Thomas Gunter visits The Greyhound Inn 1679

Thomas Gunter walked with determination up Cross Street, past the half-timbered Market Hall in the middle of the road and up into the High Street. He turned right into the Greyhound Inn (1), passing under the sign projecting out into the street and into the tap room. He hesitated, peering into the dim light of the room, only to be greeted by John Floyre from the back of the room.

John Floyre had a dish in front of him which he had been scraping out with a hunk of bread and a glass of wine by his hand. He called out “Good to see you again, Master Thomas. Come and join me - this is excellent claret.” Thomas Gunter breathed out – he had not realised he had been holding his breath in case he was not welcome.

John Jones was pushing through the door behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s join Master Floyre at the table, shall we?” Almost as soon as they sat down, the pot boy was there asking them for their order. Thomas ordered a jug of wine and a glass, and John Jones had ale in his tankard. Charles Baker, the prosperous wool merchant, and William Price, a corn merchant came to join them at the table – a group of prosperous men regarding themselves as gentlemen of the town (2).

After exchanges of greetings about their health and the weather, there was a short uncomfortable pause. Just then, William Morgan, the publican, came out from the back and asked them if they had been affected by the recent riot. Thomas Gunter explained that he had been warned that it would be a good day for Catholics to keep out of sight, so he had no idea what had happened. William Morgan grinned at him and pulled up a chair. He told them that it had been the talk of the tavern for a few days and he had heard many varied accounts. The May Fair had been on and ‘someone’ had organised a procession with the figure of a pope at its head (3). “Can’t imagine who that was!” he remarked and everyone laughed uncomfortably with the thought of the fanatic John Arnold (4).

Apparently the ‘pope’ was laden with beads, relics, pictures, bells and other superstitious emblems which were removed when the procession reached a bonfire. There were banners with the words ‘blasphemy’, ‘superstition’, ‘idolatry’ and ‘rebellion’ as well as pictures of the Gunpowder Plot and the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey (5). Two large men who were sow gelders (6) had been paid to play their flageolets (7). “The trouble was,” went on William Morgan, “that it was a Fair Day and this procession was getting in the way of people going to and from the fair. Some of the men and women from the stalls rushed out throwing things and to shout at them, and other local folk took up the fight. Like most things on a Fair Day, with drink flowing, it soon got out of hand, with everyone fighting everyone else. They forgot what the reason was and just had a good fight using whatever they had to hand.” The others added what they had heard about the fights and the damage that had been caused to some properties when the fights continued in the town itself.

Charles Baker, looking pompously down his nose, announced that “It’s bad for business, something like this. Stirring up trouble, we don’t want that here. Live and let live (8), that’s what I say. People should worship as they see fit. We’ve many other dissenters here as well as Catholics.”  There was a short silence with nodding heads of agreement. The publican left to attend to his affairs at the back. Then William Price asked Charles Baker about the price of fleeces and the conversation became general and mainly concerned with business matters, who was buying what at what price and what businesses were thriving and which were not doing so well. The price of corn, as usual, was a constant worry and the need regulate its price at the market (9).

Thomas Gunter, having satisfied himself that he was still as welcome in company as before, said his farewells and walked home, thinking, uncomfortably, of Father David Lewis (10) in his cell in Usk awaiting execution. The order to arrest all the Catholic priests last November had had a big effect on Thomas’ life. No Catholic services could now be held in his house, and no Masses said. There was no comfort for the Catholic worshippers in the town or surrounding countryside, except what alms he could give. He and other Catholics in the area made sure that Father Lewis was comfortable, but they feared to visit him in case they too, were arrested. His wife had pointed out, he thought wryly, that they were better off financially without entertaining so many people at Gunter Mansion.

He tried not to feel too angry with John Arnold. After all, Arnold was as certain in his own Protestant religion, as Thomas was in his own faith. Although, he thought, rather more uncharitably, there was a lot of ill-feeling between Arnold (and other anti-Catholics) over the way in which the Marquess of Worcester had behaved locally – imposing his own candidates for positions of authority like magistrates, sheriff and Members of Parliament and removing Protestants who he did not favour (like Arnold). And there was that business when he had felled timber in Wentwood (11) and other landowners had tried to sue him. He wondered about Worcester’s conversion to the Protestant faith – would that withstand being faced with death or would he, like so many others, meet His Maker restored to the Old Faith, a Catholic like his father?

He was back at his house now. Time to stop worrying about the affairs of others and concentrate on his own affairs and how to make enough money to pay his Recusancy fines (12).   

Footnotes

(1) Many Inns were named The Greyhound after King Henry VIII’s favourite dogs. The Greyhound, a very large establishment, closed in 1959. Only the Greyhound Vaults in Market Street remain.

(2) A John Floyre was mentioned in the Abergavenny Vestry Book 1717 as petitioning the King for the restitution of the tithe payments for the King Henry VIII Grammar School. John Jones was a common name in Abergavenny and Charles Baker and Wiiliam Price are mentioned in contemporary documents.

(3) A Pamphlet, The Pope’s Downfall at Abergavenny 1679 published in London describes the event. There were several of these processions in London, but no others seem to have been recorded outside London.

(4) John Arnold of Llanfihangel Court was a fervent anti-Catholic and a Member of Parliament. See other articles.

(5) The judge who was found murdered after hearing the fabricated testimony of Titus Oates. See Popish Plot article.

(6) Men who castrated pigs.

(7) Early type of flute.

(8) First recorded as a saying in 1622.

(9) There were complex regulations about how and where corn (wheat) was to be sold, restricting its sale mainly to licensed markets.

(10) See other stories.

(11) In December 1677, Worcester had entered Wentwood Forest with 100 men, enclosed and felled the timber there. The local gentlemen who opposed the action were removed from their posts in the county and two attorneys who defended them were removed to prison.

(12) Usually, local magistrates turned a blind eye to dissenters and Catholics, but at times when anti-Catholic feeling ran high, the laws were enforced. See article on Recusancy.