DHS programme for 2013

Our next event for 2013 is the Second Devon History Society Conference on Religion in Devon, to be held at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre on the theme of: The Church in Victorian Devon, on Saturday May 18th. We also have a preliminary programme and booking form for the DHS Summer Meeting at Poltimore House on 13th July.
See full programme


Saturday, May 18th, 10am-4pm. 
Second Devon History Society Conference on Religion in Devon
to be held at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre on the theme of: The Church in Victorian Devon.
Speakers include:
Professor John Wolffe: Professor of Religious History, The Open University: Brampford Speke as Storm-Centre of the Victorian Church: George Cornelius Gorham and Bishop Henry Phillpotts in Context
The Reverend Dr Andrew Jones: Phillpotts before Gorham (1830-51): The Making of an Enigma
Mr Richard Parker: Tractarianism and Ecclesiological Influence in Victorian Devon
(Free parking at Conference Centre).
For booking form, see printable/downloadable flyer (PDF).

Thursday, June 20th, 2pm-3.30pm.
Visit to St. Peter ad Vincula Parish Church, Combe Martin.
Elizabeth Webb – The Project to Restore the Mediaeval Rood Screen
Free to DHS members. Free parking at Church car park.
For booking arrangements, see printable/downloadable booking form (PDF).

Saturday, July 13th, 10am-4pm.
Summer Meeting at Poltimore House, Exeter
hosted by the Poltimore House Trust.
(Free parking at Poltimore House, but no access by public transport).
Prelimary programme and link to flyer / booking form.

Saturday, 12th October, 10am-3pm.
Devon History Society, AGM
theme: Mining in Devon.
at University of Exeter, Streatham Campus, Streatham Court, Lecture Room B.
Free to DHS members, but charge for refreshments. The programme and booking arrangements will be included in the August Newsletter.

Thursday, November 7th, 10am-4 pm.
Local History Skills Seminar
to be held at Plymouth Central Library.
Tutors/speakers include Louisa Mann from Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, Graham Naylor from Plymouth Central Library, and Philippe Planel of the Devon History Society.
Free to DHS members and members of affiliated societies.  Limited places. No guests or visitors. The programme and booking arrangements will be included in the August Newsletter.

Wednesday, November 13th, 11am-1pm.
John Torrance – Maps and Archives as Sources for Landscape History
Seminar at Branscombe Village Hall
Free to DHS members. Refreshments free but donations welcome.  Booking arrangements will be included in the August Newsletter. Read more ...

The Church in Victorian Devon: DHS Conference 18 May

The Church in Victorian Devon, the second Devon History Society conference on religion in Devon, takes place at Buckfast Abbey on Saturday 18th May.

The conference, open to both members and non-members, focuses on an era when the provinces were at the centre of English politico-religious controversies - as satirized by Anthony Trollope in his Barchester novels - notably the tensions between evangelicals, Tractarians, and wealthy High Church figures such as Henry Phillpotts. > 

Saturday, May 18th, 10am-4pm. 
Second Devon History Society Conference on Religion in Devon
to be held at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre on the theme of: The Church in Victorian Devon.
Speakers include:
Professor John Wolffe: Professor of Religious History, The Open University: Brampford Speke as Storm-Centre of the Victorian Church: George Cornelius Gorham and Bishop Henry Phillpotts in Context
The Reverend Dr Andrew Jones: Phillpotts before Gorham (1830-51): The Making of an Enigma
Mr Richard Parker: Tractarianism and Ecclesiological Influence in Victorian Devon
(Free parking at Conference Centre).
For booking form, see printable/downloadable flyer (PDF). Read more ...

DHS Summer Meeting - 13 July

Poltimore House c. 1930 - image Wikimedia Commons
We have preliminary details of the Devon History Society Summer Meeting. Hosted by Poltimore House Trust through the Poltimore Estate History and Archaeology Group, the event will include tours of the house and grounds, and presentations on aspects of its history. >

DEVON HISTORY SOCIETY SUMMER MEETING
Hosted by Poltimore House Trust through the Poltimore Estate History and Archaeology Group
Saturday 13 July 2013 - Poltimore House, Poltimore, Exeter EX4 0AU

