It is just as hard for the visitor to-day to the site of Norman Cross, to realize that here stood, until almost within living memory, a huge war-prison, as it is at Sissinghurst. Whether one approaches it from Peterborough, six miles away, through the semi-rural village of Yaxley, by which name the prison was often called, or by the Great North Road from Stilton—famous for the sale, not the manufacture, of the famous cheese, and for the wreck2 of one of the stateliest coaching inns of England, the Bell—we see but a large, ordinary-looking meadow, dotted with trees, with three or four houses on its borders, and except for its size, which is nearly forty acres, differing in no way from the fields around.
An examination of the space, however, under the guidance of Dr. Walker, does reveal remains4. We can trace the great ditch which passed round the prison inside the outer wall; some of the twenty-one wells which were sunk still remain, and about thirty feet of the original red brick wall, built in the old ‘English bond’ style, is still above ground. As, with the exceptions presently to be noted5, the prisons proper, with the offices pertaining6 thereto, were built entirely7 of wood, and were sold and removed when the prison ceased to be, nothing of it remains here, although some of the buildings were re-erected8 in Peterborough and the neighbouring villages, and may still be seen. The only war-time buildings remaining are the Prison Superintendent9’s house, now occupied by Alderman Herbert, and the agent’s house, now belonging to Mr. Franey, both, of course, much altered and beautified, and one which has been variously described to me as the officers’ quarters and the Barrack Master’s residence. In the Musée Historique Militaire at the Invalides, in Paris, there is a most minutely and beautifully 134executed model of the Norman Cross Prison, the work of one Foulley, who was a prisoner here for five years and three months. Not only are the buildings, wells, palisades, pumps, troughs, and other details represented, but tiny models of prisoners at work and at play are dotted about, and in front of the chief, the eastern gate, a battalion11 of Militia12 is drawn13 up, complete to the smallest particulars of arms and equipment.
Not the least interesting relic14 of the prison days is the prisoners’ burial-ground at the lower end of a field sloping down from the west side of the Great North Road.
On July 28 of the present year (1914) a memorial to the prisoners of war who died at Norman Cross was unveiled by Lord Weardale. The idea originated with Dr. T. J. Walker and Mr. W. H. Sands, and was developed by the Entente15 Cordiale Society. The memorial is in the form of a stone pillar, surmounted17 by an eagle with outstretched wings, standing18 upon a square pedestal approached by steps, the lowermost of which is shaped like the palisading of the old prison, and faces the Great North Road, the burial ground being at the bottom of the field behind it. Upon the monument is inscribed19:
‘In Memoriam. This column was erected A.D. 1914 to the memory of 1,770 soldiers and sailors, natives or allies of France, taken prisoners of war during the Republican and Napoleonic wars with Great Britain, A.D. 1793–1814, who died in the military dép?t at Norman Cross, which formerly20 stood near this spot, 1797–1814.
Erected by
The Entente Cordiale Society and friends on the initiative of the late W. H. Sands, Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Society.’
One might expect to find at Yaxley Church, as in so many other places in England associated with the sojourn21 of war prisoners, epitaphs or registry entries of officers who died on parole, but there are none. All that Yaxley preserves of its old connexion with the war prison are the stone caps of the prison east gate piers22, which now surmount16 the piers of the west churchyard entrance, and the tablet in the church to the memory of Captain Draper, R.N., an agent of the prison, which is thus lettered:
‘Inscribed at the desire and the sole Expence of the French Prisoners of War at Norman Cross, to the memory of Captain John Draper, R.N., who for the last 18 months of his life was Agent to the Dep?t; in testimony23 of their esteem24 and gratitude25 for his humane26 attention to their comforts during that too short period. He died February 23rd, 1813, aged27 53 years.’
Memorial to French Prisoners of War who died at Norman Cross
Unveiled July 28, 1914
135The Rev3. Arthur Brown, in his little book The French Prisoners of Norman Cross, says that the prisoners asked to be represented at his funeral, and that their petition concluded with the assurance that, mauvais sujets as some of them were, not one would take advantage of the liberty accorded them to attempt to escape. It is gratifying to know that their request was granted. Other relics28 of the prisoners, in the shape of articles made by them for sale with the rudest of tools and the commonest of materials, are tolerably abundant, although the choicest are to be seen in museums and private collections, notably29 those in the Peterborough Museum and in the possession of Mr. Dack, the curator. Probably no more varied30 and beautiful specimens32 of French prisoner work in wood, bone, straw, and grass, than these just mentioned, are to be found in Britain.
The market at which these articles were sold was held daily from 10 a.m. till noon, according to some accounts, twice a week according to others. It was important enough, it is said, to have dwarfed33 that at Peterborough: as much as ￡200 was known to have been taken during a week, and at one time the concourse of strangers at it was so great that an order was issued that in future nobody was to be admitted unless accompanied by a commissioned officer. Visitors were searched, and severe penalties were imposed upon any one dealing34 in Government stores, a Yaxley tradesman in whose possession were found palliasses and other articles marked with the broad arrow being fined heavily, condemned35 to stand in the pillory36 at Norman Cross, and imprisoned37 for two years.
