diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/55375-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/55375-0.txt | 3200 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 3200 deletions
diff --git a/old/55375-0.txt b/old/55375-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ecb2c18..0000000 --- a/old/55375-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3200 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great -Britain, by William Andrews - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great Britain - Chronicled from the Earliest to the Present Time - -Author: William Andrews - -Release Date: August 17, 2017 [EBook #55375] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS FROSTS *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - -FAMOUS FROSTS AND FROST FAIRS. - -_Number 389_ - -_Of Four-Hundred Copies printed._ - - - - -[Illustration: FROST FAIR ON THE RIVER THAMES, IN 1814.] - - - - - FAMOUS FROSTS - AND - FROST FAIRS - IN - GREAT BRITAIN. - - Chronicled from the Earliest to - the Present Time. - - BY - _WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S._, - Author of “Historic Romance,” “Modern Yorkshire Poets,” etc. - - LONDON: - GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. - 1887. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The aim of this book is to furnish a reliable account of remarkable -frosts occurring in this country from the earliest period in our Annals -to the present time. In many instances, I have given particulars as -presented by contemporary writers of the scenes and circumstances -described. - -In the compilation of this Chronology, several hundred books, magazines, -and newspapers, have been consulted, and a complete list would fill -several pages. I must not, however, omit to state that I have derived -much valuable information from a scarce book printed on the Ice of -the River Thames, in the year 1814, and published under the title of -“Frostiana.” I have gleaned information from the late Mr. Cornelius -Walford’s “Famines of the World,” which includes a carefully prepared -summary of “The Great Frosts of History.” Some of the poems in my pages, -bibliographical notes and facts, are culled from Dr. Rimbault’s “Old -Ballads Illustrating the Great Frost of 1683-4,” issued by the Percy -Society. It will be also observed that I have drawn curious information -from Parish Registers and old Parish Accounts. - -Several ladies and gentlemen have rendered me great assistance, and -amongst the number must be named, with gratitude, Mrs. George Linnæus -Banks, author of “The Manchester Man;” Mr. Jesse Quail, F.S.S., editor -of the _Northern Daily Telegraph_; Mr. C. H. Stephenson, actor, author, -and antiquary; Mr W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S., editor of the _Western -Antiquary_; Mr. W. G. B. Page, of the Hull Subscription Library; -Mr. Frederick Ross, F.R.H.S., and Mr. Ernest E. Baker, editor of the -“Somersetshire Reprints.” Mr. E. H. Coleman kindly prepared for me a long -list of books and magazines containing articles on this subject. I have -to thank Mr. Mason Jackson, the author of “The Pictorial Press,” for -kindly presenting to me the quaint cut which appears on page 29 of my -work. - -In 1881, the greater part of the matter contained in this book appeared -in the _Bradford Times_, a well-conducted journal, under the able -editorship of Mr. W. H. Hatton, F.R.H.S. The articles attracted more than -local attention, and I was pressed to reproduce them in a volume, but -owing to various circumstances, I have not been able to comply with the -request until now. The record is now brought up to date, and many facts -and particulars, gleaned since the articles appeared, have been added. - - WILLIAM ANDREWS. - - Rose Cottage, Hessle, Hull, - January, 1887. - - - - -[Illustration] - -Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great Britain. - - -[Sidenote: A.D.] - -[Sidenote: 134] - -Thames frozen over for two months. - -[Sidenote: 153] - -Very severe frost, lasting nearly three months. English rivers frozen, -including the Thames. - -[Sidenote: 173] - -A frost lasted three months, and was followed by a dearth. - -[Sidenote: 220] - -A continuous frost of five months in Britain. - -[Sidenote: 250] - -Thames frozen for nine weeks. - -[Sidenote: 290-91] - -Severe frost lasted six weeks. English rivers frozen. - -[Sidenote: 359] - -The frost very severe in England and Scotland. It lasted fourteen weeks -in the latter country. - -[Sidenote: 474] - -Four months’ frost, and great snow. - -[Sidenote: 507-8] - -Frost lasted two months: rivers frozen. - -[Sidenote: 525] - -Thames frozen for six weeks. - -[Sidenote: 604] - -A frost lasting four months, followed by dearth in Scotland: also very -severe in England. - -[Sidenote: 670] - -“A fatal frost.”--SHORT. - -[Sidenote: 695] - -Thames frozen for six weeks, and booths erected on the ice. - -[Sidenote: 759-60] - -Frost from October 1st, 759, to February 26th, 760. - -[Sidenote: 821] - -Great frost after two or three weeks’ rain. - -[Sidenote: 827] - -Thames frozen for nine weeks. - -[Sidenote: 908] - -The greater part of the English rivers frozen for two months. - -[Sidenote: 923] - -Thames frozen for thirteen weeks. - -[Sidenote: 962] - -The frost this year was so great as to cause a famine. - -[Sidenote: 975] - -Severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 987] - -This year is notable for a frost lasting one hundred and twenty days. - -[Sidenote: 998] - -Thames frozen for five weeks. - -[Sidenote: 1020] - -Very severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 1035] - -Short says: “Frost on Midsummer day; all grass and grain and fruit -destroyed; a dearth.” - -[Sidenote: 1059] - -Great frost, followed by a severe plague and famine. - -[Sidenote: 1061] - -Thames frozen for seven weeks. - -[Sidenote: 1063] - -Fourteen weeks’ frost: Thames frozen. - -[Sidenote: 1076-7] - -Frost lasted from 1st November, 1076, to 15th April, 1077. It is recorded -in the “Harleian Miscellany,” iii, page 167, that: “In the tenth year -of his [William the Conqueror] reign, the cold of winter was exceeding -memorable, both for sharpness and for continuance; for the earth remained -hard from the beginning of November until the midst of April then -ensuing.” - -[Sidenote: 1086] - -According to Walford’s “Insurance Cyclopædia,” “The weather was so -inclement that in the unusual efforts made to warm the houses, nearly all -the chief cities of the kingdom were destroyed by fire, including a great -part of London and St. Paul’s.” - -[Sidenote: 1092] - -In this year occurred a famous frost, and it is stated, in the quaint -language of an old chronicler, that “the great streams [of England] were -congealed in such a manner that they could draw two hundred horsemen and -carriages over them; whilst at their thawing, many bridges, both of wood -and stone, were borne down, and divers water-mills were broken up and -carried away.” - -[Sidenote: 1095-99] - -Very severe winters. - -[Sidenote: 1114-15] - -The following is from an “Old Chronicle:” “Great frost; timber bridges -broken down by weight of ice. This year was the winter so severe with -snow and frost, that no man who was then living ever remembered one more -severe; in consequence of which there was great destruction of cattle.” - -[Sidenote: 1121-22] - -A severe frost killed the grain crops. A famine followed. - -[Sidenote: 1128] - -Very severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 1149-50] - -Frost lasted from 10th December to 19th February. - -[Sidenote: 1154] - -A great frost. - -[Sidenote: 1176] - -A frost lasted from Christmas to Candlemas. - -[Sidenote: 1205] - -In Stow’s “Chronicle,” it is recorded that on the 14th day of January, -1205, “began a frost which continued till the 20th day of March, so that -no ground could be tilled; whereof it came to passe that, in the summer -following, a quarter of wheat was sold for a mark of silver in many -places of England, which for the most part, in the days of King Henry -II., was sold for twelve pence; a quarter of oats for forty pence, that -were wont to be sold for fourpence. Also the money was so sore clipped -that there was no remedy but to have it renewed.” Short states, “Frozen -ale and wine sold by weight.” - -[Sidenote: 1207] - -Fifteen weeks’ frost. - -[Sidenote: 1209] - -A long and hard winter followed by dearth. - -[Sidenote: 1221] - -Severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 1226] - -Severe frost and snow. - -[Sidenote: 1233] - -Frost lasted until Candlemas. - -[Sidenote: 1234-35] - -Penkethman gives the following particulars of this frost: “18 Henry -III. was a great frost at Christmasse, which destroyed the corne in -the ground, and the roots and hearbs in the gardens, continuing till -Candlemasse without any snow, so that no man could plough the ground, -and all the yeare after was unseasonable weather, so that barrenesse of -all things ensued, and many poor folks died for the want of victualls, -the rich being so bewitched with avarice that they could yield them no -reliefe.” - -[Sidenote: 1241] - -A great frost after a heavy fall of snow. - -[Sidenote: 1250] - -Very severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 1254] - -A severe frost from 1st January to 14th March. - -[Sidenote: 1263] - -On St. Nicholas’s Day a month’s hard frost set in. - -[Sidenote: 1269] - -A frost lasted from 30th November to the 2nd February. - -[Sidenote: 1281-2] - -“From Christmas to the Purification of Our Lady, there was such a frost -and snow as no man living could remember the like: where, through five -arches of London Bridge, and all Rochester Bridge, were borne downe and -carried away by the streame; and the like hapned to many other bridges -in England. And, not long after, men passed over the Thames between -Westminster and Lambeth dryshod.”--Stow, edited by Howes, 1631. - -[Sidenote: 1288] - -Great frost and snow. - -[Sidenote: 1337] - -Severe frost without snow. - -[Sidenote: 1338] - -Twelve weeks’ frost, after rain. - -[Sidenote: 1353] - -A frost from 6th December to 12th March. - -[Sidenote: 1363-64] - -“Very terrible” frost from 16th September to 6th April. - -[Sidenote: 1407] - -A frost lasted fourteen weeks. - -[Sidenote: 1410] - -It is recorded in the “Chronicles of the Grey Friars of London,” as -follows: “Thys yere was the grete frost and ise, and most sharpest winter -that ever man sawe, and it duryd fourteen wekes, so that men myght in -dyvers places both goo and ryde over the Temse.” - -[Sidenote: 1434-35] - -Stow records that the Thames was frozen, from below London Bridge to -Gravesend, from December 25th to February 10th, when the merchandise -which came to the Thames mouth was carried to London by land. - -[Sidenote: 1438] - -A long frost. - -[Sidenote: 1506] - -We find this entry in the “Chronicles of Grey Friars of London”: “Such a -sore snowe and a frost that men myght goo with carttes over the Temse and -horses, and it lastyed tylle Candlemas.” - -[Sidenote: 1515] - -The Thames frozen, and carts crossed on the ice to and from Lambeth to -Westminster. - -[Sidenote: 1523] - -Very severe frost. - -[Sidenote: 1564-65] - -Interesting particulars of this severe frost are given in Stow’s -“Annals,” and Holinshed’s “Chronicle.” The latter historian says that the -frost continued to such an extremity that, on New Year’s Eve, “People -went over and alongst the Thames on the ise, from London Bridge to -Westminster. Some plaied at the football as boldlie there, as if it had -been on the drie land; divers of the court being then at Westminster, -shot dailie at prickes set upon the Thames; and the people, both men -and women, went on the Thames in greater numbers than in anie street of -the Citie of London. On the third daie of January, at night, it began -to thaw, and on the fifth there was no ise to be seene betweene London -Bridge and Lambeth, which sudden thaw caused great floods, and high -waters, that bare downe bridges and houses, and drowned manie people in -England, especiallie in Yorkshire. Owes Bridge was borne awaie, with -others.” There is a tradition that Queen Elizabeth walked upon the ice. - -[Sidenote: 1607] - -An old tradition still lingers in Derbyshire, respecting the famous Bess -of Hardwick, to the effect that a fortune teller told her that her death -would not happen as long as she continued building. She caused to be -erected several noble structures, including Hardwick and Chatsworth, two -of the most stately homes of old England. Her death occurred in the year -1607, during a very severe frost, when the workmen could not continue -their labours, although they tried to mix their mortar with hot ale. - -Malt liquor in the days of yore was believed to add to the durability of -mortar, and items bearing on this subject occur in parish accounts. The -following entries are extracted from the parish books of Ecclesfield, -South Yorkshire:-- - -[Sidenote: 1619] - - Itm. 7 metts [_i.e._ bushels] of lyme - for poynting some places in the - church wall, and on the leades ij_s._ iiij_d._ - - Itm. For 11 gallands of strong - liquor for the blending of the lyme iij_s._ viij_d._ - -Two years later we find mention of “strong liquor” for pointing and ale -for drinking:-- - -[Sidenote: 1621] - - For a secke of malt for pointing - steeple viij_s._ - - To Boy wyfe for Brewing itt vj_d._ - - For xvij gallons of strong Lycker vij_s._ 4_d._ - - For sixe gallons of ale wch. we besttowed - of the workmen whilst they - was pointing steeple ij_s._ - - For egges for poynting church ij_s._ - -Many of the old parish accounts contain items similar to the foregoing. - -[Sidenote: 1607] - -The following is an abstract from Drake’s “Eboracum; or, the History and -Antiquities of York;” “About Martinmass (1607) began an extream frost; -the river Ouze was wholly frozen up, so hard that you might have passed -with cart and carriage as well as upon firm ground. Many sports were -practised upon the ice, as shooting at eleven score, says my ancient -authority, bowling, playing at football, cudgels, &c. And a horse-race -was run from the tower at S. Mary[’s] Gate End along and under the great -arch of the bridge to the Crain at Skeldergate postern.” - -[Sidenote: 1608] - -This year a frost fair was held upon the Thames. Edmund Howes, in his -“Continuation of the Abridgement of Stow’s English Chronicle,” 1611, p. -481, gives the following curious account of it: “The 8th