Welsh Journals

POPULAR CULTURE, POLICING, AND THE 'DISAPPEARANCE' OF THE CEFFYL PREN IN CARDIGAN, c. 1837-1850 By the end of the nineteenth century, the ceffyl pren (wooden horse)1 — a highly ritualised form of communal punishment imposed on moral trans- gressors-had all but disappeared from most parts of rural Cardiganshire and entered the annals of political folklore. Despite enjoying a dramatic period of sustained activity during the late 1830s and 1840s, particularly in the southern regions of the county, and making intermittent reappearances in subsequent years,2 the undisputed general trend was one of increasing 'marginalisation' and 'folklorisation', as the social utility and political expediency of the custom was irrevocably under- mined. Although the reasons for its decline were multifarious and complex, the demise of the ceffyl pren may be attributed, in no small measure, to the vigilance of the authorities. From the late 1830s, local magistrates launched a concerted campaign against the main prot- agonists, often enlisting the assistance of parish constables, the military and, from the mid- 1840s, a professional police force. Indeed, the policing and suppression of the ceffyl pren was one of the main briefs of the new rural police, established in the wake of the Rebecca riots.3 And, during the closing years of the nineteenth century, the Chief Constable of the Cardiganshire Constabulary could comment, restrospectively, and in self-congratulation, on the efficacy of police intervention: the practice of carrying effigies (ceffylau pren) was very prevalent and whenever any scandal was circulated (whether correct or otherwise) a crowd cf persons would assemble near the house of the person accused and if in any way he could be found he would be taken by force and placed on the Ceffyl pren and carried for a consider- able distance Those unlawful assemblies gave very much trouble to the Police, and on many occasions they were called together from all parts of the Country for the protection of life and property occasioned by such assemblies. At last, however, they were put down, and the crime is no longer known. 4 To a certain extent, the process of containment-and curtailment- may be viewed as part of a general 'attack' on the more 'vulgar' and 'licentious' manifestations of popular culture, a process which was mirrored by events in many other parts of Britain during the mid-nine- teenth century. 5 With the declining use of the military as a preventive force, crowd control became one of the main functions of the new police; and, as a result, a wide variety of 'rowdy' and 'riotous' gatherings and leisure activities-such as street football or the cwrw bach (an illegal