While on the topic of late seventeenth-century dancing masters behaving badly, I came across information on one George Norton, seventeen years old, condemned to die for the murder of Thomas Harris, a dancing master whom he accidentally killed with Harris's own sword in a street fight.
Here's Norton's brief confession, excerpted from A True Account of the Behaviour, Confessions, and last Dying Speeches of the Condemn'd Criminals, that were Executed at Tyburn on Wednesday the 2d. of August, 1699, by John Allen, Ordinary.
George Norton, Esq ; 17 Years old, Condemn'd for the Murder of Mr. Harris; being examin'd gave this Account, which he confirmed with repeated and solemn Asseverations, when he receiv'd the blessed Sacrament, viz. That as he was going to his Lodgings, he accidentally met with the Deceased, whom he never saw before; who held a Woman in his Hand; he taking the Wall of her, she asked Mr. Harris, if he wou'd permit such a Puppy to affront her so: Upon which the Deceased pushed him, which made him demand who he was? Mr. Harris replied, he was a Man; this occasion'd several Words, which at length made them both draw, and as he protested, the Deceased drew first, and made several Passes, ten or twelve, before he receiv'd his fatal Wound. Being demanded how the Deceased's Sword came to be bloody and broke, and his bright and entire? He added farther; That as they were Pushing at one another, the Woman took away his Sword, which made him defend himself for some time with his Cane, but perceiving the Deceased to press hard upon him, he closed with him, and endeavoured with all his Force, to wrest the Sword out of his Hand, which breaking short, with the Point of his own Sword, the Hilt still remaining in his Hand, the Deceased receiv'd his mortal Wound; for which he seem'd very Penitent, earnestly beseeching God, to Wash him throughly from his Iniquity, and cleanse him from his Sin, in that Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness, the precious Bloud of the Immaculate Lamb of God, Slain to take away the Sins of the World. I believe he is a true Penitent. (source: Old Bailey Online)
Later on in Allen's account is a brief note:
George Norton, Esq ; is Repriv'd till the ninth instant.
But the story didn't end there. According to a surviving "true crime" broadsheet containing a fuller confession, Norton committed suicide by poison on August 8th, the night before his new execution date.
But why, exactly, were Norton and Harris fighting in the street in the first place?
The key words there are "taking the Wall of her". Norton cut between the woman and the buildings, forcing her out toward the street, which was the dirtiest place to walk, or possibly into the gutter, which would have been streaming with filth. See, for example, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act I, scene 1, in which two servants of the Capulets boast about how they will insult the Montagues:
Sampson
A dog of that house shall move me to stand. I will
take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.
Gregory
That shows thee a weak slave, for the weakest goes
to the wall.
Sampson
True, and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,
are ever thrust to the wall. Therefore I will push
Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids
to the wall.
Being Shakespeare, the exchange rapidly descends into sexual innuendo, but the general idea that it is rude to push people "from the wall" comes through. The notes here and here confirm this interpretation.
All right, so Norton insulted a woman by pushing her away from the wall. She provoked her companion into fighting with him. But who all these people were is quite a tale, which can be found in the much longer version of Norton's confession which was published as a broadside by "D. Edwards in Fetter-Lane". It is available via the Early English Books Online (EEBO) database, which is where I first came across this case.
Harris seems to have been an unpleasant character:
...there are several Persons of good Credit, who have and are ready at all times to attack, that the abovementioned Thomas Harris was always accounted a very Quarrelsome Person...
...One Mr. Graves a Bookbinder, and House-keeper at St. James’s has declared, that he used frequently to draw his Sword upon naked People, and that he had been once in danger himself of having been kill’d by him unawares, if a certain Person, who stood by, had not given him timely Notice.
"Naked people" probably means "people without swords", not people who were unclothed.
The unpleasant Mr. Harris had left his wife for the so-called Mary Ager:
...the Widow of the Deceased Harris has confess’d her self, That the said Thomas Harris had for a considerable time led a very idle and loose Life, That he was addicted to Gaming and other Vices; That he had liv’d with this Woman as if she were his Wife; and the said Widow of Mr. Harris has possitively Affirmed, that her Husband, since his Conversing with this Woman, was turned Strouler up and down the Country, leaving his Wife and Family destitute at home, without the least Care for their Subsistance; and that the said Woman had been an Actress in most Parts of England.
"Conversing" is meant in the sense of "criminal conversation", which means that they weren't just talking; it's an accusation of adultery. So here's our badly-behaving dancing-master: a nasty character prone to pulling his sword on unarmed people, who abandoned his wife and children to carouse up and down England with an actress. And what an actress! "Mary Ager" seems not even to have been the woman's real name, as the real Mary Ager testified:
The Character of the Woman is confirmed by the Testimony of one Mrs. Ager, the True and lawful Wife of Mr. Ager, who has deposed in Court, That this Counterfeit Mrs. Ager, had taken upon her the Name of her Husband, with whom she had kept Company for near ten years, to the Destruction of her and her Children, who were thereby reduced to the utmost Extremity.
Apparently this was something of a habit:
And one Mr. Dubois has by his Affadavit, declared, That this pretended Mrs. Ager, has proved the Ruin and Death of several Persons before, and had been likely to have been the occasion of his.
She certainly was the ruin of Harris and Norton. Possibly feeling that she was not looking good in court proceedings, she escalated her accusation from rudeness to murder in the process of wife-stealing:
...her Deposition; to wit: That he attempted to take away a Man’s Wife from him (and Death ensuing) found guilty of Murther;
Since "Mary Ager" was neither Harris's wife nor the real Mrs. Ager, that's an impressive frame-up. Norton denounced it twice as a lie:
Mr. George Norton possitively declared, that what Mary Ager, who was walking along with Mr. Harris, when he had the Misfortune to kill him, deposed concerning his clapping the said Thomas Harris upon the Shoulder, and his asking him who he was, and his Swearing that he would lie with her, without any Provocation, was utterly false...
...he again solemnly declares to have been falsely deposed by the said Mary Ager, his Intention being not in the least to take her away, but only to call her to an Account for the ill Language she gave him
Then, of course, there was the fight itself, which "Mary" encouraged Harris to pursue, though it's not clear that he would have needed much encouragement. Norton was drunk, and "Mary" reacted abusively to the insult of having the wall taken from her:
As he was walking on the 11th of June last, about Eleven a Clock at Night at the Bar in High-Holbourn, near the Fountain-Tavern, being contrary to his Custom, somewhat in Drink, he happened to meet and take the Wall of the beforesaid Thomas Harris, who was leading this Mary Ager; at which, she being much exasperated, called him without any further Provocation, a Prigg, and a Puppy, for offering to take the Wall of a Woman, adding, that she wondred Mr. Harris would not kick him Into the Kenell, and so push’d him from the Wall. That then, and not before, he asked her who she was, and without any further Intention of taking her from Mr. Harris, told her, that he would know why she should give him such abusive Language before they parted, and that he would have her before her Betters;
Norton claimed Harris drew first, and that after first defending himself with his cane, which was hacked to pieces, he was reluctantly forced to draw his sword:
Mr. Harris coming up close to him, told him, he would make him know who she was, and immediately drew his Sword, and attack’d him so unexpectedly, that he was forc’d to defend himself as well as he could with his Cane, which he did for some time, till Mr. Harris, having cut his Cane in many places, and at last struck it out of his hands, he was forced to have recourse to his Sword; when several Passes were made betwixt them, and the before-mentioned Mary Ager, having taken the opportunity to take away his Sword, he was forced to close in with the said Thomas Harris, and having broke his Sword, with one of the Pieces, he gave, in the greatest heat of Blood, and for the Security of his own Person, the Wound, which proved Fatal to his Enemy
It's not easy to keep the pronouns straight here, but it seems that "Mary" somehow took away Norton's sword, forcing him to close with Harris, who had managed to break his own sword. The whole fight sounds like a comic mess, except that, in the resulting scramble, Harris was stabbed with one of the broken pieces, which contradicted the apparent accusation by the unhelpful "Mary" that Norton had slaughtered Harris before he could even draw his sword. Norton's blade was clean:
...as was testified by several Watch-men, and the Neighbouring Vintner and his Apprentice, who were there present, and afterwards Evidences for the King; as Nicholas Mountain, another Watch-man, (who was likewise Sworn for the King) has sufficiently clearly contradicted the deposition of Mary Ager in that point, relating to Mr. Harris, having received his Wound while they were passing at one another; the said Mountain having declared possitively, that he found Mr. Harris with a Piece only of his Sword in his Hand, the Point of about a Foot long, lying near him upon the Ground all Bloody, and that his own Sword was found near Mary Ager, clean, without any Marks of Blood; which is a sufficient demonstration that he could not be kill’d before his own Sword was drawn, but afterwards when he was forced to close with him to preserve his own Life.
