Now! Then! 2025! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

We were informed that, as soon as Captain [Patrick] Fairweather arrived, preparations would be made to commence the grand pageant. He was expected with impatience, and hailed with rapturous congratulations, on his landing from the Tom, of Liverpool.

Couriers were immediately despatched to Camerons, New Calabar, and other places, to apprise the chiefs, when the sacred rites would be performed; and three weeks were allowed them to furnish their quota of slaves, goats, and fowls; for each chief had to provide a certain number, in proportion to the rank he held, Old Calabar was the place from whence all information on the subject emanated, by which means the most distant towns of any importance might readily know the precise time of its commencing; and all seemed to have gained a true knowledge of the time, since, in the afternoon of the day immediately preceding that on which the grand sacrifice was offered, a very large fleet of canoes hove in sight. These, from their irregular and scattered positions, covered an extensive surface, as they advanced up the river; and were so formidable in appearance, as to create alarm in the minds of the English captains, whose ships were anchored opposite the town. The Hudibras lay the nearest to the approaching fleet, except the French ship. At the distance of three hundred yards from our vessel, they began to form in line abreast, which they effected dexterously, in very little time, and thus approached the ships, though evidently much slower than before they formed.

The beach was lined with spectators, to welcome their approaching friends; the profoundest silence prevailed, well suited to the occasion of the visit, though contrary to the custom observed, when canoes go on an expedition to prosecute trade or war; when a continual noise is kept up, by singing and beating of drums. On the bow of each principal canoe, with one knee bent, stood a man, covered over with blossomed branches of various trees; holding in each hand a flat piece of wood, used as cymbals, but not struck against each other. Precision was in their movements, and the greatest order prevailed. No sooner had the numerous groups disembarked, than they drew the canoes upon the beach, and proceeded to the town. In most of the squares of the houses, fires were made to accommodate the visitors, as the houses could not contain them. Mats, etc. were spread on the ground to lie on, which was no inconvenience, as beds are seldom made use. of. In the most convenient part of the house, an elevation of eight or ten inches of ground usually serves for a pillow, while a mat suffices for a bed.

No sooner had the sun tinged with his lustre the eastern boundary of his circuit, than numbers of people thronged the sands, impatient for the long anticipated event. But “the great, the important day,” had not yet arrived, though, as preparatory thereto, shouts, accompanied with the tinkling sounds of small hand-bells, were heard, at intervals, from early morn till the sun’s departing rays drew the mantle of night after him, and one half of the world was involved in darkness. At this time the shouts became loud and continual; the ringing of bells incessant; the beating of uncommonly large drums (without either science or regularity) uninterrupted; and only surpassed in noisy discord by the deep groans and shrill yells of the human voice, which, we concluded, proceeded from the victims intended for the cruel offering. But we were mistaken; it was the voice of ceremony, not of regret; the workings of superstition, not of the heart. All was bustle and noise: the spiral smoke, from amazingly large fires, whitened all the atmosphere, strongly contrasting with, and showing to advantage, the mingling groups of the supposed descendants of Ham, whom the red light from the fires enabled us to see, as they traversed about in every direction. Captain Evans had held a conference with some of the other captains, and, having learned that the sacrifice would commence at about two o’clock in the morning, they proposed leaving the ships at that hour, in order, if possible, to witness the inhuman ceremony from its commencement. The hour arrived, and, after strictly enjoining that the ship’s boat should not be sent ashore, under any pretence whatever, except: to fetch himself on board, he left the Hudibras. When day dawned on the eastern: horizon, he returned, and hailed the ship. I was awake; curiosity, inherent in man, drove Somnus from my Hammock. I had read of my own species being immolated on the altar of superstition; which begat in me a strong desire to be a witness to the delusion, that these infatuated mortals must suffer, before they could cheerfully yield obedience to a custom so repugnant to that European maxim – “Self-preservation is the first law of nature.” In hope of accomplishing my wish, I readily jumped into the boat; the cooper followed, and we soon rowed to land. Tragical, indeed, must have been the scenes witnessed by Captain Evans, ere he would have turned from them, horror-stricken, as his looks betrayed him to be. Nature, in his formation, left out her tender sensibilities. No common acts of cruelty, no every-day misery, touched his heart, naturally callous, now become adamantine, from habits of life, acquired and established in that matchless seminary of moral depravity, a slave ship! Conformably to his instructions, we made the boat fast to a canoe, and repaired to a Palaver-house, on a site between the town and the river; at which place, he said, a man was going to be beheaded. He did not wish to go immediately on board, but would soon see us again.

