Lower down the slope there were three other lads plaguing a young jacka.s.s colt; and further off, on the town edge of the moor, several children from the streets hard by, were wandering about the green hollow, picking daisies, and playing together in the sunshine. There are several cotton factories close to the moor, but they were quiet enough. Whilst I looked about me here, the policeman pointed to the distance and said, "Jackson"s comin" up, I see. Yon"s him, wi" th"
white lin" jacket on." Jackson seems to have won the esteem of the men upon the moor by his judicious management and calm determination. I have heard that he had a little trouble at first, through an injurious report spread amongst the men immediately before he undertook the management. Some person previously employed upon the ground had "set it eawt that there wur a chap comin" that would make "em addle a hauve-a-creawn a day for their shillin"." Of course this increased the difficulty of his position; but he seems to have fought handsomely through all that sort of thing. I had met him for a few minutes once before, so there was no difficulty between us.
"Well, Jackson," said I, "heaw are yo gettin" on among it?" "Oh, very well, very well," said he," We"n more men at work than we had, an" we shall happen have more yet. But we"n getten things into something like system, an" then tak "em one with another th" chaps are willin" enough. You see they"re not men that have getten a livin" by idling aforetime; they"re workin" men, but they"re strange to this job, an" one cannot expect "em to work like trained honds, no moor than one could expect a lot o" navvies to work weel at factory wark. Oh, they done middlin", tak "em one with another." I now asked him if he had not had some trouble with the men at first.
"Well," said he, "I had at first, an" that"s the truth. I remember th" first day that I came to th" job. As I walked on to th" ground there was a great lump o" clay coom bang into my earhole th" first thing; but I walked on, an" took no notice, no moor than if it had bin a midge flyin" again my face. Well, that kind o" thing took place, now an" then, for two or three days, but I kept agate o"
never mindin"; till I fund there were some things that I thought could be managed a deal better in a different way; so I gav" th" men notice that I would have "em altered. For instance, now, when I coom here at first, there was a great shed in yon hollow; an" every mornin" th" men had to pa.s.s through that shed one after another, an"
have their names booked for th" day. The result wur, that after they"d walked through th" shed, there was many on "em walked out at t"other end o" th" moor straight into teawn a-playin" "em. Well, I was determined to have that system done away with. An", when th" men fund that I was gooin" to make these alterations, they growled a good deal, you may depend, an" two or three on "em coom up an" spoke to me abeawt th" matter, while tother stood cl.u.s.tered a bit off.
Well; I was beginnin" to tell "em plain an" straight-forrud what I would have done, when one o" these three sheawted out to th" whole lot, "Here, chaps, come an" gether reawnd th" devil. Let"s yer what he"s for!" "Well," said I, "come on, an" you shall yer," for aw felt cawmer just then, than I did when it were o"er. There they were, gethered reawnd me in a minute,--th" whole lot,--I were fair hemmed in. But I geet atop ov a bit ov a knowe, an" towd "em a fair tale,-- what I wanted, an" what I would have, an" I put it to "em whether they didn"t consider it reet. An" I believe they see"d th" thing in a reet leet, but they said nought about it, but went back to their wark, lookin" sulky. But I"ve had very little bother with "em sin".
I never see"d a lot o" chaps so altered sin" th" last February, as they are. At that time no mortal mon hardly could walk through "em "beawt havin" a bit o" slack-jaw, or a lump o" clay or summat flung a-him. But it isn"t so, neaw. I consider th" men are doin" very weel. But, come; yo mun go deawn wi" me a-lookin" at yon main sewer."
CHAPTER XIV.
"Oh, let us bear the present as we may, Nor let the golden past be all forgot; Hope lifts the curtain of the future day, Where peace and plenty smile without a spot On their white garments; where the human lot Looks lovelier and less removed from heaven; Where want, and war, and discord enter not, But that for which the wise have hoped and striven-- The wealth of happiness, to humble worth is given.