PROGRAMME
10.00 – 10.20am: Registration and coffee/tea
10.20 – 10.30am: Welcome and introduction to the day and to the Poltimore House project
10.30 – 11.00am: Jocelyn Hemming and Claire Donovan - The eighteenth-century building history of Poltimore House: interpreting the drawings by Edmund Prideaux, 1716 and 1727
11.00 – 11.40am: Professor Henry French - Newly-found documents about life at Poltimore House
11.40 – 12.00pm: Coffee
12.00 – 12.45pm: Tour of the House and the Grounds (in two groups A House, B Grounds)
12.45 – 1.45pm: LUNCH – and opportunity to view exhibition
1.45 – 2.30pm: Tour of the House and the Grounds (in two groups A Grounds, B House)
2.30 – 4.00pm: Panel of presentations: Three papers with discussion
4.00pm: TEA –  networking and further opportunities to view exhibition or visit the grounds

Full details will be available on the DHS website three weeks in advance. Enquiries to claire.donovan@poltimore.org.

Costs  Meeting fee: Free for DHS and Poltimore Estate History and Archaeology Group members. £2.50 for members of affiliated societies or non-members of DHS. Catering fees: £8.50 per person (coffee/tea – buffet lunch – coffee/tea). £2.00 per person (coffee/tea morning and afternoon).

Download printable flyer and booking form (PDF).

- RG Read more ...

Devonport Column reopens to public

Saturday May 11th saw the reopening of the Devonport Column - its viewing platform closed to the public for 50 years - one of the landmark buildings in the architect John Foulston's early 19th century development of a Devonport civic centre on Ker Street.
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Foulston's Devonport, Ker Street
from Devonshire & Cornwall illustrated (1832)
The 124-foot Grade 1 listed column formed part of the centrepiece of Foulston's development of a civic centre around Ker Street in the 1820s, when the district Plymouth Dock gained independent status as the town of Devonport. It was part of a "picturesque group" comprising the Column, a Parthenon-inspired town hall (now Devonport Guildhall), an Egyptian-style library (now the Oddfellows Hall), and the "Hindoo style" Mount Zion Calvinist Chapel (the last no longer exists). Restoration of the Column has been in the pipeline since 2010, and the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) subsequently obtained Heritage Lottery funding for the project. The Column had its reopening party on May 11th; for those not up to the 137-step spiral staircase, the site is to feature a ColumnCam relaying the view. It also has WiFi connectivity for viewing historical archives during the visit.

See the previous post Devonport Column and Foulston's Devonport for further background on the column and location.

The Devonport Guildhall website has visitor details; the same site has a gallery of spectacular images of the column's illuminations at the opening party. The Devonport Column also has its own Facebook page.

Ker Street in 2008, Wikimedia Commons
 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
- RG Read more ...

Devon & Exeter Institution Tour, 18 May

The Devon and Exeter Institution is hosting a tour on 18th May in aid of its roof appeal. >

From the flyer:


Tour of the Devon & Exeter Institution
Library and Reading Rooms
No. 7 Cathedral Close

(celebrating its bicentenary this year)
followed by a cream tea.
In aid of the Roof Appeal.

Saturday 18th May 2013
2.30pm
£15
(£10 goes to the Roof Appeal)
Advance booking only
phone 01392-274727
Monday-Friday, 9.30am-1pm

See www.devonandexeterinstitution.org for background. Read more ...

Teign Valley History Group 2013-2014

The Teign Valley History Group has sent us its 2013-2104 events programme, as well as a request for research help for a summer display on the Teign Valley in World War Two. >


TEIGN VALLEY HISTORY GROUP
President: Stafford Clark
PROGRAMME FOR 2013-2014

July 4th: Ecology at Dartmoor National Park, Sue Weaving - followed by AGM

October 8th: History of Devon Quakers, Professor Christopher. Holdsworth, Emeritus Professor in History, Exeter University

February 18th 2014: White Horse Hill & Tottiford excavations, Jane Marchand, Senior Archaeologist, DNPA

April 8th 2014: Devon craftsmen and their carved bench ends, Dr Todd Gray, Exeter University.

All talks are at Teign Valley Community Hall, EX6 7NA & start at 7.30pm. Coffee/tea & biscuits served about half way through.
Subs for one person are £ 12, & a couple with children up to age 16 are £20.
If attending the April meeting the next year’s sub can be paid with free entrance to the April meeting.

Visitors pay £4 each meeting but are not allowed on our walks as we have to restrict numbers.

