(1) Men who committed dastardly and vile tricks. Many of them were becoming clergymen in the reign of Henry II it will be remembered until it was decided that they should be tried by the King’s Court. This of course stopped their treacherous games.
(2) The villein was religious rising, the people in this rising were called Villeins, they did not believe in Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confirmation.
(3) A villein was a person who was ordered to do some cruel deed. He was generally paid very dearly for doing so. A good example of villeins is seen in the case of the murder of the two princes in the Tower.
All these pale before the brilliancy of the reply to the following fearful question:
Q. How was the Coalition Ministry of 1783 formed? Name the most prominent Members. What causes led to its fall?
My candidate came from the Lancashire coalfield, near the Bridgwater Canal. “Coal-ition,” she said, and she read her title clear, with the aid of local knowledge:
A. During the year 1783 Mr. Brindle and Mr. —— cut a canal from Worsley to Manchester so that the people of Manchester could have coal much cheaper than they were having. When the time came for opening the canal Mr. Brindle ran away and hid himself. It turned out to be a great success and it has proved to be very useful to Manchester people till lately. Coal is now much cheaper and there are so many coalpits round the district that it is much cheaper getting coal nearer home.
Here are some miscellaneous blends:
(1) (Character of Henry VIII.) Of a sour and hasty disposition he was not long in wreaking his vengeance upon those who should happen to fall under his displeasure, e. g. Wolsey, who incurred Henry’s displeasure by not taking his part in a quarrel the king had with the clergy through a hasty speech of the king, who in an angry moment exclaimed have I no one to rid me of this low-born priest. This caused four Norman knights who heard the king say this to set off at once to Canterbury Cathedral to murder the man Wolsey on the spot.
(2) (The Pilgrim Fathers.) A number of men who set out on foot for the Holy Land travelling night and day on foot were called the Pilgrim Fathers, because they were thought Christians if they travelled and denied themselves every comfort. It was the Pilgrim Fathers who kept sacred the cutting of the miseltoe from the oak, the keeping up of Christmas, Good Friday, and such like.