Mornings at Bow Street: A Selection of the Most Humorous and Entertaining Reports which Have Appeared in the 'Morning Herald'Wight, J. (John)
General
Mornings at Bow Street: A Selection of the Most Humorous and Entertaining Reports which Have Appeared in the 'Morning Herald'
Wight, J. (John)
Crime -- England -- London
It appeared by the evidence of the said Edmund Speering, Esq., that as he
was passing through Clare-court, between one and two o'clock in the
morning, he heard a great row and uproar in Thomas's alamode
beef-shop--the shrill voices of women in distress, and the hoarse clamour
of numerous throats masculine. Hearing this, he looked towards the said
shop, and saw through the beef-besteamed windows and the salads three or
four men, and as many women, in personal conflict with each other; and,
like a true knight, he rushed into the midst of the affray, demanding of
the distressed damsels whether or not they wished to be rid of their
unmanly opponents? They answered in a joint and corporate voice--"Oh! yes,
we do!" Whereupon the said Edmund seized one fellow by the nape of the
neck, and another by the waistband of his breeches, and with pith and
power propelled them from the premises. This accomplished, he turned to
seize the others; when _Jemmy Green_, who appeared to be the most violent
among them, seized the said Edmund by the collar, and strenuously
endeavoured to floor him; but it would not do--Jemmy Green was out-done
both in length and strength, and was compelled to give way before the
superior pith of his adversary; and just as Jemmy was flung headlong from
the door, Launcelot Gobbo--we beg his pardon, Launcelot Snodgrass, struck
the conquering Edmund a blow on the back of his head with an umbrella, and
laid him horizontally on the floor. But Edmund rebounded to the
perpendicular in an instant, and was preparing to renew the combat, when
the watch came up, and Jemmy and Launcelot were both carried off to the
watch-house as contemners of the public peace.
The magistrate asked how this disgraceful uproar began.
The landlady, and her barmaid, and Nicholas the waiter, all gave evidence
on that part of the subject; and it appeared, by their account, that Jemmy
Green, Launcelot Snodgrass, and two other gentlemen, came in late, and
full of gin, and ate alamode beef in such quantities, that at length the
spicery of the beef, the gin, and the beer, concocting together, produced
a fume which got the better of what little sense they carried about them,
and made them all agog for what "the Fancy" calls a "_spree_." In this
state they rushed into the privacy of the bar, upset the salads, insulted
the mistress, milled the waiter, and demolished the barmaid's head gear.
It was at this juncture the above-mentioned Edmund came to their relief;
and the barmaid swore positively that Launcelot not only knocked down the
said Edmund with his umbrella as aforesaid, but that he also "knocked her
down up a-top of him," and how she got off again she did not know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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