We are hoping to arrange walks/tours & will circulate details as they arise.
If there is anything else you need to know don’t hesitate to contact me.
01647 253145

Graham Thompson, Hon Sec.
Contact no. 01647 253145


Graham also writes:

We are committed to  a display at Christow Show & possibly Dunsford Show in the Summer which means we have only 3 months left to accumulate material. I have got some & am doing research into various aspects.

I am very keen to recruit some help from all of you. Is anyone willing & able to carry out research?
I think we need personal recollections of life in the Valley during World War 2 together with photographs, to cover anything which will give an insight to everyday life then. For example; how did the women left behind cope without their husbands & sons (& even daughters). How did the men manage to re-acclimatise themselves to what was often the humdrum return to life in the Valley after the war. Did children think it was fun to see enemy planes overhead?

If any one has any implements from that era could we borrow them for the Shows? I am thinking of kitchen tools, ration books, small farm implements & even warden uniform etc. that would fit on the tables.

There must be nurses & people in reserved occupations amongst you who can tell us of the difficulties in coping with shortages etc.

I will visit the Record Office to read through newspapers of the time but this is a lengthy business so if any one could help out we could put on a better display.

Any other constructive ideas are welcome.

Graham: phone 01647 253145

- RG Read more ...

Museum of British Surfing: a year on

The Museum of British Surfing recently celebrated its first year in its permanent premises in Braunton, North Devon.
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While reviewing previous posts for possible updates, I was interested to see that the Museum of British Surfing - in 2010 a collection without a home - recently saw its first year as a permanent museum at The Yard, an old railway building in Braunton, on April 6th 2012.
The Museum of British Surfing is the national Registered Charity established to preserve our surfing heritage, celebrate current achievements and help to shape the future of surfing in Great Britain. We aim to inspire, educate and encourage debate about our surfing culture and our second home – the sea.
The Museum's website has a number of interesting historical accounts - see A timeline of British surfing history - including some with specific Devon connections, notably Agatha Christie rides the waves, research by the museum's founder Peter Robinson revealing that the Torquay-born author was one of the pioneers of surfing while standing up on the board.

For more background and opening times, see Museum of British Surfing.

- RG Read more ...

Pilgrims' Progress? - 23 May

Exeter Northcott Theatre and the University of Exeter present: Pilgrim's Progress? - From Suffragettes to Margaret Thatcher and Beyond, a panel discussion inspired by the Great Suffrage Pilgrimage of 1913, when thousands of women marched across Britain to Hyde park. Inspired by Exeter-based ringleaders, one group of women walked from Land's End, in a shared journey focused on problems of child poverty,  people trafficking and sweated labour.
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click to enlarge
The Pilgrims' Progress? discussion is on Thursday 23 May 2013 at 7pm, Exeter Northcott Theatre. Tickets £7, concessions £5. Box office 01392 493493 www.exeternorthcott.co.uk or you can book via the University of Exeter Arts & Culture site.

Feminist broadcaster, writer and critic Bidisha will be in the Chair, and other speakers will include historian and cultural commentator Rachel Holmes (co-editor of the new collection, 50 Shades of Feminism); Michelle Ryan, co-inventor of the notion of the "glass cliff" for women; and Exeter-based community historian Julia Neville, whose research on woman suffrage informs the associated play, Oxygen.

The panel discussion is preamble to the specially-commissioned play Oxygen, by Natalia McGrath, when Dreadnought South West (see previously) will be following in the footsteps of the Great Suffrage Pilgrimage. "The death of Margaret Thatcher gives a special urgency to the question of how much progress women have made. The evening will begin with a sneak preview from the play, and we anticipate some lively audience participation".

See Dreadnought South West Association for further background. Oxygen is its first major project, commemorating the centenary of The Great 1913 Suffrage Pilgrimage, as part of a wider brief of working with arts and heritage to champion women’s voices and stories.

- RG Read more ...

