Widow Curtis, of Wimpole, in this county, were returning from Royston
Fair in a one-horse tilted cart. They were stopped in the street at
Royston by a concourse of people surrounding some recruiting sergeants
who had been parading the streets with a flag and playing "God Save the
King." The young man, being in liquor, attempted to drive through the
crowd. The horse reared up, being frightened by a musket let off close
to him, the young man whipped the horse and struck some persons who
obstructed the cart. This aroused the courage of the sons of Mars, who
thrust their swords through the tilt of the cart, which alarmed the
young women who leaped from the cart, and, fainting away, were carried
to a house at a trifling distance. The soldiers, not satisfied with
the exploit, wreaked their anger upon the horse by stabbing it with a
bayonet in such a manner that the poor animal died in a few minutes.
During the tumult, one of the sergeants threatened a tradesman in the
town, a person of unsuspected loyalty, that if he did not say "God Save
the King," he would run him through the body. To which he replied with
the spirit of a Briton--"You may stab me if you dare, but no man shall
make me say 'God Save the King' only when I please."

1797. Among the numerous parishes in Cambridgeshire which, at the
close of last century, adopted Enclosure Acts was the parish of
Harston, and in this case the preliminary formalities were attended
with an extraordinary manifestation of feeling. The owners of the
property in the parish gave notice of their intention of applying to
Parliament for an Act to allot and divide the parish. A person of the
name of Brand was sent over on horseback from Cambridge to post the
requisite notice on the Church door at Harston. But a crowd of persons
assembled to prevent this being carried out. The man was roughly
handled, his horse kicked, and his coat torn, and he "found it
necessary to get away as fast as he could." A warrant was issued for
{181} the leader named Norden who assaulted Brand, and a great crowd of
persons assembled to prevent Norden's apprehension. The officer of the
law on the one side was protected by nine cavalry who were around, and
on the other hand the rioters were armed with pitchforks and whatever
they could lay their hands upon. The officer and his cavalry escort
got hold of Norden when in the field, but were followed on the road to
Cambridge by the rioters, who, however, wer