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WILL THE REAL MAYHEM PLAYERS PLEASE STAND UP.
After sergeant Lively had dealt with the Smethwick Sloggers a period of relative peace descended for him, albeit temporarily. During that hiatus we are introduced to Mayhem Players, a travelling theat ........
INDEX CHARACTERUM
THE LIVELY FAMILY – ORPHANS FROM THE VILLAGE OF NASH, SHROPSHIRE.Miriam Lively – eldest sibling. Married to Jack Beckett for most of the narrative.Abraham Lively – eldest brother. Becomes police serge ........
The Smethwick Sloggers.
In Birmingham and the surrounding districts, including Smethwick, in the 1870s there arose a sub-culture of hard young men, desensitised by the prevailing social conditions. Organising themselves into ........
Francis Thompson Again
Attached is a picture of the front cover of a book which I read recently. You will recognise the face on the front from a previous post. In it, the author, Richard Patterson, explains why he thinks ........
Shrewsbury Gaol In Black Hearts And Blue Devils, Capital Punishment, And The Dudley Throttler.
The plot of the 'Black Hearts' story at a few points briefly takes us outside of the Black Country setting which hosts most of the action. One of the little excursions beyond the Black Country finds u ........
INTERLUDE FOR AN INQUEST
Chapter 22 of Black Hearts And Blue Devils is concerned with an inquest which takes place at the Pear Tree Inn, in Bell End, Blackheath. It is a double inquest for two itinerant workers, friends osten ........
BLACK HEARTS AND BLUE DEVILS – INDEX CHARACTERUM
THE LIVELY FAMILY – ORPHANS FROM THE VILLAGE OF NASH, SHROPSHIRE. Miriam Lively – eldest sibling. Married to Jack Beckett for most of the narrative. Abraham Lively – eldest brot ........
THE WORKHOUSE
In Black Hearts And Blue Devils there is a Workhouse, which I have set in Tippity Green, a part of Rowley. In fact, there was a workhouse in Rowley in former times. It was once part of the Dudley Unio ........
THE OLD CHAPEL, SMETHWICK.
In Black Hearts And Blue Devils, chapter 12 is entitled “One Sunday In Smethwick’, and it introduces us to the Wellings family who have (relatively minor) parts to play in later chapters. The chapter ........
CORPORAL REGINALD PHILLIPS – VETERAN OF THE CRIMEAN WAR.
Early on in Black Hearts And Blue Devils we come across Crimean War veteran Reg Phillips who identifies himself as a corporal (former) of the “38th. of Foot” (aka the First Staffordshire Regiment). Th ........
THE STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER
One of our most beloved of pet breeds, the “Staffie” was bred and born of blood lust! Let me explain. The present configuration of the breed (at least in terms of the physical characteristics of a wel ........
THE BLUE GATES
In Black Hearts And Blue Devils Abraham Lively has cause to visit an inn in Smethwick called the Blue Gates. It stood in the High Street, just around the corner from Rolfe Street railway station facin ........
NASH
In Black Hearts And Blue Devils, the Livelys were originally from Nash, at the foot of the Clee hills in Shropshire, before being forced to settle in the Black Country. There is not much to see today ........
THE WITCH
The late nineteenth century, in which period Black Hearts And Blue Devils is set, a time rapidly becoming devoid of mystery, saw advances in science and changes to the fabric of society which led many ........
CATCH UP SAMPLER 4 – IN THE CALIFORNIA
Hello Again – I am updating the web page once more to include a fourth excerpt from Black Hearts, previously posted on the Facebook page. In the text from the actual novel, characters’ thoughts are in ........
CHASE AROUND THE GRAVESTONES
In Black Hearts And Blue Devils, sergeant Abraham Lively chases a suspect into the churchyard of St. Giles one evening; unaware that he was himself being followed by another character. This sets the s ........
JOE DARBY
Windmill End in Netherton, which abuts the Dudley number 2 canal was the birthplace in 1881 of Joseph Darby. By his own admission, Joe did not have much schooling, in fact starting work in a nail-maki ........
AH SED = ARSE HEAD!
Hello – today I am importing another previous post from the Black Hearts And Blue Devils Facebook page. This one contains another ‘sampler’ excerpt which plays on local dialect/pronunciation. Viz:“The ........
SECOND CATCH UP SAMPLER
This sampler appeared on the Black Hearts And Blue Devils facebook page previously. If you have not visited it before, please take a look and follow.“As you all may have gathered, Black Hearts is abou ........
SPRING HEELED JACK
The phenomenon which was Spring Heeled Jack began in London in 1837. There had for years been reports in the capital of “ghosts” attacking lone travellers, but in 1837 a more precise kind of monster w ........
PAST SAMPLER 1
To bring the website in line with the Black Hearts And Blue Devils facebook page, I shall be including at intervals copies of those past posts, such as this one:‘As promised yesterday, there follows o ........
HADEN HILL HOUSE.
HADEN HILL HOUSE on the borders of Blackheath and Cradley Heath features early on in Black Hearts And Blue Devils as the home of a brief love interest for our ‘hero’ sergeant Abraham Lively. Still sta ........
THE BLACK COUNTRY
The Black Country was the first large geographic area in the world given over to large-scale and heavy industry. Once known as the ‘workshop of the world’ it is the setting for Black Hearts And Blue D ........
COMANCHE
The Battle Of The Little Bighorn was fought in June 1876 in Montana terrritory, between the U.S. 7th. cavalry regiment (700 men) led (rashly) by lieutenant colonel George Armstrong Custer, and a mixed ........
GALTON BRIDGE IN BLACK HEARTS AND BLUE DEVILS.
GALTON BRIDGE IN SMETHWICK was designed by Thomas Telford and built in 1829 to span the New Birmingham Main line Canal which had been completed in 1824. This 151 foot single span iron bridge was the h ........
HACKETT STREET
CHAPTER 7 of Black Hearts And Blue Devils describes the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Hackett Street, Blackheath. Non-conformist Churches played a vital social role in the developing industrial communi ........
ONE SUNDAY IN SMETHWICK
Today, I want to share a picture with you of the house in which I was born. It is in Wellington Road, Smethwick. In Black Hearts And Blue Devils it is the home of members of the Wellings’ family. Chap ........
JAKE COLLINS AND THE ALKALI WORKS
The town of Oldbury borders on Blackheath, scene of a major part of the action in Black Hearts And Blue Devils. At the turn of the eighteenth century Oldbury had been an ancient but always small rural ........
ROWLEY HILLS AND THE HAILSTONE
The Rowley hills (as featured in chapter 5 of Black Hearts And Blue Devils) are located in Rowley Regis, an area situated between a couple of miles south-east of Dudley in the (English) midlands and t ........
FRANCIS THOMPSON - ENGLISH POET.
The poet Francis Thompson (1859 - 1907) achieved recognition for his work from poetic and intellectual peers during his lifetime and after, although long-lasting fame arguably eluded him. His work doe ........
HIRAM MAXIM (5th. February 1840 - 24th.November 1916)
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim was an American inventor who moved to the UK in 1881, later becoming a naturalised citizen and obtaining a knighthood. Although he experimented with and patented many invention ........
WELCOME READERS!
And I thank you for visiting this site. If you are a visitor, I take it that you have seen “Black Hearts And Blue Devils” advertised somewhere and are wondering what the hell it is about and, and is i ........