Captain Swing
Encyclopedia
Captain Swing was the name appended to some of the threatening letters during the rural English Swing Riots
of 1830, when labourers rioted over the introduction of new threshing machines and the loss of their livelihoods. Captain Swing was described as a hard-working tenant farmer driven to destitution and despair by social and political change in the early nineteenth century.
in the south to Kent
in the east, and they had a number of structural causes. The main targets for protesting crowds were landowners/landlords, whose threshing machine
s they destroyed or dismantled, and whom they petitioned for a rise in wages. They also demanded contributions of food, money, beer, or all three from their victims. Often they sought to enlist local parish officials and occasionally magistrates to raise levels of poor relief as well. Throughout England, 600 rioters were imprisoned, 500 sentenced to transportation, and 19 executed and 9 were hanged.
The protests were notable for their discipline and the customary protocols favoured by the crowds, characteristics which were very much part of the tradition of popular protest going back to the eighteenth century. The structural reasons for the Swing 'riots' (or risings) are relatively straightforward: un- and underemployment, low wages, low levels of relief, and competition for winter employment from machinery. However, the nature of the events of 1830 suggest that they may demand just as subtle an interpretation as the events of the previous century.
For most contemporaries, the riotous but largely bloodless actions of the crowds presented less cause for alarm than the high incidence of arson
during the period of Swing (October to December 1830). Swing the rick burner was not only more destructive, but infinitely harder to apprehend than the rioters in this heightened atmosphere of tension and hostility. The relationship between arsonists and protesters is difficult to assess – although there is little doubt that a relationship existed. Whatever the immediate motivations of the arsonists of 1830 and 1831, their actions undoubtedly gave added strength to the demands of the protesting crowds.
However, reform was in the air. Many protestors found sympathy in middle-class radicals who encouraged protesters to spread far from their original sources. Further, early sentences by magistrates against the rioters, even those who destroyed threshing machines, were fairly light. Thus, riots continued into 1831.
Swing
Sir, This is to acquaint you that if your thrashing machines are not destroyed by you directly we shall commence our labours.
Signed on behalf of the whole ... Swing
From E.J. Hobsbawm and George Rude,
Captain Swing
.
Swing Riots
The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising by agricultural workers; it began with the destruction of threshing machines in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830, and by early December had spread throughout the whole of southern England and East Anglia.As well as the attacks on...
of 1830, when labourers rioted over the introduction of new threshing machines and the loss of their livelihoods. Captain Swing was described as a hard-working tenant farmer driven to destitution and despair by social and political change in the early nineteenth century.
Swing Riots
Popular protests by farm workers occurred across a wide swath of agricultural England, from SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
in the south to Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in the east, and they had a number of structural causes. The main targets for protesting crowds were landowners/landlords, whose threshing machine
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
s they destroyed or dismantled, and whom they petitioned for a rise in wages. They also demanded contributions of food, money, beer, or all three from their victims. Often they sought to enlist local parish officials and occasionally magistrates to raise levels of poor relief as well. Throughout England, 600 rioters were imprisoned, 500 sentenced to transportation, and 19 executed and 9 were hanged.
The protests were notable for their discipline and the customary protocols favoured by the crowds, characteristics which were very much part of the tradition of popular protest going back to the eighteenth century. The structural reasons for the Swing 'riots' (or risings) are relatively straightforward: un- and underemployment, low wages, low levels of relief, and competition for winter employment from machinery. However, the nature of the events of 1830 suggest that they may demand just as subtle an interpretation as the events of the previous century.
For most contemporaries, the riotous but largely bloodless actions of the crowds presented less cause for alarm than the high incidence of arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
during the period of Swing (October to December 1830). Swing the rick burner was not only more destructive, but infinitely harder to apprehend than the rioters in this heightened atmosphere of tension and hostility. The relationship between arsonists and protesters is difficult to assess – although there is little doubt that a relationship existed. Whatever the immediate motivations of the arsonists of 1830 and 1831, their actions undoubtedly gave added strength to the demands of the protesting crowds.
However, reform was in the air. Many protestors found sympathy in middle-class radicals who encouraged protesters to spread far from their original sources. Further, early sentences by magistrates against the rioters, even those who destroyed threshing machines, were fairly light. Thus, riots continued into 1831.
Examples of threatening 'Swing' letters
Sir, Your name is down amongst the Black hearts in the Black Book and this is to advise you and the like of you, who are Parson Justasses, to make your wills. Ye have been the Blackguard Enemies of the People on all occasions, Ye have not yet done as ye ought,....Swing
Sir, This is to acquaint you that if your thrashing machines are not destroyed by you directly we shall commence our labours.
Signed on behalf of the whole ... Swing
From E.J. Hobsbawm and George Rude,
Captain Swing
Cultural references
Swing appears as a real person in the alternate reality fiction The Difference EngineThe Difference Engine
The Difference Engine is an alternate history novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.It posits a Victorian Britain in which great technological and social change has occurred after entrepreneurial inventor Charles Babbage succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer .The novel was...
.
Further reading
- Hobsbawm, EricEric HobsbawmEric John Ernest Hobsbawm , CH, FBA, is a British Marxist historian, public intellectual, and author...
& George RudéGeorge RudéGeorge Rudé was a British Marxist historian, specializing in the French Revolution and "history from below," especially the importance of crowds in history.-Summary:...
. Captain Swing, 1969. - Matthews, Mike. Captain Swing in Sussex and Kent, 2006.
External links
- Captain Swing recruits a Mansfield vicar article from 1831 in The Manchester GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper.