Pages from Volume One, Palmer's Perlustration, Chapter 4 UNPDF

CHAPTER IV.

Proba merx facile emptorem invenit

ET us now return to the Market place, which we

are informed by Manship was partially paved in

1385 ; but it was not until 1650 that such pavement

was completed. A cross, testifying to the Christian

character of the town, was usually erected in the centre

of every Market place ; and we ﬁnd that there was one at Yarmouth at a

very early period, for in 1385 a new cross was set up and covered with

lead. This cross decaying, “a very fair one was, at the town’s charge,

erected in 1509, and was very fairly paved and leaded for the safe

guarding of the people from wet, and for the dry keeping of the corn

which every market day was brought in great abundance; whereunto

be ﬁxed measures to buy and sell with; and wherein the bailiffs (who

be clerks of the market) do sit and hold court, to enquire of all matters

concerning that business, and to punish the offenders accordingly.” After

standing for nearly a century this cross gave way to another, “in stateliness

not much inferior,” which was built in 1604, at the top of which a place

was made “where malefactors might receive punishment,” as Manship

designated the pillory. This stood until 1729, when “being greatly out of

repair’’ the pillory was taken down, and the lead used for the purpose of

covering the town clerk’s ofﬁce. The last cross, which, was of a circular

shape supported on pillars, is depicted in Butcher’s view of the Market

place. It was pulled down in 1836, a stone still marking the place where

it stood; and since that period there has been no Market cross.*

* The cross in Norwich Market place, erected in 1501, was taken down in

1732. There is an engraved view of it.

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It was the ﬁrst place at which all notiﬁcations were made. There Kings

and Queens were proclaimed; and, in 1688, a declaration was published

calling for a free Parliament; and to the usual ending of “G OD save the

King,” was incongruously added “G OD prosper the Prince of Orange.”

Ives informs us that on the 31st of October, 1739, “Mr. Mayor and a body

of gentlemen met at the town hall, and thence proceeded to the cross,

where Mr. Town Clerk read the declaration for war against Spain, with

the naked sword; thence to the bridge foot and “read the declaration, and

then drank success to his majesty’s forces “by sea and land.”*

A pillory or stretchneck was appurtenant to the liberty of a

market, and might formerly be used at the discretion of the magistrate.

Bakers, for default of weight, were to be adjudged to the pillory,

which punishment was not to be “remitted for gold or silver.” Brewers

also, for not keeping the assize, were for a second offence “to suffer

judgment of the pillory without redemption.;” as were butchers

for selling unwholesome meat. On the accession of Queen Mary,

when factions ran high, Robert Marsh was placed in the pillory “for

scandalizing Sir Thomas Woodhouse.” “It was once,” said Lord Coke,

in his address to a grand jury at Norwich, “my hap to take a clerke of

the “market in his trickes; but I advanst him higher than his father’s

sonne, by so much as from the ground to the toppe of the pillorie.”

Pairs, which in former times were of great public utility for

displaying goods, not otherwise to be procured, were always held in

the Market place. The one at Shrove tide, was called cock fair, from

the barbarous sport of cock throwing once universal at this season

; j and another was held on Good Friday, the most holy day in Lent,

which fair continued until 1715, when the corporation ordered it to be

kept on the Friday in Easter week. The annual fair at Norwich is still

kept in Passion week, on the Thursday before Good Friday.

* It has been the custom at Yarmouth during the time of war

to keep the mayor’s sword unsheathed on all public occasions, and

to sheath it on the declaration of peace. This custom was observed

during the Crimean war.

f It is also called orange fair, that fruit being then in perfection.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

79

The Stocks have already been mentioned, as standing in the Market place

in terrorem ebriorum.*

When the whipping of offenders was a punishment inﬂicted in public, the

Market place was the scene of it. Thus in 1734, Sarah Johnson, a widow,

for stealing three gold rings and a silver spoon from Thomas Harwood,

was “ whip’d upon a cart round the Market place. ” f

* Those at Acle bore this inscription.—

These stocks prepared are you see, for those who will not ruled be.