of December -began a hard frost, and continued untill the 15th of the same, and then -thawed; the 22nd of December it began againe to freeze violently, so as -divers persons went halfe way over the Thames upon the ice: and the 30th -of December, at every ebbe, for the flood removed the ice, and forced -the people daily to tread new paths, except only betweene Lambeth and -the ferry at Westminster, the which, by incessant treading, became very -firm, and free passage, untill the great thaw: and from Sunday, the tenth -of January, untill the fifteenth of the same, the frost grew so extreme, -as the ice became firme, and removed not, and then all sorts of men, -women, and children, went boldly upon the ice in most parts; some shot -at prickes, others bowled and danced, with other variable pastimes; by -reason of which concourse of people were many that set up boothes and -standings upon the ice, as fruit-sellers, victuallers, that sold beere -and wine, shoemakers, and a barber’s tent, etc.” It is also stated that -the tents &c. had fires in them. The artichokes in the gardens about -London were killed by the frost. The ice lasted until the afternoon of -the 2nd of February. Gough presented to the Bodleian Library, a rare -tract containing a wood-cut representation of the Thames in its frozen -state, with a view of London Bridge in the distance. It is entitled: -“Cold Doings in London, except it be at the Lottery, with Newes out -of the Country. A familliar talk between a Countryman and a Citizen, -touching this terrible Frost, and the Great Lottery, and the effect of -them.” London, 1608, quarto. - -[Sidenote: 1609] - -Great frost commenced in October, and lasted four months. The Thames -frozen, and heavy carriages driven over it. - -[Sidenote: 1614] - -It is recorded in Drake’s “Eboracum” as follows: “On the 16th of January -the same year [1614] it began to snow and freeze, and so by intervals -snowing without any thaw till the 7th of March following; at which time -was such a heavy snow upon the earth as was not remembered by any man -then living. It pleased God that at the thaw fell very little rain, -nevertheless the flood was so great, that the Ouze ran down North Street -and Skeldergate with such violence as to force all the inhabitants of -those streets to leave their houses. This inundation chanced to happen -in the Assize week, John Armitage, Esquire, being then High Sheriff -of Yorkshire. Business was hereby much obstructed; at Ouze bridge end -were four boats continually employed in carrying people [a]cross the -river; the like in Walmgate [a]cross the Foss. Ten days this inundation -continued at the height, and many bridges were driven down by it in the -country, and much land overflown. After this storm, says my manuscript, -followed such fair and dry weather, that in April the ground was as dusty -as in any time of summer. This drought continued till the 20th of August -following without any rain at all; and made such a scarcity of hay, -beans, and barley, that the former was sold at York for 30s. and 40s. a -wayne load, and at Leeds for four pounds.” - -[Sidenote: 1615] - -A severe frost from the 17th January to 7th March. In 1814 a tract was -republished entitled “The Cold Yeare: a Deep Snow in which Men and -Cattle perished; written in Dialogue between a London Shopkeeper and a -North-countryman.” 1615. 4to. - -[Sidenote: 1620] - -“This year a frost enabled the Londoners to carry on all manner of sports -and trades upon the river.” “Old and New London,” by E. Walford, M.A., v -3, p. 312. - -[Sidenote: 1634] - -Says a contributor to “Notes and Queries” in the _Nottingham Guardian_, -the following is an extract from Prynne’s “Divine Tragedie lately -acted,” 1636:--“On January the 25th, 1634, being the Lord’s Day, in the -time of the last great frost, fourteen young men, presuming to play at -football on the river Trent, near Gainsborough, coming altogether in a -scuffle, the ice suddenly broke, and there were eight of them drowned.” -The “Divine Tragedie,” like several other works of that period, was -written to show how judgments were overtaking the people because of the -recent order that the Book of Liberty should be read in churches, which -legalised sports on Sunday after service. - -[Sidenote: 1648-49] - -John Evelyn wrote in his “Diary;” “Now was the Thames frozen over, and -horrid tempests of wind.” - -[Sidenote: 1663] - -From the 28th January to 11th February, severe frost. Samuel Pepys -records in his “Diary,” “8th February being very hard frost; 28th August, -cold all night and this morning, and a very great frost they say, abroad; -which is much, having had no summer at all, almost.” - -[Sidenote: 1664-65] - -Severe frost from 28th December to 7th February. Pepys says, 6 February: -“One of the coldest days, they say, ever felt in England.” - -[Illustration: FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES II.] - -[Sidenote: 1672] - -In the December of 1672 occurred in the West of England, an uncommon -kind of shower of freezing rain, or raining ice. It is recorded that -this rain, as soon as it touched anything above ground, as a bough or -the like, immediately settled into ice; and by multiplying and enlarging -the icicles broke down with its weight. The rain that fell on the snow -immediately froze into ice, without sinking in the snow at all. It made -an incredible destruction of trees, beyond anything in all history. -“Had it concluded with some gust of wind” says a gentleman on the spot, -“it might have been of terrible consequence. I weighed the sprig of an -ash tree, of just three quarters of a pound, the ice of which weighed -sixteen pounds. Some were frighted with the noise of the air till they -discerned it was the clatter of icy boughs dashed against each other.” -Dr. Beale says, that there was no considerable frost observed on the -ground during the whole time; whence he concludes that a frost may be -very intense and dangerous on the tops of some hills and plains; while -in other places, it keeps at two, three or four feet distance above the -ground, rivers, lakes, &c. The frost was followed by a forwardness of -flowers and fruits. - -The foregoing appears to have escaped the notice of the compiler of an -interesting and informing little book entitled “Odd Showers.” London, -1870. - -[Sidenote: 1683-84] - -From the beginning of December until the 5th of February, to use the -words of Maitland, frost “congealed the river Thames to that degree, -that another city, as it were, was erected thereon; where, by the great -number of streets and shops, with their rich furniture, it represented a -great fair, with a variety of carriages, and diversions of all sorts; and -near Whitehall a whole ox was roasted on the ice.” Evelyn gives perhaps -the best account of this’ great frost. Writing in his “Diary” under -date of January 24th, 1684, he observes, “the frost continuing more and -more severe, the Thames before London, was still planted with boothes -in formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnish’d and full -of commodities, even to a printing presse, where the people and ladyes -tooke a fancy to have their names printed, and the day and yeare set down -when printed on the Thames: this humour tooke so universally, that ’twas -estimated the printer gain’d £5 a day, for printing a line onely, at -sixpence a name, besides what he got by ballads, etc. Coaches plied from -Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires, to and fro, -as in the streetes, sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse -and coach races, puppet-plays, and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other -lewd places, so that it seem’d to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival -on the water.” Evelyn tells how the traffic and festivity were continued -until February the 5th, when he states that “it began to thaw, but froze -again. My coach crossed from Lambeth to the horse-ferry, at Milbank, -Westminster. The boothes were almost all taken downe, but there was just -a map, or landskip, cut in copper, representing all the manner of the -camp, and the several actions, sports, pastimes, thereon, in memory of so -signal a frost.” - -King Charles visited the sports on the Thames, in company with members of -his family and of the royal household. They had their names printed on a -quarto sheet of Dutch paper, measuring three and a half inches by four. -The following is a copy of the interesting document:-- - - CHARLES, KING. - JAMES, DUKE. - KATHERINE, QUEEN. - MARY, DUTCHESS. - ANN, PRINCESSE. - GEORGE, PRINCE. - HANS IN KELDER. - - _London_: Printed by G. Croom, on the ICE, on the River _Thames_, - _January 31, 1684_. - -In the foregoing list of names we have Charles the Second; his brother -James, Duke of York, afterwards James the Second; Queen Catherine, -Infanta of Portugal; Mary D’Este, sister of Francis, Duke of Modena, -James’s second duchess; the Princess Anne, second daughter of the Duke -of York, afterwards Queen Anne; and her husband Prince George of Denmark. -It has been suggested that the last name displays a touch of the King’s -humour, and signifies “Jack in the Cellar,” alluding to the pregnant -situation of Anne of Denmark. - -In some quaint lines, entitled “Thamasis’s Advice to the Painter, from -her frigid zone, etc.” “printed by G. Croom, on the river of Thames,” -occurs: - - “To the print-house go, - Where Men the art of Printing soon do know, - Where for a Teaster, you may have your name - Printed, hereafter for to show the same: - And sure, in former Ages, ne’er was found - A Press to print, where men so oft were droun’d!” - -Landskip, mentioned by Evelyn, is entitled “An exact and lively Mapp or -Representation of Boothes, and all the Varieties of Showes and Humours -upon the Ice, on the River of Thames by London, during that memorable -Frost, 35th yeare of the Reign of his Sacred Majesty King Charles the -Second. Anno Dni MDCLXXXIII. With an Alphabetical Explanation of the most -remarkable figures.” It consists of a whole-sheet copper-plate engraving, -the view extending from the Temple-stairs and Bankside to London-bridge. -In an oval cartouche at the top within the frame of the print, is the -title; and below the frame are the alphabetical references, with the -words “Printed and sold by William Warter, Stationer, at the signe of -the Talbott, under the Mitre Tavern in Fleete street, London.” In the -foreground of this representation of Frost Fair appear extensive circles -of spectators surrounding a bull-baiting, and the rapid revolution of a -whirling-chair or car, drawn by several men, by a long rope fastened to -a stake fixed in the ice. Large boats, covered with tilts, capable of -containing a considerable number of passengers, and decorated with flags -and streamers, are represented as being used for sledges, some being -drawn by horses, and others by watermen, lacking their usual employment. -Another sort of boat was mounted on wheels; and one vessel, called “the -drum boat,” was distinguished by a drummer placed at the prow. The -pastimes of throwing at a cock, sliding and skating, roasting an ox, -football, skittles, pigeon-holes, cups and balls, &c., are represented as -being carried on in various parts of the river; whilst a sliding-hutch, -propelled by a stick; a chariot, moved by a screw; and stately coaches -filled with visitors, appear to be rapidly moving in various directions, -and sledges with coals and wood are passing between London and Southwark -shores. An impression of this plate will be found in the Royal Collection -of Topographical Prints and Drawings, given by George the Fourth to the -British Museum, vol. xxvii., art. 39. There is also a variation of the -same engraving in the City Library at Guildhall, divided with common ink -into compartments, as if intended to be used as cards, and numbered in -the margin, in type with Roman numerals, in sets of ten each, with two -extra. - -This famous frost gave rise to many pictures and poems. In the British -Museum is a broadside as follows: - - “A TRUE DESCRIPTION OF BLANKET FAIR UPON THE RIVER THAMES, IN THE - TIME OF THE GREAT FROST IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1683.” - - How am I fill’d with wonder for to see - A flooding river now a road to be, - Where ships and barges used to frequent, - Now may you see a booth of fudling tent; - And those that us’d to ask where shall I land ye, - Now cry, what lack ye, sir, beer, ale, or brandy? - Here, here, walk in, and you shall surely find - Your entertainment good, my usage kind. - Booths they increased dayly, more and more, - People by thousands flocking from the shore; - And in such heaps they thither did repair, - As if they had been hasting to a fair. - And such a fair I never yet came near, - Where shop-rents were so cheap, and goods so dear. - Then might you have all kind of earthenware, - You can scarce name a thing but what was there. - There was to sell both French and Spanish wine, - And yet, perhaps, a dishclout for a signe; - In short, the like was never seen before, - Where coaches run as if upon the shore; - And men on horseback to and fro did ride, - Not minding either current, or the tide: - It was exceeding strange at first to see, - Both men and women so advent’rous be; - And yet at last it grew so very common, - ’Twas not admir’d, it seemed strange to no man. - Then from the Temple there was built a street, - Made old and young, and all admire that see’t; - Which street to Southwark reached. There might you see - Wonders! if you did love variety, - There was roast beef, and gamon to be sold, - But at so dear a rate, I dare be bold - To say, ’twas never sold so on the shore, - Nor on the Thames, in haste, be any more. - There were Dutch whimsies turning swiftly round, - By which the owners cleared many a pound; - And coles and corn was there in sledges draw’d, - As if the Thames would never have been thaw’d. - All kinds of trades did to this market come, - Hoping to get more profit than at home: - And some whose purses were a little swel’d, - Would not have car’d how long the frost had held. - In several places there was nine-pins plaid, - And pidgeon holes for to beget a trade. - Dancing and fidling too there was great store, - As if they had not been from off the shore; - The art of printing there was to be seen, - Which in no former age had ever been; - And goldsmiths’ shops were furnished with plate, - But