Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-08 08:59:10HEADmain

1 files changed, 8853 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/41961-0.txt b/41961-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24a98e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/41961-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8853 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41961 ***
+
+THE OLD SHOWMEN, AND THE OLD LONDON FAIRS.
+
+
+
+
+  THE OLD SHOWMEN,
+  AND THE
+  OLD LONDON FAIRS.
+
+  BY
+  THOMAS FROST,
+  AUTHOR OF
+  "CIRCUS LIFE AND CIRCUS CELEBRITIES," ETC.
+
+
+  SECOND EDITION.
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  TINSLEY BROTHERS, 8, CATHERINE STREET, STRAND,
+  1875.
+
+  [_All Rights Reserved._]
+
+
+
+
+  PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND CO.,
+  LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELD
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Popular amusements constitute so important a part of a nation's social
+history that no excuse need be offered for the production of the present
+volume. The story of the old London fairs has not been told before, and
+that of the almost extinct race of the old showmen is so inextricably
+interwoven with it that the most convenient way of telling either was to
+tell both. An endeavour has been made, therefore, to relate the rise,
+progress, and declension of the fairs formerly held in and about the
+metropolis as comprehensively and as thoroughly as the imperfect records
+of such institutions render possible; and to weave into the narrative all
+that is known of the personal history of the entertainers of the people
+who, from the earliest times to the period when the London fairs became
+things of the past, have set up shows in West Smithfield, on the greens of
+Southwark, Stepney, and Camberwell, and in the streets of Greenwich and
+Deptford. Those who remember the fairs that were the last abolished, even
+in the days of their decline, will, it is thought, peruse with interest
+such fragments of the personal history of Gyngell, Scowton, Saunders,
+Richardson, Wombwell, and other showmen of the last half century of the
+London fairs, to say nothing of the earlier generations of entertainers,
+as are brought together in the following pages.
+
+The materials for a work of this kind are not abundant. The notices of the
+fairs to be found in records of the earlier centuries of their history are
+slight, and more interesting to the antiquary than to the general reader.
+Newspapers of the latter half of the seventeenth century, and the first
+half of the eighteenth, afford only advertisements of the amusements, and
+of the showmen of the former period we learn only the names. During the
+latter half of the last century, the showmen seldom advertised in the
+newspapers, and few of their bills have been preserved. No showman has
+ever written his memoirs, or kept a journal; and the biographers of actors
+who have trodden the portable stages of Scowton and Richardson in the
+early years of their professional career have failed to glean many
+incidents of their fair experiences. All that can be presented of the
+personal history of such men as Gyngell, Scowton, Richardson, and
+Wombwell, has been gathered from the few surviving members of the
+fraternity of showmen, and from persons who, at different periods, and in
+various ways, have been brought into association with them. If, therefore,
+no other merit should be found in the following pages, they will at least
+have been the means of preserving from oblivion all that is known of an
+almost extinct class of entertainers of the people.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                      PAGE
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  Origin of Fairs--Charter Fairs at Winchester and Chester--
+  Croydon Fairs--Fairs in the Metropolis--Origin of Bartholomew
+  Fair--Disputes between the Priors and the Corporation--The
+  Westminster Fairs--Southwark Fair--Stepney Fair--Ceremonies
+  observed in opening Fairs--Walking the Fair at
+  Wolverhampton--The Key of the Fair at Croydon--Proclamation
+  of Bartholomew Fair                                                    1
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  Amusements of the Fairs in the Middle Ages--Shows and Showmen
+  of the Sixteenth Century--Banks and his Learned Horse--
+  Bartholomew Fair in the time of Charles I.--Punch and Judy--
+  Office of the Revels--Origin of Hocus Pocus--Suppression of
+  Bartholomew Fair--London Shows during the Protectorate--A
+  Turkish Rope-Dancer--Barbara Vanbeck, the Bearded Woman               18
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  Strolling Players in the Seventeenth Century--Southwark
+  Fair--Bartholomew Fair--Pepys and the Monkeys--Polichinello--
+  Jacob Hall, the Rope-Dancer--Another Bearded Woman--
+  Richardson, the Fire-Eater--The Cheshire Dwarf--Killigrew and
+  the Strollers--Fair on the Thames--The Irish Giant--A Dutch
+  Rope-Dancer--Music Booths--Joseph Clarke, the Posturer--
+  William Philips, the Zany--William Stokes, the Vaulter--A
+  Show in Threadneedle Street                                           36
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  Attempts to Suppress the Shows at Bartholomew Fair--A
+  remarkable Dutch Boy--Theatrical Booths at the London Fairs--
+  Penkethman, the Comedian--May Fair--Barnes and Finley--Lady
+  Mary--Doggett, the Comedian--Simpson, the Vaulter--Clench,
+  the Whistler--A Show at Charing Cross--Another Performing
+  Horse--Powell and Crawley, the Puppet-Showmen--Miles's
+  Music-Booth--Settle and Mrs. Mynn--Southwark Fair--Mrs.
+  Horton, the Actress--Bullock and Leigh--Penkethman and Pack--
+  Boheme, the Actor--Suppression of May Fair--Woodward, the
+  Comedian--A Female Hercules--Tiddy-dol, the Gingerbread
+  Vendor                                                                66
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  Bartholomew Fair Theatricals--Lee, the Theatrical Printer--
+  Harper, the Comedian--Rayner and Pullen--Fielding, the
+  Novelist, a Showman--Cibber's Booth--Hippisley, the Actor--
+  Fire in Bartholomew Fair--Fawkes, the Conjuror--Royal Visit
+  to Fielding's Booth--Yeates, the Showman--Mrs. Pritchard, the
+  Actress--Southwark Fair--Tottenham Court Fair--Ryan, the
+  Actor--Hallam's Booth--Griffin, the Actor--Visit of the
+  Prince of Wales to Bartholomew Fair--Laguerre's Booth--
+  Heidegger--More Theatrical Booths--Their Suppression at
+  Bartholomew Fair--Hogarth at Southwark Fair--Violante, the
+  Rope-Dancer--Cadman, the Flying Man                                  102
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  A new Race of Showmen--Yeates, the Conjuror--The Turkish
+  Rope-Walker--Pan and the Oronutu Savage--The Corsican Fairy--
+  Perry's Menagerie--The Riobiscay and the Double Cow--A
+  Mermaid at the Fairs--Garrick at Bartholomew Fair--Yates's
+  Theatrical Booth--Dwarfs and Giants--The Female Samson--Riots
+  at Bartholomew Fair--Ballard's Animal Comedians--Evans, the
+  Wire-Walker--Southwark Fair--Wax-work Show--Shuter, the
+  Comedian--Bisset, the Animal Trainer--Powell, the
+  Fire-Eater--Roger Smith, the Bell-Player--Suppression of
+  Southwark Fair                                                       147
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  Yates and Shuter--Cat Harris--Mechanical Singing Birds--
+  Lecture on Heads--Pidcock's Menagerie--Breslaw, the
+  Conjuror--Reappearance of the Corsican Fairy--Gaetano, the
+  Bird Imitator--Rossignol's Performing Birds--Ambroise, the
+  Showman--Brunn, the Juggler, on the Wire--Riot at Bartholomew
+  Fair--Dancing Serpents--Flockton, the Puppet-Showman--Royal
+  Visit to Bartholomew Fair--Lane, the Conjuror--Hall's
+  Museum--O'Brien, the Irish Giant--Baker's Theatre--Joel
+  Tarvey and Lewis Owen, the popular Clowns                            180
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  Lady Holland's Mob--Kelham Whiteland, the Dwarf--Flockton,
+  the Conjuror and Puppet-Showman--Wonderful Rams--Miss Morgan,
+  the Dwarf--Flockton's Will--Gyngell, the Conjuror--Jobson,
+  the Puppet-Showman--Abraham Saunders--Menageries of Miles and
+  Polito--Miss Biffin--Philip Astley                                   198
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  Edmund Kean--Mystery of his Parentage--Saunders's Circus--
+  Scowton's Theatre--Belzoni--The Nondescript--Richardson's
+  Theatre--The Carey Family--Kean, a Circus Performer--Oxberry,
+  the Comedian--James Wallack--Last Appearance of the Irish
+  Giant--Miss Biffin and the Earl of Morton--Bartholomew Fair
+  Incidents--Josephine Girardelli, the Female Salamander--James
+  England, the Flying Pieman--Elliston as a Showman--Simon
+  Paap, the Dutch Dwarf--Ballard's Menagerie--A Learned Pig--
+  Madame Gobert, the Athlete--Cartlich, the Original Mazeppa--
+  Barnes, the Pantaloon--Nelson Lee--Cooke's Circus--The
+  Gyngell Family                                                       213
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  Saker and the Lees--Richardson's Theatre--Wombwell, the
+  Menagerist--The Lion Fights at Warwick--Maughan, the
+  Showman--Miss Hipson, the Fat Girl--Lydia Walpole, the
+  Dwarf--The Persian Giant and the Fair Circassian--Ball's
+  Theatre--Atkins's Menagerie--A Mare with Seven Feet--Hone's
+  Visit to Richardson's Theatre--Samwell's Theatre--Clarke's
+  Circus--Brown's Theatre of Arts--Ballard's Menagerie--Toby,
+  the Learned Pig--William Whitehead, the Fat Boy--Elizabeth
+  Stock, the Giantess--Chappell and Pike's Theatre--The Spotted
+  Boy--Wombwell's "Bonassus"--Gouffe, the Man-Monkey--De
+  Berar's Phantasmagoria--Scowton's Theatre--Death of
+  Richardson                                                           255
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  Successors of Scowton and Richardson--Nelson Lee--Crowther,
+  the Actor--Paul Herring--Newman and Allen's Theatre--Fair in
+  Hyde Park--Hilton's Menagerie--Bartholomew Fair again
+  threatened--Wombwell's Menagerie--Charles Freer--Fox Cooper
+  and the Bosjesmans--Destruction of Johnson and Lee's
+  Theatre--Reed's Theatre--Hales, the Norfolk Giant--Affray at
+  Greenwich--Death of Wombwell--Lion Queens--Catastrophe in a
+  Menagerie--World's Fair at Bayswater--Abbott's Theatre--
+  Charlie Keith, the Clown--Robson, the Comedian--Manders's
+  Menagerie--Macomo, the Lion-Tamer--Macarthy and the Lions--
+  Fairgrieve's Menagerie--Lorenzo and the Tigress--Sale of a
+  Menagerie--Extinction of the London Fairs--Decline of Fairs
+  near the Metropolis--Conclusion                                      319
+
+
+
+
+THE OLD SHOWMEN, AND THE OLD LONDON FAIRS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    Origin of Fairs--Charter Fairs at Winchester and Chester--Croydon
+    Fairs--Fairs in the Metropolis--Origin of Bartholomew Fair--Disputes
+    between the Priors and the Corporation--The Westminster
+    Fairs--Southwark Fair--Stepney Fair--Ceremonies observed in opening
+    Fairs--Walking the Fair at Wolverhampton--The Key of the Fair at
+    Croydon--Proclamation of Bartholomew Fair.
+
+
+There can be no doubt that the practice of holding annual fairs for the
+sale of various descriptions of merchandise is of very great antiquity.
+The necessity of periodical gatherings at certain places for the
+interchange of the various products of industry must have been felt as
+soon as our ancestors became sufficiently advanced in civilisation to
+desire articles which were not produced in every locality, and for which,
+owing to the sparseness of the scattered population, there was not a
+demand in any single town that would furnish the producers with an
+adequate inducement to limit their business to one place. Most kinds of
+agricultural produce might be conveyed to the markets held every week in
+all the towns, and there disposed of; but there were some commodities,
+such as wool, for example, the entire production of which was confined to
+one period of the year, while the demand for many descriptions of
+manufactured goods in any one locality was not sufficient to enable a
+dealer in them to obtain a livelihood, unless he carried his wares from
+one town to another. What, therefore, the great fair of Nishnei-Novgorod
+is at the present day, the annual fairs of the English towns were, on a
+less extensive scale, during the middle ages.
+
+One of the most ancient, as well as the most important, of the fairs of
+this country was that held on St. Giles's Hill, near Winchester. It was
+chartered by William I., who granted the tolls to his cousin, William
+Walkelyn, Bishop of Winchester. Its duration was originally limited to one
+day, but William II. extended it to three days, Henry I. to eight, Stephen
+to fourteen, and Henry II. (according to Milner, or Henry III., as some
+authorities say) to sixteen. Portions of the tolls were, subsequently to
+the date of the first charter, assigned to the priory of St. Swithin, the
+abbey of Hyde, and the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene. On the eve of the
+festival of St. Giles, on which day the fair commenced, the mayor and
+bailiffs of Winchester surrendered the keys of the four gates of the city,
+and with them their privileges, to the officers of the Bishop; and a court
+called the Pavilion, composed of the Bishop's justiciaries, was invested
+with authority to try all causes during the fair. The jurisdiction of this
+court extended seven miles in every direction from St. Giles's Hill, and
+collectors were placed at all the avenues to the fair to gather the tolls
+upon the merchandise taken there for sale. All wares offered for sale
+within this circle, except in the fair, were forfeit to the Bishop; all
+the shops in the city were closed, and no business was transacted within
+the prescribed limits, otherwise than in the fair. It is probable,
+however, that most of the shopkeepers had stalls on the fair ground.
+
+This fair was attended by merchants from all parts of England, and even
+from France and Flanders. Streets were formed for the sale of different
+commodities, and distinguished by them, as the drapery, the pottery, the
+spicery, the stannary, etc. The neighbouring monasteries had also their
+respective stations, which they held under the Bishop, and sometimes
+sublet for a term of years. Milner says that the fair began to decline, as
+a place of resort for merchants, in the reign of Henry VI., the stannary,
+that is, the street appointed for the sale of the products of the Cornish
+mines, being unoccupied. From this period its decline seems to have been
+rapid, owing probably to the commercial development which followed the
+extinction of feudalism; though it continued to be an annual mart of
+considerable local importance down to the present century.
+
+The description of this fair will serve, in a great measure, for all the
+fairs of the middle ages. Some of them were famous marts for certain
+descriptions of produce, as, for examples, Abingdon and Hemel Hempstead
+for wool, Newbury and Royston for cheese, Guildford and Maidstone for
+hops, Croydon and Kingston summer fairs for cherries; others for
+manufactured goods of particular kinds, as St. Bartholomew's, in the
+metropolis, for cloth (hence the local name of Cloth Fair), and
+Buntingford for hardwares. More usually, the fair was an annual market, to
+which the farmers of the district took their cattle, and the merchants of
+the great towns their woollen and linen goods, their hardwares and
+earthenwares, and the silks, laces, furs, spices, etc., which they
+imported from the Continent. These, as at Winchester, were arranged in
+streets of booths, fringed with the stalls of the pedlars and the
+purveyors of refreshments, for the humbler frequenters of the fair. The
+farmers, the merchants, and the customers of both, resorted to the more
+commodious and better-provided tents, in which, as Lydgate wrote of
+Eastcheap in the fifteenth century,
+
+  "One cried ribs of beef, and many a pie;
+  Pewter pots they clattered on a heap;
+  There was harp, pipe, and minstrelsy."
+
+Of equal antiquity with the great fair at Winchester were the Chester
+fairs, held on the festivals of St. John and St. Werburgh, the tolls of
+which were granted to the abbey of St. Werburgh by Hugh Lupus, second Earl
+of Chester and nephew of William I. There was a curious provision in this
+grant, that thieves and other offenders should enjoy immunity from arrest
+within the city during the three days that the fair lasted. Frequent
+disputes arose out of this grant between the abbots of St. Werburgh and
+the mayor and corporation of the city. In the reign of Edward IV., the
+abbot claimed to have the fair of St. John held before the gates of the
+abbey, and that no goods should be exposed for sale elsewhere during the
+fair; while the mayor and corporation contended for the right of the
+citizens to sell their goods as usual, anywhere within the city. The
+citizens carried the point in their favour, and the abbot was induced to
+agree that the houses belonging to the abbey in the neighbourhood of the
+fair should not be let for the display of goods until those of the
+citizens were occupied for that purpose. Disputes between the abbey and
+the city concerning the fair of St. Werburgh continued until 1513, when,
+by an award of Sir Charles Booth, the abbey was deprived of its interest
+in that fair.
+
+Croydon Fair dated from 1276, when the interest of Archbishop Kilwardby
+obtained for the town the right of holding a fair during nine days,
+beginning on the vigil of St. Botolph, that is, on the 16th of May. In
+1314, Archbishop Reynolds obtained for the town a similar grant for a fair
+on the vigil and morrow of St. Matthew's day; and in 1343, Archbishop
+Stratford obtained a grant of a fair on the feast of St. John the Baptist.
+The earliest of these fairs was the first to sink into insignificance; but
+the others survived to a very recent period in the sheep and cattle fair,
+held in latter times on the 2nd of October and the two following days, and
+the cherry fair, held on the 5th of July and the two following days.
+Whatever may have been the relative importance of these fairs in former
+times, the former, though held at the least genial season, was, for at
+least a century before it was discontinued, the most considerable fair in
+the neighbourhood of the metropolis; while the July fair lost the
+advantage of being held in the summer, through the contracted limits
+within which its component parts were pitched. These were the streets
+between High Street and Surrey Street, and included the latter, formerly
+called Butcher Row; and the only space large enough for anything of
+dimensions exceeding those of a stall for the sale of toys or gingerbread,
+was that at the back of the Corn Market, on which the cattle-market was
+formerly held.
+
+The first fair established in the metropolis was that which, originally
+held within the precincts of the priory of St. Bartholomew, soon grew
+beyond its original limits, and at length came to be held on the spacious
+area of West Smithfield. The origin of the fair is not related by
+Maitland, Entick, Northouck, and other historians of the metropolis, who
+seem to have thought a fair too light a matter for their grave
+consideration; and more recent writers, who have made it the subject of
+special research, do not agree in their accounts of it. According to the
+report made by the city solicitor to the Markets Committee in 1840, "at
+the earliest periods in which history makes mention of this subject, there
+were two fairs, or markets, held on the spot where Bartholomew Fair is now
+held, or in its immediate vicinity. These two fairs were originally held
+for two entire days only, the fairs being proclaimed on the eve of St.
+Bartholomew, and continued during the day of St. Bartholomew and the next
+morrow; both these fairs, or markets, were instituted for the purposes of
+trade; one of them was granted to the prior of the Convent of St.
+Bartholomew, 'and was kept for the clothiers of England, and drapers of
+London, who had their booths and standings within the churchyard of the
+priory, closed in with walls and gates, and locked every night, and
+watched, for the safety of their goods and wares.' The other was granted
+to the City of London, and consisted of the standing of cattle, and stands
+and booths for goods, with pickage and stallage, and tolls and profits
+appertaining to fairs and markets in the field of West Smithfield."
+
+Nearly twenty years after this report was made, and when the fair had
+ceased to exist, Mr. Henry Morley, searching among the Guildhall archives
+for information on the subject, found that the fair originated at an
+earlier date than had hitherto been supposed; and that the original
+charter was granted by Henry I. in 1133 to Prior Rayer, by whom the
+monastery of St. Bartholomew was founded. Rayer whose name was Latinised
+into Raherus, and has been Anglicised by modern writers into Rahere, was
+originally the King's jester, and a great favourite of his royal master,
+who, on his becoming an Augustine monk, and, founding the priory of St.
+Bartholomew, rewarded him with the grant of the rents and tolls arising
+out of the fair for the benefit of the brotherhood. The prior was so
+zealous for the good of the monastery that, perhaps also because he
+retained a hankering after the business of his former profession, he is
+said to have annually gone into the fair, and exhibited his skill as a
+juggler, giving the largesses which he received from the spectators to the
+treasury of the convent.
+
+It was admitted by the report of 1840 that documents in the office of the
+City solicitor afforded evidence of conflicting opinions on the subject in
+former times; and it seems probable that the belief in the two charters
+attributed to Henry II. and the dual character of the fair had its origin
+in the disputes which arose from time to time, during the thirteenth,
+fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, between the civic and monastic
+authorities as to the right to the tolls payable on goods carried into
+that portion of the fair which was held in Smithfield, beyond the
+precincts of the priory. The latter claimed these, on the ground of the
+grant of the fair; the City claimed them, on the ground that the land
+belonged to the corporation. The dispute was a natural one, whether Henry
+II. had granted the Smithfield tolls to the City or not; and there is
+evidence on record that it arose again and again, until the dissolution of
+monasteries at the Reformation finally settled it by disposing of one of
+the parties.
+
+In 1295 a dispute arose between the prior of St. Bartholomew's and Ralph
+Sandwich, custos of the City, the former maintaining that, as the
+privileges of the City had become forfeited to the Crown, the tolls of the
+fair should be paid into the Exchequer. Edward I., who was then at Durham,
+ordered that the matter should be referred to his treasurer and the barons
+of the Exchequer; but, while the matter was pending, the disputants grew
+so warm that the City authorities arrested some of the monks, and confined
+them in the Tun prison, in Cornhill. They were released by command of the
+King, but thereupon nine citizens forced the Tun, and released all the
+other prisoners, by way of resenting the royal interference. The rioters
+were imprisoned in their turn and a fine of twenty thousand marks was
+imposed upon the City; but the civic authorities proposed a compromise,
+and, for a further payment of three thousand marks, Edward consented to
+pardon the offenders, and to restore and confirm the privileges of the
+City.
+
+The right of the City to the rents and tolls of the portion of the fair
+held beyond the precincts of the priory was finally decided in 1445, when
+the Court of Aldermen appointed four persons as keepers of the fair, and
+of the Court of Pie-powder, a tribunal instituted for the summary
+settlement of all disputes arising in the fair, and deriving its name, it
+is supposed, from _pieds poudres_, because the litigants had their causes
+tried with the dust of the fair on their feet.
+
+At the dissolution of monasteries, in the reign of Henry VIII., the tolls
+which had been payable to the priory of St. Bartholomew were sold to Sir
+John Rich, then Attorney-General; and the right to hold the fair was held
+by his descendants until 1830, when it was purchased of Lord Kensington by
+the Corporation of London, and held thereafter by the City chamberlain and
+the town clerk in trust, thus vesting the rights and interests in both
+fairs in the same body.
+
+Westminster Fair, locally termed Magdalen's, was established in 1257, by
+a charter granted by Henry III. to the abbot and canons of St. Peter's,
+and was held on Tothill Fields, the site of which is now covered by the
+Westminster House of Correction and some neighbouring streets.
+
+The three days to which it was originally limited, were extended by Edward
+III. to thirty-one; but the fair was never so well attended as St.
+Bartholomew's, and fell into disuse soon afterwards.
+
+There was another fair held in the adjoining parish of St. James, the
+following amusing notice of which in Machyn's diary is the earliest I have
+been able to find:--
+
+"The xxv. day of June [1560], Saint James fayer by Westminster was so
+great that a man could not have a pygg for money; and the bear wiffes had
+nother meate nor drink before iiij of cloke in the same day. And the chese
+went very well away for 1_d._ _q._ the pounde. Besides the great and
+mighti armie of beggares and bandes that were there." Beyond the fact that
+it was postponed in 1603 on account of the plague, nothing more is
+recorded concerning this fair until 1664, in which year it was suppressed,
+"as considered to tend rather to the advantage of looseness and
+irregularity than to the substantial promoting of any good, common and
+beneficial to the people."
+
+Southwark Fair, locally known as Lady Fair, was established in 1462 by a
+charter granted by Edward IV. to the City of London, in the following
+terms:--
+
+"We have also granted to the said Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens, and
+their successors for ever, that they shall and may have yearly one fair in
+the town aforesaid, for three days, that is to say, the 7th, 8th, 9th days
+of September, to be holden, together with a Court of Pie-Powders, and with
+all the liberties to such fairs appertaining: And that they may have and
+hold there at their said Courts, before their said Minister or deputy,
+during the said three days, from day to day, hour to hour, and from time
+to time, all occasions, plaints, and pleas of a Court of Pie-Powders,
+together with all summons, attachments, arrests, issues, fines,
+redemptions, and commodities, and other rights whatsoever, to the said
+Court of Pie-Powders in any way pertaining, without any impediment, let,
+or hindrance of Us, our heirs or successors, or other our officers and
+ministers soever."
+
+This charter has sometimes been referred to as granting to the Corporation
+the right to hold a fair in West Smithfield, in addition to the fair the
+tolls of which were received by the priory of St. Bartholomew; but that
+"the town aforesaid" was Southwark is shown by a previous clause, in
+which it is stated that "to take away from henceforth and utterly to
+abolish all and all manner of causes, occasions, and matters whereupon
+opinions, ambiguities, varieties, controversies, and discussions may
+arise," the King "granted to the said Mayor and Commonalty of the said
+City who now be, and their successors, the Mayor and Commonalty and
+Citizens of that City for the time being and for ever, the town of
+Southwark, with its appurtenances."
+
+The origin of Camberwell Fair is lost in the mist of ages. In the evidence
+adduced before a petty sessions held at Union Hall in 1823, on the subject
+of its suppression, it was said that the custom of holding it was
+mentioned in the 'Domesday Book,' but the statement seems to have been
+made upon insufficient grounds. It commenced on the 9th of August, and
+continued three weeks, ending on St. Giles's day; but, in modern times,
+was limited, like most other fairs, to three days. It seems to have been
+originally held in the parish churchyard, but this practice was terminated
+by a clause in the Statute of Winchester, passed in the thirteenth year of
+the reign of Edward I. It was then removed to the green, where it was held
+until its suppression. Peckham Fair seems to have been irregular, and
+merely supplementary to Camberwell Fair.
+
+Stepney Fair was of less ancient date. In 1664 Charles II., at the
+instance of the Earl of Cleveland, then lord of the manor of Stepney,
+granted a patent for a weekly market at Ratcliff Cross, and an annual fair
+on Michaelmas day at Mile End Green, or any other places within the manor
+of Stepney. The keeping of the market and fair, with all the revenues
+arising from tolls, etc., was given by the same grant, at the Earl of
+Cleveland's request, to Sir William Smith and his heirs for ever. The
+right continued to vest in the baronet's descendants for several years,
+but long before the suppression of the fair it passed to the lord of the
+manor, which, in 1720, was sold by the representatives of Lady Wentworth
+to John Wicker, Esquire, of Horsham, in Sussex, whose son alienated it in
+1754. It is now possessed by the Colebrooke family.
+
+The ceremonies observed in opening fairs evince the importance which
+attached to them. On the eve of the "great fair" of Wolverhampton, held on
+the 9th of July, there was a procession of men in armour, preceded by
+musicians playing what was known as the "fair tune," and followed by the
+steward of the deanery manor and the peace-officers of the town. The
+custom is said to have originated with the fair, when Wolverhampton was as
+famous as a mart of the wool trade as it now is for its ironmongery, and
+merchants resorted to the fair, which formerly lasted fourteen days, from
+all parts of England. The necessity of an armed force for the maintenance
+of order during the fair in those days is not improbable. This custom of
+"walking the fair," as it was called, was discontinued in 1789, and has
+not since been revived.
+
+The October fair at Croydon was opened as soon as midnight had sounded by
+the town clock, or, in earlier times, by that of the parish church; the
+ceremony consisting in the carrying of a key, called "the key of the
+fair," through its principal avenues. The booth-keepers were then at
+liberty to serve refreshments to such customers as might present
+themselves, generally the idlers who followed the bearer of the key; and
+long before daylight the field resounded with the bleating of sheep, the
+lowing of cattle, the barking of dogs, and the shouting of shepherds and
+drovers.
+
+The metropolitan fair of St. Bartholomew was opened by a proclamation,
+which used to be read at the gate leading into Cloth Fair by the Lord
+Mayor's attorney, and repeated after him by a sheriff's officer, in the
+presence of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs. The procession then
+perambulated Smithfield, and returned to the Mansion House, where, in the
+afternoon, those of his lordship's household dined together at the
+swordbearer's table, and so concluded the ceremony.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+    Amusements of the Fairs in the Middle Ages--Shows and Showmen of the
+    Sixteenth Century--Banks and his Learned Horse--Bartholomew Fair in
+    the time of Charles I.--Punch and Judy--Office of the Revels--Origin
+    of Hocus Pocus--Suppression of Bartholomew Fair--London Shows during
+    the Protectorate--A Turkish Rope-Dancer--Barbara Vanbeck, the Bearded
+    Woman.
+
+
+Numerous illuminations of manuscripts in the Harleian collection, many of
+which were reproduced in Strutt's work on the sports and pastimes of the
+English people, having established the fact that itinerant professors of
+the art of amusing were in the habit of tramping from town to town, and
+village to village, for at least two centuries before the Norman Conquest
+of this country, there can be no doubt that the fairs were so many foci of
+attraction for them at the times when they were respectively held. As we
+are told that the minstrels and glee-men flocked to the towns and villages
+which grew up under the protection of the baronial castles when the
+marriage of the lord, or the coming of age of the heir, furnished an
+occasion of popular revelry, and also when the many red-letter days of the
+mediæval calendar came round, we may be sure that they were not absent
+from Bartlemy fair even in its earliest years.
+
+Glee-men was a term which included dancers, posturers, jugglers, tumblers,
+and exhibitors of trained performing monkeys and quadrupeds; and, the
+masculine including the feminine in this case, many of these performers
+were women and girls. The illuminations which have been referred to, and
+which constitute our chief authority as to the amusements of the fairs
+during the middle ages, introduce us to female posturers and tumblers, in
+the act of performing the various feats which have been the stock in trade
+of the acrobatic profession down to the present day. The jugglers
+exhibited the same feats with balls and knives as their representatives of
+the nineteenth century; what is professionally designated "the shower," in
+which the balls succeed each other rapidly, while describing a semi-circle
+from right to left, is shown in one of the Harleian illuminations.
+
+Balancing feats were also exhibited, and in one of these curious
+illustrations of the sights which delighted our fair-going ancestors, the
+balancing of a cart-wheel is represented--a trick which might have been
+witnessed not many years ago in the streets of London, the performer being
+an elderly negro, said to have been the father of the well-known
+rope-dancer, George Christoff, who represented the Pompeian performer on
+the _corde elastique_, when Mr. Oxenford's version of _The Last Days of
+Pompeii_ was produced at the Queen's Theatre.
+
+Performing monkeys, bears, and horses appear in many of the mediæval
+illuminations, and were probably as popular agents of public amusement in
+the earliest years of Bartlemy fair as they can be shown, from other
+authorities, to have been in the sixteenth century. That monkeys were
+imported rather numerously for the amusement of the public, may be
+inferred from the fact of some Chancellor of the Exchequer of the middle
+ages having subjected them to an import duty. Their agility was displayed
+chiefly in vaulting over a chain or cord. Bears were taught to feign
+death, and to walk erect after their leader, who played some musical
+instrument. Horses were also taught to walk on their hind legs, and one
+drawing in the Harleian collection shows a horse in this attitude, engaged
+in a mimic fight with a man armed with sword and buckler.
+
+All these performances seem to have been continued, by successive
+generations of performers, down to the time of Elizabeth. Reginald Scot,
+writing in 1584, gives a lengthy enumeration of the tricks of the jugglers
+who frequented the fairs of the latter part of the sixteenth century.
+Among them are most of the common tricks of the present day, and not the
+least remarkable is the decapitation feat, which many of my readers have
+probably seen performed by the famous wizards of modern times at the
+Egyptian Hall. Three hundred years ago, it was called the decollation of
+St. John the Baptist, and was performed upon a table, upon which stood a
+dish to receive the head. The table, the dish, and the knife used in the
+apparent decapitation were all contrived for the purpose, the table having
+two holes in it, one to enable the assistant who submitted to the
+operation to conceal his head, the other, corresponding to a hole in the
+dish, to receive the head of another confederate, who was concealed
+beneath the table, in a sitting position; while the knife had a
+semi-circular opening in the blade to fit the neck. Another knife, of the
+ordinary kind, was shown to the spectators, who were prevented by a
+sleight of hand trick from observing the substitution for it of the knife
+used in the trick. The engraving in Malcolm's work shows the man to be
+operated upon lying upon the table, apparently headless, while the head of
+the other assistant appears in the dish.
+
+That _lusus naturæ_, and other natural curiosities, had begun to be
+exhibited by showmen in the reign of Elizabeth, may be inferred from the
+allusions to such exhibitions in _The Tempest_, when Caliban is
+discovered, and the mariners speculate upon his place in the scale of
+animal being. It seems also that the practice of displaying in front of
+the shows large pictures of the wonderful feats, or curious natural
+objects, to be seen within, prevailed in the sixteenth century, and
+probably long before; for it is distinctly alluded to in a passage in
+Jonson's play of _The Alchymist_, in which the master of the servant who
+has filled the house with searchers for the philosopher's stone, says,
+
+              "What should my knave advance
+  To draw this company? He hung out no banners
+  Of a strange calf with five legs to be seen,
+  Or a huge lobster with six claws."
+
+Some further glimpses of the Bartlemy fair shows of the Elizabethan period
+are afforded in the induction or prologue to another play of Jonson's,
+namely, the comedy of _Bartholomew Fair_, acted in 1614. "He," says the
+dramatist, speaking of himself, "has ne'er a sword and buckler-man in his
+fair; nor a juggler with a well-educated ape to come over the chain for
+the King of England, and back again for the Prince, and sit still on his
+haunches for the Pope and the King of Spain." The sword and buckler-man
+probably means a performer who took part in such a mimic combat of man and
+horse, as is represented in the illumination which has been referred to.
+The monkey whose Protestant proclivities are noted in the latter part of
+the passage is mentioned in a poem of Davenant's, presently to be quoted.
+
+We cannot suppose absent from the metropolitan fairs the celebrated
+performing horse, Morocco, and his instructor, of whom Sir Walter Raleigh
+says, "If Banks had lived in older times, he would have shamed all the
+enchanters in the world; for whosoever was most famous among them could
+never master or instruct any beast as he did." That Shakspeare witnessed
+the performances of Morocco, which combined arithmetical calculations with
+saltatory exercises, is shown by the allusion in _Love's Labour Lost_,
+when Moth puzzles Armado with arithmetical questions, and says, "The
+dancing horse will tell you." Sir Kenelm Digby states that the animal
+"would restore a glove to the due owner after the master had whispered the
+man's name in his ear; and would tell the just number of pence in any
+piece of silver coin newly showed him by his master."
+
+Banks quitted England for the Continent with his horse in 1608, and De
+Melleray, who witnessed the performance of the animal in the Rue St.
+Jacques, in Paris, says that Morocco could not only tell the number of
+francs in a crown, but knew that the crown was depreciated at that time,
+and knew the exact amount of the depreciation. From Paris, Banks travelled
+with his learned horse to Orleans, where the fame which they had acquired
+brought him under the imputation of being a sorcerer, and he had a narrow
+escape of being burned at a stake in that character. Bishop Morton says
+that he cleared himself by commanding his horse to "seek out one in the
+press of the people who had a crucifix on his hat; which done, he bade him
+kneel down unto it, and not this only, but also to rise up again, and to
+kiss it. 'And now, gentlemen,' (quoth he), 'I think my horse hath
+acquitted both me and himself;' and so his adversaries rested satisfied;
+conceiving (as it might seem) that the devil had no power to come near the
+cross."
+
+We next hear of Banks and his horse at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, where
+Bishop Morton saw them, and heard from the former the story of his narrow
+escape at Orleans. Their further wanderings cannot be traced; and, though
+it has been inferred, from a passage in a burlesque poem by Jonson, that
+Banks was burned as a sorcerer, the grounds which the poet had for
+assigning such a dreadful end for the famous horse-charmer are unknown,
+and may have been no more than an imperfect recollection of what he had
+heard of the Orleans story.
+
+A hare which played the tabor is alluded to by Jonson in the comedy before
+mentioned; and this performance also was not unknown to earlier times, one
+of the illuminations copied by Strutt showing it to have been exhibited in
+the fifteenth century. When Jonson wrote his comedy, the amusing classes,
+encouraged by popular favour, were raising their heads again, after the
+sore discouragement of the Vagrancy Act of Elizabeth's reign, which
+scheduled jugglers and minstrels with strolling thieves, gipsy
+fortune-tellers, and itinerant beggars. Elizabeth's tastes seem to have
+inclined more to bull-baiting and bear-baiting than to dancing and
+minstrelsy, juggling and tumbling; and, besides this, there was a broad
+line drawn in those days, and even down to the reign of George III., as
+will be hereafter noticed, between the upper ten thousand and the masses,
+as to the amusements which might or ought to be permitted to the former
+and denied to the latter.
+
+In the succeeding reign the operation of the Vagrancy Act was powerfully
+aided by the rise of the Puritans, who regarded all amusements as worldly
+vanities and snares of the Evil One, and indulgence in them as a
+coquetting with sin. As yet they lacked the power to suppress the fairs
+and close the theatres, though their will was good to whip and imprison
+all such inciters to sin and agents of Satan as they conceived minstrels,
+actors, and showmen to be; and Bartholomew Fair showed no diminution of
+popular patronage even in the reign of Charles I.
+
+"Hither," says the author of a scarce pamphlet, printed in 1641, "resort
+people of all sorts and conditions. Christchurch cloisters are now hung
+full of pictures. It is remarkable, and worth your observation, to behold
+and hear the strange sights and confused sounds in the fair. Here, a knave
+in a fool's coat, with a trumpet sounding, or on a drum beating, invites
+you to see his puppets. There, a rogue like a wild woodman, or in an antic
+shape like an incubus, desires your company to view his motion; on the
+other side, hocus pocus, with three yards of tape or ribbon in his hand,
+showing his art of legerdemain, to the admiration and astonishment of a
+company of cockoloaches. Amongst these, you shall see a gray goosecap (as
+wise as the rest), with a 'What do ye lack?' in his mouth, stand in his
+booth shaking a rattle, or scraping on a fiddle, with which children are
+so taken, that they presently cry out for these fopperies: and all these
+together make such a distracted noise, that you would think Babel were not
+comparable to it.
+
+"Here there are also your gamesters in action: some turning of a whimsey,
+others throwing for pewter, who can quickly dissolve a round shilling into
+a three-halfpenny saucer. Long Lane at this time looks very fair, and puts
+out her best clothes, with the wrong side outward, so turned for their
+better turning off; and Cloth Fair is now in great request: well fare the
+ale-houses therein, yet better may a man fare (but at a dearer rate) in
+the pig-market, alias pasty-nook, or pie-corner, where pigs are all hours
+of the day on the stalls, piping hot, and would cry, (if they could
+speak,) 'Come, eat me!'"
+
+The puppets and "motions" alluded to in the foregoing description were
+beginning to be a very favourite spectacle, and none of the puppet plays
+of the period were more popular than the serio-comic drama of _Punch and
+Judy_, attributed to Silvio Florillo, an Italian comic dramatist of the
+time. According to the original version of the story, which has undergone
+various changes, some of which have been made within the memory of the
+existing generation, Punch, in a paroxysm of jealousy, destroys his infant
+child, upon which Judy, in revenge, belabours him with a cudgel. The
+exasperated hunchback seizes another stick, beats his wife to death, and
+throws from the window the two corpses, which attracts the notice of a
+constable, who enters the house to arrest the murderer. Punch flies, but
+is arrested by an officer of the Inquisition, and lodged in prison; but
+contrives to escape by bribing the gaoler. His subsequent encounters with
+a dog, a doctor, a skeleton, and a demon are said to be an allegory,
+intended to convey the triumph of humanity over ennui, disease, death, and
+the devil; but, as there is nothing allegorical in the former portion of
+the story, this seems doubtful.
+
+The allegory was soon lost sight of, if it was ever intended, and the
+latter part of the story has long been that which excites the most
+risibility. As usually represented in this country during the last fifty
+years, and probably for a much longer period, Punch does not bribe the
+gaoler, but evades execution for his crimes by strangling the hangman
+with his own noose. Who has not observed the delight, venting itself in
+screams of laughter, with which young and old witness the comical little
+wretch's fight with the constable, the wicked leer with which he induces
+the hangman to put his neck in the noose by way of instruction, and the
+impish chuckling in which he indulges while strangling his last victim?
+The crowd laughs at all this in the same spirit as the audience at a
+theatre applauds furiously while a policeman is bonneted and otherwise
+maltreated in a pantomime or burlesque. The tightness of the matrimonial
+noose, it is to be feared, materially influences the feeling with which
+the murder of a faithless wife is regarded by those whose poverty shuts
+out the prospect of divorce. And Punch is such a droll, diverting
+vagabond, that even those who have witnessed his crimes are irresistibly
+seduced into laughter by his grotesque antics and his cynical bursts of
+merriment, which render him such a strange combination of the demon and
+the buffoon.
+
+The earliest notices of the representation in London of 'Punch's Moral
+Drama,' as an old comic song calls it, occur in the overseer's books of
+St. Martin's in the Fields for 1666 and 1667, in which are four entries of
+sums, ranging from twenty-two shillings and sixpence to fifty-two
+shillings and sixpence, as "Rec. of Punchinello, ye Italian popet player,
+for his booth at Charing Cross."
+
+_Hocus pocus_, used in the Bartholomew Fair pamphlet as a generic term for
+conjurors, is derived from the assumed name of one of the craft, of whom
+Ady, in 'A Candle in the Dark,' wrote as follows:--
+
+"I will speak of one man more excelling in that craft than others, that
+went about in King James's time, and long since, who called himself the
+King's Majestie's most excellent Hocus Pocus; and so was he called because
+at playing every trick he used to say, _Hocus pocus tontus talontus, vade
+celeriter jubeo_--a dark composition of words to blind the eyes of the
+beholders."
+
+All these professors of the various arts of popular entertainment had, at
+this period, to pay an annual licence duty to the Master of the Revels,
+whose office was created by Henry VIII. in 1546. Its jurisdiction extended
+over all wandering minstrels and every one who blew a trumpet publicly,
+except "the King's players." The seal of the office, used under five
+sovereigns, was engraved on wood, and was formerly in the possession of
+the late Francis Douce, by whose permission it was engraved for Chalmers's
+'Apology for the Believers in the Shakspeare MSS.,' and subsequently for
+Smith's 'Ancient Topography of London.' The legend round it was, "SIGILL
+: OFFIC : JOCOR : MASCAR : ET REVELL : DNIS REG." The Long Parliament
+abolished the office, which, indeed, would have been a sinecure under the
+Puritan rule, for in 1647 the entertainers of the people were forbidden to
+exercise their vocation, the theatres were closed, the May-poles removed,
+and the fairs shorn of all their wonted amusements, and reduced to the
+status of annual markets.
+
+There is, in the library of the British Museum, a doggrel ballad, printed
+as a broad-sheet, called _The Dagonizing of Bartholomew Fair_, which
+describes, with coarse humour, the grossness of which may be attributed in
+part to the mingled resentment and contempt which underlies it, the
+measures taken by the civic authorities for the removal from the fair of
+the showmen who had pitched there, in spite of the determination of the
+Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, to suppress with the utmost rigour
+everything which could move to laughter or minister to wonder. Among these
+are mentioned a fire-eating conjuror, a "Jack Pudding," and "wonders made
+of wax," being the earliest notice of a wax-work exhibition which I have
+been able to discover.
+
+Whether the itinerant traders who were wont to set up their stalls in the
+fairs of Smithfield, and Westminster, and Southwark, found it worth their
+while to do so during the thirteen years of the banishment of shows, there
+is nothing to show; but we are not without evidence that the showmen were
+able to follow their vocation without the fairs. Evelyn, who was a lover
+of strange sights, records in his diary that, in 1654,--"I saw a tame lion
+play familiarly with a lamb; he was a huge beast, and I thrust my hand
+into his mouth, and found his tongue rough, like a cat's; also a sheep
+with six legs, which made use of five of them to walk; and a goose that
+had four legs, two crops, and as many vents."
+
+Three years later, two other entries are made, concerning shows which he
+witnessed. First we have, "June 18th. At Greenwich I saw a sort of cat,
+brought from the East Indies, shaped and snouted much like the Egyptian
+racoon, in the body like a monkey, and so footed; the ears and tail like a
+cat, only the tail much longer, and the skin variously ringed with black
+and white; with the tail it wound up its body like a serpent, and so got
+up into trees, and with it wrap its whole body round. Its hair was woolly
+like a lamb; it was exceedingly nimble, gentle, and purred as does the
+cat." This animal was probably a monkey of the species called by Cuvier,
+the toque; it is a native of the western regions of India, and one of the
+most amusing, as well as the most common, of the simial tenants of modern
+menageries.
+
+"August 15th. Going to London with some company, we stept in to see a
+famous rope-dancer, called _The Turk_. I saw even to astonishment the
+agility with which he performed; he walked barefooted, taking hold by his
+toes only of a rope almost perpendicular, and without so much as touching
+it with his hands; he danced blindfold on the high rope, and with a boy of
+twelve years old tied to one of his feet about twenty feet beneath him,
+dangling as he danced, yet he moved as nimbly as if it had been but a
+feather. Lastly he stood on his head, on the top of a very high mast,
+danced on a small rope that was very slack, and finally flew down the
+perpendicular on his breast, his head foremost, his legs and arms
+extended, with divers other activities.
+
+"I saw the hairy woman, twenty years old, whom I had before seen when a
+child. She was born at Augsburg, in Germany. Her very eyebrows were combed
+upwards, and all her forehead as thick and even as grows on any woman's
+head, neatly dressed; a very long lock of hair out of each ear; she had
+also a most prolix beard, and moustachios, with long locks growing on the
+middle of her nose, like an Iceland dog exactly, the colour of a bright
+brown, fine as well-dressed flax. She was now married, and told me she had
+one child that was not hairy, nor were any of her parents or relations.
+She was very well shaped, and played well on the harpsichord."
+
+This extraordinary creature must have been more than twenty years of age
+when Evelyn saw her, for the engraved portrait described by Granger bears
+the following inscription:--"Barbara Vanbeck, wife to Michael Vanbeck,
+born at Augsburg, in High Germany; daughter of Balthasar and Anne Ursler.
+Aged 29. A.D. 1651. R. Gaywood f. London."
+
+Another engraved portrait, in the collection of the Earl of Bute,
+represents her playing the harpsichord, and has a Dutch inscription, with
+the words--"Isaac Brunn delin. et sc. 1653." One of Gaywood's prints,
+which, in Granger's time, was in the possession of Fredericks, the
+bookseller, at Bath, had the following memorandum written under the
+inscription:--"This woman I saw in Ratcliffe Highway in 1668, and was
+satisfied she was a woman. JOHN BULFINCH." Granger describes her from the
+portraits, as follows:--"The face and hands of this woman are represented
+hairy all over. Her aspect resembles that of a monkey. She has a very long
+and large spreading beard, the hair of which hangs loose and flowing like
+the hair of the head. She is playing on the organ. Vanbeck married this
+frightful creature on purpose to carry her about for a show."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+    Strolling Players in the Seventeenth Century--Southwark
+    Fair--Bartholomew Fair--Pepys and the Monkeys--Polichinello--Jacob
+    Hall, the Rope-Dancer--Another Bearded Woman--Richardson, the
+    Fire-Eater--The Cheshire Dwarf--Killigrew and the Strollers--Fair on
+    the Thames--The Irish Giant--A Dutch Rope-Dancer--Music Booths--Joseph
+    Clark, the Posturer--William Philips, the Zany--William Stokes, the
+    Vaulter--A Show in Threadneedle Street.
+
+
+The period of the Protectorate was one of suffering and depression for the
+entertaining classes, who were driven into obscure taverns and back
+streets by the severity with which the anti-recreation edicts of the Long
+Parliament were enforced, and even then were in constant danger of
+Bridewell and the whipping-post. Performances took place occasionally at
+the Red Bull theatre, in St. John Street, West Smithfield, when the
+actors were able to bribe the subordinate officials at Whitehall to
+connive at the infraction of the law; but sometimes the fact became known
+to some higher authority who had not been bribed, or whose connivance
+could not be procured, and then the performance was interrupted by a party
+of soldiers, and the actors marched off to Bridewell, where they might
+esteem themselves fortunate if they escaped a whipping as well as a
+month's imprisonment as idle vagabonds.
+
+Unable to exercise their vocation in London, the actors travelled into the
+country, and gave dramatic performances in barns and at fairs, in places
+where the rigour of the law was diminished, or the edicts rendered of no
+avail, by the magistrates' want of sympathy with the pleasure-abolishing
+mania, and the readiness of the majority of the inhabitants to assist at
+violations of the Acts. In one of his wanderings about the country, Cox,
+the comedian, shod a horse with so much dexterity, in the drama that was
+being represented, that the village blacksmith offered him employment in
+his forge at a rate of remuneration exceeding by a shilling a week the
+ordinary wages of the craft. The story is a good illustration of the
+realistic tendencies of the theatre two hundred years ago, especially as
+the practice which then prevailed of apprenticeship to the stage renders
+it improbable that Cox had ever learned the art of shoeing a horse with a
+view to practising it as a craftsman.
+
+The provincial perambulations of actors did not, however, owe their
+beginning to the edicts of the Long Parliament, there being evidence that
+companies of strolling players existed contemporaneously with the theatres
+in which Burbage played Richard III. and Shakespeare the Ghost in
+_Hamlet_. In a prologue which was written for some London apprentices when
+they played _The Hog hath lost his Pearl_ in 1614, their want of skill in
+acting and elocution is honestly admitted in the following lines--
+
+  "We are not half so skilled as strolling players,
+  Who could not please here as at country fairs."
+
+In the household book of the Clifford family, quoted by Dr. Whitaker in
+his 'History of Craven,' there is an entry in 1633 of the payment of one
+pound to "certain itinerant players," who seem to have given a private
+representation, for which they were thus munificently remunerated; and two
+years later, an entry occurs of the payment of the same amount to "a
+certain company of roguish players who represented _A New Way to pay Old
+Debts_," the adjective being used, probably to distinguish this company,
+as being unlicensed or unrecognized, from the strolling players who had
+permission to call themselves by the name of some nobleman, and to wear
+his livery. The Earl of Leicester maintained such a company, and several
+other nobles of that period did the same, the actors being known as my
+Lord Leicester's company, or as the case might be, and being allowed to
+perform elsewhere when their services were not required by their patron.
+
+The depressed condition of actors at this period is amusingly illustrated
+by the story of Griffin and Goodman occupying the same chamber, and having
+but one decent shirt between them, which they wore in turn,--a destitution
+of linen surpassed only by that which is said to have characterised the
+ragged regiment of Sir John Falstaff, who had only half a shirt among them
+all. The single shirt of the two actors was the occasion of a quarrel and
+a separation between them, one of the twain having worn it out of his
+turn, under the temptation of an assignation with a lady. What became of
+the shirt upon the separation of their respective interests in it, we are
+not told.
+
+The restoration of monarchy and the Stuarts was followed immediately by
+the re-opening of the theatres and the resumption of the old popular
+amusements at fairs. Actors held up their heads again; the showmen hung
+out their pictured cloths in Smithfield and on the Bowling Green in
+Southwark; the fiddlers and the ballad-singers re-appeared in the streets
+and in houses of public entertainment. Charles II. entered London, amidst
+the jubilations of the multitude, on the 29th of May, 1660; and on the
+13th of September following, Evelyn wrote in his diary as follows:--
+
+"I saw in Southwark, at St. Margaret's Fair, monkeys and apes dance, and
+do other feats of activity, on the high rope; they were gallantly clad _à
+la monde_, went upright, saluted the company, bowing and pulling off their
+hats; they saluted one another with as good a grace as if instructed by a
+dancing master; they turned heels over head with a basket having eggs in
+it, without breaking any; also, with lighted candles in their hands, and
+on their heads, without extinguishing them, and with vessels of water
+without spilling a drop. I also saw an Italian wench dance and perform all
+the tricks on the high rope to admiration; all the Court went to see her.
+Likewise, here was a man who took up a piece of iron cannon of about 400
+lb. weight with the hair of his head only."
+
+Evelyn and Pepys have left no record of the presence of shows at
+Bartholomew Fair in the first year of the Restoration, nor does the
+collection of Bartholomew Fair _notabilia_ in the library of the British
+Museum furnish any indication of them; but Pepys tells us that on the 31st
+of August, in the following year, he went "to Bartholomew Fair, and there
+met with my Ladies Jemima and Paulina, with Mr. Pickering and
+Mademoiselle, at seeing the monkeys dance, which was much to see, when
+they could be brought to do it, but it troubled me to sit among such nasty
+company." Few years seem to have passed without a visit to Bartholomew
+Fair on the part of the gossiping old diarist. In 1663 he writes, under
+date the 7th of September, "To Bartholomew Fair, where I met Mr.
+Pickering, and he and I went to see the monkeys at the Dutch house, which
+is far beyond the other that my wife and I saw the other day; and thence
+to see the dancing on the ropes, which was very poor and tedious."
+
+In the following year two visits to this fair are recorded in Pepys'
+diary, as follows:--
+
+"Sept. 2. To Bartholomew Fair, and our boy with us, and there showed him
+the dancing on ropes, and several others the best shows." "Sept. 7. With
+Creed walked to Bartholomew Fair,--this being the last day, and there I
+saw the best dancing on ropes that I think I ever saw in my life." In the
+two following years the fairs and other amusements of London were
+interrupted by the plague, to the serious loss and detriment of the
+entertaining classes. Punch and other puppets were the only amusements of
+1665 and 1666; and Pepys records that, on the 22nd of August in the latter
+year--the year of the great fire,--he and his wife went in a coach to
+Moorfields, "and there saw Polichinello, which pleases me mightily."
+
+In 1667 the fear of the plague had passed away, and the public again
+patronised the theatres and other places of amusement. "To Polichinello,"
+writes Pepys on the 8th of April, "and there had three times more sport
+than at the play, and so home." To compensate himself for having missed
+Bartholomew Fair two years running on account of the plague, he now went
+three times. "Went twice round Bartholomew Fair," he writes in his diary
+on the 28th of August, "which I was glad to see again, after two years
+missing it by the plague." "30th. To Bartholomew Fair, to walk up and
+down, and there, among other things, found my Lady Castlemaine at a
+puppet-play, _Patient Grizill_, and the street full of people expecting
+her coming out." "Sept. 4. With my wife and Mr. Hewer to Bartholomew Fair,
+and there saw Polichinello."
+
+The fair probably offered better and more various amusements every year,
+for Pepys records five visits in 1668, when we first hear of the
+celebrated rope-dancer, Jacob Hall. "August 27. With my wife and W.
+Batelier and Deb.; carried them to Bartholomew Fair, where we saw the
+dancing of the ropes, and nothing else, it being late." "29. Met my wife
+in a coach, and took her and Mercer [her maid] and Deb. to Bartholomew
+Fair; and there did see a ridiculous obscene little stage-play called
+_Marry Andrey_ [Merry Andrew], a foolish thing, but seen by everybody: and
+so to Jacob Hall's dancing of the ropes, a thing worth seeing, and
+mightily followed." "Sept. 1. To Bartholomew Fair, and there saw several
+sights; among others, the mare that tells money and many things to
+admiration, and among others come to me, when she was bid to go to him of
+the company that most loved to kiss a pretty wench in a corner. And this
+did cost me 12_d._ to the horse, which I had flung him before, and did
+give me occasion to kiss a mighty _belle fille_, that was exceeding plain,
+but _fort belle_." "4. At noon my wife, and Deb. and Mercer, and W. Hewer
+and I, to the fair, and there at the old house, did eat a pig, and was
+pretty merry, but saw no sights, my wife having a mind to see the play of
+_Bartholomew Fair_ with puppets." "7. With my Lord Brouncker (who was this
+day in unusual manner merry, I believe with drink,) Minnes, and W. Pen to
+Bartholomew Fair; and there saw the dancing mare again, which to-day I
+found to act much worse than the other day, she forgetting many things,
+which her master beat her for, and was mightily vexed; and then the
+dancing of the ropes, and also a little stage play, which was very
+ridiculous."
+
+Perhaps a better illustration of the difference between the manners and
+amusements of the seventeenth century and those of the nineteenth could
+not be found than that which is afforded by the contrast between the
+picture drawn by Pepys and the fancy sketch which the reader may draw for
+himself by giving the figures introduced the names of persons now living.
