Now! Then! The last great festival at Bradford for Bishop Blaize, the wool-combers’ patron

Excerpt

The different trades began to assemble at eight o’clock in the morning, but it was near ten o’clock before they were all arranged in marching order in Westgate. The arrangements were actively superintended by Matthew Thompson. The morning was brilliantly beautiful. As early as seven o’clock, strangers poured into Bradford from the surrounding towns and villages, in such numbers as to line the roads in every direction; and almost all the vehicles within twenty miles were in requisition. Bradford was never before known to be so crowded with strangers. Many thousands of individuals must have come to witness the scene. The following were the numbers of the different bodies, as nearly as could be estimated: 24 wool-staplers, 38 spinners and manufacturers, 6 merchants, 56 apprentices and masters’ sons, 160 wool-sorters, 30 comb-makers, 470 wool-combers, and 40 dyers. The whole procession was nearly a mile in length. When it was ready to move, Richard Fawcett, who was on horseback at the head of the spinners, pronounced, uncovered, and with great animation, the following lines, which it had long been customary to repeat on these occasions, and which, if they had not much poetical elegance, have the merit of expressing true sentiments in simple language: “Hail to the day, whose kind auspicious rays/ Deigned first to smile on famous Bishop Blaize!/ To the great author of our combing trade/ This day’s devoted, and due honour’s paid.”

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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.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

There is talk of a modest revival, though no decision yet on who is to play the saint.

Cudworth then reflects on 1825 vs the late 1880s and Bradford’s progress:

Taking the general state of the trade no further back than the Bishop Blaize celebration of 1825, and what a contrast now to what it was then. Then a single packhorse was often enough to bear away the goods to their destination; now scores of great iron horses are pressed into the service, and the cry is still for more power. Then, an upper loft or spare bedroom was enough for all the power the manufacturer needed; now Bradford itself is not enough, but a population as large as its own lying outside is pressed into the service, while there are factories the work-people employed at which would, in the early days of the worsted trade, have peopled all Bradford, the worth of which would have bought up the manor, manor house, castle, and all its privileges, twenty times over. Then, an occasional journey on foot to some of the towns and villages with which the man dealt was sufficient, but now the telegraph will bear his messages to all parts of the globe in “less than no time.” The business which was then done in the Piece Hall, is now largely exceeded by that of individual firms occupying warehouses of quite a palatial character, and in many retail shops, especially in the drapery trade, more is now done in a day than the collective business of former times amounted to. The conveniences for doing business now-a-days are certainly not comparable to the time when there used to be two stalls at the bottom of Westgate for the sale of leather breeches. There was also a passage close by, and after the customer had selected a pair as near his size as he could guess, he would retire to the passage to try them on to make certain!

John Hudleston apparently diarised this (Hudleston 1981) – more reading, more permissions.

Which king and queen are portrayed in the procession? Caroline had died four years before.

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Original

On the 3rd of February, 1825, occurred the great Festival of Bishop Blaize in Bradford. Who Bishop Blaize was is an antiquarian puzzle. Almost all that is known of him is that he was Bishop of Sebasta, in Armenia, between the second and third centuries, and he is said to have suffered martyrdom by being whipped through the public streets, and having his flesh torn off his body by the iron combs of his own invention, and because of this martyrdom has always been regarded as the patron saint of wool-combing. Celebrations in honour of his memory were customary last century in several parts of the country, but next to Norwich, nowhere was greater honour done to Bishop Blaize than in Bradford. The Bradford celebration of 1825 was, however, the last held in that town, and is still remembered as a wonderful demonstration.

The different trades began to assemble at eight o’clock in the morning, but it was near ten o’clock before they were all arranged in marching order in Westgate. The arrangements were actively superintended by Matthew Thompson, Esq. The morning was brilliantly beautiful. As early as seven o’clock, strangers poured into Bradford from the surrounding towns and villages, in such numbers as to line the roads in every direction ; and almost all the vehicles within twenty miles were in requisition. Bradford was never before known to be so crowded with strangers. Many thousands of individuals must have come to witness the scene. About ten o’clock the procession was drawn up in the following order:

Herald bearing a flag.
Wool-staplers on horseback, each horse caparisoned with a fleece.
Worsted Spinners and Manufacturers on horseback, in white stuff waistcoats, each with a sliver over the shoulder, and a white stuff sash; the horses’ necks covered with nets made of thick yarn.
Merchants on horseback, with coloured sashes.
Three Guards. Masters’ Colours. Three Guards.
Apprentices and Masters’ Sons on horseback, with ornamented caps, scarlet stuff coats, white stuff waistcoats, and blue pantaloons.
Bradford and Keighley Bands.
Mace-bearer on foot.
Six Guards. KING. QUEEN. Six Guards. Guards. JASON. PRINCESS MEDEA. Guards. Bishop’s Chaplain.
BISHOP BLAIZE.
Shepherd and Shepherdess.
Shepherd Swains.
Wool-sorters on horseback, with ornamented caps, and various coloured slivers.
Comb Makers.
Charcoal Burners,
Combers’ Colours.
Band.
Wool-combers, with wool wigs, etc.
Band.
Dyers with red cockades, blue aprons, and crossed slivers of red and blue.

