Additional Notes — Pied Piper of Newtown

This section contains additional notes and full-length original reports not included (so far) in the main narrative.

It includes:

• full length report of visit of Hampshire Field Club to Newtown

• Robert Browning’s poem “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”

• Eliza Gutch’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, Folk-Lore, 1892

• Archaeological and Political History of Newtown, including notes from an Extensive Urban Survey - Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by Hampshire County Council and English Heritage.

The Hampshire Field Club in the Island

Th complete article describing the visit of the Hampshire Field Club to the Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight County Press and South of England Reporter, Saturday 26 July 1890, p8

The Hampshire Field Club in the Island, 1890

THE HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB IN THE ISLAND.

Yesterday (Friday) the Hampshire Field Club paid a visit to the Island. The Southampton contingent, to the number of about 30, left by the 8.30 a.m. boat for Cowes. They included Mr. W. Whitaker, B.A.. F.K.S., F.G.S., president; the Rev. G W. Minns, LL.B., editor; Mr. W. Dale, F.G.S., general secretary; and Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S., F.C.S., organising secretary. At Cowes they were joined by the Rev. Father Davis and Mr. G. W. Colenutt, the local secretary for the Isle of Wight, who acted as director of the excursion; and on arriving at Newport Station at 10.15 they were met by Dr. Groves, with whom were Mr. J. Dore and Mr. L. C. Richards, of Newport. Here, also, they were augmented by a contingent from Uyde, which comprised the Rev. R. Nutt, the Rev. –. Barnicott, Mr. F. Newman (borough surveyor), and Mr. Councillor Pollard.

They proceeded at once to the Isle of Wight Museum in Quay-street, where an address was given Dr. Groves, who said that coming as they did into a district full of objects of interest, the Hampshire Field Club would naturally expect to see a more extensive collection, and he proceeded to explain the reasons for its limited nature. Interest in antiquarian matters was fostered in the last century by the cultivated family who occupied Appuldurcombe House, and especially towards the end of the century by the publication of Worsley’s History, and this interest was further stimulated by the controversy which arose at the beginning of the present century over Englefield’s works. The interest thus excited found practical expression in the Isle of Wight Philosophical Society, which was established in 1810 or 1813 in Nash’s Isle of Wight Institution. The Doctor here remarked that it was this architect who also built the pretentious Town Hall which replaced the old structure, a photograph of which was handed round. The Rev. Mr. Kell took an active part in the society, and members and friends deposited with it various objects which eventually formed the Isle of Wight Museum, of which Mr. Kell was custodian from 1825 to 1850. In 1852 great desire was felt for the establishment of a public museum, the Corporation of Newport lent room for the purpose, and Dr. Wilkins got the society to consent to the removal thereto of their collection. In 1855 the British Archaeological Association met in the Island, and in consequence of the increasing interest thus aroused objects flowed in to the museum. In an evil moment it was decided to take rooms for its accommodation, and a difficulty arising as to the payment of rent the collection was dispersed. Mr. Roach Pittis, the present president the Literary Society, and Mr. John Wood, one of its greatest benefactors, hearing that it was proposed to send the collection out of the Island, interested themselves in preventing it, the members of the committee subscribed for its purchase, and it was deposited on their premises. He feared, however, that it would be soon sent on its wanderings again because of the jealousy of some of the members of the society as to the room it occupied. They would understand that, broken up and removed as the collection had been, many objects must have been lost. The Doctor then pointed out some of the most remarkable objects in the Museum, calling special attention to the articles taken from barrows and tumuli in the neighbourhood. He said the Museum was at present a lumber house for many things not belonging to the district, and he considered that the collection of local objects— except in geology — was very poor.

A brief discussion took place and various opinions were advanced on some of the specimens referred to, after which Mr. Shore thanked Dr. Groves for his interesting address, which ought make them, as a club, do what they could to prevent that collection from being scattered, and he thought be was expressing the sentiments of the Field Club in saying they would co-operate with Dr. Groves and the society in preventing such a loss to the district.

From the Museum visits were paid to the shop of Mr. J. K. Alderslade in Hign-street, for toe purpose of inspecting an old carved bracket found in the demolished boilding next door ; to St. Thomas’s-square, where the members were interested in the two fine specimens of old domestic buildings, “God’s Providence House” (Mr. W. Wells) and “Holyrood House” (Mrs. Dyer); and the site of the Swan Inn to see the ancient well discovered under the foundations of that old hostelry, on the road to which passing attention was excited by “Hazards House (Mr. W. L. Gubbins)”.

At 11.25 the party proceeded by train to the Ningwood Station of the Freshwater Railway, where they were received by the Rev. J. Thomas, vicar of Shalfleet, and the Rev. J. Vicars, rector of Caibourne. From thence a walk was taken to Shalfleet, a halt first being made at Palmer’s Green Farm, where attention was called to the use of Bembridge limestone in the construction of the farm buildings.

Mr. Colenutt said this stone was formerly quarried very largely in the neighbourhood, especially at Dodpitts, and it was of wonderful quality building stone. Among the large number of buildings in which it was used he tmentioned Winchester Cathedral and Beaulieu Abbey.

Dr. Groves said there was at Winchester Roman altar made of this stone.

Mr. Shore thought it extraordinary that the people of Newport should have used Bath stone for their church— stone which began to crumble in 30 years, when in their own neighbourhood there was stone which would endure for centuries.

Arrived at Shalfleet, the party entered the venerable church, where they were taken in charge by the Rev. J. Thomas and conducted at once to the spacious interior of the great Norman tower, where the courteous vicar gave an interesting account of the history of the manor and pariah and a description of the church. In cordially welcoming the club to his ancient pariah, he said the fact of their having chosen such an out-of-the way place for their field day ought to stir up some the inhabitants to try and find out all that could be found respecting their old church, their manors, and their mill. Five of the seven manors still in existence were mentioned in the Domesday Book, viz., Shalfleet, Watohingwell, Hamstead, Wellow, and Hulverstone. That ancient authority set forth that Shalfleet was held by one Gozelin, the son of Azor, and that it contained 14 ploughlands, two in demesne, and 14 villeins and 19 borderers with two plough-lands and a half. There were also a mill worth (assessed at) 11d., four acres of meadow, a church, and woods for 20 hogs. The value of the whole of the land was £2O, and three men were named as holding certain portions of it under the Norman lord, viz., Geoffrey or Goisfrid, Turgi, and Liof. The Manor of Watchingwelle or Watchingwood was noted for a well which still bore the naase of St. Winifred’s Well, and important point in connection with this manor was the fact that half a hide, or about 60 acres, of land was taken from it to form the King’s park. This, Worsley pointed out, was formed 50 or 60 years before the park of Woodstock was created by Henry II., and it was therefore the first royal park. Mr. Thomas next touched on the connection of the Trenchard family with the Manor of Shalfleet, and quoted Sir John Oglander’s account of them from Mr. Long’s edition of the old knight’s “Memoirs,” concluding with the statement that “they sowlde the Island by degrees, and have now sowlde all and seated themselves in Dorsetshire.” This was in the reign Edward IV., and since then the manor had passed through several hands until it was now the property of Sir Barrington Simeon, Bart., of Swainatam The mill mentioned in Domesday Book was not the site of the present one, but was generally supposed to have bean below the church and just above the old Vicarage garden, Tbs mill was granted to Abbey Quarr, and the grant was confirmed by two charters, at the end of the second of which occurred the name of Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, who no doubt was Thomas à Beckett, to whom the old church at Newport was dedicated soon after his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Mr. Thomas concluded by reading the description Shalfleet Church drawn up Mr. W. T. Stratton, of Carisbrooke, an acknowledged authority, who was in waiting to assist the vicar in conducting the visitors over the building.

Among the objects noticed were the graceful columns of Purbeck marble dividing the nave from the south aisle, the quaint Elizabethan pulpit of carved oak, and two medieval stone coffiin lids. One of the latter, bearing the knightly shield and spear of the Trenchards, received considerable attention, and Mr. B. W. Greenfield, F.S.A., who was said to be a great authority on heraldry, declared it to be a worthy ornament for any cathedral.

A few minutes were allowed at Shalfleet for lunch, which the visitors had been warned to bring with them ; and advantage was taken of the interval by the botanists of the party to secure specimens of the plants of the neighbourhood, a supply of which had been kindly provided by Messrs. W. and R. Lock.

Lunch over, the walk was resumed by the charming footpath leading past the old mill to Newtown, where the vicar, the Rev. H. R. Venn, was found waiting to the honours of the ancient borough. A halt was made in front of the old Town Hall, and here the following paper was read by Mr. Colenutt:

The portion of the Isle of Wight on which this meeting of the Field Club is taking place is one of which the past history is of much interest. In taking a hasty survey of the town or village of Newtown one is struck by the absence of old buildings or any other tangible indications of former importance. It is not in its architectural features, but in its municipal history, that the antiquary will find subjects for investigation and study at Newtown, and the very absence of any old buildings is of itself interesting. A glance at the map of the Island will show the town situated on a tongue of land formed by two of the branching arms of the estuary known as the Newtown River, and in bygone times, when ships of large burthen were unknown and when the only vessels were galleys or vessels of light draught, this estuary would have afforded safe anchorage and harbour. In medieval times there appear to have been six chief towns in the Island, these being Yarmouth, Newtown (or Francheville, as it was then called), Carisbrooke, Brading, Sandown (or Sandham), and Woolverton. There seems to be reason for supposing that Woolverton, however, was never of great importance, being little more than a large fishing village situate on the eastern shore of Brading Harbour. Its site was visited by the Field Club in July, 1887, and no doubt the circumstance will be remembered by some of the members present here to-day. Of Woolverton nothing now remains save some obscure traces of the course of the streets in the copse which now covers the ground. The events which led to the complete destroction of Woolverton affected Francheville in no less degree; but on the ruins of Francheville arose the Newtown, and some of its prosperity returned to it. One of the first misfortunes which befell the town appears to have been the plundering of it by the Danes on their invasion of the Island in the year 1001, when they virtually took possession the Isle of Wight and used it as a rendezvous for their pillaging excursions on the mainland. We read at this time of the burning of villages and the destruction of town called Wealtham. This seems to have been a large hamlet which stood on the site of the modern Wellow, village lying between Shalfleet and Freshwater. During the three hundred years following Francheville doubtless shared in the miseries of the dwellers in the Isle of Wight through the repeated raids made by the Normans and the French. In August of the year 1577 the French made a descent on the Island, and Woolverton and Franceville both suffered most severely, being completely burnt to the ground. Yarmouth, or, as it was then called, Eremuthe, also shared like fate. The inhabitants were so terrified by the successes of the invaders that they fled to Carisbrooke Castle for protection. Newport was attacked and burnt, but retribution was not long delayed. Sir Hugh Tyrrel was at this time Captain of the Castle, and with the garrison be made sally towards the south part of the town, at the same time placing large portion of his force in ambush. The unwary Frenchmen fell into the trap, and a complete slaughter of the invaders was the result. The place of the ambush was called in spirit of derision Noddies-hill, and its modern name is Node-hill; Deadman’s-lane in the vicinity also derived its name from this incident. The reasons which led to the founding of the Newport operated also against prosperity returning to Newtown. For ships were built of larger size and trade by was increasing ; the merchants resided in the midst of the larger community at Carisbrooke and Newport, and thither the local maritime trade gravitated. That Newtown was of little importance in the reign of Henry VIII. may be inferred from the fact of that king taking no measures to fortify it as he did with Yarmouth, Cowes, Sandown, and other places on the coasts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Worsley tells that Newtown was borough by prescription, and its first representation in Parliament was in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Queen Elisabeth. Aymer, Bishop of Winchester, granted privileges to his town of Francheville, of which was lord by deed dated at Swainston; the legality of these privileges being subsequently confirmed by Edward II., Edward IV., and Queen Elizabeth. Francheville doubt derived its name from its rights of holding fairs and markets, and in a charter of Edward II. the King grants to his son Edward, Earl of Chester, afterwards Edward III., a market to be held at his town of Francheville every Wednesday, and a fair for three days annually, on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, on the eve preceding and the day following. No market or fair has been held here for several centuries, and it is doubtful if the privileges were exercised at all after the destruction of the town in 1377. It still continued however to exist as a corporate body, and bought and sold real estate under a common seal, a good representation of which may be seen over the Inn door and also in the east window of the church. The qualification of burgess appears to have been the holding of a borough land, the rent of which was paid to the Mayor and Chief Burgess, this burgage tenure carrying with it also the right to vote for a member of Parliament. Until the passing of the Reform Act, Newtown— a typical pocket borough — sent two members to Parliament. John Churchill, afterwards Duke at Marlborough, represented this place in 1678. It is not wonderful that round two towns which passed through such vicissitudes as Woolverton and Francheville there should gather legendary matter. In regard to Woolverton there ia quaint legend concerning its destruction by the French, but which is too long to be detailed here. At Newtown we have an example of the “Pied Piper” legend, and in the Island town of Francheville this itinerant musician seems to have created quite as much dismay and destruction among its peaceable but money-loving inhabitants as he did on the occasion of his visit to Hamelin. At this place the children are said to have been led down into the Solent, detail which I believe usually takes a local turn in examples of this legend. The study of the legends of Hampshire and especially those having distinctly local bearing is one which is of much interest, and which would make attractive object for investigation at meetings of the Field Club.

