J.Granger (1904)


Source:

James Granger (Auth.)
OLD NOTTINGHAM: Its Streets, People, &c.: SECOND SERIES [Recruiting officer's speech]
Nottingham: Nottingham Daily Express Office, 1904, pp.59-60

This book is a collected reprint of a series of articles first published in the Nottingham Daily Express between 3rd Oct.1903 and 9th July 1904.

In describing a campaign to raise troops for the Loyal Nottinghamshire Foresters in 1796 - a year of rioting in Nottingham in 1796 - he gives the following passage, which closely resembles the Doctor's travels of some Nottinghamshire folk plays. The quotation marks are Granger's;

"As a specimen of the extravagant misrepre-
sentations held forth to recruits entering regi-
ments of the line, the local newspaper supplies
the following evidently satirical address, 'said'
to have been given by an English Officer:- I
will lead you into a country where the rivers
consist of fine nut-brown ale - where the houses
are built of hot roast beef, and the wainscots
papered with pancakes. There, my boys, it
rains plum-pudding every Sunday morning, the
streets are paved with quartern loaves, and nice
roasted pigs run about with knives and forks
stuck in them, and crying out, 'Who will eat
me? Who will eat me?"

Unfortunately, Granger gives neither the name of the paper nor a more precise date. It is conceivable that even the year may only approximate.

Index Terms:

Locations: Nottingham, Notts. (SK5739)
Years: Publ. 1796
Subjects: Army Recruitment Campaign; Recruiting Speech; Doctor's Travels; Loyal Nottinghamshire Foresters
Archives: TDRG Archive, Ref. TD00560

Last Updated Jan 1995 by Peter Millington.