obliged to close it owing to want of business and the bad debts he had
contracted. He was now in a bad way, without any obvious means of
subsistence, except fishing, which did not pay, and with a wife and four
children to support. To add to his misfortunes, in the autumn of the
same year, he lost his boat in a gale. He, nevertheless, managed to pick
up a little by piloting, and in the beginning of 1814 was fortunate
enough to obtain employment with a Mr. Down, of Bridport, who kept a
small boat for fishing. With the wages thus obtained he was enabled by
August to buy another boat.
During the next few years he was engaged in running contraband cargoes
from Cherbourg, and some of his expedients for outwitting the revenue
officers are very ingenious. On one occasion the officer who was
searching his ship for contraband goods came across a goose, which he
was desirous of purchasing, but as it was stuffed with fine lace instead
of the orthodox sage and onions, Rattenbury naturally preferred not to
sell it. At another time he had soldered up some valuable French silks
in a tin box, so that when his boat was being overhauled he was able to
throw it overboard while the searchers were in another part of the boat,
and the package being buoyant was subsequently recovered.
One dark night he landed a cargo at Seaton Hole, and began carrying the
kegs one by one on his back up the cliff, when he tumbled over a donkey
lying in the path. The beast set up such a vigorous braying that it
awoke the preventive officer, who was asleep at the foot of the cliff,
and the whole cargo was consequently seized.
In the summer of 1820, he contemplated building himself a house, and
bought a piece of land for the site. He at once commenced collecting
stones on the coast in his boat, and till the end of the year was
superintending building operations.
In 1825, while returning from a smuggling expedition, he was captured
off Dawlish by the crew of a coastguard boat and lodged in Exeter jail,
where he remained till the 5th April, 1827, when he was released through
the influence of Sir William Pole. In May, and again in July, he was in
London giving evidence in connection with a scheme for the construction
of a harbour at Beer and a canal from Beer to Thorverton. He then
remained at home engaged in his old occupations till 1829, when Lord
Rolle got him into the Royal Navy, but falling sick, he was discharged
on 6th January, 1830. His last smuggling adventure happened in January,
1836. He was bringing twenty tubs of brandy in a cart from Torquay to
Newton Bushel, and when within a mile of the latter place, at ten
o’clock at night, he was overtaken by some mounted officers, and the
horse, cart, and its contents were seized. Rattenbury, however, effected
his escape. This adventure ended his career as a smuggler. At the Exeter
Assizes, held in March, 1836, he appeared as a witness on behalf of his
son, who was charged with having been engaged with others in an affray
on Budleigh Salterton beach, in which some revenue officers were roughly
handled. The case excited considerable interest, and Rattenbury’s
cross-examination by Mr. Sergeant Bompas afforded much amusement. The
following are some extracts from a contemporary account of the trial:—
Rattenbury _loquitur_. He keeps school at sea—fishes for sole, turbot,
brill; any kind of fish that comes to hook. B.: Which do you catch
oftenest, soles or tubs? R.: Oh, the devil a tub—(great
laughter)—there are too many picaroons going now-a-day. B.: You have
caught a good many in your time? R.: Ah, plenty of it! I wish you and
I had as much of it as we could drink—(laughter). B.: You kept school
at home and trained up your son? R.: I have always trained him up in a
regular honourable way, larnt him the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and
the Ten Commandments. B.: You don’t find there, Thou shalt not
smuggle? R.: No, but I find there, Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour. B.: Nobody smuggles now-a-day? R.: Don’t they,
though! (Laughter.) B.: So these horses at Beer cannot go above three
or four miles an hour? R.: If you had not better horses you would
never get to London. I seldom ride on horse-back. If I do, I generally
falls off seven or eight times in a journey—(great laughter).
Rattenbury’s adventures now come to an end, and he appears to have
settled down to a quiet life for the remainder of his days, Lord Rolle
having generously allowed him a pension of one shilling a week for
life.[27]
MAXWELL ADAMS.
-----
Footnote 27:
This account of John Rattenbury is compiled from a somewhat scarce
little book entitled _Memoirs of a Smuggler_, compiled from his Diary
and Journal, containing the Principal Events in the Life of John
Rattenbury, of Beer, Devonshire, commonly called “The Rob Roy of the
West.” Sidmouth: J. Harvey, 1837. 12mo.
