18 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



remained below to take care of 

 Mrs. Noble, the others proceeded 

 up stairs to demolish four warp 

 lace frames, because they were 

 making what is called two-course 

 hole. In vain Mr. Noble informed 

 them that he was receiving eight- 

 pence a yard more than the stand- 

 ard price, " It was not tlie price," 

 they said, " but the sort oF net they 

 objected to ;'' and he was forced 

 out of his frame with the blow of 

 a sword which narrowly missed 

 his head, and which cut asunder 

 nearly the whole of tlie threads 

 across his frames. The screams of 

 his wife, (which a severe blow ors 

 the head with the butt end of a 

 pistol could not still), brought him 

 down to her assistance, where he 

 found a neighbour who had come 

 in at the back door to their aid, 

 and who, iu conjunctibn with Mr. 

 Noble, seized the man in the 

 house, and attempted to disarm 

 himj- but he, finding himself in 

 danger, called out " Ned Ludd," 

 when his companions rushed down 

 stairs, before they had demolished 

 the fourth frame, to his rescue: 

 and in the scuffle, one of them 

 snapped a pistol, which happily 

 missed fire. When their compa- 

 nion was hberated, they found the 

 door fast ; but they cut it in pieces 

 in a few seconds, and forced their 

 way through a collected crowd, 

 threatening destruction to any one 

 Tvho should attempt to oppose 

 them. The house of Mr. Slater 

 of New Radford, was also entered 

 late on Tuesday night ; the first 

 man presenting a drawn sword to 

 his breast when he opened the 

 door, suspecting it had been his 

 own apprentice who wanted to 

 come in ; but the depredators con- 



tented themselves with cutting the 

 warp asunder on the beam of the 

 frame, and with taking away the 

 wheels which are necessary to the 

 formation of the two-course hole 

 mesh. The same night two plain 

 cotton frames were broken at 

 Sneinton ; their holders being 

 charged with working at an abated 

 price. On Saturday night week, 

 a hay-stack was burnt at Bulwell ; 

 and we have just learnt that two 

 frames, belonging to a hosier in 

 this town were last night broken 

 in the parish of Westhallam, in 

 Derbyshire. Apicquetofahundred 

 rnen now parades the streets of Not- 

 tingham, in separate parties, headed 

 by the civil authorities every night. 

 24. Tiie following article is ex- 

 tracted from the Plymouth Tele- 

 graph : — " On the evening of the 

 20th instant, Margaret Hoxtable 

 of Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge, a 

 child only nine years old, was sent 

 on an errand by her mother to a 

 neighbouring shoemaker's ; but it 

 was to return no more — for en- 

 ticed, as it is supposed, by two 

 men, with whom she had been seen 

 on the Totnes road, she was first 

 violated, and then murdered in the 

 most inhuman manner. Her pa- 

 rents made every research and in- 

 quiry for their child, but to no 

 purpose, until the following morn- 

 ing, when her shift was discovered 

 about a mile from Dodbrooke, 

 much torn and dyed with blood. 

 On searching further, her mangled 

 corpse was found in the same field, 

 perfectly divested of clothing. Her 

 head, smashed to pieces, apparently 

 with stones, was literally driven 

 into the earth. The perpp^ratora 

 of this crime have hitbciio escaped 

 detection." 



25. On 



