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Passage Illustrated: Jack's First Escape from Incarceration

The cage at Willesden was, and is — for it is still standing — a small round building about eight feet high, with a pointed tiled roof, to which a number of boards, inscribed with the names of the parish officers, and charged with a multitude of admonitory notices to vagrants and other disorderly persons, are attached. Over these boards the two arms of a guide-post serve to direct the way-farer — on the right hand to the neighbouring villages of Neasdon and Kingsbury, and on the left to the Edgeware Road and the healthy heights of Hampstead. The cage has a strong door, with an iron grating at the top, and further secured by a stout bolt and padlock. It is picturesquely situated beneath a tree on the high road, not far from the little hostel before mentioned, and at no great distance from the church.

For some time after he was locked up in this prison Jack continued in a very dejected state. Deserted by his older companion in iniquity, and instigator to crime, he did not know what might become of him; nor, as we have observed, was the sad spectacle he had just witnessed, without effect. Though within the last two days he had committed several heinous offences, and one of a darker dye than any with which the reader has been made acquainted, his breast was not yet so callous as to be wholly insensible to the stings of conscience. Wearied at length with thinking on the past, and terrified by the prospect of the future, he threw himself on the straw with which the cage was littered, and endeavoured to compose himself to slumber. When he awoke, it was late in the day; but though he heard voices outside, and now and then caught a glimpse of a face peeping at him through the iron grating over the door, no one entered the prison, or held any communication with him. Feeling rather exhausted, it occurred to him that possibly some provisions might have been left by the constable; and, looking about, he perceived a pitcher of water and a small brown loaf on the floor. He ate of the bread with great appetite, and having drunk as much as he chose of the water, poured the rest on the floor. His hunger satisfied, his spirits began to revive, and with this change of mood all his natural audacity returned. And here he was first visited by that genius which, in his subsequent career, prompted him to so many bold and successful attempts. Glancing around his prison, he began to think it possible he might effect an escape from it. The door was too strong, and too well secured, to break open, — the walls too thick: but the ceiling, — if he could reach it — there, he doubted not, he could make an outlet. While he was meditating flight in this way, and tossing about on the straw, he chanced upon an old broken and rusty fork. Here was an instrument which might be of the greatest service to him in accomplishing his design. . . . Jack soon shook off this drowsiness, and set to work in earnest. Availing himself of certain inequalities in the door, he soon managed to climb up to the roof; and securing his feet against a slight projection in the wall, began to use the fork with great effect. Before many minutes elapsed, he had picked a large hole in the plaster, which showered down in a cloud of dust; and breaking off several laths, caught hold of a beam, by which he held with one hand, until with the other he succeeded, not without some difficulty, in forcing out one of the tiles. The rest was easy. In a few minutes more he had made a breach in the roof wide enough to allow him to pass through. Emerging from this aperture, he was about to descend, when he was alarmed by hearing the tramp of horses' feet swiftly approaching, and had only time to hide himself behind one of the largest sign-boards before alluded to when two horsemen rode up. Instead of passing on, as Jack expected, these persons stopped opposite the cage, when one of them, as he judged from the sound, for he did not dare to look out of his hiding place, dismounted. A noise was next heard, as if some instrument were applied to the door with the intent to force it open, and Jack's fears were at once dispelled, At first, he had imagined they were officers of justice, come to convey him to a stronger prison: but the voice of one of the parties, which he recognised, convinced him they were his friends.

"Look quick, Blueskin, and be cursed to you!" was growled in the deep tones of Jonathan Wild. "We shall have the whole village upon us while you're striking the jigger. Use the gilt, man!"

"There's no need of picklock or crow-bar, here, Mr. Wild," cried Jack, placing his hat on the right arm of the guide-post, and leaning over the board, "I've done the trick myself."

"Why, what the devil's this?" vociferated Jonathan, looking up. "Have you broken out of the cage, Jack?"

"Something like it," replied the lad carelessly.

"Bravo!" cried the thief-taker approvingly.

"Well, that beats all I ever heard of!" roared Blueskin. — Chapter 18, "How Jack Sheppard broke out of the Cage at Willesden," Vol. 2, pages 89-95.