+Let the scene be Greenwich Fair, as we all remember it, and the incidents
+the Secretary to the Admiralty, accompanied by his wife and her maid,
+going there in his carriage; stopping on the way to witness the vagaries
+of Punch; meeting the Mistress of the Robes at a marionette performance in
+a tent; and afterwards, as we shall presently find Pepys doing, drinking
+in a public-house with a rope-dancer, reputed to be the paramour of a lady
+of rank, whom our supposed secretary may have met the evening before at
+Buckingham Palace.
+
+Pepys relates that he went, in the same year, "to Southwark Fair, very
+dirty, and there saw the puppet-show of Whittington, which was pretty to
+see; and how that idle thing do work upon people that see it, and even
+myself too! And thence to Jacob Hall's dancing of the ropes, where I saw
+such action as I never saw before, and mightily worth seeing; and here
+took acquaintance with a fellow that carried me to a tavern, whither come
+the music of this booth, and bye and bye Jacob Hall himself, with whom I
+had a mind to speak, to hear whether he had ever any mischief by falls in
+his time. He told me, 'Yes, many, but never to the breaking of a limb;' he
+seems a mighty strong man. So giving them a bottle or two of wine, I away
+with Payne, the waterman. He, seeking me at the play, did get a link to
+light me, and so light me to the Bear, where Bland, my waterman, waited
+for me with gold and other things he kept for me, to the value of £40 and
+more, which I had about me, for fear of my pockets being cut. So by
+link-light through the bridge, it being mighty dark, but still weather,
+and so home." Jacob Hall was as famous for his handsome face and
+symmetrical form as for his skill and grace on the rope. He is said to
+have shared with Harte, the actor, the favours of Nell Gwynne, and
+afterwards to have been a pensioned favourite of the profligate Countess
+of Castlemaine. His portrait in Grammont's 'Memoirs' was engraved from an
+unnamed picture by Van Oost, first said to represent the famous
+rope-dancer by Ames, in 1748.
+
+A passage in one of Davenant's poems affords some information concerning
+the character of the shows which formed the attraction of the fairs at
+this period,
+
+  "Now vaulter good, and dancing lass
+  On rope, and man that cries, Hey, pass!
+  And tumbler young that needs but stoop,
+  Lay head to heel, to creep through hoop;
+  And man in chimney hid to dress
+  Puppet that acts our old Queen Bess,
+  And man that, while the puppets play,
+  Through nose expoundeth what they say;
+  And white oat-eater that does dwell
+  In stable small at sign of Bell,
+  That lifts up hoof to show the pranks
+  Taught by magician styled Banks;
+  And ape led captive still in chain
+  Till he renounce the Pope and Spain;
+  All these on hoof now trudge from town,
+  To cheat poor turnip-eating clown."
+
+The preceding chapter will have rendered the allusions intelligible to the
+reader of the present day.
+
+Among the shows of this period was another bearded woman, whom Pepys saw
+in Holborn, towards the end of 1668. "She is a little plain woman," he
+writes, "a Dane; her name, Ursula Dyan; about forty years old; her voice
+like a little girl's; with a beard as much as any man I ever saw, black
+almost, and grizzly; it began to grow at about seven years old, and was
+shaved not above seven months ago, and is now so big as any man's almost
+that I ever saw; I say, bushy and thick. It was a strange sight to me, I
+confess, and what pleased me mightily." There was a female giant, too, of
+whom Evelyn says, under date the 13th of February, 1669, "I went to see a
+tall gigantic woman, who measured six feet ten inches at twenty-one years
+old, born in the Low Countries."
+
+Salamandering feats are not so pleasant to witness as the performances of
+the acrobat and the gymnast, but they create wonder, and, probably, were
+wondered at more two hundred years ago than at the present time, when the
+scientific principles on which their success depends are better
+understood. The earliest performer of the feats which made Girardelli and
+Chabert famous half a century ago seems to have been Richardson, of whom
+the following account is given by Evelyn, who witnessed his performance in
+1672:--
+
+"I took leave of my Lady Sunderland, who was going to Paris to my lord,
+now ambassador there. She made me stay dinner at Leicester House, and
+afterwards sent for Richardson, the famous fire-eater. He devoured
+brimstone on glowing coals before us, chewing and swallowing them; he
+melted a beer-glass and eat it quite up; then, taking a live coal on his
+tongue, he put on it a raw oyster, the coal was blown on with bellows till
+it flamed and sparkled in his mouth, and so remained till the oyster gaped
+and was quite boiled. Then he melted pitch and wax with sulphur, which he
+drank down as it flamed; I saw it flaming in his mouth, a good while; he
+also took up a thick piece of iron, such as laundresses use to put in
+their smoothing-boxes, when it was fiery hot, held it between his teeth,
+then in his hands and threw it about like a stone; but this I observed he
+cared not to do very long; then he stood on a small pot, and, bending his
+body, took a glowing iron with his mouth from between his feet without
+touching the pot or ground with his hands; with divers other prodigious
+feats."
+
+There are few notices of the London fairs in contemporary memoirs and
+journals, and as few advertisements of showmen have been preserved by
+collectors of such literary curiosities, between the last visit to
+Southwark Fair recorded by Pepys and the period of the Revolution. The
+public mind was agitated during this time by plots and rumours of plots,
+by State trials and Tower Hill executions, which alternately excited men
+to rage and chilled them with horror. Giants and dwarfs, and monstrosities
+of all kinds, seem to have been more run after, under the influence of
+these events, than puppets and players. Take the following as an example,
+an announcement which was printed in 1677:--
+
+"At Mr. Croomes, at the signe of the Shoe and Slap neer the Hospital-gate,
+in West Smithfield, is to be seen _The Wonder of Nature_, viz., A girl
+about sixteen years of age, born in Cheshire, and not much above eighteen
+inches long, having shed the teeth seven several times, and not a perfect
+bone in any part of her, onely the head, yet she hath all her senses to
+admiration, and discourses, reads very well, sings, whistles, and all very
+pleasant to hear. God save the King!"
+
+The office of Master of the Revels, which had been held by Thomas
+Killigrew, the Court jester, was conferred, at his death, upon his son,
+who leased the licensing of ballad-singers to a bookseller named Clarke,
+as appears from the following announcement, which was inserted in the
+_London Gazette_ in 1682:--
+
+"Whereas Mr. John Clarke, of London, bookseller, did rent of Charles
+Killigrew, Esq., the licensing of all ballad-singers for five years; which
+time is expired at Lady Day next. These are, therefore, to give notice to
+all ballad-singers, that take out licenses at the office of the revels, at
+Whitehall, for singing and selling of ballads and small books, according
+to an ancient custom. And all persons concerned are hereby desired to take
+notice of, and to suppress, all mountebanks, rope-dancers, prize-players,
+ballad-singers, and such as make show of motions and strange sights, that
+have not a license in red and black letters, under the hand and seal of
+the said Charles Killigrew, Esq., Master of the Revels to his Majesty."
+
+The only entertainment of which I have found an announcement for this year
+is the following:--"At Mr. Saffry's, a Dutch-woman's Booth, over against
+the Greyhound Inn, in West Smithfield, during the time of the fair, will
+be acted the incomparable Entertainment call'd The Irish Evidence, with
+the Humours of Teige. With a Variety of Dances. By the first Newmarket
+Company." Further glimpses of the fair are afforded, however, by the offer
+of a reward for "the three horses stolen by James Rudderford, a
+mountebank, and Jeremiah March, his clown;" and the announcement that,
+"The German Woman that danc'd where the Italian Tumbler kept his Booth,
+being over against the Swan Tavern, by Hosier Lane end in Bartholomew
+Fair, is run away from her Mistress, the Fifth of this instant; She is of
+a Brownish complexion, with Brown Hair, and between 17 and 18 years of
+Age; if any person whatsoever can bring Tidings to one Mr. Hone's, at the
+Duke of Albemarle's Head, at the end of Duck Lane, so that her Mistress
+may have her again, they shall be rewarded to their own content."
+
+In the winter of 1683-4, an addition was temporarily made to the London
+fairs by the opportunity which the freezing of the Thames afforded for
+holding a fair on the ice. The river became frozen on the 23rd of
+December, and on the first day of 1684 the ice was so thick between the
+bridges that long rows of booths were erected for the sale of refreshments
+to the thousands of persons who congregated upon it. Evelyn, who visited
+the strange scene more than once, saw "people and tents selling all sort
+of wares, as in the City." The frost becoming more intense when it had
+endured a month, the sports of horse-racing and bull-baiting were
+presented on the ice; and sledges and skaters were seen gliding swiftly in
+every direction, with, as Evelyn relates, "puppet-plays and interludes,
+tippling, and other lewd places." The ice was so thick that the booths
+and stalls remained even when thaw had commenced, but the water soon
+rendered it disagreeable to walk upon, and long cracks warned the
+purveyors of recreation and refection to retreat to the land. The fair
+ended on the 5th of February.
+
+It was during the continuance of this seventeenth century Frost Fair that
+Evelyn saw a human salamander, when he dined at Sir Stephen Fox's, and
+"after dinner came a fellow who eat live charcoal, glowingly ignited,
+quenching them in his mouth, and then champing and swallowing them down.
+There was a dog also which seemed to do many rational actions." The last
+sentence is rather obscure; the writer probably intended to convey that
+the animal performed many actions which seemed rational.
+
+During the Southwark Fair of the following year, there was a giant
+exhibited at the Catherine Wheel Inn, a famous hostelry down to our own
+time. Printers had not yet corrected the irregular spelling of the
+preceding century, as appears from the following announcement:--"The
+Gyant, or the Miracle of Nature, being that so much admired young man,
+aged nineteen years last June, 1684. Born in Ireland, of such a prodigious
+height and bigness, and every way proportionable, the like hath not been
+seen since the memory of man. He hath been several times shown at Court,
+and his Majesty was pleased to walk under his arm, and he is grown very
+much since; he now reaches ten foot and a half, fathomes near eight foot,
+spans fifteen inches; And is believed to be as big as one of the Gyants in
+Guild-Hall. He is to be seen at the Sign of the Catherine Wheel in
+Southwark Fair. _Vivat Rex._"
+
+There was probably also to be seen at this fair the Dutch woman of whom an
+author quoted by Strutt says that, "when she first danced and vaulted on
+the rope in London, the spectators beheld her with pleasure mixed with
+pain, as she seemed every moment in danger of breaking her neck." About
+this time, there was introduced at the London fairs, an entertainment
+resembling that now given in the music-halls, in which vocal and
+instrumental music was alternated with rope-dancing and tumbling. The
+shows in which these performances were given were called music-booths,
+though the musical element was far from predominating. The musical portion
+of the entertainment was not of the highest order, if we may trust the
+judgment of Ward, the author of the _London Spy_, who says that he "had
+rather have heard an old barber ring Whittington's bells upon the cittern
+than all the music these houses afforded."
+
+Such dramatic performances as were given in the booths at this time seem
+to have been, in a great measure, confined to the puppet-plays so often
+mentioned in the memoirs and diaries of the period. Granger mentions one
+Philips, who, in the reign of James II., "was some time fiddler to a
+puppet-show; in which capacity, he held many a dialogue with Punch, in
+much the same strain as he did afterwards with the mountebank doctor, his
+master, upon the stage. This Zany, being regularly educated, had the
+advantage of his brethren." Besides the serio-comic drama of Punch and
+Judy, many popular stories were represented by the puppets of those days,
+which set forth the fortunes of Dick Whittington and the sorrows of
+Griselda, the vagaries of Merry Andrew and the humours of Bartholomew
+Fair, as delineated by the pen of Ben Jonson. It is a noteworthy
+circumstance, as showing the estimation in which the Smithfield Fair was
+held by the upper and middle classes at this period, and for more than
+half a century afterwards, that the summer season of the patent theatres,
+which closed at that time, always concluded with a representation of
+Jonson's now forgotten comedy.
+
+A slight general view of Bartholomew Fair in 1685, with some equally
+slight and curious moralising on the subject, is presented by Sir Robert
+Southwell, in a letter addressed to his son, the Honourable Edward
+Southwell, who was then in London with his tutor, Mr. Webster.
+
+"I think it not now," says Sir Robert, "so proper to quote you verses out
+of Persius, or to talk of Cæsar and Euclid, as to consider the great
+theatre of Bartholomew Fair, where I doubt not but you often resort, and
+'twere not amiss if you cou'd convert that tumult into a profitable book.
+You wou'd certainly see the garboil there to more advantage if Mr. Webster
+and you wou'd read, or cou'd see acted, the play of Ben Jonson, call'd
+Bartholomew Fair: for then afterwards going to the spot, you wou'd note if
+things and humours were the same to day, as they were fifty years ago, and
+take pattern of the observations which a man of sense may raise out of
+matters that seem even ridiculous. Take then with you the impressions of
+that play, and in addition thereunto, I shou'd think it not amiss if you
+then got up into some high window, in order to survey the whole pit at
+once. I fancy then you will say, _Totus mundus agit histrionem_, and then
+you wou'd note into how many various shapes human nature throws itself, in
+order to buy cheap and sell dear, for all is but traffick and commerce,
+some to give, some to take, and all is by exchange, to make the
+entertainment complete.
+
+"The main importance of this fair is not so much for merchandize, and the
+supplying what people really want; but as a sort of Bacchanalia, to
+gratifie the multitude in their wandering and irregular thoughts. Here you
+see the rope-dancers gett their living meerly by hazarding of their lives,
+and why men will pay money and take pleasure to see such dangers, is of
+seperate and philosophical consideration. You have others who are acting
+fools, drunkards, and madmen, but for the same wages which they might get
+by honest labour, and live with credit besides.
+
+"Others, if born in any monstrous shape, or have children that are such,
+here they celebrate their misery, and by getting of money, forget how
+odious they are made. When you see the toy-shops, and the strange variety
+of things, much more impertinent than hobby-horses or gloves of
+gingerbread, you must know there are customers for all these matters, and
+it wou'd be a pleasing sight cou'd we see painted a true figure of all
+these impertinent minds and their fantastick passions, who come trudging
+hither, only for such things. 'Tis out of this credulous crowd that the
+ballad-singers attrackt an assembly, who listen and admire, while their
+confederate pickpockets are diving and fishing for their prey.
+
+"'Tis from those of this number who are more refined, that the mountebank
+obtains audience and credit, and it were a good bargain if such customers
+had nothing for their money but words, but they are best content to pay
+for druggs, and medicines, which commonly doe them hurt. There is one
+corner of this Elizium field devoted to the eating of pig, and the
+surfeits that attend it. The fruits of the season are everywhere scatter'd
+about, and those who eat imprudently do but hasten to the physitian or the
+churchyard."
+
+In 1697, William Philips, the zany or Jack Pudding mentioned by Granger,
+was arrested and publicly whipped for perpetrating, in Bartholomew Fair, a
+jest on the repressive tendencies of the Government, which has been
+preserved by Prior in a poem. It seems that he made his appearance on the
+exterior platform of the show at which he was engaged, with a tongue in
+his left hand and a black pudding in his right. Professing to have learned
+an important secret, by which he hoped to profit, he communicated it to
+the mountebank, as related by Prior, as follows:--
+
+  "Be of your patron's mind whate'er he says;
+  Sleep very much, think little, and talk less:
+  Mind neither good nor bad, nor right nor wrong;
+  But eat your pudding, slave, and hold your tongue."
+
+Mr. Morley conjectures that this Philips was the W. Phillips who wrote the
+tragedy of the _Revengeful Queen_, published in 1698, and who was supposed
+to be the author of another, _Alcamenes and Menelippa_, and of a farce
+called _Britons, Strike Home_, which was acted in a booth in Bartholomew
+Fair. But worth more than all these plays would now be, if it could be
+discovered, the book published in 1688, of which, only the title-page is
+preserved in the Harleian collection, viz., 'The Comical History of the
+famous Merry Andrew, W. Phill., Giving an Account of his Pleasant Humours,
+Various Adventures, Cheats, Frolicks, and Cunning Designs, both in City
+and Country.'
+
+The circus was an entertainment as yet unknown. The only equestrian
+performances were of the kind given by Banks, and repeated, as we learn
+from Davenant and Pepys, by performers who came after him, of whom there
+was a regular succession down to the time of Philip Astley. The first
+entertainer who introduced horses into vaulting acts seems to have been
+William Stokes, a famous vaulter of the reigns of the latter Stuarts. He
+was the author of a manual of the art of vaulting, which was published at
+Oxford in 1652, and contains several engravings, showing him in the act of
+vaulting over a horse, over two horses, and leaping upon them, in one
+alighting in the saddle, and in another upon the bare back of the horse,
+_à la Bradbury_.
+
+Another of the great show characters of this period was Joseph Clark, the
+posturer, who according to a notice of him in the Transactions of the
+Royal Philosophical Society, "had such an absolute command of all his
+muscles and joints that he could disjoint almost his whole body." His
+performance seems to have consisted chiefly in the imitation of every kind
+of human deformity; and he is said to have imposed so completely upon
+Molins, a famous surgeon of that period, as to be dismissed by him as an
+incurable cripple. His portrait in Tempest's collection represents him in
+the act of shouldering his leg, an antic which is imitated by a monkey.
+
+Clark was the "whimsical fellow, commonly known by the name of the
+Posture-master," mentioned by Addison in the 'Guardian,' No. 102. He was
+the son of a distiller in Shoe Lane, who designed him for the medical
+profession, but a brief experience with John Coniers, an apothecary in
+Fleet Street, not pleasing him, he was apprenticed to a mercer in
+Bishopsgate Street. Trade suited him no better than medicine, it would
+seem, for he afterwards went to Paris, in the retinue of the Duke of
+Buckingham, and there first displayed his powers as a posturer. He died
+in 1690, at his house in Pall Mall, and was buried in the church of St.
+Martin-in-the-Fields. Many portraits of him, in different attitudes, are
+extant in the British Museum.
+
+Monstrosities have always been profitable subjects for exhibition.
+Shakespeare tells us, and may be presumed to have intended the remark to
+convey his impression of the tendency of his own generation, that people
+would give more to see a dead Indian than to relieve a lame beggar; and
+the profits of the exhibition of Julia Pastrana and the so-called Kostroma
+people show that the public interest in such monstrosities remains
+unabated. But what would "City men" say to such an exhibition in
+Threadneedle Street? I take the following announcement from a newspaper of
+June, 1698:--
+
+"At Moncrieff's Coffee-house, in Threadneedle Street, near the Royal
+Exchange, is exposed to view, for sixpence a piece, a Monster that lately
+died there, being Humane upwards and bruit downwards, wonderful to behold:
+the like was never seen in England before, the skin is so exactly stuffed
+that the whole lineaments and proportion of the Monster are as plain to be
+seen as when it was alive. And a very fine Civet Cat, spotted like a
+Leopard, and is now alive, that was brought from Africa with it. They are
+exposed to view from eight in the morning to eight at night."
+
+At the King's Head, in West Smithfield, there was this year exhibited "a
+little Scotch Man, which has been admired by all that have yet seen him,
+he being but two Foot and six Inches high; and is near upon 60 years of
+Age. He was marry'd several years, and had Issue by his Wife, two sons
+(one of which is with him now). He Sings and Dances with his son, and has
+had the Honour to be shewn before several Persons of Note at their Houses,
+as far as they have yet travelled. He formerly kept a Writing school; and
+discourses of the Scriptures, and of many Eminent Histories, very wisely;
+and gives great satisfaction to all spectators; and if need requires,
+there are several Persons in this town, that will justifie that they were
+his Schollars, and see him Marry'd."
+
+In the same year, David Cornwell exhibited, at the Ram's Head, in
+Fenchurch Street, a singular lad, advertised as "the Bold Grimace
+Spaniard," who was said to have "liv'd 15 years among wild creatures in
+the Mountains, and is reasonably suppos'd to have been taken out of his
+cradle an Infant, by some savage Beast, and wonderfully preserv'd, till
+some Comedians accidentally pass'd through those parts, and perceiving him
+to be of Human Race, pursu'd him to his Cave, where they caught him in a
+Net. They found something wonderful in his Nature, and took him with them
+in their Travels through _Spain_ and _Italy_. He performs the following
+surprising grimaces, viz., He lolls out his Tongue a foot long, turns his
+eyes in and out at the same time; contracts his Face as small as an Apple;
+extends his Mouth six inches, and turns it into the shape of a Bird's
+Beak, and his eyes like to an Owl's; turns his mouth into the Form of a
+Hat cock'd up three ways; and also frames it in the manner of a
+four-square Buckle; licks his Nose with his Tongue, like a Cow; rolls one
+Eyebrow two inches up, the other two down; changes his face to such an
+astonishing Degree, as to appear like a Corpse long bury'd. Altho' bred
+wild so long, yet by travelling with the aforesaid Comedians 18 years, he
+can sing wonderfully fine, and accompanies his voice with a thorow Bass on
+the Lute. His former natural Estrangement from human conversation oblig'd
+_Mr. Cornwell_ to bring a Jackanapes over with him for his Companion, in
+whom he takes great Delight and Satisfaction."
+
+How many of these show creatures were impostors, and how many genuine
+eccentricities of human nature, it is impossible to say. Barnum's
+revelations have made us sceptical. But the numerous advertisements of
+this kind in the newspapers of the period show that the passion for
+monstrosities was as strongly developed in the latter half of the
+seventeenth century as at the present day.
+
+Barnes and Appleby's booth for tumbling and rope-dancing appears from the
+following advertisement, extracted from a newspaper of 1699, to have
+attended Bartholomew Fair the previous year:--
+
+"At Mr. Barnes's and Mr. Appleby's Booth, between the Crown Tavern and the
+Hospital Gate, over against the Cross Daggers, next to Miller's Droll
+Booth, in West Smithfield, where the English and Dutch Flaggs, with
+Barnes's and the two German Maidens' pictures, will hang out, during the
+time of Bartholomew Fair, will be seen the most excellent and incomparable
+performances in Dancing on the Slack Rope, Walking on the Slack Rope,
+Vaulting and Tumbling on the Stage, by these five, the most famous
+Companies in the Universe, viz., The English, Irish, High German, French,
+and Morocco, now united. The Two German Maidens, who exceeded all mankind
+in their performances, are within this twelvemonth improved to a Miracle."
+
+In this year I find the following advertisement of a music booth, which
+must have been one of the earliest established:--
+
+"THOMAS DALE, Drawer at the Crown Tavern at Aldgate, keepeth the TURK'S
+HEAD _Musick Booth_, in Smithfield Rounds, over against the _Greyhound_
+Inn during the time of _Bartholomew Fair_, Where is a Glass of good Wine,
+Mum, Syder, Beer, Ale, and all other Sorts of Liquors, to be Sold; and
+where you will likewise be entertained with good Musick, Singing, and
+Dancing. You will see a Scaramouch Dance, the Italian Punch's Dance, the
+Quarter Staff, the Antick, the Countryman and Countrywoman's Dance, and
+the Merry Cuckolds of Hogsden.
+
+"Also a young Man that dances an Entry, Salabrand, and Jigg, and a Woman
+that dances with Six Naked Rapiers, that we Challenge the whole Fair to do
+the like. There is likewise a Young Woman that Dances with Fourteen
+Glasses on the Backs and Palms of her Hands, and turns round with them
+above an Hundred Times as fast as a Windmill turns; and another Young Man
+that Dances a Jigg incomparably well, to the Admiration of all Spectators.
+_Vivat Rex._"
+
+James Miles, who announced himself as from Sadler's Wells, kept the Gun
+music-booth in the fair, and announced nineteen dances, among which were
+"a dance of three bullies and three Quakers;" a cripples' dance by six
+persons with wooden legs and crutches, "in imitation of a jovial crew;" a
+dance with swords, and on a ladder, by a young woman, "with that variety
+that she challenges all her sex to do the like;" and a new entertainment,
+"between a Scaramouch, a Harlequin, and a Punchinello, in imitation of
+bilking a reckoning." We shall meet with James Miles again in the next
+chapter and century.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+    Attempts to Suppress the Shows at Bartholomew Fair--A remarkable Dutch
+    Boy--Theatrical Booths at the London Fairs--Penkethman, the
+    Comedian--May Fair--Barnes and Finley--Lady Mary--Doggett, the
+    Comedian--Simpson, the Vaulter--Clench, the Whistler--A Show at
+    Charing Cross--Another Performing Horse--Powell and Crawley, the
+    Puppet-Showmen--Miles's Music-Booth--Settle and Mrs. Mynn--Southwark
+    Fair--Mrs. Horton, the Actress--Bullock and Leigh--Penkethman and
+    Pack--Boheme, the Actor--Suppression of May Fair--Woodward, the
+    Comedian--A Female Hercules--Tiddy-dol, the Gingerbread Vendor.
+
+
+So early as the close of the seventeenth century, one hundred and fifty
+years before the fair was abolished, we find endeavours being made, in
+emulation of the Puritans, to banish every kind of amusement from
+Bartholomew Fair, and limit it to the purposes of an annual market. In
+1700, the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen resolved that no booths should
+be permitted to be erected in Smithfield that year; but on the 6th of
+August it was announced that "the lessees of West Smithfield having on
+Friday last represented to a Court of Aldermen at Guildhall, that it would
+be highly injurious to them to have the erection of all booths there
+totally prohibited, the right honourable Lord Mayor and the Court of
+Aldermen have, on consideration of the premises, granted licence to erect
+some booths during the time of Bartholomew Fair now approaching; but none
+are permitted for music-booths, or any that may be means to promote
+debauchery." And, on the 23rd, when the Lord Mayor went on horseback to
+proclaim the fair, he ordered two music-booths to be taken down
+immediately.
+
+On the 4th of June, in the following year, the grand jury made a
+presentment to the following effect:--"Whereas we have seen a printed
+order of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, the 25th June, 1700, to
+prevent the great profaneness, vice, and debauchery, so frequently used
+and practised in Bartholomew Fair, by strictly charging and commanding all
+persons concerned in the said fair, and in the sheds and booths to be
+erected and built therein or places adjacent, that they do not let, set,
+or hire, or use any booth, shed, stall, or other erection whatsoever to be
+used or employed for interludes, stage-plays, comedies, gaming-places,
+lotteries, or music meetings: and as we are informed the present Lord
+Mayor and Court of Aldermen have passed another order to the same effect
+on the 3rd instant, we take this occasion to return our most hearty thanks
+for their religious care and great zeal in this matter; we esteeming a
+renewing of their former practices at the Fair a continuing one of the
+chiefest nurseries of vice next to the play-houses; therefore earnestly
+desire that the said orders may be vigorously prosecuted, and that this
+honourable Court would endeavour that the said fair may be employed to
+those good ends and purposes it was at first designed."
+
+This presentment deserves, and will repay, the most attentive
+consideration of those who would know the real character of the amusements
+presented at the London fairs, and the motives and aims of those who
+endeavoured to suppress them. The grand jury profess to be actuated by a
+desire to diminish profanity, vice, and debauchery; and, if this had been
+their real and sole object, nothing could have been more laudable. But,
+like those who would suppress the liquor traffic in order to prevent
+drunkenness, they confounded the use with the abuse of the thing which
+they condemned, and sought to deprive the masses of every kind of
+amusement, because some persons could not participate therein without
+indulging in vicious and debasing pleasures. It might have been supposed
+that Bartholomew Fair was pre-eminently a means and occasion of vice and
+debauchery, and that its continuance was incompatible with the maintenance
+of public order and the due guardianship of public morals, if the grand
+jury had not coupled with their condemnation an expression of their
+opinion that it was not so bad as the theatres. In that sentence is
+disclosed the real motive and aim of those who sought the suppression of
+the amusements of the people at the London Fairs.
+
+That the morals and manners of that age were of a low standard is
+undeniable; but they would have been worse if the fairs had been
+abolished, and the theatres closed, as the fanatics of the day willed. Men
+and women cannot be made pious or virtuous by the prohibition of theatres,
+concerts, and balls, any more than they can be rendered temperate by
+suppressing the public sale of beer, wine, and spirits. Naturally, a
+virtuous man, without being a straight-laced opponent of "cakes and ale,"
+would have seen, in walking through a fair, much that he would deplore,
+and desire to amend; but such a man would have the same reflections
+inspired by a visit to a theatre or a music-hall, or any other amusement
+of the present day. He would not, however, if he was sensible as well as
+virtuous, conclude from what he saw and heard that all public amusements
+ought to be prohibited. To suppress places of popular entertainment
+because some persons abuse them would be like destroying a garden because
+a snail crawls over the foliage, or an earwig lurks in the flowers.
+
+The London fairs were attended this year by a remarkable Dutch boy, about
+eight or nine years of age, whose eyes presented markings of the iris in
+which sharp-sighted persons, aided perhaps by a considerable development
+of the organ of wonder, read certain Latin and Hebrew words. In one eye,
+the observer read, or was persuaded that he could read, the words _Deus
+meus_; in the other, in Hebrew characters, the word _Elohim_. The boy's
+parents, by whom he was exhibited, affirmed that his eyes had presented
+these remarkable peculiarities from his birth. Great numbers of persons,
+including the most eminent physiologists and physicians of the day, went
+to see him; and the learned, who examined his eyes with great attention,
+were as far from solving the mystery as the crowd of ordinary sight-seers.
+Some of them regarded the case as an imposture, but they were unable to
+suggest any means by which such a fraud could be accomplished. Others
+regarded it as "almost" supernatural, a qualification not very easy to
+understand. The supposed characters were probably natural, and only to be
+seen as Roman and Hebrew letters by imaginative persons, or those who
+viewed them with the eye of faith. Whatever their nature, the boy's sight
+was not affected by them in the slightest degree.
+
+The theatrical booths attending the London fairs began at this time to be
+more numerous, and to present an entertainment of a better character than
+had hitherto been seen. The elder Penkethman appears to have been the
+first actor of good position on the stage who set the example of
+performing in a temporary canvas theatre during the fairs, and it was soon
+followed by the leading actors and actresses of the royal theatres. In a
+dialogue on the state of the stage, published in 1702, and attributed to
+Gildon, Critick calls Penkethman "the flower of Bartholomew Fair, and the
+idol of the rabble; a fellow that overdoes everything, and spoils many a
+part with his own stuff." He had then been ten years on the stage, having
+made his first appearance at Drury Lane in 1692, as the tailor, a small
+part in _The Volunteers_. Four years later, we find him playing, at the
+same theatre, such parts as Snap in _Love's Last Shift_, Dr. Pulse in _The
+Lost Lover_, and Nick Froth in _The Cornish Comedy_.
+
+What the author of the pamphlet just quoted says of this actor receives
+confirmation and illustration from an anecdote told of him, in connection
+with the first representation of Farquhar's _Recruiting Officer_ at Drury
+Lane in 1706. Penkethman, who played Thomas Appletree, one of the rustic
+recruits, when asked his name by Wilks, to whom the part of Captain Plume
+was assigned, replied, "Why, don't you know my name, Bob? I thought every
+fool knew that."
+
+"Thomas Appletree," whispered Wilks, assuming the office of prompter.
+
+"Thomas Appletree!" exclaimed Penkethman, aloud. "Thomas Devil! My name is
+Will Penkethman." Then, turning to the gallery, he addressed one of the
+audience thus:--"Hark you, friend; don't you know my name?"
+
+"Yes, Master Pinkey," responded the occupant of a front seat in the
+gallery. "We know it very well."
+
+The theatre was soon in an uproar: the audience at first laughed at the
+folly of Penkethman and the evident distress of Wilks; but the joke soon
+grew tiresome, and they began to hiss. Penkethman saw his mistake, and
+speedily changed displeasure into applause by crying out, with a loud
+nasal twang, and a countenance as ludicrously melancholy as he could make
+it, "Adzooks! I fear I am wrong!"
+
+Barnes, the rope-dancer, had at this time lost his former partner,
+Appleby, and taken into partnership an acrobat named Finley. They
+advertised their show in 1701 at Bartholomew Fair as, "Her Majesty's
+Company of Rope Dancers." They had two German girls "lately arrived from
+France;" and it was announced that "the famous Mr. Barnes, of whose
+performances this kingdom is so sensible, Dances with 2 Children at his
+feet, and with Boots and Spurs. Mrs. Finley, distinguished by the name of
+Lady Mary for her incomparable Dancing, has much improved herself since
+the last Fair. You will likewise be entertained with such variety of
+Tumbling by Mr. Finley and his Company, as was never seen in the Fair
+before. Note, that for the conveniency of the Gentry, there is a back-door
+in Smithfield Rounds."
+
+They were not without rivals, though the absence of names from the
+following advertisement renders it probable that the "famous company"
+calculated upon larger gains from anonymous boasting than they could hope
+for from the announcement of their names:--
+
+"At the Great Booth over against the Hospital Gate in Bartholomew Fair,
+will be seen the Famous Company of Rope Dancers, they being the Greatest
+Performers of Men, Women, and Children that can be found beyond the Seas,
+so that the world cannot parallel them for Dancing on the Low Rope,
+Vaulting on the High Rope, and for Walking on the Slack and Sloaping
+Ropes, out-doing all others to that degree, that it has highly recommended
+them, both in Bartholomew Fair and May Fair last, to all the best persons
+of Quality in England. And by all are owned to be the only amazing Wonders
+of the World in every thing they do: It is there you will see the Italian
+Scaramouch dancing on the Rope, with a Wheel-barrow before him, with two
+Children and a Dog in it, and with a Duck on his Head who sings to the
+Company, and causes much Laughter. The whole entertainment will be so
+extremely fine and diverting, as never was done by any but this Company
+alone."
+
+Doggett, whom Cibber calls the most natural actor of the day, and whose
+name is associated with the coat and badge rowed for annually, on the 1st
+of August, by London watermen's apprentices, was here this year, with a
+theatrical booth, erected at the end of Hosier Lane, where was presented,
+as the advertisements tell us, "A New DROLL call'd THE DISTRESSED VIRGIN
+or _the Unnatural Parents_. Being a True History of the _Fair Maid of the
+West_, or THE LOVING SISTERS. With the Comical Travels of _Poor Trusty_,
+in Search of his _Master's Daughter_, and his Encounter with _Three
+Witches_. _Also variety of Comick Dances and Songs, with Scenes and
+Machines never seen before. Vivat Regina._" Doggett was at this time
+manager of Drury Lane.
+
+Miller, the actor, also had a theatrical booth in the fair, and made the
+following announcement:--
+
+"Never acted before. At _Miller's Booth_, over against _the Cross
+Daggers_, near the _Crown Tavern_, during the time of _Bartholomew Fair_,
+will be presented an Excellent New Droll, call'd THE TEMPEST, or _the
+Distressed Lovers_. With the _English Hero_ and the _Island Princess_, and
+the Comical Humours of the Inchanted _Scotchman_; or _Jockey_ and the
+_Three Witches_. Showing how a Nobleman of England was cast away upon the
+Indian Shore, and in his Travel found the Princess of the Country, with
+whom he fell in Love, and after many Dangers and Perils, was married to
+her; and his faithful Scotchman, who was saved with him, travelling
+through Woods, fell in among Witches, when between 'em is abundance of
+comical Diversions. There in the Tempest is Neptune, with his Triton in
+his Chariot drawn with Sea Horses and Mair Maids singing. With variety of
+Entertainment, performed by the best Masters; the Particulars would be too
+tedious to be inserted here. _Vivat Regina._"
+
+The similarity of the chief incidents in the dramas presented by Doggett
+and Miller is striking. In both we have the troubles of the lovers, the
+comical adventures of a man-servant, and the encounter with witches. We
+shall find these incidents reproduced again and again, with variations,
+and under different titles, in the plays set before Bartholomew audiences
+of the eighteenth century.
+
+May Fair first assumed importance this year, when the multiplication of
+shows of all kinds caused it to assume dimensions which had not hitherto
+distinguished it. It was held on the north side of Piccadilly, in
+Shepherd's Market, White Horse Street, Shepherd's Court, Sun Court, Market
+Court, an open space westward, extending to Tyburn Lane (now Park Lane),
+Chapel Street, Shepherd Street, Market Street, Hertford Street, and
+Carrington Street. The ground-floor of the market-house, usually occupied
+by butchers' stalls, was appropriated during the fair to the sale of toys
+and gingerbread; and the upper portion was converted into a theatre. The
+open space westward was covered with the booths of jugglers, fencers, and
+boxers, the stands of mountebanks, swings, round-abouts, etc., while the
+sides of the streets were occupied by sausage stalls and gambling tables.
+The first-floor windows were also, in some instances, made to serve as the
+proscenia of puppet shows.
+
+I have been able to trace only two shows to this fair in 1702, namely
+Barnes and Finley's and Miller's, which stood opposite to the former, and
+presented "an excellent droll called _Crispin and Crispianus: or, A
+Shoemaker a Prince_; with the best machines, singing and dancing ever yet
+in the fair." A great concourse of people attended from all parts of the
+metropolis; an injudicious attempt on the part of the local authorities to
+exclude persons of immoral character, which has always been found
+impracticable in places of public amusement, resulted in a serious riot.
+Some young women being arrested by the constables on the allegation that
+they were prostitutes, they were rescued by a party of soldiers; and a
+conflict was begun, which extended as other constables came up, and the
+"rough" element took part with the rescuers of the incriminated women. One
+constable was killed, and three others dangerously wounded before the
+fight ended. The man by whose hand the constable fell contrived to escape;
+but a butcher who had been active in the affray was arrested, and
+convicted, and suffered the capital penalty at Tyburn.
+
+In the following year, the fair was presented as a nuisance by the grand
+jury of Middlesex; but it continued to be held for several years
+afterwards. Barnes and Finley again had a show at Bartholomew Fair, to
+which the public were invited to "see my Lady Mary perform such steps on
+the dancing-rope as have never been seen before." The young lady thus
+designated, and whose performance attracted crowds of spectators to Barnes
+and Finley's show, was said to be the daughter of a Florentine noble, and
+had given up all for love by eloping with Finley. By the companion of her
+flight she was taught to dance upon the tight rope, and for a few years
+was an entertainer of considerable popularity; but, venturing to exhibit
+her agility and grace while _enceinte_, she lost her balance, fell from
+the rope, and died almost immediately after giving birth to a stillborn
+child.
+
+Bullock and Simpson, the former an actor of some celebrity at Drury Lane,
+joined Penkethman this year in a show at Bartholomew Fair, in which
+_Jephtha's Rash Vow_ was performed, Penkethman playing the part of Toby,
+and Bullock that of Ezekiel. Bullock is described in the pamphlet
+attributed to Gildon as "the best comedian who has trod the stage since
+Nokes and Leigh, and a fellow that has a very humble opinion of himself."
+So much modesty must have made him a _rara avis_ among actors, who have,
+as a rule, a very exalted opinion of themselves. He had been six years on
+the stage at this time, having made his first appearance in 1696, at Drury
+Lane, as Sly in _Love's Last Shift_. His ability was soon recognised; and
+in the same year he played Sir Morgan Blunder in _The Younger Brother_,
+and Shuffle in _The Cornish Comedy_. Parker and Doggett also had a booth
+this year at the same fair, playing _Bateman; or, the Unhappy Marriage_,
+with the latter comedian in the part of Sparrow.
+
+Penkethman at this time, from his salary as an actor at Drury Lane, his
+gains from attending Bartholomew and Southwark Fairs with his show, and
+the profits of the Richmond Theatre, which he either owned or leased, was
+in the receipt of a considerable income. "He is the darling of
+Fortunatus," says Downes, writing in 1708, "and has gained more in
+theatres and fairs in twelve years than those who have tugged at the oar
+of acting these fifty." He did not retire from the stage, however, until
+1724.
+
+Some of the minor shows of this period must now be noticed. A bill of this
+time--the date cannot always be fixed--invites the visitors to Bartholomew
+Fair to witness "the wonderful performances of that most celebrated
+master Simpson, the famous vaulter, who being lately arrived from Italy,
+will show the world what vaulting is." The chroniclers of the period have
+not preserved any record, save this bill, of this not too modest
+performer. A more famous entertainer was Clench, a native of Barnet, whose
+advertisements state that he "imitates horses, huntsmen, and a pack of
+hounds, a doctor, an old woman, a drunken man, bells, the flute, and the
+organ, with three voices, by his own natural voice, to the greatest
+perfection," and that he was "the only man that could ever attain so great
+an art." He had a rival, however, in the whistling man, mentioned in the
+'Spectator,' who was noted for imitating the notes of all kinds of birds.
+Clench attended all the fairs in and around London, and at other times
+gave his performance at the corner of Bartholomew Lane, behind the old
+Exchange.
+
+To this period also belongs the following curious announcement of "a
+collection of strange and wonderful creatures from most parts of the
+world, all alive," to be seen over against the Mews Gate, Charing Cross,
+by her Majesty's permission.
+
+"The first being a little _Black Man_, being but 3 foot high, and 32 years
+of age, straight and proportionable every way, who is distinguished by
+the Name of the _Black Prince_, and has been shewn before most Kings and
+Princes in Christendom. The next being his wife, the _Little Woman_, NOT 3
+foot high, and 30 years of Age, straight and proportionable as any woman
+in the Land, which is commonly called the _Fairy Queen_; she gives general
+satisfaction to all that sees her, by Diverting them with Dancing, being
+big with Child. Likewise their little _Turkey Horse_, being but 2 foot odd
+inches high, and above 12 years of Age, that shews several diverting and
+surprising Actions, at the Word of Command. The least Man, Woman, and
+Horse that ever was seen in the World Alive. _The Horse being kept in a
+box._ The next being a strange Monstrous Female Creature that was taken in
+the woods in the Deserts of ÆTHIOPIA in Prester _John's_ Country, in the
+remotest parts of Africa. The next is the noble _Picary_, which is very
+much admir'd by the Learned. The next being the noble _Jack-call_, the
+Lion's Provider, which hunts in the Forest for the Lion's Prey. Likewise a
+small _Egyptian Panther_, spotted like a _Leopard_. The next being a
+strange, monstrous creature, brought from the _Coast of Brazil_, having a
+Head like a Child, Legs and Arms very wonderful, with a Long Tail like a
+Serpent, wherewith he Feeds himself, as an _Elephant_ doth with his Trunk.
+With several other Rarities too tedious to mention in this Bill.
+
+"And as no such Collection was ever shewn in this Place before, we hope
+they will give you content and satisfaction, assuring you, that they are
+the greatest Rarities that ever was shewn alive in this Kingdom, and are
+to be seen from nine o'clock in the Morning, till 10 at Night, where true
+Attendance shall be given during our stay in this Place, which will be
+very short. _Long live the_ QUEEN."
+
+The proprietors of menageries and circuses are always amusing, if not very
+lucid, when they set forth in type the attractions of their shows. The
+owner of the rarities exhibited over against the Mews Gate in the reign of
+Queen Anne was no exception to the rule. The picary and the jack-call may
+be readily identified as the peccary and the jackal, but "a strange
+monstrous female creature" defies recognition, even with the addition that
+it was brought from Prester John's country. The Brazilian wonder may be
+classified with safety with the long-tailed monkeys, especially as another
+and shorter advertisement, in the 'Spectator,' describes it a little more
+explicitly as a satyr. It was, probably, a spider monkey, one variety of
+which is said, by Humboldt, to use its prehensile tail for the purpose of
+picking insects out of crevices.
+
+The Harleian Collection contains the following announcement of a
+performing horse:--
+
+"To be seen, at the Ship, upon Great Tower Hill, the finest taught horse
+in the world. He fetches and carries like a spaniel dog. If you hide a
+glove, a handkerchief, a door-key, a pewter basin, or so small a thing as
+a silver two-pence, he will seek about the room till he has found it; and
+then he will bring it to his master. He will also tell the number of spots
+on a card, and leap through a hoop; with a variety of other curious
+performances."
+
+Powell, the famous puppet-showman mentioned in the 'Spectator,' in
+humorous contrast with the Italian Opera, never missed Bartholomew Fair,
+where, however, he had a rival in Crawley, two of whose bills have been
+preserved in the Harleian Collection. Pinkethman, another "motion-maker,"
+as the exhibitors of these shows were called, and also mentioned in the
+'Spectator,' introduced on his stage the divinities of Olympus ascending
+and descending to the sound of music. Strutt, who says that he saw
+something of the same kind at a country fair in 1760, thinks that the
+scenes and figures were painted upon a flat surface and cut out, like
+those of a boy's portable theatre, and that motion was imparted to them by
+clock-work. This he conjectures to have been the character also of the
+representation, with moving figures, of the camp before Lisle, which was
+exhibited, in the reign of Anne, in the Strand, opposite the Globe Tavern,
+near Hungerford Market.
+
+One of the two bills of Crawley's show which have been preserved was
+issued for Bartholomew Fair, and the other for Southwark Fair. The former
+is as follows:--
+
+"At Crawley's Booth, over against the Crown Tavern in Smithfield, during
+the time of Bartholomew Fair, will be presented a little opera, called the
+_Old Creation of the World_, yet newly revived; with the addition of
+_Noah's flood_; also several fountains playing water during the time of
+the play. The last scene does present Noah and his family coming out of
+the ark, with all the beasts two by two, and all the fowls of the air seen
+in a prospect sitting upon trees; likewise over the ark is seen the sun
+rising in a most glorious manner: moreover, a multitude of angels will be
+seen in a double rank, which presents a double prospect, one for the sun,
+the other for a palace, where will be seen six angels ringing of bells.
+Likewise machines descending from above, double, with Dives rising out of
+hell, and Lazarus seen in Abraham's bosom, besides several figures dancing
+jiggs, sarabands, and country dances, to the admiration of the
+spectators; with the merry conceits of _Squire Punch and Sir John
+Spendall_." This curious medley was "completed by an entertainment of
+singing, and dancing with several naked swords by a child of eight years
+of age." In the bill for Southwark Fair we find the addition of "the ball
+of little dogs," said to have come from Louvain, and to perform "by their
+cunning tricks wonders in the world of dancing. You shall see one of them
+named Marquis of Gaillerdain, whose dexterity is not to be compared; he
+dances with Madame Poucette his mistress and the rest of their company at
+the sound of instruments, all of them observing so well the cadence that
+they amaze everybody;" it is added that these celebrated performers had
+danced before Queen Anne and most of the nobility, and amazed everybody.
+
+James Miles, who has been mentioned in the last chapter, promised the
+visitors, in a bill preserved in the Harleian Collection, that they should
+see "a young woman dance with the swords, and upon a ladder, surpassing
+all her sex." Nineteen different dances were performed in his show, among
+which he mentions a "wrestlers' dance" and vaulting upon the slack rope.
+Respecting this dancing with swords, Strutt says that he remembered seeing
+"at Flockton's, a much noted but very clumsy juggler, a girl about
+eighteen or twenty years of age, who came upon the stage with four naked
+swords, two in each hand; when the music played, she turned round with
+great swiftness, and formed a great variety of figures with the swords,
+holding them overhead, down by her sides, behind her, and occasionally she
+thrust them in her bosom. The dance generally continued ten or twelve
+minutes; and when it was finished, she stopped suddenly, without appearing
+to be in the least giddy from the constant reiteration of the same
+motion."
+
+The ladder-dance was performed upon a light ladder, which the performer
+shifted from place to place, ascended and descended, without permitting it
+to fall. It was practised at Sadler's Wells at the commencement of the
+last century, and revived there in 1770. Strutt thought it originated in
+the stilt-dance, which appears, from an illumination of the reign of Henry
+III., to have been practised in the thirteenth century.
+
+Mrs. Mynn appears as a Bartholomew Fair theatrical manageress in 1707,
+when Settle, then nearly sixty years of age, and in far from flourishing
+circumstances, adapted to her stage his spectacular drama of the _Siege of
+Troy_, which had been produced at Drury Lane six years previously.
+Settle, who was a good contriver of spectacles, though a bad dramatic
+poet, reduced it from five acts to three, striking out four or five of the
+_dramatis personæ_, cutting down the serious portions of the dialogue, and
+giving greater breadth as well as length to the comic incidents, without
+which no Bartholomew audience would have been satisfied. As acted in her
+theatrical booth, it was printed by Mrs. Mynn, with the following
+introduction:--
+
+"_A Printed Publication of an_ Entertainment _performed on a_ Smithfield
+Stage, _which, how gay or richly soever set off, will hardly reach to a
+higher Title than the customary name of a_ DROLL, _may seem somewhat new.
+But as the present undertaking, the work of ten Months' preparation, is so
+extraordinary a Performance, that without Boast or Vanity we may modestly
+say, In the whole_ several Scenes, Movements, _and_ Machines, _it is no
+ways Inferiour even to any one_ Opera _yet seen in either of_ the Royal
+Theatres; _we are therefore under some sort of Necessity to make this
+Publication, thereby to give ev'n the meanest of our audience a full Light
+into all the Object they will there meet in this_ Expensive Entertainment;
+_the_ Proprietors _of which have adventur'd to make, under some small
+Hopes, That as they yearly see some of their happier Brethren Undertakers
+in the_ FAIR, _more cheaply obtain even the Engrost Smiles of the_ Gentry
+_and_ Quality _at so much an easier Price; so on the other side their own
+more costly Projection (though less Favourites) might possibly attain to
+that good Fortune, at least to attract a little share of the good graces
+of the more Honourable part of the Audience, and perhaps be able to
+purchase some of those smiles which elsewhere have been thus long the
+profuser Donation of particular Affection and Favour._"
+
+In the following year, Settle arranged for Mrs. Mynn the dramatic
+spectacle of _Whittington_, long famous at Bartholomew Fair, concluding
+with a mediæval Lord Mayor's cavalcade, in which nine different pageants
+were introduced.
+
+In 1708, the first menagerie seems to have appeared at Bartholomew Fair,
+where it stood near the hospital gate, and attracted considerable
+attention. Sir Hans Sloane cannot be supposed to have missed such an
+opportunity of studying animals little known, as he is said to have
+constantly visited the fair for that purpose, and to have retained the
+services of a draughtsman for their representation.
+
+The first menagerie in this country was undoubtedly that, which for
+several centuries, was maintained in the Tower of London, and the
+beginning of which may be traced to the presentation of three leopards to
+Henry III. by the Emperor of Germany, in allusion to the heraldic device
+of the former. Several royal orders are extant which show the progress
+made in the formation of the menagerie and furnish many interesting
+particulars concerning the animals. Two of these documents, addressed by
+Henry III. to the sheriffs of London, have reference to a white bear. The
+first, dated 1253, directs that fourpence a day should be allowed for the
+animal's subsistence; and the second, made in the following year, commands
+that, "for the keeper of our white bear, lately sent us from Norway, and
+which is in our Tower of London, ye cause to be had one muzzle and one
+iron chain, to hold that bear without the water, and one long and strong
+cord to hold the same bear when fishing in the river of Thames."
+
+Other mandates, relating to an elephant, were issued in the same reign, in
+one of which it is directed, "that ye cause, without delay, to be built at
+our Tower of London, one house of forty feet long, and twenty feet deep,
+for our elephant; providing that it be so made and so strong that, when
+need be it may be fit and necessary for other uses." We learn from Matthew
+Paris that this animal was presented to Henry by the King of France. It
+was ten years old, and ten feet in height. It lived till the forty-first
+year of Henry's reign, in which year it is recorded that, for the
+maintenance of the elephant and its keeper, from Michaelmas to St.
+Valentine's Day, immediately before it died, the charge was nearly
+seventeen pounds--a considerable sum for those days.
+
+Many additions were made to the Tower menagerie in the reign of Edward
+III.; and notably a lion and lioness, a leopard, and two wild cats. The
+office of keeper of the lions was created by Henry VI., with an allowance
+of sixpence a day for the keeper, and a like sum "for the maintenance of
+every lion or leopard now being in his custody, or that shall be in his
+custody hereafter." This office was continued until comparatively recent
+times, when it was abolished with the menagerie, a step which put an end
+likewise to the time-honoured hoax, said to have been practised upon
+country cousins, of going to the water side, below London Bridge, to see
+the lions washed.
+
+The building appropriated to the keeping and exhibition of the animals was
+a wide semi-circular edifice, in which were constructed, at distances of a
+few feet apart, a number of arched "dens," divided into two or more
+compartments, and secured by strong iron bars. Opposite these cages was a
+gallery of corresponding form, with a low stone parapet, and approached
+from the back by a flight of steps. This was appropriated exclusively to
+the accommodation of the royal family, who witnessed from it the feeding
+of the beasts and the combats described by Mr. Ainsworth in the romance
+which made the older portions of the Tower familiar ground to so many
+readers.
+
+The menagerie which appeared in Smithfield in 1708, and the ownership of
+which I have been unable to discover, was a very small concern; but with
+the showman's knowledge of the popular love of the marvellous, was
+announced as "a Collection of Strange and Wonderful Creatures," which
+included "the Noble _Casheware_, brought from the Island of Java in the
+East Indies, one of the strangest creatures in the Universe, being half a
+Bird, and half a Beast, reaches 16 Hands High from the Ground, his Head is
+like a Bird, and so is his Feet, he hath no hinder Claw, Wings, Tongue,
+nor Tail; his Body is like to the Body of a Deer; instead of Feathers, his
+fore-part is covered with Hair like an Ox, his hinder-part with a double
+Feather in one Quill; he Eats Iron, Steel, or Stones; he hath 2 Spears
+grows by his side."
+
+There is now no difficulty in recognising this strange bird as the
+cassowary, the representative in the Indian islands of the ostrich. There
+was also a leopard from Lebanon, an eagle from Russia, a "posoun"
+(opossum ?) from Hispaniola, and, besides a "Great Mare of the Tartarian
+Breed," which "had the Honour to be show'd before Queen Anne, Prince
+George, and most of the Nobility," "a little black hairy _Monster_, bred
+in the _Desarts of Arabia_, a natural Ruff of Hair about his Face, walks
+upright, takes a Glass of Ale in his Hand and drinks it off; and doth
+several other things to admiration." This animal was probably a specimen
+of the maned colobus, a native of the forests of Sierra Leone, and called
+by Pennant the full-bottomed monkey, in allusion to the full-bottom
+periwig of his day.
+
+A pamphlet was published in 1710, with the title, _The Wonders of
+England_, purporting to contain "Doggett and Penkethman's dialogue with
+Old Nick, on the suppression of Bartholomew Fair," and accounts of many
+strange and wonderful things; but it was a mere "catch-penny," as such
+productions of the Monmouth Street press were called, not containing a
+line about the suppression of the fair, and the title, as Hone observes,
+"like the showmen's painted cloths in the fair, pictures monsters not
+visible within."
+
+The lesser sights of a fair in the first quarter of the eighteenth century
+are graphically delineated by Gay, in his character of the ballad singer,
+in "The Shepherd's Week," bringing before the mind's eye the stalls, the
+lotteries, the mountebanks, the tumblers, the rope-dancers, the
+raree-shows, the puppets, and "all the fun of the fair."
+
+  "How pedlers' stalls with glittering toys are laid,
+  The various fairings of the country maid.
+  Long silken laces hang upon the twine,
+  And rows of pins and amber bracelets shine;
+  How the tight lass knives, combs, and scissors spies,
+  And looks on thimbles with desiring eyes.
+  Of lotteries next with tuneful note he told,
+  Where silver spoons are won, and rings of gold.
+  The lads and lasses trudge the street along,
+  And all the fair is crowded in his song.
+  The mountebank now treads the stage, and sells
+  His pills, his balsams, and his ague-spells;
+  Now o'er and o'er the nimble tumbler springs,
+  And on the rope the venturous maiden swings;
+  Jack Pudding, in his party-coloured jacket,
+  Tosses the glove, and jokes at every packet.
+  Of raree-shows he sung, and Punch's feats,
+  Of pockets picked in crowds, and various cheats."
+
+The theatrical booths, of which we have only casual notices or records
+during the seventeenth century and the first dozen years of the
+eighteenth, became an important feature of the London fairs about 1714,
+from which time those of Bartholomew and Southwark were regularly attended
+by many of the leading actors and actresses of Drury Lane, Covent Garden,
+the Haymarket, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and Goodman's Fields theatres, down
+to the middle of the century, excepting those years in which no theatrical
+booths were allowed to be put up in Smithfield. The theatrical companies
+which attended the fairs were not, however, drawn entirely from the London
+theatres. Three or four actors associated in the proprietorship and
+management, or were engaged by a popular favourite, and the rest of the
+company was recruited from provincial theatres, or from the strolling
+comedians of the country fairs.
