CHAPTER XVIII.
STOKEBRIDGE FEAST.
Even among the mining villages of the Black Country Stokebridge had areputation for roughness; and hardened topers of the place would boastthat in no village in the county was there so much beer drunk per head.Stokebridge feast was frequented by the dwellers of the mining villagesfor miles round, and the place was for the day a scene of disgracefuldrunkenness and riot. Crowds of young men and women came in, thepublic-houses were crowded, there was a shouting of songs and a scrapingof fiddles from each tap-room, and dancing went on in temporary booths.
One of these feasts had taken place just after the establishment of thenight classes, and had been marked by even greater drunkenness and moreriotous scenes than usual. For years the vicar in the church and thedissenting ministers in their meeting-houses had preached in vainagainst the evil. Their congregations were small, and in this respecttheir words fell upon ears closed to exhortation. During the year whichhad elapsed, however, there was a perceptible change in Stokebridge, achange from which those interested in it hoped for great results.
The Bull-dogs and their kindred societies had set the fashion, and thedemeanour and bearing of the young men and boys was quiet and orderly.In every match which they had played at rounders, football, and quoits,with the surrounding villages Stokebridge had won easily, and never werethe games entered into with more zest than now.
The absence of bad language in the streets was surprising. The habit ofrestraint upon the tongue acquired in the club-rooms had spread, and twomonths after Jack's first proposal had been so coldly received, theproposition to extend the fines to swearing outside the walls as well asin was unanimously agreed to. The change in the demeanour of the girlswas even greater. Besides the influence of Mrs. Dodgson and herassistant, aided perhaps by the desire to stand well in the eyes of ladsof the place, their boisterous habits had been toned down, dark neatlymade dresses took the place of bright-coloured and flimsy ones; hair,faces, and hands showed more care and self-respect.
The example of the young people had not been without its influence uponthe elders. Not indeed upon the regular drinking set, but upon those whoonly occasionally gave way. The tidier and more comfortable homes, thebetter cooked meals, all had their effect; and all but brutalized menshrank from becoming objects of shame to their children. As to thewomen of Stokebridge they were for the most part delighted with thechange. Some indeed grumbled at the new-fangled ways, and complainedthat their daughters were getting above them, but as the lesson taughtin the night-classes was that the first duty of a girl or woman was tomake her home bright and happy, to bear patiently the tempers of others,to be a peacemaker and a help, to bear with children, and to respectelders, even the grumblers gave way at last.
The very appearance of the village was changing. Pots of bright flowersstood in the windows, creepers and roses climbed over the walls, patchesfull of straggling weeds were now well-kept gardens; in fact, as Mr.Brook said one day to the vicar, one would hardly know the place.
"There has indeed been a strange movement for good," the clergyman said,"and I cannot take any share of it to myself. It has been going on forsome time invisibly, and the night schools and classes for girls havegiven it an extraordinary impulse. It is a changed place altogether. Iam sorry that the feast is at hand. It always does an immense deal ofmischief, and is a time of quarrel, drunkenness, and license. I wishthat something could be done to counteract its influence."
"So do I," Mr. Brook said. "Can you advise anything?"
"I cannot," the vicar said; "but I will put on my hat and walk with youdown to the schoolhouse. To Dodgson and his wife is due the real creditof the change; they are indefatigable, and their influence is verygreat. Let us put the question to them."
The schoolmaster had his evening class in; Mrs. Dodgson had ten girlsworking and reading in her parlour, as she invited that number of theneatest and most quiet of her pupils to tea on each evening that herhusband was engaged with his night-school. These evenings were greatlyenjoyed by the girls, and the hope of being included among the list ofinvited had done much towards producing a change of manners.
It was a fine evening, and the schoolmaster and his wife joined Mr.Brook out of doors, and apologizing for the room being full asked themto sit down in the rose-covered arbour at the end of the garden. Thevicar explained the object of the visit.
