Bag o’ Monkeys refers to C.P. Nicholson’s “Those Boys o’ Bondgate”. A fantastic local history of Darlington’s many yards in and around Bondgate. Nicholson pays particular attention to the ‘Bag o’ monkeys’, the moniker of a group of young lads whose youth was spent in the yards of Bondgate. The self-styled ‘gang’ comprised of Punch and Rat, Foxy and Fatty, Stell and the Bell Throstle among others. They surged the yards and were often up to all manner of mischief. One recurring instance involved Stell intentionally misbehaving. Resulting in a hiding from his grandmother to which he would receive a copper as recompense to sooth his wounded feelings. All was well until granny overheard Stell explaining the intricacies of his ‘copper mine’. Resulting in a particularly intense hiding and no compensatory penny.