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diff --git a/37114.txt b/37114.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ff87ae --- /dev/null +++ b/37114.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11415 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A History of the Cries of London, by Charles Hindley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A History of the Cries of London + Ancient and Modern + +Author: Charles Hindley + +Illustrator: Thomas Bewick + John Bewick + +Release Date: August 17, 2011 [EBook #37114] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + + [_SECOND EDITION.--GREATLY ENLARGED._] + + + A HISTORY + OF THE + Cries of London. + + _Woodcuts by Thomas & John Bewick_, + And their Pupils, &c. + + + [ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. _All Rights Reserved._] + + + + +[Illustration: HOGARTH'S PIEMAN. + +"We frequently meet with the pieman in old prints; and, in Hogarth's +'March to Finchley,' there he stands in the very centre of the crowd, +grinning with delight at the adroitness of one robbery, while he is +himself the victim of another. We learn from this admirable figure by the +greatest painter of English life, that the pieman of the last century +perambulated the streets in professional costume; and we gather further, +from the burly dimensions of his wares, that he kept his trade alive by +the laudable practice of giving 'a good pennyworth for a penny.' Justice +compels us to observe that his successors of a later generation have not +been very conscientious observers of this maxim."] + + + + + A HISTORY OF THE + CRIES OF LONDON. + + Ancient and Modern. + + + "_Let none despise the merry, merry Cries + Of famous London Town._" + + + SECOND EDITION. + GREATLY ENLARGED AND CAREFULLY REVISED + + + BY CHARLES HINDLEY, ESQ., + + _Editor of "The Old Book Collector's Miscellany; or, a Collection of + Readable Reprints of Literary Rarities," "Works of John Taylor--the + Water Poet," "The Roxburghe Ballads," "The Catnach Press," "The + Curiosities of Street Literature," "The Book of Ready Made Speeches," + "Life and Times of James Catnach, late of the Seven Dials, Ballad + Monger," "Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings," etc._ + + + London: + CHARLES HINDLEY + [THE YOUNGER,] + BOOKSELLERS' ROW, ST. CLEMENT DANES, + STRAND, W. C. + + + London:-- + E. A. BECKETT, PRINTER, 111 & 113 KINGSLAND ROAD. + + + TO HORATIO NOBLE PYM, ESQ., + OF HARLEY STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, + AS _A TESTIMONIAL OF ESTEEM_ + FOR HIS PRIVATE WORTH, + AND AS + A PATRON OF LITERATURE: + + A HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON, + Ancient and Modern, + + IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY + Charles Hindley. + + RECTORY ROAD, STOKE NEWINGTON, + LONDON, N. + + +[Illustration: NOTICE. + +On or about LADY DAY, 1885, will be published for the same Author, THE +HISTORY OF The Catnach Press. To be followed by a New Edition of the +CURIOSITIES OF STREET LITERATURE] + + + + +[Illustration: INTRODUCTION.] + + Oh, dearly do I love "Old Cries," + Your "Lilies all a'blowing!" + Your blossoms blue, still wet with dew, + "Sweet Violets all a'growing!" + _Eliza Cook._ + +The idea of printing and publishing "A History of the Cries of +London--Ancient and Modern," somewhat in the manner and style here +presented to the public, was first suggested to me by the late Rev:-- + +Thomas Hugo. + +Author of "The Bewick Collector," 1866. The Supplement to same, 1868, and +"Bewick's Woodcuts," 1870, etc., and at the time, Rector of West Hackney +Church, Stoke Newington, London, N., in the year 1876. + + +While actively engaged in preparing for publication "The Life and Times of +James Catnach late of Seven Dials: Ballad Monger,"--to which the present +work may be considered a sequel, and the completion of the series on the +subject of the-- + + "CURIOSITIES OF STREET LITERATURE," + +I had frequently to consult the pages of "The Bewick Collector," and other +works of a kindred character for information respecting the elder Catnach, +who, by himself, and afterwards in conjunction with his partner, and +subsequently his successor, William Davison, employed Thomas Bewick, the +famous English artist who imparted the first impulse to the art of wood +engraving, for several of their Alnwick publications. This led to my +communicating with the Rev. Thomas Hugo, wherein I informed him of my +plans, and of the object I had in view with regard to the publication I +was then preparing for the press: at the same time soliciting his +co-operation, especially in reference to the loan of some of the Bewick +wood-cuts, formerly possessed by the elder Catnach, while he was in +business as a printer, in Narrowgate Street, Alnwick, an ancient borough +and market-town in Northumberland. + +In answer to my application, I received the letters that follow:-- + + THE RECTORY, WEST HACKNEY, + STOKE NEWINGTON, LONDON, N. + + _21st August, 1876._ + + DEAR SIR, + + I shall be glad to aid you in any way. I must ask you to see me on + some _morning_, between nine and eleven o'clock, and to make a + previous appointment, as I am a working man, with plenty to do. + + Yours sincerely, + Thomas Hugo. + + CHARLES HINDLEY, ESQ., + 76, Rose Hill Terrace, + Brighton. + + + WEST HACKNEY RECTORY, + AMHURST ROAD, WEST, + STOKE NEWINGTON, N. + + Tuesday Night. [_13th September, 1876._] + + DEAR SIR, + + I have been expecting you for the last ten days. In a few hours I am + leaving town for my holiday; I shall not return till far on in + October. + + As Brighton is but a short way off, I shall hope to see you on my + return. You shall be welcome to the loan of some Blocks. You had + better examine my folio volume, called "Bewick's Woodcuts," in the + British Museum, and give me the numbers of the cuts, when I will see + what I can do for you. + + Yours sincerely, + Thomas Hugo. + + MR. C. HINDLEY, SENR., + (of Brighton,) + 8, Booksellers' Row, + Strand, W.C. + + + WEST HACKNEY RECTORY, + AMHURST ROAD, WEST, + STOKE NEWINGTON, N. + + _8th Nov., 1876._ + + Dear Sir, + + I can see you between 9.30 and 10.30 on _Friday_ Morning. + + Be so good as to advise me beforehand _what_ you wish to see. + + Yours sincerely, + Thomas Hugo. + + C. HINDLEY, ESQ., + (of Brighton,) + 8, Booksellers' Row, + Strand, W.C. + +The proposed interview took place at the Rectory-house, on the 10th of +November, and was of a very delightful and intellectual character. The +reverend gentleman found me an apt scholar in all matters with respect to +his favourite "Hobby-horse," viz:--the Brothers Bewick and their Works. +All the rich and rare Bewickian gems were placed before me for inspection, +and all the desired assistance I needed at his hands was freely offered +and ultimately carried out. During our conversation the learned Rector +said:-- + + "I look upon it as a curious fact that you should have been of late + occupying your leisure in working out your own ideas of Catnach and + his Times, because, while I was in the office at Monmouth-court, where + I went several times to look out all the examples of Bewick I could + find, and which I afterwards purchased of Mr. Fortey--the person who + has succeeded to the business of the late James Catnach, I one day + caught nearly the same notion, but it was more in reference to OLD + LONDON CRIES: as I possess a fairly large collection of nicely + engraved wood-blocks on the subject, that I met with in 'Canny + Newcassel,'--in some of which it is asserted, and can hardly be + denied, that Thomas Bewick had a hand. I have since used the set in my + 'BEWICK'S WOODCUTS.' But, alas!--_Tempus fugit_, and all thoughts on + the subject got--by reason of my having so much to do and think + of--crowded out of my memory. Now, sir, as you seem to have much more + leisure time than myself, I shall be happy to turn the subject-matter + over to you and to assist in every way in my power." + +I thanked the rev. gentleman, at the same time promising to bear the +suggestion in mind for a future day. + + WEST HACKNEY RECTORY, AMHURST ROAD, WEST, + STOKE NEWINGTON, N., _14th Nov., 1876_. + + DEAR SIR, + + Accept my best thanks for your letter, books, and promises of future + gifts, all of which I cordially accept. + + To-morrow, if all be well, I shall have time to look out the Blocks, + and they shall be with you soon afterwards. + + Very truly yours, + Thomas Hugo. + + C. HINDLEY, ESQ., Rose Hill Terrace, + Brighton. + + + W. H. R. _29th Nov._ [1876.] + + DEAR SIR, + + Herewith the Block. I have made a few corrections (of fact) in your + proof. + + Yours sincerely, + T. H. + + C. HINDLEY, ESQ., 76, Rose Hill Terrace, + Brighton. + +The somewhat sudden and unexpected death of the Rev. Thomas Hugo on the +last day of the year 1876 is now a matter of history. + + + In Memoriam. + The Rev. T. HUGO, M.A. + _Rector of West Hackney Church._ + Departed this life, Sunday, December 31st, 1876. + + On Christmas Day, before the altar kneeling, + Taking that Food by which our souls are fed; + Around us all a solemn silence stealing, + And broken only by the priests' slow tread. + + Yes, he was there, our good and earnest Rector, + And firmly strove his weakness to withstand, + Giving the cup, he, the pure Faith's protector-- + That cup of blessing with a trembling hand. + + His church, for which he felt such admiration, + Was deck'd with flow'rs and evergreens that morn, + In praise to Christ, who died for our salvation, + And deign'd as a weak infant to be born. + + Ah! little did we think that happy morning-- + So truly, bravely kept he at his post-- + When next a Sabbath came, to us his warning + And kind, yet noble, presence would be lost. + + That solemn sound, which tells of souls departed, + Took the glad place of that which calls to prayer, + And his loved people, shocked and broken-hearted, + Could hardly enter, for _he_ was not there. + + But when they heard it was his last desire + That they should meet at midnight as was said, + They met by thousands, mov'd with holy fire, + And spoke in whispers of their shepherd--_dead_. + + No, no, not dead, but calm in Jesus sleeping; + Free from all sorrow, all reproach, all pain: + And though he leaves a congregration weeping + Their earthly loss is his eternal gain. + + He loved the weak, and all the mute creation, + In generous deeds he ever took his part; + At Death, the _thrice_-repeated word _Salvation_ + Showed the firm trust of that true, tender heart. + + * * * * * + + Again we meet: they come his coffin bringing + Midst solemn chant, and deck'd with purest flowers, + And feel, whilst we his own sweet hymn are singing, + The joy is _his_, the sad rememberance _ours_. + Mrs. HILDRETH. + + +At the sale of the HUGO COLLECTION, I purchased among many others:-- + + LOT 405. London Cries, also used in Newcastle and York Cries, two very + pretty series of early Cries, some with back-grounds, from Hodgson's + office, and R. Robinson, Newcastle--[51 _blocks_], + +To carry out the suggestion before-mentioned, and to utilize the very +pretty series of fifty-one woodcuts as above, and other Bewick, +Bewickiana, and _ultra anti_-Bewickian woodcut blocks I possess, formed +and accumulated by reason of my published works: "The Catnach Press," +1868. "Curiosities of Street Literature," 1871. And "Life and Times of +James Catnach," 1878. + +In collecting information on the subject of "The Cries of London--Ancient +and Modern," I have availed myself of all existing authorities within +reach, and therefore, to prevent the necessity of continual reference, +here state that I have drawn largely from Charles Knight's "London." +Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor." Hone's "Every-Day Book." An +article on Old London Cries, in "Fraser's Magazine." "Cuthbert Bede." Mr. +Edwin Goadby's "The England of Shakespeare,"--an excellent Text Book, +forming one of Cassell's Popular Shilling Library. "Our Milk Supply," from +the columns of _The Daily Telegraph_. Charles Manby Smith's "Curiosities +of London Life," and his "Little World of London." And what from various +other sources was suitable for my purpose. + +To the one lady, and many gentlemen friends who have responded to my +enquiries for advice, material, and assistance, and by which they have so +greatly enriched the contents of this volume, I beg to express my best +thanks. I must in a more particular manner mention the names of--the one +lady first--Mrs. Rose Hildreth; then Mr. John Furbor Dexter, Mr. William +Mansell; next Messrs. W. H. & L. Collingridge, the Proprietors of _The +City Press_, Aldersgate-street, London, for the use of the following +woodcuts that have appeared in the pages of their ever-entertaining work, +"Y{e} OLD CITY," by Aleph.: 1.--Shakespeare's London; 2.--Aldersgate; +3.--Cheapside Cross; 4.--Old Stage Waggon; 5.--Baynard's Castle; 6.--Old +London Shop; 7.--St. Pauls Cathedral. I have also to express my cordial +thanks to Messrs. Longman, Green & Co., who kindly allowed the use of +1.--Colebrook Cottage; 2.--The Old Queen's Head; and 3.--Canonbury Tower. +From Howitt's "Northern Heights of London." Messrs. Chatto & Windus, +Piccadilly: 1.--Charles Lamb's House, Enfield; 2.--House at Edmonton, +where Charles Lamb died; 3.--Edmonton Church. Messrs. Marks and Sons, +Publishers of all kinds of Fancy Stationery, Toy-books, Valentines, &c., +72, Houndsditch, for the eight blocks used in their "Cries of London," at +pages 351 to 358. Messrs. Goode, Toy-book Manufacturers, Clerkenwell +Green. Mr. John W. Jarvis, Mr. William Briggs, Mr. G. Skelly, Alnwick, and +Dr. David Morgan, Brighton. + + * * * * * + +SECOND EDITION. + +The rapid sale of the whole of the First Edition of this work--about one +half of which went Due-North, that is to say, in and round about "Canny +Newcassel" (the home-land of the Brothers Bewick), America taking the +remainder,--will sufficiently explain the re-appearance of "A History of +the Cries of London" in its new, and, the Author ventures to think, +improved form. + + RECTORY ROAD, STOKE NEWINGTON, + LONDON, N. + + _Lady-Day._, 1884. + + + + + CATALOGUE OF THE + CHOICE AND VALUABLE COLLECTION + OF BOOKS, WOOD ENGRAVINGS, + AND ENGRAVED WOODCUT BLOCKS, + Manuscripts, Autograph Letters & Proof Impressions, + BY OR RELATING TO THOMAS AND JOHN BEWICK, + AND THEIR PUPILS, + GLEANED FROM EVERY AVAILABLE SOURCE BY THE LATE + + + REV. THOMAS HUGO, M.A., F.S.A., + + AUTHOR OF "THE BEWICK COLLECTOR," 1866; + "SUPPLEMENT TO SAME," 1868; AND + "BEWICK WOODCUTS," (folio) 1870. + + + WHICH WILL BE SOLD BY AUCTION, + BY MESSRS. + SOTHEBY, WILKINSON & HODGE, + + _Auctioneers of Literary Property & Works illustrative of the Fine Arts_, + At their House, No. 13, Wellington Street, Strand, W. + On WEDNESDAY, 8th of AUGUST, 1877, and following Day, + AT ONE O'CLOCK PRECISELY. + May be Viewed Two Days prior, and Catalogues had. + + Dryden Press: J. Davy and Sons. 137, Long Acre. + + + + +[Illustration] + +GOLDSMITH AND PARNELL POEMS: Published by William Bulmer, _Shakespeare +Printing Office_, London, 1795. Embellished with thirteen designs on wood. +Most of the cuts were drawn by Robert Johnson and John Bewick, and all +were engraved by Thomas Bewick, except the vignettes on the title-pages, +and the large cut of "The Sad Historian," and the tail-piece at the end of +the volume, which was done by John Bewick. + +The most magnificent result of the efforts of the wood-engraver, +type-founder, paper-maker, and printer, "that ever was produced in any +age, or in any country." Bulmer realized, after paying all expenses, a +profit of L1,500 on the work these exquisite blocks adorned. + + +[Illustration: [_John Bewick, del. et Sculp._] + +THE SAD HISTORIAN. + +_Published January 1, 1795, by William Bulmer, at the Shakespeare Printing +Office, Cleveland Row._] + + +[Illustration: _John Johnson, del._] [_T. Bewick, Sculp._ + +THE HERMIT AT HIS MORNING DEVOTIONS. + +_Published January 1, 1795, by William Bulmer, at the Shakespeare Printing +Office, Cleveland Row._] + + +[Illustration: _R Johnson, del._] [_T. Bewick, Sculp._ + +THE HERMIT, ANGEL, AND GUIDE. + +_Published January 1, 1795, by William Bulmer, at the Shakespeare Printing +Office, Cleveland Row._] + + +[Illustration: _John Bewick, del._] [_T. Bewick, sculp._ + + THE CHASE. + _A POEM_ + BY WILLIAM SOMERVILE, ESQ. + + LONDON: + Printed by W. Bulmer & Co., + Shakespeare Printing Office, Cleveland Row. + + 1796.] + + +[Illustration: _John Bewick, del._] [_T. Bewick, sculp._ + +SOMERVILE'S CHASE.] + +This work contains the best specimens of John Bewick's abilities as a +designer; all the cuts were drawn by him except one, but none of them were +engraved by him. Shortly after he had finished the drawings on the blocks, +he left London and returned to the North in consequence of ill-health. +They were engraved by Thomas Bewick, with the exception of the tail-piece +at the end of the volume, which was engraved by Charles Nesbit, one of his +pupils. + + +[Illustration: _John Bewick, del._] [_T. Bewick, sculp._ + +SOMERVILE'S CHASE.] + +The cuts in the Chase, on the whole, are superior in point of execution to +those in the Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell. Many conceive it impossible +that such delicate effects could be produced from blocks of wood, and his +late Majesty (George III.) ordered his bookseller, Mr. George Nicolls, to +procure the blocks for his inspection, that he might convince himself of +the fact. + + +[Illustration: _John Bewick, del._] [_T. Bewick, sculp._ + +SOMERVILE'S CHASE.] + +Speaking of the death of John Bewick, which took place at Ovingham on the +5th of December, 1795,--aged 35, a writer in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ +says, "The works of this young artist will be held in estimation, and the +engravings to 'Somervile's Chase' will be a monument of fame of more +celebrity than marble can bestow." + + +[Illustration: THE PEACOCK. (_Pavo cristatus_, Linn.----_Le Paon_, Buff.) +(From Bewick's Land Birds.)] + +[Illustration: THE COMMON SANDPIPER. (Bewick's Water Birds).] + +[Illustration: THE WATER OUZEL. (Bewick's Water Birds.)] + +[Illustration: THE SNIPE. (Bewick's Water Birds.)] + +[Illustration: THE REDSTART. (Bewick's Water Birds.)] + + +[Illustration: _FIRST STATE!_] + + "THE LITTLE HOUSE" and PIG, &C. + + "Snug in an English garden's shadiest spot + A structure stands, and welcomes many a breeze; + Lonely and simple as a ploughman's cot! + Where monarchs may unbend who wish for ease." + COLMAN'S--_Broad Grins_. + +[Illustration: _SECOND STATE!!_] + +Among the very many and all much admired Tail-pieces drawn and engraved by +Bewick himself, the above, which, in its--_First state!_ is at page 285 of +vol. i. of 'A History of British Birds,' 1797, has obtained by far the +greatest notoriety. It appears that soon after publication, it was pointed +out to Bewick that the nakedness of a prominent part of his subject +required to be a little more covered--_draped_! So one of his apprentices +was employed to blacken over with ink all the copies then remaining +unsold. But by the time Bewick received the 'gentle hint,' a goodly number +had been delivered to local subscribers and the London agents--Messrs. G. +G. and J. Robinson. It is these '_not inked!_' copies that are now so +readily sought after by all "Bewick Collectors." + +[Illustration: _THIRD STATE!!!_] + +For the next, and all subsequent editions a plug was inserted in the +block, and the representation of two bars of wood engraved upon it, to +hide the _part_! However, it seems that before the block was thus altered +and amended, many impressions on various papers were taken of the--_First +state!_ The late Rev. Hugo possessed several of such, one of which--_Proof +on paper_--he gave me on the 10th of November, 1876.--C. H. + + +[Illustration: THE WATER RAIL. (Bewick's Water Birds.)] + +[Illustration: THE RED-NECKED GREBE. (Bewick's Water Birds.)] + +[Illustration: THE CHILLINGHAM WILD BULL. Used in Richardson's Table Book, +Vol. vi p. 15. Attributed to T. Bewick.] + +[Illustration: _T. Bewick._ GIN AND BITTERS. The Sportsman's Cabinet, +1803.] + +[Illustration: "WILLIE BREW'D A PECK O'MAUT."] + +The Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Engravings on Wood by Bewick, from +designs by Thurston. Alnwick: Printed by Catnach and Davison, 1808. And +London: Printed for T. Cadell and Davis, Strand, 1814. With cuts +previously used in Davison's publications. + +[Illustration] + +"Many of the engravings produced for Burns' Poems, are of a very superior +class, and cannot be too highly commended."--_Hugo._ + +[Illustration: "_And for whole days would wander in those places where she +had been used to walk with Henry._" + + THE HISTORY OF CRAZY JANE. + By Sarah Wilkinson. + With a Frontispiece by Bewick. + ALNWICK: Printed by W. DAVISON, 1813.] + +[Illustration: JACKSON'S: A TREATISE ON WOOD ENGRAVING. _See Hugo's +"Bewick Collector."--The Supplement._] + +[Illustration: THE REPOSITORY OF SELECT LITERATURE. + + Adorned with beautiful Engravings by Bewick. + ALNWICK: Printed by W. DAVISON, 1808.] + +[Illustration: ARMS OF NEWCASTLE. (_Signed_ Bewick, _Sculpt._)] + +[Illustration: BULL PURSUING A MAN. + + THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROBERT FERGUSON, with his Life. + Engravings on Wood by BEWICK.] + +[Illustration: "SANDIE AND WILLIE." + + THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROBERT FERGUSON. + Alnwick: Printed by W. DAVISON.--1814.] + +[Illustration: SCOTTISH BALLADS AND SONGS. Printed and Sold by G. +NICHOLSON, Poughnill, Near Ludlow.] + +[Illustration: G. NICHOLSON, PRINTER, Poughnill, near Ludlow.] + +[Illustration: G. NICHOLSON, Printer, Poughnill, near Ludlow.] + +[Illustration: G. NICHOLSON, Printer.] + +[Illustration: + + "_Not to return, how painful the remembrance + Of joys departed,_" + + BLAIR'S GRAVE. + Alnwick: Printed by CATNACH and DAVISON,--1808.] + +[Illustration: FROM NEWCASTLE. HUGO'S Bewick's Woodcuts, No. 1333.] + +[Illustration: VIEW OF STRAWBERRY HILL. With Shield of Arms of the Hon. +Horace Walpole.] + +[Illustration: Mr. Bigge's cut of the FIGURE OF LIBERTY.] + +[Illustration: TYNE-SIDE SCENE, With Shield of Arms.] + +[Illustration: A CHURCHYARD MEMORIAL CUT.] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: THE SPORTSMAN'S CALENDER. 1818. HUGO'S "_Bewick's +Woodcuts_," No. 1309.] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: THE DOG IN THE MANGER.] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: HASTIE'S READING EASY. From Angus's Office, where the book +was printed.] + + +"Bewick cut for Mrs. Angus, twenty-four figures for the Alphabet:--The Fox +and Grapes, the Crow and Pitcher, the Foolish Stag, Joseph and his +Brethren, etc. All of them excellent cuts. The fortieth edition was +printed in 1814, and the seventy-third in 1839, so that they must have +been done in his early days." + +MS. Note of the late Mr. John Bell, of Newcastle. See Hugo's _Bewick's +Woodcuts_. No. 240-276. + +[Illustration: FOX AND THE GRAPES.] + +[Illustration: THE CROW AND PITCHER.] + +[Illustration: THE FOOLISH STAG.] + +[Illustration: JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.] + +[Illustration: _T. Bewick.--Sculpt._] + +[Illustration: _T. Bewick.--Sculpt._] + +[Illustration: [_R. Johnson, del. Charlton Nesbit, sculpt._] + + Cut to the memory of ROBERT JOHNSON. + _Bewick's favourite Pupil._] + + +On the South side of Ovingham Church there is this tablet-- + + In Memory of + ROBERT JOHNSON, + PAINTER AND ENGRAVER. + A NATIVE OF THIS PARISH. + Who died at Kenmore in Perthshire, + _The 29th, of October, 1796_. + IN THE 26th, YEAR OF HIS AGE. + + +[Illustration: THOMAS BEWICK.] + +Thomas Bewick died at his house on the Windmill-Hills, Gateshead, November +the 8th, 1828, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and on the 13th he +was buried in the family burial-place at Ovingham, where his parents, +wife, and brother were interred. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy +victory?"] + + + + +A HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON. + + + + + A HISTORY + OF THE + CRIES OF LONDON + + (Ancient & Modern) + + + SECOND EDITION + + Greatly Enlarged and + Carefully Revised. + + + + +HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON. + + "Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London Town":--_Rex. Ballad._ + + +The cries of London have ever been very popular, whether as broadsides, +books, ballads, or engravings. Artists of all countries and times have +delighted to represent those peculiarities of costume and character which +belong to the history of street-cries, and the criers thereof. Annibale +Carracci--1560-1609--has immortalized the cries of Bologna; and from the +time of Elizabeth to that of Queen Victoria, authors, artists and printers +combined, have presented the Cries and Itinerant Trades of London, in +almost numberless forms, and in various degrees of quality, from the +roughest and rudest wood-cut-blocks to the finest of copper and steel +plate engravings, or skilfully wrought etchings. While many of the early +English dramatists often introduced the subject, eminent composers were +wont to "set to music" as catch, glee, or roundelaye, all the London Cries +then most in vogue,--"They were, I ween, ryght merrye songs, and the +musick well engraved." + +The earliest mention of London trade-cries is by Dan John Lydgate +(1370-1450), a Monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's, the +friend and immediate follower of Geoffrey Chaucer, and one of the most +prolific writers of his age this country has produced. To enumerate +Lydgate's pieces would be to write out the catalogue of a small library. +No poet seems to have possessed a greater versatility of talents. He moves +with equal ease in every mode of composition; and among his minor pieces +he has left us a very curious poem entitled "London Lyckpeny," _i.e._, +_London Lackpenny_: this has been frequently printed; by Strutt, Pugh, +Nicolas, and partly by John Stow in "A Survey of London," 1598. There are +two copies in the British Museum, Harl. MSS., 367 and 542. We somewhat +modernize the text of the former and best of these copies, which differ +considerably from each other. + + "O Mayster Lydgate! the most dulcet sprynge + Of famous rethoryke, with balade ryall + The chefe orygynal." + _"The Pastyme of Plasure," by Stephen Hawes, 1509._ + +In "London Lackpenny" we have a most interesting and graphic picture of +the hero coming to Westminster, in term time, to obtain legal redress for +the wrong he had sustained, and explain to a man of law his case--"_How my +goods were defrauded me by falsehood_," but being without the means to pay +even the preliminary fee, he was sent--"from pillar to post," that is from +one Law-court to another, but although he "_crouched, kneeled, prayed for +God's sake, and Mary's love_, he could not get from one the--_mum of his +mouth_." So leaving the City of Westminster--minus his hood, he walked on +to the City of London, which he tells us was crowded with peripatetic +traders, but tempting as all their goods and offers were, his +_lack-of-money_ prevented him from indulging in any of them--But, however, +let _Lackpenny_, through the ballad, speak for himself:-- + +[Illustration: London Lackpenny.] + + To London once my steps I bent, + Where truth in no wise should be faint, + To Westminster-ward I forthwith went, + To a man of law to make complaint, + I said, "for Mary's love, that Holy saint! + Pity the poor that would proceed," + But, for lack of money, I could not speed. + + And as I thrust the _prese_ among, [crowd] + By froward chance my hood was gone, + Yet for all that I stayed not long, + Till to the King's Bench I was come, + Before the Judge I kneeled anon, + And prayed him for God's sake to take heed; + But, for lack of money, I might not speed. + + Beneath them sat Clerks a great rout, + Which fast did write by one assent, + There stood up one and cryed about, + Richard, Robert, and John of Kent. + I wist not well what this man meant, + He cried so thick there indeed, + But he that lacked money, might not speed. + + Unto the Common-place _I yode thoo_, [I went then] + Where sat one with a silken hood; + I did him reverence, for I ought to do so, + And told him my case as well as I could, + How my goods were defrauded me by falsehood. + I gat not a mum of his mouth for my meed, + And, for lack of money, I might not speed. + + Unto the Rolls I gat me from thence, + Before the clerks of the Chancery, + Where many I found earning of pence, + But none at all once regarded me, + I gave them my plaint upon my knee; + They liked it well, when they had it read: + But, lacking money, I could not speed. + + In Westminster Hall I found out one, + Which went in a long gown of _ray_; [velvet] + I crouched and kneeled before him anon, + For Mary's love, of help I him pray. + "I wot not what thou meanest" gan he say: + To get me thence he did me bede, + For lack of money, I could not speed. + + Within this Hall, neither rich nor yet poor + Would do for me ought, although I should die: + Which seeing, I gat me out of the door, + Where Flemings began on me for to cry: + "Master, what will you _copen or buy_? [chap or exchange] + Fine felt hats, or spectacles to read? + Lay down your silver, and here you may speed." + +Spectacles to read before printing was invented must have had a rather +limited market; but we must bear in mind where they were sold. In +Westminster Hall there were lawyers and rich suitors +congregated,--worshipful men, who had a written law to study and expound, +and learned treatises diligently to peruse, and titles to hunt after +through the labyrinths of fine and recovery. The dealer in spectacles was +a dealer in hats, as we see; and the articles were no doubt both of +foreign manufacture. But lawyers and suitors had also to feed, as well as +to read with spectacles; and on the Thames side, instead of the +coffee-houses of modern date, were tables in the open air, where men every +day ate of "_bread, ribs of beef, both fat and full fine_," and drank +jollily of "_ale and wine_," as they do now at a horse-race:-- + + Then to Westminster Gate I presently went, + When the sun was at high prime: + Cooks to me, they took good intent, + And proffered me bread, with ale and wine, + Ribs of beef, both fat and full fine; + A fair cloth they gan for to spread, + But, wanting money, I might not there speed. + +Passing from the City of Westminster, through the village of Charing and +along Strand-side, to the City of London, the cries of food and feeding +were first especially addressed to those who preferred a vegetable diet, +with dessert and "_spice, pepper, and saffron_" to follow. "_Hot peascod +one began to cry_," Peascod being the shell of peas; the _cod_ what we now +call the _pod_:-- + + "Were women as little as they are good, + A peascod would make them a gown and hood." + +"_Strawberry ripe, and cherries in the rise._" Rise--branch, twig, either +a natural branch, or tied on sticks as we still see them. + + Then unto London I did me hie, + Of all the land it beareth the prize; + Hot peascods! one began to cry; + Strawberry ripe, and Cherries in the rise! + One bade me come near and buy some spice; + Pepper and saffron they gan me _bede_; [offer to me] + But, for lack of money, I might not speed. + +In Chepe (Cheapside) he saw "_much people_" standing, who proclaimed the +merits of their "_velvets, silk, lawn, and Paris thread_." These, however, +were shopkeepers; but their shops were not after the modern fashion of +plate-glass windows, and carpeted floors, and lustres blazing at night +with a splendour that would put to shame the glories of an eastern palace. +They were rude booths, the owners of which bawled as loudly as the +itinerants; and they went on bawling for several centuries, like butchers +in a market, so that, in 1628, Alexander Gell, a bachelor of divinity, was +sentenced to lose his ears and to be degraded from the ministry, for +giving his opinion of Charles I., that he was fitter to stand in a +Cheapside shop with an apron before him, and say "What do ye lack, what do +ye lack? What lack ye?" than to govern a kingdom. + + Then to the Chepe I began me drawn, + Where much people I saw for to stand; + One offered me velvet, silk, and lawn; + Another he taketh me by the hand, + "Here is Paris thread, the finest in the land." + I never was used to such things indeed; + And, wanting money, I might not speed. + + Then went I forth by London Stone, + Throughout all Canwyke Street: + Drapers much cloth me offered anon; + Then comes in one crying "Hot sheep's feet;" + One cried mackerel, rushes green, another gan greet; + One bade me buy a hood to cover my head; + But, for want of money, I might not speed. + +The London Stone, the _lapis milliaris_ (mile stone) of the Romans, has +never failed to arrest the attention of the "Countryman in Lunnun." The +Canwyke Street of the days of John Lydgate, is the Cannon Street of the +present. "_Hot sheep's feet_," which were cried in the streets in the time +of Henry V., are now sold _cold_ as "sheep's trotters," and vended at the +doors of the lower-priced theatres, music-halls, and public-houses. Henry +Mayhew in his "London Labour and the London Poor," estimates that there +are sold weekly 20,000 sets, or 80,000 feet. The wholesale price at the +"trotter yard" is five a penny, which gives an outlay by the street +sellers of L3,033 6s. 8d. yearly. The cry which is still heard and +tolerated by law, that of _Mackerel_ rang through every street. The cry of +_Rushes-green_ tells us of by-gone customs. In ages long before the +luxury of carpets was known in England, the floors of houses were covered +with rushes. The strewing of rushes in the way where processions were to +pass is attributed by our poets to all times and countries. Thus at the +coronation of Henry V., when the procession is coming, the grooms cry-- + + "More rushes, more rushes." + +_Not worth a rush_ became a common comparison for anything worthless; the +rush being of so little value as to be trodden under foot. _Rush-lights_, +or candles with rush wicks, are of the greatest antiquity. + + Then I hied me into East-chepe, + One cries ribs of beef, and many a pie; + Pewter pots they clattered on a heap; + There was harp, pipe, and minstrelsy; + "Yea by Cock! Nay by Cock!" some began cry; + Some sung of Jenkin and Julian for their meed; + But, for lack of money, I might not speed. + +Eastcheap, this ancient thoroughfare, originally extended from +Tower-street westward to the south end of Clement's-lane, where +Cannon-street begins. It was the Eastern Cheap or Market, as distinguished +from Westcheap, now Cheapside. The site of the Boar's Head Tavern, first +mentioned _temp._ Richard II., the scene of the revels of Falstaff and +Henry V., when Prince of Wales, is very nearly that of the statue of King +William IV. _Lackpenny_ had presented to him several of the real Signs of +the Times and of Life in London with "_ribs of beef_--_many a +pie_--_pewter pots_--_music and singing_"--_strange oaths_, "_Yea by +Cock_" being a vulgar corruption for a profane oath. Our own taverns still +supply us with ballad-singers--"_Buskers_"--who will sing of "_Jenkin and +Julian_"--Ben Block; or, She Wore a Wreath of Roses, "_for their meed_." + + Then into Cornhill anon I _yode_, [went] + Where was much stolen gear among; + I saw where hung mine own hood + That I had lost among the throng; + To buy my own hood I thought it wrong; + I knew it well, as I did my creed; + But, for lack of money, I could not speed. + +The manners and customs of the dwellers in Cornhill in the time of John +Lydgate, when a stranger could have his hood stolen at one end of the town +and see it exposed for sale at the other, forcibly reminds us of +Field-lane and the Jew Fagin, so faithfully sketched in pen and ink by +Charles Dickens of our day. Where "a young man from the country" would run +the risk of meeting with an Artful Dodger, to pick his pocket of his silk +handkerchief at the entrance of the Lane, and it would be offered him for +sale by a Jew fence at the end, not only "Once a Week" but "All the Year +Round." However, when Charles Dickens and Oliver Twist came in, Field-lane +and Fagin went out. + +At length the Kentish man being wearied, falls a prey to the invitation of +a taverner, who with a cringing bow, and taking him by the +sleeve:--"_Sir_," saith he, "_will you our wine assay?_" Whereupon +_Lackpenny_, coming to the safe conclusion that "_a penny can do no more +than it may_," enters the tempting and hospitable house of entertainment, +and there spends his only penny, for which he is supplied with a pint of +wine:-- + + The taverner took me by the sleeve, + "Sir," saith he, "will you our wine assay?" + I answered "That cannot be much grieve, + A penny can do no more than it may;" + I drank a pint, and for it did pay; + Yet, sore a-hungered from hence I _yode_, [went] + And, wanting money, I could not speed. + +Worthy old John Stow supposes this interesting incident to have happened +at the Pope's Head, in Cornhill, and bids us enjoy the knowledge of the +fact, that:--"Wine one pint for a pennie, and bread to drink it was given +free in every taverne." Yet Lydgate's hero went away "_Sore a-hungered_," +for there was no eating at taverns at this time beyond a crust to relish +the wine, and he who wished to dine before he drank had to go to the +cook's. + +Wanting money, _Lackpenny_ has now no choice but to return to the country, +and applies to the watermen at Billingsgate:-- + + Then hied I me to Billingsgate, + And one cried "Hoo! go we hence!" + I prayed a bargeman, for God's sake, + That he would spare me my expense, + "Thou scap'st not here, quod he, under two-pence, + I list not yet bestow any almes deed." + Thus, lacking money, I could not speed. + +We have a corroboration of the accuracy of this picture in Lambarde's +"Perambulation of Kent." The old topographer informs us that in the time +of Richard II. the inhabitants of Milton and Gravesend agreed to carry in +their boats, from London to Gravesend, a passenger with his truss or +fardel [burden] for twopence. + + Then I conveyed me into Kent; + For of the law would I meddle no more; + Because no man to me took entent, + I _dyght_ [prepared] me to do as I did before. + Now Jesus, that in Bethlem was bore, + Save London, and send true lawyers their meed! + For whoso wants money, with them shall not speed. + +The poor Kentish suitor, without two-pence in his pocket to pay the +Gravesend bargemen, whispers a mild anathema against London lawyers, then +takes his solitary way on foot homeward--a sadder and a wiser man. + + * * * * * + +With unpaved streets, and no noise of coaches to drown any particular +sound, we may readily imagine the din of the great London thoroughfares of +four centuries ago, produced by all the vociferous demand for custom. The +chief body of London retailers were then itinerant,--literally pedlars; +and those who had attained some higher station were simply stall-keepers. +The streets of trade must have borne a wonderful resemblance to a modern +fair. Competition was then a very rude thing, and the loudest voice did +something perhaps to carry the customer. + +[Illustration: THE LONDON STONE.] + +[Illustration] + +In the old play entitled:--"A ryght excellent and famous Comedy called the +_Three Ladies of London_, wherein is Notable declared and set fourth, how +by the meanes of Lucar, Love and Conscience is so corrupted, that the one +is married to Dissimulation, the other fraught with all abhomination. A +Perfect Patterne of All Estates to looke into, and a worke ryght worthie +to be marked. Written by R. W.; as it hath been publiquely played. At +London, Printed by Roger Warde, dwelling neere Holburne Conduit at the +sign of the Talbot, 1584," is the following poetical description of some +London cries:-- + +[Illustration] + + _Enter_ CONSCIENCE, with brooms, singing as followeth:-- + + _New broomes, green broomes, will you buy any? + Come maydens, come quickly, let me take a penny. + My brooms are not steeped, + But very well bound: + My broomes be not crooked, + But smooth cut and round. + I wish it would please you, + To buy of my broome: + Then would it well ease me, + If market were done. + + Have you any olde bootes, + Or any old shoone: + Powch-ringes, or buskins, + To cope for new broome? + If so you have, maydens, + I pray you bring hither; + That you and I, friendly, + May bargin together. + New broomes, green broomes, will you buy any? + Come maydens, come quickly, let me take a penny._ + + + CONSCIENCE _speaketh_. + + Thus am I driven to make a virtue of necessity; + And seeing God Almighty will have it so, I embrace it thankfully, + Desiring God to mollify and lesson Usury's hard heart, + That the poor people feel not the like penury and smart. + But Usury is made tolerable amongst Christians as a necessary thing, + So that, going beyond the limits of our law, they extort, and to many + misery bring. + But if we should follow God's law we should not receive above what we + lend; + For if we lend for reward, how can we say we are our neighbour's friend? + O, how blessed shall that man be, that lends without abuse, + But thrice accursed shall he be, that greatly covets use; + For he that covets over-much, insatiate is his mind: + So that to perjury and cruelty he wholly is inclined: + Wherewith they sore oppress the poor by divers sundry ways, + Which makes them cry unto the Lord to shorten cut-throats' days. + Paul calleth them thieves that doth not give the needy of their store, + And thrice accurs'd are they that take one penny from the poor. + But while I stand reasoning thus, I forget my market clean; + And sith God hath ordained this way, I am to use the mean. + + Sings again. + + _Have ye any old shoes, or have ye any boots? have ye any buskins, or + will ye buy any broome? + Who bargins or chops with Conscience? What will no customer come?_ + + _Enter_ USURY. + + + USURY. + + Who is that cries brooms? What, Conscience, selling brooms about the + street? + + + CONSCIENCE. + + What, Usury, it is a great pity thou art unhanged yet. + + + USURY. + + Believe me, Conscience, it grieves me thou art brought so low. + + + CONSCIENCE. + + Believe me, Usury, it grieves me thou wast not hanged long ago, + For if thou hadst been hanged, before thou slewest Hospitality, + Thou hadst not made me and thousands more to feel like Poverty. + +By another old comedy by the same author as the preceding one, which he +entitles:--"The pleasant and Stately Morall of the _Three Lords and Three +Ladies of London_. With the great Joye and Pompe, Solemnized at their +Marriages: Commically interlaced with much honest Mirth, for pleasure and +recreation, among many Morall observations, and other important matters of +due regard. By R. W., London. Printed by R. Ihones, at the Rose and +Crowne, neere Holburne Bridge, 1590," it appears that woodmen went about +with their beetles and wedges on their backs, crying "_Have you any wood +to cleave?_" It must be borne in mind that in consequence of the many +complaints against coal as a public nuisance, it was not in common use in +London until the reign of Charles I., 1625. + +There is a character in the play named _Simplicity_, a poor Freeman of +London, who for a purpose turns ballad-monger, and in answer to the +question of "What dainty fine ballad have you now to be sold?" +replies:--"I have '_Chipping-Norton_,' '_A mile from Chapel o' th' +Heath_'--'_A lamentable ballad of burning of the Pope's dog_;' '_The sweet +ballad of the Lincolnshire bagpipes_;' and '_Peggy and Willy: But now he +is dead and gone; Mine own sweet Willy is laid in his grave_.'" + +[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON. + + "City of ancient memories! Thy spires + Rise o'er the dust of worthy sons; thy walls, + Within their narrow compass, hold as much + Of Freedom as the whole wide world beside."] + +The London of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Co.,--_Limited_ as it was within +its great wall, occupied very much the same space as that now covered by +the City proper; its streets were narrow and winding, yet there were still +left many open spaces; it was covered with people; its river was full of +shipping; it was rich, prosperous, and possessed of a considerable amount +of liberty. The great wall of London, broad and strong, with towers at +intervals, was more than two miles long, from end to end, beginning at the +Tower of London on the east, and ending at the Fleet River and the Thames +on the west. + +[Illustration: ALDERSGATE.] + +As regards the gates, there were anciently only four--namely, Aldersgate, +Aldgate, Ludgate, and Bridgegate--that is to say, one for each of the +cardinal points. Then other gates and posterns were added for the +convenience of the citizens: Bishopsgate, for those who had business in +the direction of Norfolk, Suffolk, or Cambridgeshire; Moorgate, for those +who would practice archery, or take their recreation in Moor Fields; +Cripplegate, more ancient than the two preceding, had a prison for debtors +attached to it; and there was also a postern for the Convent of Grey +Friars, now Christ's Hospital. At Newgate was a small, incommodious, and +fever-haunted prison for criminals; and at Ludgate was another prison, +appropriated to debtors, trespassers, and those who committed contempt of +Court. Along the river-side were several water-gates, the chief of which +were Blackfriars, Greenhithe, Dowgate and Billingsgate. + +Within the narrow space of the City Walls there rose a forest of towers +and spires. The piety of Merchants had erected no fewer than a hundred and +three churches, which successive citizens were continually rebuilding, +beautifying, or enlarging. They were filled with the effigies and splendid +tombs, the painted and gilded arms, of their founders and benefactors, for +whose souls masses were continually said. + +[Illustration: CHEAPSIDE CROSS.] + +"London was divided into Wards, and was perhaps as catholic in its +commercial and industrial pursuits then as now. Every kind of trade was +carried on within its walls, just as every kind of merchandise was sold. +The combination of fellows of the same craft began in very early times, +guilds were formed for the protection of trade and its followers; the +guild-brothers met once a month to consider the interests of the craft, +regulating prices, recovering debts and so forth. But the London of the +period was not so gay as Paris, nor so bustling and prosperous as Antwerp, +nor so full of splendour and intellectual life as Venice.[1] Yet to the +Englishman of the day it was an ever-lasting wonder. Its towers and +palaces, its episcopal residences and gentlemen's inns, the bustle of its +commerce, the number of its foreigners, the wealth of its Companies, and +the bravery of its pageants, invested it with more poetry than can be +claimed for it at the present time, unless Wealth be our deity, Hurry our +companion, and Progress our muse. The rich were leaving their pleasant +country mansions to plunge into its delights. At the law terms there was a +regular influx of visitors, who seemed to think more of taking tobacco +than of winning a lawsuit. Ambitious courtiers, hopeful ecclesiastics, +pushing merchants, and poetic dreamers, were all caught by the +fascinations of London. Site, antiquity, life, and, above all, abundance +of the good things that make up half its charm, in the shape of early +delicacies, costly meats, and choice wines, combined to make it a +miraculous city in the eyes of the Elizabethan." + +"The external appearance of the City was certainly picturesque. Old grey +walls threw round it the arm of military protection. Their gates were +conspicuous objects, and the white uniforms of the train-bands on guard, +with their red crosses on the back, fully represented the valour which +wraps itself in the British flag and dies in its defence. To the north +were the various fields whose names survive, diversified by an occasional +house, and Dutch-looking windmills, creaking in the breeze. Finsbury was a +fenny tract, where the City archers practised; Spitalfields, an open, +grassy place, with grounds for artillery exercise and a market cross; and +Smithfield, or Smoothfield, was an unenclosed plain, where tournaments +were held, horses were sold, and martyrs had been burnt. To the east was +the Tower of London, black with age, armed with cannon and culverin, and +representing the munificence which entertained royalty as well as the +power which punished traitors. Beyond it was Wapping, the Port of London, +with its narrow streets, its rope-walks and biscuit shops. Black fronted +taverns, with low doorways and leaden framed windows, their rooms reeking +with smoke and noisy with the chatter of ear-ringed sailors, were to be +found in nearly every street. Here the merchant adventurer came to hire +his seamen, and here the pamphleteer or the ballad-maker could any night +gather materials for many a long-winded yarn about Drake and the Spanish +main, negroes, pearls, and palm-groves. + +[Illustration: OLD STAGE WAGGON.] + +"To the west, the scene was broken with hamlets, trees, and country roads. +Marylebone and Hyde Park were a royal hunting-ground, with a manor house, +where the Earls of Oxford lived in later times. Piccadilly was 'the road +to Reading,' with foxgloves growing in its ditches, gathered by the +simple dealers of Bucklersbury, to make anodynes for the weary-hearted. +Chelsea was a village; Pimlico a country hamlet, where pudding-pies were +eaten by strolling Londoners on a Sunday. Westminster was a city standing +by itself, with its Royal Palace, its Great Hall for banquets and the +trial of traitors, its sanctuary, its beautiful Abbey, and its famous +Almonry. St. James's Park was walled with red brick, and contained the +palace Henry VIII. had built for Anne Boleyn. Whitehall Palace was in its +glory. The Strand, along which gay ladies drove in their 'crab-shell +coaches,' had been recently paved, and its streams of water diverted. A +few houses had made their appearance on the north side of the Strand, +between the timber house and its narrow gateway, which then formed Temple +Bar, the boundary between London and Westminster, and the church of St. +Mary-le-Strand. The southern side was adorned with noble episcopal +residences, and with handsome turreted mansions, extending to the river, +rich with trees and gardens, and relieved by flashes of sparkling water. + +[Illustration: SMITH'S ARMS, BANKSIDE.