+
+The London fairs were not, therefore, neglected by metropolitan managers
+in quest of talent, who, by witnessing the performances in booths on
+Smithfield or Southwark Green, sometimes found and transferred to their
+own boards, actors and actresses who proved stars of the first magnitude.
+It was in Bartholomew Fair that Booth found Walker, the original
+representative of Captain Macheath, playing in the _Siege of Troy_; and in
+Southwark Fair, in 1714, that the same manager saw Mrs. Horton acting in
+_Cupid and Psyche_, and was so pleased with her impersonation that he
+immediately offered her an engagement at Drury Lane, where she appeared
+the following season as Melinda, in the _Recruiting Officer_. She made her
+first appearance in 1713, as Marcia in _Cato_, with a strolling company
+then performing at Windsor; and is said to have been one of the most
+beautiful women that ever trod the stage.
+
+Penkethman's company played the _Constant Lovers_ in Southwark Fair in the
+year that proved so fortunate for Mrs. Horton, the comedian himself
+playing Buzzard, and Bullock taking the part of Sir Timothy Littlewit. In
+the following year, as we learn from a newspaper paragraph "a great
+play-house" was erected in the middle of Smithfield for "the King's
+players," being "the largest ever built." In 1717 Bullock did not
+accompany Penkethman, but set up a booth of his own, in conjunction with
+Leigh; while Penkethman formed a partnership with Pack, and produced the
+new "droll," _Twice Married and a Maid Still_, in which the former
+personated Old Merriwell; Pack, Tim; Quin, Vincent; Ryan, Peregrine;
+Spiller, Trusty; and Mrs. Spiller, Lucia. Penkethman's booth received the
+honour of a visit from the Prince of Wales. On the evening of the 13th of
+September, the popular favourite and several of the company were arrested
+on the stage by a party of constables, in the presence of a hundred and
+fifty of the nobility and gentry; but, pleading that they were "the King's
+servants," they were released without being subjected to the pains and
+penalties of vagrancy.
+
+In 1719, Bullock's name appears alone as the proprietor of the theatrical
+booth set up in Birdcage Alley, for Southwark Fair, and in which the _Jew
+of Venice_ was represented, with singing and dancing, and Harper's
+representation of the freaks and humours of a drunken man, which, having
+been greatly admired at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he and Bullock were
+both then engaged, could not fail to delight a fair audience. It was in
+this year that Boheme made his first appearance, as Menelaus in the _Siege
+of Troy_, in a booth at Southwark, where he was seen and immediately
+engaged by the manager of Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he appeared the
+following season as Worcester in _Henry IV._, and subsequently as the
+Ghost in _Hamlet_, York in _Richard II._, Pisanio in _Cymbeline_,
+Brabantio in _Othello_, etc.
+
+The theatres at this time were closed during the continuance of
+Bartholomew Fair, the concourse of all classes to that popular resort
+preventing them from obtaining remunerative audiences at that time, while
+the actors could obtain larger salaries in booths than they received at
+the theatres, and some realised large amounts by associating in the
+ownership of a booth. The Haymarket company presented the _Beggar's
+Opera_, at Bartholomew and Southwark Fairs in 1720; and Penkethman had his
+booth at both fairs, this year without a partner.
+
+May Fair, which had long been falling into disrepute, now ceased to be
+held. It was presented by the grand jury of Middlesex four years
+successively as a nuisance; and the county magistrates then presented an
+address to the Crown, praying for its suppression by royal proclamation.
+Pennant, who says that he remembered the last May Fair, describes the
+locality as "covered with booths, temporary theatres, and every enticement
+to low pleasure." A more particular description was given in 1774, in a
+communication from Carter, the antiquary, to the "Gentleman's Magazine."
+
+"A mountebank's stage," he tells us, "was erected opposite the Three Jolly
+Butchers public-house (on the east side of the market area, now the King's
+Arms). Here Woodward, the inimitable comedian and harlequin, made his
+first appearance as Merry Andrew; from these humble boards he soon after
+made his way to Covent Garden Theatre. Then there was 'beheading of
+puppets.' In a coal-shed attached to a grocer's shop (then Mr. Frith's,
+now Mr. Frampton's), one of these mock executions was exposed to the
+attending crowd. A shutter was fixed horizontally, on the edge of which,
+after many previous ceremonies, a puppet laid its head, and another
+puppet instantly chopped it off with an axe. In a circular stair-case
+window, at the north end of Sun Court, a similar performance took place by
+another set of puppets. In these representations, the late punishment of
+the Scottish chieftain (Lord Lovat) was alluded to, in order to gratify
+the feelings of southern loyalty, at the expense of that further north.
+
+"In a fore one-pair room, on the west side of Sun Court, a Frenchman
+submitted to the curious the astonishing strength of the 'strong woman,'
+his wife. A blacksmith's anvil being procured from White Horse Street,
+with three of the men, they brought it up, and placed it on the floor. The
+woman was short, but most beautifully and delicately formed, and of a most
+lovely countenance. She first let down her hair (a light auburn), of a
+length descending to her knees, which she twisted round the projecting
+part of the anvil, and then, with seeming ease, lifted the ponderous
+weight some inches from the floor. After this, a bed was laid in the
+middle of the room; when, reclining on her back, and uncovering her bosom,
+the husband ordered the smiths to place thereon the anvil, and forge upon
+it a horse-shoe! This they obeyed, by taking from the fire a red-hot piece
+of iron, and with their forging hammers completing the shoe, with the
+same might and indifference as when in the shop at their constant labour.
+The prostrate fair one appeared to endure this with the utmost composure,
+talking and singing during the whole process; then, with an effort which
+to the bystanders seemed like some supernatural trial, cast the anvil from
+off her body, jumping up at the same moment with extreme gaiety, and
+without the least discomposure of her dress or person. That no trick or
+collusion could possibly be practised on the occasion was obvious, from
+the following evidence:--the audience stood promiscuously about the room,
+among whom were our family and friends; the smiths were utter strangers to
+the Frenchman, but known to us; therefore, the several efforts of strength
+must have proceeded from the natural and surprising power this foreign
+dame was possessed of. She next put her naked feet on a red-hot
+salamander, without receiving the least injury; but this is a feat
+familiar with us at this time.
+
+"Here, too, was 'Tiddy-dol.' This celebrated vendor of gingerbread, from
+his eccentricity of character, and extensive dealings in his way, was
+always hailed as the king of itinerant tradesmen. In his person he was
+tall, well made, and his features handsome. He affected to dress like a
+person of rank; white gold-laced suit of clothes, laced ruffled shirt,
+laced hat and feather, white silk stockings, with the addition of a fine
+white apron. Among his harangues to gain customers, take this as a
+specimen:--'Mary, Mary, where are you _now_, Mary? I live, when at home,
+at the second house in Little Ball Street, two steps underground, 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 at the door. Here is
+your nice gingerbread, your spice gingerbread; it will melt in your mouth
+like a red-hot brick-bat, 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-dy, ti-ti, ti-tid-dy, ti-ti, ti-tid-dy,
+ti-ti, tid-dy, did-dy, dol-lol, ti-tid-dy, ti-tid-dy, ti-ti, tid-dy,
+tid-dy, dol. Hence arose his nick-name of 'Tiddy-dol.'"
+
+In Hogarth's picture of the execution of the idle apprentice at Tyburn,
+Tiddy-dol is seen holding up a cake of gingerbread, and addressing the
+crowd in his peculiar style, his costume agreeing with the foregoing
+description. 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 unusual occasion of an excursion to a country fair, a "catch-penny"
+account of his alleged murder was sold in the streets by thousands. In
+1721, as appears from a paragraph in the 'London Journal' of May 27th,
+"the ground on which May Fair formerly stood is marked out for a large
+square, and several fine streets and houses are to be built upon it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+    Bartholomew Fair Theatricals--Lee, the Theatrical Printer--Harper, the
+    Comedian--Rayner and Pullen--Fielding, the Novelist, a
+    Showman--Cibber's Booth--Hippisley, the Actor--Fire in Bartholomew
+    Fair--Fawkes, the Conjuror--Royal Visit to Fielding's Booth--Yeates,
+    the Showman--Mrs. Pritchard, the Actress--Southwark Fair--Tottenham
+    Court Fair--Ryan, the Actor--Hallam's Booth--Griffin, the Actor--Visit
+    of the Prince of Wales to Bartholomew Fair--Laguerre's
+    Booth--Heidegger--More Theatrical Booths--Their Suppression at
+    Bartholomew Fair--Hogarth at Southwark Fair--Violante, the
+    Rope-Dancer--Cadman, the Flying Man.
+
+
+The success of the theatrical booths at the London fairs induced Lee, a
+theatrical printer in Blue Maid Alley, Southwark, and son-in-law of Mrs.
+Mynn, to set up one, which we first hear of at Bartholomew Fair in 1725,
+when the popular drama of the _Unnatural Parents_ was represented in it.
+Lee subsequently took into partnership in his managerial speculation the
+popular comedian, Harper, in conjunction with whom he produced, in 1728, a
+musical drama with the strange title of the _Quakers' Opera_, which, as
+well as the subject, was suggested by the extraordinary popularity of
+Gay's _Beggars' Opera_, the plot being derived from the adventures of the
+notorious burglar made famous in our time by Mr. Ainsworth's romance of
+'Jack Sheppard.' It was adapted for the fairs from a drama published in
+1725 as _The Prison-breaker_, "as intended to be acted at the Theatre
+Royal, Lincoln's Inn Fields."
+
+Fielding, the future novelist, appeared this year, and in several
+successive years, as a Bartholomew Fair showman, setting up a theatrical
+booth in George Yard. He was then in his twenty-third year,
+aristocratically connected and liberally educated, but almost destitute of
+pecuniary resources, though the son of a general and a judge's daughter,
+and the great grandson of an earl, while he was as gay as Sheridan and as
+careless as Goldsmith. On leaving Eton he had studied law two years at
+Leyden, but was obliged to return to England through the failure of the
+allowance which his father had promised, but was too improvident to
+supply. Finding himself without resources, and becoming acquainted with
+some of the company at the Haymarket, he found the means, in conjunction
+with Reynolds, the actor, to set up a theatrical booth in the locality
+mentioned, and afterwards, during Southwark Fair, at the lower end of Blue
+Maid Alley, on the green.
+
+Fielding and Reynolds drew their company from the Haymarket, and produced
+the _Beggars' Opera_, with "all the songs and dances, set to music, as
+performed at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields." Their advertisements
+for Southwark Fair inform the public that "there is a commodious passage
+for the quality and coaches through the Half Moon Inn, and care will be
+taken that there shall be lights, and people to conduct them to their
+places."
+
+In the following year Fielding and Reynolds had separate shows, the former
+retaining the eligible site of George Yard for Bartholomew Fair, and
+producing Colley's _Beggars' Wedding_, an opera in imitation of Gay's,
+which had been originally acted in Dublin, and afterwards at the
+Haymarket.
+
+Reynolds, one of the Haymarket company, set up his booth between the
+hospital gate and the Crown Tavern, and produced the same piece under the
+title of _Hunter_, that being the name of the principal character. He had
+the Haymarket band and scenery, with Ray, from Drury Lane, in the
+principal part, and Mrs. Nokes as Tippit. Both he and Fielding announced
+Hulett for Chaunter, the king of the beggars, and continued to do so
+during the fair; but the comedian could not have acted several times daily
+in both booths, and as he did not return to the Haymarket after the fair,
+but joined the Lincoln's Inn Fields company, he was probably secured by
+Fielding.
+
+Bullock, who had now seceded from the Lincoln's Inn Fields company and
+joined the new establishment in Goodman's Fields, under the management of
+Odell, also appeared at Bartholomew Fair this year without a partner,
+producing _Dorastus and Faunia_, and an adaptation of Doggett's _Country
+Wake_ with the new title of _Flora_, announcing it, in deference to the
+new taste, as being "after the manner of the _Beggars' Opera_." Rayner and
+Pullen's company performed, at the Black Boy Inn, near Hosier Lane, an
+adaptation of Gay's opera, the dashing highwayman being personated by
+Powell, Polly by Mrs. Rayner, and Lucy by Mrs. Pullen.
+
+In 1730, Fielding had a partner in Oates, a Drury Lane comedian, and again
+erected his theatre in George Yard, which site was retained for him during
+the whole period of his Bartholomew Fair experience. They produced a new
+opera, called the _Generous Free-mason_, which was written by William
+Rufus Chetwood, many years prompter at Drury Lane. Oates personated
+Sebastian, and Fielding took the part of Clerimont himself. Miss Oates was
+Maria. After the opera there were "several entertainments of dancing by
+Mons. de Luce, Mademoiselle de Lorme, and others, particularly the Wooden
+Shoe Dance, Perrot and Pierette, and the dance of the Black Joke."
+
+Reynolds was there again, with the historical drama of _Scipio's Triumph_
+and the pantomime of _Harlequin's Contrivance_. Lee and Harper presented
+_Robin Hood_, and Penkethman and Giffard the historical drama of _Wat
+Tyler and Jack Straw_. Penkethman had retired from the stage in 1724, and
+it is doubtful whether he lent his name on this occasion to Giffard, who
+was then lessee of Goodman's Fields, or the latter had taken the younger
+Penkethman into partnership with him.
+
+Among the minor shows this year was a collection of natural curiosities,
+advertised as follows:--
+
+"These are to give notice to all Ladies, Gentlemen, and others. That at
+the end of Hosier Lane, in Smithfield, are to be seen, during the Time of
+the Fair, TWO RATTLE SNAKES, one a very large size, and rattles that you
+may hear him at a quarter of a mile almost, and something of Musick, that
+grows on the tails thereof; of divers colours, forms, and shapes, with
+darts that they extend out of their mouths, about two inches long. They
+were taken on the Mountains of Leamea. A Fine CREATURE, of a small size,
+taken in Mocha, that burrows under ground. It is of divers colours, and
+very beautiful. The TEETH of a DEAD RATTLE SNAKE, to be seen and handled,
+with the Rattles. A SEA SNAIL, taken on the Coast of India. Also, the HORN
+of a FLYING BUCK. Together with a curious Collection of Animals and
+Insects from all Parts of the World. To be seen without Loss of Time."
+
+Bullock did not appear as an individual manager in the following year,
+having associated himself with Cibber, Griffin, and Hallam. The theatrical
+booth of which they were joint proprietors stood near Hosier Lane, where
+the tragedy of _Tamerlane the Great_ was presented, the hero being played
+by Hallam, and Bajazet by Cibber. The entertainment must have been longer
+than usual, for it comprised a comedy, _The Miser_, adapted from _L'Avare_
+of Molière, in which Griffin played Lovegold, and Bullock was Cabbage; and
+a pantomime or ballet, called a _Ridotto al fresco_. Miller, Mills, and
+Oates, whose theatre was over against the hospital gate, presented the
+_Banished General_, a romantic drama, playing the principal parts
+themselves.
+
+Oates having joined Miller and Mills, Fielding had for partners this year
+Hippisley and Hall, the former of whom appeared at Bartholomew Fair for
+the first time. He kept a coffee-house in Newcastle Court, Strand, which
+was frequented by members of the theatrical profession. Chetwood wrote for
+them a romantic drama called _The Emperor of China_, in which the pathetic
+and the comic elements were blended in a manner to please fair audiences,
+whose sympathies were engaged by the sub-title, _Love in Distress and
+Virtue Rewarded_. Hippisley played Shallow, a Welsh squire on his travels;
+Hall, his servant, Robin Booby; young Penkethman, Sir Arthur Addleplot;
+and Mrs. Egleton, a chambermaid, Loveit.
+
+A fire occurred this year in one of the smaller booths, and, though little
+damage was done, the alarm caused so much fright to the wife of Fawkes,
+the conjuror, whose show adjoined the booth in which the fire broke out,
+as to induce premature parturition. This is the only fire recorded as
+having occurred in Bartholomew Fair during the seven centuries of its
+existence.
+
+I have found no Bartholomew Fair advertisement of Lee and Harper for this
+year; but at Southwark Fair, where their show stood on the bowling green,
+behind the Marshalsea Prison, they presented _Bateman_, with a variety of
+singing and dancing, and a pantomimic entertainment called the _Harlot's
+Progress_. A change of performance being found necessary, they presented
+the "celebrated droll" of _Jephtha's Rash Vow_, in which Harper played the
+strangely incongruous part of a Captain Bluster.
+
+"To which," continues the advertisement, "will be added, a new Pantomime
+Opera (which the Town has lately been in Expectation to see perform'd)
+call'd
+
+"The Fall of PHAETON. Wherein is shown the Rivalship of Phaeton and
+Epaphus; their Quarrel about Lybia, daughter to King Merops, which causes
+Phaeton to go to the Palace of the Sun, to know if Apollo is his father,
+and for Proof of it requires the Guidance of his Father's Chariot, which
+obtain'd, he ascends in the Chariot through the Air to light the World; in
+the Course the Horses proving unruly go out of their way and set the World
+on Fire; Jupiter descends on an Eagle, and with his Thunder-bolt strikes
+Phaeton out of the Chariot into the River Po.
+
+"The whole intermix'd with Comic Scenes between Punch, Harlequin,
+Scaramouch, Pierrot, and Colombine.
+
+"The Part of Jupiter by Mr. Hewet; Apollo, Mr. Hulett; Phaeton, Mr. Aston;
+Epaphus, Mr. Nichols; Lybia, Mrs. Spiller; Phathusa, Mrs. Williamson;
+Lampetia, Mrs. Canterel; Phebe, Mrs. Spellman; Clymena, Mrs. Fitzgerald.
+
+"N.B. We shall begin at Ten in the Morning and continue Playing till Ten
+at Night.
+
+"N.B. The true Book of the Droll is printed and sold by G. Lee in Bluemaid
+Alley, Southwark, and all others (not printed by him) are false."
+
+Fawkes, the conjuror, whose show has been incidentally mentioned, located
+it, in the intervals between the fairs, in James Street, near the
+Haymarket, where he this year performed the marvellous flower trick, by
+which the conjuror, Stodare, made so much of his fame a few years ago at
+the Egyptian Hall. Fawkes had a partner, Pinchbeck, who was as clever a
+mechanist as the former was a conjuror; and no small portion of the
+attractiveness of the show was due to Pinchbeck's musical clock, his
+mechanical contrivance for moving pictures, and which he called the
+Venetian machine (something, probably, like the famous cyclorama of the
+Colosseum), and his "artificial view of the world," with dioramic effects.
+Feats of posturing were exhibited between Fawkes's conjuring tricks and
+the exhibition of Pinchbeck's ingenious mechanism.
+
+In 1732, Fielding had Hippisley alone as a partner in his theatrical
+enterprise, and presented the historical drama of _The Fall of Essex_,
+followed by an adapted translation (his own work) of _Le Médecin malgré
+Lui_ of Molière, under the title of _The Forced Physician_. The Prince and
+Princess of Wales visited Fielding's theatre on the 30th of August, and
+were so much pleased with the performances that they witnessed both plays
+a second time.
+
+Lee and Harper presented this year the _Siege of Bethulia_, "containing
+the Ancient History of Judith and Holofernes, and the Comical Humours of
+Rustego and his man Terrible." Holofernes was represented by Mullart,
+Judith by Spiller (so say the advertisements; perhaps the prefix "Mrs."
+was inadvertently omitted by the printer), and Rustego by Harper. As this
+was the first year in which this curious play was acted by Lee and
+Harper's company, the earlier date of 1721, assigned to Setchel's print of
+Bartholomew Fair, is an obvious error, as the title of this play is
+therein represented on the front of Lee and Harper's show. It is not easy
+to understand how such an error can have obtained currency, it being
+further proclaimed by the introduction of a peep-show of the siege of
+Gibraltar, which occurred in 1728.
+
+Setchel's print was a copy of one which adorned a fan fabricated for sale
+in the fair, and had appended to it a description, ascribed to Caulfield,
+the author of a collection of 'Remarkable Characters.' The authorship of
+the descriptive matter is doubtful, however, as it asserts the portrait of
+Fawkes to be the only one in existence; while Caulfield, in his brief
+notice of the conjuror, mentions another and more elaborate one. Lee and
+Harper's booth is conspicuously shown in the print, with a picture of the
+murder of Holofernes at the back of the exterior platform, on which are
+Mullart, and (I presume) Mrs. Spiller, dressed for Holofernes and Judith,
+and three others of the company, one in the garb of harlequin, another
+dancing, and the third blowing a trumpet. Judith is costumed in a
+head-dress of red and blue feathers, laced stomacher, white hanging
+sleeves, and a flounced crimson skirt; while Holofernes wears a flowing
+robe, edged with gold lace, a helmet and cuirass, and brown buskins.
+
+Fawkes's show also occupies a conspicuous place with its pictured cloth,
+representing conjuring and tumbling feats, and Fawkes on the platform,
+doing a conjuring trick, while a harlequin draws attention to him, and a
+trumpeter bawls through his brazen instrument of torture an invitation to
+the spectators to "walk up!" Near this show is another with a picture of a
+woman dancing on the tight rope. The scene is filled up with the peep-show
+before mentioned, a swing of the four-carred kind, a toy-stall, a
+sausage-stall, and a gin-stall--one of those incentives to vice and
+disorder which were permitted to be present, perhaps "for the good of
+trade," when amusements were banished.
+
+In 1733, Fielding and Hippisley's booth again stood in George Yard, where
+they presented the romantic drama of _Love and Jealousy_, and a ballad
+opera called _The Cure for Covetousness_, adapted by Fielding from _Les
+Fourberies de Scapin_ of Molière. In this piece Mrs. Pritchard first won
+the popularity which secured her an engagement at Drury Lane for the
+ensuing season, as, though she had acted before at the Haymarket and
+Goodman's Fields, she attracted little attention until, in the character
+of Loveit, she sang with Salway the duet, "Sweet, if you love me, smiling
+turn," which was received with so much applause that Fielding and
+Hippisley had it printed, and distributed copies in the fair by thousands.
+Hippisley played Scapin in this opera, and Penkethman, announced as the
+"son of the late facetious Mr. William Penkethman," Old Gripe. There was
+dancing between the acts, and the _Ridotto al fresco_ afterwards; and the
+advertisements add that, "to divert the audience during the filling of the
+booth, the famous Mr. Phillips will perform his surprising postures on the
+stage."
+
+The newspapers of the time inform us that they had "crowded audiences,"
+and that "a great number of the nobility intend to honour them with their
+presence," which they probably did. All classes then went to Bartholomew
+Fair, as in Pepys' time; the gentleman with the star on his coat in
+Setchel's print was said to be Sir Robert Walpole.
+
+Cibber, Griffin, Bullock, and Hallam again appeared in partnership, and
+repeated the performances which they had found attractive in the preceding
+year. Cibber played Bajazet in the tragedy, and Mrs. Charke, his youngest
+daughter, Haly. This lady appeared subsequently on the scene as the
+proprietress of a puppet-show, and finally as the keeper of a
+sausage-stall. Griffin played Lovegold in the _Miser_, as he had done the
+preceding winter at Drury Lane; but none of the Drury actresses performed
+this year in the fairs, and Miss Raftor's part of Lappet was transferred
+to Mrs. Roberts.
+
+Lee and Harper presented _Jephtha's Rash Vow_, in which Hulett appeared;
+and Miller, Mills, and Oates, the tragedy of _Jane Shore_, in which Miss
+Oates personated the heroine; her father, Tim Hampwell; and Chapman,
+Captain Blunderbuss. After the tragedy came a new mythological
+entertainment, called the _Garden of Venus_; and the advertisements state
+that, "To entertain the Company before the Opera begins, there will be a
+variety of Rope-Dancing and Tumbling by the best Performers; particularly
+the famous Italian Woman, Mademoiselle De Reverant and her Daughter, who
+gave such universal satisfaction at the Publick Act at Oxford; the
+celebrated Signor Morosini, who never performed in the Fair before; Mons.
+Jano and others, and Tumbling by young River and Miss Derrum, a child of
+nine years old." De Reverant is not an Italian name, and it is to be
+hoped, for the sake of the lady's good name and the management's sense of
+decorum, that the prefix of Mademoiselle was an error of the printer. Jano
+was a performer at Sadler's Wells, and other places of amusement in the
+vicinity of the metropolis, where tea-gardens and music-rooms were now
+becoming numerous.
+
+Tottenham Court fair, the origin of which I have been unable to trace,
+emerged from its obscurity this year, when Lee and Harper, in conjunction
+with a third partner named Petit, set up a show there, behind the King's
+Head, near the Hampstead Road. The entertainments were _Bateman_ and the
+_Ridotto al fresco_. The fair began on the 4th of August.
+
+Petit's name is not in the advertisements for Southwark Fair, where Lee
+and Harper gave the same performance as at Tottenham Court. A new
+aspirant to popular favour appeared this year on Southwark Green, namely,
+Yeates's theatrical booth, in which a ballad opera called _The Harlot's
+Progress_ was performed, with "Yeates, junior's, incomparable dexterity of
+hand: also a new and glorious prospect, or a lively view of the
+installation of His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange.
+
+"Note.--At a large room near his booth are to be seen, without any loss of
+time, two large ostriches, lately arrived from the Deserts of Arabia,
+being male and female."
+
+Fawkes, the conjuror, was now dead, but Pinchbeck carried on the show, in
+conjunction with his late partner's son, and issued the following
+announcement:--
+
+"_This is to give notice, that Mr._ Pinchbeck _and_ Fawkes, _who have had
+the honour to perform before the Royal Family, and most of the Nobility
+and Gentry in the Kingdom with great applause, during the time of_
+Southwark Fair, _will divert the Publick with the following surprising
+Entertainments, at their great Theatrical Room, at the_ Queen's Arms,
+_joining to the_ Marshalsea Gate. First, the surprising Tumbler from
+Frankfort in Germany, who shows several astonishing things by the Art of
+Tumbling; the like never seen before since the memory of man. Secondly,
+the diverting and incomparable dexterity of hand, performed by Mr.
+Pinchbeck, who causes a tree to grow out of a flower-pot on the table,
+which blossoms and bears ripe fruit in a minute; also a man in a maze, or
+a perpetual motion, where he makes a little ball to run continually, which
+would last was it for seven years together only by the word of command. He
+has several tricks entirely new, which were never done by any other person
+than himself. Third, the famous little posture-master of nine years old,
+who shows several astonishing postures by activity of body, different from
+any other posture-master in Europe."
+
+The fourth and fifth items of the programme were Pinchbeck's musical clock
+and the Venetian machine. The advertisement concludes with the
+announcement that "while the booth is filling, the little posture-master
+will divert the company with several wonders on the slack rope. Beginning
+every day at ten o'clock in the morning, and ending at ten at night." As
+Pinchbeck now performed the conjuring tricks for which his former partner
+had been famous, and the latter's son does not appear as a performer, it
+is probable that young Fawkes was merely a sleeping partner in the
+concern, his father having accumulated by the exercise of his profession,
+a capital of ten thousand pounds.
+
+It was in this year that Highmore, actuated by the spirit which in recent
+times has prompted the prosecution of music-hall proprietors by theatrical
+managers, swore an information against Harper as an offender under the
+Vagrancy Act, which condemned strolling players to the same penalties as
+wandering ballad-singers and sturdy beggars. Why, it may be asked, was
+Harper selected as the scape-goat of all the comedians who performed in
+the London fairs, and among whom were Cibber, Bullock, Hippisley, Hallam,
+Ryan, Laguerre, Chapman, Hall, and other leading actors of the theatres
+royal? There is no evidence of personal animosity against Harper on
+Highmore's part, but it is not much to the latter's credit that he was
+supposed to have selected for a victim a man who was thought to be timid
+enough to be frightened into submission.
+
+Harper was arrested on the 12th November, and taken before a magistrate,
+by whom he was committed to Bridewell, as a vagrant, on evidence being
+given that he had performed at Bartholomew and Southwark Fairs, and also
+at Drury Lane. He appealed against the decision, and the cause was tried
+in the Court of King's Bench, before the Lord Chief Justice, on the 20th.
+Eminent counsel were retained on both sides, the prosecution insisting
+that the appellant had brought himself under the operation of the Vagrancy
+Act by "wandering from place to place" in the exercise of his vocation;
+and counsel for the appellant contending that, as Harper was a householder
+of Westminster and a freeholder of Surrey, it was ridiculous to represent
+him as a vagabond, or to pretend that he was likely to become chargeable
+as a pauper to the parish in which he resided. "My client," said his
+counsel, "is an honest man, who pays his debts, and injures no man, and is
+well esteemed by many gentlemen of good condition." The result was, that
+Harper was discharged on his own recognizances to be of good conduct, and
+left Westminster Hall amidst the acclamations of several hundreds of
+persons, whom his popularity had caused to assemble.
+
+In the following year, the managerial arrangements for the fairs again
+received considerable modification. The partnership of Miller, Mills, and
+Oates was dissolved, and the last-named actor again joined Fielding, while
+Hippisley joined Bullock and Hallam, and Hall formed a new combination
+with Ryan, Laguerre, and Chapman. Harper's partnership with Lee was
+dissolved by the latter's death, and the fear of having his recognizances
+estreated seems to have prevented him from appearing at the fairs.
+Fielding and Oates presented _Don Carlos_ and the ballad opera of _The
+Constant Lovers_, in which Oates played Ragout, his daughter Arabella, and
+Mrs. Pritchard, in grateful remembrance of her Bartholomew Fair triumph of
+the preceding year, Chloe.
+
+Hippisley, Bullock, and Hallam presented _Fair Rosamond_, followed by _The
+Impostor_, in which Vizard was played by Hippisley, Balderdash by Bullock,
+and Solomon Smack by Hallam's son. During the last week of the fair,
+Hippisley gave, as an interlude, his diverting medley in the character of
+a drunken man, for which impersonation he was long as celebrated as Harper
+was for a similar representation.
+
+Ryan, Laguerre, Chapman, and Hall gave what appears a long programme for a
+fair, and suggests more than the ordinary amount of "cutting down." The
+performances commenced with _Don John_, in which the libertine prince was
+played by Ryan, and Jacomo by Chapman. After the tragedy came a ballad
+opera, _The Barren Island_, in which Hall played the boatswain, Laguerre
+the gunner, and Penkethman the coxswain. The performances concluded with a
+farce, _The Farrier Nicked_, in which Laguerre was Merry, Penkethman the
+farrier's man, and Hall an ale-wife.
+
+At Southwark Fair this year, Lee's booth, now conducted by his widow,
+stood in Axe and Bottle Yard, and presented the _Siege of Troy_, "which,"
+says the advertisement, "in its decorations, machinery, and paintings, far
+exceeds anything of the like kind that ever was seen in the fairs before,
+the scenes and clothes being entirely new. All the parts to be performed
+to the best advantage, by persons from the theatres. The part of Paris by
+Mr. Hulett; King Menelaus, Mr. Roberts; Ulysses, Mr. Aston; Simon, Mr.
+Hind; Captain of the Guard, Mr. Mackenzie; Bustle the Cobler, Mr. Morgan;
+Butcher, Mr. Pearce; Taylor, Mr. Hicks; Cassandra, Mrs. Spiller; Venus,
+Mrs. Lacy; Helen, Mrs. Purden; Cobler's Wife, Mrs. Morgan. With several
+Entertainments of Singing and Dancing by the best masters.
+
+"N.B. There being a puppet-show in Mermaid Court, leading down to the
+Green, called _The Siege of Troy_; These are to forewarn the Publick, that
+they may not be imposed on by counterfeits, the only celebrated droll of
+that kind was first brought to perfection by the late famous Mrs. Mynns,
+and can only be performed by her daughter, Mrs. Lee."
+
+Mrs. Lee seems to have had a formidable rival in another theatrical booth,
+which appeared anonymously, and from this circumstance, combined with the
+fact of its occupying the site on which Lee and Harper's canvas theatre
+had stood for several successive years, may not unreasonably be regarded
+as the venture of Harper. All I have found concerning it is the bill,
+which, as being a good specimen of the announcements issued by the
+proprietors of the theatrical booths attending the London fairs, is given
+entire.
+
+    "_At the Great_ THEATRICAL BOOTH
+
+    On the Bowling-Green behind the Marshalsea, down Mermaid-Court next
+    the Queen's-Arms Tavern, during the Time of Southwark Fair, (which
+    began the 8th instant and ends the 21st), will be presented that
+    diverting Droll call'd,
+
+            _The True and Ancient History of_
+      Maudlin, _the Merchant's Daughter_ of Bristol,
+                       AND
+              _Her Constant Lover_ Antonio,
+
+    Who she follow'd into Italy, disguising herself in Man's Habit;
+    shewing the Hardships she underwent by being Shipwreck'd on the coast
+    of Algier, where she met her Lover, who was doom'd to be burnt at a
+    Stake by the King of that Country, who fell in Love with her and
+    proffer'd her his Crown, which she despised, and chose rather to share
+    the Fate of her Antonio than renounce the Christian Religion to
+    embrace that of their Impostor Prophet, Mahomet.
+
+      With the Comical Humours of
+        _Roger_, Antonio's Man,
+
+    And variety of Singing and Dancing between the Acts by Mr. Sandham,
+    Mrs. Woodward, and Miss Sandham.
+
+    "Particularly, a new Dialogue to be sung by Mr. Excell and Mrs.
+    Fitzgerald. Written by the Author of _Bacchus one day gaily striding_,
+    &c. and a hornpipe by Mr. Taylor. To which will be added a new
+    Entertainment (never perform'd before) called
+
+            The INTRIGUING HARLEQUIN
+                       OR
+           Any Wife better than None.
+    With Scenes, Machines, and other Decorations
+          proper to the Entertainment."
+
+Pinchbeck and Fawkes had a booth this year on the Bowling Green, where the
+entertainments of the preceding year were repeated, the little posturer
+being again announced as only nine years of age. Pinchbeck had a shop in
+Fleet Street at this time, (mentioned in the thirty-fifth number of the
+'Adventurer'), and, perhaps, an interest in the wax figures exhibited by
+Fawkes at the Old Tennis Court, as "the so much famed piece of machinery,
+consisting of large artificial wax figures five foot high, which have all
+the just motions and gestures of human life, and have been for several
+years shewn at Bath and Tunbridge Wells, and no where else, except this
+time two years at the Opera Room in the Haymarket; and by them will be
+presented the comical tragedy of _Tom Thumb_. With several scenes out of
+_The Tragedy of Tragedies_, and dancing between the acts. To which will be
+added, an entertainment of dancing called _The Necromancer: or, Harlequin
+Dr. Faustus_, with the fairy song and dance. The clothes, scenes, and
+decorations are entirely new. The doors to be opened at four, and to begin
+at six o'clock. Pit 2s. 6d. Gallery 1s. Tickets to be had at Mr.
+Chenevix's toy-shop, over against Suffolk Street, Charing Cross; at the
+Tennis Court Coffee House; at Mr. Edward Pinchbeck's, at the Musical Clock
+in Fleet Street; at Mr. Smith's, a perfumer, at the Civet Cat in New Bond
+Street near Hanover Square; at the little man's fan-shop in St. James's
+Street."
+
+Fawkes and Pinchbeck seem to have speculated in exhibitions and
+entertainments of various descriptions, for besides this marionette
+performance and the conjuring show, there seems to have been another show,
+which appeared at Bartholomew Fair this year, as their joint enterprise,
+and for which Fielding wrote a dramatic trifle called _The Humours of
+Covent Garden_. It was probably a performance of puppets, like that at
+the Old Tennis Court.
+
+The licences granted by the Corporation for mountebanks, conjurors, and
+others, to exercise their avocations at Bartholomew Fair had hitherto
+extended to fourteen days; but in 1735 the Court of Aldermen
+resolved--"That Bartholomew Fair shall not exceed Bartholomew eve,
+Bartholomew day, and the next morrow, and shall be restricted to the sale
+of goods, wares, and merchandises, usually sold in fairs, and no acting
+shall be permitted therein." There were, therefore, no shows this year;
+and, as the Licensing Act had rendered all unlicensed entertainers liable
+to the pains and penalties of vagrancy, and Sir John Barnard was known to
+be determined to suppress all such "idle amusements" as dancing, singing,
+tumbling, juggling, and the like, the toymen, the vendors of gingerbread,
+the purveyors of sausages, and the gin-stalls had the fair to themselves.
+
+There seems no evidence, however, that there was less disorder, or less
+indulgence in vice, in Bartholomew Fair this year than on former
+occasions. "Lady Holland's mob," as the concourse of roughs was called
+which anticipated the official proclamation of the fair by swarming
+through the streets adjacent to Smithfield on the previous night,
+assembled as usual, shouting, ringing bells, and breaking lamps, as had
+been the annual wont from the time of the Long Parliament, though the
+association of Lady Holland's name with these riotous proceedings is a
+mystery which I have not been able to unravel. Nor is there any reason for
+supposing that drunkenness was banished from the fair with the shows; for,
+though it is probable that a much smaller number of persons resorted to
+Smithfield, it is certain that gin-stalls constituted a greater temptation
+to excessive indulgence in alcoholic fluids, in the absence of all means
+of amusement, than the larger numbers that visited the shows were exposed
+to. The idea of promoting temperance by depriving the people of the choice
+between the public-house and the theatre or music-hall is the most absurd
+that has ever been conceived.
+
+It was on the 15th of March, in this year, that Ryan, the comedian and
+Bartholomew Fair theatrical manager, was attacked at midnight, in Great
+Queen Street, by a footpad, who fired a pistol in his face, inflicting
+injuries which deprived him of consciousness, and then robbed him of his
+sword, which, however, was afterwards picked up in the street. Ryan was
+carried home, and attended by a surgeon, who found his jaws shattered, and
+several teeth dislodged. A performance was given at Covent Garden for his
+benefit on the 19th, when he had a crowded house, and the play was the
+_Provoked Husband_, with Hallam as Lord Townly, and the farce the _School
+for Women_, which was new, in the Robertsonian sense, being adapted from
+Molière. Hippisley played in it. The Prince of Wales was prevented by a
+prior engagement from attending, but he sent Ryan a hundred guineas. The
+wounded actor was unable to perform until the 25th of April, when he
+re-appeared as Bellair in a new comedy, Popple's _Double Deceit_, in which
+Sir William Courtlove was personated by Hippisley, Gayliffe by Hallam, and
+Jerry by Chapman.
+
+Smithfield presented its wonted fair aspect on the eve of Bartholomew,
+1736, the civic authorities having seen the error of their ways, and
+testified their sense thereof by again permitting shows to be erected.
+Hippisley joined Fielding this year, and they presented _Don Carlos_ and
+the _Cheats of Scapin_, Mrs. Pritchard re-appearing in the character of
+Loveit. Hallam and Chapman joined in partnership, and produced _Fair
+Rosamond_ and a ballad opera.
+
+Fielding had at this time an income of two hundred a year, besides what he
+derived from translating and adapting French plays for the London stage,
+and the profits of his annual speculation in Smithfield. But, if he had
+had three times as much, he would have been always in debt, and
+occasionally in difficulties. Besides being careless and extravagant in
+his expenditure, he was generous to a fault. His pocket was at all times a
+bank upon which friendship or distress might draw. One illustration of
+this trait in his character I found in an old collection of anecdotes
+published in 1787. Some parochial taxes for his house in Beaufort
+Buildings, in the Strand, being unpaid, and repeated application for
+payment having been made in vain, he was at last informed by the collector
+that further procrastination would be productive of unpleasant
+consequences.
+
+In this dilemma, Fielding, having no money, obtained ten or twelves
+guineas of Tonson, on account of some literary work which he had then in
+hand. He was returning to Beaufort Buildings, jingling his guineas, when
+he met in the Strand an Eton chum, whom he had not seen for several years.
+Question and answer followed quickly as the friends shook each other's
+hands with beaming eyes, and then they adjourned to a tavern, where
+Fielding ordered dinner, that they might talk over old times. Care was
+given to the winds, and the hours flew on unthought of, as the showman and
+his old schoolfellow partook of "the feast of reason, and the flow of
+soul." Fielding's friend was "hard up," and the fact was no sooner
+divulged than his purse received the greater part of the money for which
+the future novelist had pledged sheets of manuscript as yet unwritten.
+
+It was past midnight when Fielding, raised by wine and friendship to the
+seventh heaven, reached home. In reply to the questions of his sister, who
+had anxiously awaited his coming, as to the cause of his long absence, he
+related his felicitous meeting with his former chum. "But, Harry," said
+Amelia, "the collector has called twice for the rates." Thus brought down
+to earth again, Fielding looked grave; it was the first time he had
+thought of the rates since leaving Tonson's shop, and he had spent at the
+tavern all that he had not given to his friend. But his gravity was only
+of a moment's duration. "Friendship," said he, "has called for the money,
+and had it; let the collector call again." A second application to Tonson
+enabled him, however, to satisfy the demands of the parish as well as
+those of friendship.
+
+It was in this year that the Act for licensing plays was passed, the
+occasion--perhaps I should say, the pretext--being the performance of
+Fielding's burlesque, _Pasquin_. Ministers had had their eyes upon the
+stage for some time, and it must be admitted that the political allusions
+that were indulged in on the stage were strong, and often spiced with
+personalities that would not be tolerated at the present day. It is
+doubtful, however, whether the Act would have passed the House of Commons,
+but for the folly of Giffard, manager of Goodman's Fields, and sometimes
+of a booth in Bartholomew Fair. He had a burlesque offered him, called the
+_Golden Princess_, so full of gross abuse of Parliament, the Privy
+Council, and even the King, that, impelled by loyalty, and suspecting no
+ulterior aims or sinister intention, he waited upon Sir Robert Walpole,
+and laid before him the dreadful manuscript. The minister praised Giffard
+for his loyalty, while he must have inwardly chuckled at the egregious
+folly and mental short-sightedness that could be so easily led into such a
+blunder. He purchased the manuscript, and made such effective use of it in
+the House of Commons that Parliament was as completely gulled as Giffard
+had been, and the Dramatic Licensing Bill became law.
+
+In the following year, Hallam appeared at Bartholomew Fair without a
+partner, setting up his show over against the gate of the hospital, and
+presenting a medley entertainment, comprising, as set forth in the bills,
+"the surprising performances of M. Jano, M. Raynard, M. Baudouin, and
+Mynheer Vander Huff. Also a variety of rope-dancers, tumblers,
+posture-masters, balance-masters, and comic dancers; being a set of the
+very best performers that way in Europe. The comic dances to be performed
+by M. Jano, M. Baudouin, M. Peters, and Mr. Thompson; Madlle. De Frano,
+Madlle. Le Roy, Mrs. Dancey, and Miss Dancey. To which will be added, the
+Italian Shadows, performed by the best masters from Italy, which have not
+been seen these twenty years. The whole to conclude with a grand ballet
+dance, called _Le Badinage Champêtre_. With a complete band of music of
+hautboys, violins, trumpets, and kettle-drums. All the decorations
+entirely new. To begin every day at one o'clock, and continue till eleven
+at night." Close to this booth was Yeates's, in which _The Lover his own
+Rival_ was performed by wax figures, nearly as large as life, after which
+Yeates's son performed some juggling feats, and a youth whose name does
+not appear in the bills gave an acrobatic performance.
+
+In 1738, Hallam's booth occupied the former site of Fielding's, in George
+Yard, the entertainment consisted of the operatic burlesque, _The Dragon
+of Wantley_, performed by the Lilliputian company from Drury Lane. During
+the filling of the booth a posturing performance was given by M.
+Rapinese. "The passage to the booth," says the advertisements, "is
+commodiously illuminated by several large moons and lanthorns, for the
+conveniency of the company, and that persons of quality's coaches may
+drive up the yard." Penkethman had this year a booth, where Hallam's had
+stood the preceding year, and presented _The Man's Bewitched_ and _The
+Country Wedding_.
+
+Hallam's booth attended Tottenham Court Fair this year, standing near the
+turnpike, and presenting a new entertainment called _The Mad Lovers_. At
+Southwark Fair Lee's theatrical booth stood on the bowling-green, and
+presented _Merlin, the British Enchanter_, and _The Country Farmer_,
+concluding with a mimic pageant representing the Lord Mayor's procession
+in the old times.
+
+In 1739, Bartholomew Fair was extended to four days, and there was a
+proportionately larger attendance of theatrical booths. Hallam's stood
+over against the hospital gate, and presented the pantomime of _Harlequin
+turned Philosopher_ and the farce of _The Sailor's Wedding_, with singing
+and dancing. Hippisley, Chapman, and Legar had a booth in George Yard,
+where they produced _The Top of the Tree_, in which a famous dog scene was
+introduced, and the mythological pantomime of _Perseus and Andromeda_.
+Bullock, who had made his last appearance at Covent Garden in the
+preceding April, had the largest booth in the fair, and assumed the part
+of Judge Balance in a new pantomimic entertainment called _The Escapes of
+Harlequin by Sea and Land_, which was preceded by a variety of humorous
+songs and dances. Phillips, a comedian from Drury Lane, joined Mrs. Lee
+this year in a booth at the corner of Hosier Lane, where they presented a
+medley entertainment, comprising the "grand scene" of _Cupid and Psyche_,
+a scaramouch dance by Phillips and others (said to have been given, with
+great applause, on forty successive nights, at the Opera, Paris), a
+dialogue between Punch and Columbine, a scene of a drunken peasant by
+Phillips, and a pantomimic entertainment called _Columbine Courtesan_, in
+which the parts of Harlequin and Columbine were sustained by Phillips and
+his wife.
+
+In 1740, Hallam, whose show stood opposite the hospital gate, presented
+_The Rambling Lover_; and Yeates, whose booth was next to Hallam's, the
+pantomime of _Orpheus and Eurydice_. The growing taste for pantomime,
+which is sufficiently attested by the play-bills of the period, induced
+Hippisley and Chapman, whose booth stood in George Yard, to present,
+instead of a tragedy or comedy, a pantomime called _Harlequin Scapin_, in
+which the popular embodiment of Molière's humour was adapted with success
+to pantomimic requirements. Hippisley played Scapin, Chapman was Tim, and
+Yates, who made his first appearance at Bartholomew Fair, Slyboots. After
+the pantomime came singing and dancing by Oates, Yates, Mrs. Phillips, and
+others, "particularly a new whimsical and diverting dance called the
+Spanish Beauties." The performances concluded with a new musical
+entertainment called _The Parting Lovers_. Fawkes and Pinchbeck also had a
+theatrical booth this year in conjunction with a partner named Terwin.
+
+This year the fair was visited again by the Prince of Wales, of which
+incident an account appeared many years afterwards in the 'New European
+Magazine.' The shows were all in full blast and the crowd at its thickest,
+when, says the narrator, "the multitude behind was impelled violently
+forwards; a broad blaze of red light, issuing from a score of flambeaux,
+streamed into the air; several voices were loudly shouting, 'room there
+for Prince George! Make way for the Prince!' and there was that long sweep
+heard to pass over the ground which indicates the approach of a grand and
+ceremonious train. Presently the pressure became much greater, the voices
+louder, the light stronger, and as the train came onward, it might be seen
+that it consisted, firstly, of a party of the yeomen of the guard,
+clearing the way; then several more of them bearing flambeaux, and
+flanking the procession; while in the midst of all appeared a tall, fair,
+and handsome young man, having something of a plump foreign visage,
+seemingly about four and thirty, dressed in a ruby-coloured frock-coat,
+very richly guarded with gold lace, and having his long flowing hair
+curiously curled over his forehead and at the sides, and finished with a
+very large bag and courtly queue behind. The air of dignity with which he
+walked, the blue ribbon and star and garter with which he was decorated,
+the small three-cornered silk court hat which he wore, whilst all around
+him were uncovered; the numerous suite, as well of gentlemen as of guards,
+which marshalled him along, the obsequious attention of a short stout
+person, who, by his flourishing manner seemed to be a player,--all these
+particulars indicated that the amiable Frederick, Prince of Wales, was
+visiting Bartholomew Fair by torch-light, and that Manager Rich was
+introducing his royal guest to all the entertainments of the place.
+
+"However strange this circumstance may appear to the present generation,
+yet it is nevertheless strictly true; for about 1740, when the drolls in
+Smithfield were extended to three weeks and a month, it was not
+considered as derogatory to persons of the first rank and fashion to
+partake in the broad humour and theatrical amusements of the place. It
+should also be remembered, that many an eminent performer of the last
+century unfolded his abilities in a booth; and that it was once considered
+as an important and excellent preparation to their treading the boards of
+a theatre royal."
+
+The narrator then proceeds to describe the duties of the leading actor in
+a Bartholomew Fair theatre, from which account there is some deduction to
+be made for the errors and exaggerations of a person writing long after
+the times which he undertakes to describe, and who was not very careful in
+his researches, as the statement that the fair then lasted three weeks or
+a month sufficiently attests. The picture which he gives was evidently
+drawn from his knowledge of the Richardsonian era, which he endeavoured to
+make fit into the Bartholomew Fair experiences of the very different
+showmen of the reign of George II.
+
+"I will," he says, assuming the character of an actor of the period he
+describes, "as we say, take you behind the scenes. First, then, an actor
+must sleep in the pit, and wake early to throw fresh sawdust into the
+boxes; he must shake out the dresses, and wind up the motion-jacks; he
+must teach the dull ones how to act, rout up the idlers from the straw,
+and redeem those that happen to get into the watch-house. Then, sir, when
+the fair begins, he should sometimes walk about the stage grandly, and
+show his dress; sometimes he should dance with his fellows; sometimes he
+should sing; sometimes he should blow the trumpet; sometimes he should
+laugh and joke with the crowd, and give them a kind of a touch-and-go
+speech, which keeps them merry, and makes them come in. Then, sir, he
+should sometimes cover his state robe with a great coat, and go into the
+crowd, and shout opposite his own booth, like a stranger who is struck
+with its magnificence: by the way, sir, that's a good trick,--I never knew
+it fail to make an audience; and then he has only to steal away, mount his
+stage, and strut, and dance, and sing, and trumpet, and roar over again."
+
+Griffin and Harper drop out of the list of showmen at the London fairs in
+this year. Griffin appeared at Drury Lane for the last time on the 12th of
+February, and died soon afterwards, with the character of a worthy man and
+an excellent actor. He made his first appearance at Lincoln's Inn Fields,
+as Sterling in _The Perplexed Lovers_, in 1714. Harper, the jolly,
+facetious low comedian, suffered an attack of paralysis towards the close
+of 1739, and, though he survived till 1742, he never appeared again on
+the stage.
+
+In the following year, Hippisley and Chapman presented _A Devil of a
+Duke_; and Hallam relied for success upon _Fair Rosamond_. Lee and
+Woodward, whose booth stood opposite the hospital gate, produced _Darius,
+King of Persia_, "with the comical humours of Sir Andrew Aguecheek at the
+siege of Babylon." Anachronisms of this kind were common at theatrical
+booths in those days, when comic Englishmen of one type or another were
+constantly introduced, without regard to the scene or the period of the
+drama to be represented. Audiences were not sufficiently educated to be
+critical in such matters, and managers could plead the example of
+Shakspeare, who was then esteemed a greater authority than he is
+considered to be at the present day. Yates made his first appearance as a
+showman this year, in partnership with Turbutt, who set up a booth
+opposite the King's Head, and produced a pantomime called _Thamas Kouli
+Khan_, founded on recent news from the East. An epilogue, in the character
+of a drunken English sailor, was spoken by Yates, of whom Churchill
+wrote,--
+
+  "In characters of low and vulgar mould,
+  Where nature's coarsest features we behold
+  Where, destitute of every decent grace,
+  Unmanner'd jests are blurted in your face;
+  There Yates with justice strict attention draws,
+  Acts truly from himself, and gains applause."
+
+There was a second and smaller booth in the name of Hallam, in which
+tumbling and rope-dancing were performed; but whether belonging to the
+actor or to another showman of the same name is uncertain. Fawkes and
+Pinchbeck exhibited the latter's model of the Siege of Carthagena, with
+which a comic dramatic performance was combined.
+
+The office of Master of the Revels was held at this time by Heidegger, a
+native of Zurich, who was also manager of the Italian Opera. He was one of
+the most singular characters of the time, and as remarkable for his
+personal ugliness as for the eccentricity of his manners. The profanity of
+his language was less notable in that age than his candour. Supping on one
+occasion with a party of gentlemen of rank, the comparative ingenuity of
+different nations became the theme of conversation, when the first place
+was claimed by Heidegger for his compatriots.
+
+"I am myself a proof of what I assert," said he. "I was born a Swiss, and
+came to England without a farthing, where I have found means to gain five
+thousand a year and to spend it. Now, I defy the most able Englishman to
+go to Switzerland and either to gain that income, or to spend it there."
+
+He was never averse to a joke upon his own ugliness, and once made a wager
+with Lord Chesterfield that the latter would not be able, within a certain
+given time, to produce a more ugly man in all London. The time elapsed;
+and Heidegger won the wager. Yet he could never be persuaded to have his
+portrait painted, even though requested by the King, and urged by all his
+friends to comply with the royal wish. The facetious Duke of Montagu, the
+concoctor of the memorable bottle-conjuror hoax at the Haymarket, had
+recourse to stratagem to obtain Heidegger's likeness, which afterwards
+gave rise to a laughable adventure. He gave a dinner at the Devil Tavern,
+near Temple Bar, to several of his friends and acquaintances, selecting
+those whom he knew to be the least accessible to the effects of wine, and
+the most likely to indulge in vinous conviviality. Heidegger was one of
+the guests, and, in a few hours after dinner, became so very much
+inebriated that he was carried out of the room in a state of
+insensibility, and laid upon a bed.
+
+An artist in wax, a daughter of the famous Mrs. Salmon, was ready to play
+her part in the plot, and quickly made a mould of Heidegger's face in
+plaster. From this a mask was made; and all that remained to be done was
+to learn from his valet what clothes he would wear on a certain night, and
+procure a similar suit and a man of the same stature. All this the Duke
+accomplished before a masked ball took place, at which the King had
+promised to be present, and the band of the Opera House was to play in a
+gallery. The night came; and as the King entered, accompanied by the
+Countess of Yarmouth, Heidegger directed the band to play the national
+anthem. He had scarcely turned his back, however, when the counterfeit
+Heidegger told them to play "Charlie over the water."
+
+Consternation fell upon all the assembly at the sound of the treasonable
+strains; everybody looked at everybody else, wondering what the playing of
+a Jacobite air in the presence of the King might presage. Heidegger ran to
+the orchestra, and swore, stamped, and raved, accusing the musicians of
+being drunk, or of being bribed by some secret enemy to bring about his
+ruin. The treasonable melody ceased, and the loyal strains of the national
+anthem saluted the royal ears. Heidegger had no sooner left the room,
+however, than his double stepped forward, and standing before the
+music-gallery, swore at the musicians as Heidegger had done, imitating
+his voice, and again directed them to play "Charlie over the water." The
+musicians, knowing his eccentricity, and likewise his addiction to
+inebriety, shrugged their shoulders, and obeyed. Some officers of the
+Guards resented the affront to the King by attempting to ascend to the
+gallery for the purpose of kicking the musicians out; but the Duke of
+Cumberland, who, as well as the King and his fair companion, was in the
+plot, interposed and calmed them.
+
+The company were thrown into confusion, however, and cries of "shame!
+shame!" arose on every side. Heidegger, bursting with rage, again rushed
+in, and began to rave and swear at the musicians. The music ceased; and
+the Duke of Montagu persuaded Heidegger to go to the King, and make an
+apology for the band, representing that His Majesty was very angry. The
+counterfeit Heidegger immediately took the same course, and, as soon as
+Heidegger had made the best apology his agitation would permit, the former
+stepped to his side and said, "Indeed, sire, it was not my fault, but that
+devil's in my likeness." Heidegger faced about, pale and speechless,
+staring with widely dilated eyes at his double. The Duke of Montagu then
+told the latter to take off his mask, and the frolic ended; but Heidegger
+swore that he would never attend any public entertainment again, unless
+that witch, the wax-work woman, broke the mould and melted the mask before
+him.
