Pig Singing in Willesden - Guaranteed to make you laugh

I had never heard of the pig singing competition until I found this amusing story.

In July 1896 Mr CF Rowley of Lillie Road Fulham appeared at the Harlesden Police Court. He had been summoned by Sir Richard Nicholson, the clerk to the Middlesex County Council (MCC). Rowley who said he was an auctioneer, was charged with having set up a marquee tent at Tooley’s cricket field in the Harrow Road at Willesden, without obtaining a 5-shilling music licence. He was a ‘cheap jack’ who travelled around holding auctions six nights a week. The large canvas tent could hold between 1,500 to 2,000 people and was lit by gas which ran up the central poles. At one end was a caravan which was made into a platform for the auctions and entertainment.

To attract people who were charged 3d admission, Rowley advertised a Grand Baby show where the prize was a ‘silver-plated tea and coffee set for the mother of the finest baby under 12 months old.’ Men could enter the comic pig singing competition. They had to hold a live pig under their arm while singing verses from a well-known song and the winner kept the pig. The advertising pamphlets said this was ‘Guaranteed to make those laugh who had never laughed before.’

Police Sergeant Dunn said he had attended an event at the end of April with two other officers and there were about 1,300 people present in the tent. Witnesses said they had enjoyed themselves where entertainments were held between auctions. For the defense, Edward Williams said he had worked for Mr Rowley and his father, and they had carried on the business in the same way for 20-years. Mr Bird the magistrate, said there was nothing negative recorded against the character of Mr Rowley, but there had been a breach of the Middlesex County by-law and he was fined £2. As Rowley made about £250 per night this had no effect on him.

Rowley continued the business and in June the following year he was prosecuted again at Harlesden Court. This time he gave his address as Walham Green Fulham. The MCC were particularly concerned about the possibility of a panic such as occurred on 4 May 1897 in the Bazar de la Charité in Paris when 126 people lost their lives and 150 were badly injured.

The police gave evidence and said at the marquee in Willesden Green they saw a hot tea-drinking competition, a wheelbarrow race for boys, and a performance between two men – one dressed in a donkey skin! Six men stood in line and held a pig under their arms in the singing contest, but the policeman said he did not stay to see who won the pig - this caused great laughter in the court.

On four nights there was a slide show using a cinematograph projector of the same kind which was believed to have caused the fire in the Paris disaster. This time the magistrate imposed a fine of £32 (worth about £3,700 today).

Pig singing competitions were used by Billy Butlin in the North Parade amusement park in Skegness in 1929, before he opened his famous holiday camp there in 1936.
As expected, pig singing competitions were particularly popular in farming areas and continued until the 1950s.

For an earlier story we wrote about another cheap jack in Kilburn see:
http://westhampsteadlife.com/2013/07/18/when-the-king-of-the-cheap-jacks-and-the-midget-queen-met-james-joyce/5076

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