"My wife and I have been talking the matter over, Mr. Brook," theschoolmaster said, "and we deplore these feasts, which are the bane ofthe place. They demoralize the village; all sorts of good resolutionsgive way under temptation, and then those who have given way are ashamedto rejoin their better companions. It cannot be put down, I suppose?"
"No," Mr. Brook said. "It is held in a field belonging to "TheChequers," and even did I succeed in getting it closed--which of coursewould be out of the question--they would find some other site for thebooths."
"Would you be prepared to go to some expense to neutralize the badeffects of this feast, Mr. Brook?"
"Certainly; any expense in reason."
"What I was thinking, sir, is that if upon the afternoon of the feastyou could give a fete in your grounds, beginning with say acricket-match, followed by a tea, with conjuring or some such amusementafterwards--for I do not think that they would care for dancing--windingup with sandwiches and cakes, and would invite the girls of my wife'ssewing-classes with any other girls they may choose to bring with them,and the lads of my evening class, with similar permission to bringfriends, we should keep all those who are really the moving spirits ofthe improvement which has taken place here out of reach of temptation."
"Your idea is excellent," Mr. Brook said. "I will get the band of theregiment at Birmingham over, and we will wind up with a display offireworks, and any other attraction which, after thinking the matterover, you can suggest, shall be adopted. I have greatly at heart theinterests of my pitmen, and the fact that last year they were led awayto play me a scurvy trick is all forgotten now. A good work has been seton foot here, and if we can foster it and keep it going, Stokebridgewill in future years be a very different place to what it has been."
Mr. Dodgson consulted Jack Simpson the next day as to the amusementslikely to be most popular; but Jack suggested that Fred Wood and BillCummings should be called into consultation, for, as he said, he knewnothing of girls' ways, and his opinions were worth nothing. His twofriends were sent for and soon arrived. They agreed that a cricket-matchwould be the greatest attraction, and that the band of the soldierswould delight the girls. It was arranged that a challenge should be sentto Batterbury, which lay thirteen miles off, and would therefore knownothing of the feast. The Stokebridge team had visited them the summerbefore and beaten them, therefore they would no doubt come toStokebridge. They thought that a good conjuror would be an immenseattraction, as such a thing had never been seen in Stokebridge, and thatthe fireworks would be a splendid wind up. Mr. Brook had proposed that adinner for the contending cricket teams should be served in a marquee,but to this the lads objected, as not only would the girls be left out,but also the lads not engaged in the match. It would be better, theythought, for there to be a table with sandwiches, buns, lemonade, andtea, from which all could help themselves.
The arrangements were all made privately, as it was possible that thepublicans might, were they aware of the intended counter attraction,change the day of the feast, although this was unlikely, seeing that ithad from time immemorial taken place on the 3rd of September except onlywhen that day fell on a Sunday; still it was better to run no risk. Ameeting of the "Bull-dogs" was called for the 27th of August, and atthis Jack announced the invitation which had been received from Mr.Brook. A few were inclined to demur at giving up the jollity of thefeast, but by this time the majority of the lads had gone heart and soulinto the movement for improvement. The progress made had already been sogreat, the difficulties at first met had been so easily overcome, thatthey were eager to carry on the work. One or two of those most doubtfulas to their own
resolution were the most ready to accept the invitationof their employer, for it was morally certain that everyone would bedrunk on the night of the feast, and it was an inexorable law of the"Bull-dogs" that any of the members getting drunk were expelled fromthat body. The invitation was at last accepted without a dissentingvoice, the challenge to Batterbury written, and then the members wentoff to the associated clubs of which they were members to obtain theadhesion of these also to the fete at Mr. Brook's. Mrs. Dodgson hadharder work with the sewing-class. The attraction of the dancing anddisplay of finery at the feast was greater to many of the girls than tothe boys. Many eagerly accepted the invitation; but it was not until Mr.Dodgson came in late in the evening and announced in an audible tone tohis wife that he was glad to say that the whole of the young fellows ofthe night-school had accepted the invitation, that the girls all gaveway and agreed to go to the fete.