In the year 1796 it became absolutely necessary that special accommodation should be provided for the ever-increasing number of prisoners of war brought to Britain. The hulks were full to congestion38, the other regular prisons,—such as they 136were,—the improvised39 prisons, and the hired houses, were crowded; disease was rife40 among the captives on account of the impossibility of maintaining proper sanitation41, and the spirit of revolt was showing itself among men just then in the full flush of the influences of the French Revolution. Norman Cross was selected as the site of a prison which should hold 7,000 men, and it was well chosen, being a tract42 of land forty acres in extent, healthily situated43 on high ground, connected with the sea by water-ways via Lynn and Peterborough; and with London, seventy-eight miles distant, by the Great North Road. Time pressed; buildings of stone or brick were not to be thought of, so it was planned that all should be of wood, surrounded by a brick wall, but this last was not completed for some time after the opening of the prison. The skeletons of the prison blocks were framed and shaped in London, sent down, and in four months, that is to say in March 1797, the labour of 500 carpenters, working Sundays and week-days, rendered some of the blocks ready for habitation.
The first agent appointed was Mr. Delafons, but he only acted for a few days previous to the arrival of Mr. James Perrot from Portchester, on April 1, 1797. The superintendent of the transport of the prisoners was Captain Daniel Woodriff, R.N.
On March 23, 1797, Woodriff received notice and instructions about the first arrival of prisoners. On March 26 they came—934 in number—in barges44 from Lynn to Yaxley, at the rate of 1s. 10d. per man, and victualling at 7d. per man per day, the sustenance45 being one pound of bread or biscuit, and three quarters of a pound of beef.
The arrivals came in fast, so that between April 7 and May 18, 1797, 3,383 prisoners (exclusive of seven dead and three who escaped), passed under the care of the ten turnkeys and the eighty men of the Caithness Legion who guarded Norman Cross.
137
1.
Officers’ Barracks.
2.
Field Officers’ Barracks.
3.
Barrack Master’s House.
4.
Soldiers’ Barracks.
5.
Non-Commissioned Officers.
6.
Military Hospital.
7.
Magazines.
8.
Engine-house.
9.
Guard Rooms.
10.
Soldiers’ Cooking-houses,
11.
Canteens.
12.
Military Straw Barn.
13.
14.
Soldiers’ Privies.
15.
Shed for spare soil carts.
16.
Block House.
17.
Agent and Superintendent’s House.
18.
Prisoners’ Straw Barn.
19.
Dead House.
20.
Prisoners’ Hospitals.
21.
Barracks for Prisoners of War.
22.
Apartments for Clerks and Assistant Surgeons.
23.
Agent’s Office.
24.
Store House.
25.
Prisoners’ Cooking-houses.
26.
27.
Prisoners’ Black Hole.
28.
Wash-house to Prisoners’ Hospital.
29.
Building for Medical Stores.
30.
Prisoners’ Privies.
31.
Coal Yards.
32.
Privies.
33.
Ash Pits.
Wells marked thus o.
A.
Airing Grounds.
B.
Lord Carysfort’s Grounds.
Norman Cross Prison. (Hill’s Plan, 1797–1803.)
138Complaints and troubles soon came to light. A prisoner in 1797, ‘who appeared above the common class of men’, complained that the bread and beef were so bad that they were not fit for a prisoner’s dog to eat, that the British Government was not acquainted with the treatment of the prisoners, and that this was the agent’s fault for not keeping a sufficiently48 strict eye upon his subordinates. This was confirmed, not only by inquiry49 among the prisoners, but by the evidence of the petty officers and soldiers of the garrison50, who said ‘as fellow creatures they must allow that the provisions given to the prisoners were not fit for them to eat, and that the water they had was much better than the beer’. In spite of this evidence, the samples sent up by the request of the ‘Sick and Hurt’ Office in reply to this complaint, were pronounced good.
In July 1797 the civil officials at Norman Cross complained of annoyances52, interferences, and insults from the military. Major-General Bowyer, in command, in his reply stated: ‘I cannot conceive the civil officers have a right to take prisoners out of their prisons to the canteens and other places, which this day has been mentioned to me.’
By July 18 such parts of the prison as were completed were very full, and in November the buildings were finished, and the sixteen blocks, each holding 400 prisoners, were crowded. The packing of the hammocks in these blocks was close, but not closer than in the men-of-war of the period, and not very much closer than in the machinery-crowded big ships of to-day. The blocks, or casernes as they were called, measured 100 feet long by twenty-four feet broad, and were two stories high. On the ground floor the hammocks were slung54 from posts three abreast55, and there were three tiers. In the upper story were only two tiers. As to the life at Norman Cross, it appears to me from the documentary evidence available to have been more tolerable than at any of the other great prisons, if only from the fact that the place had been specially56 built for its purpose, and was not, as in most other places, adapted. The food allowance was the same as elsewhere; viz., on five days of the week each prisoner had one and a half pounds of bread, half a pound of beef, greens or pease or oatmeal, and salt. On Wednesday and Friday one pound of herrings or cod-fish was substituted for the beef, and beer could be bought at the canteen. The description by George Borrow in Lavengro—‘rations57 of carrion59 meat and bread from which I have seen the very hounds occasionally turn away’, is now generally admitted to be as inaccurate60 as his other remarks concerning the Norman Cross which he could only remember as a very small boy.
The outfit61 was the same as in other prisons, but I note that 139in the year 1797 the store-keeper at Norman Cross was instructed to supply each prisoner as often as was necessary, and not, as elsewhere, at stated intervals62, with one jacket, one pair of trousers, two pairs of stockings, two shirts, one pair of shoes, one cap, and one hammock. By the way, the prisoners’ shoes are ordered ‘not to have long straps63 for buckles64, but short ears for strings’.
