Yorkshire Almanac John Hobson encounters two outlandish, free-living men at Thirsk

25 July 1730: John Hobson encounters two outlandish, free-living men at Thirsk

John Hobson. 1877. The Journal of Mr. John Hobson, Late of Dodworth Green. Yorkshire Diaries and Autobiographies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Ed. Charles Jackson. Durham: Surtees Society. A (morbid) compendium of everyday England. It is sometimes unclear whether the date given is that of an occurrence or that on which news reached his capacious ears. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

At Thirsk. Saw 2 outlandish men, habited like Turks, said to come from Morocco; they were travelling about the country. The noblemen were very civil to them, and conducted them sometimes in their coaches; other times they went on horseback, at the expense of the market-towns they passed through. ‘Tis said they had a pass from the king, who ordered every market-town to pay them 5 pound, and every sea-port and borrow [borough] to pay them 10l.

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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.

Comment

Extraordinarily reminiscent of reports from e.g. Barcelona of the original entry of the gypsies there. See also other entries e.g. re “counterfeit Egyptians”.

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Comment

Extraordinarily reminiscent of reports from e.g. Barcelona of the original entry of the gypsies there. See also other entries e.g. re “counterfeit Egyptians”.

Something to say? Get in touch

5 May 1732: William Lindley of Dodworth recalls how charcoal burners would cheat coal merchants at the time of the Restoration

20 April 1631: Quoting Elizabeth I’s 1572 Vagabonds Act, justices of the peace in Thirsk order a crackdown on a variety of layabouts

9 October 1726: Two horsemen attack the house of Mr Goodwin, rector of Tankersley (Barnsley)

13 March 1728: Wild daffodils in the hedges at Wickersley (Rotherham)

28 April 1730: John Hobson meets a nematicide at Woodall (Rotherham)

10 October 1730: John Hobson observes a fiery red star to the north over Barnsley

29 May 1732: Old William Lindley of Dodworth tells various marvellous stories from his youth

1 January 1735: Silkstone parish sends the presumably destitute James Lindly (7) as a servant to John Hobson in Dodworth

11 April 1667: A hubristic Sam Mitchell impersonates a gypsy in a Halifax pub, and nemesis follows

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