Cheap Jack Zita

In Short

Set in the stark, drained landscape of the Cambridgeshire Fens during the early nineteenth century, this novel follows Zita, the daughter of an itinerant Cheap Jack peddler. When her father dies, she is left stranded among the insular fenland communities just as agricultural distress erupts into open labor riots. Taken in at Prickwillow farm, Zita gets caught between the brooding, prosperous farmer Ki Drownlands, his hot-headed rival Mark Runham, and the fiery labor agitator Ephraim Beamish. The novel has endured for its vivid regional atmosphere, tension-filled plot, and sharp portrait of agrarian conflict.

The Story

The narrative opens outside the Galilee porch of Ely Cathedral, where a itinerant Cheap Jack peddler and his daughter Zita sell goods to the local crowds. Among the onlookers are Kainie, a lonely girl who operates a local windmill, and Ephraim "Pip" Beamish, an outspoken labor organizer who advises Kainie to purchase the Cheap Jack's large guard dog for her protection. Soon after, as the van travels down the desolate, icy droves of the Fens, Zita's father suffers a fatal collapse. Desperate for help in the dark, freezing night, Zita plunges into an icy dyke, manages to pull herself out, and frantically runs toward distant lights. She encounters the stern fen-farmer Ki Drownlands, who reluctantly assists her with her dying father.

Following her father's death, Zita is brought to live at Drownlands' estate, Prickwillow. Drownlands, a wealthy yet emotionally tormented man, becomes obsessively drawn to Zita, demanding her absolute obedience and silence regarding his private affairs. He takes a pair of vintage threshing flails from the peddler's van, refusing to return them. Zita finds herself navigating a complex web of rural dynamics. She forms an easy camaraderie with Mark Runham, a brisk and pleasant young man, who takes her ice-skating across the frozen fen rivers. However, romantic rivalries and bitter grudges quickly complicate matters. Pip Beamish mistakenly believes Mark is trifling with Kainie's affections and threatens revenge, while Zita herself suffers a surge of jealousy, suspecting Mark prefers Kainie over her.

Simultaneously, long-simmering economic hardship leads to open revolt among the fen-land laborers. Led by Pip Beamish, angry mobs gather to march on Ely, demanding higher wages and cheaper bread while breaking into taverns and wrecking drainage mills. When the rioters extort money, Drownlands acts ruthlessly: he informs on forty local men to the magistrates and rides out alongside Sir Bates Dudley and the cavalry to suppress the uprising.

As the unrest peaks, Pip and his associates retaliate against Drownlands by cutting an embankment and releasing the river waters, shattering the frozen ice across the fens. Misunderstandings reach a fever pitch when Zita, believing Mark has abandoned her for Kainie, briefly hesitates to warn him of the destroyed ice before frantically setting fire to the mill to draw him back from danger. Reunited in the crisis, Mark reveals a long-held family secret: Kainie is actually his biological sister, born of an old scandal involving his late father and Drownlands' sister. With secrets exposed and the violent riots quelled by the military, the tangled rivalries are resolved, allowing Zita to finally clear her path forward.

How It Unfolds

Disruption at the cathedral A Cheap Jack peddler sets up his van directly in front of the Galilee porch of Ely Cathedral, drawing a diverse crowd of locals. Kainie, a lonely mill girl, talks with the stern labor advocate Ephraim Beamish, who urges her to buy the peddler's large dog for protection in the isolated Fens.

Tragedy on the drove While traveling along the freezing fen dykes, the old peddler falls dangerously ill, forcing Zita to run through the freezing darkness for aid. She slips into ice-cold water, drags herself out by a wooden post, and manages to stop the wealthy farmer Ki Drownlands to beg for help.

Life at Prickwillow After her father dies, Zita stays at Drownlands' farm, where the master exhibits a strange obsession with her and confiscates her father's threshing flails. Zita adapts to the harsh fen life and experiences the thrill of flying across the frozen waterways on skates with Mark Runham.

Rising fen riots Driven by hunger and low wages, local laborers assemble under Pip Beamish's leadership to march on Littleport and Ely, pillaging shops and demanding lower grain prices. Ephraim tries to keep the men focused, but the crowd devolves into chaotic looting.