Norton claimed to have been upset to find out that Harris was dying:
...he was no sooner brought into the Watch-house, (which was not above 20 yards from the Place where the Quarrel hapned) but hearing that his Wound was judged Mortal, he cryed out to the Chirugeon, to use his utmost Endeavours to save his Life, and that he should have 1000 l. secured him for a Reward, expressing his Sorrow for having kill’d a Man, for he did not know what,
Sorting out the pronouns again, the "he" brought to the Watch-house at the beginning is Norton, but "his Wound" refers to Harris's wound. The "he" who called for the chiurgeon and offered the reward was Norton; but "his Life" refers to Harris.
Even assuming that this account was self-serving, one can sympathize somewhat with Norton, who was only seventeen when he got drunk and in a clumsy fight, and then found himself in the incomprehensible situation of, in his own bewildered words, having "kill'd a Man, for he did not know what". He took poison rather than face a potentially slow and agonizing death by hanging in front of a crowd at Tyburn.
There is no word on what happened to "Mary Ager."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the full text of the broadside confession:
The True CONFESSION
OF
Mr. George Norton
Concerning the
MURTHER
of Mr. Harris the Dancing-Master
On the 11th of June last.
Taken out of his own PAPERS, delivered by him to Mrs. Mary Edwards, before he took the Fatal Draught of Poyson, on the 8th of August, of which he died the next following day, which was appointed for his Execution at Tyburn.
Mr. George Norton possitively declared, that what Mary Ager, who was walking along with Mr. Harris, when he had the Misfortune to kill him, deposed concerning his clapping the said Thomas Harris upon the Shoulder, and his asking him who he was, and his Swearing that he would lie with her, without any Provocation, was utterly false; as was likewise, what he had declared, that he had drawn his Sword first; and that the said Mr. Harris had been wounded by him, as she believ’d, at the first Pass; The Quarrel betwixt Mr. Harris and him happening in the following manner: As he was walking on the 11th of June last, about Eleven a Clock at Night at the Bar in High-Holbourn, near the Fountain-Tavern, being contrary to his Custom, somewhat in Drink, he happened to meet and take the Wall of the beforesaid Thomas Harris, who was leading this Mary Ager; at which, she being much exasperated, called him without any further Provocation, a Prigg, and a Puppy, for offering to take the Wall of a Woman, adding, that she wondred Mr. Harris would not kick him Into the Kenell, and so push’d him from the Wall. That then, and not before, he asked her who she was, and without any further Intention of taking her from Mr. Harris, told her, that he would know why she should give him such abusive Language before they parted, and that he would have her before her Betters; upon which, Mr. Harris coming up close to him, told him, he would make him know who she was, and immediately drew his Sword, and attack’d him so unexpectedly, that he was forc’d to defend himself as well as he could with his Cane, which he did for some time, till Mr. Harris, having cut his Cane in many places, and at last struck it out of his hands, he was forced to have recourse to his Sword; when several Passes were made betwixt them, and the before-mentioned Mary Ager, having taken the opportunity to take away his Sword, he was forced to close in with the said Thomas Harris, and having broke his Sword, with one of the Pieces, he gave, in the greatest heat of Blood, and for the Security of his own Person, the Wound, which proved Fatal to his Enemy, and put hum under such an immediate Affliction, that he was no sooner brought into the Watch-house, (which was not above 20 yards from the Place where the Quarrel hapned) but hearing that his Wound was judged Mortal, he cryed out to the Chirugeon, to use his utmost Endeavours to save his Life, and that he should have 1000 l. secured him for a Reward, expressing his Sorrow for having kill’d a Man, for he did not know what, as was testified by several Watch-men, and the Neighbouring Vintner and his Apprentice, who were there present, and afterwards Evidences for the King; as Nicholas Mountain, another Watch-man, (who was likewise Sworn for the King) has sufficiently clearly contradicted the deposition of Mary Ager in that point, relating to Mr. Harris, having received his Wound while they were passing at one another; the said Mountain having declared possitively, that he found Mr. Harris with a Piece only of his Sword in his Hand, the Point of about a Foot long, lying near him upon the Ground all Bloody, and that his own Sword was found near Mary Ager, clean, without any Marks of Blood; which is a sufficient demonstration that he could not be kill’d before his own Sword was drawn, but afterwards when he was forced to close with him to preserve his own Life.
