‘Cut down by some cowardly miscreants’: Plant Maiming, or the Malicious Cutting of Flora, as an Act of Protest in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Rural England

Abstract

Since the publication of Hobsbawm and Rudé'sCaptain Swingour understanding of the role(s) of covert protests in Hanoverian rural England has advanced considerably. Whilst we now know much about the dramatic practices of incendiarism and animal maiming and the voices of resistance in seemingly straightforward acquisitive acts, one major gap remains. Despite the fact that almost thirty years have passed since E. P. Thompson brought to our attention that under the notorious ‘Black Act’ the malicious cutting of trees was a capital offence, no subsequent research has been published. This paper seeks to address this major lacuna by systematically analysing the practices and patterns of malicious attacks on plants (‘plant maiming’) in the context of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century southern England. It is shown that not only did plant maiming take many different forms, attacking every conceivable type of flora, but also that it was universally understood and practised. In some communities plant maiming was the protestors' weapon of choice. As a social practice it therefore embodied wider community beliefs regarding the defence of plebeian livelihoods and identities.

New protest history: Exploring the historical geographies and geographical histories of resistance through gender, practice, and materiality

“…The work of historical geographer Carl Griffin on rural dissent in eighteenth‐ and nineteenth‐century Britain is a good example of how the practice of historical resistance can be analyzed. Griffin (, p. 34) approaches the archive with cautious creativity, arguing for the “need to cast an imaginative eye over the archive, to search for suggestion and then proceed with interpretive caution.” The result is research that foregrounds the practical, performative, embodied, and emotional aspects of protest. Griffin acknowledges the difficulties of researching practice in the archive, and advocates “engag[ing] with historical texts in ways that highlight the intimate connections between language and embodied practice” (Griffin & Evans, , p. 11).…”

“…Since 2000, a number of scholars such as Griffin (, , , , , , ), McDonagh (, , see also Griffin and McDonagh, and McDonagh and Griffin, ) Navickas (, , ), and Robertson (, , ) have brought the study of historical protest up‐to‐date by employing critical research methodologies and foregrounding both geographical analysis and the experiences of people traditionally overlooked within historical geography, such as women, ethic minorities, and the poor. This subdiscipline is often termed “new protest history,” although the geographical background and approach of many of the scholars active in the field means that “new protest historical geography” would be a more accurate, if less eloquent, descriptor.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2008

“…Clayton examines the 24‐year career of an eighteenth‐century London pickpocket and prostitute; Shoemaker discusses the reliability of the Proceedings of the Old Bailey in reporting crimes; and Oates charts the fate of over a thousand prisoners following the 1715 Jacobite surrender at Preston. Finally, in two articles Griffin highlights the practice of plant‐ and tree‐maiming as a form of rural protest in late‐eighteenth and early‐nineteenth southern England, while Woodward, also in two articles, surveys the prevalence of burglary and the seasonality of sheep‐stealing in eighteenth‐ and early nineteenth‐century Wales.…”

Camping, climbing trees and marching to Parliament: spatial dimensions of environmental protest in New Zealand

“…These structures are significant for social movement actors who seek to 'restructure the meanings, uses, and strategic valance of space ' (Sewell 2001, p. 55). By contesting existing practices, such actors seek to question and challenge accepted behaviours or threats to community values through transgressive behaviour (see Seijo 2006;Griffin 2008).…”