f The summary punishment of whipping was frequently inﬂicted at the gaol

in the presence of the bailiffs. We ﬁnd by the “Relation” of the Cinque port bailiffs

at Yarmouth in 1603, that a sailor, aged 20, who had been brought before them for

stealing “an old cassock,” which he then had on his batik, was in their presence

“well whipped “ and then sent to Ipswich, to which place he belonged. On another

occasion, a man and his wife with a young child were brought before thorn as

“vagrants” and were committed to prison, “ for that it was very suspicious they

never were married.” Being brought up again the man confessed that he had stolen

certen lincks of the value of 6d., and had at the time he was apprehended, assaulted

the ofﬁcer 1 , for which offences, said the bailiffs, “he was openly before us well

whipped, and being urged to confess truly whether the woman was his lawful wife

or not, he would not by any means confess the contrary.” The woman was then

brought before them “ready to be whipped,” but she would not confess otherwise

than that she was lawfully married, ‘whereupon, say the compassionate bailiffs,

“ in respect for her weakness and having a young child sucking, her punishment

was remitted,” but the offenders were all sent off to Cleethorpe, in Lincolnshire,

to which place they belonged. Ned Ward, in his description of London in 1699,

afﬁrms that at Bridewell when, a woman was under the lash in the next room, the

folding doors were opened, that the court might view the punishment. Whipping

appears to have been considered as an effectual remedy for mental and bodily as

well as moral deﬁciencies. At Worcester we ﬁnd that men and women were whipped

promiscuously till the close of the last century. In 1680 there is a charge of 4d. “for

whipping a wench;” and in 1759 “for whipping Elizabeth Bradbury 2s. 6d.” which

probably included the hire of the cart. In the constable’s book of Great Staughton

there are these entries ;—”1699, Pd. in charges, taking up a distracted woman,

watching her, and whipping her next day, 8s. 6d.” “ 1710, Pd. Thos. Hawkiss for

whipping 2 people yt. had the small pox 8d.” “1712, Pd. for whipping Goody Barry

4d.” The whipping of females, under any pretence, was ﬁnally abolished by the 1

Geo. IV. cap. 57, usually called “ General Thornton’s Act,” (1820). The whipping

of vagrants was in accordance with the 27 Henry VIII.; but if “ they should happen

to wander, loiter, or idly use themselves,” they were not only to be whipped again,

but to have “the upper part of the gristle of the right ear clean cut off,” that it might

always appear the sufferer was a contemner of good order. For

1 I was in court myself today on a speeding charge, and whereas the magistrates were

singularly ill-disposed towards me and ﬁned me very heavily, (£700 plus costs) and

a six month driving ban, the youth in the case before me, admitted theft and several

offences, including assaulting the police ofﬁcer when arrested. He was agressive in the

dock, and abusive to counsel, yet the same magistrates administered some community

service, something I would gladly have done myself. (5th January 2006).

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In 1763 two sailors were whipped round the Market place, receiving

four lashes under each public-house sign, for stealing goods from ships.

In the following year a man, for stealing three bushels of barley, was

whipped round the Market. Persons who had “ foresworn themselves”

were required to wear a paper upon their heads “in open market,” or

else to pay a ﬁne of 40s. “ for redemption of wearing the said paper.”’

Formerly it was the custom when a husband was dissatisﬁed with the

extravagance of his wife, to have her cried down at the cross. In later

times the announcement was made by the bellman during his daily round,

but now it is made by a printed handbill or by advertisement in the local

papers. Another purpose to which the Market place was applied was the

publication of the names of parties intending to marry, on three successive

market days, in pursuance of an Act passed in 1653 by Cromwell’s “Little

Parliament.” It was not prescribed who was to make the publication, and

it seems that the bellman was frequently employed to perform this duty.*

In 1550 it was ordered that none should buy or sell before the bell rang

in the mornings or after it had been sounded at 3 p.m. Forestalling and

regrating were offences* punished with great severity, f

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the usual market days (but especially on

the latter), this ﬁne Market place is covered with stalls, placed in regular

ranks from north to south, each stall paying to the

the third offence the punishment was death. Impotent persons begging, without

a license, were to be “ stripped naked from the middle upwards” and scourged;

but men and women “ whole and mighty in body” found vagrant, were to be tied

to the end of a cart (or at the “cart’s tail,” as it was vulgarly called) naked, and to

be beaten with whips throughout the town till the body was bloody “ by reason of

such whipping.” By a statute passed in 1791 the whipping of female vagrants was

forbidden.

