Part 1
LONDON
BY
WALTER BESANT
AUTHOR OF "ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN" "FIFTY YEARS AGO" ETC.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS_
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
Copyright, 1892, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
_All rights reserved._
PREFACE
In the following chapters it has been my endeavor to present pictures of the City of London--instantaneous photographs, showing the streets, the buildings, and the citizens at work and at play. Above all, the citizens: with their daily life in the streets, in the shops, in the churches, and in the houses; the merchant in the quays and on 'Change; the shopkeeper of Cheapside; the priests and the monks and the friars; the shouting of those who sell; the laughter and singing of those who feast and drink; the ringing of the bells; the dragging of the criminal to the pillory; the Riding of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen; the river with its boats and barges; the cheerful sound of pipe and tabor; the stage with its tumblers and its rope-dancers; the 'prentices with their clubs; the evening dance in the streets. I want my pictures to show all these things. The history of London has been undertaken by many writers; the presentment of the city and the people from age to age has never yet, I believe, been attempted.
The sources whence one derives the materials for such an attempt are, in the earlier stages, perfectly well known and accessible to all. Chaucer, Froissart, Lydgate, certain volumes of the "Early English Text Society," occur to everybody. But the richest mine, for him who digs after the daily life of the London citizen during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is certainly Riley's great book of _Extracts from the City Records_. If there is any life or any reality in the three chapters of this book which treat of the Plantagenet period, it is certainly due to Riley.
As regards the Tudor period, the wealth of illustration is astonishing. One might as well be writing of the city life of this day, so copious are the materials. But it is not to Shakespeare and the dramatists that we must look for the details so much as to the minor writers, the moralists and satirists, of whom the ordinary world knows nothing.
The reign of Charles II. directs one to the Plague and to the Fire. I was fortunate in finding two tracts, one dealing with the plague of 1603, and the other with that of 1625. These, though they are earlier than Charles II., were invaluable, as illustrating the effect of the pestilence in causing an exodus of all who could get away, which took place as much in these earlier years as in 1666. Contemporary tracts on the state of London after the Fire, also happily discovered, proved useful. And when the Plague and the Fire had been dismissed, another extraordinary piece of good fortune put me in possession of certain household accounts which enabled me to present a bourgeois family of the period at home.
Where there is so much to speak about, one must exercise care in selection. I have endeavored to avoid as much as possible those points which have already been presented. For instance, the growth of the municipality, the rise of the Guilds and the Companies, the laws of London, the relations of the City to the Sovereign and the State--these things belong to the continuous historian, not to him who draws a picture of a given time. In the latter case it is the effect of law, not its growth, which is important. Thus I have spoken of the pilgrimizing in the time of Henry II.; of the Mysteries of that time; things that belonged to the daily life; rather than to matters of policy, the stubborn tenacity of the City, or the changes that were coming over the conditions of existence and of trade. Again, in Plantagenet London one might have dwelt at length upon the action taken by London in successive civil wars. That, again, belongs to the historian. I have contented myself with sketching the churches and the monasteries, the palaces and the men-at-arms, the merchants and the workmen.
Again, in the time of George II., the increase of trade, which then advanced by leaps and bounds, the widening of the world to London enterprise, the part which London took in the conquest of India and the ejection of France from North America belong to history. For my own part I have preferred to show the position, the influence, and the work of the Church at a time generally believed to be the deadest period in the whole history of the Church of England. This done, I have gone on to illustrate the day-by-day life of the citizens, with the prices of things, the management, and the appearance of the City.
One thing remains to be said. Mr. Loftie, in his _History of London_ (Stadford), first gave the world a reconstruction of the ground--the _terrain_--of London and its environs before ever a house was erected or an acre cleared. The first chapter of this book--that on Roman London and After--is chiefly due to a study of this map, and to realizing what that map means when applied to the scanty records of Augusta. This map enabled me to recover the years which followed the retreat of the Romans. I cannot allow this chapter to be called a Theory. It is, I venture to claim for it, nothing less than a Recovery.