The said Mr. George Norton further declares, that one Mrs. Ellis, living at the sign of the Blew-Ball near the Watch-house in High Holbourn, where the Quarrel happened, heard the first Words about taking the Wall, which prov’d the unfortunate occasion of the Quarrel, upon which she opened her doors, brought out Lights, and took up his Cane, cut and hack’d in many places by Mr Harris’s Sword; as one Mr. Chittam[?], who happened to pass by accidentally, was an eye-witness, that the said Thomas Harris drew his Sword first against him, and that he was fain to defend himself with his Cane, but did not tarry to see the whole issue of this Quarrel; and Mr. Rook heard distinctly out of his Chamber-Window, which he opened at the first Noise, the Clashing of the Sword and Cane, very violently, as if they were striking at one another.
Mr. Norton further says, that there are several Persons of good Credit, who have and are ready at all times to attack, that the abovementioned Thomas Harris was always accounted a very Quarrelsome Person, as Mary Ager was look’d upon by those that knew her well, as a Woman of a very sleight Reputation. One Mr. Graves a Bookbinder, and House-keeper at St. James’s has declared, that he used frequently to draw his Sword upon naked People, and that he had been once in danger himself of having been kill’d by him unawares, if a certain Person, who stood by, had not given him timely Notice.
One Mr. Rook, and the Widow of the Deceased Harris has confess’d her self, That the said Thomas Harris had for a considerable time led a very idle and loose Life, That he was addicted to Gaming and other Vices; That he had liv’d with this Woman as if she were his Wife; and the said Widow of Mr. Harris has possitively Affirmed, that her Husband, since his Conversing with this Woman, was turned Strouler up and down the Country, leaving his Wife and Family destitute at home, without the least Care for their Subsistance; and that the said Woman had been an Actress in most Parts of England. The Character of the Woman is confirmed by the Testimony of one Mrs. Ager, the True and lawful Wife of Mr. Ager, who has deposed in Court, That this Counterfeit Mrs. Ager, had taken upon her the Name of her Husband, with whom she had kept Company for near ten years, to the Destruction of her and her Children, who were thereby reduced to the utmost Extremity.
And one Mr. Dubois has by his Affadavit, declared, That this pretended Mrs. Ager, has proved the Ruin and Death of several Persons before, and had been likely to have been the occasion of his. That, notwithstanding the disadvantageous Character of this Woman, who was the main evidence against him; and tho’ he brought several Gentlemen of good Reputation and Quality, who gave a good Account of his Civil and Peaceable Deportment, he was upon her Deposition; to wit: That he attempted to take away a Man’s Wife from him (and Death ensuing) found guilty of Murther; which he again solemnly declares to have been falsely deposed by the said Mary Ager, his Intention being not in the least to take her away, but only to call her to an Account for the ill Language she gave him, upon which the Quarrel arising, as mentioned before, he, what[?] with the Heat of Passion, and partly in his own Defence, did give the Wound to Mr. Harris with the broken Piece of his Sword, which proved fatal to him.
LONDON: Printed by D. Edwards in Fetter-Lane. 1699.
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