* Parties might have their names proclaimed in church, after “morning

exercise;” but the marriage had to take place before a justice of peace, the clergy

being forbidden to perform any of the ofﬁces of the church.

t The last conviction was probably in 1816, when William Barrow was

indicted, “for regrating mutton in the market of this borough.” By the 5 & 6 Edward

VI, c. 14, whoever bought corn with intent to sell it again 1 was liable to forfeit the

value and to suffer two months’ imprisonment; for a second offence, double the

value and six months; and for a third, to forfeit all his goods, stand in the pillory, and

suffer imprisonment during the king’s pleasure.

1 A law preventing resale of goods does not seem to be in effect now, but when

my colleague Dr Michael Crick, at Ormesby, was encouraged by his partners to sell

on pharmaceutical stocks bought in cheap from manufacturers at a proﬁt, those same

partners reported him to the police, who arrested him on his own doorstep (2004).

He was suspended from his practice, and his partners caused him to resign. The NHS

trust that suspended him were later forced to pay him compensation, since he was

found guilty of no crime. Nevertheless he became seriously ill and was forced to

retire at the age of 45.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

81

town council or their lessee a certain regulated, rent.* Anciently the

inhabitants of Ormesby sat in Yarmouth market without payment, because

the labels in Ormesby being of ancient demesne gave them, as they

contended, an exemption. This right was contested by the town council in

1862 It was proved that at and prior to 1445 and thence-forth, there had

always been a public market at Yarmouth belonging to the corporation,

who were the owners of the soil, that the manor of Ormesby was a manor

of ancient demesne, and that the inhabitants of Ormesby using the market

had never been charged with any toll or other payment. The Court of

Exchequer decided that such inhabitants of Ormesby as were tenants in

ancient demesne were exempt from toll; but inasmuch as the town council

were the owners of the soil, such tenants could expose no goods for sale

on a stall, ped, or other structure whatever, whether ﬁxed in the ground

or not, without being liable to stallage, and so their exemption was of

no value. Instead of collecting stallage, the town council now let their

rights; the present lessee paying them a rental of £800 per annum.

A book stall may always be found on market days. It seems an old

practice, for Dean Davies says :— “9th. August, 1689. As I went towards

the church, I bought Godbury’s Thesaurus, which cost me nine shillings;

and sixpence, and then I went forward and spent the day in close study

in the vestry.” At proclamations of peace, and upon royal birthdays

and other occasions of public rejoicings, it was usual to ﬁre vollies of

musketry in the Market place. This was done when peace was proclaimed

in 1763, and in the evening there were ﬁreworks. On the 1st of January,

1801, the Durham militia, then quartered in Yarmouth, ﬁred a feu de

joie in celebration of the union between Great Britain and Ireland. In

1856 the same thing was done on the proclamation of peace with Russia.

It was formerly the custom on occasions of great public rejoicings to

roast whole bullocks, and then cut up the carcase for the enjoyment of

the populace, to be washed down by a plentiful supply of beer. The last

bullock roasted (and it is to be hoped the last that ever will be roasted)

whole in Yarmouth Market

* In. former times drapers, mercers, grocers, and haberdashers had stalls in the

Market place, but were prohibited by an ordinance made in 1611.

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place was on the 19th July, 1821, in celebration of the coronation of

George IV.; and in the evening there was a display of ﬁreworks, the whole

costing the corporation upwards of £200.*

In 1551 “ﬂesh shambles,” as they were then called, were built on the east

side of the Market place, between the hospital of St. Mary and the Market

gate, upon ground which had belonged to the hospital, but which was then

with the building itself, in the possession of the corporation. All the town

butchers were required to sell their victuals there, and not elsewhere in

the town, upon pain of the loss of 20s., and to be discommoned; whilst for

their encouragement it was agreed that such butchers should enjoy their

stalls for life, paying a small rent to the corporation. Country butchers

could sell meat in the Market on market days only, and not then unless

they brought beef as well as veal. This was the origin of the butchery, the

houses and shops composing which are now held under leases granted

by the charity trustees, in whom the estates of the hospital of St. Mary

are vested.

Beatniffe, writing in 1776, and speaking of the Market place, says “it is

shocking to see butchers daily slaughtering calves, sheep, &c. in “the

centre of such an opulent town, resorted to by crowds of genteel company

from almost every part of England.” This was contrary to the statute of

the 4th Henry VII. c. 2, which forbade any beast to be slaughtered within

any walled town. Subsequently the shambles were placed just without

and under the town wall; but by the increase of houses they are now

surrounded by buildings. John Matthews, a butcher, who died in 1803,

aged 56, desired these verses, of his own composition, to be placed on

his tomb :—

“ By this inscription be it understood, my occupation torn in shedding

blood! For many a beast by me was weekly slain, Hunger to quell, and

thousands to maintain. Now here I rest, from pain and sorrow free, My

hope in Him, who shed His blood for me.”