On August 8, 1798, Perrot writes from Stilton to Woodriff:
‘If you remember, on returning from the barracks on Sunday, Captain Llewellin informed us that a report had been propagated that seven prisoners intended to escape that day, which we both looked upon as a mere65 report; they were counted both that night, but with little effect from the additions made to their numbers by the men you brought from Lynn, and yesterday morning and afternoon, but in such confusion from the prisoners refusing to answer, from others giving in fictitious66 names, and others answering for two or three. In consequence of all these irregularities I made all my clerks, a turnkey, and a file of soldiers, go into the south east quadrangle this morning at five o’clock, and muster67 each prison separately, and found that six prisoners from the Officers’ Prison have escaped, but can obtain none of their names except Captain Dorfe, who some time ago applied68 to me for to obtain liberty for him to reside with his family at Ipswich where he had married an English wife. The officers remaining have separately and conjunctively refused to give the names of the other five, for which I have ordered the whole to be put on half allowance to-morrow. After the most diligent69 search we could only find one probable place where they had escaped, by the end next the South Gate, by breaking one of the rails of the picket70, but how they passed afterwards is a mystery still unravelled72.’
During the years 1797–8 there were many Dutch prisoners here, chiefly taken at Camperdown.
William Prickard, of the Leicester Militia, was condemned to receive 500 lashes73 for talking of escape with a prisoner.
On February 21, 1798, Mr. James Stewart of Peterborough thus wrote to Captain Woodriff:
‘I have received a heavy complaint from the prisoners of war of being beat and otherwise ill-treated by the officials at the Prison. I can have no doubt but that they exaggerate these complaints, for what they describe as a dungeon74 I have 140examined myself and find it to be a proper place to confine unruly prisoners in, being above ground, and appears perfectly75 dry. How far you are authorized76 to chastise77 the prisoners of war I cannot take upon me to determine, but I presume to think it should be done sparingly and with temper. I was in hopes the new system adopted, with the additional allowance of provisions would have made the prisoners more easy and contented78 under their confinement79, but it would appear it caused more turbulence80 and uneasiness.... That liquor is conveyed to the prisoners I have no doubt, you know some of the turnkeys have been suspected.’
Two turnkeys were shortly afterwards dismissed for having conveyed large quantities of ale into the prison.
Rendered necessary by complaints from the neighbourhood, the following order was issued by the London authorities in 1798.
‘Obscene figures and indecent toys and all such indecent representations tending to disseminate81 Lewdness82 and Immorality83 exposed for sale or prepared for that purpose are to be instantly destroyed.’
Constant escapes made the separation of officers from men and the suspension of all intercourse84 between them to be strictly85 enforced.
Perrot died towards the end of 1798, and Woodriff was made agent in January 1799. Soon after Woodriff’s assuming office the Mayor of Lynn complained of the number of prisoners at large in the town, and unguarded, waiting with Norman Cross passports for cartel ships to take them to France. To appreciate this complaint we must remember that the rank and file, and not a few of the officers, of the French Revolutionary Army and Navy, who were prisoners of war in Britain, were of the lowest classes of society, desperate, lawless, religionless, unprincipled men who in confinement were a constant source of anxiety and watchfulness86, and at large were positively87 dangers to society. If a body of men like this got loose, as did fifteen on the night of April 5, 1799, from Norman Cross, the fact was enough to carry terror throughout a countryside.
Yet there was a request made this year from the Norman Cross prisoners that they might have priests sent to them. At first the order was that none should be admitted except to men 141dangerously ill, but later, Ruello and Vexier were permitted to reside in Number 8 Caserne, under the rule ‘that your officers do strictly watch over their communication and conduct, lest, under pretence88 of religion, any stratagems89 or devices be carried out to the public prejudice by people of whose disposition91 to abuse indulgence there have already existed but too many examples’.
That Captain Woodriff’s position was rendered one of grave anxiety and responsibility by the bad character of many of the prisoners under his charge is very clear from the continual tenor92 of the correspondence between him and the Transport Board. The old punishment of simple confinement in the Black Hole being apparently93 quite useless, it was ordered that offenders94 sentenced to the Black Hole should be put on half rations, and also lose their turn of exchange. This last was the punishment most dreaded95 by the majority of the prisoners, although there was a regular market for these turns of exchange, varying from ￡40 upwards97, which would seem to show that to many a poor fellow, life at Norman Cross with some capital to gamble with was preferable to a return to France in exchange for a British prisoner of similar grade, only to be pressed on board a man-of-war of the period, or to become a unit of the hundreds and thousands of soldiers sent here and there to be maimed or slaughtered98 in a cause of which they knew little and cared less.
It is worthy99 of note that these increased punishments were made law with the concurrence100, if not at the suggestion, of the French Agent, Niou, who remarked with respect to the system of buying and selling turns of exchange, ‘. . . une conduite aussi lache devant être arrêtée par10 tous les moyens possibles. Je viens en conséquence de mettre les Vendéens (I am inclined to regard ‘Vendéens’ as a mistake for ‘vendants’) à la queue des échanges.’
The year 1799 seems to have been a disturbed one at Norman Cross. In August the prisoners showed their resentment101 at having detailed102 personal descriptions of them taken, by disorderly meetings, the result being that all trafficking between them was stopped, and the daily market at the prison-gate suspended.
Stockdale, the Lynn manager of the prison traffic between 142the coast and Norman Cross, writes on one occasion that of 125 prisoners who had been started for the prison, ‘there were two made their escape, and one shot on their march to Lynn, and I am afraid we lost two or three last night ... there are some very artful men among them who will make their escape if possible’.