[2]] + +"To the south, Lambeth, with its palace and church, and Faux Hall, were +conspicuous objects. Here were pretty gardens and rustic cottages. The +village of Southwark, with its prisons, its public theatres, its palace, +and its old Tabard Inn, had many charms. It was the abode of Shakespeare +himself, as he resided in a good house in the Liberty of the Clink, and +was assessed in the weekly payment of 6d., no one but Henslowe, Alleyn, +Collins, and Barrett, being so highly rated. That part of the Borough of +Southwark known as Bankside was not only famous in Shakespeare's time for +its Theatres, but also as the acknowledged retreat of the warmest of the +_demi-monde_! + + "'And here, as in a tavern, or a stew, + He and his wild associates spend their hours.'" + --_Ben Jonson._ + +"We fear our best zeal for the drama will not authorise us to deny that +Covent-garden and Drury-lane have succeeded to the _Bank-side_ in every +species of fame! + +[Illustration: THE GLOBE THEATRE.] + +"We must not forget the river Thames. It was one of the sights of the +time. Its waters were pure and bright, full of delicate salmon, and +flecked by snowy swans, 'white as Lemster wool.' Wherries plied freely on +its surface. Tall masts clustered by its banks. Silken-covered tiltboats, +freighted with ruffed and feathered ladies and gentlemen, swept by, the +watermen every now and then breaking the plash of the waves against their +boats by singing out, in their bass voices, 'Heave and how, rumbelow.' At +night, the scene reminded the travelled man of Venice. All the mansions by +the water-side had river-terraces and steps, and each one its own +tiltboat, barge, and watermen. Down these steps, lighted by torches and +lanterns, stepped dainty ladies, in their coloured shoes, with masks on +their faces, and gay gallants, in laced cloaks, by their side, bound for +Richmond or Westminster, to mask and revel. Noisy parties of wits and +Paul's men crossed to Bankside to see _Romeo and Juliet_, or _Hamlet the +Dane_, or else 'The most excellent historie of the _Merchant of Venice_, +with the extreme crueltie of _Shylocke_, the Jewe, towards the sayd +merchant, in cutting a just pound of his flesh, and obtaining of Portia by +the choyse of three caskets, as it hath diverse times been acted by the +Lord Chamberlain, his servants. Written by William Shakespeare.' + +[Illustration: BAYNARD'S CASTLE.] + +"From Westminster to London Bridge was a favourite trip. There was plenty +to see. The fine Strand-side houses were always pointed +out--Northumberland House, York House, Baynard's Castle, the scene of the +secret interview between the Duke of York and the Earls of Salisbury and +Warwick, was singled out, between Paul's Wharf and Puddle Dock. Next to +the Temple, and between it and Whitefriars, was the region known as +Alsatia. Here safe from every document but the writ of the Lord Chief +Justice and the Lords of the Privy Council, in dark dwellings, with +subterranean passages, narrow streets, and trap-doors that led to the +Thames, dwelt all the rascaldom of the time--men who had been 'horned' or +outlawed, bankrupts, coiners, thieves, cheaters at dice and cards, +duellists, homicides, and foreign bravoes, ready to do any desperate deed. +At night the contents of this kingdom of villany were sprayed out over +London, to the bewilderment of good-natured Dogberries, and country +gentlemen, making their first visit to town. + +"Still further down the river was the famous London Bridge. It consisted +of twenty arches; its roadway was sixty feet from the river; and the +length of the bridge from end to end was 926 feet. + +"It was one of the wonders that strangers never ceased to admire. Its many +shops were occupied by pin nacres, just beginning to feel the competition +with the Netherland pin-makers, and the tower at its Southwark end was +adorned with three hundred heads, stuck on poles, like gigantic pins, +memorials of treachery and heresy. + +"The roar of the river through the arches was almost deafening. 'The noise +at London Bridge is nothing near her,' says one of the characters in +Beaumont and Fletcher's _Woman's Prize_. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson & Co., +must have crossed the bridge many a time on their visits to the City, to +'gather humours of men daily,' as Aubrey quaintly expresses it." + +The name of Ben Jonson reminds us that in _The Silent Woman_,--one of the +most popular of his Comedies,--we have presented to us a more vivid +picture than can elsewhere be found of the characteristic noises, and +street-cries of London more than two centuries ago. It is easy to form to +ourselves a general idea of the hum and buzz of the bees and drones of +this mighty hive, under a state of manners essentially different from our +own; but it is not so easy to attain a lively conception of the particular +sounds that once went to make up this great discord, and so to compare +them in their resemblances and their differences with the roar which the +great Babel _now_ "sends through all her gates." We propose, therefore, to +put before our readers this passage of Jonson's comedy; and then, +classifying what he describes, illustrate our fine old dramatic painter of +manners by references to other writers, and by the results of our own +observation. + +[Illustration] + +The principal character of Jonson's _Silent Woman_ is founded upon a +sketch by a Greek writer of the fourth century, Libanius. Jonson +designates this character by the name of "Morose;" and his peculiarity is +that he can bear no kind of noise, not even that of ordinary talk. The +plot turns upon this affectation; for having been entrapped into a +marriage with the "Silent Woman," she and her friends assail him with +tongues the most obstreperous, and clamours the most uproarious, until, to +be relieved of this nuisance, he comes to terms with his nephew for a +portion of his fortune and is relieved of the "Silent Woman," who is in +reality a boy in disguise. We extract the dialogue of the whole scene; the +speakers being "Truewitt," "Clerimont," and a "Page":-- + + "_True._ I met that stiff piece of formality, Master Morose, his + uncle, yesterday, with a huge turban of night-caps on his head, + buckled over his ears. + + "_Cler._ O! that's his custom when he walks abroad. He can endure no + noise, man. + + "_True._ So I have heard. But is the disease so ridiculous in him as + it is made? They say he has been upon divers treaties with the + fish-wives and orange-women; and articles propounded between them: + marry, the chimney-sweepes will not be drawn in. + + "_Cler._ No, nor the broom-men: they stand out stiffly. He cannot + endure a costard-monger; he swoons if he hear one. + + "_True._ Methinks a smith should be ominous. + + "_Cler._ Or any hammer-man. A brasier is not suffer'd to dwell in the + parish, nor an armourer. He would have hang'd a pewterer's 'prentice + once upon a Shrove-Tuesday's riot, for being of that trade, when the + rest were quit. + + "_True._ A trumpet should fright him terribly, or the hautboys. + + "_Cler._ Out of his senses. The waits of the City have a pension of + him not to come near that ward. This youth practised on him one night + like the bellman, and never left till he had brought him down to the + door with a long sword; and there left him flourishing with the air. + + "_Page._ Why, sir, he hath chosen a street to lie in, so narrow at + both ends that it will receive no coaches, nor carts, nor any of these + common noises; and therefore we that love him devise to bring him in + such as we may now and then, for his exercise, to breathe him. He + would grow resty else in his cage; his virtue would rust without + action. I entreated a bearward, one day, to come down with the dogs of + some four parishes that way, and I thank him he did; and cried his + games under Master Morose's window; till he was sent crying away, with + his head made a most bleeding spectacle to the multitude. And, another + time, a fencer marching to his prize had his drum most tragically run + through, for taking that street in his way at my request. + + "_True._ A good wag! How does he for the bells? + + "_Cler._ O! In the queen's time he was wont to go out of town every + Saturday at ten o'clock, or on holiday eves. But now, by reason of the + sickness, the perpetuity of ringing has made him devise a room with + double walls and treble ceilings; the windows close shut and caulk'd; + and there he lives by candlelight." + +The first class of noises, then, against which "Morose" protected his ears +by "a huge turban of night-caps," is that of the ancient and far-famed +LONDON CRIES. We have here the very loudest of them--fish-wives, +orange-women, chimney-sweepers, broom-men, costard-mongers. But we might +almost say that there were _hundreds_ of other cries; and therefore, +reserving to ourselves some opportunity for a special enumeration of a few +of the more remarkable of these cries, we shall now slightly group them, +as they present themselves to our notice during successive generations. + +We shall not readily associate any very agreeable sounds with the voices +of the "fish-wives." The one who cried "_Mackerel_" in Lydgate's day had +probably no such explanatory cry as the "_Mackerel alive, alive ho!_" of +modern times. In the seventeenth century the cry was "_New Mackerel_." And +in the same way there was:-- + +[Illustration: NEW WALL-FLEET OYSTERS.] + +[Illustration: NEW FLOUNDERS.] + +[Illustration: NEW WHITING.] + +[Illustration: NEW SALMON.] + +The freshness of fish must have been a considerable recommendation in +those days of tardy intercourse. But quantity was also to be taken into +the account, and so we find the cries of "_Buy my dish of Great Smelts_;" +"_Great Plaice_;" "_Great Mussels_." Such are the fish-cries enumerated in +Lauron's and various other collections of "London Cries." + +[Illustration: BUY GREAT SMELTS.] + +[Illustration: BUY GREAT PLAICE.] + +[Illustration: BUY GREAT MUSSELS.] + +[Illustration: BUY GREAT EELS.] + +But, we are forgetting "Morose," and his "turban of night-caps." Was +Hogarth familiar with the old noise-hater when he conceived his own:-- + +[Illustration: ENRAGED MUSICIAN.] + +In this extraordinary gathering together of the producers of the most +discordant sounds, we have a representation which may fairly match the +dramatist's description of street noises. Here we have the milk-maid's +scream, the mackerel seller's shout, the sweep upon the house top,--to +match the fish-wives and orange-women, the broom-men and costard-mongers. +The smith, who was "ominous," had no longer his forge in the busy streets +of Hogarth's time; the armourer was obsolete: but Hogarth can rival their +noises with the pavior's hammer, the sow-gelder's horn, and the +knife-grinder's wheel. The waits of the city had a pension not to come +near "Morose's" ward; but it was out of the power of the "Enraged +Musician" to avert the terrible discord of the blind hautboy-player. The +bellman who frightened the sleepers at midnight, was extinct; but modern +London had acquired the dustman's bell. The bear-ward no longer came down +the street with the dogs of four parishes, nor did the fencer march with a +drum to his prize; but there was the ballad-singer, with her squalling +child, roaring worse than bear or dog; and the drum of the little boy +playing at soldiers was a more abiding nuisance than the fencer. "Morose" +and the "Enraged Musician" had each the church bells to fill up the +measure of discord. + +[Illustration] + +The fish-wives are no longer seen in our great city of London +thoroughfares. In Tottenham Court-road, Hoxton, Shoreditch, Kingsland, +Whitechapel, Hackney-road, and many other suburban districts, which still +retain the character of a street-market, they stand in long rows as the +evening draws in, with paper-lanterns stuck in their baskets on dark +nights; and there they vociferate as loudly as in the olden time. + +[Illustration] + +The "costard-monger" whom Morose dreaded, still lives amongst us, and is +still noisy. He bawls so loud even to this day, that he puts his hand +behind his ear to mitigate the sensation which he inflicts upon his own +tympanum. He was originally an apple-seller, whence his name; and, from +the mention of him in the old dramatists, he appears to have been +frequently an Irishman. In Jonson's "Bartholomew Fair," he cries +"_pears_." Ford makes him cry "_pippins_." He is a quarrelsome fellow, +according to Beaumont and Fletcher:-- + + "And then he'll rail like a rude costermonger, + That schoolboys had cozened of his apple, + As loud and senseless." + +The costermonger is now a travelling shopkeeper. We encounter him not in +Cornhill, or Holborn, or the Strand: in the neighbourhood of the great +markets and well-stored shops he travels not. But his voice is heard in +some silent streets stretching into the suburbs; and there, with his +donkey and hampers stands at the door, as the servant-maid cheapens a +bundle of cauliflowers. He has monopolized all the trades that were +anciently represented by such cries as "_Buy my artichokes, mistress_;" +"_Ripe cowcumbers_;" "_White onions, white St. Thomas' onions_;" "_White +radish_;" "_Ripe young beans_;" "_Any baking pears_;" "_Ripe +sparrowgrass_." He would be indignant to encounter such petty chapmen +interfering with his wholesale operations. He would rail against them as +the city shopkeepers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries railed +against itinerant traders of every denomination. In the days of Elizabeth, +they declare by act of common council, that in ancient times the open +streets and lanes of the city have been used, and ought to be used, as the +common highway only, and not for hucksters, pedlars, and hagglers, to +stand or sit to sell their wares in, and to pass from street to street +hawking and offering their wares. In the seventh year of Charles I. the +same authorities denounce the oyster-wives, herb-wives, tripe-wives, and +the like, as "unruly people;" and they charge them somewhat unjustly, as +it must appear, with "framing to themselves a way whereby to live a more +easy life than by labour." + + "How busy is the man the world calls idle!" + +The evil, as the citizens term it, seems to have increased; for in 1694 +the common council threatened the pedlars and petty chapmen with the +terrors of the laws against rogues and sturdy beggars, the least penalty +being whipping, whether for male or female. The reason for this terrible +denunciation is very candidly put: the citizens and shopkeepers are +greatly hindered and prejudiced in their trades by the hawkers and +pedlars. Such denunciations as these had little share in putting down the +itinerant traders. They continued to flourish, because society required +them; and they vanished from our view when society required them no +longer. In the middle of the last century they were fairly established as +rivals to the shopkeepers. Dr. Johnson, than whom no man knew London +better, thus writes in the "Adventurer:"--"The attention of a new-comer is +generally first struck by the multiplicity of cries that stun him in the +streets, and the variety of merchandise and manufactures which the +shopkeepers expose on every hand." The shopkeepers have now ruined the +itinerants--not by putting them down by fiery penalties, but by the +competition amongst themselves to have every article at hand for every +man's use, which shall be better and cheaper than the wares of the +itinerant. Whose ear is now ever deafened by the cries of the broom-man? +He was a sturdy fellow in the days of old "Morose," carrying on a barter +which in itself speaks of the infancy of civilization. His cry was "_Old +Shoes for some Brooms_." Those proclamations for barter no doubt furnished +a peculiar characteristic of the old London Cries. The itinerant buyers +were as loud, though not so numerous, as the sellers. + +[Illustration: NEW BROOMS FOR OLD SHOES!] + +[Illustration: OLD CLOWZE, ANY OLD CLO', CLO'.] + +The familiar voice of "_Old Clowze, any old Clo' Clo_," has lasted through +some generations; but the glories of Monmouth-street were unknown when a +lady in a peaked bonnet and a laced stomacher went about proclaiming "_Old +Satin, old Taffety, or Velvet_." And a singular looking party of the +Hebrew persuasion, with a cocked hat on his head, and a bundle of rapiers +and sword-sticks under his arm, which he was ready to barter for:-- + +[Illustration: OLD CLOAKS, SUITS, OR COATS.] + +[Illustration: HATS OR CAPS--BUY, SELL, OR EXCHANGE.] + +While another of the tribe proclaimed aloud from east to west--and back +again, "From morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve," his willingness to +"_Buy, sell, or exchange Hats or Caps_." Why should the Hebrew race +appear to possess a monopoly in the purchase and sale of dilapidated +costumes? Why should their voices, and theirs alone, be employed in the +constant iteration of the talismanic monosyllables "Old Clo'?" Is it +because Judas carried the bag that all the children of Israel are to +trudge through London streets to the end of their days with sack on +shoulder? Artists generally represent the old clothesman with three, and +sometimes four, hats, superposed one above the other. Now, although we +have seen him with many hats in his hands or elsewhere, we never yet saw +him with more than one hat on his head. The three-hatted clothesman, if +ever he existed, is obsolete. According to Ingoldsby, however, when +"Portia" pronounced the law adverse to "Shylock": + + "Off went his three hats, and he look'd as the cats + Do, whenever a mouse has escaped from their claw." + +[Illustration: ANY KITCHEN-STUFF HAVE YOU MAIDS?] + +There was trading then going forward from house to house, which careful +housewifery and a more vigilant police have banished from the daylight, +if they have not extirpated it altogether. Before the shops are open and +the chimneys send forth their smoke, there may be now, sometimes, seen +creeping up an area a sly-looking beldam, who treads as stealthily as a +cat. Under her cloak she has a pan, whose unctuous contents will some day +assist in the enlightenment or purification of the world, in the form of +candles or soap. But the good lady of the house, who is a late riser, +knows not of the transformation that is going forward. In the old days she +would have heard the cry of a maiden, with tub on head and pence in hand, +of "_Any Kitchen-stuff have you Maids?_" and she probably would have dealt +with her herself, or have forbidden her maids to deal. + +So it is with the old cry of "_Any Old Iron take Money for?_" The fellow +who then went openly about with sack on back was a thief, and an +encourager of thieves; he now keeps a marine-store. + +[Illustration: ANY OLD IRON TAKE MONEY FOR?] + +[Illustration: OLD LONDON SHOP.] + +Sir Walter Scott, in his _Fortunes of Nigel_, has left us a capital +description of the shop of a London tradesman during the reign of King +James in England, the shop in question being that of David Ramsay, maker +of watches and horologes, within Temple-bar--a few yards eastward of St. +Dunstan's church, Fleet-street, and where his apprentice, Jenkin +Vincent--abbreviated to Jin Vin, when not engaged in 'prentices-riots--is +crying to every likely passer-by:-- + + "What d'ye lack?--What d'ye lack?--Clocks--watches--barnacles?--What + d'ye lack?--Watches--clocks--barnacles?--What d'ye lack, sir? What + d'ye lack, madam?--Barnacles--watches--clocks? What d'ye lack, noble + sir?--What d'ye lack, beauteous madam?--God bless your reverence, the + Greek and Hebrew have harmed your reverence's eyes. Buy a pair of + David Ramsay's barnacles. The king, God bless his sacred Majesty! + never reads Hebrew or Greek without them. What d'ye lack? Mirrors for + your toilets, my pretty madam; your head-gear is something awry--pity, + since it so well fancied. What d'ye lack? a watch, Master Sargeant?--a + watch that will go as long as a lawsuit, as steady and true as your + own eloquence? a watch that shall not lose thirteen minutes in a + thirteen years' lawsuit--a watch with four wheels and a + bar-movement--a watch that shall tell you, Master Poet, how long the + patience of the audience will endure your next piece at the Black + Bull." + +The verbal proclaimers of the excellence of their commodities, had this +advantage over those who, in the present day, use the public papers for +the same purpose, that they could in many cases adapt their address to the +peculiar appearance and apparent taste of the passengers. This direct and +personal mode of invitation to customers became, however, a dangerous +temptation to the young wags who were employed in the task of solicitation +during the absence of the principal person interested in the traffic; and, +confiding in their numbers and civic union, the 'prentices of London were +often seduced into taking liberties with the passengers, and exercising +their wit at the expense of those whom they had no hopes of converting +into customers by their eloquence. If this were resented by any act of +violence, the inmates of each shop were ready to pour forth in succour; +and in the words of an old song which Dr. Johnson was used to hum,-- + + "Up then rose the 'prentices all, + Living in London, both proper and tall." + +Desperate riots often arose on such occasions, especially when the +Templars, or other youths connected with the aristocracy, were insulted, +or conceived themselves so to be. Upon such occasions, bare steel was +frequently opposed to the clubs of the citizens, and death sometimes +ensued on both sides. The tardy and inefficient police of the time had no +other resource than by the Alderman of the ward calling out the +householders, and putting a stop to the strife by overpowering numbers, as +the Capulets and Montagues are separated upon the stage. + +[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.] + +It must not be imagined that these 'prentices of the City of London were +of mean and humble origin. The sons of freemen of the City, or country +boys of good and honourable families, alone were admitted to the seven +years' apprenticeship. The common people--the _ascripti glebae_--the poor +rustics who were bound to the soil, had little or no share in the fortunes +of the City of London. Many of the burgesses were as proud of their +descent as of their liberties. + +[Illustration: A STREET AT NIGHT--SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON.] + +Once apprenticed, and having in a few weeks imbibed the spirit of the +place, the lad became a Londoner. It is one of the characteristics of +London, that he who comes up to the City from the country speedily becomes +penetrated with the magic of the golden pavement, and falls in love with +the great City. And he who has once felt that love of London can never +again be happy beyond the sound of Bow Bells, which could formerly be +heard for ten miles and more. The greatness of the City, its history, its +associations, its ambitions, its pride, its hurrying crowds--all these +things affect the imagination and fill the heart. There is no place in the +world, and never has been, which so stirs the heart of her children with +love and pride as the City of London. + +A year or two later on, the boy would learn, with his fellow-'prentices +that he must betake himself to the practice of bow and arrow, "pellet and +bolt," with a view to what might happen. Moorfields was convenient for the +volunteers of the time. There was, however, never any lack of excitement +and novelty in the City of London. But this is a digression. + +[Illustration] + +Amongst the earliest of the Cries of London we must class the "cry" of the +City watchman; although it essentially differed from the "cries" of the +shopkeepers and the hawkers; for they, as a rule, had something to +exchange or sell--_copen or buy?_ as Lydgate puts it--then the watchmen +were wont to commence their "cry" at, or about, the hour of night when all +others had finished for the day. After that it was the business of the +watchman to make his first call, or cry after the manner inscribed over +the figure here given. + +[Illustration] + +He had to deal with deaf listeners, and he therefore proclaimed with a +voice of command, "Lanthorn!" but a lanthorn alone was a body without a +soul; and he therefore demanded "a _whole_ candle." To render the mandate +less individually oppressive, he went on to cry, "Hang out your Lights!" +And, that even the sleepers might sleep no more, he ended with "Heare!" It +will be seen that he carries his staff and lanthorn with the air of honest +old Dogberry about him,--"A good man and true," and "the most desartless +man to be constable." + +The making of lanthorns was a great trade in the early times. We clung to +King Alfred's invention for the preservation of light with as reverend a +love, during many centuries, as we bestowed upon his civil institutions. +The horn of the favoured utensil was a very dense medium for illumination, +but science had substituted nothing better; and, even when progressing +people carried about a neat glass instrument with a brilliant reflector, +the watchman held to his ponderous and murky relic of the past, making +"night hideous" with his voice, to give news of the weather, such as: +"Past eleven, and a starlight night;" or "Past one o'clock, and a windy +morning;" in fact, disturbed your rest to tell you "what's o'clock." + +We are told by the chroniclers that, as early as 1416, the mayor, Sir +Henry Barton, ordered lanthorns and lights to be hanged out on the winter +evenings, betwixt Allhallows and Candlemass. For three centuries this +practice subsisted, constantly evaded, no doubt through the avarice or +poverty of individuals, sometimes probably disused altogether, but still +the custom of London up to the time of Queen Anne. The cry of the +watchman, "Hang out your Lights," was an exhortation to the negligent, +which probably they answered only by snores, equally indifferent to their +own safety and the public preservation. A worthy mayor in the time of +Queen Mary provided the watchman with a bell, with which instrument he +accompanied the music of his voice down to the days of the Commonwealth. +The "Statutes of the Streets," in the time of Elizabeth, were careful +enough for the preservation of silence in some things. They prescribed +that, "no man shall blow any horn in the night, or whistle after the hour +of nine o'clock in the night, under pain of imprisonment;" and, what was a +harder thing to keep, they also forbade a man to make any "sudden outcry +in the still of the night, as making any affray, or beating his wife." Yet +a privileged man was to go about knocking at doors and ringing his +alarum--an intolerable nuisance if he did what he was ordered to do. + +[Illustration: THE WATCH--SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON.] + +But the watchmen were, no doubt, wise in their generation. With honest +Dogberry, they could not "see how sleeping should offend;" and after the +watch was set, they probably agreed to "go sit upon the church bench till +two, and then all to bed." + +[Illustration: THE BELLMAN--FROM DEKKER, 1608.] + +We have observed in our old statutes, and in the pages of authors of +various kinds, that separate mention is made of the Watchman and the +Bellman. No doubt there were several degrees of office in the ancient +Watch and Ward system, and that part of the office of the old Watch, or +Bellman, was to bless the sleepers, whose door he passed, which blessing +was often sung or said in verse--hence Bellman's verse. These verses were +in many cases, the relics of the old incantations to keep off elves and +hobgoblins. There is a curious work by Thomas Dekker--otherwise +Decker,--entitled: "The Bellman of London. Bringing to light the most +notorious Villanies that are now practised in the Kingdom, Profitable for +Gentlemen, Lawyers, Merchants, Citizens, Farmers, Masters of Households +and all sortes of servants to Marke, and delightful for all men to Reade, +_Lege, Perlege, Relege_." Printed at London for Nathaniel Butter, 1608. +Where he describes the Bellman as a person of some activity--"the child of +darkness; a common nightwalker; a man that had no man to wait upon him, +but only a dog; one that was a disordered person, and at midnight would +beat at men's doors, bidding them (in mere mockery) to look to their +candles, when they themselves were in their dead sleeps." Stow says that +in Queen Mary's day one of each ward "began to go all night with a bell, +and at every lane's end, and at the ward's end, gave warning of fire and +candle, and to help the poor and pray for the dead." Milton, in his "Il +Penseroso," has:-- + + "Far from the resort of mirth, + Save the cricket on the hearth, + Or the bellman's drowsy charm, + To bless the doors from nightly harm." + +In "A Bellman's Song" of the same date, we have:-- + + "Maidens to bed, and cover coal, + Let the mouse out of her hole, + Crickets in the chimney sing, + Whilst the little bell doth ring; + If fast asleep, who can tell + When the clapper hits the bell?" + +Herrick, also, has given us a verse of Bellman's poetry in one of the +charming morsels of his "Hesperides:"-- + + "From noise of scare-fires rest ye free, + From murders Benedicite; + From all mischances that may fright + Your pleasing slumbers in the night, + Mercy secure ye all, and keep + The goblin from ye while ye sleep. + Past one o'clock, and almost two, + My masters all, 'Good day to you!'" + +But, with or without a bell, the real prosaic watchman continued to make +the same demand as his predecessors for lights through a long series of +years; and his demand tells us plainly that London was a city without +lamps. But though he was a prosaic person, he had his own verses. He +addressed himself to the "maids." He exhorted them to make their lanthorns +"bright and clear." He told them how long their candles were expected to +burn. And, finally, like a considerate lawgiver, he gave reason for his +edict:-- + + "That honest men that walk along, + May see to pass safe without wrong." + +Formerly it was the duty of the bellman of St. Sepulchre's parish, near +Newgate, to rouse the unfortunates condemned to death in that prison, the +night before their execution, and solemnly exhort them to repentance with +good words in bad rhyme, ending with + + "When St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls, + The Lord above have mercy on your souls." + +It was customary for the bellman to present at Christmas time to each +householder in his district "A Copy of Verses," and he expected from each +in return some small gratuity. The execrable character of his poetry is +indicated by the contempt with which the wits speak of "Bellman's verses" +and the comparison they bear to "Cutler's poetry upon a knife," whose +poesy was--"_Love me, and leave me not_." On this subject there is a work +entitled--"The British Bellman. Printed in the year of Saint's Fear, Anno +Domini 1648, and reprinted in the _Harleian Miscellany_." "The Merry +Bellman's Out-Cryes, or the Cities O Yes! being a mad merry Ditty, both +Pleasant and Witty, to be cry'd in Prick-Song[3] Prose, through Country +and City. Printed in the year of Bartledum Fair, 1655." Also--"The +Bell-man's Treasury, containing above a Hundred several Verses fitted for +all Humours and Fancies, and suited to all Times and Seasons. London, +1707." It was from the riches of this "treasury" that the predecessors of +the present parish Bellman mostly took their _own_ (!) "Copy of Verses." + +In the Luttrell Collection of Broadsides (Brit. Mus.) is one dated 1683-4, +entitled, "A Copy of Verses presented by Isaac Ragg, Bellman, to the +Masters and Mistresses of Holbourn Division, in the Parish of St. +Giles's-in-the-Fields." It is headed by a woodcut representing Isaac in +his professional accoutrements, a pointed pole in his left hand, and in +the right a bell, while his lanthorn hangs from his jacket in front; below +is a series of verses, the only specimen worth giving here being the +expression of Mr. Ragg's official duty; it is as follows:-- + + "Time Masters, calls your bellman to his task, + To see your doors and windows are all fast, + And that no villany or foul crime be done + To you or yours in absence of the sun. + If any base lurker I do meet, + In private alley or in open street, + You shall have warning by my timely call, + And so God bless you and give rest to all." + +In a similar, but unadorned broadside, dated 1666, Thomas Law, Bellman, +greets his Masters of "St. Giles, Cripplegate, within the Freedom," in +twenty-three dull stanzas, of which the last may be subjoined:-- + + "No sooner hath St. Andrew crowned November, + But Boreas from the North brings cold December, + And I have often heard a many say + He brings the winter month Newcastle way; + For comfort here of poor distressed souls, + _Would he had with him brought a fleet of coals_." + +We have in our possession a "copy of verses," coming down to our own time. +It is a folio broadside, and contains in addition to a portrait of the +Bellman of the Parish and his dog on their rounds, fifteen smaller cuts, +mostly Scriptural. It is entitled:-- + +[Illustration: + + A COPY OF VERSES FOR 1839, + HUMBLY PRESENTED TO ALL MY WORTHY MASTERS AND + MISTRESSES, OF THE PARISH OF SAINT JAMES, WESTMINSTER, + By Richard Mugeridge, 20, Marshall Street, Golden Square.] + +The "Verses" all contain allusions to the prominent events of the past +year, and have various headings--first we have the:-- + + PROLOGUE. + + My Masters and Mistresses, pray lend an ear, + While your Bellman recounts some events of the year; + For altho' its commencement was rather distressing, + We've had reason to thank it for more than one blessing, + 'Tis true that Canadian proceedings were strange, + And a very sad fire was the Royal Exchange; + Yet the first, let us hope, is no serious matter, + And we'll soon have a new one in lieu of the latter. + Our rulers have grappled with one of our crosses, + While for beauty and fitness the other no loss is. + And still more to make up for these drawbacks vexatious, + Dame Fortune has been on the whole, pretty gracious. + We've had peace to get wealth, which of war is the sinews. + Grant us wit to make hay while the sunshine continues. + Then, the Bear of the North, that insatiate beast, + Has been check'd in his wily attempts on the East; + And his further insidious advances forbidden + By the broadsword of Auckland, which warns him from Eden. + While our rulers, in earnest, apply to the work, + And a treaty concludes with the Austrian and Turk, + Which, when next the fell Monster is tempted to roam, + May provide him some pleasant employment at home. + + + TO THE QUEEN. + + Whilst the high and the noble in gallant array, + Assemble around her, their homage to pay; + While the proud Peers of Britain with rapture, I ween, + Place her crown on the brow of their peerless young Queen; + While by prince and by peasant her sceptre is blest; + Why may not the Bellman chime in with the rest? + Tho' alas! my poor muse would long labour in vain, + To express our delight in Victoria's reign, + Long may we exult in her merciful sway, + May her moments speed blithely and sweetly as May, + And her days be prolonged till her glories efface + The last maiden lady's, who sate in her place. + + + THE GREAT WESTERN. + + Well, despite of some thousand objections pedantic, + The "Great Western" has cross'd and _re-cross'd_ the Atlantic, + Nor is _this_ the first time--to the foe's consternation-- + That the deeds of our tars have defied calculation. + Though few of our learned professors did dream + That our seamen in steamers would reach the gulf stream, + Yet a fortnight's vibration, from Bristol or Cork, + Will now set us down with our friends at New York; + And a closer acquaintance bind firmer than ever, + A friendship which nothing on earth ought to sever. + + * * * * * + * * * * * + + + EPILOGUE. + + Now having conducted his well-meant effusion + Thus far on its way to a happy conclusion, + Your Bellman, tho' not quite so fresh as at starting, + Would still have a word with his patrons at parting, + Just by way of a cordial and kindly farewell, + For his heart, altho' softer, is sound as his bell, + And he cannot say more for himself or his strains, + Than, whatever his success, he has not spared pains; + And that blest in their kindness, and countenance steady, + His song and his services always are ready; + So he bids them adieu till next season appears-- + May their wealth and their virtues increase with their years; + May they always have more than they ever can spend, + With the soul to help on a less fortunate friend; + And their Bellman continue to cudgel his brain, + For their yearly amusement, again and again. + + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + |_Cheap and Expeditious Printing by Steam Machinery, | + |executed by_ C. REYNELL, 16, _Little Pulteney Street,| + |Golden Square._--First printed in 1735. | + +-----------------------------------------------------+ + +There is a very rare sheet of woodcuts in the Print-room of the British +Museum, containing twelve cries, with figures of the "Criers" and the +cries themselves beneath. The cuts are singularly characteristic, and may +be assigned with safety, on the authority of Mr. John Thomas Smith, the +late keeper of the prints and drawings, as of the same date as Ben +Jonson's "fish-wives," "costard-mongers," and "orange women." + +No. 1 on the sheet, is the "Watch;" he has no name, but carries a staff +and a lanthorn, is well secured in a good frieze gabardine, +leathern-girdle, and wears a serviceable hat to guard against the weather. +The worthy here depicted has a most venerable face and beard, showing how +ancient was the habit of parish officers to select the poor and feeble for +the office of watchman, in order to keep them out of the poor-house. The +"cry" of the "watch" is as follows:-- + + "A light here, maids, hang out your light, + And see your horns be clear and bright, + That so your candle clear may shine, + Continuing from six till nine; + That honest men that walk along, + May see to pass safe without wrong." + +No. 2 is the "Bellman"--Dekker's "Bellman of London and Dog." (as at page +49.) He carries a halberd lanthorn, and bell, and his "cry" is curious:-- + + "Maids in your smocks, look to your locks, + Your fire and candle-light; + For well 'tis known much mischief's done + By both in dead of night; + Your locks and fire do not neglect, + And so you may good rest expect." + +No. 3 is the "Orange Woman," a sort of full-grown Nell Gwynne, if we can +only fancy _Nelly_, the favourite mistress of King Charles the Second, +grown up in her humble occupation. She carries a basket of oranges and +lemons under her arm, and seeks to sell them by the following "cry":-- + + "Fine Sevil oranges, fine lemmons, fine; + Round, sound, and tender, inside and rine, + One pin's prick their vertue show: + They've liquor by their weight, you may know." + +No. 4 is the "Hair-line Man," with a bundle of lines under his arm, and a +line in his hand. Clothes-pegs was, perhaps, a separate "cry." Here is +his:-- + + "Buy a hair-line, or a line for Jacke, + If you any hair or hemp-cord lack, + Mistris, here's good as you need use; + Bid fair for handsel, I'll not refuse." + +No. 5 is the "Radish and Lettuce Woman."--Your fine "goss" lettuce is a +modern cry:-- + + "White raddish, white young lettis, + White young lettis white; + You hear me cry, come mistris, buy, + To make my burden light." + +No. 6 is the man who sells "Marking Stones," now, unless we except +slate-pencils, completely out of use:-- + + "Buy marking-stones, marking-stones buy, + Much profit in their use doth lie: + I've marking-stones of colour red, + Passing good, or else black lead." + +No. 7 is the "Sausage Woman," holding a pound of sausages in her hand:-- + + "Who buys my sausages, sausages fine? + I ha' fine sausages of the best; + As good they are as ere was eat; + If they be finely drest. + Come, mistris, buy this daintie pound, + About a capon roast them round." + +No. 8 is a man with "Toasting-forks and Spice-graters":-- + + "Buy a fine toasting-fork for toast, + Or fine spice-grater--tools for an hoast; + If these in winter be lacking, I say, + Your guests will pack, your trade decay." + +No. 9 is the "Broom Man," and here we have a "cry" different from the one +we have already given. He carries a pair of old boots in his hand:-- + + "Come buy some brooms, come buy of me: + Birch, Heath, and green,--none better be; + The staves are straight, and all bound sure; + Come, maids, my brooms will still endure. + Old boots or shoes I'll take for brooms, + Come buy to make clean all your rooms!" + +No. 10 is a woman with a box of "Wash balls":-- + + "Buy fine washing-balls, buy a ball, + Cheaper and dearer, greater and small; + For scouring none do them excel, + Their odour scenteth passing well; + Come buy rare balls, and trial make, + Spots out of clothes they quickly take." + +No. 11 sells Ink and Pens.--He carries an ink-bottle hung by a stick +behind him, and has a bunch of pens in his hand:-- + + "Buy pens, pens, pens of the best, + Excellent pens and seconds the least; + Come buy good ink as black as jet, + A varnish like gloss on writing 'twill set." + +The twelfth and last is a woman with a basket of Venice Glasses, such as a +modern collector would give a great deal to get hold of:-- + + "Come glasses, glasses, fine glasses buy; + Fine glasses o' the best I call and cry. + Fine Venice-glasses,--no chrystal more clear, + Of all forms and fashions buy glasses here, + Black pots for good ale I also do cry; + Come therefore quickly before I pass by." + +In the same collection, is a series of three plates, "Part of the Cries in +London," evidently belonging to the same set, though only one has got a +title. Each plate contains thirty-six criers, with the addition of a +principal "Crier" in the centre. These were evidently executed abroad, as +late, perhaps, as the reign of Charles II. No. 1 (with the title page) is +ornamented in the centre with the "Rat-Catcher," carrying an emblazoned +banner of rats, and attended by a boy. The leather investment of the +rat-catcher of the present day is a pleasant memorial of the banner of the +past. Beneath the rat-catcher, the following lines occur:-- + + "Hee that wil have neither + Ratt nor Mowssee + Lett him pluck of the tillies + And set fire of his hows." + +Proving, evidently that the rat-catcher courted more to his banner than +his poetry. Then follow the thirty-six cries, some of which, it will be +seen, are extremely curious. The names are given beneath the cuts, but +without any verse or peculiarity of cry. + + Cooper + Ende of Golde + Olde Dublets + Blackinge man + Tinker + Pippins + Bui a Matte + Cooles + Chimnie swepes + Bui Brumes + Camphires + Cherry ripe + Alminake + Coonie skine + Mussels + Cabeches + Kitchen stuff + Glasses + Cockels + Hartti chaks + Mackrill + Oranges, Lemens + Lettice + Place + Olde Iron + Aqua vitae + Pens and Ink + Olde Bellows + Herrings + Buy any Milke + Piepin Pys + Osters + Shades + Turneps + Rosmarie Baie + Onions. + +"Haie ye any work for John Cooper?" is the title of one of the Martin +Marprelate pamphlets. "Haie ye ani gold ends to sell?" is mentioned as a +"cry," in "Pappe with a Hatchet" (_cir._ 1589). "Camphires," means +Samphires. The "Alminake" man has completely gone, and "Old Dublets" has +degenerated into "Ogh Clo," a "cry" which teased Coleridge for a time, and +occasioned a ludicrous incident, which we had reserved for a place +somewhat later in our history, had not "Old Dublets" brought it, not +inopportunely, to mind. "The other day," said Coleridge, "I was what you +would call _floored_ by a Jew. He passed me several times crying out for +old clothes, in the most nasal and extraordinary tone I ever heard. At +last I was so provoked, that I said to him, 'Pray, why can't you say 'old +clothes' in a plain way, as I do?' The Jew stopped, and looking very +gravely at me, said in a clear and even accent, 'Sir, I can say 'old +clothes' as well as you can; but if you had to say so ten times a minute, +for an hour together, you would say _Ogh Clo_ as I do now;' and so he +marched off." Coleridge was so confounded with the justice of the retort +that he followed and gave him a shilling--the only one he had. + +The principal figure on the second plate is the "Bellman," with dog, bell, +halberd, and lanthorns. His "cry" is curious, though we have had it almost +in the same form before, at page 56:-- + + "Mayds in your Smocks, Looke + Wel to your lock--your fire + And your light, and God + Give you good night. At + One a Clock." + +The cries around him deserve transcription:-- + + Buy any Shrimps + Buy some Figs + Buy a Tosting Iron + Lantorne candellyht + Buy any Maydes + The Water bearer + Buy a whyt Pot + Bread and Meate + Buy a Candelsticke + Buy any Prunes + Buy a Washing ball + Good Sasages + Buy a Purs + Buy a dish a Flounders + Buy a Footestoole + Buy a fine Bowpot + Buy a pair a Shoes + Buy any Garters + Featherbeds to dryue + Buy any Bottens + Buy any Whiting maps + Buy any Tape + Worcestershyr Salt + Ripe Damsons + Buy any Marking Stones + The Bear bayting + Buy any blew Starch + Buy any Points + New Hadog + Yards and Ells + Buy a fyne Brush + Hote Mutton Poys + New Sprats new + New Cod new + Buy any Reasons + P. and Glasses to mend + +On the third plate, the principal figure is the "Crier," with his staff +and keys:-- + + "O yis, any man or woman that + Can tell any tydings of a little + Mayden Childe of the age of 24 + Yeares. Bring worde to the cryer, + And you shal be pleased for + Your labor + And God's blessinge." + +The figures surrounding the Common Crier are in the same style of art, and +their cries characteristic of bygone times:-- + + Buy any Wheat + Buy al my Smelts + Quick Periwinckels + Rype Chesnuts + Payres fyn + White Redish whyt + Buy any Whyting + Buy any Bone lays + I ha' rype Straberies + Buy a Case for a Hat + Birds and Hens + Hote Podding Pyes + Buy a Hair Lyne + Buy any Pompeons + Whyt Scalions + Rype Walnuts + Fyn Potatos fyn + Hote Eele Pyes + Fresh Cheese and Creame + Buy any Garlick + Buy a longe Brush + Whyt Carots whyt + Fyne Pomgranats + Buy any Russes + Hats or Caps to dress + Wood to cleave + Pins of the maker + Any sciruy Grass + Any Cornes to pick + Buy any Parsnips + Hot Codlinges hot + Buy all my Soales + Good Marroquin + Buy any Cocumber + New Thornebacke + Fyne Oate Cakes. + +The only crier in the series who has a horse and cart to attend him is the +Worcestershire salt-man. Salt is still sold from carts in poor and crowded +neighbourhoods. + +We have been somewhat surprised in not finding a single Thames waterman +among the criers of London; but the series was, perhaps, confined to the +streets of London, and the watermen were thought to belong altogether to +the stairs leading to their silent highway. Three of their cries have +given titles to three good old English comedies, "Northward, ho!" +"Eastward, ho!" and "Westward, ho!" But our series of cries is still +extremely incomplete. Every thing in early times was carried and cried, +and we have seen two rare prints of old London Cries not to be found in +the lists already enumerated. One is called "_Clove Water, Stomock +Water_," and the other "_Buy an new Booke_." Others may still exist. In +the Duke of Devonshire's collection of drawings, by Inigo Jones, are +several cries, drawn in pen-and-ink, for the masques at court in the +reigns of James I. and Charles I. + +[Illustration: THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS.] + +In Thomas Heywood's, "_The Rape of Lucrece_, a True Roman Tragedy, acted +by Her Majestie's Servants at the _Red-Bull_, 1609," is the following long +list of LONDON CRIES, but called for the sake of the dramatic action of +the scene, "_Cries of Rome_," which was the common practice with the old +dramatists, Rome being the canting name of London. Robert Greene, in his +"_Perimedes the Blacksmith_, 1588," when he wished to criticise the London +_Theatre_ at Shoreditch, talks of the _Theatre in Rome_; also in his +"_Never too Late_, 1590," when he talks of the London actors, he pretends +only to speak of Roscius and the actors of _Rome_. In the pedlar's French +of the day Rome-vyle--or ville--was London, and Rome-mort the Queen +[Elizabeth]. There is some humour in the classification, and if the cries +were well imitated by the singer, the ballad--or as it would then be +called "_jig_"--is likely to have been extremely popular in its day. + + THE CRIES OF ROME [_i.e._ London.] + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down, + Round and sound all of a colour, + Buy a very fine marking stone, marking stone, + Round and sound all of a colour; + Buy a very fine marking stone, marking stone. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Bread and--meat--bread--and meat + For the--ten--der--mercy of God to the + poor pris--ners of _Newgate_, four- + score and ten--poor--prisoners. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + +[Illustration: MARKING STONE.] + +[Illustration: BREAD AND MEAT.] + +[Illustration: WORSTERSHIRE SALT.] + +[Illustration: BUY A MOUSE TRAP.] + + Salt--salt--white Wor--stershire Salt, + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Buy a very fine Mouse--trap, or a tormentor for your Fleas. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Kitchen-stuff, maids. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + I have white Radish, white hard Lettuce, white young Onions. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + I have Rock--Samphire Rock--Samphire, + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Buy a Mat, a Mil--Mat, + Mat or a Hassock for your pew, + A stopple for your close-stool, + Or a Pesock to thrust your feet in. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Whiting maids, Whiting. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + +[Illustration: KITCHEN STUFF, MAIDS.] + +[Illustration: WHITE RADISH LETTUCE.] + +[Illustration: ROCK SAMPIER.] + +[Illustration: MAT, A MILL MAT.] + + Hot fine Oat-Cakes, hot. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Small--Coals here. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Will you buy any Milk to day. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Lanthorn and Candle light here, Maid, a light here. + + Thus go the cries in _Rome's_ fair town, + First they go up street, and then they go down. + + Here lies a company of very poor + Women, in the dark dungeon, + Hungary, cold, and comfortless, night and day; + Pity the poor women in the dark dungeon. + + Thus go the cries where they do house them, + First they come to the grate, and then they go lowse them. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: WHITING MAIDS, WHITING.] + +[Illustration: HOT FINE OAT CAKES.] + +[Illustration: SMALL COALS HERE.] + +[Illustration: ST. THOMAS' ONIONS.] + +From "Deuteromelia: or, the Second Part of Pleasant Roundelayes; K. H. +Mirth, or Freeman's Songs, and such delightful Catches. London, printed +for Thomas Adams, dwelling in Paul's Church-yard, at the sign of the White +Lion, 1609." + + Who liveth so merry in all this land + As doth the poor widdow that selleth the sand? + And ever shee singeth as I can guesse, + Will you buy any sand, any sand, mistress? + + The broom-man maketh his living most sweet, + With carrying of brooms from street to street; + Who would desire a pleasanter thing, + Then all the day long to doe nothing but sing. + + The chimney-sweeper all the long day, + He singeth and sweepeth the soote away; + Yet when he comes home altho' he be weary, + With his sweet wife he maketh full merry. + + * * * * * + + Who liveth so merry and maketh such sport + As those that be of the poorest sort? + The poorest sort wheresoever they be, + They gather together by one, two, three. + + And every man will spend his penny + What makes such a shot among a great many? + +Thomas Morely, a musical composer, set music of four, six, eight and ten +parts, to the cries in his time, among them are some used by the +milliners' girls in the New Exchange, which was on the south side of the +Strand, opposite the now Adelphi Theatre, it was built in the reign of +James I., and pulled down towards the end of the last century; among +others are "_Italian falling Bands_," "_French Garters_," "_Robatos_," a +kind of ruff then fashionable, "_Nun's Thread_," _&c._ + +The effeminacy and coxcombry of a man's ruff and band are well ridiculed +by many of our dramatic writers. There is a small tract bearing the +following title--"A Merrie Dialogue between Band, Cuffe and Ruffe. Done by +an excellent Wit, and lately acted in a Shew in the Famous Universitie of +Cambridge. London, printed by W. Stansby for Miles Partrich, and are to be +sold at his shop neere Saint Dunstone's Church-yard in Fleet Street, +1615." This _brochure_ is a _bonne-bouche_ of the period, written in +dramatic dialogue form, and full of puns as any modern comedy or farcical +sketch from the pen of the greatest word-twister of the day--Henry J. +Byron (who, on _Cyril's Success_, _Married in Haste_, _Our Boys_, and _The +Girls_,)--and is of considerable value as an illustration of the history +of the costume of the period. The band, as an article of ornament for the +neck, was the common wear of gentlemen, though now exclusively retained by +the clergy and lawyers; the cuff, as a fold at the end of a sleeve, or the +part of the sleeve turned back from the hand, was made highly fantastical +by means of "cut work;" the ruff, as a female neck ornament, made of +plaited lawn, or other material, is well-known, but it was formerly worn +by both sexes. + +In a Roxburghe Ballad entitled "The Batchelor's Feast," &c., we have:-- + + "The taylor must be pay'd for making of her gowne, + The shoomakers for fine shoes: or else thy wife will frowne; + For _bands_, fine _ruffes_, and _cuffes_, thou must dispence as free: + O 'tis a gallant thing to live at liberty," &c. + +In another, "The Lamentations of a New Married Man, briefly declaring the +sorrow and grief that comes by marrying a young wanton wife":-- + + "Against that she is churched, a new Gowne she must have, + A daintie fine _Rebato_ about her neck to brave;" + +In "_Loyal Subject_," by Beaumont and Fletcher, act iii., sc. 5, we find +that in the reign of James I., potatoes had become so common, that +"_Potatoes! ripe Potatoes!_" were publicly hawked about the city. + +[Illustration: POTATOES! RIPE POTATOES.] + +Orlando Gibbons,--1583-1625--set music in madrigals to several common +cries of the day. In a play called "_Tarquin and Lucrece_," some of the +music of the following occur,--"_Rock Samphire_," "_A Marking Stone_," +"_Bread and Meat for the poor Prisoners_," "_Hassock for your pew_," +"_Lanthorne and Candlelight_," _&c._ + +In the Bridgewater library (in the possession of the Earl of Ellesmere) is +a series of engravings on copper thirty-two in number, without date or +engraver's name; but called, in the handwriting of the second Earl of +Bridgewater, "The Manner of Crying Things in London." They are, it is +said, by a foreign artist, and probably proof impressions, for on the +margin of one of the engravings is a small part of another, as if it had +been taken off for a trial of the plate. Curious and characteristic they +certainly are, and of a date anterior to 1686; in which year the second +Earl of Bridgewater died. The very titles kindle old recollections as you +read them over:-- + + 1. Lanthorne and a whole candell light: hang out your lights heare! + + 2. I have fresh cheese and creame. + + 3. Buy a brush or a table book. + + 4. Fine oranges, fine lemons. + + 5. Ells or yeards: buy yeard or ells. + + 6. I have ripe straw-buryes, ripe straw-buryes. + + 7. I have screenes, if you desier to keepe y{r} butey from y{e} fire. + + 8. Codlinges hot, hot codlinges. + + 9. Buy a steele or a tinder box. + + 10. Quicke peravinkells, quicke, quicke. + + 11. Worke for a cooper; worke for a cooper. + + 12. Bandestringes, or handkercher buttons. + + 13. A tanker bearer. + + 14. Macarell new: maca-rell. + + 15. Buy a hone, or a whetstone, or a marking stone. + + 16. White unions, white St. Thomas unions. + + 17. Mate for a bed, buy a doore mate. + + 18. Radishes or lettis, two bunches a penny. + + 19. Have you any work for a tinker? + + 20. Buy my hartichokes, mistris. + + 21. Maribones, maides, maribones. + + 22. I ha' ripe cowcumber, ripe cowcumber. + + 23. Chimney sweepe. + + 24. New flounders new. + + 25. Some broken breade and meate for y{e} poore prisoners; for the + Lord's sake pittey the poore. + + 26. Buy my dish of great smelts. + + 27. Have you any chaires to mend? + + 28. Buy a cocke, or a gelding. + + 29. Old showes or bootes; will you buy some broome? + + 30. Mussels, lilly white mussels. + + 31. Small cole a penny a peake. + + 32. What kitchen stuff have you, maides? + +The figures, male and female, in the engravings, are all three-quarter +lengths, furnished with the implements of their various trades, or with +the articles in which they deal. The Watchman (one of the best) is a fine +old fellow, with a broad brim to his hat, a reverential beard, a halberd +in one hand, and a lanthorn in the other (after the manner of the one we +have given at page 46). But perhaps the most curious engraving in the set +is the "cry" called "Some broken breade and meate for y{e} poore +prisoners: for the Lord's sake pittey the poore." This represents a poor +prisoner with a sealed box in his hand, and a basket at his back--the box +for alms in the shape of money, and the basket for broken bread and meat. +There is also preserved a small handbill printed in 1664, and entitled, +"The Humble Petition of the Poor Distressed Prisoners in Ludgate, being +above an hundred and fourscore poor persons in number, against the time of +the Birth of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." "We most humbly +beseech you," says the handbill "(even for God's cause), to relieve us +with your charitable benevolence, and to put into this Bearers Boxe, the +same being sealed with the house seale as it is figured on this Petition." + +[Illustration: + + "Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, + Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door."] + +To, "O, rare Ben Jonson!" we are indebted for the most perfect picture of +Smithfield at "Barthol'me-tide," which he gives us, together with the +popular cries in vogue at the time, in his comedy of "_Bartholomew Fair_," +produced at the Hope Theatre, on the Bankside, 1614, and acted, as Jonson +tells us, by the lady Elizabeth's servants. + +The second act opens with "_The Fair. A number of Booths, Stalls, &c., set +out_." The characters presented are "Lanthorn Leatherhead," _a hobby-horse +seller_. "Bartholomew Cokes," _an esquire of Harrow_. "Nightingale," _a +ballad-singer, a costard-monger, mousetrap-man, corn cutter_. "Joan +Trash," _a gingerbread woman_. "Leatherhead" calls--"What do you lack? +what is't you buy? what do you lack? rattles, drums, halberts, horses, +babies o' the best? fiddles o' the finest." "Joan Trash" cries, "Buy my +gingerbread, gilt gingerbread!" the costard-monger, bawls out, "Buy any +pears, pears, fine, very fine pears!" "Nightingale," the ballad man +sings-- + + "Hey, now the Fair's a filling! + O, for a tune to startle + The birds o' the booths here billing + Yearly with old saint _Bartle_! + The drunkards they are wading, + The punks and chapmen trading: + Who'd see the _Fair_ without his lading? + Buy my ballads! new ballads!" + +"What do you lack?" continues Leatherhead, "What do you lack, gentlemen? +my pretty mistress, buy a fine hobby-horse for your young master; cost you +but a token a week for his provender." The corn cutter cries, "Have you +any corns in your feet or toes?" The tinder-box man calls, "Buy a +mouse-trap, a mouse-trap, or a tormentor for a flea!" Trash cries, "Buy +some gingerbread!" Nightingale bawls, "Ballads, ballads, fine new +ballads!" Leatherhead repeats, "What do you lack, gentlemen, what is't you +lack? a fine horse? a lion? a bull? a bear? a dog? or a cat? an excellent +fine Bartholomew bird? or an instrument? what is't you lack, what do you +buy, mistress? a fine hobby-horse, to make your son a tilter? a drum, to +make him a soldier? a fiddle, to make him a reveller? what is't you lack? +little dogs for your daughters? or babies, male and female? fine purses, +pouches, pincases, pipes; what is't you lack? a pair o' smiths to wake you +i' the morning? or a fine whistling bird?" A character named "Bartholomew +Cokes," a silly "Esquire of Harrow," stops at Leatherhead's stall to +purchase.--"Those six horses, friend, I'll have, and the three Jew's +trumps; and half a dozen o' birds; and that drum; and your smiths--I like +that devise o' your smiths, and four halberts; and let me see, that fine +painted great lady, and her three women of state, I'll have. A set of +those violins I would buy too, for a delicate young noise[4] I have i' the +country, that are every one a size less than another, just like your +fiddles." Joan Trash invites the Esquire to buy her gingerbread, and he +turns to her basket, whereupon Leatherhead says, "Is this well, Goody +Joan, to interrupt my market in the midst, and call away my customers? Can +you answer this at the _Pie-poudres_?"[5] whereto Joan Trash replies, +"Why, if his master-ship have a mind to buy, I hope my ware lies as open +as anothers; I may show my ware as well as you yours." Nightingale begins +to sing:-- + + "My masters and friends, and good people draw near." + +Squire Cokes hears this, and says, "Ballads! hark, hark! pray thee, +fellow, stay a little! what ballads hast thou? let me see, let me see +myself--How dost thou call it? _A Caveat against Cut-purses!_--a good jest +i' faith; I would fain see that demon, your cut-purse, you talk of;" He +then shows his purse boastingly, and enquires "Ballad-man, do any +cut-purses haunt hereabout? pray thee raise me one or two: begin and show +me one." Nightingale answers, "Sir, this is a spell against 'em, spick and +span new: and 'tis made as 'twere in mine own person, and I sing it in +mine own defence. But 'twill cost a penny alone if you buy it." The Squire +replies: "No matter for the price; thou dost not know me, I see, I am an +old _Bartholomew_." The ballad has "pictures," and Nightingale tells him, +"It was intended, sir, as if a purse should chance to be cut in my +presence, now, I may be blameless though; as by the sequel will more +plainly appear." He adds, "It is, to the tune of _Paggington's Pound_, +sir." and he finally sings the ballad, the first and last stanzas of which +follow:-- + + "My masters, and friends, and good people draw near, + And look to your purses, for that I do say; + And though little money, in them you do bear, + It cost more to get, than to lose in a day, + You oft' have been told, + Both the young and the old, + And bidden beware of the cut-purse so bold; + Then if you take heed not, free me from the curse, + Who both give you warning, for, and the cut-purse. + Youth, youth, thou hadst better been starved by thy nurse, + Than live to be hanged for cutting a purse. + + * * * * * + + "But O, you vile nation of cut-purses all, + Relent, and repent, and amend, and be sound, + And know that you ought not by honest men's fall, + Advance your own fortunes to die above ground. + And though you go gay + In silks as you may, + It is not the highway to heaven (as they say.) + Repent then, repent you, for better, for worse; + And kiss not the gallows for cutting a purse. + Youth, youth, thou hadst better been starved by thy nurse, + Than live to be hanged for cutting a purse." + +While Nightingale sings this ballad, a fellow tickles Coke's ear with a +straw, to make him withdraw his hand from his pocket, and privately robs +him of his purse, which, at the end of the song, he secretly conveys to +the ballad-singer; who notwithstanding his "Caveat against cut-purses," is +their principal confederate, and in that quality, becomes the unsuspected +depository of the plunder. + +In the years 1600-18, there was published a musical work, entitled +"_Pammelia_--MVSICKES MISCELLANIE; _Or_, Mixed Varietie of pleasant +ROVNDELAYS and delightful CATCHES. London, Printed by Thomas Snodhom, for +Matthew Lownes and Iohn Browne." It was compiled by some eminent +musicians, who had a practice of setting the cries of London to music, +retaining only the very musical notes of them, here we find, "What +Kitchen-Stuffe haue you maids," and there is a Round in six parts to the +cry of "New Oysters:"-- + + "New Oysters, new Oysters, new Oysters new, + New Oysters, new Wall-fleet Oysters-- + At a groat a pecke--each Oyster worth twopence. + Fetch vs bread and wine, that we may eate, + Let vs lose no time with such good meate-- + A Banquet for a Prince--New Oysters. + New--_vt supra_--Oysters." + +From "Meligmata: Musical Phantasies, fitting the Court, City, and Country +Manners, to three, four and five Voices"-- + + "To all delightful, except to the spiteful; + To none offensive, except to the pensive." + +"London, printed by William Stansby, for Thos. Adams, 1611," we take as +follows:-- + + "CITTIE ROUNDS. + + "Broomes for old shoes! pouch-rings, bootes and buskings! + Will yee buy any new broome? + New oysters! new oysters! new new cockles! + Cockels nye! fresh herrings! will yee buy any straw? + Hay yee any kitchen stuffe, maides? + Pippins fine, cherrie ripe, ripe, ripe! + Cherrie ripe, &c. + Hay any wood to cleaue? + Give care to the clocke! + Beware your locke! + Your fire and your light! + And God giue you good night! + One o' clocke!" + +Some of the "Common Cryes i' th' City," as Oysters, Codlings, +Kitchen-stuff, Matches for your Tinder-box, &c., are enumerated in Richard +Brome's--The "Court Beggar, A Comedie acted at the _Cock-pit_, by His +Majesties Servants, _Anno_ 1632." + +"The London Chanticleers, a witty Comedy full of Various and Delightful +Mirth," 1659. This piece is rather an interlude than a play, and is +amusing and curious, the characters being, with two exceptions, all London +criers. The allusions to old usages, with the mention of many well known +ballads, and some known no longer, contribute to give the piece an +interest and a value of its own. + +The principal _dramatis personae_ consists of:-- + + HEATH.--_A broom-man._ "Brooms, maids, broom! Come, buy my brooms, + maids; 'Tis a new broom, and will sweep clean. Come, buy my broom, + maids!" + + BRISTLE.--_A brush-man._ "Come, buy a save-all. Buy a comb-brush, or a + pot-brush; buy a flint, or a steel, or a tinder-box." + + DITTY.--_A ballad-man._ "Come, new books, new books, newly printed and + newly come forth! All sorts of ballads and pleasant books! _The Famous + History of Tom Thumb_ and _Unfortunate Jack, A Hundred Goodly + Lessons_ and _Alas, poor Scholar, whither wilt thou go? The second + part of Mother Shipton's Prophecies, newly made by a gentleman of good + quality_, foretelling what was done four hundred years ago, and _A + Pleasant Ballad of a bloody fight seen i' th' air_, which, the + astrologers say, portends scarcity of fowl this year. The _Ballad of + the Unfortunate Lover_. I have _George of Green_, _Chivy Chase_, + _Collins and the Devil; or, Room for Cuckolds_, _The Ballad of the + London 'Prentice_, _Guy of Warwick_, _The Beggar of Bethnal Green, the + Honest Milkmaid; or, I must not wrong my Dame_, _The Honest Fresh + Cheese and Cream Woman_. Then I have _The Seven Wise Men of Gotham_, + _A Hundred Merry Tales_, _Scoggin's Jests; or, A Book of Prayers and + Graces for Young Children_. I have very strange news from beyond seas. + The King of Morocco has got the black jaundice, and the Duke of + Westphalia is sick of the swine-pox, with eating bacon; the Moors + increase daily, and the King of Cyprus mourns for the Duke of Saxony, + that is dead of the stone; and Presbyter John is advanced to Zealand; + the sea ebbs and flows but twice in four-and-twenty hours, and the + moon has changed but once the last month." + + BUDGET.--_A Tinker._ "Have you any work for the tinker? Old brass, old + pots, old kettles. I'll mend them all with a tara-tink, and never hurt + your metal." + + GUM.--_A Tooth drawer._ "Have you any corns upon your feet or toes? + Any teeth to draw?" + + JENNITING.--_An Apple wench._ "Come buy my pearmains, curious John + Apples, dainty pippins? Come, who buy? who buy?" + + CURDS.--_A fresh Cheese and Cream woman._ "I have fresh cheese and + cream; I have fresh cheese and cream." + + + THE SORROWFUL LAMENTATIONS of the PEDLARS AND PETTY CHAPMEN, + For the Hardness of the Times and the Decay of Trade. + _To the Tune of_ "My Life and my Death." + + "The times are grown hard, more harder than stone, + And therefore the Pedlars may well make their moan, + Lament and complain that trading is dead, + That all the sweet golden days now are fled. + Then maidens and men, come see what you lack, + And buy the fine toys that I have in my pack! + + "Come hither and view, here's choice and here's store, + Here's all things to please ye, what would you have more? + Here's points for the men, and pins for the maid, + Then open your purses and be not afraid. + Come, maidens, &c. + + "Let none at a tester repent or repine: + Come bring me your money, and I'll make you fine; + Young Billy shall look as spruce as the day, + And pretty sweet Betty more finer than May. + Then, maidens, &c. + + "To buy a new license your money I crave; + 'Tis that which I want, and 'tis that which you have: + Exchange then a groat for some pretty toy, + Come, buy this fine whistle for your little boy. + Come, maidens, &c. + + "Here's garters for hose, and cotton for shoes. + And there's a gilt bodkin, which none would refuse: + This bodkin let John give to sweet Mistriss Jane, + And then of unkindness he shall not complain. + Come, maidens, &c. + + "Come buy this fine coife, this dressing, or hood, + And let not your money come like drops of blood: + The Pedlar may well of his fortune complain + If he brings all his ware to the market in vaine. + Then, maidens, &c. + + "Here's band strings for men, and there you have lace, + Bone-lace to adorn the fair virgin's sweet face: + Whatever you like, if you will but pay, + As soon as you please you may take it away. + Then, maidens, &c. + + "The world is so hard that we find little trade, + Although we have all things to please every maid: + Come, pretty fair maids, then make no delay, + But give me your hansel, and pack me away. + Come, maidens, &c. + + "Here's all things that's fine, and all things that's rare, + All modish and neat, all new London ware: + Variety here you plainly may see, + Then give me your money, and we will agree. + Come, maidens, &c. + + "We travel all day through dirt and through mire, + To fetch you fine laces and what you desire; + No pains do we spare to bring you choice ware, + As gloves and perfumes, and sweet powder for hair. + Then, maidens, &c. + + "We have choice of songs, and merry books, too, + All pleasant and witty, delightful and new, + Which every young swain may whistle at plough, + And every fair milk-maid may sing at her cow. + Then, maidens, &c. + + "Since trading's so dead we must needs complain, + And, therefore, pray let us have some little gain: + If you will be free, we will you supply + With what you do want; therefore, pray come and buy. + The world is so hard, that although we take pains, + When we look in our purses we find little gains. + + "Printed for J. BACK, at the Black-boy, on London Bridge." + +In "Merry Drollery Complete, or, a Collection of Jovial Poems, Merry +Songs, Witty Drolleries, Intermixed with Pleasant Catches, London, Printed +for _William Miller_, at the _Gilded Acorn_, in _St. Paul's_ Church-yard, +1661," the _Catch_ which follows will be found. The Rev. J. Woodfall +Ebsworth, M.A., Cantab, who has carefully edited and reprinted [1875] +"Both Parts"; says in his _Appendix of Notes_:--"Hare-skin and Rabbit-skin +collectors, have always been queer characters. This catch is by JOHN +FLETCHER, in his 'Beggar's Bush,' act iii., sc. 1, where it is sung by +'Clause' his boy. Clause, the vagabond beggar, was a popular favourite, +reproduced in 'Drolls.' We see him represented in the frontispiece of _The +Wits_, by Kirkman and Cox." + + A CATCH. + + "Bring forth your Cunny skins, fair maids, to me, + And hold them fair that I may see + Gray, black, and blue; for your smaller skins-- + I'll give you Glasses, Laces, Pins: + And for your whole Cunny + I'll give ready money. + + "Come, gentle _Jone_, do thou begin + With thy black, black, black Cunny skin, + And _Mary_ then, and _Kate_ will follow + With their silver'd hair'd skins, and their yellow; + Your white Cunny skin I will not lay by, + Though it be fat, it is not fair to the Eye. + + "Your gray it is warm, but for my money + Give me the bonny, bonny black Coney; + Come away, fair maids, your skins will decay, + Come take money, maids, put your ware away; + I have fine Bracelets, Rings, + And I have silver Pins + Coney skins, Coney skins, + Maids, have you any Coney skins." + +In the same Collection there is a vigorous song exposing the cheats of +mendicants. The hero of which declares:--"_I am a Rogue, and a stout +one_." And that among the many cheats, counterfeits, deceits and dodges he +has to resort to, at times he may be seen:-- + + "In _Pauls_ Church-yard, by a pillar, + Sometimes you see me stand, Sir, + With a writ that shows what cares, what woes + I have passed by Sea and Land, Sir, + Then I do cry, &c. + + "Come buy, come buy a Horn-book, + Who buys my Pins and Needles: + Such things do I in the City cry + Oftimes to 'scape the Beadles, + Then I do cry, &c." + +For the counterpart of this Rogue and Vagabond, the reader is referred to +Vol. I, No. 42-3 of the Roxburghe Ballads--(British Museum.) Where there +is one entitled:-- + + THE CUNNING NORTHERN BEGGAR. + + Who all the by-standers doth earnestly pray + To bestow a penny upon him to-day. + TO THE TUNE OF _Tom of Bedlam_. + +[Illustration] + + I am a lusty beggar, + And live by others giving! + I scorn to work, + But by the highway lurk, + And beg to get my living: + I'll i' the wind and weather, + And wear all ragged garments; + Yet, though I'm bare, + I'm free from care,-- + A fig for high preferments! + + _Therefore I'll cry, &c._ + + * * * * + + My flesh I can so temper + That it shall seem to fester, + And look all o'er + Like a raw sore, + Whereon I stick a plaister. + With blood I daub my face then, + To feign the falling sickness, + That in every place + They pity my case, + As if it came through weakness. + + _Therefore I'll cry, &c._ + + * * * * + + No tricks at all shall escape me, + But I will by my maunding, + Get some relief + To ease my grief + When by the highway standing: + 'Tis better be a Beggar, + And ask of kind good fellows, + And honestly have + What we do crave, + Than steal and go to the gallows. + + _Therefore I'll cry, "Good your worship, good sir, + Bestow one poor denier, sir, + Which, when I've got, + At the Pipe and Pot + I soon will it cashier, sir."_ + + FINIS. + + Printed at London for F. Coules. + +The following ballad was published in "Playford's Select Ayres," 1659, p. +95; with music by Dr. John Wilson, and Musical Companion, 1673. It is in +the Percy Folio MS., iii., 308-11. Also in "Windsor Drollery," 2; and "Le +Prince d'Amour," 1660, p. 177. It is attributed to Shakespeare, but with +only manuscript evidence. + + "THE SONG OF THE PEDLARS. + + "From the fair Lavinian shore, + I your markets come to store. + Muse not though so far I dwell + And my wares come here to sell: + Such is the insatiate thirst after gold, + Then come to my pack + While I cry, what d'ye lack, + What d'ye buy? for here it is to be sold. + + "Courteous Sir, I've wares for you, + Garters red and stockings blue, + Dainty gaudes for Sunday gear, + Beads and laces for your dear, + First let me have but a touch of your gold + Then come--Not a swain, + Half so neat, + On the plain + Shall we meet + So comely to behold. + + "Madam, come, here you may find + Rings with posies to your mind, + Silken bands for true-love-knot, + And complexion I have got. + First let me have but a touch of your gold, + Then come--To your face, + I'll restore + Every grace + Though you're more + Than three score and ten years old. + + "Gentles all, now fare you well, + I must trudge my wares to sell; + Lads so blythe and Dames so young, + Drop a guerdon for my song. + Just let me have but a touch of your gold, + I'll come with my pack + Again to cry, + What d'ye lack, + What d'ye buy? + For here it is to be sold." + +Mr. John Payne Collier, in his "_A Book of Roxburghe Ballads_," London, +1847, reproduces a capital ditty; "ryhte merrie and very excellent in its +way," relating to the popular pursuits and the customs of London and the +Londoners in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is printed +_verbatim_ from a broadside, signed W. Turner, and called:-- + + "The Common Cries of London Town, + Some go up street and some go down. + + With Turner's Dish of Stuff, or a Gallymaufery + + To the tune of _Wotton Towns End_.[6] Printed for F. C[oles,] T. + V[ere,] and W. G[ilbertson.] 1662." + +The only known copy is dated 1662, but contains internal evidence, in the +following stanza (which occurs in the opening of The Second Part,) that it +was written in the reign of James I. + + "That's the fat foole of the Curtin: + And the lean fool of the Bull: + Since _Shancke_ did leave to sing his rimes, + He is counted but a gull. + + "The players on the Bankside, + The round Globe and the Swan, + Will teach you idle tricks of love, + But the Bull will play the man." + +_Shancke._--John Shancke the comic actor here mentioned was celebrated for +singing rhymes, and what were technically "jigs" on the stage. In this +respect, as a low comedian he had been the legitimate successor of +Tarlton, Kempe, Phillips, and Singer. He was on the stage from 1603 to +1635, when he died. Then, John Taylor the _Water Poet_, no mean authority, +informs us that the Swan Theatre, on the Bankside, in the Liberty of Paris +Gardens, had been abandoned by the players in 1613. The Curtain Theatre in +Holywell street--or Halliwell street, as it was usually spelt at that +time--Shoreditch Fields[7] had also fallen into disuse before the reign of +Charles I. The Globe on the Bankside, and the [Red] Bull Theatre at the +upper end of St. John's street, Clerkenwell were employed until after the +restoration. The allusion to the Waterman carrying "bonny lasses over to +the plays," is also a curious note of time. With these matters before us, +we may safely conclude that "Turner's Dish of Stuff" is but a reprint of +an earlier production. As we find it, so we lay it before our readers: +thus:-- + + "THE COMMON CRIES OF LONDON TOWN: + SOME GO UP STREET, SOME GO DOWN. + + With Turner's Dish of Stuff, or a Gallymaufery. + _To the tune_ of Wotton Towns End." + + [Illustration] + + "My masters all, attend you, + if mirth you love to heare, + And I will tell you what they cry + in London all the yeare. + Ile please you if I can, + I will not be too long: + I pray you all attend awhile, + and listen to my song. + + "The fish-wife first begins, + Anye muscles lilly white! + Herrings, sprats or plaice, + or cockles for delight. + Anye welflet oysters! + Then she doth change her note: + She had need to have her tongue be greas'd, + for the rattles in the throat. + + "For why, they are but Kentish, + to tell you out of doubt. + Her measure is too little; + goe, beat the bottom out. + Half a peck for two pence? + I doubt it is a bodge. + Thus all the City over + the people they do dodge. + + "The wench that cries the kitchin stuff, + I marvel what she ayle, + She sings her note so merry, + but she hath a draggle tayle: + An empty car came running, + and hit her on the bum; + Down she threw her greasie tub, + and away straight she did run. + + "But she did give her blessing + to some, but not to all, + To bear a load to Tyburne, + and there to let it fall: + The miller and his golden thumb, + and his dirty neck, + If he grind but two bushels, + he must needs steal a peck. + + "The weaver and the taylor, + cozens they be sure, + They cannot work but they must steal, + to keep their hands inure; + For it is a common proverb + thorowout the town, + The taylor he must cut three sleeves + to every woman's gown. + + "Mark but the waterman + attending for his fare, + Of hot and cold, of wet and dry, + he alwaies takes his share: + He carrieth bonny lasses + over to the playes, + And here and there he gets a bit, + and that his stomach staies. + + "There was a singing boy + who did not ride to Rumford; + When I go to my own school + I will take him in a comfort; + But what I leave behind + shall be no private gain; + But all is one when I am gone: + let him take it for his pain. + + "Old shoes for new brooms! + the broom-man he doth sing, + For hats or caps or buskins, + or any old pouch ring. + Buy a mat, a bed-mat! + a hassock or a presse, + A cover for a close stool, + a bigger or a lesse. + + "Ripe, cherry ripe! + the coster-monger cries; + Pippins fine or pears! + another after hies, + With basket on his head + his living to advance, + And in his purse a pair of dice + for to play at mumchance. + + "Hot pippin pies! + to sell unto my friends, + Or pudding pies in pans, + well stuft with candle's ends. + Will you buy any milk? + I heard a wench that cries: + With a pale of fresh cheese and cream, + another after hies. + + "Oh! the wench went neatly; + me thought it did me good, + To see her cherry cheeks + so dimpled ore with blood: + Her waistcoat washed white + as any lilly floure; + Would I had time to talk with her + the space of half an hour. + + "Buy black! saith the blaking man, + the best that ere was seen; + Tis good for poore citizens + to make their shoes to shine. + Oh! tis a rare commodity, + it must not be forgot; + It will make them to glister galantly, + and quickly make them rot. + + "The world is full of thread-bare poets + that live upon their pen, + But they will write too eloquent, + they are such witty men. + But the tinker with his budget, + the beggar with his wallet, + And Turners turned a gallant man + at making of a ballet." + + + THE SECOND PART. + + _To the same Tune._ + + [Illustration] + + "That's the fat foole of the Curtin, + and the lean fool of the Bull: + Since Shancke did leave to sing his rimes, + he is counted but a gull. + The players on the Bankside, + the round Globe and the Swan, + Will teach you idle tricks of love, + but the Bull will play the man. + + "But what do I stand tattling + of such idle toyes? + I had better go to Smith-Field + to play among the boyes: + But you cheating and deceiving lads, + with your base artillery, + I would wish you to shun Newgate, + and withall the pillory. + + "And some there be in patcht gownes, + I know not what they be, + That pinch the country-man + with nimming of a fee; + For where they get a booty, + they'le make him pay so dear, + They'le entertain more in a day, + then he shall in a year. + + "Which makes them trim up houses + made of brick and stone, + And poor men go a begging, + when house and land is gone. + Some there be with both hands + will swear they will not dally, + Till they have turn'd all upside down, + as many use to sally. + + "You pedlers, give good measure, + when as your wares you sell: + Tho' your yard be short, your thumb will slip + your tricks I know full well. + And you that sell your wares by weight, + and live upon the trade, + Some beams be false, some waits too light; + such tricks there have been plaid. + + "But small coals, or great coals! + I have them on my back: + The goose lies in the bottom; + you may hear the duck cry quack. + Thus Grim the black collier, + whose living is so loose, + As he doth walk the commons ore, + sometimes he steals a goose. + + "Thou usurer with thy money bags + that livest so at ease, + By gaping after gold thou dost + thy mighty God displease; + And for thy greedy usury, + and thy great extortion, + Except thou dost repent thy sins, + Hell fire will be thy portion. + + "For first I came to Houns-Ditch, + then round about I creep, + Where cruelty was crowned chief + and pity fast asleep: + Where usury gets profit, + and brokers bear the bell. + Oh, fie upon this deadly sin! + it sinks the soul to hell. + + "The man that sweeps the chimneys + with the bush of thorns, + And on his neck a trusse of poles + tipped all with horns, + With care he is not cumbered, + he liveth not in dread? + For though he wear them on his pole, + some wear them on their head. + + "The landlord with his racking rents + turns poor men out of dore; + Their children go a begging + where they have spent their store. + I hope none is offended + with that which is endited + If any be, let him go home + and take a pen and write it. + + "Buy a trap, a mouse trap, + a torment for fleas! + The hangman works but half the day; + he lives too much at ease. + Come let us leave this boyes play + and idle prittle prat, + And let us go to nine holes, + to spurn-point, or to cat. + + "Oh! you nimble fingered lads + that live upon your wits, + Take heed of Tyburn ague, + for they be dangerous fits; + For many a proper man, + for to supply his lack, + Doth leap a leap at Tyburn, + which makes his neck to crack. + + "And to him that writ this song + I give this simple lot: + Let every one be ready + to give him half a pot. + And thus I do conclude, + wishing both health and peace + To those that are laid in their bed, + and cannot sleep for fleas. + W. TURNER" + +The "tink, terry tink" of the Tinker's "Cry" is preserved in a Miscellany +of the year 1667, called "_Catch that Catch Can; or, the Musical +Champion_." + +[Illustration] + + "The Tinker. + + "Have you any work for a tinker, mistriss? + Old brass, old pots, or kettles? + I'll mend them all with a tink, terry tink, + And never hurt your mettles. + First let me have but a touch of your ale, + 'Twill steel me against cold weather, + Or tinkers frees, + Or vintners lees, + Or tobacco chuse you whether. + But of your ale, + Your nappy ale, + I would I had a ferkin, + For I am old + And very cold + And never wear a jerkin." + +The tinker's "Cry" forms the opening lines of "Clout the Cauldron," one of +the best of our old Scottish songs:-- + + "'Hae ye ony pots or pans, + Or any broken chanlers,' + I am a tinker to my trade, + And newly come from Flanders." + +But the song is so well known to all who take an interest in our northern +minstrelsy, and is to be found, moreover, in every good collection of +Scottish Songs, that it is enough to refer to it. + +Honest John Bunyan was a travelling tinker originally. Reader! just for a +moment fancy the inspired author--poet we may call him--of "_The Pilgrim's +Progress_," crying the "cry" of his trade through the streets of Bedford, +thus--"_Mistress, have you any work for the tinker? pots, pans, kettles I +mend, old brass, lead or old copper I buy. Anything in my way to-day, +maids?_" While at the same time, through his brain was floating visions of +Vanity Fair, the Holy War, the Slough of Despond, the Valley of the Shadow +of Death, the Barren Fig Tree, the Water of Life, &c. beneath the long +head of hair, shaggy and dirty, too, as a tinker's generally is. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: HOT CODLINGS:--_A Catch_.] + +This will be found in "_Windsor Drollery_," and, with music for three +voices, by Thomas Holmes, in John Hilton's "_Catch that Catch Can_;" and +also Walsh's "_Catch Club_." Part II., p. 25. + + "Have you observ'd the wench in the street, + She's scarce any hose or shoes to her feet; + And when she cries, she sings, + 'I have hot Codlings, hot Codlings.' + + "Or have you ever seen or heard, + The mortal with his Lyon tauny beard! + He lives as merrily as heart can wish, + And still he cries, 'Buy a brush, buy a brush.' + + "Since these are merry, why should we take care? + Musicians, like Camelions, must live by the Aire; + Then let's be blithe and bonny, no good meeting baulk, + What though we have no money, we shall find Chalk." + +The best known collection of cries is "The Cryes of the City of London. +Drawne after the Life. P. Tempest, _Excudit_," a small folio volume, which +when published, in 1688, consisted of only fifty plates, as the following +advertisement, extracted from the _London Gazette_ of May 28-31, 1688, +sufficiently proves:-- + + "There is now published the Cryes and Habits of London, lately drawn + after the Life in great variety of Actions. Curiously Engraven upon 50 + Copper plates, fit for the Ingenious and Lovers of Art. Printed and + Sold by P. Tempest, over-against Somerset House, in the Strand." + +Samuel Pepys, the eccentric diarist, who died 1703, left to Magdalene +College, Cambridge, an invaluable collection of ballads, manuscript naval +memoirs, ancient English poetry, three volumes of "Penny Merriments," and +a numerous assemblage of etchings and engravings. Among the latter are a +number of Tempest's Cries in the first state. These are still preserved in +the Pepysian Library in the same College. + +In 1711 another edition of Tempest's Cries was published, containing +seventy-four plates, several of which can scarcely be called cries. They +are popular "London Characters" rather than "criers." As the book, +however, is extremely rare, and consequently costly, and as a history of +the old London Cries would be very imperfect without a particular account +of Tempest's volume being made, with a few words about Mauron, who +designed, and Pearce Tempest, who engraved these cries, that which follows +will not, we trust, be altogether out of place. Of Mauron, we can find no +better account than the notice in Walpole. + +"Marcellus Mauron--sometimes spelt Lauron, was born at the Hague in 1643, +and learnt to paint of his father, with whom he came when young into +England. Here he was placed with one La Zoon, a portrait-painter, and then +with Flesshier, but owed his chief improvement to his own application. He +lived several years in Yorkshire, and when he returned again to London he +had very much improved himself in his art. He drew correctly, studied +nature diligently, copied closely, and so surpassed all his contemporaries +in drapery, that Sir Godfrey Kneller employed him to clothe his portraits. +He likewise excelled in imitating the different styles of eminent masters, +executed conversation pieces of considerable merit. Several prints were +made from his works, and several plates he etched and scraped himself. A +book on fencing, and the procession at the coronation of William and Mary, +were designed by him. He lived in Bow-street, Covent-garden, on the west +side, about three doors up, and at the back of Sir Godfrey Kneller's house +in the Piazza; there he died of consumption March 11th, 1702." + +Of Pearce Tempest, the engraver, the particulars collected by Vertue were +so extremely slight that Horace Walpole merely enumerates him among those +of whom nothing is known. It may be told of him, however, that he lived in +the Strand, over-against Somerset House, and dying in 1717, was buried on +the 14th of April, in the church-yard of St. Paul, Covent-garden. + +The six woodcuts following are reduced copies of the engraved figures that +appear in Marcellus Mauron _cum_ Tempest's "The Cryes of the City of +London;" first we have:-- + +[Illustration: FINE WRITING INK!] + +This engraving pretty well describes the occupation of the figure +represented. He carries a barrel on his back--pens in his right hand, with +a pint measure and funnel at his side. But since Mauron's time the cry of +"_Fine Writing Ink_" has ceased to be heard in the streets of the +metropolis, so we no longer hear:-- + + "My ink is good--as black as jet + 'Tis used by Princes--and the state, + If once you venture it to try, + Of this I'm sure--none else you'll buy." + +[Illustration: BUY AN IRON FORK, OR A SHOVEL?] + +The demand for such an iron fork, or such a shovel as the old woman +carries is now discontinued. + +[Illustration: TROOP, EVERY ONE, ONE!] + +The man blowing a trumpet, "Troop, every one, one!" was a street seller of +hobby-horses--toys for children of three hundred years ago. + + "Call'st thou my love, hobby-horse; the hobby-horse is but a colt." + _Love's Labour Lost_, Act iii., sc. 1. + +He carried them, as represented in the engraving, in a partitioned frame, +on his shoulder, and to each horse's head was a small flag with two bells +attached. It was a pretty plaything for a "little master," and helped him +to imitate the galloping of the real and larger hobby-horse in the +pageants and mummeries that passed along the streets, or pranced in the +shows at fairs and on the stage. Now-a-days we give a boy the first stick +at hand to thrust between his legs as a Bucephalus--the shadow of a +shadow--or the good natured grandpapa wishing to give my "young master" +something of the semblance of the generous animal--for the horse is no +less popular with boys than formerly, takes his charge to the nearest +toyshop and buys him a painted stick on which is a sawn-out representation +of a horse's head, which with the addition of a whip will enable him to:-- + + "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury-cross, + To see what Tommy can buy; + A penny white loaf, a penny white cake, + And a twopenny apple-pie." + +[Illustration: BUY A FINE SINGING BIRD!] + +The _cries_ of singing birds are extinct; we have only bird-_sellers_. The +above engraving, therefore represents a by-gone character. + +[Illustration: STRAWBERRIES RIPE, AND CHERRIES IN THE RISE.] + +In the earlier days, the above was at once a musical and a poetical cry. +It must have come over the ear, telling of sunny gardens not a sparrow's +flight from the City, such as that of the Bishop of Ely in Holborn, and of +plenteous orchards which could spare their boughs as well as their +fruit:-- + + "_D. of Glou._--My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, + I saw good strawberries in your garden there: + I do beseech you send for some of them. + _B. of Ely._--Marry, and I will, my lord, with all my heart." + _Richard III._, act iii., sc. 4. + +[Illustration: FINE ORANGES AND LEMONS.] + +The "orange-women" of Ben Jonson we have figured to the life. The familiar +mention of the orange-sellers in the "Silent Woman," and this very early +representation of one of them, show how general the use of this fruit had +become in England at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is +stated, though the story is somewhat apocryphal, that the first oranges +were imported by Sir Walter Raleigh. It is probable that about his time +they first became an article of general commerce. We now consume about +three hundred and fifty millions of oranges every year. + +The class of bold young women--"Orange Wenches," that Nell Gwynne made +famous is sufficiently alluded to in a passage in the _Spectator_, No. +141: + + "But, indeed, by such representations, a poet sacrifices the best part + of his audience to the worst; and, as one would think, neglects the + boxes to write to the _orange-wenches_." + +Rowe and other writers go far to prove that the "Orange Wenches" who +frequented theatres had + + "Other Fish to fry, and other Fruit to sell," + +beside supplying refreshment to the young gallants of the day. + +In Douglas Jerrold's comedy of "_Nell Gwynne_," which was first +represented at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 9th of January, 1833, with +the following cast of characters:-- + + King Charles the Second MR. JONES. + + Sir Charles Berkeley MR. FORRESTER. + + Charles Hart, Major Mohun, Managers of + the King's Theatre, Drury lane, 1667 MR. DURUSET. + + Betterton, Manager of the Duke's Theatre, + Lincoln's-inn MR. DIDDEAR. + + Joe Haynes MR. MEADOWS. + + Counsellor Crowsfoot MR. BLANCHARD. + + Stockfish MR. F. MATTHEWS. + + Boy MASTER MACDONALD. + + Nell Gwynne MISS TAYLOR. + + Orange Moll MRS. KEELEY. + + Mrs. Snowdrop MRS. DALY. + +There is the following scene and song:-- + + _Enter_ NELL GWYNNE, _as orange girl, with orange basket. She carries + a mask._ + + _Nell._ (_Sings._) "_Buy oranges!_" Ladies and cavaliers, vouchsafe to + look at my basket! Maidens, ripen my fruit with your glances; buy my + oranges, as bright as hope and as sweet as courtship.--Though they + look as hard as gold, they'll melt in the mouth like a lover's + promise.--Their juice is syrup, and their coats as thin as a poet's. + Buy, gentlemen; or I'll vow that, being jealous, you hate yellow even + in an orange. + + _Betterton._ (_Aside._) It is--I'd swear to her face--the very girl! + + _Charles._ (_Coming down with Nelly._) And have your oranges really + all these virtues? + + _Nell._ (_Aside._) So, my gallant mercer. All, and a thousand + more;--there's nothing good that may not be said of the orange. It + sets special examples to elder brothers, misers, and young travellers. + + _Charles._ Aye? What example to elder brothers? + + _Nell._ This; though full of age, it dwells quietly on the same branch + with bud and blossom. + + _Charles._ What does it teach misers? + + _Nell._ That golden coats should cover melting hearts. + + _Charles._ And, lastly, what may the young traveller learn of your + orange? + + _Nell._ This much; that he is shipped when green, that he may ripen on + the voyage. + + _Charles._ Prettily lectured. + + _Betterton._ (_Aside._) The king seems dazzled with the wench.--I must + secure her for the Duke's. + + _Nell._ But, gentlemen, fair gentlemen, will no one lighten my basket? + Buy my oranges! + + SONG.--NELL GWYNNE. + + Buy oranges!--No better sold,-- + New brought in Spanish ships; + As yellow bright as minted gold, + As sweet as ladies' lips. + Come, maidens, buy; nor judge my fruit + From beauty's bait--the skin; + Nor think, like fops, with gaudy suit, + They're dull and crude within. + Buy oranges! + + Buy oranges!--Buy courtiers, pray, + And as ye drain their juice, + Then, cast the poor outside away, + A thing that's served its use; + Why, courtier, pause; this truth translate, + Imprinted in the rind; + However gay the courtier's state, + 'Tis yet of orange kind. + Buy oranges! + + Buy oranges!--Coquetting fair,-- + As sweet reproach come buy; + And, as the fruit ye slice and share, + Remember with a sigh-- + A heart divided needs must cast + The faith which is its soul; + If, maidens, ye would have it last, + Give none--if not the whole. + Buy oranges! + + (_The by-standers all applaud._) + +The orange-woman who carried the golden fruit through every street and +alley, with the musical cry of:--"_Fine Oranges and Lemons_," lasted for a +century or two. Then the orange-woman became, as everything else became, a +more prosaic person as she approached our own times. She was a +barrow-woman at the end of the last century: and Porson has thus described +her:-- + + "As I walked through the Strand, so cheerful and gay, + I met a young girl a-wheeling a barrow; + 'Fine fruit, sir,' says she, 'and a bill of the play.'" + +The transformation was the same with the strawberry and cherry-women. + +From the "Collection of Ancient Songs and Ballads, written on various +subjects, and printed between the years MDLX. and MDCC." in the British +Museum, and now known as the ROXBURGHE BALLADS, we take the ballad of:-- + + THE CRIES OF LONDON. + + Tune--_The Merry Christ-church Bells_. + + Hark! how the cries in every street + Make lanes and allies ring: + With their goods and ware, both nice and rare, + All in a pleasant lofty strain; + Come buy my gudgeons fine and new. + Old cloaths to change for earthen ware, + Come taste and try before you buy, + Here's dainty poplin pears. + Diddle, diddle, diddle dumplins, ho! + With walnuts nice and brown. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Any old cloaths, suits, or coats. + Come buy my singing birds. + Oranges or lemons. Newcastle salmon. + Come buy my ropes of onions, ho! + Come buy my sand, fine silver sand. + Two bunches a penny, turnips, ho! + I'll change you pins for coney-skins. + Maids, do you want any milk below? + Here's an express from Admiral Hawke, + The Admiral of renown. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Maids, have you any kitchen stuff? + Will you buy fine artichoaks? + Come buy my brooms to sweep your rooms. + Will you buy my white-heart cabbages, ho! + Come buy my nuts, my fine small nuts, + Two cans a penny, crack and try. + Here's cherries round, and very sound. + Maids, shall I sweep your chimnies high? + Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, goes the tinker's pan, + With a merry cheerful sound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's fine herrings, eight a groat. + Hot codlins, pies and tarts. + New mackerel I have to sell. + Come buy my Wellfleet oysters, ho! + Come buy my whitings fine and new. + Wives, shall I mend your husbands' horns? + I'll grind your knives to please your wives, + And very nicely cut your corns. + Maids, have you any hair to sell. + Either flaxen, black, or brown? + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Work for a cooper, maids give ear, + I'll hoop your tubs and pails. + Come Nell and Sue, and buy my blue. + Maids, have you any chairs to mend? + Here's hot spiced-gingerbread of the best, + Come taste and try before you buy. + Here's elder-buds to purge your bloods. + But black your shoes is all the cry. + Here's hot rice milk, and barley broth. + Plumb-pudding a groat a pound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's fine rosemary, sage, and thyme. + Come buy my ground ivy. + Here's fatherfew, gilliflowers and rue. + Come buy my knotted marjorum, ho! + Come buy my mint, my fine green mint. + Here's fine lavender for your cloaths. + Here's parsley and winter-savory. + And heart's-ease which all do choose. + Here's balm and hissop, and cinquefoil, + All fine herbs, it is well known. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's pennyroyal and marygolds. + Come buy my nettle-tops. + Here's water-cresses and scurvy-grass. + Come buy my sage of virtue, ho! + Come buy my wormwood and mugwort. + Here's all fine herbs of every sort. + Here's southernwood, that's very good, + Dandelion and houseleek. + Here's dragon's-tongue and wood-sorrel. + With bear's-foot and horehound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's green coleworts and brocoli. + Come buy my radishes. + Here's fine savoys, and ripe hautboys. + Come buy my young green hastings, ho! + Come buy my beans, right Windsor beans. + Two pence a bunch young carrots, ho! + Here's fine nosegays, ripe strawberries. + With ready picked salad, also. + Here's collyflowers and asparagus. + New prunes two-pence a pound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's cucumbers, spinnage, and French beans. + Come buy my nice sallery. + Here's parsnips and fine leeks. + Come buy my potatoes, ho! + Come buy my plumbs, and fine ripe plumbs. + A groat a pound, ripe filberts, ho! + Here's corn-poppies and mulberries. + Gooseberries and currants also. + Fine nectarines, peaches, and apricots. + New rice two-pence a pound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Buy a rabbit, wild duck, or fat goose. + Come buy a choice fat fowl. + Plovers, teal, or widgeons, come buy my pigeons. + Maids, do you want any small coal? + Come buy my shrimps, my fine new shrimps, + Two pots a penny, taste and try. + Here's fine saloop, both hot and good. + But Yorkshire muffins is the cry. + Here's trotters, calf's feet, and fine tripes. + Barrel figs, three-pence a pound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + + Here's new-laid eggs for ten a groat. + Come buy water'd cod. + Here's plaice and dabs, lobsters and crabs. + Come buy my maids, and flounders, ho! + Come buy my pike, my fine live pike. + Two-pence a hundred cockles, ho! + Shads, eels, and sprats. Lights for your cats. + With haddocks, perch, and tench also. + Here's carp and tench, mullets and smelts. + Butter sixpence a pound. + Let none despise the merry, merry cries + Of famous London town. + +Printed and sold at the Printing-office in _Bow-church-yard, London_. + +"Holloway cheese-cakes" was once one of the London cries; they were sold +by a man on horseback; and in "_Jack Drum's Entertainment_," a Comedy, +1601, in a random song, the festive character of this district is +denoted:-- + + "Skip it and trip it nimbly, nimbly, + Tickle it, tickle it, lustily, + Strike up the tabor for the wenches favour, + Tickle it, tickle it, lustily. + Let us be seene on Hygate-Greene, + To dance for the honour of Holloway. + Since we are come hither, let's spare for no leather, + To dance for the honour of Holloway." + +[Illustration] + +Drunken Barnaby, at the "Mother Red Cap," at Holloway, found very bad +company:-- + + _Veni_ Holloway, pileum rubrum, + _In cohortem muliebrem_, + _Me_ adonidem _vocant omnes_ + _Meretricis_ Babylonis; + _Tangunt_, _tingunt_, _molliunt_, _mulcent_, + _At egentem_, _foris pulsant_. + +Addison, the essayist and poet, 1672-1719, contributed a capital paper to +the _Spectator_, on the subject of London Cries, which we deem so much to +the purpose, that it is here reproduced _in extenso_. + + THE SPECTATOR. + No. 251. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18. + + ----_Linguae centum sunt, oraque centum, + ----Ferrea vox_---- VIRG., En. 6., v. 625. + + ----A hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, + And throats of brass, inspir'd with iron lungs. DRYDEN. + +There is nothing which more astonishes a foreigner, and frightens a +country 'squire, than the _cries of London_. My good friend Sir _Roger_ +often declares that he cannot get them out of his head, or go to sleep for +them, the first week that he is in town. On the contrary, _Will +Honeycombe_ calls them the _Ramage de la ville_, and prefers them to the +sound of larks, and nightingales, with all the music of the fields and +woods. I have lately received a letter from some very odd fellow upon this +subject, which I shall leave with my reader, without saying anything +further of it. + +SIR, + +I am a man out of all business, and would willingly turn my head to +anything for an honest livelihood. I have invented several projects for +raising many millions of money without burdening the subject, but I cannot +get the parliament to listen to me, who look upon me forsooth as a crack, +and a projector; so that despairing to enrich either myself or my country +by this public-spiritedness, I would make some proposals to you relating +to a design which I have very much at heart, and which may procure me a +handsome subsistence, if you will be pleased to recommend it to the cities +of London and Westminster. + +The post I would aim at, is to be comptroller-general of the London cries, +which are at present under no manner of rules or discipline. I think I am +pretty well qualified for this place, as being a man of very strong lungs, +of great insight into all the branches of our British trades and +manufactures, and of a competent skill in music. + +The cries of London may be divided into vocal and instrumental. A freeman +of London has the privilege of disturbing a whole street for an hour +together with the twankling of a brass kettle or a frying-pan. The +watchman's thump at midnight startles us in our beds, as much as the +breaking in of a thief. The sow-gelder's horn has indeed something musical +in it, but this is seldom heard within the liberties. I would therefore +propose that no instrument of this nature should be made use of, which I +have not tuned and licensed, after having carefully examined in what +manner it may affect the ears of her majesty's liege subjects. + +Vocal cries are of a much larger extent, and indeed so full of +incongruities and barbarisms, that we appear a distracted city to +foreigners, who do not comprehend the meaning of such enormous outcries. +Milk is generally sold in a note above _Ela_, and it sounds so exceedingly +shrill, that it often sets our teeth on edge. The chimney-sweeper is +confined to no certain pitch; he sometimes utters himself in the deepest +bass, and sometimes in the sharpest treble; sometimes in the highest, and +sometimes in the lowest note of the gamut. The same observation might be +made on the retailers of small coal, not to mention broken glasses or +brick-dust. In these therefore, and the like cases, it should be my care +to sweeten and mellow the voices of these itinerant tradesmen, before they +make their appearance in our streets, as also to accommodate their cries +to their respective wares; and to take care in particular, that those may +not make the most noise who have the least to sell, which is very +observable in the venders of card matches, to whom I cannot but apply that +old proverb of _Much cry, but little wool_. + +Some of these last mentioned musicians are so very loud in the sale of +these trifling manufactures, that an honest splenetic gentleman of my +acquaintance bargained with one of them never to come into the street +where he lived; but what was the effect of this contract? Why, the whole +tribe of card-match-makers which frequent that quarter, passed by his door +the very next day, in hopes of being bought off after the same manner. + +It is another great imperfection in our London-cries, that there is no +just time nor measure observed in them. Our news should indeed be +published in a very quick time, because it is a commodity that will not +keep cold. It should not, however, be cried with the same precipitation as +fire; yet this is generally the case: a bloody battle arms the town from +one end to another in an instant. Every motion of the French is published +in so great a hurry, that one would think the enemy were at our gates. +This likewise I would take upon me to regulate in such a manner, that +there should be some distinction made between the spreading of a victory, +a march, or an encampment, a Dutch, a Portugal, or a Spanish mail. Nor +must I omit, under this head, those excessive alarms with which several +boisterous rustics infest our streets in turnip-season; and which are +more inexcusable, because these are wares which are in no danger of +cooling upon their hands. + +There are others who affect a very slow time, and are, in my opinion, much +more tunable than the former; the cooper in particular swells his last +note in a hollow voice, that is not without its harmony; nor can I forbear +being inspired with a most agreeable melancholy, when I hear that sad and +solemn air with which the public are very often asked, If they have any +chairs to mend? Your own memory may suggest to you many other lamentable +ditties of the same nature, in which music is wonderfully languishing and +melodious. + +I am always pleased with that particular time of the year which is proper +for the pickling of dill and cucumbers; but alas! this cry, like the song +of the nightingale, is not heard above two months. It would therefore be +worth while to consider, whether the same air might not in some cases be +adapted to other words. + +It might likewise deserve our most serious consideration, how far, in a +well-regulated city, those humourists are to be tolerated, who, not +content with the traditional cries of their forefathers, have invented +particular songs and tunes of their own: such as was not many years since, +the pastry-man, commonly known by the name of the Colly-Molly-Puff; and +such as is at this day the vender of powder and wash-ball, who, if I am +rightly informed, goes under the name of _Powder-Watt_. + +[Illustration: COLLY-MOLLY-PUFF.] + +I must not here omit one particular absurdity which runs through this +whole vociferous generation, and which renders their cries very often not +only incommodious, but altogether useless to the public; I mean that idle +accomplishment which they all of them aim at, of crying so as not to be +understood. Whether or no they have learned this from several of our +affected singers, I will not take upon me to say; but most certain it is, +that people know the wares they deal in rather by their tunes than by +their words: insomuch that I have sometimes seen a country boy run out to +buy apples of a bellows-mender, and ginger-bread from a grinder of knives +and scissors. Nay, so strangely infatuated are some very eminent artists +of this particular grace in a cry, that none but their acquaintance are +able to guess at their profession; for who else can know, _that work if I +had it_, should be the signification of a corn-cutter. + +Forasmuch, therefore, as persons of this rank are seldom men of genius or +capacity, I think it would be very proper, that some man of good sense and +sound judgment should preside over these public cries, who should permit +none to lift up their voices in our streets, that have not tunable +throats, and are not only able to overcome the noise of the crowd, and the +rattling of coaches, but also to vend their respective merchandises in apt +phrases, and in the most distinct and agreeable sounds. I do therefore +humbly recommend myself as a person rightly qualified for this post; and +if I meet with fitting encouragement, shall communicate some other +projects which I have by me, that may no less conduce to the emolument of +the public. + + I am, + Sir, &c. + RALPH CROTCHET. + +A curious parallel might be carried out between the itinerant occupations +which the progress of society has entirely superseded, and those which +even the most advanced civilization is compelled to retain. We here only +hastily glance at a few of these differences. + +Of the street trades which are past and forgotten, the small-coal-man was +one of the most remarkable. He tells the tale of a city with few fires; +for who could now imagine a man earning a living by bawling "_Small +Coals_" from door to door, without any supply but that in the sack which +he carries on his shoulders? His cry had, however, a rival in that of +"_Any Wood to cleave_." + + * * * * * + +But here we must pause awhile to make a passing remark--even if it be no +more than a mere wayside nod to the memory of Thomas Britton, the +celebrated "Musical Small Coal Man,"--1654-1714.--to whom Britain is +greatly indebted for the introduction and cultivation of concerted music, +and whose influence has been indirectly felt in musical circles throughout +the world:-- + + "Of Thomas Britton every boy + And Britain ought to know; + To Thomas Britton, 'Small Coal Man.' + All Britain thanks doth owe."[8] + +This singular man had a small coal shop at the corner of a passage in +Aylesbury-street, Clerkenwell-green, and his concert-room! which was over +that, could only be reached by stairs from the outside of the house. The +facetious Ned Ward, confirms this statement, thus:-- + + "Upon Thursdays repair + To my palace, and there + Hobble up stair by stair; + But I pray ye take care-- + That you break not your shins by a stumble." + +[Illustration: THOMAS BRITTON, _The Musical Small Coal Man_.] + +Britton was buried in the church-yard of Clerkenwell, being attended to +the grave by a great concourse of people, especially by those who had been +used to frequent his concerts. + +To resume our argument, we may ask what chance would an aged man now have +with his flattering solicitation of "_Pretty Pins, pretty Women_?" and the +musical distich:-- + + "Three-rows-a-penny, pins, + Short whites, and mid-de-lings!" + +Every stationer's or general-shop can now supply all the "_Fine +Writing-ink_," wanted either by clerks or authors. There is a grocer's +shop, or co-operative store at every turn; and who therefore needs him who +cried aloud "_Lilly white Vinegar, three-pence a quart_?" When everybody, +old and young, wore wigs--when the price for a common one was a guinea, +and a journeyman had a new one every year; when it was an article in every +city apprentice's indenture that his master should find him in "One good +and sufficent wig, yearly, and every year, for, and during, and unto the +expiration of the full end and term of his apprenticeship"--then, a +wig-seller made his stand in the street, or called from door to door, and +talked of a "_Fine Tie, or a fine Bob-wig sir?_" Formerly, women cried +"_Four pair for a shilling, Holland Socks_," also "_Long Thread Laces, +long and strong_," "_Scotch or Russian Cloth_," "_Buy any Wafers or Wax_." +"_London's Gazette, here?_" The history of cries is a history of social +changes. Many of the _working_ trades, as well as the vendors of things +that can be bought in every shop, are now nearly banished from our +thoroughfares. "_Old Chairs to mend_," or "_A brass Pot or an iron Pot to +mend?_" still salutes us in some retired suburb; and we still see the +knife-grinder's wheel; but who vociferates "_Any work for John Cooper?_" +The trades are gone to those who pay scot and lot. What should we think of +prison discipline, now-a-days, if the voice of lamentation was heard in +every street, "_Some Bread and Meat for the poor Prisoners; for the +Lord's sake, pity the Poor_?" John Howard put down this cry. Or what +should we say of the vigilance of excise-officers if the cry of "_Aqua +Vitae_" met our ears? The Chiropodist has now his guinea, a country villa, +and railway season ticket; in the old days he stood at corners, with knife +and scissors in hand, crying "_Corns to pick_." There are some occupations +of the streets, however, which remain essentially the same, though the +form be somewhat varied. The sellers of food are of course among these. +"_Hot Peascod_," and "_Hot Sheep's-feet_," are not popular delicacies, as +in the time of Lydgate. "_Hot Wardens_," and "_Hot Codlings_," are not the +cries which invite us to taste of stewed pears and baked apples. But we +have still apples hissing over a charcoal fire; also roasted chesnuts, and +potatoes steaming in a shining apparatus, with savoury salt-butter to put +between the "fruit" when cut; the London pieman still holds his ground in +spite of the many penny pie-shops now established. Rice-milk is yet sold +out in halfpennyworths. But furmety, barley broth, greasy sausages--"bags +of mystery," redolent of onions and marjoram--crisp brown flounders, and +saloop are no longer in request. + +The cry of "_Water-cresses_" used to be heard from some barefoot nymph of +the brook, who at sunrise had dipped her foot into the bubbling runnel, to +carry the green luxury to the citizens' breakfast-tables. Water-cresses +are now cultivated, like cabbages, in market-gardens. The cry of +"_Rosemary and Briar_" once resounded through the throughfares; and every +alley smelt "like Bucklersbury in simple time," when the whole street was +a mart for odoriferous herbs. Cries like these are rare enough now; yet we +do hear them occasionally, when crossing some bye-street, and have then +smelt an unwonted fragrance in the air; and as someone has truly said +that scents call up the most vivid associations, we have had visions of a +fair garden afar off, and the sports of childhood, and the song of the +lark that:-- + + "At my window bade good morrow + Through the sweet briar." + +Then comes a pale-looking woman with little bunches in her hand, who, with +a feeble voice, cries "_Buy my sweet Briar, any Rosemary?_" There are +still, however, plenty of saucy wenches--of doubtful morality--in the more +crowded and fashionable thoroughfares, who present the passengers with +moss-roses, and violets. Gay tells us:-- + + "Successive cries the seasons' change declare, + And mark the monthly progress of the year. + Hark! how the streets with treble voices ring, + To sell the bounteous product of the spring." + +We no longer hear the cries which had some association of harmonious +sounds with fragrant flowers. The din of "noiseful gain" exterminated +them. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: THE WATER CARRIER. "Any fresh and fair Spring Water here?"] + +This was formerly a very popular London cry, but has now become extinct, +although it was long kept in vogue by reason of the old prejudices of old +fashioned people, whose sympathy was with the complaints of the +water-bearer, who daily vociferated in and about the environs of London, +"Any fresh and fair spring water here! none of your pipe sludge?"--though +their own old tubs were often not particularly nice and clean to look at, +and the water was likely to receive various impurities in being carried +along the streets in all weathers.--"Ah dear?" cried his customers, "Ah +dear! Well, what'll the world come to!--they won't let poor people live at +all by-and-bye--Ah dear! here they are breaking up all the roads and +footpaths again, and we shall be all under water some day or another with +all their fine new fandangle goings on, but I'll stick to the poor old +lame and nearly blind water-carrier, as my old father did before me, as +long as he has a pailful and I've a penny, and when we haven't we must go +to the workhouse together." + +This was the talk and reasoning of many honest people of that day, who +preferred taxing themselves, to the daily payment of a penny and very +often twopence to the water-carrier, in preference to having "_Company's +water_" at a fixed or _pro-rata_ sum per annum. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST VIEW OF THE NEW RIVER--FROM LONDON.] + +This is seen immediately on coming within view of Sadler's Wells, a place +of dramatic entertainment; after manifold windings and tunnellings from +its source the New River passes beneath the arch in the engraving, and +forms a basin within the large walled enclosure, from whence diverging +main pipes convey the water to all parts of London. At the back of the boy +angling on the wall is a public-house, with tea-gardens and +skittle-ground, and known as _Sir Hugh Myddleton's Head_, also as +_Deacon's Music Hall_, which has been immortalized by Hogarth in his print +of EVENING. But how changed the scene from what he represented it! To this +stream, as the water nearest London favourable to sport, anglers of +inferior note _used_ to resort:-- + + "Here 'gentle anglers,' and their rods withal, + Essaying, do the finny tribe enthral. + Here boys their penny lines and bloodworms throw, + And scare, and catch, the 'silly fish' below." + +We have said above, anglers _used_ to resort, and we have said so +advisedly, as that portion of the river is now arched over to the end of +Colebrooke Row. + +The New River, Islington, its vicinity, and our own favourite +author--Charles Lamb, are, as it were, so inseparably bound together, that +we hope to be excused for occupying a little of our reader's time with +_Elia_--His Friends--His Haunts--His Walks, and Talk(s), particularly +about the neighbourhood of:-- + + "----Islington! + Thy green pleasant pastures, thy streamlet so clear, + Old classic village! to _Elia_ were dear-- + Rare child of humanity! oft have we stray'd + On Sir Hugh's pleasant banks in the cool of the shade. + + "Joy to thy spirit, aquatic Sir Hugh! + To the end of old time shall thy River be New! + Thy Head, ancient Parr,[9] too, shall not be forgotten; + Nor thine, Virgin (?) Queen, tho' thy timbers are rotten." + George Daniel's "_The Islington Garland_." + +Into the old parlour of the ancient "Sir Hugh Myddleton's Head"--_Elia_, +would often introduce his own, for there he would be sure to find, from +its proximity to Sadler's Wells Theatre, some play-going old crony with +whom he could exchange a convival "crack," and hear the celebrated Joe +Grimaldi call for his tumbler of rum-punch; challenging Boniface to bring +it to a _rummer_! Many a gleeful hour has been spent in this once rural +hostelrie. But:--"All, all are gone, the old familiar faces." + +[Illustration: COLEBROOKE COTTAGE. + +----"to Colebrooke-row, within half a stone's throw of a cottage; endeared +to me, in later years by its being the abode of 'as much virtue as can +live.'" Hone, in his _Every-day Book_, Oct. 10, 1827.] + +Colebrooke Row was built in 1708. Here Charles Lamb, resided with his +sister Mary, from 1823 to 1826; during which period--viz, on Tuesday, the +29th March, 1825, he closed his thirty-three years' clerkship at the East +India House. Lamb very graphically describes the event in a letter to +Bernard Barton, dated September 2, 1823, thus:-- + + "When you come Londonward, you will find me no longer in Covent + Garden; I have a cottage in Colebrooke Row, Islington--a cottage, for + it is detached--a white house, with six good rooms in it. The New + River (rather elderly by this time) runs (if a moderate walking-pace + can be so termed) close to the foot of the house; and behind is a + spacious garden, with vines (I assure you), pears, strawberries, + parsnips, leeks, carrots, cabbages, to delight the heart of old + Alcinous. You enter without passage into a cheerful dining-room, all + studded over and rough with old books; and above is a lightsome + drawing-room, three windows, full of choice prints. I feel like a + great lord, never having had a house before." + +And again, in the November following, in a letter to Robert Southey, he +informs the bard, who had promised him a call, that he is "at Colebrooke +Cottage, left hand coming from Sadler's Wells." It was here that that +amiable bookworm, George Dyer, editor of the Delphin Classics, walked +quietly into the New River from Charles Lamb's door, but was soon +recovered, thanks to the kind care of Miss Lamb. + +[Illustration: THE OLD QUEEN'S HEAD.] + +The late Mr. George Daniel, of Canonbury Square, Islington, who formerly +possessed the "ELIZABETHAN GARLAND," which consists of Seventy Ballads, +printed between the years 1559 and 1597; a pleasing chatty writer and +great snapper-up of unconsidered literary trifles, was an old friend and +jolly companion of Charles Lamb's and frequently accompanied him in his +favourite walks on the banks of the New River, and to the ancient +hostelries in and round-about "Merrie Islington." At the Old Queen's +Head, they, in company with many retired citizens, and thirsty wayfarers, +met, on at least one occasion, with Theodore Hook, indulged in +reminiscences of bygone days, merrily puffed their long pipes of the true +"Churchwarden" or _yard of clay_ type, and quaffed nut-brown ale, out of +the festivious tankard presented by a choice spirit!--one Master +Cranch,--to a former host; and in the old oak parlour, too, where, +according to tradition, the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh received, "full +souse" in his face, the humming contents of a jolly Black Jack[10] from an +affrighted clown, who, seeing clouds of tobacco-smoke curling from the +knight's nose and mouth, thought he was all on fire! fire!! fire!!!. + +[Illustration: CANONBURY TOWER. + + "Here stands the tall relic, old Canonbury Tow'r, + Where Auburn's sweet bard won the muse to his bow'r, + The Vandal that pulls thy grey tenements down, + When falls the last stone, may that stone crack his crown!" + G. Daniel's "_The Islington Garland_."] + +Lamb took special delight in watching the setting sun from the top of old +Canonbury Tower, until the cold night air warned him to retire. He was +intimate with Goodman Symes, the then tenant-keeper of the Tower, and +bailiff of the Manor, and a brother antiquary in a small way; who took +pleasure in entertaining him in the antique panelled chamber where +Goldsmith wrote his _Traveller_, and supped frugally on buttermilk; and in +pointing to a small portrait of Shakespeare, in a curiously carved gilt +frame, which Lamb would look at longingly. He was never weary of toiling +up and down the winding and narrow stairs of this suburban pile, and +peeping into its quaint corners and cupboards, as if he expected to +discover there some hitherto hidden clue to its mysterious origin. + + "What village can boast like fair Islington town + Such time-honour'd worthies, such ancient renown? + Here jolly Queen Bess, after flirting with Leicester, + 'Undumpish'd,' herself, with Dick Tarlton her Jester. + + "Here gallant gay Essex, and burly Lord Burleigh + Sat late at their revels, and came to them early; + Here honest Sir John took his ease at his inn-- + Bardolph's proboscis, and Jack's double chin. + +From Islington, Charles Lamb moved to Enfield Chase Side, there he lived +from 1827 to 1833, shut out almost entirely from the world, and his +favourite London in particular. + +[Illustration: CHARLES LAMB'S HOUSE, ENFIELD.] + +Lamb, in a merry mood, writing to Novello, in 1827, says:-- + + "We expect you four (as many as the table will hold without squeezing) + at Mrs. Westwood's _Table d'Hote_ on Thursday. You will find the + _White House_ shut up, and us moved under the wing of the _Phoenix_, + which gives us friendly refuge. Beds for guests, marry we have none, + but cleanly accommodings [_sic._] at the _Crown and Horse-shoes_. + + "Yours harmonically, + "C. L. + + "Vincentio (what, ho!) Novello, a Squire. + 66, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn Fields." + +[Illustration: THE CROWN AND HORSE SHOES INN, ENFIELD CHASE SIDE.] + +The above represents one of the humble and wayside "Pubs" of the +neighbourhood in which Charles Lamb is said to have tested the friendship +of "fine" friends, by proposing to them a drink of unsophisticated porter +from bright pewter pots. So did he treat Wordsworth, and that "Child of +Nature" actress, Miss Frances Maria Kelly, who without hesitation entered +the tavern, with:-- + + "The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, + The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door, + The chest contriv'd a double debt to pay,-- + A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day." + +About the Midsummer of 1833, Charles Lamb and his sister removed to +Bay-cottage, Church-street, Edmonton, kept by Mr. Walden, whose wife +acted as a professional nurse. There, in that poor melancholy looking +tenement, the delightful humourist found the home in which he breathed his +last on Saturday, the 27th December, 1834. He was buried in:-- + + "Oh, Mirth and Innocence! Oh, Milk and Water! + Ye happy mixtures of more happy days!." + Byron's, _Beppo_. St. 80. + +[Illustration: HOUSE AT EDMONTON WHERE CHARLES LAMB DIED.] + +[Illustration: EDMONTON CHURCH.] + +Time and circumstances have effectually disposed of the water-carrier, his +occupation is gone, it is impossible London can ever again see a man bent +beneath the weight of a yoke and two enormous pails, vociferating "_Any +fresh and fair Spring Water here?_" But the cry of "Milk," or the rattle +of the milk-pail will never cease to be heard in our streets. There can be +no reservoirs of milk, no pipes through which it flows into the houses. +The more extensive the great capital becomes, the more active must be the +individual exertion to carry about this article of food. The old cry was +"_Any Milk here?_" and it was sometimes mingled with the sound of "_Fresh +Cheese and Cream_;" and it then passed into "_Milk, maids below_;" and it +was then shortened into "_Milk below_;" and was finally corrupted into +"_Mio_," which some wag interpreted into _mi-eau_--_demi-eau_--half water. +But it must still be cried, whatever be the cry. The supply of milk to the +metropolis is perhaps one of the most beautiful combinations of industry +we have. The days have long since passed when Finsbury had its pleasant +groves, and Clerkenwell was a village, and there were green pastures in +Holborn, when St. Pancras boasted only a little church standing in +meadows, and St. Martin's was literally in the fields. Slowly but surely +does the baked clay of Mr. Jerry, "the speculative builder" stride over +the clover and the buttercup; and yet every family in London may be +supplied with milk by eight o'clock every morning at their own doors. +Where do the cows abide? They are congregated in wondrous herds in the +suburbs; and though in spring-time they go out to pasture in the fields +which lie under the Hampstead and Highgate hills, or in the vales of +Dulwich and Sydenham, and there crop the tender blade,-- + + "When proud pied April, dress'd in all his trim, + Has put a spirit of youth in everything." + +yet for the rest of the year the coarse grass is carted to their stalls, +or they devour what the breweries and distilleries cannot extract from the +grain harvest. Long before "the unfolding star wakes up the shepherd" are +the London cows milked; and the great wholesale vendors of the commodity, +who have it consigned to them daily from more distant parts to the various +railway stations in the metropolis, bear it in carts to every part of the +town, and distribute it to the hundreds of shopkeepers and itinerants, who +are anxiously waiting to receive it for re-distribution amongst their own +customers. It is evident that a perishable commodity which everyone +requires at a given hour, must be so distributed. The distribution has +lost its romance. Misson, in his "Travels" published at the beginning of +the last century, tells of May-games of the London milkmaids thus:--"On +the first of May, and the five or six days following, all the pretty young +country girls that serve the town with milk, dress themselves up very +neatly, and borrow abundance of Silver-Plate, whereof they make a pyramid, +which they adorn with ribbons and flowers, and carry upon their heads, +instead of their common milk pails. In this equipage, accompanied with +some of their fellow milkmaids, and a bagpipe or fiddle, they go from door +to door, dancing before the houses of their customers, in the midst of +boys and girls that follow them in troops, and everybody gives them +something." Alas! the May-games and pretty young country girls have both +departed, and a milk-woman has become a very unpoetical personage. There +are few indeed of milkwomen who remain. So it is with most of the +occupations that associate London with the country. + +[Illustration: KATE SMITH, _The Merry Milkmaid_.] + +[Illustration: + + "'Where are you going my pretty maid?' + 'I'm going a milking, sir,' she said."] + +Thirty years ago there appeared in the "Quarterly Review" a remarkable +article on the Commissariat of London, from the pen of Dr. Andrew Wynter. +In it we were told for how many miles the beasts brought annually to the +metropolis would stretch, if ranged ten abreast in a seemingly +interminable column. In order to convey some notion of the stupendous +quantities of ale, beer, and porter consumed, Dr. Wynter fixed upon Hyde +Park as his exhibition ground, and piled together all the barrels +containing the malt liquor drunk by what, in 1854, was a population of two +million and a half souls. He came to the conclusion that these barrels +would form a thousand columns not far short of a mile in perpendicular +height. And among other statistics, Dr. Wynter calculated that there were +at that time about twenty thousand cows in the metropolitan and suburban +dairies, some of which establishments contained five hundred cows apiece. +He also noticed that, the London and suburban dairies could not alone +supply the population of the metropolis, seeing that twenty thousand cows, +giving on an average twelve quarts each per diem, would not yield more +than two hundred and forty thousand quarts. If we suppose this quantity +increased by the iron-tailed cow to three hundred thousand quarts, the +allowance to each of the two millions and a half of human beings then +living within the Bills of Mortality would be about a quarter of a pint +per head. The "Quarterly" Reviewer, therefore, assumed that, to meet the +existing demands of the tea-table, the nursery, and the kitchen, half as +much again as three hundred thousand quarts was consumed annually in +London. For this excess he looked to the country to supplement the efforts +of the metropolis and of its suburbs as suppliers of milk, and noticed +that the precious white liquid was brought daily to London from farms +lying as far away as eighty miles from the metropolitan railway stations +to which it was consigned. + +[Illustration] + +Nothing can be more instructive and entertaining than to turn back in 1884 +to facts, figures, calculations, estimates, and inferences which fitted +the London of 1854. Instead of two millions and a half, the population +resident at this moment within the metropolitan and city police districts +amounts at least to four millions and three-quarters. The area already +covered by the mighty town, which adds another big town to its entirety +each successive year, is about four hundred and fifty thousand square +acres, and there are more than seven hundred thousand houses to be +provided for, of which it may be presumed that few can do without at least +a pint of milk per diem. Assuming, however, that each member of this +enormous population consumed no more than a quarter of a pint of +milk--that is to say, a small tumblerful--per diem, we come to the +astounding conclusion that nearly six hundred thousand quarts are wanted +every day, nearly four million two hundred thousand quarts every week, and +nearly two hundred and seventeen million quarts every year, to meet the +demands of London. Few of us are able to fathom the meaning of two hundred +million quarts of liquid until we are told what an immense reservoir, ten +feet deep, it would take to hold such an amount. More intelligible are the +calculations which tell us that, assuming a cow to yield ten--not +twelve--quarts of milk daily, it would require nearly sixty thousand milch +cows to maintain this supply from year's end to year's end. If these +patient and valuable milkers are estimated as being worth no more than +twenty-pounds apiece, they would represent in their aggregate a capital of +little less than one million four hundred thousand pounds. Pure milk of a +reliable character, costs five-pence per quart, and therefore, on the +above basis, there is spent on milk, in the metropolis and its +circumjacent districts, twelve thousand four hundred pounds per day, +nearly eighty-seven thousand pounds per week, and considerably more than +four and a half million pounds per annum. There are States which have +made a considerable noise in the world, whose total revenue does not reach +what London spends annually in milk alone. As for the distribution of this +inconceivable amount of liquid, which is delivered every morning and +afternoon in small quantities all over the enormous area of +bricks-and-mortar to which we have referred, it would utterly baffle the +most marvellous organiser and administrator that ever existed upon earth, +to extemporise human machinery for carrying on so minute and yet so +gigantic a trade. Nevertheless, how smoothly and imperceptibly, not only +in this one small detail, but throughout the whole of its vast and endless +complications and ramifications, does the commissariat of London work! We +are told, for instance, that to distribute every sixteen gallons of milk +one person is necessary, and that, without counting managers, clerks, +shopmen and shopwomen, nearly five thousand human beings, assisted by more +than fifteen hundred horses and mules, are needed to furnish London with +milk every twenty-four hours. More than a quarter of a million pounds go +yearly in wages to milkmen and milkwomen with whom we are all so familiar, +and who will doubtless, acquire additional importance in the eyes of those +who reflect that these humble servitors are but, in Pope's words, "parts +of that stupendous whole" without whose useful, patient, and unintermitted +labours the faultless machinery of the grandest camp of men that ever yet +existed would instantly stand still. + +Then it must not be forgotten that the milk trade exacts constant and +unintermitted work from its employes--work from which neither Sundays nor +holidays bring any relief--and demanding very early rising in the morning, +to say nothing of the greatest personal cleanliness, and of an immense +array of cans, varying from those capable of holding many gallons down to +those which contain no more than half-a-pint--the milk-pail and its daily +history might well attract notice from writers not inferior in grasp and +imagination to Defoe or Dickens. In 1854 Dr. Wynter calculated that, as +regards distribution, the commissariat of London was carried on by an army +of one hundred thousand persons. In thirty years the population has all +but doubled, and the machinery of distribution has been so improved that +its working at present approaches very nearly to perfection. This +perfection is due solely to freedom of trade and to universal competition, +which so nicely adjust all the varying conditions of life, that, in +serving themselves, they accomplish more than all the Governments on earth +could effect by the most ingenious system of centralisation that human wit +could devise. + +[Illustration: + + _Attic Poet_:--"There is a pleasure in poetic pains + which only Poets know."] + +In our neighbourhood, which, as the lodging-house-keepers advertise in +_The Kingsland and Shacklewell Slopbasin_, and _The Dalston Dusthole_, is +situate close to "Bus, Tram, and Rail," we have a milkman who is given to +Poetry! and he circulates his "verses" pretty freely in the areas and +letter-boxes about once a month.-- + +[Illustration: GLORIOUS NEWS! GLORIOUS NEWS!] + + HOW F. WILSON MEETS HIS CUSTOMERS' VIEWS. + + My readers may credit the words of my muse. + When telling how Wilson meets Customers' Views; + Wilson studies a straightforward system of trade, + Whereby to elicit encouraging aid. + + The pure farm-house Milk he daily brings out, + Is such as we have no reason to doubt; + Encouraged in business his course he pursues, + And fails not in meeting his Customers' Views. + + You'll not have occasion to doubt what I say, + When testing his Pure Milk day after day; + For cheapness and quality you'll find him in trade, + As you did when he first asked the public for aid. + + His farm-house Milk and Eggs, which thoroughly please, + Are positive proofs of assertions like these; + 'Tis certain that better can ne'er be supplied, + He trusts that in this you'll all coincide. + + The highest of interest his Milk doth possess, + Thus boldly we state, for we cannot state less; + F. Wilson supplies what all purchasers choose, + And thus he is meeting his Customers' Views. + + + TERMS CASH. + + Customers can have their Milk left in cans any time after 5 a.m. + Note the address * * * + All complaints to be addressed to Mr. F. Wilson. + +[Illustration: TIDDY DIDDY DOLL-LOLL, LOLL, LOLL.] + +This celebrated vendor of gingerbread, from his eccentricity of character, +and extensive dealing in his particular way, was always hailed as the King +of itinerant tradesmen. He was a constant attendant in the crowd at all +metropolitan fairs, mob meetings, Lord Mayor's shows, public executions, +and all other holiday and festive gatherings! In his person he was tall, +well made, and his features handsome. He affected to dress like a person +of rank; white and gold lace suit of clothes, lace ruffled shirt, laced +hat and feather, white stockings, with the addition of a white apron. +Among his harangues to gain customers, take the following piece as a fair +sample of the whole:-- + +"Mary, Mary, where are you _now_, Mary? I live, when at home, at the +second house in Little diddy-ball-street, two steps under ground, with a +wiscum, riscum, and a why-not. Walk in, ladies and gentlemen; my shop is +on the second-floor backwards, with a brass knocker on the door, and steel +steps before it. Here is your nice gingerbread, it will melt in your mouth +like a red-hot brickbat, and rumble in your inside like Punch and his +wheelbarrow." He always finished his address by singing this fag end of +some popular ballad:-- + + "Ti-tid-ty, ti-tid-ty. Ti-tid-ty--tiddy-loll. + Ti-tid-ty, ti-tid-ty. Ti-tid-ty--tiddy-doll." + +Hence arose his nickname "_Tiddy-Doll_." In Hogarth's print of the "IDLE +'PRENTICE EXECUTED AT TYBURN," Tiddy-Doll is seen holding up a gingerbread +cake with his left hand, his right hand within his coat, to imply that he +is speaking the truth from his heart, while describing the superiority of +his wares over those of any other vendor in the fair! while he still +anxiously inquires:-- + + "Mary, Mary, where are you _now_, Mary?" + +His proper name was Ford, and so well known was he that, on his once being +missed for a week from his usual stand in the Haymarket, on the occasion +of a visit which he paid to a country fair, a "Catch penny" account of his +alleged murder was printed, and sold in the streets by thousands. + +Allusions to Tiddy-Doll, and sayings derived from him, have reached to our +own time, thus, we still say to an over-dressed person--"You are as tawdry +as Diddy-doll," "You are quite Tiddy-doll, you look as fine as +Tiddy-doll," he or she is said to be "All Tiddy-doll," &c. + +The class of men formerly well known to the citizens of London as +News-criers, or Hornmen, must now be spoken of in the past sense, as the +further use of the horn was prohibited long ago by the magistracy, subject +to a penalty of ten shillings for the first offence, and twenty shillings +on the conviction of repeating so heinous a crime. + +[Illustration] + + "GREAT NEWS, BLOODY BATTLE, GREAT VICTORY! + EXTRAORDINARY GAZETTE! + SECOND EDITION!" + +were the usual loud bellowing of fellows with stentorian lungs, +accompanied by a loud blast of a long tin-horn, which announced to the +delighted populace of London the martial achievements of a Marlborough, +Howe, Hood, Nelson, or Wellington. A copy of the "Gazette" or newspaper +they "cried" was usually affixed under the hatband, in front, and their +demand was generally one shilling. + +At least one of these news criers has been immortalized. In a volume of +"Miscellaneous Poems," edited by Elijah Fenton, and printed by Bernard +Lintot, without date, but anterior to 1720, there are the lines that +follow, to one old Bennet, who seems to have made a great noise in the +world of London during the early part of last century:-- + + "ON THE DEATH OF OLD BENNET, THE NEWS CRYER + + "One evening, when the sun was just gone down, + And I was walking thro' the noisy town, + A sudden silence through each street was spread, + As if the soul of London had been fled. + Much I enquired the cause, but could not hear, + Till fame, so frightened, that she did not dare + To raise her voice, thus whisper'd in my ear:-- + Bennet, the prince of hawkers, is no more, + Bennet, my _Herald_ on the British shore, + Bennet, by whom, I own myself outdone, + Tho' I a hundred mouths, he had but one, + He, when the list'ning town he would amuse, + Made _Echo_ tremble with his '_Bloody news!_' + No more shall _Echo_, now his voice return, + _Echo_ for ever must in silence mourn,-- + Lament, ye heroes, who frequent the wars, + The great proclaimer of your dreadful scars. + Thus wept the conqueror who the world o'ercame, + Homer was waiting to enlarge his fame, + Homer, the first of hawkers that is known, + _Great News_ from Troy, cried up and down the town, + None like him has there been for ages past, + Till our stentorian Bennet came at last, + Homer and Bennet were in this agreed, + Homer was blind, and Bennet could not read!" + +In our own days there has been legislation for the benefit of tender ears; +and there are now penalties, with police constables to enforce them, +against "All persons blowing any horn or using any other noisy +instrument, for the purpose of calling persons together, or of announcing +any show or entertainment, or for the purpose of hawking, selling, +distributing, or collecting any article, or of obtaining money or alms." +These are the words of the Police Act of 1839; and they are stringent +enough to have nearly banished from our streets all those uncommon noises +which did something to relieve the monotony of the one endless roar of the +tread of feet and the rush of wheels. + +Mr. Henry Mayhew, in his admirable work of "London Labour and London +Poor," writing in 1851, under the head "Of the Sellers of Second +Editions," says:-- + + "I believe that there is not now in existence--unless it be in a + workhouse and unknown to his fellows, or engaged in some other + avocation, and lost sight of by them--any one who sold 'Second + Editions' of the _Courier_ evening paper at the time of the Duke of + York's Walcheren expedition, at the period of the battle of the Nile, + during the continuance of the Peninsular war, or even at the battle of + Waterloo. There were a few old men--some of whom had been soldiers or + sailors, and others who have simulated it--surviving within these five + or six years and some later, who 'worked Waterloo,' but they were + swept off, I was told, by the cholera." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: CLEAN YOUR HONOUR'S SHOES. + + "Temper the foot within this vase of oil, + And let the little tripod aid thy toil; + On this methinks I see the walking crew, + At thy request, support the miry shoe; + The foot grows black that was with dirt embrown'd, + And in thy pocket jingling halfpence sound." + _Gay's "Trivia."_] + +"About thirty years before the cry of 'Clean your boots, sir!' became +familiar to the ears of the present generation of Londoners," Mr. Charles +Knight informs us that:--"In one of the many courts on the north side of +Fleet-street, might be seen, somewhere about the year 1820, 'The last of +the London shoe-blacks.' One would think that he deemed himself dedicated +to his profession by Nature, for he was a Negro. At the earliest dawn he +crept forth from his neighbouring lodging, and planted his tripod on the +quiet pavement, where he patiently stood till noon was past. He was a +short, large-headed son of Africa, subject, as it would appear, to +considerable variations of spirits, alternating between depression and +excitement, as the gains of the day presented to him the chance of having +a few pence to recreate himself beyond what he should carry home to his +wife and children. For he had a wife and children, this last +representative of a falling trade; and two or three little woolly-headed +_decrotteurs_ nestled around him when he was idle, or assisted in taking +off the roughest of the dirt when he had more than one client. He watched, +with a melancholy eye, the gradual improvement of the streets; for during +some twenty or thirty years he had beheld all the world combining to ruin +him. He saw the foot pavements widening; the large flag-stones carefully +laid down; the loose and broken piece, which discharged a slushy shower on +the unwary foot, and known to him and London chairmen as a +'_Beau-trap_'[11] instantly removed: he saw the kennels diligently +cleansed, and the drains widened: he saw experiment upon experiment made +in the repair of the carriage-way, and the holes, which were to him as the +'old familiar faces' which he loved, filled up with a haste that appeared +quite unnecessary, if not insulting. One solitary country shopkeeper, who +had come to London once a year during a long life, clung to our sable +friend; for he was the only one of the fraternity that he could find +remaining, in his walk from Charing-cross to Cheapside." + +Hone, in "_The Table Book_," 1827, under an article on the Old London +cries has:--"A Shoeblack; A boy, with a small basket beside him, brushes a +shoe on a stone, and addresses himself to a wigged beau, who carries his +cocked hat under his left arm, with a crooked-headed walking stick in his +left hand, as was the fashion among the dandies of old times. I recollect +shoeblacks formerly at the corner of almost every street, especially in +great thoroughfares. There were several every morning on the steps of St. +Andrew's church, Holborn, till late in the forenoon. But the greatest +exhibition of these artists was on the site of Finsbury-square, when it +was an open field, and a depository for the stones used in paving and +street-masonry. There, a whole army of shoeblacks intercepted the citizens +and their clerks on their way from Islington and Hoxton to the +counting-houses and shops in the city, with 'Shoeblack, your honour! Black +your shoes, sir!'" + +Each of them had a large, old tin-kettle, containing his apparatus, +viz:--a capacious pipkin, or other large earthen-pot, containing the +blacking, which was made of ivory-black, the coarsest moist sugar, and +pure water with a little vinegar--a knife, two or three brushes, and an +old wig. The old wig was an indispensable requisite to a shoeblack; it +whisked away the dust, or thoroughly wiped off the wet dirt, which his +knife and brushes could not entirely detach; a rag tied to the end of a +stick smeared his viscid blacking on the shoe, and if the blacking was +"real japan," it shone. The old experienced shoe-wearers preferred an +oleaginous, lustreless blacking. A more liquid blacking, which took a +polish from the brush, was of later use and invention. Nobody at that time +wore boots except on horseback; and everybody wore breeches and +stockings: pantaloons, or trousers, were unheard of. The old shoeblacks +operated on the shoes while they were on the feet, and so dexterously as +not to soil the fine white cotton stocking, which was at that time the +extreme of fashion, or to smear the buckles, which were universally worn. +Latterly, you were accommodated with an old pair of shoes to stand in, and +the yesterday's paper to read, while your shoes were cleaning and +polishing, and your buckles were whitened and brushed. When shoestrings +first came into vogue, the Prince of Wales (Geo. IV.) appeared with them +in his shoes, when immediately a deputation from the buckle-makers of +Birmingham presented a petition to his Royal Highness to resume the +wearing of buckles, which was good-naturedly complied with. Yet, in a +short time, shoestrings entirely superseded buckles. The first incursion +on the shoeblacks was by the makers of "Patent Cake Blacking" on sticks +formed with a handle, like a small battledoor; they suffered a more +fearful invasion from the makers of liquid blacking in bottles. Soon +afterwards, when "Day and Martin" manufactured the _ne plus ultra_ of +blacking, private shoeblacking became general, public shoeblacks rapidly +disappeared, and in [1827] they became extinct. The last shoeblack that I +remember in London sat under the covered entrance of Red Lion-court, +Fleet-street within the last six years. This unfortunate, "The Last of the +London Shoeblacks"--was probably the "short, large headed son of Africa" +alluded to by Charles Knight, under the heading of "Clean your honour's +shoes," in his "History of London." + +In 1851, some gentlemen connected with the Ragged Schools determined to +revive the brotherhood of boot cleaners for the convenience of the foreign +visitors to the Exhibition, and commenced the experiment by sending out +five boys in the now well-known red uniform. The scheme succeeded beyond +expection; the boys were patronized by natives as well as aliens, and the +Shoeblack Society and its brigade were regularly organized. During the +exhibition season, about twenty-five boys were constantly employed, and +cleaned no less than 100,000 pairs of boots. The receipts of the brigade +during its first year amounted to L656. Since that time, thanks to the +combination of discipline and liberality, the Shoeblack Society has gone +on and prospered, and proved the Parent of other Societies. Every district +in London now has its corps of shoeblacks, in every variety of uniform, +and while the number of boys has increased from tens to hundreds, their +earnings have increased from hundreds to thousands. Numbers of London +waifs and strays have been rescued from idleness and crime. The Ragged +School Union, and Shoeblack Brigades, therefore hold a prominent place +among the indirectly preventive agencies for the suppression of crime: for +since ignorance is generally the parent of vice, any means of securing the +benefits of education to those who are hopelessly deprived of it, must +operate in favour of the well-being of society. + +[Illustration: + + "'Tis education forms the common mind; + Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."] + +[Illustration: THE HEARTH-STONE MERCHANT.] + +"Hearth-stones! Do you want any hearth-stones? Now, my maids, here's your +right sort--reg'lar good'uns, and no mistake--vorth two o'your shop +harticles, and at half the price. Now my pretty von, lay out a _tanner_, +and charge your missus a _bob_--and no cheating neither! the cook has +always a right to make her market penny and to assist a poor cove like me +in the bargain. + + "They're good uns, you vill find-- + Choose any, marm, as you prefer. + You look so handsome and so kind, + I'm sure you'll be a customer. + Three halfpence, marm, for this here pair-- + I only vish as you vould try 'em; + I'm sure you'll say the price is fair-- + Come marm, a penny if you'll buy 'em." + +[Illustration: THE FLYING STATIONER, OTHERWISE PATTERER.] + + "Here's tidings sad, for owld and young, + Of von who liv'd for years by macing; + And vos this werry morning hung, + The Debtor's Door at Newgate facing. + + "Here's his confession upon hoath, + The vords he spoke ven he vos dying, + His birth and eddycation both-- + The whole pertic'lers--vell vorth the buying. + + "Here's an account of robberies sad. + In vich he alus vos a hactor; + You must to read the life be glad-- + Of such a famous malefactor! + + "How to the mob he spinn'd a yarn, + And varn'd them from a course unproper, + You may, vith all his history, larn-- + For the small valley of a copper!" + +"Now my kind-hearted, haffectionated and wery ready-money +Christian-hearted, pious and hinfidel customers, here you have the last +speech and dying vords, life, character, and behaviour of the hunfortunate +malefactor that vas hexecuted this morning hopposit the Debtor's door in +the Hold Bailey! together with a full confession of the hoffence vherevith +he vos found guilty before a hupright Judge and a wery himpartial Jury! +Here you have likewise a copy of a most affecting letter, written by the +criminal in the condemned cell the night afore hexecution to his hinnocent +vife and hunoffending babbies, vith a copy of werses consarning the +same--all for the small charge of von halfpenny. Yes, my friends, von +halfpenny buys the werses as follows--von arter the 'tother:-- + + "Come, all you blessed Christians dear, + That's a-tender, kind, and free, + While I a story do relate + Of a dreadful tragedy, + Which happened in London town, + As you shall all be told; + But when you hear the horrid deed + 'Twill make your blood run cold.-- + _For the small charge of a ha'penny!_ + + "'Twas in the merry month of May, + When my true love I did meet; + She look'd all like an angel bright, + So beautiful and sweet. + I told her I loved her much, + And she could not say nay; + 'Twas then I stung her tender heart, + And led her all astray.-- + _Only a ha'penny!