foundry masthead






 EBENEZER ELLIOTT
(1781 - 1849)

Sheffield Free Press Newspaper

Two Accounts of The Corn Law Rhymer in 1852



In its issue of January 31st 1852, the Sheffield Free Press newspaper made two lengthy references to Ebenezer Elliott. Both references shed light on how the Poet of the Poor was regarded by his contemporaries in his home town and both references are thus worth recording. Note that the poet had been dead for just over two years when the newspaper gave column space to the Sheffield bard. The first reference was a review of a book on Elliott by his friend January Searle; the second was a convivial Robert Burns' evening where the Corn Law Rhymer was saluted.


PART A     A REVIEW OF "MEMOIRS OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT" (1852) BY JANUARY SEARLE, THE NOM DE PLUME OF GEORGE SEARLE PHILLIPS

In Part A, we are actually concerned with the reviewer rather than the book reviewed! Unfortunately the reviewer's name is unknown (though see later about this). However, he shows he was well acquainted with the Poet of the Poor & he makes interesting observations which are worth publicising.

The reviewer agreed with Paul Rodgers (another friend of the bard) who commented "that Elliott, as a writer, is very little known, and poorly appreciated, in Sheffield." Yet the reviewer also recognised that Elliott was "one who in his day did good service for humanity" and who "occupied no ordinary position among his contemporaries." He went on to regret that the "Laureate of Free Trade," as he called Elliott, was distracted from writing poems on natural scenes, and he feared that "The Bard of Trade" was blinkered by tunnel vision: the obsession with free trade had hampered his development. The reviewer then observed that free trade was not the cure-all that a naive Elliott had promulgated. Hence we note that the reviewer had an ambivalent view of the Corn Law Rhymer & of his abilities. The reviewer uses several quotations from January Searle's book; one of them is shown below since it is an excellent example of Elliott's rhetoric. The quotation, which has now been traced to an Elliott letter of 1842 addressed to Paul Rodgers, reveals the Corn Law Rhymer slamming the Whigs in a most amusing manner:-


But the fifty pound tenant-at-will-clause Whigs; - the ballot-refusing Whigs; - the reform-defecting Whigs; - the monopoly-defending Whigs; - the Bank Charter-renewing Whigs; - the Coercion-bill Whigs; - the twenty-million-slave-holder-rewarding Whigs; - the half-faced, double-faced Whigs, who could once have saved the State, and would not - can do no good, if willing. Their time is past.


Elliott often made use of repetition, but here he was quite witty; a rare combination for the Poet of the Poor.

Towards the end of the long review, we learn that the men of Sheffield had been niggardly with donations to a memorial for the Corn Law Rhymer (more of this in Part B). The reviewer then called Elliott a genius which is at odds with the reviewer's earlier opinions of the Poet of the Poor. The miserable free traders, we hear, ignored and slighted the "Bard of Trade" while being very generous to less deserving espousers of their cause.

Finally in Part A, there is an unpublished letter by the Rhymer - this appears below. It shows Elliott disallusioned about the market for poetry, it sees him making encouraging remarks to a young poet (something he always did) & generously inviting the young man to visit Great Houghton. In a postscript, Elliott tells an anecdote which illustrates his amusing self-depreciation.


Great Houghton, near Barnsley, 24th Oct., 1844


     Dear Sir,  -  I dread to be asked my opinion of a young poet's production, because in these days poetry finds no buyers - it has absolutely no reading public. Your ode to the flies is, to me, original; and it displays great mastery of versification.  If the poems of Burns on similar subjects deserve praise, I know not why your poems should not be praised also, for I can honestly say that, in my opinion, it is equal to some of the best of them; and he had facilities which you have not, for you cannot, as he could, rhyme from two languages, and multiply rhymes by cutting off final consonants.  I wish you had added a stanza of good hope.  I hold that wise legislation will, in the end, put an end to the injustice of avarice, if not to avarice itself, by proclaiming to all, "Ye shall not expect something for nothing."  If ever you come this way, I hope you will not forget to shake hands with

"CORN LAW RHYMES."

 

*     When Mr. Tait was in Sheffield, some years ago, he enquired at the Tontine, and of several decent-looking folks in the streets and shops, for one Ebenezer Elliott.  Of course, none of them knew such a person.  At last, he met a Wadsley grinder, and enquired of him.  "Oh," said Flatback, "Yo' mean Cornlaw Rhymes."