Weston Plats

The site maintainer recently visited Weston Plats, part of a historic but now obsolete East Devon farming system that used the cliffside microclimate to raise early vegetables. The plot has been cleared and restored by the National Trust, and is accessible from the South West Coast Path. >


View Larger Map

Weston Plats - looking up to Rempstone Rocks
As Peter Orlando Hutchinson wrote of Branscombe Plats in 1858, historically the cliffs of East Devon provided a market gardening environment of "a beautiful undercliff, a sort of stage, half way down to the sea, well cultivated with corn, potatoes, etc". Geologically, it's a ledge formed by the upper surface of Triassic rocks, with Cretaceous crags above. This provided a sheltered microclimate used to raise early young potatoes, early daffodils, crocuses, tulips, broad beans and strawberries. It made arduous farming, but was economically worthwhile until the 1940s, when potato production there had been badly hit by potato eelworm; cheap imports have long since made it obsolete.

Rempstone Rocks - Weston Plats are below, to the left
Weston Plats, one of these plots a couple of miles east of Sidmouth, was recently cleared and restored in a joint project between the National Trust and the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Half-way up the cliff, it can be accessed either via the South West Coast Path, or by a slightly less strenuous walk from the Donkey Sanctuary via Dunscombe Coppice. It's worth visiting, just for the scenery - it's a secluded and relaxing place, sheltered below the chalk crags of Rempstone Rocks - but there are also oddments of agricultural equipment to see, and a reconstructed storage shed (a "linhay").

For further background, see the National Trust page - The past rediscovered: The Weston Plats. The South West Coast Path site has a page - Weston Plats - giving detailed instructions on visiting.

- RG Read more ...

Tudor Household: hands-on day, 1 June

The History Re-enactment Workshop is running a Tudor workshop for adults at St Nicholas' Priory, Exeter, on 1st June. >
The Tudor Household: A hands-on day for adults
Saturday 1 June, 10am to 5pm
St Nicholas Priory, The Mint, off Fore Street, Exeter EX4 3BL

A rare opportunity to experience life in the late 16th century in one of Exeter’s finest historical buildings. With the exclusive use of the Priory, participants can immerse themselves in Tudor life with the History Re-enactment Workshop’s Tudor family. Activities include cooking, sewing and needlecrafts, writing, still room work and song and dance. Bring an apron, notepad, shoes you can dance in and a packed lunch. Tea and coffee is provided.

Tickets £40 (£30) are available in person or by phone using a credit or debit card on 01392 265858 during opening hours.
For further information and contact details, see the RAMM page The Tudor Household: A hands-on day for adults.

The History Re-enactment Workshop is an educational charity, a small nationally based interpretation group, covering the Tudor and Stuart periods, specialising in domestic life.

- RG Read more ...

Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots, 5 Jun

Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots is a forthcoming evening of rich story-telling, music and verse, based on an Exeter-based project to discover the city's multi-cultural history, both famous connections such as Pocahontas, Ignatius Sancho, Rabbi Lionel Blue, and the Emperor Vespasian, and many lesser-known people.

We mentioned in November 2012 the launch of Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots: Exeter's multi-coloured history. The project's research and interviews are shortly to be showcased in its first public event, at the Exeter Phoenix on the evening of 5th June. >

From the flyer:

Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots, Story Telling Evening
7.30pm, Wed 5 June,
Exeter Phoenix
Join us for Telling Our Stories Finding Our Roots, an evening of rich story-telling, music and verse bringing a new multi-cultural perspective to Exeter’s history. Original stories of people from around the world, moving to, living in and affecting lives in Exeter.

Featuring true stories, traditional tales and secrets uncovered from Exeter’s past, the event will be hosted by local story-teller Sandhya Dave and local historian Lucy MacKeith. The stories will be told by members of the multi-cultural Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots, volunteer team inspired by new historical research and interviews with local people. The rich and varied programme will include stories of Black American GIs in St Thomas, Exeter's Jewish History, tales of slavery, abolition and more.

Q&A with the performers after the show.

Tickets: £6/£4
More information from: www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/an-evening-of-stories/
 
The event is also on FaceBook.


- RG Read more ...

Book news: The Historic Landscape of Devon

Oxbow Books has sent us news of its recently-published The Historic Landscape of Devon, Dr Lucy Ryder's analysis of the 19th-century landscape of Devon.

Based on Dr Ryder's PhD at Exeter, the book discusses the relationship between field and settlement morphologies and patterns of landholding in three case-study areas: the Blackdown Hills, Hartland moors, and South Hams.
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From the flyer:
This book discusses the 19th-century historic landscape of Devon though the creation, manipulation and querying of a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) database to examine physical evidence of change and development through field and settlement patterns. Making use of tithe surveys, the relationship between field and settlement morphologies and patterns of landholding is discussed for three case-study areas in Devon, developing the idea of landscape pays and the identification of regional differences in the study of the historic landscape.