they must dearly pay for’t that would hav’t. - And coffee-houses in great numbers were, - Scattered about in this cold freezing fair, - There might you sit down by a char-cole fire, - And for your money have your heart’s desire, - A dish of coffee, chocalet or tea, - Could man desire more furnished to be? - No, no, if you the world should wander through, - No fair like this could pleasant seem to you. - There was the baiting of the ugly bear, - Which sport to see hundreds did repair, - And I believe since the world’s first creation, - The like was never seen in this our nation: - And football playing there was day by day, - Some broke their legs, and some their arms they say: - All striving to get credit, but some paid - Most dearly for it, I am half afraid. - Bull-baiting likewise there was known to be, - Which on the Thames before none ever see, - And never was poor dogs more bravely tost - Then they were, in this prodigious frost; - Th’ inraged bull perceiv’d his enemies, - And how to guard himself could not devise, - But with his horns did toss them too and fro, - As if their angry meaning he did know; - Besides all this a thing more strange and rare - Than all the things were seen in Freezland fair, - An ox was roasted whole, which thousands saw, - For ’twas not many dayes before the thaw; - The like by no man in this present age - Was ever seen upon this icy stage. - And this hard frost it did so long endure, - It pinch’d, and almost famish’d many poor. - But one thing more I needs to you must tell - The truth of which thousands do know full well, - There was fox-hunting on this frozen river - Which may a memorandum be for ever. - For I do think since Adam drew his breath - No Fox was hunted on the ice to death. - Thus have you heard what wonders there were seen, - How heaven and earth the people walk’d between. - And since the world at first had its creation, - The like was never seen in this our nation. - Yet was it hard and grievous to the poor, - Who many hungry bellies did endure. - Sad spectacles enough you might behold - Who felt th’ effect of this prodigious cold; - But God who is most righteous, good, and just, - Will them preserve who in him put their trust; - And when their dangers greatest seem to be, - Blest be his name, he then doth sit them free. - Then let us all, while we have time and breath, - Be still prepar’d to meet with pale-fac’d death. - That when he comes we need not be afraid, - Nor at his dart be frighted or dismaid; - If we on Jesus Christ wholly depend, - He’l prove to us an everlasting friend. - - London: Printed by H. Brugis, in Green Arbor, Little Old Bayly. - 1684. - -The following is a copy of a broadside preserved in the British Museum:-- - - GREAT BRITAIN’S WONDER: OR, LONDON’S ADMIRATION. - - Being a true Representation of a prodigious Frost, which began - about the beginning of December, 1683, and continued till the - fourth day of February following, and held on with such violence, - that men and beasts, coaches and carts, went as frequently - thereon, as boats were wont to pass before. There was also a - street of booths built from the Temple to Southwark, where were - sold all sorts of goods imaginable, namely, cloaths, plate, - earthenware, meat, drink, brandy, tobacco, and a hundred sorts of - other commodities not here inserted: it being the wonder of this - present age, and a great consternation to all the spectators. - - BEHOLD the wonder of this present age, - A famous river now become a stage. - Question not what I now declare to you, - The _Thames_ is now both _fair_ and _market_ too; - And many thousands dayly do resort, - There to behold the pastime and the sport, - Early and late, used by young and old, - Who valu’d not the fierceness of the cold; - And did not think of that Almighty hand - Who made the waters bare, like to the land. - Thousands and thousands to the river flocks, - Where mighty flakes of ice do lye like rocks. - There may you see the _coaches_ swiftly run, - As if beneath the ice were waters none; - And sholes of people every where there be, - Just like to herrings in the brackish sea; - And there the quaking water-men will stand ye, - Kind master, drink you beer, or ale, or brandy? - Walk in, kind sir, this booth it is the chief, - We’l entertain you with a slice of beef, - And what you please to eat or drink, ’tis here, - No booth, like mine, affords such dainty cheer. - Another crys, Here master, they but scoff ye, - Here is a dish of famous new made coffee. - And some do say a giddy senseless ass - May on the Thames be furnished with a lass; - But, to be short, such wonders there are seen, - That in this age before hath never been. - Before the Temple there a street is made, - And there is one almost of every trade: - There may you also this hard frosty winter, - See on the rocky ice a working printer, - Who hopes by his own heart to reap some gain, - Which he perchance does think he may obtain. - Here is also a lottery, and musick too, - Yea, a cheating, drunken, leud, and debauch’d crew. - Hot codlins, pancakes, duck, goose and sack, - Rabit, capon, hen, turkey, and a wooden jack. - In this same street before the Temple made, - There seems to be a brisk and lively trade: - Where ev’ry booth hath such a cunning sign, - As seldome hath been seen in former time;[1] - - And there, if you have money for to spend, - Each cunning snap will seem to be your friend. - There may you see small vessels under sail, - All’s one to them, with or against the gale, - And as they pass they little guns do fire, - Which feedeth some, and puffs them with desire - To sail therein, and when their money’s gone, - ’Tis right, they cry, the Thames to come upon. - There on a sign you may most plainly see’t, - Here’s the first tavern built in Freezeland-street: - There is bull-baiting and bear-baiting too, - That no man living yet e’re found so true; - And foot-ball play is there so common grown, - That on the Thames before was never known; - Coals being dear, are carry’d on men’s backs, - And some on sledges these are drawn in sacks; - Men do on horse-back ride from shore to shore, - Which formerly in boats were wafted o’re: - Poor people hard shifts make for livelihoods, - And happy are if they can sell their goods; - What you can buy for three-pence on the shore, - Will cost you four-pence on the Thames or more. - Now let me come to things more strange, yet true, - And question not what I declare to you; - There rosted was a great and well-fed oxe, - And there, with dogs, hunted the cunning fox; - Dancing o’th’ ropes, and puppit plays likewise, - The like before ne’er seen beneath the skies; - All stand admir’d, and very well they may, - To see such pastimes, and such sort of play. - Besides the things I nam’d to you before, - There other toys and baubles are great store; - There you may feast your wandring eyes enough, - There you may buy a box to hold your snuff. - No fair no market underneath the skies - That can afford you more varieties; - There you may see some hundreds slide in skeets, - And beaten paths like to the city streets. - There were Dutch whimsies turned swiftly round - Faster then horses run on level ground. - The like to this I now to you do tell - No former age could ever parallel; - There’s all that can supply most curious minds, - With such varieties of cunning signs - That I do think no man doth understand; - Such merry fancies ne’r were on the land; - There is such whimsies on the frozen ice, - Make some believe the Thames a Paridice. - And though these sights be to our admiration - Yet our sins, our sins, do call for lamentation. - Though such unusual frosts to us are strange, - Perhaps it may predict some greater change; - And some do fear may a fore-runner be - Of an approaching sad mortality: - But why should we to such belief incline? - There’s none that knows but the blest Pow’r divine - And whatsoe’re is from Jehovah sent, - Poor sinners ought therewith to be content; - If dreadfull, then to fall upon the knee, - And beg remission of the Deity; - But if beyond our thoughts he sends us store, - With all our hearts let’s thankful be therefore. - Now let us all in great Jehovah trust - Who doth preserve the righteous and the just; - And eke conclude sin is the cause of all - The heavy judgments that on us do fall: - And call to mind, fond man, thy time mispent, - Fall on thy knees, and heartily repent; - Then will thy Saviour pity take on thee, - And thou shalt live to all eternity. - - Printed by M. Haly and J. Miller, and sold by Robert Waltor, at - the Globe, on the north side of St. Paul’s Church, near that - end towards Ludgate, where you may have all sorts and sizes of - maps, coppy-books, and prints, not only in English, but Italian, - French, and Dutch; and by John Seller, on the west side of the - Royal Exchange. 1684. - - [1] Two lines omitted. - -The foregoing is illustrated with a quaint wood-cut, roughly executed. It -is reproduced in Mr. Mason Jackson’s “Pictorial Press,” (London, 1885), -and by his courtesy we are able to include it in this work. - -[Illustration: FROST FAIR ON THE THAMES. - -Copy of an engraving from a broadside entitled: “_Great Britain’s Wonder, -London’s Admiration. Being a True Representation of a prodigious Frost, -which began about the beginning of December, 1683 and continued till the -fourth day of February following._” _etc._] - -The following is a copy of a broadside preserved in the Ashmolean Museum. -It was printed for J. Shad, London, in 1684. - - A WINTER WONDER; OR THE THAMES FROZEN OVER, WITH REMARKS ON THE - RESORT THERE. - - WHEN Neptune saw a wondrous bridge built o’er - His silver Thames, that reach’d from shore to shore, - He shook his trident and with aweful frown, - Swore ’twas presumption in the haughty town, - Now laughs to see it standing useless o’re, - Whilst ice has made it one continued shore, - Under whose spreading roof he silent glides - And ebbs, and hews, unheard, unseen, his tides. - Greenland, Muscovy, sure their cold have lent, - And all their frigid blasts have hither sent, - Whilst Boreas with his keenest breath has blown, - To make our winter cold as is there own: - That if my inke was not congeal’d as it, - I’de on the subject shew a poet’s wit. - The fish lye closely in their watry bed, - And find an icy ceiling o’re their head. - They fear no anglers that do lye in wait, - Nor are deceived by the alluring bait. - The watermen with folded arms doe stand, - And grieve to see the water firm as land, - Their boats hal’d up, their oars laid useless by, - Nor oars, nor skuller, master, do they cry, - Wishing kind Zephyrus with a warmer gale - Would once more launch their boat and fill their sail; - Or that the sun would with his gentle flames - Again set free their best of friends, the Thames. - The shoars no longer sound with Westward hoe, - Nor need men boats where they can firmly goe. - See how the noble river in a trice - Is turned as it were one spacious street of ice. - And who’ld believe to see revived there, - In January, Bartholomew fair. - Where all the mobile in crowds resort, - As on firm land, to walk, and trade, and sport; - Now booths do stand where boats did lately row, - And on its surface up and down men go, - And Thames becomes a kind of raree-show. - Its upper rooms are let to mortal dweller, - And underneath it is god Neptune’s cellar; - Now Vulcan makes his fires on Neptune’s bed, - And sawcy cooks roast beef upon his head, - As many tuns of ale and brandy flow - Above the ice, as water do below; - And folk do tipple, without fear to sink, - More liquors then the fish beneath do drink. - Here you may see a crowd of people flock, - One’s heels fly up, and down he’s on his dock; - Another steps, ’tis strange but true, no matter, - And in he flounces up to th’ neck in water; - And third more sure his slipp’ry footsteps guides, - And safely o’er the ice away he slides; - Another upon skeats does swiftly pass, - Cutting the ice like diamonds upon glass. - Women, beware you come not here at all, - You are most like to slip and catch a fall, - This you may do, tho’ in your gallant’s hand, - And if you fall, he has no power to stand; - Tis ten to one you tumble in a trice, - For you are apt to fall where there’s no ice, - Oft on your back, but seldome on your face, - How can you stand then on such a slippery place? - Yet you will venture briskly to a booth, - To take a glass or two with youngster Smooth, - Then back again as briskly to the shore, - As wise and honest as you were before. - Here (like the great) on slip’ry place you stand, - They can nor fate, nor you your feet, command. - My muse to scribble further has no maw, - But for your good doe wish a speedy thaw, - And let it ne’r be said ’twixt you and I, - The winter’s cold, but move your charity. - Then let the poor meanwhile your bounty find, - And heav’n to you, as you to them prove kind. - -The title of another broadside was the “Wonders of the Deep,” illustrated -with a rude wood-cut, representing the Frost Fair. This intimated that it -was “an exact Representation of the River Thames, as it appeared during -the memorable Frost, which began about the middle of December, and ended -on the 28th of February, anno 1683-4.” The lines under the picture are as -follow:-- - - THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP. - - The various sports behold here in this piece, - Which for six weeks were seen upon the ice; - Upon the Thames the great variety - Of plays and booths is here brought to your eye. - Here coaches, as in Cheapside, run on wheels, - Here men (out-tipling of the fishes) reels: - Instead of waves that us’d to beat the shore, - Here bulls they bait, till loudly they do roar; - Here boats do slide, where boats were wont to row, - Where ships did sail, the sailors do them tow; - And passengers in boats the river crost, - For the same price as ’twas before the frost. - There is the printing booth of wonderous fame, - Because that each man there did print his name; - And sure, in former ages, ne’re was found, - A press to print, where men so oft were drown’d. - In blanket booths, that sit at no ground rent, - Much coin in beef and brandy there is spent. - The Dutchmen here in nimble cutting scates, - To please the crowd do shew their tricks and feats; - The rabble here in chariots run around, - Coffee, and tea, and mum, doth here abound, - The tinkers here doth march at sound of kettle, - And all men know