The paper was illustrated by map copied in 1768 from an older one, and lent to the club by Mr. A. H. Estcourt, C.A., J.P. Mr. Shore, in the course of same remaaks on the paper, said this was the most interesting map he had seen in any part of Hampshire as an example of burgage tenure, and he sincerely hoped that, if permission could be obtained, they might publish it in their Proceedings.

The Vicar having described the mode of electing the Parliamentary representatives of the borough the older time, a visit was made to the interior of the hall, permission having bean granted Sir Barrington Simeon. Here were pointed out the tables at which the Corporation used to discern their business and their dinners, the fine old royal arms in carved and pointed wood, the curious inkstand with its sand and wafer boxes, &c.; and the extensive view from the top of the flight of steps was duly admired.

Proceeding by way of “High-street,” the church was reached, where the vicar gave an account of the rebuilding of the edifice, explaining that the Charity Commissioners compelled the Corporation to put by a certain sum for its endowment, they were unable to erect a building as large as the original one. The architect, however, adhered to its style as far possible, and the vicar pointed out the striking resemblance of the groined roof and the windows to a portion of Salisbury Cathedral, of which it was an almost exact reproduction. The church was dedicated to the Holy Spirit, a dedication which was vary rare in England— he believed there were only two other instances in the country. He suggested that the original dedication may have been to St. Mary Magdalen, seeing that the old fair was held on St. Mary Magdalen’s day, and the glebe formerly attached to the church was called St Margaret’s Croft.

Outside the church the President of club said they had that day had the pleasure hearing two clergymen explain their churches— the Rev. J. Thomas and the Rev. H. R. Venn. They always experienced great help from the local clergy in their outings; they were glad to hear all they could tell them, and in return they as a club were glad to assist the clergy in the preservation of their buildings.

Mr. Shore recognised the readiness of Mr. Thomas and Mr. Venn to assist him as organising secretary, and said he hoped the Isle of Wight would be induced to found a branch of the club.

The Rev. J. Thomas said they received great benefit from the visit of the club. It had so stirred him up during the last fortnight that he had during that period learned store his church than ever before.

The Rev. H. R. Venn thought they ought to thank the club for the great pleasure and distinction conferred upon the village, in which great interest had been felt in the visit. He congratulated the club on the statement in their programme that their number was so complete that there was not room for Mr. Thomas and himself.

Leaving Newtown, the visitors wended their way foot to the gardens of Stone Steps, Calbourne, the summer beauty of which was greatly appreciated, as was also the capital tea served in the large tent on the pleasant lawn.

The return journey from Calbourne station was timed for 4.44, and while waiting on the platform the President thanked the conductors of the day, Mr. Colenutt and Dr. Groves, for their services, remarking that the latter had justified the action of the committee in taking him in as an extra member.

Arriving at Newport station the party separated on its several ways, all agreeing that a most delightful day had been spent.

TH: Note regarding Island as being home to the first Royal Park.

TH: “One of the earliest owners of Knighton was said to be Hugh de Morville who, on the night of 29 December 1170, was one of four knights who murdered Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Hugh returned to Knighton after the assassination and believed the house to be cursed, possibly through a projection of his own guilt.” https://www.curiousarchive.com/knighton-gorges-most-haunted-isle-of-wight/ See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighton_Gorges_Manor ? Historial reference for this?

TH: H. Venn (Henry) was possibly son of Revd. John Venn, and brother of mathematician John Venn, remembered best as the creator of Venn diagrams. https://www.sunsigns.org/famousbirthdays/d/profile/john-venn/

Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin

This poem, first published in Dramatic Lyrics in 1842, can be found in volume II of The Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning in Six Volumes, Dramatic Lyrics, pp281-88, 1887.

I haven’t seen evidence either way to suggest that Browning was familiar with Elder’s version of the tale, which was first published three years earlier in 1839.

Robert Browning, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, 1842

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN; A child’s story.
(WRITTEN FOR, AND INSCRIBED TO, W. M. THE YOUNGER.)

I.
Hamelin Town’s in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city ;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side ;
A pleasanter spot you never spied ;
But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.

II.
Rats !
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles.
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats.
And even spoiled the women’s chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.

III.
At last the people in a body
To the Town Hall came flocking :
“ ‘Tis clear,” cried they, “ our Mayor’s a noddy ;
And as for our Corporation — shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can’t or won’t determine
What’s best to rid us of our vermin !
You hope, because you’re old and obese,
To find in the furry civic robe ease ?
Ruse up, sirs ! Give your brains a racking
To find the remedy we ’re lacking,
Or, sure as fate, we’ll send you packing !
At this the Mayor and Corporation
Quaked with a mighty consternation.

IV.
An hour they sat in council ;
At length the Mayor broke silence :
“ For a guilder I’d my ermine gown sell,
I wish I were a mile hence !
It’s easy to bid one rack one’s brain —
I’m sure my poor head aches again,
I’ve scratched it so, and all in vain.
Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap ! “
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the chamber-door but a gentle tap ?
“Bless us,” cried the Mayor, “ what’s that?”
(With the Corporation as he sat,
Looking little though wondrous fat ;
Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister
Than a too-long-opened oyster,
Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous
For a plate of turtle green and glutinous)
“ Only a scraping of shoes on the mat ?
Anything like the sound of a rat
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat !”

V.
“Come in ! “ — the Mayor cried, looking bigger :
And in did come the strangest figure !
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red,
And he himself was tall and thin.
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in ;
There was no guessing his kith and kin :
And nobody could enough admire
The tall man and his quaint attire.
Quoth one : It’s as my great-grandsire,
Starting up at the Trump of Doom’s tone,
Had walked this way from his painted tomb-stone ! “

VI.
He advanced to the council-table :
And, “Please your honors,” said he, I’m able,
By means of a secret charm, to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep or swim or fly or run,
After me so as you never saw !
And I chiefly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole and toad and newt and viper ;
And people call me the Pied Piper.”
(And here they noticed round his neck
A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
To match with his coat of the self-same cheque ;
And at the scarf’s end hung a pipe ;
And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying
As if impatient to be playing
Upon this pipe, as low it dangled
Over his vesture so old-fangled.)

VII. “Yet,” said he, poor piper as I am,
In Tartary I freed the Cham,
Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;
I eased in Asia the Nizam
Of a monstrous brood of vampire-bats :
And as for what your brain bewilders,
If I can rid your town of rats
Will you give me a thousand guilders ? “
“ One ? fifty thousand ! “ — was the exclamation
Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

VII. Into the street the Piper stept,
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic slept
In his quiet pipe the while ;
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled,
Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled ;
And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if an army muttered ;
And the muttering grew to a grumbling ;
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling ;
And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.
Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,
Brown rats, black rats, gray rats, tawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins,
Cocking tails and pricking whiskers.
Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives —
Followed the Piper for their lives.
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step for step they followed dancing,
Until they came to the river Weser
Wherein all plunged and perished !
— Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar,
Swam across and lived to carry
(As he, the manuscript he cherished)
To Rat-land home his commentary :
Which was, “ At the first shrill notes of the pipe,
I heard a sound as of scraping tripe,
And putting apples, wondrous ripe.
Into a cider-press’s gripe :
And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards,
And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards,
And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks,
And a breaking the hoops of butter-casks :
And it seemed as if a voice
(Sweeter far than by harp or by psaltery
Is breathed) called out, ‘ Oh rats, rejoice !
The world is grown to one vast drysaltery !
So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,
Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon ! ’
And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon.
All ready staved, like a great sun shone
Glorious scarce an inch before me,
Just as methought it said, ‘ Come, bore me ! ‘
— I found the Weser rolling o’er me.”

VIII.
You should have heard the Hamelin people
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple.
“ Go,” cried the Mayor, “and get long poles,
Poke out the nests and block up the holes !
Consult with carpenters and builders,
And leave in our town not even a trace
Of the rats !” — when suddenly, up the face
Of the Piper perked in the market-place,
With a, “ First, if you please, my thousand guilders ! “

IX.
A thousand guilders ! The Mayor looked blue ;
So did the Corporation too.
For council dinners made rare havoc
With Claret, Moselle, Yin-de-Grave, Hock ;
And half the money would replenish
Their cellar’s biggest butt with Rhenish.
To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
With a gypsy coat of red and yellow !
“ Beside,” quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink,
“ Our business was done at the river’s brink ;
We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
And what’s dead can’t come to life, I think.
So, friend, we’re not the folks to shrink
From the duty of giving you something for drink.
And a matter of money to put in your poke ;
But as for the guilders, what we spoke
Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
Beside, our losses have made us thrifty.
A thousand guilders ! Come, take fifty !”

X.
The Piper’s face fell, and he cried
“No trifling ! I can’t wait, beside !
I ’ve promised to visit by dinner time
Bagdat, and accept the prime
Of the Head-Cook’s pottage, all he’s rich in.
For having left, in the Caliph’s kitchen,
Of a nest of scorpions no survivor :
With him I proved no bargain-driver,
With you, don’t think I ‘ll bate a stiver !
And folks who put me in a passion
May And me pipe after another fashion.”

XI.
“ How ? “ cried the Mayor, “ d’ye think I brook
Being worse treated than a Cook ?
Insulted by a lazy ribald
With idle pipe and vesture piebald ?
You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst,
Blow your pipe there till you burst ! “

XII.
Once more he stept into the street.
And to his lips again
Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane ;
And ere he blew three notes (such sweet
Soft notes as yet musician’s cunning
Never gave the enraptured air)
There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling ;
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran memly after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.

