I love this item from Kilvert’s Diary: an example of how the powerless poor managed to protest against their so-called betters when they abused or exploited them. It is also incredibly funny and shows a level of inventiveness in the protestors which is impressive. As with my book on wife selling, it shows that being legally invisible did not mean that people and communities were without power. This is from March 1874:

During the elections, at Talgarth Mr. de Winton of Maesllwch had been insulted by men kicking round him as a football a rabbit stuffed with bran, an allusion to his propensity for ruining his tenants by keeping vast hordes of rabbits on his estate.