* Slices of the roast meat cut in small pieces were handed on plates to the ladies and

gentlemen who witnessed the spectacle from the windows of the shops in the Market

place. Meo periculo.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

83

The butchery is probably the last place in the town where a, “ Romance

of the Peerage” might be expected to be found; yet the following story

tends to prove that truth is sometimes stranger than ﬁction. In the last

century there lived in the household of a Yarmouth butcher a young girl,

named Mary Fair. Fair by name, and fair by nature she was; for she is

described by those who knew her, as having been remarkably beautiful.

She performed the humble duties of her station with great propriety, but

she had a conviction in her own mind that she was destined to be a great

lady. One day the butcher invited some friends to dinner, and Mary Fair

made ready the table. The mistress of the house wanting the girl for some

purpose, suddenly opened the dining room door, and there, to her surprise,

saw Mary Fair seated at the head of the table, dispensing imaginary good

things to her supposed guests seated round it, all of whom she addressed

by titles of honor. Naturally abashed at being so caught, she nevertheless

could not abandon the idea that she would one day really preside at such a

table; nor was she disappointed, for in 1788 John, third Viscount Dudley

and Ward, fell in love with and married her.*

Dr. Carlyle, of Inveresk, whose memoirs are such agreeable reading,

writing in 1745, says “the market people are clean beyond example;

and the butchers themselves dress with great neatness. In short there is

nothing to offend the eye or any of the senses in Yarmouth market. Very

genteel looking women were providing for their families.”

White, in his Eastern England, thus describes Yarmouth Market place

“What with the unusually large area, the great gathering of rustic folk

and town folk, their words and ways, and peculiar appliances, the Market

place presents a spectacle full of interest. Long rows of stalls stretch from

end to end, and you pass from peas and potatoes, mushrooms as large as

dinner plates, very ﬁne raspberries,

* She was then the widow of a Mr. Baker. Lord Ward survived his marriage only three

months, dying on the 10th of October, 1788, aged 64. Lady Ward (who is stated by

Debrett to have been the daughter of Gamaliel Fair, of Norfolk) married thirdly in 1790

Benjamin Jennings, Esq., and fourthly in 1791 Capt. J. Smith, R. N , ; and after these

“happy despatches” died herself in 1810.

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“luscious strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables, to a display of meat and poultry

not to be seen elsewhere, beyond which are baskets, bedding, boxes, shoes, frippery, old

iron, new hardware, and second-hand books. Here sits a busy knife-grinder, whirling

off a stream “of sparks, amid an admiring group. Yonder stands Cheap Jack, “ within

a circle of crockery, vociferating after his manner and keeping the crowd in good

humour by his jokes. In another place we see what becomes of the rushes with which

the broads abound; for here are hassocks, cushions, matting, and horse collars, all made

of them.” Adjoining the Market gate on the north side, was an ancient hostelrie called

the Feathers, by which name it has been known for three centuries.* It was one of the

principal Inns in the town, and in 1581 it was enlarged by some ground granted by the

corporation. Stevenson, in. his Norfolk Drollery published in 1673, in describing the

visit of King’Charles II. to Yarmouth, says :—

“ Soldiers and servants with, the court came down, and at the Feathers, gratis, got high

ﬂown.” In 1685 Sir Henry Shiers, an eminent engineer, was, by the King’s permission,

brought down by the Earl of Yarmouth to inspect the haven, and advise upon its

improvement; and the corporation entertained him “splendidly” at the Feathers.

