You look like you've been tarred and feathered.
Posts that are to be fixed in the ground should have their buried ends either charred or else well tarred.
The tanks are commonly constructed of wood lined with lead, or tarred inside, and are placed in terrace fashion each a little higher than the next in series, to facilitate the flow of solution through them all from a cistern at one end to a well at the other.
Moreover, the high potential difference between the terminals of the series tank introduces a greater danger of shortcircuiting through scraps of metal at the bottom of the bath; for this reason, also, lead-lined vats are inadmissible, and tarred slate tanks are often used instead.
Thereafter various persons who had paid the excise tax, or had assisted in collecting it, were tarred and feathered or had their houses or barns burned.
