Part 25
In addition to the regular theatres, there were many places of amusement, such as the Vauxhall and Ranelagh Gardens, the site of the latter being now occupied by the houses that hem in Chelsea College; the Rotunda, famous for its music, its gardens, and its piece of water; Bell-size House and Gardens on the Hampstead Road, where tea, coffee, and other refreshments could be had, together with music, from seven in the morning,--with the advantage of having the road to London patrolled during the season by twelve "lusty fellows," and of being able to ride to Hampstead by coach for sixpence a-head; Perrot's inimitable grotto, which could be seen by calling for a pot of beer; Jenny's Whim, at the end of Chelsea Bridge, where "the royal diversion of duck-hunting" could be enjoyed, "together with a decanter of _Dorchester_" for sixpence; Cuper's Gardens, in Lambeth, nearly opposite Somerset House, through which the Waterloo Road was ruthlessly driven; the Marble Hall, at Vauxhall, where an excellent breakfast was offered for one shilling; Sadler's Wells, celebrated both for its aquatic and its wire-dancing attractions; the Floating Coffee-House, on the river Thames, the Folly House at Blackwall, Marybone Gardens, the White Conduit House, and a multitude of others, to enumerate which would be tedious and unprofitable. On Sunday, we are told, the "snobocracy," amused themselves by thrusting their heads into the pillory at Georgia, by being sworn at Highgate, or rolling down Flamstead Hill in Greenwich Park. Some regaled their wives and families with buns at Chelsea and Paddington; others indulged in copious draughts of cyder at the Castle in the pleasant village of Islington; while the undomestic cit, in claret-coloured coat and white satin vest, sipped his beer and smoked his pipe at Mile End, or at the "Adam and Eve" in Pancras, or "Mother Red Cap's" at Camden.
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STATE COACH.
The accompanying engraving is taken from a very old print representing the state procession of Queen Elizabeth on her way to open Parliament on 2nd April, 1571. This was the first occasion on which a state coach had ever been used by a Sovereign of England, and it was the only vehicle in the procession; the Lord Keeper, and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, all attending on horseback. It was drawn by two palfreys, which were decked with trappings of crimson velvet; and, according to an old authority, the name of the driver was William Boonen, a Dutchman, who thus became the first state coachman.
THE ORIGIN OF EATING GOOSE ON MICHAELMAS DAY.
Queen Elizabeth, on her way to Tilbury Fort on the 29th of September, 1589, dined at the ancient seat of Sir Neville Umfreville, near that place; and as British Bess had much rather dine off a high-seasoned and substantial dish than a simple fricassee or ragout, the knight thought proper to provide a brace of fine geese, to suit the palate of his royal guest. After the Queen had dined heartily, she asked for a half-pint bumper of Burgundy, and drank "Destruction to the Spanish Armada." She had but that moment returned the glass to the knight who had done the honours of the table, when the news came (as if the Queen had been possessed with the spirit of prophecy) that the Spanish fleet had been destroyed by a storm. She immediately took another bumper, in order to digest the goose and good news; and was so much pleased with the event, that she every year after, on that day, had the above excellent dish served up. The Court made it a custom, and the people the same, ever since.
PRE-ADAMITE BONE CAVERNS.
Among the wonders of the world, the bone caves of the pre-Adamite period deserve a prominent place. It is to this period that the extensive remains of Mammiferae found in the strata of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and in the caverns which are scattered in such vast numbers over the continents of Europe and America, and even in Australia, are to be ascribed. We regret that we can find room for a description of only one of these caverns, but it is a most extensive one, and among the first which attracted attention. It is situated at Baylenreuth, in Franconia, and the engraving which we here give represents a section of it.
