| Citation |
NYGWPB.764.096
20 Sep 1764:23 (1133)
[London news] The following tragical event happened in the
county of Cambridgeshire, not many years since.
Some strollers having brought down a puppetshew, it was
exhibited in a large thatched barn, at Barnwell, a little
village near Cambridge, on the 8th of September, 1727. Just
as the shew was about to begin an idle fellow attempted to
thrust himself in without paying, which the people of the
shew prevented. . . but this execrable villain, to revenge
the supposed incivility he had received by the shewman, went
to a heap of hay and straw, which stood close to the barn,
and secretly set it on fire. The spectators of the shew,
who were in the midst of the entertainment, were soon
alarmed by the flames. . . [more about the fire, crowd could
not escape. . . only six survived]
|