Earl Shilton - The Old Volunteers

The Old Volunteers

The traditional greeting of the Leicestershire miners was ‘old bud’ (old bird). This has now been transformed to ‘me duck’

Before the regulation of the First World War it was possible for men to buy beer before breakfast time in the village.

Many Shilton men joined the old ‘Volunteers’, belonging to the Hinckley Company; these were later incorporated in the ‘Militia’. Clad in their red jackets, blue trousers and pipe clayed trimmings with pointed helmets, it is said that on Saturday’s night Earl Shilton resembled a garrison town when everyone wore their uniform.

The Leicester Mercury was first published in 1836. Newspapers during the eighteenth and nineteenth century were very few, and many Shiltonians brought up before the Great War, can remember when one copy sufficed for several families. These were read aloud in the candlelight of the poor homes of the villagers, the few people able to read being in great demand. The old Candle House, where candles were made, stood for many years in Almeys Lane, and during renovations to the Baptist Chapel much brickwork of the Candle House was incorporated in the building.

Election days in the village were, prior to the franchise, very hectic. The candidates usually arrived at the polling stations (usually the schools) in horse cabs. They were often assaulted by the crowds, and top hats worn in those days were often sent flying. Many of the rougher element were given beer and locked up for the day to preserve the peace (Foster).

Morris dancing took place on Plough Monday, when the dancers went round the village to collect money. If this was refused they entered the house and refused to quit until ransom was paid either in cash or food. Fishing nets on long canes were carried to reach bedroom windows where they had locked doors. German bands also visited the village, as did travelling bears, which danced to music.

In 1861 the village crier was Thomas Foster, who advertised sales, meetings and public news. The last man to hold this post was a blind man called Bannister, who also made baskets.

Houses in the village were rented by groups of men who, when they had finished their work, then "shopped it", or took it, to some central depot in the village, and were usually paid each trip. Sweaters, or child labour, were often exploited, and regularly after a period of drunkenness these sweaters were compelled to sit working all night with their elders to make up for lost time. Many worked from the age of eight or nine, in the local term "got more kicks than half pence."