Dean Davies, writing in 1619, says: — October 6th. After dinner, meeting Mr. Thomas

Ellys, I went with him. to his house, and there sat some time with Mr. Fuller. Thence

I went with Dr. Hudson to

* This sign, taken from the plume of ostrich feathers assumed by the

Black Prince after the battle of Cressy in 1349, soon became extensively

used. The Black Prince was highly popular, and his shield of arms is on the

ceiling of the south aisle of St. Nicholas’ church, in succession to that of

Edward III.

f Complaints are now made of the charges of engineers, but we ﬁnd

that upon this occasion Sir Henry Shiers was paid 100 guineas for his

journey, besides his travelling expenses, and ﬁve guineas were given to his

coachman. The corporation also presented the earl with a tun of wine for

obtaining the king’s permission to employ Shiers. In 2006 it is lawyers and

accountants and footballers who do exceptionally well, but some company

bosses are paid in the millions, which by anyone’s standards must rank as

unacceptable.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

85

the Feathers, where he gave me a bottle of liquid laudanum and my

sermon I had lent him. When I came home I found three letters— one

from the Archbishop of Tuam.*

When Viscount Townshend, then lord lieutenant of Norfolk, paid a visit to

Yarmouth in 1701, he was entertained at the house of Benjamin England,

Esq.; but his carriages, horses, and servants were sent to the Feathers.

Until the reign of Henry VII, ale was sold without any restriction, except

that all public-houses had to be closed at the tolling of curfew. 1 Wine

could be sold only at taverns; and in the time of Edward III. no more

than three were allowed in London. The unrestricted sale of ale having

become a nuisance, an act was passed in 1497 empowering any two

justices to suppress an alehouse at their discretion; but it was not until

the reign of Edward VI. that stringent laws were enacted to check the

enormous evils of which the immoderate and habitual use of alcohol,

in any shape, was and ever will be the fruitful, mother. In 1635 taverns,

inns, and alehouses had so greatly increased as to become “great pests;”

and an Act of Parliament was then made that none should be set up or

continued without a license. Many regulations were from time to time

made for their good government, and signs were required to be displayed;

hence the vulgar phrase “where do you hang out?” There were unlicensed

houses, however, where beer could be had; the master standing at his door

praising his liquor, and inviting the passers by to come in and drink “with

his wife and maids,” which implied “a verye evyll rule.” Publicans were

required to use measures properly stamped; but one way of cheating was

to have them stamped when the wood was green, so that when it shrunk

they did not hold the proper quantity.

The Feathers was the last house at which the ancient sport of “cocking”

was held. It appears, however, that early in the 18th century a public

house called the Billiards was frequented for this purpose. In 1728 a

match was fought, between the gentlemen of Yarmouth and those of

Suffolk, for two guineas a battle and four guineas the odd battle; there

being a large pit, and very pleasant

1 It must surely happen that an act of this type will have to be re-enacted. This last year,

2006, 24 hour opening of public houses has become legal. This was supposed to prevent

binge drinking, which has become a sport for young persons, who go out speciﬁcally

to get drunk. This is bound to cause great social distress in due course. Next year,

paradoxically, a ban on smoking in all public places in England will take effect.

* The dean, was skilled in medicine, and frequently prescribed for his friends.

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sitting for the spectators.” In 1732, at the Crown at Swaffham, a match

was fought between Lord Lovel of Holkham and John Thurston, of

Hoxne, Suffolk, with forty-six cocks on a side, at ﬁve guineas a battle and

ﬁfty guineas the odd battle.* It was the custom in Norfolk for the tenant

of any considerable landowner, to provide a couple of ﬁghting cocks

annually for his landlord’s amusement. This prevailed in the Walpole

family down to 1806, when a fat turkey was substituted. Cock-ﬁghting

continued to be a favorite amusement until after the commencement of

the present century; and the mains to be fought were advertised in the

papers, as cricket matches are at the present time. f

Gambling in alehouses was strictly prohibited; in 1551 John Mapyes was

ﬁned for suffering a game called “ slyde grote” to be played. In

* “ 8th July, 1740. Very warm day. Lord Lovel came to town and invited the

gentlemen of the corporation to sup with him.”—Ives’ M.S. Journal. Thomas Coke,

of Holkham, created in 1728 Baron Lovel of Minster Lovel, was advanced to the

Viscounty of Coke and Earldom of Leicester in 1744, and died in 1759— s.p.m. —

when all his honors became extinct.

