More tales from Watnall Hall, today's is about the gamekeeper, Mr. Freeman.
Mr. Freeman was the gamekeeper in the 1920's, and most of the village children were scared stiff of him as he used to chase them if they went birds nesting and scrumping. Mr. Ken Livermore used to go down to his home, Woodpit Cottage, as they both were interested in shooting, and Mr. Livermore used to act as a beater on such occasions... "I remember one day - it were about this time of year - and he says, 'Are you going to stop and have a bit of dinner with us ?', And he says, You can find Ken a bit of dinner can't you?" to his wife and she says, 'Oh yes, there's plenty’ and she says, ‘We've got roast rabbit today'. Roast rabbit? I'd never heard of it, but you know it were delicious. I did enjoy it. Oh, I used to go down there a lot. "
Mr. Livermore added that he went shooting on the Temple estate at Nuthall and at Watnall too...
"At Temple, I used to get 1/6d a rabbit there. At Watnall they gave us a bit more. I'm not sure that it was 6/-. "
Shooting Accident
He and Walter Bramley between them recalled an unlucky accident that happened to Mr. Freeman. It was the custom in those days to carry shotguns in the "unbroken" position, as otherwise the cartridges might fall out. The hammers were gently lowered on to the cartridges in the half-cocked position and the gun carried like this. One day Mr. Freeman was getting over a wire fence on the estate, and he leaned his gun against the fence whilst he climbed over. Unfortunately, the gun started to slip on the wire, and as it fell the wire caught one of the hammers and pulled it back. Mr. Freeman saw what was happening and made a grab for the barrel, catching it in his right hand just as the hammer fell and the gun discharged, blowing off his index finger. Mr. Freeman soon recovered from the injury, but it took him a lot longer to learn to shoot accurately again, using his middle finger to pull the trigger.
Mr. Dennis Johnson recalls Mr. Freeman's gibbet, placed there to warn off animals of whose behaviour the gamekeeper did not approve., "The footpath used to go along the front of this cottage, and in the trees to the east of it, in the front of the cottage was the Gamekeeper's Gibbet - dead magpies, dead jackdaws, dead stoats. I can remember that distinctly - I can remember the sight of it, with all the dead vermin- I can remember the smell of it."
Old Poachers, gamekeepers and "cockers" The Nottingham Guardian newspaper from 22 March 1849 reports on a case of Watnall poaching...
Benjamin Dennis, a framework knitter being tried at Nottingham Assizes for night poaching, was given an excellent character by his employer Mr Roger Allen ‘for whom he had worked all his life’. But Colonel Rolleston’s gamekeeper said he had always been ‘an old poacher and cocker’. Dennis was found guilty. Cocker presumably meaning cock fighter. Ironic really as Colonel Rolleston had his own cock fighting area or "cockpit" in the gardens of Watnall Hall!
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Watnall Hall's Cockpit as described in 1881...
“...old-fashioned garden, with its curious yew hedge, which encloses the arena wherein cock-fighting formerly took place; its old bowling green, which is now occasionally used for that game of bowls, .....With its small conservatory, bright with geraniums and calceolarias, and with its thatched bee-house, full of murmurous sound.” |
Cock-fighting is reported in the local papers too from 1858...
Punishment for poaching
The unreliability of conviction due to juries, combined with the frequent giving of low sentences by Judges and Magistrates, caused anger amongst many of the gentlemen sportsmen. In October 1860, the Nottinghamshire Guardian published a letter from a correspondent calling himself ‘Prevention’ objecting to the short sentences of three months given to ‘an organised gang of night poachers’ by the Nottingham bench. He remarked that the law for three or more armed night poachers was up to seven years transportation or two years imprisonment if any violence was offered, which it was in this case, and went on to say that now all eight would be free by Christmas and at liberty to carry on with their night poaching.
Some "poachers" had rather amusing excuses...
"ASSAULT.-John Shipley, game-keeper to J. T. Edge, Esq.,
It charged John Bond with a violent assault at Nuttall. appears that Shipley saw the prisoner in company with another man on the land belonging to Colonel Holden, and went up to ask them what they were doing; one of then said he was looking after birds' nests. Bond (who seemed to be rather a large boy to go bird nesting) struck several violent blows, and contrived to disfigure prosecutor's face, which was bound round with a cloth. The case was remanded for a further hearing till Saturday next. Prosecutor is at present under medical treatment. - 6/6/1861"
Actual boys did not even escape the law even when out blackberry picking...
Ferreting lads did not escape either...
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Ben Caunt boxing champion of England
and convicted poacher |
Or indeed champion boxers! Hucknall's bare-knuckle boxer Ben Caunt felt the long arm of the law in 1849. He was a publican in London at the time so was perhaps on a visit back to his Nottingham roots where he had been born son of Lord Byron's gamekeeper at Newstead Abbey...
