The Skeleton Crew; Or, Wildfire Ned

# The Skeleton Crew; or, Wildfire Ned

This 1867 penny dreadful serial, published by Newsagents' Publishing Company, centers on "The Skeleton Crew; or, Wildfire Ned," illustrated with numerous engravings. The narrative opens in snowy December near the village of Darlington, fifty miles from London, where Christmas celebrations occur at the "Black Bull" tavern. The protagonist, Rambling Bob (Bob Bertram), a discharged farmer's son estranged from his father over his intention to marry a village girl and support her child, encounters a mysterious well-dressed horseman. The stranger purchases Bob's cudgel for a guinea; this visitor is revealed as the treacherous Bolton, Mr. Redgill's collecting clerk. Bolton proceeds to Farmer Bertram's farm under false pretenses, claiming urgent business from his employer. The farmer, bedridden from a hunting accident and possessing £2,000 in collected rents and crop proceeds, discusses his mortgage obligations with Bolton, unaware of the stranger's villainous intentions. The narrative emphasizes foreshadowing through omens—watchdogs' howling presaging death—as Bolton's scheme unfolds.