The situation and real name of Muggleton has always been a hotly debated
point; many have been the speculations and many the suggestions as to the
original. I was once inclined to adopt Gravesend, on the statement of
the author's daughter, that, one day, driving with her father towards
Cobham, he said that "it was here that Mr. Pickwick dropped his whip."
Cobham would be on the way to Gravesend.
Now what was Muggleton? A large town, with Mayor, Burgesses, and
Freemen--an ancient and loyal Borough, much given to petitioning
Parliament. It is insinuated that these petitions were guided by
Stiggins-like instincts--"a zealous advocacy of Christian principles
combined with a devoted attachment to commercial rights. Hence they were
against negro slavery abroad and _for_ the factory system at home. They
were for abolishing Sunday trading in the streets, and for maintaining
the sale of church livings." A member of Boz's family has assured me
that Maidstone was in the author's mind: it is only some eight miles from
Rochester. But "The Bull" waiter informed the Pickwickians that
Muggleton was nearly double the distance, or fifteen miles; while
Gravesend is about six miles from Rochester--so the evidence of distance
does not help us. Where, too, did Mr. Pickwick drop his whip? The
Pickwickian enthusiast can ascertain this--'an he will--by a little
calculation. After leaving "The Bull," the tall quadruped exercised his
"manoeuvre" of darting to the side of the road, rushing forward for some
minutes--_twenty times_--which would cover about an hour. In the
etching, there is a picture of the spot--a hedge-lined road. Mr.
Pickwick and his friends had to walk the whole way; yet they arrived late
in the afternoon. No one could walk from Rochester to Maidstone in that
time.
It was natural that Mr. Pickwick should drop his whip--but most unnatural
that he should ask Winkle to dismount and pick it up for him; and most
unnatural of all that Winkle, in his precarious situation, should consent
to dismount. The ordinary course would be that Tupman or Snodgrass
should get down. Then, for the great marvel of all, we have Mr.
Pickwick, who _would not_ get down, or _could not_ get down to pick up
his whip, getting down to help Mr. Winkle on to his horse! Thus, on the
two occasions, the useless or lazy Tupman and Snodgrass kept their seats.
It has been claimed--by the late Charles Dickens the younger--that Town
Malling was Muggleton, and on the ground that it has always had a
reputation for good cricket. It is not far from Maidstone. But this is
easily disposed of. Muggleton is described as an important corporate
town, with a Mayor, etc. Further, the cricketing at Muggleton was of the
poorest sort. There was an elderly gentleman playing who could not stop
the balls--a slim one was hit on the nose--they were a set of "duffers,"
in fact. As for Dickens knowing nothing about cricket, as Mr. Lang
contends, I can say, that he was always interested in it. I myself have
seen him sit the whole day in a marquee, during a match got up by himself
at Gads Hill, marking (or "notching") in the most admirable manner.
Anything he did or described, he did and described according to the best
fashion he could compass.
Wishing, however, to investigate this knotty question thoroughly, I
lately communicated with the Town Clerk of Maidstone, Mr. Herbert
Monckton, who was good enough to search the Books with reference to
certain queries which I furnished. Dickens states of the mysterious and
unnamed Borough, that it had its Mayor, Burgesses, and Freemen--which at
once excludes Town Malling which the younger Charles Dickens had
selected. The Clerk has found that, at the period in question, there
were 813 Freemen on the roll. It has always been held to be "an ancient
and loyal Borough," but this, of course, most boroughs of its standing
would claim to be. Boz speaks of innumerable Petitions to Parliament,
and Mr. Monckton tells me that he has found many petitions in the
Books--one in 1828 _against_ the Licensing Bill, which seems to prove
that Maidstone, like Muggleton, "mingled a zealous advocacy of Christian
principles with a devoted attachment to commercial rights." Then as to
the description: Both Maidstone and Muggleton have an open square for the
market: there are also in both places in the square a fire office,
linendraper, corn factor, saddler, grocer, shoe-shop, but apparently no
distiller. It was curious, certainly, that there should be an Inn with
so odd a sign as the Blue Lion in Maidstone--and also a post bearing this
sign, in front. Then as to the cricket, the cricket field was in the
Meadow, Maidstone, not far from the High Street; while at Muggleton, we
are told that Mr. Pickwick's friends "had turned out of the main street
and were already within sight of the field of battle."
And here we may admire the wonderful walking powers that Boz allots to
his heroes--Tupman and Pickwick, who were elderly persons and stout
withal. Fifteen miles to Muggleton--two miles further to Manor Farm--and
all done between eleven o'clock, and a period "late in the afternoon"--say
five o'clock. At a later visit came the memorable five-and-twenty-mile
walk to get an appetite for dinner. The truth was, such stretches were
as nothing to Boz himself. Walking was his grand pastime and one
absolute necessity. He tramped on with an amazing energy and vigour,
which, as I know from experience, it was impossible to match. Sometimes
he walked the streets for nearly the whole night. This personal element
helps to explain many things in "Pickwick" which contains the early life
of Boz.