Rebeccan.
/rᵻˈbɛkə/, U.S. /rəˈbɛkə/ Now historical.
The (notional) leader of a movement whose supporters attacked and demolished turnpike toll gates chiefly in south and west Wales in the period between 1839–44 in protest at high tolls; (also) a member of such a group of protesters. In later use applied to similar groups carrying out other acts of social protest, esp. organized salmon-poaching raids.Although mostly male, the leaders of such groups frequently disguised themselves in women's clothing, blackening their faces, and sometimes also wearing horsehair wigs or beards.
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1843 Times 10 Jan. 6/3 There has been..a mob of lawless depredators..who assembled nightly for the purpose of destroying the turnpike gates... These ruffians are headed by a very tall man, dressed for disguise as a female who goes by the name of Rebecca, and, as many of his associates are likewise dressed as females, the whole gang have been christened ‘Rebecca and her daughters’.
1846 Times 17 June 7/6 Rebecca wanted in Glocestershire.
1867 Manch. Guardian 15 Jan. 6/5 The Salmon Law.—Rebecca has re-appeared in Wales; but this time it is not for the removal of a public grievance, but to set at defiance a law made for the public good, and to aid the plunderers of private property.
1881 19th Cent. Apr. 692 The poor emaciated salmon..is transfixed by the unerring aim of ‘Rebecca’.
1911 Times 3 Jan. 4/6 The later Rebeccaites made the illicit spearing of salmon—‘Rebecca lighting the water’, as it was called—a regular nocturnal spectacle for many years.
1979 Hist. Jrnl. 22 832 The spectacular poaching raids of the mythical Rebecca, which were given national publicity in the winters of 1856-8, 1866-8, and 1875-81, finally led to the appointment of a royal commission.
1992 Jrnl. Social Hist. 26 408 Mythic Rebeccas, gowned in white with red or black faces and horsehair decorations, led attacks on turnpike toll-gates.
Compounds
General attributive, esp. in Rebecca gang, Rebecca riot.
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1843 Times 22 June 5/5 (heading) Rebecca riots.
1843 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 26 Oct. 1/6 On Monday last Jones, the Llandovery police officer,..arrested one of the principal leaders of the Rebecca gang.
1879 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times xiii An odd feature of the time was the outbreak of what were called the Rebecca riots in Wales.
1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vi. 312 ‘It's the Rebeccas!.. The Rebeccas, they had black faces...’ Rebeka riots? Men dressed as women? What wind from the past was this?
1965 Times 10 Mar. 16/6 I never knew the Rebecca gangs of the Welsh marches..a roistering mob, of men, women, and children, perhaps 50 strong..and led by a man in woman's clothes, who..now roamed the river with dogs barking, guns banging, and torches flaring to harry the spawning salmon of the Wye or Irfon.
1989 D. J. V. Jones Rebecca's Children vi Rebecca gangs were involved in moral, religious, and marriage conflicts, attacks on tax and excise officers, and battles over market tolls, the sale of alcohol, and many other matters.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† Rebeccav.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To demolish or remove (a gate) (in quot. regarded as an act of wanton vandalism). Cf. Rebecca n.
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1890 Sat. Rev. 14 June 719/2 The desire of the County Council to ‘Rebecca’ certain of the Duke of Bedford's gates.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1843
v.1890