History of
Town Criers ...

The phenomenon 'Town Crier' has its roots in Great Brittan. The oldest tracks in British history lead us to 1066 when the news of the invasion of King William of Normandy was announced from city to city by persons specially appointed by the king.

In the 19th century, people who could read were hard to find and only a very small percentage of their population had access to books and newspapers. Proclamations, notices, orders, laws and news might come in paper format but were usually ‘announced’ to the general public by the Town Crier, the first (talking) newspaper.

The news about the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the conspiracy against the English Parliament was spread by members of The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers.

Ninove had, like almost every city, town or village in our country, its own Town Crier. In Meerbeke (near Ninove) you still find the stone near the church, on which the news was announced in earlier times ...

The Town Crier of Ninove, Hans Van Laethem, practices the ‘calling’ as a passionate hobby, like many colleague Town Criers.
Nowadays - often beautifully dressed - they are remarkable ambassadors of their city or town during each festival and each official activity.

‘OYEZ, OYEZ, OYEZ’,  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyez) roughly translated as 'listen' was a usual exclamation on markets and public places across the UK. It was used for gathering people to listen to news about the plague, victories of the military in distant countries, royal births and death penalties and executions.