that they are men of mettle: - Here roasted was an ox before the court, - Which to much folks afforded meat and sport; - At nine-pins here they play, as in Moorfields, - This place the pass-time us of foot-ball yields: - The common hunt here makes another show, - As he to hunt an hare is wont to go; - But though no woods are here or hares so fleet. - Yet men do often foxes catch and meet; - Into a hole here one by chance doth fall, - At which the watermen began to bawl, - What, will you rob our cellar of its drink? - When he, alas! poor man, no harm did think. - Here men well mounted do on horses ride - Here they do throw at cocks as at Shrovetide; - A chariot here so cunningly was made, - That it did move itself without the aid - Of horse or rope, by virtue of a spring - That Vulcan did contrive, who wrought therein. - The rocks at nine-holes here do flock together - As they are wont to do in summer weather. - Three ha’perth for a penny, here they cry, - Of gingerbread, come, who will of it buy? - This is the booth where men did money take, - For crape and ribbons that they there did make; - But in six hours, this great and rary show - Of booths and pastimes all away did go. - - Printed in the year 1684. - -[Sidenote: 1683-4] - -In the parish register of Holy-rood Church, Southampton, is the following -record of this winter’s remarkable frost: - -“1683-4 This yeare was a great Frost, which began before Christmasse, soe -that yᵉ 3rd and 4th dayes of this month February yᵉ River of Southampton -was frossen all over and covered with ice from Calshott Castle to -Redbridge and Tho: Martaine maʳ of a vessell went upon yᵉ ice from Berry -near Marchwood to Milbrook-point. And yᵉ river at Ichen Ferry was so -frossen over that severall persons went from Beauvois-hill to Bittern -Farme, forwards and backwards.” - -The following curious extract is from the Parochial Register at Ubley, -near Wrington: “In the yeare 1683 was a mighty great frost, the like was -not seene in England for many ages. It came upon a very deep snow, which -fell imediately after Christmas, and it continued untill a Lady-day. The -ground was not open nor the snow cleane gone off the earth in thirteene -weeks. Somm of the snow remained at mindipe till midsummer. It was soe -deepe and driven with the winde a gainst the hedges and stiles, that the -next morning after it fell men could not goe to their grounds to serve -their cattell without great danger of being buried, for it was above head -and shoulders in many places--sum it did burie--did betooken the burieing -of many more which came to pass before the end of the yeare; but in few -days the frost came soe fearce, that people did goe upon the top of it -over wals and stiles as on levell ground, not seeing hardly where they -was, and many men was forced to keep their cattell untill the last, in -the same ground that they was in at first, because they could not drive -them to any other place, and did hew the ice every day for water, by -reason of the sharpness of the frost and the deepness of the snow. Som -that was travelling on mindipe did travell till they could travell no -longer, and then lye down and dye, but mortality did prevaill most among -them that could travell worst, the sharpness of the season tooke off the -most parte of them that was aged and of them that was under infermities, -the people did die so fast, that it was the greatest parte of their work -(which was appointed to doe that worke) to burie the dead; it being a -day’s work for two men, or two days’ work for one man, to make a grave. -It was almost as hard a work to hew a grave out, in the earth, as in the -rock, the frost was a foot and halfe and two foot deepe in the dry earth, -and where there was moister and watter did runn, the ice was a yard and -fower foot thick, in soe much that ye people did keepe market on the -River at London; ‘God doth scatter his ice like morsels, man cannot abide -his cold.’--Psalme, 147, 17.” - -The following are particulars of the chief publications issued in -connection with this frost:-- - -A large copper-plate, entitled “A Map of the River Thames, merrily call’d -Blanket Fair, as it was frozen in the memorable year 1683-4, describing -the booths, footpaths, coaches, sledges, bull-baiting, and other remarks -upon that famous river.” Dedicated to Sir Henry Hulse, Knt., and Lord -Mayor, by James Moxon, the engraver. - -“A wonderfull Fair, or a Fair of Wonders; being new and true illustration -and description of the several things acted and done on the river of -Thames in the time of the terrible frost, which began about the beginning -of Dec., 1683, and continued till Feb. 4, and held on with such violence, -that men and beasts, coaches and sledges, went common thereon. There was -also a street of booths from the Temple to Southwark, where was sold all -sorts of goods; likewise bull-baiting and an ox roasted whole, and many -other things, as the map and description do plainly show.” Engraved and -printed on a sheet, 1684. - -A small copper-plate representation of Frost Fair, with the figure of -Erra Pater in the foreground. At the top, are the words, “Erra Pater’s -Prophesy, or Frost Faire in 1683,” and underneath, the following lines: - - “Old Erra Pater, or his rambling ghost, - Prognosticating of this long strong frost, - Some ages past, said yᵗ yᵉ ice-bound Thames, - Shou’d prove a theatre for sports and games; - Her watry green be turn’d into a bare, - For men a citty seem, for booths a faire; - And now the straggling sprite is once more come - To visit mortalls and foretel their doom. - When maids grow modest, yᵉ dissenting crew - Become all loyal, the falsehearted true, - Then you may probably, and not till then, - Expect in England such a frost again.” - - _Printed for James Norris, at the King’s Armes, without Temple - Barr._ - -[Sidenote: 1688-89] - -Timbs, in his “Curiosities of London,” records a great frost, lasting -from 20th December to 6th February. Pools were frozen eighteen -inches thick, and the Thames ice was covered with streets of shops, -bull-baiting, shows and tricks; hackney coaches plied on the ice-roads, -and a coach with six horses was driven from Whitehall almost to London -Bridge; yet in two days all the ice disappeared. - -[Sidenote: 1709] - -The Thames frozen over, and some persons crossed it on the ice. In the -Crowle Pennant is a coarse bill, within a wood-cut border of rural -subjects, bearing the inscription, “Mr. John Heaton, printed on the -Thames at Westminster, January 7th, 1709.” The frost lasted three months. -It is somewhat remarkable to find that there was very little frost this -year in Scotland and Ireland. - -[Sidenote: 1715-16] - -Thames again frozen over. At the time of this frost an advertisement -appeared as follows: “This is to give notice to gentlemen and others -that pass upon the Thames during this frost, that over against -Whitehall-stairs they may have their names printed, fit to paste in any -book, to hand down the memory of the season to future ages. - - You that walk there, and do desyn to tell - Your children’s children what this year befell, - Go print your names, and take a dram within; - For such a year as this, has seldom been.” - -The following account of this frost is drawn from _Dawks’s News-Letter_ -of January 14th, 1716: “The Thames seems now a solid rock of ice; and -booths for the sale of brandy, wine, ale, and other exhilarating liquors, -have been for some time fixed thereon; but now it is in a manner like a -town: thousands of people cross it, and with wonder view the mountainous -heaps of water, that now lie congealed into ice. On Thursday, a great -cook’s-shop was erected, and gentlemen went as frequently to dine there, -as at any ordinary.” - -“Over against Westminster, Whitehall, and Whitefriars, Printing-presses -are kept upon the ice, where many persons have their names printed, to -transmit the wonders of the season to posterity.” - -It is further recorded of the Thames that “coaches, waggons, carts, &c., -were driven on it, and an enthusiastic preacher held forth to a motley -congregation on the mighty waters, with a zeal fiery enough to have -thawed himself through the ice, had it been susceptible to religious -warmth. This, with other pastimes and diversions, attracted the attention -of many of the nobility, and even brought the Prince of Wales, to visit -Frost Fair. On that day, there was an uncommonly high spring-tide, which -overflowed the cellars on the banks of the river, and raised the ice -full fourteen feet, without interrupting the people from their pursuits. -The _Protestant Packet_ of this period, observes that the theatres -were almost deserted. The _News-letter_ of February 15, announces the -dissolution of the ice, and with it the ‘baseless fabric’ on which Momus -had held his temporary reign; the above paper then proclaims the good -fare, and various articles to be seen, and purchased.” - - “Thou beauteous River Thames, whose standing tide - Equals the glory of thy flowing pride, - The city, nay the world’s transferr’d to thee - Fin’d as the land, and richer than the sea. - The various metals, Nature can produce, - Or Art improve, for ornament or use, - From the Earth’s deepest bowels brought are made - To shine in thee, and carry on thy trade. - Here Guilledum, fam’d for making silver pass - Through various forms; and Sparks as fam’d for brass, - There’s T⸺ ’tween God and gold who ne’er stood neater, - And trusty Nicholson, who lives by pewter, - Wrote o’er their doors, having affix’d their names, - We under-writ, remov’d are to the Thames. - There miles together for the common good - The Slippery Substance offers dainty food. - Here healing Port-wine, and there Rhenish flows, - Here Bohea Tea, and there Tobacco grows. - In one place you may meet good Cheshire cheese, - Another proffers, whitest Brentford peas: - Here is King George’s picture, there Queen Anne’s, - Now nut-brown ale in cups, and then in canns: - One sells an Oxford dram as good as can be, - Another offers General Peper’s brandy. - See! there’s the Mall, and in that little hut - The best Geneva’s sold, and live to boot, - See there, a sleek Venetian Envoy walks; - See here, an Alderman more proudly stalks. - Behold the French Ambassador, that’s he; - And this the honest Sire, and Captain Leigh. - Here is St. James’s street, yonder the Strand: - In this place Bowyer plies; that’s Lintot’s stand.” - -The chief illustrations of this frost are as follows:-- - -A copper plate representing London Bridge on the right hand, and a line -of tents on the left, leading from Temple Stairs. In front, another -line of tents, marked “Thames Street,” and the various sports, &c., -before them: below the print are alphabetical references, with the words -“Printed on the Thames, 1715-16;” and above it, “Frost Fair on the River -Thames.” - -A copper-plate of much larger dimensions, representing London at St. -Paul’s, with the tents, &c., and with alphabetical references; “Printed -and sold by John Bowles, at the Black Horse, in Cornhill.” In the -right-hand corner above, the arms and supporters of the City; and on the -left a cartouche, with the words “Frost Fayre, being a True Prospect -of the Great Varietie of Shops and Booths for Tradesmen, with other -Curiosities and Humors, on the Frozen River of Thames, as it appeared -before the City of London, in that memorable Frost in yᵉ year of the -Reigne of Our Sovereigne Lord King George, Anno Domini 1716.” - -“An exact and lively View of the Booths, and all the variety of Shows, -&c., on the ice, with an alphabetical explanation of the most remarkable -figures, 1716.” A copper-plate. - -“Frost Fair; or a View of the Booths on the Frozen Thames in the 2nd year -of King George, 1716.” A wood-cut. - -[Sidenote: 1739] - -The following is a list of the most important memorials of this famous -frost fair:-- - -A copper-plate, representing a view of the Thames at Westminster, with -the tents, sports, &c., and alphabetical references, entitled “Ice -Fair.” Printed on yᵉ River Thames, now frozen over. Jan. 31, 1739-40. - - “Amidst yᵉ arts yᵗ on yᵉ Thames appear, - To tell yᵉ wonders of this frozen year. - Sculpture claims prior place, since yᵗ alone, - Preserves yᵉ image when yᵉ prospect’s gone.” - -A coarse copper-plate, entitled “The view of Frost Fair,”--scene taken -from York-buildings Water Works; twelve verses beneath. - -A small copper-plate, representing an altar-piece with ten commandments, -engraven between the figures of Moses and Aaron; and beneath, on a -cartouche, “Printed on the Ice, on the River of Thames, Janʳʸ 15, 1739.” - -A small copper-plate, representing an ornamental border with a female -head, crowned at the top; and below two designs of the letter press -and rolling press. In the centre, in type, “Upon the Frost in the year -1739-40,” six verses, and then, “Mr. John Cross, aged 6. Printed on the -ice upon the Thames, at Queen-Hithe, January the 29th, 1739-40.” - - “Behold the liquid Thames now frozen o’er, - That lately ships of mighty burden bore; - Here you may print your name, tho’ cannot write, - ’Cause numb’d with cold; ’tis done with great delight. - And lay it by, that ages yet to come, - May see what things upon the ice were done.” - -A coarse copper-plate engraving, looking down the river, entitled “Frost -Fair,” with eight lines of verse beneath, and above, “Printed upon the -River Thames when frozen, Janu. the 28, 1739-40.” - -“An Extract Draught of Frost Fair on the River Thames, as it appears -from Whitehall Stairs, in the year 1740,” with twelve lines of verse -underneath. “Printed and sold by Geoᵉ Foster, Printseller, in St. Paul’s -Church-yard, London.” - -“The English Chronicle, or Frosty Kalender; a broadside containing a -memorial of the principal frosts, with a view of the fair from the -Southwark side of the river, opposite St. Paul’s. Printed on the Thames, -1739-40.” - -[Sidenote: 1739-40] - -The winter of 1739-40 was one of great severity. The frost commenced on -Christmas-day, and lasted until the 17th February following. It caused -much distress amongst the poor, coals could hardly be obtained for -money, and water was equally scarce. It is recorded that “the watermen -and fishermen, with a peterboat in mourning, and the carpenters, -bricklayers, &c., with their tools and utensils in mourning, walked -through the streets in large bodies, imploring relief for their own and -families’ necessities; and, to