_" + +JAMES--or as he was popularly called, "_Jemmy_," or, "_Old Jemmy_" +Catnach, (_Kat-nak_,) late of the Seven Dials, London, printer and +publisher of ballads, battledores, lotteries, primers, &c., and whose name +is ever associated with the literature of the streets, was the son of John +Catnach, a printer, of Alnwick, an ancient borough, market town, and +parish of Northumberland, where he was born on August 18th, 1792. + +At the time Jemmy Catnach commenced business in Seven Dials it took all +the prudence and tact which he could command to maintain his position, as +at that time "Johnny" Pitts,[12] of the Toy and Marble Warehouse, No. 6, +Great St. Andrew-street, was the acknowledged and established printer of +street literature for the "Dials" district; therefore, as may be easily +imagined, a powerful rivalry and vindictive jealousy soon arose between +these "two of a trade"--most especially on the part of "Old Mother" Pitts, +who is described as being a coarse and vulgar-minded personage, and as +having originally followed the trade of a bumboat woman at Portsmouth: she +"wowed wengeance" against the young fellow in the court for daring to set +up in their business, and also spoke of him as a young "Catsnatch," +"Catblock," "Cut-throat;" many other opprobrious terms being also freely +given to the new comer. Pitts' staff of "bards" were duly cautioned of the +consequences which would inevitably follow should they dare to write a +line for Catnach--the new _cove_ in the court. The injunction was for a +time obeyed, but the "Seven Bards of the Seven Dials" soon found it not +only convenient, but also more profitable to sell copies of their +effusions to both sides at the same time, and by keeping their council +they avoided detection, as each printer accused the other of buying an +early sold copy, and then reprinting it off with the utmost speed, and +which was in reality often the case, as "Both Houses" had emissaries on +the constant look-out for any new production suitable for street-sale. +Now, although this style of "double dealing" and competition tended much +to lessen the cost price to the "middle-man," or vendor, the public in +this case did not get any of the reduction, as a penny broadside was still +a penny, and a quarter-sheet still a halfpenny to them, the +"street-patterer" obtaining the whole of the reduction as extra profit. + +The feud existing between these rival publishers, who have been somewhat +aptly designated as the Colburn and Bentley of the "paper" trade, never +abated, but, on the contrary, increased in acrimony of temper until at +last not being content to vilify each other by words alone, they resorted +to printing off virulent lampoons, in which Catnach never failed to let +the world know that "Old Mother Pitts" had been formerly a bumboat woman, +while the Pitts' party announced that-- + + "All the boys and girls around, + Who go out prigging rags and phials, + Know Jemmy _Catsnatch_!!! well, + Who lives in a back slum in the Dials. + He hangs out in Monmouth Court, + And wears a pair of blue-black breeches, + Where all the 'Polly Cox's crew' do resort + To chop their swag for badly printed Dying Speeches." + + + A mournful and affecting COPY OF VERSES on the death of + ANN WILLIAMS, + Who was barbarously and cruelly murdered by her sweetheart, + W. JONES, near Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, July, 1823. + + William Jones, a young man aged 20, has been fully committed to Derby + gaol for the murder of his sweetheart, under circumstances of unheard + of barbarity. The poor victim was a servant girl, whom under pretense + of marriage he seduced. On her proving with child the villain formed + the horrid design of murdering her, and carried his diabolical plan + into execution on Monday evening last. The following verses are + written upon the occasion, giving a complete detail of this shocking + affair:-- + + Come all false hearted young men + And listen to my song, + 'Tis of a cruel murder, + That lately has been done + On the body of a maiden fair + The truth I will unfold, + The bare relation of this deed + Will make your blood run cold. + Near Wirksworth town in Derbyshire, + Ann Williams she did dwell, + In service she long time had lived, + Till this to her befel. + Her cheeks were like the blushing rose + All in the month of May, + Which made this wicked young man + Thus unto her did say: + Nancy, my charming creature, + You have my heart ensnared, + My love is such I am resolved + To wed you I declare. + Thus by his false deluding tongue + Poor Nancy was beguil'd, + And soon to her misfortune, + By him she proved with child. + Some days ago this damsel fair + Did write to him with speed. + Such tenderness she did express + Would make a heart to bleed. + She said, my dearest William, + I am with child by thee; + Therefore, my dear, pray let me know + When you will marry me. + The following day at evening, + This young man did repair, + Unto the town of Wirksworth, + To meet his Nancy there. + Saying, Nancy dear, come let us walk, + Among the flowery fields, + And then the secrets of my heart + To you I will reveal. + O then this wicked young man + A knife he did provide, + And all unknown to his true love + Concealed it by his side. + When to the fatal spot they came, + These words to her did say: + All on this very night I will + Your precious life betray. + On bended knee she then did fall, + In sorrow and despair, + Aloud for mercy she did call, + Her cries did rend the air; + With clasped hands and uplift eyes + She cried, Oh spare my life, + I never more will ask you + To make me your wedded wife. + O then this wicked young man said, + No mercy will I show; + He took the knife all from his side, + And pierced her body through. + But still she smiling said to him, + While trembling with fear, + Aae! William, William, spare my life, + Think on your baby dear. + Twice more then with the bloody knife + He ran her body through, + Her throat was cut from ear to ear, + Most dreadful for to view; + Her hands and arms and beauteous face + He cut and mangled sore, + While down upon her milk white breast + The crimson blood did pour. + He took the shawl from off her neck, + And round her body tied, + With pebble stones he did it fill, + Thinking the crime to hide. + O then into the silver stream + He plunged her straightway, + But with her precious blood was stained, + Which soon did him betray. + O then this young man taken was, + And into prison sent, + In ratling chains he is confin'd + His crime for to lament, + Until the Asizes do come on + When trembling he must stand, + Reflecting on the deed he's done; + Waiting the dread command. + Now all you thoughtless young men + A timely warning take; + Likewise ye fair young maidens, + For this poor damsel's sake. + And Oh beware of flattering tongues, + For they'll your ruin prove; + So may you crown your future day, + In comfort, joy, and love. + + Printed at J. Pitts, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 6, Great St. + Andrew Street, Seven Dials. + +There can be little doubt that Catnach, the great publisher of the Seven +Dials, next to children's books, had his mind mostly centred upon the +chronicling of doubtful scandals, fabulous duels between ladies of +fashion, "cooked" assassinations, and sudden deaths of eminent +individuals, apochryphal elopements, real or catch-penny accounts of +murders, impossible robberies, delusive suicides, dark deeds and public +executions, to which was usually attached the all-important and necessary +"Sorrowful Lamentations," or "Copy of Affectionate Verses," which, +according to the established custom, the criminal composed in the +condemned cell the night before his execution, after this manner:-- + + "All you that have got feeling hearts, I pray you now attend + To these few lines so sad and true, a solemn silence lend; + It is of a cruel murder, to you I will unfold---- + The bare recital of the tale must make your blood run cold." + +Or take another and stereotyped example, which from time to time has +served equally well for the verses _written by_ the culprit--Brown, Jones, +Robinson, or Smith: + + "Those deeds I mournfully repent, + But now it is too late, + The day is past, the die is cast, + And fixed is my fate. + +Occasionally the Last Sorrowful Lamentations contained a "Love +Letter"--the criminal being unable, in some instances, to read or write, +being no obstacle to the composition--written according to the street +patterer's statement: "from the depths of the condemned cell, with the +condemned pen, ink, and paper." This mode of procedure in "gallows" +literature, and this style of composition having prevailed for from sixty +to seventy years. + +Then they would say: "Here you have also an exact likeness of the +murderer, taken at the bar of the Old Bailey by an eminent artist!" when +all the time it was an old woodcut that had been used for every criminal +for many years. + +"There's nothing beats a stunning good murder after all," said a "running +patterer" to Mr. Henry Mayhew, the author of "London Labour and London +Poor." It is only fair to assume that Mr. James Catnach shared in the +sentiment, for it is said that he made over L500 by the publication of:-- + +"The Full, True and Particular Account of the Murder of Mr. Weare by John +Thurtell and his Companions, which took place on the 24th of October, +1823, in Gill's Hill-lane, near Elstree, in Hertfordshire:--Only One +Penny." There were eight formes set up, for old Jemmy had no notion of +stereotyping in those days, and pressmen had to re-cover their own +sheep-skins. But by working night and day for a week they managed to get +off about 250,000 copies with the four presses, each working two formes at +a time. + +As the trial progressed, and the case became more fully developed, the +public mind became almost insatiable. Every night and morning large +bundles were despatched to the principal towns in the three kingdoms. + +One of the many street-ballads on the subject informed the British public +that:-- + + "Thurtell, Hunt, and Probert, too, for trial must now prepare, + For that horrid murder of Mr. William Weare." + +[Illustration: THURTELL MURDERING MR. WEARE.] + +In connection with the murder of Mr. Weare by Thurtell and Co., Sir Walter +Scott, collected the printed trials with great assiduity, and took care +always to have to hand the contemporary ballads and prints bound up with +them. He admired particularly this verse of Theodore Hook's[13] +broadside:-- + + "They cut his throat from ear to ear, + His brains they battered in; + His name was Mr. William Weare, + He dwelt in Lyon's Inn." + + + THE CONFESSION AND EXECUTION OF JOHN THURTELL + AT HERTFORD GAOL, On Friday, the 9th of January, 1824. + + + THE EXECUTION. + + _Hertford, half-past twelve o'clock._ + + This morning, at ten minutes before twelve, a bustle among the + javelin-men stationed within the boarded enclosure on which the drop + was erected, announced to the multitude without that the preparations + for the execution were nearly concluded. The javelin-men proceeded to + arrange themselves in the order usually observed upon these melancholy + but necessary occurrences. They had scarcely finished their + arrangements, when the opening of the gate of the prison gave an + additional impulse to public anxiety. + + When the clock was on the stroke of twelve, Mr Nicholson, the + Under-Sheriff, and the executioner ascended the platform, followed on + to it by Thurtell, who mounted the stairs with a slow but steady step. + The principal turnkey of the gaol came next, and was followed by Mr + Wilson and two officers. On the approach of the prisoner being + intimated by those persons who, being in an elevated situation, + obtained the first view of him, all the immense multitude present took + off their hats. + + Thurtell immediately placed himself under the fatal beam, and at that + moment the chimes of a neighbouring clock began to strike twelve. The + executioner then came forward with the rope, which he threw across it. + Thurtell first lifted his eyes up to the drop, gazed at it for a few + moments, and then took a calm but hurried survey of the multitude + around him. He next fixed his eyes on a young gentleman in the crowd, + whom he had frequently seen as a spectator at the commencement of the + proceedings against him. Seeing that the individual was affected by + the circumstance, he removed them to another quarter, and in so doing + recognised an individual well known in the sporting circles, to whom + he made a slight bow. + + The prisoner was attired in a dark brown great coat, with a black + velvet collar, white corduroy breeches, drab gaiters and shoes. His + hands were confined with handcuffs, instead of being tied with cord, + as is usually the case on such occasions, and, at his own request, his + arms were not pinioned. He wore a pair of black kid gloves, and the + wrists of his shirt were visible below the cuffs of his coat. As on + the last day of his trial, he wore a white cravat. The irons, which + were very heavy, and consisted of a succession of chain links, were + still on his legs, and were held up in the middle by a Belcher + handkerchief tied round his waist. + + The executioner commenced his mournful duties by taking from the + unhappy prisoner his cravat and collar. To obviate all difficulty in + this stage of the proceedings, Thurtell flung back his head and neck, + and so gave the executioner an opportunity of immediately divesting + him of that part of his dress. After tying the rope round Thurtell's + neck, the executioner drew a white cotton cap over his countenance, + which did not, however, conceal the contour of his face, or deprive + him entirely of the view of surrounding objects. + + At that moment the clock sounded the last stroke of twelve. During the + whole of this appalling ceremony, there was not the slightest symptom + of emotion discernible in his features; his demeanour was perfectly + calm and tranquil, and he behaved like a man acquainted with the + dreadful ordeal he was about to pass, but not unprepared to meet it. + Though his fortitude was thus conspicuous, it was evident from his + appearance that in the interval between his conviction and his + execution he must have suffered much. He looked careworn; his + countenance had assumed a cadaverous hue, and there was a haggardness + and lankness about his cheeks and mouth, which could not fail to + attract the notice of every spectator. + + The executioner next proceeded to adjust the noose by which Thurtell + was to be attached to the scaffold. After he had fastened it in such a + manner as to satisfy his own mind, Thurtell looked up at it, and + examined it with great attention. He then desired the executioner to + let him have fall enough. The rope at this moment seemed as if it + would only give a fall of two or three feet. The executioner assured + him that the fall was quite sufficient. The principal turnkey then + went up to Thurtell, shook hands with him, and turned away in tears. + Mr Wilson, the governor of the gaol, next approached him. Thurtell + said to him, "Do you think, Mr Wilson, I have got enough fall?" Mr + Wilson replied, "I think you have, Sir. Yes, quite enough." Mr Wilson + then took hold of his hand, shook it, and said, "Good bye, Mr + Thurtell, may God Almighty bless you." Thurtell instantly replied, + "God bless _you_, Mr Wilson, God bless _you_." Mr Wilson next asked + him whether he considered that the laws of his country had been dealt + to him justly and fairly, upon which he said, "I admit that justice + has been done me--I am perfectly satisfied." + + A few seconds then elapsed, during which every person seemed to be + engaged in examining narrowly Thurtell's deportment. His features, as + well as they could be discerned, appeared to remain unmoved, and his + hands, which were extremely prominent, continued perfectly steady, and + were not affected by the slightest tremulous motion. + + Exactly at two minutes past twelve the Under-Sheriff, with his wand, + gave the dreadful signal--the drop suddenly and silently fell--and + + JOHN THURTELL WAS LAUNCHED INTO ETERNITY. + + Printed at J. Pitts, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 6, Great St. + Andrew Street, Seven Dials. + + + ATROCIOUS MURDER OF A YOUNG WOMAN IN SUFFOLK. + SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF THE BODY FROM A DREAM. + +[Illustration: THE RED BARN. THE SCENE OF THE MURDER, AND WHERE THE BODY +OF MARIA MARTEN WAS FOUND CONCEALED.] + +Four years after the Thurtell and Weare affair, namely, in the month of +April, 1828, another "sensational" murder was discovered--that of Maria +Marten, by William Corder, in the Red Barn, at Polstead, in the county of +Suffolk. The circumstances that led to the discovery of this most +atrocious murder were of an extraordinary and romantic nature, and +manifest an almost special interposition of Providence in marking out the +offender. As the mother of the girl had on three several nights dreamt +that her daughter was murdered and buried in Corder's Red Barn, and as +this proved to be the case, an additional "charm" was given to the +circumstance. Hence the "Catnach Press" was again set working both day and +night to meet the great demand for the "Full Particulars." In due course +came the gratifying announcement of the apprehension of the murderer! and +the sale continued unabatingly, in both town and country, every "Flying +Stationer" making great profits by the sale. + +[Illustration: LIKENESS OF WILLIAM CORDER.] + +The trial of Corder took place at Bury St. Edmonds, on the 7th of August, +1828, before the Lord Chief Baron (Anderson). The prisoner pleaded "_Not +Guilty_," and the trial proceeded. On being called on for his defence, +Corder read a manuscript paper. He declared that he deeply deplored the +death of the unfortunate deceased, and he urged the jury to dismiss from +their minds all that prejudice which must necessarily have been excited +against him by the public press, &c. Having concluded his address, the +Lord Chief Baron summed up, and a verdict of "_Guilty_" was returned. The +Last Dying Speech and confession had an enormous sale--estimated at +1,166,000, a _fac-simile_ copy of which, with the "Lamentable Verses," +said to have been written by Old Jemmy Catnach, will be found on the +opposite page. + + + CONFESSION AND EXECUTION OF WILLIAM CORDER, + THE MURDERER OF MARIA MARTEN. + + Since the tragical affair between Thurtell and Weare, no event has + occurred connected with the criminal annals of our country which has + excited so much interest as the trial of Corder, who was justly + convicted of the murder of Maria Marten on Friday last. + + + THE CONFESSION. + + "Bury Gaol, August 10th, 1828.--Condemned cell. + "Sunday evening, half-past Eleven. + + "I acknowledge being guilty of the death of poor Maria Marten, by + shooting her with a pistol. The particulars are as follows:--When we + left her father's house, we began quarrelling about the burial of the + child: she apprehended the place wherein it was deposited would be + found out. The quarrel continued about three quarters of an hour upon + this sad and about other subjects. A scuffle ensued, and during the + scuffle, and at the time I think that she had hold of me, I took the + pistol from the side pocket of my velveteen jacket and fired. She + fell, and died in an instant. I never saw her even struggle. I was + overwhelmed with agitation and dismay:--the body fell near the front + doors on the floor of the barn. A vast quantity of blood issued from + the wound, and ran on to the floor and through the crevices. Having + determined to bury the body in the barn (about two hours after she was + dead). I went and borrowed a spade of Mrs Stow, but before I went + there I dragged the body from the barn into the chaff-house, and + locked the barn. I returned again to the barn, and began to dig a + hole, but the spade being a bad one, and the earth firm and hard, I + was obliged to go home for a pickaxe and a better spade, with which I + dug the hole, and then buried the body. I think I dragged the body by + the handkerchief that was tied round her neck. It was dark when I + finished covering up the body. I went the next day, and washed the + blood from off the barn-floor. I declare to Almighty God I had no + sharp instrument about me, and no other wound but the one made by the + pistol was inflicted by me. I have been guilty of great idleness, and + at times led a dissolute life, but I hope through the mercy of God to + be forgiven. WILLIAM CORDER." + + Witness to the signing by the said William Corder, + + JOHN ORRIDGE. + + + Condemned cell, Eleven o'clock, Monday morning, + August 11th, 1828. + + The above confession was read over carefully to the prisoner in our + presence, who stated most solemnly it was true, and that he had + nothing to add to or retract from it.--W. STOCKING, chaplain; TIMOTHY + R. HOLMES, Under-Sheriff. + + + THE EXECUTION. + + At ten minutes before twelve o'clock the prisoner was brought from his + cell and pinioned by the hangman, who was brought from London for the + purpose. He appeared resigned, but was so weak as to be unable to + stand without support; when his cravat was removed he groaned heavily, + and appeared to be labouring under great mental agony. When his wrists + and arms were made fast, he was led round twards the scaffold, and as + he paused the different yards in which the prisoners were confined, he + shook hands with them, and speaking to two of them by name, he said, + "Good bye, God bless you." They appeared considerably affected by the + wretched appearance which he made, and "God bless you!" "May God + receive your soul!" were frequently uttered as he passed along. The + chaplain walked before the prisoner, reading the usual Burial Service, + and the Governor and Officers walking immediately after him. The + prisoner was supported to the steps which led to the scaffold; he + looked somewhat wildly around, and a constable was obliged to support + him while the hangman was adjusting the fatal cord. There was a + barrier to keep off the crowd, amounting to upwards of 7,000 persons, + who at the time had stationed themselves in the adjoining fields, on + the hedges, the tops of houses, and at every point from which a view + of the execution could be best obtained. The prisoner, a few moments + before the drop fell, groaned heavily, and would have fallen, had not + a second constable caught hold of him. Everything having been made + ready, the signal was given, the fatal drop fell, and the unfortunate + man was launched into eternity. Just before he was turned off, he said + in a feeble tone, "I am justly sentenced, and may God forgive me." + + + The Murder of Maria Marten. + + BY W. CORDER + + Come all you thoughtless young men, a warning take by me, + And think upon my unhappy fate to be hanged upon a tree; + My name is William Corder, to you I do declare, + I courted Maria Marten, most beautiful and fair. + + I promised I would marry her upon a certain day. + Instead of that, I was resolved to take her life away. + I went into her father's house the 18th day of May, + Saying, my dear Maria, we will fix the wedding day. + + If you will meet me at the Red-barn, as sure as I have life, + I will take you to Ipswich town, and there make you my wife; + I then went home and fetched my gun, my pickaxe and my spade, + I went into the Red-barn, and there I dug her grave. + + With heart so light, she thought no harm, to meet him she did go + He murdered her all in the barn, and laid her body low; + After the horrible deed was done, she lay weltering in her gore, + Her bleeding mangled body he buried beneath the Red-barn floor. + + Now all things being silent, her spirit could not rest, + She appeared unto her mother, who suckled her at her breast, + For many a long month or more, her mind being sore oppress'd, + Neither night or day she could not take any rest. + + Her mother's mind being so disturbed, she dreamt three nights o'er, + Her daughter she lay murdered beneath the Red-barn floor; + She sent the father to the barn, when he the ground did thrust, + And there he found his daughter mingling with the dust. + + My trial is hard, I could not stand, most woeful was the sight, + When her jaw-bone was brought to prove, which pierced my heart quite; + Her aged father standing by, likewise his loving wife, + And in her grief her hair she tore, she scarcely could keep life. + + Adieu, adieu, my loving friends, my glass is almost run, + On Monday next will be my last, when I am to be hang'd, + So you, young men, who do pass by, with pity look on me, + For murdering Maria Marten, I was hang'd upon the tree. + + Printed by J. Catnach, 2 and 3, Monmouth Court.--Cards, &c., Printed + Cheap. + + + LIFE, TRIAL, CONFESSION, & EXECUTION OF + JAMES GREENACRE, + FOR THE EDGEWARE ROAD MURDER. + + [Illustration] + + On the 22nd of April, James Greenacre was found guilty of the wilful + murder of Hannah Brown, and Sarah Gale with being accessary after the + fact. A long and connected chain of evidence was produced, which + showed, that the sack in which the body was found was the property of + Mr. Ward; that is was usually deposited in a part of the premises + which led to the workshop, and could without observation have been + carried away by him; that the said sack contained several fragments of + shavings of mahogany, such as were made in the course of business by + Ward; and that it contained some pieces of linen cloth, which had been + patched with nankeen; that this linen cloth matched exactly with a + frock which was found on Greenacre's premises, and which belonged to + the female prisoner. Feltham, a police-officer, deposed, that on the + 26th of March he apprehended the prisoners at the lodgings of + Greenacre; that on searching the trowsers pockets of that person, he + took therefrom a pawnbroker's duplicate for two silk gowns, and from + the fingers of the female prisoner two rings, and also a similar + duplicate for two veils, and an old-fashioned silver watch, which she + was endeavouring to conceal; and it was further proved that these + articles were pledged by the prisoners, and that they had been the + property of the deceased woman.--Two surgeons were examined, whose + evidence was most important, and whose depositions were of the + greatest consequence in throwing a clear light on the manner in which + the female, Hannah Brown, met with her death. Mr. Birtwhistle deposed, + that he had carefully examined the head; that the right eye had been + knocked out by a blow inflicted while the person was living; there was + also a cut on the cheek, and the jaw was fractured, these two last + wounds were, in his opinion, produced after death; there was also a + bruise on the head, which had occurred after death; the head had been + separated by cutting, and the bone sawed nearly _through_, and then + broken off; there were the marks of a saw, which fitted with a saw + which was found in Greenacre's box. Mr. Girdwood, a surgeon, very + minutely and skilfully described the appearances presented on the + head, and showed incontestibly, that the head had been severed from + the body _while the person was yet alive_; that this was proved by the + retraction, or drawing back, of the muscles at the parts where they + were separated by the knife, and further, by the blood-vessels being + empty, the body was drained of blood. This part of the evidence + produced a thrill of horror throughout the court, but Greenacre + remained quite unmoved. + + After a most impressive and impartial summing up by the learned Judge, + the jury retired, and, after the absence of a quarter of an hour, + returned into court, and pronounced a verdict of "Guilty" against both + the prisoners. + + The prisoners heard the verdict without evincing the least emotion, or + the slightest change of countenance. After an awful silence of a few + minutes, the Lord Chief Justice said they might retire, as they would + be remanded until the end of the session. + + They were then conducted from the bar, and on going down the steps, + the unfortunate female prisoner kissed Greenacre with every mark of + tenderness and affection. + + The crowd outside the court on this day was even greater than on + either of the preceding; and when the result of the trial was made + known in the street, a sudden and general shout succeeded, and + continued huzzas were heard for several minutes. + + + THE EXECUTION. + + At half past seven the sheriff arrived in his carriage, and in a short + time the press-yard was thronged with gentlemen who had been admitted + by tickets. The unhappy convict was now led from his cell. When he + arrived in the press-yard, his whole appearance pourtrayed the utmost + misery and spirit-broken dejection; his countenance haggard, and his + whole frame agitated; all that self-possession and fortitude which he + displayed in the early part of his imprisonment, had utterly forsaken + him, and had left him a victim of hopelessness and despair. He + requested the executioner to give him as little pain as possible in + the process of pinioning his arms and wrists; he uttered not a word in + allusion to his crime; neither did he make any dying request, except + that his spectacles might be given to Sarah Gale; he exhibited no sign + of hope; he showed no symptom of reconciliation with his offended God! + When the venerable ordinary preceded him in the solemn procession + through the vaulted passage to the fatal drop, he was so overcome and + unmanned, that he could not support himself without the aid of the + assistant executioner. At the moment he ascended the faithless floor, + from which he was to be launched into eternity, the most terrific + yells, groans, and cheers were vociferated by the immense multitude + surrounding the place of execution. Greenacre bowed to the sheriff, + and begged he might not be allowed to remain long in the concourse; + and almost immediately the fatal bolt was withdrawn, and, without a + struggle, he became a lifeless corse.--Thus ended the days of + Greenacre, a man endowed with more than ordinary talents, respectably + connected, and desirably placed in society; but a want of probity, an + absolute dearth of principle, led him on from one crime to another, + until at length he perpetrated the sanguinary deed which brought his + career to an awful and disgraceful period, and which has enrolled his + name among the most notorious of those who have expiated their crime + on the gallows. + + On hearing the death-bell toll, Gale became dreadfully agitated; and + when she heard the brutal shouts of the crowd of spectators, she + fainted, and remained in a state of alternate mental agony and + insensibility throughout the whole day. + + After having been suspended the usual time, his body was cut down, and + buried in a hole dug in one of the passages of the prison, near the + spot where Thistlewood and his associates were deposited. + + J. Catnach, Printer, 2 and 3, Monmouth Court. + +The following is a fac-simile of the "Execution Paper," from the press of +Paul and Co.,--successors of Catnach. + + + TRIAL, SENTENCE, CONFESSION, & EXECUTION OF + F. B. COURVOISIER, + FOR THE Murder of Lord Wm. Russell. + + + THE VERDICT. + + Old Bailey, Saturday Evening, + _June 20th, 1840_. + + After the jury had been absent for an hour and twenty minutes, they + returned into court, and the prisoner was again placed at the bar. + + The names of the jury were then called over, and the clerk of the + court said--"How say you, gentlemen, have you agreed on your verdict? + Do you find the prisoner Guilty or Not Guilty of the felony of murder + with which he stands charged?" + + The foreman of the jury, in a low voice, said--"We find him GUILTY!" + + The Clerk of the Court then said: Francois Benjamin Courvoisier, you + have been found Guilty of the wilful murder of William Russell, Esq., + commonly called Lord William Russell; what have you to say why the + court should not give you sentence to die according to law? + + The prisoner made no reply. The usual proclamation for silence was + then made. + + + SENTENCE. + + The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE TINDAL, having put on the black cap, said: + Francois Benjamin Courvoisier, you have been found guilty by an + intelligent, patient, and impartial jury of the crime of wilful + murder. That crime has been established against you, not indeed by the + testimony of eye-witnesses as to the fact, but by a chain of + circumstances no less unerring, which have left no doubt of your guilt + in the minds of the jury, and all those who heard the trial. It is + ordained by divine authority that the murderer shall not escape + justice, and this ordination has been exemplified in your case, in the + course of this trial, by the disclosure of evidence which has brought + the facts to bear against you in a conclusive manner. The murder, + although committed in the dark and silent hour of night, has + nevertheless been brought clearly to light by Divine interposition. + The precise motive which induced you to commit this guilty act can + only be known to your own conscience; but it now only remains for me + to recommend you most earnestly to employ the short time you have to + live in prayer and repentance, and in endeavouring to make your peace + with that Almighty Being whose law you have broken, and before whom + you must shortly appear. The Learned Judge then passed sentence on the + prisoner in the usual form. + + The court was very much crowded to the last. + + + THE CONFESSION OF THE CONVICT. + + After the Learned Judge had passed sentence on the convict, he was + removed from the bar, and immediately made a full confession of his + guilt. + + + THE EXECUTION. + + At eight o'clock this morning, Courvoisier ascended the steps leading + to the gallows, and advanced, without looking round him, to the centre + of the platform, followed by the executioner and the ordinary of the + prison, the Rev. Mr Carver. On his appearance a few yells of + execration escaped from a portion of the crowd, but the general body + of the people, great as must have been their abhorrence of his + atrocious crime, remained silent spectators of the scene which was + passing before their eyes. The prisoner's manner was marked by an + extraordinary appearance of firmness. His step was steady and + collected, and his movements free from the slightest agitation or + indecision. His countenance indeed was pale, and bore the trace of + much dejection, but it was at the same time calm and unmoved. While + the executioner was placing him on the drop he slightly moved his + hands (which were tied in front of him, and strongly clasped one + within the other) up and down two or three times, and this was the + only visible symptom of any emotion or mental anguish which the + wretched man endured. His face was then covered with the cap, fitting + so closely as not to conceal the outlines of his countenance, the + noose was then adjusted. During this operation he lifted up his head + and raised his hands to his breast, as if in the action of fervent + prayer. In a moment the fatal bolt was withdrawn, the drop fell, and + in this attitude the murderer perished. He died without any violent + struggle. In two minutes after he had fallen his legs were twice + slightly convulsed, but no further motion was observable, excepting + that his raised arms, gradually losing their vitality, sank down from + their own lifeless weight. + + After hanging one hour, the body was cut down and removed within the + prison. + + + AFFECTING COPY OF VERSES. + + Attention give, both old and young, + Of high and low degree, + Think while this mournful tale is sung, + Of my sad misery. + I've slain a master good and kind, + To me has been a friend, + For which I must my life resign, + My time is near an end. + + Oh hark! what means that dreadful sound? + It sinks deep in my soul; + It is the bell that sounds my knell, + How solemn is the toll. + See thousands are assembled + Around the fatal place, + To gaze on my approaching, + And witness my disgrace. + + There many sympathising hearts, + Who feel another's woe, + Even now appears in sorrow, + For my sad overthrow. + Think of the aged man I slew, + Then pity's at an end, + I robb'd him of property and life, + And the poor man of a friend. + + Let pilfering passions not intrude, + For to lead you astray, + From step to step it will delude, + And bring you to dismay. + Think of the wretched Courvoisier, + Who thus dies on a tree, + A death of shame, I've nought to blame, + But my own dishonesty. + + Mercy on earth I'll not implore, + To crave it would be vain, + My hands are dyed with human gore, + None can wash off the stain. + But the merits of a Saviour, + Whose mercy alone I crave; + Good Christians pray, as thus I die, + I may his pardon have. + + Paul & Co., Printers, 2, 3, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials. + +But the gallows was not always a fruit-bearing tree, and a "stunning good +murder" did not happen every day. Nevertheless the street patterer must +live, and lest the increase of public virtue should condemn him to +starvation, the "Seven Dials Press," stepped forward to his aid, and +considerately supplied him with a species of street-literature well known +to the trade as "Cocks," and which are defined in "Hotton's Slang +Dictionary" thus:-- + + COCKS, fictitious narratives, in verse or prose, of murders, fires and + terrible accidents, sold in the streets as true accounts. The man who + hawks them, a patterer, often changes the scene of the awful event to + suit the taste of the neighbourhood he is trying to delude. Possibly a + corruption of _cook_--a cooked statement, or may be "the story of a + cock and bull" may have had something to do with the term. + Improvements in newspapers, especially in those published in the + evening, and increased scepticism on the part of the public have + destroyed this branch of a once-flourishing business. + +The late Mr. Albert Smith, the humourist and novelist, has very happily +hit off this style of thing in "The Man in the Moon," one of the many +rivals to "Punch," and edited by that very promising son of genius, the +late Angus B. Reach, 1832-56. It is entitled-- + +A COPY OF VERSES + +_Found among the Papers of Mr. Catnach, the spirited Publisher of Seven +Dials; originally intended to have been "printed and published at the Toy +and Marble Warehouse, 2 and 3, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials."_ + +DEDICATED TO THE AUTHOR OF "LUCRETIA." + +I. + +_The Hero claims the attention of virtuous persons, and leads them to +anticipate a painful disclosure._ + +[Illustration] + + Draw hither now good people all + And let my story warn, + For I will tell to you a tale, + What will wrend them breasts of yourn. + +II. + +_He names the place and hour of the disgraceful penalty he is about to +undergo._ + +[Illustration] + + I am condemn'd all for to die + A death of scorn and horror; + In front of Horsemonger-lane Gaol, + At eight o'clock to-morrer. + +III. + +_He hints at his atrocity; and the ebullition produced by the mere +recollection of it._ + +[Illustration] + + The crime of which I was found guilty, + Oh! it was shocking vile; + The very thoughts of the cruel deed + Now makes my blood to bile. + +IV. + +_He speaks of the happy hours of Childhood, never more to return._ + +[Illustration] + + In Somersetshire I was born'd, + And my little sister dear + Didn't think then that my sad end + Would be like unto this here. + +V. + +_The revelation of his name and profession; and subsequent avowal of his +guilt._ + +[Illustration] + + James Guffin is my hated name, + And a footman I'm by trade; + And I do confess that I did slay + My poor fellow-servant maid. + +VI. + +_He acknowledges the justice of his sentence._ + +[Illustration] + + And well I do deserve, I own, + My fate which is so bitter: + For 'twas most wicked for to kill + So innicent a critter. + +VII. + +_And pictures what might have taken place but for the interference of +Destiny._ + +[Illustration] + + Her maiden name was Sarey Leigh, + And was to have been Guffin; + For we was to have been marri-ed, + But Fate brought that to nuffin. + +VIII. + +_He is particular as to the date of the occurrence._ + +[Illustration] + + All on a Wednesday afternoon, + On the ninth of Janivary, + Eighteen hundred and forty-four, + Oh! I did kill my Sarey. + +IX. + +_And narrates the means employed, and the circumstances which led him to +destroy his betrothed._ + +[Illustration] + + With arsenic her I did destroy, + How could I be so vicious! + But of my young master I was jealous, + And so was my old Missus. + +X. + +_He is led away by bad passions._ + +[Illustration] + + I thought Sarey Leigh warn't true to me, + So all pity then despising, + Sure I was tempted by the Devil + To give to her some p'ison. + +XI. + +_His bosom is torn by conflicting resolutions; but he is at last decided._ + +[Illustration] + + Long--long I brooded on the deed, + 'Til one morning of a sudden, + I did determine for to put + It in a beef-steak puddin. + +XII. + +_The victim falls into the snare._ + +[Illustration] + + Of the fatal pudding she did partake, + Most fearful for to see, + And an hour arter was to it a martyr, + Launch'd into eternity. + +XIII. + +_He feels that his perception comes too late._ + +[Illustration] + + Ah! had I then but viewed things in + The light that I now does 'em, + I never should have know'd the grief + As burns in this here buzum. + +XIV. + +_He commits his secret to the earth._ + +[Illustration] + + So when I seed what I had done, + In hopes of justice retarding, + I took and buried poor Sarey Leigh + Out in the kitching garding. + +XV. + +_But the earth refuses to keep it._ + +[Illustration] + + But it did haunt me, so I felt + As of a load deliver'd, + When three weeks after the fatal deed, + The body was diskiver'd. + +XVI. + +_Remorse and self examination._ + +[Illustration] + + O! why did I form of Sarey Leigh + Such cruel unjust opinions, + When my young master did her find + Beneath the bed of inions. + +XVII. + +_His countrymen form a just estimate of his delinquency._ + +[Illustration] + + Afore twelve jurymen I was tried, + And condemned the perpetrator + Of this here awful Tragedy, + As shocks one's human natur. + +XVIII. + +_He conjures up a painful image._ + +[Illustration] + + But the bell is tolling for my end; + How shocking for to see + A footman gay, in the prime of life, + Die on the fatal tree. + +XIX. + +_His last words convey a moral lesson._ + +[Illustration] + + THE MORAL!!! + + Take warning, then, all ye as would + Not die like malefactors; + Never the company for to keep + Of them with bad characters. + +[Illustration: J. CATNACH, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER.] + + Little Boys and Girls will find + At CATNACH'S something to their mind; + From great variety may choose, + What will instruct them and amuse. + The prettiest plates that you can find, + To please at once the eye and mind. + +One class of literature which the late Jemmy Catnach made almost his own, +was children's farthing and halfpenny books. Among the great many that he +published we select, from our own private collection, the following as a +fair sample:--"The Tragical Death of an Apple Pie," "The House that Jack +Built," "Jumping Joan," "The Butterflies Ball and Grasshoppers' Feast," +"Jerry Diddle and his Fiddle," "Nurse Love-Child's Gift," "The Death and +Burial of Cock Robin," "The Cries of London," "Simple Simon," "Jacky +Jingle and Suky Shingle," and--"Here you have just prin--ted and +pub--lish--ed, and a--dor--ned with eight beau--ti--ful and ele--gantly +engraved embellish--ments, and for the low charge of one _farden_--Yes! +one _farden_ buys." + +NURSERY RHYMES. + +[Illustration] + + See-saw, sacradown, + Which is the way to London town? + One foot up, and the other down, + And that is the way to London town. + +[Illustration] + + Hey diddle, the cat and the fiddle, + The cow jumped over the moon, + The little dog laughed to see the sport, + And the dish ran away with the spoon. + + Ding, dong bell! + Pussy's in the well. + Who put her in? + Little Johnny Green. + Who pulled her out? + Little Johnny Snout. + What a naughty boy was that, + To drown poor pussy cat, + Who never did him any harm, + And kill'd the mice in his father's barn. + +[Illustration] + + Jack and Jill went up the hill, + To get a pail of water; + Jack fell down and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after. + +[Illustration] + + Cock a doodle do, + The dame has lost her shoe, + And master's lost his fiddle stick + And don't know what to do. + + I had a little husband, + No bigger than my thumb. + I put him in a quart pot, + And there I bid him drum. + +[Illustration] + + Who's there? A Grenadier! + What do you want? A pot of beer. + Where's your money? Oh, I forgot, + Then get you gone, you drunken sot. + +[Illustration] + + Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree top, + When the wind blows the cradle will rock, + When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, + Down comes the baby, cradle and all. + +[Illustration] + + There was an old woman that lived in a shoe, + She had so many children she knew not what to do; + She gave them some broth without any bread, + Then she beat them all well, and sent them to bed. + +[Illustration] + + My mother and your mother + Went over the way; + Said my mother to your mother, + It's chop-a-nose day! + +J. Catnach, Printer, 2, Monmouth Court, 7 Dials. + + +THE CRIES OF LONDON. + +[Illustration] + +_Cherries._ + + Here's round and sound, + Black and white heart cherries, + Two-pence a pound. + +[Illustration] + +_Oranges._ + + Here's oranges nice, + At a very small price, + I sell them all two for a penny. + Ripe, juicy, and sweet, + Just fit for to eat, + So customers buy a good many. + +[Illustration] + +_Milk below._ + + Rain, frost, or snow, or hot or cold, + I travel up and down, + The cream and milk you buy of me + Is best in all the town. + For custards, puddings, or for tea, + There's none like those you buy of me. + +[Illustration] + +_Crumpling Codlings._ + + Come buy my Crumpling Codlings, + Buy all my Crumplings. + Some of them you may eat raw, + Of the rest make dumplings, + Or pies, or puddings, which you please. + +[Illustration] + +_Filberts._ + + Come buy my filberts ripe and brown, + They are the best in all the town, + I sell them for a groat a pound, + And warrant them all good and sound, + You're welcome for to crack and try, + They are so good, I'm sure you'll buy. + +[Illustration] + +_Clothes Pegs, Props, or Lines._ + + Come, maids, and buy my pegs and props, + Or lines to dry your clothes, + And when they are dry they'll smell as sweet + As any damask rose. + Come buy and save your clothes from dirt, + They'll save you washing many a shirt. + +[Illustration] + +_Sweep._ + + Sweep, chimney sweep, + Is the common cry I keep, + If you rightly understand me; + With my brush, broom, and my rake, + Such cleanly work I make, + There's few can go beyond me. + +[Illustration] + +_Peas and Beans._ + + Four pence a peck, green Hastings! + And fine garden beans. + They are all morning gathered, + Come hither, my queens. + Come buy my Windsor beans and peas, + You'll see no more this year like these. + +_Young Lambs to Sell._ + + Get ready your money and come to me, + I sell a young lamb for a penny. + Young lambs to sell! young lambs to sell! + If I'd as much money as I could tell, + I never would cry young lambs to sell. + +[Illustration] + + Here's your toys for girls and boys, + Only a penny, or a dirty phial or bottle. + +[Illustration] + +_Strawberries._ + + Rare ripe strawberries and + Hautboys, sixpence a pottle. + Full to the bottom, hautboys. + Strawberries and Cream are charming and sweet, + Mix them and try how delightful they eat. + +[Illustration] + + When Good Friday comes, + The old woman runs + With Hot Cross Buns, + One a penny, Buns, + Two a penny, Buns, + All Hot Buns. + + LONDON: + Printed by J. Catnach, 2, Monmouth + Court, 7 Dials. + +"Songs! Songs! Songs! Beautiful songs! Love songs; Newest songs! Old +songs! Popular songs! Songs, _Three Yards a Penny!_" was a "standing dish" +at the "Catnach Press," and Catnach was the Leo X. of street publishers. +And it is said that he at one time kept a fiddler on the premises, and +that he used to sit receiving ballad writers and singers, and judging of +the merits of any production which was brought to him, by having it sung +then and there to some popular air played by his own fiddler, and so that +the ballad-singer should be enabled to start at once, not only with the +new song, but also the tune to which it was adapted. His broad-sheets +contain all sorts of songs and ballads, for he had a most catholic taste, +and introduced the custom of taking from any writer, living or dead, +whatever he fancied, and printing it side by side with the productions of +his own clients. + +Catnach, towards the latter part of his time and in his threefold capacity +of publisher, compositor, and poet, was in the habit of taking things very +easy, and always appeared to the best advantage when in his printing +office, or stationed behind the ricketty counter which for a number of +years had done good service in the shop in Monmouth-court. In this +uncongenial atmosphere, where the rays of the sun are seldom or never +seen, Jemmy was as happy as a prince. "A poor man's home is his castle," +so says an old proverb, and no one could have been prouder than he was +when despatching to almost every town in the kingdom some specialty in the +printing department. He naturally had a bit of a taste for old ballads, +music, and song writing; and in this respect he was far in advance of many +of his contemporaries. To bring within the reach of all, the standard and +popular works of the day, had been the ambition of the elder Catnach; +whilst the son was, _nolens volens_, incessant in his endeavours in trying +to promulgate and advance, not the beauty, elegance, and harmony which +pervades many of our national airs and ballad poety, but very often the +worst and vilest of each and every description--in other words, those most +suitable for street sale. His stock of songs was very like his customers, +diversified. There were all kinds, to suit all classes. Love, sentimental, +and comic songs were so interwoven as to form a trio of no ordinary amount +of novelty. At ordinary times, when the Awfuls and Sensationals were flat, +Jemmy did a large stroke of business in this line. + +It is said that when the "Songs--_Three-yards-a-penny_"--first came out +and had all the attractions of novelty, some men sold twelve or fourteen +dozen on fine days during three or four of the summer months, so clearing +between 6s. and 7s. a day, but on the average about 25s. per week profit. +The "long songs," however, have been quite superseded by the "Monster" and +"Giant Penny Song Books." Still there are a vast number of halfpenny +ballad-sheets worked off, and in proportion to their size, far more than +the "Monsters" or "Giants." One song book, entitled the "Little Warbler," +was published in parts, and had an enormous sale. + +There are invariably but two songs printed on the half-penny +ballad-sheets--generally a new and popular song with another older ditty, +or a comic and sentimental, and "adorned" with two woodcuts. These are +selected without any regard to their fitness to the subject, and in most +cases have not the slightest reference to the ballad of which they form +the headpiece. For instance:--"The Heart that can feel for another" is +illustrated by a gaunt and savage-looking lion; "When I was first +Breeched," by an engraving of a Highlander _sans culotte_; "The Poacher" +comes under the cut of a youth with a large watering-pot, tending flowers; +"Ben Block" is heralded by the rising sun; "The London Oyster Girl," by +Sir Walter Raleigh; "The Sailors Grave," by the figure of Justice; "Alice +Grey" comes under the very dilapidated figure of a sailor, or "Jolly Young +Waterman;" "Bright Hours are in store for us yet" is _headed_ with a +_tail-piece_ of an urn, on which is inscribed FINIS. (?) "Watercresses," +with the portrait of a Silly Billy; "The Wild Boar Hunt," by two wolves +chasing a deer; "The Dying Child to its Mother," by an Angel appearing to +an old man; "Crazy Jane," by the Royal Arms of England; "Autumn Leaves lie +strew'd around," by a ship in full sail; "Cherry Ripe," by Death's Head +and Cross Bones; "Jack at the Windlass," falls under a Roadside Inn; while +"William Tell" is presented to the British public in form and style of an +old woman nursing an infant of a squally nature. Here are a few +examples:-- + +[Illustration: The Smuggler King.] + +[Illustration: Let me like a Soldier fall.] + +[Illustration: Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor.] + +[Illustration: My Pretty Jane.] + +[Illustration: The Thorn.] + +[Illustration: The Saucy Arethusa.] + +[Illustration: The Gipsy King.] + +[Illustration: Hearts of Oak.] + +[Illustration: Harry Bluff.] + +[Illustration: Death of Nelson.] + +[Illustration: John Anderson, my Jo.] + +[Illustration: Old English Gentleman.] + +[Illustration: The Bleeding Heart.] + +[Illustration: Wapping Old Stairs.] + +[Illustration: Poor Bessy was a Sailor's Bride.] + +[Illustration: Poor Mary Anne.] + +[Illustration: The Muleteer.] + +[Illustration: Tom Bowling.] + +[Illustration: Ye Banks an' Braes.] + +[Illustration: The Mistletoe Bough.] + +[Illustration: The Woodpecker.] + +[Illustration: The Soldier's Tear.] + +[Illustration: LONG-SONG SELLER.] + +Besides the chanters, who sing the songs through the streets of every +city, town, village, and hamlet in the kingdom--the long-song seller, who +shouts their titles on the kerb-stone, and the countless small +shop-keepers, who, in swag-shops, toy-shops, sweetstuff-shops, +tobacco-shops, and general shops, keep them as part of their stock for the +supply of the street boys and the servant girls--there is another +important functionary engaged in their distribution, and who is well known +to the inhabitants of large towns, this is the pinner-up, who takes his +stand against a dead wall or a long range of iron railings, and first +festooning it liberally with twine, pins up one or two hundred ballads for +public perusal and selection. Time was when this was a thriving trade: and +we are old enough to remember the day when a good half-mile of wall +fluttered with the minstrelsy of war and love, under the guardianship of a +scattered file of pinners-up, along the south side of Oxford-street alone. +Thirty years ago the dead walls gave place to shop fronts, and the +pinners-up departed to their long homes. As they died out very few +succeeded to their honours and emoluments. There is one pinner-up, +seemingly the last of his race, who makes his display on the dead wall of +the underground railway in Farringdon road. + +Catnach, to the day of his retirement from business in 1838, when he +purchased the freehold of a disused public-house, which had been known as +the Lion Inn, together with the grounds attached at Dancer's-hill, South +Mimms, near Barnet, in the county of Middlesex, worked and toiled in the +office of the "Seven Dials Press," in which he had moved as the pivot, or +directing mind, for upwards of a quarter of a century. He lived and died a +bachelor. His only idea of all earthly happiness and mental enjoyment was +now to get away in retirement to a convenient distance from his old place +of business, so to give him an opportunity occasionally to go up to town +and have a chat and a friendly glass with one or two old paper-workers and +ballad-writers, and a few others connected with his peculiar trade who had +shown any disposition to work when work was to be done. To them he was +always willing to give or advance a few pence or shillings, in money or +stock, and a glass. + +Catnach left the whole of the business to Mrs. Anne Ryle, his sister, +charged, nevertheless, to the amount of L1,000, payable at his death to +the estate of his niece, Marion Martha Ryle. In the meanwhile Mr. James +Paul acted as managing man for Mrs. Ryle. This Mr. Paul--of whom Jemmy was +very fond, and rumour saith, had no great dislike to the mother--had +grown from a boy to a man in the office of the "Catnach Press." He was, +therefore, well acquainted with the customers, by whom he was much +respected; and it was by his tact and judgment that the business was kept +so well together. At Catnach's death he entered into partnership with Mrs. +Ryle, and the business was carried on under the title and style of Paul & +Co. In 1845 the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Paul receiving L800 in +settlement. He then entered into the public line, taking the Spencer's +Arms, at the corner of Monmouth-court. A son that was born to him in 1847, +he had christened James Catnach Paul. About this date "The Catnach Press" +had a formidable rival in "The Nassau Steam Press," which was originally +started in Nassau Street, Soho, and afterwards removed to No. 60, St. +Martin's Lane. Mr. Paul was especially engaged to manage the song +department at this office. He died in the year 1870, just six weeks after +Mrs. Ryle, and lies buried in the next grave but one to Catnach and his +sister, in Highgate Cemetery. + +After Mr. Paul had left the business it was carried on as A. Ryle & Co., +and ultimately became the property of Mr. W. S. Fortey, who still carries +on the old business in the same premises. A copy of whose trade +announcement runs thus:-- + + "THE CATNACH PRESS." (Established 1813.) + + "William S. Fortey, (late A. Ryle, successor to the late J. Catnach,) + Printer, Publisher, and Wholesale Stationer, 2 and 3, Monmouth-court, + Seven Dials, London, W.C." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: SIR JEFFERY DUNSTAN, _Late Mayor of Garratt, and Itinerant +Dealer in Wigs_.] + +Sir Jeffery Dunstan--thrice Mayor of Garratt! was the most popular +candidate that ever appeared on the Hustings at that very Free and +Independent Borough! His occupation was that of buying old wigs, once an +article of trade like that of old clothes. Sir Jeffery usually carried his +wig bag over his shoulder, and to avoid the charge of vagrancy, +vociferated, as he passed along the street, "Old Wigs," but having a +person like AEsop, and a countenance and manner marked by irresistible +humour, he never appeared without a train of boys and curious persons, +whom he entertained by his sallies of wit, shrewd sayings, and smart +repartees; and from whom, without begging, he collected sufficient to help +to maintain his dignity of Mayor and Knight. + +From the earliest period of Sir Jeffery's life, he was a friend to "good +measures," especially those for "spirituous liquors," and he never saw the +inside of a pot without going to the bottom of it. This determination of +character created difficulties to him; for his freedom was not always +regulated by the doctrines of _meum et tuum_, or, of the great Blackstone, +"on the rights of persons," and consequences ensued that were occasionally +injurious to Sir Jeffery's eyes, face, and nose. The same enlightened +Judge's views of "the rights of property," were not comprehended by Sir +Jeffery, he had long made free with the porter of manifold pots, and at +length he made free with a few of the pots--which the publicans in London +seemed to show in the streets as much as to say "Come and steal me." For +this he was "questioned" in the high Commission Court of oyer and +terminer, and suffered an imprisonment, which, according to his manner of +life, and his notions of the liberty of the subject, was "frivolous and +vexatious." On his liberation, he returned to an occupation he had long +followed, the dealing in "Old Wigs." Some other circumstances, developed +in course of the preceding inquiry, seem to favour a supposition that the +bag he carried had enabled him to conceal his previous "free trade" in +pewter pots. But, be that as it might, it is certain that in his armorial +bearings of four wigs, he added a quart pot for a crest. + +Sir Jeffery was remarkably dirty in his person, and always had his shirt +thrown open, which exposed his breast to public view. This was in him a +sort of pride; for he would frequently in an exulting manner say to +_inferiors_ "I've got a _collar_ to my shirt, sir." He had a filthy habit, +when he saw a number of girls around him, of spitting in their faces, +saying, "There, go about your business." + +Sir Jeffery, in the days of his prosperity, took his "Hodges' best," at +the "Blind Beggar of Bethnal-green," or the "Horse and Leaping Bar," +High-street, Whitechapel, at one or other of these favourite retreats, he +got in a regular manner "regularly drunk." Then it was that he sung in his +best style various popular "London Cries," mimicking others in their +crying, especially one who vended "_Lily, lily, lily, lily white--sand oh! +oh!! oh!!!_" this afforded sport to a merry company. Afterwards, should +Sir Jeffery receive sufficient metalic support from his friends, he was +placed in an arm chair on the table, when he recited to the students of +the London Hospital and the Bucks of the East, his mock-election speeches. +He was no respecter of persons, and was so severe in his jokes on the +corruptions and compromises of power, that he was prosecuted for using +what were then called seditious expressions. In consequence of this +affair, and some few charges of dishonesty, he lost his popularity, and, +at the next general election was ousted by Sir Harry Dimsdale, +muffin-seller, a man as much deformed as himself. Sir Jeffery could not +long survive his fall, but, in death as in life, he proved a satire on the +vices of the proud, for he died, like Alexander the Great, the sailor in +Lord Byron's "Don Juan," and many other heroes renowned in history--of +suffocation from excessive drinking!. + +[Illustration: SIR HARRY DIMSDALE, M.P., FOR GARRATT, COSMOPOLITE AND +MUFFIN-SELLER. + + "Those evening bells! those evening bells! + How many a tale their music tells! + Of youth, and home, and that sweet time + When last I heard their soothing chime."] + +"Muffins, oh! Crumpets, oh," rank among the old cries of London, and at +least one of the calling has been made famous, namely, Harry Dimsdale, +sometime Mayor of Garratt, who, from the moment he stood as candidate, +received mock knighthood, and was ever after known under the appellation +of "Sir Harry." This half-witted character was a dealer in +tin-ware--together with threads, tapes and bootlaces, during the morning, +and a muffin-seller in the afternoon, when he had a little bell, which he +held to his ear, and smiling ironically at its tinkling he would +cry:--"_Muffins! muffins! ladies come buy me! pretty, handsome, blooming, +smiling maids!_" + +Mr. J. T. Smith, in his ever-charming work of "A Book for a Rainy Day; or, +Recollections of the Events of the Years 1766-1833," writing under date +1787, gives the following graphic sketch of the sayings and doings--taken +from life, of "Sir Harry." + +"One of the curious scenes I witnessed on a nocturnal visit to the watch +house of St. Anne, Soho, afforded me no small amusement. Sir Harry +Dinsdale, usually called Dimsdale, a short, feeble little man, was brought +in, charged by two colossal guardians of the night with conduct most +unruly. 'What have you, Sir Harry, to say to all this?' asked the Dogberry +of St. Anne. The knight, who had been roughly handled, commenced like a +true orator, in a low tone of voice. 'May it please ye, my magistrate, I +am not drunk; it is _languor_. A parcel of the Bloods of the Garden have +treated me cruelly, because I would not treat them. This day, sir, I was +sent for by Mr. Sheridan, to make a speech upon the table at the +Shakespeare Tavern, in _Common_ Garden; he wrote the speech for me, and +always gives half a guinea; he sends for me to the tavern. You see I +didn't go in my Royal robes, I only put 'um on when I stand to be a +member.' The constable--'Well, but Sir Harry, why are you brought here?' +One of the watchmen then observed, 'That though Sir Harry was but a little +_shambling_ fellow, he was so _upstroppolus_, and kicked him about at such +a rate, that it was as much as he and his comrade could do to bring him +along.' As there was no one to support the charge, Sir Harry was advised +to go home, which, however, he swore he would not do at midnight without +an escort. 'Do you know,' said he, 'there's a parcel of _raps_ now on the +outside waiting for me.' + +"The constable of the night gave orders for him to be protected to the +public-house opposite the west end of St. Giles's Church, where he then +lodged. Sir Harry, hearing a noise in the street, muttered, 'I shall catch +it; I know I shall.' (_Cries without_,) 'See the conquering hero comes.' +'Ay, they always use that tune when I gain my election at Garratt.' + +"There are several portraits of this singular little object, by some +called 'Honey-juice.' Flaxman, the sculptor, and Mrs. Mathews, of +blue-stocking memory, equipped him as a hardware man, and as such I made +two etchings of him." + + THE MUFFIN MAN. + + (_T. Dibden._) + + While you opera-squallers fine verses are singing, + Of heroes, and poets, and such like humguffins; + While the world's running round, like a mill in a sail, + I'll ne'er bother my head with what other folks ail, + But careless and frisky, my bell I keep ringing, + And walk about merrily crying my muffins. + + CHORUS. + + Lily-white muffins, O, rare crumpets smoking, + Hot Yorkshire cakes, hot loaves and charming cakes, + _One-a-penny, two-a-penny, Yorkshire cakes_. + + What matters to me if great folks run a gadding, + For politics, fashions, or such botheration; + Let them drink as they brew, while I merrily bake; + For though I sell muffins, I'm not such a cake-- + To let other fools' fancies e'er set me a gadding, + Or burthen my thoughts with the cares of the nation. + +SPOKEN.--What have I to do with politicians? And for your _Parliament +cakes_. Why! everybody knows they are _bought_ and _sold_, and often _done +brown_, and made _crusty_ all over the nation. No, no, its enough for me +to cry-- + + Lily-white muffins, &c. + + Let soldiers and sailors, contending for glory, + Delight in the rattle of drums and of trumpets; + Undertakers get living by other folks dying, + While actors make money by laughing or crying; + Let lawyers with quizzels and quiddities bore ye, + It's nothing to me, while I'm crying my crumpets. + + SPOKEN.--What do I care for lawyers? A'nt I a baker, and consequently, + Master of the Rolls:--Droll enough, too, for a Master of the Rolls to be + crying-- + + Lily-white muffins, &c. + +[Illustration: THE MUFFIN MAN. + + "Muffins, oh! crumpets, oh! + Come buy, come buy of me. + Muffins and crumpets, muffins, + For breakfast or for tea."] + +The ringing of the muffin-man's bell--attached to which the pleasant +associations are not a few--is prohibited by a ponderous Act of +Parliament, but the prohibition has been all but inoperative, for the +muffin bell still tinkles along the streets, and is rung vigorously in the +suburbs, and just at the time when City gents, at winter's eve, are +comfortably enveloped in fancy-patterned dressing gowns, prettily-worked +smoking-caps, and easy-going and highly-coloured slippers, and saying +within themselves or aloud:-- + + "Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, + Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, + And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn + Throws up a steamy column, and the cups, + That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, + So let us welcome peaceful evening in." + +"Hot Cross Buns!" Perhaps no "cry"--though it is only for one day in the +year, is more familiar to the ears of a Londoner, than that of +"_One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross-buns_." We lie awake early upon Good +Friday morning and listen to the London bells:-- + + "Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's + Pancakes and fritters, say the bells of St. Peter's, + Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of Whitechapel. + Kettles and pans, say the bells of St. Ann's. + Pokers and tongs, say the bells of St. John's + Brickbats and tiles, say the bells of St. Giles' + Halfpence and farthings, say the bells of St. Martin's. + Bull's eyes and targets, say the bells of St. Marg'rets." + +And all the other London bells having rung--or, rather _toll'd_ out their +own tale of joy or trouble: then comes--rattling over the stones--W. H. +SMITH'S well-known red EXPRESS-CARTS laden with the early printed +newspapers of the coming day, while all night long the carts and waggons +come rumbling in from the country to Covent-garden, and not the least +pleasant sound--pleasant for its old recollections--is the time-honoured +old cry of "Hot Cross-Buns." Century after century passes by, and those +who busily drove their carts day after day from Isleworth, Romford, +Enfield, Battersea, Blackheath, or Richmond, one hundred years ago, are as +still and silent as if they had never been; yet still, Passion week after +Passion week, comes that old cry, nobody knows how old, "Hot Cross Buns, +Hot Cross Buns." And as we lie in a half dreamy state we hear and think of +the chimes of St. Clement Danes, which may still be heard, as Fallstaff +describes, having heard them with Justice Shallow; also, how Pope, as he +lay in Holywell-street--now Bookseller's-row; and Addison and Johnson; +and, before their time, Waller, at the house of his old friend the +merchant of St. Giles's; and the goodly company of poets that lived at +the cost of the king, near Whitehall; then of the quaint old gossiping +diarist, Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty; John Taylor, the +_Water-Poet_; even Shakespeare himself, having each in their turn been +awakened on the Good Friday morning by the same sound ringing in their +ears. For this is a custom which can hardly be traced to a beginning: and +all we know about it is, that as far as we can go back, the Good Friday +was ushered in by the old Good Friday bun; and that the baker in the +towns, and the old good wife in the country, would have thought the day +but badly kept, and augured badly for the coming summer's luck, without +it. + +But between the cakes of Cecrops and the modern Hot Cross Bun there is a +wide gulf of 3,400 years; and yet the one may be traced up to the other. +There are some, indeed, who would wish to give to the Good Friday Hot +Cross Bun a still longer pedigree, and to take it back to the time of the +Patriarchs and their consecrated bread; and there are others who would go +yet further, and trace it to the earliest age of the world, in a portion +of Cain's sacrifice. We may, however, content ourselves with stopping +short at the era of the Egyptian Cecrops, founder of Athens, who made his +sweet cakes of flour and honey. Such cakes as these, as we learn from the +prophet Jeremiah, were offered by the idolatrous Hebrew women to "the +Queen of Heaven," + + "Ashtoreth, whom the Phoenicians called + Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with cresent horns." + +Some can even discern Astarte in our "Easter." The Jews of old had the +shew-bread and the wafer of unleavened bread; and the Egyptians, under the +Pharaohs, had also their cakes, round, oval, and triangular. The Persians +had their sacred cakes of flour and honey; and Herodotus speaks of similar +cakes being offered by the Athenians to a sacred serpent in the temple of +their citadel. And, not to mention other nations, the circumstance that +accompanied the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, 1857, will make memorable +the "chupatties" or sacred cakes of Khrishna. + +The cakes that were offered to Luna by the Greeks and Romans were either +crescent-shaped, or were marked with the crescent moon; and this stamp +must have been very similar to that impressed on the cakes offered by the +Hebrew women to the Queen of Heaven. This mark also resembles that +representing the horns of the sacred ox which was stamped on the Grecian +cakes; and the ox was _bous_, and, in one of its oblique cases, _boun_, so +we derive from that word _boun_ our familiar "bun." There were not only +horn-marked cakes, but horn-marked pieces of money; so that it is very +difficult to ascertain the true meaning of that passage in the opening of +the "Agamemnon" of AEschylus, where the watchman says that a great _bous_ +has come, or set foot, upon his tongue. Although it might mean that +something as weighty as an ox's hoof had weighed down his tongue, yet it +more probably signifies either that he was bribed to silence with a piece +of money marked with the ox's horns, or that the partaking of a sacred +horn-marked cake had initiated him into a certain secret. Curiously +enough, in the _argot_ of thieves, at the present day, a crown piece is +termed "a bull;" and it may also be noted that _pecunia_, "money," is +derived from _pecus_, "cattle;" and "bull" is derived from _bous_, and +also "cow" from the same word, through the Sanscrit _gou_, the _b_ and _g_ +being convertible. + +Thus, originally, the _boun_ or bun was the cake marked with the horns of +the sacred ox. The cross mark was first adopted by the Greeks and Romans +to facilitate the division of the cake into four equal parts; and two such +cross-marked cakes were found in the ruins of Herculaneum. These cakes +were adopted by the early Christians in a spirit of symbolism; but, +although the cross was marked on the cake in token of the badge of their +faith, yet it was also used by the priest for the breaking of the cake, or +Eucharistic wafer, into four pieces; and this was so ordered in the +Liturgy of St. Chrysostom. The cross-marked buns are now, for popular use, +reserved for Good Friday, and, as Lenten cakes, are peculiar to this +country. Among the Syrian Christians of Travancore and Cochin, who trace +their descent from those who were converted by St. Thomas on his +(supposed) visit to India, a peculiar cake is made for "Sorrowful +Friday"--as they term Good Friday. The cake is stuffed with sweetmeats in +the form of an eye, to represent the evil eye of Judas, coveting the +thirty pieces of silver; and the cake is flung at with sticks by the +members of the family until the eye is quite put out; they then share the +remains of the cake among them. + +In the days before the Reformation, _eulogiae_, or cross-marked consecrated +cakes, were made from the dough of the mass-bread, and distributed by the +priests to be eaten at home by those who had been prevented by sickness or +infirmity from attending the mass. After the Reformation, Protestants +would readily retain the custom of eating in their houses a cross marked +cake, although no longer connecting it with a sacred rite, but restricting +its use to that one day of the year known as "Holy Friday," or "Long +Friday"--from the length of the service on that day--but which gradually +came to be called, by the Anglican Church, "Good Friday," in remembrance +of the good things secured to mankind on that day. The presence upon the +breakfast-table of the cross marked bun, flavoured with allspice, in token +of the spices that were prepared by the pious women of Galilee, was, +therefore, regarded in the light of a remembrancer of the solemnities of +the day. The buns were made on the previous evening, Maundy Thursday so +called, either from the "maunds," or baskets, in which Easter gifts were +distributed, or, more probably, because it was the _Dies mandati_, the day +of the command, "That thou doest, do quickly!" as also, "Do this in +remembrance of Me!" and that the disciples should love one another and +should show humility in the washing of feet. + +As Chelsea was long famous for its buns--which are mentioned by Swift to +Stella, in 1712--it was not to be wondered at that it should be celebrated +for its production of hot cross buns on Good Friday. Early in the present +century there were two bun-houses at Chelsea, both claiming to be "Royal" +as well as "Original," until, at last, one of the two proclaimed itself to +be "The Real Old Original Bun House." These two houses did a roaring trade +during the whole of Good Friday, their piazzas being crowded, from six in +the morning to six in the evening, by crowds of purchasers, loungers, and +gossipers. Good King George the Third would come there with his children; +and, of course, the nobility and gentry followed his example. These two +bun-houses were swallowed up, in the march of improvement, some forty +years ago; but on Good Friday, 1830, 240,000 hot cross buns were sold +there. + +The cross bun is not without its folk-lore. Country folks attach much +virtue to the Good Friday buns; and many are kept for "luck's sake" in +cottages from one Good Friday to another. They are not only considered to +be preservatives from sickness and disease, but also as safeguards from +fire and lightning. They are supposed never to get mouldy, as was noted by +"Poor Robin," in his Almanack for 1733, under the head of March:-- + + "Good Friday comes this month: the old woman runs + With one a penny, two a penny hot cross-buns; + Whose virtue is, if you'll believe what's said, + They'll not grow mouldy like the common bread." + +Furthermore, be it known, then, in the interests of suffering humanity, +that if a piece of a Good Friday bun is grated and eaten, it will cure as +many diseases as were ever cured by a patent pill; moreover, the animal +world is not shut out from sharing in its benefits, for it will cure a +calf from "scouring," and mixed in a warm mash, it is the very best remedy +for your cow. Thus the bun is good for the _boun_; in fact, it is good +both for man and beast. + +The sellers of the Good Friday buns are composed of old men and young men, +old women and young women, big children and little children, but +principally boys, and they are of mixed classes, as, costers' boys, boys +habitually and boys occasionally street-sellers, and boys--"some cry now +who never cried before," and for that occasion only. One great inducement +to embark in the trade is the hope of raising a little money for the +Easter holidays following. + +The "cry" of the Hot Cross Bun vendor varies at times and in places--as +thus:-- + + "One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross-buns! + One-a-penny, two for _tup'ence_, hot cross buns!" + +While some of a humorous turn of mind like to introduce a little bit of +their own, or the borrowed wit of those who have gone before them, and +effect the _one_ step which is said to exist from the sublime to the +ridiculous, and cry-- + + "One-a-penny, poker; two-a-penny, tongs! + One-a-penny; two-a-penny, hot cross buns. + One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross-buns! + If your daughters will not eat them, give them to your sons. + But if you haven't any of those pretty little elves, + You cannot then do better than eat them up yourselves; + One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns: + All, hot, hot, hot, all hot. + One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns! + Burning hot! smoking hot, r-r-r-roking hot-- + One-a-penny, two-a-penny, hot cross buns." + +But the street hot-cross-bun trade is languishing--and languishing, will +ultimately die a natural death, as the master bakers and pastrycooks have +entered into it more freely, and now send round to their regular customers +for orders some few days before each succeeding Good Friday. + +A capital writer of NOTES, COMMENT and GOSSIP, who contributes every week +to the _City Press_, under the _nom de plume_ of "Dogberry," gave--_inter +alia_--a few "_Good Words_," the result of his "_Leisure Hours_" in that +journal, on the subject of "Good Friday Customs." March 24, 1883, thus:-- + + "That the buns themselves are as popular as ever they were when the + Real Original Bun Houses existed in Chelsea, was manifest on Thursday + evening, though the scene is now changed from the west to the east. + Bishopsgate-street was indeed all alive with people of high and low + degree crowding in and out of Messrs. Hill & Sons, who, I am told, + turned no less than 47 sacks of flour, representing over 13,000 lbs., + into the favourite Good Friday cakes. This mass was sweetened by 2,800 + lbs. of sugar, moistened with 1,500 quarts of milk, and 'lightened' + with 2,200 lbs. of butter. Something like 25,000 paper bags were used + in packing the buns, and upwards of 150 pairs of hands were engaged in + the making and distribution of the tasty morsels at Bishopsgate and at + the West-end branch of Messrs. Hill, at Victoria. The customary + business of the firm must have been interrupted considerably by Good + Friday, and the forty-seven sacks of flour made into buns represented, + I presume, a considerable deduction from the hundred and ninety to two + hundred which the firm work up in one form or another every week. But + then you can't eat your (Good Friday) cake and have it. There were + other bakers and confectioners in the City, too, who appeared to do a + thriving trade in buns--notably Messrs. Robertson & Co., in + Aldersgate-street. Long live the Good Friday bun!" + + DOGBERRY. + + + HOT CROSS BUNS. + + BY MISS ELIZA COOK. + + "The clear spring dawn is breaking, and there cometh with the ray, + The stripling boy with 'shining face,' and dame in 'hodden grey:' + Rude melody is breathed by all--young--old--the strong, and weak; + From manhood with its burly tone, and age with treble squeak. + Forth come the little busy 'Jacks' and forth come little 'Jills,' + As thick and quick as working ants about their summer hills; + With baskets of all shapes and makes, of every size and sort; + Away they trudge with eager step, through alley, street, and court. + A spicy freight they bear along, and earnest is their care, + To guard it like a tender thing from morning's nipping air; + And though our rest be broken by their voices shrill and clear, + There's something in the well-known 'cry' we dearly love to hear. + 'Tis old, familiar music, when 'the old woman runs' + With 'One-a-penny, two-a-penny, Hot Cross Buns!' + Full many a cake of dainty make has gained a great renown, + We all have lauded 'Gingerbread' and 'Parliament' done brown; + But when did luscious 'Banburies,' or dainty 'Sally Lunns,' + E'er yield such merry chorus theme as 'One-a-penny buns!' + The pomp of palate that may be like old Vitellius fed, + Can never feast as mine did on the sweet and fragrant bread; + When quick impatience could not wait to share the early meal, + But eyed the pile of 'Hot Cross Buns,' and dared to snatch and steal. + Oh, the soul must be uncouth as a Vandal's Goth's, or Hun's, + That loveth not the melody of 'One-a-penny Buns!'" + +And so, awaking in the early morning, we hear the streets ringing with the +cry, "Hot Cross Buns." And perhaps when all that we have wrought shall be +forgotten, when our name shall be as though it had been written on water, +and many institutions great and noble shall have perished, this little bun +will live on unharmed. Others, as well as ourselves, will, it may be, lie +awake upon their beds, and listen to the murmurs going to and fro within +the great heart of London, and, thinking on the half-forgotten days of the +nineteenth century, wonder perhaps whether, in these olden times, we too +heard the sound of "Hot Cross Buns." + +The street Pieman with his "cry," of "Pies all hot! hot!! hot!!!--Penny +pies, all hot! hot!!--fruit, eel, beef, veal or kidney pies! pies, all +hot-hot-hot," is one of the most ancient of street callings, and to London +boys of every degree, "Familiar in their mouths as household words." Nor +is the itinerant trade in pies--"Eel, beef, veal, kidney or fruit," +confined to the great metropolis. All large provincial towns have, from a +time going back much farther than even the proverbial "oldest inhabitant" +can recollect, had their old and favourite "Penny Pieman," or, +"_Old-all-Hot!_" as folks were ever wont to call him. He was generally a +merry dog, and mostly to be found where merriment was going on, he +scrupled not to force his way through the thickest of the crowd, knowing +that the very centre of action was the best market for his wares. + +[Illustration: THE PIEMAN; OR, O LORD! WHAT A PLACE IS A CAMP. + + "O Lord! what a place is a camp, + What wonderful doings are there; + The people are all on the tramp, + To me it looks devilish queer: + Here's ladies a swigging of gin, + A crop of macaronies likewise: + And I, with my 'Who'll up and win? + Come, here is your hot mutton pies.' + + Here's gallopping this way and that, + With, 'Madam, stand out of the way;' + Here's, 'O fie! sir, what would you be at?-- + Come, none of your impudence pray:' + Here's 'Halt--to the right-about-face,' + Here's laughing, and screaming, and cries: + Here's milliners'-men out of place, + And I with my hot mutton pies. + + Here's the heath all round like a fair, + Here's butlers, and sutlers, and cooks; + Here's popping away in the air, + And captains with terrible looks: + Here's 'How do you do?'--'Pretty well; + The dust has got into my eyes,' + There's--'Fellow what have you to sell?' + 'Why, only some hot mutton pies.'"] + +History informs us, through the medium of the halfpenny plain and penny +coloured chap book, editions issued by the "Catnach Press," that, one:-- + + "Simple Simon met a Pieman, + Going to the fair; + Says simple Simon to the Pieman, + 'Let me taste your ware.' + + Says the Pieman unto Simon, + 'First give me a penny;' + Says Simple Simon to the Pieman, + 'I have not got any.'" + +But history is silent as to the birth, parentage, or, even place and date +of the death of the said Simple Simon, or of this very particular pieman. +Halliwell informs us, through one of the "Nursery Rhymes of England," that +on one occasion:-- + + "Punch and Judy + Fought for a pie; + Punch gave Judy + A sad blow on the eye." + +James Lackington--1746-1816--one of the most celebrated of our early cheap +booksellers, lived at the "Temple of Muses," Finsbury-place--the shop, +into which a coach and six could be driven. This curious mixture of +cobbler's wax, piety, vanity, and love of business, has left us in his +autobiography, which he published under the title of his "_Memoirs and +Confessions_," his experience as a pie-boy! or seller of pies, thus:-- + + "At ten years old I cried apple pies in the street. I had noticed a + famous pieman, and thought I could do it better myself. My mode of + crying pies soon made me a street favourite, and the old pie merchant + left off trade. You see, friend, I soon began to make a noise in the + world. But one day I threw my master's child out of a wheelbarrow, so + I went home again, and was set by my father to learn his trade, + continuing with him for several years. My fame as a pieman led to my + selling almanacks on the market days at Christmas. This was to my + mind, and I sorely vexed the [regular] vendors of 'Moore,' 'Wing,' and + 'Poor Robin.' My next move was to be bound apprentice for seven + years." + +We frequently meet with the pieman in old prints; and in Hogarth's "March +to Finchley," there he stands in the very centre of the crowd, grinning +with delight at the adroitness of one robbery, while he is himself the +victim of another. We learn from this admirable figure by the greatest +painter of English life, that the pieman of the last century perambulated +the streets in professional costume; and we gather further, from the burly +dimensions of his wares that he kept his trade alive by the laudable +practice of giving "a good pennyworth for a penny." Justice compels us to +observe that his successors of a later generation have not been very +conscientious observers of this maxim. + +[Illustration: HOGARTH'S PIEMAN.] + +[Illustration: NICE NEW! NICE NEW! + + All hot! All Hot Hot! All Hot! + _Here they are, two sizes bigger than last week._] + +At this date there was James Sharpe England, a noted flying pieman, who +attended all the metropolitan festive gatherings; he walked about hatless, +to sell his savoury wares, with his hair powdered and tied _en queue_, his +dress neat, apron spotless, jesting wherever he went, with a mighty voice +in recommendation of the puddings and pies, which, for the sake of greater +oddity he sometimes carried on a wooden platter. + +[Illustration: JAMES SHARPE ENGLAND, _The Flying Pieman_.] + +The London pieman, as he takes his walks abroad, makes a practice of +"looking in" at all the taverns on his way. Here his customers are found +principally in the tap-room. "Here they are, all 'ot!" the pieman cries, +as he walks in; "toss or buy! up and win 'em!" For be it known to all whom +it may concern, the pieman is a gambler, both from inclination and +principle, and will toss with his customers, either by the dallying +shilly-shally process of "best five in nine," or "best two in three," or +the desperate dash of "sudden death!" in which latter case the first toss +decides the matter, _viz_:--a pie for a penny, or your penny gone for +nothing, but he invariably declines the mysterious process of "odd man," +not being altogether free from suspicion on the subject of collusion +between a couple of hungry, and not over honestly inclined customers. + +Of the "stuff" which pie-dealers usually make their wares, much has been +sung and said, and in some neighbourhoods the sight of an approaching +pieman seems to get about an immediate desire for imitating the harmless +cat and its "Mee-yow," or the "Bow-wow-wow!" of the dog. And opprobrious +epithets are hurled at the piemen as they parade the streets and alleys, +and even kidnapping has been slyly hinted at, for the mother of Tom +Cladpole, finding her son so determined to make a "Jurney to +Lunnun"--least he should die a fool, tries to frighten the boy out of his +fixed intention by informing him in pure Sussex dialect that:-- + + "Besides, dey kidnap people dere, + Ah! ketch um by supprize, + An send um off where nub'dy knows, + Or _baak um up in pies_." + +It was ever a safe piece of comic business with Old Joey Grimaldi and his +favourite pupil and successor, Tom Matthews, together with all other +stage clowns following them, that a penny pieman and the bright shining +block-tin can should be introduced into every Christmas pantomime. The +pataloon is made to be tossing the safe game of--"heads I win, tails you +lose" with the stage pieman, while the roguish clown is adroitly managing +to swallow the whole of the stock of pies from the can, and which are made +by the stage property-man for the occasion out of tissue-paper painted in +water-colours. Then follows the wry faces and spasmodic stomach-pinchings +of the clown, accompanied with the echoing cries of "_Mee, mee, mow, +woo!_" while the pantaloon takes from the pieman's can some seven or eight +fine young kittens and the old tabby-cat--also the handy-work of the stage +property-man. The whole scene usually finishes by the pantaloon pointedly +sympathizing with the now woebegone clown to the tune of "Serve ye +right--Greedy! greedy!! greedy!!!" when enter six supernumeraries dressed +as large and motherly-looking tabbies with aprons and bibs, and bedizened +with white linen night caps of the pattern known in private life to +middle-aged married men only. The clown and pantaloon then work together +in hunting down, and then handing over the poor pieman to the tender +mercies and talons of the stage-cats, who finish up the "business" of the +scene by popping the pieman into what looks like a copper of boiling +water. + +Mr. Samuel Weller,--_otherwise_, Veller, that great modern authority on +Y{e} Manners and Y{e} Customs, of Y{e} English in general, and of London +Life wery Particular:--for "Mr. Weller's knowldge of London was extensive +and peculiar"--has left us his own ideas of the baked "mysteries" of the +pieman's ware:-- + + "Weal pie," said Mr. Weller, soliloquising, as he arranged the + eatables on the grass. "Werry good thing is a weal pie, when you know + the lady as made it, and is quite sure it an't kittens; and arter all, + though, where's the odds, when they're so like weal that the wery + piemen themselves don't know the difference?" + + "Don't they, Sam?" said Mr. Pickwick. + + "Not they, sir," replied Mr. Weller, touching his hat. "I lodged in + the same house vith a pieman once, sir, and a wery nice man he + was--reg'lar clever chap too--made pies out o' anything, he could. + 'What a number o' cats you keep, Mr. Brooks,' says I, when I'd got + intimate with him. 'Ah,' says he, 'I do--a good many,' says he. 'You + must be wery fond o' cats,' says I. 'Other people is,' says he, a + winkin' at me; 'they an't in season till the winter though,' says he. + 'Not in season!' says I. 'No,' says he, 'fruits is in, cats is out.' + 'Why, what do you mean?' says I. 'Mean?' says he. 'That I'll never be + a party to the combination o' the butchers, to keep up the prices o' + meat,' says he. 'Mr. Weller,' says he, a squeezing my hand wery hard, + and vispering in my ear--'don't mention this here agin--but it's the + seasonin' that does it. They're all made o' them noble animals,' says + he, a pointin' to a wery nice little tabby kitten, 'and I seasons 'em + for beef-steaks, weal, or kidney, 'cordin to demand. And more than + that,' says he, 'I can make a weal a beef-steak, or a beef-steak a + kidney, or any one on 'em a mutton, at a minute's notice, just as the + market changes, and appetites wary!" + + "He must have been a very ingenious young man, that, Sam," said Mr. + Pickwick, with a slight shudder. + + "Just was, sir," replied Mr. Weller, continuing his occupation of + emptying the basket, "_and the pies was beautiful_." + +The "gravy" given with the meat-pies is poured out of an oil-can and +consists of a little salt and water browned. A hole is made with the +little finger in the top of the pie and the "gravy" poured in until the +crust rises sufficiently to satisfy the young critical gourmand's taste. + +"The London piemen," says Mr. Henry Mayhew, "May be numbered at about +forty in winter, and twice that number in summer." Calculating that there +are only fifty plying their trade the year through, and their average +earnings at 8s. a week, we find a street expenditure exceeding L1,040, and +a street consumption of pies amounting to nearly three quarters of a +million yearly. + +[Illustration: YOUNG LAMBS TO SELL. + + Young lambs to sell! young lambs to sell. + If I'd as much money as I could tell, + I'd not come here with young lambs to sell! + Dolly and Molly, Richard and Nell, + Buy my young lambs, and I'll use you well!] + +The engraving represents an old "London Crier," one William Liston, from a +drawing for which he purposely _stood_ in 1826. + +This "public character" was born in the City of Glasgow. He became a +soldier in the waggon-train commanded by Colonel Hamilton, and served +under the Duke of York in Holland, where, on the 6th of October, 1799, he +lost his right arm and left leg, and his place in the army. His +misfortunes thrust distinction upon him. From having been a private in the +ranks, where he would have remained undistinguished, he became one of the +popular street-characters of his day. + +In Miss Eliza Cook's Poem "Old Cries" she sings in no feeble strain the +praises of the old man of her youthful days, who cried--"Merry and free as +a marriage bell":-- + + YOUNG LAMBS TO SELL. + + There was a man in olden time, + And a troubador was he; + Whose passing chant and lilting rhyme + Had mighty charms for me. + + My eyes grew big with a sparkling stare, + And my heart began to swell, + When I heard his loud song filling the air + About "Young lambs to sell!" + + His flocks were white as the falling snow, + With collars of shining gold; + And I chose from the pretty ones "all of a row," + With a joy that was untold. + + Oh, why did the gold become less bright, + Why did the soft fleece lose its white, + And why did the child grow old? + + 'Twas a blithe, bold song the old man sung; + The words came fast, and the echoes rung, + Merry and free as "a marriage bell;" + And a right, good troubadour was he, + For the hive never swarmed to the chinking key, + As the wee things did when they gathered in glee + To his musical cry--"Young lambs to sell!" + + Ah, well-a-day! it hath passed away, + With my holiday pence and my holiday play-- + I wonder if I could listen again, + As I listened then, to that old man's strain-- + All of a row--"Young lambs to sell." + +[Illustration: THE LONDON BARROW-WOMAN. + + Round and sound, + Two-pence a pound. + Cherries, rare ripe cherries! + + Cherries a ha'penny a stick + Come and pick! come and pick! + Cherries big as plums! who comes, who comes.] + +The late George Cruikshank, whose pencil was ever distinguished by power +of decision in every character he sketched, and whose close observation of +passing men and manners was unrivalled by any artist of his day, +contributed the "London Barrow-woman" to the pages of Hone's _Every-Day +Book_ in 1826 from his own recollection of her. + +[Illustration: BUY A BROOM. + + These poor "Buy-a-Broom girls" exactly dress now, + As Hollar etch'd such girls two cent'ries ago; + All formal and stiff, with legs, only at ease-- + Yet, pray, judge for yourself; and don't if you please, + + * * * * * + + But ask for the print, at old print shops--they'll show it, + And look at it, "with your own eyes," and you'll _know_ it.] + +Buy a Broom? was formerly a very popular London-cry, when it was usually +rendered thus:--"_Puy a Proom, puy a prooms? a leetle von for ze papy, and +a pig vons for ze lady: Puy a Proom_." Fifty years ago Madame Vestris +charmed the town by her singing and displaying her legs as a _Buy-a-Broom +Girl_. + + Buy a broom, buy a broom, + Large broom, small broom, + No lady should e'er be without one, &c. + +But time and fashion has _swept_ both the brooms and the girls from our +shores.--Madame Vestris lies head-to-head with Charles Mathews in Kensal +Green Cemetery. _Tempus omnia revelat._ + +[Illustration: THE LADY AS CRIES CATS' MEAT. + + Old Maids, your custom I invites, + Fork out, and don't be shabby, + And don't begrudge a bit of lights + Or liver for your Tabby. + + Hark! how the Pusses make a rout-- + To buy you can't refuse; + So may you never be without + The _music_ of their _mews_. + + Here's famous meat--all lean, no fat-- + No better in Great Britain; + Come, buy a penn'orth for your Cat-- + A happ'orth for your Kitten. + + Come all my barrow for a bob! + Some charity diskivir; + For faith, it ar'n't an easy job + To _live_ by selling _liver_. + + Who'll buy? who'll buy of Catsmeat-Nan! + I've bawl'd till I am sick; + But ready money is my plan; + I never gives no tick. + + I've got no customers as yet-- + In wain is my appeal-- + And not to buy a single bit + Is werry ungenteel!] + +[Illustration: OUR DANDY CATS' AND DOGS' MEAT MAN.] + +Every morning as true as the clock--the quiet of "Our Village Green" is +broken by a peculiar and suggestive cry. We do not hear it yet ourselves, +but Pincher, our black and tan terrier dog, and Smut, our black and white +cat, have both caught the well-known accents, and each with natural +characteristic--the one wagging his tail, the other with a stiff +perpendicular [dorsel appendage] sidles towards the door, demanding as +plainly as possible, to be let out. Yes, it is "Our Dandy Cats' and Dogs' +Meat Man," with his "_Ca' me-e-et--dogs' me yet--Ca' or do-args-me-a-yet, +me a-t--me-yett!!!_" that fills the morning air, and arouses exactly seven +dogs of various kinds, and exactly thirty-one responsive feline +voices--there is a cat to every house on "Our Village Green"--and causes +thirty-one aspiring cat's-tails to point to the zenith. We do not know how +it is, but the Cat's-meat man is the most unerring and punctual of all +those peripatetic functionaries who undertake to cater for the public. The +baker, the butcher, the grocer, the butterman, the fishmonger, and the +coster, occasionally forget your necessities, or omit to call for your +orders--the cat's-meat man never! + +[Illustration: GUY FAWKES--GUY.] + +There cannot be a better representation of "Guy Fawkes," as he was borne +about the metropolis in effigy in the days "When George the Third was +King," than the above sketch by George Cruikshank. + + Please to remember the fifth of November, + Gunpowder treason and plot; + We know no reason, why gunpowder treason, + Should ever be forgot! + Holla boys! holla boys! huzza-a-a! + A stick and a stake, for King George's sake, + A stick and a stump, for Guy Fawkes' rump! + Holla boys! holla boys! huzza-a-a! + +[Illustration: HENRY LEMOINE, The Literary and Pedestrian Bookseller and +Author, _A well known_ Eccentric Character of the City of London.] + +[Illustration: ALL ROUND MY HAT I VEARS A GREEN VILLOW.] + + All round my hat I vears a green villow, + All round my hat, for a twelvemonth and a day; + If any body axes me the reason vy I vears it, + I tells 'em that my own true love is far far away. + 'Twas a going of my rounds, in the streets I first did meet her, + Oh, I thought she vos a hangel just come down from the sky; + + SPOKEN.--She's a nice wegitable countenance; turnup nose, redish cheeks, + and carroty hair. + + And I never knew a voice more louder or more sweeter, + Vhen she cried, buy my primroses, my primroses come buy. + + SPOKEN.--Here's your fine colliflowers. + + All round, &c. + + O, my love she was fair, my love she was kind, too, + And cruel vos the cruel judge vot had my love to try: + + SPOKEN.--Here's your precious turnups. + + For thieving vos a thing she never vos inclined to: + But he sent my love across the seas, far far away. + + SPOKEN.--Here's your hard-hearted cabbages. + + All round, &c. + + For seven long years my love and I is parted, + For seven long years my love is bound to stay. + + SPOKEN.--It's a precious long time 'fore I does any trade to-day. + + Bad luck to that chap vot'd ever be false-hearted, + Oh, I'll love my love for ever, tho' she's far far away. + + SPOKEN.--Here's your nice heads of salary! + + All round, &c. + + There is some young men so preciously deceitful, + A coaxing of the young gals they vish to lead astray. + + SPOKEN.--Here's your Valnuts; crack'em and try'em, a shilling a hundred! + + As soon as they deceives'em, so cruelly they leaves 'em, + And they never sighs nor sorrows ven they're far far away!-- + + SPOKEN.--Do you vant any hingons to-day, marm? + + All round, &c. + + Oh, I bought my love a ring on the werry day she started, + Vich I gave her as a token all to remember me: + + SPOKEN.--Bless her h-eyes, + + And vhen she does come back, oh, ve'll never more be parted + But ve'll marry and be happy--oh, for ever and a day. + + SPOKEN.--Here's your fine spring redishes. + + All round, &c. + +[Illustration: THE NEW LONDON CRIES.] + + _Tune_--"The Night Coach." + + Dear me! what a squalling and a bawling, + What noise, and what bustle in London pervades; + People of all sorts shouting and calling, + London's a mart, sure, for men of all trades. + The _chummy_ so black, sir, with bag on his back, sir, + Commences the noise with the cry of "sweep, sweep!" + Then Dusty and Crusty with voices so lusty, + Fish-men and green-men, their nuisances keep. + Dear me, &c. + + Fine water cresses, two bunches a penny, + Fine new milk, two-pence ha'p'ny a quart! + Come buy my fine matches--as long as I've any, + Carrots and turnips, the finest e'er bought. + Dainty fresh salmon! _without_ any _gammon_, + Hare skins or rabbit skins! hare skins, cook I buy! + 'Taters all sound, sir, two-pence six pounds, sir, + Coals ten-pence a bushel, buy them and try. + Dear me, &c. + + Here's songs three yards for a penny! + Comic songs, love songs, and funny songs, too; + _Billy Barlow_,--_Little Mike_,--_Paddy Denny!_ + _The Bailiffs are coming_--_The Hero of Waterloo_. + Eels four-pence a pound--pen knives here ground, + Scissors ground sharp, a penny a pair! + Tin kettles to mend, sir, your fenders here send, sir, + For six-pence a piece, I will paint 'em with care. + Dear me, &c. + + Come buy my _old man_, a penny a root, + The whole true account of the murder last night! + Fine Seville oranges, ne'er was such fruit, + Just printed and published, the last famous fight. + Arrived here this morning--strange news from Greece, + A victory gain'd o'er the great Turkish fleet; + Chairs to mend--hair brooms, a shilling a piece! + Cap box, bonnet box--cats' and dogs' meat. + Dear me, &c. + + Here's _inguns_ a penny a rope, + Pots and pans--old clothes, clo' for sale! + A dread storm near the Cape of Good Hope. + Greens two-pence a bunch--twenty-pence a new pail. + Sprats, a penny a plateful--I should feel werry grateful, + Kind friends for a ha'p'ny for my babe's sakes; + Shrimps, penny a pot--baked 'taters all hot! + Muffins and crumpets, or fine Yorkshire cakes. + Dear me, &c. + + "Had I a _Garden_, a _Field_ and a _Gate_, + I would not care for the Duke of Bedford's estate; + That is, I would not care for the Duke of Bedford's estate, + If I had _Covent Garden_, _Smithfield_, and _Billingsgate_." + +Billingsgate has from time immemorial had much to do with "The Cries of +London," and although a rough and unromantic place at the present day, has +an ancient legend of its own, that associates it with royal names and +venerable folk. Geoffrey of Monmouth deposeth that about 400 years before +Christ's nativity, Belin, a king of the Britons, built this gate and gave +it its name, and that when he was dead the royal body was burnt, and the +ashes set over the gate in a vessel of brass, upon a high pinnacle of +stone. The London historian, John Stow, more prosaic, on the other hand, +is quite satisfied that one Biling once owned the wharf, and troubles +himself no further. + +Byllngsgate Dock is mentioned as an important quay in "Brompton's +Chronicle" (Edward III.), under the date 976, when King Ethelred, being +then at Wantage, in Berkshire, made laws for regulating the customs on +ships at Byllngsgate, then the only wharf in London. 