"The time will come, as come again it must, When Lancashire shall lift her head once more; Her suffering sons, now down amid the dust Of Indigence, shall pa.s.s through Plenty"s door; Her commerce cover seas from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e; Her arts arise to highest eminence; Her products prove unrivall"d, as of yore; Her valour and her virtue--men of sense And blue-eyed beauties--England"s pride and her defence."
--BLACKBURN BARD.
Jackson"s office as labour-master kept him constantly tramping about the sandy moor from one point to another. He was forced to be in sight, and on the move, during working hours, amongst his fifteen hundred scattered workmen. It was heavy walking, even in dry weather; and as we kneaded through the loose soil that hot forenoon, we wiped our foreheads now and then. "Ay," said he, halting, and looking round upon the scene, "I can a.s.sure you, that when I first took howd o" this job, I fund my honds full, as quiet as it looks now. I was laid up for nearly a week, an" I had to have two doctors.
But, as I"d undertakken the thing, I was determined to go through with it to th" best o" my ability; an" I have confidence now that we shall be able to feight through th" bad time wi" summat like satisfaction, so far as this job"s consarned, though it"s next to impossible to please everybody, do what one will. But come wi" me down this road. I"ve some men agate o" cuttin" a main sewer. It"s very little farther than where th" cattle pens are i" th" hollow yonder; and it"s different wark to what you see here. Th" main sewer will have to be brought clean across i" this direction, an" it"ll be a stiffish job. Th" cattle market"s goin" to be shifted out o" yon hollow, an" in another year or two th" whole scene about here will be changed." Jackson and I both remembered something of the troubles of the cotton manufacture in past times. We had seen something of the "shuttle gatherings," the "plug-drawings," the wild starvation riots, and strikes of days gone by; and he agreed with me that one reason for the difference of their demeanour during the present trying circ.u.mstances lies in their increasing intelligence. The great growth of free discussion through the cheap press has done no little to work out this salutary change. There is more of human sympathy, and of a perception of the union of interests between employers and employed than ever existed before in the history of the cotton trade. Employers know that their workpeople are human beings, of like feelings and pa.s.sions with themselves, and like themselves, endowed with no mean degree of independent spirit and natural intelligence; and working men know better than beforetime that their employers are not all the heartless tyrants which it has been too fashionable to encourage them to believe. The working men have a better insight into the real causes of trade panics than they used to have; and both masters and men feel more every day that their fortunes are naturally bound together for good or evil; and if the working men of Lancashire continue to struggle through the present trying pa.s.s of their lives with the brave patience which they have shown hitherto, they will have done more to defeat the arguments of those who hold them to be unfit for political power than the finest eloquence of their best friends could have done in the same time.
The labour master and I had a little talk about these things as we went towards the lower end of the moor. A few minutes" slow walk brought us to the spot, where some twenty of the hardier sort of operatives were at work in a damp clay cutting. "This is heavy work for sich chaps as these," said Jackson; "but I let "em work bi"th lump here. I give"em so much clay apiece to shift, and they can begin when they like, an" drop it th" same. Th" men seem satisfied wi" that arrangement, an" they done wonders, considerin" th" nature o"th job. There"s many o"th men that come on to this moor are badly off for suitable things for their feet. I"ve had to give lots o"
clogs away among"em. You see men cannot work with ony comfort among stuff o" this sort without summat substantial on. It rives poor shoon to pieces i" no time. Beside, they"re not men that can ston bein" witchod (wetshod) like some. They haven"t been used to it as a rule. Now, this is one o"th" finest days we"ve had this year; an"
