Scoundrel’s Alley Presents: Our Own ‘Crank Cuffin’, “Cranky” Katie with A Continuing Series of Thoughts Pertinent to Historical Scoundrels Everywhere.

quack (noun) (Middle English) An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment. A charlatain or mountebank. -Oxford Dictionary

If you think of a chiropractor, you probably imagine a massage table in a private office, with a trained professional maneuvering your back. However, if you imagine an 18th or 19th century chiropractor, you will find someone vastly different. Picture a coffee house in London, the Grecian Coffee House to be exact. Inside are several patrons clustered around one stout, unattractive woman with a crooked cap and well-worn clothes. A man sits before her with an arm that looks bent the wrong way. She grabs his arm with her meaty fists and without warning twists and pulls. He grimaces with pain, then holds up his arm, now straight and free of pain. The other patrons cheer as the woman stands and chugs a celebratory mug of beer. This odd woman is Sarah Mapp, or if you call her by her self-given title: Cracked Sally- the One and Only Bone Setter. Believe it or not, her skill and brute strength have earned her the respect of hundreds of people, rich and poor alike. Sarah Mapp was born near Hindon, Wiltshire, England in the early 1700s. Sally’s mother gave birth to her half-sister, Lavinia, a few years later. Close in age but not in lifestyles, Lavinia found her way to taverns as a waitress and Sally as the announcer for her father, John Walin, a bonesetter. She would work her way through the crowds at festivals, shouting her father’s praises to attract more customers to him. As she grew older, however, she and Walin began to butt heads, culminating in a final argument where Sally decided to move out. Unlike other bonesetters whose main income came from farming or blacksmithing, Sally’s sole job was her bonesetting. She had little formal education; like other members of her profession her education was passed down through the family’s generations. This led to the belief that most bonesetters were “quacks” with false medical knowledge. Be that as it may, no one could deny Sally’s success in the field. Eventually, Sally’s sister Lavinia made her theatrical debut in 1726 in the play “Orphans; or, The Unhappy Marriage.” She later appeared as Polly Peachum in the premiere of the successful satire, The Beggar’s Opera. This musical was extremely successful, as was Lavinia, whose acting caught the eye of a noble lord, whom she eventually married. Contrarily, Sally made her way to Epsom, England after her split from her father in the 1730s. Epsom was a city full of horse racers, and riders who had fallen from their saddle found themselves cured after a visit to “Crazy Sally,” so named for her messy and unappealing features, frequent drunkenness, and vulgar speech. Even so, her fame and reputation grew to the point where Epsom’s citizens feared she may leave them in search of more clients. As a result, they happily offered her a present of 100 guineas a year if she would stay. Stay she did and soon found herself in love with Hill Mapp, a footman for a wealthy textile merchant. She and Hill set a wedding date, August 4th, 1736, despite the opposition from her friends. On that day, she still received patients, both before and after the ceremony, but the actual getting married part was quite difficult. Dissuaded from being married in London, she tried a local church. After finding out the local minister was unavailable, she tried another village. When that minister refused, someone took pity on the people awaiting her care and provided passage to London, their original wedding location.After only one week of marriage, Hill Mapp took his wife’s 100 guineas and disappeared. At first angry, she later looked on the situation optimistically, stating that she was pleased the money went to such a good cause as being rid of Hill. During this time, she went to a few horse races, bestowing one guinea upon the rider of a horse named Mrs. Mapp when the horse won. She continued to receive patients at the Grecian coffee house and White Hall Inn, both located near London. She traveled to and from the places in her covered carriage decorated with her “trophies:” the old crutches of her patients, each one a tribute to her success. One of her more notable customers included the niece of Hans Sloane, a baronet and physician, and Sloanehimself. Both of them had suffered from a back injury for several years, and Mrs. Mapp set their bones quickly and expertly so they were healthy again. On one of her travels, a mob, supposing she was one of the lovers of the king, crowded around her carriage until it couldn’t move without trampling someone. In response, Sally stuck her head out the window, swore at the crowd, and said, “Don’t you know me? I’m Mrs. Mapp!” Once the crowd realized who she was, they backed off, cheering loudly. One month after he ran off, Mr. Mapp returned and was reportedly welcomed back with open arms. She went to the theater to see The Husband’s Relief; or The Female Bonesetter and the Worm Doctor, a comedy written by Charles Johnson inspired by Sally’s fame and misfortune. Misfortune did befall the great Crazy Sally shortly thereafter, as people began comparing the woman to other quacks, such as an eye doctor named John Taylor and a tonic inventor named Joshua Ward. The three of them appear in a popular illustration called “The Company of Undertakers,” which portrays them in a less than desirable light. This portrayal did nothing to defend her against the increased suspicion of quacks, and people began to turn toward educated professionals. She lost business as her gambling and alcohol addictions grew. The following year, Mrs. Sally Mapp, the one and only bonesetter, died in London so poor that her church had to bury her. She is buried near the famous Seven Dials, where she had lived for many years. In her short but colorful life, “Cracked Sally” made history as one of the most famous bonesetters in Britain and, perhaps, the whole world.

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-‘Scoundrel’s Alley’ is the collaboration of Faire Wynds Entertainments and Parson John Living History. “Cranky” Katie is Catherine Pope and can be reached at info@fairewynds.com.