Ben O Bill S The Luddite

The story of the Luddites and a fascinating account of life in a Yorkshire valley during the dawn of the industrial revolution at a time of great upheaval and discontent.

IT HURTS me sore that folk in these days should so little understand the doings of us Luddites. To hear young people talk, the Luddites were miscreants that well, deserved the hanging they got-a set of idle, dissolute knaves and cut-throats the country was well rid of. Nay, worse, many young lads with a college learning seem to know next to nothing about them, and talk as though all great deeds were done in far-of parts, and as though of heroes and martyrs England has none to show. I am little apt at writing, and my hand is stiff and cramped with years. But my memory is good still, and I can remember better the things of fifty years ago than those of yesterday. So, before hand and mind fail me altogether, I will set on record all I call mind of those memorable days

First published in 1898, this fiction deals with surprisingly contemporary issues of the period and is the social history of the time it stands out. What makes this work different from the existing literature of that period is the use of the local dialect and the expertise with which the characters and their lives have been portrayed at a period of such unrest in the Colne Valley. The Luddites were not unreasonable machine destroyers but desperate men, suffering in destitution, sorrow, and despair, fighting for a voice to be heard against cruel mill owners and a crooked government. The authors of this work were transparent in their compassion for the cause of these workers and the background and reasoning behind these events The book was originally credited to D. F. E. Sykes and G. H. Walker, G. H., but Walker's name.

Although the book was initially credited to D. F. E. Sykes and G. H. Walker, G. H. Walker's name is missing from the third edition, and it is essentially Sykes' work. First published in 1898, it is a novel which deserves wider recognition as it deals with surprisingly contemporary issues, but it is as a social history of the period that it stands out. Sykes' use of the local dialect, the entertaining asides that he includes and his skill at sketching characters and their lives, at a period of such turmoil in the Colne Valley, add to its value. It is interesting that, as a historian, Sykes chose to embellish the facts, that were available to him at the time, with fiction, and his purpose must have been literary. Historians rightly take issue in this matter, but he is clear on his sympathy for their cause and the background and reasoning behind these events, though he draws back on the murder of Horsfall. The Luddites were not mindless machine breakers but desperate men, in poverty and despair, fighting for a voice to be heard against uncaring mill owners and a corrupt government. This is undoubtedly Sykes' best novel, a sound history of the Luddites and a good read.

First published in 1898, Ben o' Bill's, The Luddite is a novel which deserves wider recognition as it deals with surprisingly contemporary issues, but it is as a social history of the period that it stands out. Sykes' use of the local dialect, the entertaining asides that he includes and his skill at sketching characters and their lives, at a period of such turmoil in the Colne Valley, add to its value.It is interesting that, as a historian, Sykes chose to embellish the facts, that were available to him at the time, with fiction, and his purpose must have been literary. Historians rightly take issue in this matter, but he is clear on his sympathy for their cause and the background and reasoning behind these events, though he draws back on the murder of Horsfall. The Luddites were not mindless machine breakers but desperate men, in poverty and despair, fighting for a voice to be heard against uncaring mill owners and a corrupt government.

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