30 January 1709: Charles Boswell, king of the gypsies, is buried at Rossington, Doncaster
Joseph Hunter. 1828. South Yorkshire, Vol. 1. London: Joseph Hunter. Get it:
.Unedited excerpt
The excerpt in the book is shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.
Near the chancel door was formerly a gravestone, protected by iron rails, covering the remains of Charles Bosvile, whose interment is recorded in the parish register as having taken place on Sunday, the 30th of January, 1708-9. This person is still remembered in the traditions of the village as having established a species of sovereignty among that singular people called the gypsies, who, before the enclosures, used to frequent the moors about Rossington. His word amongst them was law; and his authority so great that he perfectly restrained the pilfering propensities for which the tribe is censured, and gained the entire goodwill for himself and his people of the farmers and the people around. He was a gentleman with an estate of about £200. a year, and is described by De la Pryme of Hatfield as “a mad spark, mighty fine and brisk, and keeps company with a great many gentlemen knights, and esquires, yet runs about the country.” He was a similar character to Bampfield Moore Carew, who, a little later, lived the same kind of wandering life. No member of this wandering race for many years passed near Rossington without going to pay respect to the grave of him whom they called their king; and I am informed that even now, if the question were asked of any of the people who still haunt the lanes in this neighbourhood, especially about the time of Doncaster races, they would answer that they were Bosvile’s people.
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Edward Miller:
It is remarkable that this is the first name mentioned in the present parish register… For a number of years it was a custom of the gipsies from the South to visit his tomb annually, and there perform some of their accustomed rites, one of which was to pour a flagon of ale upon the grave (Miller 1804).
But Miller thinks he’s James Bosvill, so maybe we don’t need to worry too much about the sexton’s reaction to notional ale-pouring.
WP:
James Boswell
Is buried in Rossington, near Doncaster in Yorkshire. Langdale’s “Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire” (1822), says: “In the church yard, was a stone, the two ends of which are now remaining, where was interred the body of James Bosvill the King of the Gypsies, who died 30 January 1708. For a number of years, it was a custom of Gypsies from the south, to visit his tomb annually, and there perform some of their accustomed rites; one of which was to pour a flagon of ale upon the grave.” This is similar to the ritual of “stalling the rogue” mentioned by Thomas Harman and in The Beggars Bush and by Bampfylde Moore Carew.A tradition was reported of annual visits to the grave of Charles Boswell near Doncaster for more than 100 years into the 1820s, including a rite of pouring a flagon of hot ale into the tomb. This may be the same person.[6][7][8] The grave is situated by the main door leading to the church, shaded by a dark oak tree. It is now covered in moss, but is still readable. The words “King Of The Gypsies” will lie there for ever more, whereas the mystery of the black cat is still unsolved. – information on the grave by A. Needham – P. Needham, of St Michaels church.
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Tags
Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.
- Carew, Bampfylde Moore (1690-1758) (1), self-proclaimed rogue, vagabond, impostor, dogstealer, and King of the Beggars and/or Gypsies W/G ·
- Doncaster Racecourse (4) W/G ·
- 📌Doncaster (34) W/G ·
- Funeral (25) W/G ·
- Hatfield, South Yorkshire (5) W/G ·
- Horse racing (9) W/G ·
- Horse (72) W/G ·
- Hunter, Joseph (1783-1861) (2), Sheffield-born Unitarian Minister, antiquarian, and keeper of public records W/G ·
- King of the Gypsies (1) W/G ·
- Pryme, Abraham de la (1671-1704) (13), Yorkshire antiquary and curate born to Huguenots: a Dutch-speaking father from Ypres and a Parisian mother W/G ·
- Romani people (7) W/G ·
- Rossington (1), civil parish and former mining village near Doncaster W/G ·
- St Leger Stakes (5) W/G ·
- West Riding of Yorkshire (151) W/G ·
Comment
Comment
Edward Miller:
It is remarkable that this is the first name mentioned in the present parish register… For a number of years it was a custom of the gipsies from the South to visit his tomb annually, and there perform some of their accustomed rites, one of which was to pour a flagon of ale upon the grave (Miller 1804).
But Miller thinks he’s James Bosvill, so maybe we don’t need to worry too much about the sexton’s reaction to notional ale-pouring.
WP:
James Boswell
Is buried in Rossington, near Doncaster in Yorkshire. Langdale’s “Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire” (1822), says: “In the church yard, was a stone, the two ends of which are now remaining, where was interred the body of James Bosvill the King of the Gypsies, who died 30 January 1708. For a number of years, it was a custom of Gypsies from the south, to visit his tomb annually, and there perform some of their accustomed rites; one of which was to pour a flagon of ale upon the grave.” This is similar to the ritual of “stalling the rogue” mentioned by Thomas Harman and in The Beggars Bush and by Bampfylde Moore Carew.A tradition was reported of annual visits to the grave of Charles Boswell near Doncaster for more than 100 years into the 1820s, including a rite of pouring a flagon of hot ale into the tomb. This may be the same person.[6][7][8] The grave is situated by the main door leading to the church, shaded by a dark oak tree. It is now covered in moss, but is still readable. The words “King Of The Gypsies” will lie there for ever more, whereas the mystery of the black cat is still unsolved. – information on the grave by A. Needham – P. Needham, of St Michaels church.
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Similar
14 September 1864: In his last race, the St Leger Stakes (Doncaster), the legendary Blair Athol faces his great rival, General Peel, in monsoon conditions
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Re this wave of unofficial strikes:
Major-General Sir Noel Holmes, chairman of the north-eastern division of the National Coal Board, in a statement yesterday on the strike at Grimethorpe Colliery, said that 140 coal-face workers, out of 2,682 employed at the pit, were not doing a fair day’s work. A committee representing management and workmen had decided that the stint for the 140 workers should be increased by 2ft., but they refused to accept its findings and came out on strike. The other coal-face workers came out in sympathy. “As much as I dislike mentioning this fact,” said Sir Noel Holmes, “it is only right to recall that at Grimethorpe since January 1, 1947, and before the present strike, there have been 26 sectional unofficial stoppages, which have lost 33,000 tons of coal to the nation. The present stoppage up to date represents a further loss of more than 40,000 tons.” (Times 1947/08/27)
Holmes’s Wikipedia article curiously doesn’t mention this phase of his career.
I’m guessing that the Welsh ex-Puritan authoritarian Communist Arthur Horner is the voice of the NUM in the above – see e.g. the Times for 9 September.
Interesting comments on the wartime coal boards by T.S. Charlton, colliery manager at Cortonwood:
The management of the collieries is in the hands of men trained primarily in management of mines and miners. They have a working knowledge of all the machinery available and how best it can be used, but the details of this side are left to the mechanical and electrical engineer. Labour costs are two-thirds of production costs, and therefore the handling and the best use of men are of the greatest importance to managers. Why it should have been decided that labour leaders should be good labour directors is, apart from the political issue, difficult to understand, unless it is on the old adage of “poacher turned gamekeeper.” Unless and until the production director has control of his labour side, I can see little hope of his schemes proving effective.
The miners have put forward suggestions to improve output, but they appear to do no more than improve the position of the miner. Can it be said that any suggestion already put forward by the men has put up the output figure? Why should it be assumed the men’s side of the pit production committees should be able to improve output in any way? Their training, inclinations, and very job depend upon their obtaining the best for their electors rather than for production.
(Charlton 1943/12/01)
Charlton was clearly a clever and capable man – it would be good to know more about him.
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