The magistrate's revenge Ki Drownlands systematically tracks the rioters and hands a list of forty names to the authorities. He rides alongside Sir Bates Dudley and a troop of dragoons to crush the barricades at Littleport, making widespread arrests.

Ice, fire, and truth Determined to avenge their comrades, Pip Beamish and his men breach the river embankment to wreck the ice. Zita sets a mill ablaze to signal danger to Mark, leading to a frantic confrontation where Mark reveals that Kainie is his sister, clearing up the jealous misunderstandings.

The People

• Zita (The Cheap Jack Queen): A self-reliant, spirited young woman raised on the road in her father's peddler van. Plunged into the unfamiliar, insular world of the Cambridgeshire Fens after her father's death, she wants to retain her independence ("Jack and Jill all in one"), but finds her loyalties tested by rural feuds, economic unrest, and her growing feelings for Mark.
• Ki Drownlands: A prosperous, stern, and deeply troubled fen-farmer who owns the Prickwillow estate. Driven by pride, past grievances, and an overbearing nature, he seeks total control over those around him, attempting to possess Zita's devotion while ruthlessly tracking down the local rioters who cross him.
• Mark Runham: A genial, energetic young man skilled at skating and navigating the fens. He offers Zita warmth and protection, though his secrecy surrounding his ties to Kainie causes severe misunderstandings and romantic jealousy.
• Ephraim "Pip" Beamish: A bitter, long-armed labor spokesman and former mill worker. Fuelled by a desire to defend the exploited working men against wealthy landowners, he leads the Fen Riots, but struggles to maintain discipline among his desperate, violent followers.
• Kerenhappuch "Kainie": A young woman living isolated at the Red Wings windmill who simply wants companionship and security. She is later revealed to be Mark's sister.

In Its Own Voice

"There is not in all England—there is hardly in the world—any tract of country more depressing to the spirits, more void of elements of loveliness, than the Cambridgeshire Fens as they now are."

The author paints the bleak, stark setting of the drained boglands where the story takes place.

"'I don't like your being alone in Red Wings. Times are queer. Times will be worse. There is trouble before us in the Fens.'"

Pip Beamish warns Kainie of the impending social turmoil and agricultural distress brewing in the region.

"'I will let him have your mats, and I'll tell him that you'—'Tell him nothing. Not a word about the flail. That is all I ask of you.'"

Ki Drownlands fiercely demands Zita's complete silence after confiscating a purchased threshing flail.

What It's Really About

Beneath its romantic plot, the novel examines the deep-seated class tensions and environmental transformations of nineteenth-century rural England. It contrasts the ancient, wild nature of the Cambridgeshire Fens with the commercial agricultural system that replaced it, showing how land drainage created immense wealth for farm owners like Drownlands while leaving laborers landless, impoverished, and desperate. The plot highlights the friction between mobile outsiders—personified by the independent peddler Zita—and the insular, mistrustful native fen-dwellers. Ultimately, the story asks whether personal morality and human connection can survive in a community fractured by systemic greed, economic oppression, and unyielding personal grudges.

Why Read It Today

Cheap Jack Zita offers an immersive entry into historical fiction focused on a uniquely evocative landscape. Sabine Baring-Gould captures the cold beauty and bleak isolation of the Cambridgeshire Fens, presenting a world of frozen dykes, roaring drainage engines, wind-swept mills, and regional customs. Readers who enjoy rich atmospheric detail and dramatic historical narrative will appreciate the book's vivid depiction of the 1816 Littleport Riots and its sharp social commentary on rural labor relations.

Modern readers should be prepared for period-specific challenges. The narrative features thick local dialect, formal nineteenth-century prose structures, and occasional dated characterizations of rural working-class movements. Furthermore, Ki Drownlands' heavy-handed dominance over Zita reflects rigid Victorian dynamics that can feel uncomfortable to contemporary sensibilities. Nevertheless, Zita's fiercely independent character anchor the story, making it a compelling read for anyone fascinated by British regional history, labor struggles, or classic rural drama.