f We often hear of the “cockpit” at Whitehall (built by Henry VIII.), which

continued in the eighteenth century to be literally used as such. Sylas Neville thus

describes it:— 8 Jan. 1767. About six, went through the park to the cockpit, where I

beheld a scene of noise, cruelty, and brutality. It is a circular place with rows of seats

one above another, having a platform in the middle lighted by a lustre, which hangs

near a ﬂoor covered with matting, and surrounded by a ledge six or seven inches

high, behind which, each pair of victims, clipped and deprived of a great part of their

feathers and armed with steel spurs, are held by the feeders, and given by them to

the setters at the opposite sides of the platform, who let the birds ﬂy at each other. I

saw four or ﬁve pair ﬁght, but some battles had been fought before I went in. Some

ran away; others are killed on the spot. When one was killed by the ﬁrst stroke of his

antagonist, a great noise was made by the spectators. Poulterers, butchers, and other

low fellows proposed bets; and great anxiety appeared in their countenances dur-

ing the battle. A gentleman, with whom were some foreigners one of whom wore a

star, desired one of the feeders, when the ﬁghting was over, to show them the pens.

I took the opportunity and followed them, and saw the spurs on the sockets and

feathers which go round the legs and are ﬁxed upon the natural spurs, the greater part

of which are sawed off. He showed other spurs, not mortal, which are put on when

they wish to try if a cock be game. Each cock inhabits a little pen or coop. Saw one

poor creature whose throat had been cut last night, but may recover. These monsters

propose to set him down without spurs and suffer another to tear him, to see if he is

true game. They match their cocks by weight.

GREAT YARMOUTH.

87

the following year John. Harwarde was indicted for permitting John

and others to play with certain “ carta picta voce cards.”* The

aldermen and constables were directed to apprehend any person smoking

tobacco f (when ﬁrst introduced), or overcome with drink.

Another public house, on the east side of the Market place, was called

the Bull. t It was used as a sign here when bull baiting was a favorite

amusement, and it may surprise many readers to learn that bulls were

publicly baited in this Market place in the 18th century. Ives, sea.,

writing in 1736 says,— Dec. 8. Very sharp day. I saw a bull baited 1 in

the market—good sport. Butchers were prohibited from selling bull beef,

unless the bull had been baited. §

* By a statute of Henry VII. card-playing was prohibited, save during the

Christmap holidays, when great license prevailed.

“ Christmas to hungry stomachs gives relief,

With mutton, pork, pies, pasties, and roast beef,:

And men, at cards, spend many idle hours

At loadum, whisk, cross-ruff, put, and all fours.”

f The use and abuse of tobacco led to much controversy 1 and to many curious

regulations. James I. delighted in lampoons against a practice which he detested. In

a song which was sung before him it was said that—

“ Tobacco is a lawyer, Like him it loves long eases,

“And when our brains it enters,

“Our feet they make indentures

“ Which they seal with stamping paces —

“ And then we cry — Soho ! boys ! “

“ puffer of tobacco’’

was a disqualiﬁcation to many ofﬁces. In 1632 the privy declared that “in-

tolerable inconveniences” had arisen from “the great use in selling tobacco ;” and

the bailiffs were desired “to make choice of ﬁt persons” who alone should have the

privilege. They sent up the one apothecary, six grocers, two hosiers, one merchant,

and a chairmaker.

1 Presumably, this year we shall again see smokers arrested when the law

against smoking in public places takes effect. 1st July 2007, a new law prohibiting

smoking in any public building, pub restaurant, even in vehicles, clubs, cinemas etc.

came into force. Surprisingly, it seems to have been universally adopted , with no

signiﬁcant resistance. One Member of Parliament was reprimanded for smoking in a

railway carriage.

t The Bull’s Head was an ancient sign. It was borne as a device on the stand-

ard of Lord Hastings in 1520 ; but probably it has been used in later times, more in

reference to a baron of beef than in compliment to a baron of old.

§ Perkins, in his Gases of Conscience, says that baiting of the bear and

cock ﬁghts are no meet recreations, but bull baiting hath its use, and is therefore

commended by civil authority. Dr. Parr is reported to have been partial to bull

baiting. It also recieved encouragement from Windham. A better feeling for

humanity to the

1 Palmer’s Addenda: 25th August 1775, there was a bull baited in the Market Place

by Bull dogs ‘til 4 o’clock. Jos Barnaby and one Whitehead were the proprietors.

- Youell’s Diary.

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THE PERLUSTRATION OF

inferior animals now prevails.

The following letter addressed by Lord Erskine to Sylas Neville, has never been

published.

No. 14,

Arabella Row,

Lower Grosvenor Street.

Sir, 7 Jan., 1821.

