Now! Then! A Whitby puppeteer tries to take revenge on a delinquent spectator

Excerpt

On December 10, 1710, a puppet-how being exhibited at the Tolbooth in Whitby, an affray was raised there by one William Smith, who insisted on coming in without paying anything; whereupon the master of the show drew his sword, and therewith stabbed to death an innocent man called William Pickering; for which murder he was afterwards apprehended and sent to York Castle, where, being tried and convicted at the following assizes, he was executed.

Order the book

Subscribe to the free daily email

To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

The Tolbooth is the civil hall previous to the early 19th century Old Town Hall and was located in the market on the west side of the River Esk at the west end of the bridge.

This intrusion of the frequently bloody drama of Punch/Polichinelle/Pulcinella into real life recalls the ambivalence of the fourth tableau of the great Stravinsky/Fokine/Benois ballet, Petrushka, set at the 1830 Petersburg Shrovetide Fair, where the jealous Moorish puppet pursues and kills Petrushka, and the public believes a real crime has been committed (from 21:44):

Can anyone tell me the name of the puppet master?

Something to say? Get in touch

Original

On December 10, 1710, a puppet-how being exhibited at the Tolbooth in Whitby, an affray was raised there by one William Smith, who insisted on coming in without paying anything; whereupon the master of the show drew his sword, and therewith stabbed to death an innocent man called William Pickering; for which murder he was afterwards apprehended and sent to York Castle, where, being tried and convicted at the following assizes, he was executed.

74 words.