Mathew Morris, once again, presented an informative and riveting talk at Old Dalby Village Hall, June 23rd, 2026. The subject was Murder and Mayhem at the Blue Boar. Centred around a carefully planned robbery and subsequent murder of the landlady of the Blue Boar in Leicester, Matthew took his attentive audience on a fascinating journey exploring the way crimes were dealt with in England during the Middle Ages through to a couple of centuries ago, focusing on evidence painstakingly researched in Leicestershire.
He described, in hair-raising detail, the conditions of the various gaols in Leicester, the types of punishments that were meted out and the method of detection and prosecution of offenders. Today we enjoy a judicial system that seeks to protect the innocent and deliver fairness employing a professional, trained police force. Half a millennium ago there were no coppers to call on. Instead, a “Hue and Cry” was raised, and the perpetrators were pursued and apprehended by a mob made up of residents from the immediate area and nearby parishes. Some might say, “Much like FaceBook”.
There was, though, the chance that the offenders might seek, and be granted, sanctuary at a nearby church! Thence they might, after confession, be granted absolution and, perhaps, allowed to quit the area or, indeed, the realm. When the likely punishment for theft (pelf) might be death by hanging that would seem a reasonable route for a thief to take. And how is it that one of the Blue Boar gang, a man, was convicted of murder was hanged and another, a woman, charged and found guilty of murder and “petty treason” was burnt at the stake? But that wasn’t as bad as it seemed because the maid being incinerated was strangled by a rope before the flames grew too hot.
A gruesome and somewhat unsettling talk, cleverly delivered with multimedia by Mathew Morris in a hot, sticky village hall. Though it was even hotter outside. So much information packed into a couple of hours! Apparently, there is a third Murder and Mayhem talk under construction, so look out for that on the odvh website or FaceBook page!