+
+In 1742, the first place in Bartholomew Fair was again held, but for the
+last time, by Hippisley and Chapman, who revived the ever-popular Scapin
+in what they called "the most humorous and diverting droll, called
+_Scaramouch Scapin_ or the _Old Miser caught in a Sack_," the managers
+playing the same characters as in 1740. Hallam had made his last
+appearance at the fair in the preceding year, and his booth was now held
+by Turbutt and Yates, who set it up opposite the hospital gate, and
+produced _The Loves of King Edward IV. and Jane Shore_. Yates personated
+Sir Anthony Lackbrains, Turbutt was Captain Blunderbuss, and Mrs. Yates,
+Flora. A new aspirant to public favour appeared in Goodwin, whose booth
+stood opposite the White Hart, near Cow Lane, and presented a three act
+comedy, called _The Intriguing Footman_, followed by a pantomimic
+entertainment "between a soldier, a sailor, a tinker, a tailor, and Buxom
+Joan of Deptford." Fawkes and Pinchbeck announced that "Punch's celebrated
+company of comical tragedians from the Haymarket," would perform _The
+Tragedy of Tragedies_, "being the most comical and whimsical tragedy that
+was ever tragedized by any tragical company of comedians, called _The
+Humours of Covent Garden_, by Henry Fielding, Esq."
+
+In 1743, the erection of theatrical booths in Smithfield was prohibited by
+a resolution of the Court of Aldermen, and the interdict was repeated in
+the following year. The prohibition did not extend to Southwark Fair,
+however, though held by the Corporation; for Yates was there in the former
+year, with a strong company from the theatres royal playing _Love for
+Love_, with Woodward as Tattle, Macklin as Ben, Arthur as Foresight, Mrs.
+Yates as Mrs. Frail, and Miss Bradshaw as Miss Prue. The after-piece was
+_The Lying Valet_, in which Yates appeared as Sharp, and his wife as Kitty
+Pry.
+
+It was in 1744 that the famous Turkish wire-walker appeared at Bartholomew
+Fair, where he performed without a balancing-pole, at the height of
+thirty-five feet. He juggled while on the wire with what were supposed to
+be oranges; but this feat lost much of its marvellousness on his dropping
+one of them, which revealed by the sound that it was a painted ball of
+lead. He had formidable rivals in the celebrated Violantes, man and wife,
+the latter of whom far exceeded in skill and daring the famous Dutch woman
+of the latter years of the seventeenth century. These Italian _artistes_,
+like the Turk, performed at a considerable height, which, while it does
+not require greater skill, gives the performance a much more sensational
+character.
+
+Violante is the slack-rope performer introduced by Hogarth in his picture
+of Southwark Fair. The following feat is recorded of the _artiste_ by
+Malcolm, in his 'Londinium Redivivus,' in connection with the building of
+the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields:--"Soon after the completion of the
+steeple, an adventurous Italian, named Violante, descended from the
+arches, head foremost, on a rope stretched across St. Martin's Lane to the
+Royal Mews; the princesses being present, and many eminent persons."
+Hogarth has introduced, in the background of his picture, another
+performer of this feat, namely, Cadman, who lost his life in 1740 in an
+attempt to descend from a church steeple in Shrewsbury. The epitaph on his
+gravestone sets forth the circumstances of the catastrophe as follows:--
+
+  "Let this small monument record the name
+  Of Cadman, and to future times proclaim
+  Here, by an attempt to fly from this high spire,
+  Across the Sabrine stream, he did acquire
+  His fatal end. 'Twas not for want of skill,
+  Or courage to perform the task, he fell:
+  No, no--a faulty cord, being drawn too tight,
+  Hurried his soul on high to take her flight,
+  Which bid the body here beneath good night."
+
+The fairs of London were in the zenith of their fame during the period
+embraced in this chapter. During the second quarter of the eighteenth
+century, they were resorted to by all classes of the people, even by
+royalty; and the theatrical booths by which they were attended boasted the
+best talent in the profession. They were not only regarded as the
+nurseries of histrionic ability, as the provincial theatres afterwards
+came to be regarded, but witnessed the efforts to please of the best
+actors of the London theatres, when in the noon of their success and
+popularity. Cibber, Quin, Macklin, Woodward, Shuter, did not disdain to
+appear before a Bartholomew Fair audience, nor Fielding to furnish them
+with the early gushings of his humour. The inimitable Hogarth made the
+light of his peculiar genius shine upon them, and the memories of the old
+showmen are preserved in more than one of his pictures.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+    A new Race of Showmen--Yeates, the Conjuror--The Turkish
+    Rope-Walker--Pan and the Oronutu Savage--The Corsican Fairy--Perry's
+    Menagerie--The Riobiscay and the Double Cow--A Mermaid at the
+    Fairs--Garrick at Bartholomew Fair--Yates's Theatrical Booth--Dwarfs
+    and Giants--The Female Samson--Riots at Bartholomew Fair--Ballard's
+    Animal Comedians--Evans, the Wire-Walker--Southwark Fair--Wax-work
+    Show--Shuter, the Comedian--Bisset, the Animal Trainer--Powell, the
+    Fire-Eater--Roger Smith, the Bell-Player--Suppression of Southwark
+    Fair.
+
+
+The limitation of Bartholomew Fair to three days, and the interdiction of
+theatrical booths in two successive years, was a serious blow, regarding
+the matter from the professional point of view, to the interests of the
+fair. Though actors worked hard during the twelve or eighteen days of the
+fair, they earned higher salaries during that time than they would have
+received at the theatres, and looked forward to Bartholomew-tide as the
+labourer to harvest. Though the theatres remained open during the fair
+when theatrical booths and puppet-shows were interdicted by the Court of
+Aldermen, actors missed their extra earnings, and managers found their
+receipts considerably diminished. In these we have only a passing
+interest; but the glory of the fairs began to wane when the great actors
+ceased to appear on the boards of the canvas theatres, for the nobility
+and gentry withdrew their patronage when the luminaries of Drury Lane and
+Covent Garden were no longer to be seen, and fairs began to be voted low
+by persons of rank and fashion.
+
+The removal of the interdict on theatrical booths had little or no effect
+in arresting the progress of the decadence which had commenced; for the
+three days to which Bartholomew Fair remained limited did not afford to
+actors engaged at the London theatres, opportunities for earning money
+sufficient to induce them to set up a portable theatre, which, except for
+Southwark Fair, they could not use again until the following year. The
+case was very different when the fair lasted two or three weeks, and the
+theatres were closed during the time; but when its duration was contracted
+to three days, the attendance of a theatrical company could be made
+remunerative only for inferior _artistes_ who strolled all through the
+year from one fair to another.
+
+Towards the middle of the last century, therefore, a new race of showmen
+came prominently before the visitors to the London fairs, and two or three
+only of the names familiar to fair audiences afterwards re-appeared in the
+bills of the temporary theatres. Even these had, with the exception of
+Mrs. Lee, come into notice only since the fair, by being limited to three
+days, had lost its attractiveness for actors of the theatres royal. The
+site made famous by Fielding was occupied in 1746 by a new manager,
+Hussey, who presented a drama of Shakspeare's (without announcing the
+title), sandwich-like, between the two parts of a vocal and instrumental
+concert, concluding the entertainment with a pantomime called _The Schemes
+of Harlequin_, in which Rayner was Harlequin, and his daughter, who did a
+tight-rope performance, probably Columbine. Rayner was an acrobat at
+Sadler's Wells, where his daughter danced on the tight rope. The pantomime
+concluded with a chorus in praise of the Duke of Cumberland, whose victory
+at Culloden in the preceding year had finally crushed the hopes of the
+disaffected Jacobites.
+
+The younger Yeates joined Mrs. Lee in a theatrical booth facing the
+hospital gate, where they presented _Love in a Labyrinth_, a musical
+entertainment called _Harlequin Invader_, and "stiff and slack
+rope-dancing by the famous Dutch woman." This can scarcely be the woman
+who did such wonders on the rope about the time of the Revolution, though
+Madame Saqui performed on the rope at a very advanced age; she may have
+been the same, for she does not appear again, but, considering that she is
+spoken of as a woman at the time of her first appearance in England, it is
+more probable that the rope-dancer of Mrs. Lee's booth was another Dutch
+woman, perhaps a daughter of the elder and more famous performer.
+
+Adjoining Mrs. Lee's booth was one of which Warner and Fawkes were the
+proprietors, and in which a drama called _The Happy Hero_ was performed,
+followed by a musical entertainment called _Harlequin Incendiary_, in
+which the parts of Harlequin and Columbine were sustained by a couple
+named Cushing, who afterwards appeared at Covent Garden. Warner personated
+Clodpole, a humorous rustic. Not to be outdone in loyalty by Hussey, he
+concluded the performance by singing a song in praise of the victor of
+Culloden.
+
+Entertainers are, as a class, loyal, under whatever dynasty or form of
+government they live, providing that it does not interfere with the
+exercise of their profession; and in this instance their sympathies
+accorded with the popular political creed.
+
+In the following year, Hussey's booth again stood in George Yard, and
+presented _Tamerlane the Great_, with singing and "several curious
+equilibres on the slack rope by Mahomet Achmed Vizaro Mussulmo, a Turk
+just arrived from Constantinople, who not only balances without a pole,
+but also plays a variety of excellent airs on the violin when on the slack
+rope, which none can perform in England but himself." Though said to have
+just arrived from Constantinople, this Turk was probably the same that had
+performed at Bartholomew Fair three years previously.
+
+Warner disconnected himself from Fawkes this year, and joined Yeates and
+Mrs. Lee, whose booth stood in the same position as before, presenting the
+_Siege of Troy_, and an entertainment of singing and dancing. Adjoining it
+stood a new show, owned by Godwin and Reynolds, with "a curious collection
+of wax-work figures, being the richest and most beautiful in England;" and
+a panoramic view of the world, "particularly an accurate and beautiful
+prospect of Bergen-op-Zoom, together with its fortifications and adjacent
+forts, and an exact representation of the French besieging it, and the
+Dutch defending it from their batteries, etc." The movements of this
+exhibition were effected by clock-work. Opposite the Greyhound was another
+new venture, Chettle's, in which a pantomimic entertainment called
+_Frolicsome Lasses_ was presented, with singing and dancing between the
+acts, and a display of fireworks at the end.
+
+The only theatrical booth at Southwark Fair this year seems to have been
+Mrs. Lee's, in which the entertainments were the same as at Bartholomew
+Fair. In Mermaid Lane was exhibited "the strange and wonderful monstrous
+production of Nature, a sea-elephant head, having forty-six teeth, some of
+them ten inches long, fluted, and turning up like a ram's horn."
+
+The shows increased in number and variety, though the theatrical booths
+could no longer boast of the great names of former years. George Yard was
+occupied in 1748 by a new theatre, owned by Bridges, Cross, Barton, and
+Vaughan, from the theatres royal, who availed of the interest created by
+recent events to present a new historical drama called _The Northern
+Heroes_, followed by dancing and a farce called _The Volunteers_, founded
+on the 'Adventures of Roderick Random.' Smollett was now running Fielding
+hard in the race of fame, and the new managers were keen in turning his
+popularity to account for their own interests. This booth was the most
+important one in the fair, and the charge for admission ranged from
+sixpence to half-a-crown.
+
+Hussey's booth, at which the prices ranged from sixpence to two shillings,
+stood opposite the gate of the hospital. The entertainments consisted of
+the comedy of _The Constant Quaker_, singing and dancing, including "a new
+dance called Punch's Maggot, or Foote's Vagaries," and a pantomime called
+_Harlequin's Frolics_.
+
+In Lee and Yeates's booth, opposite the Greyhound, _The Unnatural Parents_
+was revived, "shewing the manner of her (the heroine) being forced to
+wander from home by the cruelty of her parents, and beg her bread; and
+being weary, fell into a slumber, in a grove, where a goddess appears to
+her, and directs her to a nobleman's house; how she was there taken in as
+a servant, and at length, for her beauty and modest behaviour, married to
+a gentleman of great fortune, with her return to her parents, and their
+happy reconciliation. Also the comical humours and adventures of Trusty,
+her father's man, and the three witches." Then follow the _dramatis
+personæ_, which show a strong company. "With the original dance performed
+by three wild cats of the wood. With dancing between the acts by Mr.
+Adams and Mrs. Ogden. A good band of music is provided, consisting of
+kettle-drums, trumpets, French horns, hautboys, violins, etc. To begin
+each day at twelve o'clock. The scenes and clothes are entirely new, and
+the droll the same that was performed by Mrs. Lee fifteen years ago, with
+great applause."
+
+Near Cow Lane stood another new theatrical booth, that of Cousins and
+Reynolds, at which the charges for admission ranged from threepence to a
+shilling. Here the romantic drama of _The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green_
+was presented, with dancing between the acts, an exhibition of life-size
+wax figures, representing the Court of Maria Theresa, and the performance
+of the Italian sword-dancers, "who have had the honour of performing
+before the Prince of Wales, with great applause."
+
+Among the minor shows was one at "the first house on the pavement, from
+the end of Hosier Lane," where the sights to be seen were a camel, a
+hyæna, a panther, "the wonderful and surprising satyr, call'd by Latin
+authors, Pan," and a "young Oronutu savage." On the pavement, at the end
+of Cow Lane, was a smaller show, the charge for admission to which was
+threepence, consisting of a large hog, said to weigh a hundred and twenty
+stones, and announced as "the greatest prodigy in Nature;" and an
+"amazing little dwarf, being the smallest man in the world."
+
+Bartholomew Fair was visited this year for the first time by the female
+dwarf who obtained such wide-spread celebrity as the Corsican Fairy. It
+will be seen from the following copy of the bill issued by her exhibitors
+that she was not shown in a booth, but in a room hired for the purpose:--
+
+    "To the Nobility and Gentry, and to all who are Admirers of the
+    Extraordinary Productions of Nature.
+
+    "There is to be seen in a commodious Apartment, at the Corner of Cow
+    Lane, facing the Sheep-Pens, West Smithfield, During the short time of
+    Bartholomew Fair,
+
+    MARIA TERESIA,
+
+    the Amazing CORSICAN FAIRY, who has had the Honour of being shown
+    three Times before their Majesties.
+
+    "[Pointing Hand] She was exhibited in Cockspur Street, Haymarket, at
+    two shillings and sixpence each Person; but that Persons of every
+    Degree may have a Sight of so extraordinary a Curiosity, she will be
+    shown to the Gentry at sixpence each, and to Working People, Servants,
+    and Children at Threepence, during this Fair.
+
+    "This most astonishing Part of the Human Species was born in the
+    Island of Corsica, on the Mountain of Stata Ota, in the year 1743. She
+    is only thirty-four Inches high, weighs but twenty-six Pounds, and a
+    Child of two Years of Age has larger Hands and Feet. Her surprising
+    Littleness makes a strong Impression at first Sight on the Spectator's
+    Mind. Nothing disagreeable, either in Person or Conversation, is to be
+    found in her; although most of Nature's Productions, in Miniature, are
+    generally so in both. Her Form affords a pleasing Surprise, her Limbs
+    are exceedingly well proportioned, her admirable Symmetry engages the
+    attention; and, upon the whole, is acknowledged a perfect Beauty. She
+    is possessed of a great deal of Vivacity of Spirit; can speak Italian
+    and French, and gives the inquisitive Mind an agreeable Entertainment.
+    In short, she is the most extraordinary Curiosity ever known, or ever
+    heard of in History; and the Curious, in all countries where she has
+    been shown, pronounce her the finest Display of Human Nature, in
+    Miniature, they ever saw.
+
+    "[Asterism] She is to be seen by any Number of Persons, from Ten in
+    the Morning till Nine at Night."
+
+Hussey's theatrical booth attended Southwark Fair, where it stood on the
+bowling-green, the entertainments being the same as in Smithfield. Lee
+and Yeates can scarcely have been absent from a scene with which the
+former had been so long and intimately associated. Yeates took a benefit
+this year at the New Wells, near the London Spa, Clerkenwell, where a
+concert was followed by a performance of the _Beggar's Opera_, with the
+_bénéficiaire_ as Macheath and his wife as Polly, and the farce of _Miss
+in her Teens_, in which the part of Captain Flash was sustained by the
+former, and that of Miss Biddy by his wife. The place was probably
+unlicensed for theatrical performances, as the dramatic portion of the
+entertainment was announced to be free to holders of tickets for the
+concert.
+
+Tottenham Court Fair was continued this year for fourteen days, but does
+not appear to have been attended by any of the shows which contributed so
+much to the attractiveness of the fairs of Smithfield and Southwark Green.
+The only advertisement of the entertainments which I have been able to
+find mentions a "great theatrical booth," but it was devoted on the day to
+which the announcement relates to wrestling and single-stick playing. As a
+relic of a bygone time, it is curious enough to merit preservation:--
+
+"For the entertainment of all lovers and encouragers of the sword in its
+different uses, and for the benefit of Daniel French, at the great
+theatrical booth at Tottenham Court, on Monday the 14th instant, will be
+revived a country wake. Three men of Gloucestershire to play at
+single-stick against three from any part, for a laced hat, value fifteen
+shillings, or half a guinea in gold; he that breaks most heads fairly in
+three bouts, and saves his own, to have the prize; half-a-crown for every
+man breaking a head fairly, besides stage-money. That gentlemen may not be
+disappointed, every gamester designing to engage is desired to enter his
+name and place of abode with Mr. Fuller, at the King's Head, next the
+booth, before the day of sport, or he will not be admitted to play, and to
+meet by eight in the morning to breakfast and settle the play for the
+afternoon. Money will be given for the encouragement of wrestling, sword
+and dagger, and other diversions usual on the stage, besides stage-money.
+That no time may be lost, while two are taking breath, two fresh men shall
+engage. The doors to be opened at twelve o'clock, and the sport to begin
+precisely at three in the afternoon. Note, there will be variety of
+singing and dancing for prizes, as will be expressed in the bills and
+papers of the day. Hob, clerk of the revel."
+
+Newspapers of this year contain advertisements of several shows which
+probably visited the London Fairs, where they were sufficiently announced
+by their pictures. There are no fewer than three menageries, all on a
+small scale. The best seems to have been Perry's, advertised as
+follows:--"This is to give notice to all Gentlemen, Ladies, and others,
+that Mr. Perry's Grand Collection of Living Wild Beasts is come to the
+White Horse Inn, Fleet Street, consisting of a large he-lion, a he-tiger,
+a leopard, a panther, two hyenas, a civet cat, a jackall, or lion's
+provider, and several other rarities too tedious to mention. To be seen at
+any time of the day, without any loss of time. Note.--This is the only
+tiger in England, that baited being only a common leopard." The note
+alludes to a recent baiting of a leopard by dogs, the animal so abused
+being described in the announcements of the combat as a tiger.
+
+The second menagerie under notice was advertised as follows:--
+
+"To be seen, at the Flying Horse, near the London workhouse, Bishopsgate
+Street, from eight in the morning till nine at night, the largest
+collection of living wild creatures ever seen in Europe. 1. A beautiful
+large he-tiger, brought from Bengal by Captain Webster, in the Ann. He is
+very tame, and vastly admired. 2. A beautiful young leopard, from Turkey.
+3. A civet cat, from Guinea. 4. A young man-tiger, from Angola. 5. A
+wonderful hyæna, from the coast of Guinea. 6. A right man-tiger, brought
+from Angola by Captain D'Abbadie, in the Portfield Indiaman. This is a
+very curious creature, and the only one that has been seen in England for
+several years. It comes the nearest to human nature of any animal in the
+world. With several others too tedious to mention." Perry seems to have
+been in error in announcing that he had the only tiger in England; though
+the one exhibited at the Flying Horse may have been a more recent
+importation. The "man-tigers" of the latter collection were probably
+gorillas, though those animals seem to have been lost sight of
+subsequently until attention was recalled to them by M. Du Chaillu.
+
+The third collection was advertised as follows:--
+
+"To be seen, at the White Swan, near the Bull and Gate, Holborn, a
+collection of the most curious living wild creatures just arrived from
+different parts of the world. 1. A large and beautiful young camel from
+Grand Cairo, in Egypt, near eight feet high, though not two years old, and
+drinks water but once in sixteen days. 2. A surprising hyæna, from the
+coast of Guinea. 3. A beautiful he-panther, from Buenos Ayres, in the
+Spanish West Indies. 4. A young Riobiscay, from Russia: and several other
+creatures, too tedious to mention. Likewise a travelling post-chaise from
+Switzerland, which, without horses, keeps its stage for upwards of fifty
+miles a day, without danger to the rider. Attendance from eight in the
+morning till eight at night." What the riobiscay was is now beyond
+conjecture; but the panther from Buenos Ayres was, of course, a jaguar,
+the panther being limited to the eastern hemisphere. This collection was
+exhibited in Holbom early in the year, and removed at Easter to the Rose
+and Crown, near the gates of Greenwich Park.
+
+There was a bovine monstrosity shown this year as a "double cow," probably
+at the fairs, as the following paragraph, extracted from a newspaper of
+the time, refers to a second locality:--
+
+"As we are well assured that that most wonderful living curiosity, the
+double cow, has given uncommon satisfaction to the several learned bodies
+by whom it has hitherto been seen, we hope the following account and
+description of it will not be disagreeable to our readers. This wonderful
+prodigy was bred at Cookfield in Sussex, being one entire beautiful cow,
+from the middle of whose back issues the following parts of the other cow,
+viz., a leg with the blade-bone quite perfect, and about two feet long;
+the gullet, bowels, teats, and udder, from which udder, as well as from
+the udder of the perfect cow, it gives milk in great plenty, though more
+than a yard asunder; and what is very extraordinary, and has astonished
+the most curious observers, is the discontinuation of the back-bone about
+sixteen inches from the shoulder. This wonderful beast is so healthy as to
+travel twenty miles a day, is extremely gentle, and by all the gentlemen
+and ladies who have already seen it is thought as agreeable as
+astonishing. It is now shewn in a commodious room, facing Craigg's Court,
+Charing Cross, at one shilling each person."
+
+There was also exhibited at the Heath Cock, Charing Cross, "a surprising
+young Mermaid, taken on the coast of Aquapulca, which, though the
+generality of mankind think there is no such thing, has been seen by the
+curious, who express their utmost satisfaction at so uncommon a creature,
+being half like a woman, and half like a fish, and is allowed to be the
+greatest curiosity ever exposed to the public view."
+
+In 1749, there was again a large muster of shows on the ancient arena of
+West Smithfield. Yates re-appeared as a theatrical manager, and in some
+measure restored the former repute of the fair, Oates and Miss Hippisley
+being members of his company. His booth stood in George Yard, where he
+played Gormandize Simple, while Oates personated Jupiter and Miss
+Hippisley the wanton chambermaid, Dorothy Squeezepurse, in "a New,
+Pleasant, and Diverting Droll, call'd the DESCENT of the HEATHEN GODS,
+with the LOVES of JUPITER and ALCMENA; or, Cuckoldom no Scandal.
+Interspersed with several Diverting Scenes, both Satyrical and Comical,
+particularly the Surprising Metamorphosis of _Jupiter_ and _Mercury_; the
+very remarkable Tryal before _Judge Puzzlecause_, with many Learned
+Arguments on both sides, to prove that One can't be Two. Likewise the
+Adventures and whimsical Perplexities of _Gormandize Simple_ the Hungarian
+Footman; with the wonderful Conversation he had with, and the dreadful
+Drubbing he received from, _His Own Apparition_; together with the
+Intrigues of _Dorothy Squeezepurse_ the Wanton Chambermaid."
+
+Opposite the George stood the theatrical booth of the elder Yeates, who
+had been absent from the fair for a few years, and whom Mr. Henry Morley
+confounds with his son, now in partnership with Warner and Mrs. Lee. He
+produced _The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green_, with singing and dancing
+between the acts, and the pantomime of _The Amours of Harlequin_. Cross
+and Bridges, whose booth stood opposite the gate of the hospital, produced
+a new drama, called _The Fair Lunatic_, "founded on a story in real life,
+as related in the memoirs of the celebrated Mrs. Constantia Phillips,"
+with dancing by Master Matthews and Mrs. Annesley. Next to this booth
+stood that of Lee, Yeates, and Warner, in which was revived the "true and
+ancient history of _Whittington_, Lord Mayor of London," as performed in
+Lee's booth fourteen years before, with singing and dancing between the
+acts. Cushing whom we have seen playing Harlequin three years before in
+Warner and Fawkes's booth, but who was now performing at Covent Garden,
+set up a booth opposite the King's Head, and produced _King John_, the
+part of Lady Constance being sustained by Miss Yates, a Drury Lane
+actress, while Cushing's wife personated Prince Arthur, and the manager
+the mirth-provoking Sir Lubberly Lackbrains.
+
+At a house in Hosier Lane (No. 20), a performing Arabian pony was
+exhibited. There were also shows in the fair, which did not advertise, and
+the memory of which has, in consequence, not been preserved. Of one, owned
+by a person named Phillips, the only record is a very brief newspaper
+report of a fatal accident, occasioned by the breaking down of the
+gallery, by which four persons were killed, and several others severely
+injured.
+
+Garrick, who had married the dancer Violette two months previously, took
+his bride to Bartholomew Fair, where they visited the theatrical booth of
+Yates, which was the best in the fair. He was one of the few great actors
+of the period who had not performed in the fair; and was probably impelled
+by curiosity, rather than by the expectation of seeing good acting, though
+it was not many years since he had made his first appearance on any stage
+at Goodman's Fields, playing Harlequin at a moment's notice when Yates was
+seized with a sudden indisposition as he was about to go on the stage. The
+crowd pressing upon his wife and himself very unpleasantly as he
+approached the portable theatre, he called out to Palmer, the Drury Lane
+bill-sticker, who was acting as money-taker at the booth, to protect them.
+"I can't help you here, sir," said Palmer, shaking his head. "There aren't
+many people in Smithfield as knows Mr. Garrick."
+
+It was probably not at Yates's booth, but at one of much inferior grade,
+that the money-taker rejected Garrick's offer to pay for admission, with
+the remark, "We never take money of one another." The story would be
+pointless if the incident occurred at any booth in which dramatic
+performances were given by comedians from the principal London theatres.
+
+We now approach a period when a new series of strenuous efforts for the
+suppression of the London fairs was commenced by persons who would
+willingly have suppressed amusements of every kind, and were aided in
+their endeavours by persons who had merely a selfish interest in the
+matter. In the summer of 1750, a numerously signed petition of graziers,
+cattle salesmen, and inhabitants of Smithfield was presented to the Court
+of Aldermen, praying for the suppression of Bartholomew Fair, on the
+ground that it annoyed them in their occupations, and afforded
+opportunities for debauchery and riot. The annual Lord Mayor's procession
+might have been objected to on the same grounds, and the civic authorities
+well knew that the riots which had sometimes occurred in the fair had been
+occasioned by their own acts, in the execution of their edicts for the
+exclusion of puppet-shows and theatrical booths. Their action to this end
+was generally taken so tardily that booths were put up before the
+proprietors received notice of the intention of the Court of Aldermen to
+exclude them; and then the tardiness of the owners in taking them down,
+and the sudden zeal of the constables, produced quarrels and fights, in
+which the bystanders invariably took the part of the showmen.
+
+The revenues which the Corporation derived from rents and tolls during the
+fair constituted an element of the question which could not be
+overlooked, and which kept it in a state of oscillation from year to
+year. The civic authorities would have been willing enough to suppress the
+fair, if the question of finance had not been involved. If the fair was
+abolished, some other source of revenue would have to be found. So they
+compounded with their belief that the fair was a fount of disorder and
+immorality by again limiting its duration to three days, and excluding
+theatrical booths and puppet-shows, while abstaining from interference
+with the gambling-tables and the gin-stalls.
+
+Giants and dwarfs, and learned pigs and performing ponies had now the fair
+to themselves, though their showmen probably took less money than they did
+when the theatrical booths and puppet-shows attracted larger numbers of
+people. Henry Blacker, a native of Cuckfield, in Sussex, twenty-seven
+years of age, and seven feet four inches in height, exhibited himself at
+the Swan, in Smithfield, during the three days to which the fair was
+restricted in 1751. The principal show seems to have been one containing
+two dwarfs, a remarkable negro, a female one-horned rhinoceros, and a
+crocodile, said to have been the first ever seen alive in this country.
+The more famous of the two dwarfs was John Coan, a native of Norfolk, who
+at this time was twenty-three years of age, and only three feet two
+inches in height, and of thirty-four pounds weight. His fellow pigmy was a
+Welsh lad, fourteen years of age, two feet six inches in height, and
+weighed only twelve pounds. The negro could throw back his clasped hands
+over his head and bring them under his feet, backward and forward; and was
+probably "the famous negro who swings his arms about in every direction,"
+mentioned in the 'Adventurer.'
+
+The exclusion of the theatrical booths and puppet-shows from the fair
+produced, in the following year, a serious disturbance in Smithfield, in
+the suppression of which Birch, the deputy-marshal of the City, received
+injuries which proved fatal. This resistance to their edict did not,
+however, deter the civic authorities from applying the same rule to
+Southwark Fair, which was this year limited to three days, and diminished
+of its attractions by the exclusion of theatrical booths and puppet-shows.
+The principal shows were Yeates's, which stood in George Yard, and
+consisted of an exhibition of wax figures, the conjuring tricks of young
+Yeates, and the feats on the slack wire of a performer named Steward; and
+the female Samson's, an Italian woman, who exhibited feats of strength in
+a booth opposite the Greyhound, similar to those of the French woman seen
+by Carter at May Fair, with the addition of supporting six men while
+resting on two chairs only by the head and heels.
+
+Towards the close of this year a man named Ballard brought from Italy a
+company of performing dogs and monkeys, and exhibited them as a
+supplementary attraction to the musical entertainments then given at a
+place in the Haymarket, called Mrs. Midnight's Oratory. The Animal
+Comedians, as they were called, became famous enough to furnish the theme
+of an 'Adventurer.' The author states that the repeated encomiums on their
+performances induced him to be present one evening at the entertainment,
+when he "was astonished at the sagacity of the monkies; and was no less
+amazed at the activity of the other quadrupeds--I should have rather said,
+from a view of their extraordinary elevations, bipeds.
+
+"It is a peculiar happiness to me as an Adventurer," he continues, "that I
+sally forth in an age which emulates those heroick times of old, when
+nothing was pleasing but what was unnatural. Thousands have gaped at a
+wire-dancer daring to do what no one else would attempt; and thousands
+still gape at greater extravagances in pantomime entertainments. Every
+street teems with incredibilities; and if the great mob have their little
+theatre in the Haymarket, the small vulgar can boast their cheaper
+diversion in two enormous bears, that jauntily trip it to the light tune
+of a Caledonian jig.
+
+"That the intellectual faculties of brutes may be exerted beyond the
+narrow limits which we have hitherto assigned to their capacities, I saw a
+sufficient proof in Mrs. Midnight's dogs and monkies. Man differs less
+from beasts in general, than these seem to approach man in rationality.
+But while I applaud their exalted genius, I am in pain for the rest of
+their kindred, both of the canine and cercopithecan species." The writer
+then proceeds to comment humorously upon the mania which the exhibition
+had created for teaching dogs and monkeys to perform the tricks for which
+the Animal Comedians were famous. "Every boarding-house romp and wanton
+school-boy," he says, "is employed in perverting the end of the canine
+creation."
+
+The contributor of this paper seems to have had a familiar acquaintance
+with the shows attending the London fairs, for it was he, whoever he was,
+who wrote the third number of the 'Adventurer,' in which, giving the
+details of a scheme for a pantomime, he says that he has "not only
+ransacked the fairs of Bartholomew and Southwark, but picked up every
+uncommon animal, every prodigy of nature, and every surprising performer,
+that has lately appeared within the bills of mortality." He proceeds to
+enumerate them, and to assign parts in his intended entertainment for "the
+Modern Colossus," "all the wonderful tall men and women that have been
+lately exhibited in this town," "the Female Sampson," "the famous negro
+who swings his arms about in every direction," "the noted ox, with six
+legs and two bellies," "the beautiful panther mare," "the noted
+fire-eater, smoking out of red-hot tobacco pipes, champing lighted
+brimstone, and swallowing his infernal mess of broth," "the most amazing
+new English _Chien Savant_," "the little woman that weighs no more than
+twenty-three pounds," "the wonderful little Norfolk man," "the fellow with
+Stentorian lungs, who can break glasses and shatter window-panes with the
+loudness of his vociferation," and "the wonderful man who talks in his
+belly, and can fling his voice into any part of a room." Incidentally he
+mentions also "the so much applauded stupendous ostrich," "the sorcerer's
+great gelding," "the wire dancer," and dancing bears.
+
+The showmen's bills and advertisements of the period enable us to identify
+most of the wonders enumerated by this writer. The female Samson and the
+wire-walker had been seen that year in the fairs, the famous negro and
+the Norfolk dwarf the year before, and the Corsican fairy and the double
+cow in 1748. The fire-eater was probably Powell, though I have seen no
+advertisement of that human salamander earlier than 1760.
+
+The Bartholomew Fair riot was repeated in 1753, when Buck, the successor
+of the unfortunate Birch, was very roughly handled by the rioters, and
+severely bruised. This tumult was followed by an accident to a
+wire-walker, named Evans, who, by the breaking of his wire, was
+precipitated to the ground, breaking one of his thighs and receiving other
+injuries. This was the year of the demonstration against the claim of the
+Corporation to levy tolls upon the goods of citizens, as well as upon
+those of strangers, during the time of Bartholomew Fair. Richard Holland,
+a leather-seller in Newgate Street, had, in the preceding year, refused
+the toll demanded on a roll of leather with which he had attempted to
+enter the fair, and, on the leather being seized by the collector, had
+called a constable, and charged the impounder with theft. The squabble
+resulted in an action against the Corporation, which was not tried,
+however, till 1754, when the judge pronounced in favour of the citizens.
+
+While the action was pending, Holland's cart was driven through the fair
+with a load of hay, and was not stopped by the collector of the tolls,
+who had, probably, been instructed to hold his hand until the matter was
+determined. The horses' heads were decorated with ribbons, and on the
+leader's forehead was a card, upon which the following doggrel lines were
+written in a bold round hand:--
+
+  "My master keeps me well, 'tis true,
+  And justly pays whatever is due;
+  Now plainly, not to mince the matter,
+  No toll he pays but with a halter."
+
+On each side of the load of hay hung a halter, and a paper bearing the
+following announcement:--
+
+  "The time is approaching, if not already come,
+  That all British subjects may freely pass on;
+  And not on pretence of Bartholomew Fair
+  Make you pay for your passage, with all you bring near.
+  When once it is try'd, ever after depend on,
+  'Twill incur the same fate as on Finchley Common.
+  Give Cæsar his due, when by law 'tis demanded,
+  And those that deserve with this halter be hanged."
+
+The disturbances occasioned by the interference of the authorities with
+the entertainers of the fair-goers were not renewed in 1754, though the
+elements of disorder seem to have been present in tolerable strength; for
+on a swing breaking down in Smithfield, without any person being
+seriously hurt, a number of persons broke up the apparatus, and throwing
+the wreck into a heap, set it on fire. Every swing in the fair was then
+attacked and wrecked in succession, and the frames and broken cars thrown
+upon the blazing pile, which soon sent a column of fire high into the air,
+to the immense danger of the many combustible erections on every side. To
+keep up the fire, all the tables and benches of the sausage-vendors were
+next seized, and cast upon it; and the feeble police of that period was
+inadequate to the prevention of this wholesale destruction, which seems to
+have gone on without a check.
+
+The exclusion of theatrical entertainments from Southwark Fair was not
+maintained in 1755, when Warner set up a booth on the bowling-green, in
+conjunction with the widow of Yeates (who had died about this time), and
+revived the favourite London fair drama of _The Unnatural Parents_. In the
+following year, Warner's name appears alone, as the proprietor of a "great
+tiled booth," in which he produced _The Lover's Metamorphosis_, with
+dancing between the acts, and a pantomimic entertainment called _The
+Stratagems of Harlequin_.
+
+In 1757, Yates and Shuter, the former engaged at the time at Drury Lane,
+and the latter at Covent Garden, tried the experiment of a variety
+entertainment, at the large concert-room of the Greyhound Inn, in
+Smithfield, "during the short time of Bartholomew Fair," as all bills and
+advertisements had announced since the duration of the fair had been
+limited to three days. By this device, they evaded the edict of the Lord
+Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, which applied only to temporary erections
+in Smithfield. They did not repeat the experiment in Southwark, where the
+only booth advertised was Warner's, with "a company of comedians from the
+theatres," in _The Intriguing Lover_ and _Harlequin's Vagaries_.
+
+Yates and Shuter re-appeared at the Greyhound next year, when they
+presented _Woman turned Bully_, with singing and dancing between the acts,
+and a representation of the storming of Louisbourg. Theatrical
+representations were this year permitted or connived at in the fair, for
+Dunstall and Vaughan set up a booth in George Yard, associating with them
+in the enterprise the more experienced Warner, and announcing "a select
+company from the theatres royal." _The Widow Bewitched_ was performed,
+with an entertainment of singing and dancing. Next door to the George Inn
+was an exhibition of wax-work, the chief feature of which was a collection
+of figures representing the royal family of Prussia.
+
+Southwark Fair was this year extended to four days, so fitful and varying
+was the policy of the Court of Aldermen with regard to the fairs, which,
+while they professed to regard them as incentives to idleness and vice,
+they encouraged in some years as much as they restricted in others. The
+names of Dunstall and Vaughan do not appear in the bills issued by Warner
+for this fair, but the comedy performed was the same as at Bartholomew
+Fair, followed by a representation of the capture of Louisbourg,
+concluding with a procession of colours and standards, and a song in
+praise of the heroes of the victory.
+
+Yates and Shuter again attended Bartholomew Fair in the following year.
+Mr. Henry Morley claims for the latter the invention of the showman's
+device of announcing to the players, by a cant word, that there was
+another audience collected in front, and that the performances might be
+drawn to a close as soon as possible. Shuter's mystic words are said to
+have been "John Audley," shouted from the front. The practice appears,
+however, to have been in operation in the earliest days of Sadler's Wells,
+where, according to a description of the place and the entertainments
+given by Macklin, in a conversation recorded in the fortieth volume of the
+'European Magazine,' the announcement was made in the query, "Is Hiram
+Fistoman here?"
+
+It was about this time that the "cat's opera" was announced by the famous
+animal-trainer, Bisset, whose pupils, furred and feathered, were regarded
+as one of the most wonderful exhibitions ever witnessed. Bisset was
+originally a shoemaker at Perth, where he was born in 1721, but, on coming
+to London, and entering the connubial state, he commenced business as a
+broker, and accumulated a little capital. Having read an account of a
+performing horse, which was exhibited at the fair of St. Germain in 1739,
+he was induced to try his own skill in the teaching of animals upon a dog,
+and afterwards upon a horse, which he bought for the purpose. Succeeding
+with these, he procured a couple of monkeys, one of which he taught to
+play a barrel-organ, while the other danced and vaulted on the tight-rope.
+
+Cats are generally regarded as too susceptible of nervous excitement to
+perform in public, though their larger relatives, lions, tigers, and
+leopards, have been taught to perform a variety of tricks before
+spectators, and cats are readily taught to perform the same tricks in
+private. Bisset aimed at something higher than the exhibition of the
+leaping feats of the species, and succeeded in teaching three cats to play
+the dulcimer and squall to the notes. By the advice of Pinchbeck, with
+whom he had become acquainted, he hired a large room in the Haymarket,
+and announced a public performance of the "cat's opera," supplemented by
+the tricks of the horse, the dog, and the monkeys. Besides the
+organ-grinding and rope-dancing performance, the monkeys took wine
+together, and rode on the horse, pirouetting and somersaulting with the
+skill of a practised acrobat. One of them also danced a minuet with the
+dog.
+
+The "cat's opera" was attended by crowded houses, and Bisset cleared a
+thousand pounds by the exhibition in a few days. He afterwards taught a
+hare to walk on its hind legs, and beat a drum; a feathered company of
+canaries, linnets, and sparrows to spell names, tell the time by the
+clock, etc.; half-a-dozen turkeys to execute a country dance; and a turtle
+(according to Wilson, but probably a tortoise) to write names on the
+floor, having its feet blackened for the purpose. After a successful
+season in London, he sold some of the animals, and made a provincial tour
+with the rest, rapidly accumulating a considerable fortune. Passing over
+to Ireland in 1775, he exhibited his animals in Dublin and Belfast,
+afterwards establishing himself in a public-house in the latter city.
+There he remained until 1783, when he reappeared in Dublin with a pig,
+which he had taught to perform all the tricks since exhibited by the
+learned grunter's successors at all the fairs in the kingdom. He was on
+his way to London with the pig when he became ill at Chester, where he
+shortly afterwards died.
+
+The question of suppressing both Bartholomew and Southwark Fairs was
+considered by the Court of Common Council in 1760, and the City Lands
+Committee was desired to report upon the tenures of the fairs, with a view
+to that end. Counsel's opinion was taken, and the committee reported the
+result of the inquiry, upon which the Court resolved that Southwark Fair
+should be abolished henceforth, but that the interests of Lord Kensington
+in the revenues of Bartholomew Fair prevented the same course from being
+pursued in Smithfield. The latter fair was voted a nuisance, however, and
+the Court expressed a determination to abate it with the utmost
+strictness. Shuter produced a masque, called _The Triumph of Hymen_, in
+honour of the approaching royal nuptials; it was the production of a
+forgotten poet named Wignell, in a collected edition of whose poems it was
+printed in 1762. Among the minor entertainers of this year at Bartholomew
+Fair were Powell, the fire-eater, and Roger Smith, who gave a musical
+performance upon eight bells, two of which were fixed upon his head-gear,
+and one upon each foot, while two were held in each hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+    Yates and Shuter--Cat Harris--Mechanical Singing Birds--Lecture on
+    Heads--Pidcock's Menagerie--Breslaw, the Conjuror--Reappearance of the
+    Corsican Fairy--Gaetano, the Bird Imitator--Rossignol's Performing
+    Birds--Ambroise, the Showman--Brunn, the Juggler, on the Wire--Riot at
+    Bartholomew Fair--Dancing Serpents--Flockton, the
+    Puppet-Showman--Royal Visit to Bartholomew Fair--Lane, the
+    Conjuror--Hall's Museum--O'Brien, the Irish Giant--Baker's
+    Theatre--Joel Tarvey and Lewis Owen, the popular Clowns.
+
+
+The relations between Yates and Shuter in the last two or three years of
+their appearance as showmen at Bartholomew Fair are somewhat doubtful; but
+all the evidence that I have been able to obtain points to the conclusion
+that they did not co-operate subsequently to 1758. In 1761 they seemed to
+have been in rivalry, for the former's name appears singly as the
+director of the "company of comedians from both the theatres" that
+performed in the concert-room at the Greyhound, while an advertisement of
+one of the minor shows of the fair describes it as located in George Yard,
+"leading to Mr. Shuter's booth." I have not, however, been able to find an
+advertisement of Shuter's booth.
+
+Yates's company performed _The Fair Bride_, which the bills curiously
+describe as "containing many surprising Occurrences at Sea, which could
+not possibly happen at Land. The Performance will be highly enlivened with
+several entertaining Scenes between England, France, Ireland, and
+Scotland, in the diverting Personages of Ben Bowling, an English Sailor;
+Mons. Soup-Maigre, a French Captain; O'Flannaghan, an Irish Officer;
+M'Pherson, a Scotch Officer. Through which the Manners of each Nation will
+be characteristically and humorously depicted. In which will be introduced
+as singular and curious a Procession as was ever exhibited in this Nation.
+The objects that comprise the Pageantry are both Exotic and British. The
+Principal Figure is the Glory and Delight of OLD ENGLAND, and Envy of our
+ENEMIES. With Variety of Entertainments of Singing and Dancing. The whole
+to conclude with a Loyal Song on the approaching Marriage of our great and
+glorious Sovereign King GEORGE and the Princess CHARLOTTE of
+Mecklenberg."
+
+There were two shows in George Yard, in one of which "the famous learned
+canary bird" was exhibited, the other consisting of a moving picture of a
+city, with an artificial cascade, and "a magnificent temple, with two
+mechanical birds which have all the exact motions of living animals; they
+perform a variety of tunes, either singular or in concert. During the
+performance, the just swelling of the throat, the quick motions of the
+bills, and the joyous fluttering of the wings, strike every spectator with
+pleasing astonishment."
+
+Shuter seems to have been the last actor who played at Bartholomew Fair
+while engaged at a permanent theatre. Some amusing stories are told of his
+powers of mimicry. When Foote introduced in a comedy a duet supposed to be
+performed by two cats, in imitation of Bisset's feline opera, he engaged
+for the purpose one Harris, who was famous for his power of producing the
+vocal sounds peculiar to the species. Harris being absent one day from
+rehearsal, Shuter went in search of him, and not knowing the number of the
+house in which Cat Harris, as he was called, resided, he began to perform
+a feline solo as soon as he entered the court in which lived the man of
+whom he was in search. Harris opened his window at the sound, and
+responded with a beautiful _meeyow_.
+
+"You are the man!" said Shuter. "Come along! We can't begin the cats'
+opera without you."
+
+There is a story told of Shuter, however, which is strongly suggestive of
+his ability to have supplied Cat Harris's place. He was travelling in the
+Brighton stage-coach on a very warm day, with four ladies, when the
+vehicle stopped to receive a sixth passenger, who could have played
+Falstaff without padding. The faces of the ladies elongated at this
+unwelcome addition to the number, but Shuter only smiled. When the stout
+gentleman was seated, and the coach was again in motion, Shuter gravely
+inquired of one of the ladies her motive for visiting Brighton. She
+replied, that her physician had advised sea-bathing as a remedy for mental
+depression. He turned to the others, and repeated his inquiries; the next
+was nervous, the third bilious--all had some ailment which the sea was
+expected to cure.
+
+"Ah!" sighed the comedian, "all your complaints put together are nothing
+to mine. Oh, nothing!--mine is dreadful but to think of."
+
+"Indeed, sir!" said the stout passenger, with a look of astonishment.
+"What is your complaint? you look exceedingly well."
+
+"Ah, sir!" responded Shuter, shaking his head, "looks are deceitful; you
+must know, sir, that, three days ago, I had the misfortune to be bitten by
+a mad dog, for which I am informed sea-bathing is the only cure. For that
+purpose I am going to Brighton; for though, as you observe, I am looking
+well, yet the fit comes on in a moment, when I bark like a dog, and
+endeavour to bite every one near me."
+
+"Lord have mercy on us!" ejaculated the stout passenger, with a look of
+alarm. "But, sir, you are not in earnest--you--"
+
+"Bow-wow-wow!"
+
+"Coachman! coachman! Let me out!--let me out, I say!"
+
+"Now, your honour, what's the matter?"
+
+"A mad dog is the matter!--hydrophobia is the matter! open the door!"
+
+"Bow-wow-wow!"
+
+"Open the door! Never mind the steps. Thank God, I am safe out! Let those
+who like ride inside; I'll mount the roof."
+
+So he rode to Brighton outside the coach, much to the satisfaction of
+Shuter and his fair companions who were very merry at his expense, the
+former repeating at intervals his sonorous _bow-wow-wow_!
+
+Theatrical booths and puppet-shows were again prohibited in 1762, and, as
+the jugglers, the acrobats, and the rope-dancers who attended the fairs
+did not advertise their performances, only casual notices are to be found
+in the newspapers of the period of the amusements which that generation
+flocked into Smithfield in the first week of September to witness, and
+which lead them somewhat earlier to the greens of Camberwell and Stepney.
+Some of the entertainers of the period are mentioned in an anonymous poem
+on Bartholomew Fair, which appeared in 1763. The names are probably
+fictitious.
+
+  "On slender cord Volante treads;
+  The earth seems paved with human heads:
+  And as she springs aloft in air,
+  Trembling they crouch below for fear.
+    A well-made form Querpero shows,
+  Well-skilled that form to discompose;
+  The arms forget their wonted state;
+  Standing on earth, they bear his weight;
+  The head falls downward 'twixt the thighs,
+  The legs mount upward to the skies;
+  And thus this topsy-turvy creature
+  Stalks, and derides the human nature.
+    Agyrta, famed for cup and ball,
+  Plays sleight of hand, and pleases all:
+  The certainty of sense in vain
+  Philosophers in schools maintain;
+  This man your sharpest wit defies,
+  He cheats your watchful ears and eyes.
+  Ah, 'prentice, well your pockets fence,
+  And yet he steals your master's pence."
+
+In 1765, "the celebrated lecture on heads" was advertised to be given,
+during the time of Bartholomew Fair, "in a large and commodious room near
+the end of Hosier Lane." The name of the lecturer was not announced, but
+the form of the advertisement implies that the lecture was Steevens's. The
+lecturer may, however, have been only an imitator of that famous humorist;
+for the newspapers of the preceding week inform us that a similar
+announcement was made at Alnwick, where the audience, finding that the
+lecturer was not Steevens, regarded him as an impostor, and demanded the
+return of their money, with a threat of tossing him in a blanket. The
+lecturer attempted to vindicate himself, but the production of a blanket
+completed his discomfiture, and he surrendered, returning to the
+disappointed audience the money which they had paid for admission.
+
+In 1769, the chief attraction of the London fairs was Pidcock's menagerie,
+which was the largest and best which had ever been exhibited in a
+temporary erection, the animals being hired from Cross's collection at
+Exeter Change. Pidcock exhibited his animals at Bartholomew Fair for
+several successive years, and was succeeded by Polito, whose zoological
+collection attracted thousands of spectators every year.
+
+Breslaw, the conjuror, appeared in 1772, in a large room in Cockspur
+Street, where his tricks of legerdemain were combined with a vocal and
+instrumental concert by three or four Italians, imitations by a young lady
+announced as Miss Rose of "many interesting parts of the capital actresses
+in tragedy and comedy," and imitations by an Italian named Gaetano of the
+notes of the blackbird, thrush, canary, linnet, bull-finch, sky-lark, and
+nightingale. In 1774, the entertainment was given on alternate days in the
+large ball-room of the King's Arms, opposite the Royal Exchange. In 1775,
+it was given in Cockspur Street only, and in the following year at
+Marylebone Gardens. He then appears to have been absent from London for a
+couple of years, as he always was during a portion of each year, when he
+made a tour through the provinces.
+
+Caulfield says that Breslaw was superior to Fawkes, "both in tricks and
+impudence," and relates an anecdote, which certainly goes far to bear out
+his assertion. Breslaw, while exhibiting at Canterbury, requested
+permission to display his cunning a little longer, promising the Mayor
+that if he was indulged with the required permission, he would give the
+receipts of one night for the benefit of the poor. The Mayor acceded to
+the proposition, and Breslaw had a crowded house; hearing nothing about
+the money collected on the specified evening, the Mayor called upon
+Breslaw, and, in as delicate a manner as possible, expressed his surprise.
+
+"Mr. Mayor," said the conjuror, "I have distributed the money myself."
+
+"Pray, sir, to whom?" inquired the Mayor, still more surprised.
+
+"To my own company, than whom none can be poorer," replied Breslaw.
+
+"This is a trick!" exclaimed the Mayor indignantly.
+
+"Sir," returned the conjuror, "we live by tricks."
+
+In 1773, the Corsican fairy reappeared, having probably made the tour of
+Europe since her first exhibition in London in 1748, which has been
+overlooked by some writers, though there is no doubt that the girl
+exhibited at the latter date was the same person. Two years later, the
+Turkish rope-dancer, who had displayed his feats in 1744, reappeared at
+Bartholomew Fair. In the same year, Rossignol exhibited his performing
+birds at Sadler's Wells, and afterwards at the Smock Alley theatre, in
+Dublin. He returned to Sadler's Wells in 1776, where his clever feathered
+company attracted as many spectators as before. Twelve or fourteen
+canaries and linnets were taken from their cages, and placed on a table,
+in ranks, with paper caps on their heads, and tiny toy muskets under their
+left wings. Thus armed and accoutred, they marched about the table, until
+one of them, leaving the ranks, was adjudged a deserter, and sentenced to
+be shot. A mimic execution then took place, one of the birds holding a
+lighted match in its claw, and firing a toy cannon of brass, loaded with
+powder. The deserter fell, feigning death, but rose again at the command
+of Rossignol.
+
+Breslaw had formidable competitors this year in Ambroise and Brunn, who
+gave a variety entertainment in a large room in Panton Street, of which we
+have the following account in their advertisements:--
+
+"On the part of Mr. Ambroise, the manager of the _Ombres Chinoises_, will
+be performed all those scenes which, upon repeated trial, have had a
+general approbation, with new pieces every day; the whole to be augmented
+with a fourth division. By the particular desire of the company, the
+_danses de caractère_ in the intervals are performed to the astonishment
+of all, and to conclude with the comic of a magician, who performs
+metamorphoses, etc. He had the honour to represent this spectacle before
+his Most Christian Majesty Louis XVI. and the Royal Family; likewise
+before His Serene Highness the Prince d'Orange and the whole Court, with
+an approbation very flattering for the performer.
+
+"The Saxon Brunn, besides various tricks of his dexterity, will give this
+day a surprising circular motion with three forks and a sword; to-morrow,
+with a plate put horizontally upon the point of a knife, a sword fixed
+perpendicularly, on the top of which another plate, all turning with a
+remarkable swiftness; and on Saturday the singular performance with a
+bason, called the Clag of Manfredonia; all which are of his own invention,
+being the _non plus ultra_ for equilibriums on the wire. The applause they
+have already received makes them hope to give an equal satisfaction to the
+company for the future. To begin at seven precisely. Admittance, five
+shillings."
+
+In 1778, a foreigner exhibited in Bartholomew Fair the extraordinary
+spectacle of serpents dancing on silken ropes to the sound of music, which
+performance has never, I believe, been repeated since. The serpents
+exhibited by Arab and Hindoo performers, of whose skill an example was
+afforded several years ago in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park,
+dance on the ground. It was in this year that the fair was visited by the
+Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who entered at Giltspur Street, and
+passing the puppet-shows of Flockton and Jobson, the conjuring booths of
+Lane and Robinson, and several other shows the names only of whose
+proprietors--Ives, Basil, Clarkson,--have been preserved, rode through Cow
+Lane into Holborn.
+
+This year appears to have been the first in which puppet-shows were
+allowed to be set up in Smithfield after being excluded for several years;
+as in 1776 a more than ordinary degree of irritation was produced by their
+exclusion, "Lady Holland's mob" proclaiming the fair without any
+restriction, and a disturbance arising afterwards, in the course of which
+the windows of nearly every house round Smithfield were broken by the
+rioters. Flockton and Jobson attended the fair regularly for many years.
+The former used to perform some conjuring tricks on the outside of his
+show to attract an audience, but Strutt says that he was a very poor
+conjuror. Lane's performances were varied by posturing and dancing by his
+two daughters. The following doggrel appears in one of his bills:--
+
+  "It will make you laugh, it will drive away gloom,
+  To see how the egg it will dance round the room;
+  And from another egg a bird there will fly,
+  Which makes the company all for to cry,
+  'O rare Lane! cockalorum for Lane! well done, Lane!
+                                You are the Man!'"
+
+One of the chief shows of the fair in 1779 was the fine collection of
+preserved animals of Hall, of the City Road, who was famous for his skill
+in that art. This museum did not prove so attractive as Pidcock's
+menagerie, however, the frequenters of the fair preferring to see the
+animals living; and in the following year even the expedient of parading a
+stuffed zebra round the fair did not attract spectators enough to induce
+Hall to attend again. His museum remained open in the City Road, however,
+for many years.
