Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-02-13
THE THREE MOTHERS.
Three Famous Inns in Merry
England.
Mother Fed Cap, Mother Black Gap, and
Mother ShiptOn.
Superstition Surrounding Them.

mother. and - they should be in the
course OF uaiure. have. however,
writes q London correspondent to The
Boston HerI'6, discovered in one por-
ton Of London three mothers, and all
of them mothers of the same offspring,
all living at Camdentown and Kentish-
town. all easily reached by a tram-car
StartiG" from Kings Cross railway sta
ton, which j. situated in the northern
part OF this vast city. The offspring OF
these mothers three, is-what do you
suppose? Briefly. then. since You prob
ably give up the riddle, it is bar, not 3
legal bar. but a public bar, or, in Eng
lish abbreviation. "a pub" The moth
crs are the three names Of inns OF the
past. now dcgencrated into mere way
side resorts for the expenditure OF the
nimble coins Of the realm, which seem
somehow To burn in the pockets of the
British workman and his spouse. Gu
ridus 10 learn something of inns, which,
a. far a> | can ascertain, are the only
ones called mother this or that, l
made little tour of investigation a. to
their origin and history, both on the
premises themselves and at that mine OF
knowl, DE, the British museum, which
includes the histories of every sort of
English enterprise and of the books and
literature of all nations. Ii was posi-
BILE, however, to CLEAN most OF my facts
from the places under consideration
Iamcly. the Mother Red Cap" Moth
or Black Cap" and Mother Shipton"
hosteleries. The people living near
81 1,,- ~
bic graphical lore, and, save that here
and there date needs verifying, Cam
dcntown and its contiguous Kentish-
town are well grounded in all pertain
ing TO their celebrated Three Moth
ers.' A. far back IT. 1880 these three
inns were in flourishing condition.
Mother Red Cap and Mother Shipton
date back to the early seventeenth cen
tUry. and, believing vague rumors, even
further back. Mother Black Cap can
not trace with authority earlier than
1920 With Mother Red Cap it was and
is at rivalry, and it, name was doubt
less given in order 10 be one quite op-
posite TO red. or, likelier still, because
Mother Red Cap was once intended to
have been made second Tyburn.
Therefore black may have been used in
derisive spirit Orders" wrote The
Morning Post newspaper in 1875 ''have
been given from the secretary of state =
Office that the criminals capitally con-
victed at the Old Bailey shall in future
be executed at the cross-road near the
Mother Red Cap inn, the half way
house To Hampstead, and that no gal
lariag zGaHnlIy Ithnn
stages be built near the place"
The first home of Charles Dickens in
London was within sight of the Red
Cap when he came here with his par
onts from Chatham in 1921. 1t was
then about the poorest portion of the
London suburbs. The thoughtful little
lad saw about him that sorry poverty
which he so graphically portrayed later
Oh in his marvellous wor'i paintings. That
his childhood was lonely in consequence
Of his having at that period of his life
no suitable companions was perhaps
the best thing which could have hap
pened for the imperceptible develop
mcnt of his mental life.
The Mother Red Cap was from earli-
est times a terror to travellers. She was
a character in history. sometimes called
Mother Damnablc.' of Kentishtown.
At her house the notorious ''Moli Cut
purse" the highway feminine marauder
II Oliver Cromwell's day, halted and
lodged. Viragos these two beyond all
loubt. In 1880 the old house was taken
DOWN and 4 new one built on its sight,
with the SAM swinging sign over the
toor NJ bpynpa cbrou,i.b l~ol;... ,.,~
man, with a formidable extinguisher-
shaped hat The present house is in its
turn successor to the 1850 one, built
about 1875. Much of the walls and
stone foundations are not only those
comprising the later but the former
domicile. As many histories are pre-
Sented of this somewhat mythical per-
sonage as there are days in the week.
The venerable dame, witch, or alewife
is identified by many writers as the cele-
DRAFTED Eleanor Running, of Leather
head, in Surrey, who lived in the days
OF Henry VIII. This old alewife is de-
scribed by the poet laureate of bluff
King Hal as being most uncomely of
face, ''ugly of cheer, her face all brow
sy. wondrOusly wrinkled. her 'een
blearcd, and she gray-haired.
In work on the history of st. Pam
creas is the account of her life which is
most probable. and the one nearest the
traditions still eXtant in Camdentown
''She was," saws this record. ..some-
times called, besides Mother Damnable'
and Mother Red Cap the .Shrew of
kentishtOwn. She was the daughter
OF one Jacob Bingham, brickmaker in
the town and neighborhood. firing of
the humble labors of bricklayer, he
enlisted in the army and went to SCOT
land. marrying there a Scotch peddler's
daughter. The result Of their union
was our Mother Red Cap. whom they
named Jinney. At last the father wear
led OF the army and returned to his
bricks. sometimes relieving life's mon
otony by travelling. with his wife and
child. as a peddler. Thus the girl got
into vagabond WAYS, and at l6 had an
intrigue with one Gypsy George, or -
be was less frequently known, George
Coulter, an idle ne'er-do-well. This
man was . deal of bother TO the magis-
trates, and, truth compels Us to record,
he lived by his wits. which were most
disreputsble ones. In his evil deeds he
was seconded by the lawless Jinney.
At last Coulter was caught sheep steal
Ing, sent TO Newgate, tried at the Old
Bailey, and hung at Tyburn.
Reckless Jinney did not long wear
fhe willow No q in her 1awlosa sffon