Part 5

This class of the Irish are by no means unacquainted with the use of wit and waggery. The celebrated Dr O'Leary used to entertain his friends with some instances of their ingenuity. As he was riding to Maynooth College, a beggar accosted him for alms, declaring that he had not received a farthing for three days. The good Doctor gave him some silver, and being accosted on his return, in the evening, with a similar story, he upbraided the petitioner with his falsehood, telling him that he was Dr O'Leary. "Oh, long life to your reverence," said the beggar, "who would I tell my lies to, except my clargy?"

The parts in and near London mostly inhabited by the Irish poor, are Calmel Buildings, Orchard Street; Petty France, Westminster; Paddy's Land, near Plaistow; forty houses on the Rumford Road; and in the parish of St Giles in the Fields. This latter place, which is their principal residence, is called their colony, and is styled by them "The Holy Land;" in the centre of it there is a mass of building called "Rats' Castle."

In the time of Queen Elizabeth, St Giles's was the rendezvous of the beggars; for in "A Caveat, or Warning, for Common Cursitors, vulgarely called Vagabones, set forth by Thomas Harman, Esquire," 1567, it appears that Nicoles Genynges, the cranke, went over "the water into St George's fields," and not, according to the expectation of Mr Harman, who caused him to be dogged, toward Holborn, or St Giles's in the Fields.

It appears from a very early plan of St Giles's in the Fields, in the possession of Mr Parton, vestry clerk of that parish, that the lowest class of its inhabitants live on a portion of sixteen acres formerly called "Pittaunce Croft" (the allowance), which extended from a large mansion called Tottenhall, the fragments of which were of late supposed to have been parts of a palace of King John; they have been recently taken down. This house of Tottenhall was formerly inhabited by a Prebendary of St Paul's; it stood on the north side of that part of the road called "Tottenham Court," leading from the north end of Tottenham Court Road to Battle Bridge. The sixteen acres commenced from the above house, and went on southerly to St Giles's Church, and from thence easterly along the north side of the High Street to Red Lion Fields (now Red Lion Square).

The streets, lanes, alleys, and courts, forming the nest of houses inhabited by thieves, beggars, and the poor labouring Irish, are encompassed by a portion of the south side of Russell Street, formerly called Leonard Street, commencing from Tottenham Court Road, parts of the west sides of Charlotte and Plumtree Streets, and a part of the north and round the east of High Street to the first mentioned station of Russell Street. To the honour of Scotland, not one Scotch beggar is to be found in the dregs or lees of St Giles's. However wretched and depraved the inhabitants of this spot may now be, they certainly were worse fifty years ago, for it appears that there was then no honour among thieves; the sheets belonging to the lodging-houses, where a bed at that time was procured for twopence, having the names of the owners painted on them in large characters of red lead, in order to prevent their being bought if stolen,--as for instance,

JOHN LEA, LAWRENCE LANE. STOP THIEF.

At the same period, the shovels, pokers, tongs, gridirons, and purl pots of the public-houses, particularly those of the Maidenhead Inn, in Dyott Street (now changed to George Street), and which was then kept by a man of the name of Jordan, were all chained to the fire-place. At this house the beggars, after a good day's maunding, would bleed the dragon, a large silver tankard so called, and which was to be filled with punch only. There is now a house, the sign of the Rose and Crown, in Church Lane, which was formerly called the Beggars' Opera; and there was another house so denominated, the sign of the Weaver's Arms, in Church Lane, Whitechapel.

The last cook-shop where the knives and forks were chained to the table, was on the south side of High Street. It was kept about forty years ago by a man of the name of Fussell.

Perhaps the only waggery in public-house customs now remaining, is in the tap-room of the Apple Tree, opposite to Cold Bath Fields Prison. There are a pair of handcuffs fastened to the wires as bell-pulls, and the orders given by some of the company, when they wish their friends to ring, are, to "agitate the conductor."

Most of the kitchens in High Street, from St Giles's Church to the entrance of Holborn, were sausage, sheep's head, roley poley pudding, pancake, and potatoe cellars. The last heroine of the frying-pan exhibited a short nose and shining red face, and was known by the appellation of "Little Fanny." She had fried and boiled for Mrs Markham, now living in the same house, thirty-three years. Her face had become so ardent by frequent wipings, that for many years it would not bear a touch.

It was the opinion of Sir Nathaniel Conant, when that able and active magistrate attended the Committee of the House of Commons, that extensive as mendicity has been of late, it is by no means to be compared with what it was thirty years ago.

It is very obvious that since the proceedings of the Committee for inquiring into the state of mendicity, the common beggars have decreased considerably in their numbers; and although they are still extremely numerous, it appears that where our wonderful Metropolis is molested with one beggar, there are twenty to be met with in almost every capital on the continent.

England, justly claiming the palm for the encouragement of every art and science, has ever been foremost in almsgiving, not only to her own people, but to those of almost every part of the globe. Nor can any other country boast such parochial poorhouses. The vast improvements of the streets and public edifices, great as they are, by no means keep pace with them either as to comfort or expense, of which Marylebone and Pancras are examples; and to the honour of these parishes, as well as that of St James, their concerns are regulated, examined, and audited by independent characters of the highest integrity.

Notwithstanding the great benefit of these asylums for the destitute, and the laws for the punishment of beggars, the sympathetic heart of the true Christian, a character unpolluted by the cant of crafty sectarists, is ever open to the tale of the distressed, from a respect for that excellent doctrine of St Paul, that

CHARITY NEVER FAILETH.

The following eulogium on this virtue, is extracted from Mr Hamilton's appeal in behalf of a religious community which had been deprived of its property during the French Revolution:--

"Charity is an emanation from the choicest attribute of the Deity; it is, as it were, a portion of the Divinity engrafted upon the human stock; it cancels a multitude of transgressions in the possessor, and gives him a foretaste of celestial joys. It whetted the pious Martin's sword, when he divided his garment with the beggar; and swelled the royal Alfred's bosom, while a pilgrim was the partner of his meal. It influenced the sorrowing widow to cast her mite into the treasury; and held a Saviour on the Cross, when he could have summoned Heaven to his rescue. Its practice was dictated by the law, its neglect has been censured by the prophets; and when the Lord of the vineyard sent his only Son, he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. Other virtues may have a limit here, but Charity extends beyond the grave. Faith may be lost in endless certainty, and Hope may perish in the fruition of its object, but Charity shall live for countless ages, for ever blessing and for ever blessed!"

THE END.