MAN-TRAPS AND SPRING-GUNS

By MILLER CHRISTY

MAN-TRAPS first came into usein England, apparently, dur-ing the latter half of the

eighteenth century—the period in whichthe preservation of game on somethinglike the present system commenced. That

the law should ever have tolera-ted their use is explained bythe fact that it was practicallyimpossible to protect game incertain localities without somesuch mechanical aid. It mustbe remembered that, in adensely populated country like

England, game must receive carefulprotection against poachers if it is tocontinue to exist at all, and that gamepreserves often exist in close proximityto large centers of population. More-over, the English are sportsmen bynature, and the sporting interest is verylarge and influential. In the BritishIsles more shooting for sport takes

F i g . I I . This place than in any other coun-Trap Was Near- try of equal size in the world,ly as Tall as aMan. and the number of persons

who depend, directly or indirectly, on shoot-ing for their livelihood is considerable.These facts, then, explain the former legal-ity of these barbarous contrivances.

Still, the law was not altogether inhumane.Although it was legal for a man to set spring-guns and the like, he was bound to giveadequate notice of his having done so; and,if he omitted to do this, he was responsiblefor injuries sustained by trespassers. Suchnotice was generally given by means ofboards put up on the edges of the parks,orchards, or game coverts in which theguns were set; but as, in those days, fewwere able to read, it was customary also togive notice by means of the public crier inthe nearest market-town.

The obligation to give reasonable noticewas made clear by several cases tried inEnglish courts of law early in the last cen-tury. Thus, in 1814, a vagabond was shotand slightly injured by the discharge of aspring-gun when pilfering a garden at

Mitcham, in the county of Surrey. He waslet off with a caution, though recognized asan old offender. A few days later, how-ever, the same man was killed on the spotby the discharge of another spring-gun,while robbing an adjacent garden. He hadhad adequate notice. Again, a boy who, in1817, entered a garden at Warwick, merelyto cut a stick, and was injured by a spring-gun, of the setting of which there was nonotice, recovered from the owner of the gun£120 as damages. In the winter of 1820,Squire Wilkes had had nine or ten spring-guns set in a wood he owned at Crishall, inEssex, and had put up several notice boards.A boy afterward entered the wood to gathernuts and was injured by the discharge ofone of the guns. He sued Squire Wilkesfor damages, but the case was decidedagainst him, because he admitted havingseen and understood the notices, and he washeld, therefore, to have had adequate notice.On the other hand, in March, 1825, a boy,aged nineteen, entered a garden near Bristolin pursuit of a straying peacock, and wasbadly injured in the leg by the discharge ofa spring-gun. He subsequently recovered£50 as damages from the owner, who ad-mitted that he had refrained from puttingup notice boards, because he wished to cap-ture and identify an unknown depredator,who had previously robbed the garden.

In effect, therefore, man-traps and spring-guns might only be set openly and in orderto deter poachers and other trespassers fromentering game coverts and the like; notsecretly and with the deliberate intention ofcausing bodily injury to any who mighttrespass therein-perhaps almost innocently.

From 1770 to 1825—when man-traps,spring-guns, and the like were especially invogue in Britain—was a grievous timeamong the agricultural and operative classesthere, and poaching was very prevalent.The period was that when artisans destroyedmachinery, because they thought it wouldtake the bread out of the mouths of them-selves and their children, and when thelaborer, in many parts of the country, re-

730 Man-Traps and Spring-Guns

Fig. X. When a Poacher Touched Its Wire This GunSwung Round on a Pivot and Fired Directly at Him.

ceived no more than six or seven shillingsa week. In such days these lethal agentsproved, no doubt, very effective as deter-rents against poachers.

There was, however, one especial disad-vantage attached to the use of these auto-matic property protectors; they did not pos-sess the power to discriminate between adepredator and the owner of the propertythey were intended to protect. If the latter,walking in his garden or coverts, chanced todo what was necessary to spring a man-trap,spring-gun, or other “engine,” set, unknownto himself, by his servants, the instrument atonce maimed or killed him just as promptlyand impartially as it would have killed atrespasser and a thief. There are on recordseveral cases in which these instruments haveactually caused serious injury, and evendeath, to the person in whose interest theyhad been set, or to his unoffending servants.Thus, early in the last century, some game-keepers employed by Lord Berkeley, at Cran-ford, in Middlesex, lost their lives throughspringing some guns they themselves hadset. In 1768 a servant maid, newly come toa situation at Paddington (then a villagenear London), unwittingly touched the wirecommunicating with a “watch-gun” whichher master had set, unknown to herself, toprotect his house against burglars. She waskilled on the spot. Again, in 1818, the gar-dener of a gentlemen living at Tottenham,near London, whose gardens had recentlybeen robbed, was shot by accident while set-ting two spring-guns, which had been bor-rowed from a neighbor and were supposedto be unloaded. He was taken to St. Thomas’sHospital, where his right arm was ampu-tated, but he died from loss of blood.