Contents
Introduction
2. Discussing Sources and Methodologies for studying the Historic
3. ‘A Wild and Untamed Landscape’ – The Blackdown Hills
4. ‘Furthest from Railways’ – Hartland Moors
5. ‘A Desired Possession…’ – The South Hams
6. Addressing Devon’s Historic Landscape
7. Change and Continuity

ISBN: 9781905119387, PB, 2013, 256p, col illus, Windgather Press, an imprint of Oxbow Books: RRP £38 (currently - 26/3/2013 - special price £24 direct from publisher).
The author is a landscape archaeologist specialising in interdisciplinary studies of social and physical landscapes of the last 500 years, and The Historic Landscape of Devon is based on her PhD research at the University of Exeter. Her current research interests focus on the relationship between landscapes and folkloric traditions; using folk belief to examine how societies functioned in past, and she has a number of other works in print and forthcoming on Devon topics. More detail.

- RG Read more ...

Dawlish Local History Group: 2013 events

The Dawlish Local History Group has sent us its events calendar for 2013.
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Dawlish Local History Group
Programme 2013

Tuesday 5th February: River Exe from Source to Sea - John Stuart
Tuesday 2nd April: AGM (2:00pm), Devon Local History Societies – Julia Neville
Tuesday 14th May: Visit to Haccombe Church (2.15pm)
Tuesday 4th June: R. D. & E. Hospital History - Christopher Gardner Thorpe
Tuesday 16th July: Visit to Ugbrooke House (2.00pm)
Tuesday 6th August: The Torbay Life Boat – Alan Salsbury
Tuesday 3rd September: Visit to Bradley Manor, Newton Abbot (2.15pm)
Tuesday 1st October: Devon Ghosts – Robert Hesketh
Tuesday 3rd December: Christmas Social
Dawlish Local History Group was formed in September 1993 to encourage preservation of the history of the town, to collect materials and to make these available for researchers. With the help of its members, the Group has published some 30 booklets on a variety of subjects. Dawlish Museum is currently building a digital archive of its old photographs and other images of Dawlish and the Group is helping with the dating of these.

Meetings are held bi-monthly at the Manor House, with visiting speakers who talk on many subjects, newsletters keep the members informed of news and activities. In the summer months the Group arranges visits to local places of historical interest. Help is given to anyone making enquiries into local and family history. New members are always welcome.

For further information and contacts, see www.dawlishhistory.org.uk Read more ...

Membury History Society

We've added Membury Local History Society to our affiliates listing. 

Membury Local History Society is a non-profit organisation specialising in the local history of the parish of Membury and the surrounding area. Its aims are: to study the local history of Membury and surrounding area to foster interest; to acquire, collect and store relevant local history material; and to assist in the preservation of ancient monuments, buildings and landscapes in the parish. Everyone is welcome, and encouraged, to join the society and with a subscription of only £3 per year it is not prohibitive.

Meetings: No special meeting day, arranged when required.
Contact: Secretary, Bill Sheppard, Hook Hill Farm, Membury, EX13 7TT
See also: membury.org.uk/history

(Membury lies within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in East Devon, 4 miles north west of Axminster and 7 miles south west of Chard: see Google Maps and the Membury website). Read more ...

Strange and wonderful news

Some Devon anecdote / folklore, a 1690 Exeter traveller's account of a supernatural encounter near Taunton, with perhaps a political agenda. >

Strange and wonderful news from Exeter: giving an account of the dreadful apparitions that was seen by Mr. Jacob Seley of Exeter on Monday, September the 22th, 1690, who gave the full account to the judges the next day, who were going the western circuit (published London : Printed by T.M 1690).