The cooper of the Preston was at the Palaver-house, when we got there: he had seen several fall beneath the executioner’s ready knife, and, reading fear in my countenance, and timidity in my actions, he bade me take courage, assuring me that, to us, there was no danger. He was the only white person we saw, and, had he not been there, we should not have stopped: fear would have triumphed over curiosity, notwithstanding the number of natives, at that time, did not exceed twenty, amongst whom was one devoted to destruction. A gentle acclivity was the spot in which he was desired to sit; where, for the purpose, was a small post, well secured: he complied with the greatest cheerfulness, placing his back against it; his arms were then placed on his back, encircling the post, and, in this position, tied fast: his great toes were next tied together. This done, a rope, made from the inner bark of a tree, by the natives, was produced, having a noose at one of its ends, which was placed round the upper part of his head: the noose was then drawn tight at the back part, and brought forward across his eyes and nose, with great care. The victim, during all this time, never once lost his cheerfulness; but conversed with all around him, with a degree of pleasantry that astonished and confounded me; nodding and smiling with the utmost composure to individuals, who whispered something in his ear. It is certain that many a youth leads to the altar of hymen the woman of his choice, with less apparent satisfaction, than was manifested by this deluded negro, in his now unenviable situation. After the noose was properly placed and drawn tight, the other end of the rope was given to several young men, with instructions to pull with all their strength: they did so; at the same time, another black stepped up to the devoted slave, wielding a club of herculean bulk, and with it he struck the poor fellow, over his shoulders, several dreadful blows. Not a single murmur escaped him: his heroic resolution would have dignified a good cause, and demanded the admiration of the world. In me, it excited pity alike for his sufferings and infatuation. The club gave place to a large French knife, measuring about fifteen inches in length, which the young negro brandished about, as if going to strike: but, he wanted fortitude; his courage forsook him. A tremor agitated his whole frame, and unnerved his arm; it fell to his side as useless; overpowered by sensibility, he declined the office assigned him. All this time the young men were pulling at the rope. The knife was eagerly seized by another of more nerve, who, at one cut, severed the head from the shoulders; the young men still pulling, tore it from the breast, to which it was attached by the skin, and ran off with it with savage haste, so that I never saw it more. At such a time, could any thing have excited a laugh, it would have been the whimsical remark of the cooper belonging to the Preston, who observed that the woolly head of the black would fly off, like that of a tobacco pipe when struck at the opposite end.

Fear and astonishment at once possessed me, as I walked close up to the headless body: for a ruffian-like man made his appearance, and a strange appearance he made. He was without hat, which showed to advantage large bunches of feathers, “of varied hue,” placed behind his ears: his right hand grasped a cutlass; his left supported a shield, on which were fastened small bells; a bell was also suspended from his waist, hanging backward. Ferocity had stamped him its legitimate offspring: his features, ugly in themselves, were rendered more so by the chagrin he felt, in being disappointed of performing the part of executioner. He arrived too late; but, not so late as to prevent his sanguinary mind from enjoying a savage pleasure in maiming the mutilated body. With his cutlass, he made a blow at one of its legs, and instantly ran away. He had served in the navy several years, and resided in Liverpool, where he might have become humanized. But surprise at the inhumanity of an ignorant negro ceases, lost in the serious reflection, that an English captain furnished slaves for this and similar sacrifices, in the same number as a chief of the highest rank. “Oh, shame, where is thy blush!”

Every moment expecting the return of our captain, absorbed in reflection on what I had seen, and being desirous of avoiding, in future, such scenes of cruel superstition, I refused entering the town, where the bloody business was going on with activity, preferring the beach, where I expected to find solitude. I returned, but had not walked long on the sands, when shouts, and the noise of small drums, struck on my ears. Hastily turning my head towards the town, I received a greater shock than I had done at the Palaver-house: for about twenty boys, the oldest not more than twelve or fourteen years of age, were dragging, with frantic joy, the headless body of a young female, with the post to which she had been fastened: her appearance bespoke her not more than sixteen. Exultingly, these young savages pointed to her neck, still spouting blood, as they trailed her on the pebbled beach, towards a recess, which they entered, singing, shouting, and laughing, as they delivered up the bleeding body to nearly their own number of men, women, and youths, of both sexes, who were assembled together, and who applauded, rather than censured, the ferocity of these infant barbarians. In the recess, were the mangled bodies of several others, brought thither for the purpose of committing them to the water. It was now nearly high water, when four men, landing from a canoe, advanced to the place, and took away six of the dead bodies, which they tied to the outside of the canoe, to be ready, when the tide should serve, for the purpose just mentioned; then to be cut loose, in expectation of their drifting away, never more to be seen. Notwithstanding this precaution, some of them were washed ashore, upwards of a fortnight after.