+
+Breslaw, the conjuror, had a room in 1779 at the King's Head, near the
+Mansion House, as well as in Cockspur Street (opposite the Haymarket), and
+a bill of this year shows, better than any of his earlier announcements,
+the nature of the tricks which he performed. His exposition of "how it is
+done" was probably not more intelligible than Dr. Lynn's. "Between the
+different parts," says the bill, "Mr. Breslaw will discover the following
+deceptions in such a manner, that every person in the company shall be
+capable of doing them immediately for their amusement. First, to tell any
+lady or gentleman the card that they fix on, without asking any
+questions. Second, to make a remarkable piece of money to fly out of any
+gentleman's hand into a lady's pocket-handkerchief, at two yards distance.
+Third, to change four or five cards in any lady's or gentleman's hand
+several times into different cards. Fourth, to make a fresh egg fly out of
+any person's pocket into a box on the table, and immediately to fly back
+again into the pocket."
+
+Breslaw had Rossignol in his company at this time, as will be seen from
+the following programme:--"1. Mr. Breslaw will exhibit a variety of new
+magical card deceptions, particularly he will communicate the thoughts
+from one person to another, after which he will perform many new
+deceptions with letters, numbers, dice, rings, pocket-pieces, &c., &c. 2.
+Under the direction of Sieur Changee, a new invented small chest,
+consisting of three divisions, will be displayed in a most extraordinary
+manner. 3. The famous Rossignol, from Naples, will imitate various birds,
+to the astonishment of the spectators. 4. Mr. Breslaw will exhibit several
+new experiments on six different metals, watches, caskets, gold boxes,
+silver machineries, &c., &c."
+
+Rossignol (said to be an assumed name) afterwards obtained an engagement
+at Covent Garden Theatre, where he attracted attention by an imitation of
+the violin with his mouth; but, being detected in the use of a concealed
+instrument, he lost his reputation, and we hear of him no more. Breslaw
+filled up the vacancy in his company by engaging Novilli, who played "at
+one time on the German flute, violin, Spanish castanets, two pipes,
+trumpet, bassoon, bass, Dutch drum, and violin-cello, never attempted
+before in this kingdom." I have not been able to discover anything that
+would throw some light upon the manner in which this extraordinary
+performance was accomplished. He engaged for his London season this year a
+large room in Panton Street, probably the one in which Ambroise and Brunn
+performed in 1775. The entertainment commenced, as before, with a vocal
+and instrumental concert, between the parts of which lyrical and
+rhetorical imitations were given by "a young gentleman, not nine years of
+age;" the concluding portion consisting of the exhibition of Breslaw's
+"new invented mechanical watches, sympathetic bell, pyramidical glasses,
+magical card deceptions, &c., &c.," and particularly "a new grand
+apparatus and experiments never attempted before in this kingdom."
+
+It was in this year that the famous Irish giant, Patrick O'Brien, first
+exhibited himself at Bartholomew Fair, being then nineteen years of age,
+and over eight feet high. His name was Cotter, that of O'Brien being
+assumed when he began to exhibit himself, to accord with the
+representation that he was a descendant of the ancient royal race of
+Munster. His parents, who were both of middle height only, apprenticed him
+to a bricklayer; but, at the age of eighteen, his extraordinary stature
+attracted the attention of a showman, by whom he was induced to sign an
+agreement to exhibit himself in England for three years, receiving a
+yearly salary of fifty pounds. Soon after reaching England, however, on
+his refusing his assent to a proposed cession of his person to another
+showman, his exhibitor caused him to be arrested at Bristol for a
+fictitious debt, and lodged in the city goal.
+
+Obtaining his release, and the annulment of the contract, by the
+interposition of a benevolent inhabitant of Bristol, he proceeded to
+London, and exhibited himself on his own account in Bartholomew Fair,
+realising thirty pounds by the experiment in three days. He exhibited in
+this fair four or five successive years, but, as he made money, he changed
+the scene of his "receptions," as they would now be called, to public
+halls in the metropolis, and the assembly-rooms of provincial hotels. He
+attained the height of eight feet seven inches, and was proportionately
+stout, but far from symmetrical; and so deficient in stamina that the
+effort to maintain an upright attitude while exhibiting himself was
+painful to him.
+
+Theatrical booths again appeared at Bartholomew Fair in 1782, when Mrs.
+Baker, manageress of the Rochester Theatre, took her company to
+Smithfield. Tradition says that Elizabeth Inchbald was at this time a
+member of Mrs. Baker's company, but I have not been able to discover any
+ground for the belief. The diary of the actress would have set the matter
+at rest; but she destroyed it before her death, and Boaden's memoirs of
+her were based chiefly upon her letters. They show her to have performed
+that year at Canterbury, and it is within the limits of probability that
+she may have performed at Rochester also; though it would still remain
+doubtful whether she accompanied Mrs. Baker to Bartholomew Fair. According
+to Boaden, she proceeded to Edinburgh on the termination of her Canterbury
+engagement.
+
+Lewis Owen, who was engaged by Mrs. Baker as clown for her Bartholomew
+Fair performances, was a young man of reputable family and good education,
+who had embraced the career of a public entertainer from choice, as more
+congenial to his tastes and habits than any other. His eccentric manners
+and powers of grimace, joined with a considerable fund of natural wit,
+caused him to be speedily recognised as a worthy successor of Joel Tarvey,
+who, after amusing more than one generation, as the Merry Andrew of
+various shows and places of amusements, had died at Hoxton of extreme old
+age in 1777.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+    Lady Holland's Mob--Kelham Whiteland, the Dwarf--Flockton, the
+    Conjuror and Puppet-Showman--Wonderful Rams--Miss Morgan, the
+    Dwarf--Flockton's Will--Gyngell, the Conjuror--Jobson, the
+    Puppet-Showman--Abraham Saunders--Menageries of Miles and Polito--Miss
+    Biffin--Philip Astley.
+
+
+While the character of the theatrical entertainments presented at the
+London fairs declined from the middle of the eighteenth century, when
+Yates and Shuter ceased to appear in Smithfield "during the short time of
+Bartholomew Fair," the various other shows underwent a gradual
+improvement. Menageries became larger and better arranged, while with the
+progress of zoological science, they were rendered better media for its
+diffusion. Panoramas and mechanical exhibitions began to appear, and,
+though it is impossible to estimate the degree in which such agencies
+were instrumental in educating the people, it is but fair to allow them
+some share in the intellectual progress of the latter half of the century.
+
+The good or evil arising from the amusements of any class of the people
+can only be fairly judged by comparing the amusements with those of other
+classes at the same period; and those who will study the dramas and
+novels, and especially the newspapers of the last century, will not find
+more to commend in the manners and pursuits of the upper and middle
+classes than in those of the lower orders of society, as exemplified in
+the London fairs. The hand that painted Gin Lane for the contemplation of
+posterity left an instructive picture of the morals and manners of the
+upper strata of society in the 'Rake's Progress' and the 'Midnight
+Conversation.'
+
+The amusements of the people partake of the mutability of all mundane
+matters, and the newspapers of the period show that the London fairs had
+begun, at the beginning of the last quarter of the eighteenth century, to
+be regarded by the educated portion of society much less favourably than
+they had been in earlier times. When St. James's ceased to patronize them,
+Bloomsbury voted them low, and Cornhill declared them a nuisance.
+Journalists, having as yet no readers in the slums, and therefore writing
+exclusively for St. James's, or Bloomsbury, or Cornhill, as the case might
+be, adapted their tone to the views current in those sections of London
+society. If we first place a paragraph of the 'Times' of the present day
+recording a cock-fight or a pugilistic contest, by the side of a report of
+a similar encounter in a journal of thirty years ago, we shall have no
+difficulty in understanding why Bartholomew Fair was described by the
+'Morning Chronicle' in 1784 in language so different to that used by Pepys
+and Evelyn a century before.
+
+After recounting the misdoings of "Lady Holland's mob," the paragraphist
+tells his readers that:--
+
+"The elegant part of the entertainment was confined to a few booths. At
+the Lock and Key, near Cloth Fair, a select company performed the musical
+opera of the _Poor Soldier_, with Columbine's escape from Smithfield. Mr.
+Flockton, whose name can never be struck off Bartholomew roll, had a
+variety of entertainments without and within. The King's conjuror, who
+takes more money from out the pocket than he puts in, made the lank-haired
+gentry scratch their pates; the walking French puppet-show had hired an
+apartment, with additional performers; Punch and the Devil, in his little
+moving theatre, were performing without doors, to invite the company into
+the grand theatre. Men with wooden mummies in show-boxes were found
+straggling about the fair; tall women in cellars, dropping upon their
+knees to be kissed by short customers; dwarfs mounted on stools for the
+same civil purposes; and men without arms writing with their feet."
+
+The sneering tone, and the disposition to write down the fair, perceptible
+in this account, are more strongly exhibited in the 'Public Advertiser' of
+the 5th of September, in the following year:--
+
+"Saturday being Bartholomew Fair day, it was, according to annual custom,
+ushered in by Lady Holland's Mob, accompanied with a charming band of
+music, consisting of marrow-bones and cleavers, tin kettles, &c., &c.,
+much to the gratification of the inhabitants about Smithfield; great
+preparations were then made for the reception of the Lord Mayor, the
+Sheriffs, and other City officers, who, after regaling themselves with a
+cool tankard at Mr. Akerman's, made their appearance in the fair about one
+o'clock, to authorise _mimic_ fools to make _real_ ones of the gaping
+spectators. The proclamation being read, and the Lord Mayor retiring, he
+was saluted by a flourish of trumpets, drums, rattles, salt-boxes, and
+other delightful musical instruments. The noted Flockton, and the
+notorious Jobson, with many new managers, exhibited their tragic and comic
+performers, as did Penley his drolls. There were wild beasts from all
+parts of the world roaring, puppets squeaking, sausages frying, Kings and
+Queens raving, pickpockets diving, round-abouts twirling, hackney coaches
+and poor horses driving, and all Smithfield alive-o! The Learned Horse
+paid his obedience to the company, as did about a score of monkeys,
+several _beautiful young_ ladies of forty, Punches, Pantaloons,
+Harlequins, Columbines, three giants, a dwarf, and a giantess. These were
+not all who came to Smithfield to gratify the public; there were several
+sleight-of-hand men and fire-eaters; the last, however, were not quite so
+numerous as those who eat of the deliciously flavoured sausages and
+oysters with which the fair abounded. The company were _remarkably
+genteel_ and crowded, and the different performances went off with loud
+and unbounded bursts of applause; they will be repeated this day and
+to-morrow for the last times this season." Reports similar in tone to the
+foregoing continued to appear in the newspapers for many years.
+
+That the fairs were visited at and from this time almost exclusively by
+the lower orders of society is tolerably obvious from the fact that,
+though the number and variety of the shows were greater, and advertising
+was more largely resorted to every year as a medium of publicity, the
+showmen had ceased to use the columns of the London press for this
+purpose. Bills were given away in the fair, or displayed on the outsides
+of the shows, but few of these have been preserved, though the few extant
+are the only memorials of the London fairs during several years.
+
+The only bill of 1787 which I have succeeded in finding announces a dwarf
+with the remarkable name of Kelham Whiteland; he is said to have been born
+at Ipswich, but his height, strange to say, is not stated, a blank being
+left before the word _inches_. Probably he was growing, and his exhibitor
+deemed it advisable, as a matter of financial economy, to have a large
+number of bills printed at one time.
+
+Flockton, who was the leading showman of this period, was the sole
+advertiser of 1789, when he put forth the following announcement:--
+
+"MR. FLOCKTON'S Most Grand and Unparallelled Exhibition. Consisting,
+first, in the display of the Original and Universally admired ITALIAN
+FANTOCCINI, exhibited in the same Skilful and Wonderful Manner, as well as
+Striking Imitations of Living Performers, as represented and exhibited
+before the Royal Family, and the most illustrious Characters in this
+Kingdom. MR. FLOCKTON will display his inimitable DEXTERITY OF HAND,
+Different from all pretenders to the said Art. To which will be perform'd
+an ingenious and Spirited Opera called The PADLOCK. Principal vocal
+performers, Signor Giovanni Orsi and Signora Vidina. The whole to conclude
+with his grand and inimitable MUSICAL CLOCK, at first view, a curious
+organ, exhibited three times before their Majesties."
+
+In this clock nine hundred figures were said to be shown at work at
+various trades.
+
+In the following year, two wonderful rams were exhibited in Bartholomew
+Fair. One of them had a single horn, growing from the centre of the
+forehead, like the unicorn of the heralds; the other had six legs. One of
+the principal shows of this year was advertised as "the Original Theatre
+(Late the celebrated Yates and Shuter, of facetious Memory), Up the
+Greyhound Inn Yard, the only real and commodious place for Theatrical
+Performances. The Performers selected from the most distinguished Theatres
+in England, Scotland, &c. The Representation consists of an entirely New
+Piece, called, The Spaniard Well Drub'd, or the British Tar Victorious."
+This clap-trap drama concluded with "a Grand Procession of the King,
+French Heroes, Guards, Municipal Troops, &c., to the Champ de Mars, to
+swear to the Revolution Laws, as established by the Magnificent National
+Assembly, on the 14th of July, 1790." There was "hornpipe dancing by the
+renowned Jack Bowling," and an "Olio of wit, whim, and fancy, in Song,
+Speech, and Grimace."
+
+Two years later, the London Fairs were visited by a couple of dwarfs,
+almost as famous in their day as Tom Thumb and his Lilliputian bride in
+our own. These were Thomas Allen, described in the bill of the show as
+"the most surprising small man ever before the public," and who had
+previously been exhibited at the Lyceum, where he was visited by the Duke
+of York and the Duke of Clarence; and, again to quote the bill, which
+seems to have been based on the announcements of the Corsican Fairy, some
+of the passages being identical,--
+
+"MISS MORGAN, the Celebrated WINDSOR FAIRY, known in _London_ and
+_Windsor_ by the Addition of LADY MORGAN, a Title which His Majesty was
+pleased to confer on her.
+
+"This unparallelled Woman is in the 35th year of her age, and only 18
+pounds weight. Her form affords a pleasing surprise, and her admirable
+symmetry engages attention. She was introduced to their MAJESTIES at the
+_Queen's Lodge, Windsor_, on Saturday the 4th of August, 1781, by the
+recommendation of the late Dr. _Hunter_; when they were pleased to
+pronounce her the finest Display of Human Nature in _miniature_ they ever
+saw.--But we shall say no more of these great Wonders of Nature: let those
+who honour them with their visits, judge for themselves.
+
+  "Let others boast of stature, or of birth,
+  This glorious Truth shall fill our souls with mirth.
+  'That we now are, and hope, for years, to sing,
+  The SMALLEST subject of the GREATEST King!'
+
+"[Pointing Hand] Admittance to Ladies and Gentlemen, 1_s._ Children, Half
+Price.
+
+"[Asterism] In this and many other parts of the Kingdom, it is too common
+to show deformed persons, with various arts and deceptions, under
+denominations of persons in miniature, to impose on the public.
+
+"This little couple are, beyond contradiction, the most wonderful display
+of nature ever held out to the admiration of mankind.
+
+"N.B. The above Lady's mother is with her, and will attend at any Lady or
+Gentleman's house, if required."
+
+Flockton died in 1794, at Peckham, where he had lived for several years in
+comfort and respectability, having realised what was then regarded as a
+considerable fortune. He had attended the London Fairs, and many of the
+chief provincial ones, for many years, retiring to his cottage at Peckham
+in the winter. His representation of Punch was not only superior in every
+way to that of the open air puppet shows, but famous for the introduction
+of a struggle between the mimic representative of the Prince of Darkness
+and a fine Newfoundland dog, in which the canine combatant seized the
+enemy by the nose, and finally carried him off the stage.
+
+Flockton had no children, and probably no other relatives, for he
+bequeathed his show, with all the properties pertaining to it, to Gyngell,
+a clever performer of tricks of sleight of hand, and a widow named Flint,
+both of whom had travelled with it for several years; and between these
+two persons and other members of his company he divided the whole of his
+accumulated gains, amounting to five thousand pounds. His successors were
+announced next Bartholomew Fair as "the Widow Flint and Gyngell, at
+Flockton's original Theatre, up the Greyhound Yard." Gyngell exhibited his
+conjuring tricks, and performed on the musical glasses; and his wife sang
+between this part of the entertainment and the exhibition of the
+_fantoccini_ and Flockton's celebrated clock, which seems either to have
+been over-puffed by its original exhibitor, or to have fallen out of
+repair, for it was now said to contain five hundred figures, instead of
+the nine hundred originally claimed for it. Perhaps, however, the larger
+number was a misprint.
+
+Widow Flint seems to have died soon after Flockton, or to have disposed of
+her share in the show to Gyngell; for the bill of 1795 is the only one I
+have found with her name as co-proprietor. Gyngell attended the London
+fairs, and the principal fairs for many miles round the metropolis, for
+thirty years after Flockton's death, and is spoken of by persons old
+enough to remember him as a quiet, gentlemanly man.
+
+Jobson, the puppet-showman, who had been in the field as long as Flockton,
+was prosecuted in 1797, with several other owners of similar shows, for
+making his puppets speak, which was held to be an infraction of the laws
+relating to theatrical licences. This circumstance proves Strutt to have
+been in error in describing Flockton as the last of the "motion-masters,"
+the latter having been dead three years when his contemporaries were
+prosecuted. I have not found Jobson's name among the showmen at the London
+fairs in later years, however; and Gyngell's puppets appear to have
+dropped out of existence with the musical clock, during the early years of
+his career as a showman.
+
+The suppression of Bartholomew Fair was strongly urged upon the Court of
+Common Council in 1798, and the expediency of the measure was referred by
+the Court to the City Lands Committee, but nothing came of the discussion
+at that time. It was proposed to limit the duration of the fair to one
+day, but this suggestion was rejected by the Court of Common Council on
+the ground that the limitation would cause the fair to be crowded to an
+extent that would be dangerous to life and limb. It is doubtful, however,
+whether the showmen would have found the profits of one day sufficient to
+induce them, had the experiment been tried, to incur the expense of
+putting up their booths.
+
+The fair went on as before, therefore, and Rowlandson's print sets before
+us the scene which it presented in 1799 as thoroughly and as vividly as
+Setchel's engraving has done the Bartholomew Fair of the first quarter of
+the century. Gyngell's "grand medley" (a name adopted from Jobson) was
+there; and the menageries of Miles and Polito, the Italian successor of
+Pidcock, and very famous in his day; and Abraham Saunders, whom we meet
+with for the first time, with the theatre which he appears to have
+sometimes substituted for the circus, perhaps when an execution had
+deprived him of his horses, or a bad season had obliged him to sell them;
+and Miss Biffin, who, having been born without arms, painted portraits
+with a brush affixed to her right shoulder, and exhibited herself and her
+productions at fairs as the best mode of obtaining patronage.
+
+Down to the end of the last century there are no records of a circus
+having appeared at the London fairs. Astley is said to have taken his stud
+and company to Bartholomew Fair at one time, but I have not succeeded in
+finding any bill or advertisement of the great equestrian in connection
+with fairs. The amphitheatre which has always borne his name (except
+during the lesseeship of Mr. Boucicault, who chose to call it the
+Westminster Theatre, a title about as appropriate as the Marylebone would
+be in Shoreditch), was opened in 1780, and he had previously given open
+air performances on the same site, only the seats being roofed over. The
+enterprising character of Astley renders it not improbable that he may
+have tried his fortune at the fairs when the circus was closed, as it has
+usually been during the summer; and he may not have commenced his season
+at the amphitheatre until after Bartholomew Fair, or have given there a
+performance which he was accustomed to give in the afternoon at a large
+room in Piccadilly, where the tricks of a performing horse were varied
+with conjuring and _Ombres Chinoises_, a kind of shadow pantomime.
+
+But though Astley's was the first circus erected in England, equestrian
+performances in the open air had been given before his time by Price and
+Sampson. The site of Dobney's Place, at the back of Penton Street,
+Islington, was, in the middle of the last century, a tea-garden and
+bowling-green, to which Johnson, who leased the premises in 1767, added
+the attraction of tumbling and rope-dancing performances, which had become
+so popular at Sadler's Wells. Price commenced his equestrian performances
+at this place in 1770, and soon had a rival in Sampson, who performed
+similar feats in a field behind the Old Hats public-house. It was not
+until ten years later, according to the historians of Lambeth, that Philip
+Astley exhibited his feats of horsemanship in a field near the Halfpenny
+Hatch, forming his first ring with a rope and stakes, after the manner of
+the mountebanks of a later day, and going round with his hat after each
+performance to collect the largesses of the spectators, a part of the
+business which, in the slang of strolling acrobats and other entertainers
+of the public in bye-streets and market-places, and on village greens, is
+called "doing a nob."
+
+This remarkable man was born in 1742, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, where his
+father carried on the business of a cabinet maker. He received little or
+no education--no uncommon thing at that time,--and, having worked a few
+years with his father, enlisted in a cavalry regiment. His imposing
+appearance, being over six feet in height, with the proportions of a
+Hercules, and the voice of a Stentor, attracted attention to him; and his
+capture of a standard at the battle of Emsdorff, made him one of the
+celebrities of his regiment. While serving in the army, he learned many
+feats of horsemanship from an itinerant equestrian named Johnson, and
+often exhibited them for the amusement of his comrades. On his discharge
+from the army, being presented by General Elliot with a horse, he bought
+another in Smithfield, and with these two animals gave the open air
+performances in Lambeth, which have been mentioned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+    Edmund Kean--Mystery of his Parentage--Saunders's Circus--Scowton's
+    Theatre--Belzoni--The Nondescript--Richardson's Theatre--The Carey
+    Family--Kean, a Circus Performer--Oxberry, the Comedian--James
+    Wallack--Last Appearance of the Irish Giant--Miss Biffin and the Earl
+    of Morton--Bartholomew Fair Incidents--Josephine Girardelli, the
+    Female Salamander--James England, the Flying Pieman--Elliston as a
+    Showman--Simon Paap, the Dutch Dwarf--Ballard's Menagerie--A Learned
+    Pig--Madame Gobert, the Athlete--Cartlich, the Original
+    Mazeppa--Barnes, the Pantaloon--Nelson Lee--Cooke's Circus--The
+    Gyngell Family
+
+
+With the present century commenced a period of the history of shows and
+showmen specially interesting to the generation which remembers the London
+fairs as they were forty or fifty years ago, and to which the names of
+Gyngell, Scowton, Samwell, Richardson, Clarke, Atkins, and Wombwell have
+a familiar sound. It introduces us, in its earliest years, to the
+celebrated Edmund Kean, "the stripling known in a certain wayfaring troop
+of _Atellanæ_ by the name of Carey," as Raymond wrote, and whom we find
+performing at the London fairs, sometimes tumbling in Saunders's circus,
+and sometimes playing juvenile characters in the travelling theatres of
+Scowton and Richardson. The early life of this remarkable man is as
+strange as any that has ever afforded materials for the biographer, and
+the mystery surrounding his parentage as inscrutable a problem as the
+authorship of the letters of Junius.
+
+Phippen, the earliest biographer of Kean, says that he was born in 1788,
+and was the illegitimate offspring of _Aaron_ Kean, a tailor, and Anne
+Carey, an actress. Proctor, whose account is repeated by Hawkins, states
+that his parentage was unknown, but that, according to the best conclusion
+he was able to form, he was the son of _Edmund_ Kean, a mechanic employed
+by a London builder, and Anne Carey, an actress. Raymond says, on the
+authority of Miss Tidswell, who was many years at Drury Lane Theatre, that
+he was the son of _Edward_ Kean, a carpenter, and Nancy Carey, the
+actress. While these various writers agree as to the name and profession
+of the future great tragedian's mother, and the patronymic of his father,
+they give us the choice of three baptismal names for the latter, and at
+least two occupations. There seems no doubt, however, that his father,
+whether he was a carpenter or a tailor, was the brother of Moses Kean, a
+popular reciter and imitator of the leading actors at the beginning of the
+present century.
+
+No register of his birth or baptism has ever been discovered, and it is
+even a matter of doubt whether he was born in Westminster or in Southwark.
+Miss Tidswell seems to have been the only person who possessed any
+knowledge of his birth and parentage that was ever revealed, a
+circumstance which caused her to be suspected of herself standing in the
+maternal relationship to him. Kean, when a child, called her sometimes
+mother, and sometimes aunt; but, according to her own account, she was in
+no way related to him, but had adopted him on his being deserted by his
+real mother, Anne Carey.
+
+His first appearance in public was made in the character of a monkey, in
+the show of Abraham Saunders, at Bartholomew Fair, probably in 1801. He
+was then twelve or thirteen years of age, and already innured to a
+wandering and vagabond mode of life; being in the habit of absenting
+himself for days together from the lodging of Miss Tidswell, in order to
+visit the fairs, and sleeping under the trees in St. James's Park, to
+avoid being locked up by his guardian, and thus prevented from gazing at
+the parades of Saunders and Scowton on the morrow.
+
+Proctor says, somewhat vaguely, though probably with as much exactness as
+the materials for a memoir of Kean's boyhood render possible, that when
+about fourteen years of age, he was sometimes in Richardson's company, and
+sometimes in Scowton's or Saunders's; and that, besides tumbling in the
+circus of the latter, he rode and danced on the tight-rope. In performing
+an equestrian act at Bartholomew Fair, he once fell from the pad, and hurt
+his legs, which never quite recovered from the effects of the accident.
+
+In 1803, another notability of the age made his appearance at Bartholomew
+Fair, namely, Belzoni, afterwards famous as an explorer of the pyramids
+and royal tombs of Egypt. He was a remarkably handsome and finely
+proportioned man, and of almost gigantic stature, his height being six
+feet six inches. His muscular strength being proportionate to his size, he
+was engaged by Gyngell to exhibit feats of strength, as the young
+Hercules, _alias_ the Patagonian Samson, in which character he lifted four
+men of average weight off the ground, and held out prodigious weights at
+arm's length. He afterwards went to Edmonton Fair, where he performed in
+a field behind the Bell Inn. Of his engagements during the following six
+or seven years we have no account, but in 1810 he sustained the character
+of Orson at the Edinburgh theatre, when he was hissed for not being
+sufficiently demonstrative in his attentions to the maternal bear. Five
+years later, he was exploring the pyramids and sarcophagi of Egypt, as
+assistant to the British Consul at Alexandria, and in 1820 his name was
+famous.
+
+In the same year that Belzoni performed his feats of strength in Gyngell's
+show, there was exhibited in Bartholomew Fair, together with a two-headed
+calf, and a double-bodied calf, "a surprising large fish, the
+Nondescript," which "surprising inhabitant of the watery kingdom was,"
+according to the bill, "drawn on the shore by seven horses and about a
+hundred men. She measured twenty-five feet in length and about eighteen in
+circumference, and had in her belly when found, one thousand seven hundred
+mackerel."
+
+The first mention of Richardson's theatre in the annals of the London
+Fairs occurs in 1804. Of his early career there is no record; probably it
+did not differ much from that of his pupil, Kean, or his successor, Nelson
+Lee, or of the famous "roving English clown," Charlie Keith, and numerous
+others whose lives have been passed in wandering from place to place,
+amusing the public as actors, jugglers, conjurors, acrobats, etc. Whatever
+his antecedents may have been, there is no doubt as to his character, all
+who knew him concurring in representing him as illiterate and ignorant,
+but possessing a large fund of shrewdness and common sense; irritable in
+temper, but agreeable in his manners so long as nothing occurred to excite
+his irascibility; sensitive to any unprovoked insult, which he never
+failed to revenge, but always ready and willing to lend a helping hand to
+those who had been less fortunate than himself.
+
+Many stories are current among showmen and the theatrical profession of
+Richardson's goodness of heart and his occasional eccentricities of
+conduct. On one occasion, while his portable theatre was at St. Albans, a
+fire occurred in the town, and many small houses were destroyed, the poor
+tenants of which by that means lost all their furniture, and almost
+everything they possessed. A subscription was immediately opened for their
+relief, and a public meeting was held to promote the benevolent purpose.
+Richardson attended, and when the Mayor, who presided, had read a list of
+donations, varying in amount from five shillings to twice as many pounds,
+he advanced to the table, and presented a Bank of England note for a
+hundred pounds.
+
+"To whom is the fund indebted for this munificent donation?" inquired the
+astonished Mayor.
+
+"Put it down to Muster Richardson, the showman," replied the donor, who
+then walked quietly from the room.
+
+He often paid the ground-rent of the poorer proprietors of travelling
+shows, booths, and stalls, whose receipts, owing to bad weather, had not
+enabled them to pay the claims of the owner of the field, and who, but for
+Richardson's kindness, would have been obliged to remain on the ground,
+losing the chance of making money elsewhere, until they could raise the
+required sum. He never seemed to expect repayment in such cases, and never
+referred to them afterwards. Saunders, who seems to have passed through an
+unusually long life in a chronic condition of impecuniosity, once borrowed
+ten pounds of him, and honourably and punctually repaid the money at the
+appointed time. Richardson seemed surprised, but he took the money, and
+made no remark. No very long time elapsed before Saunders wanted another
+loan, when, to his surprise, Richardson met his application with a decided
+refusal.
+
+"I paid you honourably the money you lent me before," observed Saunders
+with an aggrieved air.
+
+"That's it, Muster Saunders," rejoined Richardson. "You did pay me that
+money, and I was never more surprised in my life; and I mean to take care
+you don't surprise me again, either in that way, _or any other way_."
+
+In recruiting his company, he preferred actors who had learned a trade,
+such being, in his opinion, steadier and more to be depended upon than
+those who, like Kean, had been strollers from childhood. His pay-table was
+the head of the big drum, and his way of discharging an actor or musician
+with whom he was dissatisfied was to ask him, when giving him his week's
+salary, to leave his name and address with the stage-manager, who was also
+wardrobe-keeper and scene-shifter. This post was held for many years by a
+man named Lewis, who was also the general servant of Richardson's "living
+carriage," and at his winter quarters, Woodland Cottage, Horsemonger Lane,
+long since pulled down, the site being occupied by a respectable row of
+houses, called Woodland Terrace.
+
+He always strengthened his company, and produced his best dresses, for the
+London fairs, where his theatre, decked with banners and a good display of
+steel and brass armour, presented a striking appearance. His wardrobe and
+scene-waggon were always well stocked, and the dresses were not, as some
+persons imagined, the off castings of the theatres, but were made for him,
+and, having to be worn by daylight, were of really excellent quality.
+Cloaks were provided for the company to wear on parade when the weather
+happened to be wet.
+
+It was a frequent boast of Richardson, that many of the most eminent
+members of the theatrical profession had graduated in his company, and it
+is known that Edmund Kean, James Wallack, Oxberry, and Saville Faucit were
+of the number. Kean always acknowledged that he made his first appearance
+in a principal part as Young Norval in Richardson's theatre; but it is
+obvious from what is known of his boyhood that he must have been in the
+company several years before he could have essayed that character. So far
+as can be made out from his supposed age, he seems to have joined
+Richardson's company in 1804, to the early part of which year we must
+assign the story told by Davis, who was afterwards associated in
+partnership with the younger Astley in the lesseeship of the Amphitheatre.
+
+"I was passing down Great Surrey Street one morning," Davis is reported to
+have said, "when just as I came to the place where the Riding House now
+stands, at the corner of the Magdalen as they call it, I saw Master
+Saunders packing up his traps. His booth, you see, had been standing
+there for some three or four days, or thereabouts; and on the
+parade-waggon I saw a slim young chap with marks of paint--and bad paint
+it was, for all the world like raddle on the back of a sheep--on his face,
+tying up some of the canvas. And when I had shook hands with Master
+Saunders, he turns him right round to this young chap, who had just threw
+a somerset behind his back, and says, 'I say, you Mr. King Dick, if you
+don't mind what you're arter, and pack up that wan pretty tight and
+nimble, we shan't be off afore to-morrow; and so, you mind your eye, my
+lad.' That Mr. King Dick, as Master Saunders called him, was young Carey,
+that's now your great Mr. Kean."
+
+Kean's engagement with Richardson brings us to a portion of his personal
+history which is involved in the profoundest mystery. His biographers
+state that his mother, Anne Carey, was at the time a member of
+Richardson's company, that Kean was unaware of the fact when he engaged,
+and that he left the _troupe_ not very long afterwards, in consequence of
+his mother claiming and receiving his salary, the last circumstance being
+said to rest on the authority of Kean himself. Not much credence is due to
+the story on that account; for the great actor exercised his imagination
+on the subject of his origin and antecedents as freely as the Josiah
+Bounderby of the inimitable Dickens. But the results of a patient search
+among the gatherings relating to Bartholomew Fair in the library of the
+British Museum clearly prove that Kean's mother was, when a member of
+Richardson's company, the wife of an actor named Carey.
+
+The only Careys whose names are to be found in any of the bills of
+Richardson's theatre which have been preserved were a married couple, who
+for many years, including the whole period of Kean's engagement, sustained
+the principal parts in those wonderful melodramas for which the
+establishment was so famous. If these people were Kean's parents, what
+becomes of the story which has been told by his biographers, on the
+authority of Miss Tidswell? That they assumed to be his parents is
+undoubted, and it is equally beyond doubt that the relationship was
+unquestioned by Richardson, and the claims founded upon it acquiesced in
+by Kean.
+
+"Windsor Fair," said Richardson, in relating the story of Kean's
+professional visit to Windsor Castle, "commenced on a Friday, and after
+all our impediments we arrived safe, and lost no time in erecting our
+booth. We opened with _Tom Thumb_ and the _Magic Oak_. To my great
+astonishment, I received a note from the Castle, commanding Master Carey
+to recite several passages from different plays before his Majesty King
+George the Third at the Palace. I was highly gratified at the receipt of
+the above note; but I was equally perplexed to comply with the commands of
+the King. The letter came to me on Saturday night; and as Master Carey's
+wardrobe was very scanty, it was necessary to add to it before he could
+appear in the presence of royalty. My purse was nearly empty, and to
+increase my dilemma, all shops belonging to Jews were shut, and the only
+chance we had left was their being open on Sunday morning.
+
+"Among the Jews, however, we at last purchased a smart little jacket,
+trousers, and body linen; we tied the collar of his shirt through the
+button-holes with a piece of black ribbon; and when dressed in his new
+apparel, Master Carey appeared a smart little fellow, and fit to exhibit
+his talents before any monarch in the world. The King was highly delighted
+with him, and so were all the nobility who were present. Two hours were
+occupied in recitations; and his abilities were so conspicuous to every
+person present that he was pronounced an astonishing boy, and a lad of
+great promise. The present he received for his performance was rather
+small, being only two guineas, though, upon the whole, it turned out
+fortunate for the family. The principal conversation in Windsor for a few
+days was about the talents displayed by Master Carey before the King. His
+mother, therefore, took advantage of the circumstance, and engaged the
+market-hall for three nights for Edmund's recitations. This was an
+excellent speculation, and the hall overflowed with company every night.
+
+"Mrs. Carey joined me on the following Monday at Ewell Fair; and all the
+family, owing to their great success, came so nicely dressed that I
+scarcely knew them. Mrs. Carey and her children did not quit my standard
+during the summer. After a short period, I again got my company together,
+and with hired horses went to Waltham Abbey. I took a small theatre in
+that town, the rent of which was fifteen shillings per week. It was all
+the money too much. My company I considered very strong, consisting of Mr.
+Vaughan, Mr. Thwaites, Master Edmund, his mother, and the whole of his
+family, Mr. Saville Faucit, Mr. Grosette, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferies, Mr.
+Reed, Mrs. Wells, and several other performers, who are now engaged at the
+different theatres in the kingdom. Notwithstanding we acted the most
+popular pieces, the best night produced only nine shillings and sixpence.
+Starvation stared us in the face, and our situation was so truly pitiable
+that the magistrate of the town, out of compassion for our misfortunes,
+bespoke a night."
+
+It is singular that Richardson does not mention Carey, his chief actor, in
+this communication; but the words "the whole of his family" must be
+supposed to include Carey and, I believe, a daughter. In every bill of the
+period the names of Mr. H. Carey and Mrs. H. Carey appear as the
+representatives of the heroes and heroines of the Richardsonian drama; and
+the absence of any direct mention of the former is much less remarkable
+than the fact that he has been altogether ignored by every biographer of
+Kean, while the supposed mother of the tragedian is invariably styled
+_Miss_ Carey.
+
+It is exceedingly improbable that the mystery involved in these
+discrepancies and contradictions will now ever be cleared up in a
+satisfactory manner. One thing alone, amidst all the confusion and
+obscurity, seems certain; namely, that the Careys were in Richardson's
+company before Kean joined it, and that, whether or not he believed them
+to be his parents, he dropped their acquaintance when he threw off their
+authority. Raymond says that when Kean, after his marriage, visited
+Bartholomew Fair, he was recognised by Carey, who was standing on the
+parade of Richardson's theatre, and ran down the steps to greet him; the
+tragedian seemed mortified, treated the strolling actor coldly, and
+"slunk away, literally like a dog in a fair."
+
+In pondering the probabilities of the case, it is obvious that
+considerable allowance must be made for the obscurity which envelopes the
+origin of Kean's existence. Their only authority being Miss Tidswell, it
+is natural that the biographers should suppose the woman who passed for
+Kean's mother with Richardson and his company to be the Nancy Carey of her
+story, and mention her as Miss Carey. But the evidence of the bills, which
+cannot have been known to them, forces upon us the re-consideration of the
+story of Kean's parentage which has hitherto passed current. Miss
+Tidswell's story can be reconciled with the facts only by the hypothesis
+that Anne Carey, subsequently to Kean's birth, became the wife of H.
+Carey, the sameness of name being due to cousinship, or perhaps merely a
+coincidence. Kean's illegitimacy may have been known to Richardson, whose
+knowledge of the circumstance would explain the reason of his speaking of
+Mrs. Carey as the mother of Master Carey, while he says nothing to warrant
+the supposition that he regarded her husband as the lad's father.
+
+But everything about Kean's early life is mysterious and obscure. How and
+when did he acquire the classical lore which he seems to have possessed?
+Certainly not while he was roaming the streets of London, frequenting all
+the fairs, and practising flip-flaps; nor while travelling with Saunders,
+Scowton, and Richardson, and rejoicing in the cognomen of Mr. King Dick.
+As little likely does it seem that he could have acquired it at that
+subsequent period of his life when the leisure which his profession left
+him was passed in disreputable taverns, in low orgies with the worst
+companions.
+
+"You see this inequality in the bridge of my nose?" he once observed to
+Benson Hill, the author of a couple of amusing volumes of theatrical
+anecdotes and adventures. "It was dealt me by a demmed pewter pot, hurled
+from the hand of Jack Thurtell. We were borne, drunk and bleeding, to the
+watch-house, for the night. When I was taken out, washed, plastered, left
+to cogitate on any lie, of an accident in a stage fight, I told it, and
+was believed, for the next day I dined with the Bishop of Norwich."
+
+My task does not, however, require me to follow Kean's fortunes from the
+time when he left Richardson's company, and obtained an engagement at a
+provincial theatre. The date is uncertain, but his name does not appear in
+the bills of 1807, and he had probably turned his back on the travelling
+theatre in the preceding year.
+
+Patrick O'Brien, the Irish giant, exhibited himself for the last time in
+1804, when he advertised as follows:--
+
+"Just arrived in town, and to be seen in a commodious room, at No. 11,
+Haymarket, nearly opposite the Opera House, the celebrated Irish Giant,
+Mr. O'Brien, of the Kingdom of Ireland, indisputably the tallest man ever
+shown; is a lineal descendant of the old puissant king, Brien Boreau, and
+has, in person and appearance, all the similitudes of that great and grand
+potentate. It is remarkable of this family, that, however various the
+revolutions in point of fortune and alliance, the lineal descendants
+thereof have been favoured by Providence with the original size and
+stature, which have been so peculiar to their family. The gentleman
+alluded to measures nearly nine feet high. Admittance one shilling."
+
+O'Brien had now realised a considerable fortune, and he resolved to retire
+from the public gaze. Having purchased an old mansion near Epping, and on
+the borders of the forest, he took up his abode there, keeping a carriage
+and pair of horses, and living quietly and unostentatiously the brief
+remainder of his life. He died in 1806, in his forty-seventh year, when
+his servants made use of his fame and his wardrobe for their own
+emolument, dressing a wax figure in his clothes, and exhibiting it at
+rooms in the Haymarket, the Strand, and other parts of the metropolis.
+
+The rival theatres of Richardson and Scowton attended Bartholomew Fair in
+1807, when the former produced a romantic and highly sensational drama,
+called _The Monk and the Murderer_, in which Carey played the principal
+character, Baron Montaldi, and his wife that of Emilina, the Baron's
+daughter. The following announcement appears in the head of the bill:--
+
+"Mr. Richardson has the honour to inform the Public, that for the
+extraordinary Patronage he has experienced, it has been his great object
+to contribute to the convenience and gratification of his audience. Mr. R.
+has a splendid collection of Scenery, unrivalled in any Theatre; and, as
+they are painted and designed by the first Artists in England, he hopes
+with such Decorations, and a Change of Performances each day, the Public
+will continue him that Patronage it has been his greatest pride to
+deserve."
+
+The scenery of the drama comprised a Gothic hall in the Baron's castle, a
+rocky pass in Calabria, a forest, a rustic bridge, with a distant view of
+the castle, a Gothic chamber, and a baronial hall, decorated with banners
+and trophies. In the fourth scene a chivalric procession was introduced,
+and in the last a combat with battle-axes. The drama was followed, as
+usual, by a pantomime entitled _Mirth and Magic_, which concluded with a
+"grand panoramic view of Gibraltar, painted by the first artists."
+
+Saunders was there, with a circus, and seems to have attended the fair
+with considerable regularity. He was often in difficulties, however, and
+on one occasion, after borrowing a trick horse of Astley, his stud was
+taken in execution for debt, and the borrowed horse was sold with the
+rest. Some time afterwards, two equestrians of Astley's company were
+passing a public-house, when they recognised Billy, harnessed to a cart
+which was standing before the door. Hearing their voices, the horse
+erected his ears, and, at a signal from one of them, stood up on his hind
+legs, and performed such extraordinary evolutions that a crowd collected
+to witness them. On the driver of the cart coming from the public-house,
+an explanation of Billy's appearance in cart-harness was obtained with the
+observation that "he was a werry good 'orse, but so full o' tricks that we
+calls 'im the mountebank." Billy, I scarcely need say, was returned to his
+stall in Astley's stables very soon after this discovery.
+
+Miss Biffin was still attending the fairs, painting portraits with her
+right shoulder, and in 1808 attracted the attention of the Earl of Morton,
+who sat to her for his likeness, and visited her "living carriage" several
+times for that purpose. In order to test her ability, he took the portrait
+away with him, after each sitting, and thus became satisfied that it was
+entirely the work of her own hand, or rather shoulder. Finding that the
+armless little lady really possessed artistic talent, he showed the
+portrait to George III., who was pleased to direct that she should receive
+instruction in drawing at his expense.
+
+The Earl of Morton corresponded with this remarkable artist during a
+period of twenty years. She was patronised by three successive sovereigns,
+and from William IV. she received a small pension. She then yielded to the
+wish of the Earl of Morton that she should cease to travel, and settled at
+Birmingham, where, several years afterwards, she married, and resumed, as
+Mrs. Wright, the pursuit of her profession.
+
+Ballard's menagerie held a respectable position between the time of Polito
+and Miles and that of Wombwell and Atkins. The newspapers of the period do
+not inform us, however, from whose menagerie it was that the leopard
+escaped which created so much consternation one summer night in 1810. The
+caravans were on their way to Bartholomew Fair, when, between ten and
+eleven o'clock at night, while passing along Piccadilly, the horses
+attached to one of them were scared by some noise, or other cause of
+alarm, and became restive. The caravan was overturned and broken, and a
+leopard and two monkeys made their escape. The leopard ran into the
+basement of an unfinished house near St. James's Church, and one of the
+monkeys into an oyster-shop, the proprietor of which, hearing that a
+leopard was loose, immediately closed the door. What became of the other
+monkey is not stated.
+
+The keepers ran about, calling for a blanket and cords, to secure the
+leopard; but every person they accosted shut their doors, or took to their
+heels, on learning the purpose for which such appliances were required.
+After some delay, a cage was backed against the opening by which the
+leopard had entered the building, below which it growled threateningly as
+it crouched in the darkness. With some risk and difficulty, it was got
+into the cage, but not until it had bitten the arm of one of the keepers
+so severely that he was obliged to proceed to St. George's hospital for
+surgical aid.
+
+Malcolm, describing Bartholomew Fair as it was seventy years ago,
+says,--"Those who wish to form an idea of this scene of depravity may go
+at eleven o'clock in the evening. They may then form some conception of
+the dreadful scenes that have been acted there in former days. The visitor
+will find all uproar. Shouts, drums, trumpets, organs, the roaring of
+beasts, assailing the ear; while the blaze of torches and glare of candles
+confuse sight, and present as well the horror of executions, and the
+burning of martyrs, and the humours of a fair." Though, "the blaze of
+torches and glare of candles" cannot be said to constitute a "scene of
+depravity," and "shouts, drums, trumpets, organs, the roaring of beasts,"
+though tending to produce an "uproar," cannot be accepted as evidence of
+vice, since the former sounds accompany the civic procession of the 9th of
+November, and the latter are heard in the Zoological Gardens, the
+newspapers of the period bear testimony to the existence of a considerable
+amount of riot and disorder at the late hour mentioned by Malcolm.
+
+In those days, when the lighting was defective and the police inefficient,
+it is not surprising that the "roughs" had their way when the more
+respectable portion of the frequenters of the fair had retired, and that
+scenes occurred such as the more efficient police of the present day have
+had some difficulty in suppressing on Sunday evenings in the principal
+thoroughfares of Islington and Pentonville. The newspapers of the period
+referred to by Malcolm afford no other support to his statement than
+accounts of the disorder and mischief produced by the rushing through the
+fair at night of hordes of young men and boys, apparently without anything
+being attempted for the prevention of the evil. In 1810, two bands of
+these ruffians met, and their collision caused two stalls to be knocked
+down, when the upsetting of a lamp on a stove caused the canvas to ignite,
+and a terrible disaster was only prevented by the exertions of a gentleman
+who was on the spot in extinguishing the flames. In 1812 many persons were
+thrown down in one of the wild rushes of the "roughs," and an infant was
+dashed from its mother's arms, and trampled to death.
+
+Richardson, who was always on the alert for novelties, introduced in 1814,
+at Portsmouth, the famous Josephine Girardelli, who in the same year
+exhibited her remarkable feats in a room in New Bond Street. The following
+hand-bill sufficiently indicates their nature:--
+
+"Wonders will never cease!--The great Phenomena of Nature. Signora
+Josephine Girardelli (just arrived from the Continent), who has had the
+honour of appearing before most of the Crowned Heads of Europe, will
+exhibit the Powers of Resistance against Heat, every day, until further
+notice, at Mr. Laxton's Rooms, 23, New Bond Street. She will, without the
+least symptoms of pain, put boiling melted lead into her mouth, and emit
+the same with the imprint of her teeth thereon; red-hot irons will be
+passed over various parts of her body; she will walk over a bar of red-hot
+iron with her naked feet; will wash her hands in aquafortis; put boiling
+oil in her mouth! The above are but a few of the wonderful feats she is
+able to go through. Her performances will commence at 12, 2, 4, and 6
+o'clock. Admission 3_s._ Any lady or gentleman being dubious of the above
+performances taking place, may witness the same, gratis, if not satisfied.
+Parties may be accommodated by a private performance, by applying to the
+Conductor."
+
+The portrait of this Fire Queen, as she would be styled at the present
+day, was engraved by Page, and published by Smeeton, St. Martin's Lane. It
+represents her in her performing costume, a short spangled jacket, worn
+over a dress of the fashion of that day; the features are regular and
+striking, but their beauty is of a rather masculine type. The hair appears
+dark, and is arranged in short curls.
+
+Elliston engaged in a show speculation at this time, having contracted
+with a Dutchman, named Sampoeman, for the exhibition of a dwarf, named
+Simon Paap. He hired a room in Piccadilly for the purpose and engaged an
+interpreter; but the speculation was a failure, and Elliston was glad to
+obtain Sampoeman's consent to the cancelling of the contract. He made a
+more successful venture when, at the close of a bad theatrical season at
+Birmingham, he announced the advent of a Bohemian giant, who would toss
+about, like a ball, a stone weighing nearly a ton. Few modern giants have
+possessed the strength ascribed to the seven-feet men of old, and such an
+athlete as the Bohemian would have been worth a visit. The theatre was
+filled, therefore, for the first time that season; but when the overture
+had been performed, and the occupants of the gallery were beginning to
+testify impatience, Elliston appeared before the curtain, looking grave
+and anxious, as on such occasions he could look to perfection. Evincing
+the deepest emotion, he informed the expectant audience that the
+perfidious Bohemian had disappointed him, and had not arrived.
+
+"Here," said he, producing a number of letters from his pockets, "are
+letters which must satisfy every one that I am not to blame for this
+disappointment, which I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, is to me one of
+the bitterest of my existence. As they are numerous and lengthy, and are
+all written in German, you will, I am sure, excuse me from reading them;
+but, as further evidence of the good faith in which I have acted in this
+matter, you shall see the stone."
+
+The curtain was drawn half-way up, and the disappointed Brums were
+consoled with the sight of an enormous mass of stone, and with the
+announcement that they would receive, on leaving the theatre, vouchers
+entitling them to admission to the boxes on the following night, on
+payment of a shilling. Elliston thus obtained two good houses at no other
+extra expense than a few shillings for the cartage of the pretended
+giant's stone ball, the Bohemian being merely a creation of his own
+fertile imagination.
+
+Sampoeman's arrangement with Elliston having proved a failure, the little
+Dutchman was transferred to Gyngell, who exhibited him in his show in
+Bartholomew Fair and elsewhere, in 1815. There are three portraits of
+Simon Paap in existence, showing a striking resemblance to little Mr.
+Stratton, commonly known as Tom Thumb. One of them, drawn by Woolley, and
+engraved by Worship, probably for advertising purposes, bears the
+following inscription:--
+
+MR. SIMON PAAP.
+
+"_The celebrated Dutch dwarf, 26 years of age, weighs 27 pounds, and only
+28 inches high; had the honour of being presented to the Prince Regent and
+the whole of the Royal Family at Carleton House, May 5th, 1815, and was
+introduced by Mr. Dan. Gyngell to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor,
+Sept. 1st, 1815; and was exhibited in the course of 4 days in Smithfield
+to upwards of 20,000 persons; is universally admitted to be the greatest
+wonder of the age._"
+
+Another portrait, engraved by Cooper, and published by Robins and Co., is
+better executed; but the third is a poor sketch, taken three years later,
+and unsigned.
+
+Richardson presented this year, on the first day of Bartholomew Fair, _The
+Maid and the Magpie_, and a pantomime, "expressly written for this
+theatre," entitled _Harlequin in the Deep_, terminating with a panorama,
+"taken from the spot, by one of our most eminent artists," representing
+Longwood, in the island of St. Helena, and the adjacent scenery,
+interesting to the public at that time as the place of exile selected by
+the Powers lately in arms against France for Napoleon I. Pocock's drama
+was, of course, greatly abridged, for drama and pantomime, with a comic
+song between, were got through in half an hour, and often in twenty
+minutes, when the influx of visitors rendered it expedient to abbreviate
+the performance. Shuter's signal, corrupted into _John Orderly_, was used
+by Richardson on such occasions.
+
+A daily change of performances had at this time become necessary, and
+Richardson presented on the second day "an entire new Chinese romantic
+melodrama," called _The Children of the Desert_, and a comic pantomime,
+entitled _Harlequin and the Devil_. On the third day the pantomime was the
+same, preceded by "an entire new melodrama," called _The Roman Wife_.
+
+This year there first appeared in the fair an eccentric character named
+James Sharp England, known as "the flying pieman." He was always neatly
+dressed, with a clean white apron before him, but wore no hat, and had his
+hair powdered and tied behind in a queue. Like the famous Tiddy-dol of a
+century earlier, he aimed at a profitable notoriety through a fantastic
+exterior and a droll manner; and he succeeded, his sales of plum-pudding,
+which he carried before him on a board, and vended in slices, being very
+great wherever he appeared. The present representative of the
+perambulating traders of the eccentric order is a man who has for many
+years strolled about the western districts of the metropolis, wearing
+clean white sleeves and a black velvet cap placed jauntily on his head,
+and carrying before him a tray of what, in oily and mellifluous accents,
+he proclaims to be, "Brandy balls as big as St. Paul's! Oh, _so_ nice!
+They are all sugar and brandy!"
+
+The following year is memorable among showmen, and especially among
+menagerists, for the attack of Ballard's lioness on the Exeter mail-coach.
+On the night of the 20th of October, the caravans containing the animals
+were standing in a line along the side of the road, near the inn called
+the Winterslow Hut, seven miles from Salisbury, to the fair of which city
+the menagerie was on its way. The coach had just stopped at this inn for
+the guard to deliver his bag of local letters, when one of the leaders was
+attacked by some large animal. The alarm and confusion produced by this
+incident were so great that two of the inside passengers left the coach,
+ran into the house, and locked themselves in a room above stairs; while
+the horses kicked and plunged so violently that the coachman feared that
+the coach would be overturned. It was soon perceived by the coachman and
+guard, by the light of the lamps, that the assailant was a large lioness.
+A mastiff attacked the beast, which immediately left the horse, and turned
+upon him; the dog then fled, but was pursued and killed by the lioness
+about forty yards from the coach.
+
+An alarm being given, Ballard and his keepers pursued the lioness to a
+granary in a farm-yard, where she ran underneath the building, and was
+there barricaded in to prevent her escape. She growled for some time so
+loudly as to be heard half a mile distant. The excited spectators called
+loudly to the guard to despatch her with his blunderbuss, which he seemed
+disposed to attempt, but Ballard cried out, "For God's sake, don't kill
+her! She cost me five hundred pounds, and she will be as quiet as a lamb
+if not irritated." This arrested the guard's hand, and he did not fire.
+The lioness was afterwards easily enticed from beneath the granary by the
+keepers, and taken back to her cage. The horse was found to be severely
+lacerated about the neck and chest, the lioness having fastened the talons
+of her fore feet on each side of his throat, while the talons of her hind
+feet were forced into his chest, in which position she hung until attacked
+by the dog. Death being inevitable, a fresh horse was procured, and the
+coach proceeded on its journey, after having been detained three-quarters
+of an hour.
+
+A coloured print of this encounter adorns, or did thirty years ago adorn,
+the parlour of the Winterslow Hut, and was executed, according to the
+inscription, from the narrative of Joseph Pike, the guard, who, next to
+the lioness, is the most conspicuous object in the group. The lioness has
+seized the off leader by the throat, and the guard is standing on his seat
+with a levelled carbine, as if about to fire. In the foreground is the
+dog, which looks small for a mastiff, as if diminished by the artist for
+the purpose of making the lioness appear larger by the comparison, as the
+human figures on the show-cloths of the menageries always are. The
+terrified faces in the inside of the coach, and at the upper windows of
+the inn, and the blue coats and yellow vests of the outside passengers,
+each grasping an umbrella or a carpet-bag, as if determined not to die
+without a struggle, make up a vivid and sensational picture, which would
+have found immediate favour with the conductor of the 'Police News,' had
+such a periodical existed in those days.
+
+The following year was signalised by the first appearance at Bartholomew
+Fair of the learned pig, Toby, who was exhibited by a showman named Hoare.
+There seems to have been a succession of learned pigs bearing the same
+name, on the same principle, probably, as Richardson's theatre continues
+to be advertised at Easter or Whitsuntide as at the Crystal Palace, or the
+Agricultural Hall, or the Spaniards, at Hampstead Heath, twenty years
+after the component parts of the structure were dispersed under the
+auctioneer's hammer.