The entrance of this cave, about seven feet in height, is placed on the face of a perpendicular rock, and leads to a series of chambers from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and several hundred feet in extent, in a deep chasm. The cavern is perfectly dark, and the icicles and pillars of stalactite reflected by the torches present a highly picturesque effect. The floor is literally paved with bones and fossil teeth, and the pillars and corbels of stalactite also contain osseous remains. Cuvier showed that three-fourths of the remains in this and like caverns were those of bears, the remainder consisting of bones of hyenas, tigers, wolves, foxes, gluttons, weasels, and other Carnivora.
HOW DISTANT AGES ARE CONNECTED BY INDIVIDUALS.
Mr. Robert Chambers, in a curious and interesting chapter in the "Edinburgh Journal," entitled "Distant Ages connected by Individuals," states, in 1847, "There is living, in the vicinity of Aberdeen, a gentleman who can boast personal acquaintance with an individual who had seen and conversed with another who actually had been present at the battle of Flodden Field!" Marvellous as this may appear, it is not the less true. The gentleman to whom allusion is made was personally acquainted with the celebrated Peter Garden, of Auchterless, who died in 1775, at the reputed age of 131, although there is reason to believe that he was several years older. Peter, in his young days, was servant to Garden, of Troup, whom he accompanied on a journey through the north of England, where he saw and conversed with the famous Henry Jenkins, who died 1670, at the age of 169. Jenkins was born in 1501, and was of course twelve years old at the period of the battle of Flodden Field; and, on that memorable occasion, bore arrows to an English nobleman whom he served in the capacity of page. "When we think of such things," adds Mr. Chambers, "the ordinary laws of nature seem to have undergone some partial relaxation; and the dust of ancient times almost becomes living flesh before our eyes."
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON.
On the 1st of November, 1755, a few minutes before 10 a.m. the inhabitants of Lisbon were alarmed by several violent vibrations of the ground which then rose and fell several times with such force that hundreds of houses came toppling into the streets, crushing thousands of people. At the same time the air grew pitchy dark from the clouds of dust that rose from the crumbling edifices. Many persons ran down to the river side, in the hope of escaping to the shipping; but the water suddenly rose some yards perpendicularly, and swept away everything before it. The quay, with nearly 200 human beings standing on it, all at once disappeared. Large ships, which were lying high and dry, floated off, and were dashed against each other or carried down the river. In every direction the surface of the water was overspread with boats, timber, casks, household furniture and corpses. The scene on dry land was yet more horrifying. Churches, government buildings, and private houses, were all involved in the same ruin. Many thousands of trembling fugitives had collected in the great square, when it was discovered that flames were spreading in every quarter. Taking advantage of the universal panic and confusion, a band of miscreants had fired the city. Nothing could be done to stay the progress of the flames, and for eight days they raged unchecked. Whatever the earthquake had spared fell a prey to this new calamity. "It is not to be expressed by human tongue," writes an eye-witness, "how dreadful and how awful it was to enter the city after the fire was abated; and looking upwards, one was struck with horror in beholding dead bodies, by six or seven in a heap, crushed to death, half buried and half burnt; and if one went through the broad places or squares, nothing was to be met with but people bewailing their misfortunes, wringing their hands, and crying, 'The world is at an end.' If you go out of the city, you behold nothing but barracks, or tents made with canvass or ship's sails, where the poor inhabitants lye."
Another eye-witness is still more graphic. "The terror of the people was beyond description: nobody wept,--it was beyond tears;--they ran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment--beating their faces and breasts--crying '_Misericordia_, the world's at an end;' mothers forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars; images, priests, and people, were buried in one common ruin. * * * The prospect of the city was deplorable. As you passed along the streets you saw shops of goods with the shopkeepers buried with them, some alive crying out from under the ruins, others half buried, others with broken limbs, in vain begging for help; they were passed by crowds without the least notice or sense of humanity. The people lay that night in the fields, which equalled, if possible, the horrors of the day; the city all in flames; and if you happened to forget yourself with sleep, you were awakened by the tremblings of the earth and the howlings of the people. Yet the moon shone, and the stars, with unusual brightness. Long wished-for day at last appeared, and the sun rose with great splendour on the desolated city. In the morning, some of the boldest, whose houses were not burnt, ventured home for clothes, the want of which they had severely felt in the night, and a blanket was now become of more value than a suit of silk."