Attempts to escape during the last stages of the journey from the coast to the prison were frequent. On February 4, 1808, the crews of two privateers, under an escort of the 77th Regiment103, were lodged104 for the night in the stable of the Angel Inn at Peterborough. One Simon tried to escape. The sentry105 challenged and fired. Simon was killed, and the coroner’s jury brought in the verdict of ‘Justifiable homicide’.
On another occasion a column of prisoners was crossing the Nene Bridge at Peterborough, when one of them broke from the ranks, and sprang into the river. He was shot as he rose to the surface.
On account of the proximity106 of Norman Cross to a countryside of which one of the staple107 industries was the straw manufacture, the prevention of the smuggling108 of straw into the prison for the purpose of being made into bonnets109, baskets, plaits, &c., constantly occupied the attention of the authorities. In 1799 the following circular was sent by the Transport Board to all prisons and dép?ts in the kingdom:
‘Being informed that the Revenues and Manufactures of this country are considerably111 injured by the extensive sale of Straw Hats made by the Prisoners of War in this country, we do hereby require and direct you to permit no Hat, Cap, or Bonnet110 manufactured by any of the Prisoners of War in your custody112, to be sold or sent out of the Prison in future, under any pretence whatever, and to seize and destroy all such articles as may be detected in violation113 of this order.’
This traffic, however, was continued, for in 1807 the Transport Board, in reply to a complaint by a Mr. John Poynder to Lord Liverpool, ‘requests the magistrates114 to help in stopping the traffic with prisoners of war in prohibited articles, straw hats and straw plait especially, as it has been the means of selling obscene toys, pictures, &c., to the great injury of the morals of the rising generation’.
143To continue the prison record in order of dates: in 1801 the Transport Board wrote to Otto, Commissioner115 in England of the French Republic,
‘Sir:
‘Having directed Capt. Woodriff, Superintendant at Norman Cross Prison, to report to us on the subject of some complaints made by the prisoners at that place, he has informed me of a most pernicious habit among the prisoners which he has used every possible means to prevent, but without success. Some of the men, whom he states to have been long confined without receiving any supplies from their friends, have only the prison allowance to subsist116 on, and this allowance he considers sufficient to nourish and keep in health if they received it daily, but he states this is not the case, although the full ration58 is regularly issued by the Steward117 to each mess of 12 men. There are in these prisons, he observes, some men—if they deserve that name—who possess money with which they purchase of some unfortunate and unthinking fellow-prisoner his ration of bread for several days together, and frequently both bread and beef for a month, which he, the merchant, seizes upon daily and sells it out again to some other unfortunate being on the same usurious terms, allowing the former one half-penny worth of potatoes daily to keep him alive. Not contented with this more than savage118 barbarity, he purchases next his clothes and bedding, and sees the miserable119 man lie naked on his plank120 unless he will consent to allow him one half-penny a night to lie in his own hammock, which he makes him pay by a further deprivation121 of his ration when his original debt is paid.... In consequence of this representation we have directed Capt. Woodriff to keep a list of every man of this description of merchants above mentioned in order they may be put at the bottom of the list of exchange.’
In this year a terrible epidemic122 carried off nearly 1,000 prisoners. The Transport Board’s Surveyor was sent down, and he reported that the general condition of the prison was very bad, especially as regarded sanitation. The buildings were merely of fir-quartering, and weather-boarded on the outside, and without lining123 inside, the result being that the whole of the timbering was a network of holes bored by the prisoners in order to get light inside. In the twelve solitary124 cells of the Black Hole there was no convenience whatever. The wells were only in tolerable condition. The ventilation 144of the French officers’ rooms was very bad. The hospital was better than other parts of the prison. The report notes that the carpenters, sawyers, and masons were prisoners, a fact at once constituting an element of uncertainty125, if not of danger. In December 1801 Woodriff found it necessary to post up an order about shamming126 ill in order to be changed to better quarters:
‘Ayant connaissance que nombre de prisonniers fran?ais recherchent journellement les moyens de se donner l’air aussi misérable que possible dans le dessein d’être envoyés à l’H?pital ou au No. 13 par le chirurgien de visite, et que s’ils sont re?us, soit pour l’un ou l’autre, ils vendent de suite127 leurs effets (s’ils ne l’ont déjà fait pour se faire recevoir) le Gouvernement done [sic] avis de nouveau qu’aucun prisonnier ne sera re?u pour l’H?pital ou pour le No. 13 s’il ne produit ses effets de Literie et les Hardes qu’il peut avoir re?u dernièrement.’
Generals Rochambeau and Boyer were paroled prisoners who seem to have studied how to give the authorities as much trouble and annoyance51 as possible. The Transport Board, weary of granting them indulgences which they abused, and of making them offers which they contemptuously rejected, clapped them into Norman Cross in September 1804. They were placed in the wards71 of the military hospital, a sentinel at their doors, and no communication allowed between them, or their servants, and the rest of the prisoners. They were not allowed newspapers, no special allowance was made them of coals, candles, and wood, they were not permitted to go beyond the hospital airing ground, and Captain Pressland, the then agent of the prison, was warned to be strictly on his guard, and to watch them closely, despite his favourable128 remarks upon their deportment. It was at about this time that the alarm was widespread that the prisoners of war in Britain were to co-operate with an invasion by their countrymen from without. General Boyer, at Tiverton in 1803, ‘whilst attentive129 to the ladies, did not omit to curse, even to them, his fate in being deprived of his arms, and without hope of being useful to his countrymen when they arrive in England’. Rochambeau at Norman Cross was even more ridiculous, for when he heard that Bonaparte’s invasion was actually about to come off, he appeared for two 145days in the airing ground in full uniform, booted and spurred. Later news sent him into retirement130.
