Part 3

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.”