The sacrifice being finished, after removing the dead bodies from the different squares, and cleansing away the blood, the funeral ceremony of the chief took place, to honour whom there was such a lavish waste of human blood. A grand procession was formed, consisting of chiefs, inferior traders, and visiters. The chiefs, according to rank, took precedency, and walked two and two, followed by the others; among whom numbers appeared, wearing white aprons, apparently goats’ skins, and carrying muskets, some in their hands, others on their shoulders. From the town, they proceeded to the shade, where rested the remains of the chief, round which they formed a circle. A grave had been previously dug, immediately under the platform, sufficiently capacious to receive both it and the body, which were now lowered down into it; together with (as I was informed) the heads of the sad victims of infatuation! These I did not see, and therefore I will not vouch for the truth of it. During the interment, an irregular firing was kept up by those who had the muskets: the procession then returned into the town. The whole of the ceremony occupied about two hours. The bustle subsided; all became tranquil; the sun visited other climes; and fires were kept burning during the whole night.

Comment

Comment

Independent corroboration of Butterworth’s account comes from the diary of Antera Duke, a slave-trading nephew of Duke Ephraim:

November 6, 1786
About 4 a.m. I got up, a great rain. I walked up to the town palaver house and I found all the gentlemen there. We got ready to cut heads off and at 5 o’clock in the morning we began to cut slaves’ heads off, 50 heads off in that one day. I carried 29 cases of bottled brandy and 15 calabashes of chop for everybody, and we must “play” in every yard in town.

In the original pidgin:

November 6 the 1786
about 4 am in get up with great Rain so I walk up in town plaver house so I find all genllmen heer so wee get Ready for cutt head of and 5 clock morning we begain cutt slave head of 50 head of by the one Day 29 case Bottle Brandy 15 callabash chop I carry up to Everry Body and mush play for Everry yard in Town (Behrendt 2010)

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Original

We were informed that, as soon as Captain [Patrick] Fairweather arrived, preparations would be made to commence the grand pageant. He was expected with impatience, and hailed with rapturous congratulations, on his landing from the Tom, of Liverpool.

Couriers were immediately despatched to Camerons, New Calabar, and other places, to apprise the chiefs, when the sacred rites would be performed; and three weeks were allowed them to furnish their quota of slaves, goats, and fowls; for each chief had to provide a certain number, in proportion to the rank he held, Old Calabar was the place from whence all information on the subject emanated, by which means the most distant towns of any importance might readily know the precise time of its commencing; and all seemed to have gained a true knowledge of the time, since, in the afternoon of the day immediately preceding that on which the grand sacrifice was offered, a very large fleet of canoes hove in sight. These, from their irregular and scattered positions, covered an extensive surface, as they advanced up the river; and were so formidable in appearance, as to create alarm in the minds of the English captains, whose ships were anchored opposite the town. The Hudibras lay the nearest to the approaching fleet, except the French ship. At the distance of three hundred yards from our vessel, they began to form in line abreast, which they effected dexterously, in very little time, and thus approached the ships, though evidently much slower than before they formed.

The beach was lined with spectators, to welcome their approaching friends; the profoundest silence prevailed, well suited to the occasion of the visit, though contrary to the custom observed, when canoes go on an expedition to prosecute trade or war; when a continual noise is kept up, by singing and beating of drums. On the bow of each principal canoe, with one knee bent, stood a man, covered over with blossomed branches of various trees; holding in each hand a flat piece of wood, used as cymbals, but not struck against each other. Precision was in their movements, and the greatest order prevailed. No sooner had the numerous groups disembarked, than they drew the canoes upon the beach, and proceeded to the town. In most of the squares of the houses, fires were made to accommodate the visitors, as the houses could not contain them. Mats, etc. were spread on the ground to lie on, which was no inconvenience, as beds are seldom made use. of. In the most convenient part of the house, an elevation of eight or ten inches of ground usually serves for a pillow, while a mat suffices for a bed.

