THE ROUT OF THE THIMBLE-MEN. 



To the present generation of race-goers the thimble-rigger is 

 only known as an insignificant and contemptible item among the 

 miscellaneous and motley crowd of camp-followers that dog the 

 march of the ever-moving army of the Turf. It is only in odd 

 holes and corners that he ventures to ply his nefarious trade, 

 and he flies at no higher game than the simple bumpkin or the 

 drunken sportsman of Cockaigne. But it was far otherwise fifty 

 years ago. The thimble-riggers, or thimble-men, were the terror 

 of the racecourse. They frequented every race-meeting of any 

 importance in large gangs, and were as desperate a set of ruffians 

 as could be found. Woe betide the inebriated sportsman who 

 fell into their hands ! They stripped him of everything he had, 

 and often maltreated him as well. It was by more artful dodges, 

 however, that they, as a rule, earned their living ; and it does 

 seem strange that the race-goers of that day should have allowed 

 themselves to be so openly and flagrantly victimised. There 

 was a notorious case tried in 1823, in which there was plenty of 

 evidence produced to show that gentlemen would often stop 

 their carriages in front of a thimble-rigger's table, get out, and 

 lose twenty or thirty pounds in a few minutes. When people 

 who should have known better made such fools of themselves, it 

 was not surprising that the thimble-men were so bold and defiant, 

 and that their impudence increased in proportion to their suc- 

 cess. At last, however, things reached such a pass that, in the 

 autumn of 1830, the stewards of the Doncaster Meeting resolved 

 to put down the thimble-men with a strong hand, and, if possible, 

 rid the northern meetings, at any rate, of the pest which had so 

 long infested them. Accordingly the stewards and the public 

 authorities of the borough entered into an alliance to join their 

 forces for the suppression of the thimble-riggers. By some 

 means or other the thimble-men became aware that mischief was 

 brewing, and they assembled in unusual numbers. So far from 

 being dismayed, they had the audacity to contemplate meeting 