STRANGE CURE FOR RHEUMATISM.
Bridget Behan, of Castle-waller, in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, retained the use of all her powers of body and mind to the close of her long life, 110 years, in 1807. About six years preceding her death she fell down stairs, and broke one of her thighs. Contrary to all expectation, she not only recovered from the effects of the accident, but actually, from thence, walked stronger on this leg, which, previously to the accident, had been a little failing, than she had done for many years before. Another remarkable circumstance relating to this fracture was, that she became perfectly cured of a chronic rheumatism of long standing, and from which on particular occasions she had suffered a good deal of affliction. A short while before her death she cut a new tooth.
SILVER TEA SERVICE WHICH BELONGED TO WILLIAM PENN.
Articles of ordinary use, however small may be their intrinsic value, which have once been the property of men who have been good and great--how rare the conjunction!--are always invested with a peculiar interest. They often afford a clue to the tastes of those who once possessed them. On this account we have great pleasure in laying before our readers a representation of the silver tea-service which belonged to the celebrated William Penn, the founder and legislator of Pennsylvania, whom Montesquieu denominates the modern Lycurgus. He was the son of Admiral Penn, was born at London in 1644, and was educated at Christchurch, Oxford. At college he imbibed the principles of Quakerism, and having endeavoured to disseminate them by preaching in public, he was thrice thrown into prison. It was during his first imprisonment that he wrote "_No Cross, no Crown_." In March, 1680-81, he obtained from Charles II. the grant of that territory which now bears the name of Pennsylvania. In 1682 he embarked for his new colony; and in the following year he founded Philadelphia. He returned to England in 1684, and died in July, 1718. He was a philosopher, a legislator, an author, the friend of man, and, above all, a pious Christian. In addition to the reasons above given, the sketch of the tea-service is an object of curiosity, as showing the state of silversmith's work in England, at the close of the seventeenth century, for articles of domestic use.
CURIOUS FIGURES ON A SMALL SHRINE.
The figures here given are copied from a curious little bronze, strongly gilt, which was engraved in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1833, accompanied with a description, by A. J. Kempe, Esq., the author of the letterpress to "Stothard's Monumental Effigies," whose intimate knowledge in these matters enables him to well authenticate dates; and he considers this relic may safely be attributed to the early part of the twelfth century; it was discovered in the Temple Church, and had originally formed a portion of a pyx, or small shrine, in which the consecrated host was kept. Our engraving is more than half the size of the original, which represents the soldiers watching the body of Our Lord, who was, in mystical form, supposed to be enshrined in the pyx. They wear scull-caps of the Phrygian form, with the nasal like those in the Bayeux Tapestry; and the mailles or rings of the hauberk appear, as in the armour there, sewn down, perhaps, on a sort of gambeson, but not interlaced. They bear kite-shaped shields, raised to an obtuse angle in the centre, and having large projecting bosses: the third of these figures is represented beside the cut in profile, which will enable the reader more clearly to detect its peculiarities. On two of these shields are some approaches to armorial bearings; the first is marked with four narrow bendlets; the second is fretted, the frets being repeated in front of his helmet, or _chapelle de fer_: all the helmets have the nasal. A long tunic, bordered, and in one instance ornamented with cross-lines, or chequered, appears beneath the tunic. The sword is very broad, and the spear carried by the first figure, obtuse in the head,--a mark of its antiquity. The shoes are admirable illustrations of that passage of Geoffry of Malmesbury, where, representing the luxury of costume in which the English indulged at the time when Henry I. began his reign, he says: "Then was there flowing hair, and extravagant dress; and then was invented the fashion of shoes with curved points: then the model for young men was to rival women in delicacy of person, to mimic their gait, to walk with loose gesture, half-naked." The curvature of the points of the shoes in the little relic before us, in conformity with the custom censured by Malmesbury, is quite remarkable. One turns up, another down; one to the left, another to the right; and scarcely any two in the same direction.
