ZUT ALORS! It may not have been stupid Hartlepudlians, led by their stupid mayor, who hung a monkey in the mistaken belief that it was a French spy.

It might, according to Tim Brown, of Ferryhill, have been men from Durham, Stockton or even Darlington who perpetrated this act of ultimate ignorance that has been ridiculed for centuries.

Memories 123 told of the fantastic cartoon book, Le Singe de Hartlepool, which has been published in France telling how a monkey mascot was washed up on the beach after a shipwreck and put on trial in 1814 as a spy.

Tim points out that for decades Britain had been gripped by the fear of Napoleonic invasion.

In 1803, there were detailed plans for the evacuation of civilians from Stockton, via Bishopton and Rushyford, to Bishop Auckland in case the French sailed down the Tees.

“The signal for assembling will be a Minute Gun fired from the cupola of the town’s hall; and this will not be done without a real necessity for quitting the town, it is particularly requested that the signal may be attended to, and the carts drawn up at their respective stations with the utmost expedition,”

said the orders.

About the same time, inland Bishop Middleham, probably like all villages and towns in the country, drew up its evacuation plans should Boney hove into view having landed at Hartlepool.

“On the signal being given, the first division of carts must immediately assemble in the green and draw up their horses fronting the church and when the whole division is ready, the carts to move off, following close after each other, in a line; but on no account must any cart attempt to pass that which is before,” said the plan.

It goes on at great length – the full version is on the Echo Memories blog on The Northern Echo’s website.

The plan said: “Those being previously furnished with a ticket, describing their names and the number of their children, are expected on the alarm given, to be at their proper station, with their blankets and a change of cloaths, bound up in the coverlid of their beds; with a direction on the same, describing their name, and the parish to which they belong. No one can be waited for.

“All women, (except those who are sick, or near being confined,) who usually go out to harvest, will be considered as able to walk; and children, above seven years old, will not be suffered to ride, unless sick or tired.”

To prevent innocent British civilians, like the people of Bishop Middleham, being troubled by the French, voluntary groups of militia men were formed. The principle duty of these volunteers was to guard their own towns, but because the North-East was particularly vulnerable to coastal invasion, volunteers from inland towns such as Darlington, Durham, Bishop Auckland and Yarm were sent, on rotation, to assist.

For example, Tim has records which show that on May 16, 1805, “the Darlington Volunteer Legion (consisting of both cavalry and infantry) marched into Stockton, to perform permanent duty for 21 days.

They were brigaded with the Stockton Volunteers on June 4th, and on the 5th returned to Darlington, where they were received with ringing of bells, their Colonel was carried round the market-place, flags flying, and every token of respect shewn him for his kindness to his men”.

Similarly, there are records of the Stockton Volunteers being on regular and permanent duty in Hartlepool, and the Yarm Volunteers being stationed at Redcar.

THE Darlington Volunteers, suggests Tim, would have been keen on serving at Seaton Carew because in the early 19th Century it was the preferred watering hole for Quakers. In the summer, a horsedrawn coach went to and fro every Tuesday and Friday carrying holidaymakers, and fashionable balls were held at places like the Seaton Hotel.

Because of the threat of invasion, holidaymakers were discouraged from going on the beach, which was patrolled by volunteers on the look out for Boney’s boats.

“Therefore, it is highly probable that the monkey was captured by a Volunteer,” says Tim. “He would have reported to an officer, possibly a major, upon whose orders the spy with a tail would be sentenced to death under martial law.

“If you substitute a Y for a J in major, you see how the Hartlepool mayor becomes implicated and the modern myth results. However, it is highly probable that the order to hang the monkey came from a volunteer from Darlington!”