Extracts from contemporary newspapers show that the alarm was very general. Said The Times:
‘The French prisoners on the prospect131 of an invasion of this country begin to assume their Republican fierté; they tell their guards—“It is your turn to guard us now, but before the winter is over it will be our turn to guard you.”
‘The prisoners already in our hands, and those who may be added, will occasion infinite perplexity. The known licentiousness132 of their principles, the utter contempt of all laws of honour which is so generally prevalent among the French Republicans, and the audacity133 of exertions134 which may arise from a desire of co-operating with an invading force, may render them extremely dangerous, especially if left in the country, where the thinness of the population prevents perpetual inspection135 and where alarm flies so rapidly as to double any mischief136.’
A suggestion was made that the prisoners should be concentrated in the prisons of London and neighbourhood, and some newspapers even echoed Robespierre’s truculent137 advice: ‘Make no prisoners.’
In 1804, in reply to another application that priests might reside within the prison boundaries, the authorities said:
‘As to the French priests and the procurement138 of lodgings139 at Stilton, we have nothing to do with them, but with respect to the proposal of their inhabitation in our Dép?ts, we cannot possibly allow of such a measure at this critical time to Foreigners of that equivocal description.’
The ever-recurring question as to the exact lines of demarcation to be drawn between the two chief men of the prison, the Agent and the Commander of the garrison, occupies a great deal of Departmental literature. We have given one specimen31 already, and in 1804 Captain Pressland was thus addressed by his masters in London:
‘As the interior regulation and management of the Prison is entirely under your direction, we do not see any necessity for returns being made daily to the C.O. of the Guard, and we approve of your reason for declining to make such returns; but as, on the other hand, the C.O. is answerable for the 146security of the Prison, it is not proper that you should interfere53 in that respect any further than merely to suggest what may appear to you to be necessary or proper to be done.’
In the same year a serious charge was brought against Captain Pressland by the prisoners, that he was in the habit of deducting140 two and a half per cent from all sums passing through his hands for payment to the prisoners. He admitted having done so, and got off with a rebuke141. It may be mentioned here that the pay of a prison agent was thirty shillings per diem, the same as that of a junior post captain on sea fencible service—quarters, but no allowances except ￡10 10s. per annum for stationery142. In 1805 the boys’ building was put up. At first the suggested site was on the old burial ground; but as it was urged that such a proceeding143 might produce much popular clamour, as well as ‘other disagreeable consequences’, it was put outside the outer stockade144, north of the Hospital. It is said that the boys were here brought up as musicians by the Bishop145 of Moulins.
At this time escapes seem to have been very frequent, and this in spite of the frequent changing of the garrison, and the rule that no soldier knowing French should be on guard duty. All implements146 and edged tools were taken from the prisoners, only one knife being allowed, which was to be returned every night, locked up in a box, and placed in the Guard-room until the next morning, and failure to give up knives meant the Black Hole. Any prisoner attempting to escape was to be executed immediately, but I find no record of this drastic sentence being carried into effect.
From The Times of October 15, 1804, I take the following:
‘An alarming spirit of insubordination was on Wednesday evinced by the French prisoners, about 3,000, at Norman Cross. An incessant147 uproar148 was kept up all the morning, and at noon their intention to attempt the destruction of the barrier of the prison became so obvious that the C.O. at the Barrack, apprehensive149 that the force under his command, consisting only of the Shropshire Militia and one battalion of the Army of reserve, would not be sufficient in case of necessity to environ and restrain so large a body of prisoners, dispatched a messenger requiring the assistance of the Volunteer force at Peterborough. Fortunately the Yeomanry had 147had a field day, and one of the troops was undismissed when the messenger arrived. The troops immediately galloped150 into the Barracks. In the evening a tumult151 still continuing among the prisoners, and some of them taking advantage of the extreme darkness to attempt to escape, further reinforcements were sent for and continued on duty all night. The prisoners, having cut down a portion of the wood enclosure during the night, nine of them escaped through the aperture152. In another part of the prison, as soon as daylight broke, it was found that they had undermined a distance of 34 feet towards the Great South Road, under the fosse which surrounds the prison, although it is 4 feet deep, and it is not discovered they had any tools. Five of the prisoners have been re-taken.’
A little later in the year, on a dark, stormy Saturday night, seven prisoners escaped through a hole they had cut in the wooden wall, and were away all Sunday. At 8 p.m. on that day, a sergeant153 and a corporal of the Durham Militia, on their way north on furlough, heard men talking a ‘foreign lingo’ near Whitewater toll-bar. Suspecting them to be escaped prisoners, they attacked and secured two of them, but five got off. On Monday two of these were caught near Ryall toll-bar in a state of semi-starvation, having hidden in Uffington Thicket154 for twenty-four hours; the other three escaped.
One of the most difficult tasks which faced the agents of prisons in general, and of Norman Cross in particular, was the checking of contraband155 traffic between the prisoners and outsiders. At Norman Cross, as I have said, the chief illicit156 trade was in straw-plaiting work. Strange to say, although the interests of the poor country people were severely157 injured by this trade, the wealth and influence of the chief dealers158 were so great that it was difficult to get juries to convict, and when they did convict, to get judges to pass deterrent159 sentences. In 1807, for instance, legal opinion was actually given that a publican could not have his licence refused because he had carried on the straw-plait traffic with the prisoners, although it was an open secret that the innkeepers of Stilton, Wansford, Whittlesea, Peterborough, and even the landlord of the inn which in those days stood opposite where now is the present Norman Cross Hotel, were deeply engaged in it.
