[Note 070.8]

It seems that destitute weavers travelled considerable distances in their search for alms. William Cobbett encountered a party of them in Wiltshire in 1826 "here are…throughout this country, weavers from the North, singing about the towns ballads of Distress! …The landlord at Heytesbury told me that people that could afford it generally gave them something" William Cobbett, Rural Rides 31st August 1826 .P363