No sooner had the sun tinged with his lustre the eastern boundary of his circuit, than numbers of people thronged the sands, impatient for the long anticipated event. But “the great, the important day,” had not yet arrived, though, as preparatory thereto, shouts, accompanied with the tinkling sounds of small hand-bells, were heard, at intervals, from early morn till the sun’s departing rays drew the mantle of night after him, and one half of the world was involved in darkness. At this time the shouts became loud and continual; the ringing of bells incessant; the beating of uncommonly large drums (without either science or regularity) uninterrupted; and only surpassed in noisy discord by the deep groans and shrill yells of the human voice, which, we concluded, proceeded from the victims intended for the cruel offering. But we were mistaken; it was the voice of ceremony, not of regret; the workings of superstition, not of the heart. All was bustle and noise: the spiral smoke, from amazingly large fires, whitened all the atmosphere, strongly contrasting with, and showing to advantage, the mingling groups of the supposed descendants of Ham, whom the red light from the fires enabled us to see, as they traversed about in every direction. Captain Evans had held a conference with some of the other captains, and, having learned that the sacrifice would commence at about two o’clock in the morning, they proposed leaving the ships at that hour, in order, if possible, to witness the inhuman ceremony from its commencement. The hour arrived, and, after strictly enjoining that the ship’s boat should not be sent ashore, under any pretence whatever, except: to fetch himself on board, he left the Hudibras. When day dawned on the eastern: horizon, he returned, and hailed the ship. I was awake; curiosity, inherent in man, drove Somnus from my Hammock. I had read of my own species being immolated on the altar of superstition; which begat in me a strong desire to be a witness to the delusion, that these infatuated mortals must suffer, before they could cheerfully yield obedience to a custom so repugnant to that European maxim – “Self-preservation is the first law of nature.” In hope of accomplishing my wish, I readily jumped into the boat; the cooper followed, and we soon rowed to land. Tragical, indeed, must have been the scenes witnessed by Captain Evans, ere he would have turned from them, horror-stricken, as his looks betrayed him to be. Nature, in his formation, left out her tender sensibilities. No common acts of cruelty, no every-day misery, touched his heart, naturally callous, now become adamantine, from habits of life, acquired and established in that matchless seminary of moral depravity, a slave ship! Conformably to his instructions, we made the boat fast to a canoe, and repaired to a Palaver-house, on a site between the town and the river; at which place, he said, a man was going to be beheaded. He did not wish to go immediately on board, but would soon see us again.

The cooper of the Preston was at the Palaver-house, when we got there: he had seen several fall beneath the executioner’s ready knife, and, reading fear in my countenance, and timidity in my actions, he bade me take courage, assuring me that, to us, there was no danger. He was the only white person we saw, and, had he not been there, we should not have stopped: fear would have triumphed over curiosity, notwithstanding the number of natives, at that time, did not exceed twenty, amongst whom was one devoted to destruction. A gentle acclivity was the spot in which he was desired to sit; where, for the purpose, was a small post, well secured: he complied with the greatest cheerfulness, placing his back against it; his arms were then placed on his back, encircling the post, and, in this position, tied fast: his great toes were next tied together. This done, a rope, made from the inner bark of a tree, by the natives, was produced, having a noose at one of its ends, which was placed round the upper part of his head: the noose was then drawn tight at the back part, and brought forward across his eyes and nose, with great care. The victim, during all this time, never once lost his cheerfulness; but conversed with all around him, with a degree of pleasantry that astonished and confounded me; nodding and smiling with the utmost composure to individuals, who whispered something in his ear. It is certain that many a youth leads to the altar of hymen the woman of his choice, with less apparent satisfaction, than was manifested by this deluded negro, in his now unenviable situation. After the noose was properly placed and drawn tight, the other end of the rope was given to several young men, with instructions to pull with all their strength: they did so; at the same time, another black stepped up to the devoted slave, wielding a club of herculean bulk, and with it he struck the poor fellow, over his shoulders, several dreadful blows. Not a single murmur escaped him: his heroic resolution would have dignified a good cause, and demanded the admiration of the world. In me, it excited pity alike for his sufferings and infatuation. The club gave place to a large French knife, measuring about fifteen inches in length, which the young negro brandished about, as if going to strike: but, he wanted fortitude; his courage forsook him. A tremor agitated his whole frame, and unnerved his arm; it fell to his side as useless; overpowered by sensibility, he declined the office assigned him. All this time the young men were pulling at the rope. The knife was eagerly seized by another of more nerve, who, at one cut, severed the head from the shoulders; the young men still pulling, tore it from the breast, to which it was attached by the skin, and ran off with it with savage haste, so that I never saw it more. At such a time, could any thing have excited a laugh, it would have been the whimsical remark of the cooper belonging to the Preston, who observed that the woolly head of the black would fly off, like that of a tobacco pipe when struck at the opposite end.