+
+The wonder of 1818 was an athletic French woman, who was advertised as
+follows:--
+
+"The strongest woman in Europe, the celebrated French Female Hercules,
+Madame Gobert, who will lift with her teeth a table five feet long and
+three feet wide, with several persons seated upon it; also carry
+thirty-six weights, fifty-six pounds each, equal to 2016 lbs. and will
+disengage herself from them without any assistance; will carry a barrel
+containing 340 bottles; also an anvil 400 pounds weight, on which they
+will forge with four hammers at the same time she supports it on her
+stomach; she will also lift with her hair the same anvil, swing it from
+the ground, and suspend it in that position to the astonishment of every
+beholder; will take up a chair by the hind stave with her teeth, and throw
+it over her head ten feet from her body. Her travelling caravan (weighing
+two tons) on its road from Harwich to Leominster, owing to the neglect of
+the driver and badness of the road, sunk in the mud, nearly to the box of
+the wheels; the two horses being unable to extricate it, she descended,
+and, with apparent ease, disengaged the caravan from its situation,
+without any assistance whatever."
+
+Caulfield says that he visited the show "for the purpose of accurately
+observing her manner of performance, which was by lying extended at
+length on her back on three chairs; pillows were then placed over her
+legs, thighs, and stomach, over those two thick blankets, and then a
+moderately thick deal board; the thirty-six weights were then placed on
+the board, beginning at the bottom of the legs, and extending upwards
+above the knees and thighs, but none approaching towards the stomach. She
+held the board on each side with her hands, and when the last weight was
+put on, she pushed the board upwards on one side, and tumbled the weights
+to the ground. On the whole, there appeared more of trick than of personal
+strength in this feat. Her next performance was raising the anvil (which
+might weigh nearly 200 lbs.) from the ground with her hair, which is
+thick, black, and as strong as that in the tail of a horse; this is
+platted on each side, and fixed to two cords, which are attached to the
+anvil; then rising from a bending to an erect posture, she raises and
+swings the anvil several times backwards and forwards through her legs.
+Her next feat was raising a table with her teeth, a slight, rickety thing,
+made of deal, with a bar across the legs, which, upon her grasping it, is
+sustained against her thighs, and enables her more easily to swing it
+round several times, maintaining her hold only by her teeth. The chair she
+makes nothing of, but canters it over her head like a plaything. That she
+is a wonderfully strong woman is evident, but that she can perform what is
+promised in her bills is a notorious untruth. She has an infant which now
+sucks at her breast, about eleven months old, that lifts, with very little
+exertion, a quarter of a hundred weight."
+
+Greenwich and Stepney Fairs became popular places of resort with the
+working classes of the metropolis during the second decade of the present
+century. Old showmen assert that the former was then declining, a state of
+things which they ascribe to the growing popularity of the latter; and it
+is certain that the number of persons who resort to a fair is no criterion
+of the number, size, and quality of the shows by which it is attended, or
+of the gains of the showmen. Croydon Fair was never visited by so many
+thousands of persons as in the years of its decadence, which commenced
+with the opening of the railway; but the average expenditure of each
+person, so far from increasing in the same proportion, must have
+considerably diminished.
+
+The Easter Fair at Greenwich was the opening event of the season, and
+during its best days Richardson's theatre always occupied the best
+position. John Cartlitch, the original representative of Mazeppa, and
+James Barnes, afterwards famous as the pantaloon of the Covent Garden
+pantomimes, were members of Richardson's company at this time; and it was
+joined at Greenwich by Nelson Lee, well known to the present generation as
+an enterprising theatrical manager and a prolific producer of pantomimes,
+but at that time fresh from school, with no other experience of theatrical
+business than he had gained during a brief engagement as a supernumerary
+at the old Royalty to serve as the foundation of the fame to which he
+aspired.
+
+James and Nelson Lee were the sons of Colonel Lee, who commanded a line
+regiment of infantry during the period of the Peninsular war. At their
+father's death, the elder boy was articled to a wine merchant in the City
+of London, but evinced so much dislike to trade, and such strong
+theatrical proclivities, that the articles were cancelled, and he was
+placed under the tuition of Bradley, the famous swordsman of the Coburg.
+He declined a second time, however, to fulfil his engagement, and, leaving
+Bradley at the expiration of the first year, joined Bannister's circus
+company, in what capacity my researches have failed to show.
+
+The Whitsuntide Fair at Greenwich was followed at this time by a small
+fair at Deptford, on the occasion of the annual official visit of the
+Master of the Trinity House, which was always made on the morrow of the
+festival of the Trinity. Ealing, Fairlop, Mitcham, and Camberwell
+followed; then came Bartholomew; the round of the fairs within ten miles
+of the metropolis being completed by Enfield and Croydon.
+
+Richardson generally proceeded from Ealing to Portsmouth, where the three
+weeks' town fair was immediately followed by another of a week's duration
+on Portsdown Hill. One of the many stories which are current among showmen
+and actors of his eccentricities of character has its scene at a
+public-house on the Portsmouth road, at which he had, in the preceding
+year, been refused water and provender for his horses, the innkeeper
+growling that he had been "done" once by a showman, and did not want to
+have anything more to do with show folks. Richardson bore the insult in
+his mind, and on approaching the house again sent his company forward,
+desiring each to order a glass of brandy-and-water, but not to touch it
+until he joined them. Twenty glasses of brandy-and-water, all wanted at
+once, was an unprecedented demand upon that roadside hostelry; and the
+landlord, as he summoned all his staff to assist him, wondered what could
+be the cause of such an influx of visitors. While the beverage was being
+concocted the waggons came up, with Richardson walking at the head.
+
+"Here we are, governor!" exclaimed one of the actors, who had, in the
+meantime, strolled out upon a little green before the inn.
+
+"Hullo!" said Richardson, affecting surprise. "I thought you had gone on
+to the Black Bull. What are you all doing here?"
+
+"Waiting for you to pay for the brandy-and-water, governor," replied the
+comedian.
+
+"Not if I know it!" returned Richardson, with a scowl at the expectant
+innkeeper. "That's the crusty fellow that wouldn't give the poor beasts a
+pail of water and a mouthful of hay last year, and not a shilling of my
+money shall ever go into his pocket. So come on, my lads, and I'll stand
+glasses all round at the Black Bull."
+
+And with these words he strode on, followed by his company, leaving the
+disappointed innkeeper aghast behind his twenty glasses of
+brandy-and-water.
+
+At Portsmouth some dissension arose between Richardson and William Cooke,
+whose equestrians, as the consequence or the cause, paraded in front of
+the theatre, and prevented free access to it.
+
+"We must move them chaps from before our steps, Lewis," said Richardson to
+his stage-manager; and having a basket-horse among his properties, he had
+some squibs and crackers affixed to it, and sent one of the company to
+caper in it in the rear of Cooke's horses.
+
+Very few of the horses used for circus parades being trained for the
+business of the ring, the fireworks no sooner began to fizz and bang than
+the equine obstructives became so restive that Cooke found it expedient to
+recall them to his own parade waggon.
+
+Richardson always returned to the metropolis for Bartholomew Fair, where
+the shows were, in 1820, arranged for the first time in the manner
+described by Hone five years later. They had previously formed a block on
+the site of the sheep-pens; but this year swings and roundabouts were
+excluded, so as to preserve the area open, and the shows were built round
+the sides of the quadrangle. As the fair existed at this time, there were
+small uncovered stalls from the Skinner Street corner of Giltspur Street,
+along the whole length of the churchyard; and on the opposite side of
+Giltspur Street there were like stalls from the Newgate Street corner,
+along the front of the Compter prison. At these stalls were sold fruit,
+oysters, toys, gingerbread, baskets, and other articles of trifling value.
+They were held by the small fry of the stall-keeping fraternity, who
+lacked means to pay for space and furnish out a tempting display. The
+fronts of these standings were towards the passengers in the
+carriage-way.
+
+Then, with occasional distances of three or four feet for footways from
+the road to the pavement, began lines of covered stalls, with their open
+fronts opposite the fronts of the houses and close to the curbstone, and
+their enclosed backs to the road. On the St. Sepulchre's side they
+extended to Cock Lane, and thence to the Smithfield corner of Giltspur
+Street, then, turning the corner into Smithfield, they extended to Hosier
+Lane, and from thence all along the west side of Smithfield to Cow Lane,
+where, on that side, they terminated in a line with the opposite corner
+leading to St. John Street, where the line was resumed, and continued to
+Smithfield Bars, and there, on the west side, ended. Crossing over to the
+east side, and returning south, these covered stalls commenced opposite to
+their termination on the west, and ran towards Smithfield, turning into
+which they extended westerly towards the pig-market, and thence to Long
+Lane, from which point they ran along the east side of Smithfield to the
+great gate of Cloth Fair. From Duke Street they continued along the south
+side to the great front gate of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and from
+thence to the carriage entrance of the hospital, from whence they
+extended along Giltspur Street to the Compter, where they joined the
+uncovered stalls.
+
+These covered stalls, thus surrounding Smithfield, belonged to dealers in
+gingerbread, toys, hardwares, pocketbooks, trinkets, and articles of all
+prices, from a halfpenny to ten shillings. The largest stalls were those
+of the toy-sellers, some of which had a frontage of twenty-five feet, and
+many of eighteen feet. The frontage of the majority of the stalls was
+eight to twelve feet; they were six or seven feet high in front, and five
+at the back, and all formed of canvas stretched upon a light frame-work of
+wood; the canvas roofs sloped to the backs, which were enclosed by canvas
+to the ground. The fronts were open to the thronging passengers, for whom
+a clear way was preserved on the pavements between the stalls and the
+houses, all of which, necessarily, had their shutters up and their doors
+closed.
+
+The shows had their fronts towards the area of Smithfield, and their backs
+to the backs of the stalls, without any passage between them in any part.
+The area of Smithfield was thus entirely open, and persons standing in the
+carriage-way could see all the shows at one view. They surrounded
+Smithfield entirely, except on the north side. Against the pens in the
+centre there were no shows, the space between being kept free for
+spectators and persons making their way to the exhibitions. Yet, although
+no vehicle of any kind was permitted to pass, this immense carriage-way
+was always so thronged as to be almost impassable. Officers were stationed
+at the Giltspur Street, Hosier Lane, and Duke Street entrances to prevent
+carriages and horsemen from entering, the only ways by which these were
+allowed ingress to Smithfield being through Cow Lane, Chick Lane,
+Smithfield Bars, and Long Lane; and they were to go on and pass, without
+stopping, through one or other of these entrances, and without turning
+into the body of the fair. The city officers, to whom was committed the
+execution of these regulations, enforced them with rigour, never swerving
+from their instructions, but giving no just ground of offence to those
+whom the regulations displeased.
+
+The shows were very numerous this year. There were four menageries, the
+proprietors of which are not named in the newspapers of the day, which
+inform us further that there was "the usual variety of conjurors,
+wire-dancers, giants, dwarfs, fat children, learned pigs, albinoes, &c."
+Ballard, Wombwell, and Atkins were probably among the menagerists, though
+I have found no bill or other memorial of either of the two great
+menageries of the second quarter of the eighteenth century of an earlier
+date than 1825.
+
+Gyngell, like Richardson, never missed Bartholomew Fair in those days; and
+he was now supported by a clever grown-up family, consisting of Joseph,
+who was a good juggler and balancer; Horatio, who, besides being a dancer,
+was a self-taught artist of considerable ability; George, who was a
+pyrotechnist; and Louisa, a very beautiful young woman and graceful
+tight-rope dancer, who afterwards fell, and broke one of her arms, in
+ascending from the stage of Covent Garden Theatre to the gallery. Nelson
+Lee joined Gyngell's company on the termination of his engagement with
+Richardson; and, having learned the juggling business from a Frenchman in
+the _troupe_, shortly afterwards exhibited his skill at the Adelphi, and
+other London theatres.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+    Saker and the Lees--Richardson's Theatre--Wombwell, the
+    Menagerist--The Lion Fights at Warwick--Maughan, the Showman--Miss
+    Hipson, the Fat Girl--Lydia Walpole, the Dwarf--The Persian Giant and
+    the Fair Circassian--Ball's Theatre--Atkins's Menagerie--A Mare with
+    Seven Feet--Hone's Visit to Richardson's Theatre--Samwell's
+    Theatre--Clarke's Circus--Brown's Theatre of Arts--Ballard's
+    Menagerie--Toby, the Learned Pig--William Whitehead, the Fat
+    Boy--Elizabeth Stock, the Giantess--Chappell and Pike's Theatre--The
+    Spotted Boy--Wombwell's "Bonassus"--Gouffe, the Man-Monkey--De Berar's
+    Phantasmagoria--Scowton's Theatre--Death of Richardson.
+
+
+Nelson Lee had just completed a round of engagements at the London
+theatres when, in 1822, his brother, having terminated his engagement with
+Bannister's circus, came to the metropolis, and fitted up an unoccupied
+factory in the Old Kent Road as a theatre. Nelson joined him in the
+enterprise, which for a time was tolerably successful; but they had
+omitted the requisite preliminary of obtaining a licence, and one night a
+strong force of constables invaded the theatre, and arrested every one
+present, audience as well as actors, with one exception. Saker, who
+afterwards won some distinction as a comedian, ascended into a loft on the
+first alarm, and drew up the ladder by which he had escaped. When all was
+quiet, he descended, and left the building through a window. The
+watch-houses of Southwark, Newington, Camberwell, and Greenwich were
+filled with the offenders, most of whom, however, were discharged on the
+following day, while the Lees, who pleaded ignorance of the law, escaped
+with a small fine.
+
+The same year witnessed the final performances of "Lady Holland's Mob."
+About five thousand of the rabble of the City assembled in the
+neighbourhood of Skinner Street, about midnight of the eve of St.
+Bartholomew, and roared and rioted till between three and four o'clock
+next morning, without interference from the watch or the constables. From
+this time, however, this annual Saturnalia was not observed, or was
+observed so mildly that the newspapers contain no record of the
+circumstance.
+
+In 1823, Richardson presented his patrons with a drama called _The Virgin
+Bride_, and an extravaganza entitled _Tom, Logic, and Jerry_, founded upon
+Moncrieff's drama, and concluding with a panorama of the metropolis. On
+the third day, a romantic drama called _The Wanderer_ was substituted.
+
+Wombwell's menagerie comes prominently into notice about this time. Its
+proprietor is said to have begun life as a cobbler in Monmouth Street,
+Seven Dials, then a famous mart of the second-hand clothes trade, and now
+called Dudley Street. The steps by which he subsequently advanced to the
+position of an importer of wild animals and proprietor of one of the
+largest and finest collections that ever travelled are unknown; but that
+he preceded Jamrach and Rice in the former vocation is proved by the
+existence of a small yellow card, bearing the device of a tiger, and the
+inscription--
+
+       WOMBWELL,
+  WILD BEAST MERCHANT,
+   _Commercial Road_,
+        LONDON.
+
+_All sorts of Foreign Animals, Birds, &c., bought, sold, or exchanged, at
+the Repository, or the Travelling Menagerie._
+
+Wombwell never missed Bartholomew Fair, as long as it continued to be
+held, but a story is told of him which shows that he was once very near
+doing so. His menagerie was at Newcastle-on-Tyne within a fortnight of the
+time when it should be in Smithfield, and it did not seem possible to
+reach London in time; but, being in the metropolis on some business
+connected with his Commercial Road establishment, he found that Atkins was
+advertising that his menagerie would be "the only wild beast show in the
+fair." The rivalry which appears to have existed at that time between the
+two great menagerists prompted Wombwell to post down to Newcastle, and
+immediately commence a forced march to London. By making extraordinary
+exertions, he succeeded in reaching the metropolis on the morning of the
+first day of the fair. But his elephant had exerted itself so much on the
+journey that it died within a few hours after its arrival on the ground.
+
+Atkins heard by some means of his rival's loss, and immediately placarded
+the neighbourhood with the announcement that his menagerie contained "the
+only living elephant in the fair." Wombwell resolved that his rival should
+not make capital of his loss in this manner, and had a long strip of
+canvas painted with the words--"The only dead elephant in the fair." This
+bold bid for public patronage proved a complete success. A dead elephant
+was a greater rarity than a live one, and his show was crowded every day
+of the fair, while Atkins's was comparatively deserted. The keen rivalry
+which this story illustrates did not endure for ever, for, during the
+period of my earliest recollections, from forty to fifty years ago, the
+two great menageries never visited Croydon Fair together, their
+proprietors agreeing to take that popular resort in their tours in
+alternate years.
+
+I never failed, in my boyhood, to visit Wombwell's, or Atkins's show,
+whichever visited Croydon Fair, and could never sufficiently admire the
+gorgeously-uniformed bandsmen, whose brazen instruments brayed and blared
+from noon till night on the exterior platform, and the immense pictures,
+suspended from lofty poles, of elephants and giraffes, lions and tigers,
+zebras, boa constrictors, and whatever else was most wonderful in the
+brute creation, or most susceptible of brilliant colouring. The difference
+in the scale to which the zoological rarities within were depicted on the
+canvas, as compared with the figures of men that were represented, was a
+very characteristic feature of these pictorial displays. The boa
+constrictor was given the girth of an ox, and the white bear should have
+been as large as an elephant, judged by the size of the sailors who were
+attacking him among his native ice-bergs.
+
+I have a perfect recollection of Wombwell's two famous lions, Nero and
+Wallace, and their keeper, "Manchester Jack," as he was called, who used
+to enter Nero's cage, and sit upon the animal, open his mouth, etc. It is
+said that, when Van Amburgh arrived in England with his trained lions,
+tigers, and leopards, arrangements were made for a trial of skill and
+daring between him and Manchester Jack, which was to have taken place at
+Southampton, but fell through, owing to the American showing the white
+feather. The story seems improbable, for Van Amburgh's daring in his
+performances has never been excelled.
+
+Lion-tamers, like gymnasts, are generally killed half-a-dozen times by
+rumour, though they die in their beds in about the same proportion as
+other men; and I remember hearing an absurd story which conferred upon
+Manchester Jack the unenviable distinction of having his head bitten off
+by a lion. He was said to have been exhibiting the fool-hardy trick, with
+which Van Amburgh's name was so much associated, of putting his head in
+the lion's mouth, and to have been awakened to a sense of his temerity and
+its consequences by hearing the animal growl, and feeling its jaw close
+upon his neck.
+
+"Does he whisk his tail, Bill?" he was reported to have said to another
+keeper while in this horrible situation.
+
+"Yes," replied Bill.
+
+"Then I am a dead man!" groaned Manchester Jack.
+
+A moment afterwards, the lion snapped its formidable jaws, and bit off the
+keeper's head. Such was the story; but it is contradicted by the fact that
+Manchester Jack left the menagerie with a whole skin, and for many years
+afterwards kept an inn at Taunton, where he died in 1865.
+
+Nero's tameness and docility made him a public favourite, but the "lion,"
+_par excellence_, of Wombwell's show, after the lion-baitings at Warwick,
+was Wallace. At the time when the terrible death of the lion-tamer,
+Macarthy, had invested the subject with extraordinary interest, a
+narrative appeared in the columns of a metropolitan morning journal,
+purporting to relate the experiences of "an ex-lion king," in which the
+story of these combats was revived, but in a manner not easily reconciled
+with the statement of the man who communicated his reminiscences to the
+"special commissioner" of the journal in question, that he knew the
+animals and their keeper.
+
+"Did you ever," the ex-lion king was reported to have said, "hear of old
+Wallace's fight with the dogs? George Wombwell was at very low water, and
+not knowing how to get his head up again, he thought of a fight between an
+old lion he had--sometimes called Wallace, sometimes Nero--and a dozen of
+mastiff dogs. Wallace was as tame as a sheep; I knew him well--I wish all
+lions were like him. The prices of admission ranged from a guinea up to
+five guineas, and every seat was taken, and had the menagerie been three
+times as large it would have been full. It was a queer go, and no mistake!
+Sometimes the old lion would scratch a lump out of a dog, and sometimes
+the dogs would make as if they were going to worry the old lion; but
+neither side showed any serious fight, and at length the patience of the
+audience got exhausted, and they went away in disgust. George's excuse
+was, 'We can't make 'em fight, can we, if they won't?' There was no
+getting over this, and George cleared over two thousand pounds by the
+night's work."
+
+According to the newspaper reports of the time, two of these lion-baitings
+took place; and some vague report or dim recollection of the events as
+they actually occurred seems to have been in the mind of the "ex-lion
+king" when he gave the preceding account of them. The combats were said to
+have originated in a bet between two sporting gentlemen, and the dogs were
+not a dozen mastiffs, but six bull-dogs, and attacked the lion in "heats"
+of three. The first fight, the incidents of which were similar in
+character to those described in the foregoing story, was between Nero and
+the dogs, and took place in July, 1825; at which time the menagerie was
+located in the Old Factory Yard, in the outskirts of Warwick, on the road
+to Northampton. This not being considered satisfactory and conclusive, a
+second encounter was arranged, in which Wallace, a younger animal, was
+substituted for the old lion, with very different results. Every dog that
+faced the lion was killed or disabled, the last being carried about in
+Wallace's mouth as a rat is by a terrier or a cat.
+
+Shows had been excluded from Greenwich Fair this year, and Bartholomew's
+was looked forward to by the showmen as the more likely on that account to
+yield an abundant harvest. Hone says that Greenwich Fair was this year
+suppressed by the magistrates, and the absence of shows may be regarded as
+evidence of some bungling and wrong-headed interference; but a score of
+booths for drinking and dancing were there, only two of which, Algar's and
+the Albion, made any charge for admission to the "assembly room," the
+charge for tickets at these being a shilling and sixpence respectively.
+Algar's was three hundred and twenty-three feet long by sixty wide,
+seventy feet of the length constituting the refreshment department, and
+the rest of the space being devoted to dancing, to the music of two harps,
+three violins, bass viol, two clarionets, and flute.
+
+According to the account preserved in Hone's 'Everyday Book,' the number
+of shows assembled in Smithfield this year was twenty-two, of which, one
+was a theatre for dramatic performances, five theatres for the various
+entertainments usually given in circuses, four menageries, one an
+exhibition of glass-blowing, one a peep-show, one a mare with seven feet,
+and the remaining nine, exhibitions of giants, dwarfs, albinoes, fat
+children, etc. Of course, the theatre was Richardson's, and the following
+bill was posted on the exterior, and given to every one who asked for it
+on entering:--
+
+[Asterism] _Change of Performance each Day._
+
+RICHARDSON'S THEATRE.
+
+This day will be performed, an entire new Melo-Drama, called the
+
+       "WANDERING OUTLAW;
+  or, the Hour of Retribution.
+
+"Gustavus, Elector of Saxony, _Mr. Wright_. Orsina, Baron of Holstein,
+_Mr. Cooper_. Ulric and Albert, Vassals to Orsina, _Messrs. Grove_ and
+_Moore_. St. Clair, the Wandering Outlaw, _Mr. Smith_. Rinalda, the
+Accusing Spirit, _Mr. Darling_. Monks, Vassals, Hunters, &c. Rosabella,
+Wife to the Outlaw, _Mrs. Smith_. Nuns and Ladies.
+
+"The Piece concludes with the DEATH OF ORSINA, and the Appearance of the
+
+ACCUSING SPIRIT!
+
+"_The Entertainments to conclude with a New Comic Harlequinade, with New
+Scenery, Tricks, Dresses, and Decorations, called_
+
+  "HARLEQUIN FAUSTUS
+        OR, THE
+  DEVIL WILL HAVE HIS OWN.
+
+"Luciferno, _Mr. Thomas_. Dæmon Amozor, afterwards Pantaloon, _Mr.
+Wilkinson_. Dæmon Ziokos, afterwards Clown, _Mr. Hayward_. Violencello
+Player, _Mr. Hartem_. Baker, _Mr. Thompson_. Landlord, _Mr. Wilkins_.
+Fisherman, _Mr. Rae_. Doctor Faustus, afterwards Harlequin, _Mr. Salter_.
+Adelada, afterwards Columbine, _Miss Wilmot_. Attendant Dæmons, Sprites,
+Fairies, Ballad Singers, Flower Girls, &c., &c.
+
+      _The Pantomime will finish with_
+             A SPLENDID PANORAMA,
+      _Painted by the First Artists_.
+  Boxes, 2_s._ Pit, 1_s._ Gallery, 6 _d._"
+
+The theatre had an elevation exceeding thirty-feet, and occupied a
+hundred feet in width. The back of the exterior platform, or
+parade-waggon, was formed of green baize, before which deeply fringed
+crimson curtains were festooned, except at two places where the
+money-takers sat in wide and roomy projections, fitted up like Gothic
+shrines, with columns and pinnacles. Fifteen hundred variegated lamps were
+disposed over various parts of this platform, some of them depending from
+the top in the shape of chandeliers and lustres, and others in wreaths and
+festoons. A band of ten performers, in scarlet dresses, similar to those
+worn by the Queen's yeomen, played continually, passing alternately from
+the parade-waggon and the orchestra, and from the interior to the open air
+again.
+
+The auditorium was about a hundred feet long, and thirty feet wide, and
+was hung with green baize and crimson festoons. The seats were rows of
+planks, rising gradually from the ground at the end, and facing the stage,
+without any distinction of boxes, pit, or gallery. The stage was elevated,
+and there was a painted proscenium, with a green curtain, and the royal
+arms above, and an orchestra lined with crimson cloth. Between the
+orchestra and the bottom row of seats was a large space, which, after the
+seats were filled, and greatly to the discomfiture of the lower
+seat-holders, was nearly occupied by spectators. There were at least a
+thousand persons present on the occasion of Hone's visit.
+
+"The curtain drew up," he says, "and presented the Wandering Outlaw, with
+a forest scene and a cottage; the next scene was a castle; the third was
+another scene in the forest. The second act commenced with a scene of an
+old church and a market-place. The second scene was a prison, and a ghost
+appeared to the tune of the evening hymn. The third scene was the castle
+that formed the second scene in the first act, and the performance was
+here enlivened by a murder. The fourth scene was rocks, with a cascade,
+and there was a procession to an unexecuted execution; for a ghost
+appeared, and saved the Wandering Outlaw from a fierce-looking headsman,
+and the piece ended. Then a plump little woman sang, 'He loves, and he
+rides away,' and the curtain drew up to Harlequin Faustus, wherein, after
+Columbine and a Clown, the most flaming character was the devil, with a
+red face and hands, in a red Spanish mantle and vest, red 'continuations,'
+stockings and shoes ditto to follow, a red Spanish hat and plume above,
+and a red 'brass bugle horn.' As soon as the fate of Faustus was
+concluded, the sound of a gong announced the happy event, and these
+performances were, in a quarter of an hour, repeated to another equally
+intelligent and brilliant audience."
+
+John Clarke, an elderly, gentlemanly-looking showman, whom I saw a few
+years afterwards "mountebanking" on a piece of waste land at Norwood, and
+whose memory, in spite of his infirmity of temper, is cherished by the
+existing generation of equestrians and acrobats, was here with his circus,
+a large show, with its back against the side of Samwell's, and its front
+in a line with Hosier Lane, and therefore looking towards Smithfield Bars.
+The admission to this show was sixpence. The spacious platform outside was
+lighted with gas, a distinction from the other shows in the fair which
+extended to the interior, where a single hoop, about two feet six inches
+in diameter, with little jets of gas about an inch and a half apart, was
+suspended over the arena.
+
+"The entertainment," says Hone, "commenced by a man dancing on the tight
+rope. The rope was removed and a light bay horse was mounted by a female
+in trousers, with a pink gown fully frilled, flounced, and ribboned, with
+the shoulders in large puffs. While the horse circled the ring at full
+speed, she danced upon him, and skipped with a hoop like a skipping-rope;
+she performed other dexterous feats, and concluded by dancing on the
+saddle with a flag in each hand, while the horse flew round the ring with
+great velocity. These and the subsequent performances were enlivened by
+tunes from a clarionet and horn, and jokes from a clown, who, when she had
+concluded, said to an attendant, 'Now, John, take the horse off, and
+whatever you do, rub him down well with a cabbage.' Then a man rode and
+danced on another horse, a very fine animal, and leaped from him three
+times over garters, placed at a considerable height and width apart,
+alighting on the horse's back while he was going round. This rider was
+remarkably dexterous.
+
+"In conclusion, the clown got up, and rode with many antic tricks, till,
+on the sudden, an apparently drunken fellow rushed from the audience into
+the ring, and began to pull the clown from the horse. The manager
+interfered, and the people cried, 'Turn him out;' but the man persisted,
+and the clown getting off, offered to help him up, and threw him over the
+horse's back to the ground. At length the intruder was seated, with his
+face to the tail, though he gradually assumed a proper position, and,
+riding as a man thoroughly intoxicated would ride, fell off; he then threw
+off his hat and great coat, and his waistcoat, and then an under
+waistcoat, and a third, and a fourth, and more than a dozen waistcoats.
+Upon taking off the last, his trousers fell down, and he appeared in his
+shirt; whereupon he crouched, and drawing his shirt off in a twinkling,
+appeared in a handsome fancy dress, leaped into the saddle, rode standing
+with great grace, received great applause, made his bows, and so the
+performance concluded."
+
+The remainder of the shows of this class charged a penny only for
+admission. Of Samwell's, Hone says,--"I paid my penny to the money-taker,
+a slender 'fine lady,' with three feathers in a 'jewelled turban,' and a
+dress of blue and white muslin, and silver; and within-side I saw the
+'fat, contented, easy' proprietor, who was arrayed in corresponding
+magnificence. If he loved leanness, it was in 'his better half,' for
+himself had none of it. Obesity had disqualified him for activity, and
+therefore in his immensely tight and large satin jacket, he was, as much
+as possible, the active commander of his active performers. He
+superintended the dancing of a young female on the tight rope. Then he
+announced 'A little boy will dance a horn-pipe on the rope,' and he
+ordered his 'band' inside to play; this was obeyed without difficulty, for
+it merely consisted of one man, who blew a hornpipe tune on a Pan's-pipe;
+while it went on, the little boy danced on the tight rope; so far it was a
+hornpipe dance, and no farther. 'The little boy will stand on his head on
+the rope,' said the manager; and the little boy stood on his head
+accordingly. Then another female danced on the slack wire; and after her
+came a horse, not a dancing horse, but a 'learned' horse, quite as learned
+as the horse at Ball's theatre."
+
+At the show last mentioned was a man who balanced chairs on his chin, and
+holding a knife in his mouth, balanced a sword on the edge of the knife;
+he then put a pewter plate on the hilt of the sword horizontally, and so
+balanced the sword with the plate on the edge of the knife as before, the
+plate having previously had imparted to it a rotary motion, which it
+communicated to the sword, and preserved during the balance. He also
+balanced the sword and plate in like manner, with a crown-piece placed
+edge-wise between the point of the sword and the knife; and afterwards
+with two crown-pieces, and then with a key. These feats were accompanied
+by the jokes and grimaces of a clown, and succeeded by an acrobatic
+performance by boys, and a hornpipe by the lady of the company. Then a
+learned horse was introduced, and, as desired by his master, indicated a
+lady who wished to be married, a gentleman who preferred a quart of ale to
+a sermon, a lady who liked lying in bed when she should be up, and other
+persons of various proclivities amusing to the rest of the spectators.
+
+Chappell and Pike's was a very large show, fitted up after the manner of
+Richardson's, with a parade, on which a clown and several acrobats in
+tights and trunks, and young ladies in ballet costume, alternately
+promenaded and danced, until the interior filled, and the performances
+commenced. These consisted of tumbling, slack-rope dancing, etc., as at
+Ball's, but better executed. The names of these showmen do not appear
+again in the records of the London fairs, from which it may be inferred
+that the show was a new venture, and failed. There was a performer named
+Chappell in the company of Richardson's theatre, while under the
+management of Nelson Lee; but whether related to the showman of 1825 I am
+unable to say.
+
+The performances of "Brown's Grand Troop, from Paris," commenced with an
+exhibition of conjuring; among other tricks, the conjurer gave a boy beer
+to drink out of a funnel, making him blow through it to show that it was
+empty, and afterwards applying it to each of the boy's ears, from whence,
+through the funnel, the beer appeared to reflow, and poured on the ground.
+Afterwards girls danced on the single and double slack wire, and a
+melancholy-looking clown, among other things, said they were "as clever
+as the barber and blacksmith who shaved magpies at twopence a dozen." The
+show concluded with a learned horse.
+
+The menageries of Wombwell and Atkins were two of the largest shows in the
+fair. The back of the former abutted on the side of Chappell and Pike's
+theatre, on the north side of Smithfield, with the front looking towards
+Giltspur Street, at which avenue it was the first show. The front was
+entirely covered with painted show-cloths representing the animals, with
+the proprietor's name in immense letters above, and the inscription, "The
+Conquering Lion," very conspicuously displayed. There were other
+show-cloths along the whole length of the side, surmounted by this
+inscription, stretching out in one line of large capital letters, "Nero
+and Wallace, the same lions that fought at Warwick." One of the front
+show-cloths represented the second fight; a lion stood up, with a bleeding
+dog in his mouth, and his left fore paw resting upon another dog. A third
+dog was in the act of flying at him ferociously, and one, wounded and
+bleeding, was retreating. There were seven other show-cloths on this
+front, with the inscription "Nero and Wallace" between them. One of these
+show-cloths, whereon the monarch of the forest was painted, was
+inscribed, "Nero, the Great Lion, from Caffraria."
+
+Wombwell's collection comprised at this time four lions and a lioness, two
+leopardesses, with cubs, a hyena, a bitch wolf and cubs, a polar bear, a
+pair of zebras, two onagers or wild asses, and a large assortment of
+monkeys and exotic birds. The bills announced "a remarkably fine tigress
+in the same den with a noble British lion;" but Hone notes that this
+conjunction, the announcement of which was probably suggested by the
+attractiveness of the lion-tiger cubs and their parents in Atkins's
+menagerie, was not to be seen in reality. The combats at Warwick produced
+a strong desire on the part of the public to see the lions who had figured
+in them, and the menagerie was crowded each day from morn till night.
+"Manchester Jack" entered Nero's cage, and invited the visitors to follow,
+which many ventured to do, paying sixpence for the privilege, on his
+assurance that they might do so with perfect safety.
+
+Hone complains of the confusion and disorder which prevailed, and which
+are inseparable from a crowd, and may be not uncharitably suspected of
+being exaggerated in some degree by the evident prejudice which had been
+created in his mind by the lion-baitings at Warwick. It is certain,
+however, that gardens like those of the Zoological Society afford
+conditions for the health and comfort of the animals, and for their
+exhibition to the public, much more favourable than can be obtained in the
+best regulated travelling caravan, or in buildings such as the Tower
+menagerie and Exeter Change. It is impossible to do justice to animals
+which are cooped within the narrow limits of a travelling show, or in any
+place which does not admit of thorough ventilation. Apart from the
+impracticability of allowing sufficient space and a due supply of air, a
+considerable amount of discomfort to the animals is inseparable from
+continuous jolting about the country in caravans, and from the braying of
+brass bands and the glare of gas at evening exhibitions.
+
+It took even the Zoological Society some time to learn the conditions most
+favourable to the maintenance of the mammal tribes of tropical countries
+in a state of health, while subject to the restraint necessary for their
+safe keeping. Too much importance was at first attached to warming the
+cages in which the monkeys and carnivora of India and Africa were kept,
+and too little to ventilating them. I remember the time when the
+carnivora-house in the Society's gardens was a long, narrow building, with
+double folding-doors at each end, and a range of cages on each side. The
+cages were less than half the size of the light and lofty apartments now
+appropriated to the same species, and were artificially heated to such a
+degree that the atmosphere resembled that of the small glass-house in Kew
+Gardens in which the paper-reed and other examples of the aquatic
+vegetation of tropical countries are grown, and was rendered more stifling
+by the strong ammoniacal odour which constantly prevaded it.
+
+It was found, however, that the mortality among the animals,
+notwithstanding all the care that was taken to keep them warm, was very
+great; and the idea gradually dawned upon the minds of the Council of the
+Society that ventilation might be more conducive to the health and
+longevity of the animals than any amount of heat. As lions and tigers,
+leopards and hyenas, baboons and monkeys, live, in a state of nature, in
+the open air of their native forests, the imperfect ventilation of the old
+carnivora-house and monkey-house seemed, when once the idea was broached,
+to be a very likely cause of the excessive mortality, which, as lions and
+tigers cost from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pounds, was
+a constant source of heavy demands upon the Society's funds. It was
+determined, therefore, to try the experiment of constructing larger cages,
+and admitting the pure external air to them; and the results were so
+satisfactory that everybody wondered that the improved hygienic conditions
+had not been thought of before.
+
+Atkins had a very fine collection of the feline genus, and was famous for
+the production of hybrids between the lion and the tigress. The cubs so
+produced united some of the external characteristics of both parents,
+their colour being tawny, marked while they were young with darker
+stripes, such as may be observed in black kittens, the progeny of a tabby
+cat. These markings disappeared, however, as the lion-tigers approached
+maturity, at which time the males had the mane entirely deficient, or very
+little developed. I remember seeing a male puma and a leopardess in the
+same cage in this menagerie, but I am unable to state whether the union
+was fruitful.
+
+The display of show-cloths on the outside of this menagerie extended about
+forty feet in length, and the proprietor's name flamed along the front in
+coloured lamps. A brass band of eight performers, wearing scarlet tunics
+and leopard-skin caps, played on the outside; and Atkins shouted from time
+to time, "Don't be deceived! The great performing elephant is _here_; also
+the only lion and tigress in one den to be seen in the fair, or I'll
+forfeit a thousand guineas! Walk up!--walk up!"
+
+The following singularly descriptive bill was posted on the outside and
+wherever else it could be displayed:--
+
+           "MORE WONDERS IN
+       ATKINS'S ROYAL MENAGERIE.
+  Under the Patronage of HIS MAJESTY.
+        G. [Illustration] R.
+
+"Wonderful Phenomenon in Nature! The singular and hitherto deemed
+impossible occurrence of a LION and TIGRESS cohabiting and producing
+young, has actually taken place in this menagerie, at Windsor. The
+tigress, on Wednesday, the 27th of October last, produced _three fine
+cubs_; one of them strongly resembles the tigress; the other two are of a
+lighter colour, but striped. Mr. Atkins had the honour (through the kind
+intervention of the Marquis of Conyngham) of exhibiting the _lion-tigers_
+to His Majesty, on the first of November, 1824, at the Royal Lodge,
+Windsor Great Park; when His Majesty was pleased to observe, they were the
+greatest curiosity of the beast creation he had ever witnessed.
+
+"The royal striped _Bengal Tigress_ has again whelped three fine cubs,
+(April 22,) two males and one female; the males are white, but striped;
+the female resembles the tigress, and, singular to observe, she fondles
+them with all the care of an attentive mother. The sire of the young cubs
+is the noble male lion. This remarkable instance of subdued temper and
+association of animals to permit the keeper to enter their den, and
+introduce their young to the spectators, is the greatest phenomenon in
+natural philosophy.
+
+"That truly singular and wonderful animal, the AUROCHOS. Words can only
+convey but a very confused idea of this animal's shape, for there are few
+so remarkably formed. Its head is furnished with two large horns, growing
+from the forehead, in a form peculiar to no other animal; from the
+nostrils to the forehead is a stiff tuft of hair, and underneath the jaw
+to the neck is a similar brush of hair, and between the forelegs is hair
+growing about a foot and a half long. The mane is like that of a horse,
+white, tinged with black, with a beautiful long flowing white tail; the
+eye remarkably keen, and as large as the eye of the elephant: colour of
+the animal, dark chesnut; the appearance of the head, in some degree
+similar to the buffalo, and in some part formed like the goat, the hoof
+being divided; such is the general outline of this quadruped, which seems
+to partake of several species. This beautiful animal was brought over by
+Captain White, from the south of Africa, and landed in England, September
+20th, 1823; and is the same animal so frequently mistaken by travellers
+for the unicorn: further to describe its peculiarities would occupy too
+much space in a handbill. The only one in England.
+
+"That colossal animal, the wonderful performing
+
+ELEPHANT,
+
+Upwards of ten feet high!! Five tons weight!! His consumption of hay,
+corn, straw, carrots, water, &c., exceeds 800 lbs. daily. The elephant,
+the human race excepted, is the most respectable of animals. In size, he
+surpasses all other terrestrial creatures, and by far exceeds any other
+travelling animal in England. He has ivory tusks, four feet long, one
+standing out on each side of his trunk. His trunk serves him instead of
+hands and arms, with which he can lift up and seize the smallest as well
+as the largest objects. He alone drags machines which six horses cannot
+move. To his prodigious strength, he adds courage, prudence, and an exact
+obedience. He remembers favours as well as injuries; in short, the
+sagacity and knowledge of this extraordinary animal are beyond anything
+human imagination can possibly suggest. He will lie down and get up at the
+word of command, notwithstanding the many fabulous tales of their having
+no joints in their legs. He will take a sixpence from the floor, and place
+it in a box he has in the caravan; bolt and unbolt a door; take his
+keeper's hat off, and replace it; and by the command of his keeper, will
+perform so many wonderful tricks that he will not only astonish and
+entertain the audience, but justly prove himself the half-reasoning beast.
+He is the only elephant now travelling.
+
+"A full grown LION and LIONESS with four cubs, produced December 12, 1824,
+at Cheltenham.
+
+"_Male Bengal Tiger._ Next to the lion, the tiger is the most tremendous
+of the carnivorous class; and whilst he possesses all the bad qualities of
+the former, seems to be a stranger to the good ones; to pride, to
+strength, to courage, the lion adds greatness, and sometimes, perhaps,
+clemency; while the tiger, without provocation, is fierce--without
+necessity, is cruel. Instead of instinct, he hath nothing but a uniform
+rage, a blind fury; so blind, indeed, so undistinguishing, that he
+frequently devours his own progeny; and if the tigress offers to defend
+them he tears in pieces the dam herself.
+
+"The _Onagra_, a native of the Levant, the eastern parts of Asia, and the
+northern parts of Africa. This race differs from the Zebra, by the size of
+the body, (which is larger,) slenderness of the legs, and lustre of the
+hair. The only one now alive in England.
+
+"_Two Zebras_, one full grown, the other in its infant state, in which it
+seems as if the works of art had been combined with those of nature in
+this wonderful production. In symmetry of shape, and beauty of colour, it
+is the most elegant of all quadrupeds ever presented; uniting the graceful
+figure of a horse, with the fleetness of a stag; beautifully striped with
+regular lines, black and white.
+
+"A Nepaul _Bison_, only twenty-four inches high.
+
+"_Panther_, or spotted tiger of Buenos Ayres, the only one travelling.
+
+"A pair of _rattle-tail Porcupines_.
+
+"Striped untamable _Hyæna_, a tiger-wolf.
+
+"An elegant _Leopard_, the handsomest marked animal ever seen.
+
+"Spotted _Laughing Hyæna_, the same kind of animal described never to be
+tamed; but, singular to observe, it is perfectly tame, and its attachment
+to a dog in the same den is very remarkable.
+
+"The spotted _Cavy_.
+
+"Pair of _Jackalls_.
+
+"Pair of interesting _Sledge Dogs_, brought over by Captain Parry from one
+of the northern expeditions; they are used by the Esquimaux to draw the
+sledges on the ice, which they accomplish with great velocitv.
+
+"A pair of _Rackoons_, from North America.
+
+"The _Oggouta_, from Java.
+
+"A pair of Jennetts, or wild cats.
+
+"The _Coatimondi_, or ant-eater.
+
+"A pair of those extraordinary and rare birds, PELICANS of the wilderness;
+the only two alive in the three kingdoms.--These birds have been
+represented on all crests and coats of arms, to cut their breasts open
+with the points of their bills, and feed their young with their own blood,
+and are justly allowed by all authors to be the greatest curiosity of the
+feathered tribe.
+
+"_Ardea Dubia_, or adjutant of Bengal, gigantic emew, or Linnæus's
+southern ostrich. The peculiar characteristics that distinguish this bird
+from the rest of the feathered tribe,--it comes from Brazil, in the new
+continent; it stands from eight to nine feet high when full grown; it is
+too large to fly, but is capable of outrunning the fleetest horses of
+Arabia; what is still more singular, every quill produces two feathers.
+The only one travelling.
+
+"A pair of rapacious _Condor Minors_, from the interior of South America,
+the largest birds of flight in the world when full grown; it is the same
+kind of bird the Indians have asserted to carry off a deer or young calf
+in their talons, and two of them are sufficient to destroy a buffalo, and
+the wings are as much as eighteen feet across.
+
+"The great _Horned Owl_ of Bohemia. Several species of gold and silver
+pheasants, of the most splendid plumage, from China and Peru.
+Yellow-crested cockatoo. Scarlet and buff macaws.--Admittance to see the
+whole menagerie, 1_s._--Children 6_d._--Open from ten in the forenoon till
+feeding-time, half-past nine, 2_s._"
+
+Hone says that this menagerie was thoroughly clean, and that the condition
+of the animals told that they were well taken care of. The elephant, with
+his head protruded between the stout bars of his house, whisked his
+proboscis diligently in search of eatables from the spectators, who
+supplied him with fruit and biscuits, or handed him halfpence which he
+uniformly conveyed by his trunk to a retailer of gingerbread, and got his
+money's worth in return. Then he unbolted the door to let in his keeper,
+and bolted it after him; took up a sixpence with his trunk, lifted the lid
+of a little box fixed against the wall, and deposited it within it, and
+some time afterwards relifted the lid, and taking out the sixpence with a
+single motion, returned it to the keeper; he knelt down when told, fired
+off a blunderbuss, took off the keeper's hat, and afterwards replaced it
+on his head as well as the man's hand could have done it; in short, he was
+perfectly docile, and well maintained the reputation of his species for a
+high degree of intelligence.
+
+"The keeper," says Hone, "showed every animal in an intelligent manner,
+and answered the questions of the company readily and with civility. His
+conduct was rewarded by a good parcel of halfpence when his hat went round
+with a hope that 'the ladies and gentlemen would not forget the keeper
+before he showed the lion and tigress.' The latter was a beautiful young
+animal, with playful cubs about the size of bull-dogs, but without the
+least fierceness. When the man entered the den, they frolicked and climbed
+about him like kittens; he took them up in his arms, bolted them in a back
+apartment, and after playing with the tigress a little, threw back a
+partition which separated her den from the lion's, and then took the lion
+by the beard. This was a noble animal; he was couching, and being inclined
+to take his rest, only answered the keeper's command to rise by extending
+his whole length, and playfully putting up one of his magnificent paws, as
+a cat does when in a good humour. The man then took a short whip, and
+after a smart lash or two upon his back, the lion rose with a yawn, and
+fixed his eye on his keeper with a look that seemed to say, 'Well, I
+suppose I must humour you.'
+
+"The man then sat down at the back of the den, with his back at the
+partition, and after some ordering and coaxing, the tigress sat on his
+right hand, and the lion on his left, and, all three being thus seated,
+he threw his arms round their necks, played with their noses, and laid
+their heads in his lap. He rose, and the animals with him; the lion stood
+in a fine majestic position, but the tigress reared, and putting one foot
+over his shoulder, and patting him with the other, as if she had been
+frolicking with one of her cubs, he was obliged to check her playfulness.
+Then by coaxing, and pushing him about, he caused the lion to sit down,
+and while in that position opened the animal's ponderous jaws with his
+hands, and thrust his face down into the lion's throat, wherein he
+shouted, and there held his head nearly a minute. After this he held up a
+common hoop for the tigress to leap through, and she did it frequently.
+The lion seemed more difficult to move to this sport. He did not appear to
+be excited by command or entreaty; at last, however, he went through the
+hoop, and having been once roused, he repeated the action several times;
+the hoop was scarcely two feet in diameter. The exhibition of these two
+animals concluded by the lion lying down on his side, when the keeper
+stretched himself to his whole length upon him, and then calling to the
+tigress she jumped upon the man, extended herself with her paws upon his
+shoulders, placed her face sideways upon his, and the whole three lay
+quiescent till the keeper suddenly slipped himself off the lion's side,
+with the tigress on him, and the trio gambolled and rolled about on the
+floor of the den, like playful children on the floor of a nursery.
+
+"Of the beasts there is not room to say more than that their number was
+surprising, considering that they formed a better selected collection, and
+showed in higher condition from cleanliness and good feeding, than any
+assemblage I ever saw. Their variety and beauty, with the usual accessory
+of monkeys, made a splendid picture. The birds were equally admirable,
+especially the pelicans and the emew. This show would have furnished a
+dozen sixpenny shows, at least, to a Bartlemy Fair twenty years ago."
+
+The other menageries were penny shows. One was Ballard's, of which the
+great attraction was still, though nine years had elapsed since the event,
+the lioness which attacked the Exeter mail-coach. The collection contained
+besides a fine lion, a tiger, a large polar bear, and several smaller
+quadrupeds, monkeys, and birds. Hone has not preserved the name of the
+owner of the fourth collection, which he says was "a really good
+exhibition of a fine lion, with leopards, and various other beasts of the
+forest. They were mostly docile and in good condition. One of the leopards
+was carried by his keeper a pick-a-back." This was probably Morgan's,
+which we find at this fair three years later.
+
+The daily cost of the food of the animals in a menagerie is no trifle. The
+amount of animal food required for the carnivora in a first class
+menagerie is about four hundredweight daily, consisting chiefly of the
+shins, hearts, and heads of bullocks. A full-grown lion or tiger will
+consume twelve pounds of meat per day, and this is said to have been the
+allowance in Wombwell's menagerie; but it is more, I believe, than is
+allowed in the gardens of the Zoological Society. Bears are allowed meat
+only in the winter, their food at other seasons consisting of bread,
+sopped biscuit, or boiled rice, sweetened with sugar. Then there are the
+elephants, camels, antelopes, etc., to be provided for; and the quantity
+of hay, cabbages, bread, and boiled rice which an elephant will consume,
+in addition to the buns and biscuits given to it by the visitors, is, as
+Dominie Sampson would say, prodigious. There is a story told of an
+elephant belonging to a travelling menagerie which escaped from the stable
+in which it had been placed for the night, and, wandering through the
+village, found a baker's shop open. It pushed its head in, and, helping
+itself with its trunk, devoured sixteen four-pound loaves, and was
+beginning to empty the glass jars of the sweets they contained when the
+arrival of its keeper interrupted its stolen repast.
+
+I now come to the minor exhibitions, of which the first from Hosier Lane,
+where it stood at the corner, was a peep-show, in which rudely painted
+pictures were successively lowered by the showmen, and viewed through
+circular apertures, fitted with glasses of magnifying power. A green
+curtain separated the spectators from the outer throng while they gazed
+upon such strangely contrasted scenes as the murder of Weare and the Queen
+of Sheba's visit to Solomon, the execution of Probert and the conversion
+of St. Paul, the Greenland whale fishery and the building of Babel,
+Wellington at Waterloo and Daniel in the lions' den!
+
+Next to this stood a show, on the exterior of which a man beat a drum with
+one hand, and played a hurdy-gurdy with the other, pausing occasionally to
+invite the gazers to walk up, and see the living wonders thus announced on
+the show-cloths:--"_Miss Hipson, the Middlesex Wonder, the Largest Child
+in the Kingdom, when young the Handsomest Child in the World.--The Persian
+Giant.--The Fair Circassian with Silver Hair.--The Female Dwarf, Two Feet
+Eleven Inches high.--Two Wild Indians from the Malay Islands in the
+East._" When a company had collected, the wonders were shown from the
+floor of a caravan on wheels, one side being taken out, and replaced by a
+curtain, which was drawn or thrown back as occasion required. After the
+audience had dispersed, Hone was permitted by the proprietor of the show,
+Nicholas Maughan, of Ipswich, to go "behind the curtain," where the artist
+who accompanied him completed his sketches for the illustrations in the
+'Every-day Book,' while Hone entered into conversation with the persons
+exhibited.
+
+"Miss Hipson, only twelve years of age, is," he says, "remarkably
+gigantic, or rather corpulent, for her age, pretty, well-behaved, and
+well-informed; she weighed sixteen stone a few months before, and has
+since increased in size; she has ten brothers and sisters, nowise
+remarkable in appearance: her father, who is dead, was a bargeman at
+Brentford. The name of the 'little lady' is Lydia Walpole; she was born at
+Addiscombe, near Yarmouth, and is sociable, agreeable, and intelligent.
+The fair Circassian is of pleasing countenance and manners. The Persian
+giant is a good-natured, tall, stately negro. The two Malays could not
+speak English, except three words, 'drop o' rum,' which they repeated with
+great glee. One of them, with long hair reaching below the waist,
+exhibited the posture of drawing a bow. Mr. Maughan described them as
+being passionate, and showed me a severe wound on his finger which the
+little one had given him by biting, while he endeavoured to part him and
+his countryman, during a quarrel a few days ago. A 'female giant' was one
+of the attractions of this exhibition, but she could not be shown for
+illness: Miss Hipson described her to be a very good young woman.
+
+"There was an appearance of ease and good condition, with content of mind,
+in the persons composing this show, which induced me to put several
+questions to them, and I gathered that I was not mistaken in my
+conjecture. They described themselves as being very comfortable, and that
+they were taken great care of, and well treated by the proprietor, Mr.
+Maughan, and his partner in the show. The 'little lady' had a thorough
+good character from Miss Hipson as an affectionate creature; and it seems
+the females obtained exercise by rising early, and being carried out into
+the country in a post-chaise, where they walked, and thus maintained their
+health. This was to me the most pleasing show in the fair."
+
+Between this show and Richardson's theatre was a small temporary stable,
+in which was exhibited a mare with seven feet: the admission to this sight
+was threepence. The following is a copy of the printed bill:--
+
+"To Sportsmen and Naturalists.--Now exhibiting, one of the greatest living
+natural curiosities in the world; namely, a thorough-bred chesnut MARE,
+with seven legs! four years of age, perfectly sound, free from blemish,
+and shod on six of her feet. She is very fleet in her paces, being
+descended from that famous horse Julius Cæsar, out of a thorough-bred race
+mare descended from Eclipse, and is remarkably docile and temperate. She
+is the property of Mr. J. Checketts, of Belgrave hall, Leicestershire; and
+will be exhibited for a few days as above."
+
+Each of this mare's hind legs, besides its natural foot, had another
+growing out from the fetlock joint; one of these additions was nearly the
+size of the natural foot; the third and least grew from the same joint of
+the fore leg. Andrews, the exhibitor, told Hone that they grew slowly, and
+that the new hoofs were, at first, very soft, and exuded during the
+process of growth.
+
+The line of shows on the east side of Smithfield, commencing at Long Lane,
+began with an exhibition of an Indian woman, a Chinese lady, and a dwarf;
+and next to this stood a small exhibition of wax-figures, to which a dwarf
+and a Maori woman were added. On a company being assembled, the showman
+made a speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, before I show you the wonderful
+prodigies of nature, let me introduce you to the wonderful works of art;"
+and then he drew a curtain, behind which the wax-figures stood. "This,"
+said he, "ladies and gentlemen, is the famous old Mother Shipton; and here
+is the unfortunate Jane Shore, the beautiful mistress of Edward the
+Fourth; next to her is his Majesty George the Fourth of most glorious
+memory; and this is Queen Elizabeth in all her glory; then here you have
+the Princess Amelia, the daughter of his late Majesty, who is dead; this
+is Mary, Queen of Scots, who had her head cut off; and this is O'Brien,
+the famous Irish giant; this man here is Thornton, who was tried for the
+murder of Mary Ashford; and this is the exact resemblance of Othello, the
+Moor of Venice, who was a jealous husband, and depend upon it every man
+who is jealous of his wife will be as black as that negro. Now, ladies and
+gentlemen, the two next are a wonderful couple, John and Margaret Scott,
+natives of Dunkeld, in Scotland; they lived about ninety years ago; John
+Scott was a hundred and five years old when he died, and Margaret lived to
+be a hundred and twelve; and, what is more remarkable, there is not a soul
+living can say he ever heard them quarrel."
+
+Here he closed the curtain, and while undrawing another, continued his
+address as follows: "Having shown you the dead, I have now to exhibit to
+you two of the most extraordinary wonders of the living; this is the
+widow of a New Zealand chief, and this is the little old woman of Bagdad;
+she is thirty inches high, twenty-two years of age, and a native of
+Boston, in Lincolnshire."