you haven"t sin what th" ground is like in bad weather. But you"d be astonished what a difference wet makes on this moor. When it"s bin rain for a day or two th" wark"s as heavy again. Th" stuff"s heavier to lift, an" worse to wheel; an" th" ground is s.l.u.tchy. That tries "em up, an" poo"s their shoon to pieces; an" men that are wakely get knocked out o" time with it. But thoose that can stand it get hardened by it. There"s a great difference; what would do one man"s const.i.tution good will kill another. Winter time "ll try "em up tightly. . . Wait there a bit," continued he, "I"ll be with you again directly." He then went down into the cutting to speak to some of his men, whilst I walked about the edge of the bank. From a distant part of the moor, the bray of a jacka.s.s came faint upon the sleepy wind. "Yer tho", Jone," said one of the men, resting upon his spade; "another cally-weighver gone!" " Ay," replied Jone, "th" owd lad"s deawn"t his cut. He"ll want no more tickets, yon mon!" The country folk of Lancashire say that a weaver dies every time a jacka.s.s brays. Jackson came up from the cutting, and we walked back to where the greatest number of men were at work. "You should ha"
bin here last Sat.u.r.day," said he; "we"d rather a curious scene. One o" the men coom to me an" axed if I"d allow "em hauve-an-hour to howd a meetin" about havin" a procession i" th" guild week. I gav"
"em consent, on condition that they"d conduct their meetin" in an orderly way. Well, they gethered together upo" that level theer; an"
th" speakers stood upo" th" edge o" that cuttin", close to Charnock Fowd. Th" meetin" lasted abeawt a quarter ov an hour longer than I bargained for; but they lost no time wi" what they had to do. O"
went off quietly; an" they finished with "Rule Britannia," i" full chorus, an" then went back to their wark. You"ll see th" report in today"s paper."
This meeting was so curious, and so characteristic of the men, that I think the report is worth repeating here:--"On Sat.u.r.day afternoon, a meeting of the parish labourers was held on the moor, to consider the propriety of having a demonstration of their numbers on one day in the guild week. There were upwards of a thousand present. An operative, named John Houlker, was elected to conduct the proceedings. After stating the object of the a.s.sembly, a series of propositions were read to the meeting by William Gillow, to the effect that a procession take place of the parish labourers in the guild week; that no person be allowed to join in it except those whose names were on the books of the timekeepers; that no one should receive any of the benefits which might accrue who did not conduct himself in an orderly manner; that all persons joining the procession should be required to appear on the ground washed and shaven, and their clogs, shoes, and other clothes cleaned; that they were not expected to purchase or redeem any articles of clothing in order to take part in the demonstration; and that any one absenting himself from the procession should be expelled from any partic.i.p.ation in the advantages which might arise from the subscriptions to be collected by their fellow-labourers. These were all agreed to, and a committee of twelve was appointed to collect subscriptions and donations. A president, secretary, and treasurer were also elected, and a number of resolutions agreed to in reference to the carrying out of the details of their scheme. The managing committee consist of Messrs W. Gillow, Robert Upton, Thomas Greenwood Riley, John Houlker, John Taylor, James Ray, James Whalley, Wm. Banks, Joseph Redhead, James Clayton, and James McDermot. The men agreed to subscribe a penny per week to form a fund out of which a dinner should be provided, and they expressed themselves confident that they could secure the gratuitous services of a band of music. During the meeting there was great order. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks was accorded to the chairman, to the labour master for granting them three-quarters of an hour for the purpose of holding the meeting, and to William Gillow for drawing up the resolutions. Three times three then followed; after which, George Dewhurst mounted a hillock, and, by desire, sang "Rule Britannia," the chorus being taken up by the whole crowd, and the whole being wound up with a hearty cheer." There are various schemes devised in Preston for regaling the poor during the guild; and not the worst of them is the proposal to give them a little extra money for that week, so as to enable them to enjoy the holiday with their families at home.
