Editing Ned Ludd (section)

==History==
Supposedly, Ludd was a weaver from [[Anstey, Leicestershire|Anstey]], near [[Leicester]], England. In 1779, after either being whipped for idleness<ref name="Hammond">{{cite book|last1=Hammond |first1=J. L. |author-link1=John Lawrence Hammond |last2=Hammond |first2=Barbara |author-link2=Barbara Hammond |year=1919 |title=The Skilled Labourer 1760–1832 |url=https://archive.org/details/skilledlabourer00hammiala/page/259/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |page=259}}</ref> or taunted by local youths,<ref name="Chase">{{cite book|last=Chase|first=Alston |year=2001 |title=In a Dark Wood |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=41 |isbn=0-7658-0752-1}}</ref> he smashed two knitting frames in what was described as a "fit of passion".<ref name="Alsen">{{cite book |last=Alsen |first=Eberhard |year=2000 |title=New Romanticism: American Fiction |publisher=Routledge |page=43 |isbn=0-8153-3548-2}}</ref><ref name="Byron">{{cite book|last=Byron|first=George Gordon |author-link=Lord Byron |year=2002 |title=The Works of Lord Byron. Letters and Journals |publisher=Adamant Media Corporation |page=97 |isbn=1-4021-7225-7}}</ref> This story can be traced to an article in ''The Nottingham Review'' on 20 December 1811, but there is no independent evidence of its veracity. [[John Blackner]]'s book ''History of Nottingham'', also published in 1811, provides a variant tale, of a lad called "Ludlam" who was told by his father, a framework-knitter, to "square his needles". Ludlam took a hammer and "beat them into a heap".<ref name="Traill">{{cite book|editor-last1=Traill|editor-first1=H. D. |editor-link1=Henry Duff Traill|editor-last2=Mann|editor-first2=J. S. |year=1902 |title=Social England |volume=V |publisher=Cassell & Co |page=841}}</ref> News of the incident spread, and whenever frames were sabotaged, people would jokingly say "Ned Ludd did it".<ref name="Alsen" /><ref name="Byron" />

By 1812, organised frame-breakers became known as [[Luddite]]s, using the name King Ludd or Captain Ludd for their mythical leader. Letters and proclamations were signed by "Ned Ludd".<ref name="Alsen" />