Farthing Pants

In the October 1887 edition of The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore & Legend, a short article by a “William Wallace, of Newcastle” was published, thus:

Farthing Pants

The Whittle Dene Water Company was first established in Newcastle in 1846. Previous to this, the most of the better sort of houses in the town had pumps or wells in the rear of their premises; but the poorer class of the inhabitants had to carry all the water they used from the various pants in the town. Besides the numerous public pants, which, of course, were free and open to all, there were, in the more populous districts of the town, sources of supply called "farthing pants”, each being under the management of an old woman, who sat in a sort of watch or sentry box, armed with an enormous key, with which she turned on the water, and which ponderous key she always carried away when she went off duty. The sum of one farthing was charged for a "skeel" full of water, a skeel being a sort of tub with one handle, which was always carried on the head, being placed upon a "weeze", or cushion, so as to keep off the pressure, and, as the vessel held six or eight gallons, the weight was no trifle.

People now-a-days can hardly conceive the trouble and labour spent in obtaining a few gallons of pure water at this time. When a little lad, I have often made one of a crowd of women and children, patiently sitting round one of the public pants, waiting their "turn", the spout meanwhile running like a thread, at the rate, perhaps, of a gallon in ten minutes. All sorts of cunning dodges used to be tried to get a supply out of turn. Appeals, too, were often made to the sympathy and good nature of the crowd, such as: — "Aa ha’e ma man's dinner te get reddy. It’s varry neer twelve o'clock. Aa divvent knaa whaat te de. Thor’ll be a bonny gam if he cums in and aa's oot." A more successful plaint was, "Aa've left the bairn iv th' creddle, and nebody iv th' hoose beside it." This seldom failed of effect. One woman after another expressing her willingness to give up her "torn”, the complainer would get her supply, and hurry off to the bairn. But there were many disputes, leading to much bad language, and not unfrequently to the waste of the water which so much time and trouble had been spent to get. Any impudent attempt to take advantage was promptly resisted by the crowd, and I have often seen a woman deluged with the water that it had taken twenty minutes to gather.

Before the Whittle Dene Water Company began business the town was supplied by the Newcastle Joint-Stock Water Company. Its sources of supply were: — Carr's Hill, Coxlodge, Town Moor, private wells, and the river Tyne. The company had 32 pants, which supplied water to the public at the rate of a farthing a "skeel." The Corporation had also twenty public pants, which were free and open to all comers. Now, in 1845 there were 15,000 houses in Newcastle, but out of this number only 1,350 had the water laid on to them, the rent being from 18s. to 30s. per house, exclusive of closets, &c. That now despised coin, the farthing, I believe, has almost dropped out of circulation, but forty years ago it was in general currency. The old ladies who attended to the pants sat in watch-boxes, and in cold weather were always dressed in long, thick, warm overcoats, reaching down to their heels. They were not easily induced to give credit, the old lady who attended the pant on the New Road [City Road], at all events, being very particular. When urged by some poor woman, who was literally without a farthing in the world, she would exclaim, "Aa durna, hinny. They're varry partiklor at the offis, varry partiklor." When a suspicious-looking coin was offered to her, she would often reject it with the same words, "They're varry partiklor at the offis. Aa dinna think it's a good yen." She seemed to hold the "office" in awe and dread, which was not without effect upon her customers.