Wednesday 17th October

This 'holiday' is fast disappearing and next week it will be back to normality, it has been lovely to just plan my days and do things on my own for probably the first time in 29 years, not that I regret any of the time spent with my boys ..we have certainly had some adventures to remember! Yesterday morning it was back to the archives, searching for a murder and subsequent hanging...still haven't found it .....but what I did find certainly gave me a bit of a giggle and made me wonder about today's punishments for offending....are we going soft or wot?

(the spelling and words are from 1686...no offence meant)

In the records for the Assizes at Shrewsbury in 1686 are the following:

'Sir Edward Acton and Henry Mytton esq. on complaint of the Churchwardens and overseers of the poor at Munslow that Mary Adney was with child by George Mason, who has absconded, and that she is likely to be chargeable to the Parish, ordered her to be removed to Diddlebury. The Court confirms the first order and she and the bastard now born are to be sent to Bitterley.'

'John Rogers and Edward Draper to be arrested and proceeded against before a JP for the throwing down of a chimney and roof of the house of Hugh Edwards, a poor inhabitant of Weston Rhyn who had about 5 years since been allowed to build himself a little house upon the waste, he, his wife and children have had to lie under a hedge.'

One for Bodran here......' Richard Vaughan of Dudleston be fined 6d for keeping a greyhound without qualification'

'Sarah Matthews, deserted by her husband and likely to become burdensome to Westbury parish to be removed to her settlement at St. Leonards, Bridgnorth.'

'Thomas Price, Francis Morris and Thomas Rogers to lie in prison until they give security to the parishes of Tenbury, More and Ratlinghope respectively for the charges of their bastard children'

'Scotch Pedlars......Scotchmen carrying packs be proceeded against as such....All pedlars and petty chapmen wandering abroad shall be by the constable, being assisted by the Minister and one other from that Parish, be stript naked from the middle upward and be openly whipt until his or her body be bloody and be forthwith sent from this Parish to the place of their birth if known, if not to the place he or she has served for the space of a year'

'Robert Walker and Samuel Watkiss to be whipt in the usual place in Salop on Saturday between 12 and 2, also Joan Turner, now five weeks after her delivery, afterwards.'

In 1695 the whippings continued......

' Alice Cooper and Sarah Jones convicted of stealing linen be whipt immediately'

' Anne Foster guilty of felony to be burnt in the hand and to find security for good behaviour or be committed for that time'

So there you go....no Social Security pay outs for incomers to the parish, an indeterminate prison sentence for Child Support defaulters, whippings every Saturday...even if only 5 weeks after giving birth! And what about the poor old scottish pedlars?

Finally there is one here for DEFRA......this one had me really roaring!

4 February 1748

'Cattle distemper: An order: No cattle that have not been in possession for 40 days be brought into this County: No Irish hides be brought into this County.'

So how is it that in 1748 at the begining of an outbreak of 'cattle distemper' measures were immmediately put on the movement of cattle to contain the disease...yet in 2001 with all the benefits of modern communication ......I'll say no more!!

Its quite strange to see that any murders are simply in there with the cattle distemper orders, mending of bridges, absent husbands, whippings and the like.

There was a great discussion about the rights of burial of Roman Catholics in woollen rather than linen.....that caused some real unrest, sort of on the scale of a political scandal today!

The hours had sped with me engrossed in the trials and tribulations of life in the late 1600's and early 1700's and it was soon time to dash to Lydham to collect Mountainear and off to Clun for a very leisurely afternoon in Clun having a really good nose...down side streets, over hedges at geese in back gardens, old houses, quirky shops, alms houses, the Church and graveyard, the school, a lovely tea shop...we never found The Hurst though...a well guarded secret apparently, but we did find John Osborne's grave.

We also found these two rather nice gentlemen, Joe Weale and Billy Cantle.....just the sort of men we like...didn't have a lot to say!

So there you go Mountainear ...over to you