It was now about half-past eleven. "It"s getting on for dinner time," said Jackson, looking at his watch. "Let"s have a look at th"
opposite side yonder; an" then we"ll come back, an" you"ll see th"
men drop work when the five minutes" bell rings. There"s many of "em live so far off that they couldn"t well get whoam an" back in an hour; so, we give"em an hour an" a half to their dinner, now, an"
they work half an" hour longer i"th afternoon." We crossed the hollow which divides the moor, and went to the top of a sandy cutting at the rear of the workhouse. This eminence commanded a full view of the men at work on different parts of the ground, with the time-keepers going to and fro amongst them, book in hand. Here were men at work with picks and spades; there, a slow-moving train of full barrows came along; and, yonder, a train of empty barrows stood, with the men sitting upon them, waiting. Jackson pointed out some of his most remarkable men to me; after which we went up to a little plot of ground behind the workhouse, where we found a few apparently older or weaker men, riddling pebbly stuff, brought from the bed of the Ribble. The smaller pebbles were thrown into heaps, to make a hard floor for the workhouse schoolyard. The master of the workhouse said that the others were too big for this purpose--the lads would break the windows with them. The largest pebbles were cast aside to be broken up, for the making of garden walks. Whilst the master of the workhouse was showing us round the building, Jackson looked at his watch again, and said, "Come, we"ve just time to get across again. Th" bell will ring in two or three minutes, an"
I should like yo to see "em knock off." We hurried over to the other side, and, before we had been a minute there, the bell rung. At the first toll, down dropt the barrows, the half-flung shovelfuls fell to the ground, and all labour stopt as suddenly as if the men had been moved by the pull of one string. In two minutes Preston Moor was nearly deserted, and, like the rest, we were on our way to dinner.
CHAPTER XV.
AMONG THE WIGAN OPERATIVES
"There"ll be some on us missin", aw deawt, Iv there isn"t some help for us soon."
--SAMUEL LAYc.o.c.k.
The next scene of my observations is the town of Wigan. The temporary troubles now affecting the working people of Lancashire wear a different aspect there on account of such a large proportion of the population being employed in the coal mines. The "way of life" and the characteristics of the people are marked by strong peculiarities. But, apart from these things, Wigan is an interesting place. The towns of Lancashire have undergone so much change during the last fifty years that their old features are mostly either swept away entirely, or are drowned in a great overgrowth of modern buildings. Yet coaly Wigan retains visible relics of its ancient character still; and there is something striking in its situation.
It is a.s.sociated with some of the most stirring events of our history, and it is the scene of many an interesting old story, such as the legend of Mabel of Haigh Hall, the crusader"s dame. The remnant of "Mab"s Cross" still stands in Wigan Lane. Some of the finest old halls of Lancashire are now, and have been, in its neighbourhood, such as Ince Hall and Crooke Hall. It must have been a picturesque town in the time of the Commonwealth, when Cavaliers and Roundheads met there in deadly contention. Wigan saw a great deal of the troubles of that time. The ancient monument, erected to the memory of Colonel Tyldesley, upon the ground where he fell at the battle of Wigan Lane, only tells a little of the story of Longfellow"s puritan hero, Miles Standish, who belonged to the Chorley branch of the family of Standish of Standish, near this town. The ingenious John Roby, author of the "Traditions of Lancashire," was born here. Round about the old market-place, and the fine parish church of St Wilfred, there are many quaint nooks still left to tell the tale of centuries gone by. These remarks, however, by the way. It is almost impossible to sunder any place entirely from the interest which such things lend to it.
Our present business is with the share which Wigan feels of the troubles of our own time, and in this respect it is affected by some conditions peculiar to the place. I am told that Wigan was one of the first--if not the very first--of the towns of Lancashire to feel the nip of our present distress. I am told, also, that it was the first town in which a Relief Committee was organised. The cotton consumed here is almost entirely of the kind from ordinary to middling American, which is now the scarcest and dearest of any.
