1831 (est.)
The Nottingham Tragedy!!! Lines to Their Memory
| Tune: | Unknown |
| Lyrics: | Unknown |
Hark! The trumps are mournful sounding
Wafting souls to realms above,
Where there’s naught but bliss abounding.
Glorying too for Jusu’s love.
The reckless fate of these poor creatures,
Fills town with sad dismay,
For Nottingham, with its bright features,
Could not check that dreadful day.
To see the prime of youth now wither,
’Midst relations, friends so dear,
It makes one’s blood almost to shiver,
Who could stop the burning tear.
Hearson, Beck, and Armstrong boldly
Met their fates beneath the tree.
Villains swore against them coldly,
And their doom we all shall see.
The 1831 Reform Bill – abolishing rotten boroughs, redistributing constituencies and extending the franchise – was rejected by the Lords, leading to numerous riots such as that in Nottingham on 10 October. As part of state reprisals, three rioters were publicly hanged; this short, simple broadside, headed by a grisly woodcut of the execution, makes martyrs of the three men, warning that ‘doom’ will befall those who condemned them.
| Cause: | Reformist | Collectivist |
| Theme: | Political Process |
| Addressed to: | Regional Identity | General Public |
| Target of Protest: | Judiciary | Sin (specified) |
| Proposal/Solution: | Pessimism |