the honour of the British character, this -was liberally bestowed. Subscriptions were also made in the different -parishes, and great benefactions bestowed by the opulent, through which -the calamities of the season were much mitigated. A few days after the -frost had set in, great damage was done among the shipping in the river -Thames by a high wind, which broke many vessels from their moorings, and -drove them foul of each other, while the large sheets of ice that floated -on the stream, overwhelmed various boats and lighters, and sunk several -corn and coal vessels. By these accidents many lives were lost; and many -others were also destroyed by the intensity of the cold, both on land and -water. - -Above the Bridge, the Thames was completely frozen over, and tents and -numerous booths were erected on it for selling liquors, &c., to the -multitudes that daily flocked thither for curiosity or diversion. The -scene here displayed was very irregular, and had more the appearance of -a fair on land, than of a frail exhibition, the only basis of which was -congealed water.” - -Sports were enjoyed on the ice, and shops opened for the sale of fancy -articles, food and drink. A printing press was in active operation, and -amongst the papers printed was the following: - - The noble Art and mystery of Printing, was first invented by - J. Faust, 1441, and publicly practised by John Gottenburgh, a - soldier of Mentz, in High Germany, anno. 1450. King Henry VI. - (anno. 1457) sent two private messengers with fifteen hundred - marks, to procure one of the workmen. These prevailed on - Frederick Corsellis to leave the Printing-house in disguise; who - immediately came over with them, and first instructed the English - in this most famous Art, at Oxford, in the year 1459. - - WILLIAM NOBLE, M.A. - - Amidst the Arts which on the THAMES appear - To tell the wonders of this _icy_ year, - PRINTING claims prior place, which at one view - Erects a monument of THAT and YOU. - - Printed upon the river Thames, Jan. 29th, in the thirteenth year - of the reign of King George the IId. Anno Dom. 1740. - -“Some venturers in the Strand,” says Timbs, “bought a large ox in -Smithfield, to be roasted whole on the ice; and one, Hodgeson, claimed -the privilege of felling or knocking down the beast as a right inherent -in his family, his father having knocked down the one roasted on the -river in the Great Frost, 1684, near Hungerford Stairs: Hodgeson to wear -a laced cambric apron, a silver-handled steel, and a hat and feathers.” - -At the thaw a number of persons fell victims to their rashness, amongst -those who lost their lives may be mentioned _Doll_, the noted pippin -woman. Gay, in his “Trivia,” book ii, thus alludes to her death:-- - - “Doll every day had walk’d these treacherous roads; - Her neck grew warp’d beneath autumnal loads - Of various fruit; she now a basket bore; - That head, alas! shall basket bear no more. - Each booth she frequent past, in quest of gain; - And boys with pleasure heard her thrilling strain. - Ah, Doll! all mortals must resign their breath, - And industry itself submit to death! - The cracking crystal yields: she sinks, she dies,-- - Her head chopt from her lost shoulders, flies; - Pippins, she cried, but death her voice confounds, - And pip, pip, pip, along the ice resounds.” - -Many of the houses which, at this period, stood on London Bridge, as well -as the bridge itself, sustained considerable damage. - -Thomas Gent, the celebrated printer and historian, in his Life, relates -how he set up a printing press on the river Ouse at York during this -frost. “In January, 1739,” [1740 n.s.] he says, “the frost having been -extremely intense, the river became so frozen, that I printed names -upon the ice. It was a dangerous spot on the south side of the bridge, -where I first set up, as it were, a kind of press--only a roller wrapped -about with blankets. Whilst reading the verses I had made to follow -the names--wherein King George was most loyally inserted--some soldiers -round about made great acclamation, with other good people; but the ice -suddenly cracking, they almost as quickly ran away, whilst I, who did not -hear well, neither guessed the meaning, fell to work, and wondered at -them as much for retiring so precipitately as they did at me for staying; -but, taking courage, they shortly returned back, brought company, and I -took some pence amongst them. After this I moved my shop to and fro, to -the great satisfaction of young gentlemen and ladies, and others, who -were very liberal on the occasion.” - -It will not, we think, be without interest to reproduce particulars of a -palace which was built solely of ice at this period. “In the year 1740, -the Empress Anne of Russia, caused a palace of ice to be erected upon -the banks of the Neva. This extraordinary edifice was fifty-two feet in -length, sixteen in breadth, and twenty feet high, and constructed of -large pieces of ice cut in the manner of freestone. The walls were three -feet thick. The several apartments were furnished with tables, chairs, -beds, and all kinds of household furniture of ice. In front of this -edifice, besides pyramids and statues, stood six cannon, carrying balls -of six pounds weight, and two mortars, entirely made of ice. As a trial -from one of the former, a cannon ball, with only a quarter of a pound of -powder, was fired off, the ball of which went through a two-inch board, -at sixty paces from the mouth of the piece, which remained completely -uninjured by the explosion. The illumination of this palace at night was -astonishingly grand.” - -[Sidenote: 1741] - -“All frost or rain from 15th September to 1st February.” - -[Sidenote: 1742] - -A severe frost for some weeks. It is recorded in the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_, 18 December, 1742: “The frost having continued near three -weeks, the streets in some parts of the city, though there had been no -snow, were rendered very incommodious, and several accidents happened.” - -[Sidenote: 1754] - -A very severe frost this year, especially at Bath and in the south-west -of England. - -[Sidenote: 1763] - -The frost lasted ninety-four days. According to the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_ it set in on Saturday, 25th December, 1762. It is thus -described: “A most intense frost with easterly wind, which has since -continued, with very little intermission, until the end of January. Some -experiments have been tried during the course of it, which prove that -on some days it was no less severe than that of 1740, though upon the -whole it has not been attended with the same calamitous circumstances. -On Friday, 31st December, a glass of water placed upon the table in the -open air, in six minutes froze so hard as to bear 5 shillings upon it; a -glass of red port wine placed upon the same table froze in two hours; and -a glass of brandy in six, both with hard ice.” It is mentioned that in -Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland, this frost was felt but slightly. - -[Sidenote: 1767-68] - -Both these years opened with severe frosts, which caused provisions to -increase greatly in price. Navigation on the Thames was suspended, and -great damage done to the small craft by the ice. It is chronicled that -“many persons perished by the severity of the weather, both on the water -and on the shore. During the latter frost, the price of butchers’ meat -grew so exorbitant that the Hon. Thomas Harley, Lord Mayor, proposed that -bounties should be given for bringing fish to Billingsgate market; and -this plan having been carried into effect, the distresses of the poor -were greatly alleviated, by the cheap rates at which the markets were -supplied.” - -We read in White’s “Selborne,” under date of January, 1768: “We have had -very severe frost and deep snow this month; my thermometer was one day -14½ degrees below freezing point, within doors. The tender evergreens -were injured pretty much. It was very providential that the air was -still, and the ground well covered with snow, else vegetation in general -must have suffered prodigiously. There is reason to believe that some -days were more severe than any since the year 1739-40.” The frost this -year was very severe in Scotland. - -[Sidenote: 1776] - -The following “Icy Epitaph” is said to be from the graveyard of Bampton, -Devonshire:-- - - In memory of the Clerk’s son, - Bless my i, i, i, i, i, i, - Here I lies - In a sad pickle - Killed by an icicle, - In the year of Anno Domini 1776. - -[Sidenote: 1782] - -The Plymouth correspondent of the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ wrote under date -of 16th February, 1782: “The most intense frost ever known … The grass, -which on Friday was as green and flourishing as if it had been midsummer, -on Sunday morning seemed to be entirely killed. This is mentioned by our -correspondent as very unusual in that part of the country; and the snow -lay on the ground in many places.” - -[Sidenote: 1783-84] - -The frost lasted eighty-nine days. It commenced in December, continued -through January and February, and in March there was snow, and cold -cutting winds. We gather from the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ that it was -general. In the February number it is reported: “From different parts of -the country we have accounts of more persons having been found dead in -the roads, and others dug out of the snow, than ever was known in any -one year in the memory of man.” On January 6th, “Thames not quite frozen -over, but navigation stopped by ice.” The frost from the 10th to 20th -February was extremely severe. The Thames frozen and traffic crossed in -several places. - -On the fifth bell of Tadcaster peal is recorded: “It is remarkable that -these bells were moulded in the great frost, 1783. C. and R. Dalton, -Fownders, York.” - -[Sidenote: 1784] - -In the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for February the following appears: “From -10th December, 1783, to this day it has been 63 days’ frost; of these it -snowed nineteen, and twelve days’ thaw, whereof it rained nine. Had the -frost continued at 13 degrees as on the 31st December during the night, -it would have frozen over the Thames in twenty-four hours.” - -[Sidenote: 1788-89] - -On the 25th November, 1788, a frost set in which lasted seven weeks. It -is recorded that the thermometer stood at eleven degrees below freezing -point in the very midst of the city. The Thames was frozen below London -Bridge, and the ice on the river assumed all the appearance of a frost -fair. A variety of amusements were provided for the visitors, including -puppet-shows and the exhibition of wild beasts. In the _Gentleman’s -Magazine_ for 1789 the following diary of remarkable events which -transpired during this frost, is given:-- - -“Saturday, January 10, 1789--Thirteen men brought a waggon with a ton -of coals from Loughborough in Leicestershire, to Carlton House, as a -present to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. As soon as they were -emptied into the cellars, Mr. Weltjie, clerk of the cellars, gave them -four guineas, and as soon as the Prince was informed of it, his Highness -sent them twenty guineas, and ordered them a pot of beer each man. They -performed their journey, which is 111 miles, in 11 days, and drew it all -the way without any relief. - -Monday 12.--A young bear was baited on the ice, opposite to Redriff, -which drew multitudes together, and fortunately no accident happened to -interrupt their sport. - -Tuesday 13.--The Prince of Wales transmitted £1000 to the Chamberlain for -the benefit of the poor, during the severe frost. - -Saturday 17.--The captain of a vessel lying off Rotherhithe, the better -to secure the ship’s cables, made an agreement with a publican for -fastening a cable to his premises; in consequence, a small anchor was -carried on shore and deposited in the cellar, while another cable was -fastened round a beam in another part of the house. In the night the ship -veered about, and the cables holding fast, carried away the beam and -levelled the house with the ground; by which accident five persons asleep -in their beds were killed.” - -In the Common Place Notes for February, 1789, is the following:--“With -the new year, new entertainments commenced, or more properly speaking, -old sports were revived in the neighbourhood of London. The river Thames, -which at this season usually exhibits a dreary scene of languor and -indolence, was this year the stage on which there were all kinds of -diversions, bear-baiting, festivals, pigs and sheep roasted, booths, -turnabouts, and all the various amusements of Bartholomew fair multiplied -and improved; from Putney-bridge in Middlesex, down to Redriff, was one -continued scene of merriment and jollity; not a gloomy face to be seen, -nor a countenance expressive of want; but all cheerfulness, originating -apparently from business and bustle. From this description the reader -is not, however, to conclude that all was as it seemed. The miserable -inhabitants that dwelt in houses on both sides the river during these -thoughtless exhibitions, were many of them experiencing extreme misery; -destitute of employment, though industrious, they were with families of -helpless children, for want of employment, pining for want of bread; and -though in no country in the world the rich are more benevolent than in -England, yet their benefactions could bear no proportion to the wants of -numerous poor, who could not all partake of the common bounty. It may, -however, be truly said, that in no great city or country on the continent -of Europe, the poor suffered less from the rigour of the season, than -the inhabitants of Great Britain and London. Yet even in London, the -distresses of the poor were very great; and though liberal subscriptions -were raised for their relief, many perished through want and cold. - -On this occasion, the City of London subscribed fifteen hundred pounds -towards supporting those persons who were not in the habit of receiving -alms.” - -We cull from the _Public Advertiser_ of January 15th, 1789, the following -piece of drollery, in the shape of an inscription on a temporary -building on the Thames: “This Booth to Let. The present possessor of the -Premises is Mr. Frost. His affairs, however, not being on a permanent -footing, a dissolution, or bankruptcy may soon be expected, and a final -settlement