XIII.
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
As if they were changed into blocks of wood,
Unable to move a step, or cry
To the children merrily skipping by,
— Could only follow with the eye
That joyous crowd at the Piper’s back.
But how the Mayor was on the rack.
And the wretched Councils bosoms beat.
As the Piper turned from the High Street
To where the Weser rolled its waters
Right in the way of their sons and daughters !
However, he turned from South to West,
And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed,
And after him the childreu pressed ;
Great was the joy in every breast.
He never can cross that mighty top !
He’s forced to let the piping drop,
And we shall see our children stop ! “
When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed ;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Did I say, all ? No ! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way ;
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say, —
“ It ‘s dull in our town since my playmates left !
I can’t forget that I’m bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new ;
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey-bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagles’ wings :
And just as I became assured
My lame foot would be speedily cured,
The music stopped and I stood still,
And found myself outside the hill,
Left alone against my will,
To go now limping as before,
And never hear of that country more ! ””

XIV.
Alas, alas for Hamelin !
There came into many a burgher’s pate
A text which says that heaven’s gate
Opens to the rich at as easy rate
As the needle’s eye takes a camel in !
The Mayor sent East, West, North and South,
To offer the Piper, by word of mouth,
Wherever it was men’s lot to find him,
Silver and gold to his heart’s content,
If he’d only return the way he went,
And bring the children behind him.
But when they saw ‘twas a lost endeavor,
And Piper and dancers were gone forever,
They made a decree that lawyers never
Should think their records dated duly
If, after the day of the month and year,
These words did not as well appear,
“ And so long after what happened here
On the Twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and seventy-six ; “
And the better in memory to fix
The place of the children’s last retreat,
They called it, the Pied Piper’s Street —
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future to lose his labor.
Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern
To shock with mirth a street so solemn ;
But opposite the place of the cavern
They wrote the story on a column,
And on the great church-window painted
The same, to make the world acquainted
How their children were stolen away,
And there it stands to tins very day.
And I must not omit to say
That in Transylvania there’s a tribe
Of alien people that ascribe
The outlandish ways and dress
On which their neighbors lay such stress,
To their fathers and mothers having risen
Out of some subterraneous prison
Into which they were trepanned
Long time ago in a mighty band
Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,
But how or why, they don’t understand.

Eliza Gutch’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, Folk-Lore, 1892

This paper appeared in [Folk-Lore], the “Quartertly Review of Myth, Tradition, Institution, & Custom”, Vol. III, 1892, p227-252, published in London by David Nutt, 270, Strand.

I intend to do an annotated version of Gutch’s article at some point…

Eliza Gutch’s “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, Folk-Lore, 1892

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN.

FIVE years ago, “as I walk’d through the wilderness of this world. I h’ghted on a certain place” called Hanover, and tarried there awhile. Encouraged by the assurance of Browning, that —

“ Hamelin Town’s in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city,”

I formed an enthusiastic resolve to tread in the footsteps of the “ Pied Piper”, and to do what I could to investigate the history of that old North-German tradition, smiled on by the genius of our great poet, and added within the last half-century to the common stock of English nursery-delights. The undertaking was greater than I anticipated. I had not realised that to one with a scarce school-girl knowledge of the language of the country, research would prove even more difficult than it is wont to be ; and I had trusted too blindly to Browninjj’s exactness in the matter of topography. That “ Hamelin Town’s in” Hanover, and not in Brunswick, was of no real consequence; but that “by famous Hanover city”, translated into prose, should signify over twenty-five miles off—fifty there and back, to be impressed on the memory by the “ calm deliberation” of a State railway— was a fact of serious importance to one who had but little leisure for excursions. However, I did contrive to trot my hobby thrice to Hameln, and I set my seven senses loose on the track of the Piper. Of course they were at fault : the Pied One ran to earth six centuries ago, and may not since then have visited “the glimpses of the moon”; but, in spite of that, I derived some sort of satisfaction from my introduction to the place ; and as I have since, personally and per alios, taken much pains to get at the literature of my subject, I hope I may be borne with as I attempt to set a portion of the result before the readers of FOLK-LORE.

Hameln is a charming old town, and if you go there knowing that it is one of the shrines of folk-lore, and go in sympathetic mood, you will feel as if you had passed out of every-day environment into story-land, and may wonder whether you have done so in a dream, or whether the bliss be yours in tangible reality. If in a dream, that would account for divers incongruities, and take away the shock of intrusive modernisms for which it were folly to blame the 11,000 who make the place their home, and whose main care it cannot be to live up to the picturesque tradition of which it is the scene. A very little make-believe, an equal knowledge of the history of architectural styles, and then, when you are in the quaint main street, whatever season and whatever year it be for other folk, it is with you the festival of SS. John and Paul, the 26th of June 1284 ; and you set your ears to catch some echo of the strain which wiled the lost but never-yet-forgottcn children forth. Shortly after the Osterstrasse is entered on, a fine early 17th century dwelling, on the left, is safe to claim attention ; it goes by the name of the Rattenfanger (i.e. Ratcatcher’s) Haus, and is probably so called because the end which abuts on the Bungelosestrasse has an inscription, ["Anno 1284. AmDage Johannisct Pauli War der 26. Junii Durch ctncn Picpcr mit allcrly Farve bekledct Gewesen cxxx Kinder verledet Binnen Hameln geboren To Calverie bi den Koppen verloren." As given in Hmneln und Bad Pynnoni : Wegweiser (Hamcln, Fuendeling), p. 5.] in German, more archaic than the building itself, commemorating the Out-going. At the other extremity of the Osterstrasse is a similar record ["Nach Chrisli Geburt 1284 Jahr Gingen bei den Koppen unter Verwahr Hundcrt und drcissig Kinder, in Hameln geboren von einem Pfeiffer vcrfurt und verloren."  (Fuendeling's Wegiueiser, p. 6.) ] on the Wedding- or Hochzeitshaus, a fine structure erected between 1610 and 161 7 for marriage festivities, but diverted from its purpose since 1721. [Sprenger's *Geschichte der Stadt Hameln* bearbeitet vom Amtmann von Reissenstein, p. 153 (Hameln, 1861).  Sprenger published in 1825.] Behind rises the spire of the parish church of S. Nicholas, which may still enwall stones that witnessed how the parents prayed, while the Piper wrought sorrow for them without. On Sunday morning, too, some of the stor>’-tcllers say it was; but June 26th, 1284, was Monday; and in 1376, 5. Mary Magdalene’s Day, July 22nd, another alleged date (acceptable to Browning), fell on a Tuesday, if tables in Sir Harris Nicolas’s Chronology of History be trustworthy. An ancient minster greatly rejuvenated, formerly the collegiate church of S. Boniface (Bonifatiusstift), is some little distance off on the left, hard by the bank of the Weser, which flows west of the town, not south, as Browning says, and goes with a sweep that would soon carry a horde of rats out of reach of flesh-pots. Golden mice were made by the Philistines [1 Samuel, vi, 4, 5.] in Samuel’s time when they were delivered from the plague that marred their land ; but that may have been a golden age : this is an age of gingerbread, and the Hameln people manufacture rats accordingly. It will be understood that I use the word “gingerbread” generically : the artists work in sugar, chocolate, and other plastic materials, as best it pleases them. The card conveying “ Grüsse aus Hameln” is nibbled round the edges to show its authenticity. In short, in tourist-season the staple trade seems to embody itself in rodents, for which the noted flour-mill on the river, in more senses than one, provides the raw material. I must also add that if the sapid sewers be quite free from rats, the rats neglect an opportunity.

In one window tin whistles, which bore token of being of British origin, were ticketed as “ Rattenfanger Pfeifen”, and though, when a lad with me put one of them to his lips, not a ridiculus mus came forth, it was plain that the children around were all alert and curious. Possibly, however,

being warned by their elders against Pipers, as perils peculiar to the district, they may have planted their feet firmly and looked about for the police. In 1887 photographs of the beguiler abounded ; not of course of the original Bunting, but of a well-fed burgher who personated him in June 1884, when Hameln made the best of her loss by celebrating that most famous incident in her history with pageant, speech, and pleasantry, thus causing, as somebody has observed, a tragedy to be the motive of a festival. [*Das Rattenfängerfest in Hameln* p. 1, etc, (Hameln, Niemeyer, 1884). Information about costumes from a letter from Fuendeling( 1892).] Two days the revels lasted : on the first, Herr Pietsch stood out and piped, and a multitude of children dressed in grey, with rat-like masks and india-rubber tails, swarmed after him ; on the second, his music gathered little ones, in old-world garb, and he led them to a quasi-” Koppenberg” — but, like the King of France’s army, “ they all marched back again”! Julius Wolff, who has woven a charming poem [*Der Rattenfänger von Hameln: Eine Aventcure*, 25te Auflage, (Berlin, 1885). ] out of the Rattenfänger story, was there, and so was Victor Nessler the Alsatian composer, whose very popular opera [*Der Rattenfänger von Hameln*. Oper in fünf Akten (Leipzig, 1887).] is for the most part a musical rendering of Wolff. It were vain to speculate how many shades of other Hameln-stricken authors were hovering around. I think this festival may have quickened Hölbe, the sculptor’s remarkable figure, of which I have a miniature reproduction here ; as also a photograph which shows the expression of subtle malignancy far better than the cast. At the time of my visits the town sought money to have this figure erected in the Pferdemarkt A companion statuette was of Gertrude, the fisher-girl, who was Singufs — so Wolff calls him — love. The pair are already honoured in the fountain here represented.

When I came to seek for the Koppel, or Koppenberg, where the children of 1284 are said to have vanished, it seemed to me as if I were directed in turn to all points of the compass ; and I thought then, and have thought ever since, that there is something in the atmosphere of Hameln which tends to bewilderment and suggests enchantment. I sometimes felt there as if I were the victim of a spell ; and maybe some tricksy Ariel was making me his sport. The fact that I and my companions spoke as barbarians had possibly something to do with the difficulties ; then, too, certain of the people appealed to may have fancied we were in quest of the Klüt, the hill to which Pietsch led his followers on the festal day ; and others may not have known —as at the outset I did not— that what is now called the Bassberg was, according to some, the mediaeval Koppen. Koppen is suggestive of heads and Dr. Otto Meinardus, Royal Archivist at Berlin, who has bestowed much research on the records of his native Hameln, believes that the scene of the Disappearance was the two-headed Teutberg, which commands the Hildeshcim and Hanover roads, and bars the end of the Weser valley. [*Neue Material zur Geschichte der Rattenfüngersage*, in Zeitschrift des historischen Vereins für Niedersachsen, 1885, p. 267. ] This would be a far cry for the little children : but the Bassberg is within a stroll from the town, and I have but little doubt that 1 meditated on its summit on the occasion of my third hunt at Hameln. I am not as easily convinced as were the writer and the illustrator of a pleasant paper in the Magazine of Art [Hameln, the Town of the Pied Piper  or " Der Rattenfänger* (vol. for 1890, p. 192), by Katharine M. Macquoid.]; the hill was pointed out to them from a distance, they seem to have gone by instinct to the proper knoll, and (to quote) “ we pitched at once on the spot where we felt sure the laughing children had disappeared ; a huge wild rose-bush, glowing with scarlet hips, was growing there. It must have been a lovely sight of flowers some months before. We gathered a bunch of the scarlet fruit as a memory of our visit. There was nothing besides this rose-tree to mark the scene of the mysterious catastrophe.”