Preston is almost wholly a spinning town. In Wigan there is a considerable amount of weaving as well as spinning. The counts spun in Wigan are lower than those in Preston; they range from 10"s up to 20"s. There is also, as I have said before, another peculiar element of labour, which tends to give a strong flavour to the conditions of life in Wigan, that is, the great number of people employed in the coal mines. This, however, does not much lighten the distress which has fallen upon the spinners and weavers, for the colliers are also working short time--an average of four days a week. I am told, also, that the coal miners have been subject to so many disasters of various kinds during past years, that there is now hardly a collier"s family which has not lost one or more of its most active members by accidents in the pits. About six years ago, the river Douglas broke into one of the Ince mines, and nearly two hundred people were drowned thereby. These were almost all buried on one day, and it was a very distressing scene. Everywhere in Wigan one may meet with the widows and orphans of men who have been killed in the mines; and there are no few men more or less disabled by colliery accidents, and, therefore, dependent either upon the kindness of their employers, or upon the labour of their families in the cotton factories. This last failing them, the result may be easily guessed. The widows and orphans of coal miners almost always fall back upon factory labour for a living; and, in the present state of things, this cla.s.s of people forms a very helpless element of the general distress. These things I learnt during my brief visit to the town a few days ago. Hereafter, I shall try to acquaint myself more deeply and widely with the relations of life amongst the working people there.
I had not seen Wigan during many years before that fine August afternoon. In the Main Street and Market Place there is no striking outward sign of distress, and yet here, as in other Lancashire towns, any careful eye may see that there is a visible increase of mendicant stragglers, whose awkward plaintiveness, whose helpless restraint and hesitancy of manner, and whose general appearance, tell at once that they belong to the operative cla.s.ses now suffering in Lancashire. Beyond this, the sights I first noticed upon the streets, as peculiar to the place, were, here, two "Sisters of Mercy," wending along, in their black cloaks and hoods, with their foreheads and cheeks swathed in ghastly white bands, and with strong rough shoes upon their feet; and, there, pa.s.sed by a knot of the women employed in the coal mines. The singular appearance of these women has puzzled many a southern stranger. All grimed with coaldust, they swing along the street with their dinner baskets and cans in their hands, chattering merrily. To the waist they are dressed like men, in strong trousers and wooden clogs. Their gowns, tucked clean up, before, to the middle, hang down behind them in a peaked tail. A limp bonnet, tied under the chin, makes up the head- dress. Their curious garb, though soiled, is almost always sound; and one can see that the wash-tub will reveal many a comely face amongst them. The dusky damsels are "to the manner born," and as they walk about the streets, thoughtless of singularity, the Wigan people let them go unheeded by. Before I had been two hours in the town, I was put into communication with one of the active members of the Relief Committee, who offered to devote a few hours of the following day to visitation with me, amongst the poor of a district called "Scholes," on the eastern edge of the town. Scholes is the "Little Ireland" of Wigan, the poorest quarter of the town. The colliers and factory operatives chiefly live there. There is a saying in Wigan --that, no man"s education is finished until he has been through Scholes. Having made my arrangements for the next day, I went to stay for the night with a friend who lives in the green country near Orrell, three miles west of Wigan.
Early next morning, we rode over to see the quaint town of Upholland, and its fine old church, with the little ivied monastic ruin close by. We returned thence, by way of "Orrell Pow," to Wigan, to meet my engagement at ten in the forenoon. On our way, we could not help noticing the unusual number of foot-sore, travel-soiled people, many of them evidently factory operatives, limping away from the town upon their melancholy wanderings. We could see, also, by the number of decrepid old women, creeping towards Wigan, and now and then stopping to rest by the wayside, that it was relief day at the Board of Guardians. At ten, I met the gentleman who had kindly offered to guide me for the day; and we set off together. There are three excellent rooms engaged by the good people of Wigan for the employment and teaching of the young women thrown out of work at the cotton mills. The most central of the three is the lecture theatre of the Mechanics" Inst.i.tution. This room was the first place we visited. Ten o"clock is the time appointed for the young women to a.s.semble. It was a few minutes past ten when we got to the place; and there were some twenty of the girls waiting about the door. They were barred out, on account of being behind time. The la.s.ses seemed very anxious to get in; but they were kept there a few minutes till the kind old superintendent, Mr Fisher, made his appearance. After giving the foolish virgins a gentle lecture upon the value of punctuality, he admitted them to the room. Inside, there were about three hundred and fifty girls mustered that morning. They are required to attend four hours a day on four days of the week, and they are paid 9d. a day for their attendance. They are divided into cla.s.ses, each cla.s.s being watched over by some lady of the committee. Part of the time each day is set apart for reading and writing; the rest of the day is devoted to knitting and plain sewing. The business of each day begins with the reading of the rules, after which, the names are called over. A girl in a white pinafore, upon the platform, was calling over the names when we entered. I never saw a more comely, clean, and orderly a.s.sembly anywhere. I never saw more modest demeanour, nor a greater proportion of healthy, intelligent faces in any company of equal numbers.
