The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth: As Revealed in the Writings of Gerrard Winstanley, the Digger, Mystic and Rationalist, Communist and Social ReformerBerens, Lewis Henry
History
The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth: As Revealed in the Writings of Gerrard Winstanley, the Digger, Mystic and Rationalist, Communist and Social Reformer
Berens, Lewis Henry
Communism; Land use; Winstanley, Gerrard, 1609-
"And because there were some treacherous persons drew up a note and
subscribed our names to it, and by that moved some friends to give
money to this work of ours, when as we know of no such note, nor
subscribed our names to any, nor ever received any money from such
collection. Therefore to prevent such a cheat, I have mentioned a
word or two in the end of a printed book against that treachery,
that neither we nor our friends may be cheated. And I desire if any
be willing to communicate of their substance unto our work, that
they would make a collection among themselves, and send that money
to Cobham to the Diggers' own hands, by some trusty friend of your
own, and so neither you nor we shall be cheated.
"The Bearers hereof, Thomas Haydon and Adam Knight, can relate by
word of mouth more largely the condition of the Diggers and their
work, and so we leave this to you to do as you are moved.
"Jacob Heard, Jo. South junior, Henry Barton, Tho. Barnard, Tho.
Adams, Will Hitchcocke, Anthony Wren, Robert Draper, William Smith,
Robert Coster, Gerrard Winstanley, Jo. South, Tho. Heydon, Jo.
Palmer, Tho. South, Henry Handcocke, Jo. Batt, Dan Ireland, Jo.
Hayman, Robert Sawyer, Tho. Starre, Tho. Edcer, besides their wives
and families, and many more if there were food for them."
Then follows this detailed account of their travels:
"A COPY OF THEIR TRAVELS, that was taken with the four men at
Wellingborow.
"Out of Buckinghamshire into Surrey; from Surrey to Middlesex, from
thence to Hartfordshire, to Bedfordshire, again to Buckinghamshire,
so to Berkshire, and then to Surrey, thence to Middlesex, and so to
Hartfordshire, and to Bedfordshire, thence into Huntingdonshire,
from thence to Bedfordshire, and so into Northamptonshire, and
there they were apprehended.
"They visited these towns to promote the business: Colebrook,
Hanworth, Hounslow, Harrowhill, Watford, Redburn, Dunstable,
Barton, Amersley, Bedford, Kempson, North Crawley, Cranfield,
Newport, Stony Stratford, Winslow, Wendover, Wickham, Windsor,
Cobham, London, Whetston, Mine, Wellin, Dunton, Putney, Royston,
St. Needs, Godmanchester, Wetne, Stanton, Warbays, Kimolton, from
Kimolton to Wellingborrow."
Before this date, however, some of the inhabitants of Wellingborrow had
followed the example of their brothers in Surrey. From a beautifully
printed broadsheet,[150:1] bearing date March 12th, 1649 (1650), and
issued by Giles Calvert, we find the following account of their doings,
which incidentally reveals the terrible state of the rural working
population at the time it was written:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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