I am much obliged by and pleased with your interesting letter, and I assure you that I should

have much regretted that any accident should have deprived me of the correspondence of a

gentleman, whose humanity entitles him to so much regard. You express a hops that I have

not relinquished the protection of the lower world. G OD forbid ! but I have been obliged

to appear to do so, by waiting for the fulness of time for its success. If I had not taken that

course in the great cause of the liberty of the press, it never could have succeeded. The

Libel Bill had been often brought into Parliament, and miscarried; and when I was fortunate

enough, through the cause of the Dean of St. Asaph and others, about that time to create

a strong interest and feeling on the subject, the time had still not arrived for carrying it

through; and I waited therefore until Lord Mansﬁeld had retired from public life, and I

prevailed, with the powerful co-operation of my friend, Mr. Fox. The same difﬁculties

now attend this great Cause; our duty to the lower world. I concur in all that you say of Mr.

Windham, who was a most amiable and enlightened man; but the unfortunate twist he had

upon that subject occasioned more mischief out of Parliament than in it. He lived in the

closest intimacy with the principal members of the opposition party, and had preoccupied

their minds to such an extent, as to make the wisest of them publicly maintain the most

absurd and degrading objections to any relief by law, to the basest cruelties practised upon

those innocent animals which the benevolence of G OD has created for our use ; so that I

had not only to oppose a powerful government and the lawyers of the House of Lords,

who might be more against the bill because 1 was its author, but to argue against my own

friends also, who under the auspices of Windham had committed themselves “by doctrines

of the most absurd and dangerous description; so that at this moment I am bending under

the same storm, but which I believe will blow over before I go hence; and you may be

assured that I shall eagerly watch the season of attack. England would have been ruined

if Alfred had fought the Danes, in the fullness of their strength: he saved his country by

disguising himself, and, coming with a harp in his hand into the Danish camp, knew the

time for execution with safety. In Lord Ellenborough, one powerful enemy is gone already;

Windham also (I grieve for it on all other accounts) is removed ; and I think I can look

forward with hope to a period when I can prevail. The base sports you stigmatise I abhor,

and when I can I shall strike at them.

The next time that I come into your part of the country to visit Lord Albemarle or Mr. Coke,

it will give me much pleasure to make myself personally known to you as I pass through

Norwich. In the meantime permit me to assure you of my esteem.

Your faithful humble servant,

ERSK-

INE

P.S.—In a Romance which I wrote a few years ago, called Armata, I exposed with bitter

reproach the conduct of the House of Lords,, for neglecting a bill which they allowed me

GREAT YARMOUTH.

89

afterwards The Fish Stalls, and now rebuilt and called The Market

Tavern. It is partly erected upon the site of a blacksmith’s shop, where

horses were shod, represented in Butcher’s view of the Market place;

where may also be seen the above public house with “Lacon’s Nogg”

on a projecting sign. *

Prom the S.W. corner of the Market place a street runs southward, until

it forms a junction with the east end of Friar’s lane. So far back as

1683 it was called “ the King’s street,” and perhaps it acquired the name

in commemoration of the visit of Charles II. in 1671. f Originally, as

Manship informs us, there were three streets only, traversing the town

from north to south; the houses on the west side of what is now King

street being in his time open to the Town Wall, or “ ﬂankerwise “ as he

expresses it, “ with such convenient distance from the walls that “the

enemy having gained the walls and entered the town, may with “ a few

men be enforced to retire, and the town recovered without any “ great

danger sustained.” This open space within the walls was occupied by

ropemakers until 1678, when a demand for more houses having arisen,

the corporation ordered “all the ropemakers posts and things there to

be pulled up.” The ground was then sold for building purposes; and

eventually a continuous row of houses was erected, which now forms

the east side of King street.

D ENE S IDE is the space next within the town wall, which continuing

southward and following the curvature of the latter, forms a junction with

the south end of King street and the east end of Friars’ lane.

* Nogg or Nog 1 was a word in constant use in the last century, implying’ a,

superior ale. Thus in an old song we ﬁnd 1 —

“ Boy — bring me the best in the cellar —

“ Sir — this is a glass of old nog ;

“ Then ﬁll me a bumper — and tell her,

H ere’s a health to sweet Molly Mog.”

A rival rhymester wrote—

“ Fair Phyllis, my toast shall be still,

“ In a glass of the best Yarmouth nog ;

“ Mr whatever befall me, I will

“ Prefer Phyllis to sweet Molly Mog.”

t After the erection of St, George’s chapel in 1715, it was commonly called

Chapel street.