CHAPTER XVI.
"Hopdance cries in Tom"s belly for two white herrings.
Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee."
--King Lear.
I lingered a little while in the work-room, at the Mechanics"
Inst.i.tution, interested in the scene. A stout young woman came in at a side door, and hurried up to the centre of the room with a great roll of coa.r.s.e gray cloth, and lin check, to be cut up for the st.i.tchers. One or two of the cla.s.ses were busy with books and slates; the remainder of the girls were sewing and knitting; and the ladies of the committee were moving about, each in quiet superintendence of her own cla.s.s. The room was comfortably full, even on the platform; but there was very little noise, and no disorder at all. I say again that I never saw a more comely, clean, and well conducted a.s.sembly than this of three hundred and fifty factory la.s.ses. I was told, however, that even these girls show a kind of pride of caste amongst one another. The human heart is much the same in all conditions of life. I did not stay long enough to be able to say more about this place; but one of the most active and intelligent ladies connected with the management said to me afterwards, "Your wealthy manufacturers and merchants must leave a great deal of common stuff lying in their warehouses, and perhaps not very saleable just now, which would be much more valuable to us here than ever it will be to them. Do you think they would like to give us a little of it if we were to ask them nicely?" I said I thought there were many of them who would do so; and I think I said right.
After a little talk with the benevolent old superintendent, whose heart, I am sure, is devoted to the business for the sake of the good it will do, and the evil it will prevent, I set off with my friend to see some of the poor folk who live in the quarter called "Scholes." It is not more than five hundred yards from the Mechanics" Inst.i.tution to Scholes Bridge, which crosses the little river Douglas, down in a valley in the eastern part of the town. As soon as we were at the other end of the bridge, we turned off at the right hand corner into a street of the poorest sort--a narrow old street, called "Amy Lane." A few yards on the street we came to a few steps, which led up, on the right hand side, to a little terrace of poor cottages, overlooking the river Douglas. We called at one of these cottages. Though rather disorderly just then, it was not an uncomfortable place. It was evidently looked after by some homely dame. A clean old cat dosed upon a chair by the fireside. The bits of cottage furniture, though cheap, and well worn, were all there; and the simple household G.o.ds, in the shape of pictures and ornaments, were in their places still. A hardy-looking, brown-faced man, with close-cropped black hair, and a mild countenance, sat on a table by the window, making artificial flies, for fishing. In the corner over his head a cheap, dingy picture of the trial of Queen Catherine, hung against the wall. I could just make out the tall figure of the indignant queen, in the well-known theatrical att.i.tude, with her right arm uplifted, and her sad, proud face turned away from the judgment-seat, where Henry sits, evidently uncomfortable in mind, as she gushes forth that bold address to her priestly foes and accusers. The man sitting beneath the picture, told us that he was a throstle-overlooker by trade; and that he had been nine months out of work. He said, "There"s five on us here when we"re i"th heawse. When th" wark fell off I had a bit o" bra.s.s save"t up, so we were forced to start o" usin" that. But month after month went by, an" th" bra.s.s kept gettin" less, do what we would; an" th" times geet wur, till at last we fund ersels fair stagged up.