In 1808, ‘from motives160 of humanity’, the prisoners at Norman 148Cross were allowed to make baskets, boxes, ornaments161, &c., of straw, if the straw-plaiting traffic could be effectually prevented. The manufacture of these articles, which were often works of the most refined beauty and delicacy162, of course did not harm the poor, rough straw-plaiters of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire; but the radius163 of its sale was limited, the straw-plaiting meant quick and good returns, and the difficulty to be faced by the authorities was to ensure the rightful use of the straw introduced. In 1808 there were many courts-martial upon soldiers of the garrison for being implicated164 in this traffic, and in each case the soldier was severely flogged and the straw bonnet ordered to be burned. It was no doubt one of these episodes which so aroused George Borrows ire.[4] The guard of the coach from Lincoln to Stilton was put under observation by order of the Transport Office, being suspected of assisting people to carry the straw plait made in the prison to Baldock to be made into bonnets.
In 1809 Pressland writes thus seriously to the Transport Office:
‘That every step that could possibly be taken by General Williams [Commander of the Garrison] and myself to prevent this illicit Traffic [has been taken], the Board will, I trust, readily admit, and I am well convinced that without the prosecution165 of those dealers who are particularized in the documents forwarded by the Lincoln coach this evening, it will ever continue, to the great injury of the country in general; for already eight or nine soldiers have deserted166 from a dread96 of punishment, having been detected by those whom they knew would inform against them, and I shall leave the Board to judge how far the discipline of the Regiments167 has been hurt, and the Soldiers seduced168 from their duty by the bribes169 they are constantly receiving from Barnes, Lunn, and Browne. It now becomes a serious and alarming case, for if these persons can with so much facility convey into the Prison sacks of 5 and 6 feet in length, they might convey weapons of every description to annoy those whose charge they are under, to the great detriment170 of H.M.’s service, and the lives of His subjects most probably.’
Coloured Straw Work-box
Made by French prisoners of war
149A large bundle of documents contains the trial of Barnes, Lunn, Browne, and others, for, in conjunction with bribed171 soldiers of the garrison, taking straw into the prison and receiving the plaited article in exchange. The evidence of soldiers of the guard showed that James, ostler at the Bell, Stilton, had been seen many times at midnight throwing sacks of straw over the palisades, and receiving straw plait in return, and also bonnets, and that he was always assisted by soldiers. Barnes had said that he would get straw into the prison in spite of General Williams or anybody else, as he had bought five fields of wheat for the purpose. He was acting172 for his brother, a Baldock straw-dealer.
The trial came off at Huntingdon on March 20, 1811, the result being that Lunn got twelve months, and the others six months each. It may be noted here that so profitable for dealers was this contraband trade in war-prison manufactured straw articles, that a Bedfordshire man, Matthew Wingrave, found it to be worth his while to buy up wheat and barley173 land in the neighbourhood of the great Scottish dép?t at Valleyfield, near Penicuik, and carry on business there.
As an instance of the resentment aroused by this judgement among those interested in the illicit trade, a Sergeant Ives of the West Essex Militia, who had been especially active in the suppression of the straw-plait business, was, according to the Taunton Courier, stopped between Stilton and Norman Cross by a number of fellows, who, after knocking him down and robbing him of his watch and money, forced open his jaws174 with savage ferocity and cut off a piece of his tongue.
In November 1807 a brick wall was built round Norman Cross prison; the outer palisade which it replaced being used to repair the inner.
In 1809 Flaigneau, a prisoner, was tried at Huntingdon for murdering a turnkey. The trial lasted six hours, but in spite of the instructions of the judge, the jury brought him in Not Guilty.
Forgery175 and murder brought the prisoners under the Civil Law. Thus in 1805 Nicholas Deschamps and Jean Roubillard were tried at Huntingdon Summer Assizes for forging ￡1 bank notes, which they had done most skilfully176. They were sentenced to death, but were respited177 during His Majesty’s pleasure, and remained in Huntingdon gaol178 for nine years, until they were pardoned and sent back to France in 1814.
150From the Stamford Mercury of September 16, 1808, I take the following:
‘Early on Friday morning last Charles Fran?ois Maria Boucher, a French officer, a prisoner of war in this country, was conveyed from the County Gaol at Huntingdon to Yaxley Barracks where he was hanged, agreeable to his sentence at the last assizes, for stabbing with a knife, with intent to kill Alexander Halliday, in order to effect his escape from that prison. The whole garrison was under arms and all the prisoners in the different apartments were made witnesses of the impressive scene.’
I shall deal later in detail with the subject of prisoners on parole, so that it suffices here to say that every care was taken to avoid the just reproach of the earlier years of the great wars that officer prisoners of war in England were promiscuously179 herded180 on hulks and in prisons with the rank and file, and it was an important part of Prison Agent’s duties to examine each fresh arrival of prisoners with a view to selecting those of character and the required rank qualifying them for the privileges of being allowed on parole in certain towns and villages set apart for the purpose.
In 1796 about 100 Norman Cross prisoners were out on parole in Peterborough and the neighbourhood. The Wheatsheaf at Stibbington was a favourite house of call with the parole prisoners, says the Rev. A. Brown in the before-quoted book, and this, when afterwards a farmhouse181, belonged to an old man, born before the close of the war, who told Dr. Walker that as a child he had often seen the prisoners regale182 themselves here with the excellent cooking of his grandmother, the milestone183 which was their limit from Wansford, where they lodged, being just outside the house.