It is a curious coincidence that about 1654 roses [Sprenger, p. 15, *note*. ] were all that Erich could discern on a sculptured stone on the Koppen, which was regarded as a memorial of that Exodus Hamelensis of which he was writing. Only a few years ago there were old people who professed to remember two stones in the form of a cross upon the hill [Alte Leute in Hameln wollen diese Kreuze noch gekannt haben," — Letter from Herr Fuendeling, 1887.] ; and I myself fell in with a young man, of some twenty summers, who seemed to assert that he had often seen the record ; yet I looked and looked in vain, and was scarcely solaced when Dr. Meinardus wrote to me ["Einen Gedenkstein mit einer Inschrift am sogenanten ' Koppen' werden. Sie wol nie finden. Wenn ein solcher vorhanden war, was man bezweifeln muss, so ist er jest keineswegs mehr dort." — 1887. ] : “ A memorial stone with an inscription on the so-called Koppen you will never find. If such a thing ever existed, which is doubtful, it is no longer there.”

Is the episode of the Pied Piper credible ? is the question that has been for some time before me ; and, at the risk of incurring your scorn, I answer that it is. A few accretions, such as no tradition or even frequently re-written story is likely to avoid, must of course be cleared off; but this may easily be done, and then I think nothing will be found remaining that any reverent-minded folk-lorer need decline to hold.

Early in the present century an account of the Hameln disaster was distilled from ten different sources (four only of them to be sipped of at the British Museum) by the Brothers Grimm, for their Deutsche Sagen [Vol. i (2nd ed.). pp. 290-2.] where it runs essentially as follows. In the year 1284, a strange man appeared at Hameln wearing a many-coloured coat, which is said to have earned for him the name of Bundting. He gave himself out to be a rat-catcher, and promised to free the town from mice and rats for a stated sum, which the burghers agreed to pay. He drew out a little pipe, sounded it, and straightway all the rats and mice ran from the houses and gathered round him. He led them to the Weser, and, when he trussed up his garments and entered the water, they rushed in after him and were drowned. Then the burghers, being freed from the plague, repudiated their contract with Bundling, who departed in hot anger. On the Festival of SS. John and Paul, the 26th of June, at seven o’clock in the morning, or, as some say, at midday, he appeared again in the guise of a hunter with a curious red cap on his head, and he sounded his pipe in the lanes. At once came forth, not rats and mice, but children — boys and girls of four years old and upwards — and, moreover, the Burgermaster’s grown-up daughter. All followed him, followed him out till they came to a hill, where he and they disappeared. So said a nursemaid, who, babe in arms, had felt the attraction from afar. Parents hastened, crowding through the gates, to seek their darlings, messengers were sent over land and water to pursue the guest ; but everything was vain. In all, 130 children were a-missing. Some have it that two — one blind, the other dumb, and apparently also deaf — came back again: the former, unable to point out the place of disappearance, could yet tell well enough why the Piper had been followed ; while the mute knew the place, but had been insensible to the sound. A little lad who set off running in his shirt, and returned to fetch his coat, took up the pursuit too late to share the lot of his playmates.

This I believe to be a fair presentment of the story as it would now be told by one whose memory had not been led astray by latter-day literary adepts, who have elaborated the theme. The curious in chronology may perhaps take exception to my date, for authors offer a bewildering variety, ranging from 1259 to 1378. Sometimes a theory is accountable; sometimes the habit of there or thereaboutness. 1531 and 1556 were dates that, in earlier times, appeared one under the other at Hameln upon its Neuethor, [Passion; but see Sprenger, pp. 14 and 152. The inscription ran : "Centu ter denos cum magus ab urbe puellos duxerat ante 272 condita porta fui." ] above a legend stating that the gate was erected 272 years after the Outgoing: 272 subtracted from 1531 gives 1259; from 1556, 1284; result, uncertainty. A writer in 1556 [Fincelius.] speaks of about 180 years ago; another, in 1568, [HondorfFf] puts it at about 190 ; while in 1643 [Howell.] it is a matter of 250 years since. 1284 has, at present, vogue in Hameln. I fancy Browning’s direct authority for 1376 was Verstegan. [*A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence*, 1605 (1634, pp. 85, 86). Mr. Arthur Symons (*An Introduction to the Study of Browning*, p. 50) says, "North Wanley's *Wonders of the Little World*, 1678, and the books there cited", were the authorities. Wanley gives 1284, and two out of the three Writers on whom he depends, never so much as mention 1376; the third, Schot, *Phys. Curios*, I have not met with. Wier and Howell are the others.]

I have an impression that I range myself with a very small minority in accepting the account of the Outgoing just given as being approximately true. The explanations that have been offered to make it more credible to the majority may be glanced at (i) It has been elaborated out of a possible mock-fight on the Koppen, in which earnest succeeded jest, and many young men were slain, and so lost to their parents. (2) An earthquake or a landslip engulfed the 130. (3) Tilo Colup, pretending that he was the Emperor Frederick II returned from the Holy Land, attracted many followers in the latter part of the 13th century, and missing Hameln lads may have been among them. (4) In 1286, Jews are said to have murdered children in a mill at Fulda : Hameln being originally Quern Hameln, the sorrow was possibly imputed to her by error. (5) There was strife in Brunswick in 1281 between Duke Albrecht and his sons. One of them, being arrested and imprisoned without warning, his sudden removal may have been multiplied by 130. [First five suggestions in Martin Schoock's *Fabula Hamelensis* (1659), of which I have an abstract ] (6) Fein [*Die  entlarvete Fabel vom  Ausgange der Hamelscken Kinder (1749). I know this only at second-hand. ] believed that he unmasked fable when he maintained the slaughter of many sons of Hameln at the battle of Sedemünde (1259), and the carrying of others into captivity to be the groundwork of the legend. He observed that on a sculptured house in the Papenstrasse the Piper was followed by youths bearing spears. [Von Reissenstein's note to Sprenger, p. 15.] Still, setting aside the fact that it is hardly Hkely the glory and fate of war would be reduced to anything as ignominious as the Koppen catastrophe, the two events were recorded as separate items in one of the municipal registers [*Die historische Kern* by Dr. Meinardus (1882), p. 49.] ; and the result of the fight was annually commemorated in the parish church of S. Nicholas [Sprenger, p. 10] and at the Bonifatiusstift [Meinardus, p. 24.] on S. Pantaleon’s Day. (7) Some authors give a mystical interpretation ; Dr. Busch, [*Die  Grensboten*, i, Semester, 1875, p. 505] for instance, regards the Piper as the Aryan death-god ; and others talk of Dame Hulda, and see souls in the rats as well as in the children. (8) Our own countryman, Mr. Baring-Gould, writes : “ The root of the myth is this : the Piper is no other than the wind, and the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of the dead.” [*Curious Myths of the Middle Ages*, p. 427.] (9) I do not recollect whether those universal resolvents — Dawn and Darkness — have been called into requisition, but, if I myself were asked to give the mot d’énigme, I should say with confidence Bunting is an apt designation for the source of colour, and Kockerill, another name applied to him in story , [*Die Wunderpfeife, oder die Kinder von Hameln*, by Gustav Nieritz.] suggests “the bird of dawning”. We need not hesitate to recognise the sun in the pied musician, who banishes those nocturnal marauders, rats, and renders minor heavenly bodies invisible by his brightness. It is on such lines that the story of Apollo Smintheus is interpreted. [*Curious Myths*, p. 435. ]

But now let us turn from these ingenuities, and set ourselves to consider what claim the story of the Pied Piper may have to be received as an essentially true if not wholly unvarnished tale. How does it appear when we seek for a record of it in writings of the 13th century, in books which must have been penned before this more than nine-days’ wonder had ceased to interest, and long ere wounds in Hameln hearts would heal ? Martin Schoock, who essayed to demolish what he called the Fabula Hamelensis in 1659, assures us that no contemporary left note of the event, and gives us to understand that there was an ominous consensus of silence concerning it for some 250 years, until 16th century authors busied themselves to make it known. He delivers himself in Latin ; but, being interpreted, he seems to say : “ Under the Emperor Rudolf of Hapsburg, who began to reign A.D. 1272, lived the compiler of the Annales Colmariensium who with his continuator reaches 1302 ; of all those whom I know, he is the most ignorant of the laws of history, and descends even to such poor matters as the details of the harvest and vintage, and of the sale of ripe strawberries, cherries, and pears in the June of 1283. Who would believe that an author relating such minutiae would neglect a prodigy whose fame ought to have filled, if not all Europe at least all Germany? Also Werner Rolewinck à Laer, a Westphalian, a man deeply learned in the Scriptures, and in matters secular …. though living near Hameln and stopping at 1464, does not gather this flower, the exit of the children from that town, into his nosegay (Fasciculi Temporum). Like remark might be made of the author of the Magnum Chronicon Belgici ending 1474, who revels in all kinds of historic trifles ; of Trithenius, Abbot of Spanheim, who snatched from darkness whatever was worth remembering in his Chronicon Hirsangiense ending 1370, and Spanheimense ending with 1502; of Hartmann Schedel, author of the Nuremburg Chrotnicle down to 1492 ; Nauclerus, Chancellor of the University of Tübingen, whose record goes through several generations to 1500: and of Albert Crantz, author of a Saxon history reaching to 1520. Even Paulus Langius, though there be rare things in his chronicle, which ends in 1515, omits this story, nor is there a trace of it in Johannes Aventinium. Hence we are of opinion,” adds Schoock, “that this affair is an invention of superstition and monkish ignorance.”

Well, possibly it may be all this ; but I cannot myself allow that an alleged event of mediaeval times ought to be stamped out of credence, merely because it was not chronicled by certain contemporary scribes, whose works we happen to know, but of whose idiosyncrasies, disabilities, motives, and scope we cannot adequately judge. A case in point is the following : I confess I began to sympathise with the incredulity of Schoock when I learnt from Sprenger [Pp. 16 and 368. ] that John de Polde or Pohle takes no notice of the Outgoing in his Chronicon Hamelense for he worked at it as an aged man in 1384, and if he came of native stock, [This, his surname does not encourage us to suppose.] his own father may have been in peril from the Piper, may have been the very babe who kept the nursemaid back from joining in the rout. This consideration loses cogency when we know the limit of the undertaking. Meinardus [*Der historische Kern*, p. 14. ] tells us that we ought not to wonder at Pohle’s silence, because he was merely engaged on a history of the Collegiate Church at Hameln, of which he was a canon, and that he did not meddle with municipal matters or speak of political events. Let us give the good man credit for minding his own business, and acknowledge that he had nothing to do with ours. We should remember, too, that although the narrative in which we are interested did not engage the pens of the aforesaid writers, it may nevertheless have put in motion those of other scribes whose parchments have been less successful in the war with Time. When we reflect how strangely rare copies of whole editions of comparatively modern books have grown, we ought not to find it difficult to realise that hundreds of unique MSS. would utterly pass out of being through fire, water, and violence in the blustrous Middle Ages. With them would perish the sole record of some episodes which our after-times have never heard of, and likewise the only documentary evidence of others that, until the invention of printing, would be handed on to later ages by tradition. It is with these latter that I would have you class the Hameln story, if I should fail to show there is reason for thinking that its preservation was never for long, if indeed at all, confided to the popular memory alone.

