He was the high-spirited parson initially of Lydlinch and
then Chettle who was mad about sport.
However, these were the uncivilised ‘past
times’ of the 1700s such as bull baiting, cockfighting and owl hunting. It
was said he hunted ‘everything from the
flea in the blanket to the elephant in the forest.’ He was also an author and a magistrate
although writer Desmond Hawkins reckoned he regarded the law as an
inconvenience to be broken or upheld according to what suited him. William
Chafin was a crusty character and rural eccentric who wore old boots and greasy
leather breeches even when dining with royalty.
Young William’s sporting career began when he accidently shot
and killed an old lady called ‘Goody’.
Somehow, the future cleric avoided court conviction but his father insisted he
spent a month in a loft as a penance on just bread and water. During this
confinement, he passed the time trap baiting sparrows. Only four of his eleven
brothers and sisters survived which his father, George blamed on too tender
nursing. To compensate for this he was sent outside, as soon as he could crawl,
with a shepherd even in winter. William reckoned this was the reason why he
lived into his eighties. For rabbit hunting, he had a pack of tiny beagles and
would involve his parishioners in owl hunting. When hunting, he would proclaim
the motto ‘no deaths, no strong beer!’ However, he
regarded horse racing as the ‘most cruel
and inhuman of pastimes’ because of the use of whips and spurs. Bizarrely,
he had no problem with cockfighting which he considered was a natural
reflection of the animal’s aggression.
William Chafin was also an author who wrote Anecdotes and History of Cranborne Chase
which was first published in 1818. This was a high-spirited and humorous
account of North Dorset rural life and superbly evoked the lawlessness of the
18th century Chase. He wrote about disputes between local landowners
and the frequent pitched battles between gamekeepers and poachers.
In the summer of 1817, he was struck by lightning when he was
sitting by a window. He lost the sight of his left eye and the use of two
fingers on his right hand. With failing health, William Chaffin died on the 14th
August 1818 at the age of 85 years.
(Illustration: Reverend William Chafin of Chettle.)
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