Madeley and the " day of judgement has come"

Some weeks ago I met with Leek resident John Band who wanted to show me his very interesting collection of 17^th century pamphlets and journals. Several of them mention events in North Staffordshire during the period of the Civil War. But one very curiously mentions an incident that happened in Madeley in the spring of 1651. It is recorded in a newspaper called the Perfect Diurnal

“By Letters from Cheshire we had an exact accompt of a late strange appearance in the Air at a place called Madeley, of the Sun, Moone, and sighting, and other strange things as followeth, 16 Aprill 1651. Mary Sidway, Wife unto Robert Sidway in the Parish of Madely, Gent. in the County of Stafford saith, That sitting in her doore, one of her children being playing by her, about a quarter of an houre before Sun setting, taking notice of the Sunne, thought it to be of a strange bloudy colour, looking more earnestly upon it; perceived over it a perfect halfe Moon, but she thinking she might be deceived in her sight, wiped her eyes, and looked upon it againe: Upon which the said Moone suddenly vanished, and there appeared round about the Sunne many darke bodies, in compasse like unto ordinary Pewter Dishes, all which instantly turned as red as bloud, those of the North side, flying off from the Sunne,”

Mary Sidway called her maid who was looking after Mary's children. She was asked if she had seen the curious spectacle at first the maid denied that she had seen anything but recanted

“Crying out unto her Dame, ah Dame they come upon us! they come upon us! and forthwith in their view came downe from the Sun into the Court before the door, multitudes of darke bodies in the signs of men, having arms and swords discernable, but from the rest of the bodies were of a thick darknesse without fome, of which they can give no good accompt; there also in their view arose out of the ground as many like bodies in opposition unot these, which to their judgements ran violently one upon another; In their running up and down the Court they pressed so near the door where she sate and the maid stood by, that being afraid of hurt by them, they withdrew themselves into the entry of the house, but she, the said Mary Sidway, remembering her little Child to be left without doors desired her maid to fetch the Child “

The maid collected the child and the women and child barricaded themselves into the house and began to pray. They looked out of the windows to see if they could see anything. They saw

 Two horses shapes being by them seen amongst this Company, and that which most affrighted them with the Mote beore the window, which seemed to be spotted all over in the Compass of Round Trenchers with staining blood: Her Maid then desired her to look out of the other window upon the other side of the house, (which she did) and there they beheld all the back side full of long Cannons, and holsters standing rowes, with their mouthes upwards; They being still in feare went to prayer againe, after which they looked out on both sides the house, and all was gone and seemed to be cleare.

The women left the house and wandered over some fields. A fog descended and out of the mist

“out of which came flying to them a creature in the bignesse of a Canon, with a broad face all hairy, two large wings (in their description, like unto the Angels wings pictured in Churches) upon sight whereof she the said Mary Sidway, said to her maid, certainely this is an Angell, and the day of judgement is come, come let us go and hasten to our folks and die together; but while she was thus speaking came another in the like shape, and after that a third”

The creatures disappeared and a farm labourer that the women saw did not see anything odd.

What can we make of the references to “pewter plates” or “ multitudes of strange sights” or the flying creature with “large wings and face all hairy”.

John Band is of the opinion that the women were suffering from ergotism the result of an enzyme released when rye or oats get damp and develops a fungal infection which can cause symptoms such as hallucinations. Some historians believe that religious visions or charges of bewitchment might be caused by ergotism. Although the early 1650s are characterised by fine springs and summers and drought like conditions.

Another suggestion is given in the clue of the the bloody colour of the Sun is that the woman witnessed an partial eclipse although it occurred on the 19^th April and not the 16^th. It could have been an error in typography and the wrong date given. The eclipse was visible in Lichfield not too far away.

And of course there is the fanciful view that it really was a Close Encounter of the Third Kind!

Bare Knuckle fighters of the 19th century

They bred them tough in the old days. I came across an account from the  Staffordshire Advertiser from August 1813 of a local  boxing match

“A severe pugilistic contest took place near Cheadle between a blacksmith and a mason. It continued about 4 hours and 150 rounds were fought. The black smith was obliged to leave off fighting in order to go to work. About 1000 were present”.

I has always had an interest in boxing. An early memory is getting up  to listen to the first Liston- Ali fight in 1964 on the radio and was able, as a child, to recite all the names of the heavy weight champoins of the world in my childhood- Burns, Johnson, Willard, Dempsey, Tunney, etc

Bare knuckle bouts bore little relation to boxing today. Kicking, biting and gouging were not allowed, but wrestling was. The opponent could be thrown to the ground . It was not allowed to strike a man when he was down. A round ended when the boxer was felled. There was a 30 second break before the next round. Rounds could be any length. and the fight continued to the fighter was injured or exhausted. There were no referees as the spectators were the guardians of fair play

 There was nothing genteel about the sport. It was memorably described by  a 19th century writer as 'a vulgar and tumultuous rabble of vagrants, drunkards, ruffian brawlers, and gambling desperadoes'. The  argot of the  time is wonderfully conveyed  in a contemporary report in the Era newspaper  It is a description of a 90 round contest between Hugh McStavik a fighter from Liverpool and George Harrison from Manchester at Madeley in July 1845 which the Liverpudlian won.

 “Hughy Mc   as a cunning little general in the PR drawing his last battle prior to this with Allan McPhee who by proving to the world  that personal animosity does not exist in the boxing league actually trained Liverpool's pet . Hugh is 25  about 5 7 and well made, brown complexion and a downy customer. He is a good natured lad but like all the outer outers  he has indulged rather too  liberally in what the Buffaloes call the “ holy gatter. This lavish adoration to the jolly god  made the backers of Harrison  think that a few bustling rounds would soon set his bellows in active play and force him to yield”