From the i6th century, when men’s minds were roused into fertility by great religious agitation and by the impulse of the new learning, and when the fresh faculty of multiplying copies had encouraged the making of books and lessened their chance of extermination, we have abundant testimony that concerns us. The earliest I can quote is that of Fincelius, a Doctor of Medicine, who — to translate the quaint German of his Wunderzeichun (1556), says: “Of the Devil’s power and wickedness will I here tell a true history. About 180 years ago, on S. Mary Magdalene’s Day, it came to pass at Hammel on the Weser in Saxony, that the Devil went about the streets visibly in human form, piped and allured many children, boys and girls, and led them through the town-gate towards a mountain. When he arrived there he disappeared with the numerous children who had followed him, and nobody knew what became of the children. Thus did a girl who had followed them afar report to her parents, and thereupon diligent search and inquiry was soon made over land and water to find out whether the children had possibly been stolen and led away. But nobody could tell what had become of the children. This grieved the parents terribly, and is a fearful example of divine anger against sin. This is all written in the town-book of Hammel, where many persons of high standing have read and heard it.”

“ Written in the town-book of Hammel”, he says, and so say not only Hondorff [*Promptorium Exemplorum*, p. 69b. ] (1568) who took Fincelius on trust, and later men who nourished themselves on Hondorff ; but the assertion is confirmed by Wier, who visited Hameln in 1567, [This and what follows concerning Wier is gathered from Meinardus's pamphlet, *Der historische Kerne*, pp. 14, 15. Wier's work is not in the British Museum Library.] and seems to have made persona! examination of all the evidence it could adduce in support of its fame. He had published his book on the “Delusions of Devils”, De Praestigiis Daemonorum, in 1563, the second edition in the following year, but showed no sign of knowing anything of that “modern instance”, the Pied Piper. He had heard of it, however, before a third issue of his work was ready at Basle in 1566, and he made it the subject of a short paragraph. A few months later, he sought the locus in quo and became as enthusiastic a believer as even I could wish in the authenticity of all that he was shown and told. The 4th edition of De Praestigiis which came out in 1577, gives token of this : after repeating the narrative, he says in Latin, what amounts in English to : “ These facts are thus written in the annals of Hammel and are religiously guarded in the archives ; they are to be read also in the sacred books of the Church, and to be seen in the painted panes of the same ; of which fact I am an eye witness. Besides, as confirmation of the story, the older [Subsequent to 1379 a change in the local government took place, and enactments in the statute-book (*Der Donat*) customarily begin "de olde rad un de nye hebbet ghesateghct". (Sprenger, pp. 31 and 177.)] magistracy was accustomed to write together on its public documents; “in the year of Christ and in that of the going out of the children,” etc. Moreover, care is taken to this day that there should be a perpetual memorial of the event, for the sound of a drum [tympanum] is never allowed in that street along which the children went forth, and even if a bride be led from it, there must be no music till she has passed out, nor arc dances performed there. In consequence of this the street is actually called Burgelosestrass” — or, as Meinardus corrects, Bungelosestrasse, or Drumless Street, Bunge signifying Trommel. In 1634 Richard Vestegan [P. 86.   1 have not seen the Restitution of 1605.] writes that “ no Ostery” is “ to be there holden.”

There is a Bungelose,[*Plan* issued by Schmidt and Suckerl.] or Bungenlos [Gier's Plan.] (the name is variously spelt) Street now at Hamcin in which no kind of music is permitted, excepting that which steals in through the air, as I have heard it do, from some player otherwhere. I thought I had caught the burghers napping; but no; the notes were for the enlivenment of an adjacent street, and no by-law could forbid them to creep over and through Uie houses into the lane sacred to a never-forgotten grief. That the Bungelosestr. was not invented, as some have suggested, in the middle of the sixteenth century to furnish a substantial background to the Pled Piper is evident, since Dr. Meinardus’s discovery [*Die Bungelosestrasse, in Zeitschrift des kistoriscken Vereins für Niederstachsen*, 1884, pp. 271-2. ] of a document at Hameln, in which, under the date Friday, the 16th of September 1496 occurs the phrase “ uppe der bungehelosenstrate”. It is, of course, open to anyone to say that an odd, because probably corrupt, name was pressed into the service of our legend. My own doubt hovers, rather, over the point that a tuneless thing like a drum should be taken as the representative musical instrument, in a case where a pipe would have been far more typical and suggestive.

The memorial-glass “ on the great church window painted”, which Browning sang, was probably of that which Wier saw. It was not in the Minster, but in the parish church of S. Nicholas, at the east end. “ Anno 1571” is at the base of the inscription, as quoted by Schoock from Erich’s Exodus Hamelensis, a work not in the British Museum Library, and at present beyond my reach. This must refer to a restoration of the glass at the instance of Friedrich Poppendieck, which Bünting notes. [*Braunschweigisch-Lüneburgische Chronica*, p. 52 (vol. i, 1584 ; ii, 1584). ] Wier’s visit was four years earlier than that, namely in 1567. By 1654, when Erich wrote, the legend was somewhat imperfect [AM. DAGE JOHANNES  UND. PALI  SINT . BINNEN  HAMMELIN . GEBAREN . THOK VARIE . UNDK DORCH  ALLDRLEI . GEDEN . KOPPEN. Anno 1571. ] but one can see that it told of the leading forth of the Hameln children to the Koppen on that fateful day of S. John and S. Paul. The “storied window” was turned to good account by Pastor Letzner, 1590, who, in his Chronicle concerning the foundations at Hildesheim, exclaims with reference to it,[*Die Grenzboten*, No. 26, p. 500 ] “O you dear Christian parents, do not behold and gaze on this painting, merely as a cow or some other irrational beast looks at an old door ; but ponder it in your hearts in a Christian manner, and do not let your children run astray, so that the Devil gets power over them, as may soon and easily happen.” If you ask me what became of this interesting glass, which Seyfrid in 1679 mentions in the Medulla as then existing, I think I can give you a hint. I supposed the French — who are the “ Oliver Cromwells” of the Continent — had made an end of it during their occupation of Hameln, when they used the Marktkirche as a hospital ; but I fear the blame is more likely to be our own. The building served as a storehouse for booty after the battle of Minden in 1759, and that being disposed of, the English turned it into a flour-magazine. According to the indignant Sprenger,[P. 208. ] “ they destroyed pulpit, altar, and organ, an outrage which the French, though enemies, had not permitted. The paintings were burnt, and many of the organ-pipes stolen.”

We will next consider what written testimony the men of Hameln could present to the enquiring Wier, He speaks of Church books in the plural, and there is no reason to doubt that he saw them ; but they are all gone somewhither by this time, and, as far as I know, only a single volume has been specifically named, [*Die historiscke Kern*, pp. 7, 8.] a Passionale of the Middle Ages, the title-page of which was inscribed in red ink, with an invocation to the B.V.M., and some poor Latin verses [" Post duo C C. mille post octoginta quaterve — Annus hic est ille, quo languet sexus uterque — Orbantis pueros centumque triginta Joannis Et Pauli caros Hamelenses non sine damnis, Fatur, ut omnes eos vivos Calvaria sorpsit, Christi tuere reos, ne tam mala res quibus obsit."] about the swallowing up of the children, that had a prose version ["Anno millesimo ducentesimo octuagesimo quarto in die Johannis et Pauli perdiderunt Hamelenses centum et triginta pueros, qui intraverunt montem Calvariam."] underneath. These things are attributed to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. I cannot help the vagueness, though I regret it. The Passionale belonged to the Minster, and the entries were copied from it by Pastor Herr (who died 1753) into one of the two books of miscellaneous matter about Hameln, which it was his pleasure to collect.

Among municipal archives, it is likely that Wier saw, because from their very raison d’être they were just what he would seek to see, the Brade and the Donat, the former a book of historical documents, the latter the Codex Statutorum. Now it is important to note that he went away satisfied with the evidence set before him in 1567, because, eighteen years later, Franz Müller copied the Brade into a new book, and the old one, that inspected by Wier, which dated from 1350, and contained memoranda relating to yet earlier times, disappeared, as Hamein things have a trick of doing. The Donat, also held to be a transcript of one gone before, begins with the thirteenth century. Good Pastor Herr made a translation of it in the eighteenth, but that, de more, has vanished. In the Donat we have examples of dates being accompanied by a reference to the “ Outgoing”, and perhaps these may be the instances which impressed themselves on Wier. It so, the fact must be regretted, for they have been denounced as interpolations and forgeries by competent judges.[Herr Sebastian  Spilker, Junior Councillor of Hameln (1654 ?) and Dr. Meinardus in our own time.] The handwriting of the entries and of the memorial date are said to differ, and that of the latter to be of the sixteenth century. The Brade does contain a paragraph anent the children, and that, for many reasons, it is important I should quote. It may be Englished thus : “ In the year 1284, on the day of John and Paul, on the 26th day of the month of June, 130 children, born in Hamein, were brought out of the town by a piper, dressed in many colours, led through the Osterthor to the Koppen by Calvary, and lost” To this effect are all the inscriptions I have ever seen, or ever read of anybody else seeing in “ Hamelin Town” itself, always excepting the verses in the Passionale which run “omnes eos vivos Calvaria sorpsit”, that may be the result of poetical licence; the sober prose gloss attached to them does not venture beyond “qui intraverunt montem Calvarium”.

But what of the rats ? Yes, what of the rats ? When did they creep into the story ? I believe our friend Wier was the first to assert in print that the Piper was actuated by anger against the town-council for its repudiation of his claim as vermin-destroyer. He said it before he went to Hamein, in the third edition of De Praestigiis, and after his return he repeated it, in the fourth. Now he would scarcely have done that if his version had been at variance with that current at head-quarters. That he, or we, should find the tale of civic chicanery set forth in municipal records, and engraven on public buildings, would be to expect too much of human nature. But Wier said the Piper was hired to entice away glires, dormice ; and Kirchner of Fulda — he wrote [Quoted by Schoock,] in 1650 — spoke of the folk being plagued by mice and shrew-mice (murium soricumque agminibus) but in the meantime, 1588, Pomarius had introduced his readers to die grosse Ratzen, which infest most modern accounts of the comedy that had such tragic close.

The question as to the kind of rodent that raged at Hamein is one of much interest, though I must not do more than glance at it. Rats are rare in folk-tales, I believe, and even when there, have often been evolved out of original mice. Gubernatis has bare mention of them in his Zoological Mythology. Naturalists have taught that mus raitus, the black rat, found its way to Europe only about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and that the brown, m. decumanus, did not reach the western countries of the Continent until the middle of the eighteenth. How did either contrive to swarm at Hameln some hundreds of years before it got there? This is really the most incredible part of our story ! Is Science at fault, and is Literature keener at smelling a rat than she? Mohammed Tabari [The authority referred to by Baring-Gould, who gives the story in *Legends of Old Testament Characters*, vol. i, p. 113.] says that the voyagers in the Ark were put to straits by rats, so Noah passed his hand down the back of the lion, who sneezed, and the cat, which did not exist before then, leaped out of its nose, and went for the rats — but perhaps we have hardly time to go back as far as the Deluge. It may suffice to remind the reader of what a friend [This was the late E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., etc., who died the week after this paper was read.] has pointed out to me, that, in the eleventh century, Norman mures et rati annoyed the blessed Lanfranc,[*Lanfranci Vita*, cap. II in *Opera* ed. D'Achery, 1648.] who on one occasion conveyed a demonstrative cat in a bag ad comprimendum furorum illorum ; whilst in the twelfth century, Giraldus Cambrensis [*Topographica Hibernica*, Dist. II, Cap. xxxii ; *Itinerarium Kambria*, Lib. II, Cap. ii. Welshmen nowadays call rats French mice, and so do the folk of Connemara.] twice mentions mures majores, qui vulgariter rati vocantur. Thirteen hundred and sixty-two gave us that notable passage in the prologue of Piers the Plowman, [Lines 146-207.] touching the project of belling the cat, where we have

“ a route
Of ratones at ones
And smale mys mid hem”;

and it is plain that the distinction between the two is more than one of size or age, because a wise mouse stands forth and contrasts the habits of himself and his brethren, the masses, with those of the burgher-Hke rats. It is unnecessary to construct a catena of authors from Langland’s time to Shakespeare’s, in order to prove that rats were perfectly familiar then, instead of being as strange as bandicoots would now be in London backyards and basements.

