A drunken aristocrat, a Leicestershire market town and an extraordinary quantity of red paint. In 1837, the notorious Mad Marquis and his companions embarked on a spectacular evening of vandalism that may have given us one of Britain’s best-loved expressions. But how much of the story is historical fact, and how much has become colourful folklore over the years?
by Chris Harris
We’ve all heard the expression paint the town red. It usually means going out for a particularly lively evening, drinking too much and behaving rather badly. Funnily enough, that is exactly the series of events that led to the expression, according to one popular explanation, involving a drunken aristocrat, a Leicestershire market town and an unfortunate quantity of red paint. Unlike many supposed origins of popular sayings, it can be verified that the incident itself really happened.
Our story begins in Melton Mowbray in April 1837, a town better known today for its pork pies than its aristocratic hooliganism. Enter Henry de la Poer Beresford, the third Marquess of Waterford, an Irish aristocrat nicknamed the Mad Marquis. He was enormously wealthy, spectacularly badly behaved and apparently regarded the ordinary rules of civilised society as something intended for other people.
His previous exploits reportedly included fighting, smashing windows, upsetting apple carts and even painting a clergyman’s horse’s heels with aniseed before pursuing the unfortunate animal with bloodhounds. One of those people who, when we were in our late teens, we’d have thought was an absolute hoot, in our thirties would have raised a vaguely amused eyebrow at, and by later middle age would just think was a bit of a tit.
On 6 April 1837, the Marquis and his companions were returning from a thoroughly drunken excursion when they encountered a tollgate at Melton Mowbray. The tollkeeper expected payment. The Marquis apparently considered this an unreasonable intrusion upon his evening’s entertainment and felt quite insulted at the request.
Help was at hand for the Marquis, along with an excellent opportunity for him to show off. Some decorating materials had been left nearby, including red paint.
What followed was an extraordinary outbreak of aristocratic vandalism. The tollgate was attacked, buildings and signs were daubed with paint, and unfortunate individuals who attempted to intervene found themselves caught up in the proceedings. The revellers continued through the town, causing mayhem and painting it red as they went. The sign of the White Swan was among their targets, while contemporary illustrations depicted gentlemen in hunting clothes enthusiastically applying paint to buildings and even a watchman.
The whole disgraceful business was sufficiently notorious to inspire satirical prints, including A Spree at Melton Mowbray, published in 1837. The Marquis’s behaviour wasn’t entirely without consequences, but his reputation for outrageous escapades continued. He was even subsequently suggested as a possible identity for Spring-heeled Jack, the mysterious leaping figure who terrified Victorian London, although that connection remains speculative.
So, did this extraordinary evening actually give us the expression paint the town red?
Here’s where things become interesting. Although the Melton Mowbray incident of 1837 is documented, the earliest currently identified printed example dates from 1874, in an American newspaper, almost forty years after the Marquis’s adventures. However, the connection would appear compelling.
By the 1880s, the expression was appearing regularly in American newspapers, usually describing drunken celebrations and spectacularly rowdy behaviour.
Other explanations have been suggested, including associations with red-light districts, bloodshed and the American frontier. None has been conclusively established. The Melton Mowbray story has become firmly embedded in local folklore. Even the town council’s heritage documentation recounts the incident as the origin of the saying, and with no definitive alternative explanation, I think it is fair to say that the antics of the Marquis that night may well have created a rather lovely and catchy phrase that generally indicates painting the town red and feeling crap the next day!
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Welcome to Denham, a fictitious Sussex village where behind respectable doors, well-tended gardens and familiar faces, things have a habit of going badly wrong.
Obsession, ambition, deception, jealousy and petty rivalry run through this collection of tragi-comical and satirical short stories. From poltergeists and lottery winners to cricket club feuds and environmental disasters, ordinary people embark on discovering just how quickly an ordinary life can unravel into an extraordinary mess.
Darkly funny, occasionally poignant and populated by characters who are rarely quite what they seem, these stories explore the peculiarities of Middle England, and the uncomfortable territory between respectability and ruin.