Fear and astonishment at once possessed me, as I walked close up to the headless body: for a ruffian-like man made his appearance, and a strange appearance he made. He was without hat, which showed to advantage large bunches of feathers, “of varied hue,” placed behind his ears: his right hand grasped a cutlass; his left supported a shield, on which were fastened small bells; a bell was also suspended from his waist, hanging backward. Ferocity had stamped him its legitimate offspring: his features, ugly in themselves, were rendered more so by the chagrin he felt, in being disappointed of performing the part of executioner. He arrived too late; but, not so late as to prevent his sanguinary mind from enjoying a savage pleasure in maiming the mutilated body. With his cutlass, he made a blow at one of its legs, and instantly ran away. He had served in the navy several years, and resided in Liverpool, where he might have become humanized. But surprise at the inhumanity of an ignorant negro ceases, lost in the serious reflection, that an English captain furnished slaves for this and similar sacrifices, in the same number as a chief of the highest rank. “Oh, shame, where is thy blush!”

Every moment expecting the return of our captain, absorbed in reflection on what I had seen, and being desirous of avoiding, in future, such scenes of cruel superstition, I refused entering the town, where the bloody business was going on with activity, preferring the beach, where I expected to find solitude. I returned, but had not walked long on the sands, when shouts, and the noise of small drums, struck on my ears. Hastily turning my head towards the town, I received a greater shock than I had done at the Palaver-house: for about twenty boys, the oldest not more than twelve or fourteen years of age, were dragging, with frantic joy, the headless body of a young female, with the post to which she had been fastened: her appearance bespoke her not more than sixteen. Exultingly, these young savages pointed to her neck, still spouting blood, as they trailed her on the pebbled beach, towards a recess, which they entered, singing, shouting, and laughing, as they delivered up the bleeding body to nearly their own number of men, women, and youths, of both sexes, who were assembled together, and who applauded, rather than censured, the ferocity of these infant barbarians. In the recess, were the mangled bodies of several others, brought thither for the purpose of committing them to the water. It was now nearly high water, when four men, landing from a canoe, advanced to the place, and took away six of the dead bodies, which they tied to the outside of the canoe, to be ready, when the tide should serve, for the purpose just mentioned; then to be cut loose, in expectation of their drifting away, never more to be seen. Notwithstanding this precaution, some of them were washed ashore, upwards of a fortnight after.

The sacrifice being finished, after removing the dead bodies from the different squares, and cleansing away the blood, the funeral ceremony of the chief took place, to honour whom there was such a lavish waste of human blood. A grand procession was formed, consisting of chiefs, inferior traders, and visiters. The chiefs, according to rank, took precedency, and walked two and two, followed by the others; among whom numbers appeared, wearing white aprons, apparently goats’ skins, and carrying muskets, some in their hands, others on their shoulders. From the town, they proceeded to the shade, where rested the remains of the chief, round which they formed a circle. A grave had been previously dug, immediately under the platform, sufficiently capacious to receive both it and the body, which were now lowered down into it; together with (as I was informed) the heads of the sad victims of infatuation! These I did not see, and therefore I will not vouch for the truth of it. During the interment, an irregular firing was kept up by those who had the muskets: the procession then returned into the town. The whole of the ceremony occupied about two hours. The bustle subsided; all became tranquil; the sun visited other climes; and fires were kept burning during the whole night.

2246 words.

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• Antera, Duke Ephraim (ca. 1735-ca. 1809) (1), Efik slave dealer, nephew of Duke Ephraim, obong of Old Calabar, Bight of Benin, author of diary in Nigerian Pidgin, Dictionary of African Biography is good ·
• Atlantic slave trade (5) ·
• Bight of Biafra (2) ·
• Butler, Samuel (1613-1680) (3), poet and satirist, chiefly remembered for Hudibras ·
• Butterworth, William (1769-1834) (5), Leeds engraver and sailor, unrelated to Henry Schroeder, good secondaries are ODNB and Thoresby Society ·
• Calabar (2) ·
• Canoe (2) ·
• Decapitation (5) ·
• Duke Town (2) ·
• Efik people (1) ·
• Ephraim, Duke (-1786) (1), slave-trading obong/king of the Efik community at Old Calabar in what is now eastern Nigeria ·
• Folk music (10) ·
• Funeral (25) ·
• Hudibras (3), a mock-heroic narrative poem by Samuel Butler, published in the aftermath of the English Civil War, and satirising Puritanism and the Parliamentarian cause from a Royalist perspective ·
• Human sacrifice (2) ·
• 📌Leeds (237) ·
• Liverpool (8) ·
• Music (25) ·
• Nigeria (4) ·
• Nigerian Pidgin (1) ·
• Palaver (custom) (1) ·
• Slavery (20) ·

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