THE QUEEN'S SHARKS.
The harbour of Trincomalee swarms with gigantic sharks, and strange to relate, they are all under British protection; and if any one is found molesting or injuring them, the fine is L10, or an imprisonment! How this ridiculous custom originated, it is hard to say; but we are told, that in the early days of British conquest in the East, sailors were apt to desert, and seek refuge in the then inaccessible wilds of the interior; and of later years, when civilisation has unbarred the gates of Cingalese commerce to all nations of the world, the soldiers of the regiment stationed at Trincomalee, discontented with their lot in life, were wont to escape from the thraldom of the service, by swimming off to American and other foreign vessels, preferring chance, under a strange flag, to a hard certainty under their own. Thus the Queen's sharks are duly protected as a sort of water-police for the prevention of desertion both from the army and navy.
OLD VERSES ON QUEEN ELIZABETH.
The following quaint and curious verses are taken from a very old volume, entitled _A Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses, Gathered out of England's Royall Garden, &c., &c. By Richard Johnson_.
A SHORT AND SWEET SONNET MADE BY ONE OF THE MAIDES OF HONOR UPON THE DEATHE OF QUEENE ELIZABETH, WHICH SHE SOWED UPON A SAMPLER IN RED SILKE.
_To a new tune, or "Phillida flouts me."_
Gone is Elizabeth, Whom we have lov'd so deare; She our kind mistres was Full foure and forty yeare.
England she govern'd well, Not to be blamed; Flanders she govern'd well And Ireland tamed.
France she befrended, Spaine she hath foiled, Papists rejected, And the Pope spoyled.
To princes powerfull, To the world vertuous, To her foes mercifull, To her subjects gracious.
Her soule is in heaven, The world keeps her glory, Subjects her good deeds, And so ends my story.
RANELAGH.
Ranelagh, of which no traces now remain, was situated on part of Chelsea Hospital garden, between Church Row and the river, to the east of the Hospital. It takes its name from a house erected in 1691, by Viscount Ranelagh. This house, in which the Viscount had resided from the period of its being built, was sold in 1733 to an eminent builder named Timbrell for L3,200, who advertised it for sale in the following year, as a freehold with garden, kitchen garden, and offices, and a smaller house and garden with fruit trees, coach-houses, &c., &c. These were the first vicissitudes of Ranelagh, preparatory to its conversion into a place of public amusement.
Walpole, in one of his entertaining letters to Mann, April 22nd, 1742, thus speaks of the gardens, which were then unfinished:--
"I have been breakfasting this morning at Ranelagh Garden; they have built an immense ampitheatre, with balconies full of little alehouses; it is in rivalry to Vauxhall, and cost above twelve thousand pounds. The building is not finished, but they got great sums by people going to see it and breakfasting in the house: there were yesterday no less than three hundred and eighty persons, at eighteen-pence a piece." Again, under the date May 26th, 1742, he writes to his friend as follows:--
"Two nights ago, Ranelagh Gardens were opened at Chelsea; the prince, princess, duke, much nobility, and much mob besides were there. There is a vast ampitheatre, finely gilt, painted, and illuminated; into which everybody that loves eating, drinking, staring, or crowding, is admitted for twelve pence. The building and disposition of the gardens cost sixteen thousand pounds. Twice a week there are to be ridottos at guinea tickets, for which you are to have a supper and music. I was there last night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a little better, for the garden is pleasanter, and one goes by water."
"The only defect in the elegance and beauty of the ampitheatre at Ranelagh," says the _London Chronicle_ for August, 1763, "is an improper and inconvenient orchestra, which, breaking into the area of that superb room about twenty feet farther than it ought to do, destroys the symmetry of the whole, and diffuses the sound of music with such irregular rapidity, that the harmonious articulations escape the nicest ear when placed in the most commodious attitude; it also hurts the eye upon your first entry.