of the whole entrusted to Mr. Thaw.” - -The printing-press was again at work on the ice, and in Crowle’s -“Illustrated Pennant,” there is a bill, having a border of type flowers, -containing the following lines:-- - - “The silver Thames was frozen o’er, - No difference twixt the stream and shore; - The like no man hath seen before, - Except he lived in days of yore.” - -“On the Ice, at the Thames Printing-Office, opposite St. Catherine’s -Stairs, in the severe Frost January, 1789. Printed by me, William Bailey.” - -In the same collection is a stippled engraving entitled: “A View of the -Thames from Rotherhithe Stairs, during the frost in 1789. Painted by G. -Samuel, and engraved by W. Birch, enamel-painter.” - -The end of the Fair we find thus described in the _London Chronicle_ -of January 15th, 1789, “Perhaps the breaking up of the fair upon the -Thames last Tuesday night below bridge, exceeded every idea that could -be formed of it, as it was not until after the dusk of the evening that -the busy crowd was persuaded of the approach of a thaw. This, however, -with the crackling of some ice about eight o’clock, made the whole a -scene of the most perfect confusion; as men, beasts, booths, turnabouts, -puppet-shows, &c., &c., were all in motion, and pouring towards the shore -on each side. The confluence here was so sudden and impetuous, that the -watermen who had formed the toll-bars over the sides of the river, where -they had broken the ice for that purpose, not being able to maintain -their standard from the crowd, &c., pulled up the boards, by which a -number of persons who could not leap, or were borne down by the press, -were soused up to the middle.” - -The next issue of the paper records that “on Thursday, January 15th, the -ice was so powerful as to cut the cables of two vessels lying at the old -Rose Chair, and drive them through the great arch of London bridge; when -their masts becoming entangled with the balustrades, both were broken and -many persons hurt.” The river remained frozen for some time after this. - -[Sidenote: 1795-96] - -The Antiquarian Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne recorded that the ice on the -river Tyne was twenty inches thick. The Thames frozen. - -[Sidenote: 1809] - -We find in “Frostiana” the following particulars of the curious effect -of cold on the feathered tribe:--“In February, 1809, a boy, in the -service of Mr. W. Newman, miller, at Leybourne, near Malling, went into -a field, called the Forty Acres, and saw a number of rooks on the ground -very close together. He made a noise to drive them away, but they did -not appear alarmed; he threw snow-balls to make them rise, still they -remained. Surprised at this apparent indifference, he went in among them, -and actually picked up twenty-seven rooks; and also in several parts of -the same field, ninety larks, a pheasant, and a buzzard hawk. The cause -of the inactivity of the birds, was a thing of rare occurrence in this -climate; a heavy rain fell on Thursday afternoon, which, freezing as it -came down, so completely glazed over the bodies of the birds, that they -were fettered in a coat of ice, and completely deprived of the power -of motion. Several of the larks were dead, having perished from the -intensity of the cold. The buzzard hawk being strong, struggled hard for -his liberty, broke his icy fetters and effected his escape.” - -[Sidenote: 1811] - -In January this year the Thames frozen over.--_Timbs._ - -[Sidenote: 1813-14] - -On the evening of the 27th of December, 1813, a great fog commenced in -London, and the greatest frost of the century set in. We have taken from -a work compiled during the frost, the following reliable account of it:-- - -“On the night of 27th the darkness was so dense that the Prince Regent, -who desired to pay a visit to the Marquis of Salisbury at Hatfield House, -was obliged to return back to Carlton House, not, however, until one of -his outriders had fallen into a ditch on the side of Kentish Town. The -short excursion occupied several hours. Mr. Croker, of the Admiralty, -intending to go northward, wandered in the dark for some hours without -making more than three or four miles progress.” - -On the night of the 28th of December, the Maidenhead coach, on its return -from town, missed the road near Harford Bridge, and was overturned. -Amongst the injured passengers was Lord Hawarden. - -It took, on the 29th of December, the Birmingham mail nearly seven hours -in going a couple of miles past Uxbridge, or a distance of about twenty -miles. - -On this and other evenings in London, a couple of persons with links ran -by each horse’s head; yet with this and other precautions some serious -and many whimsical accidents occurred. Pedestrians even carried links or -lanterns, and a number who were not provided with lights lost themselves -in the most frequented and at other times well-known streets. Hackney -coachmen mistook the pathway for the road, and _vice versa_--the greatest -possible confusion took place. - -The state of the Metropolis on the night of the 31st of December was in -consequence truly alarming. It required both great care and knowledge of -the public streets to enable anyone to proceed any distance, and those -obliged to venture out carried torches. The usual lamps appeared through -the haze not larger than small candles. Many of the hackney coachmen led -their horses, and others drove only at walking pace. Until the 3rd of -January, 1814, lasted this tremendous fog, or “darkness that might be -felt.” - -Immediately on the cessation of the fogs, a heavy fall of snow commenced. -A writer of the time said, “There is nothing in the memory of man to -equal these falls.” With the exception of a few short intervals, the snow -continued incessantly for forty-eight hours, and this, too, after the -ground was covered with a condensation, the result of nearly four weeks’ -continued frost. Nearly the whole of the time the wind blew from the -north and north-east, and was intensely cold. - -The state of the streets was rendered dangerous by a thaw which lasted -about a day. The mass of snow and water became so thick, that it was -with difficulty that the carriages could progress even with the aid of -an additional horse each. Nearly all trades and callings carried on out -of doors were stopped, which considerably increased the distress of -the lower orders. The frost continued and skating occupied the chief -attention of the people. It will be interesting to furnish an account of -the state of the river Thames at this period. - -Sunday, January 30th: Immense masses of ice that had floated from the -upper parts of the river, in consequence of the thaw on the two preceding -days, now blocked up the Thames between Blackfriars and London Bridges, -and afforded every probability of its being frozen over in a day or two. -Some venturous persons even now walked on different parts of the ice. - -Monday, January 31st: This expectation was realised. During the whole -of the afternoon, hundreds of people were assembled on Blackfriars and -London Bridges, to see several adventurous men cross and recross the -Thames on the ice; at one time seventy persons were counted walking from -Queenhithe to the opposite shore. The frost on Sunday night so united -the vast mass as to render it immovable by the tide. - -Tuesday, February 1st: The floating masses of ice with which the Thames -was covered, having been stopped by London Bridge, now assumed the -shape of a solid surface over that part of the river which entered from -Blackfriars Bridge to some distance below Three Crane Stairs, at the -bottom of Queen-street, Cheapside. The watermen, taking advantage of the -circumstance, placed notices at the end of all the streets leading to the -city side of the river, announcing safe footway over the river, which, as -might be expected, attracted immense crowds to witness so novel a scene. -Many were induced to venture on the ice, and the example thus afforded -soon led thousands to perambulate the rugged plain, where a variety of -amusements were prepared for their entertainment. - -Among the more curious of these was the ceremony of roasting a small -sheep, which was toasted, or rather burnt over a coal fire, placed in a -large iron pan. For a view of this extraordinary spectacle, sixpence was -demanded, and willingly paid. The delicate meat when done was sold at a -shilling a slice, and termed Lapland mutton. - -Of booths there was a great number, which were ornamented with streamers, -flags, and signs, and in which there was a plentiful store of those -favourite luxuries, gin, beer and gingerbread. - -Opposite Three Crane Stairs there was a complete and well-frequented -thoroughfare to Bankside, which was strewed with ashes, and apparently -afforded a very safe, although a very rough path. - -Near Blackfriars Bridge, however, the path did not appear to be equally -safe, for one young man, a plumber, named Davis, having imprudently -ventured to cross with some lead in his hands, he sank between two masses -of ice, to rise no more. Two young women nearly shared a similar fate, -but were happily rescued from their perilous situation by the prompt -efforts of a waterman. Many a fair nymph, indeed, was embraced in the -very arms of old Father Thames; three prim young quakeresses had a sort -of semi-bathing near London Bridge, and when landed on _terra firma_, -made the best of their way through the Borough, amid the shouts of an -admiring populace, to their residence at Newington. In consequence of the -impediments to the current of the river at London Bridge, the tide did -not ebb for some days more than one half the usual mark. - -Wednesday, February 2nd: The Thames presented a complete Frost Fair. -The grand mall or walk was from Blackfriars Bridge; this was named the -City-road, and lined on each side with tradesmen of all descriptions. -Eight or ten printing presses were erected, and numerous pieces -commemorative of the great frost were actually printed on the ice. -Some of these frosty typographers displayed considerable taste in the -specimens. - -At one press an orange-coloured standard was hoisted, with the watch word -“Orange Boven” in large characters, and the following papers were issued -from it:-- - - FROST FAIR. - - “Amidst the arts which on the Thames appear, - To Tell the wonders of this icy year, - Printing claims a prior place, which at one view - Erects a monument of That and You.” - -Another:-- - - “You that walk here, and do design to tell - Your children’s children what this year befell, - Come, buy this print, and it will then be seen - That such a year as this has seldom been.” - -Another of these stainers of paper addressed the spectators in the -following terms:-- - -“Friends, now is your time to support the freedom of the press. Can the -press have greater liberty? Here you find it working in the middle of -the Thames; and if you encourage us by buying our impressions, we will -keep it going in the true spirit of liberty during the frost.” - -One of the articles printed and sold contained the following lines:-- - - “Behold the river Thames is frozen o’er, - Which lately ships of mighty burden bore; - Now different arts and pastimes here you see, - But printing claims the superiority.” - -Besides the above the Lord’s Prayer and several other pieces were issued -from these ice bated printing offices, and were bought with the greatest -avidity. - -Thursday, February 3rd: The adventurers were still more numerous. Swings, -book-stalls, dancing in a barge, suttling-booths, playing at skittles, -and almost every appendage of a fair on land was now transferred to the -Thames. Thousands of people flocked to behold this singular spectacle, -and to partake of the various sports and pastimes. The ice now became -like a solid rock of adamant, and presented a truly picturesque -appearance. The view of St. Paul’s and of the city with its white -foreground had a very singular effect; in many parts mountains of ice -were upheaved, and these fragments bore a strong resemblance to the rude -interior of a stone quarry. - -Friday, February, 4th: Every day brought a fresh accession of “pedlars -to sell their wares,” and the greatest rubbish of all sorts was raked up -and sold at double and treble the original cost. Books and toys labelled -“bought on the Thames” were seen in profusion. The waterman profited -exceedingly, for each person paid a toll of 2d. or 3d. before he was -admitted to the Frost Fair. Some _douceur_ also was expected on your -return. These men were said to have taken £6 each in the course of a day. - -This afternoon, about five o’clock three persons, an old man and two -lads, having ventured on a piece of ice above London Bridge, it suddenly -detached itself from the main body, and was carried by the tide through -one of the arches. The persons on the ice, who laid themselves down for -safety, were observed by the boatmen at Billingsgate, who with laudable -activity, put off to their assistance, and rescued them from their danger. - -One of them was able to walk, but the other two were carried in a state -of insensibility to a public-house in the neighbourhood, where they -received every attention their situation required. - -Many persons were seen on the ice till late at night, and the effect by -moonlight was singularly picturesque and beautiful. With a little stretch -of imagination, we might have transported ourselves to the frozen climes -of the north--to Lapland, Sweden or Holland. - -Saturday, February 5th: The morning of this day augured rather -unfavourably for the continuance of Frost Fair. The wind had shifted -to the south, and a light fall of snow took place. The visitors of the -Thames, however, were not to be deterred by trifles. Thousands again -returned, and there was much life and bustle on the frozen element. - -The footpath in the centre of the river was hard and secure, and among -the pedestrians we observed four donkeys which trotted at a nimble pace -and produced considerable merriment. At every glance, the spectator -met with some pleasing novelty. Gaming in all its branches threw out -different allurements, while honesty was out of the question. Many of -the itinerant admirers of the profit gained by E. O. Tables, wheel of -fortune, the garter, &c., were industrious in their avocations, leaving -their kind customers without a penny to pay their passage over a plank -to the shore. Skittles