“The male prisoners were detected by the special constable on duty at
the above spot, in the act of playing at a most deceptive game, called
‘prick-in-the-garter,’ at which each of them had contrived to fill his
pockets at the expense of the deluded multitude, many of whom, being
countrymen, were not at all aware of the artful dodge. The female was
found rattling the dice in one of the booths, and had, also, contrived
to line her pockets very well. On being taken, she declared she was an
innocent country servant out of place, and most vehemently denied that
the dice belonged to her.
“They were all four despatched to the treadmill for one month, the
magistrates at the same time informing them that the money found on them
would go to their support in prison.
“Clegg, on hearing this, exclaimed, ‘Dang it, that is hard, too, that I
should have to pay the Governor for punishing me on the wheel, a sort of
caper wot I arn’t at all accustomed to. Do let me have a few bob, good
luck to your honour, to spend when I comes out.’
“Mr. Rawlinson. ‘Not one farthing. The fair is meant for the recreation
of honest people, and not for the advantage of blacklegs and gamblers.’
“Clegg. ‘Vell, if this ’ere arn’t a vicked robbery, I never seed one in
my life; but the Queen, God bless her, shall know how her subjects are
treated, for, if I don’t publish it in all the papers, my name’s not
Edward Clegg.’
“The prisoners were then removed.”
There was no demonstration of joy in Hyde Park to celebrate the marriage
of the Queen and Prince Albert on Feb. 10, 1840; and the next occasion
when any public entertainment took place therein was in thankfulness for
the Treaty of Peace between Russia, France and England, signed at Paris
in April, 1856. This “Peace Rejoicing,” as it was called, took place on
May 29th following, and took the form of a display of fireworks in Hyde,
Green and Victoria Parks and on Primrose Hill. We have only to deal with
those in Hyde Park, and the best contemporary account of them that I can
find is in _The Morning Chronicle_ of May 30, 1856, as follows:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account