understanding that he should continue in office till the riots were put an end to. He was Mayor for four years. In 1864 a police-constable died of the wounds he received in the fray, but his assailants were not captured. In 1865 occurred the worst riot of all, in which another policeman was almost killed. Mr. Jacob armed the constables with cutlasses, swore in special constables,—some of them men who were believed to be connected with the riots,—sent for a body of Lancers, and had the streets cleared. Four men were afterwards brought to trial. This was the last serious riot. That of 1866 was quickly dispersed by cavalry, and a final attempt in 1868 was broken up by the police and special constables.[1]
I have also a few notes from the south-western coast:—
At Exeter (so I am told) the crowds that assembled for the annual bonfire and burning of tar-barrels in the Cathedral Close were so rowdy that the military were regularly turned out to preserve order, and one year, it is said, were forced to fire on the crowd. The celebrations have been discontinued only quite recently, and on account of the danger to the cathedral fabric from the close proximity of the burning tar-barrels.
At Teignmouth the day is considered a holiday. The shops shut early, and the people hold a regular festival, firing off rockets, burning notorious persons in effigy, etc.
At Ilfracombe I have a childish, but distinct, memory of seeing parties of boys carrying effigies on November 5th, 1859. They brought them round to the houses, sang, or rather shouted, the rhyme "Remember, remember, the Fifth of November" (as on page 411), rang at the doors, and
- ↑ The weapon used by the ringleader in 1865 is in the possession of Mr. Williamson, the authority for the above account. It is a thick staff some three feet long, thickly studded with square hobnails and projecting iron "brads," with a sharp spike at the upper end, while the lower end is roughened to give a grip. It is painted green, and is marked "V.R." in imitation of the staves of the special constables.