"To remedy these defects, a plan has been drawn by Messrs. Wale and Gwin, for adding a new orchestra, which being furnished with a well-proportioned curvature over it, will contract into narrower bounds the modulations of the voice, and render every note more distinctly audible. It will, by its form, operate upon the musical sounds, in the same manner as concave glasses affect the rays of light, by collecting them into a focus. The front of this orchestra being planned so as to range parallel to the balustrade, the whole area also will be disencumbered of every obstruction that might incommode the audience in their circular walk. There is likewise provision made in this plan for a stage capable of containing 30 or 40 performers, to officiate as chorus-singers, or otherwise assist in giving additional solemnity on any extraordinary occasion."
"At Ranelagh House, on the 12th of May, 1767," says the _Gentleman's Magazine_, "were performed (in the new orchestra) the much admired catches and glees, selected from the curious collection of the Catch Club; being the first of the kind publickly exhibited in this or any other kingdom. The entertainments consisted of the favourite catches and glees, composed by the most eminent masters of the last and present age, by a considerable number of the best vocal and instrumental performers. The choral and instrumental parts were added, to give the the catches and glees their proper effect in so large an amphitheatre; being composed for that purpose by Dr. Arne."
The Rotunda, or amphitheatre, was 185 feet in diameter, with an orchestra in the centre, and tiers of boxes all round. The chief amusement was promenading (as it was called) round and round the circular area below, and taking refreshments in the boxes while the orchestra and vocalists executed different pieces of music. It was a kind of 'Vauxhall under cover,' warmed with coal fires. The rotunda is said to have been projected by Lacy, the patentee of Drury Lane Theatre. "The _coup d'oeil_," Dr. Johnson declared, "was the finest thing he had ever seen."
The last great event in the history of Ranelagh was the installation ball of the knights of the Bath, in 1802, shortly after which the place was pulled down.
THE FIRST EAST INDIA HOUSE.
The tradition is, that the East India Company, incorporated December 31st, 1600, first transacted their business in the great room of the Nag's Head Inn, opposite St. Botolph's Church, Bishopsgate Street. The maps of London, soon after the Great Fire of 1666, place the India House on a part of its present site in Leadenhall Street. Here originally stood the mansion of Alderman Kerton, built in the reign of Edward VI., rebuilt on the accession of Elizabeth, and enlarged by its next purchaser, Sir W. Craven, Lord Mayor in 1610. Here was born the great Lord Craven, who, in 1701, leased his house and a tenement in Lime Street to the Company at L100 a year. A scarce Dutch etching, in the British Museum, of which the annexed engraving is a correct copy, shows this house to have been half timbered, its lofty gable surmounted with two dolphins and a figure of a mariner, or, as some say, of the first governor; beneath are mecrhant ships at sea, the royal arms, and those of the Company. This grotesque structure was taken down in 1726, and upon its site was erected the old East India House, portions of which yet remain; although the present stone front, 200 feet long, and a great part of the house, were built in 1798 and 1799, and subsequently enlarged by Cockerell, R.A., and Wilkins, R.A.
ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE LAST CENTURY.
The following strange advertisements have been culled at random from magazines and newspapers _circa_ 1750. They give us a good idea of the manners and tastes of that period:--
"Whereas a tall young Gentleman above the common size, dress'd in a yellow-grounded flowered velvet (supposed to be a Foreigner), with a Solitair round his neck and a glass in his hand, was narrowly observed and much approved of by a certain young lady at the last Ridotto. This is to acquaint the said young Gentleman, if his heart is entirely disengaged, that if he will apply to A. B. at Garaway's Coffee House in Exchange Alley, he may be directed to have an interview with the said young lady, which may prove greatly to his advantage. Strict secresy on the Gentleman's side will be depended on."