The following were the numbers of the different bodies, as nearly as could be estimated: 24 wool-staplers, 38 spinners and manufacturers, 6 merchants, 56 apprentices and masters’ sons, 160 wool-sorters, 30 comb-makers, 470 wool-combers, and 40 dyers.

The ornaments of the spinners and manufacturers had a neat and even elegant appearance, from the delicate and glossy whiteness of the finely combed wool which they wore. The apprentices and masters’ sons, however, formed the most showy part of the procession, their caps being richly adorned with ostrich feathers, flowers, and knots of various coloured yarns, and their stuff garments being of the gayest colours; some of these dresses were said to have been very costly, from the profusion of their decorations. The shepherd, shepherdess, and swains were attired in light green. The wool-sorters, from their number, and the height of their plumes of feathers, which were, for the most part, of different colours, and formed in the shape of fleur-de-lis, had a dashing appearance. The comb-makers carried before them the instruments then so much celebrated, raised on standards, together with the golden fleeces, rams’ heads with gilded horns, and other emblems. The combers looked both neat and comfortable in their flowing wigs of well combed wool; and the garb of the dyers was quite professional. Several well-painted flags were displayed, one of which represented on one side the venerable BISHOP, in full robes, and on the other a shepherd and shepherdess under a tree. Another had a painting of MEDEA giving up the golden fleece to JASON; a third had a portrait of the KING; and a fourth appeared to belong to some association in the trade. The whole procession was nearly a mile in length.

When the procession was ready to move, Richard Fawcett, Esq., who was on horseback at the head of the spinners, pronounced, uncovered, and with great animation, the following lines, which it had long been customary to repeat on these occasions, and which, if they had not much poetical elegance, have the merit of expressing true sentiments in simple language:

Hail to the day, whose kind auspicious rays
Deign’d first to smile on famous Bishop Blaize!
To the great author of our combing trade
This day’s devoted, and due honour’s paid;
To him whose fame thro’ Britain’s isle resounds,
To him whose goodness to the poor abounds;
Long shall his name in British annals shine,
And grateful ages offer at his shrine!
By this our trade are thousands daily fed,
By it supplied with means to earn their bread.
In various forms our trade its work imparts,
In different methods, and by different arts,
Preserves from starving, indigents distress’d,
As combers, spinners, weavers, and the rest.
We boast no gems, or costly garments vain,
Borrow’d from India, or the coast of Spain;
Our native soil with wool our trade supplies,
While foreign countries envy us the prize.
No foreign broil our common good annoys,
Our country’s product all our art employs;
Our fleecy flocks abound in every vale,
Our bleating lambs proclaim the joyful tale.
So let not Spain with us attempt to vie,
Nor India’s wealth pretend to soar so high;
Nor Jason pride him in his Colchian spoil,
By hardships gain’d, and enterprising toil,
Since Britons all with ease attain the prize,
And every hill resounds with golden cries.
To celebrate our founder’s great renown,
Our shepherd and our shepherdess we crown;
For England’s commerce, and for George’s sway
Each loyal subject give a loud HUZZA.
HUZZA!

The changes which have taken place in the trade of Bradford since that celebration can only find a counterpart in the creations of the Arabian Nights. Taking the general state of the trade no further back than the Bishop Blaize celebration of 1825, and what a contrast now to what it was then. Then a single packhorse was often enough to bear away the goods to their destination; now scores of great iron horses are pressed into the service, and the cry is still for more power. Then, an upper loft or spare bedroom was enough for all the power the manufacturer needed; now Bradford itself is not enough, but a population as large as its own lying outside is pressed into the service, while there are factories the work-people employed at which would, in the early days of the worsted trade, have peopled all Bradford, the worth of which would have bought up the manor, manor house, castle, and all its privileges, twenty times over. Then, an occasional journey on foot to some of the towns and villages with which the man dealt was sufficient, but now the telegraph will bear his messages to all parts of the globe in “less than no time.” The business which was then done in the piece Hall, is now largely exceeded by that of individual firms occupying warehouses of quite a palatial character, and in many retail shops, especially in the drapery trade, more is now done in a day than the collective business of former times amounted to. The conveniences for doing business now-a-days are certainly not comparable to the time when there used to be two stalls at the bottom of Westgate for the sale of leather breeches. There was also a passage close by, and after the customer had selected a pair as near his size as he could guess, he would retire to the passage to try them on to make certain! As a result of the Bishop Blaize festival, just described, a number of gentlemen subscribed towards the erection of the Exchange Buildings, which were opened in October, 1828.

1408 words.

Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

3 February 1825: The last great festival at Bradford for Bishop Blaize, the wool-combers’ patron

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