Commentary

Finally the narrative turns on the subject that made the historical Jack Sheppard a legend in his own time — his uncanny ability to escape from any prison to which the authorities might consign him. Jack's first gaol-break seems to be entirely Ainsworth's invention. Essentially the pound at Willesden was little more than a large-scale birdcage, so that escaping from it is a minor feat at best. In fact, as the Broadview edition's editors point out, the village pound in which Ainsworth's hero finds himself penned has no association with the historical Jack Sheppard:

The cage or roundhouse at Willesden was near the Church, but the historical Sheppard had no connection to it. — Edward Jacobs and Manuela Mourrrao, p. 251.

The presence of the pound in that part of the novel set in the year 1715 would seem to be an anachronism since the village pound or roundhouse was not built until after 1730: "In 1827 there were complaints that it was being used to imprison the sick and the poor rather than criminals" ("Places in Brent; Willesden Parish," p. 4). Although locally it came to be known as "Jack Sheppard's Cage," apparently that name was not applied to it until well after the Jack Sheppard era.

Given that the village with its picturesque cottages for the poor was just five miles northwest of Charing Cross and that Jack Sheppard's Cage was still extant in 1827, it is probable that both Ainsworth's description and Cruikshank's engraving are both based on impressions derived first-hand. Dickens may have even had such a place in mind when he assailed the evils of Mrs. Mann's baby-farm in the opening chapters of Oliver Twist: "A special problem facing the vestry was 'baby-farming'. From the early 18th century unwanted infants from London were sent out to Willesden to be nursed. Mortality was high, with more than 70 infants being buried in Willesden parish between 1720 and 1730."

The incident marks the cementing of Jack's friendship with Blueskin, who is truly impressed by Jack's pluck and resourcefulness. The sign on the cage implies that the cell was used to incarcerate (and protect the little village from) social undesirables such as beggars and small-time thieves. For example, the large placard reads: "All Gipsies & other vagrants & all persons found begging will be punished as the Law demands. By order of the very. . . ." The direction signs indicate that London is not far off: to the left are Neasdon, Kingsbury, and Edgeware; to the right is Hampstead and Edgeware Road; the sign pointing to regions in front is less distinct, and is not mentioned by Ainsworth. Since the villages nearby today include Harlesden, Kensal Green, Brondesbury, Stonebridge, and Dollis Hill, as well as Kilburn and Cricklewood, the third sign logically should include at least one of those; it appears to indicate the direction to Kensal Green.

Since the scene involving Jack sitting atop the cage as Blueskin and Wild ride up occurs after sunset, one naturally wonders what source of illumination Cruikshank had in mind to show in bright light the signs on the front of the cage. Presumably the setting sun (implied as being off the bottom right of the picture) renders the signs on the Cage legible. In next scene, Mrs. Sheppard's expostulating with her Son, showing Jack's visiting his mother in her cottage near the church, the tower of St. Mary's is clearly visible through the open door, and the room appears to be lit by daylight. That Cruikshank appears to have more concerned with the plausibility of available lighting for the scenes in Oliver Twist may reflect his concern with realism in working with Dickens, who may have been much more directive with his illustration than was Ainsworth.

References

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. A Romance. With 28 illustrations by George Cruikshank. In three volumes. London: Richard Bentley, 1839.

Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. Edited by Edward Jacobs and Manuela Mourao. With 31 illustrations. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2007.

Clark, Kenneth. Chapter 10, "The Smile of Reason." Civilisation. London: BBC and John Murray, 1969, rpt. 1975. Pp. 244-267.

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.

Meisel, Martin. Chapter 13, "Novels in Epitome." Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Pp. 247-282.

Sutherland, John. "Jack Sheppard" in The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 19893. Pp. 323-324.

Vann, J. Don. "Jack Sheppard in Bentley's Miscellany, January 1839 — February 1840." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. Page 19.

"Willesden Village." Places in Brent. Accessed 17 November 2006. https://www.brent.gov.uk/media/387240/ChurchEnd.pdf (12 pages).

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Last modified 22 December 2016