The use of man-traps, spring-guns, andall such infernal contrivances did not long

survive an attack made upon them by thatvery vigorous opponent of brutality in anyshape, the Rev. Sydney Smith, which waspublished in the Edinburgh Review, in July,1821. Six years later, in May, 1827, an Actof the British Parliament rendered it illegalto set man-traps, spring-guns, and “otherengines calculated to destroy human life orinflict grievous bodily harm,” except withina dwelling, and for the protection thereof,between sunset and sunrise.

Clearly, therefore, it is still legal for aBritish householder to set such contrivancesin his dining-room, or study, during thehours in which Mr. William Sykes usuallyoccupies himself professionally. The theoryunderlying this is, doubtless, that an English-man is justified in doing what he likes inhis own house, and that, if an unwelcomestranger chooses to enter uninvited, he musttake all consequences.

In the State of New York a similar law isapparently in force. There a jeweler com-ing to his premises one morning, a few yearsago, found the dead body of a burglar. Atthe inquest it was established beyond doubtthat the man’s death was due to a shot firedby a pistol arranged to go off in case ofinfraction of the premises, and the courtdecided that the jeweler was justified inprotecting his stock by such means.

As regards spring-guns and the like, setout of doors, the law in America seems tobe much as it was in England before 1827.That is to say, though the setting of suchcontrivances is not illegal in itself, theyconstitute a legal “nuisance” unless dueprecautions are taken to prevent injury totrespassers, who, in the absence of such pre-cautions, may recover damages for injury sus-tained. Public opinion is, however, strongerthan any law in preventing their general use.

Leaving now the history and former useof man-traps and spring-guns we may noticenext their nature and construction.

Man-traps, though now scarce, may be seenoccasionally in provincial museums through-out England. There are examples, for in-stance, in the Castle Museum at Lewes; in the

Fig. IX. A Very Old Typeof Flintlock Spring-Gun.

Man-Traps and Spring-Guns 731

museums at Yorkand Colchester,and in the Me-chanics’ Institu-tion at NewSwindon. Some-times, too, a man-trap is displayedas a curiosity inthe yard of acountry hotel orinn, as at Nor-wich, where one

is to be seen atthe Maid’sHead, andat Lymin-ster, in Sus-sex, wheret w o a r e

Fig. VIII. This Poacher Is Caught in aHumane Man-Trap. Supposed to Hold preservedWithout Injuring. at the Six

Bells. Nor are leading London museumsaltogether without man-traps, for there isone in the Guildhall Museum, while another—probably one of the finest now existing—was recently presented by the writer to theBritish Museum.

A trap of yet another type, shown in Fig.III., is the property of a gentleman at Bridge-water, in Somersetshire. In addition to beingprovided with long, sharp teeth, as usual, ithas the inner or gripping edge of the jawsserrated, as in the modern rat-trap. It iscomparatively small, being only four feetten inches in length.

The mechanism of a man-trap is preciselythe same as that of the common “gin-trap,”in which rats and other vermin are taken,except that there are usually two springs in-stead of one. When the trap is sprung the jawsclose suddenly with a loud crash. Any per-son unfortunate enough to be caught wouldstand but a poor chance of ever being ableto walk again, for the powerful springs im-part to the jaws sufficient force to make theirsharply pointed teeth meet in a man’s leg.

The largest trap now known to exist camefrom near Stroud, in Gloucestershire. Intotal length it measures six feettwo inches (the height of a verytall man) and weighs eighty-eightpounds. Its ghastly jaws areeach nearly nineteen inches inlength, and the pointed teeth,with which they are set, projecta full inch and a half. Traditionsays that a former owner of thistrap was once caught in it, manyyears ago, through forgetfulnesswhen returning home one night,and that the injury caused to thebone of his leg was so extensivethat amputation had to follow.

The trap shown in Fig. IV. is one of thosepreserved at the Six Bells, Lyminster. It isunique among man-traps, so far as thewriter knows, in having but a single spring.Possibly it may have been intended to catchfoxes or dogs only—not men; for it is verysmall (only thirty-four inches in length), andit seems not improbable that a man caughtin such a trap might be able to liberatehimself, a thing he could not possibly do ifcaught in a two-springed trap. The greatnorthern English county of Yorkshire hadseveral different types of man-traps, whichseem to have been peculiar to itself. There

A more perfect and, in some re-

spects, a finer trap, though nine inchesshorter, is that shown in Fig. I. It has roundarched jaws, each twenty-two inches inwidth, and retains on its tongue or table thespikes, usually missing, which are intendedto prevent the wind from blowing away thedead leaves, sand, and grass, by means ofwhich the trap was concealed when set. Itwas purchased by the writer many years agoat a small curiosity shop in a remote villagein Essex, and is that already mentioned asbeing in the British Museum.