WALTER BESANT.
UNITED UNIVERSITY CLUB: _May 2, 1892_.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. AFTER THE ROMANS 1
II. SAXON AND NORMAN 43
III. PLANTAGENET 105
IV. PLANTAGENET--_CONTINUED_ 155
V. PLANTAGENET--_CONTINUED_ 215
VI. TUDOR 263
VII. TUDOR--_CONTINUED_ 320
VIII. CHARLES THE SECOND 371
IX. GEORGE THE SECOND 429
INDEX 501
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
_Stowe's Monument, in North Aisle of St. Andrew Undershaft_ 2
_Roman Marble Sarcophagus._ Guildhall 4
_Statues of Mercury, Apollo, and Jupiter or Neptune: found in the Thames, 1837_ 6
_Bronze Articles for Domestic Use_ 8
_Bronze Fibulæ and other Ornaments: found in London_ 11
_Roman Pavement: Leadenhall Street_ 14
_Bronze Bust of the Emperor Hadrian: found in the Thames._ British Museum 17
_A Bit of Roman Wall._ From a Photograph by W. H. Grove, 174 Brompton Road 20
_Lamps and Lamp-stand_ 23
_Sepulchral Cists, etc.: found in Warwick Square, Newgate Street, 1881._ British Museum 32
_Roman Keys._ Guildhall 34
_Toilet Articles--Hair-pins; Hair-pin (Sarina, Wife of Hadrian); Bone Comb and Case (Cloakham); Bone Comb (Lower Thames Street)_ 36
_Statuettes: found in Thames Street, 1889._ Guildhall 39
_Roman Amphoræ_ 41
_London Stone, Cannon Street, as it appeared in 1800_ 45
_Battle between Two Armed Knights_ 49
_River Tilting in the Twelfth Century_ 52
_Crypt: Remains of the Collegiate Church of St. Martin-le-Grand, N.E._ 54
_The Founder's Tomb, St. Bartholomew the Great, E.C., founded 1123_ 57
_South Ambulatory, Church of St. Bartholomew, founded 1123_ 61
_St. Katherine's by the Tower_ 64
_Interior of the Church of St. Katherine's by the Tower_ 65
_Dowgate Dock_ 68
_St. Saviour's Dock_ 70
_North-east View of St. Saviour's_ 73
_Plan of Saxon Church, Bradford-on-Avon_ 76
_Saxon Church, Seventh or Eighth Century, Bradford-on-Avon_ 77
_Sculptured Angel, Saxon Church_ 78
_View of Interior of Saxon Church, showing very remarkable Chancel Arch and Entrance_ 79
_First Stone London Bridge, begun A.D. 1176_ 82
_Crypt, or Lower Chapel, of St. Thomas's Church, London Bridge_ 84
_West Front of Chapel on London Bridge_ 85
_Part of London Wall in the Church-yard of St. Giles, Cripplegate_ 88
_Entrance to Knights Hospitallers_ 90
_Buildings of Knights Hospitallers_ 91
_Crypt in Bow Church, from the North Side, near the East End of the Nave_ 95
_Interior of Porch of the Parish Church of St. Alphege, London Wall, formerly the Chapel of the Priory of St. Elsynge Spital_ 97
_The Arms and Seals of the Prior and Convent of St. Saviour at Bermondsey_ 101
_A City Monument_ 107
_Ruins (1790) of the Nunnery of St. Helen, Bishopsgate Street_ 110
_St. Helen's, Bishopsgate_ 113
_South-west View of the Interior of the Church of St. Helen, Bishopsgate Street_ 116
_Church of St. Augustin (St. Austin)_ 119
_Church of Austin Friars_ 122
_Christ's Hospital, from the Cloisters_ 126
_The Charter House_ 130
_Ruins of the Convent of Nuns Minories, 1810_ 133
_Bow Church, Mile End Road_ 137
_North-east View of Waltham Abbey Church, Essex_ 140
_Waltham Abbey Church, Essex, before Restoration_ 145
_Porch of St. Sepulchre's Church_ 148
_South View of the Palace of the Bishops of Winchester, near St. Saviour's_ 151
_Charing Cross._ Erected by Edward I. in memory of Queen Eleanor of Castile 156
_Church of St. Paul's before the Fire_ 158
_Monuments of St. Paul's which survived the Fire (east end of North Crypt)_ 160
_Ancient North-east View of Bishopsgate Street_ 162
_The College of Arms, or Herald's Office_ 164
_Bridewell_ 165
_View of the Savoy from the Thames_ 165
_View of the South Front of Baynard's Castle, about 1640_ 167