(The Tontine was an hostelry in Sheffield town centre)

The anecdote, of course, backed up the view expressed earlier that Elliott was little known by the well-to-do of Sheffield while it also indicated he was at least appreciated by working people.

A problem with Elliott's letter is that we do not know to whom it was addressed. Seeing that it was dated 1844  -  eight years before it appeared in the newspaper  -  it is reasonable to conclude that the letter had been posted to the reviewer himself; who would also be a poet. In addition, Ebenezer signed the letter "Corn Law Rhymes" which suggests the recipient was on good terms with the Corn Law Rhymer. The proprietors of the Sheffield Free Press were William Eaton and John Blenkin; one of these characters may have been the target of Elliott's letter &  at the same time the writer of the book review "Memoirs of Ebenezer Elliott."

It is often reported that Elliott signed his letters CLR or the Corn Law Rhymer and that he took great delight in this. Yet nearly all letters examined have been signed boldly & with a flourish "Ebenezer Elliott"  -  the letter above is significant since its signature supports the CLR signature legend.




PART  B     A BURNS' NIGHT TOAST TO THE CORN LAW RHYMER

Part  B deals with a "Burns' Gathering" as reported in the Sheffield Free Press of January 31st 1852. This 32nd anniversary do took place at the "Old Cock," a public house in Paradise Square run, appropriately enough, by one Tam McQuae!  The event was clearly a most formidable night out for lovers of literature and whisky.  The newspaper reported that James Marsden occupied the chair and soon started the first of many toasts, "the repast having been concluded, the 'haggis' partaken of, and the cloths drawn."  After toasting the Queen, Prince Albert, the Royal Family & Burns, officials competed to toast their fellow committee members & any poets they could think of! The toasting was interspersed with songs and poems. The longest toast was made by a Mr A. Earnshaw who spoke at length about the Poet of the Poor. Earnshaw had many interesting points to make about Elliott in the speech which appears below as reported by the Sheffield Free Press.


      
     Mr A. Earnshaw gave  "The Memory of Ebenezer Elliott."  (Applause).  He remarked first of all that Ebenezer Elliott lived before his time.  He was ridiculed as "the mad poet;" but how much truth he wrote!  (Hear, hear.)  There might be sterness in his touch, but with what effect he wrote!  How he convinced men, who thought themselves practical men of business, that they had mistaken notions of mankind. He was the pioneer of reform, and as such there could be no wonder he was not appreciated by those who were interested in keeping up abuses.  He made known to the world so much, of Sheffield and its surrounding neighbourhood, that our woods, our hills, and streams have become as household words to those who never saw Sheffield.  (Applause.)  This was the mission of the poet: not only to teach man to love his fellow-man, but to teach him to love nature, by placing nature before him in her beautuos aspects.  Such was  Ebenezer Elliott.  (Applause.) 

      It was said of Elliott, "he was rugged:"  so he might be; but he was truthful.  (Applause.)  The more we read of him, the more we admire him.  Years ago, we read, but did not understand him.  Now we read him and revere his memory.  (Hear, hear)  He threw a halo round Sheffield, of which Sheffield and Sheffield men should be proud.  He felt sorry that his memory had been neglected or regarded with coldness. There was an effort made to raise a monument to him.  Some had asked for bread, and received a stone; but to Ebenezer Elliott   -  who had striven to emancipate England from a tax under which she groaned, and who was by common consent  named the "Corn Law Rhymer,"  -  they refused a stone.  (Hear, hear.)  It was a disgrace to Sheffield that his monument was not reared, and that the subscription list was in its present state. 

      He had only spoken of him as a poet; and as such they had read and appreciated his writings.  If any had not done so, let them read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest Ebenezer Elliott's writings.  They would profit by them.  (Applause.)  He would now speak of him in his social relations.  A better man as a father, as a friend, as a social companion, as a kind hearted being, than Ebenezer Elliott, never existed.  (Applause.)  "The Memory of Ebenezer Elliott."

 


The reviewer concluded his report of the evening's junket that after numerous toasts "the harmony of the night was not broken in upon until the day had dawned."  Yes, they certainly knew how to party in Sheffield in 1852!  And as the reviewer stated " The night was spent in harmony without alloy."


 

To return to Ebenezer Research Foundry, please strike the anvil