So, in spite of the naturalists, I think there might well be rats in Hamela in 1284, and, indeed, the memorable swarm may actually mark the epoch of their first appearance there. We do not wonder that the civic fathers were disturbed, and that somebody was ready to help them out of the difficulty ; the trial to faith comes in when we hear how he set about it and succeeded. For myself, I frankly confess that I do not regard the performance of the “ Pied Piper” as being indubitably “ a fond thing vainly invented”; I want more proof that it is so than the poor thing, popular belief. When I was young, oil and troubled water were associated only in a figure of speech, supposed to be born of the ignorance and poetical exuberance of the ancients ; whereas now the rule of oil over the waves is considered less questionable than that of Britannia. Multa renascentur. That the lower animals are affected by musical sounds has been known for centuries ; and rats, from what one reads of the rhyming [*As You Like It*, Act iii, Sc 2, 188; *Of Poetry*, Temple's *Miscellanea* P. ii, p. 244.] of the Irish contingent, and of the survival of poetical conjurations in France and elsewhere,[Rolland, *Faune Populaire : Les Mammifères Sauvages*, pp. 24-7,] may be specially susceptible to the influence of the Muses; if we did but know the Piper’s tune, it may be fin-de-siècle rats would rush forth with the same mad eagerness as those of old. The very strain it ought to be: “open Barley” had a goodly sound, but it served not Cassim’s turn when he failed to think of “ open Sesame”.

Our Hameln artist does not stand alone. Once upon a time the district about Lorch [Cited in *Curious Myths* pp. 422, 432, from Wolf's *Beitrage zur deutschen Mythologie* i, 171] was delivered from ants, crickets, and rats by three pipers, who being defrauded of the guerdon, played off pigs, sheep, and little ones respectively ; and in 1240 a Capuchin named Angionini [Sprenger, p. 16, from *Le Corsaire*, of December 1824.] lured into the river all kinds of domestic animals and stock at Draucy-les-Nouis near Paris, because the villagers refused him the reward for freeing them of rats and mice by means of a small book and a little demon. Other cases might be found for the comfort of those who, instead of agreeing that recurrence of an alleged experience goes to confirm the reality of it, regard multiplication of examples as tending to the discredit of them all. It is only when such students have collected half-a-dozen “variants” that they feel their incredulity justifiable, range their treasure in a “ cycle” and account their attitude as being truly scientific !

If what is told of more than one place, cannot be told with truth of any, and what has never happened in our time never happened at all, the exodus of the Hameln innocents is in “ a parlous state”. We have just glanced at the musical kidnapping of Lorch,[*Curious Myths* p. 422.] and Baring-Gould also reports how Brandenburg was once visited by a man who went fiddling through the streets till he had a troop of little listeners whom he wiled to the Marienberg, which opened to enclose both him and them. Nearer home, according to Dr. Kirkpatrick in The Sea Piece a narrative, philosophical, and descriptive poem published in 1750, a like tradition is attached to Cave Hill near Belfast, though I believe the memory of it is now grown dim.

The Sea Piece, 1750

“ Here, as Tradition’s hoary Legend tells,
A blinking Piper once with magic Spells
And Strains beyond a vulgar Bagpipe’s sound,
Gathered the dancing Country wide around ;
When hither as he drew the tripping Rear
(Dreadful to think and difficult to swear !)
The gaping Mountain yawn’d from side to side,
A hideous Cavern, darksome, deep, and wide ;
In skipt th’ exulting Demon, piping loud,
With passive joy succeeded by the Croud ;
The winding Cavern, trembling, as he play’d,
With dreadful Echoes rung throughout its Shade;
There firm and instant clos’d the greedy Womb,
Where wide-born Thousands met a common Tomb.
Ev’n now the good Inhabitant relates
With serious Horror their disastrous Fates ; And as the noted Spot he ventures near,
His Fancy, strung with Talces and shook with Fear,
Sounds magic Concerts in his tingling Ear ;
With superstitious Awe and solemn Face,
Trembling he points, and thinks he points the Place.”

“A blinking Piper once with magic
Spells And Strains beyond a vulgar Bagpipes Sound,
Gathered the dancing Country wide around,”

and led the way into the gaping, yawning mountain, which in due course

“ closed the greedy Womb,
Where wide-born Thousands met a common Tomb.”

Now the veracity of this tale, and of the rest, is not at present my affair; I must mention them lest I should be accused of keeping, what some may consider damaging facts, in the background ; but it is my claim for the Hameln story, of which we have many data, wanting to the others, that it stands alone, and should be judged apart from them. There was nothing supernatural, believe me, in the leading away of the children, indeed nothing, putting scale out of the question, that was not commonplace. Imps continue to rush after men, of whom the Pied One is a type ; and, when they do not come to grief, let the praise belong to the piper. If it be not a thing incredible that in 1211 “a multitude amounting as some say to 90,000) chiefly composed of children” [” for the most part from Germany”] “and commanded by a child, set out for the purpose of recovering the Holy Land” [Hallam's *State of Europe in the Middle Ages*, vol. ii, p. 359, *note*] we may surely swallow the assertion that 130 young Hamelners ran away after an attractive gaily-garbed musician in 1284. Though mediaeval chorea was promoted by fifing and red colours, [ Hecker's *Epidemics of the Middle Ages*, Part ii, pp. 8, 49.] it is not necessary to believe with Meinardus [*Die historische Kern*, p. 30, etc. I believe Schoock was the first to suggest this.] that they were affected by dancing-mania like the 100 children of Erfurt, [Hecker, p. 27.] who in 1237 skipped and jumped along the road until they came to Arnstadt, where they fell to the ground in utter exhaustion. Neither do I think the wild rites of Midsummer, or S. John Baptist’s, Eve should bear the blame, as three nights had passed between them and the fresh morn of the festival of S. John and S. Paul — Roman brothers, and Martyrs— when the Piper piped his summons, and the joy of many households sped away. Nothing more than childish curiosity and excitement, freedom from suspicion, carelessness of consequences, was wanted to produce the effect. Very ordinary causes brought about a kind of Kinderausgang in London in 1643 ; it led Howell [*Epistolae Ho.—Elianae*, B.i, Sect 6, Letter XLIX, dated Fleet, 1 Oct. 1643.] the traveller and letter-writer to relate the Hameln story to his correspondent. He prefaces it thus : “ I saw such prodigious things daily done these few Years past, that I had resolved with myself to give over wondering at anything, yet a passage happened this Week that forced me to wonder once more, because it is without parallel. It was that some odd Fellows went skulking up and down London Streets, and with Figs and Raisins allured little Children, and so purloined them away from their Parents and carried them a Ship-board far beyond the Sea, where, by cutting their Hair, and other Devices, they so disguised them that their own Parents could not know them.” Given another Age, and a chronicler of different temperament, and these embodiments of diabolic craft had, like the Pied Piper, painted a moral and adorned a tale, as Diabolus himself.

Do I presume too much in hoping that, thus far, you are all with me ? I expect to be asked with some sign of sarcasm whether the going into the Koppen is also to be regarded as a natural occurrence. Certainly not, if into must needs imply subterranean entry ; but I take it in the sense in which it is familiar to us in the New Testament and out of it, when “ into a mountain” denotes no more than exterior or superficial access, and I stagger not. Love of the marvellous and misapprehension were parents of the fancy that Bunting and his audience were actually absorbed by the hill, and it was probably fostered by the misreading of Calvaria, a praying-station, as cavaria, a hollow place or cave, of which I saw an instance during the preparation of this paper. The historical nursemaid, who beheld things from afar, must be answerable for something — “ I know that girl, she comes fra’ Sheffield” — whilst the blind boy and the mute would add their quota to the wonder.

Whither Piper and children went, when they vanished from sight of the two watchers, into the Koppenberg, it is at this time impossible to determine. The leader gained a start, gained it in a day when electricity could not head a fugitive, and had everything but the number of the convoy in his favour. It is as likely as not that the wily fellow doubled as soon as the lie of the land furthered his purpose, came down to the river and, by pre-arrangement, was able to use it as a silent highway, on which the children passed easily with the current to some district beyond the hue and cry. Once at Bremen there were, what Samuel Johnson might call “ potentialities” of evasion, on which I need not dwell.

In 1650, Kirchner, a Jesuit, stated on the alleged authority of a Transylvanian chronicle [I gather this from an abstract of *Fabula Hamelensis*. ] that the folk of Siebenbürge came of the kidnapped Hamelners, and spoke their tongue. The theory had been referred to by Verstegan nearly half a century before Kirchner’s Musurgia Universalis appeared, but he discredited it, attributed the likeness of language to Saxon colonisation of Transylvania by Charles the Great, and seems to have known nothing of the chronicler relied on by the later writer. “Some doe report”, says Verstegan, [I copy from the edition of 1634, but the passage also occurs (I am told) in that of 1605.] “that there are divers found among the Saxons in Transilvania that have the like surnames unto the Kurgers of Hamel, and will thereby seem to infer that this jugler or pied piper might by negro-mancy have transported them thither ; but this carrieth but little appearance of truth, because it would have been almost as great a wonder unto the Saxons of Transilvania to have had so many strange children brought among them they knew not how, as it were to those of Hamel to lose them ; and they could not but have kept memory of so strange a thing, if indeed any such thing had there hapened.”

It is not unlikely, I think, that some relic, real or supposed, of the children found in Siebenberge in the Hameln district may have given colour to the belief that they had been traced to Siebenbürge in Transylvania. So a certain correspondence led Schoock to imagine that he had found the epitaph of the Pied Piper in S. Laurence’s, Padua. The memorial had been erected by the German nation, and the subject of it, a Transylvanian named Valentine Graeirus or Bacfort, had died at the age of forty-nine in 1524; but as his “rare skill in pipe-playing” had led to his being “admired as another Orpheus”, no one could doubt — so thought Schoock— that he was the performer usually credited to 1284!

After all this, is it not somewhat startling to learn, from Mrs. Gerard’s Land beyond the Forest, [Vol. i, pp. 52, 54.] that the story of the juvenile immigrants is still credited in Transylvania ? The journey is said to have been performed through subterranean passages, and the Almesche Höhle, in the north-east of the country, is pointed out as being the place where the travellers reissued to the light of day. At the village of Nadesch [P. 51] the arrival of the German ancestors is annually commemorated, but I do not feel sure that they are supposed to have come from Hameln, though Mrs. Gerard so expresses herself that I think it not unlikely such may be the case. On a particular day all the lads dress up as pilgrims and assemble round a flag. Headed by an old man, they go about the streets in procession singing psalms, stopping to dance and to refresh themselves at intervals. When questioned, they say, “ Thus came our forefathers, free people like ourselves, from Saxonia into this land, behind the flag and drum and with staffs in their hands. And because we have not invented this custom, neither did our ancestors invent it, but have transmitted it from generation to generation, so do we, too, desire to hand it down to our children and grandchildren.”

