The Rebecca Riots

Introduction

Look at the image and vocabulary below. What do you think is happening?
If you click the image, you can open it in a new window.

Listening for General Understanding

Watch the video here. Stop at 05:20.

1. Why was there rebellion in Wales?

2. Why were toll houses attacked?

3. What was unusual about the second toll house attack?

4. Who was Rebecca?

5. What was the punishment for moral offences in West Wales in the 19th century?

Optional Extra

Make notes for the final two minutes of video

Vocabulary

Try to work out the context or significance of the underlined words / phrases.

1. The rebellious mood isn't just confined to the new iron towns. Rebellion is also brewing
in rural Wales.

2. The attack at Efailwen is just the beginning of an underground movement of protest that
sweeps across Wales.

3. Just imagine the lot of the tenant farmer, paying shockingly high rents to the
landowners, taxes to the Church of England and the tolls.

4 Paying taxes to build workhouses, which are prisons for the poor

5. These tollgates are run by some pretty greedy and unprincipled people. It isn't any
surprise that the tenant farmer resorts to violence.

6. Their distinctive guerrilla style attacks will become known as the Rebecca Riots.

7. A form of punishment for wrongdoers, for example men who beat their wives, includes
being paraded in front of the community.

8. We are talking about people who know their bible inside out.

9. May Rebecca's descendants conquer the property of their enemies. It is a sentiment of

an oppressed peasantry.

10. Riot leaders, whose identity is unknown. For three years they elude the military and the
London police.

Listening for Detailed Understanding

Label the following 9 sentences as True / False / Doesn't say. Stop at 05:20.

1. The revolution at the time was in both industrial towns and rural areas.

2. During the first attack simple weapons were used.

3. In total there were almost 200 attacks on toll gates.

4. At the time, tenant farmers paid taxes to their church.

5. The demonstrators blackened their faces in solidarity striking miners in the industrial
areas.

6. During the second attack, the toll house was burned down.

7. The paraded wrongdoers were dressed in women's clothes and had blackened faces.

8. The local gentry eventually began to support the rioters.

Conversation

1. Match the collocations below. Check any unfamiliar vocabulary. The word on the
left is in sequence with the video.

a village / a woman's name / farmers / gate / gentry / guerrilla style attacks /

is brewing / justice / tradition / violence

a village / a woman's name / farmers / gate / gentry / guerrilla style attacks /

is brewing / justice / tradition / violence

a. rebellion

b. descend on

c. toll

d. poverty stricken

e. resort to

f. chant

g. distinctive

h. local

i. dispense

j. local

2. Summarise the story using the collocations above.

3. Answer the questions below.

a. What came to mind when you first heard the expression “Rebecca Riots”?

b. Why do you think the men dressed up as women during the Rebecca Riots?

c. Can you think of any other events where people dressed up as the opposite sex?

d. Have impoverished farmers ever demonstrated here?

e. How do you feel about using toll roads?

Modal Verbs: CAN, COULD, MIGHT, MAY

First match a modal verb to the following underlined situations.

Then respond to the question or the prompt.

Modal Verb Sentence

Could / may / 1. Write about a past possibility which didn't happen.

might ______Someone could have died___________________

2. What might the demonstrators have said in annoyance at having to

spend so much money on the tolls?
_________________________

3. How can you talk about concession in relation to the rioters wearing
women's clothing?
_________________________

4. How might the demonstrators have criticised the price of the tolls?
_________________________

5. The demonstrators were unable to reveal their identity.

_________________________

6. When there was no alternative after the toll gate had been destroyed,
what might the turnpike trust have said?
_________________________

7. What would the toll workers have said to refuse permission to pass
without paying?
_________________________

8. What were the demonstrators successfully able to do during the second

riot.
_________________________
SCRIPT

The industrial revolution is sharply dividing Welsh society. The rich and the poor. And the
rebellious mood this inspires isn't just confined to the new iron towns. Rebellion is also
brewing in rural Wales. On the night of 13th May 1839 a group of men descends on this
small village in Carmarthenshire. It's called Efailwen. They're armed with axes and
sledgehammers and big sticks. And they destroy the new tollgate that's just been installed.
Then they move on to the toll house and burn it down.