At after that, my mother helped us as weel as hoo could,--why, hoo does neaw, for th" matter o" that, an" then aw"ve three brothers, colliers; they"ve done their best to poo us through. But they"re n.o.bbut wortchin" four days a week, neaw; besides they"n enough to do for their own. Aw make no acceawnt o" slotchin" up an" deawn o" this shap, like a foo. It would sicken a dog, it would for sure. Aw go a fishin" a bit neaw an" then; an" aw cotter abeawt wi" first one thing an" then another; but it comes to no sense. Its noan like gradely wark. It makes me maunder up an" deawn, like a gonnor wi" a nail in it"s yed. Aw wish to G.o.d yon chaps in Amerikey would play th" upstroke, an" get done wi" their bother, so as folk could start o" their wark again." This was evidently a provident man, who had striven hard to get through his troubles decently. His position as overlooker, too, made him dislike the thoughts of receiving relief amongst the operatives whom he might some day be called upon to superintend again.
A little higher up in Amy Lane we came to a kind of square. On the side where the lane continues there is a dead brick wall; on the other side, bounding a little s.p.a.ce of unpaved ground, rather higher than the lane, there are a few old brick cottages, of very mean and dirty appearance. At the doors of some of the cottages squalid, untidy women were lounging; some of them sitting upon the doorstep, with their elbows on their knees, smoking, and looking stolidly miserable. We were now getting near where the cholera made such havoc during its last visit,--a pestilent jungle, where disease is always prowling about, "seeking whom it can devour." A few sallow, dirty children were playing listlessly about the s.p.a.ce, in a melancholy way, looking as if their young minds were already "sicklied o"er with the pale cast of thought," and unconsciously oppressed with wonder why they should be born to such a miserable share of human life as this. A tall, gaunt woman, with pale face, and thinly clad in a worn and much-patched calico gown, and with a pair of "trashes" upon her stockingless feet, sat on the step of the cottage nearest the lane. The woman rose when she saw my friend.
"Come in," said she; and we followed her into the house. It was a wretched place; and the smell inside was sickly. I should think a broker would not give half-a-crown for all the furniture we saw. The woman seemed simple-minded and very illiterate; and as she stood in the middle of the floor, looking vaguely round she said, "Aw can hardly ax yo to sit deawn, for we"n sowd o" th" things eawt o"th heawse for a bit o" meight; but there is a cheer theer, sich as it is; see yo; tak" that." When she found that I wished to know something of her condition--although this was already well known to the gentleman who accompanied me--she began to tell her story in a simple, off-hand way. "Aw"ve had nine childer," said she; "we"n buried six, an" we"n three alive, an" aw expect another every day."
In one corner there was a rickety little low bedstead. There was no bedding upon it but a ragged kind of quilt, which covered the ticking. Upon this quilt something lay, like a bundle of rags, covered with a dirty cloth. "There"s one o" th" childer, lies here, ill," said she. "It"s getten" th" worm fayver." When she uncovered that little emaciated face, the sick child gazed at me with wild, burning eyes, and began to whine pitifully. "Husht, my love," said the poor woman; "he"ll not hurt tho"! Husht, now; he"s noan beawn to touch tho"! He"s noan o"th doctor, love. Come, neaw, husht; that"s a good la.s.s!" I gave the little thing a penny, and one way and another we soothed her fears, and she became silent; but the child still gazed at me with wild eyes, and the forecast of death on its thin face. The mother began again, "Eh, that little thing has suffered summat," said she, wiping her eyes; "an", as aw towd yo before, aw expect another every day. They"re born nake"t, an" th" next"ll ha"
to remain so, for aught that aw con see. But, aw dar not begin o"
thinkin" abeawt it. It would drive me crazy. We han a little lad o"
mi sister"s livin" wi" us. Aw had to tak" him when his mother deed.