Fig. II. shows a trap of the first-mentionedtype, but smaller. It measures five feet twoinches in length and weighs thirty-ninepounds. It was procured near DownhamMarket, in Suffolk. It is probably unique inhaving the teeth riveted on to the under in-stand of the upper surface of the jaws.

Fig. XI. A Modern Spring-Gun, Which Fires Blank Cartridges.

732 Man-Traps and Spring-Guns

are two very similar samples in the excellentmuseum at York. In these the jaws aredevoid of teeth, and are affixed to a broad,circular, hoop-like base, while the springsare not rigidly fixed to the framework, butare made to swing. A trap of similar make,but larger, more slenderly built, and withjaws both serrated and toothed, belongs toSir George Wombwell, Baronet, of New-burgh Priory.

gether with the two traps already mentioned,a couple of curious old screw-keys (Fig. VI.),which were used, it is said, in the setting ofman-traps. Apparently they held down thesprings while the trap was being set andplaced in position. Some aid of the kindwas very necessary, for the strength of thesprings of a man-trap is such that settingit is a dangerous task, requiring much care.

Another kind of man-trap altogether isthe “Human” man-trap (Fig. VII.), whichis devoid of teeth, and intended for theharmless capture merely of poachers or

Mr. Oxley Grabham, the well-known York-shire naturalist, owns a trap (Fig. V.) whichdiffers in construction from any other the

Fig. XII. This Poacher is About to Touch the Spring-Gun’s Wire and Be Shot At.

writer has seen. It is fifty-six inches inlength, of slender build, and provided withatrociously long teeth. Its springs are, aswill be seen, of somewhat unusual form,but its chief divergence from the ordinarytype lies in the contrivance by which it isset and sprung. It is provided with a sortof hoop, which stands up, when the trap isset, in such a manner that a passer may read-ily catch his foot in it, thus springing thetrap. This type of trap, though simplerthan the ordinary form, seems hardly sopractically effective.

other depredators. It was introduced afterthe passage of the Act of 1827; for, notbeing “an engine calculated to do grievousbodily harm,” its use was not prohibitedthereby. The trap, when set, was sunk in ahole dug in the ground in the middle of apathway, and was covered with dead leaves,grass, or mold. Any one then stepping onthe central plate sprung the trap, whichseized his leg and held it fast. It was quiteimpossible for any one thus caught to lib-erate himself, for the trap was fitted with aself-locking arrangement which could onlybe opened by means of a special key.In the museum at York are preserved, to-

733

We may turn next to spring-guns,which seem to have been in more generaluse than man-traps, probably becausethey were capable of protecting a largerarea of ground. There were two kindsof spring-gun—one dangerous, the otherharmless.

First, there was the old and deadlyform, legal up to 1827, and capable (inthe words of the Act of Parliament) of

Man-Traps and Spring-Guns

poacher came into contact with any oneof these wires, the gun at once swunground on its spike, until it pointed di-rectly along the wire in question, when(the pull on the trigger being in the rightdirection) the gun was fired and the un-fortunate poacher immediately receiveda charge of slugs or a bullet in his leg orbody—often with fatal results, as hasbeen shown.

inflicting “grievous bodily harm.”Those were usually set a foot or soabove the ground, in game co-verts, orchards, or gardens,and were able to kill or maimany invader, whether in theshape of man or dog, whomight chance to touch the con-cealed wire by means of which

Very few guns of this type nowexist. Mr. Backhouse and the

writer both own examples.There is one (Fig. IX.) inthe museum at Colchester;

one in the Epping ForestMuseum at Chingford,

and two in the possession ofthe Rev. J. Whitaker Mait-

they were fired. This wire wasusually smoked by being passed

land, of Loughton Hall, Es-

through the flame of a candle or Fig. IV. Single-Spring

sex. The mother of this gentle-

lamp, so that it might not glisten inman, who died recently at the age

Man-Trap, Thirty-

the sunlight and thus render its Four Inches Long.of ninety, could distinctly remem-

presence obvious. In many cases,ber the time (previous, of course, to

apparently, the spring-gun of athe year 1827) when these two

century ago was merely an or-guns used to be set regularly,

dinary fowling-pieceboth in the gardens of the hall

which had be-and in the adjoining

come old andchurchyard, toprotect newly

rusted, or had had its muzzle blown off byaccident. Probably even an old pistol

made graves from body-snatchers; andshe used to speak of the relief she felt

was often made to serve. Never- Fig. I. A Sixty-Five when, on rising in the morning, shetheless, there was also a special learned that no trespassers had beenthe British Museum.form of gun, made solely for use as

Inch Man-Trap from

killed by them during the night.a spring-gun. These spring-gunsproper consistof a large bell-mouthed barrel,probably taken out of an old blunder-

Spring-guns of the same general

buss, almost entirely enclosed in a largewooden stock, bound round with strong

t y p e a s t h eabove, but moreelaborate, and

known as Clementshaw’s patent, weremanufactured in the city of York. Mr.Backhouse has two examples, one of

iron bands, and fired by means of Fig. III. Like a Mod-

the old flintlock. Below is an iron ern Bear Trap, This

spike which, when set in a hole onHas Teeth Which Cutand Hold.

the top of a post, serves to supportthe gun and allows it to turn as ona pivot. The spike is also hinged,so that the muzzle of the gun maybe pointed either up hill or down.