Accordingly on the 3rd of September, just as the people from the pitvillages round were flocking in to Stokebridge, a hundred and fifty ofthe young people of that place, with a score or two of young marriedcouples and steady men and women, set out in their Sunday suits for Mr.Brook's.
It was a glorious day. The cricket-match was a great success, themilitary band was delightful, and Mr. Brook had placed it on the lawn,so that those of the young people who chose could dance to the inspiringstrains. Piles of sandwiches disappeared during the afternoon, and thetea, coffee, and lemonade were pronounced excellent. There was, too, aplentiful supply of beer for such of the lads as preferred it; as Mr.Brook thought that it would look like a want of confidence in hisvisitors did he not provide them with beer.
Batterbury was beaten soundly; and when it was dark the party assembledin a large marquee. There a conjuror first performed, and after givingall the usual wonders, produced from an inexhaustible box such prettypresents in the way of well-furnished work-bags and other usefularticles for the girls that these were delighted. But the surprise ofthe evening was yet to come. It was not nine o'clock when the conjurorfinished, and Mr. Dodgson was thinking anxiously that the party would beback in Stokebridge long before the feast was over. Suddenly a greatpair of curtains across the end of the tent drew aside and a regularstage was seen. Mr. Brook had obtained the services of five or sixactors and actresses from the Birmingham theatre, together with sceneryand all accessories; and for two hours and a half the audience was keptin a roar of laughter by some well-acted farces.
When the curtain fell at last, Mr. Brook himself came in front of it. Solong and hearty was the cheering that it was a long time before he couldobtain a hearing. At last silence was restored.
"I am very glad, my friends," he said, "that you have had a happyafternoon and evening, and I hope that another year I shall see you allhere again. I should like to say a few words before we separate. Youyoung men, lads and lasses, will in a few years have a paramountinfluence in Stokebridge; upon you it depends whether that place is tobe, as it used to be, like other colliery villages in Staffordshire, orto be a place inhabited by decent and civilized people. I am delightedto observe that a great change has lately come over it, due in a greatmeasure to your good and kind friends Mr. and Mrs. Dodgson, who havedevoted their whole time and efforts to your welfare." The cheering atthis point was as great as that which had greeted Mr. Brook himself, butwas even surpassed by that which burst out when a young fellow shoutedout, "and Jack Simpson." During this Jack Simpson savagely made his wayout of the tent, and remained outside, muttering threats about punchingheads, till the proceedings were over. "And Jack Simpson," Mr. Brookwent on, smiling, after the cheering had subsided. "I feel sure that theimprovement will be maintained. When you see the comfort of homes inwhich the wives are cleanly, tidy, and intelligent, able to make thedresses of themselves and their children, and to serve their husbandswith decently cooked food; and in which the husbands spend theirevenings and their wages at home, treating their wives as rationalbeings, reading aloud, or engaged in cheerful conversation, and comparetheir homes with those of the drunkard and the slattern, it would seemimpossible for any reasonable human being to hesitate in his or herchoice between them. It is in your power, my friends, each and all,which of these homes shall be yours. I have thought that some activeamusement is necessary, and have arranged, after consultation with yourvicar and with Mr. and Mrs. Dodgson, that a choir-master from Birminghamshall come over twice a week, to train such of you as may wish and mayhave voices, in choir-singing. As the lads of Stokebridge can beat thoseof any of the surrounding villages at cricket, so I hope in time thechoir of the lads and lasses of this place will be able to hold its ownagainst any other." Again the speaker had to pause, for the cheering wasenthusiastic. "And now, good-night; and may I say that I hope and trustthat when the fireworks, which will now be displayed, are over, you willall go home and straight to bed, without being tempted to join in thedoings at the feast. If so, it will be a satisfaction to me to thinkthat for the first time since the feast was first inaugurated, neitherlad nor lass of Stokebridge will have cause to look back upon thefeast-day with regret or shame."