was played by several parties, and the drinking -tents filled by females and their companions, dancing reels to the sound -of fiddles, while others sat round large fires, drinking rum, grog, and -other spirits. Tea, coffee, and eatables were provided in ample order, -while passengers were invited to eat by way of recording their visit. -Several respectable tradesmen also attended with their wares, selling -books, toys, and trinkets of every description. - -Towards evening the concourse became thinned; rain fell in some quantity; -Maister Ice gave some loud cracks, and floated with the printing presses, -booths, &c., to the no small dismay of publicans, typographers, &c. In -short, this icy palace of Momus, this fairy frost work, was soon to be -dissolved, and doomed to vanish like the baseless fabric of a vision, but -leaving some “wrecks behind.” - -A short time before the thaw, a gentleman standing by one of the printing -presses, and supposed to be a limb of the law, handed the following -_jeu d’esprit_ to its conductor, requesting that it might be printed -on the Thames. The prophecy which it contains has been most remarkably -fulfilled:-- - - “To Madam Tabitha Thaw. - - Dear dissolving dame,-- - - Father Frost and Sister Snow have boneyed my borders, formed an - idol of ice upon my bosom, and all the Lords of London came to - make merry: now, as you love mischief, treat the multitude with a - few cracks by a sudden visit, and obtain the prayers of the poor - upon both banks. Given at my press the 5th February, 1814. Thomas - Thames.” - -It was evident that a thaw was rapidly taking place, yet such was the -indiscretion and heedlessness of some persons that one fatal accident -occurred. - -Two genteel looking young men fell victims to their temerity in venturing -on the ice above Westminster Bridge, notwithstanding the warnings of the -waterman. A large mass on which they stood, and which had been loosened -by the flood-tide, gave way, and they floated down the stream. As they -passed under Westminster Bridge they cried out most piteously for help. -They had not gone far before they sat down, but, going too near the -edge, they overbalanced the mass, and were precipitated into the stream, -sinking not to appear again. - -This morning, also, Mr. Lawrence, of the Feathers, in High Timber street, -Queenhithe, erected a booth on the Thames opposite Brook’s Wharf, for the -accommodation of the curious. At nine at night he left it to the care of -two men, taking away all liquors, except some gin, which he gave them for -their own use. - -Sunday, February 6th: At two o’clock this morning, the tide began to -flow with great rapidity at London Bridge; the thaw assisted the efforts -of the tide, and the booth just mentioned was hurried along with the -quickness of lightning towards Blackfriars Bridge. There were nine men -in it, and in their alarm they neglected the fire and candles, which, -communicating with the covering, set it in a flame. The men succeeded in -getting into a lighter which had broken from its moorings, but it was -dashed to pieces against one of the piers of Blackfriars Bridge, on which -seven of them got, and were taken off safely; the other two got into a -barge while passing Puddle Dock. - -On this day, the Thames towards high tide (about 3 p.m.) presented a very -tolerable idea of the frozen ocean; grand masses of ice floating along, -added to the great height of the water and afforded a striking sight for -contemplation. - -Thousands of disappointed persons thronged the banks; and many a -’prentice boy and servant maid sighed unutterable things at the sudden -and unlooked-for destruction of Frost Fair. - -Monday, February, 7th: Large masses of ice are yet floating, and numerous -lighters, broken from their moorings, are seen in different parts of the -river, many of them complete wrecks. The damage done to the craft and -barges is supposed to be very great. From London Bridge to Westminster, -twenty thousand pounds will scarcely make good the losses that have been -sustained. - -An interesting account of an “Ice Festival” is given in the pages of -_The Champion_ of February 6th, 1814. It is chronicled that “Saturday -se’nnight afforded to the inhabitants of Kelso a scene to which there -has been nothing similar for the last 73 years. The late severe weather -having frozen the Tweed completely over, a number of the respectable -inhabitants were desirous of dining on the ice, and gave orders to Mr. -Lander, of the Queen’s Head Inn, to provide what was necessary for the -occasion. He accordingly erected an enormous tent in the midst of the -river, opposite Ednam House, and served up an excellent and hot dinner to -a numerous and respectable company. The tent, which was well heated by -stoves, was surmounted by an orange flag, and the union flags of England -and Holland were displayed on tables. From forty to fifty sat down to -dinner. The following toasts were drunk with glee:--‘General Frost, who -so signally fought last winter for the deliverance of Europe, and who now -supports the present company.’ ‘Both sides of the Tweed, and God preserve -us in the middle.’ The company were much gratified by seeing among them -an old inhabitant of the town who was present at the last entertainment -given under similar circumstances, in the winter of the year 1740, when -part of an ox was roasted on the ice. No accident happened to disturb the -pleasures of the scene.” - -From a scene of rejoicing let us turn to a record of a painful death -occurring at this period. We find in the “Annals of Manchester,” -edited by W. E. A. Axon, (pub. 1886) a note as follows, under the year -1814:--“Miss Lavinia Robinson was found drowned in the Irwell, near the -Mode Wheel, February 8. This young lady, who possessed superior mental -accomplishments, as well as personal beauty, was engaged to Mr. Holroyd, -a surgeon, but on the eve of her intended marriage she disappeared from -her home in Bridge Street, December 6th, and owing to the long frost, her -body remained under the ice for a long period. It appears most probable -that the rash act of the ‘Manchester Ophelia’ was due to a quarrel in -which her betrothed had repeated some slanderous statements respecting -her. There was, however, a strong suspicion that she had met with foul -play. The slanders were shown to be baseless, and the feeling against Mr. -Holroyd was so strong that he had to leave the town. (Procter’s ‘Bygone -Manchester,’ pages 268, 269. ‘City News Notes and Queries,’ vol. I., p. -265.)” - -We extract from the _Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_ the following lines by -an anonymous author:-- - -TYNE FAIR; OR, THE GREAT FROST, JAN. 31, AND FEB. 1, 1814. - -The frost here commemorated began about the 8th December, 1813, and -continued in a gentle manner until the morning of the 14th January, 1814, -when a stronger frost covered the Tyne below bridge with a smooth and -perfect sheet of ice, on which, the succeeding day, a number of people -ventured, and skaters, for three successive days. A partial thaw came -on which damped the ardour of skaters, until the night of the 29th of -January, when again a severe frost considerably strengthened the ice, and -presented a glassy surface above bridge. On Monday, 31st January, no less -than seven tents were erected on it for the sale of spirits, and fires -kindled on that and the succeeding day. Parties dined in various of the -tents. The desire of recreation shone forth in every face. Horse shoes, -football, “toss or buy,” rolly polly, fiddlers, pipers, razor grinders, -recruiting parties, and racers with and without skates, were all alive -to the moment. Hats, breeches, shifts, stockings, ribbons, and even -legs of mutton, were the rewards of the racers, who turned night into -day; the brilliancy of the full moon contributing to their diversions -until late beyond midnight. A horse and sledge above bridge added to the -novelty of the scene; and it is worthy of remark that not one accident -of consequence happened, although thousands ventured their persons upon -the ice. Owing to the severity of the season, the London Mail for Friday, -the 21st January, and three following days, was brought to Newcastle -on the fifth day, in the Lord Wellington Coach, with eight horses; a -circumstance quite new to the inhabitants of canny Newcastle. - - The angry winter storms aloud, - In icy chains the floods are bound; - And on the Tyne the people crowd, - As if it were on level ground. - - The keelmen now lay many a plank, - To make safe footing on the Tyne; - And old and young of every rank - Pay them a toll to pace the Tyne. - - There’s next erected many a tent, - And blazing fires the fancy charm; - Where the shivering lookers-on soon went, - And dine and drink to keep them warm. - - From Red Heugh down to Ouse Burn Quay, - The river’s crowded like a fair; - And many a group of people play - At horse shoes for a quart of beer. - - Two asses on the ice were brought-- - A smock displayed, for which a race - Upon the Tyne, who would have thought - To see such sport in such a place? - - There’s “Bambro’ Jack,” and “Mutton Pies,” - With plump-fac’d Nell and hot black puddings, - “Come taste them, hinny,” oft she cries, - “Believe me, lad, they’re very goodens.” - - There’s Jack the razor-grinder too, - Rolling his wheel o’er icy Tyne; - Tho’ he’s as “drunk as Davey’s sow,” - Yet he obtains some skates to grind. - - Here Jim the fiddler screw’d his pegs, - While stripling wenches round him dance; - And bold recruits a party begs - To gather laurels e’en in France. - - In Jemmy Nelson’s tent we see, - A toping party do combine, - To pass the afternoon with glee, - And drown their cares in rosy wine. - - Now turn your eyes west of the bridge, - And you will view a sight that’s rare, - A horse there draws a Northern sledge, - Like unto Neptune’s stately car. - - Peg Swinney, she to seek her mate, - Made her first passage o’er a ship, - But on the plank she slipp’d her feet, - Fell on the ice and lamed her hip. - - A barber, bred in Thespis’ school, - With a new pair of skates well shod, - Display’d his anticks like a fool, - And through the arch he took his road. - - But here the faithless ice soon broke, - Up to the shoulders sous’d was he, - Where he remain’d till with a rope, - Some sailors dragg’d him to the quay. - - A gentle thaw took place at last, - The keels are all afloat we see; - And dingy Tyne, late bound so fast, - Now rolls its current to the sea. - -[Sidenote: 1814] - -The winter very severe in Ireland. - -[Sidenote: 1838] - -On the 7th January a very severe frost set in and continued a month. This -frost was predicted in “Murphy’s Almanack,” and the fulfilment of the -prediction rendered the publication extremely popular. A rhyme of the -period was as follows-- - - Murphy hath a weather eye, - He can tell whatever he pleases, - Whether it will be wet or dry, - When it thaws and when it freezes. - -It is recorded in January this year, that the thermometer at Walton, near -Claremont, fell to 14 deg. below zero; at Beckenham it was 13½ deg. below -zero; at Wallingford, 5 deg. below zero; at Greenwich, 4 deg. below zero; -and at Glasgow 1 deg. below zero. - -The principal rivers of this country were frozen over. This winter is -frequently called “Murphy’s winter.” - -[Sidenote: 1855] - -On January 16th a very strong frost commenced, and prevailed for about -six weeks. Rivers were frozen over, and inland navigation was entirely -suspended. The working classes were subject to many privations on account -of the dearness of food and depression of trade. In London 10,000 dock -porters were out of work, and such was their sufferings that bread-riots -occurred in the east end of the town. During this frost traffic was -established on the Ure in Lincolnshire to the distance of thirty-five -miles. - -[Sidenote: 1860-61] - -Very severe frost from 20th December to 5th January. Says the _Northern -Daily Telegraph_, in a recent article on “Old Fashioned Winters” “on the -25th of December, 1860, the thermometer in London fell to 15 degrees -Fahrenheit, which is 17 degrees below freezing point. In the country the -same intensity of cold was felt, and a certain meteorologist wrote to -the _Times_ stating that at Boston, in Nottinghamshire, the temperature -four feet above the ground was 8 degrees below zero, whilst on the grass -it was 13 degrees, or 45 degrees of frost. Fortunately this extreme -cold only lasted three days, and the inconveniences attending it--in -themselves bad enough--were not to be compared with the miseries which -accompanied the great Frost Fair.” - -[Sidenote: 1879-1880] - -In the middle of January, 1880, it was expected by many that a Frost -Fair would once more be held on the Thames. The last two months of 1879 -and the opening month of 1880 were extremely cold. The President of the -Meteorological Society in his report, 1880, says, “The period through -which we have been passing since October, 1878, has been one of great -cold, in many respects without precedent during nearly a quarter of a -century. The harvest of 1879 is recorded as the worst ever known. Shrubs, -even hollies, little short of 100 years old were killed. Birds were -destroyed, Robin Redbreasts took shelter in our houses; all the rivers -in England were frozen over. It is stated that Major Slack of the 63rd -Regiment, at Oakamoor Station, railway lamps were frozen out, and that -rabbits pushed for food had attacked the oil and grease on the station -crane.” At Chirmside Bridge a temperature of 6° below zero was observed. -Peach trees 60 years old were killed to the roots. The evergreens, -laurels, rhododendrons, hollies in many instances, Wellingtonias, and -many others were all killed, and many people frozen to death. This frost -began on the 22nd November, 1879, and on the 2nd February, 1880, a thaw -began. - -[Sidenote: 1881] - -Severe frost from the 7th to the 27th January. Snow fell daily from the -9th to the 27th of the month. - -[Sidenote: 1886-7] - -The concluding pages of this work are being written and printed during a -hard frost. The closing days of the past year, and the early days of the -current year will long be remembered amongst severe winters. - -Perhaps we cannot more fitly close our account of “Famous Frosts and -Frost Fairs,” than by quoting the following lines from the facile pen -of Edith May, culled from the pages of Hale’s “Selections of