pamphlet on the history of the bull-running, commented on the manner by which it was passed down from generation to generation, “The Steeples are filled with Children, who are sent to observe the Proceedings of their Seniors, in this manner they are initiated and train’d up to be compleat Masters themselves in time.”
What was the point? The chief aim of the bull-running was to ‘bridge the bull’, meaning to toss the animal from Stamford’s bridge into the River Welland. He would then swim to the nearby meadow where he would be pursued again for a short while before eventually being slaughtered at the end of the day. A reference compiled by Toulmin Smith, dating from 1389 from Stamford’s Guild of St. Martin, states “on the feast of St. Martin this gild, by custom beyond reach of memory, has a bull; which is hunted by dogs, and then sold; whereupon the bretheren and sisteren sit down to feast” One female was so influential in the history of the practice that she was revered by Stamfordians as “Empress of the Bullards”; Mrs Anne Blades, better known to the local populace as ‘Nan Roberts’, was instrumental in defeating the attempt to quash the sport in November 1789, openly defying the orders of the civic authorities against running a bull through the town. Her local celebrity was such that she earned an obituary in the anti-bullrunning Stamford Mercury. Mrs Blades was to be seen every 13 November dressed all in blue, carrying a blue stick as clearly shown in this Oil painting that hangs in the Council Room in the Town Hall.
The Bull-running scrapbook In the Stamford archives is a scrapbook with many contemporary documents showing both the support for and opposition to the practice. The scrapbook has over 100 contemporary documents of which four are worth elaborating here. It was compiled in the 19th century by Mr Joseph Phillips, a well known Stamford Businessman. First a music sheet with the tune and words of the Bull Song. This was sung by the sport’s supporters, known as “Bullards” at feasts leading up to the day and also on the day. The first two verses are shown below.
The second document is a pamphlet from the Stamford by-election of 1809 where one candidate standing for office, J Jephson Oddy promised the electors he would protect their favourite sport if they voted for him.
Opposition and decline But the sport was also opposed. The third document is another handbill, the twitter of the time, speaking out strongly against the “cruel” practice and pleading for the bulls to be left in peace. A local magistrate, Richard Newcomb who was also the owner of the Mercury, was strongly against the sport and once lamented that he was the only member of the magistracy who did not support it. The RSPCA spent many of its early years campaigning against Stamford’s bull-running as its records show, finally succeeding in having the sport declared illegal by the Court of the Queens’s Bench in 1838. One factor for Stamford itself was that the increasing costs of policing the sport, now that it was outlawed, were causing much opposition from the town’s ratepayers. The fourth document from the scrapbook is a pledge against bull-running signed by more than 600 citizens showing the names of all the signatories. Finally a second contemporary oil painting from the Town Hall shows the bull having being arrested and returned to town by a troop of Dragoons and members of the Metropolitan Police. These were sent by the Home Secretary from London in 1839 to quell the sport finally. The last known year of an attempted bull-run was 1840.
Restoration of Historic Bull Running Scrapbook The Stamford Decorative and Fine Arts Society, STADFAS, has for many years provided volunteers to the Town for the conservation of its many archives
and treasures. In 2011 it was decided that the scrapbook leaves were badly in need of restoration, though most of the original documents were sound. STADFAS then decided to sponsor the professional restoration of the Scrapbook and they were successful in obtaining a matching grant from their national body NADFAS; an organisation providing thousands of volunteer hours across the country to preserve many aspects of Britain’s cultural heritage. The scrapbook has been restored by Louise Drover, an experienced book and paper conservator based in Northampton. She is also involved in restoration work at Strawberry Hill, Chatsworth and Blenheim The 100+ original documents had to be carefully released from their attachment to the fragile leaves of the book and in some cases washed to reduce their acidity. Then they were restored where necessary and had Japanese paper hinges added. The new leaves are an acid-free cotton based paper similar in tone and weight to the original. The original case had been used with the spine and covers consolidated and the new leaves bound in. The documents will be tipped into their original page positions and hinged so that both sides can be seen by researchers. The restored document will be on display in the Town Hall and a reception will be held on November 13th to launch the scrapbook and to remind Stamford citizens of the origins and history of its unique sport of bull-running. An audio visual presentation on bull-running has been created by STADFAS and will be shown both at the reception and when the scrapbook goes on public exhibition. It will also be available to local organisations wishing to learn more about this most historic and typical Stamford social custom that was practised and enjoyed here from around 1280 to 1840. The restored Scrapbook can now also be made available for use by scholars for study and research.
Come all you bonny boys, Who love to bait the bonny bull, Who take delight in noise, And you shall have your belly full, On Stamford’s Town Bull running day, We’ll show you such right gallant play, You never saw the like you’ll say, As you have seen at Stamford. Earl Warren was the man, That first began this gallant sport; In the Castle he did stand, And saw the bonny bulls that fought; The butchers with their bull-dogs came, These sturdy stubborn bulls to tame, But more with madness did inflame, Enrag’d they ran through Stamford. STAMFORD Living NOVEMBER 2012
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