"THE EX CHAMPION OF ENGLAND, BEN CAUNT CONVICTED OF POACHING - Benjamin Caunt of St. Martin's-le-Grand, London, licenced victualler, (the pugilst ex-champion of England), was charged with having, on the 6th of October [1849], trespassed its pursuit of game, in a field at Nuttall, in the occupation of Martha Spray. Mr. Bowley appeared for the prosecution, and a person named Pearson for the defendant. Jesse Sunday, Mrs. Spray's servant-man, said that on the 6th of October he saw a number of men, one of whom was the defendant, enter one of his mistress's fields. While there, Caunt shot twice at a hare, and the second time he wounded it. They could not, however, catch it, and Caunt again shot at the hare, and this time killed it. One of his companions picked up the hare, and they again left the field. Mr. Pearson admitted the truth of the statement, and the magistrates, this being the second offence, convicted the defendant in the full penalty of 10s and costs. 1/11/1849" Licence for Gamekeepers
Gamekeepers themselves had to make sure they were properly registered so they did not fall "fowl" of the law...
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From
- RA Horton "Watnall Hall and the Rollestons"
- POVERTY, PROTEST AND SPORT: POACHING IN THE EAST MIDLANDS c.1820-c.1900 by ROSEMARY MUGE, MA. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
October 2017
- Nottingham Guardian
- Old Countryside Print ' The Gibbett ' Magpie, Squirrel, Jays, Hedgehogs, Stoats & Moles by Agnes Miller-Parker (1895-1980) FIRST EDITION From a 1936 edition of book-prints of her classic Art DecoWood Engravings
Cocking...
https://georgianjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/18th-century-bloodsport-cockfighting/
The ancient sport of “cocking” or cockfighting while now prohibited in most of the “civilized world,” was once not only considered a perfectly respectable gentleman’s diversion, but reached its zenith in popularity in the mid 18th century with matches held regularly at cockpits established in almost every town, as well as at all the major horse races. A knowledge of and taste for cocking were essential parts of the training of a gentleman who wished to be called a sportsman.
A typical event was a Welch Main – an elimination contest to leave the last cock standing usually commencing with at least 16 pairs of combatants. The next round would comprise the eight winners, and so on until only one cock remained as the winner. The birds themselves were fitted with expensive silver spurs designed to inflict damage to the opponent. The contests usually coincided with local horse races when there was an influx of Gentlemen inclined to bet heavily on the outcome of the battles.
“The great racing town (Newmarket) served also as head-quarters for another and very different sport. Cock-fighting under Newmarket rules, was an indispensable accessory to the nobler contests on the Heath; and the sportsmen of olden times spent their mornings and evenings at the cockpit…
Though cock-matches were going on all the year round, the race-time was the favourite occasion for one landed gentleman to take his revenge upon his neighbor, or for one county to pit itself against another… The stakes in good matches were ten guineas a battle and four or five hundred on the main. But the stakes represented a very small interest compared with the bets, which appear to have been controlled only by the purses or credit of the bettors. – History of the British Turf from the Earliest Times to the Present day by James Rice, London 1879
FROM RICHARD SEYMOUR’S COMPLEAT GAMESTER, 1754:
“Cocking is a Sport or Pastime so full of Delight and Pleasure that I know not any Game in that respect that is to be preferr’d before it; and since the Fighting Cock hath gain’d so great an Estimation among the Gentry in respect to this noble Recreation, I shall here propose it before all the other Games of which I have afore succinctly discoursed, and therefore I may methodically give instructions to such as are unexperienced, and add more Knowledge to such who have already gain’d a competent Proficiency in this Pleasing Art… “
What follows is Seymour’s a very enthusiastic treatise on “chusing, breeding, and diet the Fighting Cock, with whatever choice Secrets are thereunto belonging…”
Ben Caunt (1815-1861) - Heavyweight Champion of England
He was a big man with a big chest, a booming voice and an international career in bare-knuckle boxing. ‘Big Ben’ Caunt’s name has lived on since he was finally laid out, in St. Mary Magdalene’s churchyard.
Born in nearby Newstead, he grew up in Hucknall. His first recorded knockout was one of his own relatives in 1835. Once spotted, his reputation, like him, just grew and grew. By the age of 19 he stood 6ft, 2 1/2” (1.89m) tall and weighed 14st 7lbs (92kg).
He found fame and a close rival from nearby Nottingham, Bendigo William Thompson. Like Ali and Frasier in the 20th century, ‘Big Ben’ and Bendigo would meet three times and share the title between them. But for Ben there were no gloves and no time limit; and each meeting was a ding-dong battle. Their first bout in 1836 lasted 22 rounds with Bendigo the winner, ‘Big Ben’ got his revenge in 1838 but this time it took 76 rounds; finally losing in 1845 over 96 rounds.
In between these grudge matches ‘Big Ben’ defended his title in London and toured the USA. In retirement he became a pub landlord in London. Towards the end of his life, tragedy struck when a fire at the pub claimed the lives of his two children. Martha and Cornelius now rest with Ben in the north side of the churchyard.
His fame was such that ‘Big Ben’ became a by-word for anything big and loud. One possible origin for the name of the most famous chiming bell in the world. When Big Ben strikes it recalls ‘Big Ben’ in his pub calling ‘Time’.
You can find out more about Ben in church and visit his grave which sits in the shadow of the north transept.
Ben Caunt leafletClick here to download a PDF version of our Ben Caunt souvenir leaflet, but you’ll need to visit to make the most of it.
http://hucknallparishchurch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/dl_ben_2015_web_LR.pdf
http://hucknallparishchurch.org.uk/ben-caunt/
https://historyofbkb.weebly.com/bkb-figureheads.htmlhttps://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Caunt,_Benjamin
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