One word in conclusion : I have made great inroad on the reader’s patience, though I have by no means exhausted my subject, and humbly apologise for being as long-winded as the Piper, without, at the same time, being able to exercise a corresponding charm.

Eliza Gutch.

Archaeological and Political History of Newtown

Newtown was originally created as a new town by the Bishop of Winchester in 1254.

An archaeological survey of Newtown was produced by Hampshire County Council and English Heritage and published as Extensive Urban Survey - Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Dave Hopkins, 2004, https://doi.org/10.5284/1000227 Newtown specifics.

Extensive Urban Survey - Location & History, Newtown

2. LOCATION

Newtown (NGR SZ 423906) lies approximately 1.5km from the northern coast of the Island, on the eastern side of the estuary of the Newtown River. The town is some 9km to the west of Newport, the county town, and approximately 8km east of Yarmouth.

The town is located on a slightly elevated ridge at around 10m OD with the tidal Newtown River on the south and west, and salt marshes and Clamerkin Lake to the north.

3. BACKGROUND ARCHAEOLOGY

Prehistoric
A few prehistoric flint tools have been recovered from the western bank of Newtown River, but no finds of prehistoric date have been recovered from the town.

Roman
There are no sites of Roman date around the immediate vicinity of the town.

Anglo-Saxon

No sites or finds of the Anglo-Saxon period are known from the area of Newtown.

Medieval
Some finds of medieval date were recovered from a pipe trench excavated in the centre of thetown.

Post-medieval
There are several post-medieval salterns recorded in the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) (See B9 below).

HISTORY

Saxon
There are no Anglo-Saxon documents that refer to the settlement of Newtown. Traditionally, Newtown is identified as one of the towns destroyed by the Danes in 1001 (Page 1912, 265) but thereis no further evidence.

The estate of Calbourne, in which Newtown lay, was granted to the Bishop of Winchester in 826 by Egbert, King of Wessex and was the only estate held by the bishops in the Island (Beresford 1967, 445; Sawyer 1968, 274). Calbourne has been possibly identified as an estate centre from the mid- to late Anglo-Saxon period (Cahill, 1980, 22-3).

Medieval
Calbourne, as recorded in the Domesday Book, was a large estate of 32 hides and 28.5 ploughs, and a recorded population of around one hundred (Munby 1982, fol 52c). There was also a smaller estate held by William, son of Stur, where there were just under three hides, seven recorded people and a mill (ibid., fol 52d). It may be that the two holdings represent the medieval manors of Swainston and Westover. The Bishops of Winchester had a manor house at Swainston, 2km to the east of Calbourne.

The first reference to the settlement of Newtown is under the name of Francheville (meaning ‘free town’) and comes from the Bishop of Winchester’s Court Roll of 1254-5 where there is an entry in the account of the manor of Swainston for work at a house ‘in the new borough of Francheville’ (Beresford 1967, 445). The following year the account roll had the bold heading ‘Franchevile’ (sic) (Beresford 1959, 203). The same year the Bishop-elect, Aymer de Valence, obtained a grant for a market and a fair for his manor of Swainston (Page 1912, 265), and it is presumed that the market was held at the new town, which was called the Borough of Swainston in a charter issued by the Bishop in 1256. The new borough was the last of the town foundations by the Bishops of Winchester (Beresford and St Joseph 1958, 242). There were seventy-three plots in the new borough (Beresford 1967, 445). It has been suggested that Shalfleet, less than 2km to the south-east, was originally a small port but the creek on which it is located silted up in the medieval period (D. Tomalin pers comm). It is possible that Shalfleet was experiencing difficulties due to the silting-up of the river, and that Newtown was created by the Bishop to benefit from those difficulties.

It would appear that there was already a settlement called Stretley on the site of the borough in 1254-5, and that some of the tenants of Stretley were allowed to remain on the site with the town laid out around their properties (Beresford 1967, 445). The new borough was provided with a chapel that was dependent upon the parish church at Calbourne (Page 1912, 268).

In 1284, the Bishop of Winchester was forced to relinquish all his manors to King Edward I until he paid a large fine. However, the king did not return the manor of Calbourne together with the manorhouse at Swainston and the borough of Newtown (Beresford 1967, 445). This ‘transaction’ has also been regarded as the King acquiring the town because of its strategic importance (Beresford and St Joseph 1958, 242; Lloyd 1984, 71). King Edward visited his new estate, staying at Swainston, the following year and confirmed the charter issued by the bishop (Page 1912, 265). By 1297-8 there were sixty-six people occupying seventy plots in the town (Beresford 1959, 205).

Although Newtown possessed one of the safest havens in the Island, the town was never called upon to provide ships for the king’s service, although ports such as St Helen’s, near Brading did have to supply a ship for a military expedition in 1302/3 (Page 1912, 189). It is probable that the town was beginning to experience economic decline in the early to mid-fourteenth century. In 1334, the inhabitants of Newtown were taxed at a fifteenth of the value of their movable wealth rather than the usual tenth levied on the inhabitants of most towns (Beresford 1959,214).

The town is thought to have been destroyed in the French raids of 1377 which had also reduced Yarmouth to ruins (Page 1912, 266). However, Beresford has suggested that there may have been other reasons for the decline of the settlement, including the competition of the Solent ports of Southampton, Yarmouth, Lymington and Christchurch, and the depopulation of the rural hinterland in the Island as a result of the conversions from arable to pastoral farming (Beresford 1959, 205). There would have also been competition from the king’s borough of Newport. It has been suggested that there was a deliberate lack of interest in the fortunes of the town of Yarmouth by the king so as to reduce the competition with his borough of Newport (Beresford, 1967, 450), and it may be that there was a similar lack of effort to improve the fortunes of Newtown. In 1379, the Lay Subsidy raised 13s. from the fifty-six inhabitants from thirty-one households who were liable to pay the tax (PRO E179/173/41).

Post-medieval
The extent of decline in the town is indicated by comments made by Oglander in 1559 who stated that Newtown appeared to have once been larger than Newport was at that date, but that now there was no market or any good houses standing (Page 1912, 266).

The Hearth Tax of 1674 recorded only eleven houses in the town (Beresford 1959, 214), although only three years later a new Town Hall was built (Page 1912, 265). A plan of the town produced a century later shows twelve houses (Beresford 1959, 214).

Newtown sent two representatives to parliament from 1584 until 1832 when it was disfranchised as a “rotten borough” in the Reform Act (Page 1912, 267).

Extensive Urban Survey - Topography

4. ANALYSIS
   TOPOGRAPHY OF NEWTOWN
   Market, streets and bridges

Market
There is no direct evidence for the location of the site of the market-place in the town. Broad Street, the widest street in the town, would have been suitable for a market, but only in the northern part of the street as to the south of the town hall (B6) the land falls away quite steeply. As Broad Street is also the site of the town hall, this may suggest that this is where the market was held, although there is no firm evidence for a market or town hall on this site before the seventeenth century. However from available cartographic sources, there is no suggestion that Broad Street was lined with burgage properties in the medieval period. In general, market places or market streets were favoured areas for settlement and the location of shops and in smaller towns usually formed the core of the settlement, for example, Andover, New Alresford and Overton, Hampshire. It is also suggested that Church Street and the small area known as Bowling Green at the eastern end of the town functioned as market areas (Beresford and St Joseph 1958, 243).

Streets (Lost Streets B1)
The earliest detailed plan of the town available (1768) shows that the town had a simple grid plan consisting of two streets orientated east - west (Gold Street, the western part of which was formerly called Silver Street, and High Street) and one principal north - south street (Broad Street). There was one further north - south street, Church Street, which linked High Street and Gold Street, although a map of 1768 shows Church Street extending to the south between the properties on the south side of High Street. A footpath now continues the line of Church Street to the south, and a lane takes the line of the street to the north, both of which may indicate that Church Street was once more extensive. Fieldwork has shown that there was a third east - west street that ran parallel to Gold Street, and which may have functioned as a back-lane to the properties on the north side of Gold Street. This street was connected to the lane that continues the northern line of Church Street at its western end, and the suggested continuation of the line of Broad Street to the north at its eastern end (Basford 1980, 46).

This street had evidently disappeared by 1768.

The properties on the southern side of High Street may have also had a back-lane along their rear boundaries. There is a slight hollow along this line that may represent a street or a ditch demarking the rear boundary of the blocks of burgage plots. Bridge B2 Broad Street crosses Newtown Creek via a bridge that is thought to be of post-medieval construction. It is probable that there was a bridge on this site in the medieval period as the road to Calbourne and the mother church probably crossed the river at or near this point, although no documentary sources have been located that refer to the bridge. It is possible that there was a ford crossing the river before the construction of the bridge.

Property plots
Burgage plots B3
There is both cartographic and earthwork evidence for burgage properties in the town but the exact extent of properties is not definitely known, especially on the eastern edge of the town, but it is suggested that they extended to Bowling Green and possibly beyond as the plan of the town appears to have been symmetrical, with Church Street reflecting Bowling Green in the western part of the town (Beresford and St Joseph 1958, 245). The 1768 map of the town shows property plots concentrated in the area of the chapel between Gold Street and High Street, and along the southern side of High Street to the west of Broad Street. There were also a few properties shown between Gold Street and High Street, and on the southern side of High Street, to the east of Broad Street. Along the northern side of Gold Street some plots were shown at both the western and eastern ends of the street with closes between them. There is no evidence, either cartographic or earthwork, for burgage properties along Broad Street. In 1768 the only building in this area was the Town Hall that stands in the middle of the street.

It has been suggested that the town did extend to the south of the Town Hall (Albin 1795, 345) but the land falls quite quickly towards the river and so would have made a less favourable area for settlement than the flat top of the spur along which Gold Street and High Street run.

Possible burgage plots B4
The limit of occupation at the eastern end of the town is not definitely known. There are several long, narrow, fields at the eastern end of the old High Street that have ridge and furrow within them, which probably indicates the limit of occupation.

Priest’s property B5
In 1547 it was recorded that the priest of Calbourne was to maintain a priest in Newtown who should live in a house adjoining the churchyard (Page 1912, 268). Only two plots adjoin the churchyard as it is bounded by streets to the north, west and south; one to the east, and a small plot that appears to be taken out of the north-west corner of the churchyard. This small western plot seems to be the most likely site for the priest’s house.

Buildings
Most of the buildings of the town are of eighteenth- or nineteenth-century date.

Town Hall B6
The town hall was rebuilt in 1677, possibly on the foundations of an earlier stone undercroft, and was repaired in 1812 (Page 1912, 265). The location of the town hall is somewhatunusual in that rather than being at the heart of the town, as is usual with most town halls, it is located at the entrance to the town and was probably the first building one would have seen when approaching the town from the south.

Chapel B7
It is probable that the new borough was provided with a chapel from, or shortly after, the date of foundation of the town. As a chapel dependent upon the parish church at Calbourne, the chapel would probably not have had a burial ground, with the dead of the town being carried to Calbourne for burial. Although there is no record of the destruction of the chapel in the French raid of 1377, it is possible that the building was, at least, damaged in the attack. In the early eighteenth century the chapel was recorded as having been dilapidated since 1663, and by 1724 the condition of the building was so bad that it was not possible to hold services in it (Page 1912, 268). In 1835 a new chapel dedicated to the Holy Ghost was built on the site of the old chapel was (Page 1912, 267).