Female -Writers,” published in 1853. - - FROST PICTURES. - - When like a sullen exile driven forth, - Southward, December drags his icy chain, - He graves fair pictures of his native North - On the crisp window-pane. - - So some pale captive blurs, with lips unshorn, - The latticed glass, and shapes rude outlines there, - With listless finger and a look forlorn, - Cheating his dull despair. - - The fairy fragments of some Arctic scene - I see to-night; blank wastes of polar snow, - Ice-laden boughs, and feathery pines that lean - Over ravines below. - - Black frozen lakes, and icy peaks blown bare, - Break the white surface of the crusted pane, - And spear-like leaves, long ferns, and blossoms fair - Linked in silvery chain. - - Draw me, I pray thee, by this slender thread; - Fancy, thou sorceress, bending vision-wrought - O’er that dim well perpetually fed - By the clear springs of thought! - - Northward I turn, and tread those dreary strands,-- - Lakes where the wild fowl breed, the swan abides; - Shores where the white fox, burrowing in the sands, - Harks to the droning tides. - - And seas, where, drifting on a raft of ice, - The she bear rears her young; and cliffs so high, - The dark-winged birds that emulate their rise - Melt through the pale blue sky. - - There, all night long, with far diverging rays, - And stalking shades, the red Auroras glow; - From the keen heaven, meek suns with pallid blaze - Light up the Arctic snow. - - Guide me, I pray, along those waves remote, - That deep unstartled from its primal rest; - Some errant sail, the fisher’s lone light boat - Borne waif-like on its breast! - - Lead me, I pray, where never shallop’s keel - Brake the dull ripples throbbing to their caves: - Where the mailed glacier with his armed heel - Spurs the resisting waves! - - Paint me, I pray, the phantom hosts that hold - Celestial tourneys when the midnight calls; - On airy steeds, with lances bright and bold, - Storming her ancient halls. - - Yet, while I look, the magic picture fades; - Melts the bright tracery from the frosted pane; - Trees, vales, and cliffs, in sparkling snows arrayed, - Dissolve in silvery rain. - - Without, the day’s pale glories sink and swell - Over the black rise of yon wooded height; - The moon’s thin crescent, like a stranded shell, - Left on the shores of night. - - Hark how the north wind, with a hasty hand, - Rattling my casement, frames his mystic rhyme. - House thee, rude minstrel, chanting through the land, - Runes of the olden times. - - - - -INDEX. - - - Ale, Hot, used for mixing mortar, 9. - - Anne, Princess, visits the Frost Fair, 19, 20. - - Armitage, John, High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 12. - - Artichokes, growth of, in London in 1608, 11. - - Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, a Broadside in, 32. - - Axon’s, W. E. A., _Annals of Manchester_, quoted, 74. - - - Bailey, Wm., printer on the Thames, 58. - - Bampton, Devonshire, Icy Epitaph at, 53. - - Barley, Price of, in 1614, 12. - - Bartholomew Fair, 33, 56. - - Bath, Severe Frost at, in 1754, 51. - - Beale, Dr., on the frost of 1672, 17. - - Beans, price of, in 1614, 12. - - Bear-Baiting on the Ice, 55. - - Beckenham, 79. - - Bess of Hardwick, Death of, 9. - - Birch, W., Enamel-painter and Engraver, 58. - - Birmingham Mails delayed through a dense Fog, 61. - - _Blanket Fair, A True description of, upon the River Thames, 1683. A - broadside_, 22-26. - - Bodleian Library, Oxford, _Cold Doings in London_, a tract in, 11. - - _Book of Liberty_, read in Churches, 13. - - Boston, Notts., Severe Frost at, 80. - - Bowles, John, Printseller at “The Black Horse,” 44. - - Bowyer, William, Printer, 43. - - Brugis, H., Printer, 26. - - - Catherine, Queen, Infanta of Portugal, 19. - - _Champion, The_, on the Ice Festival of 1814, 73. - - Charles II., Visit to the Frost Fair on the Thames in 1683-84, 19. - - Chatsworth, 9. - - Chirmside Bridge. Temperature at, 81. - - _Cold Doings in London_, quoted, 11. - - “Cold Yeare, The” quoted, 13. - - Cornwall, slight frost of 1763, 52. - - Corsellis, F., Oxford’s first Printer, 48. - - Croker, J. Wilson, 61. - - Croom, G., Printing done on the Thames by, 19, 20. - - Cross, John, 45. - - Crowle’s _Illustrated Pennant_, quoted, 58. - - - Dalton, C. and R., Bell-founders, York, 54. - - Davis, Mr., Drowning of, 65. - - Derbyshire, Chatsworth, 9; - Hardwick, 8, 9. - - Dawks’s _News-Letter_, on the frost of 1715-16, 41, 42. - - D’Este, Mary, 19. - - Doll, the pippin Woman, death of, 49, - Gay’s verse on, _ibid._ - - Drake’s _Eboracum_, quoted, 10, 12. - - “Drunk as Davey’s Sow,” a phrase, 77. - - - Ecclesfield Parish Register, extract from, on mixing Mortar with - Malt-Liquor, 9. - - Ednam House, Kelso, 73. - - Eggs used for pointing Churches, 9. - - Elizabeth, Queen, 8. - - England, 73, - Introduction of Printing into, by Henry VI., 48; - Rivers Frozen, 80; - Severe frost in 359, 1. - - _English Chronicle, The, or Frosty Calendar_, a broadside, 1739-40, 46. - - E. O. Tables, gambling by, practised, 69. - - Epitaph, Icy, at Bampton, Devonshire, 53. - - _Erra Pater’s Prophesy, or Frost Fair in 1683_, quoted, 39. - - Evelyn, John, on the Frost of 1648-49, 14; - frost of 1683-84, 17, 20. - - - Faust, J., Inventor of Printing, 48. - - Foss, River, 12. - - Foster, Geo., Printseller, St. Paul’s Church-yard, 46. - - _Frost Fair, An Extract Draught of, on the River Thames_, 46. - - _Frost Fair on the River Thames_, 1715-16, 43-44. - - _Frost in the Year 1739-40_, quoted, 45. - - Frost Pictures, a Poem, by Edith May, 82-83. - - _Frostiana_, Curious effect of the cold on birds in the Frost of 1806 - mentioned in, 60. - - - Gainsborough, 13. - - Gent, Thos., His Printing shop on the river Ouse, at York, in 1719, - 49-50. - - _Gentleman’s Magazine_ on the Frost of 1742, 51, - on the Frost of 1763, _ibid._, - of 1782, 53, 54, - of 1784, 55, - and of 1789, 55. - - George, Prince, of Denmark, 20. - - Glasgow, 79. - - Gottenburgh, John, Printer, 48. - - Gough, Richard. 11. - - Gravesend, 7. - - _Great Britain’s Wonder: or London’s Admiration_, A Broadside, 26. - - Greenwich, 79. - - _Grey Friars, Chronicles of the_, quoted, 7. - - - Hale’s _Selections of Female Writers_, quoted 81. - - Haly, M., Printer, 32. - - Harford Bridge, 61. - - _Harleian Miscellany_, quoted, 3. - - Harley Thos., Lord Mayor of London, 52. - - Hatfield House, 61. - - Hawarden, Lord, Accident to, 61. - - Hay, price of, in 1614, 12. - - Heaton, John, Printer, 40. - - Henry II. 5. - - ⸺ III. 5. - - ⸺ VI. and the Introduction of Printing into England, 48. - - Hodgeson, Mr., 48. - - Holinshed’s “_Chronicle_,” quoted, 8. - - Holland, 69, 73. - - Holroyd, Mr., 74, 75. - - Horse Shoe, Game of, 77. - - Howe’s “_Stow’s English Chronicle_,” quoted, 6, 10. - - Hulse, Sir Henry, Knt, 39. - - - _Ice Fair_, quoted, 45. - - Icy Epitaph, 53. - - Ireland, 73; - slight frost of 1763, 52. - - Irwell River, Drowning of Miss Robinson in, 74. - - - Jackson’s _Pictorial Press_, quoted, 32. - - - Kelso, Ice Festival at, 73; - Ednam House, 73; - Queen’s Head Inn, 73. - - Kentish Town, 61. - - - Lambeth, 6, 7, 8, 18. - - Lander, Mr. Publican, Public dinner served on the river Tweed by, - during the frost of 1814, 73. - - Lapland, 69; - Lapland Mutton, 64. - - Lawrence, Mr., Publican, erected a booth on the Thames, 71. - - Leeds, 13. - - Leybourne, Birds fettered with Ice at, 60. - - Lintott, Bernard, Bookseller, 43. - - London, 22, 32, 38, 44, 79, 80; - Blackfriars Bridge, 63-66, 72; - British Museum, Royal Coll. of Prints and Drawings in the, 22; - Brooks Wharf, 71; - Carlton House, 35; - Cheapside, 35, 64; - Dock Labourers thrown out of work, 79; - Fire in 1086, 3; - Fleet Street, Shop signs in, 21, 40; - Fog, Dense, in 1813-14, 61; - Green Arbour, 26; - Guildhall Library, 22; - High Timber Street, 71; - Hungerford Stairs, 48; - Little Old Bailey, 26. - London Bridge, 21, 40, 43, 63, 65, 68, 73; - Arches carried away during the frost of 1281-2, 6, 7, 8; - Houses on, damaged, in the frost of 1739, 40; - View of, 11. - Ludgate, 32; - Moorfields, 35; - Newington, 65; - Puddle Dock, 72; - Royal Exchange, 32; - Queenhithe, 45, 63, 71; - Queen Street, 64; - Rose Chair, 59; - Rotherhithe, Fall of a house at, 56; - St. James’s Street, 43; - St. Paul’s Cathedral, 46, 67; - Burning of in 1086, 3; - Smithfield, 48; - Southwark, 22, 23, 26, 27, 46; - Strand, 43, 48; - Temple Bar, 40; - Temple Stairs, 21, 23, 26, 27. - Thames Frozen, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, - 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 34, 38, 40, 44, 46, 47, 67, 72, 80; - from London to Gravesend, in 54, 55, 59. - Blanket Fair upon, a Broadside, 22-26. - Bull-Baiting on, 24. - Coaches plying from Westminster to the Temple, 18, 23, 35, 41. - Fair in 1564-6, 8; - in 1608, 10; - in 1620, 13, 55, 66; - in reign of Charles II, 15, 17, 55, 56; - _Frost Fair_, 46, 66. - _Mapp or Representation of Boothes_ &c. 1683, 20. - Men walking over, from Westminster to Lambeth, in 1281-2, 6, 7; - Navigation on, suspended, 52, 54; - Printing done upon, 41, 46, 47, 58, 66, 67; - Subscriptions raised for the sufferers through the frost of 1789, 57. - Three Crane Stairs, 64, 65; - Westminster, 18, 40, 41, 73; - Westminster Bridge, 71; - Whitehall, 19, 40, 41; - Whitehall Stairs, 46; - Whitefriars, 41. - - _London Chronicle_, on the frost of 1789, 58, 59. - - Loughborough, Leicestershire, waggon load of Coals, drawn on the ice - from, to Carlton House, London, 55. - - - Maidenhead Coach, overturned, 61. - - Maitland’s _Hist. of London_, quoted, 13. - - Malling, 60. - - Manchester, Bridge Street, 74; - _City News Notes and Queries_, on the Drowning of Miss Robinson, 75. - - Martaine, Thos., 36. - - May’s, Edith, Frost Pictures, a poem, 82-83. - - Milbank, Horse Ferry at, 18. - - Mode Wheel, near River Irwell, 74. - - Modena, Francis, Duke of, 19. - - Moxon’s _Map of the River Thames_, 1683-4, referred to, 38, 39. - - Murphy’s _Almanack_, Frost of 1838 predicted in, 78, 79. - - - Nelson, Jemmy, 77. - - Neva, River, Ice Palace erected upon, in 1740, 50-51. - - Newcastle, 75, 76; - Antiquarian Society Transactions, on the Frost of 1795-96, 59; - Ouse Burn Quay 77; - Red Heugh, 77; - The Tyne Fair, at, 75, 76. - - _Newcastle Weekly Chronicle_, on the Frost Fair of 1814, 75. - - Newman, W., Miller, of Leybourne, 60. - - Norris, Jas., Bookseller, at the King’s Arms, Fleet St., 40. - - _Northern Daily Telegraph_ on “Old Fashioned Winters” 79. - - _Nottingham Guardian_, quoted, 13. - - _Notes and Queries_, quoted, 13. - - - Oakamoor Station, 81. - - “Odd Showers” referred to, 17. - - “Old Chronicle,” quoted, 4. - - Oxford, Printing first Practised at, 48. - - Ouse Bridges, borne away with the Ice, in 1564, 8. - - - Penkethman, quoted, 5. - - Pepys, Samuel, on the frosts of 1663, 1664-65, 14. - - Plymouth, intense frost at, in 1782, 53. - - Printing, Invention of, 47. - - Proctors’ _Bygone Manchester_, on the Drowning of Miss Robinson, 75. - - Prynne’s _Divine Tragedie lately acted_, quoted, 13. - - _Public Advertiser_, quoted 57. - - Putney-Bridge, 56. - - - Redriff, 55, 56. - - Regent, Prince, his intended visit to the Marquis of Salisbury, 61 - - Robinson, Miss L., Drowning of, in the Irwell, 74, 75. - - Rochester Bridge, destroyed by the frost of 1281-2, 6. - - Russia, Anne, Empress of, causes an ice Palace to be erected on the - Neva, 50. - - Salisbury Marquis of, 61. - - Samuel, G., Painter, 58. - - Scotland, Fourteen weeks’ Frost in 359, 1. - - Seller, John, Bookseller, 32. - - Shad, J. 32. - - Short’s quoted 2, 3, 5. - - Signs, Shop, Black Horse, Cornhill, 44; - Feathers, High Timber St. 71; - Globe, St. Paul’s Churchyard, 32; - King’s Arms, Fleet Street 40; - Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street, 21; - Queen’s Head Inn, Kelso, 73; - Talbot, Fleet Street, 21. - - Slack, Major, 80. - - Southampton Beauvois Hill, 37; - Berry, _ib._; - Bittern Farme, _ib._; - Calshott Castle, 36; - Extract from Holy-Rood Church Register on the Frost of 1683-4, _ib._; - Ichen Ferry, 37; - Marchwood, _ib._; - Millbrook point, _ib._; - Redbridge, _ib._ - - Stows’ _Annals_, quoted, 8; - _Chronicle_, quoted, 4, 6, 7. - - Sweden, 69. - - Swinney, Peg, 78. - - - Thamasis’s _Advice to a Painter_, quoted 20. - - _Thames, A View of the, from Rotherhithe Stairs during the frost in - 1789_, 58. - - Timbs’s _Curiosities of London_, quoted, 40; - on the Frost of 1739-40, 48; - on the Frost of 1811, 60. - - _Times, The_, on the Frost at Boston, Notts., 80. - - Trent, River, Playing Foot-ball on, in 1634, 13. - - Tweed, River, Dinner given upon, in 1814, 73, 74. - - Tyne, River, 75-77; - Frost Fair of 1814, 75; - a Ballad on the Fair, 76-78. - - - Ubley, Frost of 1683, Extract from Parochial Register on, 37. - - Ure, River, Frozen in 1855, 79. - - Uxbridge, 61. - - - _View of the Booths, and all the Variety of Shows &c._, 44. - - - Wales, slight frost of, 1763, 52. - - Wales, Prince of, Visits the Frost Fair of 1715-16, 42. - - Walford, C., _Insurance Cyclopædia_, quoted, 3. - - ⸺ Edward, M. A., _Old and New London_, quoted, 13. - - Wallingford, 79. - - Walton, Near Claremont, 79. - - Waltor, Robt., Bookseller at the Globe, 32. - - Warter, Wm. Stationer, at the “Talbott,” 21. - - Wellington, Coach, Lord, from London to Newcastle, 76. - - Weltjie, Mr., Clerk of the Cellars to the Prince of Wales, 55. - - White’s _Natural Hist. of Selborne_, on the Frost of 1768, 52-53. - - William the Conqueror, 3. - - _Winter Wonder, A, or the Thames Frozen over with Remarks on the - Resort there, a broadside_, 32. - - _Wonderfull Fair, A, or a Fair of Wonders_, 1684, quoted, 39. - - _Wonders of the Deep_, a Broadside, 34-36. - - Wrington, 37. - - - York, 12; - Flood of 1614, 12; - Horse Race run upon the Ouse at, 10; - Printing done upon the Ouse at, 49; - Walmgate, 12. - - York, James, Duke of, 19. - - Yorkshire, Ecclesfield Parish Register, Extract from, 9; - River Ouse Frozen in 1607, 10; - again 1614, 12; - Overflow of, 12; - Ouse Bridge borne away in 1564-65, 8; - Tadcaster Church Bells moulded during the frost of 1783, 54. - -[Illustration] - -CHARLES H. BARNWELL, PRINTER, BOND STREET, HULL. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great -Britain, by William Andrews - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS FROSTS *** - -***** This file should be named 55375-0.txt or 55375-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/3/7/55375/ - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |