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Thirty-Nine Of The Gang

These days the Activities of the Salvation Army provoke little in the way of public disquiet but that was from the case in the late 19th century. Their brand of militant Christianity aligned to their abhorrence of alcohol and their public displays of strength by holding marches through the streets provoked a violent reaction from groups who became known as Skeleton Armies. The first three were established in Whitechapel, Exeter, and Weston-super-Mare,

The groups carried banners with skulls and crossbones on them or two coffins. Their rallying cry was “Beef and Thunder”, a direct retort to the Salvationists’ “Blood and Fire”, and they popularised the initials BBB, standing for Beef, Beer, Bacca in response to the soup, soap, and salvation of their opponents. The tactics they deployed to disrupt the Salvationists’ activities including throwing rocks and rats, organising raucous counter marches, and using physical violence.

A typical example was reported in the Daily News of January 10, 1883; “Serious Affray between the Skeleton and Salvation Armies. A man named Timothy McCartney is at present lying in the London Hospital suffering from a severe wound in the back, which he received from one of the members of the Skeleton Army”. In 1889 at least 669 Salvationists were assaulted, but the activities of the Skelton Armies died out by the mid-1890s, leaving Skeleton Army as a street term for street fighting.

On a more domestic note, skying a copper was slang for making a disturbance or upsetting the apple cart. It took its name from a popular comic song composed by Thomas Hood, based on his poem, A Report from Below. The illustration accompanying the sheet music for the song shows a copper tub exploding, to the consternation of two women.



This post first appeared on Windowthroughtime | A Wry View Of Life For The World-weary, please read the originial post: here

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Thirty-Nine Of The Gang

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