THE BALLAD OF THE BATTLE OF NEWLAND – A CONCLUSION?
Our trial project to encourage local people to help interpret a mysterious Ballad of the Battle of Newland from the John Goodchild Collection is drawing to a close. We had realized that although the Ballad seemed to be placed in 1541 at the time of an insurrection against King Henry VIII, the document was clearly from the late 18th century. So in our sessions for the public on 21 and 24 May we looked for a military event from the late 18th century which might be disguised as from an earlier date in order to avoid accusations of slander.
The main figures in the Ballad can be identified as members of the wealthy local Milnes family, who supported radical ideas, opposed to the Tories. From 1794 famine began in Britain, fuelled by a shortage of grain imports from France. Militia groups were set up to act as military reserves in case of invasion from France. In 1795 grain barges at Heath Lock and other locks nearby bringing in grain were attacked by locals wanting to seize the grain and distribute directly to the starving poor. The Militias were called out and broke up the locals who fled. So this event fits in with an anti-monarchy faction attacked on behalf of the King in the late 18th century. Case closed?
The participants then went on to look at the handwritten Ballad and noted that it is annotated ‘written in 1787’ so that it should have been written before the militia events of 1795. So case not entirely closed!