When set, these guns were pro-vided with three wires, which werestretched through the wood orgarden at right angles with oneanother, each being affixed to oneof the three rings with which the

Fig. VI. Screw-KeysWhich Held the Man-

which is shown in Fig. X. It con-sists of a large flintlock pistol,which swings round on a pivot, andis mounted on a flat base. Thereare no fewer than five triggers towhich wires are intended to be at-tached, each one of which, whenpulled, swings the pistol round andfires it in the desired direction.

When an ordillary gun was usedas a spring-gun, it was usually setwith its butt against the trunk ofa tree, supported by stout forkedstakes stuck upright in the ground.As, in this case, the gun could nottrigger-bar is provided. If a Trap Springs While the

Trap Was Being Set.

7 3 4 Man-Traps and Spring-Guns

swing round, a single wire only was used, use alarm-guns which were capable of beingand the gun was pointed either along the easily and quickly charged by the insertionwire or at the spot where it crossed a ride of an ordinary cartridge. Such were, there-or footpath. The wire was carried round the fore, speedily introduced. They were of sev-back of the tree before being attached to eral types.the trigger, so that the pull might be in the To this day the notice, “Trespassers Be-right direction to fire the ware! Man-traps and Spring-gun—namely, backward. guns Set, Here,” so familiar in

There remains for notice the earlier years of the last cen-the modern harmless spring- tury, may occasionally be seengun. Guns of this typo are at the edges of woodsstill used commonly by Eng- and parks in remotelish gamekeepers for the pro- parts of Britain.tection of their pheasants But such no-during the breeding season. tices are, likeThough true spring-guns, the instru-being tired by means of con- Fig. VII. A Humane Man-Trap Which Did Not ments them-sea l ed w i r e s s t r e t ched Hurt the Poacher. selves, mere-through the breeding coverts, exactly as werethe old deadly spring-guns, they are alarmguns merely, and are intended to do no morethan give the keeper warning when tres-passers enter his woods. They are, of course,loaded with powder only, for the use of shotor any other missile would be illegal.

This kind of gun came into use soon after1827, when the older, deadly form of spring-gun was rendered illegal. The earliest formof it is shown, set, in Fig. XI. The actualgun here represented was shown in London,in 1851, at the Great International Exhibi-tion. At the request of Queen Victoria andthe Prince Consort, who were much inter-ested by the invention, it was loaded andfired more than once by its inventor, Mr.Charles Osborne. It is a well-finished con-trivance of brass and steel, and is fired bya percussion-cap. At the back is a screw, bymeans of which the gun may be affixed to apost or tree-trunk; and Fig. XII. shows apoacher in the very act of springing it whenso fixed.

Neither of these resembles; however, thetypes of spring-gun—for there are several

ly relics of a barbarous past, and are onlyintended to convoy, by means of a falsehood,an empty threat. The setting of suchdeadly weapons is no longer legal, and thosecharged with the protection of game or cropshave now to rely on “engines” which areincapable of doing bodily harm to tres-passers.

Of this nature is a curious contrivancefor the identification of poachers and othertrespassers, recently patented by a game-keeper in Herefordshire. It consists of acup, affixed to the end of a movable arm,which is held down by means of a catch.When a trespasser, passing along a paththrough a wood, touches a wire communicat-ing with this catch, it is at once liberated.Then the arm, actuated by a strong spring,rises sharply, plentifully bespattering the un-fortunate trespasser with tar, paint, or otherliquid placed in the cup for that purpose.

Nowadays, therefore, the once dreadednotice, “Man-traps and Spring-guns SetHere,” has no more significance than theequally terrifying notice, “Mesembryanthe-mums and Scolopendriums Set Here,” which

a much-har-assed horti-cu l tu r i s t i s

—now in com-m o n u s e .When, sometwenty yearsago, breech-loading gunscame intogeneral usefor sportingpurposes, itwas naturallyfound more

said once tohave put upat the variousentrances tohis grounds;a w a r n i n gwhich, how-ever, soon lostits effective-ness.convenient to Fig. V. The Poacher Sprung This Strange Trap by Kicking the Arch.