Urban Legends: Saved by Thieves May 13, 2016
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
Another in our Victorian Urban Legends series. This looks like the ancestor (or more likely one of the many ancestors) of the modern Mafia Neighbours, story. You know the one, young married couple move into the neighbourhood, all their new furniture is stolen while they are on their honeymoon, but when they tell an elderly Italian neighbour he advises them to wait a day before going to the police. The day after all the furniture is piled up on their doorstep. The implication, of course, is that the Rossi family next door control the most powerful crime syndicate in New Jersey.
There crops up an old story concerning the late Lord Shaftesbury which is worth telling the younger generation of newspaper readers. It is well-known that the noble earl was in the habit of spending a great deal of his time in the slums of London, and his philanthropy in such missions took the widest possible form. Of him, as of the village parson in the ‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ could truly be said, ‘His pity gave ere charity began,’ and the roughs, pickpockets, and loungers of The Dials, The Cut, and other interesting centres of habitation were not slow in recognising the benevolent side of the good man’s character. They gave many proofs of their gratitude, one of the oddest being when they returned him his watch, which a young urchin had stolen from him in The Out thoroughfare running out of the Westminster Bridge Road. The lad did not know Lord Shaftesbury, but one of his tutors happened to see him commit the robbery, and was half inclined to thrash him on the spot for ‘easing’ the common friend. Punishment was, however, inflicted upon the gamin the next night. He was thrust into sack with the watch tied round his neck, and deposited on the door-step of his lordship’s residence. The bell was rung, and when the butler opened the door the sack and the living freight tumbled into the hall. On a card suspended from the watch was the following exhortation to Earl Shaftesbury: Lock ’im up, mi lord, he’s a disgrace to our profession; he orter known how yer lordship was free the wud; giv’ ’im five years ’ard. Friends.’ Lord Shaftesbury took his watch, and, instead of prosecuting the thief, turned him into an honest shoeblack. Ed Ev Ne, 31 Oct 1885, 3
Any other Victorian urban legends: drbeachcombing At yahoo DOT com Fingers itching.
