Emmeline P.

Jennospot 97 Emmeline P

Moi English teacher reckons as 'ow, when we write, we ought ter write somefink wot we're passionate about.

That's real in'trestin', 'cept Oi ain't real sure wot Oi'm passionate about, unless it's soapbox cart racin'.

Moi soapbox cart is called "EmmelineP" after that there famous Mrs Pankhurst; 'cos there ain't nobody more famous than wot she is. She lived in the olden days when women wore long skirts an' 'ad big 'ats covered all over wiv flowers an' fevvers. The fing is that women, even though they're mostly more intelligent than wot men usually are, weren't allowed at that toime ter vote, an' so they weren't represented in the most important place wot makes our laws. Cripes, can yew imagine…!

Any'ow, Mrs Emmeline P reckoned as 'ow that weren't fair, so she got tergevver wiv a whole lot of ovver women wot also thought it weren't fair, ter make a fuss about it. But the men in the Government weren't impressed, so nuffink got changed. Well, the women, decided they 'ad ter do some real heavy publicity stuff, so they chained themselves ter railin's outside Parliament 'Ouse an' ovver important places; they interrupted political meetin's wiv 'ecklin' (cripes, ain't that a good word?); some of 'em even went ter prison fer breakin' winders an' settin' fings on fire; an' they called themselves "suffragettes" (ain't that an even better word? I 'spose it means suff'rin' fer the suffrage).

Mrs Pankhurst 'erself went ter prison an' all. (Mr P must 'ave been quite a bit miffed about that, 'specially seein' as 'ow 'ee were a barrister wiv five children ter look after. Stll an' all, 'ee supported Emmeline, wot is good fer 'im). Mrs Pankhurst an' some ovver suffragettes wot were in prison, refused ter eat. It were orrible 'ow the prison authorities tried ter force-feed 'em, but it didn't do 'em no good. When the women got real ill from not eatin' they was let out until they got better, and then they was arrested again. It were an 'orrible painful game o' cat an' mouse.

Any'ow, Mrs P an' 'er suffragettes won in the finish, but it weren't until just after she died in 1928, that an Act o' Parliament were passed givin' the roight ter vote ter all adults, includin' women. An' then a statue of 'er was put up in Victoria Tower Gardens, jus' by Parliament 'Ouse. That were just a few years afore Oi was born. Oi went ter see 'er once, wiv Peter. Yew c'n go ter see 'er yerself if'n yew're down that way, 'cos she's still there. An' yew c'n read about our visit, if'n yew want, in "Gang Petition" (http://www.peterstjohn.net/index_6.htm).

Any'ow, that's why moi cart is called Emmeline P; only my English teacher didn't seem real impressed, even though Oi'm passionate about it mesself. Cripes, p'raps Oi'd better go an' chain mesself ter the school railin's…

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