Author: David Williams

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780708323960

La 4e de couv. indique : "The Rebecca Riots in west Wales began in the summer of 1839. They ceased as suddenly as they had started, and for three and a half years the countryside was undisturbed. Then, in the winter of 1842, they broke out again with greater violence, and this time continued throughout the following year. By day the countryside seemed quiet, but at night fantastically disguised horsemen, many dressed as women, careered along highways and through narrow lanes on their mysterious errands. They developped uncanny skill in evading the police and the infantry, and although their mounts were unwieldly farm horses, they also succeeded in outwitting the dragoons. The movement has typically been represented as the uprising of an oppressed peasantry, particularly against the burden of the toll-gates. Its causes, however, were far more deep-seated than that; the gates were only tangible objects that could be destroyed. The early nineteenth century saw a breakdown in the social structure of rural Wales, with its outmoded systems of government and administration, when the pressure of a greatly increased population upon a backward economy produced disturbances. The early chapters of this book are therefore devoted to an analysis of the social structure and to an examination of the underlying factors that brought about its collapse. In the last four chapters, a narrative account is given of the rioting and many strange characters are introduced to the reader."