+
+The next show announced, for one penny, "_The Black Wild Indian Woman--The
+White Indian Youth--and the Welsh Dwarf--All Alive!_" There was this
+further announcement on the outside: "_The Young American will Perform
+after the Manner of the French Jugglers at Vauxhall Gardens, with Balls,
+Rings, Daggers, &c._" The Welsh dwarf was William Phillips, of Denbigh,
+fifteen years of age. The "White Indian youth" was an Esquimaux; and the
+exhibitor assured the visitors upon his veracity that the "black wild
+Indian woman" was a Court lady of the island of Madagascar. The young
+American was the exhibitor himself, an intelligent and clever fellow in a
+loose striped frock, tied round the middle. He commenced his performances
+by throwing up three balls, which he kept constantly in the air, as he
+afterwards did four, and then five, with great dexterity, using his hands,
+shoulders, and elbows apparently with equal ease. He afterwards threw up
+three rings, each about four inches in diameter, and then four, which he
+kept in motion with similar success. To end his performance, he produced
+three knives, which, by throwing up and down, he contrived to preserve in
+the air altogether. The young American's dress and knives were very
+similar to those of the Anglo-Saxon glee-man, as Strutt has figured them
+from a MS. in the Cotton collection.
+
+The inscriptions and paintings on the outside of the next show announced
+"_The White Negro, who was rescued from her Black Parents by the bravery
+of a British Officer--the only White Negro Girl Alive--The Great Giantess
+and Dwarf--Six Curiosities Alive!--Only a Penny to see them All Alive!_"
+One side of the interior was covered by a pictorial representation of a
+tread-mill, with convicts at work upon it, superintended by warders. On
+the other side were several monkeys in cages, an old bear in a jacket, and
+sundry other animals. When a sufficient number of persons had assembled, a
+curtain was withdrawn, and the visitors beheld the giantess and the white
+negro, whom the showman pronounced "the greatest curiosity ever seen--the
+first that has been exhibited since the reign of George II.--look at her
+head and hair, ladies and gentlemen, and feel it; there's no
+deception--it's like ropes of wool!" The girl, who had the flat nose,
+thick lips, and peculiarly-shaped skull of the negro, stooped to have her
+hair examined. It was of a dull flaxen hue, and hung, according to Hone's
+description, "in ropes, of a clothy texture, the thickness of a quill, and
+from four to six inches in length." Her skin was the colour of an
+European's. Then there stepped forth a little fellow about three feet
+high, in a military dress, with top boots, who "strutted his tiny legs,
+and held his head aloft with not less importance than the proudest general
+officer could assume upon his promotion to the rank of field marshal."
+
+The next show was announced as an "exhibition of real wonders," and the
+following bill was put forth by its proprietor:--
+
+            "REAL WONDERS!
+           SEE AND BELIEVE.
+             Have you seen
+         THE BEAUTIFUL DOLPHIN,
+  _The Performing Pig, and the Mermaid_?
+
+If not, pray do! as the exhibition contains more variety than any other in
+England. Those ladies and gentlemen who may be pleased to honour it with a
+visit will be truly gratified.
+
+                           TOBY,
+  _The Swinish Philosopher, and Ladies' Fortune Teller_.
+
+That beautiful animal appears to be endowed with the natural sense of the
+human race. He is in colour the most beautiful of his race; in symmetry
+the most perfect; in temper the most docile; and far exceeds anything yet
+seen for his intelligent performances. He is beyond all conception: he has
+a perfect knowledge of the alphabet, understands arithmetic, and will
+spell and cast accounts, tell the points of the globe, the dice-box, the
+hour by any person's watch, &c.
+
+  _The Real Head of_
+       MAHOURA,
+  THE CANNIBAL CHIEF!
+
+At the same time the public will have an opportunity of seeing what was
+exhibited so long in London, under the title of
+
+THE MERMAID:
+
+The wonder of the deep! not a fac-simile or copy, but the same curiosity
+
+                         ADMISSION MODERATE.
+  [Asterism] _Open from Eleven in the Morning till Nine in the Evening._"
+
+Foremost among the attractions of this show were the performing pig and
+the show-woman, who drew forth the learning of the "swinish philosopher"
+admirably. He went through the alphabet, and spelt monosyllabic words with
+his nose; and did a sum of two figures in addition. Then, at her desire,
+he indicated those of the company who were in love, or addicted to excess
+in drink; and grunted his conviction that a stout gentleman, who might
+have sat to John Leech for the portrait of John Bull "loved good eating,
+and a pipe, and a jug of ale better than the sight of the Living
+Skeleton." The "beautiful dolphin" was a fish-skin stuffed. The mermaid
+was the last manufactured imposture of that name, exhibited for
+half-a-crown in Piccadilly, about a year before. The "real head of
+Mahoura, the cannibal chief," was a skull, with a dried skin over it, and
+a black wig; "but it looked sufficiently terrific," says Hone, "when the
+show-woman put the candle in at the neck, and the flame illuminated the
+yellow integument over the holes where eyes, nose, and a tongue had been."
+
+Adjoining this was another penny show, with pictures large as life on the
+show-cloths outside of the living wonders within, and the following
+inscription:--"_All Alive! No False Paintings! The Wild Indian, the Giant
+Boy, and the Dwarf Family! Never here before. To be seen alive!_" Thomas
+Day, the reputed father of the dwarf family, was also proprietor of the
+show; he was thirty-five years of age, and only thirty-five inches high.
+There was a boy six years old, only twenty-seven inches high. The "wild
+Indian" was a mild-looking mulatto. The "giant boy," William Wilkinson
+Whitehead, was fourteen years of age, stood five feet two inches high,
+measured five feet round the body, twenty-seven inches across the
+shoulders, twenty inches round the arm, twenty-four inches round the calf,
+and thirty-one inches round the thigh, and weighed twenty-two stones. His
+father and mother were "travelling merchants" of Manchester; he was born
+at Glasgow, during one of their journeys, and was a fine healthy youth,
+fair complexioned, intelligent looking, active in his movements, and
+sensible in speech. He was lightly dressed in plaid to show his limbs,
+with a bonnet of the same.
+
+Holden's glass-working and blowing was the last show on the east side of
+Smithfield, and was limited to a single caravan. The first on the south
+side, with its side towards Cloth Fair, and the back towards the corner of
+Duke Street, presented pictures of a giant, a giantess, and an Indian
+chief, with the inscription, "_They're all alive! Be assured they're all
+alive! The Yorkshire Giantess--Waterloo Giant--Indian Chief. Only a
+penny!_" An overgrown girl was the Yorkshire giantess. A tall man with his
+hair frizzed and powdered, aided by a military coat and a plaid
+roquelaire, made the Waterloo giant.
+
+Next to this stood another show of the same kind and quality, the
+attractions of which were a giantess and two dwarfs. The giantess was a
+Somerset girl, who arose from the chair whereon she was seated to the
+height of six feet nine inches and three-quarters, with "Ladies and
+gentlemen, your most obedient." She was good-looking and affable, and
+obliged the company by taking off her tight-fitting slipper, and handing
+it round for their examination. It was of such dimensions that the largest
+man present could have put his booted foot into it. She said that her name
+was Elizabeth Stock, and that she was only sixteen years of age. This
+completed the number of shows pitched in Smithfield in 1825.
+
+There was a visible falling off in the following year, when the number of
+shows diminished to eight. The west side of Giltspur Street, along its
+whole length, was occupied by book-stalls; and grave-looking men in black
+suits, with white cravats, looking like waiters out of employment, walked
+solemnly through the fair, giving to all who would take them tracts headed
+with the startling question--"_Are you prepared to die?_" Richardson's
+theatre was there, and Clarke's circus; but Samwell, and Ball, and
+Chappell and Pike did not attend, and Wombwell's was the only menagerie.
+"Brown's grand company, from Paris," presented a juggling and tight-rope
+performance, with the learned horse, and a clown who extracted musical
+sounds from a salt-box, with the aid of a rolling-pin; Holden, the
+glass-blower, in a glass wig, made tea-cups for threepence each, and
+tobacco-pipes for a penny; the learned pig displayed his acquirements in
+orthography and arithmetic; there was a twopenny exhibition of
+rattlesnakes and young crocodiles, hatched by steam from imported eggs;
+and a show in which a dwarf and a "silver-haired lady" were exhibited for
+a penny.
+
+Among the unique of the living curiosities exhibited by the showmen of
+this period was the famous spotted boy, described in the bills issued by
+his original exhibitor as "one of those wonderful productions of Nature,
+which excite the curiosity, and gratify the beholder with the surprising
+works of the Creator; he is the progeny of Negroes, being beautifully
+covered over by a diversity of spots of transparent brown and white; his
+hair is interwoven, black and white alternately, in a most astonishing
+manner; his countenance is interesting, with limbs finely proportioned;
+his ideas are quick and penetrating, yet his infantine simplicity is truly
+captivating. He must be seen to convince; it is not in the power of
+language to convey an adequate idea of this Fanciful Child of Nature,
+formed in her most playful mood, and allowed by every lady and gentleman
+that has seen it, the greatest curiosity ever beheld. May be seen from
+Ten in the Morning till Ten in the Evening. Admittance for Ladies and
+Gentlemen 1_s._ Servants and Children half price. Ladies and Gentlemen
+wishing to see this Wonderful Child at their own houses, may be
+accommodated by giving a few hours' notice. Copper plate Likenesses of the
+Boy may be had at the Place of Exhibition."
+
+Richardson introduced this boy several seasons, between the drama and the
+pantomime; and became so much attached to him that he directed, by his
+will, that he should be buried in the grave in which, a few years before,
+he had deposited the remains of the lively, docile, and affectionate
+African lad, in the church-yard of Great Marlow.
+
+I have found no account of the number of shows which attended Bartholomew
+Fair in 1827, but in the following year they must have been nearly as
+numerous as in 1825, an enumeration of the principal ones reaching to
+sixteen. All the menageries attended, and, besides Richardson's and Ball's
+theatres, Keyes and Laine's, Frazer's, Pike's, and a couple of clever
+Chinese jugglers. The receipts of these and the other principal shows were
+returned, in round numbers, as follows:--Wombwell's menagerie, £1,700;
+Richardson's theatre, £1,200; Atkins's menagerie, £1,000; Morgan's
+menagerie, £150; exhibition of "the pig-faced lady," £150; ditto, fat boy
+and girl, £140; ditto, head of William Corder, who was hanged at
+Chelmsford for the murder of Maria Martin, a crime which had created a
+great sensation, owing to its discovery through a dream of the victim's
+mother, £100; Ballard's menagerie, £90; Ball's theatre, £80; diorama of
+the battle of Navarino, £60; the Chinese jugglers, £50; Pike's theatre,
+£40; a fire-eater, £30; Frazer's theatre, £26; Keyes and Laine's theatre,
+£20; exhibition of a Scotch giant, £20. Some curious lights are thrown by
+these figures on the comparative attractiveness of different
+entertainments and exhibitions.
+
+Considerable excitement was created among the visitors to the fair in the
+following year by the announcement that Wombwell had on exhibition "that
+most wonderful animal, the bonassus, being the first of the kind which had
+ever been brought to Europe." As no one had ever seen or heard of the
+animal before, or had the faintest conception of what it was, the curious
+flocked in crowds to see the beast, which proved to be a very fine bull
+bison, or American buffalo. Under the name given to it by Wombwell, it was
+introduced into the epilogue of the Westminster play as one of the wonders
+of the year. It was afterwards sold by Wombwell to the Zoological
+Society, and placed in their collection in the Regent's Park; but it had
+been enfeebled by confinement and disease, and it died soon afterwards.
+The Hudson's Bay Company subsequently supplied its place by presenting the
+Society with a young cow.
+
+Atkins offered the counter attractions of an elephant ten feet high, and
+another litter of lion-tigers, the latter addition to his collection being
+announced as follows:--
+
+"Wonderful Phenomenon in Nature--The singular and hitherto deemed
+impossible occurrence of a Lion and Tigress cohabiting and producing young
+has again taken place in the Menagerie, on the 28th of October, 1828, at
+Windsor, when the Royal Tigress brought forth three fine cubs!!! And they
+are now to be seen in the same den with their sire and dam. The first
+litter of these extraordinary animals were presented to Our Most Gracious
+Sovereign, when he was pleased to express considerable gratification, and
+to denominate them Lion-Tigers, than which a more appropriate name could
+not have been given. The great interest the Lion and Tigress have excited
+is unprecedented; they are a source of irresistible attraction, especially
+as it is the only instance of the kind ever known of animals so directly
+opposite in their dispositions forming an attachment of such a singular
+nature; their beautiful and interesting progeny are most admirable
+productions of Nature. The Group is truly pleasing and astonishing, and
+must be witnessed to form an adequate idea of them. The remarkable
+instance of subdued temper and association of animals to permit the Keeper
+to enter their Den, and to introduce their performance to the Spectators,
+is the greatest Phenomenon in Natural History."
+
+Most of the shows enumerated in the list of 1828 attended Bartholomew Fair
+in 1830, and there were a few additional ones, making the total number
+about the same. They comprised the menageries of Wombwell, Atkins, and
+Ballard, the first containing "the great Siam elephant, and the two
+smallest elephants ever seen in Europe," and the last offering an unique
+attraction in a seal, floundering in a large tub of water; Richardson's
+theatre, Ball's tumbling and rope-dancing, Keyes and Laine's conjuring,
+Frazer's conjuring, a learned pony, the pig-faced lady, a shaved bear (to
+expose the imposture preceding), the "living skeleton," the fire-eater,
+the Scotch giant, the diorama of Navarino, the fat boy and girl, and a
+couple of peep-shows, one exhibiting, as its chief attraction, the lying
+in state of George IV., the other the murder of Maria Martin.
+
+One of the novel characters whom Richardson picked up in his wanderings
+was the once famous Gouffe, "the man-monkey," as he was called. His real
+name was Vale, and when the old showman became acquainted with him he was
+following the humble occupation of a pot-boy in a low public-house.
+Richardson, happening to enter the tap-room in which Master Vale waited,
+found the young gentleman amusing the guests by walking about on pewter
+pint measures, with his hobnailed boots turned towards the smoke-begrimed
+ceiling. The performance was a novel one, and Richardson, calling the lad
+aside on its conclusion, made him an offer too gratifying to be refused.
+After travelling with Richardson for some time, Vale appeared at several
+of the minor theatres of the metropolis, always in the part of an ape, and
+under the assumed name of Gouffe. His pantomimic powers were considerable,
+and his agility was scarcely inferior to that of the four-handed brutes
+whom he represented.
+
+The receipts of the shows were not always so large as in 1828. In 1831,
+which seems to have been a bad year for them, Richardson lost fifty pounds
+by Bartholomew Fair, though he had half the receipts of Ewing's wax-work
+exhibition in addition to those of the theatre, under an agreement with
+the proprietor, by which he paid for the ground and the erection of the
+show. Wombwell only cleared his expenses, though he had at that time
+acquired Morgan's menagerie, which stood at the corner of the Greyhound
+Yard, and by that means secured the pennies as well as the sixpences.
+
+In 1832, the charge for admission to Clarke's circus was reduced from
+sixpence to threepence. There was a novelty in Bartholomew Fair that year
+in the show of an Italian conjuror, named Capelli, namely, a company of
+cats, that beat a drum, turned a spit, ground knives, played the organ,
+hammered upon an anvil, ground coffee, and rang a bell. One of them
+understood French as well as Italian, obeying orders in both languages.
+Capelli's bills announce also a wonderful dog, to "play any gentleman at
+dominoes that will play with him."
+
+In 1833, the number of shows at this fair rose to thirty-two, Richardson's
+theatre, Clarke's circus, five for tumbling, rope-dancing, etc., three
+menageries, four wax-work exhibitions, three phantasmagorias, Holden's
+glass-blowing, two learned pigs, six exhibitions of giants, dwarfs, etc.,
+and six peep-shows, in which the coronation of William IV., the battle of
+Navarino, the murder of Maria Martin, and other events of contemporary
+interest were shown. Only two shows charged so much as sixpence for
+admission, namely, Richardson's and Wombwell's. The threepenny shows were
+Ewing's and Clarke's, the latter giving "an excellent display for the
+money," according to a contemporary account, which continues as follows:--
+
+"The performance began by tight-rope dancing by Miss Clarke, with and
+without the balance pole, through hoops, with 'flip-flaps,' standing on
+chairs, &c. Slack-rope vaulting by a little boy named Benjamin Saffery,
+eight years of age; he exhibited several curious feats. There was also
+some very extraordinary posturing by two young men, one dressed as a
+Chinese, the other in the old costume of Pierrot; among many other
+exploits, they walked round the ring with each a leg put up to their neck,
+and another on each other's shoulders. They also performed an
+extraordinary feat of lying on their backs, and throwing their legs up
+under their arms, and going round the ring by springing forward upon the
+ground, without the aid of their hands; one of them, while on the ground,
+supported two men on his thighs. A black man also exhibited some feats of
+strength; among others, he threw himself backward and, resting on his
+hands, formed an arch, and then bore two heavy men on his stomach with
+ease. The horsemanship commenced with the old performance of the rider
+going round the ring tied up in a sack. During the going round a
+transformation took place, and he who went into the sack a man came out to
+all appearance a woman on throwing the sack off. The whole concluded with
+a countryman who, suddenly starting from the ring, desires to be permitted
+to ride, which is at first refused, but at length allowed; he mounts, and
+after a short time, beginning to grow warm, pulls off his coat, then his
+waistcoat, then another and another to the number of thirteen, at last
+with much apparent modesty and reluctance his shirt; having done this, he
+appears a splendid rider, and after a few evolutions, terminates the
+performance. This rider's name was Price. The show was well attended."
+
+The other shows of this class were Ball's, which, besides tumbling and
+rope-dancing, gave a pantomime, but without scenery; Keyes and Laine's,
+which now presented posturing, balancing, and rope-dancing; Samwell's, in
+which, besides tumbling and dancing, a real Indian executed the war-dance
+of his tribe; the Chinese jugglers; and a posturing and tumbling show, the
+proprietor of which was too modest to announce his name. The Chinese
+jugglers had performed during the summer at Saville House, the building
+on the north side of Leicester Square, which, after being the locality of
+several exhibitions, was converted into a music-hall, called the Imperial,
+and afterwards Eldorado. One of these pig-tailed entertainers pretended to
+swallow fifty needles, which were afterwards produced from his mouth, each
+with a thread in its eye. Another balanced a bowl on a stick nine feet
+long; while a third played the Chinese violin with a single string.
+
+Wombwell's menagerie extended from the hospital gate nearly to Duke
+Street, and was the largest show in the fair. Drury and Drake's was a
+small but interesting collection, consisting of a very tame leopard, a
+couple of hyenas, a good show of monkeys, and several very fine boa
+constrictors. The third menagerie was Wombwell's smaller concern, formerly
+Morgan's.
+
+The best of the wax-work exhibitions was Ewing's, which was well arranged
+in ten caravans. The others were Ferguson's, with the additional
+attraction of "the beautiful albiness," a really beautiful woman, named
+Shaw, who was then in her twenty-second year; Hoyo's; and a small and poor
+collection at a house in Giltspur Street, where the wax figures were
+supplemented by the exhibition of twin infants united at the breast,
+"extremely well preserved."
+
+Phantasmagorial exhibitions were at this time a novelty to the masses. The
+best of those shown this year in Smithfield was the _Optikali Illusio_ of
+a Frenchman, named De Berar, who startled the spectators with the
+appearance of a human skeleton, the vision of Death on a pale horse, etc.
+There was another in Long Lane; and a third at a house in Giltspur Street,
+where the public were invited to witness "the raising of the devil!" A
+fire-eater named Haines stood at the door of the last show, emitting a
+shower of sparks from a lump of burning tow in his mouth. Sir David
+Brewster, who witnessed a phantasmagorial exhibition at Edinburgh,
+describes it as follows:--
+
+"The small theatre of exhibition was lighted only by one hanging lamp, the
+flame of which was drawn up into an opaque chimney or shade when the
+performance began. In this 'darkness visible' the curtain rose, and
+displayed a cave, with skeletons and other terrific figures in relief upon
+its walls. The flickering light was then drawn up beneath its shroud, and
+the spectators, in total darkness, found themselves in the midst of
+thunder and lightning. A thin transparent screen had, unknown to the
+spectators, been let down after the disappearance of the light, and upon
+it the flashes of lightning, and all the subsequent appearances, were
+represented. This screen, being halfway between the spectators and the
+cave which was first shown, and being itself invisible, prevented the
+observers from having any idea of the real distance of the figures, and
+gave them the entire character of aerial pictures.
+
+"The thunder and lightning were followed by the figures of ghosts,
+skeletons, and known individuals, whose eyes and mouths were made to move
+by the action of combined sliders. After the first figure had been
+exhibited for a short time, it began to grow less and less, as if removed
+to a great distance, and at last vanished in a small cloud of light. Out
+of this same cloud the germ of another figure began to appear, and
+gradually grew larger and larger, and approached the spectators, till it
+attained its perfect development. In this manner the head of Dr. Franklin
+was transformed into a skull; figures which retired with the freshness of
+life came back in the form of skeletons, and the retiring skeletons
+returned in the drapery of flesh and blood. The exhibition of these
+transmutations was followed by spectres, skeletons, and terrific figures,
+which, instead of receding and vanishing as before, suddenly advanced upon
+the spectators, becoming larger as they approached them, and finally
+vanished by appearing to sink into the ground. The effect of this part of
+the exhibition was naturally the most impressive. The spectators were not
+only surprised, but agitated, and many of them were of opinion that they
+could have touched the figures."
+
+Dupain's French theatre combined the exhibition of a dwarf, Jonathan
+Dawson, three feet high, and fifty years of age, with posturing by a
+performer named Finch, and two mechanical views, one representing Algiers,
+with the sea in motion, and vessels entering and leaving the harbour; the
+other a storm at sea, with a vessel in distress, burning blue lights,
+firing guns, and finally becoming a wreck.
+
+Broomsgrove's show, which made its first appearance, contained three human
+curiosities, namely, Clancy, an Irishman, whose height was seven feet two
+inches; Farnham, who was only three feet two inches in height, but so
+strong that he carried two big men on his shoulders with ease; and Thomas
+Pierce, "the gigantic Shropshire youth," aged seventeen years, five feet
+ten inches in height, and thirty-five stones in weight.
+
+Simmett's show contained four "living wonders" of this kind, namely,
+Priscilla and Amelia Weston, twin Canadian giantesses, twenty years of
+age; Lydia Walpole, the dwarf exhibited in Maughan's show in 1825; and an
+albino woman, aged nineteen. Harris added to a peep-show a twelve years
+old dwarf, named Eliza Webber; a sheep with singularly formed hind hoofs;
+and a very fine boa constrictor. Another show combined the performances of
+a monkey, which, in the garb of an old woman, smoked a pipe, wheeled a
+barrow, etc., with the exhibition of several mechanical figures,
+representing artisans working at their various trades, and a juvenile
+albino, named Mary Anne Chapman. Another exhibited, as an "extraordinary
+hermit," a man named Daniel Mackenzie, whose only distinction rested upon
+his statement that he had voluntarily secluded himself from the world for
+five years, which he had passed in a coal-mine near Dalkeith.
+
+Toby, the learned pig, if he was the original porcine wonder of that name,
+must have been, at least, seventeen years of age, but showed no symptoms
+of declining vigour or diminished intelligence. He was now exhibited by
+James Burchall, in conjunction with the proprietor's monstrously fat
+child, and was announced as,--
+
+"The Unrivalled Chinese Swinish Philosopher, Toby the Real Learned Pig. He
+will spell, read, and cast accounts, tell the points of the sun's rising
+and setting, discover the four grand divisions of the Earth, kneel at
+command, perform blindfold with 20 handkerchiefs over his eyes, tell the
+hour to a minute by the watch, tell a card, and the age of any party. He
+is in colour the most beautiful of his race, in symmetry the most perfect,
+in temper the most docile. And when asked a question, he will give an
+Immediate Answer."
+
+Toby had a rival this year in the "amazing pig of knowledge," exhibited by
+James Fawkes, at the George Inn. This pig could tell the number of pence
+in a shilling, and of shillings in a pound, count the spectators, tell
+their thoughts (so at least it was pretended), distinguish colours, and do
+many other wonderful things. The following doggrel verses, extracted from
+Fawkes's bill, are offered as a curiosity; they seem _apropos_ of nothing,
+and show that the exhibitor was ignorant or oblivious of the fact that
+George IV. had been dead three years:--
+
+  "A learned Pig in George's reign
+    To Æsop's Brutes an equal Boast;
+  Then let Mankind again combine
+    To render Friendship still a Toast.
+
+  "Let Albion's Fair superior soar,
+    To Gallic Fraud, or Gallic Art;
+  Britons will e'er bow down before
+    The Virtues seated in the Heart."
+
+In 1836, a new show appeared in the field, namely, Brown's Theatre of
+Arts, in which were shown mechanical representations of the battle of
+Trafalgar, the passage of the Alps by the French army, and the Marble
+Palace at St. Petersburg, the ships in the first and the figures in the
+others being in actual motion.
+
+Scowton, who had been absent from Bartholomew Fair for several years, made
+a final appearance there in 1837, when his bills contained the following
+announcement:--
+
+"Mr. SCOWTON, deeply impressed with heartfelt gratitude for the liberal
+Patronage and Support which he has for a series of Years experienced from
+his Friends and a Generous Public, and which will enable him to spend his
+future Days in comfortable Retirement: begs leave to announce that the
+whole of his Extensive Concern, is to be disposed of by Private Contract;
+and, therefore, at the same time, as he takes leave, requests them to
+believe that the Memory of their favours and indulgence will never be
+eradicated from his Memory."
+
+Richardson's theatre stood beside Scowton's, and it is remarked by a
+newspaper of the time that "the former displayed the trappings of modern
+grandeur, and the latter evinced his taste for the ancient by exposing to
+view a couple of centaurs and a sphynx." Scowton presented a "new grand
+dramatic romance," called _The Treacherous Friend_, in which he played
+the character of Alphonsus himself.
+
+This was the last appearance of both these veteran showmen. Scowton
+retired, and Richardson died shortly afterwards at his cottage in
+Horsemonger Lane, and was buried, as his will directed, at Great Marlow,
+in the same grave with the spotted boy. He bequeathed the greater part of
+his property to Charles Reed, who had travelled with him for many years;
+his old friend, Johnson, afterwards co-lessee with Nelson Lee of the City
+of London Theatre, received a legacy of five hundred pounds, and Davy, who
+had superintended the building and removal of the theatre from the
+beginning of its existence, two hundred pounds.
+
+Looking backward forty years, I can recall the quaint figure of the old
+showman as he stood on the steps of his portable theatre, clad in a loose
+drab coat and a long scarlet vest, which looked as if it had been made in
+the reign of George II. As I think of Croydon Fair as it used to be in
+Richardson's days, with the show standing between Clarke's circus and
+Wombwell's menagerie, I can almost fancy that I hear the booming of the
+old man's gong. Many a time afterwards have I seen Nelson Lee beating that
+memorable instrument of discord, and heard him shouting, "Walk up! walk
+up! Just going to begin!" But _he_ wore a suit of black, and did not
+impress me half so much as his predecessor. The change seemed, indeed, a
+symptom of the declining glory of the fair, which has, within the last few
+years, become a thing of the past.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+    Successors of Scowton and Richardson--Nelson Lee--Crowther, the
+    Actor--Paul Herring--Newman and Allen's Theatre--Fair in Hyde
+    Park--Hilton's Menagerie--Bartholomew Fair again
+    threatened--Wombwell's Menagerie--Charles Freer--Fox Cooper and the
+    Bosjesmans--Destruction of Johnson and Lee's Theatre--Reed's
+    Theatre--Hales, the Norfolk Giant--Affray at Greenwich--Death of
+    Wombwell--Lion Queens--Catastrophe in a Menagerie--World's Fair at
+    Bayswater--Abbott's Theatre--Charlie Keith, the Clown--Robson, the
+    Comedian--Manders's Menagerie--Macomo, the Lion-Tamer--Macarthy and
+    the Lions--Fairgrieve's Menagerie--Lorenzo and the Tigress--Sale of a
+    Menagerie--Extinction of the London Fairs--Decline of Fairs near the
+    Metropolis--Conclusion.
+
+
+The change in the proprietorship of the travelling theatres conducted
+during so many years by Scowton and Richardson may be regarded as a stage
+in the history of the people's amusements. The decline which showmen had
+noted during the preceding years had not been perceptible to the public,
+who had crowded the London fairs more densely than ever, and found as many
+showmen catering for their entertainment as in earlier years. But while
+the crowds that gazed at Wombwell's show-cloths, and the parades of
+Richardson's theatre and Clarke's circus, became more dense every year,
+the showmen found their receipts diminish and their expenses increase. The
+people had more wants than formerly, and their means of supplying them had
+not, at the time of the decadence of the London fairs, experienced a
+corresponding increase. The vast and ever-growing population of the
+metropolis furnished larger crowds, but the middle-class element had
+diminished, and continued to diminish; and the showmen found reduced
+charges to be a necessity, without resulting in the augmented gains which
+follow a reduction of prices in trade.
+
+Scowton's theatre was sold by private contract to Julius Haydon, who,
+after expending a considerable sum upon it, making it rival Richardson's
+in size, found the results so little to his advantage that he disposed of
+the whole concern a year afterwards to the successors of Richardson.
+
+These were the showman's old friends, John Johnson, to whom he left a
+legacy of five hundred pounds, and Nelson Lee, who, after the unfortunate
+speculation with his brother in the Old Kent Road, had travelled for a
+time with Holloway's show, then gone to Scotland with Grey's _fantoccini_,
+and, after a turn at Edinburgh with Dodsworth and Stevens's automatons,
+had returned to London, and was at the time of Richardson's death managing
+Sadler's Wells theatre for Osbaldiston. When he saw Richardson's property
+advertised for sale, he conferred with Johnson on the subject of its
+purchase by them, which they effected by private contract, Lee resigning
+his post at Sadler's Wells to undertake the management.
+
+The new proprietors furnished the theatre with a new front, and provided
+new dresses for the ballet in _Esmeralda_, which was then attracting large
+audiences to the Adelphi. They did not propose to open with this drama,
+but they thought the ballet would be a success on the parade outside,
+which managers of travelling theatres find it necessary to make as
+attractive as possible, the public forming their anticipations of the
+entertainment to be witnessed inside by what they see outside, as they do
+of tenting circus performances by the extent and splendour of the parade
+round the town and neighbourhood which precedes them. I once saw a very
+pretty harvest-dance of reapers and gleaners on the parade of Richardson's
+theatre, and on another occasion a fantastic dance of Indians, who held
+cocoa-nuts in their hands, and struck them together, assuming every
+variety of attitude, each dancer sometimes striking his own nuts together,
+and sometimes his own against those of his _vis-à-vis_.
+
+They were in time for the Whitsuntide Fair at Greenwich, where the theatre
+stood at the extreme end of the fair, near the bridge at Deptford Creek.
+The Esmeralda dance was a great success, and Oscar Byrne, who had arranged
+the ballet for the Adelphi, visited the theatre, and complimented Lee on
+the manner in which it was produced. The drama was _The Tyrant Doge_, and
+the pantomime, arranged by Lee for the occasion, had local colour given to
+it, and the local title of _One Tree Hill_. The season opened very
+favourably, though both the management and the public experienced
+considerable annoyance from a party of dissolute young men, of whom the
+Marquis of Waterford was one, and who threw nuts at the actors, and talked
+and laughed loudly throughout the performance.
+
+Delamore had succeeded Lewis as stage-manager, scene-shifter, and
+wardrobe-keeper, a few years before Richardson's death, and he was
+retained in that position by the new proprietors. John Douglass and Paul
+Herring were in the company at this time; also Crowther, who was
+subsequently engaged at Astley's, and married Miss Vincent, who was for
+so many years a popular favourite at the Victoria as the heroine of a
+series of successful domestic dramas.
+
+Among the minor shows attending the fairs of the southern counties at this
+period was the portable theatre of Newman and Allen, which, towards the
+end of the summer, was pitched upon a piece of waste ground at Norwood,
+and remained there two or three weeks. The fortunes of the company seemed
+at low ebb, and the small "houses" which they had nightly, with a charge
+for admission of twopence to front seats, and a penny to the back, did not
+place the treasury in a very flourishing condition. Small as the company
+was, they aimed at a higher performance than was usually given in a
+portable theatre, for on the two occasions that I patronised the canvas
+temple of Thespis the plays were _Virginius_ and _John Bull_, considerably
+cut down, as was to have been expected, the smallness of the company
+rendering it necessary to excise some of the characters.
+
+Only one performance was given each night, and a farce preceded the play,
+the interval between the pieces being filled up with a comic song, sung by
+the low comedy man, and an acrobatic performance by a young lady whose
+name I learned was Sarah Saunders. Whether she was related to old Abraham
+Saunders, I do not know; but the tendency of show-folks to make their
+vocations hereditary renders it very probable. She was the first female
+acrobat I ever saw, and an actress besides; and the peculiarity of her
+acrobatic performance was, that she did not don trunks and tights for it,
+like Madame Stertzenbach and others of her sex at the present day, but did
+her "flips," etc., in her ordinary attire, like the little drabs from the
+back slums of Westminster who may sometimes be seen turning heels over
+head in St. James's Park.
+
+When the brief season of the canvas theatre was brought to a close, and
+the fittings, scenery, properties, etc., had left the village behind a
+bony horse, it seemed that the proprietors had dissolved the partnership
+which had existed between them; for a living carriage remained on the
+ground, the occupants of which were old Newman, who had played the heavy
+parts, and his nephew, Charles Little, the low comedy man. Whether the old
+gentleman had realised a competency which satisfied his wants, or had some
+small pension or annuity, or investment of some kind, never became known;
+but there the wheeled abode of the two men stood for several years, Newman
+cultivating a patch of the waste, and producing therefrom all the
+vegetables they required for their own table, while his nephew
+perambulated the neighbourhood with a basket, offering for sale tapes and
+cottons, needles and pins, and other small wares of a similar description.
+This new vocation seemed more lucrative than that of low comedian and
+comic singer in a travelling theatre; for Charlie, as he was familiarly
+called, dressed better every year, and, on the death of his uncle, took to
+himself a wife, and, abandoning the living carriage, settled in a
+neighbouring cottage.
+
+From this episode of show-life I must return to Johnson and Lee, who,
+after visiting Deptford and Camberwell Fairs, took their renovated theatre
+to Smithfield, where it stood with its back to the George Inn. At Croydon
+Fair it occupied its usual position between Clarke's circus and Wombwell's
+menagerie; and there a singular and amusing adventure occurred to the
+clown, who, however, did not find it so amusing himself. The first day
+being very wet, and the fair in consequence very thinly attended, he
+thought to divert the tedium of the situation by strolling through the
+town, and for this purpose put on the uniform over-coat of a policeman, a
+character then, as now, always diverting in the pantomime. Some short time
+previously, several robberies had been committed in the town by a thief
+similarly dressed; and a constable on duty in High Street, seeing a
+seeming policeman whom he did not know, and who gazed about him as if he
+was a stranger, took the astonished clown into custody on the charge of
+personating a constable and loitering about for an unlawful purpose. On
+being taken to the station-house, the clown made an explanatory statement,
+and the inspector sent a constable to the theatre to ascertain its truth,
+testimony to which was given by Lee. The clown was thereupon released from
+custody, and hurried back to the fair, vowing that he would never
+promenade in the garb of a policeman again.
+
+In the following year, Johnson and Lee presented a memorial to the Home
+Office, asking permission to hold a fair in Hyde Park, to celebrate the
+coronation of the Queen. The Government acceded to the request, and
+Superintendent Mallalieu was associated with the memorialists in the
+organisation and management of the undertaking. A tent was pitched in the
+centre of the ground selected for the purpose, and the three managers
+attended daily to arrange the plan, classify the shows, stalls, etc., and
+receive applications for space, which were so numerous that it became
+necessary to post constables before the tent to maintain order. As each
+applicant stated the nature of his business, the application was entered
+in a book kept for the purpose, and a day was named for the allotment of
+ground. Every foot of space granted for the purpose by the Commissioners
+of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests was taken within a week, and every
+intending exhibitor received a ticket in the following form:--
+
+    FAIR IN HYDE PARK.
+
+    No. ____ ALLOTMENT OF GROUND.
+
+    The Bearer ____, of ____, ____, is hereby entitled to ____ feet
+    frontage on the ____ side of the area for the purpose of erecting a
+    ____.
+
+    __ June, 1838.
+
+      J. M. MALLALIEU,
+        _Supt._
+
+Every ticket-holder was requested to fit up his show or stall in a
+becoming manner, and to display as illumination some device suitable to
+the occasion. The undertaking to this effect was adhered to in a
+commendable manner, and a very pretty effect was thus produced when the
+fair was opened, on the 28th of June, and the numerous shows, booths, and
+stalls were illuminated at night with so many thousands of coloured lamps.
+As the boom of the first gun announcing the departure of the Queen for
+Westminster Abbey was heard, Nelson Lee, standing on the parade of his
+theatre, struck the gong, and all the showmen unfurled their show-cloths,
+and the keepers of booths and stalls rolled up their canvas fronts, and
+commenced business.
+
+The fair was a great success, the financial results being as satisfactory
+as its organisation and management. Many of the nobility visited it, and
+even patronised the amusements, as they had been wont to do at Bartholomew
+Fair in the seventeenth century, and the first half of the eighteenth.
+Johnson and Lee's theatre filled on the opening day in five minutes, and
+the time occupied by the performances was reduced to fifteen minutes. The
+drama was _The Mysterious Stranger_, which, thus contracted, became more
+mysterious than ever. All the principal avenues were crowded from noon
+till night, and the demand upon the resources of the refreshment booths
+was so great that Algar and other principal booth-keepers charged, and had
+no difficulty in obtaining, a shilling for a pot of beer, and sixpence for
+a lettuce or a penny loaf, other articles being sold at proportionate
+rates.
+
+During the fair, the wife of a gingerbread vendor gave birth to a child,
+which, in commemoration of the occasion was registered by the name of Hyde
+Park. The stall was, in consequence of this event, allowed to remain
+several days after the time by which the promoters of the fair had
+undertaken to have the ground cleared, and it was visited by many ladies,
+who made presents to the child and its parents. Though the ground had been
+let at a low rate, a surplus of sixty pounds remained after defraying all
+expenses, and this sum was awarded to Johnson and Lee; but they did not
+apply for it, and it was divided among the constables who did police duty
+in the fair. The services of Johnson and Lee in promoting and organising
+the fair, and of Superintendent Mallalieu in supervising the arrangements
+and maintaining order, were so well appreciated by the showmen and the
+keepers of booths and stalls, that they joined in presenting each with a
+silver cup, at a dinner which took place at the Champion Tavern,
+Paddington.
+
+At the ordinary fairs visited during the latter part of this year, Johnson
+and Lee exhibited a panorama of the coronation, painted by Marshall, which
+proved very attractive. Enfield Fair being spoiled by wet weather,
+application was made to the local magistrate for an extra day, which at
+Croydon was always conceded in such circumstances; but it was refused, the
+Enfield justice seeming to be of opinion that actors and acrobats were
+vagabonds who ought to be discouraged by every possible means. Resolved
+not to be disappointed, Johnson and Lee issued a bill in the name of
+Jones, a man who sold refreshments in the theatre, announcing that, in
+consequence of the wet weather having prevented him from clearing his
+stock of nuts, the proprietors had given him the use of the theatre for an
+extra day, when the usual performances would be given without charge, but
+prices ranging from a shilling to three shillings would be charged for
+nuts to be supplied to the persons admitted.
+
+Haydon's theatre made its last appearance at Croydon Fair, where great
+exertions were made to render it as attractive as Johnson and Lee's, but
+it was not patronised to near the same extent as the latter; and Johnson
+and Lee's offer to purchase the concern being entertained by the
+proprietor, it from that time ceased to exist, being absorbed into the
+more popular establishment.
+
+Croydon Fair used, at this time, to be visited by large numbers of
+persons, not only from the surrounding villages, but even from the
+metropolis. All the inhabitants of the town prepared for visitors, for
+everyone who had a relative or acquaintance in Croydon was sure to make
+the fair an occasion for a visit. Two time-honoured customs were connected
+with the October fair, everybody commencing fires in their sitting-rooms
+on the first day of the fair, and dining on roast pork or goose. The
+latter custom was observed even by those who, having no friends to visit,
+dined in a booth; and the number of geese and legs of pork to be seen
+roasting before glowing charcoal fires in grates of immense width, in the
+rear of the booths, was one of the sights of the fair.
+
+There were two entrances to the fair from the town, one at the gate which
+gave access at ordinary times to the foot-path across the field, leading
+to Park Hill; and the other, made for the occasion, farther southward, for
+the accommodation of those who approached the field from the avenues on
+the east side of High Street. Each was bordered for a short distance by
+the standings of itinerant vendors of walnuts, oysters, and fried
+sausages, beyond which was a long street of gingerbread stalls,
+terminated, in the one case, by the shows of the exhibitors of wax-work,
+living curiosities, and pictorial representations of great historical
+events, and in the other by the smaller and less pretentious
+drinking-booths. At right angles to these canvas streets, and opening from
+them near their commencement, was a third, covered over with an awning,
+and composed of the stalls of the dealers in toys and fancy goods. This
+was called Bond Street.
+
+Parallel with this avenue, and connecting the further ends of the two
+streets of gingerbread stalls, was one broader than the others, bordered
+on the side from which it was approached with gingerbread stalls, and on
+the further side with the principal shows and booths. First in order, on
+the latter side, stood Clarke's circus, with the proprietor on the steps,
+in a scarlet coat and white breeches, smacking a whip, and shouting, "This
+way for the riders! the riders!" Three or four spotted and cream-coloured
+horses, gaily caparisoned, stood on the platform, and a clown cracked his
+"wheeze" with a couple of young fellows in tights and trunks, in their
+intervals of repose from acrobatic feats of the ordinary character.
+
+Next to the circus stood a portable theatre, usually Scowton's, in rivalry
+with the neighbouring show of the famous Richardson, which was always the
+largest, and was worked by the strongest company. On the exterior
+platforms of both, practical jokes were played upon the pantaloon by the
+harlequin and the clown; young ladies in short muslin skirts danced to the
+lively strains of the orchestra, and broad-sword combats were fought in
+the approved one! two! three! over and under style. Next to Richardson's
+show stood the menagerie of Wombwell or Atkins, where a broad array of
+pictorial canvas attracted a wondering crowd, and the brazen instruments
+of musicians, attired in uniforms copied from those of the royal
+"beef-eaters," brayed and blared from noon till night.
+
+Then came the principal booths, wherein eating and drinking was the order
+of the day, and dancing that of the night. The largest and best appointed
+of these was the Crown and Anchor, well known to fair-goers for half a
+century, the name of Algar being "familiar in their mouths as household
+words," as that of an experienced caterer for their entertainment. There
+was a tolerable quadrille band in attendance from eve till midnight, and,
+in the best days of the fair, the sons and daughters of the shopkeepers of
+the town and the farmers of the surrounding neighbourhood mingled in the
+dance in the "assembly room" of Algar's booth without fear of scandal or
+loss of caste. There was dancing in the other booths, but they were
+smaller, the music and the lighting were inferior, and the company less
+select. Among those that stood in a line with Algar's were the Fives
+Court, kept by an ex-pugilist, and patronised chiefly by gentlemen of the
+"fancy;" and the gipsies' booth, which had no other sign than the ancient
+one of a green bough, and was resorted to for the novelty of being waited
+upon by dark-eyed and dusky-complexioned Romanies, wearing bright-coloured
+silk handkerchiefs over their shoulders, and long gold pendants in their
+ears.
+
+Within the area enclosed by these avenues were swings and round-abouts,
+while the "knock 'em downs," the "three shies a penny" fellows, the
+predecessors of the Aunt Sallies of a later day, occupied the vacant
+spaces on the skirts of the pleasure fair, wherever the ground was not
+covered, on the first day, with horses, sheep, and cattle.
+
+At midnight on the 1st the fair was opened by the ceremony of carrying an
+enormous key through it, and the booth-keepers were then allowed to serve
+any customers who might offer. By daylight next morning the roads leading
+to the fair-field were thronged with sheep and cattle, thousands of which,
+with scores of horses, changed owners before sunset. There was little
+movement in the long avenues of shows, booths, and stalls, until near
+noon, when nursery maids led their charges through Bond Street, and
+mothers took their younger children there to buy toys. About mid-day the
+showmen unfurled their pictures, which appealed so strongly to the
+imaginations of the spectators, the bands of the larger shows began to
+play, and clowns and acrobats, dancers and jugglers, appeared upon the
+exterior platforms. From this time till sunset the throng of visitors
+increased rapidly, and on fine days the crowd before the principal shows
+was so dense as to offer considerable impediment to locomotion.
+
+When darkness began to descend upon the field, lamps flared and flickered
+on the fronts of the shows, smaller lights glimmered along the toy and
+gingerbread stalls, and thousands of tiny lamps, blue, and amber, and
+green, and ruby, arranged in the form of crowns, stars, anchors, feathers,
+etc., illuminated the booths. Then the showmen beat their gongs with
+redoubled vigour, and bawled through speaking-trumpets till they were
+hoarse; the bands brayed and blared louder than before; and the sounds of
+harps and violins showed that dancing had commenced in the booths.
+
+In those days it sometimes happened that two circuses attended the fair,
+when the larger of the two was pitched in a field on the west side of the
+road, and bounded on the south side by Mint Walk, one of the avenues by
+which the fair was approached from High Street. In a circus thus
+located--I think it was Clarke's--Miss Woolford, afterwards the second
+wife of the great equestrian, Andrew Ducrow, exhibited her grace and
+agility on the tight-rope in a blaze of fireworks, in emulation of the
+celebrated Madame Saqui's performance at Vauxhall Gardens. The equestrian
+profession still numbers Ducrows in its ranks, two young men of that name
+belonging at the present time to Newsome's circus company; but I have not
+met with the name of Woolford since 1842, when a young lady of that name,
+and then about twelve or thirteen years of age, danced on the tight-rope
+in a small show pitched at the back of the town-hall at Croydon, during
+the July Fair.
+
+The October fair at Croydon closed the season of the shows which confined
+their perambulations to a distance of fifty miles from the metropolis,
+where, or in the provincial towns possessing theatres, the actors, clowns,
+acrobats, etc., obtained engagements for the pantomime season. This year,
+the entire company of Johnson and Lee's theatre was engaged for the
+Marylebone.
+
+In 1839, this theatre, with John Douglass and Paul Herring still in the
+company, stood next to Hilton's menagerie at Greenwich, where the season
+commenced with most of the shows which made London their winter quarters.
+It was about this time that James Lee, who was then manager of Hilton's
+menagerie, suggested the certain attractiveness of the exhibition by a
+young woman of the performances with lions and tigers which had been found
+so productive to the treasuries of the Sangers, Batty, and Howes and
+Cushing, when exhibited by a man. It was proposed to bring out as a "lion
+queen" the daughter of Hilton's brother Joseph, a circus proprietor; and
+the young lady, being familiar with her uncle's lions, did not shrink
+from the distinction. She made her first public appearance with the lions
+at Stepney Fair, and the performance proved so attractive that the example
+was contagious. Edmunds had at this time a fine group of lions, tigers,
+and leopards, and a young woman named Chapman (now Mrs. George Sanger)
+volunteered to perform with them, as a rival to Miss Hilton.
+
+Miss Chapman, who had the honour of appearing before the royal family at
+Windsor Castle, had not long been before the public when a third "lion
+queen" appeared in Wombwell's menagerie in the person of Helen Blight, the
+daughter of a musician in the band. The career of this poor girl was as
+brief as its termination was shocking. She was performing with the animals
+at Greenwich Fair, when a tiger exhibited some sullenness or waywardness,
+for which she very imprudently struck it with a riding-whip which she
+carried. With a terrible roar, the infuriated beast sprang upon her,
+seized her by the throat, and killed her before she could be rescued. This
+melancholy affair led to the prohibition of such performances by women;
+but the leading menageries have continued to have "lion kings" attached to
+them to the present day.
+
+It was in this year that the war against the shows was renewed by the
+authorities of the City of London, who doubled the charges hitherto made
+for space in Smithfield, Wombwell, for instance, having his rent raised
+from forty to eighty pounds, Clarke's from twenty-five to fifty, and
+others in the same proportion. After the fair, the London City Missions
+Society presented a memorial to the Corporation, praying for the
+suppression of the fair, and the City Lands Committee was instructed by
+the Court of Aldermen to consider whether, and by what means, its
+suppression could be legally accomplished. The committee referred the
+question to the solicitor of the City, who was requested to report to the
+Markets Committee "as to the right of the Corporation of London to
+suppress Bartholomew Fair, or otherwise to remove the nuisances and
+obstructions to trade to which it gives rise."
+
+The solicitor accordingly examined the archives in the town-clerk's
+office, as well as books in the City Library and the British Museum, for
+the purpose of tracing the history of the fair, and of other fairs which
+formerly existed in the metropolis, and the right to hold which was
+likewise founded upon charters, and which had been abolished or fallen
+into disuse. His researches led him to the conclusion that "the right to
+hold both fairs having been granted for the purpose of promoting the
+interests of trade, it is quite clear that no prescriptive right can be
+set up to commit any nuisance incompatible with the purposes for which
+they were established; if, therefore, the Corporation should be satisfied
+that the interests of the public can be no otherwise protected than by
+confining the fair to its original objects and purposes, they may
+undoubtedly do so, and this would in fact, be equivalent to its entire
+suppression."
+
+This course was, however, that which had been adopted, without success, in
+1735, and the legal adviser of the Corporation could not avoid seeing that
+"it is at all times difficult, by law, to put down the ancient customs and
+practices of the multitude." Both May Fair and Lady Fair had been
+suppressed without the intervention of Parliament, however, and it seemed
+probable that "old Bartlemy" would be extinguished before long by natural
+decay, and that the best course would be to provide for its due regulation
+during its decline.
+
+"When we consider," said the report, "the improved condition and conduct
+of the working classes in the metropolis, and reflect upon the
+irrefragable proofs continually before us, that the humbler orders are
+fast changing their habits, and substituting country excursions by
+railroad and steamboat, and other innocent recreations, for vicious
+amusements of the description which prevailed in Bartholomew Fair, it is,
+perhaps, not too much to conclude that it is unnecessary for the
+Corporation to apply to Parliament to abate the nuisance; but that, if
+they proceed to lay down and enforce the observance of judicious
+regulations in the fair, and to limit its duration and extent, it may be
+permitted to continue, in the confident belief that many years will not
+elapse ere the Corporation may omit to proclaim the fair, and thus
+suppress it altogether, without exciting any of those feelings of
+discontent and disapprobation with which its compulsory abolition would
+probably be now attended."
+
+When this report was submitted to the Court of Common Council, in July,
+1840, considerable diversity of opinion was found to prevail as to the
+course which should be adopted. The majority either adopted the view of
+the London City Missions Society, or the more moderate sentiments of the
+reporter, Mr. Charles Pearson; but the principles therein enunciated did
+not pass without challenge. Mr. Anderton was "decidedly opposed to the
+canting and Methodistical grounds for interfering with one of the only
+amusements now remaining to the poor inhabitants of London." Mr. Wells
+thought that the fair, under proper regulations for the prevention of
+disorder, would be innoxious, and that the gaming-houses of the
+metropolis were a fitter subject for suppression. Mr. Taylor regarded the
+objections to the fair as "the wild chimeras of fanaticism." But after a
+long discussion, the report was adopted by forty-three votes against
+fourteen. The Market Committee declined, however, to limit the fair to two
+days, or to exclude shows entirely, though they resolved to again raise
+the rents of the shows that were admitted, to permit no disturbance of the
+pavement, to continue the exclusion of swings and roundabouts, and to
+admit no theatres for dramatic performances.
+
+The policy resolved upon was, therefore, simply one of vexation and
+annoyance, and contributed nothing to the promotion of morality and order.
+Johnson and Lee's theatre, Clarke's circus, Frazer's acrobatic
+entertainment, Laskey's giant and giantess, and Crockett's and Reader's
+exhibitions of living curiosities, were refused space in Smithfield; and
+the only shows admitted were the menageries of Wombwell, Hilton, and
+Wright, and Grove's theatre of arts. Why the performances of lions and
+tigers should be regarded with more favour than those of horses, Miss
+Clarke on the tight-rope be considered a more demoralising spectacle then
+Miss Hilton or Miss Chapman in a cage of wild beasts, and the serpents and
+crocodile in Crockett's caravan more suggestive of immoral ideas than the
+monkeys in the menageries, is a problem which does not admit of easy
+solution, and which only an aldermanic mind could have framed.
+
+The suburban fairs were declining so much at this time that Johnson and
+Lee were deterred by their diminished receipts at Greenwich and Deptford
+from visiting Ealing, Camberwell, and Enfield; and, on being excluded from
+Smithfield, proceeded to Chatham, whence they moved to Croydon. The
+decadence was still more manifest in the following year, and at Enfield an
+attempt was made by the magistrate to prevent them from opening on the
+third day, the more officious than learned administrator of the law being
+ignorant of the fact that, though the fair had for many years been held on
+two days only, the charter by which it was held allowed three days. Lee
+had taken care to obtain a copy of the charter, and on the superintendent
+of police going to the theatre with the magistrate's order for its
+immediate removal, he positively refused obedience to the mandate, and
+produced the charter. The superintendent thereupon apologised, and
+returned to the magistrate with the news of his discomfiture.
+
+At Bartholomew Fair, Wombwell's was the only show of any consequence. His
+collection had at this time grown to be, not only the largest and best
+travelling, but equal, and in some respects superior, to any in the world.
+He had twelve lions, besides lionesses and cubs, and eight tigers, a
+tigress, and cubs, in addition to a puma, a jaguar, a black tiger, several
+leopards, an ocelot, a serval, and a pair of genets. There were also
+striped and spotted hyenas, wolves, jackals, coati-mondies, racoons, a
+polar bear, a sloth bear, black and brown bears, a honey bear, and a
+couple of porcupines. The hoofed classes were represented by three
+elephants, a fine one-horned rhinoceros, a pair of gnus, a white antelope,
+a Brahmin cow, an axis deer, and three giraffes, which had lately been
+brought from Abyssinia by M. Riboulet, a French traveller, and were the
+first of their kind ever exhibited in the fair.
+
+Croydon Fair was disturbed this year by a fight between the youths of the
+East India Company's military college at Addiscombe, about a mile from the
+town, and the members of Johnson and Lee's company. The _fracas_
+originated with an insulting remark made by one of the cadets, as they
+were generally called, to a young lady of the theatrical company,
+promenading at the time on the parade. The insult was promptly resented by
+a male member of the _troupe_, who hurled the offender down the steps. A
+dozen of his companions immediately rushed up the steps, and assailed the
+champion, who was supported by the rest of the company; and the
+consequence was a sharp scrimmage, ending in the arrival of several
+constables, and the removal to the station-house of as many of the cadets
+as could not escape by flight. Next morning they were taken before the
+magistrates, and, being proved to have been the aggressors, they were
+fined; and from that time the military aspirants of Addiscombe were
+forbidden to enter the town during the three days of the fair.
+
+Charles Freer was the leading actor of the company at this time, and the
+principal lady was Mrs. Hugh Campbell, whom I remember seeing a year or
+two afterwards at the Gravesend theatre. She was subsequently engaged, as
+was Freer also, at the Pavilion. Her successor on the Richardsonian boards
+was Mrs. Yates, who was afterwards engaged at the Standard.
+
+The harlequin was a nervous, eccentric, one-eyed young man named Charles
+Shaw, who was dismissed from the company towards the close of the season
+on account of his freaks reaching a pitch which at times raised a doubt as
+to his sanity, besides threatening detriment to the interests of the
+theatre. When the time approached at which the campaign of 1842 was to be
+commenced, it was found necessary to advertise for a harlequin; and the
+announcement of the want produced a response from Charles Wilson, who
+stated that he had been engaged through the preceding pantomime season at
+the Birmingham theatre. This gentleman seeming eligible, he was engaged,
+but was not seen by Lee, or any of the company, until he presented himself
+at the theatre on Easter Sunday, at Greenwich. Lee was immediately struck
+with the new harlequin's remarkable resemblance to the old one, which
+extended to every feature but the eyes; these were the same colour as
+Shaw's, but he had two, while Shaw had lost one. On the second day of the
+fair, however, it was discovered that the eye which had thus long puzzled
+every one as to his identity was a glass one; and on his being charged
+with being Shaw, he acknowledged the deception, observing that he had felt
+sure that he would not be re-engaged if he applied in his proper name. The
+deception was pardoned, and Shaw's subsequent freaks seem to have been
+fewer, and of a milder character.
+
+The effects of the policy resolved upon by the City authorities in 1840
+became more perceptible every year. In 1842, only one of the few shows
+that appeared in Smithfield issued a bill, which, as a curiosity, being
+the last ever issued for Bartholomew Fair, I subjoin:--
+
+            EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON!!!
+          THE GREATEST WONDER IN THE WORLD
+               Now Exhibiting Alive,
+  _At the Globe Coffee House, No. 30, King Street_,
+                    SMITHFIELD,
+       A FEMALE CHILD WITH TWO PERFECT HEADS,
+
+Named Elizabeth Bedbury, Daughter of Daniel and Jane Bedbury, Born at
+Wandsworth, Surrey, April 17th, 1842. The public is respectfully informed
+that the Child is now LIVING; and hundreds of persons has been to see it,
+and declares that it is the most Wonderful Phenomenon of Nature they'd
+ever seen.
+
+                 ADMISSION 1_d._ Each.
+  No Deception; if dissatisfied, the Money Returned.
+
+Nelson Lee played a trick at Croydon Fair this year which can only be
+defended on the principle that "all is fair at fair time." Finding that
+the Bosjesmans were being exhibited in the town, and were attracting great
+numbers of persons to their "receptions," he hung out, on the second day
+of the fair, a show-cloth with the announcement, in large black letters,
+"_Arrival of the Real Bosjesmen_." to represent the strange specimens of
+humanity which had lately been discovered in South Africa, and their
+appearance on the parade in an antic dance produced a rush to witness the
+further representations of the manners and sports of savage life to be
+seen inside.
+
+A startling event occurred on the following morning. One of Wombwell's
+elephants escaped from confinement, and at the early hour of three in the
+morning was seen, to the amazement and alarm of old Winter, the watchman,
+walking in a leisurely manner down High Street. He was in the habit of
+being taken every morning by his keeper to bathe in Scarbrook pond, a
+small piece of water skirted by a lane connecting the modern and now
+principal portion of the town with the Old Town; and on such occasions he
+was regaled with a bun at a confectioner's shop at the corner which he had
+to turn out of High Street, near the Green Dragon. While a constable ran
+to the George the Fourth, where some of Wombwell's _employés_ were known
+to be located, the elephant reached the confectioner's shop, and, finding
+it closed, butted the shutters with his enormous head, and, amidst a crash
+of wood and glass, proceeded to help himself to the delicacies inside. On
+the arrival of his keeper, the docile beast submitted himself to his
+guidance, and was led back to his stable; but Wombwell had to pay the
+confectioner seven or eight pounds for the damage done to the shop window
+and shutters.
+
+Johnson and Lee commenced the season of 1843 with several members of the
+Pavilion company in their fair _corps_; but they attended fewer fairs than
+in any previous year, and in 1844 their theatre appeared only at
+Greenwich, Enfield, and Croydon. In the following year, it was burned,
+while standing in a field at Dartford, and the proprietors, not being
+insured, suffered a loss of seventeen hundred pounds. Nothing was saved
+but the parade waggon, which was dragged away before the flames reached
+it, and, with the scene waggon and other effects which had been bought of
+Haydon in 1838, formed the nucleus of the new theatre with which the
+proprietors opened the fair campaign of 1847. Henry Howard joined the
+travelling company in that year at Ealing Fair, on the closing of the
+Standard.
+
+During the latter part of their career as proprietors of a travelling
+theatre, the successors of Richardson found it more profitable to conduct
+their business on the system, since adopted by Newsome and Hengler with
+their circuses, of locating the theatre for two or three weeks at a time
+in some considerable town, than to wander from fair to fair, staying at
+each place only three or four days. At the present day, the circuses just
+named draw good houses, as a rule, for three months; but a quarter of a
+century ago this was not thought practicable, and in 1849, when Johnson
+and Lee erected their theatre at Croydon (in the Fair Field, but some time
+before the fair), they did not deem it expedient to extend their stay
+beyond three weeks. The company was drawn chiefly from the minor theatres
+of the metropolis, and included Leander Melville, Billington, Seaman,
+Phillips, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Campbell, and Miss Slater. _The Stranger_ was
+selected for the first night, and drew a good audience, as it invariably
+does, wherever it is played. Under the able and judicious management of
+Nelson Lee, and with a change of performances every night, good business
+was done to the last. The experiment was repeated with equal success at
+Uxbridge and Reading.
+
+Another step towards the extinction of Bartholomew Fair was taken this
+year by the exclusion from Smithfield of shows of every description; a
+step which would have been at least consistent, if the civic authorities
+had not made arrangements for the standing of shows of all kinds on a
+large piece of ground adjoining the New North Road, called Britannia
+Fields, near the site of the Britannia theatre. If the suppression of the
+fair had been sought on the ground of its interference with the trade and
+traffic of the city, this step would have been intelligible; but the moral
+grounds upon which it was urged served to cover with ridicule the removal
+of what was alleged to be a hot-bed of vice from Smithfield to Hoxton.
+What right had the corporation to demoralise the dwellers in one part of
+the metropolis, in order to preserve from further contamination the
+inhabitants of another part?
+
+Bartholomew Fair was reduced by this step to a dozen stalls, and from that
+time may be considered as practically extinct. In Britannia Fields, what
+was called New Bartholomew Fair was attended by the shows which of late
+years had resorted to Smithfield and one or two others, among which was
+Reed's theatre, the prices of admission to which ranged from sixpence to
+two shillings. The performances consisted of _The Scottish Chieftain_, in
+which Saker played Ronald, the principal character, and a pantomime called
+_Harlequin Rambler_. Among the minor shows was that of Hales and his
+sister, the Norfolk giant and giantess, who issued a bill containing the
+following effusion of the Muse that inspired the poet of Mrs. Jarley's
+wax-work:--
+
+  "Miss Hales and her Brother are here to be seen,
+  O come let us visit the sweet lovely Queen;
+  Behold she is handsome--in manners polite--
+  Both she and her brother near eight feet in height!
+  I have seen all the tallest in towns far and near,
+  But never their equal to me did appear!
+  All England and Scotland, and Ireland declare,
+  Their like was ne'er seen yet in them anywhere.
+
+  "Here's the smallest of women creation can show,
+  Complete in proportion from top to the toe;
+  And a Lady of rank from New Zealand secured,
+  Escap'd from the murder her husband endured!
+  And a fine youthful female presented to sight,
+  All spangled and spotted with brown and with white;
+  Large Crocodiles here, and a Boa behold,
+  With a fine Anaconda all glistening with gold.
+
+  "Here's a silver-haired Lady, with skin white as snow,
+  Whose eyes are like rubies that roll to and fro!
+  You will find her a species different from all,
+  The black and the whites, or the low and the tall!
+  But to sing all her beauties I need not begin,
+  Nor the fine azure veins that appear through her skin;
+  For these, mind, no poet or painter can show,
+  But when you behold her, O then you may know!
+
+  "Exhibitions like this may to us be of use--
+  What a contrast of creatures this world can produce!
+  See the tallest and smallest before us in state.
+  What a prodigy rare and phenomena great!
+  From such wonders eccentric presented to view
+  We now may our study of nature pursue;
+  And philosophy truly may draw from it then,
+  That Temp'rance produces the tallest of men."
+
+Hales made enough money by the exhibition of himself to purchase the lease
+and goodwill of a public-house in Drury Lane, where he lived several
+years. Many persons visited the house purposely to see him, but he never
+appeared in the bar before eleven o'clock, and was careful to avoid making
+himself too cheap. I saw him once, in crossing the street towards his
+house, stoop to raise in his arms a little girl, suggesting to my mind the
+giant and fairy of a pantomime.
+
+In pursuance of the policy indicated in the report of 1840, Bartholomew
+Fair, now represented by a few stalls, was proclaimed in 1850 by deputy;
+and this course was followed until 1855, when not a single stall-keeper
+applied for space, and the ceremony of proclaiming the fair was omitted
+altogether. The new fair in Britannia Fields was held only two or three
+years, that concession to the showmen and to the fair-going portion of the
+public having been designed only for the purpose of facilitating the
+extinction of the old fair in Smithfield.
+
+Greenwich Fair was the scene in 1850 of an outrageous and dastardly attack
+on Johnson and Lee's theatre by a body of soldiers from Woolwich. It seems
+to have originated in a practical joke played by a soldier upon a young
+man in the crowd before the theatre, and which, being resented, was
+followed by an assault. On the latter retreating up the steps of the
+parade waggon, followed by his assailant, Nelson Lee interposed for his
+protection, and was himself assaulted by the soldier, who was thereupon
+ejected. A number of soldiers, witnessing the discomfiture of their
+comrade, immediately rushed up the steps, and began an indiscriminate
+attack upon everybody on the parade. The company, finding themselves
+over-matched, took refuge in the interior, or jumped off the parade, and
+fled as if for their lives.
+
+An actor named Chappell stood by Nelson Lee after the rest had fled, but
+he joined in the stampede ultimately, and the proprietor of the theatre
+was left alone, defending himself and property against a swarm of foes.
+The story told long afterwards of the harlequin of the company was, that
+he ran without pause to the railway station, and jumped into a train just
+starting for London. He then ran from London Bridge to Shoreditch, and
+rushing, exhausted and excited, into a public-house adjoining the City of
+London theatre, gasped, "Blood--soldiers--Mr. Lee--frightful affair--three
+pen'orth o' brandy!"
+
+The soldiers, having driven their opponents off the field, began
+destroying the front of the theatre, and smashing the lamps, which,
+fortunately, were not lighted. If they had been burning, the result would
+probably have been a terrific conflagration, which might have swept the
+fair, and destroyed many thousands of pounds' worth of property. Nelson
+Lee, resisting with all his might the destruction of his property, had a
+rope made fast round his body, and was about to be hoisted to the top of
+the front, when a dozen constables arrived, and the assailants immediately
+abandoned the field, and, leaping off the parade, mixed with the crowd.
+Many of them were captured, however, and, being taken before a magistrate,
+were committed for trial at the ensuing Old Bailey sessions. Johnson and
+Lee withdrew from the prosecution, however, expecting that their
+forbearance would be rewarded by pecuniary compensation for the
+destruction of their property, which the Recorder had suggested should be
+given by the officers of the regiment to which the offenders belonged;
+but, on application being made to the officers, they informed Lee that
+there were _no regimental funds_ available for the purpose, and I believe
+not a penny was ever received by Johnson and Lee by way of compensation.
+
+During the Whitsuntide Fair, the soldiers were confined to their barracks;
+but, as many of them were in the habit of visiting the theatre with their
+friends, this measure diminished the receipts, and thus added loss to
+loss. Johnson and Lee attended no other fairs that year, but removed the
+theatre to Croydon, where they erected it in a field adjoining the
+Addiscombe Road, near the Brighton and South-Eastern railway stations.
+Henry Howard and Mrs. Campbell played the leading characters here, and
+afterwards at Hertford and Uxbridge.
+
+Wombwell died this year in his living carriage at Richmond, at the age of
+seventy-three. He was buried in Highgate cemetery, his coffin being made
+of oak from the timbers of the _Royal George_, which sank off Spithead in
+1782. As his executors were instructed by his will to have no nails used
+in its construction, it was put together on the dove-tailing system. The
+menagerie was divided in accordance with his will into three parts, which
+were bequeathed respectively to his widow, a niece named Edmunds, and
+another relative named Day.
+
+The expectation of such results as attended the Hyde Park Fair of 1838
+from the concourse of people flocking into the metropolis during the
+summer of 1851, when the first great international exhibition was held,
+caused arrangements to be made for a "world's fair" on a large scale, to
+be held during the same time at Bayswater. A committee was formed for its
+organisation and management, consisting of Johnson and Lee, Algar,
+Mussett, Mills, Trebeck, and Young. Algar was the proprietor of the Crown
+and Anchor refreshment and dancing booth, well-known to the frequenters of
+Greenwich and Croydon Fairs; Mussett and Mills were almost as well known
+as leading names among the stall-keepers attending the great fairs;
+Trebeck was a toy-dealer in Sun Street, Bishopsgate.
+
+The undertaking was as complete a failure, however, as the fair of 1838
+had been a success. The ground was in bad condition, and its softness was
+a difficulty at the commencement. Mrs. Wombwell's elephant waggon stuck in
+the mud, and had to be left there until the next day; and the elephant
+extricated himself with difficulty by lifting one leg at a time, and
+stepping upon trusses of straw laid down to give him a firm footing.
+Edmunds would not venture to the ground which he had taken for his
+menagerie, but arranged his caravans at the entrance of the field. The
+weather was cold and cheerless when the fair was opened, and the railway
+companies had not begun running trains at low fares. When the fine weather
+and the excursion trains did come, the fair had come to be regarded as a
+failure, and it never recovered from the chill and blight of its
+commencement.
+
+Johnson and Lee's theatre appeared at Greenwich Fair for the last time in
+1852, and proceeded thence to Uxbridge, where the company was joined by
+James Robson, afterwards so famous as a comedian at the Olympic. In the
+following year, the property was sold by auction, and, as a memorial of
+an event which has seldom occurred, and will never occur again, I subjoin
+the advertisement:--
+
+"Notice.--To Carmen, Builders, Proprietors of Tea Gardens, Exhibitors, Van
+Proprietors, Travelling Equestrians, Providers of Illuminations, &c.--The
+Travelling Theatrical Property known as Richardson's Theatre, comprising
+Covered Vans and Parade Waggons, Scenery, Wings, Stage Front, Orchestra,
+with a double stock of beautiful scenery, waterproof covering, draperies,
+massive chandeliers, a great quantity of baize, flags, &c. Large coat of
+arms, variegated lamps and devices, eight capital 6-inch wheels, parade
+waggons, with two large flaps to each, two capital excursion vans, trucks,
+double stock of new scenery, shifting flies, fourteen long forms, large
+stock of book-cloths and baize of large dimensions, battened
+dancing-boards, erection of booths, handsome imitation stone front, two
+capital money-takers' boxes, with fittings up, handsome ornamental urns,
+large figures on pedestals, four guns and carriages, handsome pilasters,
+machinery, flooring throughout the building, with numerous scenery and
+stage devices, and every other article connected with the stage, a
+quantity of quartering, iron, old wheels, &c., &c., &c. Which will be sold
+by auction by Mr. Lloyd, on the premises, Richardson's Cottage,
+Horsemonger-lane, Boro'. May be viewed, and catalogues had on the
+premises, and of the Auctioneers, 5, Hatfield-street, Blackfriars-road."
+
+The property was completely dispersed; the timber and wood-work being
+purchased by builders, the waggons by wheelwrights, the canvas and
+tilt-cloths by farmers, and the green baize, curtains, fittings, etc., by
+Jew dealers. There is not the shadow of a pretence, therefore, for the use
+of the name, "Richardson's theatre," by any showman of the present day.
+
+The shows travelling after the sale and dispersion of Johnson and Lee's
+were, exclusive of menageries and exhibitions, Abbott's theatre, Jackman's
+theatre, and Fossett's circus. I am not sure that Reed's theatre was still
+in existence. Abbott's theatre was at the Easter fair at Greenwich in
+1852, when Charlie Keith, since famous all over Europe as "the roving
+English clown," was fulfilling his first engagement in it as an acrobat.
+Robson, the comedian, was at the same time performing in Jackman's
+theatre, from which he transferred his services to Johnson and Lee's.
+
+Fossett's circus was pitched that summer at Primrose Hill for a few days,
+when one of the irregular fairs which are occasionally held in the
+neighbourhood of London was held. It is a small concern, with only two or
+three horses. Miss Fossett, the proprietor's daughter, is a tight-rope
+performer, in which capacity she appeared a few years ago in Talliott's
+circus, when the company and stud appeared one winter in a temporary
+building at the rear of some small houses in New Street, Lambeth Walk.
+James Talliott, to whom the houses belong, was then well known to the
+frequenters of the London music-halls, and may be remembered as a trapeze
+performer in conjunction with Burnett, who called himself Burnetti, but
+was known among the professional fraternity as Bruiser. He afterwards
+performed singly at the Strand Music-hall, now the Gaiety Theatre, and
+other places of amusement in the metropolis, and has since owned a small
+circus, with which he travels during the summer within a circle of a dozen
+miles from London.
+
+Hilton's menagerie had at this time passed into the possession of Manders,
+and the lion-tamer of the show was an Irishman named James Strand, who had
+formerly kept a gingerbread-stall, and had been engaged to perform with
+the beasts when those attractive exhibitions had been threatened with
+temporary suspension by the abruptness with which his predecessor,
+Newsome--a brother, I believe, to the circus-proprietor of that name--had
+terminated his engagement. Strand's qualifications for the profession were
+not equal to his own estimate of them, however, and Manders had to look
+out for his successor.
+
+One day, when the menagerie was at Greenwich Fair, a powerful-looking
+negro accosted one of the musicians, saying that he was a sailor just
+returned from a voyage, and would like a berth in the show. The musician
+communicated the man's wish to Manders, and the negro was invited to enter
+the show. His appearance and confident manner impressed the showman
+favourably, and, on his being allowed to enter the lion's cage, at his own
+request, he displayed so much address and ability to control the animals
+that he was engaged at once, and "the gingerbread king," as Strand was
+called, was informed that his services could, for the future, be dispensed
+with. This remarkable black man was the famous Macomo, who for several
+years afterwards travelled with the menagerie, exhibiting in his
+performances with lions and tigers as much daring as Van Amburgh, and as
+much coolness as Crockett.
+
+One of the finest tigers ever imported into this country, and said to be
+the identical beast that escaped from Mr. Jamrach's premises in St.
+George's Street (better known by its old name of Ratcliffe Highway), and
+killed a boy before it was recaptured, was purchased by Manders, and
+placed in a cage with another tiger. The two beasts soon began fighting
+furiously, upon which Macomo entered the cage, armed only with a
+riding-whip, and attempted to separate them. His efforts caused both the
+tigers to turn their fury upon him, and they severely lacerated him; but,
+covered with blood as he was, he continued the struggle for supremacy
+until the beasts cowered before him, and he was able, with the assistance
+of the keepers, to separate them.
+
+It is worthy of remark, in connection with the causes of accidents with
+lions and tigers, that Macomo, like Crockett, was a strictly sober man,
+never touching intoxicating liquors of any kind. "It's the drink," said
+the ex-lion king, who was interviewed by the special commissioner of a
+London morning journal two years ago; "It's the drink that plays the
+mischief with us fellows. There are plenty of people always ready to treat
+the daring fellow that plays with the lions as if they were kittens; and
+so he gets reckless, lets the dangerous animal--on which, if he were
+sober, he would know he must always keep his eye--get dodging round behind
+him; or hits a beast in which he ought to know that a blow rouses the
+sleeping devil; or makes a stagger, and goes down, and then they set upon
+him."
+
+Macomo's fight with the two tigers was not the only occasion on which he
+received injuries, the scars of which he bore upon him to the day of his
+death, which, contrary to the expectation of every one who witnessed his
+performances, was a peaceful one. He died a natural death in 1870, when he
+was succeeded by an Irishman named Macarthy, who had previously been
+attached in a similar capacity to the circus of Messrs. Bell and Myers.
+While performing, in 1862, with the lions belonging to that establishment,
+he had had his left arm so severely mangled by one of the beasts that
+amputation became necessary. This circumstance seems to have added to the
+_éclat_ of his performances; but he had neither the nerve of Macomo, nor
+his resolution to abstain from stimulants. Unlike his predecessor, he
+frequently turned his back upon the lions, though he had frequently been
+cautioned against the danger he thereby incurred; and it was believed that
+his disregard of the warning was one of the causes of the terrible
+encounter which terminated his existence.
+
+Macarthy was bitten on two occasions while performing with Manders's
+lions, prior to the disaster at Bolton. The first time was while
+performing at Edinburgh, when one of the beasts made a snap at his
+remaining arm, but only slightly grazed it. The second occasion was a few
+days before the fatal accident occurred, when one of the Lions bit him
+slightly on the wrist. He lost his life in representing a so-called "lion
+hunt," an exhibition which was introduced by Macomo, and consists in
+chasing the animals about the cage, the performer being armed with a sword
+and pistols, and throwing into the mimic sport as much semblance of
+reality as the circumstances allow. The exhibition is acknowledged by
+lion-tamers themselves to be a dangerous one, and it should never be
+attempted with any but young animals. For their ordinary performances,
+most lion-tamers prefer full-grown animals, as being better trained; but a
+full-grown lion does not like to be driven and hustled about, as the
+animals are in the so-called "lion hunt," and when such are used for this
+exhibition they are frequently changed.
+
+Macarthy was driving the animals from one end of the cage to the other
+when one of them ran against his legs, and threw him down. He soon
+regained his feet, however, and drove the animals into a corner. Whilst
+stamping his feet upon the floor, to make the animals run past him, one
+of them crept stealthily out from the group, and sprang upon him, seizing
+him by the right hip and throwing him down upon his side. For a moment the
+spectators imagined that this was part of the performance, but Macarthy's
+agonised features soon convinced them of the terrible reality of the scene
+before them. As he struggled to rise, three other lions sprang upon him,
+one of them seizing his arm, from which he immediately dropped the sword.
+
+The keepers now hurried to the unfortunate man's assistance, some of them
+endeavouring to beat off the infuriated lions, while others inserted a
+partition between the bars of the cage, with a view to driving the animals
+behind it. This was a task of considerable difficulty, however, for as one
+beast was obliged to relinquish its hold of the unfortunate man, another
+rushed into its place. Heated irons were then brought, and by their aid,
+and the discharge of fire-arms, four of the lions were driven behind the
+partition. Macarthy was lying in the centre of the cage, still being torn
+by the lion that had first attacked him. A second partition was attempted
+to be inserted, but was found to be too large; and then one of the keepers
+drew the first one out a little, with the view of driving the fifth lion
+among the rest. More blank cartridges were fired, without effect, and it
+was not until the hot irons were applied to the nose of the infuriated
+brute that it loosed its hold, and ran behind the partition.
+
+Even then, before the opening could be closed, the lion ran out again,
+seized the dead or dying man by one of his feet and dragged him into the
+corner, where four of the beasts again fell upon him with unsatiated
+thirst of blood. The terrible scene had now been going on for a quarter of
+an hour, and, even when all the animals were at length secured, it was
+found that they were next the entrance of the cage, the opposite end of
+which had to be broken open before the mangled corpse of the lion-tamer
+could be lifted out.
+
+As lion-tamers are well paid, and this was only the second fatal accident
+in the course of half a century, it is not surprising that, as soon as the
+catastrophe became known, there were several candidates for the vacancy
+created by Macarthy's death. Mrs. Manders had resolved to discontinue the
+exhibition, however, and the applicants for the situation received an
+intimation to that effect.
+
+Mrs. Wombwell retired from the menagerie business in 1866, and was
+succeeded in the proprietorship by Fairgrieve, who had married her niece.
+
+Fairgrieve retired from the occupation in the spring of 1872, when his
+fine collection of animals was sold by auction at Edinburgh. As the
+public sale of a menagerie is a rare event, and Mr. Jamrach and Mr. Rice
+do not publish prices current, the reader may be glad to learn the prices
+realised.
+
+The first lot was a racoon--"a very pleasant, playful pet," the auctioneer
+said--which was knocked down to the Earl of Roseberry for one pound. Mr.
+Bell Lamonby, another private collector, became the possessor of a pair of
+agoutis; which he was assured were "sharp, active little animals, and
+could sing like canaries," for an equally moderate sum. Then came a
+strange-looking and ferocious animal called the Tasmanian devil, of which
+there is a specimen in the gardens of the Zoological Society, and which
+the auctioneer assured his hearers was as strong in the jaw as a hyena,
+but not to be recommended for purchase as a domestic pet. Bids were slow,
+and even the prospect of purchasing the devil for three pounds did not
+render buyers enthusiastic; so that Mrs. Day bought the animal for five
+shillings more.
+
+Then came the baboons and monkeys. The Diana monkey, a white and
+rose-breasted little animal, was purchased by Dr. Mackendrick for seven
+pounds; while the Capuchin monkey, full of intelligence, and belonging to
+a kind fancied by Italian organ-grinders, was knocked down to Mr. Rice
+for thirty shillings. Mr. Jamrach purchased the drill, "a playful little
+drawing-room pet, worth twenty pounds to put on the kitchen shelf to look
+at," for five guineas; and Mr. Rice paid thirty pounds for a male
+mandrill, five for a female of the same species, eighteen guineas for a
+pair of Anubis baboons, and fifteen pounds for five dog-faced baboons.
+
+Passing on to the bird carriage, the first specimen submitted to
+competition was the black vulture, one of the largest birds of the
+species, and in excellent plumage. Mr. Rice bought this bird for three
+pounds ten shillings, and the condor, which had been forty years in the
+show, for fifteen pounds. Next came the emu, "a very suitable bird for a
+gentleman's park, and a nice show thing for the ladies in the morning,
+after breakfast," which Mrs. Day secured for her collection at seven
+pounds. Mr. Jamrach gave thirteen pounds for the pair of pelicans, bought
+at the sale of the Knowsley collection, and which had been trained to run
+races. The fine collection of parrots, macaws, and cockatoos was dispersed
+among a number of local fanciers of ornithological beauties.
+
+Proceeding to the larger mammals, the auctioneer knocked down a male
+nylghau to Mr. Van Amburgh, the great American menagerist, for twenty-six
+pounds, and a female of the same species to the proprietor of the
+Manchester Zoological Gardens for ten guineas; while Mr. Jamrach secured a
+llama for fifteen pounds, and Mr. Rice a young kangaroo for twelve pounds.
+Professor Edwards, who had come over from Paris to pick up a few good
+specimens for the Jardin des Plantes, purchased the white bear, "young,
+healthy, and lively as a trout," for forty pounds, and a jackal for three
+pounds. A Thibet bear and three performing leopards were knocked down to
+Mr. Jamrach for five guineas and sixty pounds respectively. Another
+leopard, advanced in years, realised only six guineas. Mr. Van Amburgh
+secured the spotted hyena for fifteen pounds; while a performing striped
+hyena brought only five shillings above three pounds. Among objects of
+minor interest, a pair of wolves were sold for two guineas, an ocelot for
+six pounds ten shillings, three porcupines for ten pounds more, a wombat
+for seven pounds, a Malabar squirrel for five pounds, and a pair of boa
+constrictors for twelve pounds.
+
+The large carnivora excited much attention, and fair prices were realised,
+though in some instances they were less than was expected. Mr. Rice gave a
+hundred and eighty-five pounds for the famous lion with which Signor
+Lorenzo used to represent the well-known story of Androcles, two other
+lions for a hundred and forty pounds each, two young ones for ninety
+pounds each, and a lioness for eighty pounds. A black-maned lion, said to
+be the largest and handsomest lion in Britain, was sold to Mr. Jackson,
+for the Bristol Zoological Gardens, for two hundred and seventy pounds;
+and his mate, in the interesting condition of approaching maternity, to
+Mr. Jennison, of the Belle Vue Gardens, Manchester, for a hundred guineas.
+Mr. Jamrach gave two hundred pounds for a fine lion, and a hundred and
+fifty-five pounds for the magnificent tigress that used to figure
+conspicuously in the performances of Signor Lorenzo.
+
+Mr. Rice, who was the largest purchaser, bought the gnu for eighty-five
+pounds, and the zebra for fifty pounds. The camels and dromedaries, bought
+principally for travelling menageries, realised from fourteen to thirty
+pounds each, with the exception of a young one, bought by Dr. Mackendrick
+for nine pounds ten shillings. Menagerists restrict the word "camel" to
+the two-humped or Bactrian variety, and call the one-humped kind
+dromedaries; but the dromedary, according to naturalists, is a small
+variety of the Syrian camel, bearing the same relation to the latter as a
+pony does to a horse. The dromedaries of Mr. Fairgrieve's collection were,
+on the contrary, taller than the Bactrian camels.
+
+There was a spirited competition for the two elephants, ending in the
+magnificent full-tusked male, seven feet six inches in height, being
+knocked down to Mr. Jennison for six hundred and eighty pounds, and the
+female, famous for her musical performances, to Mr. Rice for a hundred and
+forty-five pounds. The former animal was described as the largest and
+cleverest performing elephant ever exhibited. In stature he is exceeded,
+it is said, by the elephant kept by the Emperor of Russia at the gardens
+of Tsarski-Seloe; but, while the performances of that beast have been
+confined to the occasional killing of a keeper, the animal now in the
+Belle Vue Gardens at Manchester, besides performing many tricks evincing
+great docility and intelligence, was accustomed to draw the band carriage,
+would pull a loaded waggon up a hill, and had for the last eighteen months
+preceding the sale placed all the vans of the menagerie in position, with
+the assistance of a couple of men. The entire proceeds of the sale were a
+little under three thousand pounds.
+
+I do not remember ever visiting a travelling menagerie that afforded me
+greater pleasure than one of the smaller class which I saw some thirty
+years ago at Mitcham Fair, and subsequently at Camberwell Fair. There were
+no lions or tigers in the collection, but it included four performing
+leopards, a tame hyena, and a wolf that seemed equally tame, if such an
+inference could be drawn from the presence of a lamb in its cage. The
+showman, who wore neither spangled trunks, nor a coat of chain-mail, but
+corduroy breeches and a sleeved vest of cat's skin, entered the leopard's
+cage, with a riding whip in one hand and a hoop in the other. The animals
+leaped over the whip, through the hoop, and over the man's back,
+exhibiting throughout the performance as much docility as dogs or cats.
+The whip was used merely as part of the "properties." The man afterwards
+entered the cage of the hyena, which rubbed its head against him, after
+the manner of a cat, and allowed him to open its mouth. The hyena has the
+reputation of being untameable; but, in addition to this instance to the
+contrary, Bishop Heber had a hyena at Calcutta which followed him about
+like a dog.
+
+Tigers are little used as performing animals, partly perhaps from being
+less easily procured, but also, I believe, from greater distrust of them
+on the part of brute-tamers. There was a splendid tigress in Fairgrieve's
+menagerie, however, with which Signor Lorenzo used to do a wonderful
+performance; and I saw, some five-and-thirty years ago, in a show pitched
+upon a piece of waste ground at Norwood, a tiger that played a prominent
+part in a sensational drama, the interest of which was evolved from the
+hair-breadth escapes of a British traveller in the wilds of Africa. The
+author did not seem to have been aware that there are no tigers in that
+part of the world, the animals so called by the Cape colonists being
+leopards; but, as the old woman who took money replied to my remonstrance
+that one tiger could not, without an outrage upon Lindley Murray, be
+called performing _animals_, "what can you expect for a penny?"
+
+The old showmen are now virtually extinct, and the London fairs have all
+ceased to exist. "Old Bartlemy" died hard, but its time must soon have
+come, in the natural order of things. Its extinction was followed closely
+by that of all the other fairs formerly held in the suburbs of the
+metropolis. Camberwell Fair was abolished in 1856, and the Greenwich Fairs
+in the following year. I cannot better express my opinion as to the causes
+which have led to the decline of fairs generally, but especially of those
+held within half an hour's journey from the metropolis, and the
+suppression of most of those formerly held within a shorter distance, than
+by quoting a brief dialogue between a showman and an acrobat in 'Bob
+Lumley's Secret,' a story which appeared anonymously a few years ago in a
+popular periodical:--
+
+"'Fairs is nearly worked out, Joe,' said the red-faced individual,
+speaking between the whiffs of blue smoke from his _dhudeen_. 'Why, I can
+remember the time when my old man used to take more money away from this
+fair with the Russian giant, and the Polish dwarf, and the Circassian
+lady, than I can make now in a month. Them was the times, when old Adam
+Lee, the Romany, used to come to this fair with his coat buttons made of
+guineas, and his waistcoat buttons of seven-shilling pieces. Ah, you may
+laugh, Joey Alberto; but I have heard my old man speak of it many's the
+time.'
+
+"'There's good fairs now down in the shires,' observed the younger man;
+'but this town is too near the big village.'
+
+"'That's it!' exclaimed the showman. 'It's all along o' them blessed
+railways. They brings down lots o' people, it is true; but, lor'! they
+don't spend half the money the yokels used to in former times.'
+
+"'Besides which,' rejoined he of the spangled trunks, 'the people about
+here can run up to London and back for a shilling any day in the week, all
+the year round, and see all the living curiosities in the Zoo, and the
+stuffed ones in the Museum, and go in the evening to a theatre or a
+music-hall.'"
+
+The fair referred to was the October fair at Croydon; and I may add that
+views similar to those which I have put into the mouths of the acrobat and
+the showman were expressed to me in 1846 by a showman named Gregory, who
+exhibited various natural curiosities and well-contrived mechanical
+representations of the falls of Niagara and a storm at sea. He had just
+received from the printer five thousand bills, which he carefully stowed
+away.
+
+"This fair don't pay for bills," said he. "I want these for Canterbury
+Fair, where there's more money to be taken in one day than in this field
+in three."
+
+"Which do you reckon the best fair in your circuit?" I inquired.
+
+"Sandwich," he replied. "That's a good distance from London, you see, and
+though it's a smaller town than this, there's plenty of money in it. This
+is too near London, now the rail enables people to go there and back for a
+shilling, see all the sights and amusements, and get back home the same
+night."
+
+The fairs within half an hour's journey from London which are still held
+are in a state of visible decadence. I walked through Kingston Fair last
+year, about three o'clock in the afternoon, at which time Croydon Fair
+would, even twenty or thirty years ago, have been crowded. The weather was
+unusually fine, the sun shining with unwonted brilliance for the season,
+and the ground in better condition for walking than I had ever seen the
+field at Croydon on the 2nd of October. Yet there were fewer people
+walking through the fair than I had seen in the market-place. The
+gingerbread vendors and other stall-keepers looked as if they were weary
+of soliciting custom in vain; the swings and the roundabouts stood idle;
+some of the showmen had not thought the aspect of the field sufficiently
+promising to be encouraged to unfurl their pictorial announcements, and
+those who had done so failed to attract visitors.
+
+Day's menagerie was there, and was the principal show in the fair; but the
+few persons who paused to gaze at the pictures passed on without entering,
+and even the beasts within were so impressed with the pervading
+listlessness and inactivity that I did not hear a sound from the cages as
+I walked round to the rear of the show to observe its extent. There was no
+braying of brass bands, no beating of gongs or bawling through
+speaking-trumpets. One forlorn showman ground discordant sounds from a
+barrel-organ with an air of desperation, and another feebly clashed a pair
+of cymbals; but these were all the attempts made to attract attention,
+and they were made in vain.
+
+This was on Saturday afternoon, too, when a large number of the working
+classes are liberated who could not formerly have attended the fair at
+that time without taking a holiday. There was a good attendance in the
+evening, I heard; but, however well the shows and stalls may be patronised
+after six o'clock, it is obvious that their receipts must be less than
+half what they amounted to in the days when they were thronged from noon
+till night.
+
+Fairs are becoming extinct because, with the progress of the nation, they
+have ceased to possess any value in its social economy, either as marts of
+trade or a means of popular amusement. All the large towns now possess
+music-halls, and many of them have a theatre; the most populous have two
+or three. The circuses of Newsome and Hengler are located for three months
+at a time in permanent buildings in the larger towns, and the travelling
+circuses visit in turn every town in the kingdom. Bristol and Manchester
+have Zoological Gardens, and Brighton has its interesting Aquarium. The
+railways connect all the smaller towns, and most of the villages, with the
+larger ones, in which amusements may be found superior to any ever
+presented by the old showmen. What need, then, of fairs and shows? The
+nation has outgrown them, and fairs are as dead as the generations which
+they have delighted, and the last showman will soon be as great a
+curiosity as the dodo.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abbott's theatrical booth, 358
+
+  Adams, the dancer, 154
+
+  African dwarfs, 80
+
+  Albinoes, 295, 310, 313
+
+  Albion dancing-booth, 263
+
+  Algar's dancing-booth, 263, 328, 333, 355
+
+  Allen, the dwarf, 205
+
+  Ambroise, the showman, 189
+
+  Amburgh, Van, the lion-tamer, 260
+
+  American juggler, 294
+
+  Annesley, Mrs., the dancer, 164
+
+  Appleby, the showman, 63
+
+  Arthur, the comedian, 144
+
+  Astley, the equestrian, 211
+
+  Aston, the comedian, 109, 121
+
+  Atkins's menagerie, 258, 277, 302, 304
+
+
+  Baker, Mrs., the theatrical manageress, 196
+
+  Ball, the showman, 271, 303, 309
+
+  Ballard's animal comedians, 169
+
+     "      menagerie, 232, 241, 287, 303, 305
+
+  Banks and his performing horse, 23
+
+  Barnes, the showman, 63
+
+     "     "  pantaloon, 246
+
+  Barnett, Mrs., the actress, 349
+
+  Basil, the showman, 191
+
+  Baudouin, the comic dancer, 131
+
+  Bearded women, 33, 47
+
+  Belzoni's feats of strength, 216
+
+  Berar's _optikali illusio_, 311
+
+  Biffin, Miss, the armless portrait painter, 210, 231
+
+  Billington, the comedian, 349
+
+  Birds, performing, 178, 182, 188
+
+  Bisset, the animal trainer, 177
+
+  Blacker, the dwarf, 167
+
+  Blight, Helen, the lion-performer, 337
+
+  Boheme, the tragedian, 96
+
+  Booth, the theatrical manager, 94
+
+  Bradshaw, Miss, the actress, 144
+
+  Breslaw, the conjuror, 187, 192
+
+  Bridge's theatrical booth, 152, 163
+
+  Broomsgrove, the showman, 313
+
+  Brown, the showman, 272, 300
+
+  Brown's theatre of arts, 315
+
+  Brunn, the juggler, 189
+
+  Bullock, the comedian, 78, 95, 105, 107, 114, 119, 132
+
+  Burchall, the showman, 314
+
+  Burnett, the trapezist, 359
+
+
+  Cadman, the flying man, 145
+
+  Campbell, Mrs., the actress, 344, 349, 355
+
+  Canterel, Mrs., the actress, 110
+
+  Capelli, the conjuror, 307
+
+  Carey, the actor, 223, 230
+
+  Cartlitch, the actor, 246
+
+  Cats, performing, 178, 307
+
+  Chapman, Mary Anne, the albino, 314
+
+     "     Miss, the lion-performer, 337
+
+     "     the comedian, 114, 119, 127, 132, 138, 143
+
+  Chappell, the actor, 353
+
+     "      the showman, 272
+
+  Charke, Mrs., the actress, 114
+
+  Cheshire girl, wonderful, 49
+
+  Chettle's theatrical booth, 151
+
+  Chetwood, the prompter, 105
+
+  Chinese jugglers, 302, 309
+
+     "    lady, 292
+
+  Christoff, the rope-dancer, 20
+
+  Cibber, the tragedian, 107, 114
+
+  Circassian lady, 290
+
+  Clancy, the giant, 313
+
+  Clark, the posturer, 59
+
+  Clarke's circus, 268, 307, 332, 341
+
+  Clarke, Miss, the rope-dancer, 308
+
+  Clarkson, the showman, 191
+
+  Clench, the whistling man, 80
+
+  Coan, the dwarf, 167
+
+  Cooke's circus, 249
+
+  Corder, the murderer, head of, 303
+
+  Cornwell, the showman, 61
+
+  Corsican dwarf, 155, 188
+
+  Cousins's theatrical booth, 154
+
+  Cow, a double, 161
+
+  Cox, the comedian, 37
+
+  Crawley, the puppet-showman, 83
+
+  Crockett, the showman, 341
+
+  Crocodile, the first exhibited, 167
+
+  Crowther, the actor, 322
+
+  Cushings, the pantomimists, 150, 165
+
+
+  Dale's music booth, 64
+
+  Dancey, Mrs. and Miss, the dancers, 131
+
+  Day, the showman, 298
+
+  Day's menagerie, 355, 375
+
+  Dawson, the dwarf, 313
+
+  Derrum, Miss, the female tumbler, 115
+
+  Doggett, the comedian, 74, 79
+
+  Dogs, performing, 85, 169, 178, 307
+
+  Drury's menagerie, 310
+
+  Ducrow, Madame, the rope-dancer, 335
+
+  Dunstall's theatrical booth, 175
+
+  Dupain, the showman, 313
+
+  Dutch boy, wonderful, 70
+
+    "   rope-dancer, 53, 150
+
+  Dwarf family, 298
+
+  Dyan, Ursula, the bearded woman, 47
+
+
+  Edmunds, the menagerist, 337, 355
+
+  Egleton, Mrs., the actress, 108
+
+  Elephant, performing, 284
+
+      "     escape of an, 288, 347
+
+  Elliston, the theatrical manager, 236
+
+  England, the flying pieman, 240
+
+  Esquimaux youth, 294
+
+  Evans, the wire-walker, 172
+
+  Ewing's wax-work exhibition, 306, 310
+
+  Excell, the duettist, 123
+
+
+  Fairgrieve's menagerie, 365
+
+  Farnham, the dwarf, 313
+
+  Faucit, the actor, 221
+
+  Fawkes, the conjuror, 110, 112, 117
+
+     "     "  showman, 116, 123, 139, 150
+
+  Ferguson's wax-work exhibition, 310
+
+  Fielding, the novelist, 103, 107, 110, 113, 119, 124, 127
+
+  Finch, the posturer, 313
+
+  Finley, the acrobat, 73
+
+    "     Mary, the rope-dancer, 73, 78
+
+  Fitzgerald, Mrs., the actress, 110, 123
+
+  Fives Court drinking booth, 333
+
+  Flemish giantess, 47
+
+  Flockton, the juggler and showman, 191, 200, 202, 206
+
+  Ford, the gingerbread vendor, 99
+
+  Fossett's circus, 358
+
+  Frano, Mdlle. de, the dancer, 131
+
+  Frazer, the conjuror, 303
+
+  Frazer's acrobatic entertainment, 341
+
+  Freer, the tragedian, 344
+
+  French, the single-stick player, 158
+
+
+  Gaetano, the bird imitator, 187
+
+  Garrick, the actor, 165
+
+  German rope-dancers, 50, 63, 73
+
+  Giffard, the theatrical manager, 106, 130
+
+  Gipsies' drinking booth, 333
+
+  Girardelli, Josephine, the fire-eater, 235
+
+  Glee-men and glee-maidens, 19
+
+  Gobert, Madame, the athlete, 244
+
+  Godwin, the showman, 151
+
+  Goodwin's theatrical booth, 143
+
+  Gouffe, the man-monkey, 306
+
+  Gregory, the showman, 374
+
+  Griffin, the actor, 107, 114, 137
+
+  Grosette, the actor, 225
+
+  Grove's theatre of arts, 341
+
+  Gyngell, the showman, 207, 238, 254
+
+
+  Haines, the fire-eater, 311
+
+  Hales, the Norfolk giant, 350
+
+  Hall, the rope-dancer, 43, 45
+
+    "    "  actor, 108, 119
+
+  Hall's museum, 192
+
+  Hallam, the tragedian, 107, 114, 119, 127, 131, 138, 143
+
+  Harper, the comedian, 96, 103, 109, 111, 114, 118, 137
+
+  Harris, the cat imitator, 182
+
+  Harris, the showman, 313
+
+  Haydon's theatrical booth, 320
+
+  Heads, lecture on, 186
+
+  Heidegger, Master of the Revels, 139
+
+  Herring, the pantomimist, 322, 336
+
+  Hewet, the comedian, 109
+
+  Hilton's menagerie, 336, 341, 359
+
+  Hilton, Miss, the lion-performer, 336
+
+  Hind, the actor, 121
+
+  Hippisley, the tragedian, 108, 110, 113, 119, 127, 132, 138, 143
+
+      "      Miss, the actress, 162
+
+  Hipson, Miss, the fat girl, 289
+
+  Hoare, the showman, 243
+
+  Hocus Pocus, the King's conjuror, 30
+
+  Hog, enormous, 154
+
+  Holden's glass-blowing exhibition, 299, 301
+
+  Holland's, Lady, mob, 125, 201, 256
+
+  Horses, performing, 20, 23, 43, 83, 164, 178, 202, 305
+
+  Horton, Mrs., the actress, 94
+
+  Howard, the actor, 348, 355
+
+  Hoyo's wax-work exhibition, 310
+
+  Hulett, the comedian, 105, 109, 114, 120
+
+  Hussey's theatrical booth, 145, 151, 153, 156
+
+  Hyenas, tame, 308, 371
+
+
+  Inchbald, Elizabeth, the actress, 196
+
+  Irish giant, 52
+
+  Italian rope-dancer, 40
+
+     "    sword-dancers, 154
+
+  Ives, the showman, 191
+
+
+  Jack, Manchester, the lion-keeper, 260
+
+  Jackman's theatrical booth, 358
+
+  Jano, the rope-dancer, 115, 130
+
+  Jefferies, the actor, 225
+
+  Jobson, the puppet-showman, 191, 202, 208
+
+  Johnson, the showman, 317, 320
+
+     "     and Lee's theatrical booth, 321, 325, 336, 341, 343, 348, 352,
+              356
+
+
+  Kean, the tragedian, 214, 221
+
+  Keith, the clown, 358
+
+  Keyes and Laine, the conjurors, 303
+
+  Killigrew, Charles, Master of the Revels, 50
+
+      "      Thomas, the King's jester, 49
+
+
+  Lacy, Mrs., the actress, 121
+
+  Ladder dance, 85
+
+  Laguerre, the actor, 119
+
+  Lane, the conjuror, 191
+
+  Laskey, the showman, 341
+
+  Lee, Nelson, the theatrical manager, 247, 254, 320, 346
+
+  Lee's theatrical booth, 102, 106, 108, 111, 114, 119, 121, 132, 138,
+      152, 163
+
+    "   unlicensed theatre, 255
+
+  Legar, the actor, 132
+
+  Leigh, the comedian, 95
+
+  Leopard, escape of a, 232
+
+     "     a tame, 287, 310
+
+  Leopards, performing, 368, 371
+
+  Lincolnshire dwarf, 294
+
+  Lion, a tame, 32, 274, 285
+
+    "   baiting with dogs, 261
+
+  Lioness, escape of a, 241
+
+  Lion-tiger cubs, 277, 285, 304
+
+  Little, the comedian-hawker, 324
+
+  Living skeleton, the, 305
+
+  Lorenzo, the lion performer, 368
+
+  Lorme, Madlle. de, the dancer, 106
+
+  Luce, the dancer, 106
+
+
+  Macarthy, the lion performer, 362
+
+  Mackenzie, the hermit, 314
+
+  Macklin, the comedian, 144
+
+  Macomo, the lion performer, 360
+
+  Madagascar woman, 294
+
+  Mahoura, the cannibal chief, head of, 298
+
+  Malay savages, 290
+
+  Manchester Jack, the lion keeper, 260
+
+  Manders's menagerie, 359
+
+  March, the clown, 50
+
+  Maori woman, 292, 351
+
+  Mare with seven feet, 291
+
+  Master of the Revels, office of, 30
+
+  Matthews, the dancer, 164
+
+  Maughan, the showman, 289
+
+  Melville, the actor, 349
+
+  Menagerie, the first, 88
+
+  Mermaids, 162, 298
+
+  Miles's music booth, 64, 85
+
+     "    menagerie, 209
+
+  Miller, the comedian, 75, 77, 107, 114, 119
+
+  Mills, the comedian, 107, 114, 119
+
+  Monkeys, performing, 20, 23, 40, 169, 178, 314
+
+  Monstrosities, 22, 32, 60, 161, 204, 217, 291, 310, 314, 346
+
+  Morgan, the comedian, 121
+
+     "    Miss, the dwarf, 205
+
+  Morgan's menagerie, 287, 302
+
+  Morosini, the rope-dancer, 115
+
+  Mullart, the tragedian, 111
+
+  Mussulmo, the rope-dancer, 151
+
+  Mynn's theatrical booth, 86
+
+
+  Negro, wonderful, 168
+
+  Newman and Allen's theatrical booth, 323
+
+  Newsome, the lion performer, 359
+
+  Nichols, the comedian, 109
+
+  Nokes, Mrs., the actress, 104
+
+
+  Oates, the comedian, 105, 114, 119, 134, 162
+
+    "    Miss, the actress, 114, 120
+
+  O'Brien, the Irish giant, 194, 229
+
+  Ogden, Mrs., the dancer, 154
+
+  Oronutu savage, 154
+
+  Orsi, the singer, 204
+
+  Owen, the clown, 196
+
+  Oxberry, the comedian, 221
+
+
+  Paap, the dwarf, 236
+
+  Pack, the comedian, 95
+
+  Palmer, the theatrical bill-sticker, 165
+
+  Parker's theatrical booth, 79
+
+  Peep-shows, 289, 305, 307
+
+  Penkethman, the elder, comedian, 71, 79, 95, 106
+
+       "       "  younger, comedian, 106, 108, 113, 120, 132
+
+  Penley, the showman, 200
+
+  Perry's menagerie, 159
+
+  Persian giant, 290
+
+  Peters, the comic dancer, 131
+
+  Petit, the showman, 115
+
+  Phantasmagorial exhibitions, 311
+
+  Philips, the fiddler and clown, 54, 57
+
+  Phillips, the posturer, 113
+
+     "       "  showman, 164
+
+     "       "  comedian, 133
+
+     "      Mrs., the dancer, 134
+
+     "      the Welsh dwarf, 294
+
+  Pidcock's menagerie, 186
+
+  Pierce, the gigantic Shropshire youth, 313
+
+  Pig-faced lady, 303, 305
+
+  Pigs, learned, 178, 243, 297, 301, 314
+
+  Pike's theatrical booth, 303
+
+  Pinchbeck, the mechanist, 110, 116, 123, 134, 139
+
+  Pinkethman, the puppet showman, 83
+
+  Polito's menagerie, 187, 209
+
+  Powell, the comedian, 105
+
+    "      "  fire-eater, 179
+
+    "      "  puppet showman, 83
+
+  Price, the equestrian, 309
+
+  Pritchard, Mrs., the actress, 113, 120, 127
+
+  Pullen's theatrical booth, 105
+
+  Punch and Judy shows, 27
+
+  Punchinello, the puppet showman, 29
+
+  Purden, Mrs., the actress, 121
+
+
+  Quin, the comedian, 95
+
+
+  Rapinese, the posturer, 131
+
+  Ray, the comedian, 104
+
+  Rayner's theatrical booth, 105
+
+    "      the tumbler, 149
+
+    "      Miss, the rope-dancer, 149
+
+  Reader, the showman, 341
+
+  Reed, the actor, 225, 317
+
+  Reed's theatrical booth, 350
+
+  Reverant, Madlle. de, the rope-dancer, 115
+
+  Reynolds, the comedian, 104, 106
+
+     "       "  showman, 151, 154
+
+  Richardson, the fire-eater, 48
+
+      "        "  showman, 217, 230, 235, 239, 248, 264, 302, 306, 316
+
+  River, the tumbler, 115
+
+  Roberts, the tragedian, 121
+
+  Roberts, Mrs., the actress, 114
+
+  Robinson, the conjuror, 191
+
+  Robson, the comedian, 356, 358
+
+  Rose's, Miss, imitations of actresses, 187
+
+  Rossignol, the bird trainer, 188, 193
+
+  Roy, Madlle. le, the dancer, 131
+
+  Rudderford, the mountebank, 50
+
+  Ryan, the comedian, 95, 119, 127
+
+
+  Saffery, the rope-vaulter, 308
+
+  Saffry's theatrical booth, 50
+
+  Saker, the comedian, 256, 350
+
+  Salway, the comedian, 113
+
+  Samwell, the showman, 270, 309
+
+  Saunders, Sarah, actress and acrobat, 323
+
+     "      the showman, 209, 219, 221, 231
+
+  Scotch dwarf, 61
+
+    "    giant, 303
+
+  Scowton's theatrical booth, 230, 316
+
+  Seaman, the actor, 349
+
+  Serpents, performing, 190
+
+  Settle, the dramatist, 86
+
+  Shaw, Miss, the beautiful albino, 310
+
+    "   the harlequin, 344
+
+  Shuter, the comedian, 174, 179, 182
+
+  Silver-haired lady, 301, 351
+
+  Simmett, the showman, 313
+
+  Simpson, the vaulter, 80
+
+  Skeleton, the living, 305
+
+  Slater, Miss, the columbine, 349
+
+  Smith, the hand-bell ringer, 179
+
+  Spanish youth, wonderful, 61
+
+  Spellman, Mrs., the actress, 110
+
+  Spiller, the comedian, 95
+
+     "     Mrs., the actress, 109, 111, 121
+
+  Spotted boy, 301
+
+     "    girl, 351
+
+  Steward, the slack-wire performer, 168
+
+  Stock, Elizabeth, the giantess, 300
+
+  Stokes, the vaulter, 58
+
+  Strand, the lion performer, 359
+
+  Strength, feats of, 40, 98, 168, 244
+
+  Sword dancers, 64, 85
+
+
+  Talliott's circus, 359
+
+  Tarvey, the clown, 197
+
+  Taylor, the dancer, 123
+
+  Terwin, the showman, 134
+
+  Thwaites, the actor, 225
+
+  Thompson, the comic dancer, 131
+
+  Tiger, a tame, 159, 283
+
+  Tigers, performing, 371
+
+  Tarbutt, the comedian, 138, 143
+
+  Turkish rope-dancer, 33, 151
+
+     "    wire-walker, 144, 188
+
+
+  Vanbeck, Barbara, the bearded woman, 33
+
+  Vaughan, the actor, 225
+
+  Vidina, Signora, the singer, 204
+
+  Violantes, the, rope-walkers, 144
+
+
+  Walker, the comedian, 94
+
+  Wallack, the actor, 221
+
+  Walpole, Lydia, the dwarf, 290, 313
+
+  Warner's theatrical booth, 150, 163, 174
+
+  Waterloo giant, 299
+
+  Wax-work exhibition, the first, 31
+
+  Webber, Eliza, the dwarf, 313
+
+  Wells, the actor, 225
+
+  Welsh dwarf, 167
+
+  Weston, Priscilla and Amelia, the twin giantesses, 313
+
+  Whitehead, the fat boy, 298
+
+  Whiteland, the dwarf, 203
+
+  Wignell, the poet, 179
+
+  Williamson, Mrs., the actress, 109
+
+  Wombwell's Menagerie, 257, 273, 302, 305, 307, 310, 337, 341, 347, 355,
+      365
+
+  Woodward, harlequin and actor, 97, 138, 144
+
+  Woolford, Miss, the rope-dancer, 336
+
+  Wright's menagerie, 341
+
+
+  Yates, the comedian, 134, 138, 143, 162, 174, 180
+
+    "    Mrs., the actress, 144
+
+    "    Miss, the actress, 164
+
+  Yeates, the showman, 116, 131, 163, 168
+
+     "    the conjuror, 116, 131, 133, 149, 151, 153, 157, 163, 168
+
+     "    Mrs., the actress, 157
+
+  Yorkshire giantess, 299
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+  PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND CO.,
+  LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
+
+The original text includes an asterism symbol that is represented as
+[Asterism] in this text version.
+
+The original text includes a right pointing hand symbol that is
+represented as [Pointing Hand] in this text version.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Showmen and the Old London
+Fairs, by Thomas Frost
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41961 ***