Quay B8
The map of Newtown of 1768 shows an irregularly shaped field called Key Close on the western edge of the town along part of Newtown Creek. This area probably formed the town’s quay, providing an area for the loading, unloading and storage of goods being transported through the town. Key Close is an irregular shaped field with projections that link to both High Street and Gold Street. Mudge’s map shows High Street and Gold Street leading directly into Key Close. Albin states that the harbour was capable of receiving vessels of 500 tonnes burden at high water (Albin 1795, 345).

Salterns B9
Although there seems to be little direct evidence for the manufacture of salt at Newtown in the medieval period, it is most probable that salt was produced in this area, and that many, if not all, of the pans that are depicted on eighteenth-century maps had their origins in the medieval period.

A map of 1768 shows salt pans and a “Feeding Pond” to the north-west of the town, and salt works are shown on other later maps. When the industry declined, the salt pans found a new use as oyster beds, but that industry also declined in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Some of the salt pans have been destroyed by the sea, and have reverted to salt marsh. A salt-house survived on this site until c.1980 when the owners of the site, The National Trust, demolished it.

Sea Wall (not on map extent)
By the eighteenth century a sea wall had been built around the area of mud flats to the north of the town, probably in an attempt to reclaim the mud for agricultural use. However, the wall has been breached and the area remains as mud flats exposed at low tide. The area later became the site of at least two salterns. Sections of the sea wall survive. Brickworks B10 The map of the town of 1768 labels a field to the north of the town as ‘Brick-kiln Close’ which probably indicates that brick-making was undertaken near the town, although Gale (1987) makes no reference to a brickworks in Newtown.

Other trades and industries
The Lay Subsidy of 1379 (PRO E179/173/41) listed six boatmen, three fishermen, four butchers, two weavers and two tailors, a smith and a baker.

Ridge and Furrow B11
There are extensive remains of ridge and furrow in many of the fields surrounding the town. In some closes the ridge and furrow appears to encroach into areas that are thought to have formed part of the area of burgage plots.

Extensive Urban Survey - Potential of Newtown

THE POTENTIAL OF NEWTOWN

Areas of Archaeological Importance and Potential

Areas Comprising Nationally Important Archaeological Remains

The Town Hall is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SM IW18).

The extent of the town, its surrounding fields, boundaries and tracks, and the saltern to the north of the town is an Area Comprising Nationally Important Archaeological Remains, although currently unscheduled. Newtown was a planned new town created at the instigation of a Bishop of Winchester and was one of several foundations created by the Bishops during the thirteenth century. The town is now largely deserted and as such represents an almost unique opportunity to preserve such a foundation. In north Hampshire the Bishops created another town, also called Newtown, but at that site there is little in the way of visible physical remains, either for the property plots or field systems surrounding the town. Most of the other new-town foundations survive as small towns and so in those places there has been a continued pressure on archaeological remains which will have led to some fragmentation of the deposits. However, at Newtown, Isle of Wight, much of the street pattern is visible, partly within the fields or as green lanes, with burgage plot boundaries within a large part of the conjectured area of burgage plots, and as many of the property plots have been deserted from the late medieval or post-medieval periods, it is probable that there will be a greater survival of medieval archaeological deposits although gardening activities in some plots may have compromised the remains.

Around the core of the burgage plots there is evidence for the fields of the town, with ridge and furrow surviving in many of the fields. Also of importance is the actual field pattern, particularly at the southeastern edge of the settlement where there is a series of long, narrow, fields. The boundaries of many of the fields consist of banks and ditches. Investigation of these features where they intersect may lead to an understanding of the development of the fields. The fields were intimately linked to the town and, because there appears to have been little recent alteration in the field pattern, they represent an opportunity to examine a medieval planted town with its associated agricultural landscape. As Newtown was also dependent on its agricultural output, it is probable that much of the town’s rubbish was deposited on the fields in manuring and so even unstratified artefacts, particularly pottery, within the fields can be used to make statements about aspects of the economy of the town.

At the western end of the town is the probable site of the quay, the structure of which, or part of it, may survive.

It is suggested that the saltern to the north-west of the town is also of national importance and should be considered for scheduling. Salt making was undertaken on the site from the eighteenth century at least, and may have begun in the medieval period. There appears to be little knowledge, generally, about the medieval salt-making industries in the Solent area. However, it is acknowledged that little work has been done on the other salterns in the Island and so it may be shown that there are better examples. Areas of High Archaeological Potential The silted-up estuary to the south of the town is an Area of High Archaeological Potential. Within this area there may be the remains of abandoned vessels or timber wharfages, and evidence for goods traded through the port. Areas of Archaeological Potential The sea wall that was built in an attempt to reclaim the area of mud flats to the north of the town may include evidence for its date of construction, and so add to the knowledge of the land-use around the town.

Issues to be resolved

Newtown represents a rare opportunity to study one of the Bishop of Winchester’s new towns in its entirety. All aspects of the development of the town, including building forms and sizes, burgage plot division regarding sizes and boundary forms, the streets, the quay, and the surrounding fields are available for intensive study utilising both non-intrusive and intrusive survey methods. It may also be possible to compare Newtown with another of the Bishop’s new towns, Newtown in Hampshire, which is also a deserted town.

Extensive Urban Survey - Sources

7. SOURCES
   DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

There appear to be few medieval documentary sources relating to properties in Newtown.

There may be references to the town in the archives of the Bishops of Winchester and within royal archives at the Public Record Office.

Documents referenced as PRO, for example, the 1379 Lay Subsidy (PRO E179/173/41) have been accessed through transcriptions held in the County Records Office.

MAPS AND PLANS

1768 A plan of the Borough of Newtown alias Frankville by James Mallett

1769 Andrews’ map of the Isle of Wight

1810 Mudge’s map of the Isle of Wight

1908 OS 25” map 3rd Edition Sheets 89.14 and 89.15

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albin, J. 1795 History of the Isle of Wight Newport

Basford, H.V. 1980 The Vectis Report Isle of Wight County Council.

Beresford, M. 1959 ‘The Six New Towns of the Bishops Of Winchester 1200-55’ in Medieval Archaeology 1, 187-215

Beresford, M. 1967 New Towns of the Middle Ages Lutterworth London

Beresford, M. & 1958 Medieval England An Aerial Survey Cambridge University Press St Joseph, J.K.S. 2nd Edition (1979)

Gale, A. 1987 ‘The Location of Brickworks on the Isle of Wight’ in Proceedings of the Isle of Wight Natural History and Archaeological Society 8, Part 1 37-44

Hughes, M.F. 1976 The Small Towns of Hampshire. The Archaeological and Historical Implications of Development Hampshire Archaeological Committee

Lloyd, D.W. 1984 The Making of English Towns Gollancz

Page, W. [Ed] 1912 Victoria History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 5, Archibald Constable London

Sawyer, P.H. [Ed] 1968 Anglo-Saxon Charters Royal Historical Society London

The strategy document also includes a brief review of the history of Newtown.

Extensive Urban Survey — Newtown strategy - historic Newtown

Historic Newtown

5.1 This section is a summary of the more detailed accounts of the archaeology, history, topography and architecture of Newtown to be found in the Archaeological Assessment Document that accompanies this Strategy.

5.2 The deserted medieval town of Newtown lies approximately nine kilometres west of Newport on the estuary of the Newtown River which flows into the Solent. The town occupied a ridge which has the river or salt-marshes to the south, west and north.

5.3 Apart from a few prehistoric flints recovered from the western side of the estuary no evidence of settlement pre-dating the medieval period has been found in the vicinity of the town.

5.4 The estate within which Newtown lay was given to the Bishop of Winchester in 826 but at that time the estate centre was probably at Calbourne. Tradition has it that Newtown was destroyed by the Danes in 1001 but there is no evidence for this. It is possible that there was some settlement on the ridge before the foundation of the town, based on a reference to Streetly.

5.5 Newtown was first recorded in 1254-5 under the name ‘Francheville’ (Free Town) and was at that time called a borough. The bishop obtained a grant for a market and fair for his manor of Calbourne the following year but it is presumed that the market and fairs were held at Newtown. At this time there were seventy three burgage plots in the town which was provided with a chapel that was dependant on the parish church at Calbourne.

5.6 The town is thought to have been destroyed, or at least badly damaged, in the French raids on the Island in 1377 and the economic decline in Newtown is usually attributed to these raids. However it is clear that there were problems in the town’s economy by the early to midfourteenth century.

5.7 By the sixteenth century it was said that there were no good houses standing and no market in the town. In the late seventeenth century there were only eleven houses in the borough but it was at that time that the Town Hall, where the town’s two Members of Parliament were elected, was rebuilt. Newtown returned two MPs from 1584 until 1832 when it was disfranchised as a ‘rotten borough’ in The Reform Act.

For issues associated with the creation of new towns at the time, see for example Florilegium Urbanum, “Planning a new town: personnel, process, and product” describing the foundation of Winchelsea. The article has this to say regarding Newtown:

Creating a new town

The kinds of difficulties faced by New Winchelsea were not so uncommon. To take just one other example, one of a number of new towns founded by the Bishops of Winchester on their estates was Francheville (‘free town’), established on the episcopal manor of Swainston on the Isle of Wight, alongside a channel leading into the Solent. In 1256, a year after obtaining royal licence for a market and fair, Bishop-elect Aymer de Valence granted by charter the same liberties as other episcopal urban foundations (such as Alresford) and for some years thereafter the See’s coffers were modestly swelled by new rental income and market tolls. Subsequently known as Newtown, it was, as part of the manor, acquired in 1284 by Edward I (who aimed at acquiring the entire island, which he would accomplish in 1293); the king visited the following year, doubtless partly to inspect his new acquisition, and he took the opportunity to confirm the town’s chartered liberties. The economy of the place appears originally to have been based on fishing and salt harvesting, but Newtown’s site, on a large sheltered bay on the north-west coast of the island, must have suggested it a potentially good location for maritime commerce, and perhaps (to the king) a naval base for defence of the Solent; if so, there is no evidence it was put to naval purposes or that its residents were ever in a position to contribute ships to the navy.

On the other hand, Newtown’s location made it vulnerable to attack, and it may have suffered such on several occasions, from the Viking period up to the Hundred Years War, with the French assault in 1377 causing extensive damage. As with Winchelsea, silting of the harbour and its inability to accommodate larger ships was another problem, while earlier in the century an infestation of rats (according to local legend) and then plague were setbacks. Although taxation records of 1334 show the episcopal manor and town assessed at twice the value of Newport (the principal town of the island), commercial competition from the latter, as well as from Yarmouth – both towns being new foundations of the 1170s – and perhaps Southampton too, may have been a more significant factor in the failure of Newtown to thrive for long. Nonetheless, royal confirmations of the town charter in 1393 and 1413 indicate that the residents were still trying to make a go of it; fatal economic decline and depopulation seem to have waited for the Early Modern period. Although Newtown retained urban status up to the nineteenth century (as a Rotten Borough), it is today barely populous enough to be deemed a village, although the medieval street pattern survives and outlines of many of the medieval burgage plots, laid out by the bishop’s officials, remain discernible.

In the years following the tale, and following the sacking of the town during the invasion by the French, it continued its decline, despite several attempts to rejuvenate it. This included an initiative by Elizabeth I, which saw the town returning two MPs despite its small population. (Over the years, the returned MPs included John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough, in 1678, (and who I have already encountered in On the Trail of the Sin-Eater) and Richard Worsley, about which there are other tales to tell.)

History of Newtown as a Parliamentary Constituency

See for example:

• Newtown (UK Parliament constituency) [Wikipedia]