You see, when I see an exciting headline like this in the Weekly Mail for 16 June 1906 – WRATHFUL POACHER. ACCOSTED BY KEEPERS, HE NEARLY KILLS HIS FERRET – I can’t resist it. I mean, which one of you could?
Two young men appeared in Neath County Police-court, David Wells and David Stokes, of Skewen, both copper workers, who pleaded guilty to trespassing with two greyhounds on Troedyrhiwf Farm in pursuit of rabbits. When they were chased by gamekeepers, one dropped a bag containing seven rabbits and three nets. When they were detained, there was a ferret in Stokes’ pocket and which the keeper demanded. Stokes replied. Well, you shan’t have it alive, and flung it to the ground nearly killing it. Which seems a bit unfair on the ferret, if you ask me. Hope they found it a more caring home.
Police Sergeant Jones said the men were the worst poachers in Skewen, which might be an accolade or might not, since you would imagine that the best always escaped. Both men had been previously convicted. They were fined £2 but preferred the offer of a month in prison.
The newspapers suggest that Skewen was a dangerous place to be a rabbit. Or indeed a gamekeeper.
Richard Davies, once more from Skewen, was also charged with poaching and with threatening to kill John Cradoc, a gamekeeper. When he was found hiding in the woods, Davies threatened Cradoc, saying, ‘You white-faced old bugger’. If you summons me you won’t live another week. Cradoc reported him, hence his appearance in court. There had been sixteen previous convictions against Davies, one of which was six months imprisonment for nearly killing a policeman. He was fined 10s and costs for poaching, and then was bound over £20 to guarantee his good behaviour for six months.
Things were not a great deal better in Newport during June 1906.
The Evening Express tells us about Worthy Brown, one of the oldest gamekeepers on Lord Tredegar’s estate, who had an exciting experience whilst on duty on Saturday night. He was walking through the property when he saw a man carrying a gun in the in the next field. Brown hid in a ditch, and observed the intruder carefully. When the stranger opened the gate to the field where he was hiding, Brown challenged him. The man raised his gun, and Brown had only just time to shelter behind a gatepost when the poacher fired, one of the shots grazing the gamekeeper’s right ear. The poacher got away.
This is the part I like. Brown claimed that the poacher was disguised by means of a set of false whiskers, and. though he was apparently only 25 years of age and of fresh complexion, the wearing of the false beard was intended to give him a much older appearance. How he could have seen this in the darkness, isn’t clear.
Worthy Brown, a true gamekeeping hero, was untroubled and made light of the matter. It is not the first time that I have been shot at or taken part in such an adventure.
There was more excitement in Newport involving a dock labourer called George Atwell. He was out for a walk near Lord Tredegar’s estate with his dog, which he said was a cross between a whippet and a bulldog. It sounds to me less than a cross and more of a serious irritation. Constable Cook wasn’t impressed either. He stopped Atwell and searched him, in line with the Poaching Prevention Act. In the lining of his jacket, Cook found eight rabbits—four alive and four dead. How comfortable the live rabbits were isn’t explored. When Atwell appeared in court he asserted that he never trespassed on Lord Tredegar’s land and blamed the dog for everything. It had caught the rabbits on the highway and brought them to him. This was an unimpressive defence. He was told it was still poaching whether you caught rabbits on the highway or in a wood. Atwell was fined.
They do things on a grander scale in North Wales, don’t they? Or at least according to the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald, they do. The police in Bangor charged William Davies and David Edwards with poaching. A constable saw the defendants on the Holyhead road with about twenty-five rabbits on their shoulders in the early morning. They bolted as soon as they were challenged, and dropped most of the rabbits. The police had a page and a half of previous convictions against, Davies, and eight or ten against Edwards. They were fined 40s.
At the Montgomeryshire Assizes, things were a little more tense when the verdict was delivered at a long-running trial. A group of poachers was charged with the attempted murder of two gamekeepers, Thomas Elliot and Richard Edwards. Late one night in December the keepers were fired upon by a group of poachers who then disappeared. One of the poachers, Evan Pryce turned King’s evidence, believing that by betraying his colleagues he would receive £100 reward. There was clearly no honour amongst poachers. One colleague was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, another to 15 months’ hard labour and a third, a man named Breeze, was sentenced to three months’ bard labour. Evan Pryce did not collect his £100. He was sent to gaol with hard labour for six months. He would have probably have never pass ‘Go’ if he had ever had a chance to play Monopoly.
Words: Geoff Brookes
