, formerly H.M. Consul at Shanghai. Mr. R. D. Blackmore, author of " Lorna Doone," &c. Rev. George Body, D.D., Canon of Durham. Rev- R. J. Knowling, Chaplain of King's College, London. Rev. G. C. Little, Chaplain to the Bishop of Manchester. Rev. Donald M. Owen, B.D., Rector of Calverleigh, Devon. Rev. R. B. Carew,J.P., Rector of Bickleigh, Devon. Rev. Stephen Wade, Rector of Wear Gilford, Devon. Rev. A. J. Miller, Rector of Wootton, Northami)tonshire. Rev. F. H. Mauley, Rector of Somerford Magna. Rev. Canon !~cott, ord Wrangler 1849 ; Warden of St. Paul's College, Sydney, New South Wales. Rev. G. H. F. Fagan, Vicar of Exwick, Devon. Dr. Andrew Jukes, translator of the New Testament into Multani. Major S. 0. Gray (25th Middlesex R.V.) chief accountant at the Bank of England. 3Ir. John Shapland Yeo, second wrangler 1881, Mr. A. F. Seldon, Mayor of Barnstaple 1888. Mr. Goodenough Taylor, Proprietor and Editor of Bristol Times and Mirror. Mr. B. C. Harriman, Law Secretary to the Government of "Victoria. Mr. R. H. Dawe, Town Clerk of Hull, &c., &c. Among Blundellians, recently deceased, may be mentioned : — Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, Bart., K.C.B., Governor of Madras, 1860 ; member of Indian Council 18G2-5. Mr. Abraham Hayward, Q.C. (1801-84) essayist ; shared with Lord Macaulay tke reputation of being " the best read man in London." Rev. John Russell, (1795-1883 1 ; Rector of Black Torrington, Devon, better known as " Parson Jack," the most famous sporting clergyman of the century. The Very Rev. Walter Farquhar Hook, D.D., Vicar of Leeds, and Dean of Chichester. Rev. W. C. Salter, Principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford. Rev. Canon Owen, Rector of Wonston, Hants. Rev. E A. Dayman, B.D., Rector of Shillingstone, Doi'set. Rev. C. C. Bartholomew, sub-dean of Exeter. Rev. William Rogers, Canon of Exeter. Rev. Henry Barnes, Canon of Exeter. Mr. A. A. Knox, Times leader-writer and London Police Court Magistrate. Mr. F. H. Carew (1855-88) private secretary to Earl Lytton. Captain C. H. Beley, D.S.O., killed in the Black Mountain Expedition, 18S8 ; aged 33. Mr. W. H. Snell, jun., Editor of llie Electrician. I NDEX Accidents Aj;;ricuUural Shows Almshouses Amory, Sir J. Approaiiees Archei'y ... Assizes Aiheuaeuni Pagk. 264, 331, 357, 358 32.-> 35:i 41, 4-2, 169,38s 389 291-2, 310, 327, 343,.-i'J0, 391 9G/277 33 107, 131 275,371 " Hagster Jemmy " Hampton, battle Baptists Hei^jjars IJeils Hible Christians ■" Bishop Blaize " lilackniore, K.D. Blue-coat School Bluiidell, Peter BlunJell's School 84-95, 217, Bolhani Boundaries Bo\vhug»greea BoycottiuK Brewin, Mrs. Bridewell Bridse-chapels Building enterprise Bull-baiting BuU, Bishop Butler, Samuel Bye-laws 104 . 28,171, 83, 95, 96, 297-306, 3Gu 20, 195, 309, 323, 256 12 3.34 1"5 352 293 231 91 .••'70 1H7 -oG9 352 101 274 198 3H9 1U3 43 syi 274 88 88 108 Canal 247 Capern, Edward 383 Carew, B. M 171-177 Carew, liev. K. B. 322 Carew, Thomas 37 Castle, Tiverton 117-128 Cemetery, Tiverton 318 322 Chapel, Baptist 104, 3.54 Chapel, Bible Christian ... 293 Chapel, Congregational ... 103, 286 Chapel, Konian Catholic 2^ti Chapel, UuiLarian 10< Chapel, Wesleyan 205, 392 Chapels, pre-Ueformation 43 Charities ;jJ-32, 39, 109, 177-180, 328, 384 Charms ... 352 Charter ... ... [[, "99, 152, 191 Chiicot, Robert 97 Chileott's School .« 98, ;j7o Cholera ... 351 Chorl, The ... 211 Church, St. Ueorge's ... 163, 184, 288 Church, M. Paul's 322 Church, bt. Peter's 2I, 34, 43, 45, 157, 210, 1250,312-318 Churchwardens 202, 3H9 Churchyard 34,201,3.50 Churchyard fair 273 Civil war iirj Coach, hrst 108 Coachinj{ In Devon 2 H Coles, John 380-81 Coltoii, Itev. C. ... '. ai4, 247 Connucke, Col il» CoiiHtubles _ 33 Contribuiionu for Tiverton ... 57,73 Coronation 201 Corporation .32, KJO, 104, 105, 131, 152, 1H9, [196, 2;)5, 279 CoBway, Itichard 213 Cosway's factory 202 Courteuayu 30 Cove 132, 291 Cowley, Iluuuuh 210 Cranmore Castle Crimean war Cross, artist Custom-wood charity Danes, slaughter of Dartmoor .. ... .„ Defence preparations Deuinan.llon. G Devon County Council Devon, Countess of Devon, Earl of Devonshire Association ... Distre.'is in Tiverton Divining-rod Dogs for draught Doomsday book Drama in Tiverton Drill-hall Duusford, ilartiu Duukerry beacon Dunmoniaus Earthquake Ebrington, liord Elections I lir.abcth, Queen Elmore E.xe, boating Exe, floods Exe, frozen ... Exe bridge Factory, cotton Factory, lace Fairfax, Sir Thomas Fairs Famine Felo de so Fencibles Feudal Bites Fires ... 49, 80, 148, 202. " Fives" ... ' Flemish Settlers Floddcn, Battle of Floods 107, I'ood Riots Freaks of Nature " Freedom " taking up French Prisoners Friendly Societies Funeral, I'riuccss Catherine Gas Ghost at Sami)ford GilTard, R Gret.'iivil, Sir K (ireeiiway John (ireenway's Almshouses ... Greeuway's Chapel ... Page. 9 324 332 ... £28, 388 13 227 343 .193 18, 43, 308 19, 34 392 231, 216, 255 359 257 12-17 2.57-260 356 ... 217, 203 5 8 168 ,343 170, 192 340 40 7, 26, 31, 368 ... 331 168, 207, 255 .. 15-.>, 247 25, 256, 387 ... 223, 249 249 llG 271 23' 373 228 25 255 274 24 37 357 30G 256-7 104 2;W ... 106, 211 34 276 235 3G 117 ■39 24, 39, 388 43 225, 168, 248, 207, llallBisliop llangman's-IIill Kariiey .Julian llarrowby, Durd llcaihcoal. John llealhcciat. MisM lleath('i