Some Distinguished Victims of the ScaffoldBleackley, Horace
History
Some Distinguished Victims of the Scaffold
Bleackley, Horace
Criminals -- Great Britain; Executions and executioners; Trials -- Great Britain
After the interview with Judge Hardinge, the adventurer became the
sport of chance once more. When he took boat from Keswick on the
evening of his clever escape, he steered his course to the southern
extremity of Derwentwater. The cluster of little islands soon must have
hid him from view, and no one thought of pursuit. Whatever may have
been his impulse, there was no time to bid adieu to his bride. The path
to safety lay far ahead over the high mountains. Having left the lake
under the guidance of his faithful friend Burkett the fisherman, his
course for a few miles was a comparatively easy one; but twilight must
have fallen before he had traversed the gorge of Borrowdale, and his
flight up the desolate Langstrath valley, which cleaves its way between
Glaramara and Langdale Pike, was made in the darkness. By night the
journey was a terrible one--over rocks and boulders, along a broken
path winding its course beside the mountain torrent, up the face of
the precipitous crags, and across the Stake, a tremendous pass high up
in the hills, dividing northern lakeland from the south. From Langdale
he struck west towards the coast, and after a journey of some fourteen
miles reached the seaport of Ravenglass, on the estuary of the Esk. In
this place he borrowed a seaman’s dress, and took refuge in a little
sloop moored near the shore, and here he was recognised on the 25th
of October. With a hue and cry against him, it was not safe to remain
near the scene of his latest crime. Going by coach to Ulverstone, he
continued his flight thence to Chester, where early in November he was
seen at the theatre by an old acquaintance. Then he appears to have
walked on to Northwich, and there for some time all trace of him was
lost. An advertisement, describing his appearance and offering a reward
of fifty pounds for his arrest, was published on the 8th of November
and scattered broadcast over the country.
The next tidings of him came from Builth in Wales, where, on the
11th of November, he is said to have swindled a friend, who had no
knowledge that he was the Keswick impostor, by the usual device of a
bill of exchange. On the day following this performance, the London
post brought the newspapers containing the description of his person,
and he hurried away from the little town on the banks of the Wye in
his flight towards the south. For a time he still baffled capture, but
the pursuers steadily closed upon his track. On the 22nd of November
the authorities at Swansea were informed that a man resembling the
published account of the impostor had been seen in the mountains beyond
Neath, and the next day Hadfield was run to earth at the ‘Lamb and
Flag’ an old coaching inn about seventeen miles from the seaport town.
At once he was lodged in Brecon Gaol, and in about a fortnight’s time
the newspapers inform us that he was brought up to town by one Pearkes,
robin-redbreast.
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