The attack at Efailwen is just the beginning of an underground movement of protest that
sweeps across West Wales. Poverty stricken farmers are angry that new private companies,
the Turnpike Trusts, are charging too much to use the roads. There'll be more than 200
attacks on toll gates over the next five years.

Just imagine the lot of the tenant farmer here in West Wales in the early 19th century.
Paying shockingly high rents to the landowners. Paying a tax to the Church of England, a
church he doesn't even attend as a chapel goer. Paying more taxes to build workhouses,
which are prisons for the poor. And then on top of all of that, to get his produce from A to B,
he needs to pay a toll to use the roads. Those toll gates are run by some pretty greedy and
unprincipled people. Is it any surprise that the tenant farmer resorted to violence?

For the second attack the farmers adopt what seems to be a bizarre tactic. They dress up in
skirts. And in aprons. And even in bonnets. And then they blacken their faces. After this they
descend on the now rebuilt toll house at Efailwen and chant a woman's name: Rebecca.
They demolish the toll gate and disappear into the night. Their distinctive guerilla style
attacks will come to be known as the Rebecca riots.

The costumes the farmers use are a symbol based on local folklore. There's one ritual which
tells us a lot about local tradition in this part of Wales. It's a humiliation, a form of punishment
for wrongdoers. For example, men who beat their wives. They're tied to a wooden chair.
Sometimes it's a wooden horse. And then they're paraded in front of the community. And the
men dispensing this justice, for reasons we don't quite understand, have blackened faces,
and they wear women's clothes. By dressing up, the rioters attacking the toll gates evoke a
sense of local justice. And it becomes a potent symbol in Welsh history. But who is
Rebecca? And where does she come from?

It could be that one of the leading protesters has a close relative or friend called Rebecca.
That's always possible. But I think there's a more likely explanation. And the clue is here in
the Bible. We are talking about people who know their Bible inside out. There is a passage in
the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, and it says this. And they blessed Rebecca, and
said unto her. Thou art our sister. Be thou the mother of 1000s and millions. And let thy seed
possess the gates of those which hate them. So could this Rebecca be the one who inspires
the rioters? May Rebecca's descendants conquer the property of their enemies. It is the
sentiment of an oppressed peasantry.

Over the months a hidden wave of support grows through the parishes of West Wales.
There are several Rebeccas. Riot leaders whose identity is unknown. For three years they
elude the military and the London Police. As the riots spread, it's believed that even some of
the local Gentry support the cause.

They target other symbols of oppression, workhouses, where the poor and infirm are badly
treated. On the 19th of June 1843, the protests reach a bold climax. And this is the scene of
the biggest disturbance of that time. It involves 2000 people. It takes place in broad daylight,
and they converge on this place. This is the pen land workers in command and it is full of the
most unfortunate members of society. The protest, which is all about genuine grievances, is
hijacked by some other unsavoury characters, and suddenly it all turns rather nasty. It is the
violence of this protest of the clash with the authorities. That brings the plight of the tenant
farmers to the attention of the London press. This is the turning point for the Rebekka riots.

Unknown Speaker 6:18

By the autumn of 1843, that a police and soldiers roaming the countryside, and at last, the
government acknowledges that the Riot does have legitimate concerns. A commission is set
up to look into these turnpike trusts and guess what they uncover malpractice and
corruption. So those trusts are reformed and the roads are improved. Ultimately, the
Rebecca riots are a victory. The authorities struggled to track down the riot leaders the few
that are caught face hanging or transportation to the other side of the world. So what does
Rebecca represent? The terror that stops this countryside is unavoidable when you have
profound injustice and no lawful means of tackling it, you get an explosion of people power.
And for me, the Rebecca riots, and all about self respect, Welsh people refusing to tolerate
blatant abuse, and demanding their share of justice and fair play.