The parole officers seem to have been generally received with kindness and hospitality by the neighbouring gentry184, and a few marriages with English girls are recorded, although when it became known that such unions were not recognized as binding185 by the French Government, and that even the English wives of Frenchmen were sent back from Morlaix, the cartel port, the English girls became more careful. Some of the gentry, indeed, seem to have interested themselves too deeply in the 151exiles, and in 1801 the Transport Office requests the attention of its Agent ‘to the practices of a person of some property near Peterborough, similar to those for which Askew186 was convicted at the Huntingdon Assizes’—which was for aiding prisoners to escape.
By the Treaty of Paris, May 30, 1814, Peace was declared between France and Britain, and in the same month 4,617 French prisoners at Norman Cross were sent home via Peterborough and Lynn unguarded, but the prison was not finally evacuated187 until August. It was never again used as a prison, but was pulled down and sold.
We have already become acquainted with General Pillet as a rabid chronicler of life on the Chatham hulks; we shall meet him again out on parole, and now let us hear what he has to say about Norman Cross in his book on England.
‘I have seen at Norman Cross a plot of land where nearly four thousand men, out of seven thousand in this prison, were buried. Provisions were then dear in England, and our Government, it was said, had refused to pay the balance of an account due for prisoners. To settle this account all the prisoners were put on half-rations, and to make sure that they should die, the introduction of food for sale, according to custom, was forbidden. To reduced quantity was added inferior quality of the provisions served out. There was distributed four times a week, worm-eaten biscuit, fish and salt meat; three times a week black, half baked bread made of mouldy flour or of black wheat. Soon after eating this one was seized with a sort of drunkenness, followed by violent headache, diarrhoea, and redness of face; many died from a sort of vertigo188. For vegetables, uncooked beans were served up. In fact, hundreds of men sank each day, starved to death, or poisoned by the provisions. Those who did not die immediately, became so weak that gradually they could digest nothing.’ (Then follow some details, too disgusting to be given a place here, of the extremities189 to which prisoners at Norman Cross were driven by hunger.) ‘Hunger knows no rules. The corpses190 of those who died were kept for five or six days without being given up by their comrades, who by this means received the dead men’s rations.’
‘I myself took a complaint to Captain Pressland. Next day, the officers of the two militia battalions192 on guard at the 152prison, and some civilians193, arrived just at the moment for the distribution of the rations. At their head was Pressland who was damning the prisoners loudly. The rations were shown, and, as the whole thing had been rehearsed beforehand, they were good. A report was drawn up by which it was shown that the prisoners were discontented rascals194 who grumbled195 at everything, that the food was unexceptionable, and that some of the grumblers deserved to be shot, for an example. Next day the food was just as bad as ever.... Certainly the prisoners had the chance of buying provisions for themselves from the wives of the soldiers of the garrison twice a week. But these women, bribed to ruin the prisoners, rarely brought what was required, made the prisoners take what they brought, and charged exorbitant196 prices, and, as payment had to be made in advance, they settled things just as they chose.’
With reference to the medical attendance at Norman Cross, Pillet says:
‘I have been witness and victim, as prisoner of war, of the false oath taken by the doctors at Norman Cross. They were supplied with medicines, flannel197, cotton stuffs, &c., in proportion to the number of prisoners, for compresses, bandages, and so forth198. When the supply was exhausted199, the doctor, in order to get a fresh supply, drew up his account of usage, and swore before a jury that this account was exact. The wife of the doctor at Norman Cross, like that of the doctor of the Crown Prince at Chatham, wore no petticoats which were not made of cotton and flannel taken from the prison stores. So with the medicines and drugs. The contractor200 found the supply ample, and that there was no necessity to replace it, so he shared with the doctor and the apothecary201 the cost of what he had never delivered, although in the accounts it appeared that he had renewed their supplies.’
With George Borrow’s description in Lavengro of the brutalities exercised upon the prisoners at Norman Cross by the soldiers of the garrison, many readers will be familiar. As the recollection is of his early boyhood, it may be valued accordingly.
In 1808 a tourist among the churches of this part of East Anglia remarks upon the good appearance of the Norman Cross prisoners, particularly of the boys—the drummers and the ‘mousses’. He adds that many of the prisoners had learned English enough ‘to chatter202 and to cheat’, and that some of them upon release took away with them from two to three hundred pounds as the proceeds of the sale of their handiwork in drawings, wood, bone and straw work, chessmen, draughts203, backgammon boards, dice90, and groups in wood and bone of all descriptions.
The Block House, Norman Cross, 1809
153In 1814 came Peace. The following extracts from contemporary newspapers made by Mr. Charles Dack, Curator of the Peterborough Museum, refer to the process of evacuation, Norman Cross Dép?t being also known as Stilton or Yaxley Barracks.
‘11th April, 1814. The joy produced amongst the prisoners of war at Norman Cross by the change of affairs in France (the abdication205 of Bonaparte) is quite indescribable and extravagant206. A large white flag is set up in each of the quadrangles of the dép?t, under which the thousands of poor fellows, who have been for years in confinement, dance, sing, laugh, and cry for joy, with rapturous delight.
‘5th May, 1814. The prisoners at Stilton Barracks are so elated at the idea of being so soon liberated207, that they are all bent208 on selling their stock, which they do rapidly at 50 per cent advanced prices. Many of them have realized fortunes of from ￡500 to ￡1,000 each.