_View of Cold Harbor, in Thames Street, about 1600_ 171
_Crosby House, Bishopsgate Street_ 173
_Interior of Crosby Hall_ 175
_Interior of part of Crosby Hall, called the Council Room, looking East_ 178
_Gateway, etc., in Crosby Square (now destroyed)_ 180
_Crosby Hall_ 183
_North-east View of Crosby Hall, showing part of the Interior of the Great Hall_ 187
_Gerrard's Hall_ 191
_Bridewell Palace, about 1660, with the Entrance to the Fleet River, part of the Black Friars, etc._ 195
_The Thames Front, A.D. 1540_ 197
_Ancient Court of Bridewell Palace_ 201
_Old Charing Cross_ 216
_The Strand (1547), with the Strand Cross, Covent Garden, and the Procession of Edward VI. to his Coronation at Westminster_ 241
_Arms of Sir Richard Whittington_ 244
_Arms granted to the Craft of the Ironmongers of London by Lancaster King of Arms, A.D. 1466_ 246
_Guildhall, King Street, London_ 248
_Blackwell Hall, King Street_ 251
_Ancient Plate_ 254
_The Conduit, near Bayswater_ 257
_South-east View of Stepney Church_ 259
_Boar in Eastcheap_ 264
_The View of London Bridge from East to West_ 271
_The Pool_ 275
_Burghley House_ 283
_Ilford Almshouses_ 287
_Old Tavern_ 289
_Front of Sir Paul Pinder's House, on the West Side of Bishopsgate Street Without_ 291
_The Royal Exchange, Cornhill_ 295
_The Steel Yard, etc., Thames Street, after the Great Fire of 1666_ 299
_Collegii Greshamensis a Latere Occidentali Prospectus A.D. 1739_ 302
_Curious Pump_ 305
_Newgate_ 315
_Sign of the Three Kings, Bucklersbury_ 321
_The Manner of Burning Anne Askew, John Lacels, John Adams, and Nicolas Belenian, with certane of ye Counsell sitting in Smithfield_ 326
_Old Fountain Inn in the Minories._ Taken down in 1793 329
_South-west View of an Ancient Structure in Ship Yard, Temple Bar_ 335
_Obsequies of Sir Philip Sidney_ 341
_Dr. Shaw preaching at St. Paul's Cross_ 347
_The Old Bull and Mouth Inn, St. Martin's-le-Grand._ Now pulled down 353
_Globe Theatre_ 357
_Inside of the Red Bull Playhouse_ 359
_South View of Falcon Tavern, on the Bank Side, Southwark, as it appeared in 1805_ 363
_Palace of Whitehall in the Reign of James II._ 373
_Hungerford Market_ 380
_Cheapside_ 382
_Fleet Street_ 385
_Below Bridge_ 389
_Old East India House_ 396
_Sion College_ 398
_John Bunyan's Meeting-house in Zoar Street_ 401
_Old Grocers' Hall, used for Bank of England_ 403
_London after the Fire_ 405
_Old St. Paul's, with the Porch of Inigo Jones_ 411
_Houses in St. Katherine's._ Pulled down in 1827 432
_Lud Gate_ 435
_Davenant's School_ 439
_Sign_ 444
_St. Dunstan's in the West_ 445
_Approach to London Bridge_ 447
_Above Bridge_ 452
_St. James's Palace--March of the Guards_ 456
_Ranelagh_ 459
_North View of the Marshalsea, Southwark_ 461
_Charing Cross_ 463
_A Dish of Tea_ 469
_Visiting Card_ 478
_Vauxhall_ 481
_Sir John Fielding's Court, Bow Street_ 487
_Interior of St. Stephen, Walbrook_ 491
_Concert Ticket_ 493
LONDON
I
AFTER THE ROMANS
The only real authorities for the events which took place in Britain during the fifth and sixth centuries are Gildas and the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_. There are other writers--Ethelwerd, for instance, who copied the _Chronicle_, and adds nothing; and Nennius, whose work, edited by one Mark the Hermit in the tenth century, was found in the Vatican. The first edition was published in London in the year 1819, in the original Latin, by the Rev. William Gunn. Nennius gives a brief account of King Arthur and his exploits, but he affords little or no information that is of use to us. The work of Richard of Cirencester is extremely valuable on account of its topography; it is also interesting as the work of the first English antiquary. But he belonged to the fourteenth century, and has added nothing to the history, of which he knew no more--less, indeed--than we ourselves can discover. The book named after Geoffrey of Monmouth is not worth a moment's serious consideration. In Bede's _Ecclesiastical History_ passages may be found which throw side lights on this period, but they are few.
