The 1st of October has been designated as ‘Lincolnshire Day’ by the local BBC radio station. They hope it is the start of a movement to get official recognition for an annual celebration of the county.
I can’t say it got off to a good start because it was also the day when the county council closed all its libraries and heritage sites ‘for staff training’.
October 1 was chosen because it was the day when the Pilgrimage of Grace, the uprising in protest against the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, began in Louth. A rather controversial choice, in my opinion. Henry’s motives may have been venal but I doubt many Lincolnshire people are nostalgic for the days of the priestocracy.
Henry’s response was swift and brutal. ‘How presumptuous then are ye, the rude commons of one shire, and that one of the most brute and beastly in the whole realm. . .’ he said and had the leaders executed. One of these – allegedly, it has to be said, because he denied involvement – was Sir John Hussey. The remains of one of his homes, Hussey Tower, are still to be seen next to the playing-field of the Boston Grammar School.
It was to be expected that one of the main talking-points on the radio was the old question: where are Lincolnshire people called ‘yeller bellies’? When I worked for the library service it was such a common question that we listed all the proposed explanations, printed them up and dished them out.
The first explanation I heard was from my father. According to him the Lincolnshire Regiment were involved in a battle during which they had to crawl on their bellies through a sandy or marshy area. Hence yellow-stained bellies. Yellow bellies, there you have it. Well, possibly. I’ve heard a similar theory concerning poachers crawling through the marshes after game. Do poachers do that?
Other military theories concern the North Lincs Militia whose officers are supposed to have worn yellow waistcoats. Or was it the Lincolnshire Yeomanry who wore yellow cuirasses? (I can't help remember a parallel here with the nicknmae given by American Confederate soldiers to Union men , namely 'blue bellies'. Or has it something to do with the Lincolnshire Regiment’s flag, which until 1881 was a yellow field with the cross of St George.
Or does the term go back to the Wars of the Roses and the yellow livery of the Lincolnshire forces which fought against Edward IV during the rebellion of the Earl of Warwick in 1470? During a battle near Stamford, the Lincolnshire forces fled, dropping their yellow coats as they ran. Hence the name ‘Losecoats Field’, not to mention the ‘Bloody Oaks’ area where many rebels were hanged.
If this is true then 'yeller belly' becomes a derogatory term and incorporates yellow’s connotations of cowardice. On that subject I have heard the theory that the large number of Lincolnshire men who were excused military service in the World Wars led to the term as one of abuse. However, I think this is ruled out by the fact that the words are first seen in print in 1796.
And then there are the animal theories. It’s amazing how many animals have yellow-belly varieties. There are yellow-bellied ducks, Indian toads and pythons. But, according to some, we Lincolnshire folk are nicknamed after – take your pick – eels, newts, frogs. No-one ever gives a name to these creatures, let alone a scientific one. (Correction: I’ve just come across a reference to the Great Crested Newt). There is even talk of a ‘marsh bug’ from which people developed a ‘malaria-type’ disease, one of whose symptoms was a yellowing of the skin. Maybe it was also a symptom of the ague to which fenland people were once prone.
One I like is the idea that fenland reclamation workers would become covered in yellow clay. This clay was the reason, it is claimed, for coaches’ undersides being painted yellow.
On the farm we have sheep with yellowish wool and potatoes with yellowish flesh and bare-chested workers bending over yellow corn. And women would go to market with their money (yellow gold!) under their aprons. It all gets a bit fanciful, doesn’t it? Especially when I also read that the high level of calcium in our water gives us yellow, albeit strong, teeth. The last time I looked, my teeth were indeed somewhat yellow, but it’s nothing to do with the water. In any case my teeth are in my mouth, not my belly.
I expect there are many more theories, and there’s probably a PhD awaiting someone willing to do some real research on the matter. My own preference is for the military option, for yellow seems to have been associated with the local soldiery for a long time. Even if the phrase ‘yeller belly’ was originally an insult, it wouldn't be the first time that such a thing has been adopted as a badge of pride. It’s a rather British thing to do.