I can't find a transcript of this pamphlet online anywhere that's not behind a paywall or institutional password, but a couple of book accounts paraphrase it:
The traveller [Seley], going to Taunton, stopped at an inn and called for a pot of beer and a noggin of brandy. Proceeding on his way he met a country-like farmer, whom he was persuaded to accompany three miles, on the promise of good lodging. Presently the farmer and his horse vanished away, and immediately there appeared a hundred or two—men, women, and children; "some like judges, some like magistrates, some like clergymen, and some like country people." The last made at the stranger with spears, upon which he adjured them in the name of the Trinity. Of this they took no notice, but covered him with a net. Then he alighted off his horse, and when he let go the bridle the horse disappeared, and he never saw him more. In this plight he waited till four in the morning, and, being constantly attacked, thrust at his assailants with his sword, finding nothing but shadow, though he presently perceived a "man was cut, and his four fingers hung by the skin, and a woman was cut in the forehead, leaving blood upon the sword." After this came along ten funerals, one after the other; then two bodies were dragged along, both apparently just slain. In the morning the traveller got away, and happening to meet the Judges on their way to Wells, he gave them an account of his adventure.

If anyone wished to be satisfied of the truth of this story, he was to go to Mr. William Brown, next door to the Windsor Castle, Charing Cross.

Omitting to notice the consumption of beer and brandy, the narrator suddenly remembers, "'tis remarkable" that on the sign post of the inn one of Monmouth's men was hanged, and that about there several were buried who had been either killed or executed.
- p. 57, On some Somerset Chap-Books, Emanuel Green, Proceedings, Volume 24, Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, pub. F. May, 1879. 
And the second:
And now, to finish up with Exeter witchcraft while we are about it, we may as well relate the sad story of Mr. Jacob Seley, which set all the ever faithful city gossiping so long ago as .Monday, September 23rd, 1690, and is very worthy to be remembered even yet. Mr. Seley, it appears, set forth from his own home in Exeter on the day just named, with the full purpose and intention of riding to Taunton in Somerset. As far as we can gather he jogged along quite comfortably for a considerable distance, following the road through Hinton Clist to Blackdown, at which place there is a public-house called Cleston, "where the coach and waggons usually lodge on that road." Here Mr. Seley stopped some time, and refreshed the inner man. Perhaps he was a thought imprudent; for after he had called for a pot of beer, he had also a noggin of brandy ; but if there was excess, surely even rigid moralists will admit that his punishment was more than he deserved. For when he at last resumed his journey, (the quotation is from a tract entitled "Strange and Wonderful News from Exeter,") "he met with a country-like farmer, being about seven or eight at night; and in the country-like farmer persuaded Mr. Seley to ride back a mile and a half to lodge, telling him there was very good quarters, but at his return, he supposed it to be about three mile; and then he brought him to a plat of ground near the house, and the country-like farmer and his horse vanished away."

This of itself was sufficiently startling to a tired man, and might serve to point the moral how rash it is to ride back upon your road with people whom you do not know. But mark the sequel. "Immediately near 100 or 200 appeared to him, men, women, and children, some like judges, some like magistrates, some like clergymen, and some like country people; and the country people had spears who made at him, and then he made use of Scripture, but they made him no answer. Then he did abjure them." We may pause to remark that it might have helped him more if he had abjured noggins of' brandy. "He did abjure them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; for it is written, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." However, there seemed to be something wrong in the abjuration, for Mr. Seley did not succeed in bruising the serpent's head, though having laid about him with a hanger which he wore, he formed the conclusion that he had cut off some of its fingers. At any rate there was blood upon his hanger, and then the enemy hung over his head "something like a fishing net," with what purpose exactly does not appear, but no doubt it was a wicked one. All this went on by Mr. Seley's account in a plat of ground not above four yards square. "At last he lighted off his horse, and his horse laid his nose on his shoulder as if he had been a Christian." But even this sorry comfort poor Mr. Seley did not long enjoy; for the spirits gave his horse "something like treacle, and then he let go his horse and never saw him after."

There is a good deal more of this story, prepared doubtless for the consumption of Mrs. Seley when her lord returned. But where Mr. Seley really was all this time is a matter of pure speculation.
- pp46-47, Highways and Byways in Devon and Cornwall, Arthur Hamilton Norway, pub. Macmillan, 1898.
Did Mr Seley really experience this? The chiefly notable thing about this story is that it's timed precisely five years after the 'Bloody Assizes', retributory trials of Monmouth sympathizers conducted, in Taunton and elsewhere, in the aftermath of the Monmouth Rebellion. As such, there's more in it than merely (as the retellings suggest) some meaningless drunken hallucination; as an indictment of the establishment executioners as hostile apparations, one might suspect it to be commemoration, pro-Monmouth propaganda.

- RG Read more ...
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