Part 2

In 1396, Richard II. on his marriage held a tournament, when sixty knights, accompanied by ladies, were to tilt for two days at Michaelmas. Heralds were sent through England, Scotland, France, Hainault, Germany, and Flanders. It began at three o’clock on Sunday after Michaelmas Day; sixty horses, richly caparisoned and surmounted by an Esquire of honour, proceeded in great state from the Tower; sixty ladies of rank, richly dressed, followed on their palfreys, and leading by a silver chain a Knight completely armed for tilting; minstrels and trumpets accompanied them. The Queen and her fair train received them. They tilted at each other till dark, then partook of a sumptuous banquet; and dancing was kept up till they were all fatigued. During the next two days the warlike sport was continued; the nights being spent in the same manner as before. The pomp and state must have been of the most magnificent description. All this took place just outside the Priory, on the spot that Rahere had been at so much trouble to level and fill up when Henry I. gave it him, and which was afterwards called “Smoothfield,” from his success in levelling it, and subsequently “Smithfield,” from the smith’s furnace used here.

We now introduce one of the celebrated executions that took place in Edward I. reign. Wallace was betrayed and arrested, brought to London, dragged in chains to Smithfield, hung on the gallows (which stood under the elms on the spot now called Cow Lane), taken down before he was dead, disembowelled, his head struck off by the executioner, and his body quartered and distributed over the kingdom. This happened in 1305.

We pass on to a scene enacted after the Reformation, in Queen Mary’s reign. An attempt was made to restore the Catholic religion here, by presenting the church to the Black Friars. When the great bell of St. Bartholomew’s tolled the crowd separated, the military cleared the way, and the sheriff, riding up to the gate of the Priory, claimed the bodies of those condemned in the Chapter-house; the spiritual delivering them to the sheriff, the representative of the temporal power, who delivered them to the executioner, when they were bound to that cursed post cased with iron to be devoured in the ruthless flames. The spot is now marked by a memorial nearly opposite the gateway which forms the entrance to the Church, and which still retains much of the ancient beauty of its arch; a representation of which forms the title page of this book.

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It appears that an Organ was set up here by the celebrated Richard Bridge, builder of those at St. Ann’s, Limehouse (destroyed by fire, 1850), St. George-in-the-East, St. Leonard, Shoreditch, St. Luke’s, Old St. Christ Church, Spital Fields, &c.

In Hopkins’ and Rimbault’s Organ Book is the following extract from the “_Daily Advertiser_” of October 27th, 1731:--“We hear that the curious new Organ, made by Mr. Bridge for the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, is to be opened on Sunday next with an Anthem.”

When the Church was about to be restored, in 1868, this instrument was removed, and is said to have been “warehoused for preservation, but ultimately lost.”

The above engraving of it, from an original sketch made many years ago, and believed to be the only one extant, will perhaps prove the more interesting now that the fine old work of art can be no longer seen and heard in the venerable place for which it was built. It is to be hoped that the wooden erection at the entrance to the Choir may soon give place to a screen, surmounted by an organ, after the manner of that at St. Lawrence, Guildhall. Its case might present three fronts of pipes, a very fine example of which (probably the only one in or near London) exists at the Church of St. James the Great, Bethnal Green.

Particulars of Seals.

The earliest Seals preserved are attached to a life grant to the Church of St. Sepulchre, from Rahere to Haynon a Priest, upon the condition of certain payments for the benefit of the canons and poor persons living in the Hospital; date 1137.

This Seal was cast eleven years after Rahere became Prior, and is a representation of him in his canonical dress.

Appended to a deed relating to the lease of a shop in the Parish of St. Nicholas, granted by Hugo Capellamus et Prixta and three others of the Brethren of the Hospital, to Hugo de Lecton, at a rental of 8d. per annum, payable quarterly, A.D. 1164.

Common Seal and Counter Seal, cast 1263; appended to a deed.

Hospital Seal appended to lease of a shop without Barbican; the lease is granted by William le Rous, Master of the Hospital, to John de Harewood and his sons, for the yearly rental of 3s. 4d., sterling money.

Hospital receipt seal. 20 Henry VIII.

The Common Seal of the Priory on a deed, 1341, between William de Stowe, priest of St. Edmund’s, and the Master and Brethren of the Hospital, relating to the gift of a certain messuage and shops in the parish of St. Sepulchre, without Newgate; the proceeds of which were to be applied to the remuneration of two chaplains of the Priory of St. Bartholomew, for chanting daily mass for his soul and the souls of his beloved parents.

Conventual Seal, used by the Friars Preachers at their restoration; the last Seal used by the Priory.

We now record another privilege granted by the King to Rahere; viz., that of holding a Fair in Smithfield. Henry II. confirmed the Charter. It was originally instituted for the benefit of trade; the communication with distant parts being very difficult, from the badness of the roads and imperfect means of locomotion, and carriage of goods in the early ages; here the different dealers brought their wares and sold them, hence trade was benefited and also the Priory. The Fair commenced on St. Bartholomew’s Day, and originally lasted six weeks; but was latterly curtailed to three days. When Henry VIII. suppressed monasteries, he made a grant, dated 1554, to Sir Richard Rich, Chancellor to the Court of Augmentations. The annexed Fair was in this grant particularly mentioned to be held as when in possession of the Prior and Convent. Though originally instituted for the benefit of trade, it soon became the theatre of public diversion. It was so celebrated in Queen Elizabeth’s day, that Ben Jonson wrote a Play of that name. The first dramatic performances which took place in the Fair were probably instituted by the Priory, and consisted of representations of the Legends of Saints, especially those connected with the Church of St. Bartholomew; also Miracle Plays, the characters sustained by the Monks. In 1715, and for many years afterwards, the Fair was frequented by Actors of eminence. Dogget, so well-known for establishing the match for the Coat and Badge, and the celebrated Sheeter, had booths in the Fair.

In 1729 the Beggars Opera was performed here.

Fielding, the celebrated novelist, had a booth here many years, and depended upon it greatly for his livelihood; authorship being very ill paid and precarious in his time. Mrs. Pritchard, who performed Lady Macbeth to Garrick’s Macbeth acted in his booth.

The great Edmund Kean, and many other actors, also performed in the booths.

A curious custom prevailed, which was a greater nuisance than the Fair itself; at 12 o’clock at night of September 2nd, the day previous, a riotous mob assembled and carried a woman in procession as a representation of Lady Holland; they were called her mob, and the Fair was then proclaimed amidst the most hideous noise and tumultuous uproar.

The following day at noon the Lord Mayor, in his state coach, attended by his Sheriffs, City Marshals, &c., proceeded to Smithfield to proclaim the Fair. His lordship stopped at Newgate, where he was presented with a cool tankard by the keepers. He then proceeded along Giltspur Street to Cloth Fair. On his approach, musical instruments, consisting of drums, fiddles, cracked trumpets, broken bassoons, &c., were in readiness to salute his lordship with a grand concert. He was met by a motley group, consisting of Devils, Emperors, Kings, Harlequins, Clowns, Punch, &c., all splendidly arrayed. Upon reaching Cloth Fair, the Lord Mayor went through a house at the corner under the archway. Here the proclamation was made--whether there should be interludes or not. If the former, he was honoured with a burst of applause from the people at every booth; the concert was renewed, accompanied by the roaring of tigers, growls of bears, and the thrilling shrieks of hyenas. If, on the contrary, the Mayor interdicted shows, a sullen silence reigned for a few moments, when the indignation of the multitude was expressed by hisses, the most horrid yells, and sometimes personal indignities were offered to the Mayor. On such occasions great mischief has occurred. The Fair occupied the whole space of ground extending from the walls of the Hospital to, and covering, the site of the present Meat Market. Smithfield was formerly lined with pens, in which the live cattle were placed previous to their being sold. Here were erected the show booths, the most conspicuous of late years being that of Richardson’s; puppet shows, dancing bears, &c., were in abundance; the effect was greatly heightened by the noise of discordant bands of music, and cries of “Show them in,” “Just going to begin,” &c.

At last the Fair became such an intolerable nuisance that it was suppressed by Act of Parliament in Queen Victoria’s reign.

It consisted latterly merely of gingerbread stalls; and the proclamation of it since 1840 was made without the Mayor’s coach. In 1850, Alderman Musgrave, then Mayor, walked there with his attendants, and found no fair to proclaim. After that no Mayor attended to read the proclamation, which was written on a parchment scroll, but it was read by some gentlemen deputed for the purpose.

Five years afterwards this form was dispensed with, and Bartholomew Fair was proclaimed for the last time in 1855, after an existence of 742 years.

No record of the grant of the site nor the deed of endowment is preserved. But a charter of Henry I., dated 1133, is extant, granting Rahere power to found an Hospital with a Monastery; eight brethren and four sisters who were to have the care of such sick people and pregnant women as might need the benefit of the Institution.

Alfun, who built the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, was the first hospitaller; he used daily to beg for the relief of the poor in Smithfield.

The Hospital remained attached to the Priory until its dissolution. Four centuries after the foundation of the Hospital, the Mayors, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of London prayed the King to commit the government of the Hospital to their hands; the Hospital was transferred to them, 1547, and the King endowed it with 500 marks, upon condition that the citizens of London should contribute an equal sum.

The endowment was enlarged by Edward VI.; the charges of the Hospital for one year in his reign amounted to £855. The number of persons relieved by the Hospital at that time is not known, but it appears that 900 persons were assisted by it in the five following years after the renewal of the foundation. About 1660 the Hospital relieved annually 300 diseased persons, at an expense of £2,000. In 1729, the expense was; £10,245, and the patients 5,028. At present, not much less than 100,000 cases annually receive the best professional care and attendance; it is open day and night to receive accidents or other special cases. The number who can be accommodated within its walls at one time is nearly 500.

The government of the Hospital is vested in a President, Treasurer, &c.; the Treasurer has a house within the Hospital. Connected with the Hospital are three Physicians, and an Assistant Physician, and as many Masters and Assistant Surgeons, an Apothecary, besides dressers and subordinate officers. There is also an Hospitaller or Vicar of St. Bartholomew the Less.

The Hospital escaped the fire of 1666, but having become ruinous by age, in 1729 the greater part was pulled down.

The rebuilding was commenced in the following year, but not completed till 1770. It is on the south side of Smithfield; the principal entrance being under an arch, erected 1702, over which is a statue of Henry VIII., with two figures representing Lameness and Disease. The main building or quadrangle is three stories high; on the first floor of the north wing is the grand hall, 90 feet by 35 feet and 30 feet high--it is used for court meetings, &c. The grand staircase was painted gratuitously by Hogarth; the subjects being the Good Samaritan, the Pool of Bethesda, Rahere laying the foundation, and a sick man carried on a litter attended by monks. At the back of the west wing are the Lecture Room, Medical Theatre, Anatomical Museum, Dissecting Rooms, &c. The Library is considered superior to that of any other Hospital as a Medical Library, and contains some thousands of books.

The Church of St. Bartholomew the Less is within the walls of the Hospital, is octagonal in shape, with painted glass windows, is well heated with hot air, and is reckoned one of the handsomest chapels in London.

The Hospital is the oldest and richest of all our charitable institutions in London.

Many celebrated surgeons have been connected with the hospital; foremost among them being perhaps, William Harvey, born at Folkestone, April 1st, 1578, elected Fellow of the College of Physicians 1607, and who discovered the circulation of the blood; and Dr. Abernethy, born in 1765. Many anecdotes are told of Abernethy’s rough, brusque manner while speaking to his patients.

On one occasion he had shown a Royal Duke over the hospital, and upon the Duke desiring to inspect the dissecting room, the key of which Abernethy held in his hand, the latter told the Duke there were only two classes of persons admitted, the students and the dead subject, and he not belonging to either denomination, could not have the rules infringed for him.[A]

[A] This anecdote was related to the writer by an old pupil of his in the dissecting room of the Hospital.

Upon another occasion the Duke of York sent for him; while waiting for the Duke, he put his hands into his pockets and began to whistle; at length the Duke appeared, and feeling his dignity hurt by that style of conduct, asked Abernethy if he knew who he was; he replied, “Yes, and what of that?” and after enquiring the nature of the Duke’s ailments, told him he should treat them as the Duke of Wellington did: storm the out-works, and then he would get into the citadel. He died in 1831.

There is reason to believe that the manor of Canonbury formed one of the lay possessions described in Domesday Book at the time of the Norman Conquest. It came afterwards into the family of Berners, and forming part of their fee, it was as such included in the grant made to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, by Ralph de Berners, of lands and rents, with their appurtenances in Iseldon, held of the said fee, and enumerated among several other possessions of that monastery in a confirmation grant of King Henry III., by letters patent bearing date at Winchester, June 15th, 1253, in the 37th year of his reign. It is most probable that this site being pitched upon for a mansion for the Prior of the Canons of St. Bartholomew, received the name of Canonbury, as Canons, in Little Stanmore, had its name from belonging to the Canons of Bentley adjoining, which was a foundation previous to St. Bartholomew. Bury is synonymous with Bown or Burgh, and signifies generally a mansion or dwelling-place. The original mansion of Canonbury appears to have been built in 1362, ten years after the Priory of St. Bartholomew had been exempted from the payment of tenths and fifteenths, and every other subsidy, on account of the disproportion of their income to their great expenditure in works of charity.

Stowe informs us that Bolton, Prior from 1509 till his death, April 15th, 1532, “builded of new the Manor of Canonbury, which belonged to the Canons of that house.”

Canonbury was most pleasantly and conveniently situated. We can imagine the beautiful view they had from thence, standing, as it did, in the midst of the country, and surrounded by trees and orchards; in the far distance, in one direction, the silver Thames might be traced for miles; on the other, the old city lying quietly in its picturesque antiquity, and the tower of the Priory Church seen in advance of St. Paul’s, the intervening space not covered as now by buildings, and the atmosphere darkened by dense clouds of smoke.

At the general dissolution of Abbeys and religious houses under Henry VIII., the Priory of St. Bartholomew, with the Manor of Canonbury, was surrendered to the King, Oct. 25, 1539.

The Manor was, in 1539, bestowed on Thomas, Lord Cromwell, Lord Great Chamberlain of England, the chief instrument in dissolving the Monasteries and depressing the Clergy, Jan. 6th, 1539-40. Cromwell was created Earl of Essex, April 17th, 1540; committed to the Tower, July 9th; accused of high treason and heresy, July 19th; and beheaded, July 28th, when Canonbury reverted to the Crown. It was granted by Edward VI., 1547, in exchange for the site of the Priory of Tamworth, and in consideration of the sum of £1252 6s. 3d., to John Dudley of Warwick. This nobleman mortgaged it in 1549 to John Yorke, Esq., Citizen and Merchant Tailor of London, for £1660, but redeemed it in a very short time, and by deed of conveyance, dated July 18th, 4th of Edward VI., conveyed it back to the King, who after keeping it two years, restored it by a fresh grant to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; who in a few months was attainted and beheaded, August 22nd, 1553, under Queen Mary, who then granted it in 1557 to Thomas Lord Wentworth; who alienated it in 1570 to John, afterwards John Spenser, Knight and Baronet of Walsingfield, Suffolk, from his great wealth called rich Spenser; of whom is related the following anecdote:--In Queen Elizabeth’s time a pirate of Dunkirk laid a plot with twelve of his mates to carry off Sir John Spenser, which, if he had done, £50,000 had not redeemed him. He came over the seas in a shallop, with twelve musketeers, and in the night arrived at Barking Creek, leaving the shallop in custody of six of his men; with the other six he came as far as Islington, and there hid themselves in ditches near the path along which Sir John always came to his house; but by the providence of God, Sir John, upon some extraordinary occasion, was forced to stay in London that night, otherwise they had taken him away; and they, fearing they should be discovered, in the night-time returned to their shallop, and so came safe to Dunkirk again. He died at an advanced age, March 30th, 1609, and was buried at St. Helen’s, Bishopgate.

