A MISCELLANY OF HISTORY
A TEXTUAL WEAVING OF A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
A TEXTUAL SAMPLER
Chapter Six
You may have noticed a reference to transportation in the story of the Beard family in the previous chapter…
Transportation
It may not have meant a black cap,
At those Quarter Sessions,
Epiphany, Easter, Trinity and Michaelmas,
But it meant a lifetime’s separation –
And Gloucestershire was high on the list
Of counties for transportation,
Whilst the Stroud-water area itself,
‘Sent one-quarter of … Gloucestershire convicts,
Although containing little more
Than one-eighth of the county population’;
I leave it to you, gentle reader,
To breathe life, emotion and meaning into
The names of the convicts,
Their occupations,
Their ages,
Their villages and towns,
The names of the ships,
The word transportation,
Their sentences …
Ponder on their offences …
What might they have been?
Offences against poverty,
Against property,
Against privation;
Ponder on the heartbreak,
The prison hulks,
The chains, the irons, the nine-month voyage …
The abuse of the women –
And who knows?
Perhaps family conversations and research might result,
In consequence,
About these representatives of Burke’s ‘swinish multitude’,
And the Gloucester Journal’s ‘pernicious members of society’;
A great and welcome development in this project was the offering of folk songs:
Hi Stuart
I’ve attached a song that I wrote for friends who discovered that one of their ancestors (Anthony Barton) had been involved in a poaching raid in 1816. A young farmer from Thornbury was caught in a man trap and he consequently died. No one was accountable for his death. The locals were so enraged by this incident that they decided to go on a poaching raid and they chose the land belonging to the most notorious landowner Colonel Berkeley. I looked up the story and it was ideal for a song. Anthony Barton was one of the lucky ones who managed to escape to Bristol and by using a false name, he stowed away on a ship to America.
I’m very interested in writing songs about social history so if you have any stories that you’d like me to make into songs, I’d be happy to give it a go.
I hope you like the song.
All the Best
Lyn
Hi Stuart
I’ve attached the lyrics of the Berkeley Poaching Raid and a bit of background information. There may be varying accounts about the event. I believe the lawyer who witnessed the men swearing an oath not to tell on each other was also arrested and transported to Australia, even though he didn’t participate in the affray. I haven’t been to Berkeley Castle but I’ve been told that there is a picture in the castle that depicts this event.
Thank you for taking an interest in the song.
Lyn
BERKELEY POACHING RAID
Background information
In November 1815 a young Thornbury farmer Thomas Till was killed by a spring gun, a mantrap. Landowners employed armies of gamekeepers to set these traps to deter poaching on their land. A verdict of accidental death was returned for Tom’s death and the local people were outraged.
On 18 January 1816 sixteen men went on a poaching raid as a protest. They chose Colonel Berkeley’s land as he was the most ruthless landowner in the area. They confronted the gamekeepers and a fight ensued resulting in the death of William Ingram, one of the gamekeepers. Colonel Berkeley’s gang and the Bow Street Runners hunted down the culprits. Two men were hanged, one turned Kings Evidence, eleven were transported to Tasmania, one escaped to Ireland and one to America.
V1
January 1816 is stamped in my mind,
January 1816 is stamped in my mind.
Lord I miss my family and friends I left behind.
V2
I remember that winter’s night, we went on a poaching raid.
I remember that winter’s night, we went on a poaching raid.
Revenge for a mate killed in a trap the land owner laid.
V3
We shot the gentry’s game in Catgrove Wood that night.
We shot the gentry’s game in Catgrove Wood that night.
Our hungry mouths and vengeful minds led us to a fight.
V4
A game keeper died and they hunted us down.
A gamekeeper died and they hunted us down.
Berkeley’s men didn’t cease until we were found.
V5
John Allen and John Penny at Gloucester they did hang.
John Allen and John Penny at Gloucester they did hang.
They put the others on a hulk to Van Diemen’s Land.
V6
My name is Anthony Barton. I’m a lucky man indeed.
My name is Anthony Barton. I’m a lucky man indeed.
I stowed away to America so I could be free.
V7
January 1816 is stamped in my mind.
January 1816 is stamped in my mind.
Lord I miss my family and friends I left behind.
Lord I miss my family and friends I left behind.