1. Small vessels were +to pay one halfpenny. 2. Larger ones, with sails, one penny. 3. Keeles, or +hulks, still larger, fourpence. 4. Ships laden with wood, one log shall be +given for toll. 5. _Boats with fish_, according to size, a halfpenny. 6. +Men of Rouen, who came with wine or peas, and men of Flanders and Liege, +were to pay toll before they began to sell, but the Emperor's men (Germans +of the Steel Yard) paid an annual toll. 7. Bread was tolled three times a +week, cattle were paid for in kind, and butter and cheese were paid more +for before Christmas than after. + +Hence we gather that at a very early period Billingsgate was not merely a +fish-market, but for the sale of general commodities. Paying toll in kind +is a curious fiscal regulation; though, doubtless, when barter was the +ordinary mode of transacting business, taxes must have been collected in +the form of an instalment of the goods brought to market. + +Our ancestors four hundred years ago had, in proportion to the population +of London, much more abundant and much cheaper fish than we have now. +According to the "Noble Boke off Cookry," a reprint of which, from the +rare manuscript in the Holkham Collection, has just been edited by Mrs. +Alexander Napier, Londoners in the reign of Henry VII. could regale on +"baked porpois," "turbert," "pik in braissille," "mortins of ffishe," +"eles in bruet," "fresh lamprey bak," "breme," in "sauce" and in "brasse," +"soal in brasse," "sturgion boiled," "haddock in cevy," "codling haddock," +"congur," "halobut," "gurnard or rocket boiled," "plaice or flounders +boiled," "whelks boiled," "perche boiled," "freeke makrell," "bace molet," +"musculles," in "shelles" and in "brothe," "tench in cevy," and "lossenge +for ffishe daies." For the rich there were "potages of oysters," "blang +mang" and "rape" of "ffishe," to say nothing of "lampry in galantyn" and +"lampry bak." Our forefathers ate more varieties of fish, cooked it +better, and paid much less for it than we do, with all our railways and +steamboats, our Fisheries' Inspectors, our Fisheries Exhibion and new Fish +Markets with their liberal rules and regulations. To be sure, those same +forefathers of ours not only enacted certain very stringent laws against +"forestalling" and "regrating," but were likewise accustomed to enforce +them, and to make short work upon occasion of the forestalled and +regraters of fish, as of other commodities. + +In Donald Lupton's "London and the Covntrey Carbonadoed and Quartred into +seuerall Characters. London, Printed by Nicholas Okes, 1632," the nymphs +of the locality are thus described:-- + + FISHERWOMEN:--These crying, wandering, and travelling creatures carry + their shops on their heads, and their storehouse is ordinarily + Byllyngsgate, or Ye Brydge-foot; and their habitation Turnagain Lane. + They set up every morning their trade afresh. They are easily + furnished; get something and spend it jovially and merrily. Five + shillings, a basket, and a good cry, are a large stock for them. They + are the merriest when all their ware is gone. In the morning they + delight to have their shop full; at evening they desire to have it + empty. Their shop is but little, some two yards compass, yet it holds + all sort of fish, or herbs, or roots, and such like ware. Nay, it is + not destitute often of nuts, oranges, and lemons. They are free in all + places, and pay nothing for rent, but only find repairs to it. If they + drink their whole stock, it is but pawning a petticoate in Long Lane, + or themselves in Turnbull Street, to set up again. They change daily; + for she that was for fish this day, may be to-morrow for fruit, next + day for herbs, another for roots; so that you must hear them cry + before you know what they are furnished withal. When they have done + their Fair, they meet in mirth, singing, dancing, and end not till + either their money, or wit, or credit be clean spent out. Well, when + on any evening they are not merry in a drinking house, it is thought + they have had bad return, or else have paid some old score, or else + they are bankrupt: they are creatures soon up and soon down. + +The above quaint account of the ancient Billingsgate ladies answers +exactly to the costermonger's wives of the present day, who are just as +careless and improvident; they are merry over their rope of onions, and +laugh over a basketful of stale sprats. In their dealings and disputes +they are as noisy as ever, and rather apt to put decency and good manners +to the blush. Billingsgate eloquence has long been proverbial for coarse +language, so that low abuse is often termed, "_That's talking +Billingsgate!_" or, that, "_You are no better than a Billingsgate +fish-fag_"--_i.e._, You are as rude and ill-mannered as the women of +Billingsgate fish-market (Saxon, _bellan_, "to bawl," and _gate_, "quay," +meaning the noisy quay). The French say "Maubert," instead of +Billingsgate, as "_Your compliments are like those of the Place +Maubert_"--_i.e._, No compliments at all, but vulgar dirt-flinging. The +"Place Maubert," has long been noted for its market. + +[Illustration: THE CRIER OF POOR JOHN. + +"It is well thou art not a fish, for then thou would'st have been _Poor +John_"--_Romeo and Juliet_.] + +The introduction of steamboats has much altered the aspect of +Billingsgate. Formerly, passengers embarked here for Gravesend and other +places down the river, and a great many sailors mingled with the salesmen +and fishermen. The boats sailed only when the tide served, and the +necessity of being ready at the strangest hours rendered many taverns +necessary for the accommodation of travellers. The market formerly opened +two hours earlier than at present, and the result was demoralising and +exhausting. Drink led to ribald language and fighting, but the refreshment +now taken is chiefly tea or coffee, and the general language and behaviour +has improved. The fish-fags of Ned Ward's time have disappeared, and the +business is done smarter and quicker. As late as 1842 coaches would +sometimes arrive at Billingsgate from Dover or Brighton, and so affect the +market. The old circle from which dealers in their carts attended the +market, included Windsor, St. Alban's, Hertford, Romford, and other places +within twenty-five miles. Railways have now enlarged the area of +purchasers to an indefinite degree. + +To see this market in its busiest time, says Mr. Mayhew, "the visitor +should be there about seven o'clock on a Friday morning." The market opens +at four, but for the first two or three hours it is attended solely by the +regular fishmongers and "bummarees," who have the pick of the best there. +As soon as these are gone the costermonger's sale begins. Many of the +costers that usually deal in vegetables buy a little fish on the Friday. +It is the fast day of the Irish, and the mechanics' wives run short of +money at the end of the week, and so make up their dinners with fish: for +this reason the attendance of costers' barrows at Billingsgate on a Friday +morning is always very great. As soon as you reach the Monument you see a +line of them, with one or two tall fishmongers' carts breaking the +uniformity, and the din of the cries and commotion of the distant market +begin to break on the ear like the buzzing of a hornet's nest. The whole +neighbourhood is covered with hand-barrows, some laden with baskets, +others with sacks. The air is filled with a kind of sea-weedy odour, +reminding one of the sea-shore; and on entering the market, the smell of +whelks, red herrings, sprats, and a hundred other sorts of fish, is almost +overpowering. The wooden barn looking square[14] where the fish is sold +is, soon after six o'clock, crowded with shiny cord jackets and greasy +caps. Everybody comes to Billingsgate in his worst clothes; and no one +knows the length of time a coat can be worn until they have been to a fish +sale. Through the bright opening at the end are seen the tangled rigging +of the oyster boats, and the red-worsted caps of the sailors. Over the hum +of voices is heard the shouts of the salesmen, who, with their white +aprons, peering above the heads of the mob, stand on their tables roaring +out their prices. All are bawling together--salesmen and hucksters of +provisions, capes, hardware, and newspapers--till the place is a perfect +Babel of competition. + + "Ha-a-andsome cod! best in the market! All alive! alive! alive, + oh!"--"Ye-o-o! ye-o-o! Here's your fine Yarmouth bloaters! Who's the + buyer?"--"Here you are, governor; splendid whiting! some of the right + sort!"--"Turbot! turbot! All alive, turbot."--"Glass of nice + peppermint, this cold morning? Halfpenny a glass!"--"Here you are, at + your own price! Fine soles, oh!"--"Oy! oy! oy! Now's your time! Fine + grizzling sprats! all large, and no small!"--"Hullo! hullo, here! + Beautiful lobsters! good and cheap. Fine cock crabs, all alive, + oh!"--"Five brill and one turbot--have that lot for a pound! Come and + look at 'em, governor; you won't see a better lot in the + market!"--"Here! this way; this way, for splendid skate! Skate, oh! + skate, oh!"--"Had-had-had-had-haddock! All fresh and good!"--"Currant + and meat puddings! a ha'penny each!"--"Now, you mussel-buyers, come + along! come along! come along! Now's your time for fine fat + mussels!"--"Here's food for the belly, and clothes for the back; but I + sell food for the mind!" shouts the newsvendor.--"Here's smelt, + oh!"--"Here ye are, fine Finney haddick!"--"Hot soup! nice pea-soup! + a-all hot! hot!"--"Ahoy! ahoy, here! Live plaice! all alive, + oh!"--"Now or never! Whelk! whelk! whelk!" "Who'll buy brill, oh! + brill, oh?"--"Capes! waterproof capes! Sure to keep the wet out! A + shilling apiece!"--"Eels, oh! eels, oh! Alive, oh! alive oh!"--"Fine + flounders, a shilling a lot! Who'll have this prime lot of + flounders?"--"Shrimps! shrimps! fine shrimps!"--"Wink! wink! + wink!"--"Hi! hi-i! here you are; just eight eels left--only + eight!"--"O ho! O ho! this way--this way--this way! Fish alive! alive! + alive, oh." + + BILLINGSGATE; OR, THE SCHOOL OF RHETORIC. + + Near London Bridge once stood a gate, + Belinus gave it name, + Whence the green Nereids oysters bring, + A place of public fame. + + Here eloquence has fixed her seat, + The nymphs here learn by heart + In mode and figure still to speak, + By modern rules of art. + + To each fair oratress this school + Its rhetoric strong affords; + They double and redouble tropes, + With finger, fish, and words. + + Both nerve and strength and flow of speech, + With beauties ever new, + Adorn the language of these nymphs, + Who give it all their due. + + O, happy seat of happy nymphs! + For many ages known, + To thee each rostrum's forc'd to yield-- + Each forum in the town. + + Let other academies boast + What titles else they please; + Thou shalt be call'd "the gate of tongues," + Of tongues that never cease. + +The sale of hot green peas in the streets of London is of great antiquity, +that is to say, if the cry of "_Hot peascods! one began to cry_," recorded +by Lydgate in his _London Lackpenny_, may be taken as having intimated the +sale of the same article under the modern cry of "_Hot green peas! all +hot, all hot! Here's your peas, hot, hot, hot!_" In many parts of the +country it is, or was, customary to have a "_scalding of peas_," as a sort +of rustic festivity, at which green peas scalded or slightly boiled with +their pods on are the main dish. Being set on the table in the midst of +the party, each person dips his peapod in a common cup of melted butter, +seasoned with salt and pepper, and extracts the peas by the agency of his +teeth. At times one bean, shell and all is put into the steaming mass, +whoever gets this bean is to be first married. + +The sellers of green peas "hot, all hot!" have no stands but carry them in +a tin pot or pan which is wrapped round with a thick cloth, to retain the +heat. The peas are served out with a ladle, and eaten by the customers out +of basins provided with spoons by the vendor. Salt and pepper are supplied +_at discretion_, but the _fresh!_ butter to grease 'em (_avec votre +permission_.) + +The hot green peas are sold out in halfpennyworths and pennyworths, some +vendors, in addition to the usual seasoning supplied, add _a suck of +bacon_. The "suck of bacon" is obtained by the street Arabs from a piece +of that article, securely fastened by a string, to obtain a "relish" for +the peas, or as is usually said "to flavour 'em;" sometimes these young +gamins manage to bite the string and then _bolt_ not only the bacon, but +away from the vendors. The popular saying "a plate of veal cut with a +_hammy_ knife" is but a refined rendering of the pea and suck-'o-bacon, +street luxury trick. + +Pea soup is also sold in the streets of London, but not to the extent it +was twenty years ago, when the chilled labourer and others having only a +halfpenny to spend would indulge in a basin of--"_All hot!_" + +[Illustration: THE FLOWER-POT MAN. + + Here comes the old mail with his flowers to sell, + Along the streets merrily going; + Full many a year I've remember'd him well, + With, "Flowers, a-growing, a-blowing." + + Geraniums in dresses of scarlet and green; + Thick aloes, that blossom so rarely; + The long creeping cereus with prickles so keen, + Or primroses modest and early. + + The myrtle dark green, and the jessamine pale, + Sweet scented and gracefully flowing, + This flower-man carries and offers for sale, + "All flourishing, growing, and blowing."] + +With the coming in of spring there is a large sale of Palm; on the +Saturday preceding and on Palm Sunday; also of May, the fragrant flower of +the hawthorn, and lilac in flower. But perhaps the pleasantest of all +cries in early spring is that of "_Flowers--All a-growing--all +a-blowing_," heard for the first time in the season. Their beauty and +fragrance gladden the senses; and the first and unexpected sight of them +may prompt hopes of the coming year, such as seem proper to the spring. + + "Come, gentle spring! ethereal mildness! come." + +The sale of English and Foreign nuts in London is enormous, the annual +export from Tarragona alone is estimated at 10,000 tons. Of the various +kinds, we may mention the "Spanish," the "Barcelona," the "Brazil," the +"Coker-nut," the "Chesnut," and "Though last, not least, in love"--The +"Walnut!" + + "As jealous as Ford, that search'd a hollow wall-nut for his wife's + lemon."--_Merry Wives of Windsor._ + +The walnut-tree has long existed in England, and it is estimated that +upwards of 50,000 bushels of walnuts are disposed of in the wholesale +markets of the London district annually. Who is not pleased to hear every +Autumn the familiar cry of:-- + + "Crack 'em and try 'em, before you buy 'em, + Eight a-penny--All new walnuts + Crack 'em and try 'em, before you buy 'em, + A shilling a-hundred--All new-walnuts. + +The history of the happy and social walnut involves some curious +misconceptions. Take its name to begin with. Why walnut? What has this +splendid, wide-spreading tree to do with walls, except such as are used as +stepping-stones for the boys to climb up into the branches and steal the +fruit? Nothing whatever! for, if we are to believe the learned in such +matters, this fine old English tree, as it is sometimes called, is not an +English tree at all, but a distinct and emphatic foreigner, and hence the +derivation. The walnut is a native of Persia, and has been so named to +distinguish the naturalised European from its companions, the hazel, the +filbert, and the chesnut. In "the authorities" we are told that "gual" or +"wall" means "strange" or "exotic," the same root being found in Welsh +and kindred tongues; hence walnut. It is true, at any rate, that in +France they retain the distinctive name "Noix Persique." There is another +mistaken theory connected with the tree which bears a fruit so dear to +society at large, for someone has been hazardous enough to assert that:-- + + "A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree, + The more you beat them the better they be." + +And this ribald rhyme--which is of Latin origin, is now an established +English proverb, or proverbial phrase, but variously construed. See Nash's +"_Have with you to Saffron-Walden; or, Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is up_," +1596.--Reprinted by J. P. Collier, 1870. Moor, in his "_Suffolk Words_," +pp. 465, furnishes another version, which is rather an epigram than a +proverb:-- + + "Three things by beating better prove; + A Nut, an Ass, a Woman; + The cudgel from their back remove, + And they'll be good for no man." + + "Nux, asinus, mulier simili sunt lege ligata. + Haec tria nil recte faciunt si verbera cessant. + Adducitur a cognato, est temen novum."--MARTIAL. + + "_Sam_.... Why he's married, beates his wife, and has two or three + children by her: for you must note, that any woman beares the more + when she is beaten."--_A Yorkshire Tragedy_: "Not so New, as + Lamentable and true--1608," edition 1619.--Signature, _A. Verso_. + + "_Flamineo._--Why do you kick her, say? + Do you think that she's like a walnut tree? + Must she be cudgell'd ere she bear good fruit?" + + --Webster's "_White Devil_," 1612. iv. 4. (Works, edited by W. C. + Hazlitt, II. 105.) + +Now all these statements are at once unkind and erroneous all round. We +know what is declared of the "man who, save in the way of kindness, lays +his hand upon a woman," to say nothing of the punishment awaiting him at +the adjacent police court.[15] As to dogs, those who respect the calves of +their legs had best beware of the danger of applying this recipe to any +but low-spirited animals. In the case of the walnut-tree, the +recommendation is again distinctly false, and the results mis-described. +Possibly there are walnut-trees, as there are women, dogs, and horses, who +seem none the worse for the stick; but, as a general rule, kindly +treatment, for vegetable and animal alike, is the best, and, in the long +run, the wisest. + +In "_The Miller's Daughter_," one of the most homely and charming poems +ever penned by the Poet Laureate, occurs a quatrain, spoken by an old +gentleman addressing his faithful spouse:-- + + "So sweet it seems with thee to talk, + And once again to woo thee mine; + 'Tis like an after-dinner talk + Across the walnuts and the wine." + +[Illustration] + + THE CHRISTMAS HOLLY. + + "The Holly! the Holly! oh, twine it with bay-- + Come give the Holly a song; + For it helps to drive stern Winter away, + With his garments so sombre and long. + It peeps through the trees with its berries so red, + And its leaves of burnished green, + When the flowers and fruits have long been dead, + And not even the daisy is seen. + Then sing to the Holly, the Christmas Holly, + That hangs over the peasant and king: + While we laugh and carouse 'neath its glittering boughs, + To the Christmas Holly we'll sing." + _Eliza Cook._ + +In London a large sale is carried on in "Christmasing," or in the sale of +holly, ivy, laurel, evergreens, bay, and mistletoe, for Christmas sports +and decorations, by the family greengrocer and the costermongers. The +latter of whom make the streets ring with their stentorian cry of:-- + + Holly! Holly!! Holly, oh!!! Christmas Holly, oh! + + + OLD CRIES. + + BY MISS ELIZA COOK. + + Oh! dearly do I love "Old Cries" + That touch my heart and bid me look + On "Bough-pots" plucked 'neath summer skies, + And "Watercresses" from the brook. + It may be vain, it may be weak, + To list when common voices speak; + But rivers with their broad, deep course, + Pour from a mean and unmarked source: + And so my warmest tide of soul + From strange, unheeded spring will roll. + + "Old Cries," "Old Cries"--there is not one + But hath a mystic tissue spun + Around it, flinging on the ear + A magic mantle rich and dear, + From "Hautboys," pottled in the sun, + To the loud wish that cometh when + The tune of midnight waits is done + With "A merry Christmas, gentlemen, + And a Happy New Year--Past one- + O'clock, and a frosty morning!" + + And there was a "cry" in the days gone by, + That ever came when my pillow was nigh; + When, tired and spent I was passively led + By a mother's hand, to my own sweet bed-- + My lids grew heavy, and my glance was dim, + As I yawned in the midst of a cradle hymn-- + When the watchman's echo lulled me quite, + With "Past ten o'clock, and a starlight night!" + + Well I remember the hideous dream, + When I struggled in terror, and strove to scream, + As I took a wild leap o'er the precipice steep, + And convulsively flung off the incubus sleep. + How I loved to behold the moonshine cold + Illume each well-known curtain-fold; + And how I was soothed by the watchman's warning, + Of "Past three o'clock, and a moonlight morning!" + + Oh, there was music in this "old cry," + Whose deep, rough tones will never die: + No rare serenade will put to flight + The chant that proclaimed a "stormy night." + + The "watchmen of the city" are gone, + The church-bell speaketh, but speaketh alone; + We hear no voice at the wintry dawning, + With "Past five o'clock, and a cloudy morning!" + Ah, well-a-day! it hath passed away, + But I sadly miss the cry + That told in the night when the stars were bright, + Or the rain-cloud veiled the sky. + Watchmen, Watchmen, ye are among + The bygone things that will haunt me long. + + "Three bunches a penny, Primroses!" + Oh, dear is the greeting of Spring; + When she offers her dew-spangled posies; + The fairest Creation can bring. + + "Three bunches a penny, Primroses!" + The echo resounds in the mart; + And the simple "cry" often uncloses + The worldly bars grating man's heart. + + We reflect, we contrive, and we reckon + How best we can gather up wealth; + We go where bright finger-posts beckon, + Till we wander from Nature and Health. + + But the "old cry," shall burst on our scheming, + The song of "Primroses" shall flow, + And "Three bunches a penny" set dreaming + Of all that we loved long ago. + + It brings visions of meadow and mountain, + Of valley, and streamlet, and hill, + When Life's ocean but played in a fountain-- + Ah, would that it sparkled so still! + + It conjures back shadowless hours, + When we threaded the dark, forest ways; + When our own hand went seeking the flowers, + And our own lips were shouting their praise. + + The perfume and tint of the blossom; + Are as fresh in vale, dingle, and glen; + But say, is the pulse of our bosom + As warm and as bounding as then? + + "Three bunches a penny,--Primroses!" + "Three bunches a penny,--come, buy!" + A blessing on all the sweet posies, + And good-will to the poor ones who cry. + + "Lavender, sweet Lavender!" + With "Cherry Ripe!" is coming; + While the droning beetles whirr, + And merry bees are humming. + + "Lavender, sweet Lavender!" + Oh, pleasant is the crying; + While the rose-leaves scarcely stir, + And downy moths are flying, + + Oh, dearly do I love "Old Cries," + Your "Lilies all a-blowing!" + Your blossoms blue, still wet with dew, + "Sweet Violets all a-growing!" + + Oh, happy were the days, methinks, + In truth the best of any; + When "Periwinkles, winkle, winks!" + Allured my last, lone penny. + + Oh, what had I to do with cares + That bring the frown and furrow, + When "Walnuts" and "Fine mellow Pears" + Beat Catalani thorough. + + Full dearly do I love "Old Cries," + And always turn to hear them; + And though they cause me some few sighs, + Those sighs do but endear them. + + My heart is like the fair sea-shell, + There's music ever in it; + Though bleak the shore where it may dwell, + Some power still lives to win it. + + When music fills the shell no more, + 'Twill be all crushed and scattered; + And when this heart's deep tone is o'er, + 'Twill be all cold and shattered. + + Oh, vain will be the hope to break + Its last and dreamless slumbers; + When "Old Cries" come, and fail to wake + Its deep and fairy numbers! + + + _Dust, O!--Dust, O!--Bring it out to day, + Bring it out to-day, I sha'n't be here to-mor-row!_ + +[Illustration: Dust, O!--Dust, O!] + + His noisy bell the dustman rings, + Her dust the housemaid gladly brings: + Ringing he goes from door to door, + Until his cart will hold no more. + +[Illustration: THE DUSTMAN.] + + Bring out your dust, the dustman cries, + Whilst ringing of his bell: + If the wind blows, pray guard your eyes, + To keep them clear and well. + + I am very glad 'tis not my luck + To get my bread by carting muck; + I am sure I never could be made + To work at such a dirty trade. + + Hold, my fine spark, not so fast, + Some proud folks get a fall at last; + And you, young gentleman, I say, + May be a Dustman, one fine day. + + All working folks, who seldom play, + Yet get their bread in a honest way, + Though not to wealth or honours born, + Deserve respect instead of scorn. + + Such rude contempt they merit less + Than those who live in idleness; + Who are less useful, I'm afraid, + Than I, the Dustman, am by trade. + +[Illustration: THE BIRDMAN.] + + Have pity, have pity on poor little birds, + Who only make music, and cannot sing words; + And think, when you listen, we mean by our strain, + O! let us fly home to our woodlands again. + + Our dear woody coverts, and thickets so green, + Too close for the school-boy to rustle between; + No foot to alarm us, no sorrow, no rain, + O! let us fly home to our woodlands again. + + There perched on the branches that wave to the wind, + No more in this pitiless prison confined, + How gaily we'll tune up our merriest strain, + If once we get home to our woodlands again. + +[Illustration: BUY A DOOR-MAT OR A TABLE-MAT.] + + Stooping o'er the ragged heath, + Thick with thorns and briers keen, + Or the weedy bank beneath, + Have I cut my rushes green; + While the broom and spiked thorn + Pearly drops of dew adorn. + + Sometimes across the heath I wind, + Where scarce a human face is seen, + Wandering marshy spots to find, + Where to cut my rushes green; + Here and there, with weary tread, + Working for a piece of bread. + + Then my little child and I + Plat and weave them, as you see; + Pray my lady, pray do buy, + You can't have better than of me; + For never, surely were there seen + Prettier mats of rushes green. + + + _I sweep your Chimnies clean, O, + Sweep your Chimney clean, O!_ + +[Illustration: THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER.] + + With drawling tone, brush under arm, + And bag slung o'er his shoulder: + Behold the sweep the streets alarm, + With Stentor's voice, and louder. + + + _Buy my Diddle Dumplings, hot! hot! + Diddle, diddle, diddle, Dumplings hot!_ + +[Illustration: THE DUMPLING WOMAN.] + + This woman's in industry wise, + She lives near Butcher-row; + Each night round Temple-bar she plies, + With _Diddle Dumplings, ho!_ + + + _Yorkshire Cakes, Who'll buy Yorkshire Cakes, + All piping hot--smoking hot! hot!!_ + +[Illustration: THE YORKSHIRE CAKE MAN.] + + Fine Yorkshire Cakes; Who'll buy Yorkshire cakes? + They are all piping hot, and nicely made; + His daily walk this fellow takes, + And seems to drive a pretty trade. + + + _Buy my Flowers, sweet Flowers, new-cut Flowers, + New Flowers, sweet Flowers, fresh Flowers, O!_ + +[Illustration: FLOWERS, CUT FLOWERS.] + + New-cut Flowers this pretty maid doth cry, + In Spring, Summer and Autumn, gaily; + Which shows how fast the Seasons fly-- + As we pass to our final home, daily. + + + _Buy green and large Cucumbers, Cucumbers, + Green and large Cucumbers, twelve a penny._ + +[Illustration: CUCUMBERS.] + + A penny a dozen, Cucumbers! + Tailors, hallo! hallo! + Now from the shop-board each man runs, + For Cucumbers below. + + + _Buy Rosemary! Buy Sweetbriar! + Rosemary and Sweetbriar, O!_ + +[Illustration: ROSEMARY AND SWEETBRIAR.] + + Rosemary and briar sweet, + This maiden now doth cry, + Through every square and street, + Come buy it sweet, come buy it dry. + + + _Newcastle Salmon! Dainty fine Salmon! + Dainty fine Salmon! Newcastle Salmon!_ + +[Illustration: NEWCASTLE SALMON.] + + Newcastle salmon, very good, + Is just come in for summer food; + No one hath better fish than I, + So if you've money come and buy. + + + _Buy my Cranberries! Fine Cranberries! + Buy my Cranberries! Fine Cranberries!_ + +[Illustration: CRANBERRIES.] + + Buy Cranberries, to line your crust, + In Lincolnshire they're grown; + Come buy, come buy, for sell I must + Three quarts for half-a-crown. + + + _Come buy my Walking-Sticks or Canes! + I've got them for the young or old._ + +[Illustration: STICKS AND CANES.] + + How sloven like the school-boy looks, + Who daubs his books at play; + Give him a new one? No, adzooks! + Give him a Cane, I say. + + + _Buy my fine Gooseberries! Fine Gooseberries! + Three-pence a quart! Ripe Gooseberries!_ + +[Illustration: GOOSEBERRIES.] + + Ripe gooseberries in town you'll buy + As cheap as cheap can be; + Of many sorts you hear the cry; + Pray purchase, sir, of me! + + + _Pears for pies! Come feast your eyes! + Ripe Pears, of every size, who'll buy?_ + +[Illustration: RIPE PEARS.] + + Pears ripe, pears sound, + This woman cries all day; + Pears for pies, long or round, + Come buy them while you may. + + + _One a penny, two a penny, hot Cross Buns! + One a penny, two a penny, hot Cross Buns!_ + +[Illustration: HOT CROSS BUNS.] + + Think on this sacred festival; + Think why Cross Buns were given; + Then think of Him who dy'd for all, + To give you right to Heaven. + + + _Maids, I mend old Pans or Kettles, + Mend old Pans or Kettles, O!_ + +[Illustration: THE TINKER.] + + Hark, who is this? the Tinker bold, + To mend or spoil your kettle, + Whose wife I'm certain is a scold, + Made of basest metal. + + + _Buy my Capers! Buy my nice Capers! + Buy my Anchovies! Buy my nice Anchovies!_ + +[Illustration: CAPERS, ANCHOVIES.] + + How melodious the voice of this man, + The Capers he says are the best; + His Anchovies too, beat 'em who can, + Are constantly found in request. + + + _Mulberries, all ripe and fresh to day! + Only a groat a pottle--full to the bottom!_ + +[Illustration: MULBERRIES.] + + Mulberries, ripe and fresh to-day, + They warm and purify the blood; + Have them a groat a pottle you may. + They are all fresh! they are all good! + + + _Buy my Cockles! Fine new Cockles! + Cockles fine, and Cockles new!_ + +[Illustration: NEW COCKLES.] + + Cockles fine; and cockles new, + They are as fine as any. + Cockles! New cockles, O! + I sell a good lot for a penny, O! + + + _Buy fine Flounders! Fine Dabs! All alive, O! + Fine Dabs! Fine live Flounders, O!_ + +[Illustration: BUY FINE FLOUNDERS! FINE DABS!] + + There goes a tall fish-woman sounding her cry, + "Who'll buy my fine flounders, and dabs, who'll buy?" + Poor flounder, he heaves up his fin with a sigh, + And thinks that _he_ has most occasion to cry; + "Ah, neighbour," says dab, "indeed, so do I." + + + _Buy my nice and new Banbury Cakes! + Buy my nice new Banbury Cakes, O!_ + +[Illustration: BANBURY CAKES.] + + Buy Banbury Cakes! By fortune's frown, + You see this needy man, + Along the street, and up and down, + Is selling all he can. + + + _Buy my Lavender! Sweet blooming Lavender! + Sweet blooming Lavender! Blooming Lavender!_ + +[Illustration: LAVENDER.] + + Lavender! Sweet blooming lavender, + Six bunches for a penny to-day! + Lavender! sweet blooming lavender! + Ladies, buy it while you may. + + + _Live Mackerel! Three a-shilling, O! + Le'ping alive, O! Three a-shilling O!_ + +[Illustration: MACKEREL.] + + Live Mackerel, oh! fresh as the day! + At three for a shilling, is giving away; + Full row'd, like bright silver they shine; + Two persons on one can sup or dine. + + + _Buy my Shirt Buttons! Shirt Buttons! + Buy Shirt Hand Buttons! Buttons!_ + +[Illustration: SHIRT BUTTONS.] + + At a penny a dozen, a dozen, + My Buttons for shirts I sell, + Come aunt, uncle, sister, and cousin, + I'll warrant I'll use you well. + + + _Buy my Rabbits! Rabbits, who'll buy? + Rabbit! Rabbit! who will buy?_ + +[Illustration: THE RABBIT MAN.] + + "Rabbit! Rabbit! who will buy?" + Is all you hear from him; + The Rabbit you may roast or fry, + The fur your cloak will trim. + + + _Buy Rue! Buy Sage! Buy Mint! + Buy Rue, Sage and Mint, a farthing a bunch!_ + +[Illustration: THE HERB-WIFE.] + + As thro' the fields she bends her way, + Pure nature's work discerning; + So you should practice every day, + To trace the fields of learning. + + + _Apple Tarts! All sweet and good, to-day! + Hot, nice, sweet and good, to-day!_ + +[Illustration: APPLE TARTS. APPLE TARTS.] + + Apple Tarts! Apple Tarts! Tarts, I cry! + They are all of my own making, + My Apple Tarts! My Apple Tarts, come buy! + For, a honest penny I would be taking. + + + _Ripe Strawberries! a groat a pottle, to-day, + Only a groat a pottle, is what I say!_ + +[Illustration: RIPE AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES.] + + Ripe strawberries, a full pottle for a groat! + They are all ripe and fresh gathered, as you see, + No finer for money I believe can be bought; + So I pray you come and deal fairly with me. + + + _Any Knives, or Scissors to grind, to-day? + Big Knives, or little Knives, or Scissors to grind, O!_ + +[Illustration: ANY KNIVES OR SCISSORS TO GRIND.] + + Any Knives or Scissors to grind, to-day? + I'll do them well and there's little to pay; + Any Knives or Scissors to grind, to-day? + If you've nothing for me, I'll go away. + + + _Door-Mat! Door-Mat, Buy a Door-Mat, + Rope-mat! Rope-Mat! Buy a Rope-Mat._ + +[Illustration: ROPE MAT. DOOR MAT.] + + Rope Mat! Door Mat! you really must + Buy one to save the mud and dust; + Think of the dirt brought from the street + For the want of a Mat to wipe your feet. + + + _Clothes Props! Clothes Props! I say, good wives + Clothes Props, all long and very strong, to-day._ + +[Illustration: CLOTHES PROPS, CLOTHES PROPS.] + + Buy Clothes Props, Buy Clothes Props! + Pretty maids, or pretty wives, I say, + I sell them half the price of the shops; + So you'll buy of the old man, I pray. + + + _Come take a Peep, boys, take a Peep? + Girls, I've the wonder of the world._ + +[Illustration: THE RAREE-SHOW.] + + Come take a Peep, each lady and gent, + My Show is the best, I assure you; + You'll not have the least cause to repent, + For I'll strive all I can to allure you. + + + _Water Cresses! Fine Spring Water Cresses! + Three bunches a penny, young Water Cresses!_ + +[Illustration: WATER CRESSES. FRESH AND FINE.] + + Young Cresses, fresh, at breakfast taken + A relish will give to eggs and bacon! + My profit's small, for I put many + In bunches sold at three a penny + + + _Mutton Pies! Mutton Pies! Mutton Pies, + Come feast your eyes with my Mutton Pies._ + +[Illustration: WHO'LL BUY MY MUTTON PIES?] + + Through London's long and busy streets, + This honest woman cries, + To every little boy she meets, + Who'll buy my Mutton Pies? + + + _Please to Pity the Poor Old Fiddler! + Pity the Poor Old Blind Fiddler!_ + +[Illustration: THE POOR OLD FIDDLER.] + + The poor old Fiddler goes his rounds, + Along with old Dog Tray; + The East of London mostly bounds + His journeys for the day. + + + _Muffins, O! Crumpets! Muffins, to-day! + Crumpets, O! Muffins, O! fresh, to-day!_ + +[Illustration: THE MUFFIN MAN.] + + The Muffin Man! hark, I hear + His small bell tinkle shrill and clear; + Muffins and Crumpets nice he brings, + While on the fire the kettle sings. + + + _Oysters, fresh and alive, three a penny, O! + When they are all sold I sha'n't have any, O!_ + +[Illustration: OYSTERS. FINE NEW OYSTERS.] + + They're all alive and very fine, + So if you like them, come and dine; + I'll find you bread and butter, too, + Or you may have them opened for a stew. + + + _Buy fine Kidney Potatoes! New Potatoes! + Fine Kidney Potatoes! Potatoes, O!_ + +[Illustration: POTATOES, KIDNEY POTATOES.] + + Potatoes, oh! of kidney kind, + Come buy, and boil, and eat, + The core, and eke also, the rind, + They are indeed so sweet. + + + _Buy Images! Good and cheap! + Images, very good--very cheap!_ + +[Illustration: BUY MY IMAGES, IMAGES.] + + Come buy my image earthenware, + Your mantel pieces to bedeck, + Examine them with greatest care, + You will not find a single speck. + + + _Buy 'em by the stick, or buy'em by the pound, + Cherries ripe, all round and sound!_ + +[Illustration: ALL ROUND AND SOUND, MY RIPE KENTISH CHERRIES.] + + Who such Cherries would see, + And not tempted be + To wish he possessed a small share? + But observe, I say small, + For those who want all + Deserve not to taste of such fare. + + + _Buy a Mop! Buy a Broom! Good to-day! + Buy a Broom! Buy a Mop, I say!_ + +[Illustration: BUY A MOP OR A BROOM.] + + Ye cleanly housewives come to me, + And buy a Mop or Broom, + To sweep your chambers, scour your stairs, + Or wash your sitting room. + + + _Golden Pippins, all of the right sort, girls! + Golden Pippins, all of the right sort, boys!_ + +[Illustration: GOLDEN PIPPINS, WHO'LL BUY?] + + Here are fine Golden Pippins; + Who'll buy them, who'll buy? + Nobody in London sells better than I! + Who'll buy them, who'll buy? + + + _Wash Ball, a Trinket, or a Watch, buy? + Buy 'em, all cheap and all good!_ + +[Illustration: WASH BALL, TRINKET, OR WATCH.] + + Do ye want any Wash Ball or Patch.-- + Dear ladies, pray, buy of me;-- + Or Trinkets to hang at your Watch, + Or Garters to tie at your knee? + + + _Past twelve o'clock, and a cloudy morning! + Past twelve o'clock; and mind, I give you warning!_ + +[Illustration: THE CITY WATCHMAN.] + + Past twelve o'clock, and a moonlight night! + Past twelve o'clock, and the stars shine bright! + Past twelve o'clock, your doors are all fast like you! + Past twelve o'clock, and I'll soon be fast, too! + + + _Young Lambs to sell! Young Lambs to sell! + Young Lambs to sell! Young Lambs to sell!_ + +[Illustration: YOUNG LAMBS TO SELL.] + + Young Lambs to sell! Young Lambs to sell! + Two a penny, Young Lambs to sell; + If I'd as much money as I could tell, + I wouldn't cry young Lambs to sell. + + + _Buy my sweet and rare Lilies of the Valley? + Buy of your Sally--Sally of our Alley?_ + +[Illustration: LILIES OF THE VALLEY.] + + In London street, I ne'er could find, + A girl like lively Sally, + Who picks and culls, and cries aloud, + Sweet Lilies of the Valley. + + + _Buy my young chickens! Buy'em alive, O! + Buy of the Fowlman, and have 'em alive, O!_ + +[Illustration: BUY CHICKENS, YOUNG CHICKENS.] + + Buy my young Chickens, or a Fowl, well-fed, + And we'll not quarrel about the price; + 'Tis thus I get my daily bread: + As all the year round my Fowls are very nice. + + + _Green Peas, I say! Green Peas, I say, here, + Hav'em at your own price--here! here!_ + +[Illustration: GREEN PEAS! BUY MY GREEN PEAS?] + + Sixpence a peck, these Peas are sold, + Fresh and green, and far from old; + Green Marrows, it is quite clear, + And as times go, cannot be dear. + + + _Hat Box! Cap Box! Boxes, all sizes; + All good, and at very low prices._ + +[Illustration: HAT-BOX; CAP BOX.] + + Hat or Cap Box! for ribbons or lace, + When in a Box, keep in their place; + And in a Box, your favourite bonnet + Is safe from getting things thrown on it. + + + _Eels, fine Silver Eels! Dutch Eels! + They are all alive--Silver Eels!_ + +[Illustration: EELS; FINE DUTCH EELS.] + + Eels, alive! fine Dutch eels, I cry, + Mistress, to use you well I'm willing, + Come step forth and buy-- + Take four pounds for one shilling. + + + _Plumbs, ripe Plumbs! Big as your thumbs! + Plumbs! Plumbs! Big as your thumbs!_ + +[Illustration: PLUMBS; RIPE PLUMBS.] + + Plumbs, for puddings or pies, + This noisy woman bawls; + Plumbs, for puddings or pies, + In every street she calls. + + + _Buy a Purse; a long and a strong Purse! + A good leather or a strong mole-skin Purse!_ + +[Illustration: BUY A PURSE.] + + Buy a Purse; a long and strong Purse, + They'll suit the young--they suit the old! + To lose good money, what is worse? + Yet it's daily done for the want of a purse. + + + _Kettles to mend! any Pots to mend? + Daily I say as my way I wend._ + +[Illustration: KETTLES OR POTS TO MEND!] + + Kettles to mend! any pots to mend! + You cannot do better to me than send; + Think of the mess when the saucepans run, + The fire put out, and the dinner not done. + +[Illustration: THE JOLLY TINKER.] + + My daddy was a tinker's son, + And I'm his boy, 'tis ten to one, + Here's pots to mend! was still his cry, + Here's pots to mend! aloud bawl I. + Have ye any tin pots, kettles or cans, + Coppers to solder, or brass pans? + Of wives my dad had near a score, + And I have twice as many more: + My daddy was the lord--I don't know who-- + With his:-- + Tan ran tan, tan ran tan tan, + For pot or can, oh! I'm your man. + + Once I in my budget snug had got + A barn-door capon, and what not, + Here's pots to mend! I cried along-- + Here's pots to mend! was my song. + At village wake--oh! curse his throat, + The cock crowed so loud a note, + The folks in clusters flocked around, + They seized my budget, in it found + The cock, a gammon, peas and beans, + Besides a jolly tinker. Yes, a jolly tinker-- + With his-- + Tan ran tan, tan ran tan tan, + For pot or can, oh! I'm your man. + + Like dad, when I to quarters come, + For want of cash the folks I hum, + Here's kettles to mend: Bring me some beer! + The landlord cries, "You'll get none here! + You tink'ring dog, pay what you owe, + Or out of doors you'll instant go," + In rage I squeezed him 'gainst the door, + And with his back rubb'd off the score. + At his expense we drown all strife + For which I praise the landlord's wife-- + With my + Tan ran tan, tan ran tan tan, + For pot or can, oh! I'm your man. + + + _Fine China Oranges, sweet as sugar! + They are very fine, and cheap, too, to-day._ + +[Illustration: FINE CHINA ORANGES.] + + If friends permit, and money suits, + The tempting purchase make; + But, first, examine well the fruit, + And then the change you take. + +[Illustration: FINE RIPE ORANGES] + + Here are Oranges, fine ripe Oranges, + Of golden colour to the eye, + And fragrant perfume they're dispensing, + Sweeter than roses; come then and buy. + Flowers cannot give forth the fragrance + That scents the air from my golden store, + Fairest lady, none can excel them, + Buy then my Oranges; buy, I implore. + + Here are Oranges, fine ripe Oranges, + Golden globes of nectar fine, + Luscious juice the gods might envy, + Richer far than the finest wine. + Flowers cannot give forth the fragrance + That scents the air from my golden store, + Fairest lady, none can excel them, + Buy then my Oranges; buy, I implore. + +ROUND FOR FOUR VOICES. + + SIR. J. STEVENSON. + + Come buy my cherries, beauteous lasses; + Fresh from the garden pluck'd by me; + All on a summer's day, so gay, + You hear the London Cries--"_Knives ground here by me_." + + Fine apples and choice pears, + Eat, boys, forget your cares; + All on a summer's day, so gay, + You hear the London Cries--"_Sweep, sweep, sweep_." + + Fruit in abundance sold by me, + Fruit in abundance here you see; + All on a summer's day, so gay, + You hear the London Cries--"_Parsnips, carrots, and choice beans_." + + Whey, fine sweet whey, + Come taste my whey; + All on a summer's day, so gay, + You hear the London Cries--"_Fine radish, fine lettuce, sold by me_." + +PRIMROSES. + + Come who'll buy my roses, Primroses, who'll buy? + They are sweet to the sense, they are fair to the eye; + They are covered all o'er with diamond dew, + Which Aurora's bright handmaids unsparingly threw + On their beautiful heads: and I ask but of you-- + _To buy, buy, buy, buy_. + + The sun kiss'd the flowers as he rose from the sea bright, + And their golden eyes opened with beauty and glee bright, + Their sweets are untasted by hornet or bee-- + They are fresh as the morning and lovely to see-- + So reject not the blossoms now offered by me-- + _But buy, buy, buy, buy_. + + Nay, never refuse me, nor cry my buds down, + They are nature's production, and sweet ones, you'll own; + And tho' torn from the earth, they will smile in your hall, + They will bloom in a cottage, be it ever so small-- + And still look the lovliest flowers of all! + _So buy, buy, buy, buy._ + + + THE LONDON CRIES + IN LONDON STREETS. + + _Embellished with Pretty Cuts, + For the use of Good little Boys and Girls, + and a Copy of Verses._ + + [Illustration] + + Printed by T. BIRT, Great St. Andrew Street, + Wholesale & Retail, 30, Seven Dials, London. + + _Country Orders punctually attended to._ + + EVERY DESCRIPTION OF PRINTING DONE CHEAP. + + TRAVELLERS AND SHOPKEEPERS SUPPLIED WITH SHEET HYMNS, + PATTERS, AND SLIP SONGS, AS CHEAP AND GOOD + AS ANY SHOP IN LONDON. + + + T. BIRT. + + TO THE GOOD LITTLE MASTERS AND MISTRESSES + IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. + + Here! look at the Cries of London town, + For you need not travel there; + But view you those of most renown, + Whilst sitting in your chair. + + At Home--a hundred miles away, + 'Tis easy now to look + At the Cries of London gay, + In this our little book. + + Yes; there in quiet you may be, + Beside the winter's fire, + And read as well as see, + All those that you desire. + + Or underneath the oak so grey, + That grows beside the briar; + May pass the summer's eve away, + And view each City Crier. + +[Illustration: BUY A GAZETTE? GREAT NEWS!] + + In the Gazette great news, to-day: + The enemy is beat, they say, + And all are eager to be told-- + The news, the new events unfold. + +[Illustration: COME BUY MY FINE ROSES.] + + Come buy my fine roses, + My myrtles and stocks; + My sweet smelling balsams + And close growing box. + +[Illustration: BUY AN ALMANACK: NEW ALMANACKS.] + + My Almanacks aim at no learning at all, + But only to show when the holidays fall: + And tell, as by study we easily may, + How many eclipses the year will display. + +[Illustration: BUY A MOP? BUY A MOP?] + + My Mop is so big, + It might serve as a wig + For a judge, had he no objection; + And as to my brooms, + They will sweep dirty rooms, + And make the dust fly, to perfection. + +[Illustration: LOBSTERS AND CRABS.] + + Here's lobsters and crabs, + Alive, O! and good, + So buy if you please; + This delicate food. + +[Illustration: MILK FROM THE COW.] + + Rich Milk from the Cow, + Both sweet and fine; + The doctors declare; + It is better than wine. + +[Illustration: BUY A BASKET, LARGE OR SMALL?] + + Buy a basket? large or small? + For all sorts I've got by me, + So come ye forth, one and all, + If you buy once, another time you'll try me. + +[Illustration: BUY A CANE FOR NAUGHTY BOYS.] + + I've Sticks and Canes for old and young, + To either they are handy, + In driving off a barking cur, + Or chastising a dandy. + +[Illustration: HOT RICE-MILK.] + + Hot Rice-Milk this woman calls-- + Behold her bright can, + As up and down the streets she bawls + Hot Rice-Milk to warm the inner man. + +[Illustration: PEACHES AND NECTARINES.] + + Nice Peaches and Nectarines + Just fresh from the tree; + All you who have money, + Come buy them of me. + +[Illustration: HOT SPICE-GINGERBREAD.] + + Hot Spice-Gingerbread, hot! hot! all hot! + This noisy fellow loudly bawls, + Hot! hot! hot! smoking hot! red hot! + In every street or public place he calls. + +COME, BUY MY SPICE-GINGERBREAD, SMOKING HOT! HOT! HOT! + + Come, boys and girls, men and maids, widows and wives, + The best penny laid out you e'er spent in your lives; + Here's my whirl-a-gig lottery, a penny a spell, + No blanks, but all prizes, and that's pretty well. + Don't stand humming and ha-aring, with ifs and with buts, + Try your luck for my round and sound gingerbread-nuts; + And there's my glorious spice-gingerbread, too, + Hot enough e'en to thaw the heart of a Jew. + + Hot spice-gingerbread, hot! hot! all hot! + Come, buy my spice-gingerbread, smoking hot! + + I'm a gingerbread-merchant, but what of that, then? + All the world, take my word, deal in gingerbread ware; + Your fine beaus and your belles and your rattlepate rakes-- + One half are game-nuts, the rest gingerbread cakes; + Then in gingerbread coaches we've gingerbread lords, + And gingerbread soldiers with gingerbread swords. + And what are you patriots, 'tis easy to tell-- + By their constantly crying they've something to sell. + And what harm is there in selling--_hem!