Gildas, called Badonicus, is supposed to have been born in or about the year 520, in Wales. A great mass of legend has collected about the name of Gildas. He was the son of a British kinglet; his three-and-twenty brothers fought under King Arthur. He himself preached, taught, and in the matter of miracles was greatly blessed. He wrote--if he did write--about the year 560, and is therefore contemporary with the events of which he speaks. His book contains a vast quantity of rhetoric to a very small amount of history. Unfortunately for him, he was called by his admiring fellow-monks, in his lifetime, _Sapiens_--the Wise. Perhaps, in order to live up to this designation, he was fain to assume the garb and language of a prophet, and, with what he thought prophetic force, which we now perceive to be ecclesiastical inflation, he proceeded to admonish princes and people of their sins. Every age, to the ecclesiastical prophet as to the secular satirist, is an age of unbounded profligacy; of vice such as the world has never before witnessed; of luxury advanced to heights hitherto untrodden; of license, wantonness, riot unbridled and unparalleled, insomuch that the city of Jerusalem, even when under the soft influences of Ahola and Aholibah, were really righteous and pure in comparison. No doubt Gildas lived in a most trying and most disappointing time. Things went wrong, and things went steadily from bad to worse. His people were defeated and driven continually westward; they could not even hold together and fight side by side against the common enemy; religion was forgotten in the fierce struggles for life, and in the fiercer civil dissensions. As for the enemy, Saxon, Angle, or Jute, all were alike, in that none had the least reverence for priest or for Church; everywhere fighting, defeat, and massacre. Yet one cannot but think that a lower note might have been struck with greater advantage; and now that it is impossible to learn how far the prophet's admonitions brought repentance to his kings, one regrets that a simple statement of the events in chronological order as they occurred was not thought useful or desirable in a historical work. Would you hear how the Sapient addresses kings? Listen. He is admonishing for his good the King of North Wales--Cuneglass by name:
"Thou, too, Cuneglass, why art thou fallen into the filth of thy former naughtiness? Yea, since the first spring of thy tender youth, thou Bear, thou Rider and Ruler of many and Guider of the chariot which is the receptacle of the Bear, thou Contemner of God and Vilifier of his order! Thou tawny Butcher! Why, besides thine other innumerable backslidings, having thrown out of doors thy wife, dost thou, against the apostle's express prohibition, esteem her detestable sister, who has vowed unto God everlasting continency, as the very flower of the celestial nymphs?"
In similar gentle strains he approaches, and delicately touches upon, the sins of other kings.
This kind of language is difficult to sustain, and sometimes leads to contradictions. Thus, in one sentence, the Sapient speaks of his countrymen as wholly ignorant of the art of war, and in another he tells how the flower of the British youth went off to fight for Maximus.