Sir John had by his Lady, Alice Broomhall, one sole daughter and heiress, Elizabeth; according to tradition, carried off from Canonbury House in a baker’s basket, by contrivance of William second Lord Compton, Lord President of Wales, to whom, in 1594, she was married.

Lord Compton met with a very singular death; after he had waited on the King at supper, and had also supped, he took a boat to wash himself in the Thames; as soon as he was up to his knees in the water, he was attacked with the colic, and cried out, “Have me into the boat again, or I am a dead man,” and died a few hours afterwards, June 24, 1630. He was created Earl of Northampton twelve years before his death.

Canonbury Tower has still a very quaint appearance; its walls are in some parts covered with ivy, and in the garden at the back may still be seen some mulberry trees, probably planted by Bolton, or, at all events, produced from the trees he planted. Undoubtedly he passed many pleasant hours in these grounds. From a fish-pond, formerly in these premises, well stocked with the finny tribe, was the supply drawn to furnish the good Prior’s table on Fridays, when he fasted, or on other days when forbidden to eat meat. The edifice, with its domestic offices, spacious garden grounds and park, covered nearly the whole site of what is now called Canonbury Place.

One large house, having a tower of brick 17 feet square and 60 feet high, which still retains much of its original character, is the most striking remains; Prior Bolton is supposed to have erected this portion.

The two principal rooms are situate on the first and second storeys, facing Canonbury Lane; are each 20 feet square and 12 feet high, handsomely fitted with a wainscot of oak from floor to ceiling in a complete state of preservation, which appears to have been done by Sir John Spenser during his residence at Canonbury.

We now give a view of the room occupied by Oliver Goldsmith, and in which he is supposed to have written his “Vicar of Wakefield;” it is situated on the first floor.

A view of the interior of the room on the second floor is given on the next page.

The previous engraving represents a portion of the original staircase of oak, at the upper part of the Tower.

Since the Reformation many illustrious persons have resided at Canonbury.

In 1582, Sir Arthur Atye, Public Orator of Oxford University.

Thomas Egerton, Baron of Ellesmere, signed the Charter of Incorporation to the Butchers’ Company when Lord Chancellor, and while on a visit to Sir John Spenser in 1605.

The Compton family resided here. A daughter of Lord Compton was born here in 1605.

Lord Keeper Coventry rented the place from 1627 to 1635.

The Earl of Derby dated a letter from Canonbury Park, January 29, 1635, “where he was staid from St. James’ by the greatest snow he ever saw in England.”

William Fielding, Earl of Denbigh, died here in 1685.

Several literary characters have lodged here.

Samuel Humphries died here, January 11, 1737.

Ephraim Chambers, Author of “Cyclopædia,” died here while engaged on that work in 1740.

John Newbury, author of several books for children; and here, Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, under pressing pecuniary circumstances, is said to have written the “Vicar of Wakefield;” the good-natured bookseller, Newbury, then renting the house, and employing Goldsmith to write for him and giving him shelter. Before residing in the Tower, Goldsmith lived near here, in the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Fleming, 1762. The sum stipulated to be paid was £50 a year; Newbury, being cash-bearer to the Poet, paid his rent quarterly, taking credit for such payment in the settlement of their account.

Goldsmith was particularly fond of Islington, it was his custom to enjoy what he termed his shoemakers’ holiday, which was a day of great festivity with the Poet. Three or four of his intimate friends met at his lodgings in the Tower to breakfast; about ten or eleven o’clock they proceeded by the City Road and through the fields to Highbury Barn to dinner; about six o’clock they adjourned to White Conduit House to tea; and concluded by supping at the “Grecian” or “Temple” Coffee Houses, or at the “Globe” in Fleet Street.

By the marriage of Lord Compton (afterwards Earl of Northampton) the Canonbury estate was carried into his family, and the Earl of Northampton is its present proprietor.

BEMROSE AND SONS, PRINTERS, LONDON AND DERBY.