‘June 9th, Lynn. Upwards of 1,400 French prisoners of war have arrived in this town during the last week from Stilton Barracks, to embark209 for the coast of France. Dunkirk, we believe, is the place of their destination. In consequence of the wind having been hitherto unfavourable, they have been prevented from sailing, and we are glad to state that their conduct in this town has hitherto been very orderly; and although they are continually perambulating the street, and some of them indulging in tolerable libations of ale, we have not heard of a single act of indecorum taking place in consequence.’
To these notes the late Rev. G. N. Godwin, to whom I am indebted for many details of life at Norman Cross, added in the columns of the Norwich Mercury:
‘The garrison of the dép?t caught the infection of wild joy, and a party of them seized the Glasgow mail coach on its arrival at Stilton, and drew it to Norman Cross, whither the horses, coachman and guard were obliged to follow. The prisoners were so elated at the prospect of being liberated that they ceased to perform any work. Many of them had realized fortunes of ￡500 to ￡1,000 each in Bank of England notes.’
154The Cambridge Chronicle gives a pleasant picture on May 6th: ‘About 200 prisoners from Norman Cross Barracks marched into this town on Sunday last ... they walked about the town and ‘Varsity and conducted themselves in an orderly manner.’
Although it was rumoured210 that the buildings at Norman Cross were to be utilized211, after the departure of the war prisoners, as a barrack for artillery212 and cavalry213, this did not come about. The buildings were sold in lots; in Peterborough some of them were re-erected and still exist, and a pair of slatted gates are now barn-doors at Alwalton Rectory Farm, but the very memories of this great prison are fast dying out in this age of the migration214 of the countryman.
On October 2, 1818, the sale of Norman Cross Barracks began, and lasted nine days, the sum realized being about ￡10,000. A curious comment upon the condition of the prison is presented by the fact that a house built from some of it became known as ‘Bug Hall’, which has a parallel in the case of Portchester Castle; some cottages built from the timber of the casernes there, when it ceased to be a war prison, being still known as ‘Bug Row’.
In Shelley Row, Cambridge, is an ancient timbered barn which is known to have been regularly used as a night-shelter for prisoners on their way to Norman Cross.
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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pertaining
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| 与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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entente
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| n.协定；有协定关系的各国 | |
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surmount
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| vt.克服；置于…顶上 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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pillory
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| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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congestion
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| n.阻塞，消化不良 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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sanitation
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| n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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privies
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| n.有利害关系的人( privy的名词复数 )；厕所 | |
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lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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annoyances
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| n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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ration
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| n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应 | |
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carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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buckles
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| 搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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unravelled
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| 解开，拆散，散开( unravel的过去式和过去分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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turbulence
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| n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流 | |
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81
disseminate
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| v.散布；传播 | |
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82
lewdness
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| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
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83
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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84
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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85
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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86
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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87
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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88
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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89
stratagems
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| n.诡计，计谋( stratagem的名词复数 )；花招 | |
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90
dice
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| n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险 | |
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91
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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92
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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93
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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94
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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95
dreaded
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|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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96
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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97
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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98
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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100
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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101
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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102
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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103
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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104
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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105
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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106
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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107
staple
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|
| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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108
smuggling
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| n.走私 | |
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109
bonnets
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|
| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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110
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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111
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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112
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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113
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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114
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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115
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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116
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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117
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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118
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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119
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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120
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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121
deprivation
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| n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困 | |
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122
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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123
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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124
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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125
uncertainty
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|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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126
shamming
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| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
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127
suite
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|
| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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128
favourable
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|
| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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129
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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130
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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131
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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132
licentiousness
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|
| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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133
audacity
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|
| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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134
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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135
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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136
mischief
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|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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137
truculent
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|
| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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138
procurement
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| n.采购；获得 | |
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139
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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140
deducting
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|
| v.扣除，减去( deduct的现在分词 ) | |
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141
rebuke
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|
| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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142
stationery
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| n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封 | |
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143
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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144
stockade
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|
| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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145
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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146
implements
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|
| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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147
incessant
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|
| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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148
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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149
apprehensive
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|
| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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150
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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151
tumult
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|
| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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152
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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153
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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154
thicket
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|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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155
contraband
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|
| n.违禁品，走私品 | |
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156
illicit
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|
| adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的 | |
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157
severely
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|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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158
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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159
deterrent
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|
| n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的 | |
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160
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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161
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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162
delicacy
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|
| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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163
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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164
implicated
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|
| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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165
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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166
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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167
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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168
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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169
bribes
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|
| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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170
detriment
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|
| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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171
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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172
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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173
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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174
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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175
forgery
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|
| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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176
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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177
respited
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| v.延期（respite的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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178
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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179
promiscuously
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| adv.杂乱地，混杂地 | |
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180
herded
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| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
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181
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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182
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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183
milestone
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|
| n.里程碑；划时代的事件 | |
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184
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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185
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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186
askew
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|
| adv.斜地；adj.歪斜的 | |
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187
evacuated
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| 撤退者的 | |
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188
vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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189
extremities
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|
| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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190
corpses
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|
| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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191
veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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192
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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193
civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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194
rascals
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|
| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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195
grumbled
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|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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196
exorbitant
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|
| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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197
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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198
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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199
exhausted
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|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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200
contractor
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|
| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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201
apothecary
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| n.药剂师 | |
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202
chatter
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|
| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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203
draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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204
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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205
abdication
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| n.辞职；退位 | |
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206
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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207
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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208
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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209
embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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210
rumoured
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| adj.谣传的；传说的；风 | |
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211
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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212
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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213
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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214
migration
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| n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙 | |
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