-----
FAIR.
BY THOMAS WAINWRIGHT.
Barnstaple Fair, although now deprived of some of its ancient commercial
importance by the establishment of great markets at other centres in
North Devon, still attracts great numbers of purchasers of horses,
Exmoor ponies, cattle, and sheep, reared by the agriculturists of the
neighbourhood. Buyers attend the fair not only from all parts of
Devonshire, but also from places beyond the borders of the county, among
others cavalry officers come in some years to purchase horses for the
military service of the country, while visitors from a wide district
around the town arrive in large numbers to enjoy the “fun of the fair.”
This annual event has a very ancient history, for the claim of the town
to the right to hold the fair is granted in Charters and recognized in
Inquisitions from an early period, in one of which Inquisitions the
jurors say that among divers liberties and free customs used and enjoyed
by the burgesses of the Borough by the Charter of the Lord Athelstan, of
famous memory, King of England, is the right to hold one fair in the
year. The date of the fair was anciently July 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and
24th, as appears from the following regulations, which were in force for
a long period:—
1st. The fair shall continue for four days, viz., on the eve and the
day of the blessed Mary Magdalene and the two next days following.
2nd. The whole soil of Boutport Street and the other streets within
the said Borough belongs to the Mayor and Comonaltie of the said
Borough during the fair and until 12 o’clock at noon on the day
afterwards.
3rd. The said Mayor and Comonaltie may set and demise the said soil
one day before the eve of the said fair, and have the whole profits of
the said fair and the bailiff of the said Borough shall collect and
receive the same.
4th. Also they shall there have the cognizance of Pleas and a court of
Pie Poudre, as incident to all fairs.
[Illustration
_From a Lithograph_] [_by J. Powell._
QUEEN ANNE’S WALK AND THE QUAY, BARNSTAPLE.
]
The time for holding the fair was changed subsequently, probably during
the reign of King James I., the new regulations being as follows:—
If the 19th of September be on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the
fair shall finish on the following Saturday night, but if on either of
the three subsequent days it shall be allowed to continue until Friday
in the next week.
Another change was made in the year 1852, the fair being then fixed to
commence on the Wednesday nearest to September 19th, and to continue for
the two days following only, and this is the present regulation
respecting its date and duration. By the latest arrangement the dealings
in horses and ponies are limited to Thursday, the second day, the first
being still devoted to the sale of cattle and sheep, and the third being
_par excellence_ the pleasure day, although the shows, swings, “horses,”
and other attractions, and the stalls, do a great trade on the other
days also.
The place for holding the fair has also been changed. A century ago the
cattle were disposed of in Boutport Street, the horses in the North
Walk, and the shows and stalls for pleasure-seekers were located in the
Square. For a few years, about 1880, the cattle and sheep were placed in
Victoria Road, but by the present arrangement the cattle and sheep are
disposed of in the Cattle Market, the horses in the Strand, and the
pleasure-seekers find their shows and other attractions in the North
Walk. It has already been mentioned that the cattle and sheep now sold,
though still many, are not so many as in the old days when Barnstaple
fair was the only event of the kind in North Devon. In the year 1824, it
was recorded that 1,440 bullocks were driven in by the northern entrance
into the town, over Pilton Bridge, of which not 300 were driven out by
that road, and of these more than half were sold, and that it was
calculated that £20,000 was expended in the purchase of cattle.
In the Borough Records we have accounts of the sales of horses and
cattle at an early period, which are interesting as showing the mode in
which security was given by the purchasers and the prices paid. The
following are extracts from these records:—
Barnestaple. The register of horses and mares bought, sold and
exchanged in the ffayre there holden on the feast day of the Nativitie
of our blessed Virgin Mary, the 8th day of September [O.S.] in the
fowerth yeare of our Sov’eigne Lord Charles, by the grace of God of
England, France and Ireland King, defender of the faith, &c.
[Tolls] For every horse, mare, or colt 8d., viz., for record 4d. and
for custome 2d. apiece of the buyer & seller.
For every bullock 2d., viz., 1d. a piece of the buyer and seller; for
every pigg 1d. a peece; for every calf 1d. a peece.
Abraham Hearson, of Tawton, sold unto one William Earle of Biddiford,
one black mare, with a hitch in the near ear, Price 33sh, John Dillon
knoweth the seller.
Henry Puggesley, of Bratton, sold unto Walter Thomas, of South Malton,
one little bay nagge, with a square halfpenny under the farther ear,
Price 27 sh. The parties know each other.
William Blake, of Chiltenhampton sold unto John Ballamey of Stover a
bay mare with a halfpenny and a slit in the neare eare. Price 43sh.
4d. Roger Blake of Chittington, knoweth the seller.
William Barber, of Instowe sold unto Thomas Axford, of Lifton one bay
mare with a spade in the further eare, Price 33sh. 4d. Amos Ford
knoweth the seller.
Matthewe Brooke of Clovelly sold unto John Pine of Burrington one
little sorell nagge, toope cut in the neare eare & a slitt in the
farther, price 54sh. 8d. Hugh Dennis Upoostree knoweth the seller.
John Bellamy of Stooerd exchanged with John Ruddicliffe of Bishopp
Nimpton one pinshutt nagge colour blacke for a little blacke nagge,
top cut in the farther eare & a ob, [halfpenny] in the neare. John
Bellamey giveth 13sh. 4d. to boote.
Arthur Serjante of Kirchbe in Lancaster sold unto Richard Chapple of
Ilfarcombe in the County of Devon one greye geldinge snipt in the
bottome of both eares. Price £3 2s. 6d. The parties know each other.
Thomas England of Bristoll sold unto Richard Lyssett of Newport, one
browne baye mare top cutt in the neare eare. Price 10sh.
The total number of horses disposed of at this fair was 44, while 6 were
exchanged; the prices of two are not given; the remaining 36 average £2
0s. 0½d. each, the highest price paid being £4 5s. for “one bay nagge,”
and the lowest 10s. for the bay mare sold by the Bristol dealer.
At fairs in other years the business done in horses was as follows:—
Average price.
No. of horses sold. £ s. d.
1629 39 2 9 8
1630 97 2 9 9
1631 60 2 19 8½
1632 26 2 16 2
1633 33 3 5 0
1634 29 2 18 0
1635 21 2 1 10
1636 17 2 15 7
1637 22 2 19 1
1638 31 2 18 0
1639 36 2 14 0
1641 9 2 14 5
1642 3 —
1643 2 1 15 6
1647 46 4 3 4
1648 5 2 14 0
1649 37 3 15 10
1650 17 4 5 8
1651 12 3 16 0
The absence of sales during the years 1644–46, and the small number
disposed of in 1641–3, may be accounted for by the following entry in
the Parish Register:—
1647. The Regester of the Towne and Burrough of Barnestaple, by the
cause of the troubles and the contagion [plague] was not kept from the
year anno 1642 till the year anno 1647.
The following prices were realized for cattle sold at the various fairs
mentioned above:—
8 heifers, black like, price £30 10s. 0d.
2 black oxen, topp cutt on farther eare. Price £13.
2 heifers and 1 steward. Price £6 13s. 4d.
1 red ox. Price £4 3s. 4d.
2 oxen. Price £10.
The opening of the fair takes place with the ceremonies which have
attended it for many generations. On the morning of the first day a
large stuffed glove, fixed at the end of a pole, is displayed from a
window of the Guildhall, having before the year 1852 been exhibited from
the west corner of the Quay Hall, which was demolished in that year to
widen the street and quay, and which had been, until the dissolution of
religious houses by Henry VIII., an ecclesiastical building, known as
St. Nicholas’ Chapel. In the Receiver’s accounts for 1615 occurs the
entry:—
Paid for a glove put out at the fair, 4d.;
and in those for 1622:—
Paid for a paire of gloves at the faire 4d.
Another entry in the same account being:—
Paid for candles to hange by a bull that was not beaten,
from which it may be inferred that bull-baiting was one of the
amusements provided for visitors. The display of the glove is usually
considered to be a symbol of the welcome extended to all comers. In the
Guildhall meanwhile the sergeants-at-mace are busy preparing for all
comers who care to partake of it the toast and spiced ale, the latter
according to a recipe handed down for centuries. With this ale are
filled the handsome flagons belonging to the Corporation, and the loving
cups charged from them are passed round to the assembled guests. A few
toasts are then given, among them that of “The Ladies,” the response to
which often affords a good deal of amusement, for humorous Mayors have
been known to astonish a bachelor in the company, sometimes “a young man
from the country,” by calling upon him to respond; and while some
orators have passed the ordeal successfully, others have found the
situation an embarrassing one. The speeches ended, and the toast and ale
consumed, about noon a procession of the Mayor, Corporation, and
officials is formed, and, escorted by a large crowd of on-lookers, the
Town Clerk reads the following proclamation at the High Cross and other
places in the Borough:—
=Proclamation for the Fair.=
THE MAYOR of this BOROUGH doth hereby give notice that there is a FREE
FAIR within this Borough for all manner of persons to BUY and SELL
within the same which fair begins on this day WEDNESDAY the
and shall continue until 12 o’clock on the night of FRIDAY next the
instant during which time the Mayor chargeth and commandeth on
HIS MAJESTY’S behalf all manner of persons repairing to this TOWN and
FAIR do keep the KING’S PEACE.
AND that all BUYERS and SELLERS to deal justly and truly and do use
true WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and that they duly pay their TOLL, STALLAGE
and other DUTIES upon pain that shall fall thereon
AND if any OFFENCES INJURY or WRONG shall be committed or done by or
to any person or persons within this TOWN FAIR and LIBERTY the same
shall be redressed according to JUSTICE and the LAWS of this REALM
DATED this day of September 190
=God Save the King.=
In the olden time it was the custom to have a stag hunt on the second
day, and the “fair ball” is still, and has long been, kept up. It was
formerly the practice for many tradesmen to keep open house during the
fair, of which practice some of their customers took very liberal
advantage. Calling on one shopkeeper to pay a small account, they and
members of their family who accompanied them would enjoy a hearty meal,
and after an hour or two in the fair would repeat the proceeding with
another, and sometimes with a third. This has now been put a stop to by
the reduction of profits, through the competition brought about by the
advent of Co-operative Societies and Companies, and other causes. Not
only have the glories of Barnstaple fair been celebrated in prose, but
the poet has sung of them, and this sketch may be appropriately
concluded by giving one of the compositions that used to be sung:—
=BARNSTAPLE FAIR.=
Oh! Devonshire’s a noble county, full of lovely views, miss!
And full of gallant gentlemen, for you to pick and choose, miss!
But search the towns all round about there’s nothing can compare, miss!
In measurement of merriment, with Barnstaple Fair, miss!
Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s merry Mayor too,
I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!
There’s nothing happens in the year but happens at our fair, sir!
’Tis then that everything abounds, that’s either new or rare, sir!
The Misses make their start in life its gaieties to share, sir!
And ladies look for beaux and balls to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s worthy Mayor too,
I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!
The little boys and girls at school their nicest clothes prepare, ma’am!
To walk the streets and buy sweetmeats and gingerbread so rare, ma’am!
Their prime delight’s to see the sights that ornament our square, ma’am!
When Powell brings his spangled troop to Barnstaple Fair, ma’am!
Then sing of Barum, merry town, and our indulgent Mayor too,
I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!
If milk be scarce though grass be plenty, don’t complain too soon, dame!
For that will very often happen in the month of June, dame!
Though cows run dry while grass runs high, you never need despair, dame!
The cows will calve, and milk you’ll have, to Barnstaple Fair, dame!
Then sing of Barum, wealthy town, and its productive Fair too,
And drink “the corporation, and the head of it, the Mayor too.”
If pigeons’ wings are plucked, and peacocks’ tails refuse to grow,
friend!
In spring; you may depend upon’t in autumn they will shew, friend!
If feathers hang about your fowls in drooping style and spare, friend!
Both cocks and hens will get their pens to Barnstaple Fair, friend!
Then, friend leave off your wig, and Barum’s privileges share too,
Where everything grows once a year, wing-feathers, tails and hair,
too!
If winter wear and summer dust call out for paint and putty, sir!
And Newport coals in open grates make paper-hangings smutty, sir!
And rusty shops and houses fronts most sadly want repair, sir!
Both shops and houses will be smart, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
And Barum is a handsome town, and every day improving, sir!
Then drink to all who study its improvement to keep moving, sir!
King George the Third rode out of Staines, the hounds to lay the stag
on;
But that was no great thing of sport for mighty kings to brag on;
The French, alas! go _à la chasse_ in _von po shay_ and pair;
But what’s all that to Button Hill? to Barnstaple Fair?
For we will all a hunting go, on horse, or mule, or mare, sir!
For everything is in the field to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
To Button Hill, whose name to all the sporting world sure known is,
Go bits of blood, and hunters, hacks, and little Exmoor ponies;
When lords, and ladies, doctors, parsons, farmers, squires, prepare
To hunt the stag, with hound and horn, to Barnstaple Fair.
Then up and ride for Chillam Bridge or on to Bratton Town, sir!
To view the rouse, or watch the yeo, to see the stag come down, sir!
There’s nothing else in jollity, and hospitable fare, sir!
That ever can with Barnstaple, in Fair time, compare, sir!
And guests are very welcome hospitality to share, sir!
For beer is brew’d, and beef is brought, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
Then sing of merry England, and roast beef, old English fare, sir!
A bumper to “the town and trade of Barum and its Mayor,” sir!
Boiled beef, roast beef, squab pie, pear pie, and figgy pudding plenty,
When eight or nine sit down to dine, they’ll find enough for twenty;
And after dinner, for dessert, the choicest fruits you’ll share, sir!
E’en walnuts come from Somerset, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
Then sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too,
No town in England can be found, old Barum to compare to.
I will not sing of Bullock Fair, and brutes whose horrid trade is,
To make us shut our window blinds, and block up all the ladies:
Nor of the North Walk rush and crush, where fools at horses stare, sir!
When Mister Murray brings his nags to Barnstaple Fair, sir!
But sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too,
No town in England can be found old Barum to compare to.
The ball one night, the play the next, with private parties numerous;
Prove Barnstaple people’s endless efforts, sir, to humour us;
And endless, too, would be my song if I should now declare
All the gaieties, and rarities, of Barnstaple Fair.
Then loudly sing, God save the King, and long may Barum thrive, O!
May we all live to see the Fair, and then be all alive, O!
TIVERTON AS A POCKET BOROUGH.
BY THE EDITOR.
Towards the close of the year 1903 the Earl of Harrowby generously
presented to the Mayor and Corporation of Tiverton a very complete
collection of manuscripts carefully preserved by his ancestors and
relating to the Parliamentary connection between themselves and the old
Corporation of Tiverton, swept away by the municipal Reform Act of
1834–5. The general nature of the tie has long been known. It was a
political nexus binding privileged burgesses to an influential family,
and the sanction was interest. The motto might have been, on both sides,
_do ut des_, for, while there were many professions of personal
attachment, which may have been real, it was well understood that the
cornerstone of the whole edifice was mutual advantage. As the
connection, venal in origin, crystallized into permanence and
respectability, it lost something of its sordid character. Sentiments of
honour and loyalty, and even chivalric devotion, were spoken and
cultivated, but these were the accidents, the trimmings. The substance
remained what it had always been—reciprocal profit. All this was vaguely
familiar to the present generation of townspeople, to whom traditions of
the _ancien régime_ had descended from their forefathers, but the
arrival of twenty-six stout files, crowded with an infinite variety of
curious particulars, has made an evident change in the situation. We no
longer behold through the dark windows of distorted memory. Now at last
we see face to face; and for the authors of some of those “human
documents” the Day of Doom would have already dawned, but for the screen
of their own insignificance, which incriminating papers may remove, but
the discretion of the censor at once re-erects.
[Illustration
_From a Lithograph_] [_by W. Spreat, Jun._
ST. PETER’S CHURCH, TIVERTON.
]