Roger Crab (1621 – 11 September 1680)Bowlt 2007, pp. 101–102 was an English soldier,

haberdasher __NOTOC__ In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a men's clothing st ...

, herbal doctor and writer who is best known for his ascetic lifestyle which included

Christian vegetarianism Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a Vegetarianism, vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christianity, Christian faith. The three primary reasons are Christian spirituality, spiritual, Nutrition, n ...

. Crab fought in the

Parliamentary Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to ...

in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

before becoming a haberdasher in

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

. He later became a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

and worked as a herbal doctor. He then joined the Philadelphians and began promoting

asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...

through his writings.

Early life

Crab was born in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in 1621. At the time of his birth his mother had an annual income of £20.Hill 1958, p. 282 As a young man, he began trying to find a way to live a perfect life. In 1641 he ceased eating meat, dairy and eggs. He also chose to be celibate. At the outbreak of the

in 1642, he joined the

under

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

. During one battle he received a serious head wound from a sword. During his time as a soldier, he was at one point sentenced to death by Cromwell. He was later sentenced to two years in prison by Parliament. It has been suggested that Crab was involved with the

Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...

in the late 1640s and that he was imprisoned as a result.

Career

After leaving the military, Crab moved to

. There he began working as a

. He continued this work between 1649 and 1652. In 1652 he moved to

Ickenham Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the northern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon. While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britai ...

and lived as a

. Believing that profit was sinful, he gave away almost all of his possessions before moving. He built up a practice as a herbal doctor, advising his patients to avoid meat and alcohol. He was a popular doctor among the village women. However, he was accused of witchcraft by a clergyman, possibly due to prophecies he issued. He attempted to live modestly, wearing homemade

sackcloth Sackcloth ( ''śaq'') is a coarsely woven fabric, usually made of goat's hair. The term in English often connotes the biblical usage, where the '' Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible'' remarks that haircloth would be a more appropriate rendering of ...

clothes. He moved to

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

in 1657. There he joined the Philadelphians; a group founded by

John Pordage John Pordage (1607–1681) was a Church of England priest, astrologer, alchemist and Christian mystic. He founded the 17th-century English Behmenist group, which would later become known as the Philadelphian Society when it was led by his disci ...

Views

Crab was an anti-sabbatarian. He did not observe Sunday as a non-working day, and was put in the

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

for it. He was a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, and had radical views on the evils of property, the Church, and universities. Crab held the unorthodox view that meat-eating was the cause, rather than a consequence of, the Biblical

fall of man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * ...

. By the age of 20, Crab was living on a diet of vegetables and water "avoiding butter, cheese, eggs, and milk." Crab argued that "eating of flesh is an absolute enemy to pure nature" and believed there was a connection between meat-eating and aggression. Crab ate a

vegan diet Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

from 1641 until his death in 1680. He initially included potatoes and carrots in his diet, but later gave them up in favour of a diet of mostly bran and turnips. Later in his life he ate only

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...

and grass, claiming to spend 3/4 d. per week on food. Late in his life he added parsnips to his diet.Hill 1958, p. 283

Works

Crab wrote his autobiography while living in Ickenham. * The English hermite, or, Wonder of this age.: Being a relation of the life of Roger Crab, living neer Uxbridg, taken from his own mouth, shewing his strange reserved and unparallel'd kind of life, who counteth it a sin against his body and soule to eate any sort of flesh, fish, or living creature, or to drinke any wine, ale, or beere. He can live with three farthings a week. His constant food is roots and hearbs, as cabbage, turneps, carrets, dock-leaves, and grasse; also bread and bran, without butter or cheese: his cloathing is sack-cloath. He left the Army, and kept a shop at Chesham, and hath now left off that, and sold a considerable estate to give to the poore, shewing his reasons from the Scripture, Mark. 10. 21. Jer. 35. (London: Printed, and are to be sold in Popes-head Alley, and at the Exchange 1655). * Dagons-Downfall; or, the Great idol digged up root and branch (London 1657). ( – in which he declared that the Sabbath had been turned into an idol). * Gentle correction for the high flown backslider, or, A soft answer to turn away strife : being a general answer (in few words) to some queries, and defamations thrown out by the furious spirit in some of the people called Quakers against the rationalls (London: Printed by J.B 1659). * A tender salutation, or, The substance of a letter given forth by the Rationals, to the despised remnant and seed of God, in the people called Quakers (London: Printed by J.B 1659). A Reply to the ''Gentle Correction'' was made by George Salter (London: printed for Thomas Simmons at the Bull and mouth neer Aldersgate 1659):

Death

In 1680, Crab died at the age of 59 in Bethnal Green, and was buried at Stepney Churchyard. His tombstone has the following epitaph:Hill 1958, p. 310

Legacy

Christopher Hill suggested that Crab may have been the inspiration for

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

's character the

Mad Hatter The Hatter (called Hatta in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is often referred to as The Mad Hatter ...

Selected publications

''The English Hermite, Or, Wonder of this Age''
(1655)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

A Vegan Booklet of 1655 – ……don’t think about ‘almost five o’clock’!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crab, Roger 1621 births 1680 deaths 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English soldiers English veganism activists English autobiographers English hermits English pacifists English pamphleteers English political writers Haberdashers Herbalists Levellers Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War People from Buckinghamshire Roundheads Christian vegetarians