1 Nog is again on sale, in 2005, as “Norfolk Nog” a real ale, produced locally

at Woodbastwick, by Woodfordes, along with such excellent beers as “Wherry”,

“Mardlers”, and “Nelson’s Revenge”.

90

THE PERLUSTRATION OF

house or hall (aula); and it is probable that the Saxon Earls of Norfolk,

when they held Caister, had a fortiﬁed house or castle at Yarmouth,

which passed with the manor of Caister to the Gournays, and that the

latter erected the building which is mentioned by Manship. Certain it

is that Gerard de Gournay is called Baro de Yarmouth in an ancient

pedigree of Talbot; probably on account of his holding the castle at

Yarmouth. We have already noticed the Lord’s Quay, near which was a

place called Gurney’s Conge. Whatever rights the Saxon Earls had in

the town no doubt passed to the Gournays, but those rights could only

have been exercised under the authority of the crown (the ground being

terra regis), and must have wholly ceased on the grant of the charter of

enfranchisement by King John. At an early period a younger branch of

the baronial family of Gournay held lands at Swathings in Norfolk; and

of this branch Edmund Gournay, a lawyer of eminence in the reigns of

Edward III. and Richard II., by his marriage with the heiress of the ancient

family of Wauncy, acquired the manor of West Barsham in Norfolk,

which was from that period, for many generations, the chief seat of this

family, which became extinct in the direct line in 1661. The systems of

entail and primogeniture, forced the younger sons of country gentlemen

to betake themselves to professions and trades. The Gurneys of Norwich

and Keswick descend from Francis Gurnay, sixth son of Henry Gurnay

of West Barsham, by Ellen Blennerhasset his wife. John, his grandson,

born in 1655, settled in Norwich, and became the founder of the present

family. He latterly spelt his name Gurney, as his descendants have ever

since done. He embraced the tenets of the Quakers; and possessing

extraordinary talents for commercial affairs, realized a considerable

fortune. *

* The Record of the Home of Gournay, compiled from original documents by Daniel

Gumey, Esq., of North Runcton, profusely illustrated, and printed for private distribution

only, is probably the best English family history that has ever been published. The

arms of the family of Gurney of Norfolk are arg, a cross engrailed gu (see ﬁg. 3 in

tie annexed plate). The earliest mention of this coat occurs in 1270. Their crest is the

Gurnard ﬁsh (Trigla of Linnaeus) in pale, which ﬁrst occurs in 1440, and their badge

or device was a wrestling collar, which they now use as a second crest. Traditionally

the Lords of Gournay and of Caister and Yarmouth bore a shield of pure sable (ﬁg. 1);

and the Gournays of Somersetshire bore paly of six or and as (ﬁg. 2).

GREAT YARMOUTH.

91

The Castle

Seated in the midst of the

town, “there was”, says

Manship, “a castle or military

forefence”. It was a square

building or keep, having a

turret or watch tower at each

corner. It stood near Row 99,

which is still called “Castle

Row”.

Among the followers of William the Conqueror was a Norman

knight, named De Gournay from his ancestral castle in France, who

in reward for his services obtained large possessions in England.

After the suppression of the revolt of Guader, the Saxon Earl of

Norfolk in 1075, some of his forfeited estates passed to the Gournays,

including the manor of Caister next Yarmouth, * where the earl had

built a house, called in Domesday book manerium. In a pedigree of

the family of Bardolph or Bardolf (for the name is written either way),

signed by William Dethick, Garter, and William Camden, Clarenceux,

in the hand-writing of Sir Henry Spelman and now preserved at

Keswick, it is stated that William, Lord Bardolf, married Julia, daughter

of Hugh Gournay, and that she brought as her dower, with

other possessions, “the castle of Yarmouth.” There is no record of

the Gournays ever having had a castle at Caister, but merely a manor

* There was a donation of the tithes of Caister and Cantley to the chapter of

St. Hildevert at Gournay; and Hugh de Gournay granted, by charter, the churches

of those parishes to the canons of the same order, which grant was conﬁrmed by

the Bishop of Norwich. These documents are printed in the Record of the House of

Gurney where is also a copy of an agreement between the above chapter and William

Rufus, dean of Flegg, concerning the tithes of Caister. That parish was at one time

much more extensive than at present, and three churches belonging to it are believed

to have been swallowed up by the sea.

92