Th" little thing"s noather feyther nor mother, neaw. It"s gwon eawt a beggin" this morning wi" my two childer. My mother lives with us, too," continued she; "hoo"s gooin" i" eighty-four, an" hoo"s eighteen pence a week off th" teawn. There"s seven on us, o"together, an" we"n had eawr share o" trouble, one way an" another, or else aw"m chetted. Well, aw"ll tell yo" what happened to my husban" o" i" two years" time. My husban"s a collier. Well, first he wur brought whoam wi" three ribs broken--aw wur lyin" in when they brought him whoam. An" then, at after that, he geet his arm broken; an" soon after he"d getten o"er that, he wur nearly brunt to deeath i" one o"th pits at Ratcliffe; an" aw haven"t quite done yet, for, after that, he lee ill o"th rheumatic fayver sixteen week. That o"
happen"t i" two years" time. It"s G.o.d"s truth, maister. Mr Lea knows summat abeawt it--an" he stons theer. Yo may have a like aim what we"n had to go through. An" that wur when times were"n good; but then, everything o" that sort helps to poo folk deawn, yo known.
We"n had very hard deed, maister--aw consider we"n had as hard deed as anybody livin", takkin" o" together." This case was an instance of the peculiar troubles to which colliers and their families are liable; a little representative bit of life among the poor of Wigan.
From this place we went further up into Scholes, to a dirty square, called the "Coal Yard." Here we called at the house of Peter Y_, a man of fifty-one, and a weaver of a kind of stuff called, "broad cross-over," at which work he earned about six shillings a week, when in full employ. His wife was a cripple, unable to help herself; and, therefore, necessarily a burden. Their children were two girls, and one boy. The old woman said, "Aw"m always forced to keep one o"th la.s.ses a-whoam, for aw connot do a hond"s turn." The children had been brought up to factory labour; but both they and their father had been out of work nearly twelve months. During that time the family had received relief tickets, amounting to the value of four shillings a week. Speaking of the old man, the mother said, "Peter has just getten a bit o" wark again, thank G.o.d. He"s hardly fit for it; but he"ll do it as lung as he can keep ov his feet."
CHAPTER XVII.
"Lord! how the people suffer day by day A lingering death, through lack of honest bread; And yet are gentle on their starving way, By faith in future good and justice led."
--BLACKBURN BARD.
It is a curious thing to note the various combinations of circ.u.mstance which exist among the families of the poor. On the surface they seem much the same; and they are reckoned up according to number, income, and the like. But there are great differences of feeling and cultivation amongst them; and then, every household has a story of its own, which no statistics can tell. There is hardly a family which has not had some sickness, some stroke of disaster, some peculiar sorrow, or crippling hindrance, arising within itself, which makes its condition unlike the rest. In this respect each family is one string in the great harp of humanity--a string which, touched by the finger of Heaven, contributes a special utterance to that universal harmony which is too fine for mortal ears.
From the old weaver"s house in "Coal Yard" we went to a place close by, called "Castle Yard," one of the most unwholesome nooks I have seen in Wigan yet, though there are many such in that part of the town. It was a close, pestilent, little cul de sac, shut in by a dead brick wall at the far end. Here we called upon an Irish family, seven in number. The mother and two of her daughters were in. The mother had sore eyes. The place was dirty, and the air inside was close and foul. The miserable bits of furniture left were fit for nothing but a bonfire. "Good morning, Mrs K_," said my friend, as we entered the stifling house; "how are you geting on?" The mother stood in the middle of the floor, wiping her sore eyes, and then folding her hands in a tattered ap.r.o.n; whilst her daughters gazed upon us vacantly from the background. "Oh, then," replied the woman, "things is worse wid us entirely, sir, than whenever ye wor here before. I dunno what will we do whin the winter comes." In reply to me, she said, "We are seven altogether, wid my husband an" myself. I have one lad was ill o" the yallow jaundice this many months, an"