_-- + + Hot spice-gingerbread, &c. + + My gingerbread-lottery is just like the world, + For its index of chances for ever is twirled; + But some difference between'em exist, without doubt, + The world's lottery has blanks, while mine's wholly without, + There's no matter how often you shuffle and cut, + If but once in ten games you can get a game-nut. + So I laugh at the world, like an impudent elf, + And just like my betters, take care of myself, and my-- + + Hot spice-gingerbread, &c. + + T. BIRT, Printer, 30, Great St. Andrews Street, Seven Dials. + + + _Marks Edition._ + THE NEW LONDON CRIES + OR A VISIT TO TOWN. + +[Illustration: BUY A BROOM.] + + From morn till eve I rove along, + And joys my eyes illume, + If you but listen to my song, + And kindly buy a broom. + +[Illustration] + +RIPE CHERRIES. + + Cherries ripe four-pence a pound, + Come buy of me they're good and sound. + +WATER CRESSES. + + O you whom peace and plenty blesses, + Buy my fine spring water cresses. + +[Illustration] + +YOUNG PEDLAR. + + Threads laces bodkins here I cry, + Of a wandering orphan buy. + +OYSTERS SIR. + + My native oysters here I cry, + Gents and ladies come and buy. + +[Illustration] + +OLD CLOTHES. + + Daily streets and squares I range + Calling clothes to sell or change. + +YOUNG LAMBS. + + In London streets I'm known full well, + Two for a penny young lambs to sell. + +[Illustration] + +DOLLS TO SELL. + + Come buy a doll my little miss, + You'll find no time as good as this. + +GREENS CABBAGES HO. + + London daily hears my cry, + Carrots Turnips who will buy. + +[Illustration] + +BONNET BOX. + + Buy a Box for hat and cap, + 'Twill keep them safe from all mishap. + +FLOWER GIRL. + + My basket daily I supply, + Come buy my nosegays buy who'll buy. + +[Illustration] + +IMAGES. + + My casts are form'd to get my bread, + And humble shelter for my head. + +MILK BELOW. + + At rise of morn my rounds I go, + And daily cry my milk below. + +[Illustration] + +BALLAD SINGER. + + Listen to my tunes so gay, + And buy a ballad of me pray. + +SWEEP SOOT HO. + + Comfort from my toil you reap, + Then pray employ a little sweep. + + +London: Printed and Published by S. MARKS & SONS, 72, Houndsditch. + + + THE CRIES OF LONDON. + + [Illustration] + + FLOWERY WARE--ALL HOT! + + Here's taters hot, my little chaps, + Now just lay out a copper, + I'm known up and down the Strand, + You'll not find any hotter. + + LONDON: + GOODE, BROS., + WHOLESALE STATIONERS AND TOY BOOK MANUFACTURERS, + CLERKENWELL GREEN. + +[Illustration] + +CHERRIES, MY PRETTY MAIDS. + + Here's cherries, oh! my pretty maids, + My cherries round and sound; + Whitehearts, Kentish, or Blackhearts + And only twopence a pound. + +[Illustration] + +FINE HAMPSHIRE RABBITS. + + Here I am with my rabbits + Hanging on my pole, + The finest Hampshire rabbits + That e'er crept from a hole. + +[Illustration] + +HEARTHSTONE! HEARTHSTONE. + + Hearthstones my pretty maids, + I sell them four a penny, + Hearthstones, come buy of me, + As long as I have any. + +[Illustration] + +DUST OH! DUST OH! + + Dust or ash this chap calls out, + With all his might and main, + He's got a mighty cinder heap + Somewhere near Gray's Inn Lane. + +[Illustration] + +BUY A BONNET BOX OR CAP BOX + + Bonnet boxes and cap boxes, + The best that e'er was seen, + They are so very nicely made, + They'll keep your things so clean. + +[Illustration] + +ALL A GROWING AND A BLOWING. + + Now ladies here's roots for your gardens, + Come buy some of me if you please, + There's tulips, heart's-ease, and roses, + Sweet Williams, and sweet peas. + +[Illustration] + +ANY OLD POTS OR KETTLES TO MEND? + + Any old pots or kettles, + Or any old brass to mend + Come my pretty maids all, + To me your aid must lend. + +[Illustration] + +ANY OLD CHAIRS TO MEND? + + Any old chairs to mend? + Any old chairs to seat? + I'll make them quite as good as new, + And make them look so neat. + + +THE LONDON STREET-MARKETS ON A SATURDAY NIGHT. + +Mr. Henry Mayhew has painted a minute yet vivid picture of the London +street markets, street sellers and purchasers which are to be seen in the +greatest number on a Saturday night:-- + +"Here, and in the streets immediately adjoining, the working classes +generally purchase their Sunday's dinner; and after pay-time on Saturday +night, or early on Sunday morning, the crowd in the New-cut, and the Brill +in particular, is almost impassable. Indeed, the scene in these parts has +more the character of a fair than a market. There are hundreds of stalls, +and every stall has its one or two lights; either it is illuminated by the +intense white light of the new self-generating gas-lamp, or else it is +brightened up by the red smoky flame of the old-fashioned grease-lamp. One +man shows off his yellow haddock with a candle stuck in a bundle of +firewood; his neighbour makes a candlestick of a huge turnip, and the +tallow gutters over its sides; whilst the boy shouting "Eight a penny, +stunning pears!" has rolled his dip in a thick coat of brown paper, that +flares away with the candle. Some stalls are crimson with the fire shining +through the holes beneath the baked chesnut stove; others have handsome +octohedral lamps, while a few have a candle shining through a sieve; +these, with the sparkling ground-glass globes of the tea-dealers' shops, +and the butchers' gaslights streaming and fluttering in the wind, like +flags of flame, pour forth such a flood of light, that at a distance the +atmosphere immediately above the spot is as lurid as if the street were on +fire. + +[Illustration: A STREET-MARKET ON SATURDAY NIGHT.] + +The pavement and the road are crowded with purchasers and street-sellers. +The housewife in her thick shawl, with the market-basket on her arm, walks +slowly on, stopping now to look at the stall of caps, and now to cheapen a +bunch of greens. Little boys, holding three or four onions in their hands, +creep between the people, wriggling their way through every interstice, +and asking for custom in whining tones, as if seeking charity. Then the +tumult of the thousand different cries of the eager dealers, all shouting +at the top of their voices, at one and the same time, is almost +bewildering. "So-old again," roars one. "Chesnuts, all'ot, a penny a +score," bawls another. "An 'aypenny a skin, blacking," squeaks a boy. +"Buy, buy, buy, buy,--bu-u-uy!" cries the butcher. "Half-quire of paper +for a penny," bellows the street-stationer. "An 'apenny a lot ing-uns." +"Twopence a pound, grapes." "Three a penny! Yarmouth bloaters." "Who'll +buy a bonnet for fourpence?" "Pick 'em out cheap here! three pair for +a-halfpenny, bootlaces." "Now's your time! beautiful whelks, a penny a +lot." "Here's ha'p'orths," shouts the perambulating confectioner. "Come +and look at'em! here's toasters!" bellows one with a Yarmouth bloater +stuck on a toasting fork. "Penny a lot, fine russets," calls the apple +woman: and so the Babel goes on. + +One man stands with his red-edge mats hanging over his back and chest, +like a herald's coat; and the girl with her basket of walnuts lifts her +brown-stained fingers to her mouth, as she screams, "Fine warnuts! sixteen +a penny, fine war-r-nuts." A bootmaker, to "ensure custom," has +illuminated his front-shop with a line of gas, and in its full glare +stands a blind beggar, his eyes turned up so as to show only "the whites," +and mumbling some begging rhymes, that are drowned in the shrill notes of +the bamboo-flute-player next to him. The boy's sharp cry, the woman's +cracked voice, the gruff, hoarse shout of the man, are all mingled +together. Sometimes an Irishman is heard with his "fine ating apples," or +else the jingling music of an unseen organ breaks out, as the trio of +street singers rest between the verses. + +Then the sights, as you elbow your way through the crowd are equally +multifarious. Here is a stall glittering with new tin saucepans; there +another, bright with its blue and yellow crockery, and sparkling with +white glass. Now you come to a row of old shoes arranged along the +pavement; now to a stand of gaudy tea-trays; then to a shop with red +handkerchiefs and blue checked shirts, fluttering backwards and forwards, +and a counter built up outside on the kerb, behind which are boys +beseeching custom. At the door of a tea-shop, with its hundred white +globes of light, stands a man delivering bills, thanking the public for +past favours, and "defying competition." Here, along side the road, are +some half-dozen headless tailors' dummies, dressed in Chesterfields and +fustian jackets, each labelled:--"Look at the prices," or "Observe the +quality." After this a butcher's shop, crimson and white with meat piled +up to the first-floor, in front of all the butcher himself, in his blue +coat, walks up and down, sharpening his knife on the steel that hangs to +his waist. A little further on stands the clean family, begging; the +father with his head down as if in shame, and a box of lucifers held forth +in his hand--the boys in newly-washed pinafores, and the tidyly got up +mother with a child at her breast. This stall is green and white with +bunches of turnips--that red with apples, the next yellow with onions, and +another purple with pickling cabbages. One minute you pass a man with an +umbrella turned inside up and full of prints; the next, you hear one with +a peepshow of Mazeppa, and Paul Jones the pirate, describing the pictures +to the boys looking in at the little round windows. Then is heard the +sharp snap of the purcussion-cap from the crowd of lads firing at the +target for nuts; and the moment afterwards, you see either a black man +half-clad in white, and shivering in the cold with tracts in his hand, or +else you hear the sounds of music from "Frazier's Circus," on the other +side of the road, and the man outside the door of the penny concert, +beseeching you to "Be in time--be in time!" as Mr. Somebody is just about +to sing his favourite song of the "Knife Grinder." Such, indeed, is the +riot, the struggle, and the scramble for a living, that the confusion and +the uproar of the New-cut on Saturday night have a bewildering and sad +effect upon the thoughtful mind. + +Each salesman tries his utmost to sell his wares, tempting the passers-by +with his bargains. The boy with his stock of herbs offers "a double +'andful of fine parsley for a penny;" the man with the donkey-cart filled +with turnips has three lads to shout for him to their utmost, with their +"Ho! ho! hi-i-i! What do you think of us here? A penny a bunch--hurrah for +free trade! _Here's_ your turnips!" Until it is seen and heard, we have no +sense of the scramble that is going on throughout London for a living. The +same scene takes place at the Brill--the same in Leather-lane--the same in +Tottenham-court-road--the same in Whitecross-street; go to whatever corner +of the metropolis you please, either on a Saturday night or a Sunday +morning, and there is the same shouting and the same struggling to get the +penny profit out of the poor man's Sunday's dinner. + +Since the above description was written, the New Cut has lost much of its +noisy and brilliant glory. In consequence of a New Police regulation, +"stands" or "pitches" have been forbidden, and each coster, on a market +night, is now obliged, under pain of the lock-up house, to carry his tray, +or keep moving with his barrow. The gay stalls have been replaced by deal +boards, some sodden with wet fish, others stained purple with +blackberries, or brown with walnut peel; and the bright lamps are almost +totally superseded by the dim, guttering candle. Even if the pole under +the tray or "shallow" is seen resting on the ground, the policeman on duty +is obliged to interfere. + +The mob of purchasers has diminished one-half; and instead of the road +being filled with customers and trucks, the pavement and kerbstones are +scarcely crowded. + + +THE SUNDAY MORNING MARKETS. + +Nearly every poor man's market does its Sunday trade. For a few hours on +the Sabbath morning, the noise, bustle, and scramble of the Saturday night +are repeated, and but for this opportunity many a poor family would pass a +dinnerless Sunday. The system of paying the mechanic late on the Saturday +night--and more particularly of paying a man his wages in a +public-house--when he is tired with his day's work, lures him to the +tavern, and there the hours fly quickly enough beside the warm tap-room +fire, so that by the time the wife comes for her husband's wages, she +finds a large portion of them gone in drink and the streets half cleared, +thus the Sunday market is the only chance of getting the Sunday's dinner. + +Of all these Sunday morning markets, the Brill, perhaps, furnishes the +busiest scene; so that it may be taken as a type of the whole. + +The streets in the neighbourhood are quiet and empty. The shops are closed +with their different coloured shutters, and the people round about are +dressed in the shiny cloth of the holiday suit. There are no "cabs," and +but few omnibuses to disturb the rest, and men walk in the road as safely +as on the footpath. + +As you enter the Brill the market sounds are scarcely heard. But at each +step the low hum grows gradually into the noisy shouting, until at last +the different cries become distinct, and the hubbub, din, and confusion of +a thousand voices bellowing at once, again fill the air. The road and +footpath are crowded, as on the over-night; the men are standing in +groups, smoking and talking; whilst the women run to and fro, some with +the white round turnips showing out of their filled aprons, others with +cabbages under their arms, and a piece of red meat dangling from their +hands. Only a few of the shops are closed; but the butcher's and the coal +shed are filled with customers, and from the door of the shut-up baker's, +the women come streaming forth with bags of flour in their hands, while +men sally from the halfpenny barber's, smoothing their clean-shaved chins. +Walnuts, blacking, apples, onions, braces, combs, turnips, herrings, pens, +and corn-plasters, are all bellowed out at the same time. Labourers and +mechanics, still unshorn and undressed, hang about with their hands in +their pockets, some with their pet terriers under their arms. The pavement +is green with the refuse leaves of vegetables, and round a cabbage-barrow +the women stand turning over the bunches, as the man shouts "Where you +like, only a penny." Boys are running home with the breakfast herring held +in a piece of paper, and the side-pocket of an apple man's stuff coat +hangs down with the weight of halfpence stored within it. Presently the +tolling of the neighbouring church bells break forth. Then the bustle +doubles itself, the cries grow louder, the confusion greater. Women run +about and push their way through the throng, scolding the saunterers, for +in half-an-hour the market will close. In a little time the butcher puts +up his shutters, and leaves the door still open; the policemen in their +clean gloves come round and drive the street-sellers before them, and as +the clock strikes eleven the market finishes, and the Sunday's rest +begins." + + +As it was in the beginning of our book and in the days of Queen +Elizabeth:-- + + "When the City shopkeepers railed against itinerant traders of every + denomination, and the Common Council declared that in ancient times + the open streets and lanes had been used, and ought to be used only, + as the common highway, and not for the hucksters, pedlars, and + hagglers, to stand and sell their wares in"-- + +so it is now, in the Victorian age, and ever will be a very vexed +question, and thinking representative men of varied social positions +materially differ in opinion; some contending that the question is not of +class interest but that of the interest of the public at large; some argue +in an effective but perfectly legal and orderly manner for the removal of +what they term a greivous nuisance; others ask that an industrious and +useful class of men and women should be allowed their honest calling. They +protest against the enforcement of an almost obsolete statute which +conduces to the waste of fruit, fish, and vegetables, in London and large +towns, which practically maintains a trade monopoly, and discourages an +abundant supply. They claim for the public a right to buy in the cheapest +market, and plead for a liberty which is enjoyed unmolested in many parts +of the kingdom, and protest against a remnant of protectionist restriction +being put into force against street-hawking. + +By the side of this temperate reasoning, let us place the principal +arguments which are so often reiterated by aldermen, deputies, +councillors, vestrymen, and others, when "drest in a little brief +authority," and come at once to the _gravamen_ of the charge against the +hawkers, which we find to consist in the nuisance of the street cries. + +London, as a commercial city, has numbers of visitors and residents to +whom quiet is of vital importance. The street cries, it is alleged, +constitute a nuisance to the public, particularly to numbers of +day-time-alone occupants, to whom time and thought is money. It is the +same thing repeated with many of the suburban residents, in what is +generally known as quiet neighbourhoods. Discounting duly the rhetorical +exaggeration, it is to be feared the charge must be admitted. Therefore, +the shopkeepers argue, let us put down the hawking of everything and +everybody. But this does not follow at all. Not only so, but the proposed +remedy is ridiculously inadequate to the occasion. Admit the principle, +however, for the sake of argument and let us see whither it will lead us. +At early morn how often are our matutinal slumbers disturbed by a +prolonged shriek, as of some unfortunate cat in mortal agony, but which +simply signifies that Mr. Skyblue, the milkman, is on his rounds. The +milkman, it is evident, must be abolished. People can easily get their +breakfast milk at any respectable dairyman's shop, and get it, too, with +less danger of an aqueous dilution. After breakfast--to say nothing of +German bands and itinerant organ grinders--a gentleman with a barrow +wakens the echoes by the announcement of fresh mackerel, salmon, cod, +whiting, soles or plaice, with various additional epithets, descriptive of +their recent arrival from the sea. The voice is more loud than melodious, +the repetition is frequent, and the effect is the reverse of pleasing to +the public ear. Accordingly we must abolish fish hawking: any respectable +fishmonger will supply us with better fish without making so much noise +over it; and if he charges a higher price it is only the indubitable right +of a respectable tradesman and a ratepayer. Then comes on the scene, and +determined to have a voice--and a loud one, too, in the morning's +hullabaloo, the costermonger--Bill Smith, he declares with stentorian +lungs that his cherries, plums, apples, pears, turnips, carrots, cabbages, +_cow_cumbers, _sparrow_-grass, _colly_-flow-ers, _inguns_, _ru-bub_, and +_taters_, is, and allus vos rounder, sounder, longer, stronger, heavier, +fresher, and ever-so-much cheaper than any shopkeeping greengrocer as ever +vos: Why? "Vy? cos he don't keep not no slap-up shop vith all plate-glass +vinders and a 'andsom sixty-five guinea 'oss and trap to take the missus +and the kids out on-a-arternoon, nor yet send his sons and darters to a +boarding school to larn French, German, Greek, nor playing on the +pianoforte." All this may be very true; but Bill Smith, the costermonger, +is a noisy vulgar fellow; therefore must be put down. Mrs. Curate, Mrs. +Lawyer, Mrs. Chemist, and Miss Seventy-four must be taught to go to the +greengrocer of the district, Mr. Manners, a highly respectable man, a +Vestryman and a Churchwarden, who keeps:-- + + PLATE, WAITERS, AND LINEN FOR HIRE. + N.B.--EVENING PARTIES ATTENDED. + +As the morning wears on we have:--"I say!--I say!! Old hats I buy," "Rags +or bones," "Hearthstones," "Scissors to grind--pots, pans, kettles or old +umbrellas to mend," "Old clo! clo," "Cat or dog's meat," "Old china I +mend," "Clothes props," "Any old chairs to mend?" "Any ornaments for your +fire stove," "Ripe strawberries," "Any hare skins,"--"rabbit skins," "Pots +or pans--jugs or mugs," "I say, Bow! wow! and they are all a-growing and +a-blowing--three pots for sixpence," and other regular acquaintances, with +the occasional accompaniment of the dustman's bell, conclude the morning's +performance, which, altogether is reminiscent of the "Market Chorus" in +the opera of _Masaniello_; and if the public quiet is to be protected, our +sapient Town Councillors would abolish one and all of these, dustman +included. One of the latest innovations upon the peace and happiness of an +invalid, an author, or a quiet-loving resident, is the street vendor of +coals. "Tyne Main," or "Blow-me-Tight's," Coals! "C-o-a-l-s, _one and +tuppence a underd--see'em weighed_." This is the New Cry. Small waggons, +attended by a man and a boy, go to our modern railway sidings to be filled +or replenished with sacks containing 56 lbs. or 112 lbs. of coals, and +then proceed to the different suburban quiet neighbourhoods, where the man +and boy commence a kind of one done the other go on duet to the above +words, which is enough to drive the strongest trained one crazy. All the +great coal merchants seem to have adopted this method of retailing coals, +and have thus caused the almost total abolition of coal sheds, and the +greengrocer and general dealer to abandon the latter part of his calling. +Our afternoon hours, after the passing of the muffin bell, are made +harmonious by public references to shrimps, fine Yarmouth bloaters, +haddocks, periwinkles, boiled whelks, and water_creases_, which are too +familiar to need description; and our local governors in their wisdom +would bid us no longer be luxurious at our tea, or else go to respectable +shops and buy our "little creature comforts." Professing an anxiety to put +down street cries, our police persecute one class out of a multitude, and +leave all the rest untouched. It is not only an inadequate remedy, but the +remedy is sought in the wrong direction. The fact is, that the street +noises are an undoubted evil, and in the interests of the public, action +should be taken not to put them down, but to regulate them by local +bye-laws, leaving the course of trade otherwise free. It is a plan adopted +in most of the greater towns which have in any way dealt with the subject. + + +THE DEMONS OF PIMLICO. + +[From _Punch_.] + +Edwin is a Young Bard, who has taken a lodging in a Quiet Street in +Belgravia, that he may write his Oxford Prize Poem. The interlocutors are +Demons of both Sexes. + + EDWIN (composing). Where the sparkling fountain never ceases-- + _Female Demon._ "_Wa-ter-creece-ses!_" + + EDWIN. And liquid music on the marble floor tinkles-- + _Male Demon._ "_Buy my perriwinkles!_" + + EDWIN. Where the sad Oread oft retires to weep-- + _Black Demon._ "_Sweep! Sweep!! Sweep!!!_" + + EDWIN. And tears that comfort not must ever flow-- + _Demon from Palestine._ "_Clo! Clo!! Old Clo!!!_" + + EDWIN. There let me linger beneath the trees-- + _Italian Demon._ "_Buy, Im-magees!_" + + EDWIN. And weave long grasses into lovers' knots-- + _Demon in white apron._ "_Pots! Pots!! Pots!!!_" + + EDWIN. Oh! what vagrant dreams the fancy hatches-- + _Ragged Old Demon._ "_Matches! Buy Matches!_" + + EDWIN. She opes her treasure-cells, like Portia's caskets-- + _Demon with Cart._ "_Baskets, any Baskets!_" + + EDWIN. Spangles the air with thousand-coloured silks-- + _Old Demon._ "_Buy my Wilks! Wilks!! Wilks!!!_" + + EDWIN. Garments which the fairies might make habits-- + _Lame Demon._ "_Rabbits, Hampshire Rabbits!_" + + EDWIN. Visions like those the Interpreter of Bunyan's-- + _Demon with a Stick._ "_Onions, a Rope of Onions!_" + + EDWIN. And give glowing utterances to their kin-- + _Dirty Demon._ "_Hare's skin or Rabbit skin!_" + + EDWIN. In thoughts so bright the aching senses blind-- + _Demon with Wheel._ "_Any knives or scissors to grind!_" + + EDWIN. Though gone, the Deities that long ago-- + _Grim Demon._ "_Dust Ho! Dust Ho!!_" + + EDWIN. Yet, from her radiant bow no Iris settles-- + _Swarthy Demon._ "_Mend your Pots and Kettles!_" + + EDWIN. And sad and silent is the ancient seat-- + _Demon with Skewers._ "_Cat's M-e-a-t!_" + + EDWIN. For there is a spell that none can chase away-- + _Demon with Organ._ "_Poor Dog Tray!_" + + EDWIN. And a charm whose power must ever bend-- + _Demon with Rushes._ "_Chairs! Old chairs to mend!_" + + EDWIN. And still unbanished falters on the ear-- + _Demon with Can._ "_Beer! Beer, any Beer!_" + + EDWIN. Still Pan and Syrinx wander through the groves-- + _She Demon._ "_Any Ornaments for your fire stoves!_" + + EDWIN. Thus visited is the sacred ground-- + _Second Demon with Organ._ "_Bobbing all around!_" + + EDWIN. Ay, and for ever, while the planet rolls-- + _Demon with Fish._ "_Mackerel or Soles!_" + + EDWIN. Crushed Enceladus in torment groans-- + _Little Demon._ "_Stones! Hearthstones!_" + + EDWIN. While laves the sea, on the glittering strand-- + _Third Demon with Organ._ "_O, 'tis hard to give the hand!_" + + EDWIN. While, as the cygnet nobly walks the water-- + _Fourth Demon with Organ._ "_The Ratcatcher's Daughter!_" + + EDWIN. And the Acropolis reveals to man-- + _Fifth Demon with Organ._ "_Poor Mary Anne!_" + + EDWIN. So long the presence, yes, the MENS DIVINA-- + _Sixth Demon with Organ._ "_Villikins and his Dinah!_" + + EDWIN. Shall breathe whereso'er the eye shoots-- + _Six Dirty Germans with_-- "_The overture to Freischutz!_" + + Here--EDWIN GOES MAD. + + +AND OUR WORK COMES TO A TIMELY + +END. + +[Illustration] + + + + +INDEX. + + + Addison, on London Cries, 118 + + Adelphi Theatre, The, 70 + + Aldersgate--Aldgate, 17 + + Ale and Wine, 6 + + Alexander Gell, 6 + + Annibale Carracci, 1 + + Alsatia--Its Notoriety, 26 + + Archers,--The City, 20 + + Attic-Poet, The, 146 + + + Babies--Male and Female, 76 + + Bags of Mystery!, 127 + + Band-Cuffe-Ruffe, 71 + + Bankside, 22, 23, 24 + + Bards of Seven Dials, 161 + + Barrow-woman, The, 112 + + Bartholomew Bird, A, 76 + + " Fair--_see_ Ben Jonson. + + Bay Cottage, Edmonton, 137 + + Baynard's Castle, 25 + + Beau-Trap, What, 154 + + Beaumont and Fletcher, 34 + + Bellman of London &c., 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 + + Bellman's Merry Out Cryes, 52 + + " Song, A, 50 + + " Treasury, The, 52 + + " Verses, 51, 53, 55 + + Ben Jonson's:-- + Bartholomew Fair, 34, 75, 78 + Costard-Mongers, 28, 34 + Fish-Wives, 28 + London, 16 + Orange Woman, 28, 109 + Silent Woman, 26, 29 + + Bennett--The News-cryer, 151 + + Billingsgate--Bummarees at, &c., 237 + + Bishopsgate, 17 + + Blacking Man, 60 + + Blacking--Day and Martin's, 156 + + " --Patent Cake, 156 + + Bookseller's Row, W.C., 203 + + Boar's Head Tavern, 8 + + Bridgewater Library, The, 73 + + Bristle--A Brush-Man, 80 + + British Museum--London Cries in, 56 + + Brompton's Chronicle, 232 + + Broom--Buy-a-Broom Girls, 223 + + Broom-men, The, 29, 32 + + Bucklersbury--Simple time, 21, 127 + + Budget--A Tinker, 81 + + Burbadge, R. and J. (Actors), 90 + + Buskers, 9 + + Butcher's Row, Strand, W.C., 253 + + Byron, H. J.--A Word-twister, 71 + + Bow Bells, The sound of, 45 + + Britton, Small Coalman, 124 + + Birdman, The, 250 + + Black Jack--What?, 134 + + + Cannon Street, 7, 8 + + Canonbury Tower, 135 + + Canwyke Street, 7 + + Card Matches--Vendors of, 120 + + Cardinal Cap Alley, 23 + + Catch that Catch Can, 99, 101 + + Catnach--"_Old Jemmy_," 161, 180, 186, 194, 195 + + Charing, The Village of, 6 + + Charles 1st, 6, 15, 35 + + Charles Dickens, 9, 146 + + Charles Knight's London, 153 + + Charles Lamb, 131, 4, 6, 8 + + Charles Mathews, 223 + + Chaucer, Geoffry, 1 + + Cheapside Cross, The, 19 + + Chelsea--Bun Houses at, 207 + + Churchwarden--Pipes, 134 + + Chiropodist, The, of to day, 127 + + City Walls, 18 + + Clause--A popular Vagabond, 83 + + Clerkenwell--A Village, 124, 139 + + Clint--The Liberty of, 23 + + Coals, a public nuisance, 15 + + Coalmen--Small, 73, 124 + + Cocks--_i.e._ Catchpennies, 173 + + Colebrooke Row, Islington, 132 + + Coleridge and the Old clo-man, 60 + + Collier, Mr. John Payne, 89 + + Colly-Molly--Puff-Pastry-man, 121 + + Copy of Verses, 164, 173 + + Corder, Wm. Murderer, 169 + + Costermongers, 29, 32, 34 + + Countryman in Lunnun, The, 7 + + Cow--With the iron tail, 143 + + Cries of Bologna, 1 + + Cries of London ever popular, 1 + + Cries of London--a Collection of, 31, 56, 63, 79, 102, 115 + + Cries of Rome, _i.e._--London, 64 + + Curtain Road, 90 + + +CRIES OF LONDON--Ancient and Modern. Alphabetically Arranged. + + Almanack--Buy an, 60, 341 + + Aloes, that blossom rarely, 140 + + Anchovies--Buy my, &c., 265 + + Apples--Baked, 127 + + Apricots--Buy fine, 116 + + Aqua Vitae, 60, 127 + + Artichokes, 35, 60, 73, 113 + + Asparagus--Any ripe, 35, 115 + + Apple Tarts, Nice hot to-day, 275 + + + Bacon--A Suck of, 239 + + Baked Potatoes, 259 + + Ballads--Buy a fine, new, &c., 76 + + Balm, 115 + + Balsams, Buy fine, 340 + + Banbury Cakes, O!, 269 + + Bandstrings--Buy, 73, 82, 88 + + Barley-Broth--Here's, 114 + + Bay--Buy any, &c., 60 + + Beans--White, Windsor &c., 35, 115, 184 + + Beads and Laces, 88 + + Basket, Buy a, 345 + + Bear's-foot--Buy my, 115 + + Beef--Ribs, fat and fine, 58 + + Bellows--Old, to mend, &c., 60 + + Birds and Hens--Buy any, 62 + + Black your Shoes, Sir?, 155 + + Blacking, Buy, 94 + + Blue--Buy my, 114 + + Blue Starch, 61 + + Bodkin--Here's a gilt, 82 + + Bone-Lace--Buy, 62, 82 + + Book--Buy a new, &c., 63 + + Boots--Have you any old?, 13, 14 + + Bow or Bough-pot (_flower-pot_), 61 + + Box--Buy my growing, 340 + + Box--Bonnet or cap, 297 + + Brass Pot, or an Iron Pot, 126 + + Bread and Meat, for poor prisoners, &c., 61, 64, 72, 126 + + Brick-Dust, 119 + + Briar--Buy sweet, 127-128 + + Broccoli--Here's fine, 115 + + Broken-Glasses, 119 + + Broom--Buy a, 80, 289 + + Brooms for old shoes, 36 + + Broom--New green, &c., 13, 58, 80 + + Brush--Buy long, new, &c., 61, 62, 73 + + Buns--See Hot-Cross-Buns + + Butter--Sixpence a-pound, 116 + + Buskins--Have you any?, 14 + + Buttons--Buy any?, 61 + + Buttons--Hankercher, 73 + + + Cabbage--White-heart, &c., 62, 113 + + Calf's Feet--Here's fine, 116 + + Candle-stick--Buy a, 61 + + Canes--For young and old, 260, 346 + + Cap Box--Bonnet Box, 297 + + Capers--Buy my, &c., 265 + + Carrots--Buy, 62, 115, 277 + + Case for a Hat--Buy a, 62 + + Cat's and Dog's Meat, 368 + + Cauliflowers--Here's, 115 + + Celery--Buy my nice, 116 + + Chairs to mend, 73, 114, 126, 371 + + Cheese and Cream--Any fresh, 62, 117, 139 + + Cherries--In the rise, _i.e._ stick, 6, 108 + + " Ripe, 6, 60 + + " Round and Sound, 113, 183 + + " Kentish + + Chesnuts--Roasted &c., 62, 241 + + Chickens--Buy alive, 295 + + Chimney Sweep, 29, 60, 252 + + Cinquefoil, 115 + + Clean your Boots, Sir?, 153 + + Clo! Clo!--Old Clothes, 37, 354 + + Clothes Pegs--Buy my, 184 + + Cloth--Scotch or Russian, 126 + + Clothes Lines--Props, 184, 278 + + Close-stool--Buy a cover for, 66, 93 + + Clove Water--Buy any?, 63 + + Coal--Maids any small?, 60 + + Cock or a Gelding (_Capon_), 73 + + Cockles-Ho!, 60, 79, 267 + + Cod--New, fine-water'd, 61, 116 + + Codlings--Hot, 62, 73, 113, 183 + + Codlings--Crumpling, 183 + + Coife--Buy a fine, 82 + + Coleworts--Here's green, 115 + + Cony-Skins--(_Rabbit_), 60, 84 + + Corn-Poppies--Here's, 116 + + Corns--Any to cut, pick, &c., 62, 75, 113 + + Cooper--Any work for a?, 60, 73, 113, 121 + + Crabs--Come buy my, &c., 116, 343 + + Cranberries--Buy my, &c., 259 + + Cream and Cheese, 139 + + Cucumbers, Ripe &c., 35, 63, 116, 256 + + Curds, 81 + + Currants--Here's, 81 + + Cut Flowers, 255 + + + Dabs--Come buy my, 116, 128 + + Damsons--Buy ripe, 61 + + Dandelion--Here's ye, 115 + + Dog's Meat, 368 + + Door-Mat--Buy a, 279, 376 + + Doublets--Any old?, 60 + + Dragon's-tongue--Here's ye, 115 + + Dumplings Diddle, diddle, 115 + + Dust O!, 248 + + Duck--Buy a, 116 + + + Earthen-Ware--To-day?, 296 + + Eels--Buy a dish of, 41, 116, 298 + + Eel Pies--Hot, hot!, 62 + + Eggs--New laid, 10 a groat, 116 + + Elder-buds--For the blood, 114 + + Ells or Yards--Buy, 61 + + Ends of gold, 60 + + + Featherfew and Rue, 115 + + Felt Hats, 5 + + Fenders--I paint, 231 + + Figs--Buy any?, 61, 116 + + Filberts--Ripe, Brown, &c., 116, 183 + + Fleas--Buy a tormentor for, 66, 75 + + Flounders, 30, 61, 116, 268 + + Flowers--Buy my, 356 + + Fowl--A choice, 116 + + Footstool--Buy a, 61 + + French Beans--Buy, 116 + + French Garters, 71 + + + Garlick--Buy any?, 62 + + Garters for the knee, 61, 82, 88 + + Gazette, London--Here, 126, 339 + + Geraniums--Scarlet, &c., 240 + + Gilliflowers, &c., 115 + + Gingerbread--Hot, 75, 114, 349 + + Glass to mend, 61 + + Glasses--Broken, 120 + + Golden Pippins--Who'll buy, 290 + + Gold-end--Have you any?, 60 + + Goose--Buy a, 116 + + Gooseberries--Buy my fine, 261 + + Green Coleworts--Here's, 115 + + Greens, 2d. a bunch, 355 + + Green Peas--All hot-hot!, 239, 296 + + Gudgeons--Fine, &c., 115 + + Gaudes--Dainty for Sunday, 88 + + Ground-Ivy--Buy my, 115 + + + Haddocks--Buy my fine, 61, 116 + + Hair--Maids any to sell?, 113 + + Hair Brooms, or a Brush, 289 + + Hair-line--Buy a?, 62 + + Hang out your Lights here, 46-47 + + Handkerchief-buttons--Buy, 73 + + Hare Skins--I buy, 83 + + Hastings--Young and Green, 115 + + Hat, or Cap Box?, 297, 356 + + Hat--Buy a case for, 62 + + Hats--Fine felt, 5 + + Hats or Caps--To dress, 62 + + Hats or Caps--Buy or sell, 38 + + Hassock for your Pew, 66, 72 + + Hautboys--Ripe, 115 + + Hearth-stones--Want any?, 158, 362 + + Heart's-ease--Buy any?, 115 + + Herbs--Here's fine of every sort, 115 + + Herrings--Fine new, &c., 60, 113 + + Hobby-Horses, 73, 76, 106 + + Holly--Christmas ho!, 234 + + Hone, or Whetstone, 73 + + Hornbook--Buy a, 85 + + Horns--Shall I mend your?, 114 + + Hot-Cross Buns, 185, 202, 263 + + Hot Mutton--Pies, 61, 282 + + Hot Pudding--Pies, 62 + + Hot Sheep's feet, 7 + + Hot Peacods, 6, 127 + + Houseleek--Here's ye, 115 + + Holloway Cheesecakes, 117 + + Hood--Buy a?, 9 + + Horehound--Buy any, 115 + + + Images--Come buy my, 287, 357 + + Ink--Fine writing-ink, 59, 104, 126 + + Ink and Pens, 59 + + Iron--Old iron I buy, &c., 40, 60 + + Iron Fork or shovel, 105 + + Italian Falling Bands, 71 + + Ivy--Ground-ivy, 115 + + + Jessamine--Pale, &c., 240 + + Jew's Trumps (_i.e. Harps._), 76 + + John Apples--Who'll buy, 81 + + John the Cooper--Any work for?, 60, 126 + + + Kettles to mend, 64, 303 + + Kentish Cherries, 288 + + Kitchen-stuff--What have you maids?, 60, 113 + + Knives to grind, 277, 373 + + + Laces--Long and Strong, 83, 126 + + Lambs--Young to sell, 185, 293 + + Lanthorn & Candle, 46, 66, 72 + + Lavender--Blooming, 115, 270, 372 + + Lawn, Silk, Velvets, 6 + + Lights for your cat, 116 + + Lilies of the Valley, 294 + + Leeks--Here's fine, 116 + + Lemons--Fine, 60 + + Lettuce--Fine goss, 57, 60, 66 + + Lobsters--Buy, 116, 343 + + + Mackerel--Fine, fresh, 7, 29, 60, 73, 271 + + Maids--Buy my fresh, 116 + + Marjoram--Ho!, 115 + + Marking Stone, 57, 61, 64, 72 + + Marroguin--Good, 60 + + Marrow-bones, Maids, 73 + + Marygolds--Here's ye, 115 + + Mat--Buy a, 60, 66, 73 + + Matches--Buy my, 231 + + Milk--Maids below &c., 60, 139, 183, 344 + + Mint--Any green, or a bunch, 115, 274 + + Mops--Maids buy a, 219, 284 + + Mousetrap--Buy a, 65, 75 + + Muffins--Buy new, 284 + + Muffins, Crumpets + + Mugwort--Buy my, 115 + + Mulberries--Here's, 116, 266 + + Mullets--Buy my, 116 + + Mussels--Lilly-white, 31, 60, 73 + + Mutton Dumplings--Hot, 282 + + Mutton Pies--Who'll buy?, 61 + + Myrtle--Dark green, 340 + + + Nectarines--Fine, 116, 348 + + Needles--who buys my, 85 + + Nettle-tops--Here's ye, 115 + + New River Water--Here 129, 139 + + Nosegays--Fine, 115 + + Nun's Thread, 71 + + Nuts--Fine, new, &c., 113 + + + Oat-Cakes--Fine, 62 + + Old Clo! Clo!, 37, 353, 369 + + Old Cloaks, Suits or Coats, 38 + + Old Doublets, 60 + + Old Iron--Take money for, 40 + + Old Man--A penny a root, 231 + + Old Satin-taffety, or Velvet, 37 + + Onions--White St. Thomas', &c., 35, 66, 115 + + Oranges--China, golden, ripe, &c., 60, 183, 303 + + Oranges and Lemons--Fine, 60 + + Oysters--New Wall-Fleet &c., 30, 113, 285, 353 + + + Pail--Buy a new, 231 + + Paris-thread, 6 + + Parsley--Heres ye, 115 + + Parsnips, Buy--Here's fine, 116 + + Peaches--Buy my fine, 116, 348 + + Pearmains--Buy my, 81 + + Pears--Baking, Stewed &c., 85, 61-62, 113, 262 + + Peas and Beans--Come buy, 184 + + Pea-Soup--All hot!, 239 + + Peacods, Hot-hot!, 6, 127 + + Penknives to grind, 231 + + Pens and Ink, 59-60 + + Pennyroyal--Here's ye, 115 + + Pepper, Saffron and Spice, 6 + + Peppermint--Nice, 237 + + Perch--Buy my, 116 + + Periwinkles--Quick _i.e. live_, 62, 73, 374 + + Pies Hot, 62, 113 + + Pigeons--Come buy my, 116 + + Pike--Fine live, 116 + + Pins of the maker, 63 + + Pins and Needles--Who buys?, 85 + + Pins for Coney-Skins, 115 + + Pippins--Buy my? &c., 60, 290 + + Pippin-Pies, 60 + + Plaice--Buy dish of, &c., 31, 61, 116 + + Plovers--Come buy my, 116 + + Plum-Pudding, 4d. a pound, 114 + + Plum--Buy my ripe, 116, 299 + + Points--Buy any?, 61 + + Pomegranites--Fine, 62 + + Pompeons (Qy. Pumpkin), 62 + + Potatoes--Fine new, 62, 116, 286 + + Potatoes--All hot, 359 + + Pot--Buy a white, 61 + + Pots and Pans, 231 + + Pots, Pans, Kettles to mend, 264, 301 + + Powder and Wash-ball, 121 + + Pretty Pins--Pretty women?, 126 + + Primroses--Buy, 228, 246 + + Props or Lines, 184 + + Prunes--Buy, 2d. a-pound, 61, 115 + + Purse--Buy a, 300 + + + Quick (_i.e. live_) Perriwinkles, 62, 73 + + + Rabbits--Who'll buy, 116, 273 + + Rabbit-skins--Any to sell, buy, 60, 84 + + Radish--Buy my white, &c., 35, 62, 66, 115 + + Raisons--Buy any?, 61 + + Rareee Show--Take a peep, 280 + + Ribs of beef--Fine, 5 + + Rice-milk--Here's hot, 114, 127, 347 + + Rice--New, 2d. a pound, 116 + + Rings--Powch-posies, 13, 88 + + Rope-Mats--Buy one, 278 + + Roses--Buy my fine, 340 + + Rosemary--Buy my, 60, 115, 257 + + Rosemary and Briar, 127, 257 + + Rue--Buy a bunch, &c., 115, 274 + + Rushes--Green, 7-8, 62 + + + Saffron, Spice and Pepper, 6 + + Sage--Buy a bunch &c., 115, 274 + + Salad--Ready picked, 115 + + Salmon--Fine, Newcastle, &c., 30, 258 + + Saloop--Hot and good, 116, 127 + + Samphire--Rock, 60, 72 + + Sand--Silver sand, 113 + + Sashes--Ribbons or lace, 179 + + Satin--Old, 37 + + Sausages, 56, 61 + + Save-all--Buy a, 80 + + Savoys--Here's fine, 115 + + Scissors ground, 1d. per pair, 277 + + Screens, from the fire, 73 + + Scurvy-grass--Any?, 62, 115 + + Shads--Come buy my, 60, 116 + + Shirt Buttons--Buy, 272 + + Sheep's Trotters--Hot, 7, 127 + + Shoes-Buy--I buy, 14, 61 + + Shovel and Iron Fork, 105 + + Shrimps--Fine, New, 61, 116, 374 + + Silk Velvets lawn, 6 + + Singing Bird--Buy a fine, 107, 115 + + Silver Sand--Buy, 113 + + Small Coals, 73, 116, 124 + + Smelts--Buy my &c., 31, 62, 116 + + Socks--Holland socks, 126 + + Soles--Fine, &c., 62 + + Songs--A choice of, 83 + + Songs--Three yards a penny, 187 + + Southernwood, that's very good, 115 + + Spice, pepper and saffron, 6 + + Spice graters, 58 + + Sprats--Buy my, 61, 116 + + Spinach--Here's, 116 + + Starch--Blue, 61 + + Stocks--Buy fine, 340 + + Straw--Will you buy any?, 79 + + Strawberries--Ripe, &c., 6, 62, 108, 115, 185, 276 + + Steel or Tinder-box, 73 + + Stopple--For your close-stool, 66 + + Stomach water, 63 + + Sweep, 184 + + Sweet Briar--Buy my, 257, 277 + + + Table-mat--Buy a, 251 + + Tape--Buy any?, 61 + + Tarts--All hot, 113 + + Teal--Come buy my, 116 + + Tench--Buy my, 116 + + Teeth--Any to draw?, 81 + + Thornback--New, 62 + + Tinder-Box--Buy a, 79 + + Tinker--Have you any work for a?, 60, 73, 264 + + Toasting Forks, 58, 61, 99 + + Toasting-Iron, 61 + + Toys, For girls and boys, 185 + + Trap for fleas, 66 + + Trinkets--Want any?, 291 + + Tripes--Fine, 116 + + Troop--Every one, 106 + + Trotters--Here's, 116 + + Turnips--Buy bunch, 60, 115, 277 + + Turbot--All alive, 237 + + Thyme, Rue, &c., 115 + + + Velvets, Silk, Lawn, 6 + + Venice Glasses--Come buy, 59 + + Vinegar--Lilly-white, 126 + + Violets--Buy my, 128 + + Violins--Buy, 76 + + + Wafers--Buy any?, 126 + + Walking-sticks--Buy my, 139, 260 + + Walnuts, New, crack and try, &c., 62, 115, 241, 242, 243 + + Warders--Hot (Pears), 127 + + Wash-Ball--Want any, 58, 62, 291 + + Watch--Buy of me, 291 + + Water--Buy spring here?, 129, 139 + + Water-cresses--Buy fresh, &c., 115, 127 + + Wax--Buy any?, 126, 281, 353 + + Wheat--Buy any?, 62, 73 + + Whetstone--Buy a, 73 + + Whistle, for your boy, 82 + + White Scallions (_Shalots_), 62 + + Whiting--Any new, fresh, &c., 30, 62, 66 + + Whiting Maps, 61 + + Widgeon--Come buy my, 116 + + Wigs--A fine tie or bob?, 126 + + Wild Duck--Buy a, 116 + + Windsor Beans, 115 + + Wine--One penny a pint, 10 + + Winter-Savoy--Here you have, 115 + + Wood--Any to cleave?, 15, 62, 124 + + Wood-sorrel--Here's ye, 115 + + Worcestershire Salt, 61, 62 + + Wormwood--Here's fine, 115 + + + Yards and Ells, 61 + + Yorkshire Cakes, 254 + + Yorkshire Muffins, 116 + + Yarmouth Bloaters, 237 + + + Cry--_Much cry, but little wool_, 120 + + Crying Things in London, 73 + + Curds--A cheesewoman, 81 + + Cutler's Poetry upon a knife, 52 + + + Deacon's Music Hall, 131 + + Decker, Thomas, _alias_ Dekker, 50 + + Deuteromelia, or Roundelays, 70 + + Dick Tarlton--Jester, 136 + + Dick, The Shoe Black, 155 + + Dimsdale--Mayor Garrett, 199 + + Ditty--A ballad-man, 80 + + Dogberry--The Watchman, 49 + + Drunken Barnaby at Holloway, 117 + + Duke of Devonshire's drawings, 63 + + Dumpling Woman--The, 253 + + Dunstan--Sir Jeffery, 196 + + " Mayor of Garrett, 197 + + " Death of, 198 + + Dustman--The, 249 + + Dying Speeches, 160, 172 + + " Albert Smith's, 173 + + " Ann William's, 163 + + " Wm. Corder's, 170 + + " Couvoisier's, 112 + + " Greenacre's, 171 + + " Thurtell's, 167 + + + Earl of Ellesmere, 73 + + Eastern Cheap-Market, 8 + + Eastwood ho!--A Comedy, 62 + + Ebsworth--Rev. J. W, 83 + + Edmonton, 137, 138 + + Ely Place--The orchards in, 108 + + Elizabeth--Queen, 35, 64 + + ELIZA COOK, MISS, POEMS:-- + Christmas Holly, 244 + Hot-Cross Buns, 210 + Old Cries, 244 + Young Lambs to Sell, 221 + + Enfield--Charles Lamb at, 136 + + + Falstaff and Henry V, 8 + + Faux-Hall, 23 + + Field Lane and Fagan, 6 + + Fiddler--The blind, 283 + + Finsbury, its groves, 139 + + Flower Girls--Saucy, 128 + + Flower Pot Man--The, 240 + + Flying Stationer--The, 159 + + Fish-Fags, 236 + + Fish-Wives, 29, 32 + + Fisherwomen, 234 + + Fortunes of Nigel, 40 + + Fortey Mr. _late_ Catnach, 194 + + + Garratt--Mayor of, 197, 200 + + George Cruikshank, 222 + + George Daniel--Mr., 133 + + George Dyer, 133 + + Gingerbread Lottery, 350 + + Goldsmith--Oliver, 135 + + Gravesend and Milton, 10 + + Grey Friars, 18 + + Greenacre, 172 + + Greene Robt,--_Never too Late_, 64 + + Grim--The Black Collier, 96 + + Grimaldi--Old Joe, 132 + + Gum--A tooth drawer, 81 + + Guy Fawkes--Guy, 226 + + + Halliwell Street, 90 + + Heath--A broom-man, 80 + + Hearth Stone Merchant, 158 + + Herb-wives, unruly people, 35 + + Herb-wife--The, 274 + + Herrick, Robert--Pretty Jane + + " Hesperides, 50 + + Heywood, T.--Rape of Lucrece + + Hobbyhorse-seller--A, 75, 106 + + Hogarth's Print of "_Evening_", 131 + + " "_Enraged Musician_", 32 + + " Idle 'Prentice, 149 + + " Pieman, 214 + + Holborn, 12, 35 + + " Green Pastures in, 139 + + Holloway Cheese-cakes, 117 + + Holywell Street, 203 + + Hone's Every-Day Book, 132, 155 + + Hornmen, 150 + + Hot Codlings--A Catch, 101 + + Hucksters, 35 + + Hugh Myddleton, 131 + + Hyde Park, 20 + + + Inigo Jones' collection of drawings, 63 + + Iron-Tailed Cow--The, 143 + + Islington, 131 + + " Clerks from, 155 + + " Garland, 131, 135 + + + Jack Drum's Entertainment, 117 + + "Jerry" the spec builder, 139 + + Jigs on the Stage, 80 + + Jin Vin. in Prentices-riots, 41 + + John Bunyan--A Tinker, 100 + + John Howard, 126 + + John Stow's Survey of London, 2 + + John Taylor--The Water-Poet, 90 + + Johnson, Dr. on London-cries, 36 + + + Kate Smith--Milkmaid, 241 + + Kelly--Frances, M., 137 + + Kempe--A Comedian, 90 + + Kent--Lambarde's, 10 + + + Lackpenny--_see_ London + + Lambeth, 23 + + Lauron's Cries--see Mauron + + Law, Thomas--The Bellman, 53 + + Lawyer's and Suitors, 11 + + La Zoon--Partrait Painter, 103 + + Lettuce Woman--The, 57 + + Life in London, 8 + + Light of other Days--The, 63 + + Liston, W., "London Crier", 220 + + London, Barrow Women, 112, 222 + + " Bridge, 25, 26 + + " Chanticleers, a Comedy, 79 + + " Labour, 7 + + " Lackpenny, 2, 3, 10 + + " Lawyers, 11 + + " Milk Carriers, 139 to 147 + + " 'Prentice riots, 42, 45 + + " Stall Keepers, 11 + + " Stone--The, 7, 11 + + " The Three Ladies of, 12 + + " Wall--The, 17 + + " Without lamps, 51 + + Ludgate--Poor Prisioners in, 17, 18 + + Lupton's London (1632), 234 + + Luttrell's Collection of Broadsides, 52 + + Lydgate--A Monk, 1, 2, 7, 9 + + " his numerous works, 2 + + " his London Lackpenny, 2, 3, 10 + + " Cornhill in his time, 9 + + " Mackerel in his day, 29 + + + Madame Vestris--Her legs, 223 + + Maria Marten, & Corder, 168 + + Marylebone, 20 + + Mauron's-_alias_-Lauron--"Cryes,", 31, 103 + + Mayhew's, H., London Labour, 7, 152, 165 + + Mayors of Garratt, 127, 200 + + Merry Bellman's--Out-Cryes, 52 + + Merry Drollery--The, 83 + + Milliner's Girls, 70 + + + Nassau Press--The, 195 + + Ned Ward--His Time, 124 + + Nell Gwynne, 57, 109 to 112 + + New Exchange--Strand, 70 + + New River--First View of, 130 + + " And Charles Lamb, 130 + + News-criers, 150 + + Newgate, 18 + + Nightingale--A ballad-singer, 75 + + Novello--Mr. Vincent, 136 + + Northumberland House, 25 + + + Milk--London supply of, 142 + + Milkmaids, 141 + + Milkman--The Poetical, 147 + + Milk and water, 139 + + Milk from the Cow, 244 + + Miller's Golden Thumb, 92 + + Milton's Il Penseroso, 50 + + Misson's Travels, 140 + + Moorfields, 18 + + Moorgate, 17 + + Morely,--A Musical Composer, 70 + + Morose--A Character, 28, 33 + + Mother Red Cap--Holloway, 117 + + Much cry, but little wool, 120 + + Muffin Man--The, 202 + + Muffin and Crumpet Company, 201 + + Murder of Mr. Weare, 165 + + + Okes--A printer (1632), 234 + + Old clo'--A Jew's monopoly, 39 + + " And Coleridge, 60 + + Old Parr's Head--The, 131 + + Old Stage waggon--The, 21 + + Oliver Twist, 6 + + Orange-women, 29, 32, 57 + + Oranges imported by Sir. W. Raleigh, 109 + + Orlando Gibbons--Musician, 72 + + Oyster-wives--unruly people, 35 + + O Yes--a mad merry ditty, 52 + + + Pammelia--a musical work, 78 + + Paris Gardens, 90 + + Pastyme of Pleasure--The, 2 + + Paul Mr.--And Catnach, 195 + + Paul's Wharf, 25 + + Pedlar's French, 64 + + Pepy's--His collection, &c., 102 + + Pewter Pots, 8, 197 + + Pewterer's 'prentice, 28 + + Phillips--A comedian, 90 + + Pieman--London The, 211 to 219 + + Pie Shops--The Penny, 127 + + Pie-Poudre--A court of, 76 + + Pimlico--A country hamlet, 21 + + Pinner-up--Of songs, 193 + + Pitts--Ballad-monger, 161 + + Place Maubert, 236 + + Plate-glass windows, 6 + + Playford's Select Ayres, 87 + + Pope Thos.--Famous Clown, 90 + + Pope's Head--in Cornhill, 10 + + Porson--on Barrow-woman, 112 + + Potatoes--In reign of James I., 72 + + Powder-Watt, 121 + + Puddle Dock, 25 + + 'Prentice Riots, 44 + + Prick Song--What!, 52 + + + Queen Anne's--London, 47 + + + Rabbit Man--The, 273 + + Raddish and Lettuce-woman, 57 + + Ragg--The Bellman's copy of verses, 52 + + Ragged School, 157 + + Rat-catcher--The, 59 + + Red Barn--Murder at, 168 + + River Fleet, 17 + + Robatos--a kind of Ruff, 71 + + Roger Warde--Printer (1584), 12 + + Rome mort--Romville, 64 + + Roxburghe Ballads--The, 71, 80, 89, 113 + + Rushes--Green, the strewing of &c., 7, 8 + + Ryle--Mrs. Anne, 194 + + + Saint Fear--Years of, 52 + + St. Dunstan's Church, 41, 71 + + St. James' Park, 21 + + St. Pauls' Cathedral, 43 + + Salt, sold in the streets, 62 + + Sausage-Woman The, 58 + + Second Edition--Sellers, 152 + + Seven Dials, 164 + + Shakespeare's London, 16 to 27 + + Shancke, John--Comic actor, 89 + + Shoe-Black--The, 155 + + Shoe-Blacks--Last of the, 153 + + Shoeblack Society, 157 + + Shopkeepers--Loud bawling, 6 + + Shoreditch-church--Fields, 33, 90 + + Singer--A Comedian, 90 + + Sir Hugh Myddleton's Head, 131 + + Songs--3 yards a penny, 187 + + Sow--Gelder's Horn, 32, 119 + + Spectacles, first sold, 5 + + Spectator, The--on London cries, 118 + + Spring water--Here?, 129 + + Stall-keepers--The, 11 + + Statutes of the Streets, 48 + + Stow's Survey of London, 2, 50 + + Strawberries in Holborn, 108 + + Strawberry-Woman--The, 276 + + + Tarlton, Comedian, 20 + + Tempest's, P. Cries of London, 102 + + Theatres--Bankside, 23 + + " The Cockpit, 79 + + " Covent Garden, 23 + + " The Curtain, 89, 90, 95 + + " Drury Lane, 23 + + " The Globe, 22, 89, 90, 95 + + " The Hope, 75 + + " Red Bull, 64, 89, 95 + + " Sadler's Wells, 130, 132 + + " The Theatre, 64, 90 + + " The Swan, 89, 90, 95 + + Thurtell--John, Murderer, 165 + + " Hook's verses on, 166 + + Three Ladies of London, 12, 15 + + Tiddy-Doll--Vendor of Gingerbread, 148, 264 + + Tinker--The Jolly, 302 + + Troop--Every One, 106 + + Tripe-wives--unruly people, 35 + + Trotter Yard--The, 7 + + Turner's Dish of Stuff, 89, 91 + + + Veal, with a _hammy_ knife!, 239 + + + Watchman--The London, 46 + + Water Carrier--The, 129 + + Water-Poet--_see_ John Taylor + + Walter Raleigh and oranges, 109 + + Weare Mr.--The Murder of, 165 + + What do you lack?, 7, 41 + + Windsor Drollery--The, 87, 101 + + Wood--Any to cleave?, 15 + + Wotton, Towns End--Tune of, 89 + + Wynter, Dr. on our milk supply 142 + + + Yea by cock, 8 + + Ye Bridge-foot, 234 + + Year of Saint's Fear, 52 + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "The England of Shakespeare," by E. Goadby--Cassell, Petter, Galpin & +Co., London, E.C. + +[2] For the use of the woodcut blocks representing the "Smith Arms," and +the Globe Theatre, we are indebted to our friend Mr. John W. Jarvis, +author of "Musee-Phusee-Glyptic: A Scrap Book of Jottings from +Stratford-on-Avon, and Elsewhere," London, 1875, who introduces them into +the pages of his work thus:-- + + "Not long since, after a pleasing and interesting walk, one fine + morning on Bankside, and standing near the still existing Cardinal Cap + Alley, with the aid of an artist friend, we drew up a fancy picture of + what Bankside was in Shakespeare's day.--Here a small creek with craft + and busy life around; a small bridge, with road leading to the Globe, + the famous theatre afterwards to be so widely known. The sunshiny time + of our literature and life, making a red-letter period in happy old + England's history. We were interrupted by a kindly-faced, + round-shouldered man of the bargee type, who asked us 'if it was + Shakespeare, him as writ plays, we was a torkin' on; if so be it were, + he could show us the wery 'ouse he used, least ways, all as is left on + it.' After a twisting tramp through Cardinal Cap Alley, we were + brought out opposite the public-house known by the name of the 'Smith + Arms,' which had just then only escaped entire demolition from fire by + a very near chance--(the damage done has since necessitated the + rebuilding; so the sketch stands as a bit of rescued old London.) + + "Our informant assured us that--'Shakespeare as had a playus nigh + there, used to use that wery 'ouse; him as writ the Merchant of + Venice, Money, and the Forest of Bondy.' Our kind friend was + interrupted by a companion, who said, 'Not Bondy: him didn't write + that.' 'I won't give up Money, because the Merchant of Venice is all + about Money. You better say he didn't write Richard the Third and + Richard the Fourth.' + + "We gladly retired before our historic doubts were confirmed by this + traditional scholar, about this double Gloucester. His companion, as + we thought rather aptly, but churlishly remarked, 'cheese it,' for + they were both getting grumpy, and after this duplicate, we were + fearful a fifth or a sixth might appear. But the house itself, one + among the oldest in Southwark, we considered worthy a sketch, and, as + our guide told us, ought to be '_perpetrated_.' He said he could pull + a bit, but draw he couldn't; but he did--that is, four-pence for + beer." + +[3] PRICK-SONG, music pricked or noted down, full of flourish and +variety.--_Halliwell._ + +[4] NOISE.--A set, or company of musicians. "_These terrible noyses, with +threadbare cloaks_,"--_Decker's Bellman, of London_, 1608. + +[5] _Pie-Poudre._ A court formerly held at a fair for the rough-and-ready +treatment of pedlars and hawkers, to compel them and those with whom they +dealt to fulfil their contracts. This court arose from the necessity of +doing justice expeditiously, among persons resorting from distant places +to a fair or market. It is said to be called the court of _pie-poudre, +curia, pedis pulverizate_, from the dusty feet of the suitors, or, as Sir +Edward Coke says, because justice is there done as speedily as dust can +fall from the feet. + +[6] _The Tune of Wotton Towns End_, is the same as "Peg a' Ramsey," +mentioned by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night, and is at least as old as 1589. +It is also in "Robin Good-Fellow: His Mad Pranks, And Merry Jests, Full of +Honest Mirth, &c., 1628." + +[7] The Curtain Road, now notorious for cheap and shoddy furniture, still +marks the site of the Curtain Theatre; at the same date there was another +playhouse in the parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, distinguished as "The +Theatre," where the Chamberlain's Company had settled. John Stow, in his +Survey of London, 1598, speaking of the priory of St. John Baptist, says: +"And neere thereunto are builded two publique houses for acting of shews +of comedies, tragedies, and histories, for recreation. Whereof is one +called the "Courtein," the other "The Theatre;" both standing on the South +West side toward the field." In both these James Burbadge may have been +interested; his long residence in the parish may fairly lead to the +conclusion, that he was a sharer in at least one of them. Richard Tarlton, +the famous actor of clown's parts, was a near neighbour of James Burbadge, +and a shareholder and performer at the Curtain. Thomas Pope, a performer +of rustic clowns, by his will dated July, 1603, left--"All my part, right, +title, and interest which I have in the playhouse, called the Curtein, +situated and being in Halliwell, in the parish of St. Leonard's in +Shoreditch, in the County of Middlesex." At what date one or the other of +these early Suburban playhouses ceased to be occupied, we have little or +no satisfactory evidence. + +[8] Stoke's Rapid Plan of Teaching Music. + +[9] The Old Parr's Head, in Upper Street, Islington. + +[10] BLACK JACK. A huge leather drinking vessel. A Frenchman speaking of +it says, "The English drink out of their boots."--_Heywood._ + +[11] BEAU-TRAP:--A loose stone in the pavement under which the water +lodges in rainy weather, which when trodden on squirts it up to the great +damage of light-coloured clothes and clean stockings. First invented by +Sedan-chairmen, whose practice it was to loosen a flat-stone so that in +wet weather those that choose to save their money by walking, might, by +treading on the "trap" dirt their shoes and stockings. + +[12] Pitts, a modern publisher of love garlands, merriments, penny +ballads, &c. + + "Who, ere he went to heaven, + Domiciled in Dials Seven!" + George Daniel's, "_Democritus in London_." + +[13] Lockhart's "Life of Sir Walter Scott." + +[14] The whole market has been rebuilt during these last few years, & +Darkhouse-lane abolished.--C. H. + +[15] In the glee, "Merrily rang the Bells of St. Michael's Tower," we are +told that Richard Penlake had a shrew for a wife, and though she had a +tongue that was longer, yet-- + + "Richard Penlake a crabstick would take + And show her that he was the stronger." + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +Superscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}. + +Period errors, comma errors, and mismatched quotation marks have been +corrected without note. + +Items in the index are out of order and some do not include missing page +numbers. These are presented as in the original text. + +The original text contains hyphen and spelling variants and spelling +errors that have been retained. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Cries of London, by +Charles Hindley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE CRIES OF LONDON *** + +***** This file should be named 37114.txt or 37114.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/1/1/37114/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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